Thomas Grey

“ I heard him say to my master, 'Ye see, did not I tell you? This marriage brings all good things already. And this is but the beginning.'
'Nay,' replied Sir Thomas, 'indeed it is most gratifying and well done of you. Who would have believed a week ago that to-day Bargany would have saddled his steeds and mounted his men to ride to the succour of John, Earl of Cassillis?'
And I saw my good, simple master raise his hand and clap Auchendrayne upon the shoulder. Then, for very hate and loathing, I turned away. Even as I did so I saw the eye of John Mure on the watch, and I knew that he understood. ”

“ Grey winced at being appealed to, but remarked that he hoped the Church would yet be able to save England from the fate of Tyre and Carthage, the great trading nations of the old world: and then, swallowing his tea, and looking as if he had been caught robbing a hen-roost, he made a sudden exit, and hurried away out of college to the night-school. ”

“ Nay, he gave me, on occasion, his signet, to open the town gates whensoever he would send me on any errand. Moreover, the man (noble by birth, but base by breeding) who had the chief charge and custody of the Maid, was the brother’s son of Sir Thomas. He had to name John Grey, and was an esquire of the body of the English King, Henry, then a boy. This miscreant it was often my fortune to meet, at his uncle’s table, and to hear his pitiless and cruel speech. ”

“ He had remarked her several times in the course of the day, not for any beauty or grace about her, for the poor child had none, but for her transparent confidence and trustfulness. After dinner, as they had been all sitting on the grass under the shade of a great elm to hear Grey read a story, and Tom had been sitting a little apart from the rest with his back against the trunk, she had come up and sat quietly down by him, leaning on his knee. Then he had seen her go up and take the hand of the lady who had entertained them, and walk along by her, talking without the least shyness. ”

“ He was commanded to raise troops in Wales and join the royal muster at Coventry, and also sat in the parliament at York which consummated the king's triumph. He complained, however, that the Welsh tenants of the king had attacked Ruthin, plundered himself and the townsfolk, and almost succeeded in burning the town (Rolls of Parliament, i. 397 b) .
Grey died in 1323. He is said to have married twice. His first wife was Anne, daughter of William Ferrers, lord of Groby, by whom he left a son named Henry, forty years old at his father's death, who became the ancestor of the Lords Grey de Wilton. ”

“ Grey, who had never given up hopes of bringing Tom round to his own views, had not neglected the opportunities [266] which his residence in town offered, and had enlisted Tom’s services on more than one occasion. He had found him specially useful in instructing the big boys, whom he was trying to bring together and civilize in a “Young Men’s Club,” in the rudiments of cricket on Saturday evenings. ”

“ I answered that I laughed at a good story of Sir Thomas Tode, his private chaplain.
'My what!' he cried. 'Oh, ye mean old Tode of the Top-knot! Was his story about the Black Vault of Dunure?'
And without stopping for an answer he went on with one of his proverbs, just as though he had not sent me on an errand, and that in peril of my life. I never met a young man so broadened on wiseacre saws and proverbs in my life. It was clean ridiculous, though well enough in a gap-toothed grandfather, no doubt.
'The loud laughter of the idle gathereth no gear,' said Earl John. ”

“ The Welsh marches had been in a disturbed state since the fall of Richard II. A petty quarrel arose between Grey and his neighbour, Owain ab Gruffydd, lord of Glyndyfrdwy [see Glendower, Owen] . Owain claimed certain lands which Grey had in his possession, and failing to get lawful redress harried Grey's estates with fire and sword (Ann. Henrici IV, p. 333) . Another dispute quickly followed in June 1400, when a certain Gruffydd ab Davydd ab Gruffydd stole the horses from Grey's park at Ruthin, and impudently expected to be forgiven. ”

“ But when I came the Earl was looking keenly at me, and even Sir Thomas paused a little while before he spoke.
'Launcelot, you are a brave lad,' he said, 'and I know that you desire to distinguish yourself even more than you have done, though you have shown your mettle already. Now my lord and I have a matter which it needs a man to perform—one of address and daring. I hear from all about me that you are a ready man with your wits and your tongue. ”

