The Laird's Deed of Settlement, or the Secret of the Vault

Front matter

THE STANDARD WORK ON AUTHORSHIP The Author's Manual A Complete, Practical Guide to all Branches of Journalism, Literary Work generally, and Book-producing, with Special Advice in Reference to Imaginative Literature. By Percy Russell. Crown 8vo, cloth, 5s. (Sixth Edition, New and Revised, with Portrait of the Author.) SPECIAL NOTICE. The New and Revised Edition contains Prefatory Remarks by the RIGHT HON. W. E. GLADSTONE, M.P.. who has read and approved the volume. "The aspirant to literature may certainly read Mr Russell's book with profit. 'Spectator. " Mr. Russell has got up his subject with much care, and supplies a great ■ leal of useful information. His advice and suggestions are sound and to the point."— Graphic. " Cordially recommending Mr Russell's vade mecum."— Literary World. Miss M. E. BaAnDON writes:— "Your counsel both to the journalist and the imaginative writer is full of wisdom."

LONDON : DIGBY, LONG & CO., 18 Eouvirie Street, Fleet Street, E.C. OR THE SECRET OE THE VAULT 1!Y JANE M. KIPPEN AUTHOR OF 'AUNT MARCARET'S VISIT,' ' EDITH OSWALD,' 'FLORENCE STANLEY,' 'FLORA MACLEAN's REWARD,' ETC, ETC. LONDON DIGBY, LONG & CO., Publishers 18 BOUVERIE STREET, FLEET STREET, E.C. CONTENTS. CHAP. i-a<;e I. — AN INCIDENT AND AN ACCIDENT, ... I II. — ON DANGEROUS GROUND, IO III. — EXPLANATORY BETWEEN HERO AND HEROINE, 19 IV. — Kenneth's home and friends, ... 30 V. — mother and son, 41 VI. — HOPES AND FEARS, 53 VII. — A DECISIVE INTERVIEW, 64 VIII. — A FAMILY REUNION, 77 IX. — A STARTLING ANNOUNCEMENT 87 X. — THE TUG OF WAR, ....'. 97 XI. — A REFUGE IN TROUBLE, 106 XII. — A MOMENTOUS CRISIS FOR LUCY, . . . Il6 XIII.— 'MY NATIVE LAND, GOOD-NIGHT!' . . . 126 XIV.— A LOVER'S ANXIETIES 133 XV. — A RAY OF COMFORT FOR KENNETH, . . 141 XVI. — FOOD FOR SPECULATION, 150 XVII.— THE LAIRD OF DUMPHAIL'S DEED OF SETTLE- MENT, 159 XVIII.— KENNETH'S RESOLVE, CONTENTS.

CHAP. PACE XIX. — A JOYFUL DISCOVERY FOR KENNE I'H, . . '79 XX. — THE GUIDING HAND OF PROVIDENCE, . . 187 XXI. — A QUIET HAVEN, IQ6 XXII. — 'ON THE WIDE, WIDE SEA,' . . . 2o6 XXIII.— NEARING THE HAPPY CONSUMMATION, . . 217 XXIV. — A STARTLING ADVENTURE, .... 227 XXV. — AN EXTRAORDINARY APPARITION, . . . 237 XXVI. — A CATASTROPHE, 245 XXVII. — a sheriff's warrant, 253 XXVIII. — THE DISCLOSURE AT THE VAULT, . . . 263 XXIX. — MUTUAL CONGRATULATIONS, .... 275 XXX. — WITH UNIVERSAL GOOD WISHES, . . . > THE LAIRD'S DEED OF SETTLEMENT OR, THE SECRET OF THE VAULT. 0

Chapter I. An Incident And An Accident

A BRILLIANT afternoon sun is shining and a soft autumnal breeze drifts white fleecy clouds over the clear blue sky, casting fleeting shadows across a wide extent of country rich in fields of golden grain, green pastures, and heath-clad moorland. To the right gleam the distant waters of a noble firth, to which successive chains of the grand mountains of a northern county form a magnifi cent boundary. On the left a range of wild hills, alternately purple with heather or clothed with dark pine, enhance the solitary beauty of the scene. A Through more than one deep glen intersecting those mountain-passes pour down clear streams which unite and emerge in a broad, rapid river, now flowing between banks fringed with alder, dwarf oak, and willows, now sweeping in eddies round shelving rocks in its course to the ocean.

