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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Roland Cashel, by Charles James Lever
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Roland Cashel
+       Volume II (of II)
+
+Author: Charles James Lever
+
+Illustrator: Phiz.
+
+Release Date: August 19, 2010 [EBook #33469]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROLAND CASHEL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Widger
+
+
+
+
+
+ROLAND CASHEL
+
+By Charles James Lever
+
+With Illustrations By Phiz.
+
+In Two Volumes. Vol. II.
+
+
+
+
+ROLAND CASHEL.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I. AN "UNLIMITED" MONARCHY
+
+     And at last they find out, to their greatest surprise,
+     That't is easier far to be "merry than wise."
+
+     Bell: Images.
+
+
+"Here is Mr. Cashel; here he is!" exclaimed a number of voices, as
+Roland, with a heart full of indignant anger, ascended the terrace upon
+which the great drawing-room opened, and at every window of which stood
+groups of his gay company. Cashel looked up, and beheld the crowd of
+pleased faces wreathed into smiles of gracious welcome, and then he
+suddenly remembered that it was _he_ who had invited all that brilliant
+assemblage; that, for _him_, all those winning graces were assumed;
+and that _his_ gloomy thoughts, and gloomier looks, were but a sorry
+reception to offer them.
+
+With a bold effort, then, to shake off the load that oppressed him,
+he approached one of the windows, where Mrs. Kennyfeck and her two
+daughters were standing, with a considerable sprinkling of young
+dragoons around them.
+
+"We are not to let you in, Mr. Cashel," said Mrs. Kennyfeck, from
+within. "There has been a vote of the House against your admission."
+
+"Not, surely, to condemn me unheard," said Roland; "I might even say,
+unaccused."
+
+"How so?" cried Mrs. Kennyfeck. "Is not your present position your
+accusation? Why are you there, while we are here?"
+
+"I went out for a walk, and lost myself in the woods."
+
+"What does he say, my dear?" said Aunt Fanny, fearful of losing a word
+of the dialogue.
+
+"That he lost himself, madam," said one of the dragoons, dryly.
+
+"So, indeed, we heard, sir," said the maiden lady, piteously; "but I may
+say I foresaw it all."
+
+"You are an old fool, and, worse still, every one sees it," whispered
+Mrs. Kennyfeck, in an accent that there was no mistaking, although only
+a whisper.
+
+"We considered that you had abdicated, Mr. Cashel," said Mrs. White,
+who, having in vain waited for Roland to approach the window she
+occupied, was fain at last to join the others, "and we were debating on
+what form of Government to adopt,--a Presidency, with Mr. Linton--"
+
+"I see you are no legitimist," slyly remarked Miss Kenny-feck. But the
+other went on,--
+
+"Or an open Democracy."
+
+"I 'm for that," said a jolly-looking cavalry captain. "Pray, Miss
+Olivia Kennyfeck, vote for it too. I should like nothing so much as a
+little fraternizing."
+
+"I have a better suggestion than either," said Roland, gayly; "but you
+must admit me ere I make it."
+
+"A device of the enemy," called out Mrs. White; "he wants to secure his
+own return to power."
+
+"Nay, on honor," said he, solemnly; "I shall descend to the rank of the
+humblest citizen, if my advice be acceded to,--to the humblest subject
+of the realm."
+
+"Ye maunna open the window. Leddy Janet has the rheumatics a' dandering
+aboot her back a' the morning," said Sir Andrew, approaching the group;
+and then, turning to Cashel, said, "Glad to see ye, sir; very glad
+indeed; though, like Prince Charlie, you're on the wrang side o' the
+wa'."
+
+"Dear me!" sighed Meek, lifting his eyes from the newspaper, and
+assuming that softly compassionate tone in which he always delivered the
+most commonplace sentiments, "how shocking, to keep you out of your
+own house, and the air quite damp! Do pray be careful, and change your
+clothes before you come in here." Then he finished in a whisper to Lady
+Janet, "One never gets through a country visit without a cold."
+
+"Upon my word, I'll let him in," said Aunt Fanny, with a native richness
+of accent that made her fair nieces blush.
+
+"At last!" said Cashel, as he entered the room, and proceeded to
+salute the company, with many of whom he had but the very slightest
+acquaintance,--of some he did not even remember the names.
+
+The genial warmth of his character soon compelled him to feel heartily
+what he had begun by feigning, and he bade them welcome with a
+cordiality that spread its kindly influence over all.
+
+"I see," said he, after some minutes, "Lady Kilgoff has not joined us;
+but her fatigue has been very great."
+
+"They say my Lord 's clean daft," said Sir Andrew.
+
+"Oh, no, Sir Andrew," rejoined Roland; "our misfortune has shaken his
+nerves a good deal, but a few days' rest and quiet will restore him."
+
+"He was na ower wise at the best, puir man," sighed the veteran, as he
+moved away.
+
+"Her Ladyship was quite a heroine,--is n't that so?" said Lady Janet,
+tartly.
+
+"She held the rudder, or did something with the compass, I heard,"
+simpered a young lady in long flaxen ringlets.
+
+Cashel smiled, but made no answer.
+
+"Oh, dear," sighed Meek, "and there was a dog that swam--or was it you
+that swam ashore with a rope in your mouth?"
+
+"I grieve to say, neither man nor dog performed the achievement."
+
+"And it would appear that the horrid wretch--what's his name?" asked
+Mrs. White of her friend Howie.
+
+"Whose name, madam?"
+
+"The man--the dreadful man, who planned it all. Sick--Sickamore--no, not
+Sickamore--"
+
+"Sickleton, perhaps," said Cashel, strangely puzzled to make out what
+was coming.
+
+"Yes, Sickleton had actually done the very same thing twice before, just
+to get possession of the rich plate and all the things on board."
+
+"This is too bad," cried Cashel, indignantly; "really, madam, you must
+pardon my warmth, if it even verges on rudeness; but the gentleman whose
+name you have associated with such iniquitous suspicions saved all our
+lives."
+
+"That's what I like in him better than all," whispered Aunt Fanny to
+Olivia; "he stands by his friends like a trump."
+
+"You have compelled me," resumed Cashel, "to speak of what really I had
+much rather forget; but I shall insist upon your patience now for a
+few minutes, simply to rectify any error which may prevail upon this
+affair."
+
+With this brief prelude, Cashel commenced a narrative of the voyage
+from the evening of the departure from Kingstown to the moment of the
+vessel's sinking off the south coast.
+
+If most of his auditors only listened as to an interesting anecdote, to
+others the story had a deeper meaning. The Kennyfecks were longing to
+learn how the excursion originated, and whether Lady Kilgoff's presence
+had been a pre-arranged plan, or a mere accidental occurrence.
+
+"All's not lost yet, Livy," whispered Miss Kennyfeck in her sister's
+ear. "I give you joy." While a significant nod from Aunt Fanny seemed to
+divine the sentiment and agree with it.
+
+"And I suppose ye had na the vessel insured?" said Sir Andrew, at the
+close of the narrative; "what a sair thing to think o'!"
+
+"Oh, dear, yes, to be sure!" ejaculated Meek, piteously; "and the cold,
+and the wetting, and the rest of it! for of course you must have met few
+comforts in that miserable fishing-hut."
+
+"How picturesque it must have been," interposed Mrs. White; "and what a
+pity you had no means of having a drawing made of it. The scene at the
+moment of the yacht striking; the despair-struck seamen--"
+
+"Pardon me, madam, for destroying even a particle of so ingenious a
+fancy; but the men evinced nothing of the kind,--they behaved well, and
+with the calmest steadiness."
+
+"It is scarcely too late yet," resumed the lady, unabashed; "if you
+would just describe it all carefully to Mr. Howie, he could made a
+sketch in oils one would swear was taken on the spot."
+
+"Quite impossible,--out of the question," said Howie, who was always
+ashamed at the absurdities which compromised himself, although keenly
+alive to those which involved his neighbors.
+
+"We have heard much of Lady Kilgoff's courage and presence of mind,"
+said Mrs. Kennyfeck, returning to a theme by which she calculated on
+exploring into Cashel's sentiments towards that lady. "Were they indeed
+so conspicuous?"
+
+"Can you doubt it, madam?" said Lady Janet, tartly; "she gave the most
+unequivocal proof of both,--she remembered her husband!"
+
+The tartness of this impertinent speech was infinitely increased by
+the voice and manner of the speaker, and a half-suppressed titter ran
+through the room, Cashel alone, of all, feeling annoyed and angry. Aunt
+Fanny, always less occupied with herself than her neighbors, quickly saw
+his irritation, and resolved to change a topic which more than once had
+verged on danger.
+
+"And now, Mr. Cashel," said she, "let us not forget the pledge on which
+we admitted you."
+
+"Quite right," exclaimed Roland; "I promised a suggestion: here it is--"
+
+"Pardon me for interrupting," said Miss Kennyfeck; "but in what capacity
+do you make this suggestion? Are you still king, or have you abdicated?"
+
+"Abdicated in all form," replied Roland, bowing with well-assumed
+humility; "as simple citizen, I propose that we elect a 'Queen,' to rule
+despotically in all things,--uncontrolled and irresponsible."
+
+"Oh, delightful! admirable!" exclaimed a number of voices, among which
+all the men and the younger ladies might be heard; Lady Janet and Mrs.
+Kennyfeck, and a few others "of the senior service," as Mr. Linton
+would have called them, seeming to canvass the motion with more cautious
+reserve.
+
+"As it is to be an elective monarchy, sir," said Lady Janet, with a
+shrewd glance over all the possible candidates, "how do you propose the
+choice is to be made?"
+
+"That is to be for after consideration," replied Roland; "we may have
+universal suffrage and the ballot."
+
+"No, no, by Jove!" exclaimed Sir Harvey Upton; "we must not enter upon
+our new reign by a rebellion. Let only the men vote."
+
+"How gallant!" said Miss Kennyfeck, sneeringly; while a chorus of "How
+unfair!" "How ungenerous!" went through the room.
+
+"What say ye to the plan they hae wi' the Pope?" said Sir Andrew,
+grinning maliciously: "tak' the auldest o' the company."
+
+This suggestion caused a laugh, in which certain parties did not join
+over-heartily. Just at this moment the door opened, and Lord Kilgoff,
+leaning on the arm of two servants, entered. He was deathly pale, and
+seemed several years older; but his face had acquired something of its
+wonted expression, and it was with a sad but courteous smile he returned
+the salutations of the company.
+
+"Glad to see you amongst us, my Lord," said Cashel, as he placed an
+arm-chair, and assisted the old man to his seat. "I have just been
+telling my friends that our country air and quiet will speedily restore
+you."
+
+"Thank you very much, sir," said he, taking Cashel's hand. "We are both
+greatly indebted to your kindness, nor can we indeed ever hope to repay
+it."
+
+"Make him a receiver on the estate, then," whispered Lady Janet in Miss
+Kennyfeck's ear, "and he'll soon pay himself."
+
+"Tell my Lord about our newly intended government, Mr. Cashel," said
+Mrs. Kennyfeck; "I'm sure it will amuse him." And Cashel, more in
+obedience to the request than from any conviction of its prudence,
+proceeded to obey. One word only, however, seemed to fix itself on the
+old man's memory.
+
+"Queen! queen!" repeated he several times to himself. "Oh, indeed! You
+expect her Majesty will honor you with a visit, sir?"
+
+Cashel endeavored to correct the misconception, but to no purpose; the
+feeble intelligence could not relinquish its grasp so easily, and he
+went on in a low muttering tone,--
+
+"Lady Kilgoff is the only peeress here, sir, remember that; you should
+speak to her about it, Mr. Cashel."
+
+"I hope we are soon to have the pleasure of seeing Lady Kilgoff, my
+Lord," whispered Cashel, half to concur with, half to turn the course of
+conversation.
+
+"She will be here presently," said he, somewhat stiffly, as if some
+unpleasant recollection was passing through his mind; and Cashel
+turned away to speak with the others, who eagerly awaited to resume the
+interrupted conversation.
+
+"Your plan, Mr. Cashel; we are dying to hear it," cried one.
+
+"Oh, by all means; how are we to elect the queen?" said another.
+
+"What say you to a lottery," said he, "or something equally the upshot
+of chance? For instance, let the first lady who enters the room be
+queen."
+
+"Very good indeed," said Lady Janet, aloud; then added, in a whisper,
+"I see that old Mrs. Malone with her husband toddling up the avenue this
+instant."
+
+"Olivia, my love," whispered Mrs. Kennyfeck to her daughter, "fetch me
+my work here, and don't be a moment away, child. He's so amusing!" And
+the young lady glided unseen from the room at her mamma's bidding. After
+a short but animated conversation, it was decided that this mode of
+choice should be adopted; and now all stood in anxious expectancy to see
+who first should enter. At last footsteps were heard approaching, and
+the interest rose higher.
+
+"Leddy Janet was right," said Sir Andrew, with a grin; "ye 'll hae Mrs.
+Malone for your sovereign,--I ken her step weel."
+
+"By Jove!" cried Upton, "I 'll dispute the succession; that would never
+do."
+
+"That's-a lighter tread and a faster," said Cashel, listening.
+
+"There are two coming," cried Mrs. White; "I hear voices: how are we
+then to decide?"
+
+There was no time to canvass this knotty point, when a hand was heard
+upon the door-handle; it turned, and just as the door moved, a sound of
+feet upon the terrace without,--running at full speed,--turned every eye
+in that direction, and the same instant Miss Meek sprang into the room
+through the window, while Lord Charles and Linton hurried after her, at
+the same moment that Lady Kilgoff, followed by Olivia Kennyfeck, entered
+by the door.
+
+Miss Meek's appearance might have astonished the company, had even
+her _entree_ been more ceremonious; for she was without hat, her
+hair falling in long, dishevelled masses about her shoulders, and her
+riding-habit, torn and ragged, was carried over one arm, with a freedom
+much more in accordance with speed than grace.
+
+"Beat by two lengths, Charley," cried she, in a joyous, merry laugh;
+"beat in a canter,--Mr. Linton, nowhere."
+
+"Oh, dear me, what is all this, Jemima love?" softly sighed her bland
+papa; "you've not been riding, I hope?"
+
+"Schooling a bit with Charley, pa, and as we left the nags at the
+stable, they challenged me to a race home; I don't think they'll do it
+again. Do look how they're blown."
+
+Some of the company laughed good-humoredly at the girlish gayety of the
+scene. Others, among whom, it is sad to say, were many of the younger
+ladies, made significant signs of being shocked by the indecorum, and
+gathered in groups to canvass the papa's indifference and the daughter's
+indelicacy. Meanwhile Cashel had been completely occupied with Lady
+Kilgoff, making the usual inquiries regarding fatigue and rest, but in a
+manner that bespoke all his interest in a favored guest.
+
+"Are you aware to what high destiny the Fates have called you?" said he,
+laughing. "Some attain fortune by being first to seek her,--_you_, on
+the contrary, win by dallying. We had decided, a few moments before
+you came in, that the first lady who entered should be the Queen of our
+party,--this lot is yours."
+
+"I beg to correct you, Mr. Cashel," cried Lady Janet, smartly; "Miss
+Meek entered before her Ladyship."
+
+"Oh, yes!" "Certainly!" "Without a doubt!" resounded from the whole
+company, who were not sorry to confer their suffrages on the madcap girl
+rather than the fashionable beauty.
+
+"How distressing!" sighed Mr. Meek. "Oh, dear! I hope this is not
+so,--nay, I 'm sure, Jemima, it cannot be the case."
+
+"You're thinking of George Colman, Meek,--I see you are," cried Linton.
+
+[Illustration: 026]
+
+"No, indeed; no, upon my honor. What was it about Colman?"
+
+"The story is everybody's story. The Prince insisted once that George
+was his senior, and George only corrected himself of his mistake by
+saying that 'he could not possibly have had the rudeness to enter the
+world before his Royal Highness.'"
+
+"Ah! yes--very true--so it was," sighed Meek, who-affected not to
+perceive the covert sneer at his assumed courtesy.
+
+While, therefore, the party gathered around Cashel, with eager assurance
+of Miss Meek's precedence, Lady Kilgoff, rising, crossed the room
+to where that young lady was standing, and gracefully arranging her
+loose-flowing ringlets into a knot at the back of the head, fastened
+them by a splendid comb which she took from her own, and whose top was
+fashioned into a handsome coronet of gold, saying, "The question of
+legitimacy is solved forever: the Pretender yields her crown to the true
+Sovereign."
+
+The gracefulness and tact of this sudden movement called forth the
+warmest acknowledgments of all save Lady Janet, who whispered to Miss
+Kenny feck, "It is pretty clear, I fancy, who is to pay for the crown
+jewels!"
+
+"Am I really the Queen?" cried the young girl, half wild with delight.
+
+"Most assuredly, madam," said Linton, kissing her hand in deep
+reverence. "I beg to be first to tender my homage."
+
+"That 's so like him!" cried she, laughing; "but you shall be no officer
+of mine. Where 's Charley? I want to make him Master of the Buckhounds,
+if there be buckhounds."
+
+"Will you not appoint your ladies first, madam?" said Lady Janet; "or,
+are your preferences for the other sex to leave us quite forgotten?"
+
+"Be all of you everything you please," rejoined the childish, merry
+voice, "with Charley Frobisher for Master of the Horse."
+
+"Linton for Master of the Revels," said some one.
+
+"Agreed," said she.
+
+"Mr. Cashel had better be First Lord of the Treasury, I suspect," said
+Lady Janet, snappishly, "if the Administration is to last."
+
+"And if ye a'ways wear drapery o' this fashion," said Sir Andrew, taking
+up the torn fragment of her riding-habit as he spoke, "I maun say that
+the Mistress of the Robes will na be a sinecure."
+
+"Will any one tell me what are my powers?" said she, sitting down with
+an air of mock dignity.
+
+"Will any one dare to say what they are not?" responded Cashel.
+
+"Have I unlimited command in everything?"
+
+"In everything, madam; I and all mine are at your orders."
+
+"That's what the farce will end in," whispered Lady Janet to Mrs.
+Kennyfeck.
+
+"Well, then, to begin. The court will dine with us today--to-morrow we
+will hunt in our royal forest; our private band--Have we a private band,
+Mr. Linton?"
+
+"Certainly, your Majesty,--so private as to be almost undiscoverable."
+
+"Then our private band will perform in the evening; perhaps, too, we
+shall dance. Remember, my Lords and Ladies, we are a young sovereign who
+loves pleasure, and that a sad face or a mournful one is treason to our
+person. Come forward now, and let us name our household."
+
+While the group gathered around the wild and high-spirited girl, in
+whose merry mood even the least-disposed were drawn to participate,
+Linton approached Lady Kilgoff, who had seated herself near a window,
+and was affecting to arrange a frame of embroidery, on which she rarely
+bestowed a moment's labor.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II. LADY KILGOFF AT BAY
+
+     I'll make her brew the beverage herself,
+     With her own fingers stir the cap,
+     And know't is poison as she drinks it.
+
+     Harold.
+
+
+Had Linton been about to renew an acquaintance with one he had scarcely
+known before, and who might possibly have ceased to remember him, his
+manner could not have been more studiously diffident and respectful.
+
+"I rejoice to see your Ladyship here," said he, in a low, deliberate
+voice, "where, on the last time we spoke together, you seemed uncertain
+of coming."
+
+"Very true, Mr. Linton," said she, not looking up from her work; "my
+Lord had not fully made up his mind."
+
+"Say, rather, your Ladyship had changed yours," said he, with a cold
+smile,--"a privilege you are not wont to deny yourself."
+
+"I might have exercised it oftener in life with advantage," replied she,
+still holding her head bent over the embroidery frame.
+
+"Don't you think that your Ladyship and I are old friends enough to
+speak without innuendo?"
+
+"If we speak at all," said she, with a low but calm accent.
+
+"True, that is to be thought of," rejoined he, with an unmoved quietude
+of voice. "Being in a manner prepared for a change in your Ladyship's
+sentiments towards me--"
+
+"Sir!" said she, interrupting, and as suddenly raising her face, which
+was now covered with a deep blush.
+
+"I trust I have said nothing to provoke reproof," said Linton, coldly.
+"Your Ladyship is well aware if my words be not true. I repeat it,
+then,--your sentiments _are_ changed towards me, or--the alteration is
+not of _my_ choosing--I was deceived in the expression of them when last
+we met."
+
+"It may suit your purpose, sir, but it can scarcely conform to the
+generosity of a gentleman, to taunt me with acceding to your request for
+a meeting. If any other weakness can be alleged against me, pray let me
+hear it."
+
+"When we last met," said Linton, in a voice of lower and deeper meaning
+than before, "we did so that I might speak, and _you_ hear, the avowal
+of a passion which for years has filled my heart--against which I
+have struggled and fought in vain--to stifle which I have plunged into
+dissipations that I detested, and followed ambitions I despised--to
+obliterate all memory of which I would stoop to crime itself, rather
+than suffer on in the hopeless misery I must do."
+
+"I will hear no more of this," said she, pushing back the work-table,
+and preparing to rise.
+
+"You must and you shall hear me, madam," said he, replacing the table
+and affecting to arrange it for her. "I conclude you do not wish this
+amiable company to arbitrate between us."
+
+"Oh, sir! is it thus you threaten me?"
+
+"You should say compromise, madam. There can be no threat where a common
+ruin impends on all concerned."
+
+"To what end all this, Mr. Linton?" said she. "You surely cannot expect
+from me any return to a feeling which, if it once existed, you yourself
+were the means of uprooting forever. Even _you_ could scarcely be
+ungenerous enough to persecute one for whose misery you have done
+already too much."
+
+"Will you accept my arm for half an hour?" cried he, interrupting. "I
+pledge myself it shall be the last time I either make such a request, or
+even allude to this topic between us. On the pretence of showing you the
+house, I may be able--if not to justify myself--nay, I see how little
+you care for that--well, at least to assure you that I have no other
+wish, no other hope, than to see you happy."
+
+"I cannot trust you," said she, in a tone of agitation; "already we are
+remarked."
+
+"So I perceive," said he, in an undertone; then added, in a voice
+audible enough to be heard by the rest, "I am too vain of my
+architectural merits to leave their discovery to chance; and as you
+are good enough to say you would like to see the house, pray will your
+Ladyship accept my arm while I perform the cicerone on myself?"
+
+The _coup_ succeeded, and, to avoid the difficulty and embarrassment
+a refusal would have created, Lady Kilgoff arose, and prepared to
+accompany him.
+
+"Eh, what--what is't, my Lady?" said Lord Kilgoff, suddenly awaking from
+a kind of lethargic slumber, as she whispered some words in his ear.
+
+"Her Ladyship is telling you not to be jealous, my Lord, while she is
+making the tour of the house with Mr. Linton," said Lady Janet, with a
+malicious sparkle of her green eyes.
+
+"Why not make it a royal progress?" said Sir Harvey. "Her Majesty the
+Queen might like it well."
+
+"Her Majesty likes everything that promises amusement," said the wild
+romp; "come, Charley, give us your arm.
+
+"No, I 've got a letter or two to write," said he, rudely; "there 's
+Upton or Jennings quite ready for any foolery."
+
+"This is too bad!" cried she; and through all the pantomime of mock
+royalty, a real tear rose to her eyes, and rolled heavily down her
+cheek; then, with a sudden change of humor, she said, "Mr. Cashel, will
+_you_ take me?"
+
+The request was too late, for already he had given his arm to Lady
+Janet,--an act of devotion he was performing with the expression of a
+saint under martyrdom.
+
+"Sir Harvey,--there's no help for it,--we are reduced to _you_."
+
+But Sir Harvey was leaving the room with Olivia Kenny-feck. In fact,
+couples paired off in every direction; the only disengaged cavalier
+being Sir Andrew MacFarline, who, with a sardonic grin on his features,
+came hobbling forward, as he said,--
+
+"Te maunna tak sich long strides, Missy, if ye ga wf me, for I've got a
+couple o' ounces of Langredge shot in my left knee--forbye the gout in
+both ankles."
+
+"I say, Jim," called out Lord Charles, as she moved away, "if you like
+to ride Princepino this afternoon, he's-ready for you."
+
+"Are _you_ going?" said she, turning her head.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Then _I'll_ not go." And so saying, she left the room.
+
+When Linton, accompanied by Lady Kilgoff, issued from the drawing-room,
+instead of proceeding through the billiard-room towards the suite which
+formed the "show" part of the mansion, he turned abruptly to his left,
+and, passing through a narrow corridor, came out upon a terrace, at the
+end of which stood a large conservatory, opening into the garden.
+
+"I ask pardon," said he, "if I reverse the order of our geography, and
+show you the frontiers of the realm before we visit the capital; but
+otherwise we shall only be the advance-guard of that interesting company
+who have nothing more at heart than to overhear us."
+
+Lady Kilgoff walked along without speaking, at his side, having
+relinquished the support of his arm with a stiff, frigid courtesy. Had
+any one been there to mark the two-figures, as side by side they went,
+each deep in thought, and not even venturing a glance at the other, he
+might well have wondered what strange link could connect them. It was
+thus they entered the conservatory, where two rows of orange-trees
+formed a lane of foliage almost impenetrable to the eye.
+
+"As this may be the last time we shall ever speak together in secret--"
+
+"You have promised as much, sir," said she, interrupting; and the very
+rapidity of her utterance betrayed the eagerness of her wish.
+
+"Be it so, madam," replied he, coldly, and with a tone of sternness very
+different from that he had used at first. "I have ever preferred your
+wishes to my own. I shall never prove false to that allegiance. As we
+are now about to speak on terms which never can be resumed, let us at
+least be frank. Let us use candor with each other. Even unpleasing truth
+is better at such a moment than smooth-tongued insincerity."
+
+"This preamble does not promise well," said Lady Kilgoff, with a cold
+smile.
+
+"Not, perhaps, for the agreeability of our interview, but it may save us
+both much time and much temper. I have said that you are changed towards
+me."
+
+"Oh, sir! if I had suspected that this was to be the theme--" She
+stopped, and seemed uncertain, when he finished the speech for her.
+
+"You would never have accorded me this meeting. Do be frank, madam, and
+spare me the pain of self-inflicted severity. Well, I will not impose
+upon your kindness,--nor indeed was such my intention, if you had but
+heard me out. Yes, madam, I should have told you that while I deplore
+that alteration, I no more make you chargeable with it, than _you_ can
+call _me_ to account for cherishing a passion without a hope. Both one
+and the other are independent of us. That one should forget and the
+other remember is beyond mere volition."
+
+He waited for some token of assent, some slight evidence of concurrence;
+but none came, and he resumed:
+
+"When first I had the happiness of being distinguished by some slight
+show of your preference, there were many others who sought with
+eagerness for that position I was supposed to occupy in your favor. It
+was the first access of vanity in my heart, and it cost me dearly. Some
+envied me; some scoffed; some predicted that my triumph would be a brief
+one; some were rude enough to say that I was only placed like a buoy,
+to show the passage, and that I should lie fast at anchor while others
+sailed on with prosperous gale and favoring fortune. You, madam, best
+know which of these were right. I see that I weary you. I can conceive
+how distasteful all these memories must be, nor should I evoke them
+without absolute necessity. To be brief, then, you are now about to play
+over with another the very game by which you once deceived me. It is
+your caprice to sacrifice another to your vanity; but know, madam, the
+liberties which the world smiled at in Miss Gardiner will be keenly
+criticised in the Lady Kilgoff. In the former case, the most malevolent
+could but hint at a _mesalliance_; in the latter, evil tongues can take
+a wider latitude. To be sure, the fascinating qualities of the suitor,
+his wealth, his enviable position, will plead with some; my Lord's
+age and decrepitude will weigh with others: but even these charitable
+persons will not spare _you_. Your own sex are seldom over-merciful in
+their judgments. Men are unscrupulous enough to hint that there was no
+secret in the matter; some will go further, and affect to say that they
+themselves were not unfavorably looked on."
+
+"Will you give me a chair, sir?" said she, in a voice which, though
+barely above a whisper, vibrated with intense passion. Linton hastened
+to fetch a seat, his whole features glowing with the elation of his
+vengeance. This passed rapidly away, and as he placed the chair for her
+to sit down, his face had resumed its former cold, almost melancholy
+expression.
+
+"I hope you are not ill?" said he, with an air of feeling.
+
+A glance of the most ineffable scorn was her only reply.
+
+"It is with sincere sorrow that I inflict this pain upon you,--indeed,
+when I heard of that unhappy yacht excursion, my mind was made up to see
+Lord Kilgoff the very moment of his arrival, and, on any pretence, to
+induce him to leave this. This hope, however, was taken from me, when
+I beheld the sad state into which he had fallen, leaving me no other
+alternative than to address yourself. I will not hurt your ears by
+repeating the inventions, each full of falsehood, that heralded your
+arrival here. The insulting discussions how you should be met--whether
+your conduct had already precluded your acceptance amongst the circle of
+your equals--or, that you were only a subject of avoidance to mothers of
+marriageable daughters, and maiden ladies of excessive virtue. You have
+mixed in the world, and therefore can well imagine every ingenious turn
+of this peculiar eloquence. How was I--I who have known--I who--nay,
+madam, not a word shall pass my lips in reference to that theme--I would
+only ask, Could I hear these things, could I see your foot nearing the
+cliff, and not cry out, Stop?--Another step, and you are lost! There
+are women who can play this dangerous game with cool heads and cooler
+hearts: schooled in all the frigid indifference that would seem the
+birthright of a certain class, the secrets of their affections die with
+them; but you are not one of these. Born in what they would call an
+humbler, but I should call a far higher sphere, where the feelings are
+fresher and the emotions purer, _you_ might chance to--fall in love!"
+
+A faint smile, so faint that it conveyed no expression to her eyes, was
+Lady Kilgoff's acknowledgment of these last words.
+
+"Have you finished, sir?" said she, as, after a pause of some seconds,
+he stood still.
+
+"Not yet, madam," replied he, dryly.
+
+"In that case, sir, would it not be as well to tell the man who is
+lingering yonder to leave this? except, perhaps, it may be your desire
+to have a witness to your words."
+
+Linton started, and grew deadly pale; for he now perceived that the
+man must have been in the conservatory during the entire interview.
+Hastening round to where he stood, his fears were at once dispelled;
+for it was the Italian sailor, Giovanni, who, in the multiplicity of his
+accomplishments, was now assisting the gardener among the plants.
+
+"It is of no consequence, madam," said he, returning; "the man is an
+Italian, who understands nothing of English."
+
+"_You_ are always fortunate, Mr. Linton," said she, with a deep emphasis
+on the pronoun.
+
+"I have ceased to boast of my good luck for many a day."
+
+"Having, doubtless, so many other qualities to be proud of," said she,
+with a malicious sparkle of her dark eyes.
+
+"The question is now, madam, of one far more interesting than me."
+
+"Can that be possible, sir? Is any one's welfare of such moment to his
+friends--to the world at large--as the high-minded, the honorable, the
+open-hearted Mr. Linton, who condescends, for the sake of a warning
+to his young friends, to turn gambler and ruin them; while he has the
+daring courage to single out a poor unprotected woman, without one who
+could rightly defend her, and, under the miserable mask of interest, to
+insult her?"
+
+"Is it thus you read my conduct, madam?" said he, with an air at once
+sad and reproachful.
+
+"Not altogether, Mr. Linton. Besides the ineffable pleasure of giving
+pain, I perceive that you are acquitting a debt,--the debt of hate you
+owe me; because--But I cannot descend to occupy the same level with you
+in this business. My reply to you is a very short one. Your insult to me
+must go unpunished; for, as you well know, I have not one to resent it.
+You have, however, introduced another name in this discussion; to
+that gentleman I will reveal all that you have said this day. The
+consequences may be what they will, I care not; I never provoked them.
+You best know, sir, how the reckoning will fare with you."
+
+Linton grew pale, almost lividly so, while he bit his lip till the very
+blood came; then, suddenly recovering himself, he said: "I am not
+aware of having mentioned a name. I think your Ladyship must have been
+mistaken; but"--and here he laughed slightly--"you will scarce succeed
+in sowing discord between me and my old friend, Lord Charles Frobisher."
+
+"Lord Charles Frobisher!" echoed she, almost stunned with the
+effrontery.
+
+"You seem surprised, madam. I trust your Ladyship meant no other."
+The insolence of his manner, as he said this, left her unable for some
+minutes to reply, and when she did speak, it was with evident effort.
+
+"I trust now, sir, that we have spoken for the last time together. I
+own--and it is, indeed, humiliation enough to own it--your words have
+deeply insulted me. I cannot deny you the satisfaction of knowing this;
+and yet, with all these things before me, I do not hate--I only despise
+you."
+
+So saying, she moved towards the door; but Linton stepped forward, and
+said: "One instant, madam. You seem to forget that we are pledged to
+walk through the rooms; our amiable friends are doubtless looking for
+us."
+
+"I will ask Mr. Cashel to be my chaperon another time," said she,
+carelessly, and, drawing her shawl around her, passed out, leaving
+Linton alone in the conservatory.
+
+"Ay, by St Paul! the work goes bravely on," cried he, as soon as she had
+disappeared. "If she ruin not him and herself to boot, now, I am sore
+mistaken. The game is full of interest, and, if I had not so much in
+hand, would delight me."
+
+With this brief soliloquy, he turned to where the Italian was standing,
+pruning an orange-tree.
+
+"Have you learned any English yet, Giovanni?"
+
+A slight but significant gesture of one finger gave the negative.
+
+"No matter, your own soft vowels are in more request here. The dress I
+told you of is now come,--my servant will give it to you; so, be ready
+with your guitar, if the ladies wish for it, this evening."
+
+Giovanni bowed respectfully, and went on with his work, and soon after
+Linton strolled into the garden to muse over the late scene.
+
+Had any one been there to mark the signs of triumphant elation on his
+features, they would have seen the man in all the sincerity of his bold,
+bad heart. His success was perfect. Knowing well the proud nature of
+the young, high-spirited woman, thoroughly acquainted with her impatient
+temper and haughty character, he rightly foresaw that to tell her she
+had become the subject of a calumny was to rouse her pride to confront
+it openly. To whisper that the world would not admit of this or that,
+was to make her brave that world, or sink under the effort.
+
+To sting her to such resistance was his wily game, and who knew better
+how to play it? The insinuated sneers at the class to which she had once
+belonged, as one not "patented" to assume the vices of their betters,
+was a deep and most telling hit; and he saw, when they separated, that
+her mind was made up, at any cost and every risk, to live down the
+slander by utter contempt of it Linton asked for no more. "Let
+her," said he to himself, "but enter the lists with the world for an
+adversary! I 'll give her all the benefits of the best motives,--as much
+purity of heart, and so forth, as she cares for; but, 'I 'll name the
+winner,' after all."
+
+Too true. The worthy people who fancy that an innate honesty of purpose
+can compensate for all the breaches of conventional use, are like the
+volunteers of an army who refuse to wear its uniform, and are as often
+picked down by their allies as by their enemies.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III. A PARTIAL RECOVERY AND A RELAPSE
+
+     Such a concourse ne'er was seen
+     Of coaches, noddies, cars, and jingles,
+     "Chars-a-bancs," to hold sixteen,
+     And "sulkies," meant to carry singles.
+
+     The Pic-nic: A Lay.
+
+
+It is an old remark that nothing is so stupid as love-letters; and,
+pretty much in the same spirit, we may affirm that there are few
+duller topics than festivities. The scenes in which the actor is most
+interested are, out of compensation, perhaps, those least worthy
+to record; the very inability of description to render them is
+disheartening too. One must eternally resort to the effects produced, as
+evidences of the cause, just as, when we would characterize a climate,
+we find ourselves obliged to fall back upon the vegetable productions,
+the fruits and flowers of the seasons, to convey even anything of what
+we desire. So is it Pleasure has its own atmosphere,--we may breathe,
+but hardly chronicle it.
+
+These prosings of ours have reference to the gayeties of Tubbermore,
+which certainly were all that a merry party and an unbounded expenditure
+could compass. The style of living was princely in its splendor;
+luxuries fetched from every land,--the rarest wines of every country,
+the most exquisite flowers,--all that taste can suggest, and gold can
+buy, were there; and while the order of each day was maintained with
+undiminished splendor, every little fancy of the guests was studied with
+a watchful politeness that marks the highest delicacy of hospitality.
+
+If a bachelor's house be wanting in the gracefulness which is the charm
+of a family reception, there is a freedom, a degree of liberty in
+all the movements of the guests, which some would accept as a fair
+compromise; for, while the men assume a full equality With their host,
+the ladies are supreme in all such establishments. Roland Cashel was,
+indeed, not the man to dislike this kind of democracy; it spared him
+trouble; it inflicted no tiresome routine of attentions; he was free as
+the others to follow the bent of his humor, and he asked for no more.
+
+It was without one particle of vulgar pride of wealth that he delighted
+in the pleasure he saw around him; it was the mere buoyancy of a
+high-spirited nature. The cost no more entered into his calculations
+in a personal than a pecuniary sense. A consciousness that he was
+the source of all that splendid festivity,--that his will was the
+motive-power of all that complex machinery of pleasure,--increased,
+but did not constitute, his enjoyment. To see his guests happy, in the
+various modes they preferred, was his great delight, and, for once, he
+felt inclined to think that wealth had great privileges.
+
+The display of all which gratified him most was that which usually took
+place each day after luncheon; when the great space before the house was
+thronged with equipages of various kinds and degrees, with saddle-horses
+and mounted grooms, and amid all the bustle of discussing where to, and
+with whom, the party issued forth to spend the hours before dinner.
+
+A looker-on would have been amused to watch all the little devices
+in request, to join this party, to avoid that, to secure a seat in a
+certain carriage, or to escape from some other; Linton's chief amusement
+being to thwart as many of these plans as he could, and while he packed
+a sleepy Chief Justice into the same barouche with the gay Kennyfeck
+girls, to commit Lady Janet to the care of some dashing dragoon, who did
+not dare decline the wife of a "Commander of the Forces."
+
+Cashel always joined the party on horseback, so long as Lady Kilgoff
+kept the house, which she did for the first week of her stay; but when
+she announced her intention of driving out, he offered his services to
+accompany her. By the merest accident it chanced that the very day she
+fixed on for her first excursion was that on which Cashel had determined
+to try a new and most splendid equipage which had just arrived; it was a
+phaeton, built in all the costly splendor of the "Regency of the Duke of
+Orleans,"--one of those gorgeous toys which even a voluptuous age gazed
+at with wonder. Two jet-black Arabians, of perfect symmetry, drew it,
+the whole forming a most beautiful equipage.
+
+Exclamations of astonishment and admiration broke from the whole party
+as the carriage drove up to the door, where all were now standing.
+
+"Whose can it be? Where did it come from? What a magnificent phaeton!
+Mr. Cashel, pray tell us all about it. Do, Mr. Linton, give us its
+history."
+
+"It has none as yet, my dear Mrs. White; that it may have, one of these
+days, is quite possible."
+
+Lady Janet heard the speech, and nodded significantly in assent.
+
+"Mr. Linton, you are coming with us, a'n't you?" said a lady's voice
+from a britzska close by.
+
+"I really don't know how the arrangement is; Cashel said something about
+my driving Lady Kilgoff."
+
+Lady Kilgoff pressed her lips close, and gathered her mantle together as
+if by some sudden impulse of temper, but never spoke a word. At the same
+instant Cashel made his appearance from the house.
+
+"Are you to drive me, Mr. Cashel?" said she, calmly.
+
+"If you will honor me so far," replied he, bowing.
+
+"I fancied you said something to me about being her Ladyship's
+charioteer," said Linton.
+
+"You must have been dreaming, man," cried Cashel, laughing.
+
+"Will you allow my Lady to choose?" rejoined Linton, jokingly, while he
+stole at her a look of insolent malice.
+
+Cashel stood uncertain what to say or do in the emergency, when, with a
+firm and determined voice, Lady Kilgoff said,--
+
+"I must own I have no confidence in Mr. Linton's guidance."
+
+"There, Tom," said Cashel, gayly, "I 'm glad your vanity came in for
+that."
+
+"I have only to hope that you are in safer conduct, my Lady," said
+Linton; and he bowed with uncovered head, and then stood gazing after
+the swift carriage as it hastened down the avenue.
+
+"Is it all true about these Kennyfeck girls having so much tin'?" said
+Captain Jennings, as he stroked down his moustache complacently.
+
+"They say five-and-twenty thousand each," said Linton, "and I rather
+credit the rumor."
+
+"Eh, aw! one might do worse," yawned the hussar, languidly; "I wish they
+hadn't that confounded accent!" And so he moved off to join the party on
+horseback.
+
+"You are coming with me, Jemima," said Mr. Downie Meek to his daughter.
+"I want to pay a visit to those works at Killaloe, we have so much
+committee talk in the House on inland navigation. Oh, dear! it is very
+tiresome."
+
+"Charley says I 'm to go with him, pa; he 's about to try Smasher as a
+leader, and wants me, if anything goes wrong."
+
+"Oh, dear! quite impossible."
+
+"Yes, yes, Jim, I insist," said Frobisher, in a half-whisper; "never
+mind the governor."
+
+"Here comes the drag, pa. Oh, how beautiful it looks! There they go, all
+together; and Smasher, how neatly he carries himself! I say, Charley,
+he has no fancy for that splinter-bar so near him,--it touches his
+near hock every instant; would n't it be better to let his trace a hole
+looser?"
+
+"So it would," said Frobisher; "but get up and hold the ribbons till I
+have got my gloves on. I say, Linton, keep Downie in chat one moment,
+until we 're off."
+
+This kindly office was, however, anticipated by Lady Janet MacFarline,
+who, in her brief transit from the door to the carriage, always
+contrived to drop each of the twenty things she loaded herself with at
+starting, and thus to press into the service as many of the
+bystanders as possible, who followed, one with a muff, another with a
+smelling-bottle, a third with a book, a fourth with her knitting, and so
+on; while Flint brought up the rear with more air-cushions and hot-water
+apparatus than ever were seen before for the accommodation of two
+persons. In fact, if the atmosphere of our dear island, instead of being
+the mere innocent thing of fog it is, had been surcharged with all the
+pestilential vapors of the mistral and the typhoon together, she could
+not have armed herself with stronger precautions against it; while even
+Sir Andrew, with the constitution of a Russian bear, was compelled
+to wear blue spectacles in sunshine, and a respirator when it
+lowered,--leaving him, as he said, to the "domnable alternative o' being
+blind or dumb."
+
+"I maun say," muttered he, behind his barrier of mouth plate, "that
+Mesther Cashel has his ain notions aboot amusin' his company when he
+leaves ane o' his guests to drive aboot wi' his ain wife. Ech, sir, it
+is a pleasure I need na hae come so far to enjoy."
+
+"Where's Sir Harvey Upton, Sir Andrew?" said my Lady, tartly; "he has
+never been near me to-day. I hope he 's not making a fool of himself
+with those Kennyfeck minxes."
+
+"I dinna ken, and I dinna care," growled Sir Andrew; and then to
+himself, he added, "An' if he be, it's aye better fooling wi' young
+lassies than doited auld women!"
+
+"A place for you, Mr. Linton!" said Mrs. White, as she seated herself in
+a low drosky, where her companion, Mr. Howie, sat, surrounded with all
+the details for a sketching-excursion.
+
+"Thanks, but I have nothing so agreeable in prospect."
+
+"Why, what are you about to do?"
+
+"Alas! I must set out on a canvassing expedition, to court the sweet
+voices of my interesting constituency. You know that I am a candidate
+for the borough."
+
+"That must be very disagreeable."
+
+"It is, but I could not get off; Cashel is incurably lazy, and _I_ never
+know how to say 'no.'"
+
+"Well, good-bye, and all fortune to you," said she; and they drove away.
+
+Mr. Kennyfeck and the Chief Justice, mounted on what are called
+sure-footed ponies, and a few others, still lingered about the door, but
+Linton took no notice of them, but at once re-entered the house.
+
+For some time previous he had remarked that Lord Kilgoff seemed, as
+it were, struggling to emerge from the mist that had shrouded his
+faculties; his perceptions each day grew quicker and clearer, and even
+when silent, Linton observed that a shrewd expression of the eye would
+betoken a degree of apprehension few would have given him credit for.
+With the keenness of a close observer, too, Linton perceived that he
+more than once made use of his favorite expression, "It appears to me,"
+and slight as the remark might seem, there is no more certain evidence
+of the return to thought and reason than the resumption of any habitual
+mode of expression.
+
+Resolved to profit by this gleam of coming intelligence, by showing
+the old peer an attention he knew would be acceptable, Linton sent up
+a message to ask "If his Lordship would like a visit from him?" A
+most cordial acceptance was returned; and, a few moments after, Linton
+entered the room where he sat, with all that delicate caution so
+becoming a sick chamber.
+
+Motioning his visitor to sit down, by a slight gesture of the finger,
+while he made a faint effort to smile, in return for the other's
+salutation, the old man sat, propped up by pillows, and enveloped in
+shawls, pale, sad, and careworn.
+
+"I was hesitating for two entire days, my Lord," said Linton, lowering
+his voice to suit the character of the occasion, "whether I might
+propose to come and sit an hour with you, and I have only to beg
+that you will not permit me to trespass a moment longer than you feel
+disposed to endure me."
+
+"Very kind of you--most considerate, sir," said the old peer, bowing
+with an air of haughty courtesy.
+
+"You seem to gain strength every day, my Lord," resumed Linton, who
+well knew there was nothing like a personal topic to awaken a sick man's
+interest.
+
+"There is something here," said the old man, slowly, as he placed the
+tip of his finger on the centre of his forehead.
+
+"Mere debility, nervous debility, my Lord. You are paying the heavy debt
+an overworked intellect must always acquit; but rest and repose will
+soon restore you."
+
+"Yes, sir," muttered the other, with a weak smile, as though, without
+fathoming the sentiment, he felt that something agreeable to his
+feelings had been spoken.
+
+"I have been impatient for your recovery, my Lord, I will confess to
+you, on personal grounds; I feel now how much I have been indebted
+to your Lordship's counsel and advice all through life, by the very
+incertitude that tracks me. In fact, I can resolve on nothing, determine
+nothing, without your sanction."
+
+The old man nodded assentingly; the assurance had his most sincere
+conviction.
+
+"It would seem, my Lord, that I must--whether I will or no--stand for
+this borough, here; there is no alternative, for you are aware that
+Cashel is quite unfit for public business. Each day he exhibits more and
+more of those qualities which bespeak far more goodness of heart than
+intellectual training or culture. His waywardness and eccentricity might
+seriously damage his own party,--could he even be taught that he had
+one,--and become terrible weapons in the hands of the enemy. I was
+speaking of Cashel, my Lord," said Linton, as it were answering the look
+of inquiry in the old man's face.
+
+"I hate him, sir," said the old peer, with a bitterness of voice and
+look that well suited the words.
+
+"I really cannot wonder at it," said Linton, with a deep sigh; "such
+duplicity is too shocking--far too shocking--to contemplate."
+
+"Eh! what? What did you say, sir?" cried the old man, impatiently.
+
+"I was remarking, my Lord, that I have no confidence in his sincerity;
+that he strikes me as capable of playing a double part."
+
+A look of disappointment succeeded to the excited expression of the
+old man's face; he had evidently expected some revelation, and now his
+features became clouded and gloomy.
+
+"We may be unjust, my Lord," said Linton; "it may be a prejudice on our
+part: others would seem to have a different estimate of that gentleman.
+Meek thinks highly of him."
+
+"Who, sir? I didn't hear you," asked he, snappishly.
+
+"Meek,--Downie Meek, my Lord."
+
+"Pshaw!" said the old man, with a shrewd twinkle of the eye that made
+Linton fear the mind behind it was clearer than he suspected.
+
+"I know, my Lord," said he, hastily, "that you always held the worthy
+secretary cheap; but you weighed him in a balance too nice for the
+majority of people--"
+
+"What does that old woman say? Tell me _her_ opinion of Cashel," said
+Lord Kilgoff, rallying into something like his accustomed manner. "You
+know whom I mean!" cried he, impatient at Linton's delay in answering.
+"The old woman one sees everywhere,--she married that Scotch sergeant--"
+
+"Lady Janet MacFarline--"
+
+"Exactly, sir."
+
+"She thinks precisely with your Lordship."
+
+"I'm sure of it; I told my Lady so," muttered he to himself.
+
+Linton caught the words with eagerness, and his dark eyes kindled; for
+at last were they nearing the territory he wanted to occupy.
+
+"Lady Kilgoff," said he, slowly, "does not need any aid to appreciate
+him; she reads him thoroughly, the heartless, selfish, unprincipled
+spendthrift that he is."
+
+"She does not, sir," rejoined the old man, with a loud voice, and a
+stroke of his cane upon the floor that echoed through the room; "you
+never were more mistaken in your life. His insufferable puppyism, his
+reckless effrontery, his underbred familiarity, are precisely the very
+qualities she is pleased with,--'They are so different,' as she says,
+'from the tiresome routine of fashionable manners.'"
+
+"Unquestionably they are, my Lord," said Linton, with a smile.
+
+"Exactly, sir; they differ as do her Ladyship's own habits from those of
+every lady in the peerage. I told her so; I begged to set her right on
+that subject, at least."
+
+"Your Lordship's refinement is a most severe standard," said Linton,
+bowing low.
+
+"It should be an example, sir, as well as a chastisement. Indeed, I
+believe few would have failed to profit by it." The air of insolent
+pride in which he spoke seemed for an instant to have brought back the
+wonted look to his features, and he sat up, with his lips compressed,
+and his chin pro-traded, as in his days of yore.
+
+"I would entreat your Lordship to remember," said Linton, "how few have
+studied in the same school you have; how few have enjoyed the intimacy
+of 'the most perfect gentleman of all Europe;' and of that small circle,
+who is there could have derived the same advantage from the privilege?"
+
+"Your remark is very Just, sir. I owe much--very much--to his Royal
+Highness."
+
+The tone of humility in which he said this was a high treat to the
+sardonic spirit of his listener.
+
+"And what a penance to you must be a visit in such a house as this!"
+said Linton, with a sigh.
+
+"True, sir; but who induced me to make it? Answer me that."
+
+Linton started with amazement, for he was very far from supposing
+that his Lordship's memory was clear enough to retain the events of an
+interview that occurred some months before.
+
+"I never anticipated that it would cost you so dearly, my Lord," said
+he, cautiously, and prepared to give his words any turn events might
+warrant. For once, however, the ingenuity was wasted; Lord Kilgoff,
+wearied and exhausted by the increased effort of his intellect, had
+fallen back in his chair, and, with drooping lips and fallen jaw, sat
+the very picture of helpless fatuity.
+
+"So, then," said Linton, as on tiptoe he stole noiselessly away, "if
+your memory was inopportune, it was, at least, very short-lived. And
+now, adieu, my Lord, till we want you for another act of the drama."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV. MORE KENNYFECK INTRIGUING
+
+     We 'll have you at our merry-making, too.
+
+     Honeymoon.
+
+
+If we should appear, of late, to have forgotten some of those friends
+with whom we first made our readers acquainted in this veracious
+history, we beg to plead against any charge of caprice or neglect. The
+cause is simply this: a story, like a stream, has one main current; and
+he who would follow the broad river must eschew being led away by
+every rivulet which may separate from the great flood to follow its own
+vagrant fancy elsewhere. Now, the Kennyfecks had been meandering after
+this fashion for some time back. The elder had commenced a very vigorous
+flirtation with the dashing Captain Jennings, while the younger sister
+was coyly dallying under the attentions of his brother hussar,--less,
+be it remembered, with any direct intention of surrender, than with the
+faint hope that Cashel, perceiving the siege, should think fit to rescue
+the fortress; "Aunt Fanny" hovering near, as "an army of observation,"
+and ready, like the Prussians in the last war, to take part with the
+victorious side, whichever that might be.
+
+And now, we ask in shame and sorrow, is it not humiliating to think,
+that of a party of some thirty or more, met together to enjoy in
+careless freedom the hospitality of a country house, all should have
+been animated with the same spirit of intrigue,--each bent on his
+own deep game, and, in some one guise or other of deceitfulness, each
+following out some scheme of selfish advantage?
+
+Some may say these things are forced and unnatural; that pleasure
+proclaims a truce in the great war of life, where combatants lay down
+their weapons, and mix like friends and allies. We fear this is not
+the case; our own brief experiences would certainly tend to a different
+conclusion. Less a player than a looker-on in the great game, we have
+seen, through all the excitements of dissipation, all the fascinating
+pleasures of the most brilliant circles, the steady onward pursuit of
+self-interest; and, instead of the occasions of social enjoyment being
+like the palm-shaded wells in the desert, where men meet to taste the
+peacefulness of perfect rest, they are rather the arena where, in all
+the glitter of the most splendid armor, the combatants have come to
+tilt, with more than life upon the issue.
+
+For this, the beauty wreathes herself in all the winning smiles of
+loveliness; for this, the courtier puts forth his most captivating
+address and his most seductive manner; for this, the wit sharpens the
+keen edge of his fancy, and the statesman matures the deep resolve of
+his judgment. The diamond coronets that deck the hair and add lustre
+to the eyes; the war-won medals that glitter on the coat of some
+hardy veteran; the proud insignia of merit that a sovereign's favor
+grants,--all are worn to this end! Each brings to the game whatever he
+may possess of superiority, for the contest is ever a severe one.
+
+And now to go back to our company. From Lady Janet, intent upon
+everything which might minister to her own comfort or mortify her
+neighbor, to the smooth and soft-voiced Downie Meek,--with the kindest
+of wishes and the coldest of hearts,--they were, we grieve to own
+it, far more imposing to look at, full dressed at dinner, than to
+investigate by the searching anatomy that discloses the vices and
+foibles of humanity; and it is, therefore, with less regret we turn from
+the great house, in all the pomp of its splendor, to the humble cottage
+where Mr. Corrigan dwelt with his granddaughter.
+
+In wide contrast to the magnificence and profusion of the costly
+household, where each seemed bent on giving way to every caprice that
+extravagance could suggest, was the simple quietude of that unpretending
+family. The efforts by which Corrigan had overcome his difficulties not
+only cost him all the little capital he possessed in the world, but
+had also necessitated a mode of living more restricted than he had ever
+known before. The little luxuries that his station, as well as his age
+and long use, had made necessaries, the refinements that adorn even the
+very simplest lives, had all to be, one by one, surrendered. Some of
+these he gave up manfully, others cost him deeply; and when the day came
+that he had to take leave of his old gray pony, the faithful companion
+of so many a lonely ramble, the creature he had reared and petted like a
+dog, the struggle was almost too much for him.
+
+[Illustration: 050]
+
+He walked along beside the man who led the beast to the gate, telling
+him to be sure and seek out some one who would treat her kindly. "Some
+there are would do so for my sake; but she deserves it better for her
+own.--Yes, Nora, I 'm speaking of you," said he, caressing her, as
+she laid her nose over his arm. "I'm sure I never thought we'd have to
+part."
+
+"She's good as goold this minit," said the man; "an' it'll go hard but
+'ll get six pounds for her, any way."
+
+"Tell whoever buys her that Mr. Corrigan will give him a crown-piece
+every Christmas-day that he sees her looking well and in good heart. To
+be sure, it's no great bribe, we're both so old," said he, smiling; "but
+my blessing goes with the man that's a friend to her." He sat down as
+he said this, and held his hand over his face till she was gone. "God
+forgive me, if I set my heart too much on such things, but it's like
+parting with an old friend. Poor Mary's harp must go next. But here
+comes Tiernay. Well, doctor, what news?"
+
+The doctor shook his head twice or thrice despondingly, but said
+nothing; at last, he muttered, in a grumbling voice,--
+
+"I was twice at the Hall, but there's no seeing Cashel himself; an
+insolent puppy of a valet turned away contemptuously as I asked for him,
+and said,--
+
+"Mr. Linton, perhaps, might hear what you have to say.'"
+
+"Is Kennyfeck to be found?"
+
+"Yes, I saw him for a few minutes; but he's like the rest of them. The
+old fool fancies he 's a man of fashion here, and told me he had left
+'the attorney' behind, in Merrion Square. He half confessed to me,
+however, what I feared. Cashel has either given a promise to give this
+farm of yours to Linton--"
+
+"Well, the new landlord will not be less kind than the old one."
+
+"You think so," said Tiernay, sternly. "Is your knowledge of life no
+better than this? Have you lived till now without being able to read
+that man? Come, come, Corrigan, don't treat this as a prejudice of mine;
+I have watched him closely, and he sees it. I tell you again, the fellow
+is a villain."
+
+"Ay, ay," said Corrigan, laughing; "your doctor's craft has made you
+always on the look-out for some hidden mischief."
+
+"My doctor's craft has taught me to know that symptoms are never without
+a meaning. But enough of him. The question is simply this: we have,
+then, merely to propose to Cashel the purchase of your interest in the
+cottage, on which you will cede the possession."
+
+"Yes; and give up, besides, all claim at law; for you know we are
+supported by the highest opinions."
+
+"Pooh! nonsense, man; don't embarrass the case by a pretension they
+'re sure to sneer at. The cottage and the little fields behind it are
+tangible and palpable; don't weaken your case by a plea you could not
+press."
+
+"Have your own way, then," said the old man, mildly.
+
+"It is an annuity, you say, you 'd wish?"
+
+"On Mary's life, not on mine, doctor."
+
+"It will be a poor thing," said Tiernay, with a sigh.
+
+"They say we could live in some of the towns in Flanders very cheaply,"
+said Corrigan, cheerfully.
+
+"You don't know how to live cheaply," rejoined Tiernay, crankily. "You
+think, if you don't see a man in black behind your chair, and that you
+eat off delf instead of silver, that you are a miracle of simplicity. I
+saw you last Sunday put by the decanter with half a glass of sherry at
+the bottom of it, and you were as proud of your thrift as if you had
+reformed your whole household."
+
+"Everything is not learned in a moment, Tiernay," said Corrigan, mildly.
+
+"You are too old to begin, Con Corrigan," said the other, gravely. "Such
+men as you, who have not been educated to narrow fortunes, never learn
+thrift; they can endure great privations well enough, but it is the
+little, petty, dropping ones that break down the spirit,--these they
+cannot meet."
+
+"A good conscience and a strong will can do a great deal, Tiernay. One
+thing is certain,--that we shall escape persecution from _him_. _He_
+will scarcely discover us in our humble retreat."
+
+"I've thought of that too," said Tiernay; "it is the greatest advantage
+the plan possesses. Now, the next point is, how to see this same Cashel;
+from all that I can learn, his life is one of dissipation from morning
+till night. Those fashionable sharpers by whom he is surrounded are
+making him pay dearly for his admission into the honorable guild."
+
+"The greater the pity," sighed Corrigan; "he appeared to me deserving of
+a different fate. An easy, complying temper--"
+
+"The devil a worse fault I 'd with my enemy," broke in Tiernay,
+passionately. "A field without a fence,--a house without a door to it!
+And there, if I am not mistaken, I hear his voice; yes, he 's coming
+along the path, and some one with him too."
+
+"I 'll leave you to talk to him, Tiernay, for you seem in 'the vein.'"
+And with these words the old man turned into a by-path, just as Cashel,
+with Lady Kilgoff on his arm, advanced up the avenue.
+
+Nothing is more remarkable than the unconscious homage tendered to
+female beauty and elegance by men whose mould of mind, as well as habit,
+would seem to render them insensible to such fascinations, nor is their
+instinctive admiration a tribute which beauty ever despises.
+
+The change which came over the rough doctor's expression as the
+party came nearer exemplified this truth strongly. The look of stern
+determination with which he was preparing to meet Cashel changed to one
+of astonishment, and, at last, to undisguised admiration, as he surveyed
+the graceful mien and brilliant beauty before him. They had left the
+phaeton at the little wicket, and the exercise on foot had slightly
+colored her cheek, and added animation to her features,--the only aid
+necessary to make her loveliness perfect.
+
+"I have taken a great liberty with my neighbor, Doctor Tiernay," said
+Cashel, as he came near. "Let me present you, however, first,--Doctor
+Tiernay, Lady Kilgoff. I had been telling her Ladyship that the only
+picturesque portion of this country lies within this holly enclosure,
+and is the property of my friend Mr. Corrigan, who, although he will
+not visit me, will not, I 'm sure, deny me the pleasure of showing his
+tasteful grounds to my friends."
+
+"My old friend would be but too proud of such a visitor," said Tiernay,
+bowing low to Lady Kilgoff.
+
+"Mr. Cashel has not confessed all our object, Mr. Tiernay," said she,
+assuming her most gracious manner. "Our visit has in prospect the hope
+of making Miss Leicester's acquaintance; as I know you are the intimate
+friend of the family, will you kindly say if this be a suitable
+hour, or, indeed, if our presence here at all would not be deemed an
+intrusion?"
+
+The doctor colored deeply, and his eye sparkled with pleasure; for
+strange enough as it may appear, while sneering at the dissipations of
+the great house, he felt a degree of indignant anger at the thought
+of Mary sitting alone and neglected, with gayeties around her on every
+side.
+
+"It was a most thoughtful kindness of your Ladyship," replied he, "for
+my friend is too old and too infirm to seek society; and so the poor
+child has no other companionship than two old men, only fit to weary
+each other."
+
+"You make me hope that our mission will succeed, sir," said Lady
+Kilgoff, still employing her most fascinating look and voice; "we may
+reckon you as an ally, I trust."
+
+"I am your Ladyship's most devoted," said the old man, courteously; "how
+can I be of service?"
+
+"Our object is to induce Miss Leicester to pass some days with us,"
+said she. "We are plotting various amusements that might interest
+her,--private theatricals among the rest."
+
+"Here she comes, my Lady," said Tiernay, with animation; "I am proud to
+be the means of introducing her."
+
+Just at this instant Mary Leicester had caught sight of the party,
+and, uncertain whether to advance or retire, was standing for a moment
+undecided, when Tiernay called out:
+
+"Stay a minute, Miss Mary; Lady Kilgoff is anxious to make your
+acquaintance."
+
+"This is a very informal mode of opening an intimacy, Miss Leicester,"
+said Lady Kilgoff; "pray let it have the merit of sincerity, for I have
+long desired to know one of whom I have heard so much."
+
+Mary replied courteously to the speech, and looked pleasedly towards
+Cashel, to whom she justly attributed the compliment insinuated.
+
+As the two ladies moved on side by side, engaged in conversation,
+Tiernay slackened his pace slightly, and, in a voice of low but earnest
+import, said,--
+
+"Will Mr. Cashel consider it an intrusion if I take this opportunity of
+speaking to him on a matter of business?"
+
+"Not in the least, doctor," said Cashel, gayly; "but it's right I should
+mention that I am most lamentably ignorant of everything that deserves
+that name. My agent has always saved me from the confession, but the
+truth will out at last."
+
+"So much the worse, sir,--for others as well as for yourself," replied
+Tiernay, bluntly. "The trust a large fortune imposes--But I shall forget
+myself if I touch on such a theme. My business is this, sir,--and, in
+mercy to you, I 'll make it very brief. My old friend, Mr. Corrigan,
+deems it expedient to leave this country, and, in consequence,
+to dispose of the interest he possesses in these grounds, so long
+embellished by his taste and culture. He is well aware that much of what
+he has expended here has not added substantial value to the property;
+that, purely ornamental, it has, in great part, repaid himself by
+the many years of enjoyment it has afforded him. Still, he hopes, or,
+rather, I do for him,--for, to speak candidly, sir, _he_ has neither
+courage nor hardihood for these kind of transactions,--I hope, sir, that
+you, desirous of uniting this farm to the large demesne, as I understand
+to be the case, will not deem this an unfitting occasion to treat
+liberally with one whose position is no longer what it once was. I must
+take care, Mr. Cashel, that I say nothing which looks like solicitation
+here; the confidence my friend has placed in me would be ill requited by
+such an error."
+
+"Is there no means of securing Mr. Corrigan's residence here?" said
+Cashel. "Can I not accommodate his wishes in some other way, and which
+should not deprive me of a neighbor I prize so highly?"
+
+"I fear not. The circumstances which induce him to go abroad are
+imperative."
+
+"Would it not be better to reflect on this?" said Cashel. "I do not seek
+to pry into concerns which are not mine, but I would earnestly ask if
+some other arrangement be not possible?"
+
+Tiernay shook his head dubiously.
+
+"If this be so, then I can oppose no longer. It only remains for Mr.
+Corrigan to put his own value on the property, and I accept it."
+
+"Nay, sir; this generosity will but raise new difficulties. You are
+about to deal with a man as high-hearted as yourself, and with the
+punctilious delicacy that a narrow fortune suggests, besides."
+
+"Do you, then, doctor, who know both of us, be arbitrator. Let it not
+be a thing for parchments and lawyers' clerks; let it be an honorable
+understanding between two gentlemen, and so, no more of it."
+
+"If the world were made up of men like yourself and my old friend,
+this would be, doubtless, the readiest and the best solution of the
+difficulty," said Tiernay; "but what would be said if we consented to
+such an arrangement? What would not be said? Ay, faith, there's not a
+scandalous rumor that malice could forge would not be rife upon us."
+
+"And do you think such calumnies have any terror for _me?_" cried
+Cashel.
+
+"When you've lived to _my_ age, sir, you'll reason differently."
+
+"It shall be all as you wish, then," said Cashel. "But stay!" cried he,
+after a moment's thought; "there is a difficulty I had almost forgotten.
+I must look that it may not interfere with our plans. When can I see you
+again? Would it suit you to come and breakfast with me tomorrow? I 'll
+have my man of business, and we 'll arrange everything."
+
+"Agreed, sir; I'll not fail. I like your promptitude. A favor is a
+double benefit when speedily granted."
+
+"Now I shall ask one from you, doctor. If I can persuade my kind friends
+here to visit us, will you too be of the party sometimes?"
+
+"Not a bit of it. Why should I, sir, expose you to the insolent
+criticism my unpolished manners and rude address would bring upon
+you--or myself to the disdain that fashionable folk would show me? I
+am proud--too proud, perhaps--at the confidence you would repose in
+my honor; I don't wish to blush for my breeding by way of recompense.
+There, sir,--there is one yonder in every way worthy all the distinction
+rank and wealth can give her. I feel happy to think that she is to
+move amongst those who, if they cannot prize her worth, will at least
+appreciate her fascinations."
+
+"Will Mr. Corrigan consent?"
+
+"He must,--he shall," broke in Tiernay; "I'll insist upon it But come
+along with me into the cottage, while the ladies are cementing their
+acquaintance; we'll see him, and talk him over."
+
+So saying, he led Cashel into the little library, where, deep sunk in
+his thoughts, the old man was seated, with an open book before him, but
+of which he had not read a line.
+
+"Con!" cried Tiernay, "Mr. Cashel has come to bring you and Miss Mary
+up to the Hall to dinner. There, sir, look at the face he puts on,--an
+excuse in every wrinkle of it!"
+
+"But, my dear friend--my worthy doctor--you know perfectly---"
+
+"I 'll know perfectly that you must go,--no help for it I have told Mr.
+Cashel that you 'd make fifty apologies--pretend age--Ill-health--want
+of habit, and so on; the valid reason being that you think his company a
+set of raffs, and--"
+
+"Oh, Tiernay, I beg you 'll not ascribe such sentiments to _me_."
+
+"Well, I thought so myself, t' other day,--ay, half-an-hour ago; but
+there is a lady yonder, walking up and down the grass-plot, has made me
+change my mind. Come out and see her, man, and then say as many 'No's'
+as you please." And, half-dragging, half-leading the old man out,
+Tiernay went on:--
+
+"You 'll see, Mr. Cashel, how polite he 'll grow when he sees the bright
+eyes and the fair cheek. You 'll not hear of any more refusals then, I
+promise you."
+
+Meanwhile, so far had Lady Kilgoff advanced in the favorable opinion
+of Miss Leicester that the young girl was already eager to accept the
+proffered invitation. Old Mr. Corrigan, however, could not be induced
+to leave his home, and so it was arranged that Lady Kilgoff should drive
+over on the following day to fetch her; with which understanding they
+parted, each looking forward with pleasure to their next meeting.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V. LINTON'S MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE
+
+     "Gone! and in secret, too!"
+
+
+Amid all the plans for pleasure which engaged the attention of the great
+house, two subjects now divided the interest between them. One was the
+expected arrival of the beautiful Miss Leicester,--"Mr. Cashel's babe in
+the wood," as-Lady Janet called her,--the other, the reading of a little
+one-act piece which Mr. Linton had written for the company. Although
+both were, in their several ways, "events," the degree of interest they
+excited was very disproportioned to their intrinsic consequence, and can
+only be explained by dwelling on the various intrigues and schemes by
+which that little world was agitated.
+
+Lady Janet, whose natural spitefulness was a most catholic feeling,
+began to fear that Lady Kilgoff had acquired such an influence over
+Cashel that she could mould him to any course she pleased,--even a
+marriage. She suspected, therefore, that this rustic beauty had been
+selected by her Ladyship as one very unlikely to compete with herself
+in Roland's regard, and that she was thus securing a lasting ascendancy
+over him.
+
+Mrs. Leicester White, who saw, or believed she saw, herself neglected by
+Roland, took an indignant view of the matter, and threw out dubious and
+shadowy suspicions about "who this young lady might be, who seemed so
+opportunely to have sprung up in the neighborhood," and expressed, in
+confidence, her great surprise "how Lady Kilgoff could lend herself to
+such an arrangement."
+
+Mrs. Kennyfeck was outraged at the entrance of a new competitor into the
+field, where her daughter was no longer a "favorite." In fact, the new
+visitor's arrival was heralded by no signs of welcome, save from the
+young men of the party, who naturally were pleased to hear that a very
+handsome and attractive girl was expected.
+
+As for Aunt Fanny, her indignation knew no bounds; indeed, ever since
+she had set foot in the house her state had been one little short of
+insanity. In her own very graphic phrase, "She was fit to be tied at all
+she saw." Now, when an elderly maiden lady thus comprehensively sums up
+the cause of her anger, without descending to "a bill of particulars,"
+the chances are that some personal wrong--real or imaginary--is more in
+fault than anything reprehensible in the case she is so severe upon.
+So was it here. Aunt Fanny literally saw nothing, although she heard a
+great deal. Daily, hourly, were the accusations of the whole Kennyfeck
+family directed against her for the loss of Cashel. But for her, and her
+absurd credulity on the statement of an anonymous letter, and there had
+been no yacht voyage with Lady Kilgoff--no shipwreck--no life in a cabin
+on the coast--no----In a word, all these events had either not happened
+at all, or only occurred with Livy Kennyfeck for their heroine.
+
+Roland's cold, almost distant politeness to the young ladies, was marked
+enough to appear intentional; nor could all the little by-play
+of flirtation with others excite in him the slightest evidence of
+displeasure. If the family were outraged at this change, poor Livy
+herself bore up admirably; and while playing a hundred little attractive
+devices for Cashel, succeeded in making a very deep impression on the
+well-whiskered Sir Harvey Upton, of the--th. Indeed, as Linton, who
+saw everything, shrewdly remarked, "She may not pocket the ball she
+intended, but, rely on't, she 'll make a 'hazard' somewhere."
+
+Of all that great company, but one alone found no place in her heart
+for some secret wile; this was Miss Meek, who, sadly disappointed at
+the little influence of her royalty, had ceased to care much for in-door
+affairs, and spent her mornings "schooling" with Charley, and her
+evenings listening to sporting talk whenever two or three "fast men" got
+together in the drawing-room.
+
+The evening that preceded Miss Leicester's intended arrival had been
+fixed for the reading of Mr. Linton's comedy,--a little dramatic piece,
+which, whether he had stolen wholesale from the French, or only borrowed
+in part, none knew; but various were the rumors that it would turn out
+to be a very satirical composition, with allusions to many of those who
+were to sit in judgment over it. How this supposition originated, or
+with whom, there is no saying, nor if well-founded in any respect, for
+Linton had never shown his sketch to any one, nor alluded to it, save in
+the most vague manner.
+
+Each, however, looked to see his neighbor "shown up;" and while one
+said, "What a character could be made of old Sir Andrew, with his
+vulgarity, his deafness, and his gluttony!" another thought that Downie
+Meek, in his oily smoothness, his sighings, and his "dear me's," would
+be admirable,--all the ladies averring that Lady Kilgoff would be a
+perfect embodiment of Lady Teazle as Sir Peter suspected and Joseph
+intended her to be.
+
+Fears for individual safety were merged in hopes of seeing others
+assailed, and it was in something like a flutter of expectancy that
+the party assembled in the drawing-room before dinner. Great was their
+surprise to find that Mr. Linton did not make his appearance. The dinner
+was announced, but he never came, and his place vacant at the foot of
+the table was the continual suggester of every possible reason for
+his absence. If Lady Kilgoff could not divest herself of a certain
+terror,--vague and meaningless, it is true,--the dread she felt
+proceeded from knowing him to be one whose every act had some deep
+purpose; while others were then canvassing his absence in easy freedom,
+she took the first opportunity of asking Cashel whether he were in the
+secret, or if it were really true that Linton had not communicated, even
+with him, about his departure.
+
+"I am no better informed than my friends here," said Roland; "and, to
+say truth, I have given little thought about the matter. We have not,
+as you are aware, of late seen so much of each other as we used once; he
+has himself rather drawn off me, and I have left the interval between us
+to widen, without much regret."
+
+"Remember, however, what I told you: he can be a terrible enemy."
+
+Cashel smiled calmly as he said, "I have consorted with men whose
+vengeance never took longer to acquit than the time occupied in drawing
+a knife from the sleeve or a pistol from the girdle. I care very little
+for him whose weapon is mere subtlety."
+
+"It is this over-confidence makes me fear for you," said she, anxiously;
+"for, I say again, you do not know him."
+
+"I wish I never had," said Cashel, with an earnestness of voice and
+accent. "He has involved me in a hundred pursuits for which I feel
+neither taste nor enjoyment. To him I owe it that pleasure is always
+associated in my mind with mere debauch; and the only generosity he has
+taught me has been the spendthrift waste of the gaming-table."
+
+"Could you not find out something of him,--when he went, and in what
+direction?" said she, anxiously. "I cannot tell you why, but my heart
+misgives me about his departure."
+
+More in compliance with her scruples than that he deemed the matter
+worth a thought, Cashel left the room to make inquiries from the
+servants; but all he could learn was, that Mr. Linton arose before
+daybreak and left the house on foot, his own servant not knowing in what
+direction, nor having heard anything of his master's previous intention.
+
+His intimacy with the family at the cottage left it possible that they
+might know something of his movements and Cashel accordingly despatched
+a messenger thither to ask; but with the same fruitless result as every
+previous inquiry.
+
+While Cashel was following up this search with a degree of interest that
+increased as the difficulty augmented, he little knew how watchfully his
+every word and gesture was noted down by one who stood at his side.
+This was Mr. Phillis, who, while seeming to participate in his master's
+astonishment, threw out from time to time certain strange, vague hints,
+less suggestive of his own opinions than as baits to attract those of
+his master.
+
+"Very odd, indeed, sir,--very strange; so regular a gentleman,
+too,--always rising at the same hour. His man says, he 's like the
+clock. To be sure," added he, after a pause, "his manner is changed of
+late."
+
+"How do you mean?" asked Cashel, hurriedly.
+
+"He seems anxious, sir,--uneasy, as one might say."
+
+"I have not perceived it."
+
+"His man says--"
+
+"What care I for that?" said Cashel, impatiently. "It is not to pry
+into Mr. Linton's habits that I am here, it is to assure myself that
+no accident has happened to him, and that if he stand in need of my
+assistance, I shall not be neglecting him. Tell two of the grooms to
+take horses and ride down to Killaloe and Dunkeeran, and ask at the inns
+there if he has been seen. Let them make inquiry, too, along the road."
+With these directions, hastily given, he returned to the drawing-room,
+his mind far more interested in the event than he knew how to account
+for.
+
+"No tidings of Tom?" said Lord Charles Frobisher, lounging carelessly in
+a well-cushioned chair.
+
+Cashel made a sign in the negative.
+
+"Well, it's always a satisfaction to his friends to know that he 'll not
+come to harm," said he, with an ambiguous smile.
+
+"The country is much disturbed at this moment," said the Chief Justice;
+"the calendar was a very heavy one last assize. I trust no marauding
+party may have laid hold of him."
+
+"Ah, yes, that would be very sad indeed," sighed Meek; "mistaking him
+for a spy."
+
+"No great blunder, after all," said Lady Janet, almost loud enough for
+other ears than her next neighbor's.
+
+"If the night were moonlight," said Miss Meek, as she opened a shutter
+and peeped out into the darkness, "I 'd say he was trying those fences
+we have laid out for the hurdle-race."
+
+"By Jove, Jim, that is a shrewd thought!" said Lord Charles, forgetting
+that he was addressing her by a familiar sobriquet he never used before
+company.
+
+"You have a bet with him, Charley?" said Upton.
+
+"Yes, we have all manner of bets on the race, and I 'll have one with
+you, if you like it,--an even fifty that Tom turns up 'all right and no
+accident,' after this bolt."
+
+"Ah, my Lord, you 're in the secret, then!" said Aunt Fanny, whose
+experiences of sporting transactions, derived from "the West," induced
+her to suspect that a wager contained a trap-fall.
+
+A very cool stare was the only acknowledgment he deigned to return to
+this speech, while Mrs. Kennyfeck looked unutterable reproaches at her
+unhappy relative.
+
+"I call the present company to witness," said Sir Harvey Upton, "that
+if Tom has to come to an untimely end, he has bequeathed to me his brown
+cob pony, Batter."
+
+"I protest against the gift," said Miss Kennyfeck; "Mr. Linton told me,
+if he were killed in the steeplechase on Tuesday next, I should have
+Batter."
+
+"That was a special reservation, Miss Kennyfeck," said the Chief
+Justice; "so that if his death did not occur in the manner specified,
+the deed or gift became null and void."
+
+"I only know," said Miss Meek, "that Mr. Linton said, as we came back
+from the hurdle-field,--'Remember, Batter is yours if--if--'" She
+hesitated and grew red, and then stopped speaking, in evident shame and
+confusion.
+
+"If what? Tell us the condition; you are bound to be candid," said
+several voices together.
+
+"I'll tell _you_ but I'll not tell any one else," said the young girl,
+turning to Lady Kilgoff; and at the same instant she whispered in her
+ear, "if I were to be married to Mr. Cashel."
+
+"Well," said her Ladyship, laughing, "and was the bribe sufficient?"
+
+"I should think not!" replied she, with a scornful toss of the head, as
+she walked back to her seat.
+
+"I winna say," said Sir Andrew, "but I ha' a bit claim mysel to that
+bonnie snuff-box he ca'd a Louis-Quatorze; if ye mind, leddies, I
+asked him to mak' me a present o' it, and he replied, 'In my weell, Sir
+Andrew; I'll leave it ye in my weell.'"
+
+"I foresee there will be abundance of litigation," said the Chief
+Justice, "for the claims are both numerous and conflicting."
+
+"You 'll not be troubled with the next of kin, I believe," said Lady
+Janet, in her most spiteful of voices.
+
+"I say, my Lord Chief Justice," said Frobisher, "let me have a
+travelling opinion from you, on a legal point. Wouldn't Linton's heirs,
+or representatives, or whatever they 're called, be bound to 'book up'
+if Ramekin is beaten in the handicap?"
+
+"The law expressly declares such transactions without its pale, my
+Lord," said the judge, rebukingly.
+
+"Well, I can only say," interrupted Upton, "that when we were in
+cantonments at Sickmabund, Jack Faris 'of ours' had a heavy stake in
+a game of piquet with the major, and just as he was going to count his
+point, he gave a tremendous yell, and jumped up from the table. It was a
+cobra capella had bitten him in the calf of the leg. Everything was done
+for him at once, but all in vain; he swelled up to the size of four, and
+died in about two hours. It was rather hard on old Cox, the major,
+who had two hundred pounds on it, and a capital hand; and so he made
+a representation to the mess, showing that he had seven cards to his
+point, with a quint in hearts; that, taking in the ace of clubs, he
+should count a quatorze, and, therefore, unquestionably win the game.
+The thing was clear as day, and so they awarded him the stakes. Cox
+behaved very handsomely, too; for he said, 'If Faris's widow likes to
+play the game out, I 'll give her the opportunity when we get back to
+England, and back myself, two to one.'"
+
+"The Chevalier Bayard himself could not have done more," said Miss
+Kennyfeck, with admirable gravity.
+
+"I must say," resumed the dragoon, "we thought it handsome, for old Cox
+was always hard up for money."
+
+"And what is to become of our theatricals, if Mr. Linton should have
+been so ill-natured as to drown himself?" said Mrs. White, in a most
+disconsolate tone; for she had already made terrible havoc in her
+wardrobe to accomplish a Turkish costume.
+
+"Such a disappointment as it will be," sighed Olivia Kennyfeck, who
+had speculated on a last effort upon Cashel in a Mexican dress, where,
+certes, superfluity should not be the fault.
+
+"You can always make some compensation for the disappointment," said
+Lady Kilgoff, "by a fancy ball."
+
+"Oh, delightful! the very thing!" exclaimed several together. "When
+shall it be, Mr. Cashel?"
+
+"I am entirely at your orders," said he, bowing courteously.
+
+"Shall we say Tuesday, then?"
+
+"Not Tuesday; we have the race on that morning," said Frobisher; "and
+some of us, at least, will be too tired for a ball afterwards."
+
+"Well, Wednesday,--is Wednesday open?"
+
+"Wednesday was fixed for a boat excursion to Holy Island," said Cashel.
+
+"You can't have Thursday, then," exclaimed Lady Janet; "that is the only
+evening we ever have our rubber. I'll not give you Thursday."
+
+"Friday we are to have some people at dinner," said Cashel; "and
+Saturday was to have been some piece of electioneering festivity for
+Linton's constituents."
+
+"What matter now?" said Mrs. White; "perhaps the poor dear man is in
+a better place. A very sad thought," sighed she; "but such things are
+happening every day."
+
+"Ah, yes, very sad," responded Meek, who never failed to perform echo to
+any one's lamentation.
+
+"Ah, indeed!" chimed in Aunt Fanny, "cut off like a daisy." And she
+wiped her eyes and looked solemn, for she believed she was quoting
+Scripture.
+
+At last it was decided that the ball should come off on the earliest
+evening possible, irrespective of all other arrangements; and now the
+company formed in a great circle, discussing dresses and characters and
+costumes with an eager interest that showed how little Linton's fate had
+thrown a shadow over the bright picture of anticipated pleasure.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI. THE SEASON OF LINTON'S FLITTING
+
+     He could outrogue a lawyer.
+
+     Oldham.
+
+
+Revealing so freely as we do the hidden wiles of our characters for
+the reader's pleasure, it would ill become us to affect any reserve
+or mystery regarding their actions. We shall not make, therefore, any
+secret of Mr. Linton's absence, nor ask of our patient reader to partake
+of the mystification that prevailed among the company at Tubbermore.
+
+It so chanced, that on the evening preceding his departure he saw in
+a newspaper paragraph the arrival of a very distinguished lawyer at
+Limerick on his way to Dublin, and the thought at once occurred to
+him, that the opportunity was most favorable for obtaining an opinion
+respecting the "Corrigan Pardon," without incurring either suspicion or
+any lengthened absence.
+
+Another object, inferior, but not devoid of interest, also suggested
+itself. It was this: profiting by a secret passage which led from
+the theatre to Cashel's bedroom, it was Linton's custom to visit this
+chamber every day, ransacking the letters and papers which, in his
+careless indolence, Roland left loose upon the tables, and thus
+possessing himself of the minutest knowledge of Cashel's affairs. In his
+very last visit to this room, he perceived a cumbrous document, of
+which the seal of the envelope was broken, but apparently the contents
+unlooked at. It was enough that he read the indorsement, "Deed of
+conveyance of the Cottage and Lands of Tubber-beg."
+
+Feeling how far he himself was interested in the paper, and well knowing
+the forgetful habits of Cashel, who would never detect its removal, he
+coolly folded it up and carried it away.
+
+At first, his intention was simply to peruse the paper at his ease, and,
+if need were, to show it in confidence to Cor-rigan, and thus establish
+for himself that degree of influence over the old man which the
+character of his landlord might convey. But another and a bolder
+expedient soon suggested itself to his mind--nor was he one to shrink
+from an enterprise merely on account of its hazard--and this was no
+less than to forge Cashel's signature to the deed; for, as yet, it was
+wanting in that most essential particular.
+
+That Roland would never remember anything of the matter, and that he
+would always incline to believe his own memory defective, than suppose
+such a falsification possible, Linton was well convinced. There was but
+one difficulty; how should he manage for the witnesses, whose names were
+to be appended as actually present at the moment of signing. Here was a
+stumbling-block--since he could scarcely hope to find others as short of
+memory as was Roland Cashel. It was while still canvassing the question
+in his mind that he came upon the intelligence in the newspaper of the
+lawyer's arrival at Limerick, and suddenly it struck him that he
+could easily in that city find out two persons, who, for a sufficient
+consideration, would append their signatures to the deed. A little
+further reflection devised even an easier plan, which was to take along
+with him the Italian sailor Giovanni, and make him represent Cashel,
+whose appearance was quite unknown. By Giovanni's personation of Roland,
+Linton escaped all the hazard of letting others into his confidence,
+while the sailor himself, in a few days more, would leave the
+country--never to return.
+
+It was with the calm assurance of a man who could put a price upon
+any action required of him, that Giovanni found himself, an hour after
+midnight, summoned to Linton's dressing-room.
+
+"I told you some time back, Giovanni, that we might be serviceable to
+each other. The hour has come a little earlier than I looked for; and
+now the question is, are you of the same mind as you then were?"
+
+"I know nothing of the laws of this country, signor, but if there be
+life on the issue--"
+
+"No, no, nothing like that, my worthy fellow. In the present case, all I
+ask for is your silence and your secrecy."
+
+"Oh, that is easily had--go on, signor."
+
+"Well, I wish to go over to-morrow by daybreak to Limerick. I desire,
+too, that you should accompany me--as my companion, however, and my
+equal. We are about the same height and size, so take that suit there,
+dress yourself, and wait for me at the cross-roads below the village."
+
+The Italian took the parcel without speaking, and was about to retire,
+when Linton said,--
+
+"You can write, I suppose?"
+
+The other nodded.
+
+"I shall want you to sign a document in presence of witnesses--not your
+own name, but another, which I'll tell you."
+
+The Italian's dark eyes flashed with a keen and subtle meaning, and
+leaning forward, he said in a low, distinct tone,--
+
+"His Excellency means that I should forge a name?"
