I
On an evening in the latter part of May a middle-aged man was walking
homeward from Shaston to the village of Marlott, in the adjoining Vale of
Blakemore or Blackmoor. The pair of legs that carried him were rickety, and there
was a bias in his gait which inclined him somewhat to the left of a straight line.
He occasionally gave a smart nod, as if in confirmation of some opinion, though
he was not thinking of anything in particular. An empty egg-basket was slung
upon his arm, the nap of his hat was ruffled, a patch being quite worn away at its
brim where his thumb came in taking it off. Presently he was met by an elderly
parson astride on a gray mare, who, as he rode, hummed a wandering tune.
"Good night t'ee," said the man with the basket.
"Good night, Sir John," said the parson.
The pedestrian, after another pace or two, halted, and turned round.
"Now, sir, begging your pardon; we met last market-day on this road about this
time, and I said "Good night," and you made reply 'GOOD NIGHT, SIR JOHN,' as
now."
"I did," said the parson.
"And once before that--near a month ago."
"I may have."
"Then what might your meaning be in calling me 'Sir John' these different times,
when I be plain Jack Durbeyfield, the haggler?"
The parson rode a step or two nearer.
"It was only my whim," he said; and, after a moment's hesitation: "It was on
account of a discovery I made some little time ago, whilst I was hunting up
pedigrees for the new county history. I am Parson Tringham, the antiquary, of
Stagfoot Lane. Don't you really know, Durbeyfield, that you are the lineal
representative of the ancient and knightly family of the d'Urbervilles, who derive
their descent from Sir Pagan d'Urberville, that renowned knight who came from
Normandy with William the Conqueror, as appears by Battle Abbey Roll?"
"Never heard it before, sir!"
"Well it's true. Throw up your chin a moment, so that I may catch the profile of
your face better. Yes, that's the d'Urberville nose and chin--a little debased. Your
ancestor was one of the twelve knights who assisted the Lord of Estremavilla in
Normandy in his conquest of Glamorganshire. Branches of your family held
manors over all this part of England; their names appear in the Pipe Rolls in the
time of King Stephen. In the reign of King John one of them was rich enough to
give a manor to the Knights Hospitallers; and in Edward the Second's time your
forefather Brian was summoned to Westminster to attend the great Council there.
You declined a little in Oliver Cromwell's time, but to no serious extent, and in
Charles the Second's reign you were made Knights of the Royal Oak for your
loyalty. Aye, there have been generations of Sir Johns among you, and if
knighthood were hereditary, like a baronetcy, as it practically was in old times,
when men were knighted from father to son, you would be Sir John now."
"Ye don't say so!"