Nor is the scene wanting in human interest. The figures of two men extended on the green turf by the river's side lend to it that appearance of life and animation which it frequently owes only to that of a few stray sheep with, perchance, a shepherd's dog in attendance. Tired of the sport of fishing, in which he has had but indifferent success, the sun shining too brightly for the fish to rise to the surface, the principal of the two, a handsome young man of about five-and-twenty, reclines on the sward, his head resting on his hands, and his large straw hat shading his brow. He seems now to be watching the gambols of his dog, a noble retriever, as he springs about in pursuit of the dragon-flies skimming along the edge of the stream, or plays with the fishing-rod his master has abandoned ; again in listening to the lap and gurgle of the waters mingling their sounds with the notes of a blackbird from a neigh bouring elm, or in turning over the pages of a book.

Not a novel or romance, that class of literature being greatly more rare at the period of which we write — sometime towards the end of the last century — than it is now. His studies are more in keeping with the expression of daring in his dark eagle eye and fine animated features, being a narrative of the wars of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. And yet his arch, good-humoured smile, as he looks towards his attendant, a stalwart, sunburnt Highlander, accompanying him to carry his fish ing-basket and dress his hooks, and whose audible snores now testify to his enjoyment of a comfortable slumber under the shade of an adjacent tree, seems to indicate that the glance which would certainly ' kindle in war ' would be equally ready to ' melt in love.' And such was indeed the fact. In the day-dreams of Kenneth Mackintosh both passions are wont to meet and mingle, the softer often, indeed, claiming the ascendency, though at present his prospects of success in pursuit of either seem equally faint, if not all but hopeless.

The only child of his mother, and she a widow, left by his father's will in sole charge of the ancestral pro perty, the dull routine of a Highland laird's life — farming the larger portion of his acres in a thinly peopled district, and compelled to attend to the petty, commonplace details pertaining to his position— form a combination of circumstances likely to abate, if not altogether to extinguish his military ardour. Still more insurmountable obstacles — afterwards to be explained — threaten, if possible even more effectually, to stand in the way of his ever attaining the other object of his yet deeper ambition. His mother's stern, determined veto has more than once been evoked by his half uttered hint of a predilection for military service. And for his romantic love-dreams, woe betide him if she should ever come to discover the source of their inspiration, the quarter to which his heart's inmost hopes and most ardent wishes ever turn with longing, anxious, unquenchable yearning.

His mind occupied as usual with such thoughts, those meditations are suddenly interrupted by the unwonted sound of a horse's hoofs approaching rapidly from behind, along the rocky pathway leading down to the river's brink. The next moment a crimson flush overspreads his handsome, manly face as he recognises in the lady rider, the fair object ever present to his mental vision, and even now the chief, if not the all engrossing theme of his musings. Can it be possible, or do his eyes deceive him ? But there is no mistake. Search the whole country round, where could he find anything at all to be compared with that graceful form, that lovely face ? The lady of his silent, enthusiastic, but apparently hopeless love is actually within a few paces of the spot where he now reclines ! How his heart throbs as she rides past swiftly, so close that he could almost feel the sweep of her garments !

Whether or not she is sensible of his presence he cannot tell, though he would give worlds to know. He is not even aware if she has cast one glance in his direction, and he has now lost all chance of discovering that, as, under the spell of her nearness, he had found it impos7 sible to venture even to raise his eyes towards her. But every other emotion is presently absorbed in overwhelming surprise and unspeakable alarm, as, after galloping forward in headlong haste, he sees her at once dash into the river where ' ford there was none,' though a safe and easy one is available, as she must surely know, at about fifty yards' distance further up the stream. A feeling of horror indescribable succeeds, as, with lightning speed, the thought darts across his mind, ' Can she meditate self-destruction ? ' It seems only too like it !

And certain rumours of a home rendered unhappy to the poor girl by a stern, tyrannical brother, and a cold, estranged sister, flash suddenly on his recollection, adding force to the dreadful surmise. For what other motive could possibly impel the rash infatuation of this attempt to cross a river of fully sixty yards wide at a spot where the waters are always turbulent from the junction of opposing currents? Instinctively obeying the impulse of his dis tracted feelings, he starts to his feet, and, rushing forward, makes a desperate effort to arrest the young lady's progress, by calling out to show her that she is observed, and to warn her of her danger. But the attempt is vain. As if under the oppressive influence of some horrible nightmare, he cannot succeed in making himself heard. His words die away onhis tongue, which seems to cleave to the roof of his mouth.

