Stand Fast, Craig-Royston! A novel ... Third edition

Front matter

STAND FAST, CRAIG-KOYSTON ! a Nobel. BY W7ILLIAM BLACK, AUTHOR OF " A DAUGHTER OF HETH," " MACLEOD OF DARE," ETC. IN THREE VOLUMES. VOL. II. THIRD EDITION. LONDON : SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON, LIMITED, St. Dunstan's $oust, Fetter Lane, Fleet Street, E.C. 1891. [All rights reserved.] LONDON : I'lilKTFP TIT WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, 6TAUFURD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. CONTENTS OF VOL. II. CHAPTER PAGE I. Doubts and Dreams ... ... ... 1 II. By Northern Seas ... ... 37 III. "Holt Palmer's Kiss" ... ... 76 IV. Interposition ... ... ... 106 V. The Gnawing Fox ... ... ... 139 VI. Put to the Proof ... ... 173 VII. Eenewing is of Love ... ... 208 VIII. On the Brink ... ... ... 239 IX. "And hast thou plated me this!" ... CRAIG-ROYSTON! CHAPTEE I. DOUBTS AND DREAMS. And at first Vincent was for rebelliously thrusting aside and ignoring this information that had reached him so unexpectedly.

Was he, on the strength of a statement forwarded by an unknown correspondent in New York, to suspect — nay, to condemn unheard — this proud and solitary old man with whom he had all this while been on terms of such close and friendly intimacy ? Had he not had ample opportunities of judging whether George Bethune was the sort of person likely to have done this thing that was now charged against him ? He went over these past weeks and months. Was it any wonder VOL. II. B CKAIG-EOYSTON ! 2 that the old man's indomitable courage, his pas sionate love of his native land, and the constant and assiduous care and affection he bestowed on his granddaughter, should have aroused alike the younger man's admiration and his gratitude ? What if he talked with too lofty an air of birth and lineage, or allowed his enthusiasm about Scotland and Scottish song to lead him into the realms of rodomontade : may not an old man have his harmless foibles ?

Any one who had witnessed Maisrie's devotion to ber grandfather, her gentle forbearance and consideration, her skilful humour ing of him, and her never-failing faith in him, must have got to know what kind of man was old George Bethune. And yet, when Vincent turned to the letter, it seemed terribly simple, and straightforward, and sincere. There was no vindictiveness in it at all ; rather there was a pained surprise on the part of the writer that a loyal Scot — one, too, who had been admitted into that fraternity of song-writing exiles over the water — should have been guilty of such a flagrant breach of trust. Then Lord Musselburgh's patronage, as the young man knew very well, had taken the form of a cheque ; so that the charge brought by the writer of this letter practically was that George Bethune had obtained, and might even now be obtaining, money by fraud and false pretences.

Chapter II. By Northern Seas

Here, in front of the great, square, old-fashioned Scotch mansion, which was pleasantly lit up by the morning sun, stood the family waggonette which had just been filled by those of the house-party who were bound for church ; and here, too, in the spacious porch, was Mrs. Ellison, smiling her adieux with rather a sad air. " Good-bye, dear," said her kindly hostess. " I hope you will have got rid of your headache by the time we get back." And therewith the carriage was driven away along the pebbled pathway, through an avenue of magnificent wide-spreading elms. Then the tall and graceful young widow, who carried a book in her band, glanced around ber. There was no living thing near except a white ! 38 peacock that was solemnly stalking across the lawn. Mrs. Ellison strolled towards a hammock slung between two maples, and stood there for a moment, and considered.

Should she attempt it ? There was no onlooker, supposing some slight ac cident befell. Finally, however, her courage gave way ; she returned to the front of the house ; and took possession of a long, low lounging-chair, where she could sit in tbe sun, and yet have the pages of her book in shadow. There was a footfall behind her: Lord Mussel burgh made his appearance, smoking a cigarette. "Why," said she, with a prettily affected sur prise, " haven't you gone to church ? I made sure you had walked on." "How could I leave you all by yourself," said the young man, with tender sympathy, " and you suffering from a headache ? " Then she professed to be vexed and impatient. " Oh, do go away to church ! " she said. " You can be in plenty of time, if you walk fast enough. If you stop here you know what will go on at lunch.