+
+"It is scarcely deserving so grave a phrase," replied Linton, affecting
+an easy smile; "but what I ask amounts pretty much to that. Have you
+scruples about it?"
+
+"My scruples are not easily alarmed, signor; only let us understand
+each other. I'll do _anything_"--and he laid a deep emphasis on the
+word--"when I see my way clear before me, nothing when I am blindfolded."
+
+"A man after my own heart!" cried Linton; "and now, good-night. Be true
+to the time and place." And with this they parted.
+
+The gray mist of a winter morning was just clearing away as Linton,
+accompanied by Giovanni, drove up to the principal hotel of Limerick,
+where Mr. Hammond, the eminent barrister, was then stopping. Having
+ascertained that he was still in the house, Linton at once sent up
+his name, with a request to be admitted to an interview with him. The
+position he had so long enjoyed among the officials of the Viceroy had
+made Linton a person of considerable importance in a city where the
+"plated article" so often passes for silver: and no sooner had the
+lawyer read the name, than he immediately returned a polite answer,
+saying that he was perfectly at Mr. Linton's orders.
+
+The few inquiries which Mr. Linton had meanwhile made at the bar of the
+hotel informed him that Mr. Hammond was making all haste to England,
+where he was about to appear in a case before the House of Lords; that
+horses had been already ordered for him along the whole line of road,
+and his presence in London was imperative. Armed with these facts,
+Linton entered the room, where, surrounded with deeds, drafts, and acts
+of Parliament, the learned counsel was sitting at his breakfast.
+
+"It was but last night late, Mr. Hammond," said he, advancing with
+his very frankest manner, "that we caught sight of your name as having
+arrived here, and you see I have lost no time in profiting by the
+intelligence. I have come thirty Irish miles this day to catch and carry
+you off with me to Mr. Cashel's, at Tubbermore."
+
+"Most kind, indeed--very flattering--I am really overpowered," said the
+lawyer, actually reddening with pleasure; and he said the exact truth,
+he was "overpowered" by a compliment so little expected. For, although
+high in his profession, and in considerable repute among his brethren,
+he had never been admitted into that peculiar class which calls itself
+the first society of the metropolis.
+
+"I assure you," resumed Linton, "it was by a vote of the whole house I
+undertook my mission. The Kilgoffs, the MacFarlines, the Chief Justice,
+Meek, and, in fact, all your friends, are there, and we only want _you_
+to make the party complete."
+
+"I cannot express the regret--the very deep regret--I feel at being
+obliged to decline such an honor; one which, I am free to confess,
+actually takes me by surprise. But, my dear Mr. Linton, you see these
+weighty papers--that formidable heap yonder--"
+
+"Meek said so," said Linton, interrupting, and at the same time assuming
+a look of deep despondency. "'Hammond will refuse,' said he. 'There's no
+man at the Irish bar has the same amount of business; he cannot give his
+friends even one hour from his clients.'"
+
+"I 'm sure I scarcely suspected the Right Honorable Secretary knew of
+me," said Hammond, blushing between pleasure and shame.
+
+"Downie not know of you!--not know Mr. Hammond!--come, come--this may do
+for a bit of quiz in those Irish newspapers that are always affecting to
+charge English officials with ignorance of the distinguished men here;
+but I cannot permit Mr. Hammond himself to throw out the aspersion, nor,
+indeed, can I suffer Meek, one of my oldest friends, to lie under the
+obloquy. I need not tell one so much more capable of appreciating these
+things than myself how every administration comes into office with
+a host of followers far more eager for place, and infinitely more
+confident of high deservings, than the truly capable men of the party.
+These 'locusts' eat up the first harvest, but, happily for humanity,
+they rarely live for a second."
+
+Linton leaned back in his chair, and appeared to be taking counsel with
+himself, and at length, as if having formed his resolve, said,--
+
+"Of course frankness with such a man is never a mistaken policy." And
+with this muttered soliloquy again became silent.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII. FORGERY
+
+     It was not "Flattery," he sold, but "Hope."
+
+     Bell.
+
+
+We left Mr. Linton and Mr. Hammond seated opposite each other, the
+former lost in seeming reflection, the latter awaiting with eager
+expectancy for something which might explain the few strange words he
+had just listened to.
+
+"May I venture on a bit of confidence, Mr. Hammond?" said Linton,
+clearing his brow as he spoke; "you'll never betray me?"
+
+"Never--on my honor."
+
+"Never, willingly, I well know; but I mean, will you strictly keep
+what I shall tell you--for yourself alone--because, as I am the only
+depositary of the fact, it would be inevitable ruin to me if it got
+about?"
+
+"I give you my solemn pledge--I promise."
+
+"Quite enough--well--" Here he leaned on the other's shoulder, and
+putting his lips close to his ear, said: "Malone will retire--Repton
+will be chief--and"--here he prodded the listener with his
+finger--"Attorney-General."
+
+"You mean me, sir--do you mean that I am to be Attor--"
+
+"Hush!" said Linton, in a long low note; "do not breathe it, even
+in your sleep! If I know these things, it is because I am trusted in
+quarters where men of far more influence are hoodwinked. Were I once to
+be suspected of even this much, it would be 'up' with me forever."
+
+"My dear friend--will you pardon me for calling you so?--I 'd suffer
+the torture of the rack before I 'd divulge one syllable of it. I own
+to you, my family and my friends in general have not been patient under
+what they deemed the Government neglect of me."
+
+"And with too good reason, sir," said Linton, assuming the look and
+air of a moralizer. "And do you know why you have been passed over, Mr.
+Hammond? I'll tell you, sir; because your talents were too brilliant,
+and your integrity too spotless, for promotion, in times when inferior
+capacities and more convenient consciences were easier tools to
+handle!--Because you are not a man who, once placed in a conspicuous
+position, can be consigned to darkness and neglect when his capabilities
+have been proved to the world!--Because your knowledge, sir, your deep
+insight into the political condition of this country, would soon have
+placed you above the heads of the very men who appointed you. But times
+are changed; capable men, zealous men--ay, sir, and I will say, great
+men--are in request now. The public _will_ have them, and ministers can
+no longer either overlook their claim or ignore their merit. You may
+rely upon it; I see something of what goes on behind the scenes of the
+great State drama, and be assured that a new era is about to dawn on the
+really able men of this country."
+
+"Your words have given me a degree of encouragement, Mr. Linton, that I
+was very far from ever expecting to receive. I have often deplored--not
+on my own account, I pledge my honor--but I have grieved for others,
+whom I have seen here, unnoticed and undistinguished by successive
+Governments."
+
+"Well, there is an end of the system now, and it was time!" said Linton,
+solemnly. "But to come back. Is there no chance of stealing you away,
+even for a couple of days?"
+
+"Impossible, my dear Mr. Linton. The voluminous mass of evidence yonder
+relates to an appeal case, in which I am to appear before 'the Lords.'
+It is a most important suit; and I am at this very moment on my way to
+London, to attend a consultation with the Solicitor-General."
+
+"How unfortunate!--for _us_, I mean--for, indeed, your client cannot
+join in the plaint. By the way, your mention of 'the Lords' reminds me
+of a very curious circumstance. You are aware of the manner in which my
+friend Cashel succeeded to this great estate here?"
+
+"Yes. I was consulted on a point of law in it, and was present at the
+two trials."
+
+"Well, a most singular discovery has been made within the last few days.
+I suppose you remember that the property had been part of a confiscated
+estate, belonging to an old Irish family, named Corrigan?"
+
+"I remember perfectly,--a very fine old man, that used to be well known
+at Daly's Club, long ago."
+
+"The same. Well, this old gentleman has been always under the impression
+that shortly after the accession of George III. the Act of Confiscation
+was repealed, and a full pardon granted to his ancestors for the part
+they had taken in the events of the time."
+
+"I never knew the descendants of one of those 'confiscated' families who
+had not some such hallucination," said Hammond, laughing; "they cling to
+the straw, like the drowning man."
+
+"Exactly," said Linton. "I quite agree with you. In the present case,
+however, the support is better than a straw; for there is an actual
+_bona fide_ document extant, purporting to be the very pardon in
+question, signed by the king, and bearing the royal seal."
+
+"Where is this? In whose possession?" said Hammond, eagerly.
+
+Linton did not heed the question, but continued,--
+
+"By a very singular coincidence, the discovery is not of so much moment
+as it might be; because, as Cashel is about to marry the old man's
+granddaughter--his sole heiress--no change in the destination of the
+estate would ensue, even supposing Corrigan's title to be all that he
+ever conceived it. However, Cashel is really anxious on the point:
+he feels scruples about making settlements and so forth, with the
+consciousness that he may be actually disposing of what he has no real
+claim to. He is a sensitive fellow; and yet he dreads, on the other
+side, the kind of exposure that would ensue in the event of this
+discovery becoming known. The fact is, his own ancestors were little
+better than bailiffs on the estate; and the inference from this
+new-found paper would lead one to say, not over-honest stewards
+besides."
+
+"But if this document be authentic, Mr. Linton, Cashel's title is not
+worth sixpence."
+
+"That is exactly what I 'm coming to," said Linton, who, the reader
+may have already perceived, was merely inventing a case regarding a
+marriage, the better to learn from the counsel the precise position
+the estate would stand in towards Mary Leicester's husband. "If this
+document be authentic, Cashel's title is invalid. Now, what would
+constitute its authenticity?"
+
+"Several circumstances: the registry of the pardon in the State Paper
+Office--the document itself, bearing the unmistakable evidences of its
+origin--the signature and seal--in fact, it could not admit of much
+doubt when submitted to examination."
+
+"I told Cashel so," said Linton. "I said to him, 'My opinion
+unquestionably is that the pardon is genuine; but,' said I, 'when we
+have Hammond here, he shall see it, and decide the question.'"
+
+"Ah! that is impossible--"
+
+"So I perceive," broke in Linton; "we then hoped otherwise."
+
+"Why did n't you bring it over with you?"
+
+"So I did," said Linton; "here it is." And opening a carefully folded
+envelope, he placed the important document in the lawyer's bands.
+
+Hammond spread it out upon the table, and sat down to read it over
+carefully, while Linton, to afford the more time to the scrutiny, took
+the opportunity of descending to his breakfast.
+
+He stopped as he passed the bar to say a few words to the landlord,--one
+of those easy speeches he knew so well how to make about the "state of
+trade," "what travellers were passing," and "how the prospect looked
+for the coming season,"--and then, when turning away, as if suddenly
+recollecting himself, said:--
+
+"By the way, Swindon, you are a cautious fellow, that a man may trust
+with a secret--you know who the gentleman is that came with me?"
+
+"No, sir; never saw him before. Indeed, I did not remark him closely."
+
+"All the better, Swindon. He does not fancy anything like scrutiny. He
+is Mr. Roland Cashel."
+
+"Of Tubbermore, sir?"
+
+"The same. Hush, man,--be cautious! He has come up here about a little
+law business on which he desired to consult Mr. Hammond, and now we
+have a document for signature, if you could only find us another person
+equally discreet with yourself to be the witness, for these kind of
+things, when they get about in the world, are misrepresented in a
+thousand ways. Do you happen to have any confidential man here would
+suit us?"
+
+"If my head waiter, sir, Mr. Nipkin, would do; he writes an excellent
+hand, and is a most reserved, cautious young man."
+
+"Perfectly, Swindon; he'll do perfectly. Will you join us upstairs,
+where my friend is in waiting? Pray, also, give Nipkin a hint not to
+bestow any undue attention on Mr. Cashel, who wants to be _incog._ so
+far as may be; as for yourself, Swindon, no hint is necessary."
+
+A graceful bow from the landlord acknowledged the compliment, and he
+hastened to give the necessary orders, while Linton continued his way to
+the apartment where the Italian awaited him.
+
+"Impatient for breakfast, I suppose, Giovanni?" said Linton, gayly, as
+he entered. "Well? sit down, and let us begin. Already I have done more
+than half the business which brought me here, and we may be on our way
+back within an hour."
+
+Giovanni seated himself at the table without any of that constraint a
+sense of inferiority enforces, and began his breakfast in silence.
+
+"You understand," said Linton, "that when you have written the name
+'Roland Cashel,' and are asked if that be your act and deed, you have
+simply to say 'Yes;' a bow--a mere nod, indeed--is sufficient."
+
+"I understand," said he, thoughtfully, as if reflecting over the matter
+with himself. "I conclude, then," added he, after a pause, "that the
+sooner I leave the country afterwards, the better--I mean the safer--for
+me."
+
+"As to any positive danger," said Linton, affecting an easy
+carelessness, "there is none. The document is merely a copy of one
+already signed by Mr. Cashel, but which I have mislaid, and I am so
+ashamed of my negligence I cannot bring myself to confess it."
+
+This tame explanation Linton was unable to finish without faltering, for
+the Italian's keen and piercing dark eyes seemed to penetrate into him
+as he was speaking.
+
+"With this I have nothing to do," said he, abruptly. "It is quite clear,
+however, that Giovanni Santini is not Roland Cashel; nor, if there be a
+penalty on what I have done, am I so certain that he whose name I shall
+have forged will undergo it in my place."
+
+"You talk of forgery and penalties as if we were about to commit a
+felony," said Linton, laughing. "Pray give me the cream. There is really
+no such peril in the case, and if there were, it would be all mine."
+
+"I know nothing of your laws here--I desire to know nothing of
+them," said the Italian, haughtily; "but if it should be my lot to be
+arraigned, let it be for something more worthy of manhood. I 'll sign
+the paper, but I shall leave the country at once."
+
+No words could have been more grateful to Linton's ears than these; he
+was, even at that very moment, considering in his own mind in what way
+to disembarrass himself of his "friend" when this service should have
+been effected.
+
+"As you please, Giovanni," said be, gravely. "I regret to part company
+so soon with one whose frankness so well accords with my own humor."
+
+The Italian's lips parted slightly, and a smile of cold and dubious
+meaning flitted across his dark features.
+
+"We part here, then," said he, rising from the table. "There is a
+vessel leaves this for Bristol at noon to-day; it is already past eleven
+o'clock."
+
+"I'll not delay," said Linton, rising and ringing the bell; "send
+Mr. Swindon here," said he to the waiter, while he opened a parchment
+document upon the table, and after hastily glancing over it, folded
+it carefully again, leaving uppermost the margin, where certain
+pencil-marks indicated the places of signature. "This is yours,
+Giovanni," said he, placing a weighty purse in the Italian's hand, who
+took it with all the easy indifference of one whose feelings of shame
+were not too acute. "Remember what I have--"
+
+There was no time to finish, for already a light tap was-heard at the
+door, and the landlord, followed by the head waiter, entered.
+
+"We were pressed for time, Swindon," said Linton, as he examined the
+pens, which, like all hotel ones, seemed invented for ruling music
+paper, "and have sent for you to witness the signature to this document.
+Here, Cashel, you are to sign here," said he, turning to Giovanni,
+who-had just lighted a cigar, and was smoking away with all imaginable
+coolness. The Italian took the pen, and with a bold and steady hand
+wrote the words "Roland Cashel."
+
+"Mr. Swindon at this side; Mr. Nipkin's name comes underneath."
+
+"You acknowledge this for your hand and seal, sir?" said Swindon,
+turning towards Giovanni.
+
+"I do," said the Italian, in an accent which did not betray the
+slightest emotion, nor any trace of foreign pronunciation.
+
+"All right; thank you, Swindon--thanks, Mr. Nipkin," said Linton, as,
+with an elation of countenance all his efforts could not suppress, he
+folded up the parchment; "and now, will you order my horses at once?"
+
+The landlord and the waiter left the room, and Linton found himself once
+more alone with Giovanni; the only consolation he felt being that it was
+for the last time. There was a pause, in which each gazed steadily at
+the other without a word. At last, with a long-drawn sigh, Giovanni
+exclaimed,--
+
+"Perdio! but it is hard to do." And with this he pressed his hat upon
+his brows, and waving a careless farewell with his hand, walked out,
+leaving Linton in a state of amazement not altogether unmingled with
+fear. Tom watched the tall and stalwart figure of the foreigner as he
+moved through the crowd that filled the quay, and it was with a sense of
+relief he could not explain to himself that he saw him cross the plank
+that led to the steamer, on whose deck numerous passengers were already
+assembled.
+
+The bell rang out in warning of her approaching departure, and Linton
+kept his eyes intently fixed upon the one figure, which towered above
+the others around him. Already the scene of bustle portended the moment
+of starting, and some were hastening on board, as others, with not less
+eagerness, were endeavoring to get on shore; when, just at that instant,
+the landlord's voice was heard.
+
+"Mr. Hammond is just going off, sir; he wants to say one word to you
+before he goes."
+
+Mr. Hammond had just taken his seat in his carriage, and sat with one
+hand upon the door, awaiting Linton's coming.
+
+"I am run sharp for time, Mr. Linton," cried he, "and have not a second
+to lose. I wish sincerely I could have given a little more time to that
+document--not indeed that any feature of difficulty exists in forming
+an opinion, only that I believe I could have put your friend on the safe
+road as to his future course."
+
+"You regard it then as authentic--as a good and valid instrument?" said
+Linton, in a low but eager voice.
+
+"So much so," said Hammond, lowering his tone to a mere whisper, "that
+if he does not marry the young lady in question, I would not give him
+twenty shillings for his title."
+
+"By Jove!" exclaimed Linton, leaning his head on the door of the
+carriage, as if to conceal his chagrin, but in reality to hide the
+exuberance of his joy; "and this is your candid opinion of the case?"
+
+"I am willing to stake my fame as a lawyer on the issue; for, remember,
+the whole history of the suit is familiar to me. I recollect well the
+flaws in the course of proofs adduced, and I see how this discovery
+reconciles each discrepancy, and supplies every missing link of the
+chain."
+
+"Poor fellow!--it will be a sad blow for him," said Linton, with
+admirably feigned emotion.
+
+"But it need not, Mr. Linton; the church can tie a knot not even an
+equity suit can open. Let him marry."
+
+"Ay, if he will."
+
+"Tell him he must; tell him what I now tell you, that this girl is the
+greatest heiress in the land, and that he is a beggar. Plain speaking,
+Mr. Linton, but time is short Good-bye."
+
+"One word more. Is the document of such a nature that leaves him no case
+whatever? Is all the ground cut away beneath his feet?"
+
+"Every inch of it. Once more, good-bye. Here is your parchment; keep it
+safely. There are few men in this city hold in their hands a paper of
+such moment."
+
+"I'll take good care of it," said Linton, sententiously; "and so
+good-bye, and a safe journey to you. I 'll not forget our conversation
+of this morning; Meek shall hear of it before I sleep to-night. Adieu."
+
+"The richest heiress in the land, and Cashel a beggar," repeated Linton,
+slowly, to himself, as the carriage drove off. "Charley Frobisher would
+say, 'Hedge on the double event,' but I 'll keep my book." And, with
+this slang reflection, he sauntered into the inn to wait for his horses.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII. ROLAND DISCOVERS THAT HE HAS OVERDRAWN
+
+    --His counsel, like his physic,
+     If hard to take, was good when taken.
+
+     Village Worthies.
+
+Long before the guests of Tubbermore were astir, Cashel sat in his
+library awaiting the arrival of Dr. Tiernay. In obedience to Roland's
+request, Mr. Kennyfeck was present, and affected to look over books
+or out of windows,--to scan over prints or inspect maps,--anything, in
+short, which should pass the time and shorten the interval of waiting,
+doubly awkward from being the first moment he had been alone with Cashel
+since his arrival. Cashel was silent and absorbed, and, more intent upon
+following out the train of his own thoughts, never noticed the various
+arts by which Kennyfeck affected to interest himself. The solicitor,
+too, bent from time to time a stealthy look on the young man, on whose
+features he had rarely seen the same traces of deep reflection.
+
+At last, with a half start, as if suddenly awaking, Cashel sat up in his
+chair, and said,--
+
+"Have I explained to you what Dr. Tiernay's business is here this
+morning? It is to make a proposition from Mr. Corrigan for the sale
+of his interest in Tubber-beg. He wishes to leave the country and go
+abroad."
+
+"His interest, sir," replied Kennyfeck, calmly, "although more valuable
+to you than to any one else, must be a matter of small amount; for years
+back, he has done little more than vegetate on the property, without
+capital or skill to improve it."
+
+"I 'm not asking you to appraise it, just yet," said Roland, snappishly;
+"I was simply informing you of the object of the gentleman's visit. It
+is the advantage of this purchase that I wished you to consider, not its
+cost."
+
+"The cost will define the advantage, sir," rejoined Kennyfeck,
+"particularly as the demand may be high, and the payment inconvenient."
+
+"How do you mean, inconvenient?"
+
+Kennyfeck hesitated. There was something in the hurried abruptness of
+the question, as well as in the excited expression of the questioner's
+face, that confused him; so that Cashel had time to repeat the words
+before he could reply.
+
+"Is it that I am straitened for money?" said he, passionately.
+
+"Not quite--that--sir," replied Kennyfeck, stopping between every word.
+"You have resources--very great resources--untouched, and you have
+considerable sums in foreign securities, intact--"
+
+"Never mind these," broke in Roland, hurriedly. "How do we stand with
+those London fellows?"
+
+Kennyfeck shook his head gravely, but without speaking.
+
+"I pray you, sir," said Roland, in a voice of hardly suppressed passion,
+"keep pantomime for another moment, or a keener interpreter of it, and
+condescend, in plain English, to answer me my last question."
+
+"There is no difficulty with Bigger and Swain, sir," said Kennyfeck,
+as his cheek grew slightly red. "They will neither be pressing for a
+settlement, nor exacting when making it; besides, you have not overdrawn
+very heavily, After all."
+
+"Overdrawn, said you?--did you say overdrawn, Mr. Kennyfeck?"
+
+"Yes, sir. In the account last forwarded, your debit was eleven thousand
+four hundred and forty pounds; since that you have drawn--but not for
+any large amount."
+
+"Overdrawn!" repeated Cashel, as though his thoughts had never wandered
+beyond the first shock of that fact; then rallying into something
+like his habitual easy humor, he said, "I am, I need not tell you, the
+stupidest man of business that ever breathed, so pray forgive me if
+I ask you once more if I understood you aright, that I have not only
+expended all the money I owned in these people's hands, but actually had
+contracted a debt to them?"
+
+"That is the case, sir," said Kennyfeck, gravely.
+
+A deep groan broke from Cashel, and he sat silent and still.
+
+"I would wish to observe, sir," said Kennyfeck, who was shocked at the
+alteration a few moments had made in the young man's countenance--"I
+would wish to observe, sir, that if you desire a sum of money for any
+purpose--"
+
+"Stay--let me interrupt you here," said Cashel, laying his hand on
+Kennyfeck's arm, and using a tone whose earnest distinctness thrilled
+through his hearer's heart; "I should deceive you, were you to suppose
+that it is the want of money gives me the pain I am now suffering. That
+I had believed myself rich a few moments back, and now found myself a
+beggar, could not give one-thousandth part of that suffering which I
+feel here. I have braved poverty in every form, and I could brave it
+again; but I 'll tell you what it is that now cuts me to the soul, and
+lowers me to myself. It is that, in a senseless, heartless career, I
+should have squandered the wealth by which I once imagined I was to
+bless and succor hundreds. It is to think, that of all the gold I have
+wasted, not one memory has been purchased of a sick-bed consoled, a
+suffering lessened, a sinking spirit encouraged,--I have done nothing,
+actually nothing, save pamper vice and sensual heartlessness. I came to
+this kingdom a few months back, my very dreams filled with schemes of
+benevolence; I felt as if this wealth were given to me that I might show
+the world how much of good may be done by one who, having experienced
+narrow fortune, should best know how to relieve it in others; and now,
+here am I, the wealth and the high aspirations alike departed, with
+no tradition to carry away, save of a life passed in debauch, the
+friendship of worthless, the pitying contempt of good men! Hear me out
+I was nurtured in no school of sentiment; I belonged to a class who
+had too little time or taste to indulge in scruples. We were reckless,
+passionate,--cruel, if you will,--but we were not bad in cold blood; we
+seldom hated long; we never could turn on a benefactor. These are not
+the lessons I 've lived to learn here! It is over, however--it is past
+now! I 'll go back to the old haunts, and the old comrades. It will go
+hard with me if I quarrel with their rude speech and rough demeanor. I
+'ll think of _gentlemen!_ and be grateful."
+
+The rapid utterance in which he poured forth these words, and the fervid
+excitement of his manner, abashed Kenny-feck, and deterred him from
+reply. Cashel was the first to speak.
+
+"This arrangement, however, must be provided for; whatever Mr.
+Corrigan's interest be worth--or rather, whatever he will accept in lieu
+of it--I insist upon his having. But I see Dr. Tiernay coming up to the
+door; we can talk of these things at another time."
+
+When Tiernay entered the library he was heated with his walk, and his
+face betrayed unmistakable signs of recent irritation; indeed, he did
+not long conceal the reason.
+
+"Is it true, Mr. Cashel, that Mr. Linton is your nominee for the borough
+of Derraheeny?"
+
+"Yes; what of that?"
+
+"Why, that he canvasses the constituency in a fashion we have not yet
+been accustomed to; at least _your_ tenants, of whom I am one, are
+told that our votes are the condition on which our leases will receive
+renewal; that you will not brook opposition in any one who holds under
+you. Are these your sentiments, Mr. Cashel, or only his?"
+
+"Not mine, assuredly," replied Cashel, gravely.
+
+"I said as much. I told several of my neighbors that if this mode of
+canvass had your sanction, it was from not knowing the privileges of an
+elector."
+
+"I neither sanctioned nor knew of it," rejoined Cashel, eagerly.
+
+"So much the better--at least for me," said Tiernay, seating himself at
+the breakfast-table, "for I shall not lose a good breakfast, as I should
+have been forced to do had these been your intentions."
+
+"I would observe, Dr. Tiernay," interposed Kennyfeck, mildly, "that
+the borough, being entirely the property of Mr. Cashel, its charities
+maintained by his bounty, and its schools supported at his cost, he has
+a fair claim on the gratitude of those who benefit by his benevolence."
+
+"Let him stand himself for the borough, and we 'll not deny the debt,"
+said Tiernay, roughly; "but if for every ten he should expend a
+hundred, ay, sir, or a thousand, on the village, I 'd not vote for Mr.
+Linton."
+
+"Most certainly, doctor; I'd never seek to coerce you," said Cashel,
+smiling.
+
+"Labor lost, sir. I am your tenant for a holding of twenty-two pounds a
+year. I have never been in arrear; you, consequently, have not granted
+me any favor, save that of extending your acquaintance to me. Now,
+sir, except that you are a rich man and I a poor one, how is even that
+condescension on your part a favor? and how could _you_ purpose, upon
+it, to ask me to surrender my right of judgment on an important point
+to you, who, from your high station, your rank and influence, have a
+thousand prerogatives, while I have but this one?"
+
+"I never heard the just influence of the landed proprietor disputed
+before," said Kenny feck, who felt outraged at the doctor's hardihood.
+
+"It is only _just_ influence, sir," said Tiernay, "when he who wields
+it is an example, as much by his life, as by the exercise of an ability
+that commands respect. Show me a man at the head of a large property
+extending the happiness of his tenantry, succoring the sick, assisting
+the needy, spreading the blessings of his own knowledge among those who
+have neither leisure nor opportunity to acquire it for themselves. Let
+me see him, while enjoying to the fullest the bounteous gifts that are
+the portion of but few in this world, not forgetful of those whose life
+is toil, and whose struggle is for mere existence. Let me not know the
+landlord only by his liveries and his equipage, his fox-hounds, his
+plate, his racers, and his sycophants."
+
+"Hard hitting, doctor!" cried Cashel, interrupting.
+
+"Not if you can take it so good-humoredly," said Tiernay; "not if it
+only lose me the honor of ever entering here, and teach you to reflect
+on these things."
+
+"You mistake me much," said Cashel, "if you judge me so narrowly."
+
+"I did not think thus meanly of you; nor, if I did, would it have
+stopped me. I often promised myself, that if I could but eat of a rich
+man's salt, I'd tell him my mind, while under the protection of his
+hospitality. I have paid my debt now; and so, no more of it. Kennyfeck
+could tell you better than I, if it be not, in part at least, deserved.
+All this splendor that dazzles our eyes,--all this luxury, that makes
+the contrast of our poverty the colder,--all this reckless waste, that
+is like an unfeeling jest upon our small thrift, is hard to bear when we
+see it, not the pastime of an idle hour, but the business of a life. You
+can do far better things than these, and be happier as well as better
+for doing them! And now, sir, are you in the mood to discuss my friend's
+project?"
+
+"Perfectly so, doctor; you have only to speak your sentiments on the
+matter before Mr. Kennyfeck; my concurrence is already with you."
+
+"We want you to buy our interest in Tubber-beg," said the doctor,
+drawing his chair in front of Kennyfeck; "and though you tell us that
+flower-plats and hollies, laurustinus and geraniums, are not wealth, we
+'ll insist on your remunerating us for some share of the cost. The spot
+is a sweet one, and will improve your demesne. Now, what's it worth?"
+
+"There are difficulties which may preclude any arrangement," said
+Kennyfeck, gravely. "There was a deed of gift of this very property made
+out, and only awaiting Mr. Cashel's signature."
+
+"To whom?" said Tiernay, gasping with anxiety.
+
+"To Mr. Linton."
+
+"The very thing I feared," said the old man, dropping his head
+sorrowfully.
+
+"It is easily remedied, I fancy," said Cashel. "It was a hasty promise
+given to afford him qualification for Parliament. I 'll give him
+something of larger value; I know he 'll not stand in our way here."
+
+"How you talk of giving, sir! You should have been the Good Fairy of a
+nursery tale, and not a mere man of acres and bank-notes. But have your
+own way. It's only anticipating the crash a month or so; ruined you must
+be!"
+
+"Is that so certain?" said Cashel, half smiling, half seriously.
+
+"Ask Mr. Kennyfeck, there, whose highest ambition half a year ago was to
+be your agent, and now he 'd scarcely take you for a son-in-law! Don't
+look so angry, man; what I said is but an illustration. It will be with
+your property as it was with your pleasure-boat t'other day; you 'll
+never know you 've struck till you 're sinking."
+
+"You affect to have a very intimate knowledge of Mr. Cashel's affairs,
+sir," said Kennyfeck, who was driven beyond all further endurance.
+
+"Somewhat more than you possess, Mr. Kennyfeck; for I know his tenantry.
+Not as you know them, from answering to their names at rent-day, but
+from seeing them in seasons of distress and famine,--from hearing their
+half-uttered hopes that better days were coming when the new landlord
+himself was about to visit them; from listening to their sanguine
+expectations of benefits; and now, within some few days, from hearing
+the low mutterings of their discontent,--the prelude of worse than
+that."
+
+"I have seen nothing else than the same scenes for forty years, but
+I never remember the people more regular in their payments," said the
+attorney.
+
+"Well, don't venture among the Drumcoologhan boys alone; that, at least,
+I would recommend you," said the doctor, menacingly.
+
+"Why not?--who are they?--where are these fellows?" cried Cashel, for
+danger was a theme that never failed to stir his heart.
+
+"It 's a bad barony, sir," said Kennyfeck, solemnly.
+
+"A district that has supplied the gallows and the convict-ship for many
+a year; but we are wandering away from the theme we ought to discuss,"
+interposed Tiernay, "and the question narrows itself to this; if this
+property is still yours,--if you have not already consigned it to
+another,--what is my friend's interest worth?"
+
+"That will require calculation and reflection."
+
+"Neither, Mr. Kennyfeck," broke in Cashel. "Learn Mr. Corrigan's
+expectations, and see that they are complied with."
+
+"My friend desired a small annuity on the life of his granddaughter."
+
+"Be it an annuity, then," replied Cashel.
+
+"By heaven!" exclaimed Tiernay, as if he could not restrain the impulse
+that worked within him, "you are a fine-hearted fellow. Here, sir," said
+he, taking a paper from his pocket,--"here is a document, which my poor
+friend sat up half the night to write, but which I'd half made up my
+mind never to give you. You'd never guess what it is, nor your keen
+friend either, but I 'll spare you the trouble of spelling it over. It's
+a renunciation of Cornelius Corrigan, Esq., for himself and his
+heirs forever, of all right, direct or contingent, to the estate
+of Tubbermore, once the family property of his ancestors for eleven
+generations. You never heard of such a claim," said Tiernay, turning
+to Cashel, "but Mr. Kennyfeck did; he knows well the importance of that
+piece of paper he affects to treat with such indifference."
+
+"And do you suppose, sir, that if this claim you speak of be a good and
+valid one, I could, as a man of honor, maintain a possession to which I
+had no right? No; let Mr. Corrigan take back that paper; let him try his
+right, as the laws enable him. If I stand not here as the just owner of
+this house, I am ready to leave it at this instant; but I am neither to
+be intimidated by a threat nor conciliated by a compromise."
+
+"Mr. Corrigan's claim has nothing to go upon, I assure you," broke in
+Kennyfeck. "If we accept the paper, it is by courtesy,--to show that we
+respect the feeling that suggested it,--nothing more."
+
+While these words were addressed to Tiernay, Cashel, who had walked
+towards one of the windows, did not hear them.
+
+"Well," cried Tiernay, after an awkward pause, "the devil a worse
+negotiator ever accepted a mission than myself! When I desire to be
+frank, the only truths that occur to me are sure to be offensive, and
+I never am so certain to insult as when I fancy I 'm doing a favor.
+Goodbye, sir; pardon the liberties of an old man, whose profession
+has taught him to believe that remedies are seldom painless, and who,
+although a poor man, would rather any day lose the fee than the
+patient! You'll not treat Con Corrigan the less kindly because he has
+an imprudent friend. I'm sorry to think that I leave an unfavorable
+impression behind me; but I'm glad, heartily glad, I came here to
+breakfast, for I go away convinced of two things, that I was far from
+believing so certain when I entered,"--he paused for a second or two,
+and then said,--"that a spendthrift could have an unblemished sense of
+honor, and that an attorney could appreciate it!"
+
+With these words he departed, while Cashel, after staring for a few
+moments at Kennyfeck, threw himself back in his chair, and laughed long
+and heartily.
+
+"An original, sir,--quite an original," said Kennyfeck, who, not
+exactly knowing whether to accept the doctor's parting speech as a
+compliment, or the reverse, contented himself with this very vague
+expression.
+
+"He's a fine old fellow, although he does lay on his salve in Indian
+fashion, with a scalping-knife; but I wish he'd not have said anything
+of that confounded paper."
+
+"Pardon me, sir," interposed Kennyfeck, taking it from his pocket,
+"but it might prove of inestimable value, in the event of any future
+litigation."
+
+"What! you kept it, then?" cried Cashel.
+
+"Of course I did, sir. It is a document scarce inferior to a deed of
+title; for, although Mr. Corrigan has nothing to substantiate a claim
+at law, it is incontestable that his family were the original owners of
+this estate."
+
+Cashel took the paper from Kennyfeck's hand, and seemed to peruse it for
+some minutes, and then approaching the fire he threw it into the blaze,
+and pressed it down with a poker till it was consumed; while Kennyfeck,
+too much consternated to utter a word, stood the personification of
+terror-struck astonishment.
+
+"You have burnt it, sir!" said he at last, in a whisper.
+
+"Why not, sir?" cried Cashel, rudely. "Should I have made use of it
+against the man who wrote it, or against his heirs, if by chance they
+should seek one day to dispute my right?"
+
+A deep sigh was all the reply Kennyfeck could make.
+
+"I understand your compassion well," said Cashel, scornfully. "You are
+right, sir. It was the buccaneer, not the gentleman, spoke there; but I
+'m sick of masquerading, and I long for a little reality."
+
+Without waiting for a reply, Roland left the room, and wandered out into
+the park.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX. THE BURNT LETTER--"GREAT EXPECTATIONS"
+
+     "'Like Dido's self,' she said, 'I'm free!
+     Trojan or Tyrian are alike to me.'"
+
+
+There was but one species of tyranny Mr. Kennyfeck ever attempted in his
+family: this was, to shroud with a solemn mystery every little event in
+his professional career which he saw excited any curiosity with his wife
+and daughters. It was true that on such occasions he became a mark for
+most sneering insinuations and derisive commentaries, but he rose with
+the dignity of a martyr above all their taunts, and doubtless felt in
+his heart the supporting energy of a high-priest standing watch over the
+gate of the Temple.
+
+The few pencilled lines by Cashel, which had summoned him to the meeting
+recorded in the last chapter, he threw into the fire as soon as he had
+read, and then arising from the breakfast-table, dryly observed,--
+
+"Don't wait breakfast, Mrs. Kennyfeck; I shall not be back for some
+time."
+
+"Another secret, Mr. Kennyfeck?" said his wife, scoffingly.
+
+He only smiled in reply.
+
+"It ought to be a duel, at least, pa," said his eldest daughter, "from
+the urgent haste of your departure."
+
+"Or a runaway couple, who wish to have the settlements--"
+
+"Is that all you know of the matter, Livy?" said her sister,
+laughing heartily; "why, child, your Gretna Green folks never have
+settlements--never think of them till six months later, when they are
+wanting to separate."
+
+"Is there any occasion for mystery in this case?" rejoined Mrs.
+Kennyfeck, haughtily.
+
+"To be sure there may, my dear," broke in Aunt Fanny; "there 's many
+a dirty thing the lawyers have to do they 'd be ashamed to own before
+their families."
+
+Even this did not move Mr. Kennyfeck, and, although from the way he
+nestled his chin behind the folds of his white cravat, and a certain
+scarcely perceptible shake of the head, it was clear he longed to refute
+the foul aspersion.
+
+"I suppose you will appear at dinner, sir?" said Mrs. Kennyfeck, with
+her grandest air.
+
+"I hope so, Mrs. Kennyfeck," was the mild answer.
+
+"Without you should take it into your head, pa, to enter into rivalry
+with Mr. Linton, and stay away, heaven knows where or how long," said
+Miss Kennyfeck.
+
+Mr. Kennyfeck did not wait for more, but left the room with an air whose
+solemnity well suited any amount of secrecy.
+
+"Is there a carriage at the door?" said Mrs. Kennyfeck.
+
+"No, mamma; there are three saddle-horses--one with a side-saddle. That
+odious Miss Meek!" exclaimed Miss Kennyfeck; "what Lord Charles can see
+in her I cannot conceive. To be sure, she saves a stable-boy the more,
+and that to him is something."
+
+"Has your father gone out by the back terrace?" resumed Mrs. Kennyfeck,
+one only theme occupying her thoughts.
+
+Olivia retired into an adjoining room, and soon returned, saying,--
+
+"No, ma; there's no one there, except Sir Andrew and Lady Janet, taking
+their morning walk."
+
+"Their run, rather, my dear," chimed in Miss Kennyfeck, "for she chases
+the poor old man up and down with a cup of camomile tea, which either
+scalds or sets him a-coughing. I 'm sure that tiresome old couple have
+awoke me every day the last week with their squabbling."
+
+"Step down into the library, my love," said Mrs. Kennyfeck to her
+younger daughter, "and bring, me up the 'Post' or the 'St. James's
+Chronicle.'"
+
+"And if you meet Phillis, Just ask if he saw your father, for he forgot
+his gloves." And, suiting the action to the word, Aunt Fanny dived
+into a cavern of an apron-pocket, and drew out a pair of knitted things
+without fingers, which she offered to Olivia.
+
+"Do no such thing, Miss Olivia Kennyfeck," said her mamma, with an air
+of imposing grandeur.
+
+"Ma wants the newspaper, Olivia, and is not thinking of papa," said Miss
+Kennyfeck; and her eyes sparkled with a malicious fun she well knew how
+to enjoy.
+
+As Miss Olivia Kennyfeck left the room, her sister approached the
+fireplace, where a small charred portion of the note thrown down by
+her father was yet lying. She took it, and walking toward the window,
+examined it carefully.
+
+And while we leave her thus occupied, let us, for the reader's
+information--albeit he may deem the matter trivial--give the contents as
+Cashel wrote them:--
+
+     Dear Mr. Kennyfeck,--Make my excuses to Mrs. Kennyfeck
+     and the Demoiselles Cary and Olivia, if I deprive them of
+     your society this morning at breakfast, for I shall want
+     your counsel and assistance in the settlement of some
+     difficult affairs. I have been shamefully backward in paying
+     my respectful addresses to the ladies of your family; but
+     to-day, if they will permit, I intend to afford myself that
+     pleasure. It is as a friend, and not as my counsel learned
+     in law, I ask your presence with me in my library at ten
+     o'clock.    Till then,
+
+     Believe me yours,
+
+     R.  C.
+
+Now, of this very commonplace document, a few blackened, crumpled, frail
+fragments were all that remained; and these, even to the searching dark
+eyes of Miss Kennyfeck, revealed very little. Indeed, had they not been
+written in Cashel's hand, she would have thrown them away at once, as
+unworthy of further thought. This fact, and the word "Olivia," which she
+discovered after much scrutiny, however, excited all her zeal, and she
+labored now like an antiquarian who believes he has gained the clew
+to some mysterious inscription. She gathered up the two or three filmy
+black bits of paper which yet lay within the fender, and placing them
+before her, studied them long and carefully. The word "settlement" was
+clear as print.
+
+"'Olivia and 'settlement' in the same paper," thought she; "what can
+this mean?
+
+"Come here, mamma--Aunt Fanny--look at this for a moment," said she,
+eagerly; and the two ladies approached at her bidding.
+
+"What is that word?" she said to Mrs. Kennyfeck; "is it not 'Olivia'?
+Don't you see the end of the 'l' has been burned away, but the rest is
+quite plain?"
+
+"So it is--upon my life!--and in Cashel's hand, too!" exclaimed Mrs.
+Kennyfeck.
+
+[Illustration: 093]
+
+"And what is that?" asked Miss Kennyfeck, triumphantly, pointing to
+another word.
+
+Aunt Fanny, with her spectacles on, bent down, and examined it long.
+
+"'Battlement.' That is 'battlement' as clear as day," said she.
+
+"What nonsense, aunt--it is 'settlement.' Look at what you call a
+'b'--it is an 's.'"
+
+"Cary's quite right. The word is 'settlement,'" said Mrs. Kennyfeck, in
+a voice tremulous with joy.
+
+"And there!--I hope you can read!" exclaimed Miss Kennyfeck, "even
+without your spectacles--'paying'--'addresses.'"
+
+"Show it to me, Cary," said her mother, eagerly. "I declare I can read
+it perfectly. Is it possible?--can this be indeed true?"
+
+"Of course it is, mamma. Will you tell me by what other coincidence
+you could find Olivia's name coupled with the words 'settlement' and
+'addresses' in the same note?"
+
+"It is very suspicious, certainly," said Aunt Fanny.
+
+"I think it very convincing, aunt--not suspicious," said Miss Kennyfeck,
+proudly. "Here is something about 'friend,' and another word I can't
+make out."
+
+"That's something about a 'saw,' my love," said Aunt Fanny.
+
+"How absurd, aunt; the word is 'law.' I have it. See--here is the
+name--it is the conclusion of the note, and ran, doubtless, thus: 'Your
+present friend, and future son-in-law,--R. C."
+
+Mrs. Kennyfeck leaned forward, and kissed her daughter's cheek with a
+degree of fervor she very rarely gave way to; and then, lying back in
+her chair, pressed her handkerchief to her face, while she, doubtless,
+revelled in a little excursion of fancy, not the less brilliant because
+tempered with anxiety.
+
+If the moment was one of maternal ecstasy for Mrs. Kennyfeck, it was no
+less one of triumphant joy to her daughter. It was _she_ who revealed
+the secret meaning; her skill and ingenuity had given light to the dark
+mystery, and consistency to its incoherence. What domination could be
+too great for such services? It was then, like a legitimate sovereign
+assuming the reins of government, she said,--
+
+"I beg, Aunt Fanny, that you will not spoil the game this time, as most
+unquestionably you did before."
+
+"Let us see that there is one to be spoiled, my dear," rejoined Aunt
+Fanny, snappishly.
+
+"You are really too provoking, Fanny," said Mrs. Kennyfeck, removing her
+handkerchief from two very red eyelids. "You never are satisfied when
+you see us happy. Cary has shown you enough to convince any one--"
+
+"Anyone disposed to conviction, mamma," broke in Miss Kennyfeck,
+haughtily. "Hush, here's Olivia."
+
+"Mr. Meek is reading the 'Post,' ma," said the young lady, entering;
+"and he has got the other papers in his pocket, but he says there's
+really nothing of any interest in them."
+
+"I think Livy should be told, mamma," whispered Miss Kennyfeck to her
+mother.
+
+"I quite agree with you, Cary," said Mrs. Kennyfeck; "I never was a
+friend to any secrecy in families. Your father, indeed, I grieve to say,
+does not participate in my sentiments; but much may be excused in him,
+from the habits of his profession, and, I will also say, from the class
+in life he sprang from." Here Mrs. Kennyfeck, who had spoken like one
+delivering an oracle, stopped to drop a tear over the sad _mesalliance_
+which had condemned her to become the wife of an attorney. "Olivia, my
+dear, circumstances have disclosed the nature of the interview which
+Mr. Kennyfeck would not confide to us. It is one in which you are deeply
+concerned, my dear. Have you any suspicion to what I allude?"
+
+Olivia assumed her very sweetest look of innocence, but made no reply.
+
+"Mamma wants you to be candid enough to say, if there is anything in the
+way of particular attention you may have received lately, which should
+corroborate the impressions we entertain."
+
+Miss Kennyfeck delivered these words so categorically, that her sister
+well knew how, in the event of refusal, a searching cross-examination
+was reserved for her.
+
+Olivia looked down, and a very slight embarrassment might be detected in
+the quickened heaving of her chest.
+
+"Tell us, my darling," said Aunt Fanny, "if--if any one has, in a manner
+so to say--you understand--eh?"
+
+"Keep the blushes, Livy, for another time; they look beautiful with
+orange flowers in the hair," said her sister; "but be candid with us."
+
+"If you mean attentions, mamma--"
+
+"We mean attentions, 'and something more,' as Lord Lyndburst says,"
+interposed Miss Kennyfeck, who felt that she was the proper person to
+conduct the inquiry.
+
+"I cannot positively say, mamma, that we are engaged, but I believe that
+if you and pa made no obstacles--if, in fact, you are satisfied that his
+rank and fortune are sufficient for your expectations, as I own they are
+for mine--"
+
+"What humility!" exclaimed Miss Kennyfeck, holding up her hands.
+
+"Hush, Cary--go on, Livy," said her mother.
+
+"I have no more to say, mamma. Sir Harvey told me--"
+
+"Sir Harvey!" cried Mrs. Kennyfeck.
+
+"Sir Harvey Upton!" echoed Miss Kennyfeck.
+
+"The man with the hair all over his face!" exclaimed Aunt Fanny, whose
+western habits had not accustomed her to mustaches.
+
+Olivia stared from one to the other in mingled fear and astonishment.
+She suddenly saw that she had been betrayed into a confession to which
+they did not possess the slightest clew; she also perceived that the
+tidings, for which she anticipated a most joyous welcome, were received
+with coldness and almost disdain.
+
+"He is a baronet, mamma, with very great expectations," said she,
+proudly; for really, it was a large "bird" to bag, in the beginning of
+the season, too!
+
+"Very possibly," said Mrs. Kennyfeck, looking to her elder daughter
+with that silent eloquence which the court occasionally bestows upon the
+crown counsel, meaning to say: "Have you anything to reply to that?"
+
+"Mamma is aware that Sir Harvey is a baronet, and a captain of Hussars,
+and Jonas Upton of Somerton is his uncle, who may, or may not, leave him
+his large estates--a circumstance, most probably, mainly dependent on
+the alliance he may form in marriage."
+
+"Yes, indeed! my dear," broke in Aunt Fanny; "and when the old man finds
+out that 'tis only an attorney's daughter--"
+
+"Fanny, do you mean to drive me distracted?" screamed Mrs. Kennyfeck;
+"are my children to be taught to be ashamed of their father?"
+
+"'T is a lesson they might know by heart, this time of day, my dear,"
+said the inexorable Fanny, who put up her spectacles, and smoothed down
+her apron,--unmistakable signs that she was preparing for battle.
+
+"You need n't 'beat to quarters,' aunt, as Captain Luttredge says; there
+is no one going to fire into you," said Miss Kennyfeck. "The question at
+present is, how is Olivia to free herself from an unhappy connection--"
+
+"An unhappy connection!" exclaimed Livy, in amazement.
+
+"Listen to your sister, and don't interrupt her," said Mrs. Kennyfeck.
+
+"I spoke advisedly, Livy," resumed the elder, "when I called your
+connection with Sir Harvey Upton unhappy. We have just learned that far
+higher views are open to you,--that no less a person than Mr. Cashel--"
+
+"Impossible, mamma! he never notices me in the least. Our acquaintance
+is scarcely more than a cold act of recognition when we meet."
+
+"Though love is hot sometimes, soon it grows cold," muttered Aunt Fanny,
+who believed she was quoting to the letter.
+
+"There never was love in the case at all, aunt," said Olivia.
+
+"Attend to _me_, Livy," said her sister, who seemed impatient at this
+digression. "It is sufficient--it ought, at least, to be sufficient--for
+you, that _we_ know Mr. Roland Cashel's intentions. It is for _you_
+to establish a coolness with Sir Harvey. There is no difficulty in the
+task. I could not presume to instruct _you_ in any matter of this kind,
+nor will I."
+
+"Take a friend's advice, Livy dear, and don't throw out dirty water till
+you're sure of clean."
+
+"What, aunt?" asked Olivia, who really was puzzled by the figurative
+eloquence of her relative.
+
+"Pshaw!" said Miss Kennyfeck, equally angry at the counsel and the
+vulgarity of the expression it was couched in. "Livy, attend to _me_,"
+said she again. "Mr. Cashel has sent for papa this morning to make a
+formal--Hush! here is pa himself." And Mr. Kennyfeck's heavy tread was
+heard approaching the door.
+
+Mr. Kennyfeck's sudden entrance not only closed the discussion, but left
+the debaters in the difficulty of having no concerted line of conduct
+respecting the new arrival; and although Mrs. Kennyfeck's eyebrows were
+worked with a telegraphic activity, and Miss Kennyfeck's pantomimic
+replies as promptly returned, it was clear that neither comprehended the
+other. Kaunitz lays it down as an axiom that "when two wings of an army
+are in presence of an enemy, and without means of rapid and certain
+communication, it is always better to act on the defensive than to
+attack, without some evident weak point of the adversary encourages a
+forward movement." It is more than probable that neither Mrs. Kennyfeck
+nor her fair daughter had studied the authority in question, yet, with a
+tact quite instinctive, they proceeded to act upon it.
+
+"You are back early, Mr. Kennyfeck," said his wife, with a tone of half
+indifference.
+
+Mr. Kennyfeck looked at his watch, and said it wanted twenty minutes to
+twelve.
+
+"Has Mr. Linton returned, pa?" asked Miss Kennyfeck.
+
+"I believe not. I have not heard that he has."
+
+"It would be little loss if he never did!" said Aunt Fanny, as she
+bit the end of an obstinate thread that would not enter the eye of her
+needle.
+
+"Oh, Aunt Fanny!" exclaimed Olivia, in a deprecating tone.
+
+"'Pon my word, my dear, them 's my sentiments--whatever yours is."
+
+"Mr. Cashel certainly thinks differently," said Mrs. Kennyfeck, glad to
+introduce the name uppermost in all their thoughts.
+
+"I think of late there has been something like a coldness between
+them--You see them very rarely together. Did Mr. Cashel mention his name
+to you this morning, Mr. Kennyfeck?" said his wife; and by this sudden
+question revealing that they knew, at least, where he had been.
+
+"Mere passingly, incidentally," said Mr. Kennyfeck, evidently amazed
+that his small mystery had been penetrated; then, after a slight pause,
+he added, very probably with a sly malice to pique curiosity, "Mr.
+Cashel is desirous of Mr. Linton's counsel on a step he meditates
+taking."
+
+"Indeed, sir; and has he much confidence in Mr. Linton's judgment?"
+
+"In this instance, it is likely he will follow the dictates of his own,
+Mrs. Kennyfeck," said the attorney, solemnly.
+
+This fencing was too much for Mrs. Kennyfeck, in whom the Job-like
+element was always at zero. It was an insult, too, to her understanding,
+that Mr. Kennyfeck should skirmish in this fashion with _her_; and so,
+drawing herself proudly up, she said,--
+
+"Mr. Kennyfeck, I would wish to ask you, if you have, even upon one
+single occasion, discovered that _my_ knowledge of the world, _my_ tact,
+or _my_ intelligence, were inferior to your own?"
+
+"Never, madam; I'm sure I never disputed the--"
+
+"No, sir, you never dared to contest the fact, though you may have
+endeavored to escape from its application. I believe, sir, the only
+instance of deficient judgment I can be accused of, _you_, at least,
+ought not to reproach me with. 'My family'"--this was a word Mrs.
+Kennyfeck used to enunciate with an emphasis that always impressed her
+husband very little provocation might possibly have made her say, "our
+house"--"my family, indeed, may refuse to forgive me"--she stopped,
+wiped her eyes, and then, with what seemed an heroic victory over her
+feelings, went on--"but the welfare of my children, sir, may well be
+conceived dear to one, who would not league to them the unhappy descent
+she has herself suffered."
+
+Mrs. Kennyfeck paused again. It appeared as though, do what she would,
+there was no escaping from the theme of her _mesalliance_ when once she
+had touched it. It was very birdlime in its adhesiveness.
+
+"When, therefore, Mr. Kennyfeck, the occasion presents itself of
+resuming, through my children--for alas! it is lost to me in my own
+person--the station I have forfeited, I do think that I should at least
+be consulted, that my advice should be asked, and my guidance required.
+Don't you think so too, sir?"
+
+Now, of all men living, never was there one more inept to read riddles
+than poor Mr. Kennyfeck, and while he averred that he perfectly
+concurred in his wife's opinion, he had not the faintest glimmering of a
+notion what that opinion implied.
+
+"Don't you think, sir, also it would be better to use a little candor
+with your family?"
+
+"Yes, pa, we know all about it," said Miss Kennyfeck, nodding
+significantly.
+
+"Ay, indeed, we had it in black and white--that is, if we can call a bit
+of burnt--"
+
+"Aunt Fanny, what are you about?" cried Miss Kennyfeck, in a voice of
+real terror, for she was shocked at the meanness she did not scruple to
+stoop to.
+
+"Yes, Mr. Kennyfeck," reiterated his wife, "we know all! If, however,
+you still persist in maintaining that mysterious aspect you have assumed
+with your family, I must say, sir, it is perfectly absurd."
+
+"It is unnecessary, too, papa," cried Miss Kennyfeck.
+
+"And it's unfair to that young creature," chimed in Aunt Fanny, with
+a gesture towards Olivia, who sat, _en tableau_ for injured innocence,
+next a window.
+
+Possibly, if any could have read Mr. Kennyfeck's sentiments at that
+instant, they would have recognized the sufferings of a true martyr. To
+his own heart he muttered,--
+
+"This is very hard; it is being called upon to reply to a case without a
+copy of the affidavits."
+
+At length, with a courage that he did not believe he was capable of, he
+said,--
+
+"I am confused, Mrs. Kennyfeck; I am overwhelmed; I may submit a plea of
+surprise--that is, I would move the court, I mean--in fact, I must beg
+you will permit me to adjourn this case."
+
+And with these words, and in an agitation very unusual with him, he
+hastened from the room. Scarcely had the door closed after him, than he
+reopened it, and putting in his head, said,--
+
+"I should have told you, Mrs. Kennyfeck, that Mr. Cashel intends to pay
+a visit here to-day."
+
+And so saying, he shut the door and departed.
+
+"At last, sir!" exclaimed Mrs. Kennyfeck, in a voice of exultation, "you
+have been obliged to confess so much at least; but, rely on it, girls,
+your father is acting under Cashel's dictation, or he never would dare
+to tamper in this manner with _me_."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X. A STARTLING INTRUSION
+
+     Say what you will, good friend, I do persist,
+     I had him "covered" when you shook my wrist.
+
+     The Duel.
+
+
+In a handsome drawing-room, where the light was judiciously tempered by
+the slight folds of rose-colored curtains, while the air breathed the
+faint delicious perfume of some hot-house flowers, sat Olivia Kennyfeck
+alone. She was most simply but becomingly dressed, and in her hair, worn
+in smooth bands on either cheek, a little sprig of Greek myrtle, with
+its bright red berries, was interwoven, which served to show to even
+greater advantage the delicate fairness of a skin tinged with the very
+faintest blush. There was a soft pensive character in her beauty which
+seemed to harmonize perfectly with the silent room and its scattered
+objects of art. The very exclusion of all view appeared to add to the
+effect; as though suggesting how much of in-door happiness was contained
+within those four walls\ neither asking for, nor wanting, the "wide cold
+world" without. She was reading--at least she held a book in her hand--a
+gorgeously bound little volume it was--nor did the dark ribbon of velvet
+fringed with gold that marked her place fail to contrast well with the
+snowy whiteness of the wrist it fell upon.
+
+Her attitude, as she lay, rather than sat, in a deep armchair, was
+faultless in its grace; and even the tiny foot, which rested on a little
+Blenheim spaniel as he lay sleeping on the hearth-rug, had a certain air
+of homelike ease that made the scene a picture, and to a suggestive mind
+might have given it a story. And yet, for all the sleepy softness of
+those half-drooped lids, for all that voluptuous ease of every lineament
+and limb, the heart within was watchful and waking. Not a sound upon the
+stairs, not a voice, not a footstep, that did not make its pulses beat
+faster and fuller.
+
+Two o'clock struck, and the great bell rang out which called the guests
+to luncheon, a meal at which Cashel never appeared; and now Olivia
+listened to the sounds of merry laughter that floated along the
+corridors, and faded away in the distance, as group after group passed
+downstairs, and at last, all was silent again. Where was he? Why did he
+not come? she asked herself again and again. Her mamma and sister
+had purposely stayed away from luncheon to receive him; for so it was
+arranged, that she herself should first see Cashel alone, and afterwards
+be joined by the others--and yet he came not!
+
+The half-hour chimed, and Olivia looked up at the French clock upon
+the mantelpiece with amazement. Surely there had been more than thirty
+minutes since she heard it last; and the little Cupid on the top, who,
+with full-stretched bow and fixed eye, seemed bent on mischief--silly
+fool! like herself, there was no mark to shoot at! She sighed; it was
+not a deep sigh, nor a sad one; nor was it the wearisome expression of
+listlessness; nor was it the tribute paid to some half-called up
+memory. It was none of these; though perhaps each entered into it as an
+ingredient. But what right have we to analyze its meaning, or ask how
+much of hope or fear it contained?--what portion of regret for one she
+was about to desert?--what shame for the faithlessness? Ay, what shame!
+
+Coquetry is no virtue; but most certainly it is not the wholesale
+corrupter some moralists would make it. Miss Olivia Kennyfeck had been
+taught it from her earliest years,--from those pleasant days, when,
+dressed like some fairy queen, she descended from the nursery to stand
+beside pa's chair on company days, at dessert, and be stared at, and
+kissed, and "dear-loved" by some scores of people, whose enthusiasm
+for childish beauty had all the warmth that springs from turtle and
+truffles, iced punch and Lafitte. She had been taught it by the French
+governess, who told her to be _aimable_. The very dancing-master cried
+out, "Grace,--more grace, if you please, Miss Olivia," at every step of
+her minuet; and the riding-master's eternal exhortation was, "Sit as if
+the whole world was watching you, miss."
+
+These teachings go further and deeper into the heart than we suspect.
+"The wish to please"--pure and amiable as the feeling can be--lies on
+the frontier of a dangerous land,--the "wish to conquer." That passion
+once engendered in the heart, no room remains for any other.
+
+To return to Miss Olivia Kennyfeck,--for most ungallantly we are
+forgetting she is alone all this while. Her education had but one end
+and object,--to obtain a good position by marriage. The precept had
+been instilled into her mind in a thousand different ways, and not only
+self-interest, but pride, emulation, and vanity had been enlisted in its
+support. So constantly was the theme presented to her, such day-by-day
+discussion of the prizes and blanks drawn by others in the wheel
+connubial, that she really felt little or no interest in any other
+topic.
+
+And yet, with all that misdirection of mind, that perverse insistence on
+wrong, there was still in her heart a void, a want, that neither vanity
+nor selfishness could fill. It might be, perhaps, to be found out by
+one who should make it the storehouse of high and generous impulses,
+of ennobling duties and tender affections; or, just as likely, lie like
+some fruitful but unknown tract,--barren, waste, and profitless!
+
+Three o'clock came! And now the house resounded with the buzz of voices
+and the hurried movement of feet. Carriages and horses, too, assembled
+before the door, and all the pleasant bustle of those bent on pleasure
+filled the air. Olivia arose, and, screened by the curtain, watched the
+scene beneath. For the first time she perceived that Lady Kilgoff was in
+a riding-dress. She stood in the midst of a group before the door, amid
+which Olivia's eyes peered with restless activity.
+
+No, Cashel was not there! She almost said the comforting words aloud,
+but at the same instant a cry of, "Here he is,--here he comes!" broke
+from those beneath, and every head was turned towards the road to the
+stables, along which Cashel was seen cantering a snow-white Arab of
+great beauty. As he came nearer it could be seen that he was seated on
+a side-saddle, while he managed the well-trained creature with the most
+graceful address.
+
+"Are you quite certain I may venture, Mr. Cashel?" said Lady Kilgoff, as
+he pulled up in front of her; "remember, that I am neither so fearless
+nor so skilful as our fair queen beside me, who, I must own, is far more
+worthy of 'Hassan Bey' than I am."
+
+"I'll pledge my life on his good conduct," said Roland, springing from
+his back; "I've ridden him for an hour, and he is gentleness itself."
+
+"He's over-trained for my fancy," said Miss Meek. "He's like one of
+the creatures you see in Franconi's, walking up a ladder to catch a
+handkerchief."
+
+Lady Janet whispered something in her ear, at which she started and
+smiled, but evidently in ignorance of its meaning.
+
+"What is that very wicked thing that Lady Janet has just told you?" said
+Lady Kilgoff, as she advanced to mount her horse.
+
+"It was _a propos_ of the handkerchief. She said 'Probably you were
+going to throw yours at Mr. Cashel,'--I'm sure I don't know why."
+
+Fortunately none but Lady Kilgoff and Cashel heard this speech, but both
+blushed deeply.
+
+While this was enacting below, Olivia, who marked every gesture and
+every look eagerly, could not hear what passed. She could only see the
+respectful attention bestowed by Cashel on every wish of his fair guest;
+how, having seated her, he draped in graceful folds the long velvet
+habit, in which, and with a white hat and drooping feather, she
+resembled one of the court of Louis Quinze.
+
+At last she turned her horse's head, and rode him slowly along before
+the house, evidently timid and afraid of the high-mettled animal.
+Cashel, however, walked at his head, and so they stood, while he
+arranged the curb-chain, exactly beneath the window where Olivia was
+standing.
+
+She opened the sash noiselessly, and, bending down, listened.
+
+"I assure you," said Lady Kilgoff, "I 'll not continue my ride if you
+don't come. I have no confidence in these fine gentlemen cavaliers; and
+as for Miss Meek, she 'd risk her life to see me run away with."
+
+"I pledge myself to follow in ten minutes,--nay, in five, if possible. I
+told Mr. Kennyfeck I should make my obeisances to the ladies to-day."
+
+"Would to-morrow not serve?" said she, smiling.
+
+"I believe it might--but a promise! Besides, I have been sadly deficient
+in attentions there."
+
+"Sir Harvey and his brother hussar have made the _amende_ for your
+shortcomings, but go, make haste and overtake us. I see 'my Lord' trying
+to understand Lady Janet, and I must not delay longer."
+
+"Ride slowly," cried Roland, "and don't get run away with till I 'm of
+the party."
+
+She nodded archly in reply to this speech, and joining the group, who
+were all awaiting her, rode off, while Cashel entered the house, and
+soon was heard ascending the stairs at a hurried pace.
+
+Olivia could only close the window and resume her place, when a tap
+was given at the door, and the same instant Cashel entered the room. He
+stopped suddenly, and looked around, for at first he did not perceive
+Olivia, who, deep in her book, affected not to hear the noise of his
+approach.
+
+The rich coronet of brown hair, on which an evening sun was throwing one
+brilliant gleam, caught his eye, and he advanced near enough to see
+and be struck by that graceful attitude of which we gave our reader a
+glimpse at the opening of this chapter.
+
+She was reading some old English ballad; and, as she closed the volume,
+murmured, half aloud, the lines of the concluding verse:--
+
+"And ye variete, bounde upon a carte, Was draggede to ye gallows high,
+While ye knighte that stole ye ladye's hearte (And was not his ye
+gravere parte!) Rode onte to see him die."
+
+"A sad moral indeed," said Cashel, in a low, soft voice.
+
+"Oh, dear! oh, Mr. Cashel!" cried she, starting, and letting fall the
+book, "how you have terrified me!"
+
+"Pray forgive me," said he, drawing his chair near, "but when I entered
+the room I saw no one. I had come thus far ere I discovered that I was
+so fortunate."
+
+"Shall I ring for mamma and Cary? they are dressing, I know, but will be
+quite annoyed if you go before they come down."
+
+"You must not inconvenience them on my account," said Roland, eagerly.
+"I'm certain," added he, smiling, "you are not afraid to receive me
+alone."
+
+She hung down her head, and partly averting it, murmured a scarcely
+audible "No."
+
+Cashel, who had evidently never calculated on his careless remark being
+taken thus seriously, looked silly and uncomfortable for a few seconds.
+There is a terrible perversity sometimes in our natures; we are disposed
+to laugh occasionally at times when nothing could be more ill-timed or
+unsuitable; and so, at moments when we would give anything in the world
+for some commonplace theme to hang phrases on, we cannot, for the life
+of us, originate one.
+
+"You've not ridden out, I think, since we came?" said Roland, at last,
+but with an air of sudden despair at his own stupidity.
+
+"No. We have driven out once or twice; but--but--"
+
+"Pray finish," said he, with a persuasive look as he spoke.
+
+"I was going to say that your horses are so spirited, that I was really
+afraid to trust myself, and the more so as Miss Meek is so wild and so
+reckless."
+
+"Never think of riding with _her_, Let me be your _chaperon_,--shall we
+say to-morrow? I 've got the gentlest creature that was ever mounted."
+
+"Oh, I know her; that sweet white Arab I saw the groom exercising
+yesterday?"
+
+"No; not she," said Roland, blushing and confused, "a spotted barb,
+fully as handsome--some say handsomer. Will you do me the favor to ride
+her to-morrow, and, if she be fortunate enough to please you, to accept
+her?"
+
+Olivia hung down her head for a second, and a deep scarlet covered her
+cheek, and rose even to her temples, and it was with a voice broken and
+interrupted she said, "Oh, I cannot--I must not." Then, turning on him a
+look, where the tearful eyes, swimming in a softened lustre, conveyed a
+whole story of deep suffering, she said rapidly, "You are too kind
+and too good ever to give pain; you are too generous to believe others
+capable of it; but were I to accept your beautiful gift--were I even to
+ride out with you _alone_--there is nothing that would not be said of
+me."
+
+It was Cashel's turn for a slight blush now; and, to do him justice, he
+felt the sensation a most disagreeable one. It had not indeed occurred
+to him to make the proposal as the young lady took it, but he was far
+too long schooled in gallantry to undeceive her, and so he said, "I
+really cannot see this in the light you do. It is a very natural wish on
+my part, that I should show my guests whatever my poor grounds afford of
+the picturesque; and remember, we are not friends of yesterday." This he
+said in his very kindest tone.
+
+"I _do_ remember it," said she, with a slow but most meaning sigh.
+
+"That memory is, I trust, not so associated with sorrow," added he,
+leaning down, and speaking in a deep, earnest voice, "that you recall it
+with a sigh?"
+
+"Oh, no; but I was thinking--I must not say of what I was thinking."
+
+"Nay, but you must," said he, gently, and drawing his chair closer.
+
+"I dare not--I cannot--besides, you "--and there was on the pronoun the
+very softest of all-dwelling intonation--"_you_ might be angry--might
+never forgive me."
+
+"Now I must insist on your telling me," said Roland, passionately, "if
+but to show how unfairly you judge me."
+
+"Well," said she, drawing a long breath--"but shall I trust you?"
+
+There was a most winning archness in the way she said this, that
+thrilled through Cashel as he listened. "No, I will not," added she,
+suddenly, and as if carried away by a passionate impulse; "you are
+too--"
+
+"Too what?" cried he, impatiently.
+
+"Too fickle," said she; and then, as if terrified at her own boldness,
+she added, in a tremulous voice, "Oh, do forgive me!"
+
+"There is really nothing to forgive," said Roland, "unless you persist
+in keeping from me an avowal that I almost fancy I have a right to ask
+for. And now, of what were you thinking?"
+
+"I 'll tell you," said she, in a low, earnest accent, "though it may
+lose me your esteem. I was thinking"--her voice here fell so low that
+Cashel, to hear her words, was obliged to draw his chair closer, and
+bend down his head till it actually brushed against the leaves she wore
+in her hair--"I was thinking that, when we knew you first, before you
+had made acquaintance with others, when you sat and read to us, when we
+walked and rode together,--when, in short, the day was one bright dream
+of pleasure to us, who had never known a brother--"
+
+Pardon us, dear reader, if, at so critical a moment, we occupy the
+pause which here ensued--and there was a pause--by referring to our
+Aunt Fanny, only premising that we do so advisedly. It was one of
+that excellent lady's firmest convictions that every one in the world
+required some discreet friend, who should, at eventful passages in life,
+be ready to aid, by presence of mind, a wavering resolve, or confirm a
+half-formed determination. Now, she had waited for two mortal hours on
+that day for Cashel's coming, in a state of impatience little short of
+fever. She opened and shut her window, looked up one avenue and down
+another; she had watched on the landing, and stood sentinel on the
+stairs; she had seen Mrs. Kenny-feck and her elder daughter pass
+out into the garden, weary of long waiting; when, at last, she heard
+Roland's hasty step as he traversed the hall, and, hurrying upstairs,
+entered the drawing-room.
+
+Drawn by an attraction there is no explaining, she left her room, and
+took up her position in a small boudoir which adjoined the drawing-room.
+Here she sat, persuading herself she was at her work; but, in reality,
+in a state of suspense not very inferior to some prisoner while a jury
+is deliberating on his fate.
+
+The conversation, at first conducted in an ordinary tone, had gradually
+subsided, till it dropped into the low, undistinguishable manner we
+have mentioned.
+
+[Illustration: 114]
+
+Aunt Fanny's inventive mind had suggested every step of the interview.
+She kept muttering to herself: "He is explaining himself--she is
+incredulous--and he tries to reassure her--she believes that his heart
+was given to another--he vows and swears it was always hers--she cannot
+credit the happiness--she is too unworthy."
+
+It was just as our aunt had got thus far in her running commentary that
+both voices ceased, and a stillness, unbroken by a murmur, succeeded.
+"What could it mean?" was the sudden question that flashed across her
+mind; and Napoleon's own dread anxiety, as he gazed on the wood, and
+hesitated whether the dark masses emerging from the shade were his
+own legions or the Prussians, was not much more intense than hers. At
+last--we are sorry to record it--but, alas! Aunt Fanny was only mortal,
+and an old maid to boot--she approached the door and peeped through the
+keyhole. The sight which met her eyes needed no second glance; she saw
+both heads bent down together, the dark waving hair of Cashel close
+to the nut-brown silky braids of Olivia. Neither spoke. "It was then
+concluded."
+
+This was the moment in which mutual avowals, meeting like two rivers,
+form one broad and sweeping flood; it was the moment, too, in which,
+according to her theory; a friend was all essential. According to her
+phrase, the "nail should be clinched."
+
+Now, Aunt Fanny had been cruelly handled by the family for all the
+blunders she had committed. Her skill had been impugned; her shrewdness
+sneered at; her prognostications derided. Here was an opportunity to
+refute all at once; and, in the language of the conqueror, "to cover
+herself with glory."
+
+Gently opening the door she entered the room, and stealing tiptoe over,
+till she stood behind their chairs, she placed, with all the solemnity
+of an archbishop, a hand on either head, and, in a voice of touching
+fervor, said,--
+
+"Bless ye both, my darlings; may ye be as happy as--"
+
+As what? The history is unable to record; for a shrill cry from her
+niece, and an exclamation nearly as loud, and we fear far less polite,
+from Roland, cut short the speech.
+
+Shriek followed shriek from Olivia, who, partly from the shock, and
+still more from shame, was thrown into an attack of hysterics.
+
+"What the--" he was very nigh saying something else--"what have you
+done, madam?" said Roland, in a state of mingled anger and terror.
+
+"It's only your Aunt Fanny; it's me, my pet. Livy, darling, don't be
+frightened; and here, too, is Mr. Cashel."
+
+In this, however, the good lady was mistaken; for Roland had hastened
+upstairs to Mrs. Kennyfeck's room, which finding locked, he flew down
+to the great drawing-room, thence to the library, and was making for the
+garden, when he saw that lady and her daughter crossing the hall.
+
+"I 'm afraid, madam," said he, with all the composure he could summon,
+"Miss Olivia Kennyfeck is not well; nothing serious, I trust; but a
+sudden fright--a shock--Miss O'Hara somewhat imprudently--"
+
+"Oh, Fanny again!" screamed Mrs. Kennyfeck; and without waiting for
+more, rushed upstairs, followed by her daughter, while Roland, in a
+state of mind we dare not dwell upon, hastened from the house, and
+mounting his horse, galloped off into the wood.
+
+There were times when Cashel would have laughed, and laughed heartily,
+at the absurdity of this adventure. He would have even treasured up
+the "tableau" as a thing for future ridicule among his friends; but his
+better feelings, born of a more manly pride, rejected this now; he was
+sorry, deeply, sincerely sorry that one with so much to fascinate and
+charm about her, could lend herself to a mere game like this. "Where are
+these deceptions to end?" said he, in passionate warmth. "Have candor,
+good faith, and honesty fled the world? or, are they only to be found
+among those whose vices make the foil to such humble virtues?"
+
+Nor were these his only painful reflections. He was obliged to see
+himself--the thing of all others he despised--"a dupe;" the mark for
+every mean artifice and every ignoble scheme. The gambler, the flirt,
+the adventurer in every walk, regarded him as a prey. Wealth had done
+this for him--and it had done no more! None cared for him as a friend or
+companion. Even as a lover, his addresses were heralded by his gold, not
+enhanced by qualities of his own. What humiliation!
+
+Mary Leicester alone seemed unimpressed by his great fortune, and
+regardless of his wealth; she alone had never evinced towards him any
+show of preference above others less endowed by Fate. Nay, he fancied
+he could trace something of reserve in her manner whenever he stepped by
+chance out of his character of careless, buoyant youth, and dwelt upon
+the plans mere money accomplishes. In these she showed no interest,
+and took no pleasure; while, to the adventures of his former life, she
+listened with eager attention. It was easy to see she thought more of
+the _caballero_ than the _millionnaire_.
+
+What a happiness had it been to have befriended her grandfather and
+herself; how different had been his reflections at this hour; what
+lessons in the true wisdom of life might he not have learned from one
+who had seen the world, not as the play-table for the rolling dice
+of fortune, but as the battle-ground where good and evil strive for
+victory, where a higher philosophy is taught than the lifeless, soulless
+dictates of mere fashionable existence!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI. SCANDAL, AND GENERAL ILL-HUMOR.
+
+     But where are they alle, I do not see,
+     One half of our goodlie companie!
+
+     Hone.
+
+
+That day was destined to be one of contrarieties to the household of
+Tubbermore. Of the Kennyfeck family, none appeared at dinner. Lady
+Kilgoff, angry at Roland's breach of engagement,--for, although he rode
+at top speed in every direction, he never overtook her,--also kept her
+room. The carriage sent for Miss Leicester had returned without her,
+a somewhat formal note of apology stating that Mr. Corrigan was
+indisposed, and his granddaughter unwilling to leave him; while Linton,
+usually a main feature in all the social success of a dinner, was still
+absent.
+
+Of the assembled guests, too, few were in their wonted spirits. Sir
+Andrew and Lady Janet had quarrelled in the morning about the mode of
+preparing dandelion tea, and kept up the dispute all the day; Upton
+was sulky, dark, and reserved; Meek more than usually lachrymose;
+Fro-bisher's best mare had been staked in taking a leap, and Miss Meek
+had never discovered it till half an hour after, so that the lameness
+was greatly aggravated; Mrs. White had had a "tiff" with the author, for
+his not believing the Irish to be of Phoenician origin, and would n't
+speak to him at dinner; so that Cashel himself, constrained, absent, and
+ill at ease, found his company anything rather than a relief to his own
+distracted thoughts.
+
+Among his other guests he found the same reserve and coldness of manner,
+so that no sooner had they assembled in the drawing-room, after dinner,
+than he left the house and set off to inquire for Mr. Corrigan at the
+cottage.
+
+"We had nine vacant places to-day at table," said Lady Janet, as soon as
+she had arranged her special table next the fire, with a shade in front
+and a screen behind her, and was quite satisfied that, in regard to
+cushions and footstools, she had monopolized the most comfortable in the
+room.
+
+"I thought--aw--that we--aw--were somewhat slow," said Captain Jennings,
+with his habitually tiresome, pompous intonation.
+
+"What's the matter with Upton?" said a junior officer of his regiment,
+in a whisper; "he looks so confoundedly put out."
+
+"I'm sure I don't know," yawned out Lord Charles; "he has a very safe
+book on the Oaks."
+
+"He's backing Dido at very long odds," interposed Miss Meek, "and she's
+weak before, they say."
+
+"Not staked, I hope," said Frobisher, looking maliciously at her.
+
+"I don't care what you say, Charley," rejoined she; "I defy any one to
+know whether a horse goes tender, while galloping in deep ground. You
+are always unjust." And she moved away in anger.
+
+"She _is_ so careless," said Frobisher, listlessly.
+
+"Tell me about these Kennyfecks. What is it all about?" said Mrs. White,
+bustling up, as if she was resolved on a long confidence.
+
+"They hedged against themselves, I hear," said Frobisher.
+
+"Indeed! poor things; and are they much hurt?"
+
+"Not seriously, I fancy," drawled he. "Lady Janet knows it all."
+
+Mrs. White did not neglect the suggestion, but at once repaired to that
+part of the room where Lady Janet was sitting, surrounded by a select
+circle, eagerly discussing the very question she had asked to be
+informed upon.
+
+"I had it from Verthinia," said Mrs. Malone, with her peculiar, thick
+enunciation, "Lady Kilgoff's maid. She said that not a day passes
+without some such scene between the mother and daughters. Mrs. Kennyfeck
+had, it seems, forbithen Cashel to call there in her abthence."
+
+"I must most respectfully interrupt you, madam," said a large old lady,
+with blond false hair, and a great deal of rouge, "but the affair was
+quite different. Miss Olivia, that is the second girl, was detected by
+her aunt, Miss O'Hara, packing up for an elopement."
+
+"Fudge!" said Lady Janet; "she'd have helped her, if that were the case!
+I believe the true version of the matter is yet to come out. My woman,
+Stubbs, saw the apothecary coming downstairs, after bleeding Livy, and
+called him into her room; not, indeed, to speak of this matter"--here
+Lady Janet caused her voice to be heard by Sir Andrew, who sat, in moody
+sulk, right opposite--"it was to ask, if there should not be two pods of
+capsicum in every pint of dandelion tea."
+
+"There may be twa horns o' the de'il in it," ejaculated Sir Andrew, "but
+I 'll na pit it to my mouth agen. I hae a throat like the fiery furnace
+that roasted the three chaps in the Bible."
+
+"It suits your tongue all the better," muttered Lady Janet, and turned
+round to the others. "Stubbs, as I was saying, called the man in, and
+after some conversation about the dandelion, asked, in a cursory way,
+you know, 'How the lady was, upstairs?' He shook his head, and said
+nothing.
+
+"'It will not be tedious, I hope?' said Stubbs.
+
+"'These are most uncertain cases,' said he; 'sometimes they last a day,
+sometimes eight or nine.'
+
+"'I think you 're very mysterious, doctor,' said Stubbs.
+
+"He muttered something about honor, and, seizing his hat went off, as
+Stubbs says, 'as if he was shot!'"
+
+"Honor!" cried one of the hearers.
+
+"Honor!" ejaculated another, with an expression of pure horror.
+
+"Did n't he say, madam," said the blond old lady, "that it wasn't his
+branch of the profession?"
+
+"Oh! oh!" broke in the company together, while the younger ladies held
+up their fans and giggled behind them.
+
+"I 'm thorry for the poor mother!" sighed Mrs. Malone, who had seven
+daughters, each uglier than the other.
+
+"I pity the elder girl," said Lady Janet; "she had a far better tone
+about her than the rest."
+
+"And that dear, kind old creature, the aunt. It is said that but for her
+care this would have happened long ago," said Mrs. Malone.
+
+"She was, to my thinking, the best of them," echoed the blond lady; "so
+discreet, so quiet, and so unobtrusive."
+
+"What could come of their pretension?" said a colonel's widow, with a
+very large nose and a very small pension; "they attempted a style of
+living quite unsuited to them! The house always full of young men, too."
+
+"You would n't have had them invite old ones, madam," said Lady Janet,
+with the air of rebuke the wife of a commander-in-chief can assume to
+the colonel's relict.
+
+"It's a very sad affair, indeed," summed up Mrs. White, who, if she had
+n't quarrelled with Mr. Howie, would have given him the whole narrative
+for the "Satanist."
+
+"What a house to be sure! There's Lady Kilgoff on one side--"
+
+"What of her, my Lady?" said the blonde.
+
+"You did n't hear of Lord Kilgoff overtaking her to-day in the wood with
+Sir Harvey Upton?--hush! or he 'll hear us. The poor old man--you know
+his state of mind--snatched the whip from the coachman, and struck Sir
+Harvey across the face. They say there's a great welt over the cheek!"
+
+Mrs. White immediately arose, and, under pretence of looking for a
+book, made a circuit of the room in that part where Sir Harvey Upton was
+lounging, with his head on his hand.
+
+"Quite true," said she, returning to the party. "It is so painful, he
+can't keep his hand from the spot."
+
+"Has any one discovered who the strange-looking man was that was
+received by Mr. Cashel this morning in his own study?" asked the blonde.
+"My maid said he was for all the world like a sheriff's officer.
+It seems, too, he was very violent in his language; and but for Mr.
+Kennyfeck, he would not have left the house."
+
+"Too true, I fear, ma'am," said Mrs. Malone; "my husband, the
+Thief,"--this was Mrs. Malone's mode of abbreviating and pronouncing
+the words Chief Justice,--"told me it was impothible for Mr. Cashel to
+continue his extravaganth much longer."
+
+"It's shameful--it's disgraceful," said Lady Janet; "the kitchen is a
+scene of waste and recklessness, such as no fortune could stand."
+
+"Indeed, so the 'Thief' said," resumed Mrs. Malone; "he said that
+robbery went on, on every thide, and that Mr. Phillith, I think his name
+is, was the worst of all."
+
+"Your husband was quite correct, ma'am," said Lady Janet; "no one should
+know it better." And then she whispered in her neighbor's ear, "If the
+adage be true, 'Set a thief to catch a thief.'"
+
+The party intrusted with this could not restrain her laughter, and for a
+space, a species of distrust seemed to pervade the circle.
+
+We are certain that no apology will be required, if we ask of our reader
+to quit this amiable society,--although seated at a comfortable fire,
+in the very easiest of chairs, with the softest carpet beneath his
+feet,--and accompany Roland Cashel, who now, with hasty step, trod the
+little path that led to Tubber-beg Cottage.
+
+However inhospitable the confession, we are bound to acknowledge Cashel
+was growing marvellously weary of his character as a host. The hundred
+little contrarieties which daily arose, and which he knew not how to
+smooth down or conciliate, made him appear, in his own estimation at
+least, deficient in worldly tact, and left him open to the belief that
+others would judge him even less mercifully. The unbridled freedom of
+his household, besides, stimulated all the selfishness of those who, in
+a better arranged establishment, had kept "watch and ward" over their
+egotism; and thus, instead of presenting the features of a society where
+the elements of agreeability were not deficient, they resembled rather
+the company in a packet-ship, each bent upon securing his own comfort,
+and only intent how to make his neighbor subsidiary to himself.
+
+Prosperity, too, was teaching him one of its least gracious
+lessons,--"Distrust." The mean and selfish natures by which he was
+surrounded were gradually unfolding themselves to his view, and he was
+ever on the verge of that dangerous frontier where scepticism holds
+sway. One conclusion--and it was not the least wise--he formed was, that
+he was ill suited to such companionship, and that he had been happier,
+far happier, on some humble fortune, than as the rich proprietor of a
+great estate.
+
+It was while thus ruminating, Cashel found himself at the little space
+which intervened between one front of the cottage and the lake, and
+was struck by the rapid movement of lights that glanced from window to
+window, appearing and disappearing at every instant.
+
+The dread that the old man was taken seriously ill at once came over
+him, and he hastened forward in eager anxiety to learn the tidings.
+Then, suddenly checking himself, he felt reluctant, almost stranger that
+he was, to obtrude at such a moment. Fearing to advance, and unwilling
+to retire, he stood uncertain and hesitating.
+
+As he remained thus, the door of the drawing-room that opened upon the
+lawn was flung wide, and Tiernay passed hastily out, saying in a loud
+and excited voice, "I will have my own way. I 'll see Cashel at once."
+And with these words he issued forth in haste. Scarcely, however, had
+he gone a dozen paces, than he stopped short, and, clasping his hands
+firmly together, muttered aloud, "To what end should I seek him? What
+claim can I pretend,--by what right appeal to him?"
+
+"Every claim and every right," cried Roland, advancing towards him, "if
+I can only be of any service to you."
+
+"What! actually here at this moment!" exclaimed Tiernay. "Come this way
+with me, sir; we must not go into the house just yet." And so saying, he
+passed his arm within Roland's, and led him onward towards the lake.
+
+"Is he ill?" said Cashel,--"is Mr. Corrigan taken ill?" But although
+the question was asked eagerly, Tiernay was too deeply sunk in his own
+thoughts to hear it; while he continued to mutter hurriedly to himself.
+
+"What _is_ the matter?" said Roland at last, losing patience at a
+preoccupation that could not be broken in upon. "Is Mr. Corrigan ill?"
+
+"He is ruined!" said Tiernay, dropping Cashel's arm, and letting fall
+his own as he spoke, with a gesture of despair.
