" And he disappeared from
the window, leaving them all to digest their exclusion as they best
might.
But another person, of whose presence Caleb, in the animation of the
debate, was not aware, had listened in silence to its progress. This
was the principal domestic of the stranger--a man of trust and
consequence--the same who, in the hunting-field, had accommodated
Bucklaw with the use of his horse. He was in the stable when Caleb had
contrived the expulsion of his fellow-servants, and thus avoided sharing
the same fate, from which his personal importance would certainly not
have otherwise saved him.
This personage perceived the manoeuvre of Caleb, easily appreciated the
motive of his conduct, and knowing his master's intentions towards the
family of Ravenswood, had no difficulty as to the line of conduct he
ought to adopt. He took the place of Caleb (unperceived by the latter)
at the post of audience which he had just left, and announced to the
assembled domestics, "That it was his master's pleasure that Lord
Bittlebrain's retinue and his own should go down to the adjacent
change-house and call for what refreshments they might have occasion
for, and he should take care to discharge the lawing.
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