Those Drexel girls can look more mischief than any other twenty girls could say or do." "Oh, no," said he, plaintively, "don't send me away ! Let us go for a walk rather. You know, a woman's headache is like ber hat — she can put it on or off when she likes. Come ! " " I consider you are very impertinent," said she, with something of offended dignity. "Do you think I shammed a headache in order to stay behind ? " " I don't think anything," said he, discreetly. "You will be saying next that it was to have this meeting with you ? " "Why, who could dare to imagine such a thing ! " " Oh, very well, very well," said she, with a sudden change to good-nature, as she rose from the chair. " I forgive you. And I will be with you in a second." • She was hardly gone a couple of minutes ; but in that brief space of time she had managed to make herself sufficiently picturesque ; for to the simple and neat grey costume which clad her tall and slim and elegant figure she had added a bold-sweeping hat of black velvet and black feathers, while round her neck she had wound a black boa, its two long tails depending in front.

Thus there was no colour about her, save what shone in her perfect com plexion, and in tbe light and expression of her shrewd, and dangerous, and yet grave and demure blue eyes. " And really and frankly," said she, as they left the house together, " I am not sorry to have a chance of a quiet talk witb you ; for I want to tell you about my nephew ; I am sure you are almost as much interested in him as I am ; and you would be as sorry as I could be if anything were to happen to him. And I am afraid something is going to happen to him. His letters to me have entirely changed of late. You know how proud Vin is by nature — and scornful, too, when you don't act up to his lofty standard ; and when I ventured to hint that he might keep his eyes open in dealing with that old mountebank and his pretty granddaughter, oh ! the tempestuous indignation of my young gentleman!

He seemed to think that a creature such as I — filled with such base suspicions — was not fit to live. Well, I did not quarrel with my handsome boy ; in fact, I rather admired his rao-e and disdain of me ; it was part of the singleness of his nature ; for he believes everybody to be as straightforward and sincere as himself; and he has a very fine notion of loyalty towards his friends. And vindictive, too, the young villain was ; I can tell you I was made to feel the enormity of my transgression ; I was left to wallow in that quagmire of unworthy doubt in which I had voluntarily plunged myself. So matters went on ; and I could only hope for one of two things — either that he might find out something about those people that would sever his connection with them, or that his passing fancy for the girl would gradually fade away.

I made sure he would tire of that oracular old humbug; or else he would discover there was nothing at all behind the mysterious eyes and the tragic solemnity of that artful young madam. Ob, mind you," she continued, as they walked along under the over-branching maples, amid a rustle of withered October leaves, " mind you, I don't suspect her quite as much as I suspect the venerable Druid ; and I don't recall anything that I said about her. I admit that she beglamoured me witb her singing of a French Canadian song ; but what is that ? — what can you tell of any one's moral or mental nature ! from a trick of singing — the thrill of a note — some peculiar quality of voice? Why, tbe greatest wretch of a man I ever knew had the most beau tiful, innocent, honest brown eyes — they could make you believe anything — all the' women said he was so good, and so different from other men — well, I will tell you that story some other time — I found out what the honesty of the clear brown eyes was worth."

Here she was interrupted by his having to open an iron gate for her. When they passed through, they came in sight of a solitary little bay of cream white sand, touched here and there with russet weed, and ending in a series of projecting rocky knolls covered with golden bracken; while before them lay the wide plain of the sea, ruffled into the intensest blue by a brisk breeze from the north. Still further away rose the great mountains of Mull, and the long stretch of the Morven hills, all of a faint, ethereal crimson-brown in the sunlight, Mith every glen and water-course traced in lines of purest ultramarine. They bad all this sbinincr world to themselves; and there was an absolute silence save for the continuous whisper of the ripples that broke along the rocks ; whilst the indescribable murmur — the strange inarticulate voices — of the greater deep beyond seemed to fill all the listening; air.

" And I might have known I was mistaken in Vin's case," she went on, absently. " He was never the one to be caught by a pretty face, and be charmed with it for a time, and pass on and forget. He always kept aloof from that kind of thing — perhaps with a touch of impatient scorn. No; I might have known it was something more serious : so serious, indeed, is it, that he has at last conde scended to appeal to me — fancy that! — fancy Vin coming down from his high horse, and appealing to me to be reasonable, to be considerate, and to stand his friend. And the pages he writes to persuade me ! Really, if you were to believe bim, you would think this old man one of the most striking and interesting figures the world has ever seen — so fearless in his pride, so patient in his poverty, so stout-hearted in his old age.

