"But, Charles," said Dr. Wilbraham, whose abhorrence of the nun's dress was not to be vanquished, and who would have been right glad to escape the infliction on any excuse, "will not your servants, who have seen us come in one dress, think it very strange when they see us go away in another? and may they not betray us?"
"Pshaw!" cried Dr. Butts; "they see a thousand odder things every day in a physician's house. Do you think I let my servants babble? No, no! They know well that they must have neither eyes, ears, nor understanding for anything that passes within these doors. If I were to find that they even did so much as to recollect a person they had once seen with me, they should troop. But stay; go you to bed and rest; I will away for these dresses, and bespeak the litter for to-morrow at five. At Sandwich you are sure to find a bark for Boulogne."
The next morning Dr. Wilbraham was awakened before it was light by the physician entering his room with a candle in his hand, and followed by a barber, who, taking the good priest by the nose, shaved him most expeditiously before he was out of bed, having been informed by Dr. Butts that the person under his hands was a poor insane patient, who would not submit to any very tedious tonsorial operation.
When this was done, much to the surprise of the chaplain, who was in truth scarcely awake, the barber was sent away, and the physician produced the long black dress of a Benedictine nun, into which, after much entreaty, he persuaded Dr. Wilbraham to get; not, however, without the rest of his clothes, for no argument would induce him to put on the woman's dress without the man's under it. First, then, he was clothed with his ordinary black vest and silk hose, above which came a full and seemly cassock; and then, as a superstructure, was placed at the top of all the long black robes of the nun, which swelled his bulk out to no inconsiderable size. This, however, was not a disadvantage; for being tall and thin, he had great need of some supposititious contour to make his height seem less enormous when conjoined with his female habiliments. Upon the whole, with the rope tied round his middle, and the coif and veil, he made a very respectable nun; though there was in the whole figure a certain long-backed rigidity of carriage, and straggling wideness of step, that smacked infinitely of the masculine gender.
When all was completed, the physician led his transformed uncle down to a little hall, to which Lady Constance and Mistress Margaret had already found their way, habited in similar garments to those which Dr. Butts had furnished for the chaplain.
In point of beauty Constance had never, perhaps, looked better than now, when her small, exquisite features, and clear, delicate complexion, slightly shaded by the nun's cap, had acquired an additional degree of softness, which harmonised well with the pensive, melancholy expression that circumstances had communicated to her countenance. However, she was, perhaps, even more sad and agitated than the night before, when haste had in some degree superseded thought. She had now passed a nearly sleepless night, during the long hours of which a thousand fears and anxieties had visited her pillow; and on rising, the necessity of quitting her customary dress and assuming a disguise impressed more strongly than ever upon her mind the dangers of her situation.
The only person that seemed fully in her element was Mistress Margaret, who, though, with the exception of a little selfishness, a most excellent being, could not be expected to have fulfilled for several years the high functions of lady's-maid without having acquired some of the spirit of the office. God knows! in Lady Constance's service she had possessed small opportunity of exercising in any way her talents for even the little intrigue d'ante-chambre; and though, in the case of Sir Osborne, she had done her best to show her tact by retiring à propos, the present was the first occasion on which she could enjoy a real, bustling, energetic adventure; and, to do her justice, she enacted the nun to the life. With a vastly consequential air she hurried about, till the rustling of her black serge and the rattling of her wooden cross and rosary were quite edifying; and finding herself, by dress at least, on an equality with her mistress, she took the bridle off her tongue and let it run its own course, which it did not fail to do with great vigour and activity.
On the entrance of Dr. Wilbraham, with his face clad in rueful solemnity, and his long strides at every step spreading out the petticoats with which his legs were environed, like the parachute of a balloon when it begins to descend, Mistress Margaret laughed outright; and even Lady Constance, while reproving her for her ill-placed gaiety, could hardly forbear a smile.
"My dear Dr. Wilbraham," said Constance, seeing the chagrin that sat upon his countenance, "for how much, how very much have I to thank you! And believe me, I feel deeply all the regard you must have for me, to induce you to assume a disguise that must be so disagreeable to you."
"Well," said Dr. Butts, "you are a sweet creature, and to my mind it would not be difficult to make a man do anything to serve you. However, sit you down, lady: here is something to break your fast; and as it must serve for dinner and supper too, I will have you eat, whether you are hungry or not; for there must be as little stopping on the road as possible, and no chattering, Mistress Margaret; mind you that."