+
+"What do you mean? How?"
+
+"Ruined! utterly ruined!" re-echoed Tiernay; and there was that in
+his accent and the emotion of his manner that forbade any further
+questioning.
+
+"It is not at a moment like this," said the doctor, "that I can tell you
+a long tale, where treachery and falsehood on one side, and generosity
+and manliness on the other, played the game as ever it has been, and
+ever will be played, between such antagonists;--enough, if I say my poor
+friend became responsible for the debts of a man who, but for his aid,
+would have had a felon's fate. This fellow, who possesses one terrible
+means of vengeance, threatens now to use it, if a demand be not complied
+with, which Corrigan may leave himself a beggar and yet not satisfy. The
+threat has been held over him for years, and for years he has struggled
+on, parting, one by one, with every little requirement of his station,
+and submitting with noble resignation to any and every thing to stave
+off the evil day; but it has come at last."
+
+"And what is the sum demanded?" said Cashel, hastily.
+
+"I cannot tell. There are various bills; some have been renewed again
+and again, others are yet current. It is a tangled web, and, in our
+hopelessness, we never sought to unravel it!"
+
+"But the danger is imminent?"
+
+"So imminent that my friend will be arrested to-morrow if bail be not
+forthcoming. I have not told him this; I dare not tell him so; but I
+have made up a story to induce him to leave this to-night."
+
+"Where for?" cried Roland, anxiously.
+
+"God knows! I lose memory as well as judgment in moments like this. I
+believe I advised Limerick, and thence by ship to some port in England,
+from which they could reach the Continent."
+
+"But all this will be unnecessary if I offer myself as security," said
+Roland.
+
+"For a sum of which you know nothing!" muttered Tiernay, sorrowfully.
+
+"No matter; it cannot be, in all likelihood, more than I can meet."
+
+"And for one who can never repay!" echoed the doctor still more sadly.
+
+"Who can tell that?" said Cashel. "There's many a coinage costlier than
+ever the mint fashioned; he may requite me thus."
+
+The doctor started. "You mean--no!--no!" cried he, interrupting himself,
+"that were too great good fortune. I must tell you, sir," added he, in
+a firm voice, "that there is nothing--absolutely nothing--to give you in
+requital for such aid. My friend's alternative is a prison, or be your
+debtor for what he cannot pay."
+
+"I am content,--perfectly content," said Roland. "There is no need to
+say another word on the matter. Do not suffer him to endure any anxiety
+we can spare him; tell him at once the thing is done."
+
+"We must think over this a little," said Tiernay, musing. "Con is a
+difficult fellow to deal with; there must be something which shall give
+it the semblance of a loan; he must be made to believe it is only a
+change of creditors."
+
+"Could not we arrange it without his knowledge, while you could affect
+to have made some settlement which has satisfied the others?"
+
+"Too late,--too late, for that; he has seen Hoare himself."
+
+"Hoare!--the money-lender from Dublin?" said Cashel, blushing at the
+recollection of his own acquaintance with him.
+
+"Ay, sir, of course you know him! A man cannot enjoy such distinguished
+friendships as you have without the aid of usurers?"
+
+Cashel smiled good-humoredly, and went on,--
+
+"Where is this gentleman at present."
+
+"Yonder," said Tiernay, pointing to the cottage; "but he intends shortly
+returning to the inn at the village, where perhaps it would be better to
+meet him than here. If you 'll permit me, I 'll just step in and say as
+much, and then we can stroll that way together."
+
+Cashel consented, and his companion left him to do his errand. It was
+only as he stood alone, and had time for reflection, that he remembered
+his conversation with Kennyfeck in the morning, and learned that, with
+regard to ready money at least, he stood in a very different position
+from what he supposed. That there would be difficulties and legal
+obstacles innumerable made by Kennyfeck to any sale of property, he well
+knew; but he had made up his mind as to his course, and would not be
+thwarted. He had but space for these reflections, when Tiernay joined
+him, saying,--
+
+"So far all is well. Hoare will follow us in a few minutes, and, for
+privacy' sake, I have made the rendezvous at my house."
+
+"And Corrigan,--how have you left him?" asked Cashel.
+
+"Like one in a dream. He seems neither to know whether it be misfortune
+or the opposite which impends him. Were it not for Mary, his poor heart
+had given way long since. Ay, sir, there is more true heroism in one day
+of that humble life, than in the boldest deed of bravery even you have
+ever witnessed."
+
+Cashel did not speak, but, in the pressure of his arm against Tiernay's
+the other felt how the theme had touched him.
+
+"You only know her by the graceful elegance of her manner, and the
+fascinations that, even to old men like myself, are a kind of sorcery;
+but I have seen her in every trial, where temper and mind, and heart and
+pride, are tested, and come through all victorious; draining the very
+wells of her own hopefulness to feed the exhausted fountain which age
+and disappointment had dried up; lending to manhood a greater courage
+than her own; ay, and more,--showing that her temper could resist the
+jarring influences of misfortune, and, like the bright moon above the
+storm-lashed clouds, soar on, glorious and lustrous ever. What are men
+made of?" cried he, energetically; "of what stuff are they formed, when
+such a girl as this can excite more admiration for her beauty than for
+traits of character that ennoble humanity?"
+
+"You speak with all a lover's warmth, doctor," said Cashel, half
+smiling, while in reality, the subject interested him deeply.
+
+"And why not, sir? I do love her, and with an affection that only
+such beings inspire. It is creatures like her that redeem years
+of disappointment and worldly disgust. It is in watching the
+single-heartedness of that young girl that I, an old man, hackneyed and
+hardened as I am, become trustful and hopeful of others. Love her!--to
+be sure I love her. And so would you, if the poor fopperies amid which
+you live but left you one moment free to think and feel as your own head
+and heart would lead you. I hope you take no heed of my rude speech,
+sir," said he, hastily; "but it is the fault of my craft to believe that
+sweet things are only 'Placebos,' given but to earn the fee and amuse
+the patient."
+
+"I thank you for it," said Cashel, pressing his hand; "few have ever
+cared to tell me truths."
+
+"Say, rather, few have cared to resign their influence over you by
+showing they knew your weak points. Now, I have too deep an interest in
+you, and too slight a regard for any profit your acquaintance can render
+myself, to be swayed by this. You don't know, you cannot know, what a
+charm there is to an old fellow like myself--whose humble fortunes
+limit to a life of mere routine--to think that he has an opportunity of
+counselling one in your station,--to feel that he has sown the seed of
+some good principle, that one day or other will bear its fruit. Yes,
+years hence, when you have forgotten the old village doctor,--or if by
+chance remember him, only to recall his vulgarity or eccentricity,--I
+will be an anxious watcher over you, flattering myself to think that I
+have had some share in instilling the precepts by which you are winning
+good men's esteem. These thoughts are poor men's treasures, but he that
+feels them would not barter them for gold."
+
+"I have long wished for such a counsellor," said Cashel, fervently.
+
+"The advice will not be the less stringent that it comes when you are
+heart-sick of frivolity," said Tiernay. "What could your fine company up
+yonder teach you? Such of them as are above mere folly trade in vice.
+I have seen them all since they have assembled here, and I am no mean
+physiognomist, and there is but one among them deserving of better than
+the poor heartless life they 're leading."
+
+"I can guess whom you mean," said Roland, half pleased and half fearful.
+
+"Well, she indeed would merit a better lot; and yet I would she were
+gone."
+
+"Why so? Do you grudge as even a passing 'gleam of virtue's
+brightness'?"
+
+"She is more dangerous than the veriest coquette that ever lured a man
+to ruin. It is in such as she, where noble qualities have run to waste,
+where generous sentiments and pure affections have been blighted by the
+cold chill of a world that fosters not such gifts, the peril is ever
+greatest; for her sake and for yours, I would she were gone."
+
+As they spoke thus, they had reached the wide esplanade in front of
+the great house, from the windows of which lights were gleaming, while
+sounds of festivity and pleasure floated on the night air.
+
+Tiernay halted for a second, and then said, "Who could believe that the
+owner of that princely mansion, filled as it is with pleasure-loving
+guests, and every adjunct that can promote enjoyment, should leave it,
+to wander on foot with a poor old village doctor, whose only merit is to
+utter unpalatable truths!"
+
+"And be happier while doing so,--add that, my worthy friend," said
+Cashel, pressing the arm that he held within his own.
+
+"Come along, sir; this dalliance is pleasanter to me than to you. I
+begin to feel that I may have done you good, and you should be a doctor
+to know the full ecstasy of that feeling. Let us now move on, or this
+man will be before us." And so saying, they moved briskly forward
+towards the village of Dunkeeran.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII. SHYLOCK DEMANDS HIS BOND
+
+     The debts we make by plighted vows,
+     Bear heaviest interest, ever!
+
+     Haywood.
+
+
+The doctor's little parlor was the very "ideal" of snugness; there
+was nothing which had the faintest resemblance to luxury save the
+deep-cushioned arm-chair, into which he pressed Cashel at entering; but
+there were a hundred objects that told of home. The book-shelves, no
+mean indication of the owner's _trempe_, were filled with a mixture
+of works on medicine, the older English dramatists, and that class of
+writers who prevailed in the days of Steele and Addison. There was a
+microscope on one table, with a great bunch of fresh-plucked fern beside
+it. A chess-board, with an unfinished game--a problem from a newspaper,
+for he had no antagonist--stood on another table; while full in front
+of the fire, with an air that betokened no mean self-importance, sat
+a large black cat, with a red leather collar, the very genius of
+domesticity. As Cashel's eyes took a hasty survey of the room, they
+rested on a picture--it was the only one there--which hung over the
+mantelpiece. It was a portrait of Mary Leicester, and although a mere
+water-color sketch, an excellent likeness, and most characteristic in
+air and attitude.
+
+"Ay!" said Tiernay, who caught the direction of his glance, "a birthday
+present to me! She had promised to dine with me, but the day, like most
+Irish days when one prays for sunshine, rained torrents; and so she sent
+me that sketch, with a note, a merry bit of doggerel verse, whose merit
+lies in its local allusions to a hundred little things, and people only
+known to ourselves; but for this, I 'd be guilty of breach of faith and
+show it to you."
+
+"Is the drawing, too, by her own hand?"
+
+"Yes; she is a clever artist, and might, it is said by competent judges,
+have attained high excellence as a painter had she pursued the study. I
+remember an illustration of the fact worth mentioning. Carringford, the
+well-known miniature-painter, who was making a tour of this country
+a couple of years back, passed some days at the cottage, and made a
+picture of old Con Corrigan, for which, I may remark passingly, poor
+Mary paid all her little pocket-money,--some twenty guineas, saved
+up from Heaven knows how long. Con did not know this, of course,
+and believed the portrait was a compliment to his granddaughter.
+Carringford's ability is well known, and there is no need to say the
+picture was admirably painted; but still it wanted character; it had
+not the playful ease, the gentle, indulgent pleasantry that marks my old
+friend's features; in fact, it was hard and cold,--not warm, generous,
+and genial: so I thought, and so Mary thought, and accordingly, scarcely
+had the artist taken his leave, when she set to work herself, and made
+a portrait, which, if inferior as a work of art, was infinitely superior
+as a likeness. It was Con himself; it had the very sparkle of his mild
+blue eye, the mingled glance of drollery and softness, the slightly
+curled mouth, as though some quaint conceit was lingering on the
+lip,--all his own. Mary's picture hung on one side of the chimney, and
+Carringford's at the other, and so they stood when the painter came
+through from Limerick and passed one night at Tubber-beg, on his way to
+Dublin. I breakfasted there that morning, and I remember, on entering
+the room, I was surprised to see the frame of Carringford's portrait
+empty, and a bank-note, carefully folded, stuck in the corner. 'What
+does that mean?' said I to him, for we were alone at the time.
+
+"'It means simply that _my_ picture cannot stand such competitorship as
+_that_, said he; _mine_ was a miniature, _that_ is the man himself.'
+I will not say one half of the flatteries he uttered, but I have heard
+from others since, that he speaks of this picture as a production
+of high merit. Dear girl! that meagre sketch may soon have a sadder
+interest connected with it; it may be all that I shall possess of her!
+Yes, Mr. Cashel, your generosity may stave off the pressure of one
+peril, but there is another, from which nothing but flight will rescue
+my poor friend."
+
+A sharp knocking at the door here interrupted the doctor's recital, and
+soon Hoare's voice was heard without, inquiring if Dr. Tiernay was at
+home.
+
+Hoare's easy familiarity, as he entered, seemed to suffer a slight shock
+on observing Roland Cashel, who received him with cold politeness.
+
+Tiernay, who saw at once that business alone would relieve the
+awkwardness of the scene, briefly informed the other that Mr. Cashel
+was there to learn the exact amount and circumstances of Corrigan's
+liabilities, with a view to a final settlement of them.
+
+"Very pleasing intelligence this, doctor," said the moneylender, rubbing
+his hands, "and I am free to own, very surprising also! Am I to enter
+into an explanation of the peculiar causes of these liabilities, doctor,
+or to suppose," said he, "that Mr. Cashel is already conversant with
+them?"
+
+"You are to suppose, sir," interposed Cashel, "that Mr. Cashel is
+aware of every circumstance upon which he does not ask you for further
+information." There was a sternness in the way he spoke that abashed the
+other, who, opening a huge pocket-book on the table, proceeded to scan
+its contents with diligence; while Tiernay, whose agitation was great,
+sat watching him without speaking.
+
+"The transactions," said Hoare, "date from some years back, as these
+bills will show, and consist, for the most part, in drafts, at various
+dates, by Mr. Leicester, of South Bank, New Orleans, on Cornelius
+Corrigan, Esq., of Tubbermore. Some of these have been duly honored;
+indeed, at first, Mr. Corrigan was punctuality itself; but bad seasons,
+distress at home here, greater demands, the consequence of some
+commercial losses sustained by Mr. Leicester in the States, all coming
+together, the bills were not met as usual; renewals were given--and,
+when it comes to that, Mr. Cashel, I need scarcely say difficulties
+travel by special train." No one joined in the little laugh by which Mr.
+Hoare welcomed his own attempt at pleasantry, and he went on: "At first
+we managed tolerably well. Mr. Corrigan devoted a portion of his income
+to liquidate these claims; he made certain sales of property; he reduced
+his establishment; in fact, I believe he really made every sacrifice
+consistent with his position--"
+
+"No, sir," broke in Tiernay, "but consistent with bare subsistence."
+
+The violent tone of the interruption startled the moneylender, who
+hastened to concur with the sentiment, while he faltered out--
+
+"Remember, gentlemen, I speak only from hearsay; of myself I know
+nothing."
+
+"Go on with your statement, sir," said Cashel, peremptorily.
+
+"My statement," said Hoare, provoked at the tone assumed towards
+him, "resolves itself into a debt of three thousand seven hundred and
+forty-eight pounds some odd shillings. There are the bills. The sums
+due for interest and commission are noted down, and will, I believe, be
+found duly correct."
+
+"Three thousand seven hundred pounds in less than five years!"
+ejaculated Tiernay. "What iniquity!"
+
+"If your expression is intended to apply to anything in the conduct
+of this transaction, sir," said Hoare, growing pale with passion as he
+spoke, "I beg you to remember that there is such a thing in the land as
+redress for libel."
+
+"If the laws will warrant sixty per cent, they may well punish the man
+who calls it infamy," said Tiernay, almost choking with anger.
+
+"That will do, gentlemen, that will do," said Hoare, replacing the bills
+in the pocket-book, while his fingers trembled with passion. "I was
+not aware that your object in this meeting was to insult me; I 'll not
+expose myself a second time to such a casualty. I 'll thank you to hand
+me that bill, sir!" This request was addressed to Cashel, who, with his
+eyes riveted on a document which he held in both hands, sat perfectly
+unmindful of all around him.
+
+"If you will have the kindness to give me that bill, sir?" said Hoare,
+again.
+
+"Shylock wants his bond," said Tiernay, who walked up and down the room
+with clinched hands, and brows knitted into one deep furrow.
+
+Hoare turned a scowling glance towards him, but not trusting himself to
+reply, merely repeated his question to Cashel.
+
+"How came you by this?" cried Roland, rising from the table, and holding
+out a written paper towards Hoare; "I ask, sir, how came you by this?"
+reiterated he, while the paper shook with the hand that held it.
+
+"Oh! I perceive," said Hoare; "that document has no concern with the
+case before us; it refers to another and very different transaction."
+
+"This is no answer to my question, sir," said Cashel, sternly; "I asked,
+and I ask you again, how it came into your hands?"
+
+"Don't you think, sir, that it would be more appropriate to express your
+regret at having examined a paper not intended to have been submitted to
+you?" said Hoare, in a tone half insolent, half deferential.
+
+"I saw my name upon it," said Cashel, "coupled, too, with that of
+another, of whom I preserve too many memories to treat anything lightly
+wherein he bears a part; besides, there can be but little indiscretion
+in reading that to which I had attached my own signature. And now, once
+more, sir, how do I see it in your possession?"
+
+"Really, Mr. Cashel, when the question is put in this tone and manner, I
+am much disposed to refuse an answer. I can see nothing in our relative
+situations that can warrant the assumption of these airs towards _me_!"
+
+"Shylock, again!" exclaimed Tiernay, who continued to pace the room
+during this scene with hasty strides.
+
+"Not so, sir," said Cashel, as Hoare moved towards the door, against
+which Roland now placing a chair, sat down. "Out of this room you shall
+not stir, till I hear a distinct and clear account of the circumstances
+by which I find you in possession of this paper."
+
+"You have no right, sir, to demand such an answer."
+
+"Possibly not, legally speaking," said Cashel, whose voice became calmer
+and deeper as his passion increased. "You are more conversant with law
+than I am, and so I take it that your opinion is correct. But I have
+the right which a good conscience and strong will beget, and I tell you
+again, you 'll not leave this room before you satisfy me, or you 'll not
+leave it living."
+
+"I call you to witness, Dr. Tiernay," said Hoare, whose accents
+trembled with fear and anger together, "that this is a case of false
+imprisonment,--that a threat against my life has been uttered, if I do
+not surrender the possession of certain papers."
+
+"Nothing of the kind," broke in Tiernay; "there is no thought of taking
+anything from you by force. Mr. Roland Cashel--doubtless for good
+reasons of his own--has asked you a question, which you, demurring to
+answer, he tells you that you shall not leave the room till you do."
+
+"And do you fancy, sir, that such conduct is legal?" cried Hoare.
+
+"I cannot say," rejoined Tiernay; "but that it is far more mild and
+merciful than I could have expected under the circumstances, I am
+perfectly ready to aver."
+
+"May I read the paper out?" said Hoare, with a malicious scowl at
+Cashel.
+
+"There is no need that you should, sir," said Roland; "its contents are
+known to me, whom alone they concern."
+
+"You can, I opine, have no objection that your friend, Dr. Tiernay,
+should hear them?"
+
+"I repeat, sir, that with the contents of that paper neither you nor any
+one else has any concern; they relate to me, and to me alone."
+
+"Then I must labor under some misapprehension," said Hoare, affectedly;
+"I had fancied there was another person at least equally interested."
+
+"Will you dare, sir!" said Roland; and in the thick guttural utterance
+there was that which made the other tremble with fear.
+
+"If the matter be one, then," said he, rallying into his former
+assurance, "that you deem best kept secret, it would be perhaps a
+judicious preliminary to any conversation on the subject, that Dr.
+Tiernay should withdraw."
+
+"I only await Mr. Cashel's pleasure," said Tiernay, moving towards the
+door.
+
+"Then you will remain, sir," said Roland, firmly. "Remain, and listen
+to what this gentleman has so menacingly alluded. Here it is: it is
+the promise, given under my hand, that I will espouse the daughter of a
+certain Don Pedro Rica, to whom, in the date herein annexed, I have been
+this day betrothed; or, in forfeiture of such pledge, pay down the sum
+of seventy thousand dollars, thereby obtaining a full release from
+the conditions of the contract. It was the rash pledge of a young and
+thoughtless boy, with regard to one who neither accepted his affection
+nor acknowledged the contract. I do not say this to absolve myself from
+the forfeiture, which I am ready to acquit this hour; I speak of it,
+that, as a man of honor, I may not seem to pay a debt of feeling by a
+check on my banker."
+
+"But this betrothal," said Tiernay,--"what does it imply?"
+
+"It is a ceremony common enough in Old Spain and her once colonies, and
+is simply the recognition of a private promise of marriage."
+
+"You have forgotten two circumstances, sir," said Hoare, whose eyes
+never quitted Cashel's face.
+
+"Which are they?"
+
+"One is, that this contract should be either fulfilled, or the forfeit
+paid, within two years,--twenty-one months of which have already
+expired."
+
+"True!--and the other condition?"
+
+"That the acceptance or refusal of the forfeit is optional with Don
+Pedro, who may, at his pleasure, select which clause he likes,--the
+marriage or the penalty."
+
+"I never acknowledged this interpretation of the document," said Cashel,
+reddening. "I know Don Pedro did, and there we were at issue. Methinks
+it were somewhat hard to compel a marriage distasteful to both parties,
+and only to suit the speculations of a ruined adventurer."
+
+"I hope, sir, the likelihood of future relationship will moderate the
+warmth of your language."
+
+"And is the man fool enough to fancy such a promise could be legally
+enforced in this country?" said Tiernay.
+
+"He is not without the opinion of learned counsel," said Hoare, "who
+are strongly of opinion that the interpretations Columbian law would put
+upon the document would be recognized by our own courts, and recognize
+the marriage as such."
+
+"And does he, or do you, suppose," said Cashel, indignantly, "that I
+could expose her name, were I indifferent about my own, to be bandied
+about your assize courts, and printed in newspapers, and made the gossip
+of the town for a nine days' wonder?" He stopped, for he saw by the
+elation of Hoare's features with what triumph this avowal had been
+listened to. "And now, sir, enough has been said of this; I come back to
+my former question,--How came you by this paper?"
+
+"I received it from Don Pedro, with whom I have had much business
+intercourse, and who left it in my hands a few days back."
+
+"Then he is in this country?" said Cashel, anxiously.
+
+Hoare nodded an assent.
+
+"Here, in Ireland! and is Mari--" He stopped suddenly, remembering to
+whom he was speaking; but Hoare, as if eager to show an intimacy with
+names and events, said,--
+
+"Yes, sir, she is also here."
+
+Cashel became silent, his mind a very chaos of confused
+thought,--memories of his buccaneer life, its lawless habits, its wild
+companionship, its adventures of love and war, of play, of heroism, and
+of mad debauch. The villa and Maritana were before him as last he saw
+her at the fountain; and from these he came to his fine and lordly
+friendships, with all their fictitious warmth; and he began to fancy how
+would his present society--the very guests at that moment beneath his
+roof--receive or recognize his old associates!
+
+The deep pre-occupation of his look suggested to Tiernay's mind the
+notion that Cashel was overwhelmed by the intelligence he had just
+received, and drawing close to him, he said, in a whisper,--
+
+"That fellow is watching and enjoying your confusion; put a bolder face
+on the matter, and we 'll see what is best to be done."
+
+Roland started, and then, as if by an effort chasing away an unpleasant
+thought, he said to Hoare,--
+
+"Our first business is Mr. Corrigan's. The sum due is--"
+
+"Three thousand seven hundred and forty."
+
+"Will you accept my bill for this?"
+
+"At what date, sir?" said Hoare, cautiously.
+
+"At whatever date you please; a month or a week."
+
+"A month be it."
+
+"Does that release Mr. Corrigan from every claim so far as your
+principal is concerned?"
+
+"All, up to this date."
+
+"By which, probably, you would imply, that new liabilities may begin
+again. Is that so?"
+
+"I think, from the nature of Mr. Leicester's claim, such an event is not
+impossible."
+
+"Never mind the threat," whispered Tiernay; "it is but a threat."
+
+"As to the other affair," said Cashel, approaching Hoare, "I will
+accompany you to town. I will see Don Pedro myself."
+
+"That will be difficult, sir. I am not at liberty to mention his place
+of abode; nor does he wish his presence here to be known."
+
+"But to _me_," said Cashel, "this objection cannot apply."
+
+"His orders are positive, and without qualification; but any proposition
+which you desire to submit--"
+
+"Can come through Mr. Hoare?" said Cashel, sneer-ingly. "I prefer doing
+these things in person, sir."
+
+"Leave this to me," whispered Tiernay; "I'll manage him better."
+
+Cashel squeezed his friend's arm in assent, and turned away; while
+Hoare, reseating himself, proceeded to draw out the bill for Cashel's
+signature.
+
+"You are aware," said Tiernay, "that Corrigan can give you nothing but
+personal security for this sum, and the lease of Tubber-beg?" But Cashel
+did not heed the remark, deep as he was in his own reflections. "There
+is a small sum--a few thousand pounds--of Mary's, settled at her
+mother's marriage. You are not attending to me," said he, perceiving
+the pre-occupation of Roland's look. "I was mentioning that Mary
+Leicester--"
+
+"Yes," said Cashel, talking his thoughts aloud, "to marry her would,
+indeed, be the true solution of the difficulty."
+
+"What did you say?" whispered Tiernay, upon whose ear the muttered words
+fell distinctly.
+
+"She would refuse me," Roland went on; "the more certainly that I am
+rich. I know her well; the rank, the station, the thousand flatteries
+that wealth bestows, would be things for her mockery if unallied with
+power."
+
+"You are wrong, quite wrong," said Tiernay; "her ambition is of a
+different order. Mary Leicester--"
+
+"Mary Leicester!" echoed Cashel; and, in his suddenly awakened look,
+Tiernay at once perceived that some mistake had occurred. Hoare relieved
+the awkwardness of the moment as he said,--
+
+"This wants but your signature, sir, and the matter is finished."
+
+Cashel wrote his name on the bill and was turning away, when Hoare
+said,--
+
+"These are the bills; they are now your property, sir."
+
+"For what purpose?"
+
+"They are vouchers for your claim on Mr. Corrigan," said Hoare.
+
+"His word will suffice," said Cashel; and, gathering them up, he hurled
+them into the fire.
+
+"A costly blaze that," said Hoare, as he watched the conflagration.
+
+"Speak to him, doctor; learn what you can of Rica for me. If money will
+do it, I 'll not quarrel with the price," said Cashel to Tiernay, in a
+low tone. "Another point,--I was nigh forgetting it,--you 'll not tell
+Mr. Corrigan how the matter has been arranged. Promise me this. Nay, I
+have a reason for it,--a reason you shall hear to-morrow or next day,
+and will acknowledge to be good. Keep my secret for a month; I ask no
+longer."
+
+"For a month, then, I am silent," said Tiernay.
+
+"Let me see you to-morrow early," said Cashel. "Will you breakfast with
+me?"
+
+"No; I 'll not risk my character by going twice to your grand house in
+the same week; besides, I am going to Limerick."
+
+"Good-night, then," said Cashel; "good-night, sir." And with a formal
+bow to Hoare, Roland left the room, and took his way homeward alone.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII. CIGARS, ECARTE, AND HAZARD
+
+     The Devil's back-parlor--a bachelor's room.
+
+     Milyard.
+
+
+While Cashel continued his way homeward, a very joyous party had
+assembled in Lord Charles Frobisher's room, who were endeavoring, by
+the united merits of cigars, ecarte, hazard, and an excellent supper,
+of which they partook at intervals, to compensate themselves for the
+unusual dulness of the drawing-room. It is well known how often the
+least entertaining individuals in general society become the most
+loquacious members of a party assembled in this fashion. The restraints
+which had held them in check before are no longer present; their loud
+speech and empty laughter are not any longer under ban, and they are
+tolerated by better men, pretty much as children are endured, because at
+least they are natural.
+
+At a round table in the middle of the room were a group engaged at
+hazard. Upton was deep in ecarte with his brother officer, Jennings,
+while Frobisher lounged about, sipping weak negus, and making his bets
+at either table as fancy or fortune suggested. The supper-table had
+few votaries; none, indeed, were seated at it save Meek, who, with
+a newspaper on his knee, seemed singularly out of place in the noisy
+gathering.
+
+"Eleven's the nick--eleven! I say, Charley, have at you for a pony,"
+called out a boyish-looking dragoon, from the middle table.
+
+"You're under age, young gentleman," said Frobisher; "I can't afford
+to bet with you. Wait a moment, Upton, I 'll back you this time. Twenty
+sovereigns--will you have it?"
+
+"Done!" said Jennings, and the game began.
+
+"The King," cried Upton; "I propose."
+
+"To which of them?" said a sharp-looking infantry captain, behind his
+chair.
+
+"Olivia, of course," slipped in Jennings.
+
+"I 'd give fifty pounds to know if they have the money people say,"
+cried Upton.
+
+"Meek can tell you; _he_ knows everything. I say, Downie," said
+Jennings, "come here for a moment, and enlighten us on a most
+interesting point."
+
+"Oh dear! what is it? This room is so very cold. Don't you think,
+Frobisher, that a double door would be advisable?"
+
+"A green one, with a centre pane of glass, would make it devilish like a
+'hell,'" said Upton; upon which the company all laughed approvingly.
+
+"What is it you want?" said Meek, approaching, glass in hand.
+
+"Play out the game, and have your gossip afterwards," said Frobisher,
+who felt far more anxious about the fate of his twenty pounds than for
+the result of the conversation.
+
+"A queen of hearts," said Upton, leading; then, turning to Meek, said,
+"These Kennyfeck girls--can you tell what the figure is?"
+
+"Poor dear things," said Meek, piteously; "they should be very well
+off."
+
+"I score two!" said Upton. "Well, have they twenty thousand each?"
+
+"I should say more. Oh dear me! they must have more! Kennyfeck holds
+a heavy mortgage on Kilgoff's estate, and has a great deal of other
+property."
+
+"Then it would be a good thing, Meek, eh?" said Jennings.
+
+"Game!" cried Upton, showing his cards upon the table.
+
+"There is so much chaffing about girls and their fortunes, one can't
+play his game here," said Jennings, as he threw down a handful of gold
+on the board.
+
+"Who was it ordered the post-horses for to-morrow?" said a youth at the
+supper-table. "The MacFarlines?"
+
+"No; Lord Kilgoff."
+
+"I assure you," cried a third, "it was the Kennyfecks. There has been
+a 'flare-up' about money between Cashel and him, and it is said he 'll
+lose the agency. Who 'll get it, I wonder?"
+
+"Tom Linton, of course," said the former speaker. "I 'd wager he is gone
+off to Dublin to furbish up securities, or something of that kind."
+
+"Who'd give Tom trust, or go bail for him?" said Frobisher.
+
+A very general laugh did not sound like a contradiction of the
+sentiment.
+
+"I heard a week ago," said the cornet, "that Kilgoff would stand
+security to any amount for him."
+
+"Ah, that comes of my Lady's good opinion of him!" cried Jennings.
+
+"Nay, don't say that, it looks so ill-natured," sighed Meek; "and there
+is really nothing in it. You know she and Tom were old friends. Oh dear,
+it was so sad!"
+
+"Where does Cashel get such execrable champagne?" said an infantryman,
+with a very wry expression of face.
+
+"It's dry wine, that's all," said Frobisher, "and about the best ever
+imported."
+
+"We 'd be very sorry to drink it at our mess, my Lord, I know that,"
+said the other, evidently nettled at the correction.
+
+"Yours is the Fifty-third?" said a guardsman.
+
+"No; the Thirty-fifth."
+
+"Aw! same thing," sighed he; and he stooped to select a cigar.
+
+"I wish the Kennyfecks were not going," said Upton, drawing his chair
+closer to Meek's; "there are so few houses one meets them at."
+
+"You should speak to Linton about that," whispered Meek.
+
+"Here's Jim's health,--hip, hip, hurrah!" cried out a white-moustached
+boy, who had joined a hussar regiment a few weeks before, and was now
+excessively tipsy.
+
+The laughter at this toast was increased by Meek's holding out his glass
+to be filled as he asked, "Of course,--whose health is it?"
+
+"One of Frobisher's trainers," said Upton, readily.
+
+"No, it's no such thing," hiccoughed the hussar. "I was proposing a
+bumper to the lightest snaffle hand from this to Doncaster--the best
+judge of a line of country in the kingdom--"
+
+"That's me," said a jolly voice, and at the same instant the door was
+flung wide, and Tom Linton, splashed from the road, and travel-stained,
+entered.
+
+"I must say, gentlemen, you are no churls of your wit and pleasantry,
+for, as I came up the stairs, I could hear every word you were saying."
+
+"Oh dear, how dreadful! and we were talking of _you_ too," said Meek,
+with a piteous air that made every one laugh.
+
+A thousand questions as to where he had been, whom with, and what
+for?--all burst upon Linton, who only escaped importunity by declaring
+that he was half dead with hunger, and would answer nothing till he had
+eaten.
+
+"So," said he, at length, after having devoted twenty minutes to a
+grouse-pie of most cunning architecture, "you never guessed where I had
+been?"
+
+"Oh! we had guesses enough, if that served any purpose."
+
+"I thought it was a bolt, Tom," said Upton; "but as _she_ appeared at
+breakfast, as usual, I saw my mistake."
+
+"Meek heard that you had gone over to Downing Street to ask for the
+Irish Secretaryship," said Jennings.
+
+"I said you had been to have a talk with Scott about 'Regulator;' was I
+far off the mark?"
+
+"Mrs. White suggested an uncle's death," said Frobisher; "but uncles
+don't die nowadays."
+
+"Did you buy the colt?--Have you backed 'Runjeet Singh?'--Are you to
+have the agency?--How goes on the borough canvass?" and twenty similar
+queries now poured in on him.
+
+"Well, I see," cried he, laughing, "I shall sadly disappoint all the
+calculations founded on my shrewdness and dexterity, for the whole
+object of my journey was to secure a wardrobe for our fancy ball, which
+I suddenly heard of as being at Limerick; and so, not trusting the
+mission to another, I started off myself, and here I am, with materials
+for more Turks, Monks, Sailors, Watchmen, Greeks, Jugglers, and
+Tyrolese, than ever travelled in anything save a caravan with one
+horse."
+
+"Are your theatrical intentions all abandoned?" cried Jennings.
+
+"I trust not," said Linton; "but I heard that Miss Meek had decided on
+the ball to come off first."
+
+"Hip! hip! hip!" was moaned out, in very lachrymose tone, from a sofa
+where the boy hussar, very sick and very tipsy, lay stretched on his
+back.
+
+"Who is that yonder?" asked Linton.
+
+"A young fellow of ours," said Jennings, indolently.
+
+"I thought they made their heads better at Sandhurst."
+
+"They used in my time," said Upton; "but you have no idea how the thing
+has gone down."
+
+"Quite true," chimed in another; "and I don't think we 've seen the
+worst of it yet. Do you know, they talk of an examination for all
+candidates for commissions!"
+
+"Well, I must say," lisped the guardsman, "I believe it would be an
+improvement for the 'line.'"
+
+"The household brigade can dispense with information," said an infantry
+captain.
+
+"I demur to the system altogether," said Linton. "Physicians tell us
+that the intellectual development is always made at the expense of the
+physical, and as one of the duties of a British army is to suffer yellow
+fever in the West Indies and cholera in the East, I vote for leaving
+them strong in constitution and intact in strength as vacant heads and
+thoughtless skulls can make them."
+
+"Oh dear me! yes," sighed Meek, who, by one of his mock concurrences,
+effectually blinded the less astute portion of the audience from seeing
+Linton's impertinence.
+
+"What has been doing here in my absence?" said Linton; "have you no
+event worth recording for me?"
+
+"There is a story," said Upton, "that Cashel and Kennyfeck have
+quarrelled,--a serious rupture, they say, and not to be repaired."
+
+"How did it originate? Something about the management of the property?"
+
+"No, no,--it was a row among the women. They laid some scheme for making
+Cashel propose for one of the girls."
+
+"Not Olivia, I hope?" said Upton, as he lighted a new cigar.
+
+"I rather suspect it was," interposed another.
+
+"In any case, Linton," cried Jennings, "you are to be the gainer, for
+the rumor says, Cashel will give you the agency, with his house to live
+in, and a very jolly thing to spend, while he goes abroad to travel."
+
+"If this news be true, Tom," said Frobisher, "I 'll quarter my yearlings
+on you; there is a capital run for young horses in those flats along the
+river."
+
+"The house is cold at this season," said Meek, with a sad smile; "but I
+think it would be very endurable in the autumn months. I should n't say
+but you may see us here again at that time."
+
+"I hope 'ours' may be quartered at Limerick," said an infantryman, with
+a most suggestive look at the comforts of the apartment, which were a
+pleasing contrast to barrack-room accommodation.
+
+"Make yourselves perfectly at home here, gentlemen, when that good
+time comes," said Linton, with one of his careless laughs. "I tell you
+frankly, that if Cashel does make me such a proposal--a step which, from
+his knowledge of my indolent, lazy habits, is far from likely--I only
+accept on one condition."
+
+"What is that?" cried a dozen voices.
+
+"That you will come and pass your next Christmas here."
+
+"Agreed--agreed!" was chorused on every side.
+
+"I suspect from that bit of spontaneous hospitality," whispered
+Frobisher to Meek, "that the event is something below doubtful."
+
+Meek nodded.
+
+"What is Charley saying?" cried Linton, whose quick eye caught the
+glance interchanged between the two.
+
+"I was telling Meek," said Frobisher, "that I don't put faith enough in
+the condition to accept the invitation."
+
+"Indeed!" said Linton, while he turned to the table and filled his
+glass, to hide a passing sign of mortification.
+
+"Tom Linton for a man's agent, seems pretty like what old Frederick used
+to call keeping a goat for a gardener."
+
+"You are fond of giving the odds, Frobisher," said Linton, who, for some
+minutes, continued to take glass after glass of champagne; "now, what's
+your bet that I don't do the honors here next Christmas-day?"
+
+"I can't say what you mean," said Frobisher, languidly. "I've seen you
+do 'the honors' at more than one table where you were the guest."
+
+"This, I suppose, is meant for a pleasantry, my Lord?" said Linton,
+while his face became flushed with passion.
+
+"It is meant for fact," said Frobisher, with a steady coolness in his
+air and accent.
+
+"A fact! and not in jest, then!" said he, approaching where the other
+sat, and speaking in a low voice.
+
+"That's very quarrelsome wine, that dry champagne," said Frobisher,
+lazily; "don't drink any more of it."
+
+Linton tried to smile; the effort, at first not very successful, became
+easier after a moment, and it was with a resumption of his old manner he
+said,--
+
+"I 'll take you two to one in fifties that I act the host here this day
+twelvemonth."
+
+"You hear the offer, gentlemen?" said Frobisher, addressing the party.
+"Of course it is meant without any reservation, and so I take it."
+
+He produced a betting-book as he said this, and began to write in it
+with his pencil.
+
+"Would you prefer it in hundreds?" said Linton.
+
+Frobisher nodded an assent.
+
+"Or shall we do the thing sportingly, and say two thousand to one?"
+continued he.
+
+"Two thousand to one be it," said Frobisher, while the least possible
+smile might be detected on his usually immovable features. "There is
+no knowing how to word this bet," said he, at last, after two or three
+efforts, followed by as many erasures; "you must write it yourself."
+
+Linton took the pencil, and wrote rapidly for a few seconds.
+
+"Will that do?" said he.
+
+And Frobisher read to himself: "'Mr. Linton, two thousand to one with
+Lord C. Frobisher, that he, T. L., on the anniversary of this day, shall
+preside as master of the house Tubbermore, by due right and title, and
+not by any favor, grace, or sanction of any one whatsoever."
+
+"Yes; that will do, perfectly," said Frobisher, as he closed the book,
+and restored it to his pocket.
+
+"Was the champagne so strong as you expected?" whispered Upton, as he
+passed behind Frobisher's chair.
+
+A very knowing nod of acquiescence was the only reply.
+
+[Illustration: 146]
+
+Indeed, it did not require the practised shrewdness of Lord Charles, or
+his similarly sharp-eyed friends, to see that Linton's manner was very
+different from his habitual calm collectedness, while he continued
+to drink on, with the air of a man that was resolved on burying his
+faculties in the excitement of wine.
+
+Meek slipped away soon after, and, at Linton's suggestion a
+rouge-et-noir bank was formed, at which the play became high, and his
+own losses very considerable.
+
+It was already daylight, and the servants were stirring in the house ere
+the party broke up.
+
+"Master Tom has had a squeeze to-night," said Jennings, as he was
+bidding Upton good-bye at his door.
+
+"I can't understand it at all," replied the other. "He played without
+judgment, and betted rashly on every side. It was far more like Roland
+Cashel than Tom Linton."
+
+"Well, you remember he said--to be sure, it was after drinking a
+quantity of wine--'Master Roland and I may change characters yet. Let us
+see if he can play "Linton," as well as I can "Cashel."'"
+
+"He's so deep, that I wouldn't say but there is something under all
+this." And so they parted, sadly puzzled what interpretation to put on
+conduct, the mere result of a passing intemperance; for so it is, your
+"cunning men" are never reputed to be so deep by the world as when by
+some accident they, have forgotten their craft.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV. MR. KENNYFECK AMONG THE BULLS
+
+     With a bright flie upon his hook,
+     He played mankind, as anglers play a fish.
+
+     COTTER.
+
+An hour's sleep and a cold bath restored Linton to himself, and ere the
+guests of Tubbermore were stirring, he was up and ready for the day.
+He dressed with more than usual care, and having ordered a horse to
+be saddled and a groom to follow him, he sauntered out into the park,
+taking the road that led to the village.
+
+The groom rapidly overtook him; and then, mounting, he rode at a brisk
+trot down the road, and drew up at the door of the doctor's house. To
+his question, "If Mr. Tiernay were at home?" he received for answer,
+that "He had set out for Limerick that morning;" nor did the servant
+know when he might be expected back.
+
+For a moment this intelligence appeared to derange his plans; but he
+rallied soon, and turning his horse's head towards Tubbermore, muttered
+to himself, "As well,--perhaps better as it is." He rode fast till he
+gained the wood, and then dismounting, he gave the horse to the groom,
+with directions to go home, as he would return on foot.
+
+He stood looking after the horses as they retired, and it seemed as
+if his thoughts were following them, so intent was his gaze; but, long
+after they had disappeared, he remained standing in the same place, his
+features still wearing the same expression of highly-wrought occupation.
+The spot where he stood was a little eminence, from which the view
+stretched, upon one side, over the waving woods of the demesne, and, on
+the other, showed glimpses of the Shannon, as, in its sweeping curves,
+it indented the margin of the grounds. Perhaps not another point could
+be found which displayed so happily the extent and importance of
+the demesne, and yet concealed so well whatever detracted from its
+picturesque effect. The neighboring village of Derra-heeny--a poor,
+straggling, ruinous street of thatched hovels, like most Irish
+villages--was altogether hidden from view; while of the great house
+itself,--an object with few pretensions to architectural elegance,--only
+so much was visible as indicated its size and extent. The little
+cottage of Tubber-beg, however, could be seen entire, glittering in the
+morning's sun like a gem, its bright-leaved hollies and dark laurels
+forming a little grove of foliage in the midst of winter's barrenness.
+
+If this was by far the most striking object of the picture, it was not
+that which attracted most of Linton's attention. On the contrary, his
+eye ranged more willingly over the wide woods which stretched for miles
+along the river's side, and rose and fell in many a gentle undulation
+inland. A commonplace observer, had such been there to mark him, would
+have pronounced him one passionately devoted to scenery,--a man who
+loved to watch the passing cloud-shadows of a landscape, enjoying with
+all a painter's delight the varying tints, the graceful lines, the
+sharp-thrown shadows, and the brilliant lights of a woodland picture; a
+deeper physiognomist would, however, have seen that the stern stare
+and the compressed lip, the intense preoccupation which every feature
+exhibited, did not denote a mind bent upon such themes.
+
+"Tom Linton, of Tubbermore," said he, at length,--and it seemed as if
+uttering the words gave relief to his overburdened faculties, for
+his face relaxed, and his habitual easy smile returned to his
+mouth,--"Linton, of Tubbermore; it sounds well, too." And then the
+great game! that game for which I have pined so long and wished so
+ardently,--which I have stood by and seen others play and lose, where
+I could have won,--ay, won rank, honor, station, and fame. The heaviest
+curse that lies on men like me is to watch those who rise to eminence in
+the world, and know their utter shallowness and incapacity. There will
+soon be an end to that now.
+
+"Stand by, gentlemen; make way, my Lords Charles and Harry; it is Tom
+Linton's turn--not Linton the 'adventurer,' as you were gracious enough
+to call him--not the bear-leader of a marquis, or the hanger-on of his
+grace the duke, but your equal in rank and fortune--more than your equal
+in other things; the man who knows you all thoroughly, not fancying
+your deficiencies and speculating on your shortcomings, as your vulgar
+adversaries, your men of cotton constituencies, are wont to do, but the
+man who has seen you in your club and your drawing-room, who has eaten,
+drunk, betted, played, and lived with you all! who knows your tactics
+well, and can expound your 'aristocratic prejudices better than ever a
+Quaker of them all!'--Not but," said he, after a pause, "another line
+would satisfy me equally. The peerage, with such a fortune as this,
+is no inordinate ambition; a few years in the House, of that dogged,
+unmanageable conduct Englishmen call independence--a capriciousness in
+voting--the repute of refusing office, and so on. There's no originality
+in the thought, but it succeeds as well as if there were! Besides, if
+hard pressed, I can be a Romanist, and, as times go, with every party;
+that is a strong claim. And why not Lord Linton? I have no doubt"--and
+he laughed as he spoke this--"there _is_ a peerage in the family
+already, if I only knew where to look for it!
+
+"And now, sufficient of speculation! to open the campaign!" So saying,
+he descended the knoll and took the path which led to the cottage. As
+he drew near the wicket, he saw a man lounging beside it, in all that
+careless indifference which an Irish peasant can assume, and soon
+perceived it was Tom Keane, the gatekeeper.
+
+"Good-morrow, Tom; how comes it you are up here so early?"
+
+"'T is in throuble I am, your honer," said he, taking off his hat, and
+putting on that supplicating look so characteristic of his class. "The
+master's going to turn me out of the little place beyant."
+
+"What for?"
+
+"For nothing at all, your honer: that's just it; but ould Kennyfeck put
+him up to it."
+
+"Up to what? That seems the whole question."
+
+"Your honer may remimber, that when you came here first, the cattle of
+the neighbors was used to come and pick a mouthful of grass,--and poor
+grass it was,--bekase there was no way of keeping them out. Well, when
+the master came down, and all the people, by coorse the cows and pigs
+couldn't be let in as afore; for, as the agint said, it was a disgrace
+to see them under the nose of the quality, running about as if it was
+Donnybrook fair! 'Don't let them appear here again, Tom Keane,' says he,
+'or it will be worse for you.' And sorra one ever I let in since that,
+till it was dark night. But ould Mr. Kennyfeck, the other evening, takes
+it into his head to walk into the park, and comes right into a crowd
+of two-year-old bulls, and did n't know a bit where he was, till a man
+called out, 'Lie down on your face, for the love of the Virgin, or you
+are a dead man! The bullsheens is comin'!' And down he lay, sure enough,
+and hard work they had to get him up afterwards, for the herd went over
+him as the man drov' them off; and what between bruises and fear, he
+kept his bed two days; but the worst of it was, the spalpeens said
+that they paid threepence apiece for the bullsheens every night for the
+grass, and it was to me they gave it."
+
+"Which, of course, was untrue?" said Linton, smiling knowingly.
+
+"By coorse it was!" said Tom, with a laugh, whose meaning there was no
+mistaking; "and so, I 'm to be turned out of 'the gate,' and to lose my
+few acres of ground, and be thrun on the wide world, just for sake of an
+attorney!"
+
+"It is very hard,--very hard indeed."
+
+"Is n't it now, your honer?"
+
+"A case of destitution, completely; what the newspapers call
+'extermination.'"
+
+"Exactly, sir,--tarnination, and nothing less."
+
+"But how comes it that you are up here, on that account?"
+
+"I was thinking, sir, if I saw Miss Mary, and could get her to spake a
+word to the master,--they say she can do what she plazes with him."
+
+"Indeed!--who says so?"
+
+"The servants' hall says it; and so does Mr. Corrigan's ould butler. He
+towld me the other day that he hoped he 'd be claning the plate up at
+the big house before he died."
+
+"How so?" said Linton, affecting not to catch the intention of the
+remark.
+
+"Just that he was to be butler at the hall when the master was married
+to Miss Mary."
+
+"And so, I suppose, this is very likely to happen?"
+
+"Sure yer honer knows betther than ignorant craytures like us; but faix,
+if walking about in the moonlight there, among the flowers, and talking
+together like whisperin', is any sign, I would n't wonder if it came
+about."
+
+"Indeed! and they have got that far?"
+
+"Ay, faith!" said Tom, with a significance of look only an Irishman or
+an Italian can call up.
+
+"Well, I had no suspicion of this," said Linton, with a frankness meant
+to invite further confidence.
+
+"An' why would yer honer? Sure was n't it always on the evenings, when
+the company was all together in the great house, that Mr. Cashel used
+to steal down here and tie his horse to the wicket, and then gallop back
+again at full speed, so that the servants towld me he was never missed
+out of the room!"
+
+"And does she like him,--do they say she likes him?"
+
+"Not like him wid a place such as this!" said Tom, waving his hand
+towards the wide-spreading fields and woods of the demesne. "Bathershin!
+sure the Queen of England might be proud of it!"
+
+"Very true," said Linton, affecting to be struck by the shrewdness of
+the speaker.
+
+"See, now," said Tom, who began to feel a certain importance from being
+listened to, "I know faymales well, and so I ought! but take the nicest,
+quietest, and most innocent one among them, and by my conscience ye 'll
+see, 't is money and money's worth she cares for more nor the best man
+that ever stepped! Tell her 'tis silk she'll be wearin', and goold
+in her ears, and ye may be as ould and ogly as Tim Hogan at the cross
+roods!"
+
+"You have n't a good opinion of the fair sex, Thomas," said Linton,
+carelessly, for he was far less interested in his speculations than his
+facts. "Well, as to your own case,--leave that in my hands. I may not
+have all the influence of Miss Leicester, but I suspect that I can do
+what you want on this occasion." And without waiting for the profuse
+expressions of his gratitude, Linton passed on and entered the garden,
+through which a little path led directly to the door of the cottage.
+
+"At breakfast, I suppose?" said Linton to the servant who received him.
+
+"The master is, sir; but Miss Mary isn't well this morning."
+
+"Nothing of consequence, I hope?"
+
+"Only a headache from fatigue, sir." So saying, he ushered Linton, whose
+visits were admitted on the most intimate footing, into the room where
+Mr. Corrigan sat by himself at the breakfast-table.
+
+"Alone, sir!" said Linton as he closed the door behind him, and
+conveying in his look an air of surprise and alarm.
+
+"Yes, Mr. Linton, almost the only time I remember to have been so for
+many a year. My poor child has had a night of some anxiety, which,
+although bearing well at the time, has exacted its penalty at last in a
+slight attack of fever. It will, I trust, pass over in a few hours; and
+you,--where have you been; they said you had been absent for a day or
+two?"
+
+"A very short ramble, sir,--one of business rather than pleasure. I
+learned suddenly--by a newspaper paragraph, too--that a distant relative
+of my mother's had died in the East, leaving a considerable amount
+of property to myself; and so, setting out, I arrived at Limerick,
+intending to sail for Liverpool, when, who should I meet, almost the
+first person I saw, but my agent, just come in haste from London, to
+confer with me on the subject. The meeting was so far agreeable, that it
+saved me a journey I had no fancy for, and also put me in possession of
+the desired information regarding the property. My agent, speaking
+of course from imperfect knowledge, calls it a large--what a man like
+myself would style--a very large fortune."
+
+"I give you joy, with all my heart," cried Corrigan, grasping his hand
+in both his, and shaking it cordially. "When wealth descends to men who
+have shown their ability to maintain an honorable station without it,
+the chances are greatly in favor of its being nobly and generously
+employed."
+
+"How I hope that I may not disgrace your theory," said Linton, "for I am
+not ashamed to assert that I have fulfilled the first condition of the
+category. With little else but good birth and a fair education, I had
+to start in the race against others with every aid of fortune; and if I
+have not reached a more elevated position, I can say that the
+obstacle lay rather in my own scruples than my incapacity. I declined
+Parliamentary life because I would not be a nominee; I had a glancing
+suspicion that my time would come, too, when, without other check upon
+my motives than the voice of conscience, I should stand in the British
+Senate a free and independent member. If I have waited patiently for
+this hour, I hope I have not abused the leisure interval, and that I may
+bring to the public service something besides the zeal of one who feels
+the importance of his trust."
+
+"There is no failure with intentions pure and honorable as these," said
+Corrigan, warmly. "It does not need your talents, Mr. Linton, to insure
+success in such a path; one half of _your_ ability, so nobly backed,
+would reach the goal. And now tell me, if I be not indiscreet in asking
+some of your plans, what place do you mean to stand for?"
+
+"Our good borough of Derraheeny," said Linton, half smiling. "I am in
+a measure committed to continue my canvass there, and, indeed, have
+already entered into securities to keep my pledge. I see these words
+sound a little mysteriously, but I intend to explain them; only I must
+ask one favor of you. I hope, before I leave the room, to show that I
+have, if not a claim upon your generosity, at least a plea to warrant
+my request. My entreaty is this, that you will never divulge to any one
+what I shall now tell you."
+
+"Pray, my dear friend, consider for a moment what you are asking. Why
+make me the depositary of a secret? An old man, whose very years
+are like 'fissures in the strong keep,' where mysteries should be
+imprisoned."
+
+"Could I participate in your reasonings, my dear sir, there is yet
+enough in the present instance to make it an exception. This is a matter
+you ought to know for _your_ sake, and to keep secret for _mine_."
+
+"Then you have my promise," said Corrigan, frankly.
+
+"I 'll be brief with my explanation," said Linton. "When there was
+a design, some time back, of my accepting the representation of the
+borough, Cashel offered me his property of Tubber-beg, on terms which
+very nearly approached a gift. This--though at the time our relations
+were those of the closest friendship--I refused; but, as I had made
+some progress in my canvass of the borough, there was a difficulty in
+abandoning the position; and so the matter hung, each hoping that the
+other would suggest some arrangement that might satisfy both. This
+fortunate device, however, was not to be discovered, and as, for some
+time back, our intercourse had become gradually less intimate, the
+chance of such a solution diminished daily.
+
+"In this way the affair stood, when, a couple of mornings since, I felt
+it my duty, as one who really felt an interest in him, to remonstrate
+with Roland on a circumstance which, without any affectation of prudery,
+would have gravely compromised himself, and, worse still, another
+person. It was a case,--I know not exactly how to touch upon a matter
+of such delicacy; enough if I say it was one where a persistence in his
+conduct must have ended in disgrace to him, ruin and misery to another.
+Poor thing! she is, indeed, to be pitied; and if there be extenuation
+for such cases, hers is one to claim it. I knew her as Laura
+Gardiner,--the handsomest creature I ever beheld. Well, well, it is a
+theme I must not linger on. Cashel, so far from receiving my counsel as
+I hoped, and indeed expected, resented it with anger and rudeness, and
+even questioned the degree of intimacy on which I presumed to give my
+unasked advice.
+
+"I am fortunately a man of cool temper, and so I bore this ungenerous
+return better than most others might; and seeing that it would possibly
+be the last occasion I should ever have of giving even unwilling
+counsel, I spoke to him freely and openly. I told him that his mode of
+living, while derogatory to the hopes conceived of him, was one that
+must end at last in ruin; that no fortune could stand his losses at
+play, and the wasteful extravagance of his caprices. I pressed the
+matter as strongly as I was able, and represented that his habits bore
+no reference whatever to his income.
+
+"'It is quite true,' said he, with a sneering tone; 'I cannot readily
+forget I am chargeable with all these wasteful ways you speak of, nor
+do I feel that I make any the slightest defence of myself, in regard
+to habits where my generosity has been as lavish as it has been
+ill-bestowed.'
+
+"'I wish I knew if I understand you aright,' said I.
+
+"'Your comprehension is of the quickest where there is question of a
+favor to be received.'
+
+"I did not trust myself with any answer to this speech, which I well
+knew was a trait of his old buccaneer life. I withdrew, and hastening
+to his law-agent, Kennyfeck, I at once arranged for the purchase of this
+small property. The moment for me was propitious; they were in want of
+ready money, and the treaty was completed the same day. There is the
+title."
+
+As he spoke, he threw down the parchment deed upon the table, and lay
+back in his chair, watching with intense delight the expression of
+sadness and disappointment on Corrigan's features.
+
+"Good heavens!" exclaimed the old man at last, "how deceived I have been
+in him!"
+
+"I confess that is what wounds me most in the whole transaction," said
+Linton, with a mock emotion in his manner. "One is well accustomed
+through life to meet sordid motives in mere men of the world, and who
+deem their low-born subtilty cleverness; but to find a young fellow,
+beginning life with an ample fortune and a fair position, surrounded by
+all the blandishments that wealth charms up--"
+
+"Hold!" cried Corrigan, laying his hand on Linton's arm, "I cannot bear
+this. It is not at my age, sir, that disappointments like these can be
+borne easily. I have too short a time before me here to hope to recover
+from such shocks."
+
+"I would not willingly give you pain, my dear sir; nor indeed, is this
+the topic on which I am most anxious to address you. Another and a very
+different interest led me hither this morning; and, although I have
+thought long and maturely on the subject, I am as far as ever from
+knowing how to approach it. My own unworthiness to what I aspire recoils
+upon me at every instant, and nothing but the indulgent kindness with
+which you have always regarded me could give me courage. Forgive me this
+prolixity; I am like one who fears to plunge, lest he should never rise
+again."
+
+"If my estimate of you be correct," said the old man, laying his hand
+upon Linton's, "the goal must needs be high to which you dare not
+aspire."
+
+"It is indeed so!" cried Linton, as if carried away by an irresistible
+emotion. "To me it means station, hope, worldly success, happiness,--ay,
+life itself. I cannot longer tamper with your feelings, nor my own.
+The ambition of which I speak, is to be your son; not alone in the
+affectionate love which already I bear you, but by the closest and
+dearest ties, to be bound to you in the same chain by which she is, who
+owns all my heart and all my destiny."
+
+He stopped as if overcome; and Corrigan, compassionating the agitation
+he seemed to suffer, said,--
+
+"Be calm, my dear friend; this takes me by surprise. I was not in any
+way prepared for such an announcement; nor have I courage to look at its
+consequences; poor, old, companionless as I should be--"
+
+"Nay, such cruelty was not in my thoughts. It was with far other
+intentions I became possessed of the property; it was in the glorious
+hope that it would be our home,--yours and mine together; not to render
+your hearth desolate, but to give it another guest, whose duty would be
+his title to be there."
+
+"Let me think,--let me reflect on this,--let me separate my own selfish
+thoughts from the higher ones that should guide me. You have not spoken
+to my daughter?"
+
+"No, sir; I deemed the more honorable course to have your sanction; or,
+if not that, to bury my sorrows in silence forever."
+
+"There is so much to consider, and I am so weak and infirm, so
+inadequate to decide. Your proposal is a proud one for any girl,--I
+know it; and we are proud, although poor. Ay, Mr. Linton, poor to very
+necessity! If her affections were engaged by you, if I saw that your
+high qualities had made the impression upon her that they have on me, I
+own this offer would delight me; but can you say this is the case?"
+
+"I hope, sir, I am not indifferent to Miss Leicester. The humble fortune
+which has restrained me hitherto, and prevented my prosecuting an
+attachment to which I felt I had no claim, exists no longer. I am
+independent in means, as in opinion; and, however conscious of my
+personal unworthiness, in all that regards station and condition I 'm
+in a position to satisfy you. I only ask your sanction to address Miss
+Leicester, to know, in fact, that if I should prove acceptable to _her_,
+that _you_ will not look unfavorably upon me."
+
+"This appears most candid and fair on your part; and it is a time
+when we must both use candor and fairness. Now, Mr. Linton, there
+are circumstances which at this moment involve me in considerable
+difficulty; I cannot enter into them just yet; but they may offer grave
+obstacles to what you propose. I will, therefore, beg of you not to
+press me for my answer. I see this delay is displeasing--"
+
+"Nay, sir, I am ready to yield to anything you suggest; but is it not
+possible that my assistance and advice might be of service in these
+difficulties you speak of?"
+
+"There is another point, Mr. Linton,--and I know you will think better
+of me for all my frankness. Are your friends--your family I mean--aware
+of this step of yours? are you certain of their concurrence in it?"
+
+"I have few relatives living, sir," said Linton, reddening; "but I
+can answer for their participation in all that so nearly concerns my
+happiness."
+
+"This evening, then; come to me this evening, then," said Mr. Corrigan,
+"and you shall hear my sentiments."
+
+"This is most kind; I can ask for nothing more," said Linton; and, with
+a most affectionate pressure of the old man's hand, departed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV. POLITICAL ASPIRATIONS
+
+     Be grateful too! you ask, "for what?"
+     Simply, for that you never got;
+     And you 'll get something yet.
+
+     Machiavelli Travestied.
+
+
+Mr. Linton, like a large majority of the cunning people in this
+world, made the mistake of supposing that every one had an
+"after-thought,"--some secret mental reservation in all he said; that,
+in fact, no one told "the whole truth" on any subject. Now, judging Mr.
+Corrigan by this rule, he came to the conclusion that the old gentleman
+had not received his addresses with all the warmth that might be
+expected;--possibly, in the hope of a more advantageous offer; possibly,
+because, in his old Irish pride of family, he had got to learn who this
+Mr. Linton was, what his connections, and what position they held in the
+society of their own country.
+
+In this way did Linton read the old man's inquiry as to the "concurrence
+of his relatives." It was, to his thinking, a mere subtle attempt to
+ascertain who and what these same relatives were. "A clever stroke in
+its way," thought Tom; "but I am not to be drawn out of my intrenchment
+so easily. Still, the theme will linger in his mind, and must be got rid
+of."
+
+Linton knew well how the influence of rank and title can smooth down
+difficulties of this kind, and ran over in his mind the names of at
+least a dozen peers, any one of whom, in such an emergency, would have
+owned him for a half-brother, or a cousin, at least.
+
+It was provoking to think how many there were, at that dull season,
+listless and unemployed, who could, were he only able to summon them,
+stand sponsors to his rank and condition. Measuring Corrigan by what he
+had witnessed in other men of small fortune and retired lives, he deemed
+"a lord" was all-essential. Linton had seen a great deal of life, and a
+great deal of that submissive homage so readily conceded to nobility.
+A lord, at a wedding, is like a captain in a duel; they are the great
+ingredients which warrant that these events "come off" properly; they
+place beyond all cavil or question whatever may occur; and they are the
+recognizances one enters into with the world that he is "spliced" or
+shot like a gentleman. It is quite true Linton was above this vulgarity;
+but he was not above the vulgarity of attributing it to another.
+
+The more he reflected on this, the more did he believe it to be the
+solution of the whole difficulty. "My kingdom for a lord!" exclaimed he,
+laughing aloud at the easy gullibility of that world which he had duped
+so often.
+
+The reader is aware that of the pleasant company of Tub-bermore, Lord
+Kilgoff was the only representative of the peerage; and to him Linton's
+thoughts at once resorted as the last hope in his emergency. Of late his
+Lordship had been gradually mending: clear intervals broke through the
+mist of his clouded faculties, and displayed him, for the time, in all
+his wonted self-importance, irritability, and pertinacity. To catch him
+in one of these fortunate moments was the object, and so induce him to
+pay a visit to the cottage.
+
+Could he but succeed in this, none better than the old peer to play the
+part assigned to him. The very qualities to make his society intolerable
+would be, here, the earnest of success; the imperturbable conceit, the
+pompous distance of his manner, would repel inquiry, and Linton saw that
+his oracle would not utter one word more than he ought.
+
+"He will not,--I dare not ask him to call me his relative," said he;
+"but I can easily throw a hazy indistinctness over our intimacy. He can
+be a friend of 'my poor father,'"--Tom laughed at the conceit,--"one who
+knew me from the cradle. With him for a foreground figure, I 'll soon
+paint an imaginary group around him, not one of whom shall be less than
+a marquis.
+
+"With Mary this will not succeed. Laura, indeed, might do me good
+service in that quarter, but I cannot trust her. Were she more skilled
+in this world's ways, she would gladly aid me--it would be like drawing
+the game between us; but she is rash, headlong, and passionate. I doubt
+if even her fears would control her. And yet I might work well upon
+these! I have the will, and the way, both; the event shall decide
+whether I employ them." With these thoughts passing in his mind he
+reached the house, and entering unobserved, since they were all at
+breakfast, repaired to his own room.
+
+He immediately sat down and wrote a few lines to Lord Kilgoff, inquiring
+with solicitude after his health, and craving the favor of being
+permitted to wait upon him. This done, he amused himself by inventing a
+number of little political "gossipries" for the old peer,--those small
+nothings which form the sweepings of clubs and the whisperings of
+under-secretaries' offices; the pleasant trifles which every one
+repeats, but no one believes.
+
+"My Lord will see Mr. Linton whenever he pleases," was the answer of the
+valet; and Linton lost no time in availing himself of the permission.
+
+"His Lordship is at breakfast?" said he to the servant, as he walked
+along.
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"And her Ladyship?"
+
+"My Lady breakfasts below stairs, sir."
+
+"As it ought to be; he is alone," thought Linton, who, in his present
+incertitude of purpose, had no desire to meet her.
+
+"If you 'll have the goodness to wait a moment, sir, I 'll tell my
+Lord you are here," said the man, as he ushered Linton into a handsome
+drawing-room, which various scattered objects denoted to be her
+Ladyship's.
+
+As Linton looked over the table, where books, drawings, and embroidery
+were negligently thrown, his eye caught many an object he had known
+long, long before; and there came over him, ere he knew it, a strange
+feeling of melancholy. The past rushed vividly to his mind,--that time
+when, sharing with her all his ambitions and his hopes, he had lived
+in a kind of fairy world. He turned over the leaves of her
+sketch-book,--she had done little of late,--an unfinished bit, here
+and there, was all he found; and he sat gazing at the earlier drawings,
+every one of which he remembered. There was one of an old pine-tree
+scathed by lightning, at the top, but spreading out, beneath, into a
+light and feathery foliage, beneath which they had often sat together. A
+date in pencil had been written at the foot, but was now erased, leaving
+only enough to discover where it had been. Linton's breathing grew
+hurried, and his pale cheek paler, as with his head resting on his hands
+he sat, bent over this. "I was happier, then," said he, with a sigh that
+seemed to rise from his very heart,--"far happier! But would it have
+lasted? that is the question. Would mere love have compensated for
+thwarted ambition, delusive hope, and poverty? How should I have borne
+continued reverses?"
+
+The door opened, and Lady Kilgoff entered; not seeing him, nor expecting
+any one in the apartment, she was humming an opera air, when suddenly
+she perceived him.
+
+"Mr. Linton here? This is a surprise indeed!" exclaimed she, as, drawing
+herself proudly up, she seemed to question the reason of his presence.
+
+"I beg you will forgive an intrusion which was not of my seeking. I came
+to pay my respects to Lord Kilgoff, and his servant showed me into this
+chamber until his Lordship should be ready to receive me."
+
+"Won't you be seated, sir?" said she, with an accent which it would be
+difficult to say whether it implied an invitation or the opposite.
+
+Few men had more self-possession than Linton, fewer still knew better
+how to construe a mere accent, look, or a gesture; and yet, he stood
+now, uncertain and undecided how to act. Meanwhile Lady Kilgoff,
+arranging the frame of her embroidery, took her seat near the window.
+
+"Penelope must have worked in Berlin wool, I 'm certain," said Linton,
+as he approached where she sat. "These wonderful tissues seem never to
+finish."
+
+"In that lies their great merit," replied she, smiling; "it is sometimes
+useful to have an occupation whose monotony disposes to thought, even
+when the thoughts themselves are not all pleasurable."
+
+"I should have fancied that monotony would dispose to brooding," said
+he, slowly.
+
+"Perhaps it may, now and then," said she, carelessly. "Life, like
+climate, should not be all sunshine;" and then, as if wishing to change
+the theme, she added, "you have been absent a day or two?"
+
+"Yes; an unexpected piece of fortune has befallen me. I find myself the
+heir of a considerable property, just as I have reached that point in
+life when wealth has no charm for me! There was a time when--but, no
+matter; regrets are half-brother to cowardice."
+
+"We can no more help one than the other, occasionally," said she, with a
+faint sigh; and both were silent for some time.
+
+"Is not that tulip somewhat too florid?" said he, stooping over her
+embroidery.
+
+"That tulip is a poppy, Mr. Linton."
+
+"What a natural mistake, after all!" said he. "How many human tulips
+who not only look like, but are downright poppies! Is not this house
+intolerably stupid?"
+
+"I 'm ashamed to own I think it pleasant," said she, smiling.
+
+"You were more fastidious once, if my memory serves me aright," said he,
+meaningly.
+
+"Perhaps so," said she, carelessly. "I begin to fancy that odd people
+are more amusing than clever ones; and certainly they entertain without
+an effort, and that is an immense gain."
+
+"Do you think so? I should have supposed the very effort would have
+claimed some merit, showing that the desire to please had prompted it."
+
+"My Lord will see Mr. Linton at present," said the servant.
+
+Linton nodded, and the man withdrew.
+
+"How long ago is it since you made this sketch?" said he, opening the
+book, as if accidentally, at the page with the pine-tree.
+
+She turned, and although her bent-down head concealed her features,
+Linton saw the crimson flush spread over the neck as she answered,
+"About three years ago."
+
+"Scarcely so much," said he. "If I mistake not, I wrote the date myself
+beneath it; but it has worn out."
+
+"You will excuse my reminding you, Mr. Linton, that Lord Kilgoff has not
+regained his habitual patience, and will be very irritable if you defer
+a pleasure such as a visit from you always affords him."
+
+"Happy conjuncture," said he, smiling, "that can make my presence
+desired in one quarter, when my absence is wished for in another." And
+with a low, respectful bow, he left the room.
+
+Whatever the object of the hint, Lady Kilgoff had not exaggerated his
+Lordship's deficiency in the Job-like element, and Linton found him, on
+entering, interrogating the servant as to whether he "had conveyed his
+message properly, and what answer he had received."
+
+"That will do; leave the room," said he. Then turning to Linton, "I have
+waited twelve minutes, sir,--nearly thirteen,--since my servant informed
+you I would receive you."
+
+"I am exceedingly sorry, my Lord, to have occasioned you even a moment
+of impatience. I was mentioning to Lady Kilgoff a circumstance of
+recent good fortune to myself, and I grieve that my egotism should have
+mastered my sense of propriety."
+
+"Twelve minutes, or thirteen, either, may seem a very unimportant
+fraction of time to men of mere pleasure, but to those whose weightier
+cares impose graver thoughts, is a very considerable inroad, sir."
+
+"I know it, my Lord. I feel it deeply, and I beg you to excuse me."
+
+"Life is too short, at least in its active period, to squander twelve
+minutes, Mr. Linton; and however you, in _your_ station, and with _your_
+pursuits, may deem otherwise, I would wish to observe, that persons in
+_mine_ think differently."
+
+Linton looked a perfect statue of contrition, nor did he utter another
+word. Perhaps he felt that continuing the discussion would be but an
+indifferent mode of compensating for the injury already incurred.
+
+"And now, Mr. Linton, I conclude that it was not without a reason you
+sought an interview at this unusual hour."
+
+"The old story, my Lord; and as I came to ask a favor, I selected the
+_petit lever_ as the most appropriate hour."
+
+"Indeed! you surprise me much how an individual so much forgotten
+as Lord Kilgoff can possibly be of service to that most promising
+gentleman, Mr. Linton!"
+
+Linton never heeded the sarcastic discontent of the speech, but went
+on,--
+
+"Yes, my Lord, you find me, as you have so often found me, a suppliant."
+
+"I have nothing to bestow, sir."
+
+"You can do all that I could ask, or even wish for, my Lord. My ambition
+is not very unmeasured; my greatest desire is to have the opportunity of
+frequent intercourse with you, and the benefit of that practical wisdom
+for which your Lordship s conversation is distinguished at home and
+abroad."
+
+"My valet is not going to leave me," said the old man, with an insolence
+of look that tallied with the rude speech.
+
+"My Lord!--"
+
+"Nay, nay, you must not be offended; I was rather jesting on my own
+barrenness of patronage than upon your proposal."
+
+Linton saw by the slight advantage he had gained that the bold course
+was the more promising, and continued:--
+
+"You will soon have a great deal of business on your hands, my Lord, and
+so, I will economize your time and your patience. You have not heard, I
+am aware, that Dollington has been recalled. The mission at Florence
+is to give away, and I am here to ask for the secretaryship. I know well
+that the appointment is a Foreign-Office one; but Blackwell, who gives
+me the present information, says, 'If you have interest with Kilgoff,
+push it now; his recommendation will, I know, be attended to.' He then
+goes on to say that Dollington is most anxious to know if you would
+take his house off his hands. He has been furnishing and arranging the
+interior most expensively, never dreaming of a recall."
+
+"When did this news come?" said Lord Kilgoff, sitting down and wiping
+his forehead, on which the perspiration now stood, from agitation.
+
+"Yesterday. Blackwell sent a cabinet messenger to me, but with the
+strictest injunctions to secrecy. In fact, the rumor would call so many
+suitors in the field, that the Foreign Office would be besieged."
+
+"You can rely upon it, however?"
+
+"Unquestionably. Blackwell writes me that the thing is done. You will
+receive the offer immediately after the recess."
+
+"You acted very properly, I must say,--very properly, indeed, in giving
+me this early notice of his Majesty's gracious intentions with regard
+to me; the more, as I shall have time to consider how far my views
+upon questions of foreign politics are in agreement with those of the
+Government."
+
+"Upon that point your Lordship's mind may be at rest. I gather from
+Blackwell that you will receive the widest discretion. The Secretary of
+State has named you as _the_ man; of course interference is out of the
+question."
+
+"Of course it would be, sir, were I to accept the mission. Dollington's
+house, I conclude, is a suitable one, and we 'll think of it; and as to
+yourself, Linton, I really am at a loss what to say. Lady Kilgoff--it is
+best to be candid--is prejudiced against you. She thinks you satirical
+and sarcastic, as if,"--and here he raised his head, and threw forward
+his chin with most imposing dignity,--"as if the person who bore _my_
+name need fear such qualities anywhere; but besides this, it appears
+to _me_ that your abilities are not diplomatic. You have neither that
+natural reserve nor that suave impressiveness 'the line' requires. You
+are a Club man,-and will probably make a very good House of Commons man;
+but diplomacy, Mr. Linton,--diplomacy is a high, I had almost said a
+sacred vocation! To all the _prestige_ of family and ancient lineage
+must be added the most insinuating graces of manner. Personal advantages
+should be combined with a high cultivation, so that the Envoy may
+worthily mirror forth the Majesty he represents. It would be an
+inestimable benefit if the Eastern principle of 'caste' were observed in
+diplomacy, and the office of Ambassador be limited to certain families!
+Believe me, sir, you may say of such, '_Nascitur non fit._'"
+
+As he spoke, his eyes flashed, and his cheek became flushed; the flutter
+of self-importance gave a fresh impulse to his circulation, and he
+walked back and forward in a perfect ecstasy of delight.
+
+"Alas, my Lord! you have made me feel too deeply the presumption of my
+request. I confess, till I had listened to your eloquent exposition, I
+had formed other and very erroneous ideas upon this subject. I see, now,
+that I am quite unsuited to the career. The very fact that it becomes
+your Lordship is evidence enough how unfitted it would prove to me."
+
+"I will not say, that in Greece, or perhaps with some republican
+government, you might not be very eligible. We'll consider about it."
+
+"No, no, my Lord; I'll content myself with more humble fortunes. I
+suppose there is always a place for every capacity; and now, to a matter
+purely personal to myself, and in which, I hope, I may count upon your
+kind co-operation. I have thoughts of marriage, my Lord, and as I am a
+stranger in this country, unconnected with it by kindred or connection,
+I would ask of you to give me that sanction and currency which the honor
+of your Lordship's friendship confers. The lady upon whom I have fixed
+my choice is without fortune, but of a family which traces back to
+royalty, I fancy. This Irish pride of lineage, then, requires that I,
+upon my side, should not be deficient in such pretensions."
+
+"I am not a Clarencieux, nor Norroy, sir, to make out your genealogy,"
+said the old peer, with ineffable disdain.
+
+Linton had more difficulty to control his laughter than his anger at
+this impertinent absurdity. "I was not thinking of 'the tree,' my Lord,
+but its last and most insignificant twig, myself; and, remembering how
+many kindnesses I owed you, how uniformly your patronage had befriended
+me through life, I still reckon upon the feeling to serve me once more."
+
+"Be explicit. What do you ask?" said he, leaning back and looking like a
+monarch whose will was half omnipotence.
+
+"What I should like, my Lord, is this,--that you would permit me to
+drive you over some morning to the gentleman's house, where, presenting
+the family to your Lordship, I might, while enjoying the sanction of
+your intimacy and friendship, also obtain your opinion upon the merits
+of one with whom I would link my humble destinies. I have said that the
+lady has no fortune; but your Lordship has shown the noble example of
+selecting for far higher and more ennobling qualities than wealth." This
+was said with a spice of that subdued raillery of which Linton was a
+master; and he saw, with delight, how the old peer winced under it.
+
+"Very true, sir; your remark is just, except that the disparity between
+our conditions does not give the instance the force of example; nor am I
+certain the experiment will be always successful!" The irritation
+under which the last words were uttered spread a triumphant joy through
+Linton's heart, nor dare he trust himself to speak, lest he should
+reveal it!
+
+"Perhaps a letter, Mr. Linton, would answer your object. It appears to
+_me_ that the condescension of a visit is a step too far in advance.
+You are aware that, in a day or two, as his Majesty's representative,
+etiquette would require that I should never make the initiative in
+acquaintance."
+
+"Pardon my interrupting, my Lord; but that rule will only apply to you
+at the seat of your mission. Here, you have no other distinction than of
+being the well-known leader of the Irish peerage,--the great head of an
+illustrious body, who look up to you for guidance and direction."
+
+"You are right, perhaps, sir,--my station is what you have described
+it. I trust you have not mentioned to Lady Kilgoff anything of your
+Foreign-Office news?"
+
+"Of course not, my Lord. It will always remain with your discretion when
+and how to make the communication."
+
+"It appears to me, sir, that her Ladyship has admitted many of the
+inmates here to a degree of intimacy quite inconsistent with their
+relative stations."
+
+"Her Ladyship's youth and amiability of manner offer great temptations
+to the inroads of obtrusiveness," said Linton, with the air of one
+thinking aloud.
+
+"I disagree with you, sir, entirely. I was young myself, sir, and, I am
+told, not quite destitute of those attractions you speak of; but I
+am not aware that any one ever took a liberty with _me!_ This must be
+looked to. And now, your affair? When is it to come off? Your marriage,
+I mean?"
+
+"That is by no means so certain, my Lord," said Linton, who smiled in
+spite of himself at the careless tone in which his Lordship treated
+so very humble an event. "I may reckon on your Lordship's assistance,
+however?"
+
+Lord Kilgoff waved his hand in token of acquiescence, and Linton took a
+formal leave, almost bursting with laughter at the ridiculous conceit he
+had himself contributed to create.
+
+"Ay," muttered he, as he descended the stairs, "as a democrat, an
+out-and-out democrat, I say, 'Long live' an Hereditary Peerage! 'I know
+nothing can equal it, in making the untitled classes the rulers."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI. A WET DAT--THE FALSE SIGNAL
+
+     So cunning, like the doubling of the hare,
+     Oft turns upon itself.
+
+     Bell.
+
+
+It was a rainy day,--one of those downright pelting, pouring, swooping
+wet days which Ireland is accustomed to, for nearly one half of every
+year. All out-of-door occupation was impossible; the most fidgety could
+only get as far as the stables, to smoke a cigar and "chaff" horse-talk
+with the grooms; while the more resigned wandered from room to room, and
+place to place, in that restlessness that defies common philosophy to
+subdue.
+
+A wet day in a country house is always a severe trial. Sociability will
+not be coerced, and the greater the necessity for mutual assistance,
+the less is the disposition to render it; besides, they who habitually
+contribute least to the enjoyment of their fellows have always great
+resources of annoyance at such periods,--as the most insignificant
+instrument in the orchestra can at any moment destroy the harmony of the
+band.
+
+Scarcely was breakfast over in Tubbermore than the guests were scattered
+in various directions, it was difficult to say where. Now and then,
+some one would peep into the drawing-room or the library, and, as if not
+seeing "the right man," shut the door noiselessly, and depart. Of the
+younger men, many were sleeping off the debauch of the previous evening.
+Downie Meek, who had a theory upon the subject, always kept his bed
+while it rained. Sir Andrew had, unfortunately, mistaken a lotion
+containing laudanum for some concoction of bitters, and was obliged
+to be kept eternally walking up and down stairs, along corridors and
+passages, lest he should drop asleep; his man, Flint, accompanying him
+with "the wakeful announcement" of "Hae a care, Sir Andrew; here 's
+my leddy,"--an antidote to the narcotic worth all the Pharmacopoeia
+contained.
+
+Lady Janet was meanwhile deep in the formation of a stomachic, which,
+judging from the maid's face as she tasted it, must needs have been of
+the pungent order. Mrs. White was letter-writing. Howie was sketching
+heads of the company, under the title of "Beauties of Ireland," for a
+weekly newspaper. Frobisher was instructing Miss Meek in the science of
+making knee-caps for one of his horses; and so with the remainder, a few
+only were to be seen below stairs; of these the "Chief" was fast asleep
+with the "Quarterly" on his knee, and a stray subaltern or two sat
+conning over the "Army List," and gazing in stupid wonder at their
+own names in print! And now we come to the Kennyfecks, at whose door
+a servant stands knocking for the second or third time. "Come in" is
+heard, and he enters.
+
+The blinds are drawn, which, adding to the gloom of the day, the vast
+apartment is in semi-darkness, and it is some time before you can
+descry the figures. On a sofa sits Mrs. Kennyfeck in a kind of
+travelling-dress, with her bonnet beside her; fragments of ribbons and
+stray articles of dress litter the sofa and the table, several trunks
+are strewn about, and a maid and a man are performing a _pas de deux_ on
+an "imperial," which, in its efforts to close at the lock, is giving
+way simultaneously at the hinges. Miss Kennyfeck stands at the chimney
+burning notes and letters, of which, as she glances from time to time,
+her features betray the tenor; and, lastly, Olivia is lying on a sofa,
+her face concealed between her hands, and only the quick palpitation of
+her bosom showing that her agitation is not lulled in slumber.
+
+"What does he say? I can't hear him with all that stamping," said Mrs.
+Kennyfeck; and her voice was not of the dulcet order.
+
+"He says the post-horses have come, mamma, and wishes to know when he's
+to come round with the carriage."
+
+"When I give orders for it; not till then," said she, imperiously; and
+the man, abashed in such a presence, departed.
+
+"There, Pearse, leave it so; I cannot bear that noise any longer.
+Frances, you need n't wait; I 'll send for you if I want you;" and the
+servants withdrew.
+
+"He's at least two hours away, now," said she, addressing her eldest
+daughter.
+
+"Very nearly. It wanted only a few minutes to eleven when Mr. Cashel
+sent for him."
+
+"I hope, Caroline, that he will remember what is due, not to himself,--I
+cannot say that,--but to me, on this occasion. It is impossible that
+Cashel can avoid the acknowledgment of his attentions; nothing but your
+father's incompetence could permit of his escape."
+
+"It's too late, mamma,--altogether too late. When Aunt Fanny--"
+
+"Don't speak of her; don't even mention her name in my presence," cried
+Mrs. Kennyfeck, with an accent of bitter anguish.
+
+"I was merely going to observe, mamma, that her conduct has involved
+us in such ridicule, that reparation of the mischief is out of the
+question."
+
+"I wish we were away; I cannot bear to stay another day here," said
+Olivia, with a deep sigh.
+
+"If Aunt--"
+
+"Don't call her your aunt, Caroline,--I forbid it; she is no sister of
+mine; she has been the evil genius of our family all her life long.
+But for her and her wiles I had never been married to your father!
+Just fancy what a position you might have had now, but for that cruel
+mishap."
+
+The problem, to judge from Miss Kennyfeck's face, seemed difficult to
+solve; but she prudently held her peace.
+
+"You may rest assured they know it all below stairs. That odious Lady
+Janet has told it in every dressing-room already."
+
+"And Linton, mamma," said Caroline, whose sisterly feelings were merged
+in most impartial justice,--"only fancy Linton imitating Aunt Fanny's
+benediction with uplifted hands and eyes. I almost think I see him
+before me, and hear the insolent shouts of laughter on every side."
+
+"Give me the aromatic vinegar!" cried Mrs. Kennyfeck, with an accent
+like suffocation.
+
+"I think there 's some one at the door. Come in," cried Miss Kennyfeck;
+and a very smartly dressed groom entered with a note.
+
+"Is there any answer to this?" said Mrs. Kennyfeck, listlessly, who
+thought it one of the habitual invitations to some excursion in a
+carriage or on horseback.
+
+"Yes, my Lady," said the servant, bowing.
+
+The title sounded pleasantly, and Mrs. K.'s features relaxed as she
+broke the seal.
+
+Ah, Mrs. Kennyfeck, indolently and carelessly as you hold that small
+epistle in your fingers, it cost him who wrote it many a puzzling
+thought, and many a fair sheet of foolscap. Critics assure us that style
+is no criterion of the labor of composition, and that Johnson's rounded
+periods ran flippantly off the pen, while the seemingly careless
+sentences of Rousseau cost days and nights of toil. The note was from
+Sir Harvey Upton, and neither by its caligraphy nor grammar shed lustre
+on the literary genius of his corps. It went thus:--
+
+     My dear Madam,--The beauty and fascinations of your
+     daughters--but more especially of the second--have
+     conspired to inspire me with sentiments of respectful
+     admiration, which may speedily become something warmer
+     should I obtain the gratifying sensation of your
+     approbation.
+
+     Family, fortune, and future expectations, will I fancy, be
+     found "all right."
+
+     Part of the estate entailed on the baronetcy; encumbrances,
+     a trifle.
+
+     I am, waiting your reply, dear madam, Very respectfully
+     yours,
+
+     Harvey Upton,
+
+    ----Hussars.
+
+"Shall we write, Cary?" whispered Mrs. Kennyfeck, in the very faintest
+of tones.
