LIGHT STRUGGLES THROUGH A CLOUD TO GET TO ME IN MY MISFORTUNE.
I sune recovered my health, but my reputation and fair fame were for a
time under a cloud. The parishioners, in place o' shakin me by the
hand, looked at me with averted eyes. I was treated as a dog that had
been in bad company. A sough went throughout the parish, that Simon
Begley--or, as the folks ca'ed him, with a humorous application to his
craft, that of procurator-fiscal o' the county, Beagle--was busy takin a
precognition with a view to layin the case before the Lord Advocate. But
I was gien to understand, and privately, that the authorities didna
intend, in the meantime, to lay hold o' me, as they had nae suspicion I
would flee the country. Their object was to ascertain the truth o' the
charge, and, if they found there was any real _delictum_, and Gilbert
Walker and May persevered in their determination, to apprehend me then,
and try me as an example and a warnin.
This misfortune brought upon me an attack o' hypochondriacism; and
Melancholy, wi' a' her attendant hags, hounded me, as they say, frae
house to hame. Wearied o' concealin myself within doors, I sought the
by-ways, the loans, and the unfrequented paths--still, however, doin my
duties, and facin the public whar I couldna weel sneak out o' the way.
Ae day, I was sittin on a fence, no far frae my ain door, musin on the
curious turn my love affair had taen, and generally on the "vanity of
human wishes." I thought o' the poem o' that name by the only poet whose
works I could ever thole to read, and cured, in some degree, my
despondency, by repeatin to mysel the lines--
"Still raise for good the supplicating voice,
But leave to Heaven the measure and the choice."
"I hae dune baith," said a saft voice in my ear; "but the guid I hae
prayed for is lang o' comin."
"It has a lang road to come, my bonny lass," said I to a young woman
with a child in her arms, wha stood before me. "I, mysel, ken what it is
to suffer; for a pickled rod is at this very moment on my puir
back--sending, as it cuts its way, the nippin brine into my very
marrow. But I am exercisin patience. What may your compliant be?"
"My complaint," said she, wipin a clear, shinin tear frae her bonny blue
ee, "lies owre near my puir broken heart to be tauld to a stranger; for
wha but Him wha is 'the saul's portion,' should hear the secrets, or is
able to cure the waes o' a deserted wife? Ken ye the session-clerk o'
this parish?"
"Owre weel," said I, "guid woman; for, personally, I am noo sufferin for
that officer. I, mysel, hold that honoured office, wi' its twa
appurtenances."
"You are, then, the very man I wanted to see," said she; "but I maun
speak privately to ye. I hae come far to see ye, and heavy are the
burdens I hae carried, baith at this bosom (lookin at her child) and in
it; an' maybe ye may be the means o' relievin me o' ane o' them."
"Which o' them mean ye, woman?" said I, no a'thegither at ease. "I hope
ye dinna mean the bairn. Ae misfortune's enough at a time."
"Na, na," replied she; "I dinna mean that you should be the faither o'
the child; but ye may be the means, in higher hands, o' gettin back its
faither, and thereby relievin me o' a' my burdens and a' my sorrows
thegither."
"Nae man likes to do guid better than I do," replied I, wi' a decent
complacency, "though I hae been sair defamed. Come awa wi' me, an' tell
me your story."
I took the puir woman hame, and, seein she was filled wi' naething but
sorrow, ane o' the maist inflatin o' a' the _non-naturals_ (for
Hippocrates himsel couldna doubt that it's ane o' them,) I supplied her
wi' as muckle victuals o' ae kind or anither--no bein very particular
about the agreement or concurrence o' the elemental parts o' the
polymixia or combination--as I thought would hae the double effeck o'
gettin quit o' her hunger and her sorrow thegither. The puir creature
ate like a rhinoceros. I doubt if she had had any meat for a week.
Cakes, milk, cheese, herrings, tea, and honey, a' disappeared; and
naething remained but a blush o' shame on her bonny cheek, to tell how
muckle abashed she was at her good appetite. Some ungracefu minded folks
wad ha ta'en the sweet suffusion that covered her face, for the mere
effect o' the fecht or warstle o' devouring sae muckle meat; but my
delicacy suggested a truer, a mair feminine, and a mair gallant
conclusion. I was sae muckle pleased with the refinement o' mind that
led to this discovery, that I couldna help bringing't oot--for nae man
should hide his candle under a bushel--
"Ye needna be ashamed, my bonny woman," said I, "at eating sae muckle;
for, though it's no paid for, ye're perfectly welcome to it, ample and
multitudinous as it is."
