The
extreme attention which they paid to the Master of Ravenswood had its
usual effect in exalting his importance in the eyes of the Lord
Keeper, who, although he had a reasonable degree of contempt for
Lord Bittlebrains's general parts, entertained a high opinion of the
acuteness of his judgment in all matters of self-interest.
"I wish Lady Ashton had seen this," was his internal reflection; "no man
knows so well as Bittlebrains on which side his bread is buttered; and
he fawns on the Master like a beggar's messan on a cook. And my lady,
too, bringing forward her beetle-browed misses to skirl and play upon
the virginals, as if she said, 'Pick and choose.' They are no more
comparable to Lucy than an owl is to a cygnet, and so they may carry
their black brows to a farther market."
The entertainment being ended, our travellers, who had still to measure
the longest part of their journey, resumed their horses; and after the
Lord Keeper, the Master, and the domestics had drunk doch-an-dorroch,
or the stirrup-cup, in the liquors adapted to their various ranks, the
cavalcade resumed its progress.
Pages:
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344