Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor

by R. D. Blackmore

  CHAPTER LII

  THE WAY TO MAKE THE CREAM RISE

  That night the reverend Counsellor, not being in such state of mind asought to go alone, kindly took our best old bedstead, carved in panels,well enough, with the woman of Samaria. I set him up, both straightand heavy, so that he need but close both eyes, and keep his mouth justopen; and in the morning he was thankful for all that he could remember.

  I, for my part, scarcely knew whether he really had begun to feelgoodwill towards us, and to see that nothing else could be of any useto him; or whether he was merely acting, so as to deceive us. And ithad struck me, several times, that he had made a great deal more of thespirit he had taken than the quantity would warrant, with a man so wiseand solid. Neither did I quite understand a little story which Lornatold me, how that in the night awaking, she had heard, or seemed tohear, a sound of feeling in her room; as if there had been someone groping carefully among the things within her drawers orwardrobe-closet. But the noise had ceased at once, she said, when shesat up in bed and listened; and knowing how many mice we had, she tookcourage and fell asleep again.

  After breakfast, the Counsellor (who looked no whit the worse forschnapps, but even more grave and venerable) followed our Annie into thedairy, to see how we managed the clotted cream, of which he had eatena basinful. And thereupon they talked a little; and Annie thought him afine old gentleman, and a very just one; for he had nobly condemned thepeople who spoke against Tom Faggus.

  'Your honour must plainly understand,' said Annie, being now alonewith him, and spreading out her light quick hands over the pans, likebutterflies, 'that they are brought in here to cool, after being set inthe basin-holes, with the wood-ash under them, which I showed you in theback-kitchen. And they must have very little heat, not enough to simmereven; only just to make the bubbles rise, and the scum upon the top setthick; and after that, it clots as firm--oh, as firm as my two handsbe.'

  'Have you ever heard,' asked the Counsellor, who enjoyed this talk withAnnie, 'that if you pass across the top, without breaking the surface, astring of beads, or polished glass, or anything of that kind, the creamwill set three times as solid, and in thrice the quantity?'

  'No, sir; I have never heard that,' said Annie, staring with all hersimple eyes; 'what a thing it is to read books, and grow learned! Butit is very easy to try it: I will get my coral necklace; it will not bewitchcraft, will it, sir?'

  'Certainly not,' the old man replied; 'I will make the experimentmyself; and you may trust me not to be hurt, my dear. But coral will notdo, my child, neither will anything coloured. The beads must be of plaincommon glass; but the brighter they are the better.'

  'Then I know the very thing,' cried Annie; 'as bright as bright can be,and without any colour in it, except in the sun or candle light. DearestLorna has the very thing, a necklace of some old glass-beads, or I thinkthey called them jewels: she will be too glad to lend it to us. I willgo for it, in a moment.'

  'My dear, it cannot be half so bright as your own pretty eyes. Butremember one thing, Annie, you must not say what it is for; or even thatI am going to use it, or anything at all about it; else the charm willbe broken. Bring it here, without a word; if you know where she keepsit.'

  'To be sure I do,' she answered; 'John used to keep it for her. Butshe took it away from him last week, and she wore it when--I mean whensomebody was here; and he said it was very valuable, and spoke withgreat learning about it, and called it by some particular name, which Iforget at this moment. But valuable or not, we cannot hurt it, can we,sir, by passing it over the cream-pan?'

  'Hurt it!' cried the Counsellor: 'nay, we shall do it good, my dear.It will help to raise the cream: and you may take my word for it, youngmaiden, none can do good in this world, without in turn receiving it.'Pronouncing this great sentiment, he looked so grand and benevolent,that Annie (as she said afterwards) could scarce forbear from kissinghim, yet feared to take the liberty. Therefore, she only ran away tofetch my Lorna's necklace.

  Now as luck would have it--whether good luck or otherwise, you must notjudge too hastily,--my darling had taken it into her head, only a day ortwo before, that I was far too valuable to be trusted with her necklace.Now that she had some idea of its price and quality, she had begun tofear that some one, perhaps even Squire Faggus (in whom her faith wasilliberal), might form designs against my health, to win the bauble fromme. So, with many pretty coaxings, she had led me to give it up; which,except for her own sake, I was glad enough to do, misliking a charge ofsuch importance.

  Therefore Annie found it sparkling in the little secret hole, near thehead of Lorna's bed, which she herself had recommended for its safercustody; and without a word to any one she brought it down, and dancedit in the air before the Counsellor, for him to admire its lustre.

  'Oh, that old thing!' said the gentleman, in a tone of some contempt; 'Iremember that old thing well enough. However, for want of a better, nodoubt it will answer our purpose. Three times three, I pass it over.Crinkleum, crankum, grass and clover! What are you feared of, you sillychild?'

  'Good sir, it is perfect witchcraft! I am sure of that, because itrhymes. Oh, what would mother say to me? Shall I ever go to heavenagain? Oh, I see the cream already!'

  'To be sure you do; but you must not look, or the whole charm will bebroken, and the devil will fly away with the pan, and drown every cowyou have got in it.'

