As for Sir Owen, he was now in the last stage of a decline, never stirred from his chamber, and was considered by all about him as a man, who had not many days to live. In this extremity he dispatched a messenger to Kray Castle to request an interview with his old friend De Lancaster, who immediately put himself in order to obey the summons. As soon as his arrival was announced, Sir Owen dismissed his attendants, and received his worthy visitor alone in his chamber. After the customary enquiries had passed, the baronet delivered himself as follows—
I have asked this favour of you, my good friend and neighbour, because I perceive myself going out of the world, and, having great esteem and respect for you, I would willingly bid you farewell before I am gone. I have thought very little about death till it has come upon me as it were at once; all I know of the matter is that we must all die, and so, you see, I must take my turn, as others have done before, and every one must do after me. If it had been my good fortune to have made myself acceptable to your amiable daughter, I might have lived to enjoy, as you do now, a healthy old age; but when a man has neither wife nor family nor friend at hand to jog his memory upon occasion, he will be apt to forget himself at times, and by going too fast come the sooner to his journey’s end. That has been my case, friend De Lancaster, and how could it be otherwise. I have none of those resources that you have; if my house was full of books, they would be of no use to me; I should not read one of them; I never had a turn that way. Time was I took delight in hunting my own hounds; that, you know, is a rational and gentlemanlike amusement, but when I could no longer follow it up, you must think, I was fain to fall upon other means for making away with my time: every man must do that; and what is so natural as to fly to the pleasure of the table, when we can no longer enjoy the sports of the field? So long as I could do both, and take them in their turns, all things went well with me. If a country gentleman like me takes a cup too much over night, he rides it off the next morning, and there’s an end of it; but when he is reduced to the helpless situation, in which you now see me, what is to be done? Life becomes a burden, and the sooner we are quit of it, the better.
In truth, my good friend, said De Lancaster, I cannot wonder, if a life, that furnishes no intellectual enjoyments, becomes burdensome: and since it must be resigned when the disposer of our fate sees fit, it is happy for us, when called upon to quit this world, if we find upon reflection that the pleasures of it are not worthy of our regret.
I have had no pleasure in it, replied the dying man, since these people came out of Spain to molest me. Had your daughter heard reason, when I first proposed to her, I might have had a son and heir of my own, British born, and, had that been the case, this mongrel of my brother’s fathering, half Jew and half Spaniard, might have been a pedlar, and hawked buckles and buttons about the country to his dying day, for what I had cared: But that is over, and, except the few personals I have willed away to huntsman and other of my friends, together with a keep-sake to your daughter, and my favourite horse Glendowr to my godson, all the real property I am possessed of must go to David by entail, and a despicable David he will be, take my word for it.—
He would have said more, and struggled hard for speech, but his efforts had already exhausted him, and he sunk back in his chair. Robert de Lancaster rung the bell; the attendants came upon the summons: The good man cast a pitying look for the last time upon his dying friend and departed.
CHAPTER II.
Sir Owen ap Owen Dies.
The next day Sir Owen died, and upon the opening of his will there was found a bequest to Cecilia De Lancaster of a valuable brilliant diamond, which he used to display upon his finger on certain days of ceremony, and a remembrance to his godson John of his favourite hunter Owen Glendowr. After a proper interval, during which the interment took place, upon enquiry being made for these tokens, answer was given that no diamond ring, as described in the will, could be found, and as for the horse, they might take him away when they would; Sir David Owen saw no reason why he should find stable room for him, and had ordered him to be turned out upon the heath.
Galled by this insolent message, our hero with young Williams and two or three domestics of the castle set out upon the search, and having traversed the waste for a considerable time, at length discovered the poor animal, laying in an obscure dell, hamstrung and dead.
When young De Lancaster cast his eyes upon the carcase of this fine animal, and saw the wounds, that had been inflicted on him, it was with the utmost difficulty he could command himself so far as to abstain from any animadversions, that might indicate to the people with him, that his suspicions pointed at Sir David Owen. He caused them to collect and pile a heap of stones to mark the spot. He sate upon his horse in melancholy silence, whilst this work was going on, and having imposed like forbearance on his party, and completed what he was about, he bade them follow him, and took his course to the castle.
Whilst this was going on consultation was held at the castle with the family lawyer upon the circumstance of the diamond ring. In the discussion of this delicate question the man of law and the man of learning did not quite agree upon the means to be pursued; but as Davis, although a pertinacious lawyer, had generally more resources at his command than he chose all at once to call out, a compromise was made for time, and the deliberation brought no other point to a conclusion, except that it was agreed upon to deliberate further on some future occasion.