Every faculty is paralysed by the pressure of his overwhelming apprehensions for the safety of her in whom he is so deeply interested ; and without power to render assistance, or to prevent it in any way, it seems as if he must witness the dreadful fate apparently imminent to the object of his adoration. Suddenly, in the midst of those agonising anticipations, comes a recollection of his attendant, whose presence he had for the moment forgotten in the painful agitation of his mind, and who, meanwhile, wrapt in profound slumber, had been indulging dreams of a somewhat similar tendency to his own waking musings. Visions of a plump, rosy damsel, the daughter of a miller residing a little further down the river occupying his sleeping thoughts. The honest ghillie had just reached the climax of imagining that he is present in the parish church when the sound of a proclamation of marriage between him and the aforesaid object of his preference falls on his startled ear. ' Hooch, preserve us a' ! an' has it ra'aly cam to this ? ' thinks Donald. ' I never intended it shude pe sae soon, though it's lang since I've seen the lassie castin' sheep's een up till the preast o' the last ' (front of the gallery), ' whaur I sit in the kirk, shust peside the laird's pew.

I canna deny but that sometimes I've keekit doon at her in my turn, but for a' that, marriage is the fery last thing in my thochts shust noo. For what's the upshot o' that, put shust tae land the like o' me in a mess, afore I wad pe kennin' whaur I was ? I'd faur raither pide wi' the laird for many a tay tae come yet, an' wha kens put we'll get oor turn o' fechtin' in the wars py-and-py'? (Donald's military ardour being little inferior to that of his master), ' if the auld leddy could only pe brccht till her senses on that score. An' then, there micht pe some sense in takin' a wife whan a pody had somethin' tae begin the world wi' ; but och, no till then for Tonalt ! Hooch ! an' it's naethin' put a dream after a'. An' am I no richt thankful o' that ? ' was his next reflection, as, after sundry rousing shakes from his agitated master, the visions of his slumbers dispelled by the sight of the verdant turf, trees, and sparkling waters, after a snort or two he starts to his feet.

Then, at once taking in the desperate state of matters, as much from seeing the young lady's perilous position as from hearing Kenneth's frantic en treaties, without a moment's hesitation he rushes forward to the rescue. But suddenly he is ar rested by a conviction that to follow his first impulse of plunging into the stream would involve certain destruction to himself. So, after relieving his feelings by uttering an cath or two in Gaelic, drawn forth by a reflection on the fair horse woman's madness in neglecting to take the legiti mate ford, he shouts lustily to her to stop, at the same time pointing it out to her notice with emphatic Highland gesticulation. But his warning comes too late. The feet of the horse, a spirited Spanish jennet, have already stumbled over the sunken rocks, round which the opposing currents sweep and foam.

He slips, flounders, and plunges, doubtless startled by the loud barking of Kenneth's dog, which, on discovering that something is amiss, of course adds his voice to swell the tumult. The efforts of the fair rider to retain her seat and her hold of the reins at once tend to disabuse Kenneth's mind, as he watches her in breathless, agonising suspense, of his first fearful, and now evidently unjust surmise. The active Donald, in hopes of rendering her more effectual assistance from the opposite bank which she had now almost reached, has already crossed at the ford. But before he succeeds in his purpose the horse has either thrown his rider, or she has sprung from his back — to the dazzled eyes of Kenneth it seems uncertain which. At anyrate, she has fallen against a rocky part of the bank, where she now lies prostrate, and most un questionably sorely bruised.

The sight of this catastrophe, though less dreadful than his worst fears had anticipated, rousing our hero from his all but paralysed state of distraction, he at once follows the ghillie knee-deep across the ford. The next moment brings him to the side of the young lady, whom Donald proclaims to have ' fented,' which, to his intense dismay and per plexity, he discovers to be too true, as she now lies perfectly still, and insensible to all that is passing around.

