Here he found the lord of the mansion absent, but was courteously
received by the lady, who expected her husband's immediate return. She
expressed her particular delight at seeing Miss Ashton, and appointed
the hounds to be taken out for the Lord Keeper's special amusement.
He readily entered into the proposal, as giving him an opportunity to
reconnoitre Wolf's Crag, and perhaps to make some acquaintance with the
owner, if he should be tempted from his desolate mansion by the
chase. Lockhard had his orders to endeavour on his part to make some
acquaintance with the inmates of the castle, and we have seen how he
played his part.
The accidental storm did more to further the Lord Keeper's plan of
forming a personal acquaintance with young Ravenswood than his most
sanguine expectations could have anticipated. His fear of the young
nobleman's personal resentment had greatly decreased since he considered
him as formidable from his legal claims and the means he might have of
enforcing them. But although he thought, not unreasonably, that only
desperate circumstances drove men on desperate measures, it was not
without a secret terror, which shook his heart within him, that he first
felt himself inclosed within the desolate Tower of Wolf's Crag; a place
so well fitted, from solitude and strength, to be a scene of violence
and vengeance.
Pages:
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306