I will lay no such wager,he said;but I will stake five angels against thy five,if thou wilt,that Tony Foster will not leave his own roof,or come to ale-house after prayer time,for thee,or any man.Content,said Lambourne.--Here,uncle,hold stakes,and let one of your young bleed-barrels there--one of your infant tapsters--trip presently up to The Place,and give this letter to Master Foster,and say that I,his ingle,Michael Lambourne,pray to speak with him at mine uncle's castle here,upon business of grave import.--Away with thee,child,for it is now sundown,and the wretch goeth to bed with the birds to save mutton-suet--faugh!
Shortly after this messenger was dispatched--an interval which was spent in drinking and buffoonery--he returned with the answer that Master Foster was coming presently.
Won,won!said Lambourne,darting on the stakes.
Not till he comes,if you please,said the mercer,interfering.
Why,'sblood,he is at the threshold,replied Michael.--What said he,boy?If it please your worship,answered the messenger,he looked out of window,with a musquetoon in his hand,and when Idelivered your errand,which I did with fear and trembling,he said,with a vinegar aspect,that your worship might be gone to the infernal regions.Or to hell,I suppose,said Lambourne--it is there he disposes of all that are not of the congregation.Even so,said the boy;I used the other phrase as being the more poetical.An ingenious youth,said Michael;shalt have a drop to whet thy poetical whistle.And what said Foster next?He called me back,answered the boy,and bid me say you might come to him if you had aught to say to him.And what next?said Lambourne.
He read the letter,and seemed in a fluster,and asked if your worship was in drink;and I said you were speaking a little Spanish,as one who had been in the Canaries.Out,you diminutive pint-pot,whelped of an overgrown reckoning!replied Lambourne--out!But what said he then?Why,said the boy,he muttered that if he came not your worship would bolt out what were better kept in;and so he took his old flat cap,and threadbare blue cloak,and,as I said before,he will be here incontinent.There is truth in what he said,replied Lambourne,as if speaking to himself--my brain has played me its old dog's trick.
But corragio--let him approach!--I have not rolled about in the world for many a day to fear Tony Foster,be I drunk or sober.--Bring me a flagon of cold water to christen my sack withal.While Lambourne,whom the approach of Foster seemed to have recalled to a sense of his own condition,was busied in preparing to receive him,Giles Gosling stole up to the apartment of the pedlar,whom he found traversing the room in much agitation.
You withdrew yourself suddenly from the company,said the landlord to the guest.
It was time,when the devil became one among you,replied the pedlar.
It is not courteous in you to term my nephew by such a name,said Gosling,nor is it kindly in me to reply to it;and yet,in some sort,Mike may be considered as a limb of Satan.Pooh--I talk not of the swaggering ruffian,replied the pedlar;it is of the other,who,for aught I know--But when go they?or wherefore come they?Marry,these are questions I cannot answer,replied the host.
But look you,sir,you have brought me a token from worthy Master Tressilian--a pretty stone it is.He took out the ring,and looked at it,adding,as he put it into his purse again,that it was too rich a guerdon for anything he could do for the worthy donor.He was,he said,in the public line,and it ill became him to be too inquisitive into other folk's concerns.He had already said that he could hear nothing but that the lady lived still at Cumnor Place in the closest seclusion,and,to such as by chance had a view of her,seemed pensive and discontented with her solitude.But here,he said,if you are desirous to gratify your master,is the rarest chance that hath occurred for this many a day.Tony Foster is coming down hither,and it is but letting Mike Lambourne smell another wine-flask,and the Queen's command would not move him from the ale-bench.So they are fast for an hour or so.Now,if you will don your pack,which will be your best excuse,you may,perchance,win the ear of the old servant,being assured of the master's absence,to let you try to get some custom of the lady;and then you may learn more of her condition than I or any other can tell you.True--very true,answered Wayland,for he it was;an excellent device,but methinks something dangerous--for,say Foster should return?Very possible indeed,replied the host.
Or say,continued Way]and,the lady should render me cold thanks for my exertions?As is not unlikely,replied Giles Gosling.I marvel Master Tressilian will take such heed of her that cares not for him.In either case I were foully sped,said Wayland,and therefore I do not,on the whole,much relish your device.Nay,but take me with you,good master serving-man,replied mine host.This is your master's business,and not mine:,you best know the risk to be encountered,or how far you are willing to brave it.But that which you will not yourself hazard,you cannot expect others to risk.Hold,hold,said Wayland;tell me but one thing--goes yonder old man up to Cumnor?Surely,I think so?said the landlord;their servant said he was to take their baggage thither.But the ale-tap has been as potent for him as the sack-spigot has been for Michael.It is enough,said Wayland,assuming an air of resolution.Iwill thwart that old villain's projects;my affright at his baleful aspect begins to abate,and my hatred to arise.Help me on with my pack,good mine host.--And look to thyself,old Albumazar;there is a malignant influence in thy horoscope,and it gleams from the constellation Ursa Major.So saying,he assumed his burden,and,guided by the landlord through the postern gate of the Black Bear,took the most private way from thence up to Cumnor Place.
