 his title abolished. He was now called
Lord Ravenswood only in courtesy.
    This forfeited nobleman inherited the pride and turbulence, though not the
fortune of his house, and, as he imputed the final declension of his family to a
particular individual, he honoured that person with his full portion of hatred.
This was the very man who had now become, by purchase, proprietor of Ravenswood,
and the domains of which the heir of the house now stood dispossessed. He was
descended of a family much less ancient than that of Lord Ravenswood, and which
had only risen to wealth and political importance during the great civil wars.
He himself had been bred to the bar, and had held high offices in the state,
maintaining through life the character of a skilful fisher in the troubled
waters of a state divided by factions, and governed by delegated authority; and
of one who contrived to amass considerable sums of money in a country where
there was but little to be gathered, and who equally knew the value of wealth,
and the various means of augmenting it, and using it as an engine of increasing
his power and influence.
    Thus qualified and gifted, he was a dangerous antagonist to the fierce and
imprudent Ravenswood. Whether he had given him good cause for the enmity with
which the Baron regarded him, was a point on which men spoke differently. Some
said the quarrel arose merely from the vindictive spirit and envy of Lord
Ravenswood, who could not patiently behold another, though by just and fair
purchase, become the proprietor of the estate and castle of his forefathers. But
the greater part of the public, prone to slander the wealthy in their absence,
as to flatter them in their presence, held a less charitable opinion. They said,
that the Lord Keeper (for to this height Sir William Ashton had ascended) had,
previous to the final purchase of the estate of Ravenswood, been concerned in
extensive pecuniary transactions with the former proprietor; and, rather
intimating what was probable, than affirming anything positively, they asked
which party was likely to have the advantage in stating and enforcing the claims
arising out of these complicated affairs, and more than hinted the advantages
which the cool lawyer and able politician must necessarily possess over the hot,
fiery, and imprudent character, whom he had involved in legal toils and
pecuniary snares.
    The character of the times aggravated these suspicions. »In those days there
was no king in Israel.« Since the departure of James VI. to assume the richer
and more powerful crown of England, there had existed in Scotland contending
parties, formed among the aristocracy,
