Part 87 (1/2)
At length they reached the tower and clambered in. The moment they found themselves inside they were startled by those noises which had already terrified the others, and which had now drawn much nearer.
Katie gave a low cry of terror, and stood trembling in every limb.
Harry was quite bewildered at this sudden and unexpected shock. For a moment he thought of flight; but that was impossible, for Katie, in her terror, was almost fainting, and he had to support her while she clung breathlessly to him. And so they stood, unable to move.
The noises were now just outside--voices, cries, songs, and wild laughter--all the indications of a lawless crowd.
Suddenly some one burst inside.
”Ha!” he cried, in Spanish, ”here it is, but it's all dark. Bring lights, some one. We must wait here till the others come round to the front; but there's no reason why we shouldn't have lights. We can't be seen from the castle: the walls here are too thick to be transparent. It's just the place for a little supper.”
A number of others now came forward and entered. The fugitives stood clinging to one another as before, expecting the worst, and awaiting with intense anxiety the moment when lights would be introduced.
There was now the flash of sudden flames--some of them were striking matches. The flames leaped forth, and soon half a dozen torches were kindled, and then, blazing and smoking, they were held aloft, throwing a bright light upon the whole interior; while those who held them looked around without any other purpose, just then, than to find some convenient place where they might place them, so as to save themselves the trouble of holding them.
In that one instant the whole scene stood revealed.
There stood Brooke, with Talbot clinging to him; there Harry, with his arms round Katie; and there Ashby, supporting Dolores. And as Ashby and Harry stared at these noisy new-comers, they saw the familiar face of no less a person than ”His Majesty.”
At this sight they were filled with amazement and consternation. Yet their amazement, great though it may have been, was not greater than that of ”His Majesty.” For an instant he stood like one transfixed, and then exclaimed, in that peculiar English which he spoke,
”Howly Moses! but this bates the worruld!” and then stood staring at each of them.
At this exclamation Katie started. She recognized the voice at once; and, strange to say, all her terror fled. From that man she felt as if there was nothing to fear. She looked up, and showed her sweet face all smiles, with all its anxiety and all its terror vanished. Dolores also heard the English words, and looked up in surprise, recognizing at the first glance that familiar face. Harry and Ashby made the same discovery.
But there were other discoveries to be made. Their eyes, as the lights shone around, took in the whole scene; and it was with the deepest dismay and confusion that, on looking around, each one caught sight of his, or her, old lover; and, what was more, the feeling of each one was, that the other had come in pursuit, to claim that vow which each was breaking.
Harry saw Talbot, and felt sure that she had come after him to demand a new explanation, and to reproach him for this new perfidy. She had suffered, he felt, wrongs that were intolerable at his hands, and his heart sank within him at this new meeting. He seemed to himself base beyond all expression, and no words could be found with which he might excuse himself.
Brooke saw Dolores, and his only thought was that she had suspected him, had watched him, had tracked him, and had now come to overwhelm him with dishonor; and he felt that he must be dumb before her.
Ashby saw Katie, and thought that she had surely come in pursuit of him; that perhaps his suspicions had been unfounded; that she loved him; that she had only been trifling with Harry, and had come to tear him from Dolores.
Talbot saw Harry with guilty terror. She had fled from him, and intentionally. He had pursued; he had come to claim her hand--her promised hand!
Dolores saw Brooke with the same feelings. She knew him as the chivalrous American who had saved her life, and that of her mother, in their direst need; who had won her heart and the promise of her hand. She had broken her word--she had fled. What now? With what eyes could she look at him?
With what words could she speak to him?
Katie's face had lightened up with joy at the sight of ”His Majesty,” but the moment afterward it clouded over with fear and apprehension at the sight of Ashby. ”'Tis conscience doth make cowards of us all,” and conscience told her that she had treated Ashby very, very badly, and that he had followed her to make her keep her plighted word. And so she only clung to Harry more closely than ever.
And so, in fact, did the other couples. They all clung to one another more closely than ever. There was a moment of embarra.s.sment--intense, awful, tremendous.
The deep silence was broken by the voice of ”His Majesty.”
”Hersilf!” he cried, with his eyes fixed on Katie--”hersilf! begorra, it's hersilf! Shure an' it is! an' oh, but it's mesilf that's the lucky man this day! An' shure, an' may I dhrop dead if I iver saw sich a mayting as this! Shure, ye've forgotten all about my offer av the crown av Spain, an'
the sceptre, an' the throne. Begorra, ye've given up all that same for that bit av a boy that's a howldin' av ye. An' shure, we're all together again, so we are. Here's welcome to yez all--Messrs. Rivers, an' Ashby, an' the ladies, one an' all! Niver fear, I'll take good care av yez this toime! Only, what's become av Lord Russell? Begorra, it's mesilf that 'ud loike to have another look at that same!”
Talking in this way, with frequent pauses, ”His Majesty” succeeded in expressing his feelings, which had at first seemed quite too strong for utterance.
Meanwhile, the soldiers who had been inspecting the interior had found convenient places for fixing the torches, which now flared up, throwing a bright light around, and filling the tower with smoke.
During all this time the prisoners had been agitated by various feelings.