Produced by Charles Bowen from page scans provided by the Web Archive
Transcriber's Notes:
1. Page scan source: http://www.archive.org/details/courtshipofmorri00masouoft
2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe].
THE COURTSHIP
OF
MORRICE BUCKLER
THE COURTSHIP
OF
MORRICE BUCKLER
A Romance
_Being a Record of the Growth of an English Gentleman during the years 1685-1687, under strange and difficult circumstances written some while afterwards in his own hand, and now edited by_
A. E. W. MASON AUTHOR OF "A ROMANCE OF WASTDALE"
London MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD. NEW YORK: MACMILLAN & CO. 1896
_First Edition, February_, 1896. _Second Edition, May_, 1896. _Third Edition, June_, 1896.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
TELLS OF AN INTERRUPTED MESSAGE.
CHAPTER II.
I REACH LONDON, AND THERE MAKE AN ACQUAINTANCE.
CHAPTER III.
TELLS HOW I REACH BRISTOL, AND IN WHAT STRANGE GUISE I GO TO MEET MY FRIEND.
CHAPTER IV.
SIR JULIAN HARNWOOD.
CHAPTER V.
I JOURNEY TO THE TYROL, AND HAVE SOME DISCOURSE WITH COUNT LUKSTEIN.
CHAPTER VI.
SWORDS TAKE UP THE DISCOURSE.
CHAPTER VII.
I RETURN HOME AND HEAR NEWS OF COUNTESS LUKSTEIN.
CHAPTER VIII.
I MAKE A BOW TO COUNTESS LUKSTEIN.
CHAPTER IX.
I RENEW AN ACQUAINTANCESHIP.
CHAPTER X.
DOUBTS, PERPLEXITIES, AND A COMPROMISE.
Table of contents (by pages)
- 1: The Courtship of Morrice Buckler by Mason
- 2: And the little pinewood pavilion
- 3: With John Larke ever towering above him
- 4: Larke stopped short in his speech
- 5: I followed Larke to the window
- 6: Assizes twenty first Jeffries
- 7: Leave him to me and Hippocrates
- 8: I slipped the book into my pocket
- 9: Mostly Julian would come swinging across the fells
- 10: And over against him my cousin
- 11: Buckler is a student of Leyden
- 12: Lay the pair of diamond buckles
- 13: Lord Elmscott is naturally anxious to follow his luck
- 14: I need the swiftest horse in your stables
- 15: And decrepitude upon middle age
- 16: I have the news hot from Marston
- 17: But methinks he was never well disposed to Julian
- 18: Elmscott bade his groom saddle the mare and followed me
- 19: But I thwacked her flanks with the cudgel
- 20: Led him forward over the Heath
- 21: You must e'en walk to Hungerford
- 22: It is Buckler Morrice Buckler
- 23: It could have done no less hurt than his slugs
- 24: And I gathered up the reins again and followed him
- 25: The moment Vincott turned the corner
- 26: And still Vincott did not come
- 27: Vincott held up his glass to the light
- 28: You mean she has deserted Julian
- 29: Vincott leaned back in his chair
- 30: I like the ornaments of the ceiling
- 31: Until Vincott stopped before a large building
- 32: Vincott pushed me gently within the room
- 33: But Julian cut short my explanation
- 34: Vincott could not have told you
- 35: I backed to the escritoire and repeated the charge
- 36: But he left his servant here Otto Krax
- 37: Vincott was waiting for me at the foot of the stairs
- 38: With Vincott panting behind me
- 39: 'Twas the last glimpse I had of Bristol
- 40: Then Sir Julian Harnwood is safe
- 41: Of our journey into the Tyrol I have but faint recollections
- 42: You have faced no weapon more deadly than a buttoned foil
- 43: Ran up towards it in long zigzags
- 44: Larke commenced to sputter and cough
- 45: And so hoist myself on to an insecure footing
- 46: On this strip the snow was heavily piled
- 47: Up the terrace steps to the sill of the window
- 48: By a path Sir Julian Harnwood told me of
- 49: And I whipped out the pistol from my pocket
- 50: But two people visited him on the 22nd
- 51: I have never seen Miss Marston
- 52: Count Lukstein wrenched his free
- 53: The door leading to the staircase was ajar
- 54: And white slippers on her naked feet
- 55: And I stood aghast at the sound of it
- 56: And thence by easy stages to Verona
- 57: I would see it opening and opening perpetually
- 58: Into this bason I dropped the key
- 59: The more ardently I longed to behold her
- 60: It was Culverton you robbed of Ph oe be
- 61: And the Countess Lukstein's in particular
- 62: And at first I could get no glimpse of the Countess
- 63: With the titter changed into an open laugh
- 64: That I gave my arm to the Countess
- 65: One copies it without discretion
- 66: Then Cumberland was Julian's county
- 67: And took my leave of the Countess
- 68: It opened at once at the diagram
- 69: And seated himself by the side of Ilga