  'Oh, sir, it is too horrible. How could you lead me to such a sin? Awaywith thee, witch of Endor!'

  For the door began to creak, and a broom appeared suddenly in theopening, with our Betty, no doubt, behind it. But Annie, in the greatestterror, slammed the door, and bolted it, and then turned again to theCounsellor; yet looking at his face, had not the courage to reproachhim. For his eyes rolled like two blazing barrels, and his white shaggedbrows were knit across them, and his forehead scowled in black furrows,so that Annie said that if she ever saw the devil, she saw him then, andno mistake. Whether the old man wished to scare her, or whether he wastrying not to laugh, is more than I can tell you.

  'Now,' he said, in a deep stern whisper; 'not a word of this to a livingsoul; neither must you, nor any other enter this place for three hoursat least. By that time the charm will have done its work: the pan willbe cream to the bottom; and you will bless me for a secret which willmake your fortune. Put the bauble under this pannikin; which none mustlift for a day and a night. Have no fear, my simple wench; not a breathof harm shall come to you, if you obey my orders.'

  'Oh, that I will, sir, that I will: if you will only tell me what todo.'

  'Go to your room, without so much as a single word to any one. Boltyourself in, and for three hours now, read the Lord's Prayer backwards.'

  Poor Annie was only too glad to escape, upon these conditions; and theCounsellor kissed her upon the forehead and told her not to make hereyes red, because they were much too sweet and pretty. She dropped themat this, with a sob and a curtsey, and ran away to her bedroom; but asfor reading the Lord's Prayer backwards, that was much beyond her;and she had not done three words quite right, before the three hoursexpired.

  Meanwhile the Counsellor was gone. He bade our mother adieu, with somuch dignity of bearing, and such warmth of gratitude, and the high-bredcourtesy of the old school (now fast disappearing), that when he wasgone, dear mother fell back on the chair which he had used last night,as if it would teach her the graces. And for more than an hour she madebelieve not to know what there was for dinner.

  'Oh, the wickedness of the world! Oh, the lies that are told ofpeople--or rather I mean the falsehoods--because a man is better born,and has better manners! Why, Lorna, how is it that you never speak aboutyour charming uncle? Did you notice, Lizzie, how his silver hair waswaving upon his velvet collar, and how white his hands were, and everynail like an acorn; only pink like shell-fish, or at least like shells?And the way he bowed, and dropped his eyes, from his pure respect forme! And then, that he would not even speak, on account of his emotionbut pressed my hand in silence!
Oh, Lizzie, you have read me beautifulthings about Sir Gallyhead, and the rest; but nothing to equal SirCounsellor.'

  'You had better marry him, madam,' said I, coming in very sternly;though I knew I ought not to say it: 'he can repay your adoration. Hehas stolen a hundred thousand pounds.'

  'John,' cried my mother, 'you are mad!' And yet she turned as pale asdeath; for women are so quick at turning; and she inkled what it was.

  'Of course I am, mother; mad about the marvels of Sir Galahad. He hasgone off with my Lorna's necklace. Fifty farms like ours can never makeit good to Lorna.'

  Hereupon ensued grim silence. Mother looked at Lizzie's face, for shecould not look at me; and Lizzie looked at me, to know: and as for me, Icould have stamped almost on the heart of any one. It was not the valueof the necklace--I am not so low a hound as that--nor was it even thedamned folly shown by every one of us--it was the thought of Lorna'ssorrow for her ancient plaything; and even more, my fury at the breachof hospitality.

  But Lorna came up to me softly, as a woman should always come; and shelaid one hand upon my shoulder; and she only looked at me. She evenseemed to fear to look, and dropped her eyes, and sighed at me. Withouta word, I knew by that, how I must have looked like Satan; and the evilspirit left my heart; when she had made me think of it.

  'Darling John, did you want me to think that you cared for my money,more than for me?'

  I led her away from the rest of them, being desirous of explainingthings, when I saw the depth of her nature opened, like an everlastingwell, to me. But she would not let me say a word, or do anything byourselves, as it were: she said, 'Your duty is to your mother: this blowis on her, and not on me.'

  I saw that she was right; though how she knew it is beyond me; and Iasked her just to go in front, and bring my mother round a little. For Imust let my passion pass: it may drop its weapons quickly; but it cannotcome and go, before a man has time to think.

  Then Lorna went up to my mother, who was still in the chair of elegance;and she took her by both hands, and said,--

  'Dearest mother, I shall fret so, if I see you fretting. And to fretwill kill me, mother. They have always told me so.'

  Poor mother bent on Lorna's shoulder, without thought of attitude, andlaid her cheek on Lorna's breast, and sobbed till Lizzie was jealous,and came with two pocket-handkerchiefs. As for me, my heart was lighter(if they would only dry their eyes, and come round by dinnertime) thanit had been since the day on which Tom Faggus discovered the value ofthat blessed and cursed necklace. None could say that I wanted Lorna forher money now. And perhaps the Doones would let me have her; now thather property was gone.