+
+"Better not, mamma; a verbal 'happy to see Sir Harvey,' safer," was the
+answer.
+
+Mrs. Kennyfeck yielded to the sager counsel, and the servant departed
+with the message.
+
+"We may leave the matter entirely with Livy, mamma," said her sister,
+half sarcastically; "I opine that innocence, upon the present occasion,
+will carry the day."
+
+"I am glad of it," said Mrs. Kennyfeck; "I am fatigued and out of
+spirits: I 'd rather not receive visitors."
+
+"A white frock and a little sentiment,--a sprig of jessamine and a bit
+of poetry!" said Miss K., as she arranged her hair at the glass; "only
+don't overdo it, Livy."
+
+"I 'd much rather you 'd not go!" said Olivia, languidly.
+
+"Of course, my dear, we are perfectly aware of that; but we have our
+duties also. Mamma must take care that Aunt Fanny does not 'give you
+away' before you 're asked for; and I must see what the result of papa's
+interview with Cashel may be, lest you should make a bad market while a
+good bid is being offered."
+
+"Clever creature!" murmured Mrs. Kennyfeck, as she rose to leave the
+room.
+
+"It will seem so odd, mamma, that I'm to receive him, alone!"
+
+"Not at all, Livy; we are packing up to go off: there are the trunks
+and cap-cases all strewn about. You can be engaged with Frances, and
+send her to summon us when Sir Harvey comes," said Miss Kennyfeck.
+
+"Just so, my dear; and then you 'll entreat of him to sit down,--all
+as if you had heard nothing of his note; you 'll be quite lively and
+natural in your manner."
+
+"Ah, mamma, remember what Talleyrand said to the Emperor: 'Give me the
+instructions, sire, but leave the knavery to myself.' My sweet sister is
+quite diplomatic enough to re-echo it."
+
+Livy looked reproachfully at her, but said nothing.
+
+"If I discover, my dear, that the high prize is on your ticket, I 'll
+wear a handkerchief round my neck. Without you see this emblem, don't
+discard your baronet."
+
+"Mamma, is this quite fair?" said Olivia. "Cary speaks as if my heart
+had no possible concern in the matter."
+
+"Quite the reverse, my dear; but bear in mind that you have only one
+heart, and it would not be altogether discreet to give it away to two
+parties. Cary is always right, my love, in morals as in everything
+else!"
+
+"And how am I to behave, mamma," said Olivia, with more courage than
+before, "if I am neither to refuse nor accept Sir Harvey's proposals?"
+
+"Did you never flirt, Livy dearest? Doesn't every partner with whom you
+dance twice of the same evening make advances that are neither repelled
+nor received? The silliest boarding-school miss that ever blushed
+before her Italian teacher knows how to treat such difficulties, if they
+deserve the name. But we are delaying too long. Mamma! to your post,
+while I, in the library, establish a strict blockade over papa."
+
+With these words Miss Kennyfeck waved her hand affectedly in adieu,
+and led her mother from the room; while Olivia, after a second's pause,
+arose and arrayed more smoothly the silky tresses of her hair before the
+glass.
+
+We have once already, in this veracious narrative, been ungallant enough
+to peep at this young lady, and coolly watch her strategy before the
+enemy. We will not repeat the offence, nor linger to mark how, as she
+walked the room, she stopped from time to time before the mirror to gaze
+on charms which expectancy had already heightened; in fact, we will
+quit the chamber with Mrs. Kennyfeck and her elder daughter, and as the
+choice is permitted which to follow, we select the latter.
+
+"Here 's Miss Kennyfeck, by Jove!" cried Jennings, as she crossed the
+hall. "We have all been dying to see you; pray come here and give us
+your counsel." And he led her into a small drawing-room, where,
+around a table covered with prints and colored drawings of costume, a
+considerable number of the guests were assembled.
+
+"For mercy's sake, nothing out of the Waverley novels!" said the blond
+lady. "I am wearied of seeing the Jewess Rebecca wherever I go."
+
+"Well, I'll be Diana Vernon, I know that," said Miss Meek; "you may all
+choose how you please."
+
+"But you can't be, my love, if we have the 'Midsummer Night's Dream,'"
+said Mrs. White.
+
+"Why can't I, if Charley takes Osbaldiston?" said she.
+
+"Because they are not characters of the piece."
+
+"Nobody cares for character in a masquerade!" said Linton.
+
+"Or if they have any, they put a mask over it," said Lady Janet
+
+"I vote that we are all Tyrolese peasanths," lisped the fat and dumpy
+Mrs. Malone. "It's a most picthuresque costhume."
+
+"What will you be, Sir Andrew?" cried another, as the old general passed
+the door in a dog-trot, with Flint behind him.
+
+"By me saul! I thenk I'll be the Wanderin' Jew!" cried he, wiping the
+perspiration off his forehead.
+
+"You hear that, Lady Janet?" said Linton, roguishly. "Sir Andrew intends
+to live forever."
+
+"So that I don't, sir, I can't complain," said she, with a tartness
+quite electric.
+
+"I incline to leave the choice of each free," said Miss Kennyfeck, as
+she tossed over the drawings. "When you select a story, there are always
+a certain number of characters nobody likes to take."
+
+"I'll be Henri Quatre," said an infantry captain. "I wish you 'd be
+Gabrielle, Miss Kennyfeck?"
+
+"Thanks; but I 've a fancy for that Cephalonian costume."
+
+"Egad! you can always pick up a 'Greek' or two, here, to keep you
+company," said a hussar; but no one joined his laugh.
+
+"I'll be Don Belianis!" said a tall, melancholy subaltern.
+
+"What were you at Bellingden's last year, Fillymore?"
+
+"I went as 'Chiffney;' but they turned me out. The whole was mediaeval,
+and they said I was all wrong."
+
+"Try that turban, my dear Miss Kennyfeck," said Mrs. White, who,
+suspecting the young lady wore false ringlets, made a vigorous effort to
+expose the cheat.
+
+"By Jove! how becoming!" exclaimed Jennings. "Now, put on the
+mantle,--not over the right shoulder, but so,--crossed a little."
+
+"You ought to have this scarf round your neck," said another; "blue and
+gold have such an excellent effect."
+
+"I vote for your wearing that," said the hussar, quite smitten with her
+beauty. "What do they call the dress?"
+
+"Costume of Leopoldine of Eschingen, who defended the 'Irongate' against
+the Turks, in 1662."
+
+"Where was that?" asked one.
+
+"In somebody's avenue, I suppose," lisped out the tall sub.
+
+"No, no; it 's on some river or other. There's a cataract they call the
+Irongate,--I forget where."
+
+"The Lethe, perhaps," said Miss Kennyfeck, slyly.
+
+"Is not that a pace! by Jove! Cashel 's in a hurry. This way," said
+Jennings; and they all rushed to the window in time to see Roland flit
+past at a full gallop.
+
+Miss Kennyfeck did not wait for more; but, throwing off the turban and
+mantle, hastened out to catch her father, who, at the same instant, was
+issuing from the library..
+
+"Now, pa," said she, slipping her arm within his, "how is it to be?
+Pray, now, don't affect the mysterious, but say at once,--has he
+proposed?"
+
+"Who? has who proposed?"
+
+"Mr. Cashel, of course. How could I mean any other?"
+
+"For you, my dear?" said he, for once venturing upon a bit of raillery.
+
+"Pshaw, pa; for Olivia!"
+
+"Nothing of the kind, my dear. Such a subject has never been alluded to
+between us."
+
+"Poor thing! she has been badly treated, then, that's all! It would,
+however, have saved us all a world of misconception if you had only said
+so at first; you must own that."
+
+"But you forget, Miss Kennyfeck, that I never supposed you entertained
+this impression. Mr. Cashel's conversation with me related exclusively
+to the affairs of his property."
+
+"Poor Livy!" said Miss Kennyfeck, letting go his arm and ascending the
+stairs. As Miss Kennyfeck drew near the door of the drawing room, she
+began to sing sufficiently loud to be heard by those within, and thus,
+judiciously heralding her approach, she opened the door and entered.
+Sir Harvey had been standing beside the chimney-piece with Olivia, but
+turned hastily round, his countenance exhibiting that state of mingled
+doubt, fear, and satisfaction, which vouched for the cleverness of the
+young lady's tactics. Nothing, in truth, could have been more adroit
+than her management; performing a feat which among naval men is known
+as "backing and filling," she succeeded in manoeuvring for nigh an hour,
+without ever advancing or retiring. We should be unwilling to deny our
+reader the value of a lesson, did we not feel how the fairer portion of
+our audience would weary over a recital, in every detail of which they
+could instruct our ignorance.
+
+The late Lord Londonderry was famed for being able to occupy "the
+house" for any given time without ever communicating a fact, raising a
+question, solving a difficulty, or, what is harder than all, committing
+_himself_. But how humbly does this dexterity appear beside the
+young-lady-like tact that, opposed by all the importunity of a lover,
+can play the game in such wise that after fifty-odd minutes the "pieces"
+should stand upon the board precisely as they did at the beginning!
+
+"How do you do, Sir Harvey? Why are you not on that committee of costume
+in the little drawing-room where the great question at issue is between
+the time of the crusades and the swell mob?"
+
+"I have been far more agreeably occupied, in a manner that my
+feelings"--here Olivia looked disappointed,--"my heart, I mean," said
+he--and the young lady looked dignified--"my feelings and my heart,
+too," resumed be, horribly puzzled which tack to sail upon, "assure me
+must nearly concern my future happiness."
+
+"How pleasant!" said Cary, laughingly, as if she accepted the speech as
+some high-flown compliment; "you are so fortunate to know what to do on
+a dreary wet day like this."
+
+Olivia, whose eyes were bent upon her sister, changed color more than
+once. "The signal was flying," "Stop firing," just at the moment
+when the enemy had all but "struck;" in less figurative phrase, Miss
+Kennyfeck's throat was encircled by the scarf which she had forgotten to
+lay aside on leaving the drawing-room.
+
+The object was too remarkable to escape notice, and Olivia's face grew
+scarlet as she thought of her triumph.
+
+Miss Kennyfeck saw this, but attributed the agitation to anything but
+its true cause.
+
+"I 'm in search of mamma," said she, and with a very peculiar glance at
+Olivia, left the room.
+
+Sir Harvey's visit lasted full twenty minutes longer; and although no
+record has been preserved of what passed on the occasion, they who met
+him descending the stairs all agreed in describing his appearance as
+most gloomy and despondent. As for Olivia, she saw the door close after
+him with a something very like sorrow. There was no love in the case,
+nor anything within a day's journey of it; but he was good-looking,
+fashionable, well-mannered, and mustachioed. She would have been "my
+lady," too; and though this is but a "brevet nobility" after all, it has
+all "the sound of the true metal." She thought over all these things;
+and she thought, besides, how very sad he looked when she said "No;"
+and, how much sadder, when asked the usual question about "time, and
+proved devotion, and all that sort of thing," she said "No," again; and
+how, saddest of all, when she made the stereotyped little speech about
+"sisterly affection, and seeing him happy with another!" Oh dear! oh
+dear! is it not very wearisome and depressing to think that chess can
+have some hundred thousand combinations, and love-making but its two or
+three "gambits,"--the "fool's-mate" the chief of them? We have said she
+was sorry for what had occurred; but she consoled herself by remembering
+it was not her fault that Sir Harvey was not as rich as Cashel, and
+nephew to a live uncle!
+
+As Sir Harvey's "lady"--Heaven forgive me, I had almost written
+"wife"--she would have been the envy of a very large circle of her
+Dublin acquaintance; and then she knew that these dragoon people have a
+way of making their money go so much further than civilians; and in all
+that regards horses, equipage, and outward show, the smartest "mufti"
+is a seedy affair beside the frogs of the new regulation pelisse! She
+actually began to feel misgivings about her choice. A high drag at the
+Howth races, a crowd of whiskered fellows of "ours," and the band of the
+regiment in Merrion Square, came home to her "dear Dublin" imagination
+with irresistible fascination. In her mind's eye, she had already cut
+the "bar," and been coldly distant with the infantry. It was a little
+revery of small triumphs, but the sum of them mounted up to something
+considerable.
+
+"Is he gone, Livy?" said Cary, as, entering noiselessly, she stole
+behind her sister's chair.
+
+"Yes, dear, he is gone!" said she, sighing slightly.
+
+"My poor forlorn damsel, don't take his absence so much to heart! You
+'re certain to see him at dinner!"
+
+"He said he'd leave this afternoon," said she, gravely; "that he could
+n't bear to meet me after what had passed."
+
+"And what has passed, child?"
+
+"You know, of course, Cary; I refused him!"
+
+"Refused him!--refused him!--what possessed you to do so?"
+
+"This!" said Olivia, gasping with terror at the unknown danger; and she
+caught hold of the fringe of her sister's scarf. Miss Kennyfeck started,
+and put her hand to her neck, and, suddenly letting it fall again, she
+leaned against the wall for support.
+
+"This was a mistake, Livy," said she, in a voice barely above a whisper;
+"I was trying on some costumes below stairs, and they tied this round my
+neck, where I utterly forgot it."
+
+"And there is nothing--" She could not go on, but, hanging her head,
+burst into tears.
+
+"My poor dear Livy, don't give way so; the fault, I know, was all mine.
+Let me try if I cannot repair it Have you positively refused him?"
+
+She nodded, but could not speak.
+
+"Did you say that there was no hope,--that your sentiments could never
+change?"
+
+"I did."
+
+"Come, that's not so bad; men never believe that. You did n't say that
+your affections were engaged?"
+
+"No!"
+
+"There 's a dear child," said she, kissing her neck; "I knew you 'd
+not be guilty of such folly. And how did you part, Livy,--coldly, or in
+affectionate sorrow?"
+
+"Coldly; we did not shake hands."
+
+"That's right; all as it ought to be. It is a sad blunder, but I hope
+not irreparable. Cheer up, child; depend upon it, _my_ scarf is not so
+fatal as Aunt Fanny's blessing."
+
+"Ah, then, my dear, I don't see much difference in the end," said that
+redoubtable lady herself, who issued from a small conservatory off the
+drawing-room, where she had lain in wait for the last half hour. "I
+heard it, my dears, and a nice hash you made of it between you, with
+your signals and telescopes,"--we believe she meant telegraphs;
+"you threw out the dirty water, now, in earnest!" And so saying, she
+proceeded to disentangle herself from a prickly creeper which had a most
+pertinacious hold of what Linton called her "scalp-lock."
+
+"Aunt Fanny's blessing indeed!" said she, for her temper knew no bounds
+when she saw the enemy silenced. "'T is little harm that would have
+done, if ye did n't take to screaming about it; as if any man could bear
+that! You drove him away, my dear, just the way your own mother did poor
+Major Cohlhayne,--with hard crying,--till he said, 'he 'd as soon go to
+a wake as take tay in the house.' And sure enough, she had to take up
+with your poor father, after! Just so. I never knew luck come of signals
+and signs. When the good thing 's before you, help yourself. My poor
+father used to say, 'Don't pass "the spirits" because there 's claret at
+the head of the table; who knows if it 'll ever come down to you?' And
+there you are, now! and glad enough you 'd be to take that curate I saw
+in Dublin, with the smooth face, this minute. I don't blame you as much
+as your poor foolish mother; she has you as she reared you. Bad luck to
+you for a plant!" cried she, as the ingenious creeper insinuated itself
+among the meshes of her Limerick lace collar. "Cary, just take this out
+for me;" but Cary was gone, and her sister with her. Nor did Aunt Fanny
+know how long her eloquence had been purely soliloquy.
+
+She looked around her for a moment at the deserted battle-field, and
+then slowly retired.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII. THE SHADOW IN THE MIRROR
+
+     "No" is the feminine of "Yes!"
+
+     Hungarian Proverb.
+
+
+Bad as the weather is,--and certainly even in Ireland a more drenching,
+driving-down, pouring rain never fell,--we must ask of our readers to
+follow Cashel, who at a slapping gallop rode on, over grass and tillage,
+now careering lightly over the smooth sward, now sweltering along
+heavily through deep ground, regardless of the pelting storm, and
+scarcely noticing the strong fences which at every instant tried the
+stride and strength of his noble horse.
+
+If his speed was headlong, his seat was easy, and his hand as steady
+as if lounging along some public promenade; his features, however,
+were flushed, partly from the beating rain, but more from a feverish
+excitement that showed itself in his flashing eye and closely compressed
+lip. More than once, in crossing a difficult leap, his horse nearly
+fell, and although half on the ground, and only recovering by a
+scramble, he seemed not to heed the accident. At last he arrived at the
+tall oak paling which fenced the grounds of the cottage, and where
+it was his wont to halt and fasten his horse. Now, however, he rode
+fiercely at it, clearing the high leap with a tremendous spring, and
+alighting on the trimly kept grass-plat before the door.
+
+A slight faint shriek was heard as the horse dashed past the window,
+and, pale with terror, Mary Leicester stood in the porch.
+
+Cashel had meanwhile dismounted, and given his horse to the old
+gardener.
+
+"Not hurt, Mr. Cashel?" said she, trying to seem composed, while she
+trembled in every limb.
+
+"Not in the least. I never intended to have alarmed you, however."
+
+"Then it was no runaway?" said she, essaying a smile.
+
+"I 'm ashamed to say I have not that excuse for so rudely trampling over
+your neat sward. Will Mr. Corrigan forgive me?"
+
+"Of course he will, if he even ever knows that he has anything to
+forgive; but it so happens that he has gone into the village to-day,--an
+excursion he has not made for nigh a year. He wished to consult our
+friend the doctor on some matter of importance, and I half suspect he
+may have stayed to share his dinner."
+
+As Miss Leicester continued to make this explanation, they had reached
+the drawing-room, which, to Cashel's amazement, exhibited tokens of
+intended departure. Patches here and there on the walls showed where
+pictures had stood. The bookshelves were empty, the tables displayed
+none of those little trifling objects which denote daily life and its
+occupations, and his eye wandered over the sad-looking scene till it
+came back to her, as she stood reading his glances, and seeming to
+re-echo the sentiment they conveyed. "All this would seem to speak of
+leave-taking," said Cashel, in a voice that agitation made thick and
+guttural.
+
+"It is so," said she, with a sigh; "we are going away."
+
+"Going away!" Simple as the words are, we have no sadder sounds in our
+language; they have the sorrowful cadence that bespeaks desertion; they
+ring through the heart like a knell over long-past happiness; they are
+the requiem over "friends no more," and of times that never can come
+back again.
+
+"Going away!" How dreary does it sound,--as if life had no fixed
+destination in future, but that we were to drift over its bleak ocean,
+the "waifs" of what we once had been!
+
+"Going away!" cried Cashel. "But surely you have not heard--" He stopped
+himself; another word, and his secret had been revealed,--the secret he
+had so imperatively enjoined Tiernay to keep; for it was his intention
+to have left Ireland forever ere Mr. Corrigan should have learned the
+debt of gratitude he owed him. It is true, indeed, that one night of
+sleepless reflection had suggested another counsel, but had altered not
+his desire that the mystery should be preserved.
+
+He was confused, therefore, at the peril he had so narrowly escaped,
+and for a moment was silent; at length he resumed, in a tone of assumed
+ease,--
+
+"'Going away!' sounds to one like me, who have lived a life of
+wandering, so like pleasure that I always associate it with new scenes
+of enjoyment; I think all the sorrow is reserved for those who remain
+behind,--the deserted."
+
+"So it may," said she, "with those who, like yourself, have roamed
+the world in the excitement of ardent youth, glorying in enterprise,
+thirsting for adventure; but there are others--ourselves, for
+instance--whose humble fortunes have linked them with one class of
+scenes and objects till they have grown part of our very natures; so
+that we only know the world as it is associated with things familiar
+to daily use. There are, doubtless, plants of more gorgeous foliage and
+fairer flowers in other countries, but _we_ shall never learn to look at
+them as we do upon these that speak to us of home, of spring and summer,
+when they gladdened _us_, of autumn and winter, when our culture cared
+for _them_. There are sunsets more rich and glowing, but if we see them,
+it will be to think of that sinking orb which sent its last rays over
+that wide river, and lit up in a golden glory this little chamber. There
+'s not a charm the fairest clime can own but will have its highest merit
+in recalling some humble scene that tells of 'home.'"
+
+"I never could leave a spot so dear to me as this were!" cried Cashel,
+who watched with ecstasy the impassioned beauty of her features.
+
+"Do not say _that_," said she, seriously. "We can all of us do what we
+ought, however it may try our courage. Yes, I say courage," said she,
+smiling, "since I fancy it is a property you have a due respect for. If
+we leave scenes so dear to us as these, it is because we feel it a
+duty; and a duty fulfilled is a buckler against most sorrows. But we
+are wandering into a very sad theme,--at least, to judge from your grave
+looks. What news have you of your gay company?"
+
+"I see but little of them," said Cashel, abruptly.
+
+"What a strange host!--and how do they amuse themselves?"
+
+"As they fancy, I believe. I only know I never interfere with them,
+and they are kind enough to reciprocate the civility; and so we get on
+admirably."
+
+"I must say this scarcely speaks well for either party," said she,
+laughing.
+
+"I fear not; but it is true, notwithstanding."
+
+"You have a most accomplished friend, I believe?"
+
+"Linton. Do you mean Linton?"
+
+"Yes. He must be an excellent counsellor in all difficulties."
+
+Cashel did not look as if he concurred in the sentiment, but he said
+nothing; and Mary, half fearing that she had unwittingly given pain, was
+silent also. She was the first to speak.
+
+"Do you know, Mr. Cashel, how I passed the morning? You 'd scarcely
+guess. It was in writing a long letter,--so long, indeed, that I began
+to fear, like many efforts of over-zeal, it might defeat itself, and
+never get read; and that letter was--to _you_."
+
+"To _me!_ where is it, then?"
+
+"There!" said she, pointing to some charred leaves beneath the grate. "I
+see your curiosity, and I have no pretension to trifle with it. But
+last night, late, papa dictated to me a long sermon on your account,
+premising that the impertinence was from one you should never see again,
+and one who, however indiscreet in his friendship, was assuredly sincere
+in it. Were the document in existence, I should probably not have to
+utter so many apologies; for, on the whole, it was very flattering to
+you."
+
+"And why is it not so?" cried Cashel, eagerly.
+
+"I cannot tell you why."
+
+"Do you mean that you do not wish to tell, or do not know the reason?"
+
+"I do not know the reason," said she, firmly. "I was ill, slightly ill,
+this morning, and could not breakfast with papa. It was late when I
+arose, and he was on the very brink of starting for Dunkeeran; he seemed
+agitated and excited, and, after a few words of inquiry about my health,
+he said,--
+
+"'That letter, Mary, have you written it? Well, burn it Throw it into
+the fire at once.'
+
+"I did so; but I cannot conceal from you the deep interest he has taken
+in your fortunes,--a feeling which the dread of offending has possibly
+sentenced him to cherish in secret. At least, so I read his change of
+intention."
+
+"I had hoped he knew me better," said Cashel, in whose voice a feeling
+of disappointment might be traced. "It is the misfortune of men like
+myself to make the most unfavorable impression, where alone they are
+anxious for the opposite. Now, it may seem very uncourteous, but I am
+less than indifferent what the fair company yonder think of me; and yet
+I would give much to stand high in Mr. Corrigan's esteem."
+
+"And you do so, believe me," cried she, her eagerness moved by the
+evident despondency of his manner; "he speaks of you with all the
+interest of a father."
+
+"Do not say so," cried Cashel, in a voice tremulous with anxiety;
+"do not say so, if you mean not to encourage hopes I scarcely dare to
+cherish."
+
+His look and manner, even more than his words, startled her, and she
+stared at him, uncertain what reply to make.
+
+"I never knew a father, nor have I ever tasted a mother's affection. I
+have been one of whom fortune makes a plaything, as if to show how much
+worldly prosperity can consort with a desolate condition, and a heart
+for which none have sympathy. I had hoped, however, to attach others to
+me. I had joined in pursuits that were not mine, to endeavor to render
+myself companionable. I fell in with habits that were uncongenial, and
+tastes that I ever disliked; but without success. I might be 'the dupe.'
+but never 'the friend.' I could have borne much--I did bear much--to win
+something that resembled cordiality and esteem; but all in vain! When I
+lived the wild life of a Columbian sailor, I deemed that such men as I
+now associate with must be the very types of chivalry, and I longed to
+be of them, and among them. Still, the reproach lies not at their door.
+_They_ stepped not out of their sphere to act a part,--_I_ did; mine was
+all the sycophancy of imitation. The miserable cant of fashion formed
+all my code. But for this, I might have won good men's esteem; but for
+this, I might have learned what duties attach to fortune and station
+such as mine; and now I see the only one, from whom I hoped to gain the
+knowledge, about to leave me!"
+
+"This despondency is ill-judging and unfair," said Mary, in a kind tone.
+"You did, perhaps, choose your friends unwisely, but you judge them
+unjustly too. _They_ never dreamed of friendship in their intercourse
+with you; _they_ only thought of that companionship which men of the
+same age and fortune expect to meet in each other. If less worldly wise,
+or more generous than themselves, they deemed that they once had paid
+for their skill and cleverness; and so should _you_. Remember, that you
+put a value upon their intimacy which it never laid claim to, and that
+_they_ were less false than were _you_ self-deceived."
+
+"Be it so," said Cashel, hastily. "I care little where the delusion
+began. I meant honestly, and if they played not on the square with me,
+the fault be theirs; but that is not what I would speak of, nor what
+brought me here to-day. I came to throw my last stake for happiness."
+He paused, and took her hand in his. "I came," said he,--and his lips
+trembled as he spoke,--"I came to ask you to be my wife!"
+
+Mary withdrew her hand, which he had scarcely dared to press, and leaned
+upon the chimney-piece without speaking. It rarely happens that such
+an announcement is made to a young lady quite unexpectedly; such was,
+however, the case here: for nothing was she less prepared! Cashel, it
+is true, had long ceased to be indifferent to her; the evenings of his
+visits at the cottage were sure to be her very happiest; his absences
+made dreary blanks. The inartificial traits of his character had at
+first inspired interest; his generous nature, and his manly leaning
+to right, had created esteem of him. There were passages of romantic
+interest in his former life which seemed so well to suit his bold and
+dashing independence; and there was also an implicit deference, an
+almost humility, in the obedience he tendered to her grandfather which
+spoke much for one whom sudden wealth and prosperity might be supposed
+to have corrupted. Yet, all this while, had she never thought of what
+impression she herself was making.
+
+"I have but one duty," said she at last, in a faint whisper.
+
+[Illustration: 188]
+
+"Might I not share it with you, Mary?" said he, again taking her hand
+between his own; "you would not grudge me some part of his affection?"
+
+"Who crossed the window there?" cried she, starting; "did you not see a
+figure pass?"
+
+"No, I saw no one,--I thought of none, save you."
+
+"I am too much frightened to speak. I saw someone stop before the window
+and make a gesture, as if threatening,--I saw it in the glass."
+
+Cashel immediately hurried from the room, and, passing out, searched
+through the shrubberies on either side of the cottage, but without
+success. On examining closely, however, he could detect the trace
+of recent footsteps on the wet grass, but lost the direction on the
+gravel-walk; and it was in a frame of mind far from tranquil that be
+reentered the room.
+
+"You saw no one?" said she, eagerly.
+
+"Not one."
+
+"Nor any appearance of footsteps?"
+
+"Yes, I did, or fancied I did, detect such before the window; but why
+should this alarm you, or turn your mind from what we spoke of? Let me
+once more--"
+
+"Not now--not now, I beg of you; a secret misgiving is over me, and I am
+not generally a coward; but I have not the collectedness to speak to you
+as I ought. I would not wish to be unkind, nor would I yet deceive you.
+This cannot be."
+
+"Cannot be, Mary?"
+
+"Do not ask me more now. You are too generous to give pain: spare me,
+then, the suffering of inflicting it on you. I will tell you my reasons,
+you shall own them to be sufficient."
+
+"When are we to meet again?" said Roland, as he moved slowly towards the
+door.
+
+"There it is again!" cried she, in a voice of actual terror; and
+Cashel opened the window and sprang out; but even the slight delay in
+unfastening the sash prevented his overtaking the intruder, whoever
+he might be, while, in the abundance of evergreens about, search was
+certain to prove fruitless.
+
+"Good-bye," said she, endeavoring to smile; "you are too proud and high
+of spirit, if I read you aright, to return to a theme like this."
+
+"I am humble enough to sue it out,--a very suppliant," said he,
+passionately.
+
+"I thought otherwise of you," said she, affecting a look of
+disappointment.
+
+"Think of me how you will, so that you know I love you," cried he,
+pressing his lips to her hand; and then, half-maddened by the conflict
+in his mind, he hastened out, and, mounting his horse, rode off, not,
+indeed, at the mad speed of his coming, but slowly, and with bent-down
+head.
+
+Let a man be ever so little of a coxcomb, the chances are that he will
+always explain a refusal of this kind on any ground rather than upon
+that of his own unworthiness. It is either a case "of pre-engaged
+affection" or some secret influence on the score of family and fortune;
+and even this sophistry lends its balm to wounded self-love. Cashel,
+unhappily for his peace of mind, had not studied in this school, and
+went his way in deep despondency. Like many men who indulge but seldom
+in self-examination, he never knew how much his affections were involved
+till his proffer of them was refused. Now, for the first time, he
+felt that; now recognized what store he placed on her esteem, and how
+naturally he had turned from the wearisome dissipations of his own house
+to the cheerful happiness of "the cottage." Neither could he divest
+himself of the thought that had Mary known him in his early and his only
+true character, she might not have refused him, and that he owed his
+failure to that mongrel thing which wealth had made him.
+
+"I never was intended for this kind of life," thought he. "I am driven
+to absurdities and extravagances to give it any character of interest in
+my eyes, and then I feel ashamed of such triviality. To live among the
+rich, a man should be born among them,--should have the habits, the
+tastes, and the traditions. These are to be imbibed from infancy, but
+not acquired in manhood,--at least, I will not begin the study."
+
+He turned homeward, still slowly. The bell was ringing which called the
+guests to dress for dinner, as he reached a large open lawn before the
+house, and for a moment he halted, muttering to himself, "How would it
+be, now, were I to turn my horse's head, and never re-enter that house?
+How many are there, of all my 'dear friends,' who would ever ask what
+befell me?"
+
+Arrived at the door, he passed upstairs to his dressing-room, upon
+a table of which he perceived a very small note, sealed with Lady
+Kilgoff's initials. It was written in pencil, and merely contained one
+line: "Come over to me, before dinner, for one minute.--L. K."
+
+He had not seen her since the day before, when he had in vain sought
+to overtake her in the wood; and her absence from the dinner-table
+had seemed to him in pique at his breach of engagement. Was this an
+endeavor, then, to revive that strange relationship between them, which
+took every form save love-making, but was all the more dangerous on that
+account? Or was it merely to take up some commonplace plan of amusement
+and pleasure,--that mock importance given to trifles which as frequently
+makes them cease to be trifles?
+
+Half careless as to what the invitation portended, and still pondering
+over his failure, he reached her door and knocked.
+
+"Come in," said she; and he entered.
+
+Dressed for dinner with unusual taste and splendor, he had never seen
+her look so beautiful. For some time back she had observed an
+almost studied simplicity of dress, rarely wearing an ornament, and
+distinguishing herself rather by a half Puritanism of style. The sudden
+change to all the blaze of diamonds, and the softening influence of deep
+folds of lace, gave a brilliancy to her appearance quite magicial; nor
+was Cashel's breeding proof against a stare of amazement and admiration.
+
+A deeper flush on her cheek acknowledged how she felt his confusion,
+and, hastening to relieve it, she said,--
+
+"I have but a moment to speak to you. It is almost seven o'clock. You
+were at 'the cottage' to-day?"
+
+"Yes," said Roland, his cheek growing scarlet as he spoke.
+
+"And, doubtless, your visit had some object of importance. Nay, no
+confessions. This is not curiosity on my part, but to let you know that
+you were followed. Scarcely had you left this, when Linton set out
+also, making a circuit by the wood, but at a speed which must have soon
+overtaken you. He returned some time before you, at the same speed, and
+entered by the back gate of the stables. From this window I could see
+him each time."
+
+"Indeed," said Roland, remembering the figure Mary had seen before the
+window.
+
+"You know my opinion of this man already. He never moves without a plan;
+and a plan, with him, is ever a treachery."
+
+"He avoids me strangely; we rarely meet now,--never by any chance alone.
+And even before others there is a forced gayety in his manner that all
+his artifice cannot pass off for real."
+
+"Have you thwarted him in anything?"
+
+"Not that I know of."
+
+"Have you refused him any favor that he sought for?"
+
+"Never."
+
+"Is he your debtor for what he ought, but never means, to pay?"
+
+"Not even that. What I may have given him has been always without any
+reserve or thought of restitution."
+
+"Are your affections directed towards the same object?"
+
+As she said this, the ease in which she commenced gradually left her,
+and her cheek grew flushed ere she finished.
+
+"I cannot tell. There are no confidences between us; besides, a very
+bankrupt in love could not envy my solvency. Mine is a heart that cannot
+threaten dangerous rivalry!"
+
+"You cannot be certain of that!" said she, as if thinking aloud.
+
+Fortunately, Cashel did not hear the words, but stood in deep revery for
+some seconds.
+
+"There! the second bell has rung; I must leave you. My Lord comes down
+to dinner to-day. It is by his orders that I am thus showily dressed.
+Linton has been filling his mind with stories of some embassy he is to
+have, and we are already rehearsing 'our excellencies!' I have but time
+to say, Be on your guard; Linton is no common enemy, nor does it need an
+injury to make him one."
+
+"It is very rude of me, I know, to interrupt so interesting a
+_tete-a-tete_, but Mr. Cashel's cook has feelings also at stake."
+
+These words were spoken by Lord Kilgoff, who, in a tone of no small
+irritation, now joined them.
+
+"I was speaking of your mission, my Lord."
+
+"Which you forgot, of course, was not to be mentioned,--even to so
+sincere a well-wisher as Mr. Cashel."
+
+"In any case, my Lord, it remains safe in my keeping."
+
+"Very possibly, sir; but it is a poor earnest Lady Kilgoff gives of her
+fitness as the wife of a 'diplomatist.'"
+
+Cashel gave his arm to Lady Kilgoff, without speaking, and sis Lordship
+followed them slowly towards the dining-room. Linton stood at the door
+as they entered, and his wan features grew flushed as the haughty beauty
+moved past him with the very coldest of recognitions.
+
+"What an admirable taste is your Lordship's!" said he to the old peer;
+"Lady Kilgoff's diamonds are disposed with an elegance that bespeaks the
+guiding skill of a consummate artist."
+
+"Ha! you perceive it, then!" said he, smiling. "I own to you, the
+festooning the robe with bouquets of brilliants was a fancy of mine, and
+has, I think, a very pretty effect."
+
+"Storr told me that he had not one person in his employment could equal
+your Lordship in the harmonious arrangement of gems. He mentioned a
+bracelet, if I remember aright, made from your own designs, as the most
+beautifully chaste ornament he had ever seen."
+
+"You must pronounce for yourself, sir," said the old lord, with a smile
+of elated vanity; and so, taking Linton's arm, he approached where Lady
+Kilgoff was seated in a group of ladies.
+
+"Will you oblige me, madam," said he, with a courteous bow, "by showing
+Mr. Linton your ruby and opal bracelet, which I had the poor merit of
+designing?"
+
+"I am unfortunate enough not to have it here," replied she, with a
+confusion which made the blood mount to her temples.
+
+"I am grieved, madam, it should not enjoy the honor of your preference,"
+said Lord Kilgoff, with an air of pique. "Will you order your maid to
+fetch it?"
+
+"I 've not got it, my Lord," said she, coloring still deeper.
+
+"Not got it, madam! You do not mean to imply--"
+
+"Only that it is slightly broken,--a few stones have fallen out, and I
+have sent it to be repaired."
+
+"To be repaired, madam; and without my knowledge I To whom, pray?"
+
+"That man in Dublin; I forget his name."
+
+"Your Ladyship means Leonard, I presume," interposed Linton, with an air
+of courtesy, while, plainer than any words, his glance said, "My revenge
+is coming!"
+
+"Leonard!" exclaimed Lord Kilgoff, with a look of horror. "Give
+Leonard that bracelet! the mould of which I refused to the Princess of
+Hohenhoffingen, and which I made Storr destroy in my own presence!"
+
+"You perceive, my Lord," cried Lady Janet, "her Ladyship is less
+exclusive than you are."
+
+"And generous enough to admire what may belong to another," added
+Linton, but in a tone only audible by Lady Kilgoff.
+
+"We have got a few minutes before dinner, madam. I must beg you will
+employ them in writing to Mr. Leonard to return the bracelet at once.
+Say it was a mistake on your part,--an inadvertence,--and done without
+my knowledge. Caution the man, too, about appropriating any portion of
+the design, and remind him that articles of _virtu_ are protected by the
+Act of copyright."
+
+"We had better delay the postboy, my Lord," said Linton; "he starts at
+seven precisely."
+
+"Do so, sir."
+
+"Dinner!" cried the butler, flinging wide the folding-doors.
+
+"Could we delay that pleasant summons a few minutes, Mr. Cashel?" said
+Lord Kilgoff.
+
+"It will not be necessary on my account, sir; I 'll write to-morrow."
+And this she said with an air of haughty defiance that never failed to
+subdue the old peer's petulance; and then, accepting Cashel's arm, moved
+on without a word.
+
+"Where is it? that's the question!" whispered Mrs. White to Lady Janet.
+
+"Take you two to one it's not at Leonard's," said Frobisher.
+
+"Give you an even fifty, Linton knows all about it," replied Upton.
+
+"And ten to two that he 'll never tell!" chimed in Miss Meek; and so
+they took their places at the table.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII. THE OLD FRIENDS IN COUNCIL
+
+     I could an I would, Sir Harry.
+
+     Old Play.
+
+
+While the gay company at Tubbermore dined sumptuously, and enjoyed the
+luxuries of a splendid table with no other alloy to their pleasure than
+the _ennui_ of people whose fastidiousness has grown into malady,
+Mr. Corrigan sat in council at the cottage with his ancient ally, the
+doctor. There was an appearance of constraint over each,--very unusual
+with men who had been friends from boyhood; and in their long pauses,
+and short, abrupt sentences, might be read the absence of that confiding
+spirit which had bound them so many years like brothers.
+
+It may be in the reader's recollection that while Corrigan was pledged
+to secrecy by Linton respecting his revelations of Cashel, Tiernay was
+equally bound by Roland not to divulge any of his plans for the old
+man's benefit. Perhaps it was the first time in the life of either that
+such a reserve had been practised. Certainly it weighed heavily upon
+both; and more than once they were coming to the fatal resolve to
+break their vows, and then some sudden thought--some unknown dread of
+disconcerting the intentions of those who trusted them--would cross
+their mind, and after a momentary struggle, a half cough, and muttered
+"Well! well!" they would relapse into silence, each far too occupied by
+himself to note the other's embarrassment.
+
+It was after a long time and much thought that Corrigan perceived,
+however pledged to Linton not to speak of Cashel's conduct respecting
+the cottage, that he was in no wise bound to secrecy regarding the
+proposal for Mary Leicester's hand; and this was, indeed, the topic on
+which he was most desirous of the doctor's counsel.
+
+"I have a secret for you, Tiernay," said the old man, at length; "and
+it is one which will surprise you. I have had an offer this morning
+for Mary! Ay; just so. You often told me that nothing but this life of
+isolation and retirement would have left her with me so long; but the
+thought of losing her--the tangible, actual dread--never presented
+itself before this day!"
+
+"Who is it?" said Tiernay, shortly, but not without evident agitation of
+manner.
+
+"One who has never enjoyed much of your favor, Tiernay, and whom I
+suspect you have judged with less than your habitual fairness."
+
+"I know the man. Linton?"
+
+"It was Linton."
+
+"And he actually made this proposition?" said Tiernay, with an
+expression of the most unbounded surprise in his features.
+
+"To me, myself, in this room, he made it."
+
+"He asked you what her fortune would be?" said Tiernay, gruffly.
+
+"He did not; he told me of his own. He said, that by a recent event he
+had become possessed of sufficient property to make him indifferent to
+the fortune of whoever he might marry. He spoke sensibly and well of his
+future career, of the plans he had conceived, and the rules he made for
+his own guidance; he spoke warmly of her with whom he wished to share
+his fortunes; and lastly, he alluded in kind terms to myself, dependent
+as I am upon her care, and living as I do upon her affection. In a word,
+if there was not the ardor of a passionate lover, there was what I augur
+better from,--the sentiments of one who had long reflected on his own
+position in life, who knew the world well, and could be no mean guide
+amid its dangers and difficulties."
+
+"Have you told Mary of this?"
+
+"I have not. My answer to Linton was: 'Let me have time to think over
+this proposal; give me some hours of thought before I even speak to my
+granddaughter;' and he acceded at once."
+
+"Good heavens!" exclaimed Tiernay, rising, and pacing the room. "How
+inadequate are we two old men--removed from intercourse with the world,
+neither players nor lookers-on at the game of life--to cope with one
+like him, and see what he purposes to himself by this alliance! As
+for his affection, as for his power to feel her worth, to estimate the
+gentle virtues of her spotless nature, I cannot, I will not believe it."
+
+"And for that very reason are you unfit to judge him. Your prejudices,
+ever against him, are rendered stronger because you cannot divine
+motives black enough to suit your theory; you give the benefit of all
+your doubts against himself."
+
+"I know him to be a gambler in its worse sense. Not one who plays even
+for the gratification of those alternating vacillations of hope and fear
+which jaded, worn-out natures resort to as the recompense for blunted
+emotions and blasted ambitions, but a gambler for gain!--that foul
+amalgam of the miser and the knave. I 've seen him play the sycophant,
+too, like one who studied long his part, and knew it thoroughly. No, no,
+Con, it is not one like this must be husband of Mary!"
+
+"I tell you again, Tiernay, you suffer your prejudices to outrun all
+your prudence. The very fact that he asks in marriage a portionless
+girl, without influence from family, and without the advantage of
+station, should outweigh all your doubts twice told."
+
+"This does but puzzle me,--nothing more," said Tiernay, doggedly. "Were
+it Cashel, that high-hearted, generous youth, who made this offer--"
+
+"I must stop you, Tiernay; you are as much at fault in your
+over-estimate of _one_ as in your disparagement of the _other_. Cashel
+is not what you deem him. Ask me not how I know it. I cannot, I dare not
+tell you; it is enough that I do know it, and know it by the evidence of
+my own eyes."
+
+"Then they have deceived you, that's all," said Tiernay, roughly; "for I
+tell you, and I speak now of what my own knowledge can sustain, that
+he is the very soul of generosity,--a generosity that would imply
+recklessness, if not guided by the shrinking delicacy of an almost
+girlish spirit."
+
+"Tiernay, Tiernay, you are wrong, I say," cried Corrigan, passionately.
+
+"And _I_ say it is _you_ who are in error," said Tiernay. "It was but
+this morning I held in my hands--" He stopped, stammered, and was silent.
+
+"Well," cried Corrigan, "go on,--not that, indeed, you could convince
+me against what my eyes have assured; for here, upon this table, I
+beheld--"
+
+"Out with it, man! Tell what jugglery has been practised on you, for I
+see you have been duped."
+
+"Hush! here 's Mary!" cried Corrigan, who, scarcely able to control
+himself, now walked the room in great agitation.
+
+"You were talking so loud," said Mary, "that I guessed you were
+quarrelling about politics, and so I came to make peace."
+
+"We were not, Mary; but Tiernay is in one of his wrong-head humors."
+
+"And your grandfather in the silliest of his foolish ones!" exclaimed
+Tiernay, as, snatching up his hat he left the cottage.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX. A TETE-A-TETE INTERRUPTED
+
+     Like battle-tramps
+     The chaos of their tongues did drown reflection.
+
+     Oswald.
+
+
+It might be thought that in a household so full of contrarieties
+as Tubbermore, any new plan of pleasure would have met but a meagre
+success. Here, were the Kilgoffs, upon one side, full of some secret
+importance, and already speaking of the uncertainty of passing the
+spring in Ireland. There, were the Kennyfecks, utterly disorganized by
+intestine troubles,--mother, aunt, and daughters at open war, and only
+of one mind for some few minutes of each day, when they assailed the
+luckless Kennyfeck as the "author of all evil;" Frobisher, discontented
+that no handicap could be "got up," to remunerate him for the weariness
+of his exile; Upton, suffering under the pangs of rejection; Sir Andrew,
+reduced to a skeleton by the treatment against his unhappy opiate,
+being condemned, as "Jim" phrased it, to "two heavy sweats without
+body-clothes, and a drench every day;" Meek, grown peevish at the little
+prospect of making anything of Cashel politically; and Cashel himself,
+hipped and bored by all in turn, and wearied of being the head of a
+house where the only pleasantry existed in the servants' hall,--and they
+were all rogues and thieves who made it.
+
+It might be easily supposed these were not the ingredients which would
+amalgamate into any agreeable union, and that even a suggestion to that
+end would meet but few supporters.
+
+Not so; the very thought of doing "anything" was a relief: each felt,
+perhaps, his share of shame at the general _ennui_, and longed for
+whatever gave a chance of repelling it. It was as in certain political
+conditions in seasons of general stagnation,--men are willing even
+to risk a revolution rather than continue in a state of unpromising
+monotony.
+
+Linton, whose own plans required that the others should be full of
+occupation of one kind or other, was the first to give the impulse, by
+reminding Miss Meek that her sovereignty had, up to this time, been a
+dead letter.
+
+"You have positively done nothing," said he, "since your accession. Here
+we are, all ready to do your bidding, only waiting for the shadow of a
+wish on your part. There is no obstacle anywhere; pray let us commence a
+series of such right royal festivities as shall cause the envy of every
+other sovereign in Christendom."
+
+"I 'm sure I wish for nothing better; but nobody minds me," said she,
+pouting.
+
+"What shall be the opening, then?" said Linton, taking a sheet of paper,
+and seating himself, in all form, to write. "A masquerade?"
+
+"By all means! A masquerade!" exclaimed a dozen voices; and at once a
+large circle gathered round the table where he sat.
+
+"Does the country afford materials for one?" asked Jennings.
+
+"Oh, dear, yes!" sighed Meek; "you could gather a great many important
+people here by a little management."
+
+"I 'll tell Macnevin, wha commands at Limerick, to send ye every officer
+wha is n't under arrest," said Sir Andrew,--a speech received with great
+favor by various young ladies unknown to the reader.
+
+Every one who knew anything of the three neighboring counties was at
+once summoned to form part of a select committee to name those who
+ought to be invited. The Chief Justice was acquainted with the principal
+persons, from his having gone circuit; but then, those he mentioned
+were rarely of the stamp to add lustre or brilliancy to a fancy
+ball,--indeed, as Linton whispered, "The old judge had either hanged or
+transported all the pleasant fellows."
+
+The Infantry men from Limerick were familiar with every pretty girl
+of that famed capital and its environs for some miles round; and as
+exclusiveness was not to be the rule, a very imposing list was soon
+drawn up.
+
+Then came the question of receiving so large a party, and each vied
+with his neighbor in generous sacrifices of accommodation; even Downie
+vouchsafed to say that the noise would be terrible, "but one ought to
+submit to anything to give pleasure to his friends."
+
+The theatre should be the ball-room; the two drawing-rooms and the
+library would offer space for the company to promenade; the buffet stand
+in the dining-room; and supper be served in the great conservatory,
+which, with its trellised vines all studded with lights disposed as
+stars, would have a new and beautiful effect.
+
+Sir Andrew promised two military bands, and unmarried officers _a
+discretion_.
+
+Devoted offers of assistance poured in from every side. Foraging parties
+were "told off" to shoot snipe and woodcocks without ceasing; and
+Frobisher was to ply with a four-in-hand--of Cashel's horses--to and
+from Limerick every day, carrying every body and every thing that was
+wanting.
+
+All the servants of the guests, as well as of the house, were to be
+attired in a costume which, after some discussion, was decided to be
+Spanish.
+
+Unlimited facilities were to be at the disposal of all, for whatever
+they pleased to order. Mrs. White sat down to write to Paris for an
+envoy of moss-roses and camellias, with a postscript from Upton on the
+subject of red partridges and _foie gras_.
+
+Jennings dictated a despatch to Mayence for two cases of Steinberger;
+and Howie took notes of all for a series of papers which, in four
+different styles, were to appear in four periodicals simultaneously.
+
+As each guest was at full liberty to invite some half-dozen friends,
+there was quite an excitement in comparing lists with each other, and
+speculations innumerable as to the dress and character they would appear
+in, for all were mysterious upon that head.
+
+"But whar is Maister Cashel all this time?" said Sir Andrew; "methinks
+it wud na be vara polite na to hae his opinion upon a' this, syne he
+must gie the siller for it."
+
+"He's playing chess with Lady Kilgoff in the boudoir," said Jennings.
+
+"Tell Kennyfeck," said Frobisher; "that's quite enough! Cashel calls
+everything where money enters, business, and hates it, in consequence."
+
+"Oh, dear! I'm precisely of his mind, then," sighed Meek, caressing his
+whiskers.
+
+"Kilgoff will not remain, you 'll see," said Upton. "He is not pleased
+with my Lady's taste for close intimacy."
+
+"The Kennyfecks are going to-morrow or next day," said another.
+
+"So they have been every day this last week; but if some of you
+gentlemen will only be gallant enough to give a good reason for
+remaining, they 'll not stir." This was spoken by Lady Janet in her
+tartest of voices, and with a steady stare at Upton, who stroked his
+moustaches in very palpable confusion. "Yes, Sir Harvey," continued she,
+"I 'm perfectly serious, and Mr. Linton, I perceive, agrees with me."
+
+"As he always does, Lady Janet, when he desires to be in the right,"
+said Linton, bowing.
+
+"Aw--I, aw--I did n't think it was so easy in that quarter, aw!" said
+Jennings, in a low semi-confidential tone.
+
+"I 'll insure you for a fair premium, Jennings, if you have any fancy
+that way."
+
+"Aw, I don't know,--concern looks hazardous,--ha, ha, ha!--don't you
+think so?" But as nobody joined in his laughter, he resumed, in a lower
+voice, "There, Upton 's very spooney indeed about one of them."
+
+"It's the aunt," said Linton,--"a very fine woman, too; what the French
+call _beaute severe_; but classical, quite classical."
+
+"Confounded old harridan!" muttered Upton, between his teeth; "I 'd not
+take her with Rothschild's bank at her disposal."
+
+All this little chit-chat was a thing got up by Linton, while stationing
+himself in a position to watch Cashel and Lady Kilgoff, who sat, at a
+chess-table, in an adjoining room. It needed not Linton's eagle glance
+to perceive that neither was attentive to the game, but that they
+were engaged in deep and earnest conversation. Lady Kilgoff's back was
+towards him, but Roland's face he could see clearly, and watch the signs
+of anger and impatience it displayed.
+
+"A little more noise and confusion here," thought Linton, "and they 'll
+forget that they 're not a hundred miles away;" and, acting on this, he
+set about arranging the company in various groups; and while he disposed
+a circle of very fast-talking old ladies, to discuss rank and privileges
+in one corner, he employed some others in devising a character
+quadrille, over which Mrs. White was to preside; and then, seating a
+young lady at the piano,--one of those determined performers who run
+a steeple-chase through waltz, polka, and mazurka, for hours
+uninterruptedly,--he saw that he had manufactured a very pretty chaos
+"off-hand."
+
+While hurrying hither and thither, directing, instructing, and advising
+every one, he contrived also, as it were by mere accident, to draw
+across the doorway of the boudoir the heavy velvet curtain that
+performed the function of a door. The company were far too busied in
+their various occupations to remark this; far less was it perceived by
+Lady Kilgoff or Roland. Nobody knew better than Linton how to perform
+the part of fly-wheel to that complicated engine called society; he
+could regulate its pace to whatever speed he pleased; and upon this
+occasion he pushed the velocity to the utmost; and, by dint of that
+miraculous magnetism by which men of warm imagination and quick fancy
+inspire their less susceptible neighbors, he spread the contagion of his
+own merry humor, and converted the drawing-room into a scene of almost
+riotous gayety.
+
+"They want no more leadership now," said he, and slipped from the room
+and hastened towards the library, where sat Lord Kilgoff, surrounded by
+folios of Grotius and Puffendorf,--less, indeed, for perusal and study
+than as if inhaling the spirit of diplomatic craft from their presence.
+
+"Nay, my Lord, this is too much," said he, entering with a smile; "some
+relaxation is really necessary. Pray come and dissipate a little with us
+in the drawing-room."
+
+"Don't lose my place, however," said he, smiling far more graciously
+than his wont. "I was just considering that assertion of Grotius,
+wherein be lays it down that 'a river is always objectionable as a
+national boundary.' I dissent completely from the doctrine. A river
+has all the significance of a natural frontier. It is the line of
+demarcation drawn from the commencement of the world between different
+tracts, and at once suggests separation."
+
+"Very true, my Lord; I see your observation in all its justice. A river,
+in the natural world, is like the distinguishing symbol of rank in the
+social, and should ever be a barrier against unwarrantable intrusion."
+
+Lord Kilgoff smiled, tapped his snuff-box, and nodded, as though to say,
+"Continue." Linton understood the hint in this wise, and went on,--
+
+"And yet, my Lord, there is reason to fear that, with individuals as
+with nations, these demarcations are losing their prestige. What people
+call enlightenment and progress, nowadays, is the mere negation of these
+principles."
+
+"Every age has thrown some absurd theory to the surface, sir," said Lord
+Kilgoff, proudly; "Southcotians, Mormons, and Radicals among the rest.
+But truth, sir, has always the ascendency in the long run. Facts cannot
+be sneered down; and the Pyrenees and the English peerage are facts, Mr.
+Linton,--and similar facts, too!"
+
+Linton looked like one who divided himself between rebuke and
+conviction,--submissive, but yet satisfied.
+
+"Give me your arm, Linton; I'm still very far from strong,--this place
+disagrees with me. I fancy the air is rheumatic, and I am impatient
+to get away; but the fact is, I have been lingering in the hope of
+receiving some tidings from the Foreign Office, which I had rather would
+reach me here than at my own house."
+
+"Precisely, my Lord; the request, then, has the air--I mean it shows
+you have been sought after by the Minister, and solicited to take office
+when not thinking of the matter yourself."
+
+"Quite so; I open the despatch, as it may be, at the breakfast-table,
+jocularly observing that it looks official, eh?"
+
+"Exactly, my Lord; you even surmise that it may prove an appointment you
+have solicited for one of your numerous _proteges_,--something in the
+Colonies, or the 'troop,' without purchase, in the Blues?"
+
+Lord Kilgoff laughed--for him, heartily--at Linton's concurrence in his
+humor, and went on,--
+
+"And when I open it, Linton, and read the contents, eh?"
+
+Here he paused, as if asking what effect his astute friend would ascribe
+to such pleasant tidings.
+
+"I think I see your Lordship throw the heavy packet from you with a
+'pshaw!' of disappointment; while you mutter to your next neighbor, 'I
+have been warding off this these two or three last years; but there's no
+help for it: the King insists upon my taking the mission at Florence!'"
+
+"I must say, Mr. Linton, your conjecture strikes me as strained and
+unnatural. The appointment to represent my august master at the court of
+Tuscany might be a worthy object of my ambition. I cannot agree with the
+view you take of it."
+
+Linton saw that he had "charged too far," and hastened to secure his
+retreat.
+
+"I spoke, my Lord, rather with reference to your regret at quitting
+the scenes of your natural influence at home, of withdrawing from this
+distracted country the high example of your presence, the wisdom of your
+counsels, the munificence of your charity. These are sad exports at such
+a time as this!"
+
+Lord Kilgoflf sighed, he sighed heavily; he knew Ireland had gone
+through many trials and afflictions, but the dark future which Linton
+pictured had never presented itself so full of gloom before. He
+doubtless felt that when he left the ship she would not long survive the
+breakers; and, sunk in these reveries, he walked along at Linton's side
+till they gained the picture-gallery, at one extremity of which lay the
+boudoir we have spoken of.
+
+"Poor things, my Lord!" said Linton, shrugging his shoulders as he
+passed along, and casting a contemptuous glance at the apocryphal
+Vandykes and Murillos around, and for whose authenticity he had himself,
+in nearly every case, been the guarantee.
+
+Lord Kilgoff gave a fleeting look at them, but said nothing; and Linton,
+to occupy time, went on,--
+
+"New men, like our friend here, should never aspire above the
+Flemish school. Your Cuyps, and Hobbemas, and Vanderveldes are easily
+understood, and their excellences are soon learned. Even Mieris and
+Gerard Dow are open to such connoisseurship; but, to feel the calm
+nobility of a Velasquez, the sublime dignity of a Vandyck, or the
+glorious intellectuality of a Titian portrait, a man must be a born
+gentleman, in its most exalted signification. What a perfect taste your
+collection at Kilgoff displays! All Spanish or Venetian, if I mistake
+not."
+
+"Are we not like to disturb a _tete-a-tete_, Linton?" said Lord Kilgoff,
+nudging his friend's arm, and laughing slyly, as he pointed through the
+large frame of plate-glass that formed a door to the boudoir.
+
+"By Jove!" said Linton, in a low whisper, "and so we were; you are
+always thoughtful, my Lord!"
+
+"You know the adage, Linton, 'An old poacher makes the best gamekeeper!'
+Ha, ha, ha!"
+
+"Ah, my Lord! I have heard as much of you. But who can they be?"
+
+"We shall soon see, for it is always better in these cases to incur the
+rudeness of interruption than the meanness of espionage;" and so saying,
+Lord Kilgoff opened the door and entered. Although in so doing the noise
+he made might easily have attracted notice, the chess-players, either
+deep in their preoccupation, or habituated to the uproar of the
+drawing-room, paid no attention, so that it was only as he exclaimed
+"Lady Kilgoff!" that both started, and beheld him, as, pale with
+passion, he stood supporting himself on the back of a chair.
+
+"Pray don't stir, sir; be seated, I beg," said he, addressing Cashel,
+in a voice that shook with anger; "my interruption of your game was pure
+accident."
+
+"No apologies, my Lord; we are both but indifferent players," said
+Cashel, smiling, but yet very far from at ease.
+
+"Your seclusion at least bespeaks the interest you feel in the game. Mr.
+Linton and I can vouch--" (Here his Lordship turned to call his witness;
+but he had left the court, or, more properly speaking, had never entered
+it.)
+
+"Linton here?" said Lady Kilgoff, in a voice which, though scarce a
+whisper, was actually thrilling in the intensity of its meaning.
+
+[Illustration: 208]
+
+"I hope, sir, when you have lived somewhat more in the world, you will
+learn that the first duty of a host is not to compromise a guest."
+
+"I am most willing to be taught by your Lordship's better knowledge; but
+if I am to benefit by the lesson in the present case, it must be more
+clearly expressed," said Cashel, calmly.
+
+"As for you, madam," said Lord Kilgoff, "I cannot compliment you on the
+progress you have made in acquiring the habits and instincts of 'your
+order.'"
+
+"My Lord!" exclaimed she; and then, with a countenance wherein rebuke
+and entreaty were blended, she stopped.
+
+"I am aware, sir, what _eclat_ young gentlemen nowadays derive from the
+supposed preference of individuals of exalted rank; and I hope that your
+vanity may be most in fault here."
+
+"My Lord, one word,--only one," said Cashel, eagerly; "I am sadly
+afflicted with the infirmity of hot temper, which never gives way more
+surely, nor more suddenly, than when accused wrongfully. Such is your
+Lordship doing at present. I would entreat you not to say what a very
+little calm reflection will call upon you to retract."
+
+"This concerns me, sir, most of all," said Lady Kilgoff, rising,
+and drawing herself proudly up. "These unworthy suspicions had never
+occurred to you had they not been prompted; but you might have believed
+that when I sacrificed all I have done for that rank of which so
+incessantly you remind me, that I would not rashly hazard the position
+for which I paid so dearly. Let us leave this now, my Lord; Mr. Cashel
+can scarcely desire a presence that has so ungratefully rewarded his
+hospitality, and I, at least, shall be spared the mortification of
+meeting one who has been a witness to such an outrage."
+
+"This is not to end here, sir," said Lord Kilgoff, in a whisper to
+Cashel, who, more intent upon the words Lady Kilgoff had just uttered,
+carelessly answered,--
+
+"As you will."
+
+"Good-bye, Mr. Cashel," said she, holding out her hand; "I wish I was
+leaving a better _souvenir_ behind me than the memory of this last
+scene."
+
+"I will never remember it, madam," said Cashel; "but I would beg
+that you may not let an incident so trivial, so perfectly devoid of
+everything like importance, hasten your going. Nothing save malevolence
+and calumny could suggest any other impression, and I would beseech
+you not to favor, by such a step as a hasty departure, the malice that
+scandal-lovers may circulate."
+
+"This is matter for _my_ consideration, sir," said Lord Kilgoflf,
+haughtily; while, drawing Lady Kilgoffs arm within his own, he made a
+vigorous attempt to move away with dignity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX. LORD KILGOFF DETERMINES TO "MEET" ROLAND
+
+     Is he not too old for such gambols?
+
+   --Sir Raymond.
+
+
+Cashel was in no mood to join his company after such a scene, and
+hastening upstairs, he entered his dressing-room. What was his surprise
+to see that Linton was seated in an easy-chair, before the fire,
+enjoying a cigar and a new novel, with all the cool negligence of his
+unruffled nature.
+
+"At last!" cried he, as Cashel entered. "I have been waiting here most
+impatiently to know how you got through it."
+
+"Through what!--how--what do you mean?"
+
+"That affair with Kilgoff. I slipped away when I saw that he _would_
+enter the boudoir, after having coughed and sneezed like a grampus,
+in the hope of attracting your attention; but you were so confoundedly
+engrossed by my Lady's agreeability,--so excessively tender--"
+
+"Linton, I must stop you at once. I may barter some of my own
+self-respect for quietness' sake, and let you talk this way of me, but
+you shall not do so of another."
+
+"Hang it, man, she is an older friend than yourself. I have known her
+these seven years--as little more than a child."
+
+"Your friendship would seem a costly blessing, if you understand its
+duties always in this fashion."
+
+"I hope it will admit of a little frankness, at all events," said he,
+affecting a laugh. "It will be too bad if you both fall out with me for
+watching over your interests."
+
+"I don't understand you."
+
+"I will be plain enough. I have seen for many a day back what has
+been going on. I perceived the very commencement of the mischief, when
+probably neither she nor you dreamed of it; and, resigning all the
+esteem that years had cemented between us, I spoke to her. Ay, Roland,
+I told her what would happen. I said that qualities like yours could not
+be brought every day into contrast with those of poor Kilgoff without
+most unhappy comparisons. I explained to her, that if she did form an
+attachment to you, it could not be one of those passing flirtations that
+an easy code of fashion admits and sanctions; that you were a fellow
+whose generous nature could never descend to such heartless levity, and
+that there was no sacrifice of position and prospect you would hesitate
+to make for a woman that loved you; and I asked her flatly, would she
+bring such ruin upon you? The greater fool myself; I ought to have known
+better. She not only refused to listen to me, but actually resented my
+at-tempted kindness by actual injury. I don't want to speak for myself
+here, so I 'll hasten on. It was all but a cut between us, for months
+before we met here. You may remember, in Dublin, we rarely even spoke to
+each other; we, who once had been like brother and sister!
+
+"Well, before she was a week here, I saw that the danger I had dreaded
+so long was hourly becoming more imminent. _You_, very possibly, had
+not a serious thought upon the matter, but _she_ had actually fallen in
+love! I suppose you must have played hero, at that shipwreck, in some
+very chivalrous fashion; however it was, my Lady had lost her heart,
+precisely at the same time that his Lordship had lost his head,--leaving
+you, I conjecture, in a very awkward dilemma. Seeing there was no time
+to lose, and resolving to sacrifice myself to save her, I made one more
+effort. I'll not weary you with a narrative of my eloquence, nor repeat
+any of the ten-thousand-and-one reasons I gave for her shunning your
+society, and, if need were, leaving your house. The whole ended as I
+ought to have foreseen it would,--in an open breach between us; she
+candidly avowing that she would be my deadly enemy through life, and
+even procure a personal rupture between you and me, if pushed to it,
+by my 'impertinent importunity,' so she called it. I own to you I
+was completely dumfounded by this. I knew that she had courage
+for anything, and that, if she did care for a man, there would be a
+recklessness in the course she would follow that would defy guidance or
+direction, and so I abstained from any further interference; and, as you
+may have remarked yourself, I actually estranged myself from you."
+
+"I did remark that," said Cashel, gravely.
+
+"Well, to-night, when by mere accident Kilgoff and I had sauntered into
+the gallery and came upon you in the boudoir, I own frankly I was not
+sorry for it; unpleasant as such scenes are, they are better--a hundred
+thousand times better--than the sad consequences they anticipate; and
+even should anything take place personally, I 'd rather see you stand
+Kilgoff's fire at 'twelve paces,' than be exposed to the flash of my
+Lady's eye at 'one.'"
+
+"Your friendly zeal," said Cashel, with a very peculiar emphasis on the
+words, "would seem to have got the upper hand of your habitually sharp
+perception; there was nothing to fear in any part of my intimacy
+with Lady Kilgoff. I have been but too short a time conversant with
+fashionable life to forget more vulgar habits, and, among them, that
+which forbids a man to pay his addresses to the wife of another. I need
+not vindicate her Ladyship; that she has taken a warm, I shame not to
+say an affectionate, interest in my fortunes, may have been imprudent I
+know not what your code admits of or rejects, but her kindness demands
+all my gratitude, and, if need be, the defence that a man of honor
+should always be ready to offer for the cause of truth."
+
+"Don't you perceive, Cashel, that all you are saying only proves what
+I have been asserting,--that, while you are actually ignorant of your
+danger, the peril is but the greater? I repeat it to you, however intact
+_your_ heart may be, _hers_ is in your keeping. I know this; nay, I say
+it advisedly--don't shake your head and look so confident--I repeat it,
+I know this to be the case."
+
+"You _know_ it?" said Cashel, as though Linton's words had startled his
+convictions.
+
+"I _know_ it, and I 'll prove it, but upon one condition--your word of
+honor as to secrecy." Cashel nodded, and Linton went on. "Some short
+time back, some one, under the shelter of the anonymous, wrote her
+a letter, stating that they had long watched her intimacy with
+you--grieving over it, and regretting that she should have yielded any
+portion of her affection to one whose whole life had been a series of
+deceptions; that your perjuries in Love's Court were undeniable, and
+that you were actually married--legally and regularly married--to a
+young Spanish girl."
+
+"Was this told her?" said Cashel, gasping for breath.
+
+"Yes, the very name was given--Maritana, if I mistake not. Is there such
+a name?"
+
+Cashel bent his head slightly in assent.
+
+"How you had deserted this poor girl after having won her affections--"
+
+"This is false, sir; every word of it false!" said Cashel, purple with
+passion; "nor will I permit any man to drag her name before this
+world of slanderers in connection with such a tale. Great Heaven! what
+hypocrisy it is to have a horror for the assassin and the cut-throat,
+and yet give shelter, in your society, to those who stab character and
+poison reputation! I tell you, sir, that among those buccaneers you have
+so often sneered at, you'd not meet one base enough for this."
+
+"I think you are too severe upon this kind of transgression, Cashel,"
+said Linton, calmly. "It is as often prompted by mere idleness as
+malice. The great mass of people in this life have nothing to do, and
+they go wrong just for occupation. There may have been--there generally
+is--a little grain of truth amid all the chaff of fiction; there may,
+therefore, be a young lady whose name was--"
+
+"I forbid you to speak it. I knew her, and, girl as she was, she was not
+one to suffer insult in her presence, nor shall it be offered to her in
+her absence."
+
+"My dear fellow, your generous warmth should not be unjust, or else you
+will find few friends willing to incur your anger in the hope of
+doing you service. I never believed a word of this story.
+Marriage--adventure--even the young lady's identity, I deemed all
+fictions together."
+
+Cashel muttered something he meant to be apologetic for his rudeness,
+and Linton was not slow in accepting even so unwilling a reparation.
+
+"Of course I think no more of it," cried he, with affected cordiality.
+"I was going to tell you how Lady Kilgoff received the tidings--exactly
+the very opposite to what her kind correspondent had intended. It
+actually seemed to encourage her in her passion, as though there was a
+similarity in your cases. Besides, she felt, perhaps, that she was not
+damaging your future career, as it might be asserted she had done, were
+you unmarried. These are mere guesses on my part. I own to you, I have
+little skill in reading the Machiavellism of a female heart; the only
+key to its mystery I know of is, 'always suspect what is least likely.'"
+
+"And I am to sit down patiently under all this calumny!" said Cashel,
+as he walked the room with hasty steps. "I am perhaps to receive at my
+table those whose amusement it is so to sport with my character and my
+fame!"
+
+"It is a very naughty world, no doubt of it," said Linton, lighting
+a fresh cigar; "and the worst of it is, it tempts one always to be as
+roguish as one's neighbors for self-preservation."
+
+"You say I am not at liberty to speak of this letter to Lady Kilgoff?"
+
+"Of course not; I am myself a defaulter in having told the matter to
+you."
+
+Cashel paced the room hurriedly; and what a whirlwind of opposing
+thoughts rushed through his brain! for while at times all Lady Kilgoff
+s warnings about Linton, all his own suspicions of his duplicity and
+deceit, were uppermost, there was still enough in Linton's narrative,
+were it true, to account for Lady Kilgoff's hatred of him. The counsels
+_he_ had given, and _she_ rejected, were enough to furnish a feud
+forever between them. At which side lay the truth? And then, this letter
+about Maritana,--who was the writer? Could it be Linton himself? and if
+so, would he have ventured to allude to it?
+
+These thoughts harassed and distressed him at every instant, and in his
+present feeling towards Linton he could not ask his aid to solve the
+mystery.
+
+Now, he was half disposed to charge him with the whole slander; his
+passion prompted him to seek an object for his vengeance, and the very
+cool air of indifference Linton assumed was provocative of anger. The
+next moment, he felt ashamed of such intemperate warmth, and almost
+persuaded himself to tell him of his proposal for Mary Leicester, and
+thus prove the injustice of the suspicion about Lady Kilgoff.
+
+"There's a tap at the door, I think," said Linton. "I suppose, if
+it's Frobisher, or any of them, you'd rather not be bored?" And, as if
+divining the answer, he arose and opened it.
+
+"Lord Kilgoff's compliments, and requests Mr. Linton will come over to
+his room," said his Lordship's valet.
+
+"Very well," said Linton, and closed the door. "What can the old peer
+want at this time of night? Am I to bring a message to you, Cashel?"
+
+Cashel gave an insolent laugh.
+
+"Or shall I tell him the story of Davoust at Hamburg, when the Syndicate
+accused him of peculating, and mentioned some millions that he had
+abstracted from the treasury. 'All untrue, gentlemen,' said he; 'I never
+heard of the money before, but since you have been polite enough to
+mention the fact, I 'll not show myself so ungrateful as to forget it.'
+Do you think Kilgoff would see the _a propos?_"
+
+With this speech, uttered in that half-jocular mood habitual to him,
+Linton left the room, while Cashel continued to ponder over the late
+scene, and its probable consequences; not the least serious of which
+was, that Linton was possessor of his secrets. Now thinking upon what
+he had just heard of Lady Kilgoff, now picturing to himself how Mary
+Leicester would regard his pledge to Maritana, he walked impatiently up
+and down, when the door opened, and Linton appeared.
+
+"Just as I surmised!" said he, throwing himself into a chair, and
+laughing heartily. "My Lord will be satisfied with nothing but a duel _a
+mort_."
+
+"I see no cause for mirth in such a contingency," said Cashel, gravely;
+"the very rumor of it would ruin Lady Kilgoff."
+
+"That of course is a grave consideration," said Linton, affecting
+seriousness; "but it is still more his than yours."
+
+"_He_ is a dotard!" said Cashel, passionately, "and not to be thought
+of; _she_ is young, beautiful, and unprotected. Her fortune is a hard
+one already, nor is there any need to make it still more cruel."
+
+"I half doubt she would think it so!" said Linton, with an air of
+levity, as he stooped to select a cigar.
+
+"How do you mean, sir?" cried Cashel, angrily.
+
+"Why, simply that, when you shoot my Lord, you'll scarcely desert my
+Lady," said he, with the same easy manner.
+
+"You surely told him that his suspicions were unfounded and unjust;
+that my intimacy, however prompted by the greatest admiration, had never
+transgressed the line of respect?"
+
+"Of course, my dear fellow, I said a thousand things of you that I did
+n't believe--and, worse still, neither did he; but the upshot of all
+is, that he fancies it is a question between the peerage and the great
+untitled class; he has got it into his wise brain that the barons of
+Runnymede will rise from their monumental marble in horror and shame
+at such an invasion of 'the order;' and that there will be no longer
+security beneath the coronet when such a domestic Jack Cade as yourself
+goes at large."
+
+"I tell you again, Linton,--and let it be for the last time,--your
+pleasantry is most ill-timed. I cannot, I will not, gratify this old
+man's humor, and make myself ridiculous to pamper his absurd vanity.
+Besides, to throw a slander upon his wife, he must seek another
+instrument."
+
+By accident, mere accident, Cashel threw a more than usual significance
+into these last few words; and Linton, whose command over his features
+rarely failed, taken suddenly by what seemed a charge, grew deep red.
+
+Cashel started as he saw the effect of his speech; he was like one who
+sees his chance shot has exploded a magazine.
+
+"What!" cried he, "have you a grudge in that quarter, and is it thus you
+would pay it?"
+
+"I hope you mean this in jest, Cashel?" said Linton, with a voice of
+forced calm.
+
+"Faith, I never was less in a mood for joking; my words have only such
+meaning as your heart accuses you of."
+
+"Come, come, then there is no harm done. But pray, be advised, and never
+say as much to any one who has less regard for you. And now, once more,
+what shall we do with Kilgoff? He has charged me to carry you a
+message, and I only undertook the mission in the hope of some
+accommodation,--something that should keep the whole affair strictly
+amongst ourselves."
+
+"Then you wish for my answer?"
+
+"Of course."
+
+"It is soon said. I 'll not meet him."
+
+"Not meet him? But just consider--"
+
+"I _have_ considered, and I tell you once more I 'll not meet him. He
+cannot lay with truth any injury at my door; and I will not, to indulge
+his petulant vanity, be led to injure one whose fair fame is of more
+moment than our absurd differences."
+
+"I own to you, Cashel, this does not strike me as a wise course. By
+going out and receiving his fire, you have an opportunity of declaring
+on the ground your perfect innocence of the charge; at least, such,
+I fancy, would be what I should do, in a like event. I would say, 'My
+Lord, it is your pleasure, under a very grave and great misconception,
+to desire to take my life. I have stood here for you once, and will do
+so again, as many times as you please, till either your vengeance be
+satisfied or your error recognized; simply repeating, as I now do, that
+I am innocent.' In this way you will show that personal risk is nothing
+with you in comparison with the assertion of a fact that regards another
+far more nearly than yourself. I will not dispute with you which line is
+the better one; but, so much will I say, This is what 'the World' would
+look for."
+
+The word was a spell! Cashel felt himself in a difficulty perfectly
+novel; he was, as it were, arraigned to appear before a court of whose
+proceedings he knew little or nothing. How "the World" would regard
+the affair, was the whole question,--what "the World" would say of Lady
+Kilgoff,--how receive her exculpation. Now Linton assuredly knew this
+same "World" well; he knew it in its rare moods of good-humor, when it
+is pleased to speak its flatteries to some popular idol of the hour;
+and he knew it in its more congenial temper, when it utters its fatal
+judgments on unproved delinquency and imputed wrong.
+
+None knew better than himself the course by which the "Holy Office" of
+slander disseminates its decrees, and he had often impressed Roland with
+a suitable awe of its mysterious doings. The word was, then, talismanic;
+for, however at the bar of Conscience he might stand acquitted, Cashel
+knew that it was to another and very different jurisdiction the appeal
+should be made. Linton saw what was passing in his mind, for he had
+often watched him in similar conflicts, and he hastened to press his
+advantage.
+
+"Understand me well, Cashel; I do not pretend to say that this is the
+common-sense solution of such a difficulty; nor is it the mode which a
+man with frankness of character and honorable intentions would perhaps
+have selected; but it is the way in which the world will expect to see
+it treated, and any deviation from which would be regarded as a solecism
+in our established code of conduct."
+
+"In what position will it place _her?_ That's the only question worth
+considering."
+
+"Perfect exculpation. You, as I said before, receive Kilgoff's fire, and
+protest your entire innocence; my Lord accepts your assurance, and goes
+home to breakfast--_voila tout!_"
+
+"What an absurd situation! I declare to you I shrink from the ridicule
+that must attach to such a _rencontre_, meeting a man of his age and
+infirmity!"
+
+"They make pistols admirably now-a-days," said Linton, dryly; "even the
+least athletic can pull a hair-trigger."
+
+Cashel made no answer to this speech, but stood still, uncertain how to
+act.
+
+"Come, come," said Linton, "you are giving the whole thing an importance
+it does not merit; just let the old peer have the pleasure of his bit
+of heroism, and it will all end as I have mentioned. They 'll leave this
+to-morrow early, reach Killaloe to breakfast, whence Kilgoff will start
+for the place of meeting, and, by ten o'clock, you 'll be there also.
+The only matter to arrange is, whom you 'll get Were it a real affair, I
+'d say Upton, or Frobisher; but, here, it is a question of secrecy, not
+skill. I 'd advise, if possible, your having MacFarline."
+
+"Sir Andrew?" said Cashel, half laughing.
+
+"Yes; his age and standing are precisely what we want here. He'll not
+refuse you; and if he should, it's only telling Lady Janet that we want
+to shoot Kilgoff, and she 'll order him out at once."
+
+"I protest it looks more absurd than ever!" said Roland, impatiently.
+
+"That is merely your own prejudice," said Linton. "You cannot regard
+single combat but as a life struggle between two men, equal not merely
+in arms, but alike in bodily energy, prowess, skill, and courage. We
+look on the matter here as a mere lottery, wherein the less expert as
+often draws the prize--But there, as I vow, that was two o'clock! It
+struck, and I promised to see Kilgoff again to-night. By the way, he 'll
+want horses. Where can he get them?"
+
+"Let him take mine; there are plenty of them, and he 'll never know
+anything of it."
+
+"Very true. What an obliging adversary, that actually 'posts' his enemy
+to the ground!"
+
+"How am I to see MacFarline to-night?"
+
+"You 'll have to call him out of bed. Let Flint say there 's an orderly
+from Limerick with despatches; that Biddy Molowney won't pay her
+poor-rate, or Paddy Flanagan has rescued his pig, and the magistrates
+are calling for the Fifty-something and two squadrons of horse, to
+protect the police. You'll soon have him up; and, once up, his Scotch
+blood will make him as discreet as an arch-deacon. So, good-night; add a
+codicil to your will in favor of my Lady, and to bed."
+
+With this Linton took his candle and retired.
+
+Cashel, once more alone, began to ponder over the difficulty of his
+position. The more he reasoned on the matter, the stronger appeared his
+fears that Lady Kilgoff's name would be compromised by a foolish and
+unmeaning quarrel; while, for himself, he saw nothing but ridicule and
+shame from his compliance. That omnipotent arbiter, "the World," might
+indeed be satisfied, but Roland suspected that few of its better-judging
+members would hesitate to condemn a course as unfeeling as it was
+unwise.
+
+A quick, sharp knocking at the door of his room aroused him from his
+musings; it was Lady Kilgoff's maid, breathless and agitated. She came
+to say that Lord Kilgoff, after a scene of passionate excitement with
+her Ladyship, had been seized with paralysis, and that he was now lying
+powerless and unconscious on his bed.
+
+"Come, sir, for mercy's sake; come quickly. My Lady is distracted, nor
+can any of us think of what to do."
+
+Cashel scratched a few lines in pencil to Tiernay, requesting his
+immediate presence, and ringing for his servant, at once despatched
+a message to the village. This done, he followed the maid to Lord
+Kilgoff's chamber.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI. THE SECOND SHOCK
+
+     The waters darken, and the rustling sound
+     Tells of the coming "squall."
+
+     The Pilot.
+
+
+Lord Kilgoff was stretched upon a bed, breathing heavily; one arm lay
+straight beside him, and the other crossed upon his breast. His features
+were deadly pale, save in the centre of each cheek, where a deep-red
+spot seemed to burn. A slight, very slight, distortion marked his
+features, and a faint tremor seemed to quiver on his lip. Beside the
+bed, with an expression of some conscious terror in her face, sat Lady
+Kilgoff; her white dressing-gown, over which her hair fell in long
+abundant masses, added pallor to her looks. Her eyes met Cashel's as he
+entered, and then reverted to the bed where the sick man lay, but with
+an expression less of sorrow than of bewilderment and confusion.
+
+She looked, indeed, like one whose faculties had been stunned by some
+sudden shock, and had, as yet, made no effort to recall them to
+their wonted exercise. At the foot of the bed stood the maid, whose
+half-uttered sobs were the only sounds to break the stillness.
+
+Cashel drew near, and placed his fingers on the sick man's pulse. Often
+had he, in his former adventurous career, felt the ebbing current of
+a life's blood, and measured its power by its resistance. The full
+but laboring swell of the heart might well deceive him, then, into the
+impression that no grave consequences were near. He knew not that in
+such affections the pulse can be round and strong and impulsive; and it
+was with an earnest conviction of truth he whispered to her,--
+
+"There is no danger."
+
+She looked up, but it was easy to see that although the words had
+sounded like comfort, they had not pierced the dense veil that clouded
+her mind.
+
+Cashel repeated the phrase, and said,--
+
+"Tiernay will soon be here, but have no fears; my own slight skill
+can tell you there is nothing of peril. Had you not better retire from
+this--even to the window?"
+
+A faint "No" was all she uttered.
+
+"He was in perfect health this afternoon?" said Cashel to the maid.
+
+"My Lord was better than usual, sir; he took out his collar and his star
+to look at them, and he spoke very pleasantly of going abroad in the
+spring. He was reading in the library when Mr. Linton went to him."
+
+"Linton!" muttered Lady Kilgoff, with a shudder.
+
+"I think I hear voices in the corridor," said Cashel. "If it be the
+doctor, say I wish to speak with him before he sees my Lord."
+
+The maid left the room to perform the commission, and scarcely had the
+door closed, than Lady Kilgoff started up, and seizing an object which
+lay on the bed, exclaimed, "How came it in your keeping?"
+
+"What?" cried Cashel, in amazement
+
+"This bracelet," said she, holding out towards him the massive bracelet
+which Linton had contrived to detach from her arm at their meeting in
+the "Park."
+
+"I never saw it before--never in my life."
+
+She sank slowly back upon the chair without speaking, while a faint
+tremor shook her frame.
+
+"The doctor is without, sir," said the maid at this moment, and Cashel
+hastened out. He spoke a few hurried words to Tiernay, and then walked
+towards his own room. That some deep and artful treachery had drawn its
+web around and about him, involving not himself alone, but another
+too, he now clearly felt. He saw danger, as the sailor sees it in the
+lowering sky and fleeting scud, but as yet he knew not from what quarter
+the "squall" was coming. His suspicions all pointed to Linton; but why
+attribute such a game to him? and if such were his purpose, to what end
+could be practise this treachery?
+
+"Would it not be better," thought he, "to see him at once; tell him my
+suspicions openly; say, that I no longer trust him as my friend, but
+feel towards him the misgivings of a secret enemy? If there is manliness
+about him, he will avow his enmity, or resent my distrust; either or
+both would be a relief to what I now suffer. Ah! here he comes," said
+he; but he was deceived; it was Tiernay entered.
+
+"What say you, doctor? Is the case a grave one?"
+
+"Worse; it is nearly hopeless!"
+
+"What! do you fear for his life?"
+
+"Life or intellect, one or the other, must pay the penalty. This is the
+second shock. The shipwreck gave the first, and rent the poor edifice
+almost in twain; this will, in all likelihood, lay it in ashes."
+
+"This is very dreadful!" said Cashel, upon whom the attendant event and
+the consequences were weighing heavily.
+
+"He has told me all!" said Tiernay, almost sternly. "_His_ jealousy and
+_her_ levity, the rampant pride of station, the reckless freedom of a
+broken heart,--such are the ingredients that have made up a sad story,
+which may soon become a tragedy."
+
+"But there was no reason for it; his jealousy was absurd--unfounded."
+
+"As you will. You may go further, and say he could not lose what he
+never owned. I saw the peril--I even warned you of it."
+
+"I can only comprehend you by half," said Cashel, impatiently. "You
+imply blame to me where I can feel none."
+
+"I blame you as I will ever do those who, not fearing danger for
+themselves, are as indifferent about their neighbors. It is not of
+this silly old man I am thinking here,--it is of her who, without a
+protector, should have found one in every man of generous and honorable
+feeling; not as you, perhaps, understand protection,--not by the
+challenge hurled in the face of all who would dare to asperse her fair
+name, but by that studied respect, that hallowed deference, that should
+avert detraction. Neither you nor any other could be the champion of
+her honor; but you might have been its defender by a better and a nobler
+heroism. It is too late to think of this now; let us not lose time in
+vain regrets. We must take measures that ungenerous reports should not
+be circulated."
+
+The door suddenly opened at the instant, and Linton, in his
+dressing-gown, entered; but, seeing Tiernay, made a motion to retire.
+
+"Come in," said Cashel; and there was something almost peremptory in the
+words.
+
+"I feared I might prove an intruder, seeing the doctor here. Is it true
+what my servant says, that Kilgoff is dangerously ill?"
+
+Cashel nodded.
+
+"Poor fellow! he has no command over himself in those paroxysms of
+passion, which his folly and vanity are so constantly stirring up. But
+is the case serious?"
+
+"He will scarcely recover, sir," said Tiernay; "and it was because my
+functions as a physician can be of so little benefit, that I ventured to
+offer my services as a friend in the case, and give some counsel as to
+what should be done."
+
+"Most considerate, indeed," said Linton, but in an accent at once
+impossible to say whether ironical or the reverse.
+
+"I said, sir," resumed Tiernay, "that it would be becoming that no false
+representation should obtain currency as to the origin of the illness,
+nor that a momentary excitement of a feeble intellect should be assumed
+as the settled conviction of a sound mind. My Lord Kilgoff has had
+something like altercation with his wife, and being a weak and failing
+man, with breaking faculties, has been seized with a paralytic attack."
