Part 45 (2/2)
”Lanigan, Reilly is discovered.”
”Discovered, miss! good G.o.d, how was he discovered?”
”By his hands--by the whiteness of his beautiful hands. Now, Lanigan, Sir Robert, aware that he cannot act the tyrant at present, as he used to do, will instigate my father to some act of outrage against him; for you know, Lanigan, how cowardly, how cruel, how vindictive, the detestable villain is; and most a.s.suredly he will make my credulous and generous, but hot-tempered, father the instrument of his vengeance upon Reilly; and, besides, he will certainly urge him to bring about an immediate marriage between himself and me, to which, it is true, I would, and will die, sooner than consent. I will dine here, Lanigan, for I cannot bear to look upon my dear father, whom I am about to--” Here her tears interrupted her, and she could proceed no farther; at length she recovered herself, and resumed: ”I know,” she added, ”that Whitecraft is now detailing his discovery and his plans. Oh!! that, for Reilly's sake, I could become acquainted with them!”
”What would you wish for dinner, Miss Folliard?” asked Lanigan calmly.
”For dinner? oh, any thing, any thing; I care not what; but see Reilly, tell him I have a second key for the back gate in the garden, and also for the front; and, Lanigan--”
”Well, Miss Folliard; but, for G.o.d's sake, don't cry so; your eyes will get red, and your father may notice it.”
”True, thank you, Lanigan; and Reilly, besides, told me to keep myself calm; but how can I, Lanigan? Oh, my father! my beloved father! how can I abandon--desert him? No, Lanigan, I will not go; say to Reilly--say I have changed my mind; tell him that my affection for my father has overcome my love for him; say I will never marry--that my heart is his, and never will or can be another's. But then again--he, the n.o.ble-minded, the brave, the generous, the disinterested--alas! I know not what to do, Lanigan, nor how to act. If I remain here, they will strive to force this odious marriage on me; and then some fearful catastrophe will happen; for, sooner than marry Whitecraft, I would stab either him or myself. Either that, Lanigan, or I should go mad; for do you know, Lanigan, that there is insanity in our family, by my father's side?”
”Unfortunately I know it, Miss Folliard; your uncle died in a mad-house, and it was in that way the estate came to your father. But remember what you say Mr. Reilly told you; be calm; I will send up some light nouris.h.i.+ng dinner to you, at the usual hour; and in the meantime I will see him before then, and forge some excuse for bringing it up myself.”
”Stay, Lanigan, I am sadly perplexed; I scarcely know what I say; I am in a state of inconceivable distraction. Suppose I should change my mind; it is not unlikely; I am whirled about by a crowd of contending emotions; but--well--let me see--oh, yes--it will be as well, Lanigan, to have two horses ready saddled; that is no crime, I hope, if we should go. I must, of course, put on my riding habit.”
”Begging your pardon, Miss Folliard, you'll do no such thing; would you wish to have yourself discovered in the first inn you might put up at?
No, dress yourself in one of Connor's dresses so that you may appear as humble as possible, and any thing but a lady of rank; otherwise, it will be difficult for you to escape observation.”
”Well, Lanigan, all I can say is, that he and I shall place ourselves under your advice and guidance. But my father--oh, my dear father!” and again she wrung her hands and wept bitterly.
”Miss Helen,” said he, ”as sure as the Lord's in heaven, you will discover yourself; and, after all, how do you know that Sir Robert has found out Mr. Reilly? Sure it's nothing but bare suspicion on both your parts. At any rate, I'll saddle Paudeen O'Rafferty wid my own hands, and I'll put on Molly Crudden's big pillion, for you know she's too fat to walk to ma.s.s, and you will feel yourself quite easy and comfortable in it”
”No, no, Lanigan; I know not why the impression is on me; but I feel as if I were never to experience comfort more. Go to Mr. Reilly; make what arrangements he and you may think proper, and afterwards you can acquaint me with them. You see, Lanigan, in what a state of excitement and uncertainty I am. But tell Reilly that, rather than be forced into a marriage, with Whitecraft--rather than go distracted--rather than die--I shall fly with him.”
CHAPTER XIX.--Reilly's Disguise Penetrated
--Fergus Reilly is on the Trail of the Rapparee--He Escapes--Sir Robert begins to feel Confident of Success.
Lanigan, on pa.s.sing the dining parlor, heard what he conceived to be loud and angry voices inside the room, and as the coast was clear he deliberately put his ear to the key-hole, which ear drank in the following conversation:
”I say, Sir Robert, I'll shoot the villain. Do not hold me. My pistols are unloaded and loaded every day in the year; and ever since I transported that rebel priest I never go without them. But are you sure, Sir Robert? Is it not possible you may be mistaken? I know you are a suspicious fellow; but still, as I said, you are, for that very reason, the more liable to be wrong. But, if it is he, what's to be done, unless I shoot him?”
”Under the last Administration, sir, I could have answered your question; but you know that if you shoot him now you will be hanged.
All that's left for us is simply to effect this marriage the day after tomorrow; the doc.u.ments are all ready, and in the course of to-morrow the license can be procured. In the meantime, you must dispatch him to-night.”
”What do you mean, Sir Robert?”
”I say you must send him about his business. In point of fact, I think the fellow knows that he is discovered, and it is not unlikely that he may make an effort to carry off your daughter this very night.”
”But, Sir Robert, can we not seize him and surrender him to the authorities? Is he not an outlaw?”
”Unfortunately, Mr. Folliard, he is not an outlaw; I stretched a little too far there. It is true I got his name put into the _Hew and-Cry_, but upon representations which I cannot prove.”
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