This had the desired effect; for the blush was instantly succeeded by a
deadly paleness. I then asked her what was her particular object, in
wishin to see and speak to me privately. It was some time afore she
could answer--overcome, I fancy, by her admiration o' my delicacy o'
sentiment; but at last, takin out a ragged handkerchief, as a kind o'
preparation for a scene, a thing I like abune a' things--exceptin,
maybe, that in the Warlocks' Glen--she began--
"I am the dochter o' an honest farmer, that lives down near the Tweed.
His name is Arthur Graeme; and my name--that is my maiden name--is Lucy
Graeme. He was ance accounted rich, and I was--no lang syne
yet--considered to hae some claims to beauty--twa things that hae
produced a' my wae. I was courted by the neighbourin farmers, wha vied
wi' ane anither for my hand and my affections; but, as a prophet has nae
credit in his ain country, sae neeborin lovers were little respeckit.
The gree was born awa frae them by a perfect stranger, kenned neither to
them nor to me. A young man, ca'ed, at that time at least, Hugh
Kennedy, whase looks were, alas! his best recommendation, if I shouldna
speak of a soft honeyed tongue, whase sounds were music to my ear,
recommended himsel to me at a neighbouring fair, and took frae me,
whether I wad or no, my silly affections. He had heard o' my father's
siller, and he saw my blooming face; but he never had the courage to
come to our house and court me honourably, as my other wooers were glad
and proud to do. Yet--strange backslidin o' the human heart!--I wadna
hae gien a stowen kiss o' Hugh Kennedy, among the beech groves o'
Sunnybrae, for a' the flatterin, wooin, and braw presents o' the rest o'
my lovers thegither. The mere circumstance o' the puir youth being
banned, as he was (for his secret courtship was sune kenned), frae the
very neeborin woods, bound him to my heart the closer and the firmer.
Though twenty een were upon me as gleg as hawks, and I was watched like
a convicted thief, I saw him, spoke to him, wept wi' him, lay in his
dear arms, and got my tears kissed awa wi' his burning lips."
Her throat got thick, and she paused. After some sobbing, she
continued--
"Oh, forgie me, sir! To ye alane, wha hae my fortune in yer hands, wad I
speak in this wild strain, for my heart is fu' o' love, grief, and a
still revivin hope that winna dee. I never asked him a question, sae
worthless and silly in the thoughts o' a lover, whar he wad tak me, and
what he wad do wi' me, if I ran frae my faither's house, and married
him. What cared I for things that were to come, when a' my joys were
centred in the single moment when I was in his arms? Na, I never asked
him whar was to be our bed--whar we were to get our dinner. Love had
made me as light, as gay, as free, as thoughtless, as the birds o' the
grove, whose food and raiment, hoose an' ha', are provided by nature,
wha is kinder to them than to us proud human creatures. I need say nae
mair. I flew frae my faither's hoose, was married and ruined. My
husband had nae trade by the hand, nae friends, nae hame. He trusted to
my faither's wealth; but that took wings and flew away as fast as his
dochter. We lived thegither, Gude kens hoo, for twa years, when, ae
mornin aboot six months syne, he rose frae my side an' left me, an' I
hae never seen him since. A month after, I bore this babe, wha hasna yet
seen its faither. I inquired for him in every direction, an' at last I
heard that he was livin in this parish, an' was on the eve o' bein
married to a braw lass, wi' a better tocher than I could bring to him."
"This is a sad story, Lucy--Mrs Kennedy, I mean"--said I. "Your
treacherous husband, and his unconscious victim, this second wife,
whoever she may be, haena gien in their names to me yet, as clerk o'
this parish; and Mr Meiklejohn is owre correct a man to marry them
against the rules."
"Heaven be praised!" cried the poor woman. "I was afraid I might be owre
late."
"Yer in braw time," said I; "but, if Mr Kennedy taks anither name, how
will I ken him?--for he may forge certificates o' residence, or bribe
some residenters to certify him--tricks no uncommon in the traffic o'
matrimony."