+
+"Very thoughtful, all this," said Linton, gravely; "pray command me in
+any part of your plan where I may be serviceable."
+
+"The plan is this," said Cashel: "here is a case where a terrible
+calamity has befallen, and which can be made worse only by calumny. To
+make the slanderer pay the heaviest penalty of his infamy--"
+
+"Nay, nay; this is not our plan," said Tiernay, gently. "Lord Kilgoff's
+attack must be spoken of without connection with any circumstances which
+preceded it this evening. Nothing was more likely to occur than such a
+seizure; his age, his late illness, his peculiar habit, all predisposed
+to it."
+
+"Just so," interposed Cashel, hastily; "and as none, save you, Linton,
+and myself, know anything of the matter, it need never gain wider
+publicity."
+
+"Of course nothing can be easier than this. The Lady 'Janets' need never
+hear a word more than you choose to tell them," said Linton.
+
+"In a few days he will bear removal. Change will be necessary for him;
+and, in fact, our caution is, doubtless, greater than the necessity
+warrants," added Tiernay.
+
+"You will, of course, leave everything to take its course in the house?"
+said Linton. "To interfere with all the plans of pleasure would be to
+give rise to malicious rumors."
+
+"I scarcely know how to act," said Cashel. "It looks unfeeling and
+unkind that we should give ourselves up to gayety at such a moment."
+
+"Mr. Linton's counsel may be wise, notwithstanding," said Tiernay. "His
+Lordship may continue a long time in his present state."
+
+"Exactly what I mean," said Linton. "He will probably linger on,
+unchanged; so that if events follow their habitual train, there will be
+little time or temptation to spread scandal about him; and then, what,
+at first blush, seems to lack kindness, is, in reality, the very truest
+and most considerate service we can render."
+
+"Then you will look to this part of the matter, Linton?" said Cashel, on
+whom his apparent frankness had resumed its former ascendancy.
+
+"Leave it all to me," said he; "and so good-night." And, with that, he
+departed, leaving Cashel and Tiernay together.
+
+They were silent for some minutes, as Linton's retiring steps were heard
+going towards his own room. Soon after the loud bang of a door resounded
+through the house, and all was still. Little knew they, that scarcely
+had he gained his room than he left it noiselessly, and, slipping down
+the great stairs, crossed the hall, and, entering the theatre, proceeded
+by the secret passage which led to Cashel's dressing-room, and through
+the thin panel that covered which, he could easily overhear whatever was
+spoken within.
+
+"At least you will allow that he has been candid with us here?" said
+Cashel, in a tone of remonstrance.
+
+"I cannot afford to give a man my confidence, because I am unable to
+sound his intentions," said Tiernay. "I disliked this Linton from the
+first, and I never yet saw any distinct reason to alter the sentiment.
+That he has puzzled me--ay, completely puzzled me and all my
+calculations, within the last few days, is quite true. He has done that
+which, in a man like himself, disconcerts one altogether, because it is
+so difficult to trace his probable motive. What would you say, were I to
+tell you that this deep man of the world, this artful and subtle gambler
+in the game of life, has actually proposed for a girl who is utterly
+without fortune or family influence? That she is endowed with noble
+attributes--that she is one a prince might have chosen to share his
+fortunes, I deem as nothing to the purpose, for I cannot conceive such
+qualities as hers could weigh with him; but so it is,--he has actually
+made an offer of his hand."
+
+"Dare your confidence go further?" said Cashel, eagerly, "and tell
+me--to whom?"
+
+"Yes. I have been guilty of one breach of faith in telling you so
+much, and I 'll hazard all, and let you hear the remainder. It was Mary
+Leicester."
+
+"Mary Leicester!" echoed Cashel, but in a voice barely audible.
+
+"Mary Leicester," continued Tiernay, "may count it among her triumphs
+to have attracted one whom all the world regards as an adventurer; a man
+living by the exercise of his clever wits, profiting by the weaknesses
+and follies of his acquaintances, and deriving his subsistence from the
+vices he knows how to pamper."
+
+"And what answer has he received?" asked Cashel, timidly.
+
+"None, as yet. Poor Corrigan, overwhelmed by misfortune, threatened by
+one whose menace, if enforced, would be his death-stroke, has begged for
+a day or two to consider; but the reply is certain."
+
+"And will be--" Cashel could not command his emotion as he spoke.
+
+"Refusal."
+
+"You are certain of this, Tiernay? You are positive of what you say?"
+
+"I know it. My old friend, were, he even inclined to this alliance,
+could never coerce her; and Mary Leicester has long since learned to
+distinguish between the agreeable qualities of a clever man and the
+artful devices of a treacherous one. She knows him; she reads him
+thoroughly, and as thoroughly she despises him. I will not say that her
+impressions have been unaided; she received more than one letter from
+a kind friend--Lady Kilgoff; and these were her first warnings. Poor
+Corrigan knows nothing of this; and Mary, seeing how Linton's society
+was pleasurable to the old man, actually shrank from the task of
+undeceiving him. 'He has so few pleasures,' said she to me one evening;
+'why deny him this one?'--'It is a poison which cannot injure in small
+doses, doctor,' added she, another time; and so, half jestingly, she
+reasoned, submitting to an intimacy that was odious to her, because it
+added a gleam of comfort to the chill twilight of his declining life."
+
+"And you are sure of this--you are certain she will refuse him?" cried
+Cashel, eagerly.
+
+"I am her confidant," said Tiernay; "and you see how worthily I repay
+the trust! Nay, nay! I would not tell these things to any other living;
+but I feel that I owe them to you. I have seen more misery in life from
+concealment, from the delicacy that shuns a frank avowal, than from all
+the falsehood that ever blackened a bad heart. Mary has told me all her
+secrets; ay--don't blush so deeply--and some of yours also."
+
+Cashel did indeed grow red at this speech, and, in his effort to conceal
+his shame, assumed an air of dissatisfaction.
+
+"Not so, my dear young friend," said Tiernay; "I did not mean to say one
+word which could offend you. Mary has indeed trusted me with the secret
+nearest to her heart She has told me of the proudest moment of her
+life."
+
+"When she rejected me?" said Cashel, bitterly.
+
+"So was it--when she rejected you," re-echoed Tiernay. "When poor, she
+refused wealth; when friendless in all that friendship can profit, she
+declined protection; when almost homeless, she refused a home; when
+sought by one whom alone of all the world she preferred, she said him
+nay! It was at that moment of self-sacrifice, when she abandoned every
+thought of present happiness and of future hope, and devoted herself to
+one humble but holy duty, she felt the ecstasy of a martyr's triumph.
+You may think that these are exaggerations, and that I reckon at too
+exalted a standard such evidences of affection, but I do not think so.
+I believe that there is more courage in the patient submission to an
+obscure and unnoticed fortune, beset with daily trials and privations,
+than in braving the stake or the scaffold, with human sympathies to
+exalt the sacrifice."
+
+"But I offered to share this duty with her; to be a son to him whom she
+regarded as a father."
+
+"How little you know of the cares--the thoughtful, watchful, anxious
+cares--you were willing to share! You could give wealth and splendor,
+it is true; you could confer all the blandishments of fortune, all the
+luxuries that rich men command; but one hour of gentle solicitude
+in sickness--one kind look, that recalled years of tenderness--one
+accustomed service, the tribute of affection--were worth all that gold
+could purchase, told ten times over. And these are not to be acquired;
+they are the instincts that, born in childhood, grow strong with years,
+till at length they form that atmosphere of love in which parents live
+among their children. No! Mary felt that it were a treason to rob her
+poor old grandfather of even a thought that should be his."
+
+"But, I repeat it," cried Cashel, passionately, "I would participate in
+every care; I would share her duties, as she should share my fortunes."
+
+"And what guarantee did you give for your fitness to such a task?" said
+Tiernay. "Was it by your life of pleasure, a career of wild and wasteful
+extravagance--was it by the unbridled freedom with which you followed
+every impulse of your will--was it by the example your friendships
+exhibited--was it by an indiscriminating generosity, that only throws
+a shade over better-regulated munificence, you would show that you were
+suited to a life of unobtrusive, humble duties?"
+
+"You wrong me," said Cashel. "I would have lived in that cottage yonder,
+without a thought or a wish for the costly pleasures you think have such
+attractions for me."
+
+"You had already sold it to your friend."
+
+"Sold it I--never!--to whom?"
+
+"I thought Linton had purchased it."
+
+"Never!"
+
+"Well, you gave it as a gift?"
+
+"I did intend to do so; but seeing the value Corrigan puts upon it, I
+will give Linton double--thrice the value, rather than part with it."
+
+"What if he refuse?"
+
+"He will not. Linton's fancies never run counter to solid advantages. A
+thousand pounds, with him, is always twice five hundred, come with what
+condition it may."
+
+"But Linton may, for his own reasons, think differently here; his
+proposal to marry seems as though it were part of some settled plan; and
+if you have already given him a legal claim here, my opinion is that he
+will uphold it."
+
+"That I have never done; but my word is pledged, and to it he may hold
+me, if he will. Meanwhile, I have seen Kennyfeck this morning. The man
+Hoare has offered us a large sum on mortgage, and I have promised to
+meet them both the day after to-morrow. If I read Tom aright, L10,000
+will free me from every claim he has upon me."
+
+"A heavy sum, but not ill spent if it liberate you from his friendship,"
+cried Tiernay, eagerly.
+
+"And so it shall."
+
+"You promise me this--you give me your word upon it?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"Then there are good days in store for you. That man's intimacy has been
+your bane; even when you thought least of it, his influence swayed
+your actions and perverted your motives. Under the shadow of his evil
+counsels your judgment grew warped and corrupted; you saw all things in
+a false and distorted light; and your most fatal error of all was, that
+you deemed yourself a 'gentleman.'"
+
+"I have done with him forever," said Cashel, with slow, deliberate
+utterance.
+
+"Again I say, good days are in store for you," said Tiernay.
+
+"I cannot live a life of daily, hourly distrust," said Cashel; "nor will
+I try it. I will see him to-morrow; I will tell him frankly that I
+am weary of his fashionable protectorate; that as a scholar in modish
+tastes I should never do him credit, and that we must part. Our alliance
+was ever a factitious one; it will not be hard to sever it."
+
+"You mistake much," said Tiernay; "the partnership will not be so easily
+relinquished by him who reaps all the profit."
+
+"You read me only as a dupe," said Cashel, fiercely.
+
+Tiernay made no reply, but waving his hand in adieu, left the room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII. LINTON INSTIGATES KEANE TO MURDER
+
+     Hell's eloquence--"Temptation!"
+
+     Harold
+
+
+Tom Keane, the gatekeeper, sat moodily at his door on the morning after
+the events recorded in our last chapter. His reflections seemed of the
+gloomiest, and absorbed him so completely that he never noticed the
+mounted groom, who, despatched to seek the doctor for Lord Kilgoff,
+twice summoned him in vain to open the gate.
+
+"Halloa!" cried the smartly equipped servant, "stupid! will you open
+that gate, I say?"
+
+"It 's not locked," said Tom, looking up, but without the slightest
+indication of obeying the request.
+
+"Don't you see the mare won't stand?" cried he, with an oath.
+
+Tom smoked away without replying.
+
+"Sulky brute you are!" cried the groom; "I 'm glad we 're to see the
+last of you soon."
+
+With this he managed to open the gate and pass on his way.
+
+"So it's for turnin' me out yez are," said Tom to himself; "turnin' me
+out on the road--to starve, or maybe--to rob"--(these words were uttered
+between the puffs of his tobacco-smoke)--"after forty years in the same
+place."
+
+The shrill barking of a cur-dog, an animal that in spitefulness as in
+mangy condition seemed no bad type of its master, now aroused him, and
+Tom muttered, "Bite him, Blaze! hould him fast, yer soule!"
+
+"Call off your dog, Keane--call him off!" cried out a voice whose tones
+at once bespoke a person of condition; and at the same instant Linton
+appeared. "You'd better fasten him up, for I feel much tempted to
+ballast his heart with a bullet."
+
+And he showed a pistol which he held at full cock in his fingers.
+
+"Faix, ye may shoot him for all I care," said Tom; "he's losing his
+teeth, and won't be worth a 'trawneen' 'fore long. Go in there--into the
+house," cried he, sulkily; and the animal shrank away, craven and cowed.
+
+"You ought to keep him tied up," said Linton; "every one complains of
+him."
+
+"So I hear," said Tom, with a low, sardonic laugh; "he used only to
+bite the beggars, but he's begun now to be wicked with the gentlemen. I
+suppose he finds they taste mighty near alike."
+
+"Just so," said Linton, laughing; "if the cur could speak, he 'd tell us
+a laborer was as tender as 'my lord.' I've come over to see you," added
+he, after a moment's pause, "and to say that I 'm sorry to have failed
+in my undertaking regarding you; they are determined to turn you out."
+
+"I was thinking so," said Tom, moodily.
+
+"I did my best. I told them you had been many years on the estate--"
+
+"Forty-two."
+
+"Just so. I said forty and upwards--that your children had grown up on
+it--that you were actually like a part of the property. I spoke of the
+hardship of turning a man at your time of life, with a helpless family
+too, upon the wide world. I even went so far as to say that these were
+not the times for such examples; that there was a spirit abroad of
+regard for the poor man, a watchful inquiry into the evils of his
+condition, that made these 4 clearances,' as they call them, unwise and
+impolitic, as well as cruel."
+
+"An' what did they say to that?" asked Tom, abruptly.
+
+"Laughed--laughed heartily."
+
+"They laughed?"
+
+"No--I am wrong," said Linton, quickly. "Kennyfeck did not laugh; on
+the contrary, he seemed grave, and observed that up at Drumcoologan--is
+there such a name?"
+
+"Ay, and nice boys they 're in it," said Tom, nodding.
+
+"'Well, up at Drumcoologan,' said he, 'such a step would be more than
+dangerous.'
+
+"'How do you mean?' said Mr. Cashel.
+
+"'They 'd take the law into their own hands,' replied Kennyfeck. The man
+who would evict one of those fellows might as well make his will, if
+he wished to leave one behind him. They are determined fellows, whose
+fathers and grandfathers have lived and died on the land, and find it
+rather hard to understand how a bit of parchment with a big seal on it
+should have more force than kith and kindred."
+
+"Did ould Kennyfeck say that?" asked Tom, with a glance of unutterable
+cunning.
+
+"No," replied Linton; "that observation was mine, for really I was
+indignant at that summary system which disposes of a population as
+coolly as men change the cattle from one pasturage to another. Mr.
+Cashel, however, contented himself with a laugh, and such a laugh as,
+for his sake, I am right glad none of his unhappy tenantry were witness
+to."
+
+"'You may do as you please down here, sir,' said Kenny-feck--who, by
+the way, does not seem to be any friend of yours--'but the Drumcoologan
+fellows must be humored.'
+
+"'I will see that,' said Mr. Cashel, who, in his own hotheaded way,
+actually likes opposition, 'but we 'll certainly begin with this fellow
+Keane.'
+
+"'I suppose you'll give him the means to emigrate?' said I, addressing
+Kennyfeck.
+
+"'We generally do in these cases,' said he.
+
+"'I'll not give the scoundrel a farthing,' broke in Mr. Cashel. 'I took
+a dislike to him from the very hour I came here.' And then he went on
+to speak about the dirt and neglect about the gate-lodge, the ragged
+appearance of the children--even your own looks displeased him; in fact,
+I saw plainly that somehow you had contrived to make him your enemy,
+not merely of a few days' standing, but actually from the moment of his
+first meeting you. Kennyfeck, though not your friend, behaved better
+than I expected: he said that to turn you out was to leave you to
+starve; that there was no employment to be had in the country; that your
+children were all young and helpless; that you were not accustomed to
+daily labor; indeed, he made out your case to be a very hard one, and
+backed as it was by myself, I hoped that we should have succeeded; but,
+as I said before, Mr. Cashel, for some reason of his own, or perhaps
+without any reason, hates you. He has resolved that out you shall go,
+and go you must!"
+
+Keane said nothing, but sat moodily moving his foot backwards and
+forwards on the gravel.
+
+"For Mr. Cashel's sake, I 'm not sorry the lot has fallen upon a
+quiet-tempered fellow like yourself; there are plenty here who would n't
+bear the hardship so patiently."
+
+Keane looked up, and the keen twinkle of his gray eyes seemed to read
+the other's very thoughts. Linton, so proof against the searching
+glances of the well-bred world, actually cowered under the vulgar stare
+of the peasant.
+
+"So you think he's lucky that I 'm not one of the Drumcoologan boys?"
+said Keane; and his features assumed a smile of almost insolent meaning.
+
+"They're bold fellows, I've heard," said Linton, "and quick to resent an
+injury."
+
+"Maybe there's others just as ready," said he, doggedly.
+
+"Many are ready to feel one," said Linton; "that I'm well aware of. The
+difference is that some men sit down under their sorrows, crestfallen
+and beaten; others rise above them, and make their injuries the road to
+fortune. And really, much as people say against this 'wild justice' of
+the people, when we consider they have no other possible--that the law
+is ever against them--that their own right hand alone is their defence
+against oppression--one cannot wonder that many a tyrant landlord falls
+beneath the stroke of the ruined tenant, and particularly when the
+tyranny dies with the tyrant."
+
+Keane listened greedily, but spoke not; and Linton went on,--
+
+"It so often happens that, as in the present case, by the death of one
+man, the estate gets into Chancery; and then it's nobody's affair who
+pays and who does not. Tenants then have as mach right as the landlord
+used to have. As the rents have no owner, there's little trouble taken
+to collect them; and when any one makes a bold stand and refuses to pay,
+they let him alone, and just turn upon the others that are easier to
+deal with."
+
+"That's the way it used to be here long ago," said Keane.
+
+"Precisely so. You remember it yourself, before Mr. Cashel's time; and
+so it might be again, if he should try any harsh measures with those
+Drumcoologan fellows. Let me light my cigar from your pipe, Keane," said
+he; and, as he spoke, he laid down the pistol which he had still
+carried in his hand. Keane's eyes rested on the handsome weapon with an
+expression of stern intensity.
+
+"Cashel would think twice of going up to that mountain barony to-morrow,
+if he but knew the price that lies upon his head. The hundreds of acres
+that to-day are a support to as many people, and this day twelvemonth,
+perhaps, may lie barren and waste; while the poor peasants that once
+settled there have died of hunger, or wander friendless and houseless
+in some far-away country--and all this to depend on the keen eye and the
+steady hand of any one man brave enough to pull a trigger!"
+
+"Is he going to Drumcoologan to-morrow?" asked Keane, dryly.
+
+"Yes; he is to meet Kennyfeck there, and go over the property with him,
+and on Tuesday evening he is to return here. Perhaps I may be able to
+put in another word for you, Tom, but I half fear it is hopeless."
+
+"'T is a lonely road that leads from Sheehan's Mill to the ould
+churchyard," said Keane, more bent upon following out his own fancies
+than in attending to Linton.
+
+"So I believe," said Linton; "but Mr. Cashel cares little for its
+solitude; he rides always without a servant, and so little does he fear
+danger, that he never goes armed."
+
+"I heard that afore," observed Tom, significantly.
+
+"I have often remonstrated with him about it," said Linton. "I 've said,
+'Remember how many there are interested in your downfall. One bullet
+through your forehead is a lease forever, rent free, to many a man
+whose life is now one of grinding poverty.' But he is self-willed and
+obstinate. In his pride, he thinks himself a match for any man--as if
+a rifle-bore and a percussion-lock like that, there, did not make the
+merest boy his equal! Besides, he will not bear in mind that his is a
+life exposed to a thousand risks; he has neither family nor connections
+interested in him; were he to be found dead on the roadside to-morrow,
+there is neither father nor brother, nor uncle nor cousin, to take up
+the inquiry how he met his fate. The coroner would earn his guinea or
+two, and there would be the end of it!"
+
+"Did he ever do you a bad turn, Mr. Linton?" asked Keane, while he fixed
+his cold eyes on Linton with a stare of insolent effrontery.
+
+"Me! injure me? Never. He would have shown me many a favor, but I would
+not accept of such. How came you to ask this question?"
+
+"Because you seem so interested about his comin' home safe to-morrow
+evening," said Tom, with a dry laugh.
+
+"So I am!" said Linton, with a smile of strange meaning.
+
+"An' if he was to come to harm, sorry as you 'll be, you couldn't help
+it, sir?" said Keane, still laughing.
+
+"Of course not; these mishaps are occurring every day, and will continue
+as long as the country remains in its present state of wretchedness."
+
+Keane seemed to ponder over the last words, for he slouched his hat
+over his eyes, and sat with clasped hands and bent-down head for several
+minutes in silence. At last he spoke, but it was in a tone and with a
+manner whose earnestness contrasted strongly with his former levity.
+
+"Can't we speak openly, Mr. Linton, would n't it be best for both of us
+to say fairly what's inside of us this minit?"
+
+"I 'm perfectly ready," said Linton, seating himself beside him; "I
+do not desire anything better than to show my confidence in a man of
+courage like yourself."
+
+"Then let us not be losin' our time," said the other, gruffly. "What's
+the job worth? that's the chat. What is it worth?"
+
+"You are certainly a most practical speaker," said Linton, laughing in
+his own peculiar way, "and clear away preliminaries in a very summary
+fashion."
+
+[Illustration: 240]
+
+"If I'm not worth trustin' now," replied the other, doggedly, "ye 'd
+betther have nothin' to say to me."
+
+"I did not mean that, nor anything like it, Tom. I was only alluding to
+your straightforward, business-like way of treating a subject which less
+vigorously minded men would approach timidly and carefully."
+
+"Faix, I 'd go up to him bouldly, if ye mane that!" cried the other, who
+misconceived the eulogy passed upon his candor.
+
+"I know it,--well I know it," said Linton, encouraging a humor he had
+thus casually evoked; for in the bloodshot eyes and flushed cheeks of
+the other, it was plain to see what was passing within him.
+
+"Do ye want it done? Tell me that,--be fair and above boord with me,--do
+you want it done?"
+
+Linton was silent; but a slight, an almost imperceptible motion of his
+brows made the reply.
+
+"And now what's it worth?" resumed Tom.
+
+"To _you_," said Linton, speaking slowly, "it is worth much--everything.
+It is all the difference between poverty, suffering, and a jail, and a
+life of ease and comfort either here or in America. Your little farm,
+that you hold at present by the will, or rather the caprice, of your
+landlord, becomes your own forever; when I say forever, I mean what is
+just as good, since the estate will be thrown back into Chancery; and it
+is neither _your_ children nor mine will see the end of that."
+
+"That's no answer to _me_," said Keane, fixing his cold, steady stare
+on Linton's face. "I want to know--and I won't ax it again--what is it
+worth to _you?_"
+
+"To _me!_--to _me!_" said Linton, starting. "How could it be worth
+anything to _me?_"
+
+"You know that best yourself," said Tom, sulkily.
+
+"I am neither the heir to his estates, nor one of his remote kindred.
+If I see a fine property going to ruin, and the tenantry treated like
+galley-slaves, I may, it is true, grieve over it; I may also perceive
+what a change--a total and happy change--a mere accident might work;
+for, after all, just think of the casualties that every day brings
+forth--"
+
+"I have n't time for these thoughts now," muttered Tom.
+
+"Always to the point,--always thinking of the direct question!" said
+Linton, smiling.
+
+"'T is n't yer honer's failin', anyhow," said Tom, laughing
+sardonically.
+
+"You shall not say that of me, Tom," said Linton, affecting to relish
+the jocularity; "I'll be as prompt and ready as yourself. I'll wager you
+ten sovereigns in gold--there they are--that I can keep a secret as well
+as you can."
+
+As he spoke, he threw down the glittering pieces upon the step on which
+they sat.
+
+The peasant's eyes were bent upon the money with a fierce and angry
+expression, less betokening desire than actual hate. As he looked at
+them, his cheek grew red, and then pale, and red once more; his broad
+chest rose and fell like a swelling wave, and his bony fingers clasped
+each other in a rigid grasp.
+
+"There are twenty more where these came from," said Linton,
+significantly.
+
+"That's a high price,--devil a lie in it!" muttered Tom, thoughtfully.
+
+Linton spoke not, but seemed to let the charm work.
+
+"A high price, but the 'dhrop' in Limerick is higher," said Tom, with a
+grin.
+
+"Perhaps it may be," rejoined Linton, carelessly; "though I don't
+perceive how the fact can have any interest for you or me."
+
+"Be gorra, ye 're a cowld man, anyhow," said Keane, his savage nature
+struck with admiring wonder at the unmoved serenity of Linton's manner.
+
+"I'm a determined one," said Linton, who saw the necessity of impressing
+his companion; "and with such alone would I wish to act."
+
+"And where would you be, after it was all over, sir?"
+
+"Here, where I am at present, assisting the magistrates to scour the
+country,--searching every cabin at Drumoologan,--draining ditches to
+discover the weapon, and arresting every man that killed a pig and got
+blood on his corduroys for the last fortnight."
+
+"And where would _I_ be?" asked Keane.
+
+"Here too; exactly where you sit this moment, quietly waiting till the
+outcry was over. Nor need that make you impatient. I have said already
+there is neither wife, nor sister, nor brother, nor child to take up
+the pursuit. There are forty people in the great house yonder, and there
+would n't be four of them left two hours after it was known, nor one
+out of the four that would give himself the trouble of asking how it
+happened."
+
+"An' them's _gentlemen!_," said Keane, closing his lips and shaking his
+head sententiously.
+
+Linton arose; he did not over-fancy the turn of reflection Tom's remark
+implied: it looked too like the expression of a general condemnation of
+his class--at the very moment, too, when he was desirous of impressing
+him with the fullest trust and confidence in his own honor.
+
+"I believe it's safer to have nothin' to do with it," muttered Keane.
+
+"As you please, friend," replied Linton; "I never squeeze any man's
+conscience. _You_ know best what your own life is."
+
+"Hard enough, that's what it is," said the other, bitterly.
+
+"You can also make a guess what it will be in future, when you leave
+this."
+
+A deep groan was all that he gave for answer.
+
+"For all that _I_ know, you may have many friends who 'll not see your
+wife and children begging along the roads, or sitting in a hole scooped
+out of a clay ditch, without food or fire, waiting for the fever to
+finish what famine has begun. You have n't far to seek for what I mean;
+about two hundred yards from that gate yonder there 's a group exactly
+like it."
+
+"Ye 're a terrible man, that's the truth," said Tom, as he wiped the big
+drops of perspiration from his forehead. "Be gorra, I never seed your
+like afore!"
+
+"I told you that I was a _determined_ man," said Linton, sternly; "and
+I'm sorry to see that's not what I should say of _you_." He moved a step
+or two as he spoke, and then turning carelessly back, added, "Leave that
+money for me at 'The house' this evening; I don't wish to carry gold
+about me on the roads here." And with this negligent remark he departed.
+
+Linton sauntered carelessly away; nothing in his negligent air and
+carriage to show that he was not lounging to kill the weary hours of
+a winter's day. No sooner, however, had he turned an angle of the road
+than he entered the wood, and with cautious steps retraced his way,
+till he stood within a few paces of where Keane yet sat, still and
+motionless.
+
+His worn hat was pressed down upon his brows, his hands were firmly
+clasped, and his head bent so as to conceal his features; and in this
+attitude he remained as rigidly impassive as though he were seized with
+a catalepsy. A few heavy drops of rain fell, and then a low growling
+roar of thunder followed, but he heeded not these signs of coming storm.
+The loud cawing of the rooks as they hastened homeward filled the
+air, but he never once lifted his head to watch them! Another crash
+of thunder was heard, and suddenly the rain burst forth in torrents.
+Swooping along in heavy drifts, it blackened the very atmosphere, and
+rushed in rivulets down the gravel walk; but still he sat, while the
+pelting storm penetrated his frail garments and soaked them through. Nor
+was it till the water lay in pools at his feet that he seemed conscious
+of the hurricane. Then rising suddenly, he shook himself roughly, and
+entered the house.
+
+Linton's eyes were earnestly fixed upon the stone--he crept nearer to
+observe it. The money was gone.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII. LINTON IS BAFFLED--HIS RAGE AT THE DISCOVERY
+
+     The mask is falling fast.--Harold.
+
+
+The day of the great masquerade arrived; and, from an early hour, the
+whole household was astir in preparing for the occasion. The courtyard
+was thronged with carriages of various sorts. Confectioners from London,
+table-deckers from Paris, were there, accompanied by all the insignia of
+their callings. Great lumbering packing-cases were strewn about; while
+rich stuffs, rare exotics, and costly delicacies littered the stone
+benches, and even lay upon the pavement, in all the profusion of haste
+and recklessness. To see the rare and rich articles which were heaped
+on every side, almost suggested the notion that it was some gorgeous
+mansion which was put to pillage. There was that, too, in the lounging
+insolence of the servants, as they went, that favored the illusion. The
+wanton waste exhibited everywhere was the very triumph of that vulgar
+and vindictive spirit which prompts the followers of a spendthrift
+master to speed the current of his ruin. Such would seem to be the
+invariable influence that boundless profusion exercises on the mind; and
+it is thus that affluence, unchastened by taste, unruled by principle,
+is always a corrupter!
+
+A light travelling-carriage, with a few articles of travelling use
+attached, stood in the midst of this confusion; and shortly after
+day-dawn two gentlemen issued from the house, and taking their seats,
+drove hastily forth, and at full speed passed down the avenue towards
+the high-road.
+
+These were Cashel and Mr. Kennyfeck, who had made an appointment to meet
+Mr. Hoare at Killaloe, and proceed with him to Drumcoologan, on which
+portion of the estate it was proposed to raise a considerable sum by
+mortgage.
+
+Some observation of Mr. Kennyfeck upon the wasteful exhibition of the
+scene in the courtyard, was met by a sharp and angry reply from Cashel;
+and these were both overheard as they issued forth,--vague words,
+spoken thoughtlessly at the time, but to be remembered afterwards with
+a heavier significance than the speakers could have anticipated! As they
+hastened along, little was said on either side; the trifling irritation
+of the first moment created a reserve, which deepened into actual
+coldness, as each following out his own thoughts took no heed of his
+companion's.
+
+Kennyfeck's mind was full of sad and gloomy forebodings. The reckless
+outlay he had witnessed for weeks back was more than a princely fortune
+could sustain. The troops of useless servants, the riotous disorder of
+the household, the unchecked, unbridled waste on every side, demanded
+supplies to raise which they were already reduced to loans at usurious
+interest. What was to come of such a career, save immediate and
+irretrievable ruin?
+
+As for Cashel, his reveries were even darker still. The whirlwind
+current of events seemed to carry him onward without any power of
+resistance. He saw his fortune wasted, his character assailed, his
+heart-offered proposal rejected--all at once, and as if by the influence
+of some evil destiny. Vigorous resolutions for the future warred with
+fears lest that they were made too late, and he sat with closed eyes and
+compressed lips, silent and sunk in meditation.
+
+Leaving them, therefore, to pursue a journey on which their
+companionship could scarcely afford much pleasure to the reader, let
+us turn to one who, whatever his other defects, rarely threw away the
+moments of his life on unavailing regrets: this was Mr. Linton. If he
+was greatly disappointed by the information he gleaned when overhearing
+the conversation between Cashel and the doctor, he did not suffer his
+anger either to turn him from his path, or distract him from his settled
+purpose.
+
+"To-day for ambition!" said he, "to-morrow revenge!"
+
+Too well accustomed to obstacles to be easily thwarted, he recognized
+life as a struggle wherein the combatant should never put off his armor.
+
+"She must and shall accept me as her husband; on that I am determined. A
+great game, and a glorious stake, shall not be foiled for a silly girl's
+humor. Were she less high-flown in her notions, and with more of
+the 'world' about her, I might satisfy her scruples, that, of her
+affections--her heart, as she would call it--there is no question here.
+_Je suis bon prince_,--I never coerce my liege's loyalty. As to the
+old man, his dotage takes the form of intrepidity, so that it might
+be unsafe to use menace with him. The occasion must suggest the proper
+tactic."
+
+And with this shrewd resolve he set forth to pay his visit at the
+cottage. If in his step and air, as he went, none could have read the
+lover's ardor, there was that in his proud carriage and glancing eye
+that bespoke a spirit revelling in its own sense of triumph.
+
+While Mr. Linton is thus pursuing his way, let us use the privilege
+of our craft by anticipating him, and taking a peep at that cottage
+interior in which he is so soon to figure. Old Mr. Corrigan had arisen
+from his bed weary and tired: a night of sleepless care weighed heavily
+on him; and he sat at his untasted breakfast with all the outward signs
+of a sick man.
+
+Mary Leicester, too, was pale and sad-looking; and although she tried
+to wear her wonted smile, and speak with her accustomed tones, the heavy
+eyelids and the half-checked sighs that broke from her at times betrayed
+how sad was the spirit from which they came.
+
+"I have been dreaming of that old nunnery at Bruges all night, Mary,"
+said her grandfather, after a long and unbroken silence; "and you cannot
+think what a hold it has taken of my waking thoughts. I fancied that I
+was sitting in the little parlor, waiting to see you, and that, at
+last, a dark-veiled figure appeared at the grille, and beckoned me to
+approach. I hastened to do so, my heart fluttering with I know not what
+mixture of hope and fear,--the hope it might be you, and then the
+fear, stronger than even hope, that I should read sadness in that sweet
+face--sorrow, Mary--regret for leaving that world you never were to see
+more."
+
+"And was it me, dearest papa?"
+
+"No, Mary," said he, with a lower and more meaning tone, "it
+was another, one whom I never saw before. She came to tell me
+that--that"--he faltered, and wiping a tear from his eyes, made an
+effort to seem calm--"that I had lost you, darling! lost by a separation
+darker and more terrible than even the iron bars of a nunnery can make.
+And although I bethought me that you had but gone there, whither I
+myself was hastening, I felt sorrow-struck by the tidings. I had clung
+so long to the hope of leaving you behind me here, to enjoy that world
+of which all your affectionate care has denied you enjoyment--to know
+how, amidst its troubles and reverses, there are healing springs of love
+that recompense its heaviest inflictions--I cherished this wish so
+long, so ardently, that I could not face the conviction which told me it
+should never be."
+
+"Dearest papa, remember this was but a dream; bethink you, for an
+instant, that it was all unreal; that I am beside you, my hand in yours,
+my head upon your shoulder; that we are not parted, nor ever shall be."
+
+The tone of deep fervor in which she spoke drew tears from the old man's
+eyes, and he turned away to hide them.
+
+"It was but a dream, as you say, Mary; but do not my waking thoughts
+conjure up a future to the full as gloomy? A few months, at furthest,
+a year or so more--less sanguine prophets would perhaps say weeks--and
+where shall I be? and where you, Mary?"
+
+The old man's grief could no longer be restrained, and it was in a
+perfect burst of sorrow the last words came forth. She would have
+spoken, but she knew not from what source to draw consolation. The
+future, which to his eyes looked dark and lowering, presented an aspect
+no less gloomy to her own; and her only remedy against its depressing
+influence was to make her present cares occupy her mind, to the
+exclusion of every other thought.
+
+"And yet, Mary," said he, recovering something of his habitual tone,
+"there is an alternative--one which, if we could accept of it from
+choice as freely as we might adopt it from convenience, would solve our
+difficulties at once. My heart misgives me, dearest, as I approach it.
+I tremble to think how far my selfishness may bias you--how thoughts of
+_me_ old and worthless as I am, may rise uppermost in your breast
+and gain the mastery, where other and very different feelings should
+prevail. I have ever been candid with you, my child, and I have reaped
+all the benefit of my frankness; let me then tell you all. An offer has
+been made for your hand, Mary, by one who, while professing the utmost
+devotion to you, has not forgotten your old grandfather. He asks that
+he should be one of us, Mary--a new partner in our firm--a new member in
+the little group around our hearth. He speaks like one who knew the ties
+that bind us most closely--he talks of our home here as we ourselves
+might do--he has promised that we shall never leave it, too. Does your
+heart tell you whom I mean, Mary? If not, if you have not already
+gone before me in all I have been saying, his visions of happiness are
+baseless fabrics. Be candid with me, as I have ever been with you. It is
+a question on which everything of the future hangs; say if you guess of
+whom I speak."
+
+Mary Leicester's cheek grew scarlet; she tried to speak, but could not;
+but with a look far more eloquent than words, she pressed the old man's
+hand to her lips, and was silent.
+
+"I was right then, Mary; you have guessed him. Now, my sweet child,
+there is one other confession you must make me, or leave me to divine it
+from that crimson cheek. Have his words found an echo in your heart?"
+
+The old man drew her more closely to his side, and passed his arm around
+her as he spoke; while she, with heaving bosom and bent-down head,
+seemed struggling with an agitation she could not master. At last she
+said,--
+
+"You have often told me, papa, that disproportion of fortune was an
+insurmountable obstacle to married happiness; that the sense of perfect
+equality in condition was the first requisite of that self-esteem
+which must be the basis of an affection free and untrammelled from all
+unworthy considerations."
+
+"Yes, dearest; I believe this to be true."
+
+"Then, surely, the present is not a case in point; for while there is
+wealth and influence on one side, there are exactly the opposites on the
+other. If _he_ be in a position to make his choice among the great and
+titled of the land, _my_ destiny lies among the lowly and humble. What
+disparity could be greater?"
+
+"When I spoke of equality," said the old man, "I referred rather to that
+of birth and lineage than to any other; I meant that social equality
+by which uniformity of tastes and habits are regulated. There is no
+_mesalliance_ where good blood runs on both sides."
+
+This was the tenderest spot in the old man's nature; the pride of
+family surviving every successive stroke of fortune, or, rather, rising
+superior to them all.
+
+"I thought, moreover," said Mary, "that in his preference of me, there
+was that suddenness which savored more of caprice than deep conviction.
+How should I reckon upon its lasting? What evidence have I that he cares
+for the qualities which will not change in me, and not for those which
+spring from youth and happiness?--for I am happy, dearest pa; so happy
+that, with all our trials and difficulties, I often accuse myself of
+levity--insensibility even--feeling so light-hearted as I do."
+
+The old man looked at her with rapture, and then pressed his lips upon
+her forehead.
+
+"From all this, then, I gather, Mary," said he, smiling archly, "that,
+certain misgivings apart, the proposition is not peculiarly disagreeable
+to you?"
+
+"I am sure I have not said so," said she, confusedly.
+
+"No, dearest; only looked it. But stay, I heard the wicket close--there
+is some one coming. I expected Tiernay on a matter of business. Leave us
+together, child; and, till we meet, think over what we 've been saying.
+Remember, too, that although I would not influence your decision, my
+heart would be relieved of its heaviest load if this could be."
+
+Mary Leicester arose hastily and retired, too happy to hide, in the
+secrecy of her own room, that burst of emotion which oppressed her, and
+whose utterance she could no longer restrain.
+
+Scarcely had she gone, when Linton crossed the grass-plot, and entered
+the cottage. A gentle tap at the door of the drawing-room announced
+him, and he entered. A more acute observer than Mr. Corrigan might have
+remarked that the deferential humility so characteristic of his manner
+was changed for an air of more purpose-like determination. He came
+to carry a point by promptness and boldness; and already his bearing
+announced the intention.
+
+After a few words of customary greeting, and an inquiry more formal
+than cordial for Miss Leicester's health, he assumed an air of solemn
+purpose, and said,--
+
+"You will not accuse me of undue impatience, my dear Mr. Corrigan, nor
+think me needlessly pressing, if I tell you that I have come here this
+morning to learn the answer to my late proposition. Circumstances have
+occurred at the hall to make my remaining there, even another day,
+almost impossible. Cashel's last piece of conduct is of such a nature as
+to make his acquaintance as derogatory as his friendship."
+
+"What was it?"
+
+"Simply this. Lord Kilgoff has at length discovered what all the world
+has known for many a day back; and, in his passionate indignation, the
+poor old man has been seized with a paralytic attack."
+
+Mr. Corrigan passed his hand across his brow, as if to clear away some
+terrible imagination, and sat then pale, silent, and attentive, as
+Linton went on,--
+
+"The most heartless is yet to come! While this old man lies stretched
+upon his bed--insensible and dying--this is the time Cashel selects to
+give a great entertainment, a ball, to above a thousand people. It is
+almost too much for belief--so I feel it myself. The palsied figure of
+his victim--his victim, do I say? there are two: that miserable woman,
+who sits as paralyzed by terror as he is by disease--might move any man
+from such levity; but Cashel is superior to such timidity; he fancies,
+I believe, that this ruffian hardihood is manliness, that brutal
+insensibility means courage, and so he makes his house the scene of an
+orgy, when his infamy has covered it with shame. I see how this affects
+you, sir; it is a theme on which I would never have touched did it not
+concern my own fortunes. For me, the acquaintance of such a man is no
+longer possible. For the sake of that unhappy woman, whom I knew in
+better days--to cover, as far as may be, the exposure that sooner or
+later must follow her fault--I am still here. You will, therefore,
+forgive my importunity if I ask if Miss Leicester has been informed of
+my proposal, and with what favor she deigns to regard it."
+
+"I have told my granddaughter, sir," said the old man, tremulously, "we
+have talked together on the subject; and while I am not able to speak
+positively of her sentiments towards you, it strikes me that they are
+assuredly not unfavorable. The point is, however, too important to admit
+a doubt: with your leave, we will confer together once again."
+
+"Might I not be permitted to address the young lady myself, sir? The
+case too nearly concerns all my future happiness to make me neglect
+whatever may conduce to its accomplishment."
+
+The old man hesitated; he knew not well what reply to make. At length he
+said,--
+
+"Be it so, Mr. Linton; you shall have this permission. I only ask,
+that before you do so, we should clearly and distinctly understand each
+other. _We_ are of the world, and can discuss its topics, man to man.
+With _her_, the matter rests on other and very different grounds."
+
+"Of course; so I understand the permission, sir," said Linton,
+courteously, "on the distinct understanding that her acceptance alone is
+wanting to fill up the measure of my wishes."
+
+"Is it necessary that I should repeat that I am totally destitute of
+fortune--that the humble means I possess expire with me, and that I am
+as poor in influence as in all else?"
+
+"I have sufficient for both, sir, for all that moderate wishes can
+desire. Pray do not add a word upon the subject."
+
+"I must be explicit, Mr. Linton, however wearisome to you the theme.
+You will pardon an old man's prolixity, in consideration for the motives
+which prompt it. We have absolutely nothing of our once powerful family,
+save the name and the escutcheon,--mementos to remind us of our fall!
+They did, indeed, say, some time back, that our title to the estate
+afforded strong grounds for litigation--that there were points of
+considerable importance--"
+
+"May I interrupt you, sir?" said Linton, laying his hand on Corrigan's
+arm. "A subject so full of regrets to _you_ can never be a pleasing
+topic to _me_. I am fully as rich as a man like myself could desire; and
+I trust to personal exertions for whatever I may wish to add in the way
+of ambition."
+
+"And with good reason, sir," said Corrigan, proudly. "There are no
+failures to those who unite honesty of purpose with fine abilities. I
+will not add a word. Go--speak to my granddaughter: I tell you frankly
+my best wishes go with you."
+
+Linton smiled a look of deep gratitude, and moved towards the door.
+
+"One second more," cried Corrigan, as the other laid his hand on the
+lock; "it may soon be, that, as a member of our family, you would have
+the right to express a will on the subject we have been talking of. I
+would wish to say, that, as I have abandoned all desire to contest this
+question, I should equally expect the same line of conduct from you."
+
+"Can you doubt it, sir--or is it necessary that I should give my
+promise?"
+
+"I hope and trust not. But having myself given a written pledge, under
+my own hand and seal, to Mr. Cashel, surrendering all right and title to
+this estate--"
+
+"Who gave this?" said Linton, turning suddenly round, and relinquishing
+his hold upon the lock of the door. "Who gave this?"
+
+"I gave it."
+
+"To whom?"
+
+"To Mr. Cashel, in the presence of his agent."
+
+"When?" exclaimed Linton, from whose pale features, now, intense
+agitation had banished all disguise. "When did you give it?"
+
+"Within a fortnight."
+
+"And this document--this release, was formal and explicit?"
+
+"Perfectly so. I knew enough of law to make it obligatory. I stated the
+conditions for which it was given,--certain concessions that Mr. Cashel
+had lately granted me, respecting this small property."
+
+Linton sat down, and covered his face with both hands. The trouble of
+his feelings had carried him far away from all thought of concealment,
+and of the part which so long he had been playing. Indeed, so insensible
+was he to every consideration save one, that he forgot Corrigan's
+presence--forgot where he was; and in the paroxysm of his baffled
+purpose, muttered half aloud broken curses upon the insane folly of the
+old man's act.
+
+"I am compelled to remind you, sir, that I am a listener," said Mr.
+Corrigan, whose face, suffused with a flush of anger, showed that the
+insulting remarks had been overheard by him.
+
+"And this was done without advice or consultation with any one?" said
+Linton, not heeding the last remark, nor the look that accompanied it.
+
+"I was free then, sir, to speak my gratitude, as I now am to utter my
+indignation that you should dare to canvass _my_ acts and question _my_
+motives, both of which are above your control."
+
+Linton stared at him almost vacantly; his own thoughts, and not the old
+man's words, had possession of his mind. With a rapidity of computation
+in which few were his equals, he ran over all the varying chances of
+success which had accompanied his game,--the pains he had taken to avert
+all cause of failure; the unwearying attention he had given to every
+minute point and doubtful issue,--and now, here, at the very last, came
+the ruin of all his plans, and wreck of all his hopes.
+
+"You have said enough--more than enough, sir--to show me how
+disinterested were the views in which you sought my granddaughter in
+marriage," said Corrigan, haughtily; "nor would it much surprise me,
+now, were I to discover that he who is so skilful a double-dealer may be
+no less expert as a calumniator. I will beg you to leave my house this
+instant."
+
+"Not so fast, sir," said Linton, assuming a seat, and at once regaining
+that insolent composure for which he was noted; "I have not that
+generous warmth of character which is so conspicuous in _you_. I have
+never given Mr. Cashel a release of any obligation I possess upon him.
+This house is _mine_, sir--mine by legal transfer and right; and it is
+_you_ who are the intruder!"
+
+The old man staggered backwards, and leaned against the wall; a clammy
+perspiration covered his face and forehead, and he seemed sick to the
+very death. It was some time before he could even utter a word; and
+then, as with clasped hands and uplifted eyes he spoke, the fervor of
+his words told that they were heart-spoken. "Thank God for this! but for
+it, and I had given my child to a scoundrel!"
+
+"Scarcely polite, sir, and, perhaps, scarcely politic," said Linton,
+with his treacherous half-smile. "It would be as well to bear in mind
+how we stand toward each other."
+
+"As enemies, open and declared," cried Corrigan, fiercely.
+
+"I should say as creditor and debtor," said Linton; "but probably we are
+speaking in synonyms. Now, sir, a truce to this altercation, for which
+I have neither time nor taste. Tell me frankly, can you obtain
+repossession of this unlucky document which, in an ill-starred moment,
+you parted with? If you can, and will do so, I am willing to resume
+the position I occupied towards you half an hour ago. This is plain
+speaking, I am aware; but how much better than to bandy mock courtesies,
+in which neither of us have any faith! We are both men of the world--I,
+at least, have no shame in saying that I am such. Let us then be frank
+and business-like."
+
+"You have at last filled up the measure of your insults, sir," said
+Corrigan, fiercely; "you have dared to speak of me as of yourself."
+
+"It is a compliment I have not paid a great many, notwithstanding,"
+replied Linton, with a languid insolence of manner that contrasted
+strongly with the other's natural warmth; "and there are people in this
+world would accept it as a flattery; but once more I say, let us abandon
+this silly squabble. Will you, or will you not, accept my proposal? I am
+ready to purchase the wreck as she lies upon the rocks, wave-tossed and
+shattered. Is it not better to give me the chance of floating her, than
+see her go to pieces before your eyes, and drift piecemeal into the wide
+ocean?"
+
+"Leave me, sir--leave me! =" was all the old man could utter.
+
+"If I take you at your word," said Linton, rising, "remember that the
+last gleam of hope for you departs when I close that door behind me. I
+warn you that I am little given to relenting."
+
+"Insolent scoundrel!" cried Corrigan, carried away by indignation.
+
+"Unhandsomely spoken, old gentleman; such words are ill-befitting gray
+hairs and palsied hands, but I forgive them. I repeat, however, my
+nature is not over-disposed to forgiveness; an injury with me is like
+a malady that leaves its mark behind it. The day may come when all
+your entreaties, aided even by the fair supplications of a more gentle
+penitent--"
+
+"If you dare, sir!" cried Corrigan, interrupting; and the insolence,
+schooled and practised in many a trial, quailed before the look and
+gesture of the old man.
+
+"You shall have your choice, then," said Linton. "From henceforth you
+will have to confess that I am not a secret enemy." And so saying,
+he opened the sash which led into the garden and passed out, leaving
+Corrigan overcome by emotion, and almost panic-stricken.
+
+The deceptions which are practised on youth are seldom attended with
+lasting influence; but when they fall upon a heart chilled and saddened
+by age, they are stunning in their effect, and seldom, or never, admit
+of relief.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV. GIOVANNI UNMASKED
+
+     Can sight and hearing--even touch deceive?
+     Or, is this real?
+
+     Play.
+
+
+Probably, in all his varied life, Cashel had never passed a day less
+to his satisfaction than that spent at Drumcoologan. His mind, already
+tortured by anxieties, was certainly not relieved by the spectacle that
+presented itself to his eyes. The fearful condition of a neglected Irish
+property, where want, crime, disease, and destitution were combined, was
+now seen by him for the first time. There was one predominant expression
+on and over everything,--"Despair." The almost roofless cabin, the
+scarce-clad children, the fevered father stretched upon his bed of clay,
+the starving mother, with a dying infant at her bosom, passed before him
+like the dreadful images of a dream. And then he was to hear from his
+agent, that these were evils for which no remedy existed: "there
+had always been fever in Ireland;" "dirt they were used to;" want of
+clothing had become "natural" to them; falsehood was the first article
+of their creed; their poverty was only fictitious,--this one owned
+several cows; the other had money in a savings' bank; and so on. In
+fact, he had to hear that every estate had its plague-spot of bad
+characters, where crime and infamy found a refuge; and that it might be
+poor morality, but good policy, to admit of the custom.
+
+Confused by contradictory statements, wearied by explanations, to
+understand which nothing short of a life long should have passed in
+studying the people,--imposed upon by some, unjust towards
+others,--he listened to interminable discussions without one gleam of
+enlightenment--and, what is far worse, without one ray of hope; the only
+piece of satisfaction he derived from the visit being, that Hoare had
+consented to advance a sum of money upon mortgage of the property,
+which, in his secret soul, Cashel resolved should be a purchase, and
+not a mere loan. The object he had in view was to buy off Linton's claim
+upon the cottage; and having settled all his most pressing debts, to
+retire for some years to the Continent, till a sufficient sum should
+have accumulated to permit him to recommence his life as a country
+gentleman, in a manner and with views very different from what he had
+hitherto done. He hoped, by travel, to improve his mind and extend his
+knowledge; he trusted that, by observing the condition of the peasant
+in different countries of Europe, he might bring back with him certain
+suggestions applicable to his own tenantry; and, at all events, he
+determined that the resources of his large fortune should no longer
+be squandered in meaningless debauch, so long as real destitution and
+grinding misery lay at his very door. He made many a good and noble
+resolve, and, like most men in such cases, with youth on their side, he
+was impatient to begin to act upon them.
+
+It was, then, with a feeling like that of a liberated prisoner, he heard
+from Mr. Kennyfeck that, although Mr. Hoare and himself had yet many
+preliminaries to arrange, which might detain them several hours longer,
+he might now return homeward to Tubbermore, where his company were
+doubtless in anxious expectation of his coming. There were two roads
+which led to Drumcoologan,--one was a species of carriage-road, by which
+they had come that morning; the other was a mere bridle-path over the
+mountain, and though shorter in mileage, required fully as much time, if
+not more, to travel. Refusing the assistance of a guide, and preferring
+to be alone, he set out by himself, and on foot, to pursue the way
+homeward.
+
+It was the afternoon of a sharp, clear winter's day, when the bracing
+air and the crisp atmosphere elevate the spirits, and make exercise the
+most pleasurable of stimulants; and as Cashel went along, he began to
+feel a return of that buoyancy of heart which had been so peculiarly
+his own in former days. The future, to which his hope already lent its
+bright colors, was rapidly erasing the past, and in the confidence of
+his youth he was fashioning a hundred schemes of life to come.
+
+The path along which he travelled lay between two bleak and barren
+mountains, and followed the course of a little rivulet for several
+miles. There was not a cabin to be seen; not a trace of vegetation
+brightened the dreary picture; not a sheep, nor even a goat, wandered
+over the wild expanse. It was a solitude the most perfect that could be
+conceived. Roland often halted to look around him, and each time his eye
+wandered to a lofty peak of rock on the very summit of the mountain, and
+where something stood which he fancied might be a human figure. Although
+gifted with strong power of vision, the great height prevented his
+feeling any degree of certainty; so that he abandoned the effort, and
+proceeded on his way for miles without again thinking on the subject.
+At last, as he was nearing the exit of the glen, he looked up once more;
+the cliff was now perceptible in its entire extent, and the figure was
+gone! He gave no further thought to the circumstance, but seeing that
+the day was declining fast, increased his speed, in order to reach the
+high-road before night closed in. Scarcely had he proceeded thus more
+than half a mile, when he perceived, full in front of him, about a
+couple of hundred yards distant, a man seated upon a stone beside the
+pathway. Cashel had been too long a wanderer in the wild regions of the
+"Far West," not to regard each new-comer as at least a possible enemy.
+His prairie experience had taught him that men do not take their stand
+in lonely and unfrequented spots without an object; and so, without
+halting, which might have awakened suspicion in the other, he managed to
+slacken his pace somewhat, and thus gave himself more time for thought.
+He well knew that, in certain parts of Ireland, landlord murder had
+become frequent; and although he could not charge himself with any act
+which should point him out as a victim, his was not a mind to waste in
+casuistry the moments that should be devoted more practically. He was
+perfectly unarmed, and this consideration rendered him doubly cautious.
+The matter, however, had but few issues. To go back would be absurd; to
+halt where he was, still more so. There was nothing, then, for it but to
+advance; and he continued to do so, calmly and warily, till about twenty
+paces from the rock where the other sat, still and immovable. Then it
+was that, dropping on one knee, the stranger threw back a cloak that he
+wore, and took a deliberate aim at him.
+
+The steady precision of the attitude was enough to show Cashel that
+the man was well versed in the use of firearms. The distance was
+short, also, and the chance of escape consequently, the very smallest
+imaginable. Roland halted, and crossing his arms upon his breast, stood
+to receive the fire exactly as he would have done in a duel. The other
+never moved; his dark eye glanced along the barrel without blinking, and
+his iron grasp held the weapon still pointed at Cashel's heart.
+
+[Illustration: 262]
+
+"Fire!" cried Roland, with the loud utterance he would have used in
+giving the word of command; and scarcely was it spoken when the rifle
+was flung to the earth, and, springing to his feet, a tall and muscular
+man advanced with an outstretched hand to meet him.
+
+"Don't you know me yet, Roland?" cried a deep voice in Spanish; "not
+remember your comrade?"
+
+"What!" exclaimed Casbel, as he rubbed his eyes and shook himself as if
+to insure he was not dreaming. "This is surely impossible! you cannot be
+my old friend and shipmate Enrique!"
+
+"That am I, my boy," cried the other, throwing his arms around him and
+embracing him in true Mexican fashion; "your own old comrade for many a
+year, who has sailed with you, fought with you, drunk with you, played
+with you, and swears now that he wishes for nothing but the old times
+over again."
+
+"But how came you here? and when? By what chance did you discover me?"
+said Roland, as he clasped the other's hand in both his own.
+
+"'T is a long story, _amigo mio_ but you shall have it all one of these
+days."
+
+"True; there will be time enough to tell it, for you shall not leave me,
+Enrique. I was longing for a face of an old comrade once again--one of
+the old 'Esmeralda's,' with whom my happiest days were passed."
+
+"I can well believe it," said Enrique; "and it was to see if wealth had
+not sapped your courage, as I know it has your high spirits, that I took
+aim at you, a while ago. Had you quailed, Roland, I almost think I could
+have pulled the trigger."
+
+"And I had well deserved it, too," said Cashel, sternly. "But let us
+hasten forward. Enrique, I am longing to see an old friend beneath
+my roof,--longing to see you seated opposite to me, and answering the
+hundred questions about old friends and times that are thronging to my
+mind."
+
+"No, Roland, my way lies thither," said he, pointing towards the west;
+"I have been too long your guest already."
+
+"How do you mean?" cried Roland, in amazement.
+
+"Simply, that for seven weeks I have lived beneath your roof. The
+narrative is too long for a moment like this; but enough if I tell you
+that it was a plot of Maritana's, who, had I not acceded to the notion,
+would have disguised herself and come hither, to watch and see with her
+own eyes how you played the great man. To save her from such a step,
+when all persuasion failed, I came here as the sailor Giovanni."
+
+"You Giovanni?"
+
+"Ay, Roland; and if wealth had not blinded you so effectually, you
+had soon seen through the counterfeit. As Giovanni, I saw your daily
+life,--the habits of your household; the sterling worth and fidelity
+of the men you made your friends; and let me tell you, Cashel, our old
+associates of the Villa de las Noches were men of unblemished honor
+compared with those well-bred companions of your prosperity. Often and
+often have I been upon the brink of declaring myself, and then have
+I held back, sometimes from a curiosity to see the game played out,
+sometimes anxious to know how far this course of treachery might be
+carried on without its awakening your suspicions. At length, I actually
+grew weary of seeing you the dupe. I almost ceased to feel interest
+in one who could be imposed upon with such slender artifice. I forgot,
+Roland, that I was the looker-on, and not the player of the game. It
+was in this mood of mind I had half determined to leave your house,
+and suffer you to go down the stream as chance might pilot, when I
+discovered that treachery had taken a higher flight than I suspected;
+and that, not content with the slow breaching of your fortune by
+play and reckless waste, your utter ruin, your very beggary had been
+compassed!"
+
+Cashel started back, and grasped the other's arm tightly, but never
+spoke.
+
+"Are you still so infatuated as not to guess the traitor?" cried
+Enrique.
+
+"You mean Linton?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"But are you certain of what you speak? or do you mistake the cunning
+devices of a subtle mind for the darker snares of downright treachery?"
+
+"You shall hear," said Enrique. "Sit down hereupon this stone; I have
+some hours before I sail. The vessel leaves Limerick to-morrow for
+Naples; and thither I am bound, for Maritana is there. No, no, my dear
+friend, you must not ask me to stay; I have remained longer than I
+ought; but I waited for the time when I might be able to recompense you
+for having thus played the spy upon your actions. Hear me out patiently
+now, for that hour is come."
+
+As Cashel seated himself beside Enrique, it was only by a great effort
+he could compose himself to listen, when a hundred questions came
+thronging to his mind, and doubts and inquiries, of every possible kind,
+demanded explanation.
+
+"I will not waste your time nor my own by dwelling upon your losses at
+play. I may one day or another amuse you by showing how little chance
+our old Columbian friends would have had against these honorable and
+right honorable swindlers. That you should be the mark for artifice is
+natural enough; but I have little patience with your blindness in not
+seeing it. From the first hour of your arrival here, Linton set a watch
+upon your doings. Phillis was his principal agent. But even upon him
+Linton had his spies,--myself among the number. Ay, Roland, I was
+perhaps the only one he trusted! As I have said, Linton marked every
+step you took, heard all you said, read every letter that reached you.
+Every night it was his practice, at a certain hour when you repaired to
+the cottage, to enter your dressing-room by a secret door that led
+from the theatre; and then, at his leisure, he ransacked your papers,
+examined your correspondence, searched through all the documents which
+concerned your estate, possessing himself of information on every point
+of your circumstances. Nor was this all; he abstracted papers of value
+from amongst them, well knowing the carelessness of your habits, and
+with what little risk of detection his boldest darings were attended. I
+studied him long and closely. For a great while I could not detect the
+clew to his proceedings. I even at one time ascribed all to jealousy,
+for he _was_ jealous of the favor by which Lady Kilgoff distinguished
+you. This, however, could not explain all I saw, for it was on the
+subject of your fortune his deepest interest was excited. At last came
+his first move, and the whole game disclosed itself before me. There lay
+upon your table for several days a deed concerning the cottage where the
+old gentleman resided with his daughter. This, Linton, to my surprise,
+did not take away, but simply contented himself by placing it in such a
+prominent position as would in all likelihood attract your notice. To
+no purpose, however; you would seem to have tossed it over, among other
+papers, without attention. He went a step further; he broke the seal,
+and left the enclosure half open. Still it lay unminded. The next night
+he carried it off, but you never missed it."
+
+"Nor was it of any consequence," broke in Cashel. "It was never
+perfected, and had neither my signature nor my seal."
+
+"Are you certain of that?" said Enrique, smiling dubiously.
+
+"I could swear to it."
+
+"Look here, then," said the other, as he drew forth a pocket-book, from
+the folds of which he took a heavy package, and opened it before Cashel.
+"Is that name, there,--that signature, 'Roland Cashel,'--yours?"
+
+Cashel stared at the writing without speaking; his hands trembled as
+they held the paper, and his very frame shook with agitation.
+
+"I never wrote it!" cried he, at last, with an effort almost convulsive.
+
+"Yet, see if it be not witnessed; there are the names and address of two
+persons."
+
+"It is a forgery; a clever one, I own, but still a forgery. I never
+signed that paper--never saw it till this instant."
+
+"Well," said Enrique, slowly, "I scarcely expected so much of memory
+from you. It is true, as you say, you never did sign it; but _I_ did."
+
+"You, Enrique,--you?" exclaimed Cashel.
+
+"Yes, Roland. I accompanied Linton to Limerick at his request, dressed
+to personate _you_. We were met at the hotel by two persons summoned
+to witness this act of signature; of the meaning of which I, of course,
+appeared to know nothing; nor did I, indeed, till long afterwards
+discover the real significance."
+
+"And how came you by it eventually?"
+
+"By imitating Linton's own proceedings. I saw that for security he
+placed it in an iron box, which he carried with him to Limerick, and
+which contained another document of apparently far greater value. This
+casket was long enough in my company on that morning to enable me to
+take a model of the key, by which I afterwards had another made, and by
+means of which I obtained possession of both these papers--for here is
+the other."
+
+"And when did you take them?"
+
+"About an hour ago. I saw this drama was drawing to a finish. I knew
+that Linton's schemes were advancing more rapidly than I could follow;
+his increased confidence of manner proved to me his consciousness of
+strength, and yet I could neither unravel his cunning nor detect his
+artifice. Nothing then remained but to carry off these papers; and as
+the hour of my own departure drew nigh, there was no time to lose. There
+they are both. I hope you will be a more careful depositary than you
+have been hitherto."
+
+"And where is Linton?" cried Roland, his passionate eagerness for
+revenge mastering every other feeling.
+
+"Still your guest. He dines and does the honors of your board to-day, as
+he did yesterday, and will to-morrow."
+
+"Nay, by my oath, that he will never do more! The man is no coward, and
+he will not refuse me the _amende_ I 'll ask for."
+
+"Were he on board, it is a loop and a leap I 'd treat him to," said
+Enrique.
+
+"So should I, perhaps," said Cashel, "but the circumstances change with
+the place. Here he shall have the privilege of the class he has belonged
+to and disgraced."
+
+"Not a bit of it, Roland. He is an average member of the guild; the only
+difference being, with more than average ability. These fellows are all
+alike. Leave them, I say. Come and rough it with me in the Basque,
+where a gallant band are fighting for the true sovereign; or let us have
+another dash in the Far West, where the chase is as the peril and glory
+of war; or what say you to the East? a Circassian saddle and a cimeter
+would not be strange to us. Choose your own land, my boy, and let us
+meet this day month at Cadiz."
+
+"But why leave me, Enrique? I never had more need of a true-hearted
+friend than now."
+
+"No, I cannot stay; my last chance of seeing Maritana depends on my
+reaching Naples at once; and as to your affair with Linton, it will
+be one of those things of etiquette, and measured distance, and
+hair-trigger, in which a rough sailor like myself would be out of
+place."
+
+"And Maritana--tell me of her. They said that Rica had come to England."
+
+"Rica! He dared not set foot on shore. The fellow has few countries open
+to him now: nor is it known where he is."
+
+"And is she alone? Is Maritana unprotected?"
+
+"Alone, but not unprotected. The girl who has twice crossed the
+Cordilleras with a rifle on her shoulder need scarcely fear the insults
+of the coward herd that would molest her."
+
+"But how is she living? In what rank--among what associates?"
+
+"I only know that she maintains a costly retinue at the 'Albergo Reale;'
+that her equipages, her servants, her liveries, bespeak wealth without
+limit. She is a mystery to the city she inhabits. So much have I heard
+from others; from herself, a few lines reached me at Dieppe, begging me
+to see you, and--you will scarcely believe it--asking for a release from
+that bond of betrothal that passed between you,--as if it could signify
+anything."
+
+"Was the freedom thus obtained to be used in your favor, Enrique?"
+
+The other grew purple, and it was a few seconds before he could answer.
+"No; that is over forever. She has refused me as one so much below
+her that the very thought of an alliance would be degradation. The
+sailor--the buccaneer--raise his eyes to her whom princes seek in vain?
+I go now to say my last farewell: so long as there dwells upon my mind
+the slenderest chance of meeting her, so long will hope linger in my
+heart; not the high hope that spirits one to glorious enterprise, but
+that feverish anxiety that unnerves the courage and shakes the purpose.
+I cannot endure it any longer."
+
+"Remain with me, then, for a day--for two at furthest--and we will go
+together to Naples."
+
+"Do not ask me, Roland. Some accident--some one of those chances which
+befall each hour of life--might delay us; and then I might never see her
+more. She is to leave Naples by the end of the month, but to go whither,
+or how, she will not tell. Promise me to follow. Let us meet there; and
+then, if the world has not a faster hold upon you than I deem it has,
+we 'll seek our fortune together in new lands. What say you? is it a
+bargain?"
+
+"Agreed," said Roland. "I'll leave this within a week, without it be my
+fate to quit it never. Let us rendezvous at Naples, then; and fortune
+shall decide what after."
+
+"How hundreds of things press upon my mind, all of which, when I am
+gone, will be remembered, but which now are confusedly mingled up
+together! What warnings I meant to have given you! what cautions! and
+now I can think of nothing."
+
+"I have room for but one thought," said Cashel, sternly: "it is a debt
+which every hour unpaid increases by a tenfold interest."
+
+"It need not weigh long upon your conscience. Linton wears the dress
+of a grandee of Spain to-night; but he 'll conceal it from time to time
+beneath a plain brown domino with yellow cape. Do not mix with your
+company on arriving, but wait till about twelve o'clock in your
+room, and you'll hear him as he enters his own: then, without risk of
+disturbance, you can see him; or, if you like it better, send another to
+him. Should he be the man you suppose, the whole can easily be arranged
+by the light of morning."
+
+"And so shall it be," said Cashel, in a deep low voice.
+
+"If this life of luxury has not unsteadied your finger, I'd not take his
+place for half your fortune."
+
+A short motion of the head from Cashel seemed to concur with this
+speech.
+
+"How I wish you were to be with me, Enrique!" said he, after a silence
+of some minutes.
+
+"So should I, Roland; but you will not need me: were there two to bring
+to reckoning, I'd stay, cost what it might. And here we say farewell."
+They had walked together, during this colloquy, to the high-road, which
+on one side leads towards Tubbermore, and on the other to Limerick.
+
+Cashel held his comrade's hand fast clasped in his own, without
+speaking. The sense of isolation had never struck him so forcibly as now
+that, having met an old and attached friend, he was about to part with
+him so suddenly. It appeared to darken his solitude into something more
+lonely still.
+
+"I 'd have thought that all this wealth had made you happier," said
+Enrique, as he gazed at the sorrow-struck features of his friend.
+
+"Neither happier nor better," said Roland, mournfully.
+
+"There! see yonder," cried Enrique, "where you see the lamps flashing;
+those are the carriages of your gay company. Remember that you are the
+host to-night; and so, good-bye."
+
+"Good-bye, my old comrade."
+
+"One word more," said Enrique. "Be not weak-hearted--trust none of
+them--they are false, every one: some from envy; some from treachery;
+some from that fickleness that they fancy to be knowledge of life; but
+all are alike. And so, till we meet again at Naples."
+
+"At Naples," echoed Cashel; and, with head bent down, pursued his way
+homeward.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV. TIERNAY INTIMIDATED----THE ABSTRACTED DEEDS
+
+     Warmth may suit the gen'rous fool;
+     The deeper knave must aye be cool.
+
+     Bell.
+
+
+Rapidly as carriage after carriage rolls up the broad approach to
+Tubbermore, the lamps flashing and glittering through the dark wood,
+we must beg of our reader to turn back a few hours in our history,
+and follow the steps of Mr. Linton, as, leaving the cottage, he turned
+towards the "great house."
+
+Probably, to a mind constituted like his there could be no more poignant
+sense of sorrow and regret than that experienced in consequence of a
+sudden and irrepressible burst of passion. It was a great fault,--the
+greatest he could commit. In justice to him, we will own it was of the
+very rarest in occurrence. His outbreaks of anger, like his moments of
+calm, were all studied beforehand; and nothing short of a catastrophe,
+unexpected and overwhelming, could have surprised him into the fatal
+excess of which his interview with Corrigan was an instance.
+
+If repentance could have compensated for his sin, assuredly the offence
+might have been effaced from the tablet of his misdeeds. Never was
+sorrow more true, heartfelt, and cutting. He called none of his
+accustomed casuistry to aid him in softening down his fault; he saw it
+in all the breadth of its enormity, as a foul blot upon that system
+of deceit in which years of practice had made him so perfect. He felt
+compromised by himself; and possibly, to a cunning man, this is the
+bitterest of all self-reproaches.
+
+Very little consideration was needed to show that, so far as Corrigan
+went, reconciliation was impossible. He knew the old man too well to
+have a doubt upon that subject.
+
+What, then, was to be done? In which was the most profitable channel to
+turn the stream of coming events? Were Cashel a man of different mould,
+there would be no price too high to pay for that document which stood
+between him and his title to the estate. It was all the difference
+between rank and obscurity--between wealth and want--between the
+condition of an estated gentleman and the assumption of a mere
+pretender. Wide as the alternatives lay, Linton knew they would not
+affect Cashel's mind. He foresaw clearly that, in a burst of his "most
+virtuous probity," he would declare Corrigan the rightful owner of the
+estate, and walk forth into the world as poor as when he began it.
+With Cashel, therefore, all treaty would be impossible. The next
+consideration was, what terms might be made with Corrigan through
+Tiernay. The rough frankness of the old doctor had always been reckoned
+by Linton as a commonplace trick of certain coarse minds, to simulate
+honesty and straightforwardness. He believed that mankind consisted of
+but two categories,--the knave and the fool: he who was not one must
+necessarily be the other. Now, an acute study of Tiernay persuaded
+him that he was a shrewd, sound-headed man, whose very profession had
+trained him into habits of investigation; and thought there could be
+little doubt, therefore, into which class be fell. There was, moreover,
+this advantage in treating with him, that neither personal feeling
+nor pride of station would interfere with the negotiation; he would
+entertain the question in the simple light of a bargain,--so much for
+so much. The unlucky release of all claim upon their property was,
+of course, to be thought of--as deteriorating, if not altogether
+invalidating, the title; but of this it might be possible, perhaps, to
+obtain possession. Cashel's papers must be ransacked throughout; it was
+very unlikely that he had taken an unusual care of it, so that Linton
+was far from supposing that this would present a serious difficulty.
+But why had he not thought of this before? Why had he suffered his
+disappointment to blind him to what was so palpable? "So much for
+thinking the game won ere it is finished," exclaimed he; "but who would
+have thought Linton should make this blunder?"
+
+To treat with Tiernay, then, realized every advantage he could think of.
+It offered the prospect of better terms, an easier negotiation; and it
+presented one feature of inestimable merit in his eyes,--it afforded
+the means of gratifying his hatred against Cashel, without the vengeance
+costing him anything. This thought, for a while, left him incapable of
+entertaining every other. Cashel reduced to poverty--humiliated to
+the position of an adventurer who had obtained a property under false
+pretences--was a picture he could never weary of contemplating. What a
+glorious consummation of revenge, could he have involved one other in
+the ruin!--if Laura had been the companion of his fall! But that scheme
+had failed; a friendship--a perilous one, 't is true--had sprung up
+where Linton had sowed the seeds of a very different passion; and
+nothing remained but to involve them both in the disgrace and ruin which
+a separation and its consequences could inflict. "Even this," thought
+be, "will now be no trifling penalty,--the 'millionnaire' Roland Cashel
+would have conferred an _eclat_ on the fall, that would become ludicrous
+when associated with the name of a mere adventurer."
+
+If thoughts of these vengeances afforded the most intense pleasure to
+his vindictive mind, there came, ever and anon, deep regrets at the loss
+of that greater game for which he had planned and plotted so anxiously.
+That noble fortune which he had almost held within his grasp; that high
+station from which he would have known how to derive all its advantages;
+the political position he had so long ambitioned,--were now all to flit
+from before his eyes like the forms of a dream, unreal and impossible.
+
+So intently had he pursued these various reasonings, that he utterly
+forgot everything of his late interview with Tom Keane; and when the
+remembrance did flash upon him, the effect was almost stunning. The
+crime would now be useless, so far as regarded Linton's own advantage.
+Mary Leicester could never be his wife; why, then, involve himself,
+however remotely, in a deed as profitless as it was perilous? No time
+should be lost about this. He must see Keane immediately, and dissuade
+him from the attempt. It would be easy to assure him that the whole
+was a misconception,--a mistake of meaning. It was not necessary to
+convince, it was enough to avert the act; but this must be done at once.
+
+So reflecting, Linton took his way to the gate-lodge, which lay a
+considerable distance off. The space afforded much time for thought, and
+he was one whose thoughts travelled fast. His plans were all matured and
+easy of accomplishment. After seeing Keane, he would address a few
+lines to Tiernay, requesting an interview on the following morning. That
+night, he resolved, should be his last at Tubbermore; the masquerade
+had, as may be conjectured, few charms for one whose mind was charged
+with heavier cares, but still it would give him an occasion to
+whisper about his scandal on Lady Kilgoff, and, later on, give him the
+opportunity of searching Cashel's papers for that document he wished to
+obtain.
+
+On reaching the gate-lodge, under pretence of lighting his cigar
+he entered the house, where, in all the squalid misery of their un
+tractable habits, Keane's wife sat, surrounded by her ragged children.
+
+[Illustration: 274]
+
+"Tom is at work, I suppose?" said he, carelessly.
+
+"No, yer honer; he went out early this morning to look after a little
+place for us, as the master is goin' to turn us out."
+
+"I 'm sorry for that," said he, compassionately; "land is dear, and hard
+to be got now-a-days. Why don't he go to America?"
+
+"Indeed an' I don't know, sir. They say it's the asy place to gain a
+livin'; fine pay, and little to do for it."
+
+Linton smiled at an encomium for whose accuracy he would not have
+vouched, and then tried to ascertain, in the same careless fashion,
+in what direction Keane had gone; but the woman could not tell. She
+believed it was by the high road, but could not be certain, since he had
+left the house shortly after daybreak.
+
+Linton sauntered out in deep thought. It was evident enough to him what
+the object of that journey was; it needed no clew to track his path.
+It was strange; but now, when the deed was not to secure any future
+benefits to himself, it appeared before his eyes in all the glaring
+colors of its criminality. It was a cold-blooded and useless crime, and
+he actually shuddered as he thought upon it.
+
+Although he well knew that it would not be possible to connect him in
+any way with the act, his conscience made him restless and uneasy, and
+he would have given much that he had never mooted it. It was too late,
+however, now, to think of these things; were he to mount his horse and
+follow the fellow Keane, the chances of coming up with him were few. The
+man would inevitably have concealed himself till the very moment came;
+and were Linton to be present at such a time, the fact of his presence
+might, in such a remote and unfrequented spot, give rise to the very
+worst suspicions. "Be it so," said he, at length, and with the tone of
+one who left the issue to fortune. He found himself now upon the high
+road, and remembering that he was not far from Tiernay's house, resolved
+on making a visit to the doctor in person. It might so happen hereafter
+that a question would arise where he had passed the morning. There was
+no saying what turn events might take, and it would be as well were he
+able to show that he had spent some time in Tiernay's company; and as,
+in such a critical moment, it would have been far from wise to discuss
+any matter connected with Cashel's property, it were safest to make
+the object of the visit appear an effort to obtain Dr. Tiernay's kind
+mediation in the difference with Mr. Corrigan.
+
+To pass half an hour in his company, under any pretext, would be to
+put on record his occupation on that morning; and with this resolve, he
+knocked at the door.
+
+It was with a start of surprise Tiernay received Linton as he entered
+his study. The doctor arose from the chair where he had been sitting,
+and stood in the attitude of one who desires by his very air and
+deportment to express that he does not mean that the other should be
+seated.
+
+"This is an honor, sir," said he, at last, "so undeserved on my part,
+that I am at a loss how to acknowledge it."
+
+"A little patience and a little courtesy are all I ask for, Dr.
+Tiernay," replied Linton, while he placed a chair and seated himself
+with the most perfect unconcern. "You may easily guess that I do not
+intrude my presence upon you without what at least seem to me to be
+sufficient reasons. Whether you may think them so or not, will in a
+great measure depend upon whether you prefer to be guided by the false
+lights of an unjust prejudice, or the true illumination of your own
+natural good sense and practical intelligence."
+
+Tiernay sat down without speaking; the appeal was made calmly and
+dispassionately to him, and he felt that he could not but entertain it,
+particularly as the scene was beneath his own roof.
+
+Linton resumed,--
+
+"_Your_ friend,--I hope the time is not far distant when I may be
+enabled to say and _mine_,--Mr. Corrigan, acting under the greatest of
+all misconceptions, mistaking my heartfelt zeal in his behalf for an
+undue interference in his affairs, has to-day expressed himself towards
+me in a manner so uncalled for, so unfair, and ungenerous, that,
+considering the position I sought to occupy in his regard, either
+bespeaks the existence of some secret attack upon my character, or that
+a mere sudden caprice of temper overbalances with him the qualities
+he has been gracious enough to speak of in terms of praise and
+approbation."
+
+Tiernay gave a short, dry nod, whose significance was so very doubtful
+that Linton stopped and stared at him, as if asking for further
+information.
+
+"I had made a proposition for the hand of his granddaughter," resumed
+he, "and surely my pretensions could not subject me to rebuke?"
+
+Tiernay nodded again, in the same puzzling way as before.
+
+"Knowing the influence you possess in the family," resumed Linton,
+"seeing how much confidence they repose in your counsels, I have thought
+it advisable to state to you that, although naturally indignant at the
+treatment I have met with, and possibly carried away for a moment by
+passion, my feelings regarding Miss Leicester are unchanged, and, I
+believe, unchangeable."
+
+Tiernay moved his head slightly, as though implying assent.
+
+"Am I to understand, sir, that my communication is pleasing to you?"
+said Linton, firmly.
+
+"Very pleasing in every respect," said Tiernay.
+
+"And I may reckon upon your kind offices in my behalf, Dr. Tiernay?"
+
+Tiernay shook his head negatively.
+
+"Be kind enough to speak your mind more intelligibly, sir, for there is
+need that we should understand each other here."
+
+"I will be as explicit as you can desire, sir. Your communication was
+gratifying to me in so far that it showed me how my old and esteemed
+friend, Mr. Corrigan, had thrown off the delusion in which he had
+indulged regarding you, and saw you as I have always thought you,--a
+clever worldly man, without scruples as to his means when an object had
+once gained possession of his wishes, and who never could have dreamed
+of making Miss Leicester his wife were there not other and deeper
+purposes to be attained by so doing."
+
+"You are candor itself, sir," said Linton; "but I cannot feel offence at
+a frankness I have myself asked for. Pray extend the favor, and say what
+could possibly be these other and deeper purposes you allude to? What
+advantages could I propose myself by such an alliance, save increased
+facilities of conversation with Dr. Tiernay, and more frequent
+opportunities of indulging in 'tric-trac' with Mr. Corrigan?"
+
+Tiernay winced under the sarcasm, but only said,--
+
+"To divine your motives would be to become your equal in skill and
+cleverness. I have no pretensions to such excellence."
+
+"So that you are satisfied with attributing to another objects for which
+you see no reason and motive, and of which you perceive no drift?"
+
+"I am satisfied to believe in much that I cannot fathom."
+
+"We will pursue this no further," said Linton, impatiently. "Let us
+reverse the medal. Mr. Corrigan's refusal of me, coupled with his
+uncourteous conduct, may lead to unpleasant results. Is he prepared for
+such?"
+
+"I have never known him to shrink from the consequences of his own
+conduct," replied Tiernay, steadfastly.
+
+"Even though that conduct should leave him houseless?" whispered Linton.
+
+"It cannot, sir, while _I_ have a roof."
+
+"Generously spoken, sir," said Linton, while he threw his eyes over the
+humble decorations of his chamber with an expression of contempt there
+was no mistaking.
+
+"Humble and poor enough it is, sir," said Tiernay, answering the glance,
+"but the fruit of honest industry. Neither a father's curse, nor a
+mother's tear, hovers over one of the little comforts around me."
+
+"An ancient Roman in virtue!" exclaimed Linton, affectedly. "How sad
+that our degenerate days so ill reward such excellence!"
+
+"You are wrong there, sir. Even for merits poor and unobtrusive as mine,
+there are tributes of affection more costly than great men know of.
+There are those on every hand around me who would resign health, and
+hope, and life itself, to do me service. There are some who, in their
+rude zeal, would think little of making even Mr. Linton regret his
+having needlessly insulted me. Ay, sir, I have but to open that window
+and speak one word, and you would sorely repent this day's proceeding."
+
+Linton sat calm and collected under this burst of anger, as though he
+were actually enjoying the outbreak he had provoked. "You have a lawless
+population here, it would seem, then," said he, smiling blandly, as
+he rose from his seat. "I think the Government is badly rewarded by
+bestowing its resources on such a neighborhood. A police-barracks would
+suit you better than an hospital, and so I shall tell Mr. Downie Meek."
+
+Tiernay grew suddenly pale. The threat was too papable to be mistaken,
+nor was he sufficiently conversant with the world of policy to detect
+its fallacy.
+
+"Two hundred pounds a year," resumed Linton, "can be of no moment to one
+who is surrounded by such generous devotion; while some respect for law
+or order will be a good 'alterative,'--is n't that the phrase, doctor?"
+
+Tiernay could not utter a word. Like many men who pass their lives in
+seclusion, he had formed the most exaggerated ideas of the despotism of
+those in power; he believed that for the gratification of a mere whim
+or passing caprice they would not scruple at an act of oppression that
+might lead to ruin itself; he felt shocked at the peril to which a hasty
+word had exposed him. Linton read him like a book, and, gazing fixedly
+at him, said, "Your craft has taught you little of worldly skill, Dr.
+Tiernay, or you would have seen that it is better to incur a passing
+inconvenience than run the risk of a severe and perhaps fatal
+misfortune. Me-thinks that a science of expediencies might have
+instilled a few of its wise precepts into every-day life."
+
+The doctor stared, half in astonishment, half in anger, but never spoke.
+
+"Reflect a little upon this point," said Linton, slowly; "remember, too,
+that a man like myself, who never acts without an object, may be a very
+good associate for him who has neither courage nor energy for action at
+all; and lastly, bethink you that the subtlety and skill which can make
+a useful friend, can become very readily the materials of a dangerous
+enemy."
+
+Linton knew well the force and significance of vagueness, either in
+threat or promise; and no sooner had he done speaking than he left the
+room and the house; while Tiernay, bewildered and terrified, sat down to
+think over what had passed.
+
+"He 'll come to terms, I see that!" cried Linton to himself, as he
+entered the park of Tubbermore. "A little time, a sleepless night or
+two, the uncertainty of that future which to every man past fifty gets
+another tinge of black with each year, will do the business, and I 'll
+have him suing for the conditions he would now reject."
+
+Never yet, however, had time been a greater object with Linton. The host
+of creditors whom he had staved off for some months back--some by paying
+large sums on account; others by the assurance that he was on the eve
+of a rich marriage--would, at the very first semblance of his defeat,
+return and overwhelm him. Many of his debts were incurred to hush up
+play transactions, which, if once made public, his station in society
+would be no longer tenable. Of his former associates, more than one
+lived upon him by the mere menace of the past. Some were impatient, too,
+at the protracted game he played with Roland, and reproached him with
+not "finishing him off" long before, by cards and the dice-box. Others
+were indignant that they were not admitted to the share of the spoil,
+with all the contingent advantages of mixing in a class where they might
+have found the most profitable acquaintances. To hold all these in
+check had been a difficult matter, and few save himself could have
+accomplished it To restrain them much longer was impossible. With these
+thoughts he walked along, scarce noticing the long string of
+carriages which now filled the avenue, and hastened towards the house.
+Occasionally a thought would cross his mind, "What if the bullet had
+already done its work? What if that vast estate were now once more
+thrown upon the wide ocean of litigation? Would Corrigan prefer his
+claim again, or would some new suitor spring up?--and if so, what
+sum could recompense the possession of that pardon by which the whole
+property might be restored to its ancient owners?" Amid all these
+canvassings, no feeling arose for the fate of him who had treated him as
+a bosom friend,--not one regret, not so much as one sensation of pity.
+True, indeed, he did reflect upon what course to adopt when the tidings
+arrived. Long did he vacillate whether Tom Keane should not be arrested
+on suspicion. There were difficulties in either course, and, as usual,
+he preferred that coming events should suggest their own conduct.
+
+At last he reached the great house, but instead of entering by the
+front door, he passed into the courtyard, and gained his own apartment
+unobserved. As he entered he locked the door, and placed the key in
+such a manner that none could peep through the keyhole. He then walked
+leisurely around the room; and although he knew there was no other
+outlet, he cast a glance of scrutinizing import on every side, as if to
+ensure himself that he was alone. This done, he opened a small cupboard
+in the wall behind his bed, and took forth the iron box, in which, since
+its discovery, he had always kept the pardon, as well as the forged
+conveyance of Tubber-beg.
+
+Linton placed the box before him on the table, and gazed at it in a kind
+of rapture. "There," thought he, "lies the weapon by which at once I
+achieve both fortune and revenge. Let events take what turn they will,
+_there_ is a certain source of wealth. A great estate like this will
+have its claimants; with me it rests who shall be the successful one."