“ At which answer it was all that we could do to keep the Earl quiet. He was for setting the squared tree to the door at once.
'Kelwood,' again we heard the voice of Sir Thomas, 'I ken well who has deceived you in this matter. Listen to no glosing words. No man can strive with the Kennedy and prosper in all these lands 'twixt Clyde and Solway.'
'Which Kennedy?' cried Kelwood, from his window, fleeringly. And this set the Earl more bitterly against him than ever, for it was as much as to say that the Bargany Kennedies were equal in power and place to his own house of Cassillis. ”

“ So there I had Mistress Nell on the landward side of the drawbridge and the gate up, with the snow dancing down on her bare head and her coats kilted for mischief.
I lagged a little behind Sir Thomas, so that I could say to Nell, whose spirits were somewhat dashed by the raising of the bridge, 'Step down to the water side and bring up the three bottles of Canary, or go over to the farm and keep the Grieve's lass company. She may perchance be lonely.'
So waving my hand and laughing, I rode off and left her alone. ”

“ The lights from the windows also made a faint glimmering athwart the hedges, and I could distinctly see men darning themselves into their hiding-places, and getting ready their pistols and hackbutts.
Even as I sat there on the wall and froze, a plan came into my head which sent the blood surging through my veins, like the tide scouring the gut of Solway. I remembered that Sir Thomas Kennedy was at no time very active on his legs, and what with the income in his knee and the good wine under his belt, he would assuredly be in no key for running when he issued forth. ”

“ I do not deny that I liked the job well enough, for it was the sort which enables a man to make a figure—thus to stand alone among a host of enemies, and speak a challenge of defiance.
'Master David Crauford, Laird of Kerse and Skeldon,' said I, giving out his titles like a herald, 'I bear you greeting and worship from John, Earl of Cassillis, and Sir Thomas Kennedy of Culzean, Tutor of that ilk.'
The old man bowed in token of respect for the formal courtesy. ”

“ As we rode through the courtyard and out at the gate, I heard the soft pit-pat of a foot behind us, for I have a good ear. I heard it even through the clatter of the hoofs of our war horses. So I turned in my saddle, and there behind us was that madcap lass, Nell Kennedy, with her wylicoats kilted and a snowball in her hand, which she manifestly designed to throw at me. But even as I ducked my head the ball flew past me and hit Sir Thomas's horse 'Ailsa' on the rump, making him curvet to the no small discomfort of the rider. ”

“ No one heard him, no one knew he was there; but as he stood in the silence and darkness he heard distinctly his grandfather's voice, and this was what he heard:
"I must tell you, my son, and you, my minister; but no one else, not Grey—no, no, not, the boy Grey, who loves me so much. His life must not be shadowed with disgrace. He must not hate me in my coffin. Oh, Grey! Grey! May God bless him and give him every needful happiness, and make him so good and noble that his life will blot out the stain upon our name." ”

“ In public life, Grey could always be upon occasion bold, strenuous and self-sacrificing; but he was little disposed for the active work of the politician. He was not one of those who took the statesman’s duty “as a pleasure he was to enjoy.” A certain stiffness and reserve ever seemed in the popular eye to hedge him in; nor was his oratory of the kind which stirs enthusiasm and delight. A tall, stately figure, fine voice and calm aristocratic bearing reminded the listener of Pitt rather than of Fox, and his speeches were constructed on the Attic rather than the Asiatic model. ”

“ Come, hurry; I want to get home out of this heat. How are you, Grey?”
This last was in response to Mr. Grey’s cordial, “Good-afternoon, judge. Hot day, isn’t it?”
169Herbert bowed to Mrs. Grey and Louie, and walked toward his carriage, but the Grey brougham was ahead of it, sending back clouds of dust which made the judge sneeze and choke and wipe his eyes as he wondered “Why in thunder Grey wanted to drive so fast and raise such an infernal dust!”
“Don’t he know it’s blowing right in my face, or don’t he care?—the upstart, with livery!” ”

“ If it has been caused by his mistake he will feel it all his life. A tender-hearted man is Stephen Grey.”
“It appears to me altogether most unaccountable,” remarked the Reverend Mr. Jones, who was the incumbent of St. Mark’s Church, and who had come out to join in the popular gossip and excitement. Perhaps because he was a connection of the Greys, his wife and Mrs. John Grey being sisters. “I hear that there was every proof that the jar containing the prussic acid—and they have but that one, it appears, in their surgery—had not been touched.” ”