Then his splendid enthusiasm about fine things in literature ; his magnanimity over the wrongs he has suffered ; his pathetic affection for his granddaughter and his tender care of her — why, you would take him to be one of the grandest human creatures that ever breathed the breath of life ! Then about the girl : don't I remember La Claire Fontaine ? Ob, yes, I remember La Claire Fontaine — and little else ! You see, that is just where tbe trouble comes in as regards my nephew. Hard-headed as he is, and brusque of speech — sometimes, not always — he is just stuffed full of Quixotism ; and I daresay it is precisely because this girl is shy and reserved, and has rather appealing eyes, that he imagines all kinds of wonderful things about her, and has made a saint of her, to be worshipped. A merry lass, with a saucy look and a clever tongue, would have no chance with Vin ; he would stare at her — perhaps only half-disguising his contempt ; and then, if you asked him what he thought of her he would probably say, with a curl of the lip, • Impertinent tomboy ! ' But when he comes to speak of this one, why, you would think that all womanhood had undergone some process of deifica tion in her solitary self.

Come here, and by this divine lamp you shall read and understand what ever has been great and noble and pure and beautiful in all the song and story of the world ! And yet perhaps it is not altogether absurd," the pretty Mrs. Ellison continued, with a bit of a sigh. "It is pathetic, rather. I wish there were a few more such men as that ; the world could get on very well with a few more of them. But they don't seem to exist nowadays." " Ah, if you only knew ! Perhaps your experi ence has been unfortunate," ber companion said, wistfully : whereupon tbe young widow, without turning her head towards him, perceptibly snig gered. " Oh, you ! " she exclaimed, in derision. "You! You needn't pretend to come into that exalted category — no, indeed " " I suppose people have been saying things about me to you," said he, with a certain affectation of being hurt.

" But you needn't have believed them all the same." " People ! " she said. " People ! Why, everybody knows what you are ! A professional breaker of poor young innocent girls' hearts. Haven't we all heard of you ? Haven't we all heard how you went on in America ? No such stories came home ! about Vin, I can assure you. Oh, we all know what you are ! " " You may have heard one story," said he, some what stiffly ; " but if you knew what it really was, you would see that it was nothing to joke about. Some time I will tell you. Some other time when you are in a more friendly, a more believing and sympathetic, mood." " Oh, yes," she said, laughing. " A very heart rending story, no doubt! And you were deeply injured, of course, being so extremely innocent! You forget that I have seen you in a good many houses ; you forget that I have been watching your goings-on with Louie Drexel, in this very place.

Do you think I can't recognise the old hand — the expert — the artist ? Lord Musselburgh, you can't deceive me." " Probably not," said he, sharply. " If all tales be true you have acquired some experience yourself." " Oh, who said that about me ! " she demanded, with indignation (but her eyes were not indignant, they were rather darkly amused, if only he had made bold to look at them.) " Who dared to say such a thing ? And of course you listened without a word of protest : probably you assented ! What it is to have friends ! But perhaps some day I, also, may have a little story to tell you ; and then you may understand me a little better." Here there was another farm-gate for him to open, so that their talk was again interrupted. Then they passed under a series of lofty grey crags hung with birch, and hazel, and rowan, all in their gorgeous autumnal tints ; until they came in sight of another secluded little bay, with silver ripples breaking along the sand, and with small outlying islands covered with orange seaweed where they were not white with gulls.

And here was a further stretch of that wind-swept, dark blue, striated sea, witb the lonely hills of Morven and Kingairloch, sun-dappled and cloud-dappled, rising into the fair turquoise sky. There was a scent of dew-wet grass mingling with the stronger odour of the seaweed ; the breeze was blowing freshly in. And always there came to them the long, unceasing, multi tudinous murmur of those moving waters, that must have sounded to them so great and vast a thing beside the small trivialities of their human speech. ! "Have you read Vin's article in the Imperial Beview ? " said Mrs. Ellison, flicking at a thistle with ber sun-shade. "Nut yet. But I saw it announced. About American State Legislatures, isn't it, or something of that kind ? " " It seemed to me very ably and clearly written," she said.

" But that is not the point. I gather that Vin has been contemplating all kinds of con tingencies; .and that be is now trying to qualify for the post of leader-writer on one of the daily newspapers. What does that mean ? — it means that be is determined to marry this girl, and that he thinks it probable there may be a break between himself and his father in consequence. There may be ? — there will be, I give you my word ! My amiable brother-in-law's theories of Socialism and Fraternity and Universal Equality are very pretty toys to play with — and they have even gained him a sort of reputation through his letters to the Times; but he doesn't bring them into the sphere of actual life. Of course, Vin has his own little money ; aud I, for one, why, I shouldn't see him starve in any case ; but I take it that he is already niakin°- provision for the future and its responsibilities.

