As Simon Glover spoke, he pulled away, with gentle violence, the hands which hid his daughters face. She blushed deeply indeed, but there was more than maidens shame in her face, and her eyes were fast filling with tears.
What! weeping, love? continued her father; nay nay, this is more than need. Henry, help me to comfort this little fool.
Catharine made an effort to collect herself and to smile, but the smile was of a melancholy and serious cast.
I only meant to say, father, said the Fair Maid of Perth, with continued exertion, that in choosing Henry Gow for my Valentine, and rendering to him the rights and greeting of the morning, according to wonted custom, I meant but to show my gratitude to him for his manly and faithful service, and my obedience to you. But do not lead him to think and, oh, dearest father, do not yourself entertain an idea that I meant more than what the promise to be his faithful and affectionate Valentine through the year requires of me.
Ay ay ay ay, we understand it all, said Simon, in the soothing tone which nurses apply to children. We understand what the meaning is; enough for once enough for once. Thou shalt not be frightened or hurried. Loving, true, and faithful Valentines are ye, and the rest as Heaven and opportunity shall permit. Come, prithee, have done: wring not thy tiny hands, nor fear farther persecution now. Thou hast done bravely, excellently. And now, away to Dorothy, and call up the old sluggard; we must have a substantial breakfast, after a night of confusion and a morning of joy, and thy hand will be needed to prepare for us some of these delicate cakes which no one can make but thyself; and well hast thou a right to the secret, seeing who taught it thee. Ah! health to the soul of thy dearest mother, he added, with a sigh; how blythe would she have been to see this happy St. Valentines morning!
Catharine took the opportunity of escape which was thus given her, and glided from the room. To Henry it seemed as if the sun had disappeared from the heaven at midday, and left the world in sudden obscurity. Even the high swelled hopes with which the late incident had filled him began to quail, as he reflected upon her altered demeanour the tears in her eyes, the obvious fear which occupied her features, and the pains she had taken to show, as plainly as delicacy would permit, that the advances which she had made to him were limited to the character with which the rites of the day had invested him. Her father looked on his fallen countenance with something like surprise and displeasure.
In the name of good St. John, what has befallen you, that makes you look as grave as an owl, when a lad of your spirit, having really such a fancy for this poor girl as you pretend, ought to be as lively as a lark?
Alas, father! replied the crestfallen lover, there is that written on her brow which says she loves me well enough to be my Valentine, especially since you wish it, but not well enough to be my wife.
Now, a plague on thee for a cold, downhearted goosecap, answered the father. I can read a womans brow as well, and better, than thou, and I can see no such matter on hers. What, the foul fiend, man! there thou wast lying like a lord in thy elbow chair, as sound asleep as a judge, when, hadst thou been a lover of any spirit, thou wouldst have been watching the east for the first ray of the sun. But there thou layest, snoring I warrant, thinking nought about her, or anything else; and the poor girl rises at peep of day, lest any one else should pick up her most precious and vigilant Valentine, and wakes thee with a grace which so help me, St. Macgrider! would have put life in an anvil; and thou awakest to hone, and pine, and moan, as if she had drawn a hot iron across thy lips! I would to St. John she had sent old Dorothy on the errand, and bound thee for thy Valentine service to that bundle of dry bones, with never a tooth in her head. She were fittest Valentine in Perth for so craven a wooer.
As to craven, father, answered the smith, there are twenty good cocks, whose combs I have plucked, can tell thee if I am craven or no. And Heaven knows that I would give my good land, held by burgess tenure, with smithy, bellows, tongs, anvil, and all, providing it would make your view of the matter the true one. But it is not of her coyness or her blushes that I speak; it is of the paleness which so soon followed the red, and chased it from her cheeks; and it is of the tears which succeeded. It was like the April showers stealing upon and obscuring the fairest dawning that ever beamed over the Tay.
