Redgauntlet [124]
fear and uncertainty, totally at a loss what line of conduct to adopt.
Herries made a different, and far more interesting figure. However little Peter Peebles might resemble the angel Ithuriel, the appearance of Herries, his high and scornful demeanour, vexed at what seemed detection yet fearless of the consequences, and regarding the whispering magistrate and his clerk with looks in which contempt predominated over anger or anxiety, bore, in my opinion, no slight resemblance to
the regal port And faded splendour wan
with which the poet has invested the detected King of the powers of the air.
As he glanced round, with a look which he had endeavoured to compose to haughty indifference, his eye encountered mine, and, I thought, at the first glance sank beneath it. But he instantly rallied his natural spirit, and returned me one of those extraordinary looks, by which he could contort so strangely the wrinkles on his forehead. I started; but, angry at myself for my pusillanimity, I answered him by a look of the same kind, and catching the reflection of my countenance in a large antique mirror which stood before me, I started again at the real or imaginary resemblance which my countenance, at that moment, bore to that of Herries. Surely my fate is somehow strangely interwoven with that of this mysterious individual. I had no time at present to speculate upon the subject, for the subsequent conversation demanded all my attention.
The Justice addressed Herries, after a pause of about five minutes, in which, all parties seemed at some loss how to proceed. He spoke with embarrassment, and his faltering voice, and the long intervals which divided his sentences, seemed to indicate fear of him whom he addressed.
'Neighbour,' he said, 'I could not have thought this; or, if I--eh--DID think--in a corner of my own mind as it were--that you, I say--that you might have unluckily engaged in--eh--the matter of the Forty-five--there was still time to have forgot all that.'
'And is it so singular that a man should have been out in the Forty-five?' said Herries, with contemptuous composure;--'your father, I think, Mr. Foxley, was out with Derwentwater in the Fifteen.'
'And lost half of his estate,' answered Foxley, with more rapidity than usual; 'and was very near--hem--being hanged into the boot. But this is--another guess job--for--eh--Fifteen is not Forty-five; and my father had a remission, and you, I take it, have none.'
'Perhaps I have,' said Herries indifferently; 'or if I have not, I am but in the case of half a dozen others whom government do not think worth looking after at this time of day, so they give no offence or disturbance.'
'But you have given both, sir,' said Nicholas Faggot, the clerk, who, having some petty provincial situation, as I have since understood, deemed himself bound to be zealous for government, 'Mr. Justice Foxley cannot be answerable for letting you pass free, now your name and surname have been spoken plainly out. There are warrants out against you from the Secretary of State's office.'
'A proper allegation, Mr. Attorney! that, at the distance of so many years, the Secretary of State should trouble himself about the unfortunate relics of a ruined cause,' answered Mr. Herries.
'But if it be so,' said the clerk, who seemed to assume more confidence upon the composure of Herries's demeanour; 'and if cause has been given by the conduct of a gentleman himself, who hath been, it is alleged, raking up old matters, and mixing them with new subjects of disaffection--I say, if it be so, I should advise the party, in his wisdom, to surrender himself quietly into the lawful custody of the next Justice of Peace--Mr. Foxley, suppose--where, and by whom, the matter should be regularly inquired into. I am only putting a case,' he added, watching with apprehension the effect which his words were likely to produce upon the party to whom they were addressed.
'And were I to receive such advice,' said Herries, with the same composure as before--'putting the case, as you say,
Herries made a different, and far more interesting figure. However little Peter Peebles might resemble the angel Ithuriel, the appearance of Herries, his high and scornful demeanour, vexed at what seemed detection yet fearless of the consequences, and regarding the whispering magistrate and his clerk with looks in which contempt predominated over anger or anxiety, bore, in my opinion, no slight resemblance to
the regal port And faded splendour wan
with which the poet has invested the detected King of the powers of the air.
As he glanced round, with a look which he had endeavoured to compose to haughty indifference, his eye encountered mine, and, I thought, at the first glance sank beneath it. But he instantly rallied his natural spirit, and returned me one of those extraordinary looks, by which he could contort so strangely the wrinkles on his forehead. I started; but, angry at myself for my pusillanimity, I answered him by a look of the same kind, and catching the reflection of my countenance in a large antique mirror which stood before me, I started again at the real or imaginary resemblance which my countenance, at that moment, bore to that of Herries. Surely my fate is somehow strangely interwoven with that of this mysterious individual. I had no time at present to speculate upon the subject, for the subsequent conversation demanded all my attention.
The Justice addressed Herries, after a pause of about five minutes, in which, all parties seemed at some loss how to proceed. He spoke with embarrassment, and his faltering voice, and the long intervals which divided his sentences, seemed to indicate fear of him whom he addressed.
'Neighbour,' he said, 'I could not have thought this; or, if I--eh--DID think--in a corner of my own mind as it were--that you, I say--that you might have unluckily engaged in--eh--the matter of the Forty-five--there was still time to have forgot all that.'
'And is it so singular that a man should have been out in the Forty-five?' said Herries, with contemptuous composure;--'your father, I think, Mr. Foxley, was out with Derwentwater in the Fifteen.'
'And lost half of his estate,' answered Foxley, with more rapidity than usual; 'and was very near--hem--being hanged into the boot. But this is--another guess job--for--eh--Fifteen is not Forty-five; and my father had a remission, and you, I take it, have none.'
'Perhaps I have,' said Herries indifferently; 'or if I have not, I am but in the case of half a dozen others whom government do not think worth looking after at this time of day, so they give no offence or disturbance.'
'But you have given both, sir,' said Nicholas Faggot, the clerk, who, having some petty provincial situation, as I have since understood, deemed himself bound to be zealous for government, 'Mr. Justice Foxley cannot be answerable for letting you pass free, now your name and surname have been spoken plainly out. There are warrants out against you from the Secretary of State's office.'
'A proper allegation, Mr. Attorney! that, at the distance of so many years, the Secretary of State should trouble himself about the unfortunate relics of a ruined cause,' answered Mr. Herries.
'But if it be so,' said the clerk, who seemed to assume more confidence upon the composure of Herries's demeanour; 'and if cause has been given by the conduct of a gentleman himself, who hath been, it is alleged, raking up old matters, and mixing them with new subjects of disaffection--I say, if it be so, I should advise the party, in his wisdom, to surrender himself quietly into the lawful custody of the next Justice of Peace--Mr. Foxley, suppose--where, and by whom, the matter should be regularly inquired into. I am only putting a case,' he added, watching with apprehension the effect which his words were likely to produce upon the party to whom they were addressed.
'And were I to receive such advice,' said Herries, with the same composure as before--'putting the case, as you say,