Chapter II. On Dangerous Ground

Who can describe the mingled emotions with which Kenneth gazed on the pale, inanimate form before him ? How often had he vainly longed for the opportunity, now afforded him, of being brought into more immediate contact than he ever was before with the object of his romantic passion ! And now that he finds this desire so unexpectedly fulfilled, the thought of the sad attendant circumstances almost entirely mars the happiness he had been wont to anticipate in picturing to himself even the remotest chance of such a meeting. But fortunately his natural good sense, at once coming in aid of his passionate sympathy, showed him that the present was no time for the exclusive in dulgence of such feelings. So, rousing himself to face the emergency, he directed Donald, in answer to his somewhat be wildered and bewildering inquiry of, 'What was his honour goin' to be for dooin' noo ? ' to fetch some water from the river in his bonnet, as the first step towards an attempt to restore the poor young lady's senses. ' Weel I wot,' muttered Donald — sot to voce however, as his master's presence warns him to observe such discretion in making his remarks — ' she's muckle need shust to get pack a' the sense she can.

It's precious little I reckon she'll hae at the pest, or she wad neffer hae dune sic a mad-like thing as tae gang dashing through the watter — owre thae slippery stanes too — an' as ponny an easy ford as ane could wush for shust close at hant. Och ! put she's procht hersel' tae grief or I'm muckle mistaken. An' what wonder? It's shust a kin' o' miracle tae me that she's escaped breakin' her neck. Och, put the puir peast o' a horse has a hantle mair sense nor her, for I see he's swatter 'd oot on the bank, an's takin' his feed o' the gowans doon yont.' And suppressing his inclination to indulge further in this uncomplimentary strain, which, well for him, reached not his master's ears, he hastened to obey that gentleman's order, and soon returned with the water. But for some moments all Kenneth's efforts to bring back consciousness to the insensible girl, by dashing water over her face and chafing her hands and temples, as the only means that occurred to him as likely to avail under this alarming state of matters, proving useless, his apprehension and uneasiness became well-nigh unbearable.

Those painful sensations were con siderably augmented by the now audible remarks of his attendant, who stood looking on in helpless bewilderment, totally unable to suggest anything in the way of relief — the sight of a fainting damsel being an entirely new phase in the honest fellow's experience. ' Och, but it's a pity o' her too,' he said relent ingly, ' for she's a ponny cra'atur as ane could see, an' she hadna shust been sae foolish as tae pring hersel' infill sic a pass. I ra'aly wush she wud come tae ; though what till do wi' her, even if she shude, passes my wut tae ken. It's aething certain she canna lie here on the grass a' nicht ; an' aiblins she'll never be fut till walk hame — sae I canna for the life o' me contrive — ' ' No, certainly, contrivance doesn't seem to be the most conspicuous of your gifts,' interrupted his master impatiently. ' So it's well there's one here more capable in a case so trying.

God be praised ! ' was his next exclamation, as the object of his overwhelming solicitude at last began to evince some slight symptoms of recovery, a faint, delicate colour returning to the fair cheek, and a scarce perceptible tremor to the fragile form. ' And now there's but one thing to be done, whenever she can be removed with safety to herself,' he added in a low tone, as he tenderly supported her, and apparently, by a considerable effort, making up his mind to a desperate resolve, — 'this young lady must be carried home with us at once to the house of Auchline.' ' Carried 'ome wi' us ! Ye're shurely no think in' what ye're sayin', laird ! ' exclaimed Donald, in irrepressible amazement. ' It's my pelief ye dinna ken wha this young lady is,' he continued hastily, and in a lower voice, as if anxious to give utterance to his protest before the lady's com plete recovery should render that impossible, ' else ye never wad think o' sic a thing, kennin,' as ye maun dae, that madam, your mother, wud neffer alloo o' her — ' ' Be silent, Donald, I command you,' inter rupted his master peremptorily, his heightened colour the while, too plainly showing that he fully shared in the apprehensions his follower seemed about so imprudently to express. ' I know perfectly that this young lady is Miss Cameron of Dumphail, and, as such, well en titled to, as she is most worthy of, any atten tion I can show her.

