“Go away,” said the earl; and Donal went.
He had hardly closed the door behind him, when he heard a bell ring violently; and ere he reached the bottom of the stair, he met the butler panting up as fast as his short legs and red nose would permit. He would have stopped to question Donal, who hastened past him, and in the refuge of his own room, sat down to think. Had his conventional dignity been with him a matter of importance, he would have left the castle the moment he got his things together; but he thought much more of Davie, and much more of Eppy.
He had hardly seated himself when he jumped up again: he must see Andrew Comin!
CHAPTER XXXVI.
A NIGHT-WATCH.
When he reached the bottom of the hill, there at the gate was Forgue, walking up and down, apparently waiting for him. He would have passed him, but Forgue stepped in front of him.
“Grant,” he said, “it is well we should understand each other!”
“I think, my lord, if you do not yet understand me, it can scarcely be my fault.”
“What did my father say?”
“I would deliver to your lordship a message he gave me for you but for two reasons—one, that I believe he changed his mind though he did not precisely say so, and the other, that I will not serve him or you in the matter.”
“Then you intend neither to meddle nor make?”