Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor

by R. D. Blackmore

  CHAPTER XXXVI

  JOHN RETURNS TO BUSINESS

  Now November was upon us, and we had kept Allhallowmass, with roastingof skewered apples (like so many shuttlecocks), and after that the dayof Fawkes, as became good Protestants, with merry bonfires and burnedbatatas, and plenty of good feeding in honour of our religion and thenwhile we were at wheat-sowing, another visitor arrived.

  This was Master Jeremy Stickles, who had been a good friend to me (asdescribed before) in London, and had earned my mother's gratitude, sofar as ever he chose to have it. And he seemed inclined to have it all;for he made our farm-house his headquarters, and kept us quite at hisbeck and call, going out at any time of the evening, and coming back atany time of the morning, and always expecting us to be ready, whetherwith horse, or man, or maiden, or fire, or provisions. We knew that hewas employed somehow upon the service of the King, and had at differentstations certain troopers and orderlies quite at his disposal; alsowe knew that he never went out, nor even slept in his bedroom, withoutheavy firearms well loaded, and a sharp sword nigh his hand; and thathe held a great commission, under royal signet, requiring all goodsubjects, all officers of whatever degree, and especially justices ofthe peace, to aid him to the utmost, with person, beast, and chattel, orto answer it at their peril.

  Now Master Jeremy Stickles, of course, knowing well what women are,durst not open to any of them the nature of his instructions. But, afterawhile, perceiving that I could be relied upon, and that it was a greatdiscomfort not to have me with him, he took me aside in a lonely place,and told me nearly everything; having bound me first by oath, not toimpart to any one, without his own permission, until all was over.

  But at this present time of writing, all is over long ago; ay andforgotten too, I ween, except by those who suffered. Therefore may Itell the whole without any breach of confidence. Master Stickles wasgoing forth upon his usual night journey, when he met me coming home,and I said something half in jest, about his zeal and secrecy; uponwhich he looked all round the yard, and led me to an open space in theclover field adjoining.

  'John,' he said, 'you have some right to know the meaning of all this,being trusted as you were by the Lord Chief Justice. But he found youscarcely supple enough, neither gifted with due brains.'

  'Thank God for that same,' I answered, while he tapped his head, tosignify his own much larger allowance. Then he made me bind myself,which in an evil hour I did, to retain his secret; and after that hewent on solemnly, and with much importance,--

  'There be some people fit to plot, and others to be plotted against,and others to unravel plots, which is the highest gift of all. This lasthath fallen to my share, and a very thankless gift it is, although arare and choice one. Much of peril too attends it; daring courage andgreat coolness are as needful for the work as ready wit and spotlesshonour. Therefore His Majesty's advisers have chosen me for this hightask, and they could not have chosen a better man. Although you havebeen in London, Jack, much longer than you wished it, you are whollyignorant, of course, in matters of state, and the public weal.'

  'Well,' said I, 'no doubt but I am, and all the better for me. AlthoughI heard a deal of them; for everybody was talking, and ready to come toblows; if only it could be done without danger. But one said this, andone said that; and they talked so much about Birminghams, and Tantivies,and Whigs and Tories, and Protestant flails and such like, that I wasonly too glad to have my glass and clink my spoon for answer.'

  'Right, John, thou art right as usual. Let the King go his own gait. Hehath too many mistresses to be ever England's master. Nobody need fearhim, for he is not like his father: he will have his own way, 'tis true,but without stopping other folk of theirs: and well he knows what womenare, for he never asks them questions. Now heard you much in London townabout the Duke of Monmouth?'

  'Not so very much,' I answered; 'not half so much as in Devonshire: onlythat he was a hearty man, and a very handsome one, and now was banishedby the Tories; and most people wished he was coming back, instead of theDuke of York, who was trying boots in Scotland.'

  'Things are changed since you were in town. The Whigs are getting upagain, through the folly of the Tories killing poor Lord Russell; andnow this Master Sidney (if my Lord condemns him) will make it worseagain. There is much disaffection everywhere, and it must grow to anoutbreak. The King hath many troops in London, and meaneth to bringmore from Tangier; but he cannot command these country places; and thetrained bands cannot help him much, even if they would. Now, do youunderstand me, John?'

