Chapter 16

A courtier extraordinary, who by diet
Of meats and drinks, his temperate exercise,
Choice music, frequent bath, his horary shifts
Of shirts and waistcoats, means to immortalize
Mortality itself, and makes the essence
Of his whole happiness the trim of court.
MAGNETIC LADY.

When the Lord Abbot had suddenly and superciliously vanished from the
eyes of his expectant vassals, the Sub-Prior made amends for the
negligence of his principal, by the kind and affectionate greeting
which he gave to all the members of the family, but especially to Dame
Elspeth, her foster-daughter, and her son Edward. "Where," he even
condescended to inquire, "is that naughty Nimrod, Halbert?--He hath
not yet, I trust, turned, like his great prototype, his hunting-spear
against man!"

"O no, an it please your reverence," said Dame Glendinning, "Halbert
is up at the glen to get some venison, or surely he would not have been
absent when such a day of honour dawned upon me and mine."

"Oh, to get savoury meat, such as our soul loveth," muttered the
Sub-Prior; "it has been at times an acceptable gift.--I bid you good
morrow, my good dame, as I must attend upon his lordship the Father
Abbot."

"And O, reverend sir," said the good widow, detaining him, "if it
might be your pleasure to take part with us if there is any thing
wrong; and if there is any thing wanted, to say that it is just
coming, or to make some excuses your learning best knows how. Every
bit of vassail and silver work have we been spoiled of since Pinkie
Cleuch, when I lost poor Simon Glendinning, that was the warst of a'."

"Never mind--never fear," said the Sub-Prior, gently extricating his
garment from the anxious grasp of Dame Elspeth, "the Refectioner has
with him the Abbot's plate and drinking cups; and I pray you to believe
that whatever is short in your entertainment will be deemed amply made
up in your good-will."

So saying, he escaped from her and went into the spence, where such
preparations as haste permitted were making for the noon collation of
the Abbot and the English knight. Here he found the Lord Abbot, for
whom a cushion, composed of all the plaids in the house, had been
unable to render Simon's huge elbow-chair a soft or comfortable place
of rest.

"Benedicite!" said Abbot Boniface, "now marry fie upon these hard
benches with all my heart--they are as uneasy as the _scabella_
of our novices. Saint Jude be with us, Sir Knight, how have you
contrived to pass over the night in this dungeon? An your bed was no
softer than your seat, you might as well have slept on the stone couch
of