Part 20 (1/2)
”And as for the debt,the oaken table of the hall with his clenched hand, ”it is a debt that shall be paid, a debt which this gentleman whom you defend would not permit e!--and with interest, for in the payment I may risk my very life”
”I see no interest in that, since you risk nothing more than what you owe hi tears to his eyes But if he lacked the manliness to restrain them, he possessed at least the shame to turn his back and hide them from her
”But tell e, as the nature of this bargain?”
He was silent for ahimself to speak--his hands clasped behind his back, and his eyes bent towards the polished floor which the evening sunlight, filtered through the gules of the leaded s, splashed here and there with a crireat leathern chair at the head of the board, and, watching hi whether he was bound to secrecy in the matter, and in the end he resolved that he was not Thereupon, pausing before her, he succinctly told the story Crispin had related to hi, that none but a craven could have left unavenged He added nothing to it, subtracted nothing from it, but told the tale as it had been told to hiht, the memory of which had still power to draw a shudder froer eyes, drinking in that touching narrative of suffering that was rather as so one Noith sorrow and pity in her heart and countenance, noith anger and loathing, she listened until he had done, and even when he ceased speaking, and flung himself into the nearest chair, she sat on in silence for a spell
Then of a sudden she turned a pair of flashi+ng eyes upon the boy, and in tones charged with a scorn ineffable:
”You dare,” she cried, ”to speak of thatwhat he has suffered, you dare to rail in his absence against those sins to which his misfortunes have driven him? How, think you, would it have fared with you, you fool, had you stood in the shoes of this unfortunate? Had you fallen on your craven knees, and thanked the Lord for allowing you to keep your miserable life? Had you succumbed to the blows of fate with a whine of texts upon your lips? Who are you?”
she went on, rising, breathless in her wrath, which caused hiht before her ”Who are you, and what are you, that knohat you know of this ment upon his actions and condemn them? Answer me, you fool!”
But never a word had he ith to ry, contemptuous questions The answer that had been so ready to his lips that night at Worcester, when, in a ht had set him the same question, he dared not proffer now The retort that Sir Crispin had not cause enough in the evil of others, which had wrecked his life, to risk the eternal dah had he said to that stern man that which he dared not say now to this sterner beauty Perhaps it was fear of her that made him dumb, perhaps that at last he knew himself for what he was by contrast with the o
Shrinking back before her anger, he racked his shallowanswer But ere he had found one, a heavy step sounded in the gallery that overlooked the hall, and a hastly white, and a heavy frown furrowed the space betwixt his brows
In the fleeting glance she bestowed upon her father, she remarked not the disorder of his countenance; whilst as for Kenneth, he had enough to hold his attention for the tiory's advent set an aard constraint upon them, nor had he any word to say as he ca table he paused, and resting his hand upon the board, he see when of a sudden a sound reached him that caused him to draw a sharp breath; it was the rumble of wheels and the crack of a whip
”It is Joseph!” he cried, in a voice the relief of which was so marked that Cynthia noticed it And with that exclah the doorway to meet his brother so opportunely returned
He reached the terrace steps as the coach pulled up, and the lean figure of Joseph Ashburn e, ”it was on a fool's errand you sent er, found me in London at last when I had outworn my welco the pallor, of his brother's face, ”what ails thee?”
”I have news for you, Joseph,” answered Gregory, in a voice that shook
”It is not Cynthia?” he inquired ”Nay, for there she stands-and her pretty lover by her side 'Slife, what a coxcorown”
And with that he hastened forward to kiss his niece, and congratulate Kenneth upon being restored to her
”I heard of it, lad, in London,” quoth he, a leer upon his sallow face--”the story of how a fire-eater named Galliard befriended you, trussed a parson and a trooper, and dragged you out of jail a short hour before hanging-time”
Kenneth flushed He felt the sneer in Joseph's, words like a stab The man's tone implied that another had done for him that which he would not have dared do for himself, and Kenneth felt that this was so said in Cynthia's presence with ht Partly it was Joseph's way to be spiteful and venomous whenever chance afforded him the opportunity Partly he had been particularly soured at present by his recent discomforts, suffered in a cause ith he had no, syory desired 'twixt Cynthia and Kenneth
There was an evil sly upon the young ory plucked at the skirts of his coat, and drew him aside They entered the chamber where they had held their last interview before Joseph had set out for news of Kenneth With an air of ory closed the door, then turned to face his brother He stayed hi his sword-belt
”Wait, Joseph!” he cried dramatically ”This is no tih, man; you will need it as you never yet have needed it” He paused, took a deep breath, and hurled the news at his brother ”Roland Marleigh is here” And he sat down like a man exhausted
Joseph did not start; he did not cry out; he did not so ht quiver of the eyelids was the only outward sign he gave of the shock that his brother's announcement had occasioned The hand that had rested on the buckle of his sword-belt slipped quietly to his side, and he deliberately stepped up to Gregory, his eyes set searchingly upon the pale, flabby face before hih his orously