And so — ' ' I ken that weel,' interrupted Donald, in a deprecating tone. ' But a' the same, I was goin' till propose, wad yer honour no think it wad pe petter tae tak' her rather tae Tougal Maclvor, the muller's, doon at Dourloch there? His dochter Morag's a handy lass,' he added, his thoughts again reverting to the heroine of his dream, ' an' wad guide the leddy as weel as onybody could. An' I wad run doon an' pring up his cart, wi' a pickle clean straw intill't, an' trive her in a jiffy till his hoose ; an' — ' ' Hush, Donald, that will never do,' again in terrupted the young gentleman, shuddering at the bare idea of the beautiful, tender, refined creature before him being subjected to a mode of conveyance so rude and uncomfortable. ' You mean well, doubtless, but that is entirely out of the question.

The jolting of such a cart would kill Miss Cameron, to say nothing of the dis tance, which is so much greater, and the far in ferior accommodation. There is but one course to follow — she must be taken at once to Auch line. And, as for my mother,' he added in a half-whisper, and with an evidently doubtful as sumption of the confidence he was very far from feeling — the same cause for apprehension, which he was well aware possessed his follower's mind, having already occurred very painfully to his own — 'never fear but she'll receive her kindly. It's not in her nature to do otherwise under such circumstances ; besides, there's no alternative, and this is no time to advance objections.' He then directed Donald to assist him in pre paring a temporary couch for the sufferer, by spreading his plaid in double folds over some low, soft, yielding heather growing at a little dis tance under the shelter of a large ash tree.

With the utmost care and caution the two men succeeded in removing the young lady to the spot. But the faint groan she vainly tried to suppress as they lifted her painfully con vinced the anxious Kenneth that her injuries were even more serious than his worst fears had anticipated ; and bending down towards her, after her removal had been accomplished, he gave expression to his uncontrollable anxiety by asking if she was suffering much pain ? Another faint moan, the only answer she seemed as yet capable of returning, showed that her consciousness was but imperfectly restored. But the encouraging assurance of Donald, as, with more interest than he had yet testified, he expressed his belief that, ' Nae fears but she wud dae weel yet,' awoke a corresponding hope in his master's breast. So he now hastened to give him the directions necessary for having the injured lady transported to his own residence. ' You'll take Miss Cameron's horse,' he said, 'and ride as quickly as possible to the house,' and then return here immediately, bringing Hector and Duncan, and any other two of the men you can get hold of along with you.

And, stay, let me see how we can manage to carry her with most ease to herself. The carriage,' indicating a clumsy old family coach drawn by a pair of fat, lazy horses, ' would never do ; it's motion over those rough roads would certainly hurt her. I think to bring the settee from the library downstairs would be the very thing if you can get the help of three other men besides yourself, and — ' ' There'll be nae need for sae mony, I reckon, laird, if it please ye,' interrupted Donald. ' A licht cra'atur like that' — with a glance towards the young lady — ' surely she'll no be sae ill tae carry. (Licht in the heid at anyrate, I'll be sworn, when she could dae sic a daft-like thing as tae gang swatterin' an' splashin' yon gate through the very current o' the watter !) ' This episodical comment being, of course, again uttered sotto voce. ' I'm sure Hector an' myself could manage weel enuch.' ' Do as I bid you, sir, without further demur,' said his young master, in a tone of stern deter mination, a syllable or two of Donald's muttered 'aside' having smote his ear and aroused no slight amount of displeasure. ' All I have named may be required ; besides, one of you — yourself, I think — must immediately afterwards ride off for the doctor, so be sure to have a horse in readiness.

And just one thing more,' as Donald had mounted and was preparing to depart, 'you must get hold of your mother whenever you reach the house ; she's the best person to employ. Tell her to get ready the white room, it's the most suitable, being downstairs, and to have everything comfortable for the young lady's reception. And if you can manage to get speech of Miss Janet, and let her know what has happened, without disturbing my mother at present, so much the better. You understand ? ' ' Ay, ay, sir,' replied Donald, with a nod and look of intelligence, not unmixed with slyness, as setting spurs to the horse, he rode off" at full speed. Then muttering to himself when he got out of earshot — ' Och me, the day ! It's weel tae be seen the laird's as little easy in his mind aboot takin' this leddy hame till his mother's hoose as Tonald is !