Tutti taitti, replied the glover; neither Rome nor Perth were built in a day. Thou hast fished salmon a thousand times, and mightst have taken a lesson. When the fish has taken the fly, to pull a hard strain on the line would snap the tackle to pieces, were it made of wire. Ease your hand, man, and let him rise; take leisure, and in half an hour thou layest him on the bank. There is a beginning as fair as you could wish, unless you expect the poor wench to come to thy bedside as she did to thy chair; and that is not the fashion of modest maidens. But observe me; after we have had our breakfast, I will take care thou hast an opportunity to speak thy mind; only beware thou be neither too backward nor press her too hard. Give her line enough, but do not slack too fast, and my life for yours upon the issue.
Do what I can, father, answered Henry, you will always lay the blame on me either that I give too much head or that I strain the tackle. I would give the best habergeon I ever wrought, that the difficulty in truth rested with me, for there were then the better chance of its being removed. I own, however, I am but an ass in the trick of bringing about such discourse as is to the purpose for the occasion.
Come into the booth with me, my son, and I will furnish thee with a fitting theme. Thou knowest the maiden who ventures to kiss a sleeping man wins of him a pair of gloves. Come to my booth; thou shalt have a pair of delicate kid skin that will exactly suit her hand and arm. I was thinking of her poor mother when I shaped them, added honest Simon, with a sigh; and except Catharine, I know not the woman in Scotland whom they would fit, though I have measured most of the high beauties of the court. Come with me, I say, and thou shalt be provided with a theme to wag thy tongue upon, providing thou hast courage and caution to stand by thee in thy wooing.
CHAPTER VI
Never to man shall Catharine give her hand.
The breakfast was served, and the thin soft cakes, made of flour and honey according to the family receipt, were not only commended with all the partiality of a father and a lover, but done liberal justice to in the mode which is best proof of cake as well as pudding. They talked, jested, and laughed. Catharine, too, had recovered her equanimity where the dames and damsels of the period were apt to lose theirs in the kitchen, namely, and in the superintendence of household affairs, in which she was an adept. I question much if the perusal of Seneca for as long a period would have had equal effect in composing her mind.
Old Dorothy sat down at the board end, as was the homespun fashion of the period; and so much were the two men amused with their own conversation, and Catharine occupied either in attending to them or with her own reflections, that the old woman was the first who observed the absence of the boy Conachar.
It is true, said the master glover; go call him, the idle Highland loon. He was not seen last night during the fray neither, at least I saw him not. Did any of you observe him?
Old Dorothy sat down at the board end, as was the homespun fashion of the period; and so much were the two men amused with their own conversation, and Catharine occupied either in attending to them or with her own reflections, that the old woman was the first who observed the absence of the boy Conachar.
It is true, said the master glover; go call him, the idle Highland loon. He was not seen last night during the fray neither, at least I saw him not. Did any of you observe him?
The reply was negative; and Henrys observation followed:
There are times when Highlanders can couch like their own deer ay, and run from danger too as fast. I have seen them do so myself, for the matter of that.
And there are times, replied Simon, when King Arthur and his Round Table could not make stand against them. I wish, Henry, you would speak more reverently of the Highlanders. They are often in Perth, both alone and in numbers, and you ought to keep peace with them so long as they will keep peace with you.
An answer of defiance rose to Henrys lips, but he prudently suppressed it. Why, thou knowest, father, he said, smiling, that we handicrafts best love the folks we live by; now, my craft provides for valiant and noble knights, gentle squires and pages, stout men at arms, and others that wear the weapons which we make. It is natural I should like the Ruthvens, the Lindsays, the Ogilvys, the Oliphants, and so many others of our brave and noble neighbours, who are sheathed in steel of my making, like so many paladins, better than those naked, snatching mountaineers, who are ever doing us wrong, especially since no five of each clan have a rusty shirt of mail as old as their brattach; and that is but the work of the clumsy clan smith after all, who is no member of our honourable mystery, but simply works at the anvil, where his father wrought before him. I say, such people can have no favour in the eyes of an honest craftsman.
Well well, answered Simon; I prithee let the matter rest even now, for here comes the loitering boy, and, though it is a holyday morn, I want no more bloody puddings.
The youth entered accordingly. His face was pale, his eyes red, and there was an air of discomposure about his whole person. He sat down at the lower end of the table, opposite to Dorothy, and crossed himself, as if preparing for his mornings meal. As he did not help himself to any food, Catharine offered him a platter containing some of the cakes which had met with such general approbation. At first he rejected her offered kindness rather sullenly; but on her repeating the offer with a smile of goodwill, he took a cake in his hand, broke it, and was about to eat a morsel, when the effort to swallow seemed almost too much for him; and though he succeeded, he did not repeat it.
