Leaving Caleb,
therefore, to the enjoyment of his own successful ingenuity, he returned
to the hamlet, where he found the Marquis and the good women of the
mansion under some anxiety--the former on account of his absence, the
others for the discredit their cookery might sustain by the delay of the
supper. All were now at ease, and heard with pleasure that the fire at
the castle had burned out of itself without reaching the vaults, which
was the only information that Ravenswood thought it proper to give in
public concerning the event of his butler's strategem.
They sat down to an excellent supper. No invitation could prevail on
Mr. and Mrs. Girder, even in their own house, to sit down at table with
guests of such high quality. They remained standing in the apartment,
and acted the part of respectful and careful attendants on the company.
Such were the manners of the time. The elder dame, confident through
her age and connexion with the Ravenswood family, was less scrupulously
ceremonious. She played a mixed part betwixt that of the hostess of an
inn and the mistress of a private house, who receives guests above her
own degree.
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