  'In truth, not I. I see not what Tangier hath to do with Exmoor; nor theDuke of Monmouth with Jeremy Stickles.'

  'Thou great clod, put it the other way. Jeremy Stickles may have much todo about the Duke of Monmouth. The Whigs having failed of Exclusion, andhaving been punished bitterly for the blood they shed, are ripe for anyviolence. And the turn of the balance is now to them. See-saw is thefashion of England always; and the Whigs will soon be the top-sawyers.'

  'But,' said I, still more confused, '"The King is the top-sawyer,"according to our proverb. How then can the Whigs be?'

  'Thou art a hopeless ass, John. Better to sew with a chestnut than toteach thee the constitution. Let it be so, let it be. I have seen aboy of five years old more apt at politics than thou. Nay, look notoffended, lad. It is my fault for being over-deep to thee. I should haveconsidered thy intellect.'

  'Nay, Master Jeremy, make no apologies. It is I that should excusemyself; but, God knows, I have no politics.'

  'Stick to that, my lad,' he answered; 'so shalt thou die easier. Now,in ten words (without parties, or trying thy poor brain too much), I amhere to watch the gathering of a secret plot, not so much against theKing as against the due succession.'

  'Now I understand at last. But, Master Stickles, you might have said allthat an hour ago almost.'

  'It would have been better, if I had, to thee,' he replied with muchcompassion 'thy hat is nearly off thy head with the swelling of brain Ihave given thee. Blows, blows, are thy business, Jack. There thou art inthine element. And, haply, this business will bring thee plenty evenfor thy great head to take. Now hearken to one who wishes thee well,and plainly sees the end of it--stick thou to the winning side, and havenaught to do with the other one.'

  'That,' said I, in great haste and hurry, 'is the very thing I wantto do, if I only knew which was the winning side, for the sake ofLorna--that is to say, for the sake of my dear mother and sisters, andthe farm.'

  'Ha!' cried Jeremy Stickles, laughing at the redness of my face--'Lorna,saidst thou; now what Lorna? Is it the name of a maiden, or alight-o'-love?'

  'Keep to your own business,' I answered, very proudly; 'spy as much ase'er thou wilt, and use our house for doing it, without asking leave ortelling; but if I ever find thee spying into my affairs, all the King'slifeguards in London, and the dragoons thou bringest hither, shall notsave thee from my hand--or one finger is enough for thee.'

  Being carried beyond myself by his insolence about Lorna, I lookedat Master Stickles so, and spake in such a voice, that all his daringcourage and his spotless honour quailed within him, and he shrank--as ifI would strike so small a man.

  Then I left him, and went to work at the sacks upon the corn-floor, totake my evil spirit from me before I should see mother. For (to tell thetruth) now my strength was full, and troubles were gathering round me,and people took advantage so much of my easy temper, sometimes whenI was over-tried, a sudden heat ran over me, and a glowing of allmy muscles, and a tingling for a mighty throw, such as my utmostself-command, and fear of hurting any one, could but ill refrain.Afterwards, I was always very sadly ashamed of myself, knowing how poora thing bodily strength is, as compared with power of mind, and that itis a coward's part to misuse it upon weaker folk. For the present therewas a little breach between Master Stickles and me, for which I blamedmyself very sorely. But though, in full memory of his kindness andfaithfulness in London, I asked his pardon many times for my foolishanger with him, and offered to und
ergo any penalty he would lay upon me,he only said it was no matter, there was nothing to forgive. When peoplesay that, the truth often is that they can forgive nothing.

  So for the present a breach was made between Master Jeremy and myself,which to me seemed no great loss, inasmuch as it relieved me from anyprivity to his dealings, for which I had small liking. All I feared waslest I might, in any way, be ungrateful to him; but when he would haveno more of me, what could I do to help it? However, in a few days' timeI was of good service to him, as you shall see in its proper place.