You have a bad appetite for St. Valentines morning, Conachar, said his good humoured master; and yet I think you must have slept soundly the night before, since I conclude you were not disturbed by the noise of the scuffle. Why, I thought a lively glune amie would have been at his masters side, dirk in hand, at the first sound of danger which arose within a mile of us.
I heard but an indistinct noise, said the youth, his face glowing suddenly like a heated coal, which I took for the shout of some merry revellers; and you are wont to bid me never open door or window, or alarm the house, on the score of such folly.
Well well, said Simon; I thought a Highlander would have known better the difference betwixt the clash of swords and the twanging on harps, the wild war cry and the merry hunts up. But let it pass, boy; I am glad thou art losing thy quarrelsome fashions. Eat thy breakfast, any way, as I have that to employ thee which requires haste.
I have breakfasted already, and am in haste myself. I am for the hills. Have you any message to my father?
None, replied the glover, in some surprise; but art thou beside thyself, boy? or what a vengeance takes thee from the city, like the wing of the whirlwind?
My warning has been sudden, said Conachar, speaking with difficulty; but whether arising from the hesitation incidental to the use of a foreign language, or whether from some other cause, could not easily be distinguished. There is to be a meeting a great hunting Here he stopped.
And when are you to return from this blessed hunting? said the master; that is, if I may make so bold as to ask.
I cannot exactly answer, replied the apprentice. Perhaps never, if such be my fathers pleasure, continued Conachar, with assumed indifference.
I thought, said Simon Glover, rather seriously, that all this was to be laid aside, when at earnest intercession I took you under my roof. I thought that when I undertook, being very loth to do so, to teach you an honest trade, we were to hear no more of hunting, or hosting, or clan gatherings, or any matters of the kind?
I was not consulted when I was sent hither, said the lad, haughtily. I cannot tell what the terms were.
But I can tell you, sir Conachar, said the glover, angrily, that there is no fashion of honesty in binding yourself to an honest craftsman, and spoiling more hides than your own is worth; and now, when you are of age to be of some service, in taking up the disposal of your time at your pleasure, as if it were your own property, not your masters.
Reckon with my father about that, answered Conachar; he will pay you gallantly a French mutton for every hide I have spoiled, and a fat cow or bullock for each day I have been absent.
Close with him, friend Glover close with him, said the armourer, drily. Thou wilt be paid gallantly at least, if not honestly. Methinks I would like to know how many purses have been emptied to fill the goat skin sporran that is to be so free to you of its gold, and whose pastures the bullocks have been calved in that are to be sent down to you from the Grampian passes.
You remind me, friend, said the Highland youth, turning haughtily towards the smith, that I have also a reckoning to hold with you.
Keep at arms length, then, said Henry, extending his brawny arm: I will have no more close hugs no more bodkin work, like last night. I care little for a wasps sting, yet I will not allow the insect to come near me if I have warning.
Conachar smiled contemptuously. I meant thee no harm, he said. My fathers son did thee but too much honour to spill such churls blood. I will pay you for it by the drop, that it may be dried up, and no longer soil my fingers.
Peace, thou bragging ape! said the smith: the blood of a true man cannot be valued in gold. The only expiation would be that thou shouldst come a mile into the Low Country with two of the strongest galloglasses of thy clan; and while I dealt with them, I would leave thee to the correction of my apprentice, little Jankin.
Here Catharine interposed. Peace, she said, my trusty Valentine, whom I have a right to command; and peace you, Conachar, who ought to obey me as your masters daughter. It is ill done to awaken again on the morrow the evil which has been laid to sleep at night.
Farewell, then, master, said Conachar, after another look of scorn at the smith, which he only answered with a laugh farewell! and I thank you for your kindness, which has been more than I deserve. If I have at times seemed less than thankful, it was the fault of circumstances, and not of my will. Catharine He cast upon the maiden a look of strong emotion, in which various feelings were blended. He hesitated, as if to say something, and at length turned away with the single word farewell.