Now isn't that dreadful ? I declare to you, Lord Mussel burgh, that when I come down in the morning and find a letter from him lying on the hall-table, my heart sinks — just as if I heard the men on the stair bringing down a coffin. Because I know if he is captured by those penniless adventurers, it will be all over with my poor lad ; he will be bound to them ; he will have to support them ; he will have to sacrifice friends and fortune, and a future surely such as never yet lay before any young man. Just think of it ! Who ever had such possibilities before him ? Who ever had so many friends, all expecting great things of him ? Who ever was so petted and caressed and admired by those whose slightest regard is considered by the world at large an honour ; and — I will say this for my boy — who ever deserved it more, or remained all through it so unspoiled, and simple, and manly ?

Oh, you don't know what he has been to me — what I have hoped for him — as if he were my only brother, and one to be proud of! His father is well known, no doubt ; he has got a sort of academic reputation ; but he is not liked ; people don't talk about him as if — VOL. II. E ! 50 as if they cared for him. But Vincent could win hearts as well as fame : ah, do you think I don't know ? — trust a woman to know ! There is a strange kind of charm and fascination about him : I would put the most accomplished lady-killer in England in a drawing-room, and I know where the girls' eyes would go the moment my Vin made his appearance : perhaps it is because he is so honestly indifferent to them all. And it isn't women only ; it isn't merely bis good looks ; every one, young and old, man and woman, is taken with him ; there is about him a sort of magic and glamour of youth — and — and bright promise — and straightforward intention — oh, I can't tell you what ! — but — but— it's some thing that makes me love him !

" " That is clear enough," said he ; and indeed there was a ring of sincerity in her tone, sometimes even a tremor in her voice — perhaps of pride. " Well," she resumed, as they strolled along under the beetled crags that were all aflame with golden yellow birch and blood-red rowan, " I am not going to stand aside and see all that fair promise lost. I own I am a selfish woman ; and hitherto I have kept aloof, as I did not want to get myself into trouble. I am going to hold aloof no longer. The more I hear the more I am convinced that Vin has fallen into the hands of an unscrupulous sharper — perhaps a pair of them ; and I mean to have his eyes opened. Here is this new revelation about that American book, which simply means that you were swindled out of £50 ■ " " One moment," her companion said hastily, and there was a curious look of mortification on his face.

" I had no right to tell you that story. I broke confidence : I am ashamed of myself. And I assure you I was not swindled out of any £50. When the old man came to me, with bis Scotch accent, and his Scotch patriotism, and his Scotch plaid thrown over his shoulder — well, 'my heart warmed to the tartan ' ; and I was glad of the excuse for helping him. I did not want any book ; and I certainly did not want the money back. But when Vin came to me, and made explanations, and finally handed me a cheque for £50, there was something in his man ner that told me I dared not refuse. It was some thing like ' Refuse this money, and you doubt the honour of the woman I am going to marry.' But seeing that I did take it, I have now nothing to say. My mouth is shut — ought to have been shut, rather, only you and I have had some very confidential chats since we came up here." - "All the same, it was a downright swindle," said she, doggedly ; " and the fact that Vin paid you back the money makes it none the less a swindle.

Now I will tell you what I am about to do. I must be cruel to be kind. I am going to enlist the ser vices of George Morris— — " " Sir George ? " he asked. " No, no ; George Morris, the solicitor — his wife and I are very great friends — and I know he would do a great deal for me. Very well ; he must get to know simply everything about this old man — his whole history — and if it turns out to be what I imagine, then some of us will have to go to Vin and tell him the truth. It won't be a pleasant duty ; but duty never is pleasant. I know I shall be called a traitor for my share in it. Here is Vin appealing to me to be his friend — as if I were not his friend ! — begging me to come and take this solitary and friendless girl by the hand, and all tbe rest of it ; and instead of that I go behind his back and try to find out what will destroy his youthful romance for ever.

But it's got to be done," said the young widow, with a sigh. "It will be a wrench at first; then six months' despair ; and a life-time of thank fulness thereafter. And of course I must give George Morris all the help I can. He must make enquiries, for one thing, at the office of the Edin burgh Chronicle: I remember at Henley the old gentleman spoke of the proprietor as a friend of his. Then the man you know in New York, who gave Mr. Bethune a letter of introduction to y*ou : what is his name and address ? " " Oh, no," said Lord Musselburgh, shrinking back, as it were. " No ; I don't want to take part in it. Of course, you may be acting quite rightly ; no doubt you are acting entirely in Vin's interests ; but — but I would rather have nothing to do with it." " And yet you call yourself Vin's friend !

