Fetch me a bottle of your
whisky--that's pretty safe to be good."
"Indeed, my lord, you shall have no more drink to-night," said the
laird, and taking the bottle, which was nearly empty, carried it
from the table.
Though nearly past everything else, his guest was not yet too far
gone to swear with vigour, and the volley that now came pouring
from his outraged heart was such, that, for the sake of Grizzie and
Cosmo, the laird took the bottle again in his hand, and said, that,
if his lordship would drink it in his own room, he should have what
was left of it.
Not too drunk to see where his advantage lay, Lord Mergwain
yielded; the thunder of imprecation from bellowing sank to
growling, then to muttering, and the storm gradually subsided. The
laird gave him one arm, Cosmo another, and Grizzie came behind,
ready to support or push, and so in procession they moved from the
kitchen along the causeway, his lordship grumbling and slipping,
hauled, carried, and shoved--through the great door, as they called
it, up the stairs, past the drawing-room, and into "the muckle
chaumer." There he was deposited in an easy chair, before the huge
fire, and was fast asleep in a moment. Lady Joan had followed them,
and while they were in her father's room, had passed 'up to her
own, so that when they re-entered the kitchen, there was nobody
there. With a sigh of relief the laird sank into his mother's.
chair.
Pages:
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168