Part 108 (1/2)
What! can you think of your friend as he lies there in the next rooency, and have pity for him?”
”Oh!” cried Beatrice, ”is he noteyes, and trean to speak, but the words died away on her lips
”Your father!” said Despard; ”his acts have cut hihter's sys, at least for his dead son Never shall I forget his look of anguish as he stood on the balcony His face was turned this way He seemed to reproach me”
”Let me tell you,” cried Despard, harshly ”He has not yetI have a debt of vengeance to extort from him One scoundrel has been handed over to the law, another lies dead, another is in London in the hands of Langhetti's friends, the Carbonari The worst one yet reht from that dreadful shi+p”
”Your father's voice!” cried Beatrice She looked at Despard Their eyes lance which brought back the old,which she had known before Despard rose hastily and left the room
”In God's naht by me, nor the life of any of his I will tell you all When he compassed the death of Uracao, of whom you know, he obtained possession of his son, then a mere boy, and carried hiht him up with the idea that he was his best friend, and that he would one day show him his father's murderer After I made myself known to him, he told Vijal that I was this murderer Vijal tried to assassinate me I foiled him, and could have killed him But I spared his life I then told him the truth That is all that I have done Of course, I knew that Vijal would seek for vengeance That was not my concern Since Potts had sent hie of the truth I do not repent that told hieable to me The man that lies dead there is not my victim Yet if he were--oh, Beatrice! if he were--what then? Could that atone for what I have suffered? My father ruined and broken-hearted and dying in a poor-house calls to rant shi+p, and dying of the plague amidst horrors without a name calls to me Above all my sweet sister, my pure Edith--”
”Edith!” interrupted Beatrice--”Edith!”
”Yes; do you not know that? She was buried alive”
”What!” cried Beatrice; ”is it possible that you do not know that she is alive?”
”Alive!”
”Yes, alive; for when I was at Holly I saw her”
Brandon stood speechless with surprise
”Langhetti saved her,” said Beatrice ”His sister has charge of her now”
”Where, where is she?” asked Brandon, wildly
”In a convent at London”
At this moment Despard entered
”Is this true?” asked Brandon, with a deeper agitation than had ever yet been seen in him--”my sister, is it true that she is not dead?”
”It is true I should have told you,” said Despard, ”but other thoughts drove it fronorant”
”How is it possible? I was at Quebec ht over the world after my relatives--”
”I will tell you,” said Despard
He sat down and began to tell the story of Edith's voyage and all that Langhetti had done, down to the time of his rescue of her from death