"But maybe ye may ken his _sweetheart_," said she, wi a big heart, as
she wrung the bitter name out o' her dry throat.
"It's no unlikely," said I; "I ken the maist o' the leevin folks o' the
parish, and my faither kens a' the dead anes."
"Did you ever hear o' a young woman bearing the name o' May Walker?"
said she.
"I think I hae," said I, hesitatingly, as if trying to recollect mysel;
and, lookin suspiciously at her, for I thocht she had heard o' my
misfortune, and was suspicious o' every individual that mentioned that
charmed, dear, yet terrible name.
"I think I hae," repeated I, drawing my hand owre my weel-shaved chin,
as if to try my beard; and, satisfied o' the ignorance and innocence o'
the creature, wishin to keep my secret.
"Did ye ever see her, or speak to her?" continued Mrs Kennedy. "Is she
bonny?--has she a sweet voice?--is she like--like me?" And she burst
into tears.
"I hae seen her," replied I, tryin to keep mysel frae greetin too; but a
loud blubber burst frae me, in spite o' a' my efforts to keep it amang
the lower pairt o' my lungs. "I hae seen her--I hae kissed--hum--I mean
I hae spoken to her. She _is_ bonny--O ay!" (with an increased blubber);
"she _is_ indeed bonny."
My answer increased the weepin o' the jealous wife, and we baith grat
thegither.
"Has she muckle siller?" said she, calming a little.
"She _will_ hae," replied I; "she _maun_ hae, for her faither is in
_very_ bad health."
This new cause o' sorrow increased my paroxysm to a perfect buller.
"Ye are a maist sympathetic creature," said Mrs Kennedy, "to greet that
way for anither's misfortunes."
"It's just my way," said I; "we canna restrain our heart or our
stamach."
The mention o' the last word made the puir creature blush. It even
stopped her tears. On hoo little springs do our passions depend!
This scene bein acted in the way I hae thus (I hope pretty graphically)
described, I began to tak a mair philosophical view o' this important
business. With an acuteness as natural to me as to a snip's tool, I
penetrated the prudential course o' my operations in an instant o'
inspired intuition. I fancy it wad smack considerably o' the _inane
gotium_ o' supererogation, besides being exposed to the charge o'
anticipation, to lay my plan before my readers in the clumsy way o' a
chart, where there's sae guid a pilot. I like to seize a subject as my
father did my mother when he courted and won her; or as I did May
Walker, when I courted and lost her. To the heart at ance! I premised my
operations, by askin Mrs Kennedy, in spite o' the gladiator-like way she
had o' handlin her knife and fork, to remain in my house for a day or
twa, till we saw whether her husband would ca' upon me, to gie in the
names o' him and _his_--alas! what a change!--_his_ dulcinea! In the
meantime, Beagle's precognition was still proceedin; and Gilbert Walker
and his dochter wouldna, it was said, relent. For about eight days, Mrs
Kennedy sat and watched at the window, to see if she could espy her
faithless husband; while I sneaked about, to try if I could ascertain
the absolute truth of her story, and the real facks o' my ain deplorable
case. My inquiries, conducted under the disadvantage o' being obliged to
skulk, and beg, as it were, an answer to my questions, were not very
successful. I, however, discovered that a young man, wi' black routhy
whiskers, and a long romantic nose juttin out frae amang them, like a
promontory frae the side o' a thick wud, was busy courtin May Walker,
whase heart had got entangled in the forest o' his face, and couldna be
liberated by a' the ruggin o' her father and her friends. This
description o' him agreed wi' that I got frae Mrs Kennedy, wha couldna
describe the coverin o' his face without tears. I was satisfied it was
the man; and my satisfaction was confirmed by a kind o'
recollection--strugglin through the inspissated gloom o' the oblivion I
experienced after being knocked doon in the Warlocks' Glen--o' the
figure o' an Orson-like individual, wi' a great rung in his hand, mixed
with the evanescent sounds o' "My love!--my love!--knock doun the
spoiler!" which produced, thegither, the conviction that Mr Hugh Kennedy
was the very man on whom May Walker was waitin on that eventfu Sabbath,
and who felled me sae unmercifully to the earth.