DISCHARGED FROM DUTY
While loyalty thus rejoiced and throve in the warmth of its own
geniality, a man who was loyal to himself alone, and had no geniality
about him, was watching with contempt these British doings. Carne had
tethered his stout black horse, who deserved a better master, in a dusky
dell of dark-winged trees at the back of the eastern shrubbery. Here the
good horse might rest unseen, and consider the mysterious ways of men;
for the main approach was by the western road, and the shades of evening
stretched their arms to the peaceful yawn of sunset. And here he found
good stuff spread by nature, more worthy of his attention, and
tucking back his forelegs, fared as well as the iron between his teeth
permitted.
Then the master drew his green riding-coat of thin velvet closer round
him, and buttoned the lappet in front, because he had heavy weight in
the pockets. Keeping warily along the lines of shadow, he gained a place
of vantage in the shrubbery, a spot of thick shelter having loops of
outlook. Above and around him hung a curtain of many-pointed ilex,
and before him a barberry bush, whose coral clusters caught the waning
light. In this snug nook he rested calmly, leaning against the ilex
trunk, and finished his little preparations for anything adverse to his
plans. In a belt which was hidden by his velvet coat he wore a short
dagger in a sheath of shagreen, and he fixed it so that he could draw it
in a moment, without unfastening the riding-coat. Then from the pockets
on either side he drew a pair of pistols, primed them well from a little
flask, and replaced them with the butts beneath the lappets. “Death for
at least three men,” he muttered, “if they are fools enough to meddle
with me. My faith, these Darlings are grown very grand, on the strength
of the land that belongs to us!”
For he heard the popping of champagne corks, and the clink of abundant
silver, and tuning of instruments by the band, and he saw the flash of
lights, and the dash of serving-men, and the rush of hot hospitality;
and although he had not enough true fibre in his stomach to yearn for
a taste of the good things going round, there can be little doubt, from
what he did thereafter, that his gastric juices must have turned to
gall.
With all these sounds and sights and scents of things that he had no
right to despise, his patience was tried for an hour and a half, or at
any rate he believed so. The beautiful glow in the west died out, where
the sun had been ripening his harvest-field of sheafy gold and awny
cloud; and the pulse of quivering dusk beat slowly, so that a man might
seem to count it, or rather a child, who sees such things, which later
men lose sight of. The forms of the deepening distances against the
departure of light grew faint, and prominent points became obscure, and
lines retired into masses, while Carne maintained his dreary watch,
with his mood becoming darker. As the sound of joyful voices, and of
good-will doubled by good fare, came to his unfed vigil from the open
windows of the dining-room, his heart was not enlarged at all, and
the only solace for his lips was to swear at British revelry. For the
dining-room was at the western end, some fifty yards away from him, and
its principal window faced the sunset, but his lurking-place afforded a
view of the southern casements obliquely. Through these he had seen
that the lamps were brought, and heard the increase of merry noise, the
clapping of hands, and the jovial cheers at the rising of the popular
Marquis.
At last he saw a white kerchief waved at the window nearest to him, the
window of the Admiral's little study, which opened like a double door
upon the eastern grass-plat. With an ill-conditioned mind, and body
stiff and lacking nourishment, he crossed the grass in a few long
strides, and was admitted without a word.
“What a time you have been! I was giving it up,” he whispered to the
trembling Dolly. “Where are the candles? I must strike a light. Surely
you might have brought one. Bolt the door, while I make a light, and
close the curtains quietly, but leave the window open. Don't shake, like
a child that is going to be whipped. Too late now for nonsense. What are
you afraid of? Silly child!”
As he spoke he was striking a light in a little French box containing a
cube of jade, and with very little noise he lit two candles standing on
the high oak desk. Dolly drew a curtain across the window, and then
went softly to the door, which opened opposite the corner of a narrow
passage, and made pretence to bolt it, but shot the bolt outside the
socket.
“Come and let me look at you,” said Carne, for he knew that he had
been rough with her, and she was not of the kind that submits to that.
“Beauty, how pale you look, and yet how perfectly lovely in this evening
gown! I should like to kill the two gentlemen who sat next to you at
dinner. Darling, you know that whatever I do is only for your own sweet
sake.”
