第79章

By such attacks as these, Oldbuck, unconscious of the torture he was giving, compelled Lovel to give him a share of his attention, --as a skilful angler, by means of his line, maintains an influence over the most frantic movements of his agonized prey.

They were now on their return to the spot where they had left the carriages; and it is inconceivable how often, in the course of that short walk, Lovel, exhausted by the unceasing prosing of his worthy companion, mentally bestowed on the devil, or any one else that would have rid him of hearing more of them, all the orders and disorders of architecture which had been invented or combined from the building of Solomon's temple downwards.A slight incident occurred, however, which sprinkled a little patience on the heat of his distemperature.

Miss Wardour, and her self-elected knight companion, rather preceded the others in the narrow path, when the young lady apparently became desirous to unite herself with the rest of the party, and, to break off her _tte-

-tte_ with the young officer, fairly made a pause until Mr.Oldbuck came up.``I wished to ask you a question, Mr.Oldbuck, concerning the date of these interesting ruins.''

It would be doing injustice to Miss Wardour's _savoir faire,_to suppose she was not aware that such a question would lead to an answer of no limited length.The Antiquary, starting like a war-horse at the trumpet sound, plunged at once into the various arguments for and against the date of 1273, which had been assigned to the priory of St.Ruth by a late publication on Scottish architectural antiquities.He raked up the names of all the priors who had ruled the institution, of the nobles who had bestowed lands upon it, and of the monarchs who had slept their last sleep among its roofless courts.As a train which takes fire is sure to light another, if there be such in the vicinity, the Baronet, catching at the name of one of his ancestors which occurred in Oldbuck's disquisition, entered upon an account of his wars, his conquests, and his trophies;and worthy Dr.Blattergowl was induced, from the mention of a grant of lands, _cum decimis inclusis tam vicariis quam garbalibus, et nunquan antea separatis,_ to enter into a long explanation concerning the interpretation given by the Teind Court in the consideration of such a clause, which had occurred in a process for localling his last augmentation of stipend.

The orators, like three racers, each pressed forward to the goal, without much regarding how each crossed and jostled his competitors.Mr.Oldbuck harangued, the Baronet declaimed, Mr.Blattergowl prosed and laid down the law, while the Latin forms of feudal grants were mingled with the jargon of blazonry, and the yet more barbarous phraseology of the Teind Court of Scotland.``He was,'' exclaimed Oldbuck, speaking of the Prior Adhemar, ``indeed an exemplary prelate; and, from his strictness of morals, rigid execution of penance, joined to the charitable disposition of his mind, and the infirmities endured by his great age and ascetic habits''--Here he chanced to cough, and Sir Arthur burst in, or rather continued--``was called popularly Hell-in-Harness; he carried a shield, gules with a sable fess, which we have since disused, and was slain at the battle of Vernoil, in France, after killing six of the English with his own''--``Decreet of certification,'' proceeded the clergyman, in that prolonged, steady, prosing tone, which, however overpowered at first by the vehemence of competition, promised, in the long run, to obtain the ascendancy in this strife of narrators;--``Decreet of certification having gone out, and parties being held as confessed, the proof seemed to be held as concluded, when their lawyer moved to have it opened up, on the allegation that they had witnesses to bring forward, that they had been in the habit of carrying the ewes to lamb on the teind-free land;which was a mere evasion, for''--But here the, Baronet and Mr.Oldbuck having recovered their wind, and continued their respective harangues, the three _strands_ of the conversation, to speak the language of a rope-work, were again twined together into one undistinguishable string of confusion.

Yet, howsoever uninteresting this piebald jargon might seem, it was obviously Miss Wardour's purpose to give it her attention, in preference to yielding Captain M`Intyre an opportunity of renewing their private conversation.So that, after waiting for a little time with displeasure, ill concealed by his haughty features, he left her to enjoy her bad taste, and taking his sister by the arm, detained her a little behind the rest of the party.

``So I find, Mary, that your neighbour has neither become more lively nor less learned during my absence.''

``We lacked your patience and wisdom to instruct us, Hector.''

``Thank you, my dear sister.But you have got a wiser, if not so lively an addition to your society, than your unworthy brother--Pray, who is this Mr.Lovel, whom our old uncle has at once placed so high in his good graces?--he does not use to be so accessible to strangers.''

``Mr.Lovel, Hector, is a very gentleman-like young man.''

``Ay,--that is to say, he bows when he comes into a room, and wears a coat that is whole at the elbows.''

``No, brother; it says a great deal more.It says that his manners and discourse express the feelings and education of the higher class.''

``But I desire to know what is his birth and his rank in society, and what is his title to be in the circle in which I find him domesticated?''

``If you mean, how he comes to visit at Monkbarns, you must ask my uncle, who will probably reply, that he invites to his own house such company as he pleases; and if you mean to ask Sir Arthur, you must know that Mr.Lovel rendered Miss Wardour and him a service of the most important kind.''