"One arm is at your service, dearest, still," said I, while placing it
round her, and assisting her to rise, as the kind old farmer returned
with his people, joyful to find that we were living, after all, and
that by assisting us he might in some degree repay Sir Madoc Lloyd a
portion of that debt of gratitude which he owed to him.
After despatching a mounted messenger to Craigaderyn with tidings of
our safety, he had us at once conveyed to his farm-house at Craig
Eryri, where dry clothing was given us, and a doctor summoned to
attend me.
"You knew that we were missing--lost?" said I.
"Too well, sir," replied the farmer, as he produced a brandy-bottle
from an ancient oak cupboard. "With all my lads I assisted in the
search," he continued in Welsh, as he could scarcely speak a word of
English. "A gentleman came here over night with a groom, both mounted,
to spread the news of you and a lady having been lost somewhere below
the Bôd Mynach."
"A gentleman mounted--Mr. Caradoc, perhaps?"
"Caradoc is one of ourselves," said the farmer, his keen eyes
twinkling; "this one was a Sassenach--he Sir Madoc gave that lovely
ring to, with a diamond as big as a horse-bean, for winning a race at
Chester."
"O, Mr. Guilfoyle."
"Yes, sir, that is his name, I believe," replied Rhuddlan; and despite
the gnawing agony of my arm I laughed outright, for the quondam German
_attaché_ would seem to have actually found time to relate something
new about his brilliant to the simple old farmer, and while the fate
of Lady Estelle was yet a mystery. As for _mine_, I shrewdly suspected
he cared little about that.
Attired by the farmer's wife in the best clothing with which she could
provide her, Lady Estelle, pale, wan, and exhausted, was seated near a
fire to restore warmth to her chilled frame, while I retired with the
medical man, who found my unlucky arm broken above the elbow;
fortunately, the fracture was simple, and in no way a compound one.
The bones were speedily set, splinted, and bandaged; and clad in a
suit provided for me by Farmer Rhuddlan--to wit, a pair of corduroy
knee-breeches, a deeply-flapped double-breasted waistcoat, which, from
its pattern, seemed to have been cut from a chintz bedcover, so
gorgeous were the roses and tulips it displayed, a large loose coat of
coarse gray Welsh frieze, with horn buttons larger than crown pieces,
each garment "a world too wide"--I presented a figure so absurd and
novel that Estelle, in spite of all the misery and danger we had
undergone, laughed merrily as she held out to me in welcome a hand of
marvellous form and whiteness, the hand that was to be mine in the
time to come; and I seated myself by her side, while the farmer and
his wife bustled about, preparing for the certain arrival of Sir Madoc
and others from the Court.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account