“ After a vain search Grey wished to return to his party, but the native who accompanied him appeared to be restless and unwilling. He then became convinced that the man had strayed wilfully, wishing to desert the party, but not daring to do so without his master. On one occasion this native sat opposite to him on the ground, his keen savage eye watching the expression of the white man's countenance as each thought flitted across it. Grey saw that he was trying to read his feelings, and at length he thus broke silence:—"Mr. Grey, to-day we can walk, and may yet not die, but drink water ”

“ I have heard that he closed up the business, and removed farther West, having proved, by a witness whom he bribed, that you had been drowned in the Ohio River. The body of a poor boy was exhibited as yours.
"If you ever meet James Grey, you will recognize him by this description. He is a large man, with a square face, gray eyes, and a scar on his right cheek, an inch long. I don't know where he got the scar, but it is always red, especially when he is excited."
Tom dropped the paper in his amazement. ”

“ The native saw this, and yet strove to appear unconcerned, and with a forced laugh said, "You are playing: from daylight until now, you and I have walked; we have wasted our strength now in looking for water for the others. But a short time, and we shall be dead; and you say, search for men whom I cannot find; you tell me look, and I know not where to look." Grey now lost all patience with him, and replied, "Kaiber, deceive as you will, you cannot deceive me; follow back our tracks instantly to the point from whence we started; if you do not find them, as the sun falls you die." ”

“ Grey at length, in deep, earnest tones. "Always look out for God, an' you'll find Him close beside you, in the darkest forest as well as in the starry sky. An' now we must be movin', or the ladies'll be sendin' the police to look for the pair o' ye.—Eh! Anybody there?" he shouted, as the sudden snapping of a twig broke the stillness about them.
There was no answer, only the flutter of a belated bird as it failed to find its accustomed perch among the pines, and the sighing of the wind through the tree-tops overhead.
"Some beast, I expect, or a poacher, maybe," Mr. Grey muttered to himself. ”

“ From time to time, as the light flickered upon the striking face in the ingle, Grey caught a fine-lipped smile upon it, and once or twice he thought the old actor's eyes met his in a gleam of humour. But of that he could not be sure—it might be but the trick of the firelight; and presently wearied nature asserted itself, and the young man passed from drowsiness to actual sleep, and knew nothing more till a sharp grip upon his arm roused him to a sense of his surroundings.
It was the tapster who thus shook him; and when he opened his eyes, Grey saw—or thought, at least—that the room was empty. ”

“ Grey was not a man who usually took much pleasure in society, but his grave face lighted up as with a glance of sunshine, when he caught a glimpse of his beautiful child, as the crowd opened from time to time on the dancers in the thronged rooms, where, night after night, he was now condemned to pass his evenings; and when he approached her to tell her that the carriage was waiting, and her mother had sent to summon her to her side, he could not restrain his smiles when the young men crowded round to remind Pauline, one of a waltz, another of a polka, and pleading with Mr. ”

“ Overhead, the wind from the yet frozen hills swept in such strong currents, the great city throbbed with such infinite kinds of motion, and down in the harbor yonder the rush of couriers came and went incessantly from the busy world without. Grey was a country-girl: in this throbbing centre of human life she felt suddenly lost, atom-like,—drew her breath quickly, as she clung to Paul's arm. The world was so vast, was hurrying on so fast. She must get to work in earnest: why, one must justify her right to live, here. ”

“ A blazing sun poured its intolerable light and heat upon the upturned faces and defenceless heads of hundreds of suffering, dying men, adding frightful tortures to the pain of their wounds. When the dews of night came to moisten parched lips, to cool aching brows, Mr. Grey managed to drag himself to a stump near by, and placing his back against it, waited hoping to gain a little more strength. ”

“ Suddenly a sound as of blows and cries wakened him from his reverie. Instinctively he started to run in the direction whence they came, and almost directly he met some fellows wearing livery fleeing helter-skelter, as for dear life, from a band of young Mohawks or Scourers, as they termed themselves, who made the terror of the town at night. In the distance there was still some tumult going on, and Grey, half guessing the cause, rushed onward, not heeding the pursuit he passed. ”