Ascend
While radiant summer opens all its pride,
Thy hill, delightful Shene! Here let us sweep
The boundless landscape.
Thomson.
From her kind and officious, but somewhat gossiping friend, Mrs. Glass, Jeanie
underwent a very close catechism on their road to the Strand, where the Thistle
of the good lady flourished in full glory, and, with its legend of Nemo me impune,
distinguished a shop then well known to all Scottish folk of high and low degree.
"And were you sure aye to say your Grace to him?" said the good old lady; "for
ane should make a distinction between MacCallummore and the bits o' southern
bodies that they ca' lords here--there are as mony o' them, Jeanie, as would gar
ane think they maun cost but little fash in the making--some of them I wadna trust
wi' six pennies-worth of black-rappee--some of them I wadna gie mysell the
trouble to put up a hapnyworth in brown paper for--But I hope you showed your
breeding to the Duke of Argyle, for what sort of folk would he think your friends in
London, if you had been lording him, and him a Duke?"
"He didna seem muckle to mind," said Jeanie; "he kend that I was landward
bred."
"Weel, weel," answered the good lady. "His Grace kens me weel; so I am the
less anxious about it. I never fill his snug-box but he says, 'How d'ye do, good
Mrs. Glass?--How are all our friends in the North?' or it may be--'Have ye heard
from the North lately?' And you may be sure, I make my best courtesy, and
answer, 'My Lord Duke, I hope your Grace's noble Duchess, and your Grace's
young ladies, are well; and I hope the snuff continues to give your Grace
satisfaction.' And then ye will see the people in the shop begin to look about
them; and if there's a Scotsman, as there may be three or half-a-dozen, aff go
the hats, and mony a look after him, and 'There goes the Prince of Scotland, God
bless him!' But ye have not told me yet the very words he said t'ye."
Jeanie had no intention to be quite so communicative. She had, as the reader
may have observed, some of the caution and shrewdness, as well as of the
simplicity of her country. She answered generally, that the Duke had received her
very compassionately, and had promised to interest himself in her sister's affair,
and to let her hear from him in the course of the next day, or the day after. She
did not choose to make any mention of his having desired her to be in readiness
to attend him, far less of his hint, that she should not bring her landlady. So that
honest Mrs. Glass was obliged to remain satisfied with the general intelligence
above mentioned, after having done all she could to extract more.
