The elder Buckley was a hale hearty yeoman, of a ruddy and cheerful
countenance. A few wrinkles were puckered below the eyes; the rest of
his face was sleek and comfortably disposed. A beard, once thick and
glossy, was grown grey and thin, curling up short and stunted round
his portly chin. Two bright twinkling eyes gave note of a stirring and
restless temper--too sanguine, maybe, for success in the great and
busy world, and not fitted either by education or disposition for its
suspicions or its frauds. Yet he had the reputation of a clever
merchant. Rochdale, even at that early period, was a well-known mart
for the buyers and sellers of woollen stuffs and friezes. Many of the
most wealthy merchants, too, indulged in foreign speculations and
adventures, and amongst these the name of Nicholas Buckley was not the
least conspicuous.

They passed on to the dairy, where Dame Eleanor scolded the maids and
skimmed the cream at the same moment, by way of economy in time.

"What look ye for here?" was her first inquiry, for truly her temper
was of a hasty and searching nature; somewhat prone, as well, to
cavilling and dispute, requiring much of her husband's placidity to
furnish oil for the turbulent waters of her disposition.

"Thou wert better at thy father's desk than idling after thine
unthrifty pleasures: to-morrow, maybe, sauntering among the hills with
hound and horn, beating up with all the rabble in the parish."

"Nay, mother, chide not: I was never made for merchandise and
barter--the price of fleeces in Tod Lane, and the broad ells at
Manchester market."

"And why not?" said the dame, sharply; "haven't I been the prop and
stay of the house? Haven't I made bargains and ventures when thou hast
been idling in hall and bower with love-ditties and ladies' purfles?"

She was now moved to sudden choler, and Gervase did not dare to thwart
her further--letting the passion spend itself by its own efforts, as
he knew it were vain to check its torrent.

Now Dame Eleanor Buckley was of a sharp and florid
countenance--short-necked and broad-shouldered, her nose and chin
almost hiding a pair of thin severe lips, the two prominences being
close neighbours, especially in anger. In truth she guided, or rather
managed, the whole circle of affairs; aiding and counselling the
speculations of her husband, who had happily been content with the
produce and profit of his paternal acres, had not his helpmate, who
inherited this mercan