“If you please not to touch me, it will be better,” said the lady,
not in a whisper, but a firm and quiet voice, although her hands were
trembling; “you are come upon business, and you should do it.”
If Carne had but caught her in his arms, and held her to his heart, and
vowed that all business might go to the devil while he held his angel
so, possibly the glow of nobler feelings might have been lost in
the fire of passion. But he kept his selfish end alone in view, and
neglected the womanly road to it.
“A despatch from London arrived today; I must see it,” he said, shortly;
“as well as the copy of the answer sent. And then my beauty must insert
a NOT in the order to be issued in the morning, or otherwise invert its
meaning, simply to save useless bloodshed. The key for a moment, the
key, my darling, of this fine old piece of furniture!”
“Is it likely that I would give you the key? My father always keeps it.
What right have you with his private desk? I never promised anything so
bad as that.”
“I am not to be trifled with,” he whispered, sternly. “Do you think that
I came here for kissing? The key I must have, or break it open; and how
will you explain that away?”
His rudeness settled her growing purpose. The misery of indecision
vanished; she would do what was right, if it cost her life. Her face was
as white as her satin dress, but her dark eyes flashed with menace.
“There is a key that opens it,” she said, as she pointed to the
bookcase; “but I forbid you to touch it, sir.”
Carne's only reply was to snatch the key from the upper glass door of
the book-shelves, which fitted the lock of the Admiral's desk, though
the owner was not aware of it. In a moment the intruder had unlocked the
high and massive standing-desk, thrown back the cover, and placed one
candlestick among the documents. Many of them he brushed aside, as
useless for his purpose, and became bewildered among the rest, for the
Commander of the Coast-defence was not a man of order. He never knew
where to put a thing, nor even where it might have put itself, but found
a casual home for any paper that deserved it. This lack of method has
one compensation, like other human defects, to wit, that it puzzles a
clandestine searcher more deeply than cypher or cryptogram. Carne had
the Admiral's desk as wide as an oyster thrown back on his valve, and
just being undertucked with the knife, to make him go down easily. Yet
so great was the power of disorder that nothing could be made out of
anything. “Watch at the door,” he had said to Dolly; and this suited her
intention.
For while he was thus absorbed, with his back towards her, she opened
the door a little, and presently saw the trusty Charles come hurrying
by, as if England hung upon his labours. “Tell my father to come here
this moment; go softly, and say that I sent you.” As she finished her
whisper she closed the door, without any sound, and stood patiently.
“Show me where it is; come and find it for me. Everything here is in
the vilest mess,” cried Carne, growing reckless with wrath and hurry.
“I want the despatch of this morning, and I find tailors' bills, way to
make water-proof blacking, a list of old women, and a stump of old pipe!
Come here, this instant, and show me where it is.”
“If you forget your good manners,” answered Dolly, still keeping in the
dark near the door, “I shall have to leave you. Surely you have practice
enough in spying, to find what you want, with two candles.”
Carne turned for a moment, and stared at her. Her attitude surprised
him, but he could not believe in her courage to rebel. She stood with
her back to the door, and met his gaze without a sign of fear.
“There are no official papers here,” he said, after another short
ransack; “there must have been some, if this desk is the one. Have you
dared to delude me by showing the wrong desk?”
Dolly met his gaze still, and then walked towards him. The band had
struck up, and the company were singing with a fine patriotic roar,
which rang very nobly in the distance--“Britannia, rule the waves!”
Dolly felt like a Briton as the words rolled through her, and the melody
lifted her proud heart.
“You have deluded yourself,” she said, standing proudly before the
baffled spy; “you have ransacked my father's private desk, which I
allowed you to do, because my father has no secrets. He leaves it open
half the time, because he is a man of honour. He is not a man of plots,
and wiles, and trickery upon women. And you have deluded yourself, in
dreaming that a daughter of his would betray her Country.”
“By the God that made me, I will have your life!” cried Carne in
French, as he dashed his hand under his coat to draw his dagger; but the
pressure of the desk had displaced that, so that he could not find it.
