It was
particularly remarkable that, contrary to his uniform practice, he made
no special communication to Lady Ashton upon the subject of the tumult;
and although he mentioned the alarm which Lucy had received from one
of the wild cattle, yet he gave no detailed account of an incident so
interesting and terrible.
There was much surprise among Sir William Ashton's political friends and
colleagues on receiving letters of a tenor so unexpected. On comparing
notes together, one smiled, one put up his eyebrows, a third nodded
acquiescence in the general wonder, and a fourth asked if they were sure
these were ALL the letters the Lord Keeper had written on the subject.
"It runs strangely in my mind, my lords, that none of these advices
contain the root of the matter."
But no secret letters of a contrary nature had been received, although
the question seemed to imply the possibility of their existence.
"Well," said an old grey-headed statesman, who had contrived, by
shifting and trimming, to maintain his post at the steerage through all
the changes of course which the vessel had held for thirty years, "I
thought Sir William would hae verified the auld Scottish saying, 'As
soon comes the lamb's skin to market as the auld tup's'.
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