  But who shall tell of Annie's grief? The poor little thing would havestaked her life upon finding the trinket, in all its beauty, lying underthe pannikin. She proudly challenged me to lift it--which I had done,long ere that, of course--if only I would take the risk of the spell formy incredulity. I told her not to talk of spells, until she could spella word backwards; and then to look into the pan where the charmed creamshould be. She would not acknowledge that the cream was the same as allthe rest was: and indeed it was not quite the same, for the points ofpoor Lorna's diamonds had made a few star-rays across the rich firmcrust of yellow.

  But when we raised the pannikin, and there was nothing under it, poorAnnie fell against the wall, which had been whitened lately; and herface put all the white to scorn. My love, who was as fond of her, as ifshe had known her for fifty years, hereupon ran up and caught her, andabused all diamonds. I will dwell no more upon Annie's grief, because wefelt it all so much. But I could not help telling her, if she wanted awitch, to seek good Mother Melldrum, a legitimate performer.

  That same night Master Jeremy Stickles (of whose absence the Counsellormust have known) came back, with all equipment ready for the grandattack. Now the Doones knew, quite as well as we did, that this attackwas threatening; and that but for the wonderful weather it would havebeen made long ago. Therefore we, or at least our people (for I wasdoubtful about going), were sure to meet with a good resistance, and duepreparation.

  It was very strange to hear and see, and quite impossible to accountfor, that now some hundreds of country people (who feared to whisperso much as a word against the Doones a year ago, and would sooner havethought of attacking a church, in service time, than Glen Doone) nowsharpened their old cutlasses, and laid pitch-forks on the grindstone,and bragged at every village cross, as if each would kill ten Dooneshimself, neither care to wipe his hands afterwards. And this fiercebravery, and tall contempt, had been growing ever since the news of theattack upon our premises had taken good people by surprise; at least asconcerned the issue.

  Jeremy Stickles laughed heartily about Annie's new manner of charmingthe cream; but he looked very grave at the loss of the jewels, so soonas he knew their value.

  'My son,' he exclaimed, 'this is very heavy. It will go ill with all ofyou to make good this loss, as I fear that you will have to do.'

  'What!' cried I, with my blood running cold. 'We make good the loss,Master Stickles! Every farthing we have in the world, and the labour ofour lives to boot, will never make good the tenth of it.'

  'It would cut me to the heart,' he answered, laying his hand on mine,'to hear of such a deadly blow to you and your good mother. And thisfarm; how long, John, has it been in your family?'

  'For at least six hundred years,' I said, with a foolish pride that wasonly too like to end in groans; 'and some people say, by a Royal grant,in the time of the great King Alfred. At any rate, a Ridd was with himthroughout all his hiding-time. We have always held by the King andcrown: surely none will turn us out, unless we are guilty of treason?'

  'My son,' replied Jeremy very gently, so that I could love him forit, 'not a word to your good mother of this unlucky matter. Keep it toyourself, my boy, and try to think but little of it. After all, I may bewrong: at any rate, least said best mended.'

  'But Jeremy, dear Jeremy, how can I bear to leave it so? Do you supposethat I can sleep, and eat my food, and go about, and look at otherpeople, as if nothing at all had happened? And all the time have it onmy mind, that not an acre of all the land, nor even our old sheep-dog,belongs to us, of right at all! It is more than I can do, Jeremy. Let metalk, and know the worst of it.'

  'Very well,' replied Master Stickles, seeing that both the doors wereclosed; 'I thought that nothing could move you, John; or I never wouldhave told you. Likely enough I am quite wrong; and God send that I beso. But what I guessed at some time back seems more than a guess, nowthat you have told me about these wondrous jewels. Now will you keep, asclose as death, every word I tell you?'

  'By the honour of a man, I will. Until you yourself release me.'

  'That is quite enough, John. From you I want no oath; which, accordingto my experience, tempts a man to lie the more, by making it moreimportant. I know you now too well to swear you, though I have thepower. Now, my lad, what I have to say will scare your mind in one way,and ease it in another. I think that you have been hard pressed--I canread you like a book, John--by something which that old villain said,before he stole the necklace. You have tried not to dwell upon it; youhave even tried to make light of it for the sake of the women: but onthe whole it has grieved you more than even this dastard robbery.'

  'It would have done so, Jeremy Stickles, if I could once have believedit. And even without much belief, it is so against our manners, that itmakes me miserable. Only think of loving Lorna, only think of kissingher; and then remembering that her father had destroyed the life ofmine!'

  'Only think,' said Master Stickles, imitating my very voice, 'of Lornaloving you, John, of Lorna kissing you, John; and all the while sayingto herself, "this man's father murdered mine." Now look at it in Lorna'sway as well as in your own way. How one-sided all men are!'

  'I may look at it in fifty ways, and yet no good will come of it.Jeremy, I confess to you, that I tried to make the best of it; partly tobaffle the Counsellor, and partly because my darling needed my help, andbore it s
o, and behaved to me so nobly. But to you in secret, I am notashamed to say that a woman may look over this easier than a man may.'

  'Because her nature is larger, my son, when she truly loves; althoughher mind be smaller. Now, if I can ease you from this secret burden,will you bear, with strength and courage, the other which I plant onyou?'

  'I will do my best,' said I.

  'No man can do more,' said he and so began his story.