I determined to do so in
disguise. My booby cousin had never seen enough of me to be very
familiar with my countenance, and a few years make great difference
between youth and manhood. I understood he was a breeder of cattle and
proud of his stock. I dressed myself, therefore, as a substantial
farmer, and with the assistance of a red scratch that came low down on
my forehead, made a complete change in my physiognomy.
It was past three o'clock when I arrived at the gate of the park, and
Was admitted by an old woman, who was washing in a dilapidated building
which had once been a porter's lodge. I advanced up the remains of a
noble avenue, many of the trees of which had been cut down and sold for
timber. The grounds were in scarcely better keeping than during my
uncle's lifetime. The grass was overgrown with weeds, and the trees
wanted pruning and clearing of dead branches. Cattle were grazing about
the lawns, and ducks and geese swimming in the fishponds.
The road to the house bore very few traces of carriage wheels, as my
cousin received few visitors but such as came on foot or on horseback,
and never used a carriage himself. Once, indeed, as I was told, he had
had the old family carriage drawn out from among the dust and cobwebs
of the coachhouse and furbished up, and had drove, with his mother, to
the village church to take formal possession of the family pew; but
there was such hooting and laughing after them as they passed through
the village, and such giggling and bantering about the church door,
that the pageant had never made a reappearance.
As I approached the house, a legion of whelps sallied out barking at
me, accompanied by the low howling, rather than barking, of two old
worn-out bloodhounds, which I recognized for the ancient life-guards of
my uncle. The house had still a neglected, random appearance, though
much altered for the better since my last visit. Several of the windows
were broken and patched up with boards; and others had been bricked up
to save taxes. I observed smoke, however, rising from the chimneys; a
phenomenon rarely witnessed in the ancient establishment. On passing
that part of the house where the dining-room was situated, I heard the
sound of boisterous merriment; where three or four voices were talking
at once, and oaths and laughter were horribly mingled.
The uproar of the dogs had brought a servant to the door, a tall,
hard-fisted country clown, with a livery coat put over the under-garments
of a ploughman.