+
+A hurried knocking at the door interrupted the current of these musings;
+and Linton, having replaced the casket in the press, unlocked the door.
+It was Mr. Phillis, who, in all the gala of full dress, and with a rare
+camellia in his button-hole, entered.
+
+"Well, Phillis, is all going on as it ought?" said Linton, carelessly.
+
+"Scarcely so, sir," said the soft-voiced functionary; "the house is
+filling fast, but there is no one to receive the company; and they
+are walking about staring at each other, and asking who is to do the
+honors."
+
+"Awkward, certainly," said Linton, coolly; "Lady Kilgoff ought to have
+been the person."
+
+"She is gone, sir," said Phillis.
+
+"Gone! gone! When, and where?"
+
+"I cannot say, sir; but my Lord and her Ladyship left this morning
+early, with post-horses, taking the Dublin road."
+
+Linton did not speak, but the swollen vein in his forehead, and the
+red flush upon his brow, told how the tidings affected him. He had long
+speculated on witnessing the agonies of her grief when the hour of his
+revenge drew nigh; and this ecstasy of cruelty was now to be denied him.
+
+"And my Lord--had he regained any consciousness, or was he still
+insensible?"
+
+"He appeared like a child, sir, when they lifted him into the carriage."
+
+"And Lady Kilgoff?"
+
+"She held her veil doubled over her face as she passed; but I thought
+she sighed, and even sobbed, as she handed me this letter."
+
+"'For Roland Cashel, Esquire,'" said Linton, reading as he took it. "Did
+she speak at all, Phillis?"
+
+"Not a word, sir. It was a sad-looking procession altogether, moving
+away in the dim gray of the morning."
+
+Linton placed the letter in a rack upon the chimney, and for some
+seconds was lost in thought.
+
+"If Lady Janet, sir, would be kind enough to receive the company,"
+murmured Phillis, softly.
+
+"Pooh, man, it is of no consequence!" said Linton, roughly, his mind
+dwelling on a very different theme. "Let who will play host or hostess."
+
+"Perhaps you would come down yourself soon, sir?" asked Phillis, who
+read in the impatience of Linton's manner the desire to be alone, and
+coupled that desire with some mysterious purpose.
+
+"Yes, leave me, Phillis; I'm going to dress," said he, hurriedly. "Has
+_he_ returned yet?"
+
+"No, sir; and we expected him at five o'clock."
+
+"And it is now nine," said the other, solemnly; "four hours later."
+
+"It is very singular!" exclaimed Phillis, who was more struck by the
+altered expression of Linton's face than by the common-place fact he
+affected to marvel at.
+
+"Why singular? What is remarkable? That a man should be delayed some
+time on a business matter, particularly when there was no urgency to
+repair elsewhere?"
+
+"Nothing more common, sir; only that Mr. Cashel said positively he
+should be here at five. He had ordered the cob pony to be ready for
+him,--a sign that he was going to pay a visit at the cottage."
+
+Linton made no reply, but his lips curled into a smile of dark and
+ominous meaning.
+
+"Leave me, Phillis," said he, at length; "I shall be late with all this
+cumbrous finery I am to wear."
+
+"Shall I send your man, sir?" said Phillis, slyly eying him as he spoke.
+
+"Yes--no, Phillis--not yet I 'll ring for him later."
+
+And with these words Linton seated himself in a large chair, apparently
+unconscious of the other's presence.
+
+Mr. Phillis withdrew noiselessly--but not far; for after advancing a few
+steps along the corridor, he cautiously returned, and listened at the
+door.
+
+Linton sat for a few seconds, as if listening to the other's retreating
+footsteps; and then, noiselessly arising from his chair, he approached
+the door of the chamber, at which, with bent-down head, Phillis watched.
+With a sudden jerk of the handle Linton threw open the door, and stood
+before the terrified menial.
+
+"I was afraid you were ill, sir. I thought your manner was strange."
+
+"Not half so strange as this conduct, Mr. Phillis," said Linton, slowly,
+as he folded his arms composedly on his breast. "Come in." He pointed,
+as he spoke, to the room; but Phillis seemed reluctant to enter, and
+made a gesture of excuse. "Come in, sir," said Linton, peremptorily; and
+he obeyed. Linton immediately locked the door, and placed the key upon
+the chimney-piece; then deliberately seating himself full in front of
+the other, he stared at him long and fixedly. "So, sir," said he, at
+length, "you have thought fit to become a spy upon my actions. Now,
+there is but one _amende_ you can make for such treachery,--which is, to
+confess frankly and openly what it is you want to know, and what small
+mystery is puzzling your puny intelligence, and making your nights
+sleepless. Tell me this candidly, and I'll answer as freely."
+
+"I have really nothing to confess, sir. I was fearful lest you were
+unwell. I thought--it was mere fancy, perhaps--that you were flurried
+and peculiar this morning; and this impression distressed me so,
+that--that--"
+
+"That you deemed fit to watch me. Be it so. I have few secrets from
+any one; I have none from my friends. You shall hear, therefore
+what--without my knowing it--has made me appear unusually agitated.
+It was my intention to leave this house to-morrow, Phillis, and in the
+preparation for my departure I was arranging my letters and papers,
+among which I found a very considerable quantity that prudence
+would consign to the flames,--that is to say, if prudence were to be
+one-sided, and had only regard for the interests of one individual where
+there were two concerned. In plain language, Phillis, I was just about
+to burn the mass of documents which fill that iron safe, and which
+it were to the honor and credit of Mr. Phillis should be reduced to
+charcoal as speedily as may be, the same being nothing more nor less
+than the accounts of that 'honest steward,' pinned to the real and bona
+fide bills of Mr. Cashel's tradespeople. There are, it is true, strange
+little discrepancies between the two, doubtless capable of satisfactory
+explanation, but which, to plain-thinking men like myself, are difficult
+to reconcile; and in some one or two instances--a wine merchant's
+account, for example, and a saddler's bill--savor somewhat of that
+indiscreet procedure people call forgery. What a mistake--what an
+inadvertence, Phillis!"
+
+There was something of almost coaxing familiarity in the way Linton
+uttered the last words; and Phillis grew sick at heart as he listened to
+them.
+
+"A moment more, an instant later, and I had thrown them into the fire;
+but your footsteps, as you walked away, sounded too purpose-like; you
+were so palpably honest that I began to suspect you. Eh, Phillis, was I
+right?"
+
+Phillis essayed a smile, but his features only accomplished a ghastly
+grin.
+
+"I will keep them, therefore, where they are," said Linton. "These
+impulses of rash generosity are very costly pleasures; and there is no
+such good practical economy as to husband one's confidence."
+
+"I 'm sure, sir, I never thought I should have seen the day--"
+
+"Go on, man; don't falter. What day do you mean?--that on which you had
+attempted to outwit _me_; or, that on which I should show you all the
+peril of your attempting it? Ay, and there is peril, Mr. Phillis: a
+felony whose punishment is transportation for life is no small offence."
+
+"Oh, sir!--oh, Mr. Linton, forgive me!" cried the other, in the most
+abject voice. "I always believed that my devotion to your interests
+would claim your protection."
+
+"I never promised to further anything that was base or dishonest," said
+Linton, with an air of assumed morality.
+
+"You opened and read letters that were addressed to another; you spied
+his actions, and kept watch upon all his doings; you wrote letters in
+his name, and became possessed of every secret of his life by treachery;
+you--"
+
+"Don't talk so loud, Phillis; say all you have to say to _me._"
+
+"Oh, dear, sir, forgive me the burst of passion. I never meant it. My
+temper carried me away in spite of me." And he burst into tears as he
+spoke.
+
+"What a dangerous temper, that may at any moment make a felon of its
+owner! Go, Phillis, there is no need of more between us. You know _me_.
+I almost persuaded myself that I knew you. But if I know anything, it
+is this"--here he approached, and laid his hand solemnly on the other's
+shoulder--"that I would make hell itself the punishment of him who
+injured me, were I even to share it with him."
+
+Phillis's knees smote each other with terror at the look that
+accompanied these words; they were spoken without passion or vehemence,
+but there was that in their tone that thrilled to his inmost heart
+Powerless, and overcome by his emotions, he could not stir from the
+spot: he wanted to make explanations and excuses, but all his ingenuity
+deserted him; he tried to utter vows of attachment and fidelity, but
+shame was too strong for him there also. He would have resorted to
+menace itself rather than remain silent, but he had no courage for such
+a hazardous course. Linton appeared to read in turn each change of mood
+that passed across the other's mind; and after waiting, as it were, to
+enjoy the confusion under which he suffered, said,--
+
+"Just so, Phillis; it is a sad scrape you fell into. But when a man
+becomes bankrupt either in fame or fortune, it is but loss of time to
+bewail the past; the wiser course is to start in business again, and
+make a character by a good dividend. Try that plan. Good-bye!"
+
+These words were a command; and so Phillis understood them, as, with an
+humble bow, he left the room. Linton again locked the door, and drawing
+the table to a part of the room from which no eavesdropper at the
+door could detect it, he once more sat down at it. His late scene
+with Phillis had left no traces upon his memory; such events were too
+insignificant to claim any notice beyond the few minutes they occupied;
+his thoughts were now upon the greater game, where all his fortune in
+life was staked. He took out the key, which he always wore round his
+neck, and placed it in the lock; at the same instant the clock on the
+chimney-piece struck ten. He sat still, listening to the strokes; and
+when they ceased, he muttered, "Ay, mayhap cold enough ere this!" A
+slight shuddering shook him as he uttered these words, and a dreamy
+revery seemed to gather around him; but he arose, and walking to the
+window, opened it. The fresh breeze of the night rallied him almost at
+once, and he closed the sash and returned to his place.
+
+"To think that I should hold within my hands the destinies of those whom
+most of all the world I hate!" muttered he, as he turned the key and
+threw back the lid. The box was empty! With a wild cry, like the accent
+of intense bodily pain, he sprang up and dashed both hands into the
+vacant space, and then held them up before his eyes, like one who could
+not credit the evidence of his own senses. The moment was a terrible
+one, and for a few seconds the staring eyeballs and quivering lips
+seemed to threaten the access of a fit; but reason at last assumed the
+mastery, and he sat down before the table and leaned his head upon it to
+think. Twice before in life had it been his lot to lose a fortune at
+one turn of the die, but never before had he staked all the revengeful
+feelings of his bad heart, which, baffled in their flow, now came back
+upon himself.
+
+He sat thus for nigh an hour; and when he arose at last, his features
+were worn as though by a long illness; and as he moved his fingers
+through his hair, it came away in masses, like that of a man after
+fever.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI. AN UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE DUPE AND HIS VICTIM
+
+     So, then, we meet at last.--Harold.
+
+
+As the rooms began to fill with company, costumed in every variety
+that taste, fancy, or absurdity could devise, many were surprised that
+neither was there a host to bid them welcome, nor was there any lady
+to perform the accustomed honors of reception. The nature of the
+entertainment, to a certain extent, took off from the awkwardness of
+this want. In a masquerade, people either go to assume a part, or to be
+amused by the representation of others, and are less dependent on the
+attentions of the master or mistress of the house; so that, however
+struck at first by the singularity of a _fete_ without the presence of
+the giver, pleasure, ministered to by its thousand appliances, overcame
+this feeling, and few ever thought more of him beneath whose roof they
+were assembled.
+
+The rooms were splendid in their decoration, lighted _a giomo_, and
+ornamented with flowers of the very rarest kind. The music consisted of
+a celebrated orchestra and a regimental band, who played alternately;
+the guests, several hundred in number, were all attired in fancy
+costumes, in which every age and nation found its type; while characters
+from well-known fictions abounded, many of them admirably sustained, and
+dressed with a pomp and splendor that told the wealth of the wearers.
+
+It was truly a brilliant scene; brilliant as beauty, and the glitter
+of gems, and waving of plumes, and splendor of dress could make it.
+The magic impulse of pleasure communicated by the crash of music;
+the brilliant glare of wax-lights; the throng; the voices; the very
+atmosphere, tremulous with sounds of joy,--seemed to urge on all there
+to give themselves up to enjoyment. There was a boundless, lavish air,
+too, in all the arrangements. Servants in gorgeous liveries served
+refreshments of the most exquisite kind; little children, dressed as
+pages, distributed bouquets, bound round with lace of Valenciennes or
+Brussels, and occasionally fastened by strings of garnets or pearls;
+a _jet d'eau_ of rose-water cooled the air of the conservatory, and
+diffused its delicious freshness through the atmosphere. There was
+something princely in the scale of the hospitality; and from every
+tongue words of praise and wonder dropped at each moment.
+
+Even Lady Janet, whose enthusiasm seldom rose much above the zero,
+confessed that it was a magnificent _fete_, adding, by way of
+compensation for her eulogy, "and worthy of better company."
+
+Mrs. White was in ecstasies with everything, even to the cherubs in pink
+gauze wings, who handed round sherbet, and whom she pronounced quite
+"classical." The Kenny-fecks were in the seventh heaven of delight,
+affecting little airs of authority to the servants, and showing the
+strangers, by a hundred little devices, that all the magnificence around
+was no new thing to _them_. Miss Kennyfeck, as the Queen of Madagascar,
+was a most beautiful savage; while Olivia appeared as the fair
+"Gabrielle,"--a sly intimation to Sir Harvey, whose dress, as Henry IV.,
+won universal admiration. Then there were the ordinary number of
+Turks, Jews, Sailors, Circassians, Greeks, Highland Chiefs, and Indian
+Jugglers,--"Jim" figuring as a Newmarket "Jock," to the unbounded
+delight and wonderment of every "sub" in the room.
+
+If in many quarters the question ran, "Where is Mr. Cashel?" or, "Which
+is he?" Lady Janet had despatched Sir Andrew, attired as a "Moonshee,"
+to find out Linton for her. "He is certain to know every one here; tell
+him to come to me at once," said she, sitting down near a doorway to
+watch the company.
+
+While Lady Janet is waiting for him who, better than any other, could
+explain the mysterious meaning of many a veiled figure, unravel the
+hidden wickedness of every chance allusion, or expound the secret malice
+of each calembourg or jest, let us track his wanderings, and follow him
+as he goes.
+
+Throwing a large cloak over his brilliant dress, Linton made his way by
+many a by-stair and obscure passage to the back of the theatre, by which
+the secret approach led to Cashel's dressing-room. Often as he had
+trod that way before, never had he done so in the same state of intense
+excitement. With the loss of the papers, he saw before him not alone
+the defeat of every hope he nurtured, but discovery, shame, and ruin! He
+whose whole game in life was to wield power over others, now saw himself
+in the grasp of some one, to whom he had not the slightest clew. At one
+moment his suspicions pointed to Cashel himself, then to Tiernay, and
+lastly to Phillis. Possibly rage has no bitterer moment than that in
+which an habitual deceiver of others first finds himself in the toils of
+treachery. There was over his mind, besides, that superstitious terror
+that to unbelieving intellects stands in place of religion, which told
+him that luck had turned with him; that fortune, so long favorable,
+had changed at last; and that, in his own phrase, "the run had set in
+against him." Now a half-muttered curse would burst from his lips over
+the foolhardiness that had made him so dilatory, and not suffered him
+to reap the harvest when it was ripe; now a deep-breathed vow, that if
+fate were propitious once again, no matter bow short the interval, he
+would strike his blow, come what might of it Sometimes he blamed himself
+for having deserted the safe and easy road to ruin by play, for the
+ambitious course he had followed; at other times he inveighed against
+his folly for not carrying off Mary Leicester before Cashel had acquired
+any intimacy at the cottage. Burning and half-maddened with this
+conflict of regrets and hopes, he touched the spring, moved back the
+panel, and entered Cashel's room.
+
+His first care was to see that the door from the corridor was secured on
+the inside; his next, to close the shutters and draw the curtains.
+These done, he lighted the candles on the table, and proceeded to make
+a systematic search through the entire chamber. "It is my last visit
+here," said he to himself; "I must take care to do my work cleanly." A
+mass of papers had been that morning left behind him by Cashel, most of
+them legal documents referring to his transactions with Hoare; but
+some were memoranda of his intentions respecting Corrigan, and
+plainly showing that Cashel well remembered he had never completed his
+assignment to Linton. "If Keane's hand has not faltered," muttered he,
+"Master Roland's memory will not be taxed in this world at least; but
+where to discover the deed? that is the question." In his anxiety on
+this bead, he ransacked drawers and cabinets with wild and furious
+haste, strewing their contents around him, or wantonly throwing them
+on the fire. With false keys for every lock, he opened the most secret
+depositories,--scarce glancing at letters which at any other time he
+had devoured with interest. Many were from Lady Kil-goff, warning Cashel
+against him; his own name, seen passingly, would arrest his attention
+for a second, but the weightier interest soon intervened, and he would
+throw the papers from him with contempt. "How shrewd! how very cunning!"
+muttered he, once or twice, as his glance caught some suspicion, some
+assumed clew to his own motives, in her well-known handwriting. Baffled
+by the unsuccessful result of his search, he stood in the midst of the
+floor, surrounded by open boxes, the contents of which were strewn on
+every side; rage and disappointment were depicted in his features;
+and, as his clenched hand struck the table, his whole expression became
+demoniac. Curses and deep blasphemies fell from his half-moving lips as
+he stood insensible to everything save the wreck of his long-cherished
+hope.
+
+Let us turn from him to another, in whose fortunes we are more
+interested. Roland Cashel, after parting with Enrique, hastened on
+towards Tubbermore; his thoughts engaged on every topic save that which
+might be supposed to occupy the mind of a host at such a time. Pleasure
+assuredly held a weaker hold upon him than the thirst for vengeance, and
+the ardent longing to throw off the thraldom of that servitude he had
+endured too long.
+
+It was only by observing the long string of carriages, whose lamps
+flashed and disappeared at intervals among the trees, that he remembered
+anything of the _fete_, and bethought him of that character of
+entertainer he, at the moment, should have been performing. There seemed
+to him a terrible inconsistency between his own thoughts and that
+scene of pleasure,--between the object in pursuit of which so many were
+hastening with furious speed, and that to which his slower steps were
+leading him!
+
+"There can be but one _amende_ for such infamous conduct," muttered he;
+"he shall pay it with his life's blood." And as he spoke, he opened the
+documents which Enrique had given him, and endeavored to read them; the
+dusky shadows of the fast-falling night prevented him, and he stood for
+some minutes lost in thought.
+
+One of the papers, he was aware, bore the forged signature of his name;
+the other, whose antique form and massive seal bespoke an importance far
+greater, he tried again and again to decipher, but in vain. As he was
+thus occupied, he chanced to look up, and suddenly perceived that
+a stream of light issued from beneath the shutters of his own
+dressing-room, the door of which he had himself locked at his departure,
+taking the key along with him. Enrique's words flashed across his memory
+at once. It was Linton was there! "At his old work again," muttered he,
+in deep anger; "but it shall be for the last time." A moment of
+coming peril was all that Cashel needed to elicit the resources of his
+character. The courage tried in many a danger supplied him with a calm
+foresight, which the ordinary occasions of life rarely or never called
+forth. He bethought him that it were best at such a conjuncture to
+deposit the sealed document in some place of safety ere he went forth
+upon an enterprise the result of which must be doubtful; for all
+purposes of confronting Linton it were sufficient to take the forged
+deed along with him. These were conclusions formed as rapidly as
+they occurred, and acted upon no less speedily; for, folding up the
+parchment, he inserted it into a cleft in an aged elm-tree, noting well
+the spot, and marking all the signs by which he would be able to return
+to it. His next thought was how to reach his chamber: to enter the house
+at such a time undiscovered was of course out of the question; he would
+be seen and recognized at once, and then there would be an end forever
+of all the secrecy by which he hoped to cover the proceedings with
+Linton.
+
+It neither suited his inclinations nor his plans that the world should
+be a party to his vengeance. "Let them discover it when it is over,"
+said he, "but let them not be able to interfere with its course."
+All approach to his dressing-room through the house being thus
+impracticable, nothing remained but to reach it from without. The
+chamber was in the second story of the building, at a great height from
+the ground; but the walls were here covered with thick ivy of ancient
+growth, and by this Cashel resolved to make the attempt.
+
+The act was not devoid of danger; but there are times when peril is a
+relief to the mad conflict of thought, and this was such a moment to
+Cashel. In an instant he made himself ready for the attempt, and with
+an activity that many a danger had tested, began the ascent. There are
+occasions when rashness is safety, and now, the headlong intrepidity of
+Roland's attempt proved its security, for at each step, as the ivy gave
+way beneath his grasp or his footing, by an upward spring he reached
+another spot, which in its turn broke with his weight: every instant the
+danger increased, for the frail tendrils grew weaker as he ascended,
+and beneath him the jagged and drooping branches hung down in ruinous
+disorder. By one bold spring he reached the window-sill, and after a
+momentary struggle, in which his athletic frame saved him from certain
+death, he gained a footing upon the stone, and was able to see what was
+passing within the room.
+
+At a table covered with papers and open letters Linton sat, searching
+with eager haste for the missing documents; open boxes and presses on
+every side, rifled of their contents, were seen, some of which lay
+in disordered masses upon the floor, some in charred heaps within the
+fender. As the light fell upon his features, Cashel remarked that
+they were lividly pale,--the very lips were colorless; his hands,
+too, trembled violently as they moved among the papers, and his mouth
+continued to be moved by short convulsive twitches. To Roland these
+signs of suffering conveyed a perfect ecstasy of pleasure. That
+careworn, haggard face, that tremulous cheek and lustreless eye, were
+already an instalment of his vengeance.
+
+There was one box which contained many of Cashel's early letters, when
+he was following the wild buccaneering life of the West; and this,
+secured by a lock of peculiar construction, Linton had never succeeded
+in opening. It stood before him, as with a last effort he tried every
+art upon it. The hinges alone seemed to offer a prospect of success, and
+he was now endeavoring to remove the fastenings of these. With more
+of force than skill, for defeat had rendered him impatient, Linton
+had already loosened the lid, when Cashel burst open the sash with one
+vigorous blow, and leaped into the room.
+
+The terrible crash of the shattered window made Linton spring round; and
+there he stood, confronted with the other,--each, motionless and silent.
+In Cashel's steady, manly form there was a very world of indignant
+contempt; and Linton met the gaze with a look of deadly hatred. All the
+dissimulation by which he could cover over a treachery was at an end;
+his deceit was no longer of use, and he stood forth in the full courage
+of his scoundrelism,--bold, steady, and assured.
+
+"This admits of no excuse, no palliation," said Cashel, as he pointed
+to the open letters and papers which covered the floor; and although the
+words were uttered calmly, they were more disconcerting than if given
+with passionate vehemence.
+
+"I never thought of any," replied Linton, collectedly.
+
+"So much the better, sir. It seems to me frankness is the only
+reparation you can make for past infamy!"
+
+"It may be the only one you will be disposed to ask for," said Linton,
+sneeringly.
+
+Cashel grew fiery red. To taunt him with want of courage was something
+so unexpected--for which he was so totally unprepared--that he lost his
+self-possession, and in a passionate tone exclaimed,--
+
+"Is it _you_ who dare to say this to _me_--you, whose infamy has
+need but to be published abroad, to make every one who calls himself
+'gentleman' shun your very contact!"
+
+"This punctilious reverence for honor does infinite credit to your
+buccaneer education," said Linton, whose eyes sparkled with malignant
+delight at the angry passion he had succeeded in evoking. "The
+friendship of escaped felons must have a wondrous influence upon
+refinement."
+
+"Enough, sir!" said Cashel. "How came you into the room, since the key
+of it is in my pocket?"
+
+"Were I to inform you," said Linton, "you would acknowledge it was by
+a much more legitimate mode than that by which you effected your
+entrance."
+
+"You shall decide which is the pleasanter then!" cried Cashel, as he
+tore open the window, and advanced in a menacing manner towards the
+other.
+
+"Take care, Cashel," said Linton, in a low, deliberate voice; "I am
+armed!"
+
+And while he spoke, he placed one hand within the breast of his coat,
+and held it there. Quick as was the motion, it was not sudden enough to
+escape the flashing eye of Roland, who sprang upon him, and seized his
+wrist with a grasp that nearly jammed the bones together.
+
+"Provoke me a little further," cried he, "and, by Heaven! I 'll not give
+you the choice or chance of safety, but hurl you from that window as I
+would the meanest housebreaker."
+
+"Let me free,--let me loose, sir," said Linton, in a low weak voice,
+which passion, not fear, had reduced to a mere whisper. "You shall have
+the satisfaction you aim at, when and how you please."
+
+"By daylight to-morrow, at the boat-quay beside the lake."
+
+"Agreed. There is no need of witnesses,--we understand each other."
+
+"Be it so. Be true to your word, and none shall hear from _me_ the
+reasons of our meeting, nor what has occurred here this night."
+
+"I care not if all the world knew it," said Linton, insolently; "I came
+in quest of a lost document,--one which I had my reasons to suspect had
+fallen into your possession."
+
+"And of whose forgery I have the proofs," said Cashel, as opening the
+deed, he held it up before Linton's eyes. "Do you see that?"
+
+"And do you know, Cashel," cried Linton, assuming a voice of slow and
+most deliberate utterance, "that your own title to this property is as
+valueless and as worthless as that document you hold there? Do you know
+that there is in existence a paper which, produced in an open court
+of justice, would reduce you to beggary, and stamp you, besides, as an
+impostor? It may be that you are well aware of that fact; and that the
+same means by which you have possessed yourself of what was mine has
+delivered into your hands this valuable paper. But the subtlety is
+thrown away; _I_ am cognizant of its existence; _I_ have even shown it
+to another; and on _me_ it depends whether you live here as a master, or
+walk forth in all the exposure of a cheat."
+
+The nature of this announcement, its possible truth, added to the
+consummate effrontery of him who made it, contributed to render Cashel
+silent, for he was actually stunned by what he heard. Linton saw the
+effect, but mistook its import. He believed that some thought of
+a compromise was passing through a mind where vengeance alone
+predominated; and in this error he drew nearer to him, and in a voice of
+cool and calm persuasion, added,--
+
+"That _you_ could pilot the course through all these difficulties, no
+one knows better than yourself to be impossible. There is but one living
+able to do so, and _I_ am that one."
+
+Cashel started back, and Linton went on,--
+
+"There is no question of friendship between us here. It is a matter of
+pure interest and mutual convenience that binds us. Agree to my terms,
+and you are still the owner of the estate; reject them, and you are as
+poor as poverty and exposure can make you."
+
+"Scoundrel!" said Cashel. It was all that he could utter; the fulness of
+his passion had nearly choked him, as, taking a heavy riding-glove from
+the table, he struck Linton with it across the face. "If there be any
+manhood in such a wretch, let this provoke it!"
+
+Linton's hand grasped the weapon he carried within his coat, but with a
+quick, short stroke, Cashel struck down his arm, and it fell powerless
+to his side.
+
+"You shall pay dearly for this--dearly, by heaven!" cried Linton, as he
+retired towards the door.
+
+"Go, sir," said Cashel, flinging it wide open, "and go quickly, or I may
+do that I should be sorry for."
+
+"You have done that you will be sorry for, if it costs me my life's
+blood to buy it." And with these words, delivered in a voice guttural
+from rage, Linton disappeared, and Cashel stood alone in the centre of
+the room, overwhelmed by the terrible conflict of his passions.
+
+The room littered with papers, the open boxes scattered on every side,
+his own hands cut and bleeding from the broken glass of the window, his
+dress torn from the recent exertion, were evidences of the past; and it
+seemed as though, without such proofs, he could not credit his memory,
+as to events so strange and stunning.
+
+To restore something like order to his chamber, as a means of avoiding
+the rumors that would be circulated by the servants; to write some
+letters,--the last, perhaps, he should ever indite; to dress and appear
+among his company; to send for some one with whom he might confer as to
+his affairs,--such were the impulses that alternately swayed him, and
+to which he yielded by turns; now seating himself at his table;
+now hastening hither and thither, tossing over the motley livery of
+distasteful pleasure, or handling, with the rapture of revenge, the
+weapons by which he hoped to wreak his vengeance. The only fear that
+dwelt upon his mind was, lest Linton should escape him,--lest, by any
+accident, this, which now appeared the great business of his life,
+should go unacquired. Sometimes he reproached himself for having
+postponed the hour of vengeance, not knowing what chances might
+intervene, what accidents interrupt the course of his sworn revenge.
+Fortune, wealth, station, love itself had no hold upon him; it was
+that mad frame of mind where one sole thought predominates, and, in
+its mastery, makes all else subordinate. Would Linton be true to
+the rendezvous?--Could such a man be a coward?--Would he compass
+the vengeance he had threatened by other means? were questions that
+constantly occurred to his mind.
+
+If the sounds of music and the clangor of festivity did break in upon
+this mood from time to time, it was but to convey some indistinct and
+shadowy impression of the inconsistency between his sad brooding and the
+scene by which he was surrounded,--between the terrible conflict within
+him and the wild gayety of those who wasted no thought upon him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII. MURDER OF MR. KENNYFECK--CASHEL DETAINED ON SUSPICION.
+
+     "Amid their feasting and their joy
+     A cry of 'Blood!' was heard."
+
+
+It was past midnight, and the scene within the walls of Tubbermore
+was one of the most brilliant festivity. All that could fascinate
+by beauty,--all that could dazzle by splendor, or amuse by fancy, or
+enliven by wit, were there, stimulated by that atmosphere of pleasure
+in which they moved. Loveliness elevated by costume, gayety exalted into
+exuberant joyousness by the impulse of a thousand high-beating hearts,
+passed and repassed, and mingled together, till they formed that
+brilliant assemblage wherein individuality is lost, and the memory
+carries away nothing but dreamy images of enjoyment, visions of liquid
+eyes and silky tresses, of fair rounded arms and fairy feet, with stray
+syllables that linger on the ear and vibrate in the heart for many a
+long year to come.
+
+It would have been difficult to imagine that one, even one, amid that
+gorgeous throng, had any other thought than pleasure, so headlong seemed
+the impulse of enjoyment.' In vain the moralist might have searched for
+any trace of that care which is believed to be the unceasing burden of
+humanity. Even upon those who sustained no portion of the brilliancy
+around them, pleasure had set its seal. Lady Janet herself wondered, and
+admired, and stared, in an ecstasy of delight she could neither credit
+nor comprehend. It was true, Linton's absence--"unaccountable," as she
+called it--was a sad drawback upon her enjoyment. Yet her own shrewdness
+enabled her to penetrate many a mystery, and detect beneath the dusky
+folds of more than one domino those who a few moments previous had
+displayed themselves in all the splendor of a gorgeous costume.
+
+In vain did Lord Charles Frobisher cover his Tartar dress with a
+Laplander's cloak and hood, to follow Miss Meek unnoticed. In vain
+did Upton abandon his royalty as Henry IV. for a Dominican's cowl, the
+better to approach a certain fair nun with dark blue eyes; Lady Janet
+whispered, "Take care, Olivia," as she passed her. Even Mrs. Leicester
+White, admirably disguised as a Gypsy Fortune-teller, did not dare
+to speculate upon Lady Janet's "future"--possibly, out of fear of her
+"present." Mr. Howie alone escaped detection, as, dressed to represent
+the Obelisk of the "Luqsor," he stood immovable in the middle of the
+room, listening to everybody, and never supposed to be anything but an
+inanimate ornament of the saloon.
+
+It was only when a minuet was about to be formed, and a question arose
+as to whether the obelisk could not be removed, that the Egyptian
+monument was seen slowly sidling off amidst the company, to the great
+amusement of all who had not opened their confidences beneath its
+shadow. For an instant, the laughter that circulated in many a distant
+group was directed to this quarter, and bursts of merriment were excited
+by the absurdity of the incident. With that mysterious instinct by which
+moods of joy or grief are perpetuated from heart to heart, till each
+in a crowded assembly is moved as is his neighbor, the whole room shook
+with convulsive laughter. It was just then--at the very moment when
+boundless pleasure filled every avenue of feeling--a terrible cry,
+shrill and piercing, burst upon the air. All was still--still as a lone
+church at midnight. Each gazed upon the other, as if silently asking,
+had he heard the sound? Again it came, louder and nearer; and then a
+long, loud, swelling chant rang out, wild and frantic as it rose, till
+it died away in a cadence of the very saddest and dreariest meaning.
+
+"What is it?--what can it be?" were uttered by many in broken voices;
+while others, too much terrified to speak, sank half fainting upon their
+seats, their colorless cheek and livid lips in terrible contrast to
+their gay attire.
+
+"There! listen to it again!--Good Heaven! what can it be?"
+
+"It's a death 'keen'!" said a country gentleman, a magistrate named
+Goring; "something must have happened among the people?"
+
+And now, none knew from what quarter arising, or by whom spoken, but the
+dreadful word "Murder" was heard through the room. Many issued forth to
+ask for tidings; some stayed to assure and rally the drooping courage
+of others; some, again, divested of the "motley," moved hurriedly about,
+seeking for this one or that. All was terror, confusion, and dismay.
+
+"Oh, here is Mr. Linton!" cried several, as, with his domino on his arm,
+pale, and like one terror-struck, he entered the room. "What is it, Mr.
+Linton? Do you know what has happened?"
+
+"Get Mrs. Kennyfeck and the girls away," whispered he to a friend,
+hurriedly; "tell them something--anything--but take them from this."
+
+"What!" exclaimed Meek, to whom Linton had whispered something, but in a
+voice too low to be clearly audible.
+
+"Kennyfeck is murdered!" said Linton, louder.
+
+As if the terrible tidings had floated on the air, in an instant it was
+on every tongue, and vibrating in every ear; and then, in heartrending
+screams of passionate grief, the cry of the widow and her children burst
+forth, cry following cry in wild succession. Seized with an hysteric
+paroxysm, Mrs. Kennyfeck was carried to her room; while of her
+daughters, the elder sat mute, speechless and, to all seeming,
+insensible; the younger struggling in convulsive passion to go to her
+father.
+
+What a scene was that! How dreadful to mark the symbols of levity--the
+decorations by which pleasure would mock the stern realities of
+life--surrounded as they now were by suffering and sorrow! to see the
+groups as they stood; some ministering to one who had fainted, others
+conversing in low and eager whispers. The joyous smiles, the bright
+glances were gone, as though they had been by masks assumed at will;
+tears furrowed their channels through the deep rouge, and convulsive
+sobs broke from beneath corsets where joy alone had vibrated before.
+While in the ballroom the scene was one of terror and dismay, a few had
+withdrawn into a small apartment adjoining the garden, to consult upon
+what the emergency might require. These were drawn together by Linton,
+and included Sir Andrew MacFarline, the Chief Justice, Meek, and a few
+others of lesser note. In a few words Linton informed them that he heard
+the tidings as he passed through the hall; that a peasant, taking the
+mountain path to Scariff, had come upon the spot where the murder was
+committed, and found the body still warm, but lifeless--"he also found
+this weapon, the bore of which was dirty from a recent discharge as he
+took it up."
+
+"Why, this pistol is Mr. Cashel's!" exclaimed Sir Andrew, examining
+the stock closely; "I know it perfectly--I have fired with it myself a
+hundred times."
+
+"Impossible, my dear Sir Andrew!" cried Linton, eagerly. "You must be
+mistaken."
+
+"Where is Mr. Cashel?" asked the Chief Justice.
+
+"No one seems to know," replied Linton. "At a very early hour this
+morning he left this in company with poor Kennyfeck. It would appear
+that they were not on the best of terms together; at least, some of the
+servants overheard angry words pass between them as they drove away."
+
+"Let us call these people before us," said Sir Andrew.
+
+"Not at present, sir. It would be premature and indiscreet," interposed
+the judge., Then, turning to Linton, he added, "Well, sir, and after
+that?"
+
+"After that we have no tidings of either of them."
+
+"I'll swear to the pistol, onyhow," said Sir Andrew, who sat staring at
+the weapon, and turning it about in every direction.
+
+"Of what nature were the differences between Cashel and Kennyfeck
+supposed to be?" asked Meek of Linton.
+
+"It is impossible to collect, from the few and broken sentences which
+have been reported; possibly, dissatisfaction on Cashel's part at the
+difficulty of obtaining money; possibly, some misunderstanding about his
+intentions regarding one of the girls, whom the Kennyfecks were silly
+enough to suppose he was going to marry."
+
+A slight tap at the door here arrested their attention. It was Mr.
+Phillis, who came to say that footsteps had been heard in Mr. Cashel's
+dressing-room, although it was well known he himself had not returned.
+
+"Might he not have returned and entered the room unseen, sir?" said the
+Chief Justice, who cast a shrewd and piercing look upon the valet.
+
+"Scarcely, my Lord, since he is known to every servant in the house, and
+people are passing and repassing in every direction."
+
+"But there is every reason to believe that he has not returned at
+all," interposed Linton. "It is some one else has been heard in his
+dressing-room."
+
+"Would it not be as well to despatch messengers to Drumcoologan,"
+said Meek, "and assure ourselves of Cashel's safety? Up to this we are
+ignorant if he have not shared the fate of poor Kennyfeck."
+
+"The very suggestion I was about to make. I 'll take Phillis along with
+me, and set out this instant," cried Linton.
+
+"We shall miss your assistance greatly here, sir," said the Chief
+Justice.
+
+"Your Lordship overvalues my poor ability; but I will hasten to the
+utmost, and be soon back again." And thus saying, he left the room,
+followed by Phillis.
+
+"There must be an inquest at once," said the Chief Justice. "The coroner
+has power to examine witnesses on oath; and it seems to me that some
+clew to the affair will present itself."
+
+"As to this room, don't you think it were proper to inquire if any one
+be really within it?" asked Meek.
+
+"Yes; we will proceed thither together," replied the judge.
+
+"I canna be mistaken in the pistol; I 'll swear to that," chimed in Sir
+Andrew, whose whole thoughts were centred on that object.
+
+"Well, Mr. Goring," said Meek, as that gentleman advanced to meet them
+in the corridor, "have you obtained any clew to this sad affair?"
+
+The magistrate drew near, and whispered a few words in the other s ear.
+Meek started, and grasped the speaker's arm convulsively; then, after a
+pause, said, "Tell the Chief Justice." Mr. Goring approached, and said
+something in a low voice to the judge.
+
+"Be cautious, sir; take care to whom you mention these circumstances,
+lest they be bruited about before we can examine into them," said the
+Chief Justice; then retiring into a window with Sir Andrew and Meek, he
+continued: "This gentleman has just informed me that the impress of a
+boot with a high heel has been discovered near the spot where the murder
+was committed; which boot exactly tallies with that worn by Mr. Cashel."
+
+"The pistol is his; I'll tak' my oath on that," muttered Sir Andrew.
+
+"Here's Phillis coming back," said Meek. "What's the matter, Phillis?"
+
+"Mr. Linton sent me back, sir, to say that the ivy which covered the
+wall on the east end of the house has been torn down, and seems to
+infer that some one must have climbed up it, to reach my master's
+dressing-room."
+
+"This is a very important circumstance," said the Chief Justice. "Let us
+examine the room at once." And so saying, he led the way towards it.
+
+Not a word was spoken as the party passed along the corridor and
+ascended the stairs; each feared, even by a syllable, to betray the
+terrible suspicions that were haunting his mind. It was a solemn
+moment; and so their looks and gestures bespoke it. The house itself
+had suddenly become silent; scarce a sound was beard within that vast
+building, which so late had rung with revelry and joy. A distant door
+would clap, or a faintly heard shriek from some one still suffering from
+the recent shock; but all else was hushed and still.
+
+"That is the room," said Meek, pointing to a door, beneath which,
+although it was now daybreak, a stream of light issued; and, slight as
+the circumstance was, the looks exchanged among the party seemed to give
+it a significance.
+
+The Chief Justice advanced and tapped at the door. Immediately a voice
+was heard from within that all recognized as Cashel's asking,--
+
+"Who's there?"
+
+"We want you, Mr. Cashel," said the judge, in an accent which all the
+instincts of his habit had not rendered free from a slight tremor.
+
+The door was immediately thrown wide, and Roland stood before them. He
+had not changed his dress since his arrival, and his torn sleeve and
+blood-stained trousers at once caught every eye that was fixed upon him.
+The disorder, too, was not confined to his own haggard look; the room
+itself was littered with papers and letters, with clothes strewn
+carelessly in every direction; and conspicuously amid all, an open
+pistol-case was seen, from which one of the weapons was missing. A mass
+of charred paper lay within the fender, and a great heap of paper lay,
+as it were, ready for burning, beside the hearth. There was full time
+for those who stood there to notice all these particulars, since neither
+spoke, but each gazed on the other in terrible uncertainty. Cashel was
+the first to break the silence.
+
+[Illustration: 304]
+
+"Well, sirs," said he, in a voice that only an effort made calm, "are my
+friends so very impatient at my absence that they come to seek me in my
+dressing-room?"
+
+"The dreadful event that has just occurred, sir," said the judge,
+"makes apology for our intrusion unnecessary. We are here from duty, Mr.
+Cashel, not inclination, still less caprice."
+
+The solemnity of manner in which he spoke, and the grave faces around
+him on every side, seemed to apprise Roland that bad tidings awaited
+him, and he looked eagerly to each for an explanation. At length, as
+none spoke, he said,--
+
+"Will no one vouchsafe to put an end to this mystification? What, I
+pray, is this event that has happened?"
+
+"Mr. Kennyfeck has been murdered," said the judge.
+
+Roland staggered backwards, and grasped a chair for support.
+"When?--How?--Where?" said he, in a low voice, every accent of which
+trembled.
+
+"All as yet is hidden in mystery, sir. We know nothing beyond the fact
+that his dead body was discovered in the Gap of Ennismore, and that a
+pistol-shot had penetrated his brain." Sir Andrew grasped the weapon
+more tightly as these words were uttered.
+
+"You left this in his company, Mr. Cashel?" asked Goring.
+
+"Yes; we set out at daybreak for Drumcoologan, where an affair of
+business required our presence. We spent the whole of the day together,
+and as evening drew nigh, and our business had not been completed, I
+resolved to hasten back here, leaving him to follow whenever he could."
+
+"You have been on the best terms together, I believe?" said Goring.
+
+"Stay--I cannot permit this," interposed the Chief Justice,
+authoritatively. "There must be nothing done here which is not
+strictly honorable as well as legal. It is right that Mr. Cashel should
+understand that when an event of this nature has occurred, no one,
+however high his station, or umblemished his fame, can claim exemption
+from that scrutiny which the course of justice demands; and the persons
+latest in the company of the deceased are more peculiarly those exposed
+to such inquiry. I would, therefore, caution him against answering any
+questions here, which may be prejudicial hereafter."
+
+"Do I understand you aright, my Lord?" said Cashel, whose whole frame
+trembled with agitation as he spoke. "Do your words imply that I stand
+here in the light of a suspected party?"
+
+"I mean to say, sir," replied the judge, "that so long as doubt and
+obscurity veil the history of a crime, the accusation hangs over the
+community at large among whom it was enacted, and that those who were
+last seen in the presence of the victim have the greatest obligation to
+disconnect themselves with the sad event."
+
+"But you stopped me while about to do so," cried Roland, angrily.
+
+"I cautioned you, rather, against any disclosures which, whatever your
+innocence, might augment suspicion against you," said the judge, mildly.
+
+"These distinctions are too subtle for me, my Lord. The insult of such
+an accusation ought to be enough, without the aggravation of chicanery."
+Then, turning to Meek, Roland went on: "You, at least, are above this
+meanness, and will listen to me patiently. Look here." He took a sheet
+of paper as he spoke, and proceeded with a pen to mark out the direction
+of the two roads from Drumcoologan to Tubbermore. "Here stands the
+village; the road by which we travelled in the morning takes this line,
+skirting the base of the mountain towards the north: the path by which
+I returned follows a shorter course, and after crossing a little rivulet
+here, comes out at Ennismore, somewhere about this point."
+
+Just as Roland's description reached thus far, a large drop of blood
+oozed from his wounded hand, and fell heavily upon the paper. There
+seemed something so terribly significant in its falling exactly on the
+very spot where the murdered body was found, that each looked at the
+other in anxious dread; and then, as if with a common impulse, every eye
+was bent on Cashel, who, heart-sick with indignant anger, stood unable
+to utter a word.
+
+"I pray you, sir, do not misconstrue my advice," said the judge, mildly,
+"nor resent a counsel intended for your good. Every explanation you may
+offer, hereafter, will be serviceable to your case; every detail you
+enter into, now, necessarily vague, and unsupported as it must be by
+other testimony, will only be injurious to you."
+
+Cashel seated himself in a chair, and crossing his arms, seemed to be
+lost in thought; then, suddenly starting to his feet, he cried,--
+
+"Is all this a deep-laid scheme against my honor and my life, or do you,
+indeed, desire to trace this crime to its author? If so, let us mount
+our horses and scour the country; let us search every cabin; let us try
+if some discovery of a weapon--"
+
+"Ech, sirs, we hae the weapon!" said Sir Andrew, with a sardonic grin;
+"an' it's muckle like to its brither yonder," pointing to the open
+pistol-case.
+
+Roland turned suddenly, and now for the first time perceived that one
+of his pistols was missing from the case. Up to this moment his anger
+at the suspicions directed towards him was mingled with a degree of
+contemptuous disregard of them; but now, suddenly, a terrible fear shot
+through his heart that he was in the meshes of some deep-laid scheme for
+his ruin; and his mind ran over in eager haste every circumstance
+that seemed to point towards guilt. His presence with Kennyfeck on
+the mountain; his departure from Drumcoologan alone-, his unexplained
+reappearance in his own chamber, disordered and littered as it
+stood; his torn dress; his bleeding fingers; and lastly, the missing
+pistol,--arose in terrible array before him; and with a heart-sick sigh,
+he laid his forehead on the table, and never uttered a word.
+
+It was at this juncture that a groom, splashed and heated from a hard
+ride, placed a small bit of twisted paper in Mr. Goring's hand. It was
+written with pencil, and ran thus:--
+
+     Gap of Ennismore.
+
+     Dear G.,--It looks badly; but I fear you have no other
+     course than to arrest him. In fact, it is too late for
+     anything else.    Consult Malone and Meek.
+
+     Yours, in great haste,                 T. Linton.
+
+Goring handed the note to the Chief Justice, who, having read it, passed
+it on to Meek. A nod from the latter, as he refolded the paper, seemed
+to accord concurrence with the counsel.
+
+"Would it not be better to defer this till after the inquest?" he
+whispered.
+
+"Are ye certain o' findin' him when ye want him?" dryly remarked Sir
+Andrew.
+
+The Chief Justice conferred for a few seconds with Meek apart, and
+then approaching Cashel, addressed him in a tone inaudible to all but
+himself,--
+
+"It would be excessively painful to us, Mr. Roland Cashel, to do
+anything which should subject you to vulgar remark or impertinent
+commentary; and as, until some further light be thrown upon this sad
+catastrophe, your detention is absolutely necessary, may I ask that
+you will submit to this rigor, without compelling us to any measures to
+enforce it?"
+
+"Am I a prisoner, my Lord?" asked Roland, growing lividly pale as he
+spoke.
+
+"Not precisely, sir. No warrant has been issued against you; but as it
+is manifestly for your advantage to disprove any suspicions that may
+attach to you in this unhappy affair, I hope you will see the propriety
+of remaining where you are until they be entirely removed."
+
+Roland bowed coldly, and said,--
+
+"May I ask to be left alone?"
+
+"Of course, sir; we have neither the right nor the inclination to
+obtrude ourselves upon you. I ought to mention, perhaps, that if you
+desire to confer with any friends--"
+
+"Friend!" echoed Cashel, in bitter derision; "such friends as I have
+seen around my table make the selection difficult."
+
+"I used the phrase somewhat technically, sir, as referring to a legal
+adviser," said the judge, hastily.
+
+"I thank you, my Lord," replied Roland, haughtily. "I am a plain man,
+and am well aware that in _your_ trade truth is no match for falsehood."
+He walked to the window as he spoke, and by his gesture seemed to
+decline further colloquy.
+
+The Chief Justice moved slowly away, followed by the others; Meek
+withdrawing last of all, and seeming to hesitate whether he should not
+say something as he went. At last he turned and said,--
+
+"I sincerely trust, Mr. Cashel, that you will not connect me with this
+most painful suspicion; your own good sense will show you how common
+minds may be affected by a number of concurring circumstances; and how,
+in fact, truth may require the aid of ingenuity to reconcile and explain
+them."
+
+"I am not certain that I understand your meaning, sir," said Cashel,
+sternly; "but when a number of 'concurring circumstances' seemed to
+point out those with whom I associated as blacklegs, parasites, and
+calumniators, I gave them the benefit of a doubt, and believed them
+to be gentle-men; I almost expected they might return the favor when
+occasion offered."
+
+For a second or two Meek seemed as if about to reply; but he moved
+noiselessly away at last and closed the door, leaving Roland alone with
+his own distracted thoughts.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII. SCENE OF THE MURDER--THE CORONER'S VERDICT
+
+     Are there not proofs enough?
+     Or can the stubborn mind reject all truth
+     And cling to fallacy?
+
+     The Will.
+
+
+What a change did Tubbermore present to its aspect of the day before!
+All the emblems of joy and festivity, all the motley of pleasure, all
+the gay troops of guests hastening onward in glowing eagerness and
+anticipation, were gone; and in their stead a dreary and mysterious
+silence brooded over the place, interrupted at intervals by the bustle
+of some departure. For thus, without one word of sympathy, without even
+a passing good-bye, Roland's "friends" hurried away, as if flying from
+the very memories of the spot.
+
+It was a dreary winter's day; the dark leaden clouds that flitted past,
+and the long-sighing wind, seemed to add their sad influence to the
+melancholy. The house itself already appeared to feel its altered
+fortunes. Most of the windows were closed and shuttered; the decorations
+of rare plants and shrubs and lamps were removed; instead of the
+movement of liveried servants to and fro, ill-favored and coarse-clad
+men, the underlings of the law, crept stealthily about, noticing each
+circumstance of the locality, and conferring together in mysterious
+whispers. Mounted messengers, too, came and went with a haste that boded
+urgency; and post-horses were each moment arriving to carry away those
+whose impatience to leave was manifested in a hundred ways. Had the
+air of the place been infected with some pestilential malady, their
+eagerness could scarce have been greater. All the fretful irritability
+of selfishness, all the peevish discontent of petty natures, exhibited
+themselves without shame; and envious expressions towards those
+fortunate enough to "get away first," and petulant complaints over their
+own delay, were bandied on every side.
+
+A great table was laid for breakfast in the dining-room, as usual. All
+the luxuries and elegances that graced the board on former occasions
+were there, but a few only took their places. Of these, Frobisher and
+some military men were the chief; they, indeed, showed comparatively
+little of that anxiety to be gone so marked in the others. The monotony
+of the barrack and the parade was not attractive, and they lingered
+like men who, however little they had of pleasure here, had even less of
+inducement to betake them elsewhere.
+
+Meek had been the first to make his escape, by taking the post-horses
+intended for another, and already was many miles on his way towards
+Dublin. The Chief Justice and his family were the next. From the hour
+of the fatal event, Mrs. Malone had assumed a judicial solemnity of
+demeanor that produced a great impression upon the beholders, and seemed
+to convey, by a kind of reflected light, the old judge's gloomiest
+forebodings of the result.
+
+Mrs. Leicester White deferred her departure to oblige Mr. Howie, who was
+making a series of sketches for the "Pictorial Paul Pry," showing not
+only the various facades of Tubbermore House, but several interesting
+"interiors:" such as the "Ball-room, when the fatal tidings arrived:"
+"Dressing-room of Roland Cashel, Esq., when entered by the Chief Justice
+and his party;" the most effective of all being a very shadowy picture
+of the "Gap of Ennismore--the scene of the murder;" the whole connected
+by a little narrative so ingeniously drawn up as to give public opinion
+a very powerful bias against Cashel, whose features, in the woodcut,
+would in themselves have made a formidable indictment.
+
+Of the Kennyfecks, few troubled themselves with even a casual inquiry:
+except the fact that a fashionable physician had been sent for to
+Dublin, little was known about them. But where was Linton all this
+while? Some averred that he had set out for the capital, to obtain
+the highest legal assistance for his friend; others, that he was so
+overwhelmed by the terrible calamity as to have fallen into a state
+of fatuous insensibility. None, however, could really give any correct
+account of him; he had left Tubbermore, but in what direction none could
+tell.
+
+As the day wore on, a heavy rain began to fall; and of those who still
+remained in the house, little knots of two and three assembled at the
+windows, to watch for the arrival of their wished-for "posters," or
+to speculate upon the weather. Another source of speculation there was
+besides. Some hours before, a magistrate, accompanied by a group of
+ill-dressed and vulgar-looking men, had been seen to pass the house,
+and take the path which led to the Gap of Ennismore. These formed the
+inquest, who were to inquire into the circumstances of the crime, and
+whose verdict, however unimportant in a strictly legal sense, was looked
+for with considerable impatience by some of the company. To judge from
+the anxious looks that were directed towards the mountain road, or the
+piercing glances which at times were given through telescopes in that
+direction, one would have augured that some, at least, of those there,
+were not destitute of sympathy for him whose guests they had been, and
+beneath whose roof they still lingered. A very few words of those
+that passed between them will best answer how this impression is well
+founded.
+
+"Have you sent your groom off, Upton?" asked Frobisher, as he stood
+with a coffee-cup in his hand at the window.
+
+"Yes, he passed the window full half an hour ago."
+
+"They are confoundedly tedious," said Jennings, half suppressing a
+yawn. "I thought those kind of fellows just gave a look at the body, and
+pronounced their verdict at once."
+
+"So they do when it's one of their own class; but in the case of a
+gentleman they take a prodigious interest in examining his watch and
+his purse and his pocket-book; and, in fact, it is a grand occasion for
+prying as far as possible into his private concerns."
+
+"I 'll double our bet, Upton, if you like," said Frobisher, languidly.
+
+The other shook his head negatively.
+
+"Why, the delay is clearly in your favor, man. If they were strong in
+their convictions, they 'd have brought him in guilty an hour ago."
+
+"That is my opinion too," said Jennings.
+
+"Well, here goes. Two fifties be it," cried Upton.
+
+Frobisher took out his memorandum-book and wrote something with a
+pencil.
+
+"Is n't that it?" said he, showing the lines to Upton.
+
+"Just so. 'Wilful murder,'" muttered the other, reading.
+
+"You have a great 'pull' upon me, Upton," said Frobisher; "by Jove! if
+you were generous, you'd give me odds."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"Why, you saw his face since the affair, and I did n't."
+
+"It would need a better physiognomist than I am to read it. He looked
+exactly as he always does; a thought paler, perhaps, but no other
+change."
+
+"Here comes a fellow with news," said Jennings, throwing open the
+window. "I say, my man, is it over?"
+
+"No, sir; the jury want to see one of Mr. Cashel's boots."
+
+Jennings closed the sash, and, lighting a cigar, sat down in an
+easy-chair. A desultory conversation here arose among some of the
+younger military men whether a coroner's verdict were final, and whether
+a "fellow could be hanged" when it pronounced him guilty; the astute
+portion of the debaters inclining to the opinion that although this
+was not the case in England, such would be "law" in Ireland. Then the
+subject of confiscation was entertained, and various doubts and surmises
+arose as to what would become of Tubbermore when its proprietor had been
+executed; with sly jests about the reversionary rights of the Crown,
+and the magnanimity of extending mercy at the price of a great landed
+estate. These filled up the time for an hour or so more, interspersed
+with conjectures as to Cashel's present frame of mind, and considerable
+wonderment why he had n't "bolted" at once.
+
+At last Upton's groom was seen approaching at a tremendous pace; and in
+a few minutes after he had pulled up at the door, and dismounting with a
+spring, hastened into the house.
+
+"Well, Robert, how did it go?" cried Upton, as, followed by the rest, he
+met him in the hall.
+
+"You 've lost, sir," said the man, wiping his forehead.
+
+"Confound the rascals! But what are the words of the verdict?"
+
+"'Wilful murder,' sir."
+
+"Of course," said Frobisher, coolly; "they could give no other."
+
+"It's no use betting against you," cried Upton, pettishly. "You are the
+luckiest dog in Europe."
+
+"Come, I 'll give you a chance," said Frobisher; "double or quit that
+they hang him."
+
+"No, no; I 've lost enough on him. I 'll not have it."
+
+"Well, I suppose we've nothing to wait for now," yawned Jennings. "Shall
+we start?"
+
+"Not till we have luncheon, I vote," cried an infantry sub.; and his
+suggestion met general approval. And while they are seated at a table
+where exquisite meats and rarest wines stimulated appetite and provoked
+excess, let us turn for a few brief moments to him who, still their
+entertainer, sat in his lone chamber, friendless and deserted.
+
+So rapid had been the succession of events which occupied one single
+night, that Roland could not believe it possible months had not
+passed over. Even then, he found it difficult to disentangle the real
+circumstances from those fancied results his imagination had already
+depicted; many of the true incidents appearing far more like fiction
+than the dreamy fancies his mind invented. His meeting with Enrique, for
+instance, was infinitely less probable than that he should have fought
+a duel with Linton; and so, in many other cases, his faculties
+wavered between belief and doubt, till his very senses reeled with the
+confusion. Kennyfeck's death alone stood out from this chaotic mass,
+clear, distinct, and palpable, and, as he sat brooding over this
+terrible fact, he was totally unconscious of its bearing upon his own
+fortunes. Selfishness formed no part of his nature; his fault lay in
+the very absence of self-esteem, and the total deficiency of that
+individuality which prompts men to act up to a self-created standard.
+He could sorrow for him who was no more, and from whom he had received
+stronger proofs of devotion than from all his so-called friends; he
+could grieve over the widowed mother and the fatherless girls, for
+whose destitution he felt, he knew not how, or wherefore, a certain
+culpability; but of himself and his own critical position, not a thought
+arose. The impressions that no effort of his own could convey fell with
+a terrific shock upon him when suggested by another.
+
+He was seated at his table, trying, for the twentieth time, to collect
+his wandering thoughts, and determine what course to follow, when a tap
+was heard at his door, and it opened at the same instant.
+
+"I am come, sir," said Mr. Goring, with a voice full of feeling, "to
+bring you sad tidings; but for which events may have, in a measure,
+prepared you." He paused, perhaps hoping that Cashel would spare him the
+pain of continuing; but Roland never spoke.
+
+"The inquest has completed its labors," said Goring, with increasing
+agitation; "and the verdict is one of 'wilful murder.'"
+
+"It was a foul and terrible crime," said Cashel, shuddering; "the poor
+fellow was animated with kind intentions and benevolent views towards
+the people. In all our intercourse he displayed but one spirit--"
+
+"Have a care, sir," said Goring, mildly. "It is just possible that, in
+the frankness of the moment something may escape you which hereafter you
+might wish unsaid; and standing in the position you now do--"
+
+"How so? What position, sir, do I occupy, that should preclude me from
+the open expression of my sentiments?"
+
+"I have already told you, sir, that the verdict of the jury was wilful
+murder, and I hold here in my hand the warrant for your arrest."
+
+"As the criminal? as the murderer?" cried Cashel, with a voice almost
+like a shriek of agony. Goring bowed his head, and Roland fell powerless
+on the floor.
+
+Summoning others to his aid, Goring succeeded in lifting him up and
+placing him on a bed. A few drops of blood that issued from his mouth,
+and his heavy snoring respiration, indicated an apoplectic seizure.
+Messengers were sent in various directions to fetch a doctor. Tiernay
+was absent, and it was some hours ere one could be found. Large bleeding
+and quiet produced the usual effects, and towards evening Cashel's
+consciousness had returned; but memory was still clouded and incoherent,
+and he lay without speaking, and almost without thought.
+
+After the lapse of about a week he was able to leave his bed and creep
+about his chamber, whose altered look contributed to recall his mind to
+the past. All his papers and letters had been removed; the window was
+secured with iron stanchions; and policemen stood sentry at the door. He
+remembered everything that had occurred, and sat down in patient thought
+to consider what he should do.
+
+He learned without surprise, but not without a pang, that of all his
+friends not one had remained,--not one had offered a word of counsel
+in his affliction, or of comfort in his distress. He asked after
+Mr. Corrigan, and heard that he had quitted the country, with his
+granddaughter, on the day before the terrible event. Tiernay, it was
+said, had accompanied them to Dublin, and not since returned. Roland
+was, then, utterly friendless! What wonder if he became as utterly
+reckless, as indifferent to life, as life seemed valueless? And so was
+it: he heard with indifference the order for his removal to Limerick,
+although that implied a Jail! He listened to the vulgar but kindly meant
+counsels of his keepers, who advised him to seek legal assistance, with
+a smile of half-contempt. The obdurate energy of a martyrdom seemed
+to take possession of him; and, so far from applying his mind to
+disentangle the web of suspicion around him, he watched, with a strange
+interest, the convergence of every minute circumstance towards the proof
+of his guilt; a secret vindictiveness whispering to his heart that the
+day would come when his innocence should be proclaimed; and then, what
+tortures of remorse would be theirs who had brought him to a felon's
+death!
+
+Each day added to the number of these seeming proofs, and the
+newspapers, in paragraphs of gossiping, abounded with circumstances that
+had already convinced the public of Cashel's guilt: and how often do
+such shadowy convictions throw their gloom over the prisoner's dock! One
+day, the fact of the boot-track tallying precisely with Roland's, filled
+the town; another, it was the pistol-wadding--part of a letter addressed
+to Cashel--had been discovered. Then, there were vague rumors afloat
+that the causes of Cashel's animosity to Kennyfeck were not so secret as
+the world fancied; that there were persons of credit to substantiate
+and explain them; and, lastly, it was made known that among the papers
+seized on Cashel's table was a letter, just begun by himself, but to
+whom addressed uncertain, which ran thus:--
+
+"As these in all likelihood may be the last lines I shall eyer write--"
+
+Never, in all the gaudy glare of his prosperity, had he occupied more
+of public attention. The metaphysical penny-a-liners speculated upon the
+influence his old buccaneer habits might have exercised upon a mind so
+imperfectly trained to civilization; and amused themselves with guesses
+as to how far some Indian "cross" in blood might not have contributed
+to his tragic vengeance. Less scrupulous scribes invented deeds of
+violence: in a word, there seemed a kind of impulse abroad to prove
+him guilty; and it would have been taken as a piece of casuistry, or a
+mawkish sympathy with crime, to assume the opposite. Not, indeed,
+that any undertook so ungracious a task; the tide of accusation ran
+uninterrupted and unbroken. The very friendless desolation in which
+he stood was quoted and commented on to this end. One alone of all his
+former friends made an effort in his favor, and ventured to insinuate
+that his guilt was far from certain. This was Lord Charles Frobisher,
+who, seeing in the one-sidedness of public opinion the impossibility of
+obtaining a bet, tried thus to "get up" an "innocent party," in the hope
+of a profitable wager.
+
+But what became of Linton all this time? His game was a difficult one;
+and to enable him to play it successfully he needed reflection. To
+this end he affected to be so shocked by the terrible event as to be
+incapable of mixing in society. He retired, therefore, to his cottage
+near Dublin, and for some weeks lived a life of perfect seclusion. Mr.
+Phillis accompanied him; for Linton would not trust him out of his sight
+till--as he muttered in his own phrase--"all was over."
+
+This was, indeed, the most eventful period of Linton's life; and with
+consummate skill he saw that any move on his part would be an error.
+It is true that, through channels with whose workings he was long
+conversant, he contributed the various paragraphs to the papers by which
+Cashel's guilt was foreshadowed; his knowledge of Roland suggesting many
+a circumstance well calculated to substantiate the charge of crime. If
+he never ventured abroad into the world, he made himself master of
+all its secret whisperings; and heard how he was himself commended for
+delicacy and good feeling, with the satisfaction of a man who glories
+in a cheat. And how many are there who play false in life, less from the
+gain than the gratification of vanity!--a kind of diabolical pride in
+outwitting and overreaching those whose good faith has made them weak!
+The polite world does not take the same interest in deeds of terror
+as do their more humble brethren; they take their "horrors" as they do
+their one glass of Tokay at dessert,--a something, of which a little
+more would be nauseating. The less polished classes were, therefore,
+those who took the greatest pleasure in following up every clew and
+tracing each circumstance that pointed to Roland's guilt; and so, at
+last, his name was rarely mentioned among those with whom so lately he
+had lived in daily, almost hourly, companionship.
+
+When Linton, then, deemed the time expired which his feelings of grief
+and shame had demanded for retirement, he reappeared in the world pretty
+much as men had always seen him. A very close observer, if he would have
+suffered any one to be such, might have perhaps detected the expression
+of care in certain wrinkles round his mouth, and in the extra blackness
+of his whiskers, where gray hairs had dared to show themselves; but to
+the world at large these signs were inappreciable. To them he was the
+same even-tempered, easy-mannered man they ever saw him. Nor was this
+accomplished without an effort; for, however Linton saw the hour of his
+vengeance draw nigh, he also perceived that all his personal plans of
+fortune and aggrandizement had utterly failed. The hopes he had so often
+cherished were all fled. His title to the cottage, his prospect of a
+seat in Parliament, the very sums he had won at play, and which to
+a large amount remained in Cashel's hands, he now perceived were all
+forfeited to revenge. The price was, indeed, a heavy one! and already he
+began to feel it so. Many of his creditors had abstained from pressing
+him so long as his intimacy with Cashel gave promise of future solvency.
+That illusion was now dispelled, and each post brought him dunning
+epistles, and threatening notices of various kinds. Exposures menaced
+him from men whose vindictiveness he was well aware of; but far more
+perilous than all these were his relations with Tom Keane, who continued
+to address letter after letter to him, craving advice and pecuniary
+assistance, in a tone where menace was even more palpable than entreaty.
+To leave these unreplied to might have been dangerous in the extreme; to
+answer them even more perilous. No other course was, then, open than to
+return to Tubbermore, and endeavor, in secret, to confer with this man
+face to face. There was not any time to lose. Cashel's trial was to take
+place at the ensuing assizes, which now were close at hand. Keane was to
+figure there as an important witness. It was absolutely necessary to see
+him, and caution him as to the nature of the evidence he should give,
+nor suffer him in the exuberance of his zeal to prove "too much."
+
+Under pretence, therefore, of a hurried trip to London, he left his
+house one evening, and went on board the packet at Kingstown, dismissing
+his carriage as if about to depart; then, suddenly affecting to discover
+that his luggage had been carried away by mistake, he landed, and set
+out with post-horses across country towards the western road. Before
+midnight he was safe in the mail, on his way to Limerick; and by
+daybreak on the following morning he was standing in the wood of
+Tubbermore, and gazing with a thoughtful head upon the house, whose
+shuttered windows and barred doors told of its altered destiny.
+
+From thence he wandered onward towards the cottage--some strange,
+inexplicable interest over him--to see once more the spot he had so
+often fancied to be his own, and where, with a fervor not altogether
+unreal, he had sworn to pass his days in tranquil solitude. Brief as
+had been the interval since last he stood there, the changes were
+considerable. The flower-plots were trampled and trodden down, the
+palings smashed, the ornamental trees and shrubs were injured and broken
+by the cattle; traces of reckless haste and carelessness were seen in
+the broken gates and torn gate-posts; while fragments of packing-cases,
+straw, and paper littered the walks and the turf around.
+
+Looking through the windows, broken in many places, he could see the
+cottage was perfectly dismantled. Everything was gone: not a trace
+remained of those who for so many years had called it home! The
+desolation was complete; nor was it without its depressing influence
+upon him who stood there to mark it; for, strange enough, there are
+little spots in the minds of those, where evil actions are oftenest
+cradled, that form the refuge of many a tender thought! Linton
+remembered the cottage as he saw it bright in the morning sun; or, more
+cheerful still, as the closed curtains and the blazing fire gave a look
+of homelike comfort to which the veriest wanderer is not insensible; and
+now it was cold and dark. He had no self-accusings as to the cause. It
+was, to him, one of those sad mutations which the course of fortune is
+ever effecting. He even went further, and fancied how different had been
+their fate if they had not rejected his own alliance.
+
+"In this world of ours," muttered he, "the cards we are dealt by Fortune
+would nearly always suffice to win, had we but skill. These people had a
+noble game before them, but, forsooth, they did not fancy their partner!
+And see what is come of it--ruin on every side!"
+
+Gloomy thoughts over his own opportunities neglected--over eventful
+moments left to slip by unprofitably--stole over him. Many of his late
+speculations had been unsuccessful; he had had heavy losses on the
+"turf" and the "'Change." He had failed in promises by which menacing
+dangers had been long averted. His enemies would soon be upon him,
+and he was ill provided for the encounter. Vengeance alone, of all his
+aspirations, seemed to prosper; and he tried to revel in that thought as
+a compensation for every failure.
+
+Nor was this unmixed with fear. What if Cashel should enter upon a
+defence by exposing the events of that last night at Tubbermore? What
+if he should produce the forged deed in open court? Who was to say that
+Enrique himself might not be forthcoming to prove his falsehood? Again:
+how far could he trust Tom Keane? might not the fellow's avarice suggest
+a tyranny impossible to endure? Weighty considerations were these, and
+full of their own peril. Linton paused beside the lake to ruminate, and
+for some time was deep buried in thought A light rustling sound at last
+aroused him; he looked up, and perceived, directly in front of him, the
+very man of whom he was thinking--Tom Keane himself.
+
+Both stood still, each fixedly regarding the other without speaking.
+It seemed a game in which he who made the first move should lose. So,
+certainly, did Linton feel; but not so Tom Keane, who, with an easy
+composure that all the other's "breeding" could not compass, said,--
+
+"Well, sir, I hope you like your work?"
+
+"_My_ work! _my_ work! How can you call it _mine_, my good friend?"
+replied Linton, with a great effort to appear as much at ease as the
+other.
+
+"Just as ould Con Corrigan built the little pier we're standin' on this
+minit, though his own hands did n't lay a stone of it."
+
+"There's no similarity between the cases whatever," said Linton, with a
+well-feigned laugh. "Here there was a plan--an employer--hired laborers
+engaged to perform a certain task."
+
+"Well, well," broke in Keane, impatiently; "sure we're not in 'Coort,'
+that you need make a speech. 'T was your own doing: deny it if you like,
+but don't drive me to prove it."
+
+The tone of menace in which these words were uttered was increased by
+the fact, now for the first time apparent to Linton, that Tom Keane
+had been drinking freely that morning, and was still under the strong
+excitement of liquor.
+
+Linton passed his arm familiarly within the other's, and in a voice of
+deep meaning, said: "Were you only as cautious as you are courageous,
+Tom, there's not a man in Europe I 'd rather take as my partner in a
+dangerous enterprise. You are a glorious fellow in the hour of peril,
+but you are a child, a mere child, when it's over."
+
+Keane did not speak, but a leer of inveterate cunning seemed to answer
+this speech.
+
+"I say this, Tom," said Linton, coaxingly, "because I see the risk to
+which your natural frankness will expose you. There are fellows prowling
+about on every side to scrape up information about this affair; and as,
+in some unguarded moment, when a glass too much has made the tongue run
+freely, any man may say things, to explain which away afterwards he is
+often led to go too far--You understand me, Tom?"
+
+"I do, sir," said the other, nodding shortly.
+
+"It was on that account I came down here to-day, Tom. The trial is fixed
+for the 15th: now, the time is so short between this and that, you can
+surely keep a strict watch over yourself till 'all is over'?"
+
+"And what then, sir?" asked Tom, with a cunning glance beneath his
+brows.
+
+"After that," rejoined Linton, affecting to mistake the meaning of
+the question--"after that, the law takes its course, and you trouble
+yourself no more on the matter."
+
+"And is that all, Mr. Linton?--is that all?" asked the man, as, freeing
+himself from the other's arm, he drew himself up to his full height, and
+stood directly in front of him.
+
+"I must own, Tom, that I don't understand your question."
+
+"I'll make it plain and azy for you, then," said Keane, with a hardened
+determination in his manner. "'T was you yourself put me up to this
+business. 'T was you that left the pistol in my possession. 'T was you
+that towld me how it was to be done, and where to do it; and"--here
+his voice became deep, thick, and guttural with passion--"and, by the
+'mortal God! if I 'm to hang for it, so will you too."
+
+"Hang!" exclaimed Linton. "Who talks of hanging? or what possible danger
+do you run--except, indeed, what your own indiscreet tongue may bring
+upon you?"
+
+"Is n't it as good to die on the gallows as on the roadside?" asked the
+other, fiercely. "What betther am I for what I done, tell me that?"
+
+"I have told you before, and I tell you again, that when 'all is over'
+you shall be amply provided for."
+
+"And why not before?" said he, almost insolently.
+
+"If you must know the reason," said Linton, affecting a smile, "you
+shall hear it. Your incaution would make you at once the object of
+suspicion, were you to be seen with money at command as freely as you
+will have it hereafter."
+
+"Will you give me that in writin'?--will you give it to me undher your
+hand?" asked Keane, boldly.
+
+"Of course I will," said Linton, who was too subtle a tactician to
+hesitate about a pledge which could not be exacted on the instant.
+
+"That's what I call talkin fair," said Keane; "an', by my sowl, it's the
+best of your play to trate me well."
+
+"There is only one thing in the world could induce me to do otherwise."
+
+"An' what's that, sir?"
+
+"Your daring to use a threat to me!" said Linton, sternly. "There never
+was the man that tried that game--and there have been some just as
+clever fellows as Tom Keane who did try it--who did n't find that they
+met their match."
+
+"I only ax what's right and fair," said the other, abashed by the daring
+effrontery of Linton's air.
+
+"And you shall have it, and more. You shall either have enough to settle
+in America, or, if you prefer it, to live abroad."
+
+"And why not stay at home here?" said Tom, doggedly.
+
+"To blurt out your secret in some drunken moment, and be hanged at
+last!" said Linton, with a cutting irony.
+
+"An', maybe, tell how one Misther Linton put the wickedness first in my
+head," added Tom, as if finishing the sentence.
+
+Linton bit his lip, and turned angrily away to conceal the mortification
+the speech had caused him. "My good friend," said he, in a deliberate
+voice, "you think that whenever you upset the boat you will drown _me_;
+and I have half a mind to dare you to it, just to show you the shortness
+of your calculation. Trust me"--there was a terrible distinctness in his
+utterance of these words--"trust me, that in all my dealings with the
+world, I have left very little at the discretion of what are called men
+of honor. I leave nothing, absolutely nothing, in the power of such as
+you."
+
+At last did Linton strike the right chord of the fellow's nature; and in
+his subdued and crestfallen countenance might be read the signs of his
+prostration.
+
+"Hear me now attentively, Keane, and let my words rest well in your
+memory. The trial comes on on the 15th; your evidence will be the most
+important of all; but give it with the reluctance of a man who shrinks
+from bringing his landlord to the scaffold. You understand me? Let
+everything you say show the desire to screen Mr. Cashel. Another point:
+affect not to know anything save what you actually saw. You never can
+repeat too often the words, 'I did n't see it.' This scrupulous reliance
+on eyesight imposes well upon a jury. These are the only cautions I have
+to give you. Your own natural intelligence will supply the rest. When
+all is finished you will come up to Dublin, and call at a certain
+address which will be given you hereafter. And now we part. It is your
+own fault if you lose a friend who never deserted the man that stood by
+him."
+
+"An' are you going back to Dublin now, sir?" asked Keane, over whose
+mind Linton's influence had become dominant, and who actually dreaded to
+be left alone, and without his guidance.
+
+Linton nodded an assent.
+
+"But you 'll be down here at the trial, sir?" asked Tom, eagerly.
+
+"I suspect not," said Linton. "If not summoned as a witness, I'll
+assuredly not come."
+
+"Oh, murther!" exclaimed Tom. "I thought I 'd have you in the 'Coort,'
+just to look up at you from time to time, to give me courage and make
+me feel bowld; for it does give me courage when I see you so calm and so
+azy, without as much as a tremble in your voice."
+
+"It is not likely that I shall be there," rejoined Linton; "but mind,
+if I be, that you do _not_ direct your eyes towards me. Remember, that
+every look you give, every gesture you make, will be watched and noted."
+
+"I wondher how I'll get through it!" exclaimed the other, sorrowfully.
+
+"You'll get through it admirably, man, if you'll only think that you are
+not the person in peril. It is your conscience alone can bring you into
+any danger."
+
+"Well, I hope so! with the help of--" The fellow stopped short, and a
+red flush of shame spread itself over features which in a whole life
+long had never felt a blush.
+
+"I 'd like to be able to give you something better than this, Tom," said
+Linton, as he placed a handful of loose silver in the other's palm,
+"but it is safer for the present that you should not be seen with much
+money."
+
+"I owe more than this at Mark Shea's 'public,'" said Tom, looking
+discontentedly at the money.
+
+"And why should you owe it?" said Linton, bitterly. "What is there in
+your circumstances to warrant debts of this kind?"
+
+"Did n't I earn it--tell me that?" asked the ruffian, with a savage
+earnestness.
+
+"I see that you are hopeless," said Linton, turning away in disgust.
+"Take your own course, and see where it will lead you."
+
+"No--you mean where it will lead us," said the fellow, insolently.
+
+"What! do you dare to threaten me? Now, once for all, let this have an
+end. I have hitherto treated you with candor and with kindness. If you
+fancy that my hate can be more profitable than my friendship, say so,
+and before one hour passes over your head I 'll have you committed to
+prison as an accessory to the murder."
+
+"I ax your pardon humbly--I did n't mean to anger yer Honer," said the
+other, in a servile tone. "I'll do everything you bid me--and sure you
+know best what ought to be done."
+
+"Then let us part good friends," said Linton, holding out his hand
+towards him. "I see a boat coming over the lake which will drop me at
+Killaloe; we must not be seen together--so good-bye, Tom, good-bye."
+
+"Good-bye, and a safe journey to yer Honer," said Tom, as, touching his
+hat respectfully, he retired into the wood.
+
+The boat which Linton descried was still above a mile from the shore,
+and he sat down upon a stone to await its coming. Beautiful as that
+placid lake was, with its background of bold mountains, its scattered
+islands, and its jutting promontories, he had no eye for these, but
+followed with a peering glance the direction in which Tom Keane had
+departed.
+
+"There are occasions," muttered he to himself, "when the boldest courses
+are the safest. Is this one of these? Dare I trust that fellow, or
+would this be better?" And, as if mechanically, he drew forth a
+double-barrelled pistol from his breast, and looked fixedly at it.
+
+He arose from his seat, and sat down again--his mind seemed beset
+with hesitation and doubt; but the conflict did not last long, for he
+replaced the weapon, and walking down to the lake, dipped his fingers in
+the water and bathed his temples, saying to himself,--
+
+"Better as it is: over-caution is as great an error as foolhardiness."
+
+With a dexterity acquired by long practice, he now disguised his
+features so perfectly that none could have recognized him; and by the
+addition of a wig and whiskers of bushy red hair, totally changed the
+character of his appearance. This he did, that at any future period he
+might not be recognized by the boatmen, who, in answer to his signal,
+now pulled vigorously towards the shore.
+
+He soon bargained with them to leave him at Killaloe, and as they rowed
+along engaged them to talk about the country, in which he affected to
+be a tourist. Of course the late murder was the theme uppermost in every
+mind, and Linton marked with satisfaction how decisively the current of
+popular belief ran in attributing the guilt to Cashel.
+
+With a perversity peculiar to the peasant, the agent whom they had so
+often inveighed against for cruelty in his lifetime, they now discovered
+to have been the type of all that was kind-hearted and benevolent; and
+had no hesitation in attributing his unhappy fate to an altercation in
+which he, with too rash a zeal, was the "poor man's advocate."
+
+The last words he was heard to utter on leaving Tub-bermore were quoted,
+as implying a condemnation on Cashel's wasteful extravagance, at a time
+when the poor around were "perishing of hunger." Even to Linton, whose
+mind was but too conversant with the sad truths of the story, these
+narratives assumed the strongest form of consistency and likelihood;
+and he saw how effectually circumstantial evidence can convict a man in
+public estimation, long before a jury are sworn to try him.
+
+Crimes of this nature, now, had not been unfrequent in that district;
+and the country people felt a species of savage vengeance in urging
+their accusations against a "gentleman," who had not what they reckoned
+as the extenuating circumstances to diminish or explain away his guilt.
+
+"He was n't turned out of his little place to die on the roadside,"
+muttered one. "He wasn't threatened, like poor Tom Keane, to be
+'starminated,'" cried another.
+
+"And who is Tom Keane?" asked Linton.
+
+"The gatekeeper up at the big house yonder, sir; one that's lived man
+and boy nigh fifty years there; and Mr. Cashel swore he 'd root him out,
+for all that!"
+
+"Ay!" chimed in another, in a moralizing whine, "an' see where he is
+himself, now!"
+
+"I wondher now if they'd hang him, sir?" asked one.
+
+"Why not," asked Linton, "if he should be found guilty?"
+
+"They say, sir, the gentlemen can always pay for another man to
+be hanged instead of them. Musha, maybe 'tis n't true," added he,
+diffidently, as he saw the smile on Linton's face.
+
+"I think you 'll find that the right man will suffer in this case," said
+Linton; and a gleam of malignant passion shot from his dark eyes as he
+spoke.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX. THE TRIAL--THE PROSECUTION
+
+     As I listened I thought myself guilty.
+
+   --Warren Hastings.
+
+
+For several days before that appointed for the trial of Roland Cashel,
+the assize town was crowded with visitors from every part of the island.
+Not a house, not a room was unoccupied, so intense was the interest to
+witness a cause into which so many elements of exciting story entered.
+His great wealth, his boundless extravagance, the singular character
+of his early life, gave rise to a hundred curious anecdotes, which the
+press circulated with a most unscrupulous freedom.
+
+Nor did public curiosity stop at the walls of the prison; for every
+detail of his life, since the day of his committal, was carefully
+recorded by the papers. The unbroken solitude in which he lived; the
+apparent calm collectedness in which he awaited his trial; his resolute
+refusal to employ legal assistance; his seeming indifference to the
+alleged clews to the discovery of the murder,--were commented on and
+repeated till they formed the table-talk of the land.
+
+The only person with whom he desired to communicate was Dr. Tiernay; but
+the doctor had left Ireland in company with old Mr. Corrigan and Miss
+Leicester, and none knew whither they had directed their steps.
+
+Of all his former friends and acquaintances, Cashel did not appear to
+remember one; nor, certainly, did they obtrude themselves in any way
+upon his recollection. The public, it is true, occupied themselves
+abundantly with his interests. Letters, some with signatures, the
+greater number without, were addressed to him, containing advices and
+counsels the strangest and most opposite, and requests, which to one in
+his situation were the most inappropriate. Exhortations to confess
+his crime came from some, evidently more anxious for the solution of a
+mystery than the repentance of a criminal. Some suggested legal
+quibbles to be used at the trial; others hinted at certain most skilful
+advocates, whose services had been crowned with success in the case of
+most atrocious wretches. A few asked for autographs; and one, in a neat
+crowquill hand, with paper smelling strongly of musk, requested a lock
+of his hair!
+
+If by any accident Cashel opened one of these epistles, he was certain
+to feel amused. It was to him, at least, a new view of life, and of
+that civilization against which he now felt himself a rebel. Generally,
+however, he knew nothing of them: a careless indifference, a reckless
+disregard of the future, had taken complete possession of him; and the
+only impatience he ever manifested was at the slow march of the time
+which should elapse before the day of trial.
+
+The day at length arrived; and even within the dreary walls of the
+prison were heard the murmured accents of excitement as the great hour
+drew nigh.
+
+Mr. Goring at an early hour had visited the prisoner, to entreat him,
+for the last time, to abandon his mad refusal of legal aid; explaining
+forcibly that there were constantly cases occurring where innocence
+could only be asserted by disentangling the ingenious tissue with which
+legal astuteness can invest a circumstance. Cashel rejected this counsel
+calmly but peremptorily; and when pressed home by other arguments, in a
+moment of passing impatience confessed that he was "weary of life, and
+would make no effort to prolong it."
+
+"Even so, sir," said Goring. "There is here another question at issue.
+Are you satisfied to fill the dishonored grave of a criminal? Does not
+the name by which men will speak of you hereafter possess any terror for
+you now?"
+
+A slight tremor shook Cashel's voice as he replied, "Were I one who left
+kindred or attached friends behind him, these considerations would have
+their weight, nor would I willingly leave them the heritage of such
+disgrace; but I am alone in the world, without one to blush for my
+dishonor, or shed a tear over my sorrow. The calumny of my fellowmen
+will only fall on ears sealed by death; nor will their jeers break the
+slumber I am so soon to sleep."
+
+Goring labored hard to dissuade him from his resolve, but to no purpose.
+The only consolation of which Roland seemed capable arose from the
+dogged indifference he felt as to the result, and the consciousness of
+an innocence he was too proud to assert.
+
+From an early hour of the morning the court was crowded. Many persons
+distinguished in the world of fashion were to be seen amid the gowned
+and wigged throng that filled the body of the building; and in the
+galleries were a vast number of ladies, whose elegance of dress told how
+much they regarded the scene as one of display, as well as of exciting
+interest. Some had been frequent guests at his house; others had often
+received him at their own; and there they sat, in eager expectancy to
+see how he would behave, to criticise his bearing, to scan his looks
+through their "lorgnettes," and note the accents in which he would
+speak. A few, indeed, of his more intimate friends denied themselves the
+treat such an exhibition promised; and it was plain to see how highly
+they estimated their own forbearance. Still, Frobisher and some of
+his set stood beneath the gallery, and watched the proceedings with
+interest.
+
+Some routine business of an uninteresting nature over, the case of the
+King _versus_ Roland Cashel was called, and the governor of the jail was
+ordered to produce the prisoner. A murmur of intense interest quickly
+ran through the crowded assembly, and as suddenly was subdued to a dead
+silence as the crowd, separating, permitted the passage of two armed
+policemen, after whom Cashel walked, followed by two others. Scarcely
+had he merged from the dense throng and taken his place in the dock,
+when a buzz of astonishment went round; for the prisoner, instead of
+being dressed decorously in black, as is customary, or at least in some
+costume bespeaking care and respect, was attired in the very suit
+he wore on the eventful night of the murder, the torn sleeves and
+blood-stained patches attracting every eye around him. He was paler
+and thinner than his wont; and if his countenance was more deeply
+thoughtful, there was nothing in it that evinced anxiety, or even
+expectancy. As he entered the dock, they who stood nearest to him
+remarked that a slight flush stole over his face, and something that
+seemed painful to his feelings appeared to work within him. A brief
+effort overcame this, and he raised his eyes and carried his looks
+around the court with the most perfect unconcern.