An' nae wunner ! Gude sake ! what a bonny fluster the auld leddy '11 be in when she'll hear wha's come under her roof; for, weel I wot, she'll never could pide till hear o' a Roman, far less tae see ane, cross her door-cheek ! Preserve us a', but I hope and trust I'll no be the ane that'll need till let her ken B what's up ! I could face the French, or the Yankees that oor sodgers is fechtin' wi' the noo. wi' richt gude wull tae ; but till encounter her, whan she hears tell o' this ca'-through, is some thin' I've ra'aly nae stamach for. Och, deed no, deed no ! '

Chapter III. Explanatory Between Hero And Heroine

NOT without a certain feeling of embarrassment, mingled with a thrill of intense pleasure, did Kenneth find himself once more beside, and alone with the fair object of his all-engrossing anxiety. But the latter emotion soon gained the ascendency, as he perceived evident signs of restored conscious ness in his interesting companion. And the deep blush which immediately displaced her former paleness, as she encountered his anxious, interested gaze, seemed to show that she was fully alive to the strange awkwardness of their mutual position. But all else was speedily absorbed in a sense of exquisite delight to our hero, as he heard her reply to his anxious inquiries, that the feeling of faintness had gone off, and that she was decidedly better. *9 With what indescribable pleasure did he drink in the sweet accents of that voice — just once heard before, on a certain never-to-be-forgotten occasion.

That was when he had met Lucy Cameron riding through a narrow pass among the hills, and had felt himself bound to apologise for the fright he must have given her, when his sudden appearance, carrying his fowling-piece, and surrounded by his dogs, had evidently startled both horse and rider. Then and there, though only a commonplace sentence from her lips had told him that ' there was no harm done ' (a decided mistake so far as he was concerned), an impression, deep, indelible. permanent, had been made on Kenneth's heart. And from that day, casting aside the thought of consequences, including the apparently insurmount able obstacles to any chance of ever renewing their acquaintance, the enthusiastic young man had yielded up his heart to the spell of her fascina tions. Her image had continued to haunt alike his thoughts by day and his dreams by night, — the one object of his life, the hope of meeting her again, — though beyond that uncertain contingency his aspirations dared not stretch into the indefinite chaos that seemed to fill the future for both.

Once or twice, indeed, he had encountered her since then, riding, attended either by her brother or a groom. On these occasions nothing beyond a respectful, silent salutation on his part, very slightly acknowledged by her when the former was her escort, could pass between them. Indeed, her look of painful embarrassment on such occa sions too plainly showed Kenneth that she would rather have dispensed with any sign of recognition from him, than thus run a risk of awakening the suspicions, or provoking the resentment of her haughty, imperious guardian. More than two years . had elapsed since this episode which had produced an effect so moment ous on our young laird. What wonder then, that the seeming hopelessness of his position should have driven him well-nigh to desperation ? In deed he could only, by the strongest effort, and in consideration for his mother, refrain from pur chasing a commission in the army and joining our troops in America, where the war was then raging, as the only expedient by which he might possibly, amid the excitements of military action, hope to overcome, though he never could forget, his ill omened love.

Let him not be pronounced unpar donably foolish for so giving way to the weakness implied in his placing his affections on a stranger, an alien to his faith, and one with whom, for various other reasons, an alliance seemed all but impossible. Are not most of us ready, from the experience of our own hearts, to find some excuse for him, indorsing, as we are forced to do, the common assertion, that ' love is little else than a short madness,' and, that at least in its first ardour, ' to it all other passions yield ? ' The case of poor Kenneth, sensible in all other respects, as he is good, honourable, and generous, forms in this no exception to the supremacy of its sway. Such being the state of matters with him we may, in some measure, estimate the overwhelming rapture of his present feelings.

But as no earthly happiness is free from alloy, a recollection of his position in regard to his mother — for, in truth, he shared almost equally with honest Donald a profound dread of her displeasure on account of the bold step he was taking — soon came effectually to mar his ; having, in his knowledge of her prejudices, only too just grounds for such apprehension. Calm, impassive, and generally indifferent on most other points not immediately affecting her own well-being, the prominent characteristic of Mrs Mackintosh, second only to her deep affection — amounting nearly to idolatry — for her son, was narrow-minded bigotry to her own form, or rather sect of religion. Descended from an old covenant ing stock in the west of Scotland, she had been brought up a rigid Presbyterian ; and, while refusing to others the same right of judgment which she claimed for herself, she would scarcely admit the existence of any good quality or moral excel lence in any member of the Christian Church beyond the pale of her own.