He wished heartily that he knew which of his friends and neighbours was concerned in the business. It would be terrible if some of his intimates (by no means an unlikely supposition) were at its head. He thought it extremely probable that Sir George Hamilton was only named as a victim for a blind, and had really accepted a prominent part in the rising. Could he not give him a hint he was suspected, in time to get out of the way? Sir Marmaduke was not very bitter against the Jacobites; and perhaps it occurred to him, moreover, that if they should get the upper hand, it would be well to have such an advocate as Sir George on the winning side. He might tell him what he had heard, under pretence of asking his assistance and advice.
At all events he thought he had shut Alice’s mouth for the present, by setting her to watch the conspirators closely in her aunt’s house. “If she finds them out,” said Sir Marmaduke, rubbing his bald head, “I shall have timely notice of their doings, and if they find her out, why, they will probably change the scene of operation with all haste, and I shall have got an exceedingly awkward job off my hands.”
CHAPTER LII
THE BOWL ON THE BIAS
It was Sir Marmaduke’s maxim, as he boasted it had been his father’s and grandfather’s, to sleep on a resolution before putting it in practice. He secured, therefore, a good night’s rest and a substantial breakfast ere he mounted his best horse to wait upon his neighbour at Hamilton Hill, ordering the grey to be saddled, because Sir George had sometimes expressed his approval of that animal. The lord of Brentwood was sufficiently a Yorkshireman to seize the opportunity of “a deal,” even while more important matters were under consideration.
“He was getting on,” he meant to tell Sir George. “His nerve was beginning to fail. The grey was as good as gold, but a little too much of a horse for him now. He was scarce able to do the animal justice like a younger man.”
And as this suggestion could not but be flattering to the younger man, he thought it not improbable his friend might be tempted to purchase on the spot.
So he rode the horse quietly and carefully, avoiding the high road, which would have taken him past the “Hamilton Arms,” and, threading a labyrinth of bridleways through the moor, very easy to find for those who were familiar with them, but exceedingly puzzling to those who were not.
The grey looked fresh and sleek, as if just out of the stable, when Sir Marmaduke rode into the courtyard at Hamilton Hill, whence he was ushered by Slap-Jack, who had a great respect for him as a “True Blue, without any gammon,” to the terrace where Sir George, her ladyship, and Monsieur de St. Croix were engaged in a game of bowls.
Sir Marmaduke followed boldly, although, finding he had to confront Lady Hamilton, he was at some pains to adjust his neckcloth and tie-wig, wishing, at the same time, he had got on his flowing “Steinkirk” cravat and a certain scarlet waistcoat with gold-lace, now under repair.