+
+The prisoner was now arraigned, and the clerk proceeded to read over
+the indictment; after which came the solemn question, "How say you,
+prisoner, Guilty or Not Guilty?" Either not understanding the "quaere"
+as directly addressed to himself, or conceiving it to be some formality
+not requiring an answer, Cashel stood in a calm and respectful silence
+for some minutes, when the judge, in a mild voice, explained the meaning
+of the interrogation.
+
+"Not Guilty, my Lord," said Cashel, promptly; and though the words were
+few, and those almost of course on such an occasion, the feeling in the
+court was manifestly in concurrence with the speaker. The routine detail
+of calling over the jury panel involving the privilege of "challenge,"
+it became necessary to explain this to Cashel, whose ignorance of all
+legal forms being now so manifest, the judge asked who was counsel for
+the prisoner.
+
+"He has not named any, my Lord."
+
+With patient kindness the judge turned to the dock, and counselled him,
+even now, late as it was, to select some one among the learned members
+of the Bar, whose guidance would materially serve his interests, and
+save him from the many embarrassments his own unassisted efforts would
+produce.
+
+"I thank you, my Lord, for your consideration," replied he, calmly, "but
+if I be innocent of this crime, I stand in need of no skill to defend
+me. If guilty, I do not deserve it."
+
+"Were guilt and innocence always easy of detection," said the judge,
+"your remark might have some show of reason; but such is rarely the
+case, and once more I would entreat you to intrust your cause to some
+one conversant with our forms and acquainted with our duties."
+
+"I am not guilty, my Lord," replied Roland, boldly, "nor do I fear that
+any artifice can make me appear such. I will not have counsel."
+
+The Attorney-General here in a low voice addressed the Bench, and
+suggested that although the prisoner might not himself select a
+defender, yet the interests of justice generally requiring that the
+witnesses should be cross-examined, it would be well if the Court would
+appoint some one to that duty.
+
+The judge repeated the suggestion aloud, adding his perfect concurrence
+in its nature, and inviting the learned Bar to lend a volunteer in the
+cause; when a voice called out, "I will willingly accept the office, my
+Lord, with your permission."
+
+"Very well, Mr. Clare Jones," replied the judge; and that gentleman,
+of whom we have so long lost sight, advanced to the front of the bar,
+beside the dock.
+
+Cashel, during this scene, appeared like one totally uninterested in all
+that was going forward; nor did he even turn his head towards where
+his self-appointed advocate was standing. As the names of the jury were
+called over, Jones closely scrutinized each individual, keenly inquiring
+from what part of the county he came--whether he had resided as a tenant
+on the Cashel estate--and if he had, on any occasion, expressed himself
+strongly on the guilt or innocence of the accused. To all these details
+Roland listened with an interest the novelty suggested, but, it was
+plain to see, without any particle of that feeling which his own
+position might have called for. The jury were at length impanelled, and
+the trial began.
+
+Few, even among the most accomplished weavers of narrative, can equal
+the skill with which a clever lawyer details the story of a criminal
+trial. The orderly sequence in which the facts occur; the neat equipoise
+in which matters are weighed; the rigid insistence upon some points, the
+insinuated probabilities and the likelihood of others,--are all arranged
+and combined with a masterly power that more discursive fancies would
+fail in.
+
+Events and incidents that to common intelligence appear to have no
+bearing on the case, arise, like unexpected witnesses, at intervals, to
+corroborate this, or to insinuate that. Time, place, distance, locality,
+the laws of light and sound, the phenomena of science, are all invoked,
+not with the abstruse pedantry of a bookworm, but with the ready-witted
+acuteness of one who has studied mankind in the party-colored page of
+real life.
+
+To any one unaccustomed to these efforts, the effect produced is almost
+miraculous: conviction steals in from so many sources, that the mind,
+like a city assaulted on every side, is captured almost at once. All the
+force of cause and effect is often imparted to matters which are merely
+consecutive; and it requires patient consideration to disembarrass
+a case of much that is merely insinuated, and more that is actually
+speculative.
+
+In the present instance everything was circumstantial; but so much the
+more did it impress all who listened, even to him who, leaning on the
+rails of the dock, now heard with wonderment how terribly consistent
+were all the events which seemed to point him out as guilty.
+
+After a brief exordium, in which he professed his deep sorrow at the
+duty which had devolved on him, and his ardent desire to suffer nothing
+to escape him with reference to the prisoner save what the interests
+of truth and justice imperatively might call for, the Attorney-General
+entered upon a narrative of the last day of Mr. Kennyfeck's life;
+detailing with minute precision his departure from Tubbermore
+at an early hour in Mr. Cashel's company, and stating how something
+bordering upon altercation between them was overheard by the bystanders
+as they drove away. "The words themselves, few and unimportant as they
+might seem," added he, "under common circumstances, come before us with
+a terrible significance when remembered in connection with the horrible
+event that followed." He then traced their course to Drumcoologan, where
+differences of opinion, trivial, some might call them, but of importance
+to call for weighty consideration here, repeatedly occurred respecting
+the tenantry and the management of the estate. These would all be proved
+by competent witnesses, he alleged; and he desired the jury to bear
+in mind that such testimony should be taken as that of men much more
+disposed to think and speak well of Mr. Cashel, whose very spendthrift
+tastes had the character of virtues in the peasants eyes, in contrast
+with the careful and more scrupulous discretion practised by "the
+agent."
+
+"You will be told, gentlemen of the jury," continued he, "how, after
+a day spent in continued differences of opinion, they separated at
+evening,--one to return to Tubbermore by the road; the other, by the
+less travelled path that led over the mountains. And here it is worthy
+of remark that Mr. Cashel, although ignorant of the way, a stranger,
+for the first time in his life in the district, positively refuses all
+offers of accompaniment, and will not even take a guide to show him the
+road. Mr. Kennyfeck continues for some time to transact business with
+the tenantry, and leaves Drumcoologan, at last, just as night was
+closing in. Now, about halfway between the manor-house of Tubbermore and
+the village of Drumcoologan, the road has been so much injured by the
+passage of a mountain-torrent, that when the travellers passed in the
+morning they found themselves obliged to descend from the carriage and
+proceed for some distance on foot,--a precaution that Mr. Kennyfeck was
+compelled also to take on his return, ordering the servant to wait for
+him on the crest of the hill. That spot he was never destined to reach!
+The groom waited long and anxiously for his coming; he could not leave
+his horses to go back and find out the reasons of his delay,--he
+was alone. The distance to Tubbermore was too great to permit of his
+proceeding thither to give the alarm; he waited, therefore, with
+that anxiety which the sad condition of our country is but too often
+calculated to inspire even among the most courageous, when, at last,
+footsteps were heard approaching, he called out aloud his master's name,
+but, instead of hearing the well-known voice in answer, he was accosted
+in Irish by an old man, who told him, in the forcible accents of his
+native tongue, 'that a murdered man was lying on the roadside.' The
+groom at once hurried back, and at the foot of the ascent discovered the
+lifeless but still warm body of his master; a bullet-wound was found
+in the back of the skull, and the marks of some severe blows across the
+face. On investigating further, at a little distance off, a pistol was
+picked up from a small drain, where it seemed to have been thrown in
+haste; the bore corresponded exactly with the bullet taken from the
+body; but more important still, this pistol appears to be the fellow
+of another belonging to Mr. Cashel, and will be identified by a
+competent witness as having been his property.
+
+"An interval now occurs, in which a cloud of mystery intervenes; and
+we are unable to follow the steps of the prisoner, of whom nothing is
+known, till, on the alarm of the murder reaching Tubbermore, a rumor
+runs that footsteps have been heard in Mr. Cashel's apartment, the key
+of which the owner had taken with him. The report gains currency rapidly
+that it is Mr. Cashel himself; and although the servants aver that he
+never could have traversed the hall and the staircase unseen by some of
+them, a new discovery appears to explain the fact. It is this. The ivy
+which grew on the wall of the house, and which reached to the window
+of Mr. Cashel's dressing-room, is found torn down, and indicating the
+passage of some one by its branches. On the discovery of this most
+important circumstance, the Chief Justice, accompanied by several other
+gentlemen, proceeded in a body to the chamber, and demanded admittance.
+From them you will hear in detail what took place,--the disorder in
+which they found the apartment; heaps of papers littered the floor;
+letters lay in charred masses upon the hearth; the glass of the window
+was broken, and the marks of feet upon the window-sill and the floor
+showed that some one had entered by that means. Lastly--and to this fact
+you will give your utmost attention--the prisoner himself is found with
+his clothes torn in several places; marks of blood are seen upon
+them, and his wrist shows a recent wound, from which the blood flows
+profusely. Although cautioned by the wise foresight of the learned judge
+against any rash attempt at explanation, or any inadvertent admission
+which might act to his prejudice hire-after, he bursts forth into a
+violent invective upon the murderer, and suggests that they should
+mount their horses at once, and scour the country in search of him. This
+counsel being, for obvious reasons, rejected, and his plan of escape
+frustrated, he falls into a moody despondency and will not speak.
+Shrouding himself in an affected misanthropy, he pretends to believe
+that he is the victim of some deep-planned treachery,--that all these
+circumstances, whose detail I have given you, have been the deliberate
+schemes of his enemies. It is difficult to accept of this explanation,
+gentlemen of the jury; and, although I would be far from diminishing
+in the slightest the grounds of any valid defence a man so situated may
+take up, I would caution you against any rash credulity of vague and
+unsupported assertions; or, at least, to weigh them well against the
+statements of truth-telling witnesses. The prisoner is bound to lay
+before you a narrative of that day, from the hour of his leaving home to
+that of his return, to explain why he separated from his companion, and
+came back alone by a path he had never travelled before, and at night;
+with what object he entered his own house by the window,--a feat
+of considerable difficulty and of some danger. His disordered and
+blood-stained dress; his wounded hand; the missing pistol; the agitation
+of his manner when discovered amid the charred and torn remains of
+letters,--all these have to be accounted for. And remember at what
+moment they occurred! When his house was the scene of festivity and
+rejoicing; when above a thousand guests were abandoning themselves to
+the unbridled enjoyment of pleasure,--this is the time the host takes
+to arrange papers, to destroy letters, to make, in fact, those hurried
+arrangements that men are driven to on the eve of either flight or some
+desperate undertaking. Bear all this in mind, gentlemen: and remember
+that, to explain these circumstances, the narrative of the prisoner
+must be full, coherent, and consistent in all its parts. The courts
+of justice admit of neither reservations nor mysteries. We are here to
+investigate the truth, whose cause admits of no compromise."
+
+The witnesses for the prosecution were now called over and sworn.
+The first examined were some of the servants who had overheard the
+conversation between Cashel and Kennyfeck on the morning of leaving
+Tubbermore. They differed slightly as to the exact expressions used,
+but agreed perfectly as to their general import,--a fact which even the
+cross-examination of Mr. Jones only served to strengthen. Some peasants
+of Drumcoologan were next examined, to show that during the day slight
+differences were constantly occurring between the parties, and that
+Cashel had more than once made use of the expression, "Have your own way
+_now_, but ere long I'll take mine;" or words very similar.
+
+The old man who discovered the body, and the postilion, were then
+questioned as to all the details of the place, the hour, and the fact;
+and then Tom Keane was called for. It was by him the pistol was picked
+up from the drain. The air of reluctance with which the witness ascended
+the table, and the look of affectionate interest he bestowed upon the
+dock were remarked by the whole assemblage. If the countenance of the
+man evinced little of frankness or candor, the stealthy glance he threw
+around him as he took his seat showed that he was not deficient in
+cunning.
+
+As his examination proceeded, the dogged reluctance of his answers,
+the rugged bluntness by which he avoided any clear explanation of his
+meaning, were severely commented on by the Attorney-General, and even
+called forth the dignified censure of the Bench; so that the impression
+produced by his evidence was, that he was endeavoring throughout to
+screen his landlord from the imputation of a well-merited guilt.
+
+The cross-examination now opened, but without in any way serving to
+shake the material character of the testimony, at the same time that it
+placed in a still stronger light the attachment of the witness to the
+prisoner. Cashel, hitherto inattentive and indifferent to all that was
+going forward, became deeply interested as this examination proceeded;
+his features, apathetic and heavy before, grew animated and eager, and
+he leaned forward to hear the witness with every sign of anxiety.
+
+The spectators who thronged the court attributed the prisoner's
+eagerness to the important nature of the testimony, and the close
+reference it bore to the manner of the crime; they little knew the
+simple truth, that it was the semblance of affection for him,--the
+pretended interest in his fate,--which touched his lonely heart, and
+kindled there a love of life.
+
+"That poor peasant, then," said Roland to himself, "he, at least, deems
+me guiltless. I did not think that there lived one who cared as much for
+me!"
+
+[Illustration: 338]
+
+With the apparent intention of showing to the Court and jury that Keane
+was not biassed towards his former master, Mr. Jones addressed several
+questions to him; but instead of eliciting the fact, they called forth
+from the witness a burst of gratitude and love for him that actually
+shook the building by the applause it excited, and called for the
+interference of the Bench to repress.
+
+"You may go down, sir," said Jones, with the fretful impatience of a man
+worsted in a controversy; and the witness descended from the table amid
+the scarcely suppressed plaudits of the crowd. As he passed the dock,
+Cashel leaned forward and extended his hand towards him. The fellow drew
+back, and they who were next him perceived that a sallow sickly color
+spread itself over his face, and that his lips became bloodless.
+
+"Give me your hand, man!" said Cashel.
+
+"Oh, Mr. Cashel! oh, sir!" said he, with that whining affectation of
+modesty the peasant can so easily assume.
+
+"Give me your hand, I say," said Cashel, firmly. "Its honest grasp will
+make me think better of the world than I have done for many a day."
+
+The fellow made the effort, but with such signs of inward terror and
+trepidation that he seemed like one ready to faint; and when his cold,
+nerveless hand quitted Cashel's, it fell powerless to his side. He moved
+now quickly forward, and was soon lost to sight in the dense throng.
+
+The next witnesses examined were the group who, headed by the Chief
+Justice, had entered Cashel's room. If they all spoke guardedly,
+and with great reserve, as to the manner of the prisoner, and the
+construction they would feel disposed to put upon the mode in which he
+received them, they agreed as to every detail and every word spoken with
+an accuracy that profoundly impressed the jury.
+
+The magistrate, Mr. Goring, as having taken the most active part in the
+proceedings, was subjected to a long and searching cross-examination
+by Jones, who appeared to imply that some private source of dislike to
+Cashel had been the animating cause of his zeal in this instance.
+
+Although not a single fact arose to give a shade of color to this
+suspicion, the lawyer clung to it with the peculiar pertinacity
+that often establishes by persistence when it fails in proof; and so
+pointedly and directly at last, that the learned judge felt bound to
+interfere, and observe, that nothing in the testimony of the respected
+witness could lay any ground for the insinuation thrown out by the
+counsel.
+
+Upon this there ensued one of those sharp altercations between Bench and
+Bar which seem the "complement" of every eventful trial in Ireland;
+and which, after a brief contest, usually leave both the combatants
+excessively in the wrong.
+
+The present case was no exception to this rule. The Judge was heated and
+imperious; the counsel flippant in all the insolence of mock respect,
+and ended by the stereotyped panegyric on the "glorious sanctity that
+invests the counsel of a defence in a criminal action--the inviolability
+of a pledge which no member of the Bar could suffer to be sullied in his
+person"--and a great many similar fine things, which, if not "briefed"
+by the attorney, are generally paid for by the client! The scrimmage
+ended, as it ever does, by a salute of honor; in which each, while
+averring that he was incontestably right, bore testimony to the
+conscientious scruples and delicate motives of the other; and at last
+they bethought them of the business for which they were there, and of
+him whose fate for life or death was on the issue. The examination of
+Mr. Goring was renewed.
+
+"You have told us, sir," said Jones, "that immediately after the
+terrible tidings had reached Tubbermore of Mr. Kennyfeck's death,
+suspicion seemed at once to turn on Mr. Cashel. Will you explain this,
+or at least let us hear how you can account for a circumstance so
+strange?"
+
+"I did not say as much as you have inferred," replied Goring. "I merely
+observed that Mr. Cashel's name became most singularly mixed up with the
+event, and rumors of a difference between him and his agent were buzzed
+about."
+
+"Might not this mention of Mr. Cashel's name have proceeded from an
+anxious feeling on the part of his friends to know of his safety?"
+
+"It might."
+
+"Are you not certain that it was so?"
+
+"In one instance, certainly. I remember that a gentleman at once drew
+our attention to the necessity of seeing after him."
+
+"Who was this gentleman?"
+
+"Mr. Linton,--a near and intimate friend of Mr. Cashel."
+
+"And he suggested that it would be proper to take steps for Mr. Cashers
+safety?"
+
+"He did so."
+
+"Was anything done in consequence of that advice?"
+
+"Nothing, I believe. The state of confusion that prevailed; the
+terror that pervaded every side, the dreadful scenes enacting around
+us,--prevented our following up the matter with all the foresight which
+might be desired."
+
+"And, in fact, you sought relief from the unsettled distraction of
+your thoughts, by fixing the crime upon some one--even though he should
+prove, of all assembled there, the least likely."
+
+"We did not attach anything to Mr. Cashel's disfavor until we discovered
+that he was in his dressing-room, and in the manner already stated."
+
+"But you certainly jumped to your conclusion by a sudden bound?"
+
+"It would be fairer to say that our thoughts converged to the same
+impression at the same time."
+
+"Where is this Mr. Linton? Is he among the list of your witnesses, Mr.
+Attorney?"
+
+"No, we have not called him."
+
+"I thought as much!" said Jones, sneeringly; "and yet the omission
+is singular, of one whose name is so frequently mixed up in these
+proceedings. He might prove an inconvenient witness."
+
+A slight murmur here ran through the court; and a gentleman, advancing
+to the bar, whispered some words to the Attorney-General, who, rising,
+said:--
+
+"My Lord, I am just this instant informed that Mr. Linton is dangerously
+ill of fever at his house near Dublin. My informant adds, that no hopes
+are entertained of his recovery."
+
+"Was he indisposed at the period in which my learned friend drew up this
+case? or was there any intention of summoning him here for examination?"
+asked Jones.
+
+"We did not require Mr. Linton's testimony," replied the
+Attorney-General.
+
+"It can scarcely be inferred that we feared it," said a junior
+barrister, "since the first palpable evidences that implicated the
+prisoner were discovered by Mr. Linton: the wadding of the pistol;
+part of a letter in Mr. Cashel's own handwriting; and the tracks
+corresponding with his boots."
+
+"This is all most irregular, my Lord," broke in Jones, eagerly. "Here
+are statements thrown out in all the loose carelessness of conversation,
+totally unsupported by evidence. I submit that it is impossible to offer
+a defence to a cause conducted in this manner."
+
+"You are quite right, Mr. Jones; this is not evidence."
+
+"But this is, my Lord!" said the Attorney-General, in a heated manner;
+"and for motives of delicacy we might not have used it, if not driven
+to this course by the insinuations of counsel. Here is a note in pencil,
+dated from the 'Pass of Ennismore,' and running thus: 'It looks badly;
+but I fear you have no other course than to arrest him. In fact, it is
+too late for anything else. Consult Malone and Meek.' And this can be
+proved to be in Mr. Linton's handwriting."
+
+Mr. Clare Jones did not speak a word as the note was handed up to the
+Bench, and then to the jury-box; he even affected to think it of no
+importance, and did not deign to examine it for himself.
+
+"You may go down, Mr. Goring," said he, after a slight pause, in which
+he appeared deliberating what course to follow.
+
+Making his way to the side of the dock, Jones addressed himself to
+Cashel in a low, cautious voice:--
+
+"It now remains with you, Mr. Cashel, to decide whether you will intrust
+me with the facts on which you ground your innocence, or prefer to see
+yourself overwhelmed by adverse testimony."
+
+Cashel made no reply, but leaned his head on his hand in deep thought
+
+"Have you any witnesses to call?" whispered Jones. "Shall we try an
+_alibi?_"
+
+Cashel did not answer.
+
+"What is your defence, sir, in one word?" asked Jones, shortly.
+
+"I am not guilty," said Cashel, slowly; "but I do not expect others to
+believe me so."
+
+"Is your defence to rest upon that bare assertion?" asked the lawyer;
+but Roland did not seem to heed the question, as, folding his arms, he
+stood erect in the dock, his attention to all appearance bestowed upon
+the ceremonial of the court.
+
+Jones, at once turning to the Bench, expressed his regret that, neither
+being able, from the shortness of the time, to obtain proper information
+on the case, nor being honored by the confidence of the accused, he must
+decline the task of commenting on the evidence; and would only
+entreat the jury to weigh the testimony they had heard with a merciful
+disposition, and wherever discrepancies and doubts occurred, to give the
+full benefit of such to the prisoner.
+
+"You have no witnesses to call?" asked the judge.
+
+"I am told there are none, my Lord," said Jones, with an accent of
+resignation.
+
+A brief colloquy, in a low voice, ensued between the Crown lawyers and
+Clare Jones, when, at length, a well-known barrister rose to address the
+jury for the prosecution. The gentleman who now claimed the attention
+of the Court was one who, not possessing either the patient habits of
+study, or that minute attention to technical detail which constitute the
+legal mind, was a fluent, easy speaker, with an excellent memory, and a
+thorough knowledge of the stamp and temperament of the men that usually
+fill a jury-box. He was eminently popular with that class, on whom he
+had often bestowed all the flatteries of his craft; assuring them that
+their "order" was the bone and sinew of the land, and that "our proudest
+boast as a nation was in the untitled nobility of commerce."
+
+His whole address on the present occasion tended to show that the murder
+of Mr. Kennyfeck was one among the many instances of the unbridled
+license and tyranny assumed by the aristocracy over the middle ranks.
+
+Mr. Kennyfeck was no bad subject for such eulogium as he desired to
+bestow. He was the father of a family; a well-known citizen of Dublin; a
+grave, white-cravated, pompous man of respectable exterior, always seen
+at vestries, and usually heading the lists of public charities.
+Cashel was the very antithesis to all this: the reckless squanderer of
+accidentally acquired wealth; the wayward and spoiled child of fortune,
+with the tastes of a buccaneer and the means of a prince, suddenly
+thrown into the world of fashion. What a terrible ordeal to a mind so
+untrained--to a temper so unbridled! and how fearfully had it told
+upon him! After commenting upon the evidence, and showing in what a
+continuous chain each event was linked with the other,--how consistent
+were all,--how easily explicable every circumstance, he remarked that
+the whole case had but one solitary difficulty; and although that was
+one which weighed more in a moral than a legal sense, it required that
+he should dwell a few moments upon it.
+
+"The criminal law of our land, gentlemen of the jury, is satisfied with
+the facts which establish guilt or innocence, without requiring that
+the motives of accused parties should be too closely scrutinized. Crime
+consists, of course, of the spirit in which a guilty action is done;
+but the law wisely infers that a guilty act is the evidence of a guilty
+spirit; and therefore, although there may be circumstances to extenuate
+the criminality of an act, the offence before the law is the same; and
+the fact, the great fact, that a man has killed his fellow-man, is what
+constitutes murder.
+
+"I have said that this case has but one difficulty; and that is, the
+possible motive which could have led to the fatal act Now, this would
+present itself as a considerable obstacle if the relations between the
+parties were such as we happily witness them in every county of this
+island, where the proprietor and his agent are persons linked, by the
+sacred obligation of duty, and the frequent intercourse of social life,
+into the closest friendship.
+
+"That blood should stain the bonds of such brotherhood would be scarcely
+credible--and even when credible, inexplicable; it would be repugnant
+to all our senses to conceive an act so unnatural. But was the present a
+similar case? or rather, was it one exactly the opposite? You have heard
+that repeated differences occurred between the parties, amounting even
+to altercations. Mr. Hoare's evidence has shown you that Mr. Cashel's
+extravagance had placed him in difficulties of no common kind; his
+demands for money were incessant, and the utter disregard of the cost
+of obtaining it is almost beyond belief. The exigence on one side,
+the manly resistance on the other, must have led to constant
+misunderstanding. But these were not the only circumstances that
+contributed to a feeling of estrangement, soon to become something still
+more perilous. And here I pause to ask myself how far I am warranted
+in disclosing facts of a private nature, although in their bearing they
+have an important relation to the case before us! It is a question of
+great delicacy; and were it not that the eternal interests of truth and
+justice transcend all others, I might shrink from the performance of
+a task which, considered in a merely personal point of view, is deeply
+distressing. But it is not of one so humble as myself of whom there is
+a question here: the issue is, whether a man's blood should be spilled,
+and no expiation be made for it?"
+
+The counsel after this entered into a discursive kind of narrative of
+Cashel's intimacy with the Kennyfeck family, with whom he had been for a
+time domesticated; and after a mass of plausible generalities, wound
+up by an imputed charge that he had won the affections of the younger
+daughter, who, with the consent of her parents, was to become his wife.
+
+"It will not seem strange to you, gentlemen," said he, "that I have
+not called to that table as a witness either the widow or the orphan to
+prove these facts, or that I have not subjected their sacred sorrows to
+the rude assaults of a cross-examination. You will not think the worse
+of me for this reserve, nor shall I ask of you to give my statements the
+value of sworn evidence; you will hear them, and decide what value they
+possess in leading you to a true understanding of this case.
+
+"I have said, that if a regular pledge and promise of marriage did not
+bind the parties, something which is considered equivalent among persons
+of honor did exist, and that by their mutual acquaintances they were
+regarded as contracted to each other. Mr. Cashel made her splendid and
+expensive presents, which had never been accepted save for the relations
+between them; he distinguished her on all occasions by exclusive
+attention, and among his friends he spoke of his approaching marriage
+as a matter fixed and determined on. In this state of things a discovery
+took place, which at once served to display the character of the young
+gentleman, and to rescue the family from one of the very deepest,
+because one of the most irremediable, of all calamities. Information
+reached them, accompanied by such circumstances as left no doubt of its
+veracity, that this Mr. Cashel had been married already, and that
+his wife, a young Spanish lady, was still living, and residing at the
+Havannah.
+
+"I leave you to imagine the misery which this sad announcement produced
+in that circle, where, until he entered it, happiness had never been
+disturbed. It is not necessary that I should dwell upon the distress
+this cruel treachery produced: with its consequences alone we have any
+concern here; and these were a gradual estrangement,--a refusal, calm
+but firm, to receive Mr. Cashel as before; an intimation that they knew
+of circumstances which, from delicacy to him, they would never advert to
+openly, but which must at once bar all the contemplated relations: and
+to this sad, humiliating alternative he submitted!
+
+"To avoid the slanderous stories which gossip would be certain to put
+in circulation, they did not decline the invitation they had before
+accepted to visit Tubbermore; they came, however, under the express
+stipulation that no close intimacy was ever to be resumed between Mr.
+Cashel and themselves; he was not even to use the common privilege of a
+host,--to visit them in their own apartments. That this degree of cold
+distance was maintained between them, on every occasion, all the guests
+assembled at the house can testify; and he neither joined the party in
+carriage nor on horseback. Perhaps this interdiction was carried out
+with too rigid a discipline; perhaps the cold reserve they maintained
+had assumed a character of insult, to one whose blood still glowed with
+the fire of southern associations; perhaps some circumstance with which
+we are unacquainted contributed to render this estrangement significant,
+and consequently painful to a man who could not brook the semblance of a
+check. It is needless to ask how or whence originating, since we can see
+in the fact itself cause sufficient for indignant reproof on one side,
+for a wounded self-love and tarnished honor on the other.
+
+"Are we at a loss for such motives, then, in the presence of facts like
+these? Ask yourselves, Is a man, bred and trained up in all the riotous
+freedom of a service scarcely above the rank of piracy,--accustomed
+to the lawless license of a land where each makes the law with his own
+right hand,--is such a man one to bear a slight with patient submission,
+or to submit to an open shame in tame obedience? Can you not easily
+imagine how all the petty differences of opinion they might have had
+were merely skirmishes in front of that line where deeper and graver
+feelings stood in battle array? Can you suppose that, however ruled over
+by the ordinary courtesies of life, this youth nourished his plans of
+ultimate revenge, not only upon those who refused with indignation his
+traitorous alliance, but who were the depository of a secret that must
+interdict all views of marriage in any other quarter?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX. THE DEFENCE
+
+     Equal to either fortune.
+
+   --Eugene Aram.
+
+
+As the Crown counsel sat down, a low murmur ran through the Court,
+whose meaning it would be difficult to define; for if the greater number
+present were carried away by the indignant eloquence of the pleader to
+believe Cashel a hardened criminal, some few still seemed to cling to
+his side, and bent their eyes towards the dock with looks of sympathy
+and comfort. And oh, how little know they, whose eyes are beaming with
+the bright spark that warms their generous hearts, what loadstars are
+they to him who stands alone, forsaken, and accused in the criminal
+dock! What a resting-place does the weary and tired soul feel that
+glance of kindly meaning! How does it speak to his bruised and
+wounded spirit of hope and charity! What energy will it impart to the
+fast-failing courage! what self-respect and self-reliance to him who, a
+few moments back, was sinking beneath the abasement of despair!
+
+Such was the effect now produced upon Roland Cashel. The array of
+circumstances, so formidably marshalled by his accuser, had completely
+overwhelmed him; the consciousness of innocence failed to support him
+against the feeling which he saw spreading like a mist around him.
+Against the accusation--against its fearful penalty--his own stout
+heart could sustain him; but how bear up against the contempt and the
+abhorrence of his fellow-men! Under the crushing weight of this shame he
+was sinking fast, when a stray glance--a chance expression of interest,
+like sunlight piercing a dark cloud--gave promise that all was not lost.
+He felt that there were yet some who wished to believe him guiltless,
+and that all sympathy for him had not yet died out.
+
+"Does the prisoner desire to avail himself of the privilege he possesses
+to call witnesses to character?" asked the judge.
+
+"No, my Lord," said Cashel, firmly, but respectfully. "Since my
+accession to fortune, my life has been passed for the most part in what
+is called the 'fashionable world;' and from what I have seen of it, the
+society does not seem rich in those persons whose commendations, were
+they to give them, would weigh heavily with your Lordship. Besides, they
+could say little to my praise, which the learned counsel has not
+already said to my disparagement,--that I had the command of wealth, and
+squandered it without taste and without credit."
+
+Few and insignificant as were these words, the easy and fearless mode
+of their delivery, the manly energy of him who spoke them, seemed to
+produce a most favorable impression throughout the court, which as
+rapidly reacted upon Cashel; for now the embers of hope were fanned, and
+already glowed into a slight flicker.
+
+"The prisoner having waived his privilege, my Lord," said the
+Attorney-General, "I beg to observe that the case is now closed."
+
+"Is it too late, then, my Lord, for me to address a few words to the
+jury?" asked Roland, calmly.
+
+"What say you, Mr. Attorney-General?" asked the judge.
+
+"Your Lordship knows far better than I, that to address the Court
+at this stage of the proceedings, would be to concede the right of
+reply--and, in fact, of speaking twice; since the prisoner's not having
+availed himself of the fitting occasion to comment on the evidence,
+gives him not the slightest pretension to usurp another one."
+
+"Such is the law of the case," said the judge, solemnly.
+
+"I have nothing to observe against it, my Lord," said Cashel. "If I have
+not availed myself of the privilege accorded to men placed as I am, I
+must only submit to the penalty my pride has brought upon me,--for it
+was pride, my Lord. Since that, however, another, and I hope a higher
+pride has animated me, to vindicate my character and my fame; so that,
+at some future day--a long future, it may be--when the true facts of
+this dark mystery shall be brought to light, a more cautious spirit will
+pervade men's minds as to the guilt of him assailed by circumstantial
+evidence. It might be, my Lord, that all I could adduce in my own behalf
+would weigh little against the weight of accusations which even to
+myself appear terribly consistent. I know, for I feel, how hard it would
+be to accept the cold unsupported narrative of a prisoner, in which many
+passages might occur of doubtful probability, some of even less credit,
+and some again of an obscurity to which even he himself could not afford
+the clew; and yet, with all these difficulties, enhanced tenfold by my
+little knowledge of the forms of a court, and my slender capacity,
+I regret, my Lord, that I am unable to address the few words I had
+intended to the jury,--less, believe me, to avert the shipwreck that
+awaits myself, than to be a beacon to some other who may be as solitary
+and unfriended as I am."
+
+These words, delivered with much feeling, but in a spirit of calm
+determination, seemed to thrill through the entire assemblage; and even
+the senior judge stopped to confer for some minutes with his brother
+on the bench, in evident hesitation what course to adopt. At length he
+said,--
+
+"However we may regret the course you have followed in thus depriving
+yourself of that legitimate defence the constitution of our country
+provides, we see no sufficient reason to deviate from the common order
+of proceeding in like cases. I will now, therefore, address the
+jury, who have already heard your words, and will accord them any
+consideration they may merit."
+
+"It may be, my Lord," said Cashel, "that evidence so strongly imbued
+with probability may induce the gentlemen in that box to believe me
+guilty; in which case, I understand, your Lordship would address to me
+the formal question, 'If I had anything to say why sentence of death
+should not be passed upon me.' Now, if I am rightly informed, any
+observations of a prisoner at such a moment are regarded rather in the
+light of petitions for mercy, than as explanations or corrections of
+falsehood. I have, therefore, only now to say, that, whatever
+decision you may come to, the Court shall not be troubled further with
+interference of mine."
+
+The Judge bowed slightly, as if in reply to this, and began his
+charge; but the foreman of the jury, leaning forward, said that his
+fellow-jurors had desired him to ask, as a favor to themselves, that the
+prisoner might be heard. A short conference ensued between the Bench and
+the Crown counsel, which ended by the permission being accorded; and now
+Cashel rose to address the Court.
+
+"I will not," said he, "abuse the time of this Court by any irrelevant
+matter, nor will I advert to a single circumstance foreign to the
+substance of the charge against me. I purpose simply to give a narrative
+of the last day I passed with my poor friend, and to leave on record
+this detail as the solemn protestation of innocence of one who has too
+little to live for to fear death."
+
+With this brief preface he began a regular history of that eventful
+day, from the hour he had started from Tubbermore in company with Mr.
+Kennyfeck.
+
+The reader is already familiar with every step and circumstance of
+that period, so that it is not necessary we should weary him by any
+recapitulation; enough if we say that Cashel proceeded with a minuteness
+devoid of all prolixity, to mention each fact as it occurred, commenting
+as he went on upon the evidence already given, and explaining its
+import without impugning its truth. Juries are ever disposed to listen
+favorably to a speaker who brings to his aid no other allies than candor
+and frankness, and who, without pretensions to legal acuteness, narrates
+facts with clear and distinctive precision. Leaving him, therefore,
+still speaking, and in the irresistible force of truth gradually winning
+upon his hearers, let us quit the court for a brief time, and passing
+through the crowded space before the doors, traverse the town, densely
+thronged by curious and eager visitors. We do not mean to linger with
+them, nor overhear the comments they passed upon the eventful scene
+beside them; our business is about a mile off, at a small public-house
+at a short distance from the roadside, usually frequented by
+cattle-dealers and the customers at the weekly markets. Here, in a
+meanly-furnished room, where, for it was now evening, a common dip
+candle shed its lugubrious yellow light upon the rude appliances of
+vulgar life, sat a man, whose eager expectancy was marked in every line
+of his figure. Every now and then he would arise from his chair, and,
+screening the candle from the wind, open the window to look out.
+
+The night was dark and gusty; drifting rain beat at intervals against
+the glass, and seemed the forerunner of a great storm. The individual
+we have spoken of did not seem to care for, if he even noticed, the
+inclemency; he brushed the wet from his bushy beard and mustaches with
+indifference, and bent his ear to listen to the sounds upon the road in
+deepest earnestness. At last the sound of horses' feet and wheels was
+heard rapidly approaching, and a car drove up to the door, from which a
+man, wrapped up in a loose frieze coat, descended, and quickly mounted
+the stairs. As he reached the landing, the door of the room was thrown
+vide, and the other man, in a low, but distinct, voice said, "Well, what
+news?"
+
+"All right," said he of the frieze coat, as, throwing off the wet
+garment, he discovered the person of Mr. Clare Jones. "Nothing could
+possibly go better; my cross-examination clinched Keane's evidence
+completely, and no jury could get over it."
+
+"I almost wish you had let him alone," said the other, gruffly, and in
+evident discontent; "I foresee that the sympathy the scoundrel affected
+will be troublesome to us yet."
+
+"I have no fears on that head," replied the other, confidently. "The
+facts are there, and Crankle's speech to evidence ripped him up in a
+terrific manner."
+
+"Did he allude to the Spanish girl?"
+
+"He did, and with great effect."
+
+"And the Kilgoff affair--did he bring 'My Lady' up for judgment?"
+
+"No. The Attorney-General positively forbade all allusion to that
+business."
+
+"Oh, indeed!" said the other, with a savage sneer. "'The Court' was too
+sacred for such profanation."
+
+"I think he was right, too," said Jones. "The statement could never have
+been brought to bear upon the case before the Court. It would have
+been a mere episode outside of the general history, and just as likely
+impress the Jury with the opinion that all the charges were trumped up
+to gain a conviction in any way."
+
+The other paused, and seemed to reflect for some minutes, when he said,
+"Well, what are they about now?"
+
+"When I left, the Court had just refused Cashel's demand to address the
+jury. The Chief Baron had ruled against him, and, of course, the
+charge is now being pronounced. As I know how this must run, I took the
+opportunity of coming over here to see you."
+
+"_My_ name was but once mentioned, you tell me," said the other, in an
+abrupt manner.
+
+"It was stated that you were dangerously ill, without hope of recovery,"
+said Jones, faltering, and with evident awkwardness.
+
+"And not alluded to again?" asked the other, whom there is no need of
+calling Mr. Linton.
+
+"Yes, once passingly," said Jones, still faltering.
+
+"How do you mean, passingly?" asked Linton, in anger.
+
+"The Crown lawyers brought forward that note of yours from Ennismore."
+
+Linton dashed his closed fist against the table, and uttered a horrible
+and blasphemous oath.
+
+"Some bungling of yours, I'll be sworn, brought this about," said he,
+savagely; "some piece of that adroit chicanery that always recoils upon
+its projector."
+
+"I 'll not endure this language, sir," said Jones. "I have done more
+to serve you than any man would have stooped to in my profession. Unsay
+those words."
+
+"I do unsay them. I ask pardon for them, my dear Jones. I never meant
+them seriously," said Linton, in that fawning tone he could so well
+assume. "You ought to know me better than to think that _I_, who have
+sworn solemnly to make your fortune, could entertain such an opinion of
+you. Tell me now of this. Did Cashel say anything as the note was read?"
+
+"Not a syllable."
+
+"How did he look?"
+
+"He smiled slightly."
+
+"Ah, he smiled," said Linton, growing pale; "he smiled! He can do that
+when he is most determined."
+
+"What avails all his determination now? No narrative of his can shake
+the testimony which the examination has confirmed. It was a masterstroke
+of yours, Mr. Linton, to think of supplying him with counsel."
+
+Linton smiled superciliously, as though he was accustomed to higher
+flights of treachery than this. "So then," said he, at length, "you say
+the case is strong against him?"
+
+"It could scarcely be stronger."
+
+"And the feeling--how is the feeling of the Court?"
+
+"Variable, I should say; in the galleries, and among the fashionably
+dressed part of the assemblage, inclined somewhat in his favor."
+
+"How? Did not the charge of attempted bigamy tell against him with his
+fair allies?"
+
+"Not so much as I had hoped."
+
+"What creatures women are!" said Linton, holding up his hands. "And how
+are they betting? What says Frobisher?"
+
+"He affects to think it no case for odds; he says there 's a little
+fellow in the jury-box never was known to say 'Guilty.'"
+
+"A scheme to win money,--a stale trick, my Lord Charles!" muttered
+Linton, contemptuously; "but I've no objection to hedge a little, for
+all that."
+
+"I must be going," said Jones, looking at his watch; "the charge will
+soon be over, and I must look to the proceedings."
+
+"Will they be long in deliberation, think you?" asked Linton.
+
+"I suspect not; they are all weary and tired. It is now ten o'clock."
+
+"I thought it later," said Linton, thoughtfully; "time lags heavily with
+him whose mind is in expectancy. Hark! there is some one below talking
+of the trial! What says he?"
+
+"He speaks of Cashel as still addressing the Court. Can they have
+consented to hear him, after all?"
+
+A fearful curse broke from Linton, and he closed the door noiselessly.
+
+"See to this, Jones; see to it speedily. My mind misgives me that
+something will go wrong."
+
+"You say that you know him thoroughly, and that he never would--"
+
+"No, no," broke in Linton, passionately; "he'll not break one tittle of
+his word, even to save his life! When he promised me that all should be
+secret between us, he made no reservations, and you 'll see that he 'll
+not avail himself of such privileges now. I do know him thoroughly."
+
+"Then what, or whence, is your fear?"
+
+Linton made no other answer than a gesture of his hand, implying some
+vague and indistinct dread. "But go," said he, "and go quickly. You
+ought never to have left the court. Had you remained, perhaps this might
+have been prevented. If all goes right, you 'll be here by daybreak at
+furthest, and Keane along with you. Take care of that, Jones; don't
+lose sight of him. If--if--we are unfortunate--and do you think such
+possible?"
+
+"Everything is possible with a jury."
+
+"True," said he, thoughtfully; "it is an issue we should never have left
+it to. But away; hasten back. Great Heaven! only to think how much hangs
+upon the next half-hour!"
+
+"To Cashel, you mean?" said Jones, as he prepared himself for the road.
+
+"No; I mean to _me_, I _do_ know him thoroughly; and well I know the
+earth would be too narrow to live upon, were that man once more free and
+at liberty."
+
+In his eagerness for Jones's departure, he almost pushed him from the
+room; and then, when he had closed and locked the door again, he sat
+down beside the low flickering fire, and as the fitful light played upon
+his features, all the appliances of disguise he wore could not hide the
+terrible ravages that long corroding anxiety had made in him. Far more
+did he resemble the arraigned criminal than he who now stood in the
+dock, and with a cheek blanched only by imprisonment, waited calm,
+collected, and erect--"Equal to either fortune."
+
+Linton had often felt all the terrible suspense which makes the paradise
+or the hell of the gambler: he had known what it was to have his whole
+fortune on the issue, at a moment when the rushing mob of horsemen and
+foot concealed the winning horse from view, and mingled in their mad
+cheers the names of those whose victory had been his ruin and disgrace.
+He had watched the rolling die, on whose surface, as it turned, all he
+owned in the world was staked; he had sat gazing on the unturned card,
+on which his destiny was already written;--and yet all these moments of
+agonizing suspense were as nothing compared to that he now suffered, as
+he sat with bent down head trying to catch the sounds which from time to
+time the wind bore along from the town.
+
+As if to feed his mind with hope, he would recapitulate to himself all
+the weighty and damnatory details which environed Cashel, and which, by
+their singular consistency and coherence, seemed irrefutable. He would
+even reckon them upon his fingers, as "so many chances against him." He
+would try to imagine himself one of the jury, listening to the evidence
+and the charge; and asked himself "were it possible to reject such
+proofs?" He pictured to his mind Cashel addressing the Court with all
+that rash and impetuous eloquence so characteristic of him, and which,
+to more trained and sober tempers, would indicate a nature little
+subject to the cold discipline of restraint; and from all these
+speculative dreams he would start suddenly up, to lean out of the window
+and listen. Other thoughts, too, would cross his mind, scarcely less
+distracting. What would become of himself should Cashel escape? Whither
+should he retire? If, at one moment, he half resolved to "stand his
+ground" in the world, and trust to his consummate skill in secret
+calumny to ruin him, another reflection showed that Cashel would not
+play out the game on these conditions. A duel, in which one at least
+must fall, would be inevitable; and although this was an ordeal he had
+braved oftener than most men, he had no courage to dare it now. Through
+all this tangled web of harassing hope and fear, regrets deep and
+poignant entered, that he had not worked his ruin by slower and safer
+steps. "I might have been both judge and jury--ay, and executioner too,"
+muttered he, "had I been patient." And here he gave a low, sardonic
+laugh. "When the hour of confiscation came, I might have played the
+Crown's part also." But so is it: there is no halting in the downward
+course of wickedness; the very pleadings of self-interest cannot
+save men from the commission of _crimes_, by which they are to hide
+_follies_.
+
+The slow hours of the night dragged heavily on; the fire had gone out,
+and the candle too--unnoticed, and Linton sat in the dark, brooding over
+his gloomy thoughts. At one moment he would start up, and wonder if the
+whole were not a terrible dream,--the nightmare of his own imagination;
+and it was only after an effort he remembered where he was, and with
+what object. He could not see his watch to tell the hour, but he knew it
+must be late, since the fire had long since died out, and the room was
+cold and chill. The agony of expectation became at last too great to
+endure; he felt his way to the door and passed out, and groping down the
+narrow stair, reached the outer door, and the road.
+
+All was dark and lonely; not a sound of horseman or foot-traveller broke
+the dreary stillness of the hour, as Linton, urged on by an impulse
+he could not restrain, took his way towards the town. The distance was
+scarcely above a mile, but his progress was slow, for the road was wet
+and slippery, and the darkness very great. At last he reached the long
+straggling suburb, with its interminable streets of wretched hovels; but
+even here none were yet astir, and not a light was seen to glimmer. To
+this succeeded the narrow streets of the town itself,--where, at long
+intervals, a dusky yellow haze glimmered by way of lamplight. Stopping
+beneath one of these, Linton examined his watch, and found that it was
+near five o'clock. The lateness of the hour, and the unbroken stillness
+on every side, half induced him to believe that "all was over," and
+Cashel's fate sealed for good or evil; but then Jones would have
+hastened back to bring the tidings! There could not be a doubt on this
+head. Urged onward to greater speed by emotions which now were scarcely
+supportable, he traversed street after street in frantic haste; when
+suddenly, on turning a corner, he came in front of a large building,
+from whose windows, dimmed by steam, a great blaze of light issued, and
+fell in long columns upon the "Square" in front. A dense, dark mass
+of human figures crowded the wide doorway, but they were silent and
+motionless all. Within the court, too, the stillness was unbroken; for
+as Linton listened he could now hear a cough, which resounded through
+the building.
+
+"The jury are in deliberation," thought he, and sat down upon the step
+of a door, his eyes riveted upon the court-house, and his heart beating
+so that he could count its strokes. Not far from him, as he sat there,
+scarcely a hundred paces off, within the building, there sat another
+man, waiting with a high throbbing heart for that word to be uttered
+which should either open the door of his prison, or close that of the
+grave upon him forever. The moments of expectancy were terrible to both!
+they were life-long agonies distilled to seconds; and he who could live
+through their pains must come forth from the trial a changed man forever
+after.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI. "NOT GUILTY"
+
+     Free to go forth once more, but oh, How changed!
+
+     Harold.
+
+
+A slight movement in the crowd near the door--a kind of waving motion
+like the quiet surging of the sea--seemed to-indicate some commotion
+within the court; and although Linton saw this, and judged it rightly,
+as the evidence of something eventful about to happen, he sat still
+to await the result with the dogged firmness with which he would have
+awaited death itself.
+
+As we are less interested spectators of the scene, let us press our
+way through the tired and exhausted crowd that fill the body of the
+building. And now we stand beneath the gallery, and immediately behind
+a group of about half a dozen, whose dress and demeanor at once proclaim
+them of the world of fashion. These are Lord Charles Frobisher and his
+friends, who, with memorandum-books and timepieces before them, sit in
+eager anxiety, for they have wagers on everything: on the verdict--how
+the judge will charge--if the prisoner will confess--if he will
+attempt a defence; and even the length of time the jury will sit in
+deliberation, is the subject of a bet!
+
+This anxiety was now at its climax, for, directly in front of them, a
+small door had just opened, and a crowd of men entered, and took their
+seats in the gallery.
+
+Their grave countenances, marked by watching and eager discussion, at
+once proclaimed that they were the jury.
+
+There was a low murmur heard throughout the court as they took their
+seats; and instinctively many an eye was turned towards the dock, to
+watch how _he_ bore himself in that trying moment With a steady gaze
+fixed upon the spot from which his doom was to be spoken, he stood
+erect, with arms folded and his head high. He was deathly pale; but
+not a trace of anything like fear in the calm lineaments of his manly
+features.
+
+"The jury seem very grave," whispered Upton to Frobisher.
+
+"I wish that stupid old judge would bestir himself," replied Lord
+Charles, looking at his watch; "it wants four minutes to five: he 'll
+scarcely be in court before it strikes, and I shall lose a pony through
+it."
+
+"Here he comes!--here he comes!" said another; and the Chief Baron
+entered the court, his face betraying that he had been aroused from
+sleep.
+
+"Are you agreed, gentlemen of the jury?" asked the judge, in a low
+voice.
+
+"Not perfectly, my Lord," said the foreman. "We want your Lordship to
+decide a point for us; which is--If we should be of opinion that any
+grave provocation led to the death of Kennyfeck, whether our verdict
+could be modified, and our finding be, in consequence, for manslaughter,
+and not murder?"
+
+"The indictment," said the judge, "does not give you that option. It is
+framed without any count for the minor offence. I ought, perhaps, also
+to observe, that nothing has transpired in the evidence given here,
+this day, to warrant the impression you seem inclined to entertain. Your
+verdict must be one of Guilty or Not Guilty."
+
+"We are of opinion, my Lord," said a juryman, "that great latitude in
+the expression of temper should be conceded to a young man reared and
+educated as the prisoner has been."
+
+"These sentiments, honorable to you as they are, cannot be indulged
+at the expense of justice, however they may find a fitting place in a
+recommendation to mercy; and even this must be accompanied by something
+more than sympathies."
+
+"Well said, old boy!" muttered Frobisher to himself. "My odds are
+looking up again."
+
+"In that case, my Lord, we must retire again," said the foreman; and the
+jury once more quitted the court, whose occupants at once resumed all
+the lounging attitudes from which the late scene had aroused them.
+Exhaustion, indeed, had overcome all save the prisoner himself, who
+paced the narrow limits of the dock with slow and noiseless steps,
+raising his head at intervals, to watch the gallery where the jury were
+to appear.
+
+In less than half an hour the creaking of a door awoke the drowsy court,
+and the jury were seen re-entering the box. They continued to talk among
+each other as they took their seats, and seemed like men still under the
+influence of warm discussion.
+
+"Not agreed!" muttered Frobisher, looking at his book. "I stand to win,
+even on that."
+
+To the formal question of the Court, the foreman for an instant made no
+reply, for he was still in eager conversation with another juror.
+
+"How say you, gentlemen of the jury? Are you agreed?"
+
+"We are, my Lord," said the foreman; "that is to say, some of the jury
+have conceded to the rest for the sake of a verdict."
+
+"This does not seem to me like agreement," interposed the judge. "If you
+be not of the same mind, it will be your duty to retire once more, and
+strive by the use of argument and reason to bring the minority to
+your opinion; or, in failure of such result, to avow that you are not
+like-minded."
+
+"We have done all that is possible in that respect, my Lord; and we beg
+you will receive our verdict."
+
+"If it be your verdict, gentlemen," said the judge, "I desire nothing
+more."
+
+"We say, Not Guilty, my Lord," said the foreman.
+
+There was a solemn pause followed the words, and then a low murmur
+arose, which gradually swelled till it burst forth into a very clamor,
+that only the grave rebuke of the Bench reduced to the wonted decorum of
+a court of justice.
+
+"I am never disposed, gentlemen of the jury, to infringe upon the sacred
+prerogative which environs your office. You are responsible to God and
+your own consciences for the words you have uttered here, this day; but
+my duty requires that I should be satisfied that you have come to
+your conclusion by a due understanding of the facts laid before you
+in evidence, by just and natural inferences from those facts, and by
+weighing well and dispassionately all that you have heard here, to the
+utter exclusion of anything you may have listened to outside of this
+court. Is your verdict in accordance with these conditions?"
+
+"So far, my Lord, as the mysterious circumstances of this crime admit, I
+believe it is. We say 'Not Guilty,' from a firm conviction on our minds
+that we are saying the truth."
+
+"Enough," said the judge. "Clerk, record the verdict." Then turning to
+the dock, towards which every eye was now bent, he continued: "Roland
+Cashel, a jury of your countrymen, solemnly sworn to try you on the
+charge of murder, have this day pronounced you 'Not Guilty.' You go,
+therefore, free from this dock, to resume that station you occupied in
+society, without stain upon your character or blemish upon your fame.
+The sworn verdict we have recorded obliterates the accusation. But, for
+the sake of justice, for the interests of the glorious prerogative
+we possess in trial by jury, for the sacred cause of truth itself, I
+implore you, before quitting this court, to unravel the thread of this
+dark mystery, so far as in you lies,--to fill up those blanks in the
+narrative you have already given us,--to confirm, to the extent in your
+power, the justice of that sentence by which you are restored once more
+to the society of your friends and family. This, I say, is now your
+duty; and the example you will give, in performing it, will reflect
+credit upon yourself, and do service to the cause of truth, when you and
+I and those around us shall be no more."
+
+It was with stronger show of emotion than Cashel had yet displayed that
+he leaned over the dock and said,--
+
+"My Lord, when life, and something more than life, were in peril, I
+deemed it right to reserve certain details from the notoriety of this
+court. I did so, not to involve any other in the suspicion of this
+guilt, whose author I know not. I did not do so from any caprice, still
+less from that misanthropic affectation the counsel was ungenerous
+enough to ascribe to me. I believe that I had good and sufficient
+reasons for the course I adopted. I still think I have such. As to the
+rest, the discovery of this guilt is now become the duty of my life,--I
+owe it to those whose words have set me free, and I pledge myself to the
+duty."
+
+The Bench now conferred with the Crown lawyers as to the proceedings
+necessary for the discharge of the prisoner; and already the crowds,
+wearied and exhausted, began to withdraw. The interest of the scene was
+over; and in the various expressions of those that passed might be read
+the feelings with which they regarded the result. Many reprobated the
+verdict as against law and all the facts; some attributed the "finding"
+to the force of caprice; others even hinted the baser motive, that they
+didn't like "to hang a man who spent his income at home;" and others,
+again, surmised that bribery might have had "something to do with it."
+Few believed in Cashel's innocence of the crime; and even they said
+nothing, for their convictions were more those of impulse than reason.
+
+"Who could have thought it!" muttered Upton, as, with a knot of others,
+he stood waiting for the crowd to pass out.
+
+Frobisher shrugged his shoulders, and went on totting a line of figures
+in his memorandum-book.
+
+"Better off than I thought!" said he to himself; "seven to five taken
+that he would not plead--eight to three that he would not call Linton.
+Long odds upon time won: lost by verdict four hundred and fifty. Well,
+it might have been worse; and I 've got a lesson--never to trust a
+Jury."
+
+"I say, Charley," whispered Upton, "what are you going to do?"
+
+"How do you mean?"
+
+"Will you go up and speak to him?" said he, with a motion of his head
+towards the dock.
+
+Frobisher's sallow cheek grew scarlet. Lost and dead to every sense of
+honorable feeling for many a day, the well had not altogether dried up,
+and it was with a look of cutting insolence he said,--
+
+"No, sir; if I did not stand by him before, I 'll not be the hound to
+crawl to his feet now."
+
+"By Jove! I don't see the thing in that light. He's all right now, and
+there 's no reason why we should n't know him as we used to do."
+
+"Are you so certain that he will know _you?_" was Fro-bisher's sharp
+reply as he turned away.
+
+The vast moving throng pressed forward, and now all were speedily
+commingled,--spectators, lawyers, jurors, witnesses. The spectacle
+was over, and the empty court stood silent and noiseless, where a few
+moments back human hopes and passions had surged like the waves of a
+sea.
+
+The great space in front of the court-house, filled for a few moments
+by the departing crowd, grew speedily silent and empty,--for day had not
+yet broken, and all were hastening homeward to seek repose. One figure
+alone was seen to stand in that spot, and then move slowly, and to all
+seeming irresolutely, onward. It was Cashel himself, who, undecided
+whither to turn, walked listlessly and carelessly on.
+
+As he turned a corner of a street, a jaunting-car, around which some
+travellers stood, stopped the way, and he heard the words of the driver.
+
+"There's another place to spare."
+
+"Where for?" asked Cashel.
+
+"Limerick, sir," said the man.
+
+"Drive on, b------t you," cried a deep voice from the other side of the
+vehicle; and the fellow's whip descended with a heavy slash, and the
+beast struck out into a gallop, and speedily was out of sight.
+
+"Did n't you see who it was?" muttered the speaker to the man beside
+him.
+
+"No."
+
+"It was Cashel himself,--I knew him at once; and I tell you, Jones, he
+would have known _me_, too, for all this disguise, when a gleam of day
+came to shine."
+
+As for Cashel, he stood gazing after the departing vehicle, with a
+strange chaos of thought working within.
+
+"Am I then infamous?" said he at last, "that these men will not travel
+in my company? Is it to this the mere accusation of crime has brought
+me!" And, slight as the incident was, it told upon him as some acrid
+substance would irritate and corrode an open wound,--festering the
+tender surface.
+
+"Better thus dreaded than the 'dupe' I have been!" said he, boldly,
+and entered the inn, where now the preparations for the coming day had
+begun. He ordered his breakfast, and post-horses for Killaloe, resolved
+to see Tubbermore once again, ere he left it forever.
+
+It was a bright morning in the early spring as Cashel drove through the
+wide-spreading park of Tubbermore. Dewdrops spangled the grass, amid
+which crocus and daffodil flowers were scattered. The trees were topped
+with fresh buds; the birds were chirping and twittering on the branches;
+the noiseless river, too, flowed past, its circling eddies looking like
+blossoms on the stream. All was joyous and redolent of promise, save
+him whose humbled spirit beheld in everything around him the signs of
+self-reproach.
+
+"These," thought he, "were the rich gifts of fortune that I have
+squandered. This was the paradise I have laid waste! Here, where I might
+have lived happy, honored, and respected, I see myself wretched and
+shunned! The defeats we meet with in hardy and hazardous enterprise are
+softened down by having dared danger fearlessly,--by having combated
+manfully with the enemy. But what solace is there for him whose reverses
+spring from childlike weakness and imbecility,--whose life becomes the
+plaything of parasites and flatterers! Could I ever have thought I
+would become this? What should I have once said of him who would have
+prophesied me such as I now am?"
+
+These gloomy reveries grew deeper and darker as he wandered from place
+to place, and marked the stealthy glances and timid reverences of the
+peasants as they passed him. "It is only the jury have called me 'Not
+Guilty,'" said he to himself; "the world has pronounced another verdict.
+I have come from that dock as one might have risen from an unhonored
+grave, to be looked on with fear and sorrow. Be it so; mine must be a
+lonely existence."
+
+Every room he entered recalled some scene of his past life. Here was the
+spacious hall, where, in all the excesses of the banquet, laughter had
+rung and wit had sparkled, loud toasts were proffered, and high-spirited
+mirth had once held sway. Here was the drawing-room, where grace and
+female loveliness were blended, mingling their odors like flowers in a
+"bouquet." Here, the little chamber he had often sought to visit Lady
+Kilgoff, and passed those hours of "sweet converse" wherein his whole
+nature became changed, and his rude spirit softened by the tender
+influences of a woman's mind. Here was his own favorite room,--the spot
+from which, in many an hour snatched from the cares of host, he had
+watched the wide-flowing river, and thought of the current of his own
+life, mingling with his reveries many a high hope and many a glorious
+promise. And now the whole scene was changed. The mirth, the laughter,
+the guests, the hopes, were fled, and he stood alone in those silent
+halls, that never again were to echo with the glad voice of pleasure.
+
+The chief object of his return to Tubbermore was to regain possession
+of that document which he had concealed in the cleft of a beech-tree,
+before scaling the approach to the window. He found the spot without
+difficulty, and soon possessed himself of the paper, the contents of
+which, however, from being conveyed in a character he was not familiar
+with, he could not master.
+
+He next proceeded to the gate-lodge, desirous to see Keane, and
+make some arrangement for his future support before he should leave
+Tubbermore. The man, however, was absent; his wife, whose manner
+betrayed considerable emotion, said that her husband had returned in
+company with another, who remained without, while he hastily packed a
+few articles of clothing in a bundle, and then left the house, whither
+to she knew not.
+
+Roland's last visit was to Tiernay's house; but he, too, was from home.
+He had accompanied Corrigan to Dublin, intending to take leave of him
+there; but a few hurried lines told that he had resolved to proceed
+further with his friends, and darkly hinting that his return to the
+village was more than doubtful.
+
+Wherever Cashel turned, desertion and desolation met him; and the
+cutting question that ever recurred to his mind was, "Is this _my_
+doing? Are these the consequences of _my_ folly?" The looks of the
+villagers seemed to tally with the accusation, as in cold respect they
+touched their hats as he passed, but never spoke: "not one said God
+bless him."
+
+He twice set out for the cottage, and twice turned back,--his over-full
+heart almost choked with emotion. The very path that led thither
+reminded him too fully of the past, and he turned from it into the wood,
+to wander about for hours long, lost in thought.
+
+He sought and found relief in planning out something for his future
+life. The discovery of the murderer--the clearing up of the terrible
+mystery that involved that crime--had become a duty, and he resolved to
+apply himself to it steadily and determinedly. His unacquitted debt
+of vengeance on Linton, too, was not forgotten. These accomplished, he
+resolved again to betake himself to the "new world beyond seas." Wealth
+had become distasteful to him; it was associated with all that lowered
+and humiliated him. He felt that with poverty his manly reliance, his
+courageous daring to confront danger, would return,--that once more upon
+the wild prairie, or the blue waters of the Pacific, he would grow young
+of heart, and high in spirit, forgetting the puerile follies into which
+a life of affluence had led him. "Would that I could believe it all a
+dream!" thought he. "Would that this whole year were but a vision, and
+that I could go back to what I once was, even as 'the buccaneer,' they
+called me!"
+
+His last hours in Tubbermore were spent in arrangements that showed he
+never intended to return there. His household was all discharged; his
+equipages and horses despatched to the capital to be sold; his books,
+his plate, and all that was valuable in furniture, were ordered to
+be packed up, and transmitted to Dublin. He felt a kind of malicious
+pleasure in erasing and effacing, as it were, every trace of the last
+few months.
+
+"I will leave it," muttered he, "to become the wreck I found it--would
+that I could be what I was ere I knew it!"
+
+The following day he left Tubbermore forever, and set out for Dublin.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII. ON THE TRACK
+
+     "And with a sleuth-hound's scent,
+      Smells blood afar!"
+
+
+It was nightfall when Roland Cashel entered Dublin. The stir and
+movement of the day were over, and that brief interval which separates
+the life of business from that of pleasure had succeeded. Few were
+stirring in the streets, and they were hastening to the dinner-parties
+whose hour had now arrived. It was little more than a year since Cashel
+had entered that same capital, and what a change had come over him
+within that period! Then he was buoyant in all the enjoyment of youth,
+health, and affluence; now, although still young, sorrow and care had
+worn him into premature age. His native frankness had become distrust;
+his generous reliance on the world's good faith had changed into a cold
+and cautious reserve which made him detestable to himself.
+
+Although he passed several of his former acquaintance without being
+recognized, he could not persuade himself but that their avoidance of
+him was intentional, and he thought he saw a purpose-like insolence in
+the pressing entreaties with which the news-vendors persecuted him to
+buy "The Full and True Report of the Trial of Roland Cashel for Murder."
+
+And thus it was that he, whose fastidious modesty had shrunk from
+everything like the notoriety of fashion, now saw himself exposed to
+that more terrible ordeal, the notoriety of crime. The consciousness of
+innocence could not harden him against the poignant suffering the late
+exposure had inflicted. His whole life laid bare! Not even to gratify
+the morbid curiosity of gossips; not to amuse the languid listlessness
+of a world devoured by its own ennui; but far worse! to furnish motives
+for an imputed crime! to give the clew to a murder! In the bitterness of
+his torn heart, he asked himself: "Have I deserved all this? Is this the
+just requital for my conduct towards others? Have the hospitality I have
+extended, the generous assistance I have proffered--have the thousand
+extravagances I have committed to gratify others--no other fruits than
+these?" Alas! the answer of his enlightened intelligence could no longer
+blind him by its flatteries. He recognized, at last, that to his abuse
+of fortune were owing all his reverses; that the capricious extravagance
+of the rich man--his misplaced generosity, his pompous display--can
+create enemies far more dangerous than all the straits and appliances
+of rebellious poverty; that the tie of an obligation which can ennoble a
+generous nature, may, in a bad heart, develop the very darkest elements
+of iniquity; and that he who refuses to be bound by gratitude is
+enslaved by hate!
+
+He stopped for an instant before Kennyfeck's house; the closed shutters
+and close-drawn blinds bespoke it still the abode of mourning. He passed
+the residence of the Kilgoffs, and there the grass-grown steps and
+rusted knocker spoke of absence. They had left the country. He next came
+to his own mansion,--that spacious building which, at the same hour,
+was wont to be brilliant with wax-lights and besieged by fast-arriving
+guests, where the throng of carriages pressed forward in eager haste,
+and where, as each step descended, some form or figure moved by, great
+in fame or more illustrious still by beauty. Now, all was dark, gloomy,
+and deserted. A single gleam of light issued from the kitchen, which was
+speedily removed as Roland knocked at the door.
+
+The female servant who opened the door nearly dropped the candle as she
+recognized the features of her master, who, without speaking, passed
+on, and, without even removing his hat, entered the library. Profuse in
+apologies for the disorder of the furniture, and excuses for the absence
+of the other servants, she followed him into the room, and stood, half
+in shame and half in terror, gazing at the wan and worn countenance of
+him she remembered the very ideal of health and youth.
+
+"If we only knew your honor was coming home tonight--"
+
+"I did not know it myself, good woman, at this hour yesterday. Let
+me have something to eat--well, a crust of bread and a glass of
+wine--there's surely so much in the house?"
+
+"I can give your honor some bread, but all the wine is packed up and
+gone."
+
+"Gone! whither, and by whose order?" said Roland, calmly.
+
+"Mr. Phillis, sir, sent it off about ten days ago, with the plate, and I
+hear both are off to America!"
+
+"The bread alone, then, with a glass of water, will do," said he,
+without any emotion or the least evidence of surprise in his manner.
+
+"The fare smacks of the prison still," said Roland, as he sat at his
+humble meal; "and truly the house itself is almost as gloomy."
+
+The aspect of everything was sad and depressing; neglect and disorder
+pervaded wherever he turned his steps. In some of the rooms the
+remains of past orgies still littered the tables. Smashed vases of rare
+porcelain, broken mirrors, torn pictures--all the work, in fact, which
+ruffian intemperance in its most savage mood accomplishes--told who
+were they who replaced his fashionable society; while, as if to show the
+unfeeling spirit of the revellers, several of the pasquinades against
+himself, the libellous calumnies of the low press, the disgusting
+caricatures of infamous prints, were scattered about amid the wrecks of
+the debauch.
+
+Roland saw these things with sorrow, but without anger. "I must have
+fallen low indeed," muttered he, "when it is by such men I am judged."
+
+In the room which once had been his study a great pile of unsettled
+bills covered the table, the greater number of which he remembered to
+have given the money for; there were no letters, however, nor even
+one card of an acquaintance, so that, save to his creditors, his very
+existence seemed to be forgotten.
+
+Wearied of his sad pilgrimage from room to room, he sat down at last in
+a small boudoir, which it had been his caprice once to adorn with the
+portraits of "his friends!" sketched by a fashionable artist. There they
+were, all smiling blandly, as he left them. What a commentary on their
+desertion of him were the looks so full of benevolence and affection!
+There was Frobisher, lounging in all the ease of fashionable
+indifference, but still with a smile upon his languid features;
+there was Upton, the very picture of straightforward good feeling and
+frankness; there was Jennings, all beaming with generosity; and Linton,
+too, occupying the chief place, seemed to stare with the very expression
+of resolute attachment that so often had imposed on Cashel, and made him
+think him a most devoted but perhaps an indiscreet friend. Roland's own
+portrait had been turned to the wall, while on the reverse was written,
+in large characters, the words "To be hung, or hanged, elsewhere." The
+brutal jest brought the color for an instant to his cheek, but the next
+moment he was calm and tranquil as before.
+
+Lost in musings, the time stole by; and it was late in the night ere he
+betook himself to rest His sleep was the heavy slumber of an overworked
+mind; but he awoke refreshed and with a calm courage to breast the tide
+of fortune, however it might run.
+
+Life seemed to present to him two objects of paramount interest. One
+of these was the discovery of Kennyfeck's murderer; the second was the
+payment of his debt of vengeance to Linton. Some secret instinct
+induced him to couple the two together; and although neither reason
+nor reflection afforded a clew to link them, they came ever in company
+before his mind, and rose like one fact before him.
+
+Mr. Hammond, the eminent lawyer, to whom he had written a few lines,
+came punctually at ten o'clock to confer with him. Roland had determined
+to reveal no more of his secret to the ears of counsel than he had done
+before the Court, when an accidental circumstance totally changed the
+course of his proceeding.
+
+"I have sent for you, Mr. Hammond," said Cashel, as soon as they were
+seated, "to enlist your skilful services in tracing out the real authors
+of a crime of which I narrowly escaped the penalty. I will first,
+however, entreat your attention to another matter, for this may be the
+last opportunity ever afforded me of personally consulting you."
+
+"You purpose to live abroad, sir?" asked Hammond.
+
+"I shall return to Mexico," said Roland, briefly; and then resumed:
+"Here is a document, sir, of whose tenor and meaning I am ignorant, but
+of whose importance I cannot entertain a doubt: will you peruse it?"
+
+Hammond opened the parchment, but scarcely had his eyes glanced over it,
+when he laid it down before him and said,--
+
+"I have seen this before, Mr. Cashel. You are aware that I already gave
+you my opinion as to its value?"
+
+"I am not aware of that," said Roland, calmly. "Fray, in whose
+possession did you see it, and what does it mean?"
+
+Hammond seemed confused for a few seconds; and then, as if overcoming a
+scruple, said,--
+
+"We must both be explicit here, sir. This document was shown to me by
+Mr. Linton, at Limerick, he alleging that it was at your desire and
+by your request. As to its import, it simply means that you hold your
+present estates without a title; that document being a full pardon,
+revoking the penalty of confiscation against the heirs of Miles
+Corrigan, and reinstating them and theirs in their ancient possessions.
+Now, sir, may I ask, do you hear this for the first time?"
+
+Roland nodded in acquiescence; his heart was too full for utterance, and
+the sudden revulsion of his feeling had brought a sickly sensation over
+him.
+
+"Mr. Linton," resumed Hammond, "in showing me this deed, spoke of a
+probable alliance between you and the granddaughter of Mr. Corrigan;
+and I freely concurred in the propriety of a union which might at once
+settle the difficulty of a very painful litigation. He promised me more
+full information on the subject, and engaged me to make searches for a
+registry, if such existed, of the pardon; but I heard nothing more from
+him, and the matter escaped my memory till this moment."
+
+"So that all this while I have been dissipating that which was not
+mine," said Roland, with a bitterness of voice and manner that bespoke
+what he suffered.
+
+"You have done what some thousands have done, are doing, and will do
+hereafter,--enjoyed possession of that which the law gave you, and which
+a deeper research into the same law may take away."
+
+"And Linton knew this?"
+
+"He certainly knew my opinion of this document; but am I to suppose that
+you were ignorant of it up to this moment?"
+
+"You shall hear all," said Cashel, passing his hand across his brow,
+which now ached with the torture of intense emotion. "To save myself
+from all the ignominy of a felon's death, I did not reveal this before.
+It was with me as a point of honor, that I would reserve this man for a
+personal vengeance; but now a glimmering light is breaking on my brain,
+that darker deeds than all he worked against me lie at his door, and
+that in following up my revenge I may be but robbing the scaffold of its
+due. Listen to me attentively." So saying, Cashel narrated every event
+of the memorable day of Kennyfeck's death, detailing his meeting
+with Enrique in the glen, and his last interview with Linton in his
+dressing-room.
+
+Hammond heard all with deepest interest, only interrupting at times to
+ask such questions as might throw light upon the story. The whole body
+of the circumstantial evidence against Roland not only became easily
+explicable, but the shrewd perception of the lawyer also saw the
+consummate skill with which the details had been worked into regular
+order, and what consistency had been imparted to them. The great
+difficulty of the case lay in the fact that, supposing Kennyfeck's death
+had been planned by others, with the intention of imputing the crime to
+Cashel, yet all the circumstances, or nearly all, which seemed to imply
+his guilt, were matters of perfect accident, for which they never could
+have provided, nor even ever foreseen,--such as his entrance by the
+window, his torn dress, the wound of his hand, and the blood upon his
+clothes.
+
+"I see but one clew to this mystery," said Hammond, thoughtfully; "but
+the more I reflect upon it, the more likely does it seem. Kennyfeck's
+fate was intended for you,--he fell by a mistake."
+
+Roland started with astonishment, but listened with deep attention as
+Hammond recapitulated everything which accorded with this assumption.
+
+"But why was one of my own pistols taken for the deed?"
+
+"Perhaps to suggest the notion of suicide."
+
+"How could my death have been turned to profit? Was I not better as the
+living dupe than as the dead enemy?"
+
+"Do you not see how your death legalized the deed with a forged
+signature? Who was to dispute its authenticity? Besides, how know we
+what ambitions Linton may not have cherished when holding in his hands
+the only title to the estate. We may go too fast with these suspicions,
+but let us not reject them as inconsistent Who is this same witness,
+Keane? What motives had he for the gratitude he evinced on the trial?"
+
+"None whatever; on the contrary, I never showed him any favor; it was
+even my intention to dismiss him from the gate-lodge!"
+
+"And he was aware of this?"
+
+"Perfectly. He had besought several people to intercede for him, Linton
+among the rest."
+
+"So that he was known to Linton? And what has become of him since the
+trial?"
+
+"That is the strangest of all; my wish was to have done something for
+the poor fellow. I could not readily forget the feeling he showed, at
+a moment, too, when none seemed to remember me; so that when I reached
+Tubbermore, I at once repaired to the lodge, but he was gone."
+
+"And in what direction?"
+
+"His wife could not tell. The poor creature was distracted at being
+deserted, and seemed to think, from what cause I know not, that he would
+not return. He had come back after the trial in company with another,
+who remained on the roadside while Keane hastily packed up some clothes,
+after which they departed together."
+
+"This must be thought of," said Hammond, gravely, while he wrote some
+lines in his note-book.
+
+"It is somewhat strange, indeed," said Cashel, "that the very men
+to whom my gratitude is most due are those who seem to avoid me.
+Thus--Jones, who gave me his aid upon the trial--"
+
+"Do not speak of him, sir," said Hammond, in a voice of agitation; "he
+is one who has sullied an order that has hitherto been almost without
+a stain. There is but too much reason to think that he was bribed
+to destroy you. His whole line of cross-examination on the trial was
+artfully devised to develop whatever might injure you; but the treachery
+turned upon the men who planned it. The Attorney General saw it, and the
+Court also; it was this saved you."
+
+Cashel sat powerless and speechless at this disclosure. It seemed to
+fill up in his mind the cup of iniquity, and he never moved nor uttered
+a word as he listened.
+
+"Jones you will never see again. The bar of some other land across the
+sea may receive him, but there is not one here would stoop to be his
+colleague. But now for others more important. I will this day obtain
+the judge's notes of the trial, and give the whole case the deepest
+consideration. Inquiry shall be set on foot as to Keane, with whom
+he has gone, and in what direction. Linton, too, must be watched; the
+report is that he lies dangerously ill at his country house, but that
+story may be invented to gain time."
+
+Cashel could scarcely avoid a smile at the rapidity with which the
+lawyer detailed his plan of operation, and threw out, as he went, the
+signs of distrust so characteristic of his craft As for himself, he was
+enjoined to remain in the very strictest privacy,--to see no one, nor
+even to leave the house, except after nightfall.
+
+"Rely upon it," said Hammond, "your every movement is watched; and our
+object will be to ascertain by whom. This will be our first clew; and
+when we obtain one, others will soon follow."
+
+It was no privation for Cashel to follow a course so much in accordance
+with his wishes. Solitude--even that which consigned him to the saddest
+reveries--was far more pleasurable than any intercourse; so that he
+never ventured beyond the walls of his house for weeks, nor exchanged a
+word, except with Hammond, who regularly visited him each day, to report
+the progress of his investigation.
+
+The mystery did not seem to clear away, even by the skilful contrivances
+of the lawyer. Of Keane not a trace could be discovered; nor could any
+clew be obtained as to his companion. All that Hammond knew was that
+although a doctor's carriage daily drove to Linton's house, Linton
+himself had long since left the country,--it was believed for the
+Continent.
+
+Disappointed by continual failures, and wearied by a life whose only
+excitement lay in anxieties and cares, Cashel grew each day sadder and
+more depressed. The desire for vengeance, too, that first had filled his
+mind, grew weaker as time rolled on. The wish to reinstate himself
+fully in the world's esteem diminished, as he lived apart from all its
+intercourse, and he sank into a low and gloomy despondency, which soon
+showed its ravages upon his face and figure.
+
+One object alone remained for him,--this was to seek out Corrigan and
+place in his hand the document of his ancestor's pardon; this done,
+Roland resolved to betake himself to Mexico, and again, among the haunts
+of his youth, to try and forget that life of civilization which had cost
+him so dearly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII. LA NINETTA
+
+     "How sweete and lovely dost thou make the shame
+     Which, like a canker in the fragrant rose,
+     Doth spot the beautie of thy budding name."
+
+
+Some years passed over, and the name of Roland Cashel ceased to be
+uttered, or his memory even evoked, in that capital where once his
+wealth, his eccentricities, and his notoriety had been the theme of
+every tongue. A large neglected-looking house, with closed shutters and
+grass-grown steps, would attract the attention of some passing stranger
+to ask whom it belonged to, but the name of Mr. Cashel was almost all
+that many knew of him, and a vague impression that he was travelling in
+some remote and faraway land.
+
+Tubbermore, too, fell back into its former condition of ruin and decay.
+No one seemed to know into whose hands the estate had fallen, but
+the talismanic word "Chancery" appeared to satisfy every inquiry, and
+account for a desolation that brooded over the property and all who
+dwelt on it. The very "Cottage" had yielded to the course of time, and
+little remained of it save a few damp discolored walls and blackened
+chimneys; while here and there a rare shrub, or a tree of foreign
+growth, rose among the rank weeds and thistles, to speak of the culture
+which once had been the pride of this lovely spot.
+
+Had there been a "curse upon the place" it could not have been more
+dreary and sad-looking!
+
+Of the gate-lodge, where Keane lived, a few straggling ruins alone
+remained, in a corner of which a miserable family was herded together,
+their wan looks and tattered clothing showing that they were dependent
+for existence on the charity of the very poor. These were Keane's wife
+and children, to whom he never again returned. There was a blight over
+everything. The tenantry themselves, no longer subject to the visits of
+the agent, the stimulus to all industry withdrawn, would scarcely labor
+for their own support, but passed their lives in brawls and quarrels,
+which more than once had led to a felon's sentence. The land lay
+untilled; the cattle, untended, strayed at will through the unfenced
+fields. The villages on the property were crammed by a host of runaway
+wretches whose crimes had driven them from their homes, till at length
+the district became the plague-spot of the country, where, even
+at noonday, few strangers were bold enough to enter, and the word
+"Tub-bermore" had a terrible significance in the neighborhood round
+about.
+
+Let us now turn for the last time to him whose fortune had so powerfully
+influenced his property, and whose dark destiny seemed to throw its
+shadow over all that once was his. For years Roland Cashel had been a
+wanderer. He travelled every country of the Old World and the New; his
+appearance and familiarity with the language enabling him to assume
+the nationality of a Spaniard, and thus screen him from that painful
+notoriety to which his story was certain to expose him. Journeying
+alone, and in the least expensive manner,--for he no longer considered
+himself entitled to any of the property he once enjoyed,--he made few
+acquaintances and contracted no friendships. One object alone gave a
+zest to existence,--to discover Mr. Cor-rigan, and place within his
+hands the title-deeds of Tubber-more. With this intention he had
+searched through more than half of Europe, visiting the least frequented
+towns, and pursuing inquiries in every possible direction; at one moment
+cheered by some glimmering prospect of success, at another dashed by
+disappointment and failure. If a thought of Linton did occasionally
+cross him, he struggled manfully to overcome the temptings of a passion
+which should thwart the dearest object of his life, and make vengeance
+predominate over truth and honesty. As time rolled on, the spirit of his
+hatred became gradually weaker; and if he did not forgive all the ills
+his treachery had worked, his memory of them was less frequent and less
+painful.
+
+His was a cheerless, for it was a friendless, existence. Avoiding his
+own countrymen from the repugnance he felt to sustain his disguise by
+falsehood, he wandered from land to land and city to city like some
+penitent in the accomplishment of a vow. The unbroken monotony of this
+life, the continued pressure of disappointment, at last began to
+tell upon him, and in his moody abstractions--his fits of absence and
+melancholy--might be seen the change which had come over him. He might
+have been a long time ignorant of an alteration which not only impressed
+his mind, but even his "outward man," when his attention was drawn to
+the fact by overhearing the observations of some young Englishmen upon
+his appearance, as he sat one evening in a _cafe_ at Naples. Conversing
+in all that careless freedom of our young countrymen, which never
+supposes that their language can be understood by others, they
+criticised his dress, his sombre look, and his manner; and, after an
+animated discussion as to whether he were a refugee political offender,
+a courier, or a spy, they wound up by a wager that he was at least forty
+years of age; one of the party dissenting on the ground that, although
+he looked it, it was rather from something on the fellow's mind than
+years.
+
+"How shall we find out?" cried the proposer of the bet. "I, for one,
+should n't like to ask him his age."
+
+"If I knew Spanish enough, I'd do it at once," said another.
+
+"It might cost you dearly, Harry, for all that; he looks marvellously
+like a fellow that wouldn't brook trifling."
+
+"He would n't call it trifling to lose me ten 'carlines,' and I 'm sure
+I should win my wager; so here goes at him in French." Rising at the
+same moment, the young man crossed the room and stood before the table
+where Cashel sat, with folded arms and bent-down head, listening in
+utter indifference to all that passed. "Monsieur," said the youth,
+bowing.
+
+Cashel looked up, and his dark, heavily browed eyes seemed to abash the
+other, who stood, blushing, and uncertain what to do.
+
+With faltering accents and downcast look he began to mutter excuses for
+his intrusion; when Cashel, in a mild and gentle voice, interrupted him,
+saying in English, "I am your countryman, young gentleman, and my age
+not six-and-twenty."
+
+The quiet courtesy of his manner as he spoke, as well as the surprise of
+his being English, seemed to increase the youth's shame for the liberty
+he had taken, and he was profuse in his apologies; but Cashel soon
+allayed this anxiety by adroitly turning to another part of the subject,
+and saying, "If I look much older than I am, it is that I have travelled
+and lived a good deal in southern climates, not to speak of other
+causes, which give premature age."
+
+A slight, a very slight touch of melancholy in the latter words gave
+them a deep interest to the youth, who, with a boyish frankness, far
+more fascinating than more finished courtesy, asked Roland if he would
+join their party. Had such a request been made half an hour before,
+or had it come in more formal fashion, Cashel would inevitably have
+declined it; but what between the generous candor of the youth's
+address, and a desire to show that he did not resent his intrusion,
+Cashel acceded good-naturedly, and took his seat amongst them.
+
+As Roland listened to the joyous freshness of their boyish talk,--the
+high-hearted hope, the sanguine trustfulness with which they regarded
+life,--he remembered what but a few years back he had himself been. He
+saw in them the selfsame elements which had led him on to every calamity
+that he suffered,--the passionate pursuit of pleasure, the inexhaustible
+craving for excitement that makes life the feverish paroxysm of a
+malady.
+
+They sat to a late hour together; and when they separated, the chance
+acquaintance had ripened into intimacy. Night after night they met in
+the same place; and while they were charmed with the gentle seriousness
+of one in whom they could recognize the most manly daring, he, on his
+side, was fascinated by the confiding warmth and the generous frankness
+of their youth.
+
+One evening, as they assembled as usual, Roland remarked a something
+like unusual excitement amongst them; and learned that from a letter
+they had received that morning, they were about to leave Naples the next
+day. There seemed some mystery in the reason, and a kind of reserve in
+even alluding to it, which made Cashel half suspect that they had been
+told who he was, and that a dislike to further intercourse had suggested
+the departure. It was the feeling that never left him by day or night,
+that dogged his waking and haunted his dreams,--that he was one to be
+shunned and avoided by his fellow-men. His pride, long dormant, arose
+under the supposed slight, and he was about to say a cold farewell, when
+the elder of the party, whose name was Sidney, said,--
+
+"How I wish you were going with us!"
+
+"Whither to?" said Cashel, hurriedly.
+
+"To Venice--say, is this possible?"
+
+"I am free to turn my steps in any direction,--too free, for I have
+neither course to sail nor harbor to reach."
+
+"Come with us, then, Roland," cried they all, "and our journey will be
+delightful."
+
+"But why do you start so hurriedly? What is there to draw you from this
+at the very brightest season of the year?"
+
+"There is rather that which draws us to Venice," said Sidney, coloring
+slightly? "but this is our secret, and you shall not hear it till we are
+on our way."
+
+Roland's curiosity was not exacting; he asked no more: nor was it till
+they had proceeded some days on their journey that Sidney confided to
+him the sudden cause of their journey, which he did in the few words.--
+
+"La Ninetta is at Venice,--she is at the 'Fenice.'"
+
+"But who is La Ninetta? You forgot that you are speaking to one who
+lives out of the world."
+
+"Not know La Ninetta!" exclaimed he; "never have seen her?"
+
+"Never even heard of her."
+
+To the pause which the shock of the first astonishment imposed there now
+succeeded a burst of enthusiastic description, in which the three youths
+vied with each other who should be most eloquent in praise. Her beauty,
+her gracefulness, the witching fascination of her movements, the
+enchanting captivation of her smile, were themes they never wearied of.
+Nor was it till he had suffered the enthusiasm to take its course that
+they would listen to his calm question,--
+
+"Is she an actress?"
+
+"She is the first _Ballarina_ of the world," cried one. "None ever did,
+nor ever will, dance like her."
+
+"They say she is a _Prima Donna_ too; but how could such excellence be
+united in one creature?"
