Guy Mannering [193]
sir, is committed, and interested, and put in peril, in, by, and through you, sir. And the fellow is in safe custody, and Mr. Glossin thinks--"
"Mr. Glossin, sir?"
"Yes, sir, the gentleman who has purchased Ellangowan--you know who I mean, I suppose?"
"Yes, sir," answered the young man, "but I should hardly have expected to hear you quote such authority. Why, this fellow--all the world knows him to be sordid, mean, tricking; and I suspect him to be worse. And you yourself, my dear sir, when did you call such a person a gentleman in your life before?"
"Why, Charles, I did not mean gentleman in the precise sense and meaning, and restricted and proper use, to which, no doubt, the phrase ought legitimately to be confined; but I meant to use it relatively, as marking something of that state to which he has elevated and raised himself--as designing, in short, a decent and wealthy and estimable sort of a person."
"Allow me to ask, sir," said Charles, "if it was by this man's orders that the guard was drawn from Portanferry?"
"Sir," replied the Baronet, "I do apprehend that Mr. Glossin would not presume to give orders, or even an opinion, unless asked, in a matter in which Hazlewood House and the house of Hazlewood--meaning by the one this mansion-house of my family, and by the other, typically, metaphorically, and parabolically, the family itself--I say then where the house of Hazlewood, or Hazlewood House, was so immediately concerned."
"I presume, however, sir," said the son, "this Glossin approved of the proposal?"
"Sir," replied his father, "I thought it decent and right and proper to consult him as the nearest magistrate, as soon as report of the intended outrage reached my ears; and although he declined, out of deference and respect, as became our relative situations, to concur in the order, yet he did entirely approve of my arrangement."
At this moment a horse's feet were heard coming very fast up the avenue. In a few minutes the door opened, and Mr. Mac-Morlan presented himself. "I am under great concern to intrude, Sir Robert, but--"
"Give me leave, Mr. Mac-Morlan," said Sir Robert, with a gracious flourish of welcome; "this is no intrusion, sir; for your situation as Sheriff-substitute calling upon you to attend to the peace of the county (and you, doubtless, feeling yourself particularly called upon to protect Hazlewood House), you have an acknowledged, and admitted, and undeniable right, sir, to enter the house of the first gentleman in Scotland, uninvited--always presuming you to be called there by the duty of your office."
"It is indeed the duty of my office," said Mac-Morlan, who waited with impatience an opportunity to speak, "that makes me an intruder."
"No intrusion!" reiterated the Baronet, gracefully waving his hand.
"But permit me to say, Sir Robert," said the Sheriff-substitute, "I do not come with the purpose of remaining here, but to recall these soldiers to Portanferry, and to assure you that I will answer for the safety of your house."
"To withdraw the guard from Hazlewood House!" exclaimed the proprietor in mingled displeasure and surprise; "and you will be answerable for it! And, pray, who are you, sir, that I should take your security, and caution, and pledge, official or personal, for the safety of Hazlewood House?--I think, sir, and believe, sir, and am of opinion, sir, that if any one of these family pictures were deranged, or destroyed, or injured, it would be difficult for me to make up the loss upon the guarantee which you so obligingly offer me."
"In that case I shall be sorry for it, Sir Robert," answered the downright Mac-Morlan; "but I presume I may escape the pain of feeling my conduct the cause of such irreparable loss, as I can assure you there will be no attempt upon Hazlewood House whatever, and I have received information which induces me to suspect that the rumour was put afloat merely in order to occasion the removal of the soldiers from Portanferry. And under this strong belief and conviction, I must exert my authority as sheriff and chief
"Mr. Glossin, sir?"
"Yes, sir, the gentleman who has purchased Ellangowan--you know who I mean, I suppose?"
"Yes, sir," answered the young man, "but I should hardly have expected to hear you quote such authority. Why, this fellow--all the world knows him to be sordid, mean, tricking; and I suspect him to be worse. And you yourself, my dear sir, when did you call such a person a gentleman in your life before?"
"Why, Charles, I did not mean gentleman in the precise sense and meaning, and restricted and proper use, to which, no doubt, the phrase ought legitimately to be confined; but I meant to use it relatively, as marking something of that state to which he has elevated and raised himself--as designing, in short, a decent and wealthy and estimable sort of a person."
"Allow me to ask, sir," said Charles, "if it was by this man's orders that the guard was drawn from Portanferry?"
"Sir," replied the Baronet, "I do apprehend that Mr. Glossin would not presume to give orders, or even an opinion, unless asked, in a matter in which Hazlewood House and the house of Hazlewood--meaning by the one this mansion-house of my family, and by the other, typically, metaphorically, and parabolically, the family itself--I say then where the house of Hazlewood, or Hazlewood House, was so immediately concerned."
"I presume, however, sir," said the son, "this Glossin approved of the proposal?"
"Sir," replied his father, "I thought it decent and right and proper to consult him as the nearest magistrate, as soon as report of the intended outrage reached my ears; and although he declined, out of deference and respect, as became our relative situations, to concur in the order, yet he did entirely approve of my arrangement."
At this moment a horse's feet were heard coming very fast up the avenue. In a few minutes the door opened, and Mr. Mac-Morlan presented himself. "I am under great concern to intrude, Sir Robert, but--"
"Give me leave, Mr. Mac-Morlan," said Sir Robert, with a gracious flourish of welcome; "this is no intrusion, sir; for your situation as Sheriff-substitute calling upon you to attend to the peace of the county (and you, doubtless, feeling yourself particularly called upon to protect Hazlewood House), you have an acknowledged, and admitted, and undeniable right, sir, to enter the house of the first gentleman in Scotland, uninvited--always presuming you to be called there by the duty of your office."
"It is indeed the duty of my office," said Mac-Morlan, who waited with impatience an opportunity to speak, "that makes me an intruder."
"No intrusion!" reiterated the Baronet, gracefully waving his hand.
"But permit me to say, Sir Robert," said the Sheriff-substitute, "I do not come with the purpose of remaining here, but to recall these soldiers to Portanferry, and to assure you that I will answer for the safety of your house."
"To withdraw the guard from Hazlewood House!" exclaimed the proprietor in mingled displeasure and surprise; "and you will be answerable for it! And, pray, who are you, sir, that I should take your security, and caution, and pledge, official or personal, for the safety of Hazlewood House?--I think, sir, and believe, sir, and am of opinion, sir, that if any one of these family pictures were deranged, or destroyed, or injured, it would be difficult for me to make up the loss upon the guarantee which you so obligingly offer me."
"In that case I shall be sorry for it, Sir Robert," answered the downright Mac-Morlan; "but I presume I may escape the pain of feeling my conduct the cause of such irreparable loss, as I can assure you there will be no attempt upon Hazlewood House whatever, and I have received information which induces me to suspect that the rumour was put afloat merely in order to occasion the removal of the soldiers from Portanferry. And under this strong belief and conviction, I must exert my authority as sheriff and chief