Country life -- England; England -- Social life and customs; Gentry -- England
Again, after some years, was Rosalind invited to Grimstone; but it
was with the same object, never abandoned. On this occasion, when old
Ralph found that she was resolute not to surrender the three thousand
pounds, he turned her out of doors at night, and she was forced to take
refuge at the poor little village tavern. He never forgave her.
Squire Grym was rough to his tenants. One man, the village clerk, had a
field of his, and Ralph suddenly demanded of him two pounds above the
rent the man had hitherto paid. As he refused, Ralph abruptly produced
a horse-pistol, presented it at the man's head, and said,
"Put down the extra two pounds, or I will blow your brains out."
The clerk was a sturdy fellow, and was undaunted. He looked the squire
steadily in the eye, and answered--
"I reckon _her_ (_i. e._ the pistol), though old and risty, won't miss,
for if her _does_, I reckon your brains 'll make a purty mess on the
carpet."
Ralph lowered the pistol with an oath, and said no more. He was a
suspicious man, and fancied that all those about him conspired to rob
him. When he bore a grudge against a man, or suspected him, he required
some of his tenants to give evidence against the man; he himself
prepared the story they were to swear to, and drilled them into the
evidence they were to give. The tenant who refused to do as he bid was
never forgiven.
He was never able to keep a bailiff over a twelvemonth. When he died,
at an age over eighty, in his vindictiveness against his daughter,
because she had refused him the three thousand pounds, he left
everything of which he was possessed to the bailiff then in his house.
How the boy who had saved Rosalind from being carried off by her father
many years before, and who was now a solicitor, came to her aid, and
secured for her something out of the spoils, is history too recent to
be told here.
Thus ended the family of Grym of Grimstone, and thus did the old house
and old acres pass away into new hands.
Such is the story of the extinction of one family. Others have been
snuffed out, or have snuffed themselves out, in other ways; strangely
true it is, that of the multitudes of old county families that once
lived in England, few remain on their paternal inheritance.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account