+
+To their wild transports of praise Roland listened patiently, in the
+hope that he might glean something of her story; but they knew nothing,
+except that she was reputed to be a Sicilian, of a noble family, whose
+passion for the stage had excited the darkest enmity of her relatives;
+insomuch that it was said she was tracked from city to city by hired
+assassins. She remained two days at Naples; she appeared but once at
+Rome; in Genoa, though announced, she never came to the theatre. Such
+were the extravagant tales, heightened by all the color of romantic
+adventure,--how, at one time, she had escaped from a royal palace
+by leaping into the sea,--how, at another, she had ridden through a
+squadron of the Swiss Guard, sabre in hand, and got clean away from
+Bologna, where a cardinal's letter had arrested her. Incidents the
+strangest, the least probable, were recounted of her,--the high proffers
+of marriage she had rejected; the alliances, even with royal blood,
+she had refused. There was nothing, where her name figured, that seemed
+impossible; hers was a destiny above all the rules that guide humbler
+mortals.
+
+Excellence, of whatever kind it be, has always this attraction,--that it
+forms a standard by which men measure with each other their capacities
+of enjoyment and their powers of appreciation. Roland's curiosity was
+stimulated, therefore, to behold with his own eyes the wonder which had
+excited these youthful heroics. He had long since ceased to be sanguine
+on any subject; and he felt that he could sustain disappointment on
+graver matters than this.
+
+When they reached Venice, they found that city in a state of
+enthusiastic excitement fully equal to their own. All the excesses into
+which admiration for art can carry a people insensible to other emotions
+than those which minister to the senses, had been committed to welcome
+"La Regina de la Balla." Her _entree_ had been like a triumph; garlands
+of flowers, bouquets, rich tapestries floating from balconies, gondolas
+with bands of music; the civic authorities even, in robes of state, met
+her as she entered; strangers flocked in crowds from the other cities of
+the north, and even from parts beyond the Alps. The hotels were crammed
+with visitors all eager to see one of whom every tongue was telling. A
+guard of honor stood before the palace in which she resided,--as much
+a measure of necessity to repel the pressure of the anxious crowd as it
+was a mark of distinction.
+
+The epidemic character of enthusiasm is well known. It is a fervor to
+which none can remain insensible. Cashel was soon to experience this.
+How could he preserve a cold indifference to the emotions which swayed
+thousands around him? How maintain his calm amid that host, which
+surged and fretted like the sea in a storm? La Ninetta was the one word
+repeated on every side; even to have seen her once was a distinction,
+and they who had already felt her fascinations were listened to as
+oracles.
+
+She was to give but three representations at Venice, and ere Cashel's
+party had arrived all the tickets were already disposed of. By unceasing
+efforts, and considerable bribery, they contrived at last to obtain
+places for the first night, and early in the forenoon were admitted
+among a privileged number to take their seats. They who were thus, at a
+heavy cost, permitted to anticipate the general public, seemed--at least
+to Cashel's eyes--to fill the house; and so, in the dim indistinctness,
+they appeared. Wherever the eye turned, from the dark parterre below, to
+the highest boxes above, seemed filled with people. There was something
+almost solemn in that vast concourse, who sat subdued and silent in the
+misty half light of the theatre. The intense anxiety of expectation,
+the dreary gloom of the scene, contributed to spread a kind of awestruck
+influence around, and brought up to Roland's memory a very different
+place and occasion--when, himself the observed of all observers, he
+stood in the felons' dock. Lost in the gloomy revery these sad thoughts
+suggested, he took no note of time, nor marked the lagging hours which
+stole heavily past.
+
+Suddenly the full glare of light burst forth, and displayed the great
+theatre crowded in every part. That glittering spectacle, into which
+beauty, splendor of dress, jewels, and rich uniforms enter, broke
+upon the sight, while a kind of magnetic sense of expectancy seemed
+to pervade all, and make conversation a mere murmur. The
+opera--a well-known one of a favorite composer, aud admirably
+sustained--attracted little attention. The thrilling cadences, the
+brilliant passages, all fell upon senses that had no relish for their
+excellence; and even the conventional good-breeding of the spectators
+was not proof against the signs of impatience that every now and then
+were manifested.
+
+The third act at last began, and the scene represented a Spanish village
+of the New World, which, had it been even less correct and true to
+nature, had yet possessed no common attraction for Roland,--recalling by
+a hundred little traits a long unvisited but well-remembered land. The
+usual troops of villagers paraded about in all that mock grace which
+characterizes the peasant of the ballet. There were the same active
+mountaineers, the same venerable fathers, the comely matrons with little
+baskets of nothing carefully covered by snowy napkins, and the young
+maidens, who want only beauty to make them what they affect to be.
+Roland gazed at all this with the indifference a stupid prelude ever
+excites, and would rapidly have been wearied, when a sudden pause in the
+music ensued, and then a deathlike stillness reigned through the house.
+The orchestra again opened, and with a melody which thrilled through
+every fibre of Roland's heart. It was a favorite Mexican air; one
+to which, in happier times, he had often danced. What myriads of old
+memories came flocking to his mind as he listened! What fancies came
+thronging around him! Every bar of the measure beat responsively
+with some association of the past. He leaned his head downwards, and,
+covering his face with his hands, all thought of the present was lost,
+and in imagination he was back again on the greensward before the "Villa
+de las Noches;" the mocking-bird and the nightingale were filling
+the air with their warblings; the sounds of gay voices, the plash of
+fountains, the meteor-like flashes of the fireflies, were all before
+him. He knew not that a thousand voices were shouting around him
+in wildest enthusiasm,--that bouquets of rarest flowers strewed the
+stage,--that every form adulation can take was assumed towards one on
+whom every eye save his own was bent; and that before her rank, beauty,
+riches--all that the world makes its idols--were now bending in deepest
+homage. He knew nothing of all this, as he sat with bent-down head, lost
+in his own bright dreamings. At length he looked up, but, instead of his
+fancy being dissipated by reality, it now assumed form and substance.
+There was the very scenery of that far-off land; the music was the
+national air of Mexico; the dance was the haughty manolo; and, oh! was
+it that his brain was wandering,--had reason, shaken by many a rude
+shock, given way at last? The dancer--she on whose witching graces every
+glance was bent--was Maritana! There she stood, more beautiful than he
+had ever seen her before; her dark hair encircled with brilliants, her
+black eyes flashing in all the animation of triumph, and her fairly
+rounded limbs the perfection of symmetry.
+
+Oh, no! this was some mind-drawn picture; this was the shadowy image
+that failing intellect creates ere all is lost in chaos and confusion!
+Such was the conflict in his brain as, with staring eyeballs, he tracked
+her as she moved, and followed each graceful bend, each proud commanding
+attitude. Nor was it till the loud thunder-roll of applause had drawn
+her to the front of the stage, to acknowledge the favor by a deep
+reverence, that he became assured beyond all question. Then, when he
+saw the long dark lashes fall upon the rounded cheek, when he beheld the
+crossed arm upon her bosom, and marked the taper fingers he had so often
+held within his own, in a transport of feeling where pride and joy and
+shame and sorrow had each their share. He cried aloud,--
+
+"Oh, Maritana! Maritana! Shame! shame!" Scarcely had the wild cry
+re-echoed through the house than, with a scream, whose terror pierced
+every heart, the girl started from her studied attitude, and rushed
+forward towards the footlights, her frighted looks and pale cheeks
+seeming ghastly with emotion.
+
+"Where?--where?" cried she. "Speak again--I know the voice!" But already
+a scene of uproar and confusion had arisen in the parterre around
+Cashel, whose interruption of the piece called down universal
+reprobation; and cries of "Out with him!" "Away with him!" rose on every
+side.
+
+Struggling madly and fiercely against his assailants, Cashel for a
+brief space seemed likely to find his way to the stage; but overcome
+by numbers, he was subdued at last, and consigned to the hands of the
+guard. His last look, still turned to the "scene," showed him Maritana,
+as she was carried away senseless and fainting.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV. THE FATE OF KEANE--HIS DEPOSITION.
+
+     The laughing Seine, whose midnight flood
+     Shrouds many a deed of crime and blood!
+
+     Warren.
+
+They alone who have passed much of their lives on the Continent of
+Europe can estimate the amount of excitement caused by such an incident
+as that we have just related. So much of life is centred in the theatre,
+so many interests revolve around it, engrossing, as it does, so much of
+the passions and the prejudices of those whose existence seldom rises
+above the pursuit of pleasure, that anything which might interrupt "the
+scene," which should disturb its progress, or mar its effect, is sure
+to evoke the loudest evidence of public indignation. Where a high
+cultivation of the arts is employed to gloss over the corruptions of a
+vicious system, it may be easily conceived how men would be judged more
+leniently for crimes than for those minor offences which rebel against
+the usages of good society.
+
+The "Ballet interrupted in its most interesting moment," "La Ninetta
+carried away fainting at the very commencement of her most attractive
+movement," insulted--so it was rumored--"by some offensive epithet of a
+Spaniard," were enough to carry indignation to the highest pitch, and
+it needed the protection of the guard to screen him from the popular
+vengeance.
+
+After a night of feverish anxiety, where hopes and fears warred and
+conflicted with each other, Cashel was early on the following morning
+conducted before the chief commissary of the police. His passport
+represented him as a Spaniard, and he adhered to the pretended
+nationality to avoid the dreaded notoriety of his name.
+
+While he answered the usual questions as to age, religion, and
+profession, an officer deposited a sealed paper in the hands of the
+prefetto; who, opening it, appeared to study the contents with much
+care.
+
+"You have called yourself Il Senor Roland da Castel, sir?" said the
+official, staring fixedly upon him. "Have you always gone by this name?"
+
+"In Mexico and the New World I was ever known as such. In England men
+called me Roland Cashel."
+
+"Which is your more fitting appellation--is it not?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"You are then an English, and not a Spanish subject?"
+
+He nodded assent.
+
+"You were, however, in a South American service?" said the prefetto,
+reading from his paper.
+
+Roland bowed again.
+
+"In which service, or pretended service, you commanded a slaver?"
+
+"This is untrue," said Cashel, calmly.
+
+"I have it asserted here, however, by those of whose statements you have
+already acknowledged the accuracy."
+
+"It is not the less a falsehood."
+
+"Perhaps you will allow more correctness to the next allegation? It is
+said that, under the pretended right to a large inheritance, you visited
+England, and succeeded in preferring a claim to a vast estate?"
+
+Roland bent his head in assent.
+
+"And that to this property you possessed neither right nor title?"
+
+Roland started: the charge involved a secret he believed unknown, save
+to himself, Hammond, and Linton, and he could not master his surprise
+enough to reply.
+
+"But a weightier allegation is yet behind, sir," said the prefetto,
+sternly. "Are you the same Roland Cashel whose trial for murder occupied
+the assizes of Ennis in the spring of the year 18--?"
+
+"I am," said Cashel, faintly.
+
+"Your escape of conviction depended on the absence of a material witness
+for the prosecution, I believe?"
+
+"I was acquitted because I was not guilty, sir."
+
+"On that point we are not agreed," said the prefetto, sarcastically;
+"but you have admitted enough to warrant me in the course I shall pursue
+respecting you--the fact of a false name and passport, the identity with
+a well-known character admitted--I have now to detain you in custody
+until such time as the consul of your country may take steps for your
+conveyance to England, where already new evidence of your criminality
+awaits you. Yes, prisoner, the mystery which involved your guilt is at
+length about to be dissipated, and the day of expiation draws nigh."
+
+Roland did not speak. Shame at the degraded position he occupied, even in
+the eyes of those with whom he had associated, overwhelmed him, and he
+suffered himself to be led away without a word.
+
+Alone in the darkness and silence of a prison, he sat indifferent to
+what might befall him, wearied of himself and all the world.
+
+Days, even weeks passed on, and none inquired after him; he seemed
+forgotten of all, when the consul, who had been absent, having returned,
+it was discovered that the allegations respecting the murder were not
+sufficient to warrant his being transmitted to England, and that the
+only charge against him lay in the assumed nationality,--an offence it
+was deemed sufficiently expiated by his imprisonment. He was free then
+once more,--free to wander forth into the world where his notoriety
+had been already proclaimed, and where, if not his guilt, his shame was
+published.
+
+Of Maritana all that he could learn was that she had left Venice without
+again appearing in public; but in what direction none knew accurately.
+Cashel justly surmised that she had not gone without seeing him once
+more had it not been from the compulsion of others; and if he grieved
+to think they were never to meet more, he felt a secret consolation on
+reflecting how much of mutual shame and sorrow was spared them. Shame
+was indeed the predominant emotion of his mind; shame for his now
+sullied name--his character tarnished by the allegations of crime; and
+shame for her, degraded to a _ballarina_.
+
+Had fortune another reverse in store for him? Was there one cherished
+hope still remaining? Had life one solitary spot to which he could now
+direct his weary steps, and be at rest? The publicity which late events
+had given to his name rendered him more timid and retiring than ever.
+A morbid sense of modesty--a shrinking dread of the slights to which he
+would be exposed in the world--made him shun all intercourse, and live a
+life of utter seclusion.
+
+Like all men who desire solitude, he soon discovered that it is alone
+attainable in great cities. Where the great human tide runs full and
+strong, the scattered wrecks are scarcely noticeable.
+
+To Paris, therefore, he repaired; not to that brilliant Paris where
+sensuality and vice costume themselves in all the brilliant hues derived
+from the highest intellectual culture, but to the dark and gloomy Paris
+which lies between the arms of the Seine,--"the Ile St. Louis." There,
+amid the vestiges of an extinct feudalism, and the trials of a
+present wretchedness, he passed his life in strict solitude. In a mean
+apartment, whose only solace was the view of the river, with a few
+books picked up on a neighboring stall, and the moving crowd beneath his
+window to attract his wandering thoughts, he lived his lonely life. The
+past alone occupied his mind; for the future he had neither care
+nor interest, but of his bygone life he could dream for hours. These
+memories he used to indulge each evening in a particular spot; it was an
+old and ruinous stair which descended to the river, from a little wooden
+platform, near where he lived. It had been long disused, and suffered to
+fall into rot and decay. Here he sat, each night, watching the twinkling
+lights that glittered along the river, and listening to the distant hum
+of that great hive of pleasure that lay beyond it.
+
+That the neighborhood about was one of evil repute and danger, mattered
+little to one who set small store by his life, and whose stalwart figure
+and signs of personal prowess were not unknown in the quarter. The
+unbroken solitude of the spot was its attraction to him, and truly none
+ever ventured near it after nightfall.
+
+There he was sitting one night, as usual, musing, as was his wont. It
+was a period when men's minds were stirred by the expectation of some
+great but unknown event; a long political stagnation--the dead sea of
+hopeless apathy--was beginning to be ruffled by short and fitful blasts
+that told of a coming hurricane. Vague rumors of a change--scattered
+sentences of some convulsion, whence proceeding, or whither tending,
+none could guess--were abroad. The long-sleeping terrors of a past time
+of blood were once more remembered, and men talked of the guillotine
+and the scaffold, as household themes. It was the summer of 1830--that
+memorable year, whose deeds were to form but the prologue of the great
+drama we are to-day the spectators at. Roland heard these things as he
+who wanders along the shore at night may hear the brooding signs of a
+gathering storm, but has no "venture on the sea." He thought of them
+with a certain interest, too--but it was with that interest into which
+no personal feeling enters; for how could great convulsions of states
+affect _him_ How could the turn of fortune raise or depress him?
+
+He sat, now pondering over his own destiny, now wondering whither the
+course of events to come was tending, when he heard the plash of
+oars, and the rushing sound of a boat moving through the water in the
+direction of the stair. The oars, which at some moments were plied
+vigorously, ceased to move at others; and, as well as Cashel could
+mark, the course of the boat seemed once or twice to be changed. Roland
+descended to the lowest step of the ladder, the better to see what this
+might portend. That terrible river, on whose smiling eddies the noonday
+sun dances so joyously, covers beneath the shadow of night crimes the
+most awful and appalling.
+
+As Cashel listened, he perceived that the rowing had ceased, and two
+voices, whose accents sounded like altercation, could be heard.
+
+The boat, drifting meanwhile downward on the fast current, was now
+nearly opposite to where he sat, but only perceptible as a dark speck
+upon the water. The night was calm, without a breath of wind, and on the
+vapor-charged atmosphere sounds floated dull and heavily; still Cashel
+could hear the harsh tones of men in angry dispute, and to his amazement
+they spoke in English.
+
+"It's the old story," cried one, whose louder voice and coarser accents
+bespoke him the inferior in condition--"the old story that I am sick of
+listening to--when you have luck! when you have luck!"
+
+"I used not to have a complaint against Fortune," said the other.
+"Before we met, she had treated me well for many a year."
+
+"And 'twas me that changed it, I suppose," said the first, in the same
+insolent tone as before; "do you mean that?"
+
+"The world has gone ill with me since that day."
+
+"And whose fault is that?"
+
+"Partly yours," said the other, in a slow, deliberate voice, every
+syllable of which thrilled through Cashers heart as he listened. "Had
+you secured the right man, it was beyond the power of Fortune to hurt
+either of us. That fatal, fatal mistake!"
+
+"How could I help it?" cried the other, energetically; "the night was
+as dark as this--it was between two high banks--there was nothing to be
+seen but a figure of a man coming slowly along--you yourself told me
+who it would be--I did n't wait for more; and troth!"--here he gave a
+fiendish laugh--"troth! you'll allow the work was well done."
+
+"It was a most determined murder," said the other, thoughtfully.
+
+"Murder! murder!" screamed the first, in a voice of fierce passion; "and
+is it you that calls it a murder?"
+
+"No matter how it is called. Let us speak of something else."
+
+"Very well. Let us talk about the price of it. It is n't paid yet!"
+
+"Is it nothing that I have taken you from abject, starving misery--from
+a life of cold, want, and wretchedness, to live at ease in the first
+city of the universe? Is it no part of the price that you spend your
+days in pleasure and your nights in debauch?--that, with the appetite
+of the peasant, you partake of the excesses of the gentleman? Is it no
+instalment of the debt, I say, that you, who might now be ground down to
+the very earth as a slave at home, dare to lift your head and speak thus
+to _me?_"
+
+"And is it _you_ dares to tell me this?" cried the other, in savage
+energy; "is it you, that made me a murderer, and then think that I can
+forget it because I'm a drunkard? But I don't forget it! I 'll never
+forget it! I see him still, as he lay gasping before me, and trying to
+beg for mercy when he could n't ask for it. I see him every day when I
+'m in a lonely place; and, oh! he's never away from me at night, with
+his bloody hands on his head trying to save it, and screaming out for
+God to help him. And what did I get for it? answer me that," yelled
+he, in accents shrill with passion. "Is it my wife begging from door to
+door--is it my children naked and hungry--is it my little place, a ruin
+and a curse over it--or is it myself trying to forget it in drink, not
+knowing the day nor the hour that it will rise up against me, and that
+I 'll be standing in the dock where I saw _him_ that you tried to murder
+too?"
+
+"There is no use in this passion," said the other, calmly; "let us be
+friends, Tom; it is our interest to be so."
+
+"Them's the very words you towld Mr. Phillis, and the next day he was
+taken up for robbery, and you had him transported."
+
+"Phillis was a fool, and paid the penalty of a fool; but you are a
+shrewd fellow, who can see to his own advantage. Now listen to me
+calmly: were it not for bad luck, we might all of us have had more money
+now than we could count or squander. Had Maritana continued upon the
+stage, her gains would by this time have been enormous. The bank, too,
+would have prospered; her beauty would have drawn around us all that
+was wealthy and dissipated in the world of fashion; we could have played
+what stake we pleased. Princes, ambassadors, ministers of state would
+have been our game. Curses be on his head who spoiled this glorious
+plan! From that unhappy night at Venice she never would appear again,
+nor could she. The shock has been like a blight upon her. You have seen
+her yourself, and know what it has made her."
+
+The artifice by which the speaker contrived to change the topic, and
+withdraw the other from a painful subject to one of seeming confidence,
+was completely successful; and in the altered tone of voice might be
+read the change which had come over him.
+
+"You wish to go to America, Tom?" continued he, after a pause.
+
+"Ay; I never feel safe here. I 'm too near home."
+
+"Well, if everything prospers with us, you shall have the money by
+Tuesday--Wednesday at farthest. Rica has at last found a clew to old
+Corrigan, and, although he seems in great poverty, his name upon a bill
+will still raise some hundreds."
+
+"I don't care who pays it, but I must get it," said the other, whose
+savage mood seemed to have returned. "I 'll not stay here. 'T is little
+profit or pleasure I have standin' every night to see the crowds that
+are passing in, to be cheated out of their money,--to hear the clink of
+the goold I 'm never to handle,--and to watch all the fine livin' and
+coortin' that I 've no share in."
+
+"Be satisfied. You shall have the money; I pledge my word upon it."
+
+"I don't care for your word. I have a better security than ever it was."
+
+"And what may that be?" said the other, cautiously.
+
+"Your neck in a halter, Mr. Linton," said he, laughing ironically. "Ay,
+ye don't understand me,--poor innocent that ye are! but I know what I 'm
+saying, and I have good advice about it besides."
+
+"How do you mean good advice, Tom?" said Linton, with seeming kindliness
+of manner. "Whom have you consulted?"
+
+"One that knows the law well," said Tom, with all the evasive shrewdness
+of his class.
+
+"And he tells you--"
+
+"He tells me that the devil a bit betther off you'd be than
+myself,--that you are what they call an 'accessory'--that's the word; I
+mind it well."
+
+"And what does that mean?"
+
+"A chap that plans the work, but has n't the courage to put hand to it."
+
+"That's an accessory, is it?" said the other, slowly.
+
+"Just so." He paused for a few seconds, then added,
+
+"Besides, if I was to turn 'prover, he says that _I'd_ only be
+transported, and 't is _you_ would be hanged"--the last word was
+uttered in a harsh and grating tone, and followed by a laugh of insolent
+mockery--"so that you see 'tis better be honest with me, and pay me my
+hire."
+
+"You shall have it, by G----!" said Linton, with a deep vehemence; and,
+drawing a pistol from his bosom, he fired. The other fell, with a loud
+cry, to the bottom of the boat. A brief pause ensued, and then Linton
+raised the body in his arms to throw it over. A faint struggle showed
+that life was not extinct, but all resistance was impossible. The
+lightness of the boat, however, made the effort difficult; and it
+was only by immense exertion that he could even lift the heavy weight
+half-way; and at last, when, by a great effort, he succeeded in laying
+the body over the gunwale, the boat lost its balance and upset. With
+a bold spring, Linton dashed into the current, and made for shore; but
+almost as he did so, another and a stronger swimmer, who had thrown off
+his clothes for the enterprise, had reached the spot, and, grasping the
+inert mass as it was about to sink, swam with the bleeding body to the
+bank.
+
+When Casbel gained the stairs, he threw the wounded man upon his
+shoulder, for signs of life were still remaining, and hastened to a
+cabaret near. A surgeon was soon procured, and the bullet was discovered
+to have penetrated the chest, cutting in its passage some large
+blood-vessel, from which the blood flowed copiously. That the result
+must be fatal it was evident; but as the bleeding showed signs of
+abatement, it seemed possible life might be protracted some hours. No
+time was therefore to be lost in obtaining the dying man's declaration,
+and a Juge d'Instruction, accompanied by a notary, was immediately on
+the spot. As the surgeon had surmised, a coagulum had formed in the
+wounded vessel, and, the bleeding being thus temporarily arrested, the
+man rallied into something like strength, and with a mind perfectly
+conscious and collected. To avoid the shock which the sight of Cashel
+might occasion, Roland did not appear at the bedside.
+
+Nor need we linger either at such a scene, nor witness that fearful
+straggle between the hope of mercy and the dread consciousness of its
+all but impossibility. The dying confession has nothing new for the
+reader; the secret history of the crime is already before him, and it
+only remains to speak of those events which followed Keane's flight from
+Ireland. As Linton's servant he continued for years to travel about the
+Continent, constantly sustained by the hope that the price of his crime
+would one day be forthcoming, and as invariably put off by the excuse
+that play, on which he entirely depended for means, had been unlucky,
+but that better times were certainly in store for him. The struggles and
+difficulties of an existence thus maintained; the terrible consciousness
+of an unexpiated crime; the constant presence of one who knew the secret
+of the other, and might at any moment of anger, or in some access of
+dissipation, reveal it, made up a life of torture to which death would
+be a boon; added to this, that they frequently found themselves in the
+same city with Cashel, whom Linton never dared to confront. At Messina
+they fell in with Rica, as the proprietor of a gaming-table which Linton
+continually frequented. His consummate skill at play, his knowledge of
+life, and particularly the life of gamblers, his powers of agreeability,
+soon attracted Rica's notice, and an intimacy sprang up which became a
+close friendship--if such a league can be called by such a name.
+
+By the power of an ascendancy acquired most artfully, and by persuasive
+flatteries of the most insidious kind, he induced Rica to bring Maritana
+on the stage; where her immense success had replenished their coffers
+far more rapidly and abundantly than play. At Naples, however, an
+incident similar to what happened at Venice was nigh having occurred.
+She was recognized by a young Spaniard who had known her in Mexico; and
+as the whole assumed history of her noble birth and Sicilian origin was
+thus exposed to contradiction, they took measures to get rid of this
+unwelcome witness. They managed to hide among his effects some dies and
+moulds for coining,--an offence then, as ever, rife at Naples. A
+police investigation, in which bribery had its share, was followed by a
+mock-trial, and the young fellow was sentenced to the galleys for seven
+years, with hard labor.
+
+Their career from this moment was one of unchanging success. Maritana's
+beauty attracted to the play-table all that every city contained of
+fashion, wealth, and dissipation. In her ignorance of the world she was
+made to believe that her position was one the most exalted and enviable.
+The homage she received, the devotion exhibited on every side, the
+splendor of her life, her dress, her jewels, her liveries, dazzled
+and delighted her. The very exercise of her abilities was a source of
+enthusiastic pleasure to one who loved admiration. Nor had she perhaps
+awoke from this delusion, had not the heart-uttered cry of Roland burst
+the spell that bound her, and evoked the maiden's shame in her young
+heart. Then--with a revulsion that almost shook reason itself--she
+turned with abhorrence from a career associated with whatever could
+humiliate and disgrace. Entreaties, prayers, menaces--all were
+unavailing to induce her to appear again; and soon, indeed, her altered
+looks and failing health rendered it impossible. A vacant unmeaning
+smile, or a cold impassive stare, usurped the place of an expression
+that used to shine in joyous brilliancy. Her step, once bounding and
+elastic, became slow and uncertain. She seldom spoke; when she did, her
+accents were heavy, and her thoughts seemed languid, as though her mind
+was weary. None could have recognized in that wan and worn face, that
+frail and delicate figure, the proud and beautiful Maritana.
+
+She lived now in total seclusion. None ever saw her, save Rica, who used
+to come and sit beside her each day, watching, with Heaven alone knows
+what mixture of emotion! that wasting form and decaying cheek. What
+visions of ambition Linton might yet connect with her none knew or
+could guess; but he followed the changing fortunes of her health with an
+interest too deep and earnest to be mistaken for mere compassion. Such,
+then, was her sad condition when they repaired to Paris, and, in one of
+the most spacious hotels of the Rue Richelieu, established their "Bank
+of Rouge et Noir." This costly establishment vied in luxury and splendor
+with the most extravagant of those existing in the time of the Empire.
+All that fastidious refinement and taste could assemble, in objects
+of art and _virtu_, graced the _salons_. The cookery, the wines, the
+service of the different menials, rivalled the proudest households of
+the nobility.
+
+A difficult etiquette restricted the admission to persons of
+acknowledged rank and station, and even these were banded together by
+the secret tie of a political purpose, for it was now the eve of
+that great convulsion which was to open once more in Europe the dread
+conflict between the masses and the few.
+
+While Linton engaged deep in play, and still deeper in politics, "making
+his book," as he called it, "to win with whatever horse he pleased,"
+one dreadful heartsore never left him: this was Keane, whose presence
+continually reminded him of the past, and brought up besides many a
+dread for the future.
+
+It would have been easy at any moment for Linton to have disembarrassed
+himself of the man by a sum of money; but then came the reflection,
+"What is to happen when, with exhausted means and dissolute habits, this
+fellow shall find himself in some foreign country? Is he not likely, in
+a moment of reckless despair, to reveal the whole story of our guilt?
+Can I even trust him in hours of convivial abandonment and debauch?
+Vengeance may, at any instant, overrule in such a nature the love of
+life,--remorse may seize upon him. He is a Romanist, and may confess
+the murder, and be moved by his priest to bring home the guilt to
+the Protestant." Such were the motives which Linton never ceased
+to speculate on and think over, always reverting to the one same
+conviction, that he must keep the man close to his person, until the
+hour might come when he could rid himself of him forever.
+
+The insolent demeanor of the fellow; his ruffian assurance, the evidence
+of a power that he might wield at will--became at last intolerable.
+Linton saw this "shadow on his path" wherever he wandered. The evil
+was insupportable from the very fact that it occupied his thoughts when
+great and momentous events required them. It was like the paroxysm
+of some painful disease, that came at moments when health and calm of
+spirit were most wanted. To feel this, to recognize it thoroughly, and
+to resolve to overcome it, were, with Linton, the work of a moment. "His
+hour is come," said he, at length; "the company at La Morgue to-morrow
+shall be graced by a guest of my inviting."
+
+Although to a mind prolific in schemes of villany the manner of the
+crime could offer no difficulty, strange enough, his nature revolted
+against being himself the agent of the guilt It was not fear, for he was
+a man of nerve and courage, and was, besides, certain to be better armed
+than his adversary. It was not pity, nor any feeling that bordered on
+pity, deterred him; it was some instinctive shrinking from an act of
+ruffianism; it was the blood of a man of birth that curdled at the
+thought of that which his mind associated with criminals of the lowest
+class,--the conventional feeling of Honor surpassing all the dictates of
+common Humanity.
+
+Nothing short of the pressing emergency of the hour could have overcome
+these scruples, but Keane's insolence was now in itself enough to
+compromise him, and Linton saw that but one remedy remained, and that
+it could not be deferred. Constant habits of intercourse with men of a
+dangerous class in the Faubourgs and the Cite gave the excuse for the
+boating excursion at night. The skiff was hired by Keane himself, who
+took up Linton at a point remote from where he started, and thus no clew
+could be traced to the person who accompanied him. The remainder is in
+the reader's memory, and now we pursue our story.
+
+The surgeon who examined Keane's wound not only pronounced it inevitably
+fatal, but that the result must rapidly ensue. No time was, therefore,
+to be lost in obtaining the fullest revelations of the dying man, and
+also in taking the promptest measures to secure the guilty party.
+
+The authorities of the British Embassy lent a willing aid to Cashel in
+this matter, and an express was at once despatched to London for the
+assistance of a police force, with the necessary warrant for Linton's
+arrest Meanwhile Keane was watched with the narrowest vigilance; and so
+secretly was everything done, that his very existence was unknown beyond
+the precincts of the room he inhabited.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV. THE "BANK OF ROUGE ET NOIR"
+
+     Vice has its own ambitions.
+
+     Morton.
+
+
+It was already nigh daybreak. The "bank" had long since been closed, and
+none remained of Rica's guests save the most inveterate gamblers,
+who were now assembled in a small room in a secret part of the
+establishment, presided over by the host himself.
+
+The persons here met were no bad representatives of the "play world," of
+which they formed an important part. They were men, many of them of
+the highest rank, who had no other object or pursuit in life than play!
+Mingling to a certain extent in public life, they performed before
+the world their various parts as soldiers, statesmen, courtiers, or
+ambassadors; their thoughts meanwhile travelled but one solitary track.
+The only field in which their ambition ranged was the green cloth of the
+rouge et noir table. As soldiers they would have lost a battle with
+more fortitude than as gamblers they would lose a bet. As statesmen they
+would have risked the fate of a kingdom to secure a good "martingale" at
+play. Men of highest breeding, in society, abounding in all the graces
+that adorn intercourse; here they were taciturn, reserved, almost
+morose, never suffering their attention to wander for an instant from
+that engrossing theme where gain and loss contended.
+
+Into this society, noiseless and still as stifled feelings and repressed
+emotions could make it, Linton entered; a full dress replacing the
+clothes he so lately wore, not a trace of unusual agitation on his
+features, he seemed in every respect the easy man of fashion for which
+the world took him.
+
+A slight nod, a familiar motion of the hand, were all the greetings
+which passed between him and such of his acquaintances as deigned to
+raise their heads from the game. Linton perceived at once that the play
+was high, nor did he need to cast a look at the mountain of gold, the
+coinage of every European nation, to know that the "bank" was a winner.
+The chief player was a young noble of the king's household, the Duke de
+Marsac, a man of originally immense fortune, the greater part of which
+he had already squandered at play. His full dress of the Court, for he
+had dined the day before at the royal table, contrasted strangely with
+the haggard expression of his features, while his powdered hair hung
+in stray and dishevelled masses over his temples,--even his deep lace
+ruffles, which in his agitation he had torn to very rags,--all bespoke
+the abandonment of the loser. Linton, who always passed for a mere
+frequenter of the house, unconnected with its interests in any way, saw
+at a glance that a perfectly quiet demeanor was imperatively necessary;
+that not a word should be uttered, not a syllable let fall, which should
+break the spell of that enchantment that was luring on the gambler to
+his ruin.
+
+No man was more master of the hundred little artifices by which the
+spectator--"the gallery" is the play phrase--can arouse the hopes and
+stimulate the expectations of the losing player. He knew to perfection
+when to back the unlucky gambler, and how to throw out those
+half-muttered words of encouragement so dear and precious to the loser's
+heart. But if he knew all this well, he also knew that there are times
+when these interferences become impertinent, and when the intense
+excitement of the game will not admit of the distraction of sympathy.
+Linton, therefore, was silent; he took his seat behind the chair of one
+of his intimates, and watched the table attentively.
+
+At the close of a game wherein fortune vacillated for a long time, the
+Duke lost above a hundred thousand francs,--a kind of pause, like a
+truce, seemed to intervene, and Rica sat with the cards before him, not
+making preparations for a new deal.
+
+"Fortune is too decidedly your enemy this evening, my Lord Duke; I am
+really ashamed to see you lose thus continuously."
+
+"There is a certain Chateau de Marlier, which belongs to me, near St.
+Germain," said the Duke. "It has been valued, with its grounds, at
+upwards of seven hundred thousand francs; are you disposed to advance so
+much upon it?"
+
+"As loan or purchase?" asked Rica.
+
+"Whichever you prefer. If the choice were mine, I should say as a loan."
+
+"_Parbleu!_ it is a beautiful spot," said one of the players. "It was
+formerly a hunting-seat of Louis XIV."
+
+"You are quite correct, sir," said the Duke. "It was a present from that
+monarch to my grandfather, and possesses, amongst its other advantages,
+the privilege of giving the owner a ducal coronet. If any man be weak
+enough in these days to care for the distinction, he can be Duke de
+Marlier on easy terms."
+
+"Take him," whispered Linton in Rica's ear. "I accept the venture as my
+own."
+
+"Were I to accept this offer, my Lord Duke," said Rica, "am I to
+understand that no mortgages nor charges of any kind are in existence
+against this property?"
+
+"It is perfectly unencumbered," said the Duke, calmly. "There are some
+half-dozen pictures--a Velasquez or two amongst them--which I should
+reserve as my own; but everything else would belong to the purchaser."
+
+"The cost of transferring property in France is considerable, I believe,
+and there is some difficulty respecting the right of foreigners to
+inherit," said Rica, again.
+
+"Take him, I say; the risk is mine," whispered Linton, whose impatience
+at the other's caution became each moment stronger.
+
+"Do you accept, Monsieur de Rica?" said the Duke, pushing back his chair
+from the table, as though about to rise, "or is there to be an armistice
+for the present?"
+
+"It would be ungenerous, my Lord Duke, to refuse you anything in my
+power to grant," said Rica, obsequiously. "As a high-spirited but
+unfortunate player--"
+
+"Let not this weigh with you, sir," said the Duke, proudly; "the chances
+are that I leave my estate behind me on this table. That is the only
+consideration for you to entertain."
+
+"Take him at once; it will be too late soon," whispered Linton again.
+
+"I agree, my Lord," said Rica, with a slight sigh, as if yielding in
+opposition to his inclination. "When is the money to be forthcoming?"
+
+"Now, sir. Here, upon this spot; here, where, before I rise, I am
+determined to have my revenge."
+
+"The bank always closes at daybreak," said Rica, gravely.
+
+"Upon this occasion it will not," said the Duke, with an air of command.
+
+"Be it so, my Lord Duke; you shall have everything as you wish it. I
+only call these gentlemen to witness that this proceeding is contrary to
+my desire, and must form no precedent for the future."
+
+"Few will be found to ask for such concession," said the Duke, tartly.
+"Let us have no more trifling, but begin."
+
+"I back the Duke," said Linton, opening his pocket-book, and taking out
+a roll of bank-notes. "Whatever I have touched to-night has gone luckily
+with me, and I am sure to bring him good fortune."
+
+"If I might ask a favor, Monsieur," said the Duke, "it would be to leave
+me to deal single-handed with my destiny."
+
+"As you please, my Lord," said Linton, gayly. "If you will not accept me
+as ally, you must have me as adversary. Charley, make room for me beside
+you," continued he, addressing a man whose haggard cheek and deep sunken
+eye could scarcely recall the features of Lord Charles Frobisher.
+
+"He's in for it," muttered Frobisher, as Linton seated himself at his
+side.
+
+"We shall see," said Linton, calmly, arranging his notebook before him.
+Meanwhile, Rica was busily engaged in counting out to the Duke the heavy
+sum of the purchase. This occupied a considerable time, during which
+Linton amused the others with a running fire of that gossipry which goes
+the round of Parisian society, and takes in the world of politics,
+of literature, of art, and of morals. The eventful period was full
+of rumors, and none knew better than Linton how to exalt some into
+certainty, and degrade others into mere absurdity. "If the bank wins,"
+said he, laughingly, at the close of some observation on the condition
+of parties, "our friend Rica will be the last Duke in Europe."
+
+"Bah!" said an officer of the Royal Guard, "grape and canister are just
+as effectual as ever they were; there is nothing to be apprehended from
+the mob. Two battalions of infantry and a squadron of hussars will carry
+the 'ordinances,' if the ministry but give the order."
+
+"I wish they would begin the game," said Frobisher, querulously, for he
+took no interest in any topic but that of play.
+
+"Has any one given orders that the doors shall be close-barred and
+locked?" said another. "The police will be here presently."
+
+"What should bring the police here, sir?" said Linton, turning suddenly
+towards the speaker with a look of almost insolent defiance.
+
+"They are making perquisitions everywhere the last few days," said the
+youth, abashed by the tone and manner of the question.
+
+"Ah! so they are--very true. I beg your pardon," cried Linton, affecting
+a smile. "We are so intent upon our game here, that one actually forgets
+what is occurring in the greater game that is playing without."
+
+"If there 's to be no more play I 'm off to bed," yawned Frobisher, as
+he stretched himself along the chairs. A group had meanwhile gathered
+round a table where refreshments and wine were laid out, and were
+invigorating themselves for the coming campaign.
+
+"I remember the last _seance_ with closed doors I assisted at," said
+a handsome middle-aged man, with a gray moustache, and short-cut gray
+hair, "was in the stable at Fontainebleau. We played for seventeen
+hours, and when we separated we discovered that the Empire was at an
+end, and the Emperor departed!"
+
+"We might do something of the same kind now, Blancharde," said another;
+"it would be no difficult matter, I fancy, to play an old dynasty out
+and a new one in at this moment."
+
+"Hush, Rozlan! Marsac is not one 'of us,'" whispered the former,
+cautiously.
+
+"He 's going the shortest way to become so, notwithstanding. Nothing
+enlarges the sphere of political vision like being ruined! One always
+becomes liberal, in the political sense, when it is impossible to be so
+in any other!"
+
+The chatting now turned on the events that were then impending, a great
+diversity of opinion existing as to whether the King would insist upon
+carrying the "ordinances," and a still wider divergence as to what
+result would follow. During this discussion, Frobisher's impatience went
+beyond all control, and at last he rose, declaring that he would remain
+no longer.
+
+"You forget that the doors are locked for twenty-four hours, sir," said
+another, "and neither can any one leave or enter the room before that
+time."
+
+"We are more sacred than a privy council or a chapter of the knights of
+St. Louis," said Rozlan.
+
+"Now then to see who is the next Duc de Marlier!" whispered Linton in
+Rica's ear. "Let us begin."
+
+"One word with you, Linton," whispered Rica; "don't bet high, it
+distracts my attention,--make a mere game of amusement, for this will be
+a hard struggle, and it must be the last."
+
+"So I perceive," rejoined Linton; "events are coming fast; we must be
+off ere the tide overtake us."
+
+"The game, the game!" cried Frobisher, striking the table with his rake.
+
+"And Maritana?" whispered Linton, holding Rica by the arm.
+
+The other grew lividly pale, and his lip quivered as he said, "Is this
+the time, Linton--"
+
+"It is the very time," rejoined the other, determinedly, "and I will
+have my answer now. You cannot equivocate with me."
+
+"I do not seek to do so. I have told you always what I tell you still--I
+cannot coerce her."
+
+"There will be no need; this dukedom will do the business. I know her
+well--better than you do. See, they are watching us yonder. Say the word
+at once--it is agreed."
+
+"Hear me, Linton--"
+
+"I 'll hear nothing; save the one word 'agreed.'"
+
+"Let me but explain--"
+
+"There is nothing to explain. The betrothal you allude to is, as none
+knows better than yourself, an idle ceremony; and if she loves the
+fellow, so much the more urgent are the reasons for my request. Be
+quick, I say."
+
+"If she consent--"
+
+"She shall. My Lord Duke, a thousand pardons, I beg, for this delay; but
+Rica has been tormenting me these ten minutes by the refusal of a petty
+favor. He is become reasonable at last; and now for the combat!"
+
+The party seated themselves like men about to witness an exciting event;
+and although each had his venture on the game, the Duke was the great
+object of interest, and speculation was high as to how the struggle was
+to end.
+
+It is no part of our object to follow the changing fortunes of that long
+contest, nor watch the vacillating chances which alternately elevated
+to hope and lowered to very desperation. Before the day began to dawn,
+every player, save the Duke, had ceased to bet. Some, worn out and
+exhausted, had sunk to sleep upon the rich ottomans; others, drinking
+deep of champagne, seemed anxious to forget everything. Frobisher,
+utterly ruined, sat in the same place at the table, mechanically marking
+the game, on which he had no longer a stake, and muttering exclamations
+of joy or disappointment at imaginary gains and losses, for he still
+fancied that he was betting large sums, and participating in all the
+varying emotions of a gambler's life.
+
+The luck of the bank continued. Play how he would, boldly "back the
+color," or try to suit the fitful fortunes of the game, the Duke went on
+losing.
+
+Were such an ordeal one to evoke admiration, it could scarcely be
+withheld from him, who, with an unwearied brain and unbroken temper, sat
+patiently there, fighting foot to foot, contesting every inch of ground,
+and even in defeat, preserving the calm equanimity of his high breeding.
+
+Behind his chair stood Linton,--a flush of triumph on his cheek as he
+continued to behold the undeviating course of luck that attended the
+bank, "Another deal like that," muttered he, "and I shall quarter the
+arms of Marlier with Linton."
+
+The words were scarcely uttered, when a deep sigh broke from the
+Duke--it was the first that had escaped him--and he buried his head
+between his hands. Rica looked over at Linton, and a slight, almost
+imperceptible, motion of his eyebrows signalled that the battle was nigh
+over.
+
+"Well! how is the game? Am I betting?--what's the color?" said the Duke,
+passing his clammy hand across his brow.
+
+"I am waiting for you, my Lord Duke," said Rica, obsequiously.
+
+"I am ready--quite ready," cried the other. "Am I the only player? I
+fancied that some others were betting. Where's my Lord Charles?--ah! I
+see him. And Mr. Linton--is he gone?"
+
+"He has just left the room, my Lord Duke. Will you excuse me if I follow
+him for an instant?" And at the same moment Rica arose, and left the
+chamber with hasty steps.
+
+It was at the end of a long corridor, tapping gently at a door, Linton
+stood, as Rica came up.
+
+"What! is't over already?" said Linton, with a look of angry impatience.
+
+"This is not fair, Linton!" said Rica, endeavoring to get nearest to the
+door.
+
+"What is not fair?" said the other, imperiously. "You told me awhile
+ago that she must pronounce, herself, upon her own future. Well, I am
+willing to leave it to that issue."
+
+"But she is unfit to do so at present," said Rica, entreat-ingly.
+"You know well how unsettled is her mind, and how wandering are her
+faculties. There are moments when she scarcely knows _me_--her father."
+
+"It is enough if she remember me," said Linton, insolently. "Her
+intellects will recover--the cloud will pass away; and, if it should
+not, still--as my wife, it is an object I have set my heart on; and so,
+let me pass."
+
+"I cannot--I will not peril her chances of recovery by such a shock,"
+said Rica, firmly; then changing suddenly, he spoke in accents of
+deep feeling: "Remember, Linton, how I offered you _her_ whom you
+acknowledged you preferred. I told you the means of coercion in my
+power, and pledged myself to use them. It was but two days since I
+discovered where they were; to-morrow we will go there together. I
+will claim her as my daughter; the laws of France are imperative in the
+matter. Mary Leicester shall be yours."
+
+"I care for her no longer," said Linton, haughtily. "I doubt, indeed, if
+I ever cared for her; she is not one to suit my fortunes. Maritana is,
+or at least may become so."
+
+"Be it so, but not now, Linton; the poor child's reason is clouded."
+
+"When she hears she is a duchess," said Linton, half sneeringly, "it
+will dispel the gloomy vapor."
+
+"I implore you--I entreat--on my knees I beg of you--" said the
+distracted father, and, unable to utter more, he sank powerless at
+Linton's feet; meanwhile the other opened the door, and, stepping
+noiselessly over the prostrate figure, entered the room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI. ARREST OF LINTON
+
+     Like a bold criminal he stood,
+     Calm in his guilt
+
+     The Forger.
+
+
+With firm step and head high, Linton entered a room where the dim
+half-light of the closed jalousies made each object indistinct. He
+halted for an instant, to cast a searching glance around, and then
+advanced to a door at the farthest end of the apartment; at this he
+tapped twice gently with his knuckles. He waited for an instant, and
+then repeated his summons. Still no answer, even though he rapped
+a third time, and louder than before. Linton now turned the handle
+noiselessly, and opened the door. For a moment or two he seemed
+uncertain whether to advance or retire; but his resolution was soon
+made,--he entered and closed the door behind him.
+
+The chamber in which Linton now stood was smaller than the outer one,
+and equally shaded from the strong sunlight. His eyes were now, however,
+accustomed to the dusky half-light, and he was able to mark the costly
+furniture and splendid ornaments of the room. The walls were hung with
+rose-colored damask, over which a drapery of white lace was suspended,
+looped up at intervals to admit of small brackets of bronze, on which
+stood either "statuettes" or vases of rare "Sevres." At a toilet-table
+in the middle of the room were laid out the articles of a lady's
+dressing-case, but of such costly splendor that they seemed too gorgeous
+for use. Trinkets and jewellery of great value were scattered carelessly
+over the table, and an immense diamond cross glittered from the
+mother-o'-pearl frame of the looking-glass.
+
+The half-open curtains at the end of the room showed a marble bath, into
+which the water flowed from a little cascade of imitation rustic,
+its tiny ripple murmuring in the still silence of the room. There was
+another sound, still softer and more musical than that, there,--the
+long-drawn breathing of a young girl, who, with her face upon her arm,
+lay asleep upon a sofa. With stealthy step and noiseless gesture, Linton
+approached and stood beside her. He was not one to be carried away
+by any enthusiasm of admiration, and yet he could not look upon the
+faultless symmetry of that form, the placid beauty of that face, on
+which a passing dream had left a lingering smile, and not feel deeply
+moved. In her speaking moments, her dark and flashing eyes often lent a
+character of haughty severity to her handsome features; now their dark
+lashes shrouded them, and the expression of the face was angelic in
+sweetness. The olive-darkness of her skin, too, was tempered by the
+half-light, while the slight tinge of color on her cheek might have vied
+with the petal of a rose. Linton drew a chair beside the sofa, and sat
+down. With folded arms, and head slightly bent forward, he watched
+her, while his fast-hurrying thoughts travelled miles and
+miles,--speculating, planning, contriving; meeting difficulties here,
+grasping advantages there,--playing over a game of life, and thinking if
+an adversary could find a flaw in it.
+
+"She is worthy to be a duchess," said he, as he gazed at her. "A
+duchess! and what more?--that is the question. Ah, these women, these
+women! if they but knew their power! If they but knew how all the
+boldest strivings of our intellects are as nothing compared to what
+their beauty can effect! Well, well; it is better that they should not.
+They are tyrants, even as it is,--petty tyrants,--to all who care
+for them; and he who does not is their master. _That_ is the real
+power,--there the stronghold; and how they fear the man who takes
+his stand behind it! how they crouch and tremble before him! what
+fascinating graces do they reserve for _him_, that they would not bestow
+upon a lover! Is it that they only love where they fear? How beautiful
+she looks, and how calmly sweet!--it is the sleeping tigress,
+notwithstanding. And now to awake her: pity, too; that wearied mind
+wants repose, and the future gives but little promise of it."
+
+[Illustration: 411]
+
+He bent down over her, till he almost touched the silken masses of her
+long dark hair, and, in a low, soft voice, said,--
+
+"Maritana! Maritana!"
+
+"No, no, no," said she, in the low, muttering accents of sleep, "not
+here,--not here!"
+
+"And why not here, dearest?" said he, catching at the words.
+
+A faint shudder passed over her, and she gathered her shawl more closely
+around her.
+
+"Hace mal tiempo,--the weather looks gloomy," said she, in a faint
+voice.
+
+"And if not here, Maritana, where then?" said he, in a low tone.
+
+"In our own deep forests, beneath the liana and the cedar; where the
+mimosa blossoms, and the acacia scents the air; where fountains are
+springing, and the glow-worm shines like a star in the dark grass. Oh,
+not here! not here!" cried she, plaintively.
+
+"Then in Italy, Maritana mia, where all that the tropics can boast
+is blended with whatever is beautiful. In art; where genius goes
+hand-in-hand with nature; and where life floats calmly on, like some
+smooth-flowing river, unruffled and unbroken."
+
+A faint, low sigh escaped her, and her lips parted with a smile of
+surpassing loveliness.
+
+"Yes, dearest--there, with me, beside the blue waters of the Adriatic,
+or lost amid the chestnut forests of the Apennines. Think of those
+glorious cities, too, where the once great still live, enshrined by
+memory, in their own palace walls. Think of Venice--"
+
+The word was not well uttered, when, with a shrill scream, she started
+up and awoke.
+
+"Who spoke to me of my shame? Who spoke of Venice?" cried she, in
+accents of wild terror.
+
+"Be calm, Maritana. It was a dream,--nothing but a dream," said Linton,
+pressing her gently down again. "Do not think more of it."
+
+"Where am I?" said she, drawing a long breath.
+
+"In your own dressing-room, dearest," said he, in an accent of deep
+devotion.
+
+"And you, sir? Why are _you_ here? and by what right do you address me
+thus?"
+
+"By no right," said Linton, with a submissive deference which well
+became him. "I can plead nothing, save the devotion of a heart long
+since your own, and the good wishes of your father, Maritana, who bade
+me speak to you."
+
+"I will not believe it, sir," said she, proudly, as she arose and walked
+the room with stately step. "I know but too well the influence you wield
+over him, although I cannot tell how it is acquired. I have seen your
+counsels sway and your wishes guide him, when my entreaties were unheard
+and unheeded. Tell me nothing, then, of his permission."
+
+"Let me speak of that better reason, where my heart may plead, Maritana.
+It was to offer you a share in my fortunes that I have come here,--to
+place at your feet whatever I possess in rank, in station, and in future
+hope; to place you where your beauty and your fascinations entitle you
+to shine,--a peeress of the Court of France; a duchess, of a name only
+second to royalty itself."
+
+The girl's dark eyes grew darker, and her flushed cheek grew crimson, as
+with heaving bosom she listened. "A duchess!" murmured she, between her
+lips.
+
+"La Duchesse de Marlier," repeated Linton, slowly, while his keen eyes
+were riveted on her.
+
+"And this real--not a pageant--not as that thing you made of me before?"
+
+"La Duchesse de Marlier," said Linton again, "knows of no rank above
+her own, save in the blood royal. Her chateau was the present of a
+king,--her grounds are worthy of such a donor."
+
+"And the Duke de Marlier," said she, with a look of ineffable irony,
+"who is to play _him?_ Is that part reserved for Mr. Linton?"
+
+"Could he not look the character?" said Linton, putting on a smile of
+seeming good-humor, while his lip trembled with passion.
+
+"Look it,--ay, that could he; and if looks would suffice, he could be
+all that his ambition aims at."
+
+"You doubt my sincerity, Maritafia," said he, sorrowfully; "have I ever
+given you cause to do so?"
+
+"Never," cried she, impetuously: "I read you from the first hour I saw
+you. You never deceived _me_. My training has not been like that of
+others of my sex and age, amidst the good, the virtuous, and the pure.
+It was the corrupt, the base-born, and the abandoned offered
+their examples to my eyes; the ruined gambler, the beggared
+adventurer,--_their_ lives were my daily study. How, then, should I not
+recognize one so worthy of them all?"
+
+"This is less than fair, Maritafia; you bear me a grudge for having
+counselled that career wherein your triumphs were unbounded; and now
+you speak to me harshly for offering a station a princess might accept
+without a derogation."
+
+"Tell me not of my triumphs," said she, passionately: "they were my
+shame! You corrupted me, by trifling with my ignorance of the world. I
+did not know then, as now I know, what were the prizes of that ambition
+I cherished! But _you_ knew them; _you_ speculated on them, as now you
+speculate upon others. Ay, blush for it; let your cheek glow, and sear
+your cold heart for the infamy! The coroneted duchess would have been a
+costlier merchandise than the wreathed dancer! Oh, shame upon you! shame
+upon you! Could you not be satisfied with your gambler's cruelty, and
+ruin those who have manhood's courage to sustain defeat, but that you
+should make your victim a poor, weak, motherless girl, whose unprotected
+life might have evoked even _your_ pity?"
+
+"I will supplicate no longer; upon you be it if the alternative be
+heavy. Hear me, young lady; it is by your father's consent--nay, more,
+at his desire--that I make you the proffer of my name and rank. He is in
+my power,--not his fortune nor his future prospects, but his very life
+is in my hands. You shudder at having been a dancer; think of what you
+may be,--the daughter of a forcat, a galley-slave! If these be idle
+threats, ask himself; he will tell you if I speak truly. It is my
+ambition that you should share my title and my fortune. I mean to make
+your position one that the proudest would envy; reject my offer if
+you will, but never reproach me with what your own blind folly has
+accomplished."
+
+Maritana stood with clasped hands, and eyes wildly staring on vacancy, as
+Linton, in a voice broken with passion, uttered these words,--
+
+"I will not press you now, Maritana; you shall have to-night to think
+over all I have said; to-morrow you will give me your answer."
+
+"To-morrow?" muttered she, after him.
+
+"Who is there?" said Linton, as a low, faint knock was heard at the
+door. It was repeated, and Linton approached and opened the door.
+A slight gesture of the hand was all that he could perceive in the
+half-light; but he understood it, and passed out, closing the door
+noiselessly behind him.
+
+"Well?" said Rica, as he grasped the other's arm; "well?"
+
+"Well?" echoed Linton, peevishly. "She is in her most insolent of moods,
+and affects to think that all the splendor I have offered her is but the
+twin of the mock magnificence of the stage. She is a fool, but she'll
+think better of it, or she must be taught to do so."
+
+Rica sighed heavily, but made no answer; at last he said,--
+
+"It is over with the Duke, and he bears it well."
+
+"Good blood always does," said Linton. "Your men of birth have a lively
+sense of how little they have done for their estates, and therefore part
+with them with a proportionate degree of indifference. Where is he?"
+
+"Writing letters in the boudoir off the drawing-room. You must see him,
+and ask when the necessary papers can be signed and exchanged."
+
+Linton walked on, and passing through the play-room, around which in
+every attitude of slumber the gamblers lay, entered the boudoir, before
+a table in which the Duke de Marsac was busy writing.
+
+"Fortune has still been obdurate, my Lord Duke, I hear," said he,
+entering softly.
+
+The Duke looked up, and his pale features were totally devoid of all
+emotion as he said,--
+
+"I have lost heavily, sir."
+
+"I am sincerely grieved to hear it; as an old sufferer in the same
+field, I can feel for others." A very slight movement of impatience
+on the Duke's part showed that he regarded the sympathy as obtrusive.
+Linton saw this, and went on: "I would not have invaded your privacy to
+say as much, my Lord Duke, but I thought it might be satisfactory to
+you to learn that your ancient dukedom--the chateau of your proud
+ancestors--is not destined to fall into plebeian hands, nor suffer the
+indignity of their profanation. I mean to purchase the property from
+Rica myself."
+
+"Indeed!" said the Duke, carelessly, as though the announcement had no
+interest for him.
+
+"I had fancied, my Lord, this information would have given you
+pleasure," said Linton, with evident irritation of manner.
+
+"No, sir," said the other, languidly, "I am ashamed to say I cannot
+appreciate the value of these tidings."
+
+"Can the contract and transfer be speedily made out?" said Linton,
+abruptly.
+
+"Of course; there shall be no delay in the matter. I will give orders to
+my 'notaire' at once."
+
+"And where shall you be found to-morrow, my Lord Duke, in case we desire
+to confer with you?"
+
+The Duke grew lividly pale, and he arose slowly from his chair, and,
+taking Linton's arm, drew him towards a window in silence. Linton saw
+well that some new train of thought had suddenly sprung up, and wondered
+what could so instantaneously have wrought this change in his manner.
+
+"You ask me, sir," said the Duke, with a slow emphasis on every word,
+"where am I to be found to-morrow? Is not Mr. Linton's knowledge of
+Paris sufficient to suggest the answer to that question?" There was a
+fierce boldness in the way these words were uttered Linton could not
+comprehend, any more than he understood what they might mean.
+
+"I must plead ignorance, my Lord Duke. I really discredit the eulogium
+you have pronounced upon my information."
+
+"Then I will tell you, sir," said the Duke, speaking in a low thick
+whisper, while his dark eyes glared with the fire of intense excitement.
+"You will find me in the Seine!"
+
+Linton staggered back as if he had been struck, and a pallor spread over
+his features, making the very lips bloodless. "How do you mean, sir?
+Why do you dare to say this to _me?_" said he, in a voice broken and
+guttural.
+
+"Since none should better know how to appreciate the news," was the cold
+answer.
+
+Linton trembled from head to foot, and, casting a wary look around on
+every side to see that they were alone, he said, "These words may mean
+much, or they may mean nothing,--at least nothing that has concern for
+me. Now, sir, be explicit; in what sense am I to read them?"
+
+The Duke looked astonished at the emotion which all the other's
+self-command could not repress; he saw, too, that he had touched a
+secret spring of conscience, and with a calm reserve he said, "Take what
+I have said in the sense your own heart now suggests, and I venture to
+affirm it will be the least pleasing interpretation you can put upon
+it!"
+
+"You shall give me satisfaction for this, sir," said Linton, whose
+passion now boiled over. "I will not endure the tyranny of insinuations
+from any man. Here, before you quit the house,--if ever you quit it,--I
+will have full satisfaction for your insolence."
+
+"Insolence!" cried the Duke.
+
+"Yes, insolence. I repeat the word, and these gentlemen shall hear a
+still stronger word addressed to you, if that will not suffice to arouse
+your courage."
+
+This speech was now directed to the crowd of gamblers, who, suddenly
+awakened by the loud talking, rushed in a body into the room.
+
+Questions, and demands for explanation, pressed on every hand, their
+countrymen gathering round the antagonists on either side, both of whom
+maintained for some minutes a perfect silence. The Duke was the first to
+speak. "Gentlemen," said he, "you have heard an expression addressed to
+me which no Frenchman listens to without inflicting chastisement on the
+speaker--I do not ask--I do not care in the least--who this person may
+be--what his rank and position in life; I am ready to admit him to the
+fullest equality with myself. It only remains that I should satisfy
+myself of certain doubts, which his own manner has originated. It may
+be that he cannot call me, or any other gentleman, to account for his
+words."
+
+Linton's face twitched with short convulsive jerks as he listened, and
+then, crossing the room to where the Duke stood, he struck him with his
+glove across the face, while, with a very shout of passion, he uttered
+the one word, "Coward!" The scene became now one of the wildest
+confusion. The partisanship of country surrounded either with a group,
+who in loud tones expressed their opinions, and asked for explanations
+of what had occurred. That some gross insult had been put upon Linton
+was the prevailing impression; but how originating, or of what
+nature, none knew, nor did the principals seem disposed to afford the
+information.
+
+"I tell you, Frobisher," said Linton, angrily, "it is a matter does not
+admit of explanation."
+
+"_Parbleu_, sir! you have placed it out of the reach of such," said an
+old French officer, "and I trust you will feel the consequences."
+
+The chaos of tongues, loud in altercation and dispute, now burst
+forth again, some asserting that the cause of quarrel should be openly
+declared at once, others averring that the opprobrious epithet applied
+by Linton to the Duke effectually debarred negotiation, and left no
+other arbitrament than the pistol. In the midst of this tumult, where
+angry passions were already enlisted, and insolent rejoinders passed
+from mouth to mouth, a still louder uproar was now heard in the
+direction of the _salon_, and the crash of a breaking door, and the
+splintering noise of the shattered wood, overtopped the other sounds.
+
+"The commissaire de police!" cried some one, and the words were
+electric. The hours of play were illegal,--the habits of the house such
+as to implicate all in charges more or less disgraceful; and immediately
+a general rush was made for escape,--some seeking the well-known private
+issues from the apartment, others preparing for a bold attempt to force
+their passage through the armed followers of the commissary.
+
+Every avenue of escape had been already occupied by the gendarmes; and
+the discomfited gamblers were seen returning into the room crestfallen
+and ashamed, when the commissary, followed by a knot of others in plain
+clothes, advancing into the middle of the chamber, pronounced the legal
+form of arrest on all present.
+
+"I am a peer of France," said the Duc de Marsac, haughtily. "I yield to
+no authority that does not carry the signature of my sovereign."
+
+"You are free, Monsieur le Duc," said the commissary, bowing
+respectfully.
+
+"I am an English gentleman," said Linton, stepping forward. "I demand by
+what right you presume to detain me in custody?"
+
+"What is your name, sir?" asked the commissary.
+
+"Linton!" was the brief reply.
+
+"That's the man," whispered a voice from behind the commissary; and, at
+the same instant, that functionary approached, and laying his hand on
+the other's shoulder, said,--
+
+"I arrest you, sir, on the charge of murder."
+
+"Murder!" repeated Linton, with a sneer that he could not merge into a
+laugh. "This is a sorry jest, sir."
+
+"You will find it sad earnest!" said a deep voice.
+
+Linton turned round, and straight in front of him stood Roland Cashel,
+who, with bent brows and compressed lips, seemed struggling to repress
+the passion that worked within him.
+
+"I say, Frobisher, are you omitted in the indictment?" cried Linton,
+with a sickly attempt to laugh; "or has our buccaneering friend
+forgotten to stigmatize you for the folly of having known him?"
+
+"He is in _my_ custody," said a gruff English voice, in reply to some
+observation of the commissary; and a short, stout-built man made a
+gesture to another in the crowd to advance.
+
+[Illustration: 422]
+
+"What! is this indignity to be put upon me?" said Linton, as he saw the
+handcuffs produced, and prepared to be adjusted to his wrists. "Is the
+false accusation of a pirate and a slaver to expose me to the treatment
+of a convicted felon?"
+
+"I will do my duty, sir," said the police officer, steadily. "If I do
+more, my superiors can hear of it. Tom, put on the irons."
+
+"Is this your vengeance, sir?" said Linton, as he cast a look of
+ineffable hate towards Cashel; but Roland made no reply, as he stood
+regarding the scene with an air of saddest meaning.
+
+"You knew him better than I did, Charley," said Linton, sneeringly,
+"when you black-balled him at the yacht club; but the world shall know
+him better yet than either of us,--mean-spirited scoundrel that he is."
+
+"Come away, sir," said the officer, as he placed himself on one side of
+his prisoner, his fellow doing the same at the other.
+
+"Not till I see your warrant," said Linton, resolutely.
+
+"There it is, sir, all reg'lar," said the man; "signed by the secretary
+of state, and attested by the witness."
+
+"The rascality is well got up," said Linton, trying to laugh, "but by
+Heaven they shall pay for it!" These words were directed to where Roland
+stood, and uttered with a concentrated hate that thrilled through every
+heart around.
+
+As Linton was led forth, the commissary proceeded to arrest the
+different individuals present on the charge of gambling in secret. In
+the midst of the group was Rica, standing pale with terror, and overcome
+by the revelations he had listened to.
+
+"I will be responsible for this gentleman's appearance," said Cashel,
+addressing the commissary. "There is no need to subject him to the
+insult of an arrest."
+
+"He can only be liberated by a bail bond in the presence of the
+judge, sir. You can accompany me to the court, and enter into the
+recognizances, if you will."
+
+"Be it so," said Cashel, bowing.
+
+Rica made a sign for Roland to approach him. He tried to speak, but his
+voice was inarticulate from faint-ness, and the only audible sound was
+the one word "Maritana."
+
+"Where?" said Cashel, eagerly.
+
+Rica nodded in the direction of a small door that led from the chamber,
+and Cashel made a gesture of assent in answer.
+
+With headlong speed Roland traversed the corridor, and entered the
+antechamber at the end of it. One glance showed him that the room was
+empty, and he passed on into the chamber where so lately Linton had
+spoken with Maritana. This, too, was deserted, as was the bedroom which
+opened into it. Hastening from place to place, he called her name aloud,
+but no answer came. Terrified by a hundred fears, for he well knew
+the rash, impetuous nature of the girl, Roland entreated, in tones of
+wildest passion, "that she might come forth,--that her friends were all
+around her, and nothing more to fear." But no voice replied, and when
+the sound of his own died away, all was silent. The window of the
+dressing-room was open, and as Roland looked from it into the street
+beneath, his eye caught the fragment of a dress adhering to the hook of
+the "jalousie." It was plain now she had made her escape in this manner,
+and that she was gone.
+
+Too true! Overcome by terror--her mind distracted by fears of
+Linton--without one to succor or protect her, she had yielded to the
+impulse of her dread, and leaped from the window! That small rag of
+fluttering gauze was all that remained of Maritana.
+
+Rica was to hear these sad tidings as he was led away by the commissary,
+but he listened to them like one whose mind was stunned by calamity. A
+few low murmuring words alone escaped him, and they indicated that he
+felt everything which was happening as a judgment upon him for his own
+crimes.
+
+Even in his examination before the judge, these half-uttered
+self-accusings broke forth, and he seemed utterly indifferent as to what
+fate awaited him. By Cashel's intervention, and the deposit of a large
+sum as bail for Rica's future appearance, his liberation was effected,
+and he was led away from the spot unconscious of all around him.
+
+As Cashel assisted the weak and tottering man through the crowded
+passages of the court, he felt his arm gently touched by a hand, at the
+same instant that his name was uttered. He turned hastily, and saw
+at his side a woman, who, youthful and still handsome, bore in her
+appearance the signs of deep poverty and still deeper sorrow. Her dress
+had once been rich, but now, from time and neglect, was disfigured and
+shabby; her veil, partly drawn across her face, was torn and ragged,
+and her very shoes were in tatters. A more sad-looking object it were
+difficult to conceive, and in the hurried glance Roland bestowed upon
+her, at a moment when all his thoughts were intent upon other cares,
+he believed she was one entreating charity. Hastily drawing forth his
+purse, he offered her some money, but she drew proudly up, saying, "This
+is insult, sir, and I have not deserved it."
+
+Cashel started with amazement, and drawing closer, stared eagerly at
+her.
+
+"Great Heaven!" cried he, "is this possible? Is this--"
+
+"Hush!" cried she. "Let me not hear my name--or what was once my
+name--spoken aloud. I see now--you did not know me, nor would I have
+brought myself to the shame of being recognized but for _his_ sake.
+_He_ is now before the tribunal, and will be sent to prison for want of
+bail."
+
+Cashel motioned her not to leave the spot; and having safely placed Rica
+in his carriage, returned to the court.
+
+By the guarantee of his name, and the offer of any moneyed security
+which might be required, Cashel obtained permission for Lord Charles
+Frobisher to go free; and then hurrying outside, communicated the
+tidings to her who stood trembling with fear and anxiety.
+
+With tearful eyes, and in a voice broken by sobs, she was uttering her
+thanks as Lord Charles joined them.
+
+"This, then, was _your_ doing?" said he, staring coldly at her.
+
+"Say, rather, it was your own, my Lord," said Cashel, sternly.
+
+"Oh, Charles! thank him--thank him," cried she, hysterically. "Friends
+have not been so plenty with us, that we can treat them thus!"
+
+"Lady Charles is most grateful, sir," said Frobisher, with a cold
+sneer. "I am sure the show of feeling she evinces must repay all your
+generosity." And, with, this base speech, he drew her arm within his,
+and moved hastily away. One look towards Cashel, as she turned to go,
+told more forcibly than words the agony of her broken heart.
+
+And this was the once gay, light-hearted girl,--the wild and daring
+romp, whose buoyant spirit seemed above every reverse of fortune. Poor
+Jemima Meek! she had run away from her father's home to link her lot
+with a gambler! Some play transaction, in which his name was involved,
+compelled him to quit the service, and at last the country. Now
+depending for support upon his family, now hazarding his miserable means
+at play, he had lived a life of recklessness and privation,--nothing
+left to him of his former condition save the name that he had brought
+down to infamy!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII. ALL MYSTERY CEASES--MARRIAGE AND GENERAL JOY
+
+     "The end of all."
+
+
+What a contrast did Roland Cashel's life now present to the purposeless
+vacuity of his late existence! Every hour was occupied; even to a late
+period of each night was he engaged by cares which seemed to thicken
+around him as he advanced.
+
+We should but weary our reader were we to follow him in the ceaseless
+round of duties which hard necessity imposed. Each morning his first
+visit was to the hospital of St. Louis, where Keane still lay, weakly
+struggling against a malady whose fatal termination was beyond a doubt;
+and although Roland could not wish for the prolongation of a life which
+the law would demand in expiation, he felt a craving desire that the
+testimony of the dying man should be full and explicit on every point,
+and that every dubious circumstance should be explained ere the grave
+closed over him.
+
+To seek for Maritana, to endeavor to recover this poor forlorn girl, was
+his next care, and to this end he spared nothing. Whatever money could
+purchase, or skill and unwearied enterprise suggest, were all employed
+in the search. Rica, whose nature seemed totally changed by the terrible
+shock of Linton's culpability, gave himself up implicitly to Cashel's
+guidance, and was unceasing in his efforts to discover his missing
+child. But with all the practised acuteness of the police at their
+command, and all the endeavors which their zeal could practise, the
+search was fruitless, and not a trace of her could be detected.
+
+Through the Neapolitan Embassy, orders were transmitted to Naples to
+inquire into the case of Enrique, whose innocence the testimony of Keane
+went far to establish. The result was, as Cashel ardently hoped, his
+complete vindication, and a telegraphic despatch brought tidings that
+he was already liberated, and on his way to Paris. While both Roland and
+Rica waited impatiently for the arrival of one whose assistance in their
+search would be so valuable, the most perfect good understanding grew up
+between them, and Cashel began to perceive how, beneath the vices which
+a life of reckless debauchery had created, there lay--inactive and
+unused for many a day--kindly feelings and warm affections for which
+he had never given him credit. As this confidence grew stronger, Rica
+became more frank and open in all his intercourse, and at last revealed
+to Cashel the whole story of his life,--a strange, eventful history,
+whose vicissitudes were the changing fortunes of a gambler's existence.
+For such was he,--without a passion, a pursuit of any kind but play, he
+had passed his life in that one baneful vice. For it he had toiled and
+labored: to indulge that passion he had engaged in deadly duels, and
+perilled his life by acts of forgery.
+
+His marriage with Corrigan's daughter was brought about solely to
+procure the means of play; nor was there an energy of his mind or an
+impulse of his nature had any other direction. Linton's skill as a
+gambler, the unceasing resources he seemed to possess, the stratagems
+and devices he could deploy, created for him, in Rica's mind, a species
+of admiration that soon degenerated into a blind submission to all his
+dictates. Such an ally as this, so deeply versed in all the weak points
+of his fellow-men,--so thoroughly master of every impulse that moves,
+of every hope and fear that sways the gambler's nature,--had been the
+cherished desire of his heart for many a year, and now fortune bad at
+last given him such an associate. Their sudden success seemed to warrant
+the justice of the hope. Everything prospered with them since their new
+league. If he did not gain an equal ascendancy over the daughter's mind
+as he had acquired over the father's, still the ambitious future he
+often pictured before her, dazzled and delighted her, and thus, erelong,
+he contrived to obtain a degree of power, although of different kinds,
+over both. From such an associate as Linton concealment was impossible;
+and Rica soon saw himself completely at the mercy of a man who had
+sifted every motive of his heart, and weighed every action of his life,
+and at last became his pitiless, tyrannical master.
+
+Rica's connection with Corrigan suggested to Linton's inventive mind
+the possibility of succeeding to that estate for which already he
+had perilled so much. His plan was to obtain from Corrigan a full
+renunciation of his claim to the property, and then to take the
+necessary steps to investigate the long dormant title. All their efforts
+to discover the old man's residence were, however, vain; for although
+they once obtained a clew to the fact, some information seemed to have
+apprised the others of their danger, and their abode was immediately
+changed.
+
+It was with a strange thrill of mingled pain and pleasure Cashel heard
+Rica speak of his daughter Mary,--of her he had deserted for so many a
+year, and yet now yearned towards with an affection that sprang from his
+self-accusings. The terrible chastisement his own vices had inflicted
+on his lonely and deserted lot seemed never absent from his thoughts;
+and he would sit for hours silently, while the heavy tears rolled along
+his furrowed cheeks, and his strong, heaving bosom showed his agony.
+
+The fruitlessness of their search after Maritana in Paris, and the
+death of Tom Keane in the hospital, removed the only obstacles to
+their departure from that city; and Rica and Cashel, who now felt their
+fortunes bound up together, prepared to take their leave of Paris. The
+trial of Linton was to take place in Limerick, and thither Roland was
+summoned by the law-officers of the Crown. This sad duty accomplished,
+he was to accompany Rica to Columbia, whither some slight hope of
+recovering Maritana induced him to proceed. As for Cashel, once in the
+old haunts of childhood, he had resolved never to quit them more.
+
+Roland's arrangements for departure were soon made, and he repaired to
+the Embassy, where he had been invited to breakfast on the last morning
+of his stay. There was a certain bustle and movement in the courtyard
+which attracted his attention; and he saw two travelling-carriages, with
+an attendant "fourgon," surrounded by servants, and loaded with all the
+preparations for a long journey.
+
+"You have come in time, Mr. Cashel," said the ambassador, as he shook
+hands with him, "to see our new minister at Florence, who is now on
+his way thither; and what will have more interest in your eyes, a very
+pretty girl, who has become the great literary character of our circles
+here. I regret much that she is about to leave us."
+
+Cashel bowed politely, but with the cold indifference of one for whom
+the tidings had no peculiar interest, and accompanied the ambassador
+into a _salon_, crowded with company.
+
+"I have a young countryman to present to you, my Lord," said his
+excellency, leading Cashel forward, "who I trust will wear a less sombre
+face in the sunny south than he has done in our northern latitudes. Mr.
+Roland Cashel--Lord Kilgoff."
+
+A sudden start of surprise was made by both, and Roland stood mute and
+thunderstruck as Lord Kilgoff advanced towards him with extended hand,
+and said,--
+
+"Yes, Mr. Cashel, your old friend in better health and spirits than when
+last you saw him; and better able to thank you for much hospitality, and
+apologize for much injustice."
+
+"Let me have my share in both acknowledgments," said Lady Kilgoff,
+rising, and taking Cashel's hand with much cordiality.
+
+Roland tried to mutter a few words, but he could not succeed; and his
+eyes ranged about the chamber till they fell upon one who, pale and
+motionless, regarded him with a look of most expressive sadness.
+
+"Miss Leicester, too, here?" said he, at last.
+
+"Yes, Mr. Cashel," said Lady Kilgoff; "chance is about to do for us what
+all our skill would have failed in. Here are two worthy people who will
+not hear your name mentioned, and who now must consent, not alone to
+hear, but see you in person. I am quite convinced you never did or could
+have injured them. Stand forward, Mr. Corrigan, and make your charge."
+
+"I will save that gentleman the pain of accusing me," said Roland, with
+deep emotion. "I have injured him deeply, but yet unwittingly. I have
+long desired this meeting, to place in his hands a document I have never
+ceased to carry about me,--the title to a property of which I was not
+the rightful owner, and which is his--and his only."
+
+"I will not, I cannot accept of it, sir," said Corrigan, proudly. "I
+will never see that cottage more."
+
+"I do not speak of 'the Cottage,'" said Cashel, "but of the whole estate
+of Tubbermore, the ancient possession of your house--still yours. There
+is the proof." And, as he spoke, he drew forth the pardon, and handed it
+to Corrigan.
+
+The old man trembled in every limb as he perused the paper, which he now
+read over for the third time.
+
+"A royal pardon to Miles Corrigan, my grandfather?" exclaimed he,
+gasping for breath; "and how came you by this, sir?"
+
+"The story is soon told," said Cashel, relating in a few words the
+singular steps of the discovery.
+
+"And you have travelled throughout Europe for upwards of three years to
+disencumber yourself of L16,000 a year?" said the ambassador, smiling
+good-naturedly.
+
+"I have done so to disencumber myself of the weight of an injustice."
+
+"And this is the youth you would accuse of deception?" said Lady
+Kilgoff, haughtily.
+
+"Forgive me, Lady; forgive one who has suffered too heavily from
+the world not to fall into the error of thinking once unjustly of a
+benefactor."
+
+"I have no title to the name, sir," said Cashel. "Nay, more. I am your
+debtor for wealth which I squandered, believing it my own."
+
+"I knew him better than any of you," cried old Dr. Tiernay, rushing
+forward and grasping Cashel by both hands. "My own generous,
+high-hearted boy. Come here, Mary; tell him candidly that you, too, were
+always of my opinion. This is no time for coyness. Let us have a little
+honesty after all this deception." He drew Cashel to one side, and, in
+a deep whisper, said, "What of that Spanish girl?--Are you married or
+not?"
+
+Roland smiled at the eagerness of the old man's manner, and, in
+half-sadness, said, "Poor Maritana is now a fugitive--we know not
+where."
+
+A sudden commotion at the door, and a tumult of voices, interrupted the
+scene, and Rica rushed in, crying in ecstasy, "She is found--my child is
+found!"
+
+The travellers of the diligence passing through the wood of Versailles
+had discovered the form of a sleeping girl at the foot of a tree, and
+carried her back with them to Paris. Enrique himself, being among them,
+recognized her at once, and soon succeeded in finding out Rica, into
+whose arms he restored her.
+
+While Rica hurriedly poured forth this explanation, old Corrigan stood
+tremulous with agitation, and at last, advancing towards him, said,
+"Leicester, I am no longer afraid to meet you. Fortune has, at last,
+favored me. I am rich now, and can make you rich also."
+
+Rica started back: a sudden sickness came over him, and he fell
+powerless at the old man's feet.
+
+What a scene of heartfelt emotion followed, as Mary recognized her
+long-lost father; and the careworn, sorrow-struck man saw the warm
+affections of those whom, in a life long, he had injured.
+
+"The end of this will be," said Lady Kilgoff, laughing through tears,
+"that I shall have to proceed on my journey alone. I foresee that we
+shall not share in all the general joy at these discoveries."
+
+"I have a sister, too," exclaimed Mary, with enthusiasm, "whom I am
+burning with impatience to see. Where is she? when are we to meet?"
+
+"She is below--she is in my carriage at the door," said Rica.
+
+The ambassador heard the words and left the room, returning in a moment
+with Maritana on his arm. Wearied and exhausted as she was, there was
+that in her native grace and beauty that caused a thrill of admiration
+as she entered.
+
+"Here is your sister, Maritana," said Rica, leading her to where Mary
+stood, gazing with wistful eyes at the Spanish beauty. Maritana
+looked steadily at the fair loveliness before her, where timidity and
+gentleness seemed impressed; and then, as if yielding to some sudden
+impulse, she sprang forward, and, clasping her hand, covered it with
+kisses, exclaiming with rapture,--
+
+"Non! non la sua hermana, ma la sua esclava!--Not her sister, but her
+slave."
+
+Among the group who with admiring eyes gazed upon this little
+scene, there stood a dark, sombre-looking man, whose mean attire and
+travel-worn look could not conceal a certain dignity of air and manner.
+Cashel's quick glance soon discovered him, and in a moment they were
+locked in a fast embrace. "My old, true-hearted comrade!" cried Roland.
+
+"Yes, senora!" said Maritana, as if answering the look of astonishment
+of Mary; "and for all that he seems now, he is a well-born caballero,
+and noble to boot."
+
+"Everything looks worse and worse for my prospects of companionship,"
+said Lady Kilgoff, poutingly. "Mr. Corrigan--Mary--are you both bent on
+desertion?"
+
+"We are bound for Ireland, fair Lady; the little remnant of my life is a
+debt I owe my country."
+
+"Senor Rica and your lovely daughter, will you be our companions?"
+
+"Our road lies westward, Lady. The New World must teach us to forget the
+Old one."
+
+"Mr. Cashel, am I to guess whither your steps will lead you?"
+
+"It would save me the pain of deciding if you did," said Roland, sadly.
+
+"You come with us, Roland," said Mr. Corrigan; "you once told me that
+you felt Tubber-beg a home. Let us see if time has not erased the
+impression."
+
+"And Maritana, too!" cried Mary.
+
+"And Enrique!" said Maritana.
+
+"Then I must be of the party," said Dr. Tiernay. "I was never intended
+by nature for an embassy physician, but as a village doctor I still feel
+that I shall hold up my head with dignity."
+
+Rica, who meanwhile was in earnest conversation with Cashel, now
+advanced into the middle of the group, and said, "Mr. Cashel once
+contracted a solemn pledge to me, from which I feel no inclination to
+release him. I ask him before this assemblage if it be true he promised
+to marry my daughter?"
+
+Roland grew deadly pale, but in a faint voice replied, "It is true."
+
+"Are you willing to keep your pledge?" said Rica, firmly.
+
+Cashel made no answer but a slight motion of the bead.
+
+"Then she is yours," said Rica, placing Mary Leicester's hand in his;
+while Maritana, in a transport of feeling, fell into her father's arms
+and sobbed aloud.
+
+"Then we are all bound at once for Ireland," cried Mr. Corrigan; "and I
+trust never to leave it more."
+
+"I will not promise," said Cashel, as he drew Mary closer to him. "The
+memories I bear of the land are not all painless."
+
+"But you have seen nothing of Ireland that was Irish!" exclaimed
+Tiernay, boldly. "You saw a mongrel society made up of English
+adventurers, who, barren of hope at home, came to dazzle with their
+fashionable vices the cordial homeliness of our humbler land. You saw
+the poor pageantry of a mock court, and the frivolous pretension of a
+tinsel rank. You saw the emptiness of pretended statesmanship, and the
+assumed superiority of a class whose ignorance was only veiled by their
+insolence. But of hearty, generous, hospitable Ireland--of the land of
+warm impulses and kindly affections--you saw nothing. That is a country
+yet to be explored by you; nor are its mysteries the less likely to be
+unravelled that an Irish wife will be your guide to them. And now to
+breakfast, for I am famishing."
+
+Where the characters of a tale bear a share in influencing its
+catastrophe, the reader seems to have a prescriptive right to learn
+something of their ultimate destiny, even though the parts they played
+were merely subordinate. Many of ours here cannot lay claim to such
+an interest, and were seen but like the phantoms which a magic lantern
+throws upon the wall,--moving and grouping for a moment and then lost
+forever.
+
+It is from no want of respect to our reader, if we trace not the current
+of such lives; it is simply from the fact that when they ceased to act,
+they ceased, as it were, to exist. Are we not, all of us in the world,
+acted upon and influenced by events and people,--purely passers-by,
+known to-day, seen perhaps for a week, or known for a month, and yet
+never after met with in all life's journey? As on a voyage many a casual
+air of wind, many a wayward breeze helps us onward, and yet none inquire
+"whence it cometh or whither it goeth,"--so is it in the real world; and
+why not in the world of fiction, which ought to be its counterpart?
+
+Of those in whom our interest centred, the reader knows all that we know
+ourselves. Would he, or rather she, care to learn that the elder Miss
+Kennyfeck never married, but became a companion to Lady Janet, who on
+the death of Sir Andrew, caused by his swallowing a liniment, and taking
+into his stomach what was meant for his skin, went abroad, and is still
+a well-known character in the watering-places of Germany, where she
+and her friend are the terror of all who tremble at evil-speaking and
+slandering?
+
+Olivia married the Reverend Knox Softly, and seems as meek as a curate's
+wife ought to be, nor bears a trace of those days when she smiled
+on cornets or mingled sighs with captains of hussars. If some of our
+characters have fared ill in this adventurous history, others have
+been more fortunate. The Dean is made a Colonial Bishop, and the
+distinguished Mr. Howie's picture occupies a place in the last
+Exhibition!
+
+Meek is still a placeman: bland, gentle, and conciliating as ever,
+he made at the close of the session a most affecting speech upon the
+sorrows of Ireland, and drew tears from the ventilator at his picture of
+her destitution!
+
+Mrs. Kennyfeck and "Aunt Fanny" keep house together in the ancient
+city of Galway. Attracted to each other by a thousand antipathies, more
+cohesive than any friendship, they fight and quarrel unceasingly, and
+are never known to agree, save when the enthusiasm of their malevolence
+has discovered a common victim in the circle of their "friends."
+
+Here ends our history; nor need we linger longer with those whose
+happiness, so far as worldly prosperity can make it, is at last secured.
+
+There is but one destiny of which we have to speak. Linton was never
+brought to trial; the day after his landing in England he was found dead
+in the cell of his prison,--no trace of violence, nor any evidence of
+poison to account for the circumstance; and whether through some agency
+of his own, or by the workings of a broken heart, the fact remains a
+mystery.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Roland Cashel, by Charles James Lever
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