Unhappy Lord Keeper! little was he aware what a storm was travelling
towards him in all the speed with which an old-fashioned coach and six
could possibly achieve its journey. He, like Don Gayferos, "forgot his
lady fair and true," and was only anxious about the expected visit
of the Marquis of A----. Soothfast tidings had assured him that this
nobleman was at length, and without fail, to honour his castle at one
in the afternoon, being a late dinner-hour; and much was the bustle in
consequence of the annunciation. The Lord Keeper traversed the chambers,
held consultation with the butler in the cellars, and even ventured, at
the risk of a demele with a cook of a spirit lofty enough to scorn the
admonitions of Lady Ashton herself, to peep into the kitchen. Satisfied,
at length, that everything was in as active a train of preparation as
was possible, he summoned Ravenswood and his daughter to walk upon the
terrace, for the purpose of watching, from that commanding position,
the earliest symptoms of his lordship's approach. For this purpose, with
slow and idle step, he paraded the terrace, which, flanked with a heavy
stone battlement, stretched in front of the castle upon a level with the
first story; while visitors found access to the court by a projecting
gateway, the bartizan or flat-leaded roof of which was accessible from
the terrace by an easy flight of low and broad steps.
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