CHAPTER XLV
THE MAN IN THE CLOAK – AND HIS BED-CHAMBER
As O'Connor approached the outer door through which he was to pass to certain and speedy death, it were not easy to describe or analyze his sensations; every object he beheld in the brief glance he cast around him as he passed along the hall appeared invested with a strangely sharp and vivid intensity of distinctness, and had in its aspect something indefinably spectral and ghastly – like things beheld under the terrific spell of a waking nightmare. His tremendous situation seemed to him something unreal, incredible; he walked in an appalling dream; in vain he strove to fix his thoughts myriads and myriads of scenes and incidents, never remembered since childhood's days, now with strange distinctness and wild rapidity whirled through his brain. The hall-door stood half open, and the fellow who led the way had almost reached it, when it was on a sudden thrown wide, and a figure, muffled in a cloak, confronted the funeral procession.
The foremost man raised the ponderous weapon which he carried, and held it poised in the air, ready to shiver the head of the intruder should he venture to advance – the two guards who held O'Connor halted at the same time.
"How's this, Cormack!" said the stranger. "Do you lift your weapon against the life of a friend? – rub your eyes and waken – how is it you cannot know me? – you've been drinking, sirrah."
At the sound of the speaker's voice the man at once lowered his hatchet and withdrew, a little sulkily, like a rebuked mastiff.
"What means all this?" continued he in the cloak, looking searchingly at the party in the rear; "whom have we got here? – where made you this prisoner? So, so – this must be looked to. How were you about to deal with him, fellow?" he added, addressing himself to him whom he had first encountered.
"According to orders, captain," replied the man, doggedly.
"And how may that have been?" interrogated the gentleman in the cloak.
"End him," replied he, sulkily.
"Has he been before the council in the great parlour?" inquired the stranger.
"Yes, captain – long enough, too," replied the fellow.
"And they have ordered this execution?" added the newly arrived.
"Yes, sir – who else? Come on, boys – bring him out, will you? Time is running short," he added, addressing his comrades, and himself approaching the door.
"Re-conduct the prisoner to the council-board," said the stranger, in a tone of command.
Without a moment's hesitation they obeyed the order; and O'Connor, followed by the muffled figure of the stranger, for the second time entered the apartment where his relentless judges sate.
The new-comer strode up the room to the table at which the self-styled council were seated.
"God save you, gentlemen," said he, "and prosper the good work ye have taken in hand;" and thus speaking, he removed and cast upon the table his hat and cloak, thereby revealing the square-built form and harsh features of O'Hanlon.
O'Connor no sooner recognized the traits of his mysterious acquaintance, than he felt a hope which thrilled with a strange agony of his heart – a hope – almost a conviction – that he should escape; and unaccountable though it may appear, in this hope he felt more unmanned and agitated than he had done but a few moments before, in the apparent certainty of immediate and inevitable destruction.
The salutation of O'Hanlon was warmly, almost enthusiastically, returned, and after this interchange of friendly greeting, and a few brief questions and answers touching comparatively indifferent matters, he glanced toward O'Connor, and said, —
"I've so far presumed upon my favour with you, gentlemen, as to stay your orders in respect of that young gentleman, whom, it would appear, you have judged worthy of death. Death is a matter whose importance I've never very much insisted upon – that you know – at least, several among you, gentlemen, well know it, for you have seen me deal it somewhat unsparingly when the cause required it; but I profess I do not care in cool blood to take life upon insufficient reason. Life is lightly taken; but once gone, who can restore it? Therefore, I think it very meet that patient consideration should be had of all cases, when such deliberation is possible and convenient, before proceeding to the last irrevocable extremity. Pray you inform me upon what charges does this youth stand convicted, that his life should be forfeit?"
"It is briefly told," replied the priest. "On my way hither I encountered him; we rode and conversed together; and conjecturing that he travelled on the same errand as myself, I talked to him more freely than in all discretion I ought to have done. I discovered my mistake, and at Chapelizod I turned and left him, telling him with threats not to follow me; yet scarcely had I been here ten minutes, when this gentleman is found lurking near the house – and about to enter it. He is seized, bound, brought in here, and witnesses our assembly and proceedings. Under these suspicious circumstances, and with the knowledge of our meeting and its objects, were it wise to let him go? Surely not so – but the veriest madness."
"Young man," said O'Hanlon, turning to O'Connor, "what say you to this?"
"No more than what I already told these gentlemen – simply, that taking the upper level to avoid the sloughs by the river side, I became in the darkness entangled in the dense woods which cover these grounds, and at length, after groping my way through the trees as best I might, arrived by the merest chance at this place, and without the slightest knowledge, or even suspicion, either that I was following the course taken by that gentleman, or intruding myself upon any secret councils. I have no more to say – this is the simple truth."
