The Bride of Lammermoor

slaked, with b

ey heard

hey for jo

nce their br

d been dri

ime of the An

to transfer the venison to that mansion; a proffer which was readily accepted by Bucklaw, who thought much of the astonishment which their arrival in full body would occasion poor old Caleb Balderstone, and very little of the dilemma to which he was about to

of the muckle gate has been swung to wi' yestreen's

ed almost every one who eat and drank, ere he took measures to exclude those whom their jocund noise now pronounced to be near at hand. H

are bringing the stag's head to the castle in all honour,

, from a small projecting window, or shot-hole, through which, in former days, the warders were wont to reconnoitre those who presented themselves before the gates. He gave them to understand, in a short and pity speech, that the gate of the castle was never on any account opened during meal-times; that his honour, the Master of Ravenswood, and some guests of quality, had just sat down to d

ing upon their master and mistress, was at least indisputable. But Caleb was not in a humour to understand or admit any distinctions. He stuck to his original proposition with that dogged but convenient pert

fingers should never open it contrair to the established use and w

han we care to repeat, declared himself most unworthily treated, and

he has sleepit and waken'd on't. He'll ken himsell better the morn's morning. It sets the like o' him, to be bringing a crew of drunken hunters here, when he ke

the stranger-a man of trust and consequence-the same who, in the hunting-field, had accommodated Bucklaw with the use of his horse. He was in the stable when Caleb had

onduct he ought to adopt. He took the place of Caleb (unperceived by the latter) at the post of audience which he had just left, and announced to the assembled domestics, "That it was his master's pleas

and judgment in more favourable circumstances, had been so utterly neglected in point of education, that he was apt to think and feel according to the ideas of the companions of his pleasures. The praises which had recently been heaped upon himself he contrasted with the general abuse now levelled against Ravenswood; he recalled to h

elt, who immediately came up to him, and, without appearing to retain any recollection of the indifferent terms on which they had parted, shook him by the hand in the warmest manner possible. A w

exclaimed; "there's life for hon

know not, used, it must be noticed, the term of HONE

answered Bucklaw; "otherways, how came

d with the honest old drivellers yonder of Auld Reekie. Pooh! pooh! they dared not keep me a week of days in duran

y despised the character of this man, "none of your cogging

gh, or a canting Presbyterian minister in his own pulpit; and I

ourself my friend, Captain

I am thy very Achates, man, as I have heard scholars sa

t money, however thou comest by it. Lend me two pieces to wash the du

at thy service, my lad,

couched under an excess of generosity. "Craigengelt, you are either an honest fellow in right good earnest, and I sc

Craigengelt. "Touch and try; the

or looking at them, only observing, "That he was so circumstanced that he must enlist, though the devil offere

klaw!" shouted th

the sport, and leaves the hunters as dry as a

n this land," said an old man; "but it's lost its credit this day,

n the present occasion, when his joyous debauch received additional zest from the intervention of an unusual space of sobriety, and almost abstinence, he was as happy in leading the revels as if his comrades had been sons of princes. Craigengelt had his own purposes in fool

er of Ravenswood left the courtyard, too much busied with his own perplexed reflections to pay

order. But not all his skill and labour, in disposing to advantage the little furniture which remained, could remove the dark and disconsolate appearance of those ancient and disfurnished walls. The narrow w

nt, her father remained standing more near to the door, as if about to disengage himself from his hat and cloak. At this moment the clang of the portal was heard, a sound at whi

who comes to a pause when it is most to be expected that he should speak. While he endeavoured to cover his embarrassment with the exterior ceremonials of a well-bred demeanour, it was obvious that, in making his bow, one foot shuffled forward, as if to advance, the other backward, as if with the purpose of escape; and as he undid the cape of his coat, and raised his beaver from his face, his fingers fumbled as if the one had been linked with rusted iron, or the other had weighed equ

sed upon it. "I perceive," he said, "that Sir William Ashton i

voice of the exorcist, "and I am obliged to you, Master of Ravenswood, for breaking the ice at once, wh

Ravenswood, gravely, "to consider the ho

is an honour which I have eagerly desired for some time, but which I might never have obtained, save for the accident of the s

ity due to his guests, were able entirely to subdue, though they warmly combated, the deep passions which arose within him at beholding his father's foe standing in the hall of the family of which he had in a great measure accelerated the ruin. His looks gl

owards Ravenswood, "lay aside your mask, and let us exp

h, which attached more consequence by far than was usual to such ceremony, still mantled on Lucy Ashton's beautiful cheek, when the apartment was suddenly illuminated by a flash of lightning, which seemed absolutely to swallow the darkness of the hall. Every object might have been for an instant seen distinctly. The slight and half-sinking form of Lucy Ashton; the well-proportioned and stately figure of Ravenswood, his dark features, and the fiery yet irresolute expression of his eyes; the old arms and scutcheons which hung on the walls of the apartment, were for an instant distinctly visible to the Keeper by a strong red brilliant glare of light. Its disappearance was almost instantly followed by a burst of thund

ly condemned a union betwixt the Master and his fair guest, the means by which he expressed his sentiments were as unhappily chosen as if he had been a mere mortal. The train of little attentions, absolutely necessary to soothe the young lady's mind, and aid her in composing her spirits, necessarily threw the Master of Ravenswood into such an intercourse with her father as was calculated, for the moment at least, to break down the barrier of feudal enm

five miles distant; and the Master of Ravenswood could not but, in common courtesy, offer the shelter of his roof for the rest of the day and for the night. But a flush

topic; "you are preparing to set out for the Continent, and your house is probably for the present unfurnished. A

t to reply, the door of the hall ope