- 70: Hugh Marston had risen from his chair as we entered
- 71: Buckler convinces me the playwright has never been in love
- 72: For a little Marston sat sullenly watching the play
- 73: 'Tis the continual mistaking of lath for steel
- 74: The parcel contained a shagreen case which Ilga unfastened
- 75: The gift was no bribe but a tribute
- 76: She set a value upon my esteem
- 77: The Countess was escorted by Marston
- 78: And they resumed the promenade
- 79: Buckler from her rapturous lips
- 80: Marston was perpetually at her side
- 81: Send Mademoiselle Durette to me
- 82: And turning to Mademoiselle Durette
- 83: Then the sword would be proved lath indeed
- 84: She bent once more over her embroidery
- 85: Ilga had ceased to sort the articles
- 86: She signed a dismissal to Otto
- 87: But I have just guessed who my traducer is
- 88: We heard the chain rattle on the door as Krax unfastened it
- 89: I walked down the steps as Marston mounted them
- 90: Saying with a little laugh So you are Morrice Buckler
- 91: For marrying so soon after Julian died
- 92: Is this Countess Lukstein to me
- 93: Lady Tracy laid a hand within my arm
- 94: My outcry brought Ilga onto the landing
- 95: And I marvelled not that Ilga smiled at it
- 96: Ilga broke in with an air of flurry
- 97: Culverton would not admit the statement
- 98: Ilga herself came to my rescue
- 99: The words were barely off my lips when Ilga rose to her feet
- 100: That door swung back against the wall
- 101: That Mademoiselle Durette should write
- 102: Unless you retired obediently to Cumberland
- 103: And did she stand between Ilga and me
- 104: Or to compel Marston to an encounter
- 105: He was to inquire whether Marston was within
- 106: That Marston has really fallen sick
- 107: On the morning of the Thursday
- 108: And threading the tents and booths
- 109: The louder and louder grew the sound
- 110: Marston will never start before the morning
- 111: And had then pushed on towards Hungerford
- 112: You can let Marston journey to Bristol
- 113: Then Marston called me faintly
- 114: For the cravat was of soft muslin
- 115: Lady Tracy There I stopped
- 116: Ilga moved her arm as though to withdraw it
- 117: And Udal fully dressed to accompany me in my flight
- 118: From Calais I journeyed to Paris
- 119: The next day he returned with Otto Krax
- 120: Unless Countess Lukstein marries again
- 121: Was perpetually with either Ilga or myself
- 122: Father Spaur himself would bear me company
- 123: Said Father Spaur with a great perturbation
- 124: To supply my servant's place Father Spaur offered me one
- 125: And since my anxiety grew with every hour
- 126: A small boulder hung insecurely on the turf
- 127: The mourner must be either Clemence Durette or Ilga
- 128: She walked to the parapet of the terrace
- 129: Said Father Spaur with an evil glance towards me
- 130: And Ilga opened the door and entered it
- 131: But Ilga bent her head down between it and me
- 132: I dared not disclose the matter before
- 133: And behind them stood Father Spaur
- 134: Father Spaur unlatched the door
- 135: Had Ilga called this corner of the Tyrol
- 136: As Ilga sang it in the moonlight
- 137: Then you admit that Lady Tracy knew
- 138: 'Twas the case which Lady Tracy had given to Count Lukstein
- 139: Lady Tracy was betrothed to Sir Julian
- 140: Grew stronger and stronger within me
- 141: In a little while Father Spaur
- 142: Otto replaced the bandage on my eyes
- 143: Each morning at daybreak the ladder was hoisted to the loft
- 144: This roof consisted of a thatch of boughs
- 145: Which grew steeper and steeper towards its summit
- 146: The journey of Countess Lukstein to Bristol
- 147: And on the eve of the Epiphany
- 148: The wall of cliff blocked the head of the Senner Thal
- 149: And precipitate the boulder upon me when my back was turned
- 150: And saw Otto Krax standing above me
- 151: I came not to spy upon Father Spaur
- 152: Give the cross back to Father Spaur
- 153: And realising that my turn had come to chuckle
- 154: We journeyed to Leyden first of all
- 155: And I recognised Lady Tracy as the original of the miniature
- 156: The next morning Otto departed from the hollow
- 157: Passing from hut to hut and from ravine to ravine
- 158: Thence I proceeded along the Inn Thal to Innspruck
- 159: And walked instantly forwards to where Ilga stood
- 160: We will travel no further afield to day
- 161: And leaving Ilga where she stood