"Well, gentlemen," said O'Hanlon, "you hear the prisoner's defence. What think you?"
"We have decided already, and he has now produced nothing new in his favour. I see no reason why we should alter our decision," replied the priest.
"You would, then, put him to death?" inquired he.
"Assuredly," replied the priest, calmly.
"But this shall not be, gentlemen; he shall not die. You shall slay me first," replied O'Hanlon. "I know this youth; and every word he has spoken I believe. He is the son of one who risked his life a hundred times, and lost all for the sake of the king and his country – one who, throughout the desperate and fruitless struggles of Irish loyalty, was in the field my constant comrade, and a braver and a better one none ever need desire. The son of such a man shall not perish by our hands; and for the risk of his talking elsewhere of this night's adventure, I will be his surety, with my life, that he mentions it to no one, and nowhere."
A silence of some seconds followed this unexpected declaration.
"Be it so, then," said the priest; "for my part, I offer no resistance."
"So say I," added the person who sat with the papers by him at the extremity of the board. "On you, however, Captain O'Hanlon, rest the whole responsibility of this act."
"On me alone. Were there the possibility of treason in that youth, I would myself perish ere I should move a hand to save him," replied O'Hanlon. "I gladly take upon myself the whole accountability, and all the consequences of the act."
"Your life and liberty are yours, sir," said the priest, addressing O'Connor; "see that you abuse neither to our prejudice. Unbind and let the prisoner go."
"Stay," said O'Hanlon. "Mr. O'Connor, I have one request to make."
"It is granted ere it is made. What can I return you in exchange for my life?" replied O'Connor.
"I wish to speak with you to-night," continued O'Hanlon, "on matters which concern you nearly. You will remain here – you can have a chamber. Farewell for the present. Conduct Mr. O'Connor to my apartment," he added, addressing the attendants, who were employed in loosening the strained cords which bound his hands; and with this direction, O'Hanlon mingled with the group at the hearth, and began to converse with them in a low voice.
O'Connor followed his guide through a narrow, damp-stained corridor, with tiled flooring, and up a broad staircase, with heavy oaken balustrades, and steps whose planks seemed worn by the tread of centuries; and then along another passage, more cheerless still than the first – several of the narrow windows, by which in the daytime it was lighted, had now lost every vestige of glass, and even of the wooden framework in which it had been fixed, and gave free admission to the fitful night-wind, as well as to the straggling boughs of ivy which mantled the old walls and clustered shelteringly about the ruined casements. Screening the candle which he carried behind the flap of his coat, to prevent its being extinguished by the gusts which somewhat rudely swept the narrow passage, the man led O'Connor to a chamber, which they both entered. It was not quite so cheerless as the desolate condition of the approach to it might have warranted one in expecting; a wood-fire, which had been recently replenished, blazed and crackled briskly upon the hearth, and shed an uncertain but cheerful glow through the recesses of the chamber. It was a spacious apartment, hung with stamped leather, in many places stained and rotted by the damp, and here and there hanging in rags from the wall, and exposing the bare, mildewed plaster beneath. The furniture was scanty, and in keeping with the place – old, dark, and crazy; and a wretched bed, with very spare covering, was, as it seemed, temporarily strewn upon the floor, near the hearth. The man placed the candle upon a small table, black with age, and patched and crutched up like a battered pensioner, and flinging some more wood upon the fire, turned and left the room in silence.
Alone, his first employment was to review again and again the strange events of that night; his next was to conjecture the nature of O'Hanlon's promised communication. Baffled in these latter speculations, he applied himself to examine the old chamber in which he sat, and to endeavour to trace the half-obliterated pattern of the tattered hangings. These occupations, along with sundry speculations just as idle, touching the original of a grim old portrait, faded and torn, which hung over the fireplace, filled up the tedious hours which preceded his expected interview with his preserver.
At length the weary interval elapsed, and the anxiously expected moment arrived. The door opened, and O'Hanlon entered. He approached the young man, who advanced to meet him, and extending his hand, grasped that of O'Connor with a warm and friendly pressure.
CHAPTER XLVI
THE DOUBLE CONFERENCE – OLD PAPERS
"When last I saw you," said O'Hanlon, seating himself before the hearth, and motioning O'Connor to take a chair also, "I told you that you ought to tame your rash young blood, and gave you thereupon an old soldier's best advice. It seems, however, that you are wayward and headlong still. Young soldiers look for danger – old ones are content to meet it when it comes, knowing well that it will come often enough, uninvited and unsought; nevertheless, we will pass by this night's adventure, and turn to other matters. First, however, it were meet and necessary that you should have somewhat to refresh you; you must needs be weary and exhausted."
"If you can give me some wine, it will be very welcome. I care not for anything more to-night," replied O'Connor.