  But now my own affairs were thrown into such disorder that I couldthink of nothing else, and had the greatest difficulty in hiding myuneasiness. For suddenly, without any warning, or a word of message,all my Lorna's signals ceased, which I had been accustomed to watch fordaily, and as it were to feed upon them, with a glowing heart. The firsttime I stood on the wooded crest, and found no change from yesterday, Icould hardly believe my eyes, or thought at least that it must be somegreat mistake on the part of my love. However, even that oppressed mewith a heavy heart, which grew heavier, as I found from day to day notoken.

  Three times I went and waited long at the bottom of the valley, wherenow the stream was brown and angry with the rains of autumn, and theweeping trees hung leafless. But though I waited at every hour of day,and far into the night, no light footstep came to meet me, no sweetvoice was in the air; all was lonely, drear, and drenched with soddendesolation. It seemed as if my love was dead, and the winds were at herfuneral.

  Once I sought far up the valley, where I had never been before, evenbeyond the copse where Lorna had found and lost her brave young cousin.Following up the river channel, in shelter of the evening fog, I gaineda corner within stone's throw of the last outlying cot. This was agloomy, low, square house, without any light in the windows, roughlybuilt of wood and stone, as I saw when I drew nearer. For knowing itto be Carver's dwelling (or at least suspecting so, from some words ofLorna's), I was led by curiosity, and perhaps by jealousy, to have acloser look at it. Therefore, I crept up the stream, losing half mysense of fear, by reason of anxiety. And in truth there was not much tofear, the sky being now too dark for even a shooter of wild fowl to makegood aim. And nothing else but guns could hurt me, as in the pride of mystrength I thought, and in my skill of single-stick.

  Nevertheless, I went warily, being now almost among this nest ofcockatrices. The back of Carver's house abutted on the waves of therushing stream; and seeing a loop-hole, vacant for muskets, I looked in,but all was quiet. So far as I could judge by listening, there was noone now inside, and my heart for a moment leaped with joy, for Ihad feared to find Lorna there. Then I took a careful survey of thedwelling, and its windows, and its door, and aspect, as if I had beena robber meaning to make privy entrance. It was well for me that I didthis, as you will find hereafter.

  Having impressed upon my mind (a slow but, perhaps retentive mind), allthe bearings of the place, and all its opportunities, and even thecurve of the stream along it, and the bushes near the door, I was muchinclined to go farther up, and understand all the village. But a bar ofred light across the river, some forty yards on above me, and crossingfrom the opposite side like a chain, prevented me. In that second housethere was a gathering of loud and merry outlaws, making as much noise asif they had the law upon their side. Some, indeed, as I approached, werelaying down both right and wrong, as purely, and with as high a sense,as if they knew the difference. Cold and troubled as I was, I couldhardly keep from laughing.

  Before I betook myself home that night, and eased dear mother's heartso much, and made her pale face spread with smiles, I had resolved topenetrate Glen Doone from the upper end, and learn all about my Lorna.Not but what I might have entered from my unsuspected channel, as sooften I had done; but that I saw fearful need for knowing something morethan that. Here was every sort of trouble gathering upon me, here wasJeremy Stickles stealing upon every one in the dark; here wasUncle Reuben plotting Satan only could tell what; here was a whitenight-capped man coming bodily from the grave; here was my own sisterAnnie committed to a highwayman, and mother in distraction most ofall--here, there, and where--was my Lorna stolen, dungeoned, perhapsoutraged. It was no time for shilly shally, for the balance of this andthat, or for a man with blood and muscle to pat his nose and ponder.If I left my Lorna so; if I let those black-soul'd villains work theirpleasure on my love; if the heart that clave to mine could find novigour in it--then let maidens cease from men, and rest their faith intabby-cats.

  Rudely rolling these ideas in my heavy head and brain I resolved to letthe morrow put them into form and order, but not contradict them. Andthen, as my constitution willed (being like that of England), I slept,and there was no stopping me.