Come, tell me ! " she said, coaxingly. Again he refused. "Mind you, I believe 1 could find out for myself," she went on. " I know that he is the editor of a newspaper in New York — a Scotch newspaper : ■come, Lord Musselburgh, give me his name, or the name of the newspaper ! " He shook his bead. " No — not fair," he said, Then she stopped, and faced him, and regarded him with arch eyes. " And yet it was on this very pathway, only yesterday morning, that you swore that there was nothing in the world that you wouldn't do for me ! " " That was different," said be, with some hesitation. " I meant as regards myself. This concerns some one else." " Oh, very well," said she, and she walked on proudly. " I dare say I can find out." He touched her arm to detain her. " Have you a note-book ? " he asked.

She took from her pocket a combined purse and note-book ; and without a word — or a smile — she pulled out the pencil. " ' Hugh Anstruther, Western Scotsman Office, New York,' " said he, rather shamefacedly. " There, that is all right ! " she said, blithely, and she put the note-book in ber pocket again. " That is as far as we can go in that matter at present ; and now we can talk of something else. What is the name of this little bay ? " " Little Ganovan, I believe." " And the other one we passed ? " "Port Ban." " What is the legend attached to the robber's cave up there in the rocks ? " " The legend ? Ob, some one told me the gar dener keeps his tools in that cave." "What kind of a legend is that!" she said, impatiently ; and then she went on with her ques tions. " Why doesn't anybody ever come round this way ?

" "I suppose because they know we want the place to ourselves." "And why should we want the place to our selves ?" This was unexpected. He paused " Ah," said he, " what is the use of my telling you ? All your interest is centred on Vin. I suppose a woman can only be interested in one man at any one time." " Well, I should hope so ! " tbe young widow said, cheerfully. " Shall we go round by tbe rocks or through the trees ? " For they were now come to a little wood of birch ! and larch and pine ; and without more ado he led the way, pushing through the outlying tall bracken and getting in underneath the branches. "I su2ipose," said he, in a rather rueful tone, " that you don't know what is the greatest proof of affection that a man can show to a woman ? No, of course you don't ! " " What is it, then ?

" she demanded, as she followed him stooping. "Why, it's going first through a wood, and getting all the spider's-webs on his nose." But presently they had come to a clearer space, where they could walk together, their footfalls hushed by the carpet of withered fir-needles ; while here and there a rabbit would scurry off, and again they would catch a glimpse of a hen-pheasant sedately walking down a glade between the trees. And now their talk had become much more intimate and confidential ; it had even assumed a touch of more or less affected sadness. "It's very hard," he was saying, "that you should understand me so little. You think I am cold, and cynical, and callous. Well, perhaps I have reason to be. I have had my little experience of womankind — of one woman, rather. I sometimes wonder whether the rest are anything like her, or are capable of acting as she did."

" Who was she ? " his companion asked, timidly. And therewith, as they idly and slowly strolled through this little thicket, he told his tragic tale, which needs not to be set down here : it was all about the James river, Virginia, and a pair of southern eyes, and betrayal, and farewell, and black night. His companion listened in the deep silence of sympathy ; and when he bad finished she said, in a low voice, and with downcast eyes — " I am sorry — very sorry. But at least there was one thing spared you : you did not marry out of spite." He glanced at her quickly*, " Oh, yes," she said, and she raised her head, and spoke with a proud and bitter air, " I have my story too ! I do not tell it to everyone. Perhaps I have not told it to anyone. But the man I loved was separated from me by lies — by lies ; and I was fool and idiot enough to believe them !

And the one I told you about — the one with the beautiful, clear, CRAIG-ROYSTOX ! brown eyes — so good ancl noble he was, as everyone declared ! — it was he who came to me with those falsehoods ; and I believed them — I believed them — like the fool I was ! Oh, yes," she said, and she held her head high, for her breast was heaving with real emotion this time, " it is easy to say that every mistake meets with its own punishment ; but I was punished too much — too much ; a life-long punish ment for believing what lying friends had said to me ! " She furtively put the tips of her fingers to her eyes, to wipe away the tears that lay along the lashes. " And then I was mad ; I was out of my senses ; I would have married anybody to show that — that I cared nothing for — for the other one ; and — and I suppose he was angry too — he would not speak — he stood aside, and knew that I was going to kill my life, and never a single word !