"That can I," replied he, "and will myself do you reason." He arose, and after a few minutes' absence entered with two flasks, whose dust and cobwebs bespoke their antiquity, and filled two large, long-stemmed glasses with the generous liquor.
"Young man," said O'Hanlon, "from the moment I saw you in the inner room yonder, I know not how or wherefore my heart clave to you; and now knowing you for the son of my true friend, I feel for you the stronger love. I will tell you now how matters stand with us. I will hide nothing from you. I am old enough to have learned the last lesson of experience – the folly of too much suspicion. I will not distrust the son of Richard O'Connor. I need hardly tell you that those men whom you saw below stairs are no friends of the ruling powers, but devoted entirely to the service and the fortunes of the rightful heir of the throne of England and of Ireland, met here together not without great peril."
"I had conjectured as much from what I myself witnessed," rejoined O'Connor.
"Well, then, I tell you this – the cause is not a hopeless one; the exiled king has warm, zealous, and powerful friends where their existence is least suspected," continued O'Hanlon. "In the Parliament of England he has a strong and untiring party undetected – some of them, too, must soon wield the enormous powers of government, and have already gotten entire possession of the ear of the Queen; and so soon as events invite, and the time is ripe for action, a mighty and a sudden constitutional movement will be made in favour of the prince – a movement entirely constitutional and in the Parliament. This will, whether successful or not, raise the intolerant party here into fierce resistance – the resistance of the firelock and the sword; all the usurpers, the perjurers, and the plunderers who now possess the wealth and dignities of this spoiled and oppressed country, will arise in terror to defend their booty, and unless met and encountered, and defeated by the party of the young king in this island, will embolden the malignant rebels of the sister country to imitate their example, and so overawe the Parliament, and frustrate their beneficent intentions. To us, therefore, has fallen the humbler but important task of organizing here, in the heart of this country, and in entire secrecy, a power sufficient for the occasion. Fain would I have thee along with us in so great and good a work, but will not urge you now; think upon it, however – it is not so mad a scheme as you may have thought, but such a one as looked on calmly, with the cold eye of reason, seems practicable – ay, sure of success. Ponder the matter, then; give me no answer now – I will take none – but think well upon it, and after a week, and not sooner, when you have decided, tell me whether you will be one of us or not. Meanwhile, I have other matters to tell you of, in which perhaps your young heart will take a nearer interest."
He paused, and having replenished their glasses, and thrown a fresh supply of wood upon the fire, he continued, —
"Are you acquainted with a family named Ashwoode?"
"Yes," replied O'Connor, quickly, "I have known them long."
O'Hanlon looked searchingly at the young man, and then continued, —
"Yes," said he, "I see it is even so – your face betrays it – you loved the young lady, Mary Ashwoode – deny it not – I am your friend, and seek not idly or without purpose thus to question you. What thought you of Henry Ashwoode, now Sir Henry Ashwoode?"
"He was latterly much —entirely my friend," replied O'Connor.
"He so professed himself?" asked O'Hanlon.
"Ay," replied O'Connor, somewhat surprised at the tone in which the question was put, "he did so profess himself, and repeatedly."
"He is a villain – he has betrayed you," said the elder man, sternly.
"How – what – a villain! Henry Ashwoode deceive me?" said O'Connor, turning pale as death.
"Yes – unless I've been strangely practised on – he has villainously deceived alike you and his own sister – pretending friendship, he has sowed distrust between you."
"But have you evidence of what you say?" cried O'Connor. "Gracious God – what have I done!"
"I have evidence, and you shall hear and judge of it yourself," replied O'Hanlon; "you cannot hear it to-night, however, nor I produce it – you need some rest, and so in truth do I – make use of that poor bed – a tired brain and weary body need no luxurious couch – I shall see you in the morning betimes – till then farewell."
The young man would fain have detained O'Hanlon, and spoken with him, but in vain.
"We have talked enough for this night," said the elder man – "I have it not in my power now to satisfy you – I shall, however, in the morning – I have taken measures for the purpose – good-night."
So saying, O'Hanlon left the chamber, and closed the door upon his young friend, now less than ever disposed to slumber.
He threw himself upon the pallet, the victim of a thousand harassing and exciting thoughts – sleep was effectually banished; and at length, tired of the fruitless attitude of repose which he courted in vain, he arose and resumed his seat by the hearth, in anxious and weary expectation of the morning.
At length the red light of the dawn broke over the smoky city, and with a dusky glow the foggy sun emerged from the horizon of chimney-tops, and threw his crimson mantle of ruddy light over the hoary thorn-wood and the shattered mansion, beneath whose roof had passed the scenes we have just described. Never did the sick wretch, who in sleepless anguish has tossed and fretted through the tedious watches of the night, welcome the return of day with more cordial greeting than did O'Connor upon this dusky morn. The time which was to satisfy his doubts could not now be far distant, and every sound which smote upon his ear seemed to announce the approach of him who was to dispel them all.
