Part 3 (1/2)
What rendered this more, odd, or indeed absolutely ludicrous, was the circ.u.mstance that, by a species of legerdemain, a whisper had pa.s.sed among the spectators so stealthily, and yet so soon, that the attorney and his companion were the only two on deck who remained ignorant of the person of the man they sought. Even the children caught the clue, though they had the art to indulge their natural curiosity by glances so sly as to escape detection.
Unfortunately, the attorney had sufficient knowledge of the family of the bride to recognize her by a general resemblance, rendered conspicuous as it was by a pallid face and an almost ungovernable nervous excitement. He pointed her out to the officer, who ordered her to approach him,--a command that caused her to burst into tears. The agitation and distress of his wife were near proving too much for the prudence of the young husband, who was making an impetuous movement towards her, when the strong grasp of a fellow-pa.s.senger checked him in time to prevent discovery. It is singular how much is understood by trifles when the mind has a clue to the subject, and how often signs, that are palpable as day, are overlooked when suspicion is not awakened, or when the thoughts have obtained a false direction. The attorney and the officer were the only two present who had not seen the indiscretion of the young man, and who did not believe him betrayed. His wife trembled to a degree that almost destroyed the ability to stand; but, casting an imploring look for self-command on her indiscreet partner, she controlled her own distress, and advanced towards the officer, in obedience to his order, with a power of endurance that the strong affections of a woman could alone enable her to a.s.sume.
”If the husband will not deliver himself up, I shall be compelled to order the wife to be carried ash.o.r.e in his stead!” the attorney coldly remarked, while he applied a pinch of snuff to a nose that was already saffron-coloured from the constant use of the weed.
A pause succeeded this ominous declaration, and the crowd of pa.s.sengers betrayed dismay, for all believed there was now no hope for the pursued.
The wife bowed her head to her knees, for she had sunk on a box as if to hide the sight of her husband's arrest. At this moment a voice spoke from among the group on the quarter-deck.
”Is this an arrest for crime, or a demand for debt?” asked the young man who has been announced as Mr. Blunt.
There was a quiet authority in the speaker's manner that rea.s.sured the failing hopes of the pa.s.sengers, while it caused the attorney and his companion to look round in surprise, and perhaps a little in resentment. A dozen eager voices a.s.sured ”the gentleman” there was no crime in the matter at all--there was even no just debt, but it was a villanous scheme to compel a wronged ward to release a fraudulent guardian from his liabilities. Though all this was not very clearly explained, it was affirmed with so much zeal and energy as to awaken suspicion, and to increase the interest of the more intelligent portion of the spectators.
The attorney surveyed the travelling dress, the appearance of fas.h.i.+on, and the youth of his interrogator, whose years could not exceed five-and-twenty, and his answer was given with an air of superiority.
”Debt or crime, it can matter nothing in the eye of the law.”
”It matters much in the view of an honest man,” returned the youth with spirit. ”One might hesitate about interfering in behalf of a rogue, however ready to exert himself in favour of one who is innocent, perhaps, of every thing but misfortune.”
”This looks a little like an attempt at a rescue! I hope we are still in England, and under the protection of English laws?”
”No doubt at all of that, Mr. Seal,” put in the captain, who having kept an eye on the officer from a distance, now thought it time to interfere, in order to protect the interests of his owners. ”Yonder is England, and that is the Isle of Wight, and the Montauk has hold of an English bottom, and good anchorage it is; no one means to dispute your authority, Mr.
Attorney, nor to call in question that of the king. Mr. Blunt merely throws out a suggestion, sir; or rather, a distinction between rogues and honest men; nothing more, depend on it, sir.--Mr. Seal, Mr. Blunt; Mr.
Blunt, Mr. Seal. And a thousand pities it is, that a distinction is not more commonly made.”
The young man bowed slightly, and with a face flushed, partly with feeling, and partly at finding himself unexpectedly conspicuous among so many strangers, he advanced a little from the quarter-deck group, like one who feels he is required to maintain the ground he has a.s.sumed.
”No one can be disposed to question the supremacy of the English laws in this roadstead,” he said, ”and least of all myself; but you will permit me to doubt the legality of arresting, or in any manner detaining, a wife in virtue of a process issued against the husband.”
”A briefless barrister!” muttered Seal to Grab. ”I dare say a timely guinea would have silenced the fellow. What is now to be done?”
”The lady must go ash.o.r.e, and all these matters can be arranged before a magistrate.”
”Ay, ay! let her sue out a _habeas corpus_ if she please,” added the ready attorney, whom a second survey caused to distrust his first inference.
”Justice is blind in England as well as in other countries, and is liable to mistakes; but still she is just. If she does mistake sometimes, she is always ready to repair the wrong.”
”Cannot _you_ do something here?” Eve involuntarily half-whispered to Mr.
Sharp, who stood at her elbow.
This person started on hearing her voice making this sudden appeal, and glancing a look of intelligence at her, he smiled and moved nearer to the princ.i.p.al parties.
”Really, Mr. Attorney,” he commenced, ”this appears to be rather irregular, I must confess,--quite out of the ordinary way, and it may lead to unpleasant consequences.”
”In what manner, sir?” interrupted Seal, measuring the other's ignorance at a glance.
”Why, irregular in form, if not in principle. I am aware that the _habeas corpus_ is all-essential, and that the law must have its way; but really this does seem a little irregular, not to describe it by any harsher term.”
Mr. Seal treated this new appeal respectfully, in appearance at least, for he saw it was made by one greatly his superior, while he felt an utter contempt for it in essentials, as he perceived intuitively that this new intercession was made in a profound ignorance of the subject. As respects Mr. Blunt, however, he had an unpleasant distrust of the result, the quiet manner of that gentleman denoting more confidence in himself, and a greater practical knowledge of the laws. Still, to try the extent of the other's information, and the strength of his nerves, he rejoined in a magisterial and menacing tone--
”Yes, let the lady sue out a writ of _habeas corpus_ if wrongfully arrested; and I should be glad to discover the foreigner who will dare to attempt a rescue in old England, and in defiance of English laws.”