Weary, haggard, and nervous after the fatigues and agitation of the previous day – unrefreshed by the slumbers he so much required, his irritation and excitement were perhaps even greater than under other circumstances they would have been. The torments of suspense were at length, however, ended – he did hear steps approach the chamber – the steps evidently of more than one person – the door opened, and O'Hanlon, followed by Signor Parucci, entered the room.
"I believe, young gentleman, you have seen this person before?" said O'Hanlon, addressing O'Connor, while he glanced at the Italian.
O'Connor assented.
"Ah! yees," said the Neapolitan, with a winning smile; "he has see me vary often. Signor O'Connor – he know me vary well. I am so happy to see him again – vary – oh! vary."
"Let Mr. O'Connor know briefly and distinctly what you have already told me," said O'Hanlon.
"About the letters?" asked the Italian.
"Yes, be brief," replied O'Hanlon.
"Ah! did he not guess?" rejoined the Neapolitan; "per crilla! the deception succeed, then – vary coning faylow was old Sir Richard – bote not half so coning as his son, Sir Henry. He never suspect – Mr. O'Connor never doubt, bote took all the letters and read them just so as Sir Henry said he would. Malora! what great meesfortune."
"Parucci, speak plainly to the point; I cannot endure this. Say at once what has he done —how have I been deceived?" cried O'Connor.
"You remember when the old gentleman – Mr. Audley, I think he is call – saw Sir Richard – immediately after that some letters passed between you and Mees Mary Ashwoode."
"I do remember it – proceed," replied O'Connor.
"Mees Mary's letters to you were cold and unkind, and make you think she did not love you any more," added Parucci.
"Well, well – say on – say on – for God's sake, man – say on," cried O'Connor, vehemently.
"Those letters you got were not written by her," continued the Italian, coolly; "they were all wat you call forged– written by another person, and planned by Sir Henry and Sir Reechard; and the same way on the other side – the letters you wrote to her were all stopped, and read by the same two gentlemen, and other letters written in stead, and she is breaking her heart, because she thinks you 'av betrayed her, and given her up —rotta di collo! they 'av make nice work!"
"Prove this to me, prove it," said O'Connor, wildly, while his eye burned with the kindling fire of fury.
"I weel prove it," rejoined Parucci, but with an agitated voice and a troubled face; "bote, corpo di Plato, you weel keel me if I tell – promise – swear – by your honour – you weel not horte me – you weel not toche me – swear, Signor, and I weel tell."
"Miserable caitiff – speak, and quickly – you are safe – I swear it," rejoined he.
"Well, then," resumed the Italian, with restored calmness, "I will prove it so that you cannot doubt any more – it was I that wrote the letters for them – I, myself – and beside, here is the bundle with all of them written out for me to copy – most of them by Sir Henry – you know his hand-writing – you weel see the character —corbezzoli! he is a great rogue – and you will find all the real letters from you and Mees Mary that were stopped – I have them here."
He here disengaged from the deep pocket of his coat, a red leathern case stamped with golden flowers, and opening it presented it to the young man.
With shifting colour and eyes almost blinded with agitation, O'Connor read and re-read these documents.
"Where is Ashwoode?" at length he cried; "bring me to him – gracious God, what a monster I must have appeared – will she —can she ever forgive me?"
Disregarding in entire contempt the mean agent of Ashwoode's villainy, and thinking only of the high-born principal, O'Connor, pale as death, but with perfect deliberateness, arose and took the sword which the attendant who conducted him to the room had laid by the wall, and replacing it at his side, said sternly, —
"Bring me to Sir Henry Ashwoode – where is he? I must speak with him."
"I cannot breeng you to him now," replied Parucci, in internal ecstasies, "for I cannot say where he is; bote I know vary well where he weel be to-day after dinner time, in the evening, and I weel breeng you; bote I hope very moche you are not intending any mischiefs; if I thought so, I would be vary sorry – oh! vary."
"Well, be it so, if it may not be sooner," said O'Connor, gloomily, "this evening at all events he shall account with me."
"Meanwhile," said O'Hanlon, "you may as well remain here; and when the time arrives which this Italian fellow names, we can start. I will accompany you, for in such cases the arm of a friend can do you no harm and may secure you fair play. Hear me, you Italian scoundrel, remain here until we are ready to depart with you, and that shall be whenever you think it time to seek Sir Henry Ashwoode; you shall have enough to eat and drink meanwhile; depart, and relieve us of your company."
Signor Parucci smiled sweetly from ear to ear, shrugged, and bowed, and then glided lightly from the room, exulting in the pleasant conviction that he had commenced operations against his ungrateful patron, by involving him in a scrape which must inevitably result in somewhat unpleasant exposures, and which had beside reduced the question of Sir Henry's life or death to an even chance.