She thought that her time was come, and shrieked--for she was not at all
heroic, and loved life very dearly--but she could not take her eyes from
his, nor turn to fly from the spell of them; all she could do was to
step back; and she did so into her father's arms.
“Ho!” cried the Admiral, who had entered with the smile of good cheer
and good company glowing on his fine old countenance; “my Dolly and a
stranger at my private desk! Mr. Carne! I have had a glass or two of
wine, but my eyes must be playing me extraordinary tricks. A gentleman
searching my desk, and apparently threatening my dear daughter! Have the
kindness to explain, before you attempt to leave us.”
If the curtain had not been drawn across the window, Carne would have
made his escape, and left the situation to explain itself. But the stuff
was thick, and it got between his legs; and before he could slip
away, the stout old Admiral had him by the collar with a sturdy grasp,
attesting the substance of the passing generation. And a twinkle of
good-humour was in the old eyes still--such a wonder was his Dolly that
he might be doing wrong in laying hands of force upon a visitor of hers.
Things as strange as this had been within his knowledge, and proved to
be of little harm--with forbearance. But his eyes grew stern, as Carne
tried to dash his hand off.
“If you value your life, you will let me go,” said the young man to the
old one.
“I will not let you go, sir, till you clear up this. A gentleman must
see that he is bound to do so. If I prove to be wrong, I will apologise.
What! Are you going to fire at me? You would never be such a coward!”
He dropped upon the floor, with a bullet in his brain, and his course of
duty ended. Carne dashed aside the curtain, and was nearly through the
window, when two white arms were cast round his waist. He threw himself
forward with all his might, and wrenched at the little hands clasped
around him, but they held together like clenched iron. “Will you force
me to kill you?” “You may, if you like”--was the dialogue of these
lovers.
The strength of a fit was in her despair. She set her bent knees against
the window-frame, and a shower of glass fell between them; but she
flinched not from her convulsive grasp. “Let me come back, that I may
shoot myself,” Carne panted, for his breath was straitened; “what is
life to me after losing you?” She made no answer, but took good care
not to release so fond a lover. Then he threw himself back with all his
weight, and she fell on the floor beneath him. Her clasp relaxed, and
he was free; for her eyes had encountered her father's blood, and she
swooned away, and lay as dead.
Carne arose quickly, and bolted the door. His breath was short, and his
body trembling, but the wits of the traitor were active still. “I must
have something to show for all this,” he thought as he glanced at the
bodies on the floor. “Those revellers may not have heard this noise. I
know where it is now, and I will get it.”
But the sound of the pistol, and shriek of the girl, had rung through
the guests, when the wine was at their lips, and all were nodding to one
another. Faith sprang up, and then fell back trembling, and several men
ran towards the door. Charles, the footman, met them there, with his
face whiter than his napkin, and held up his hands, but could not speak.
Erle Twemlow dashed past him and down the passage; and Lord Southdown
said: “Gentlemen, see to the ladies. There has been some little mishap,
I fear. Bob, and Arthur, come with me.”
Twemlow was first at the study door, and finding it fastened, struck
with all his force, and shouted, at the very moment when Carne stood
before the true desk of office. “Good door, and good bolt,” muttered
Carne; “my rule is never to be hurried by noises. Dolly will be quiet
for a quarter of an hour, and the old gentleman forever. All I want is
about two minutes.”
Twemlow stepped back a few yards, and then with a good start delivered a
rushing kick; but the only result was a jar of his leg through the sole
of his thin dress sandal.
“The window!” cried the Marquis. “We'll stop here; you know the house;
take the shortest cut to the window. Whoever is there, we shall have him
so. I am too slow. Boy Bob, go with him.”
“What a fool I was not to think of that!” shouted Twemlow, as he set off
for the nearest house door, and unluckily Carne heard him. He had struck
up the ledge of the desk with the butt of the pistol he had fired, and
pocketing a roll of fresh despatches, he strode across the body of the
Admiral, and with a glance at Dolly--whose eyes were wide open, but
her face drawn aside, like a peach with a split stone--out he went. He
smiled as he heard the thundering of full-bodied gentlemen against
the study door, and their oaths, as they damaged their knuckles and
knee-caps. Then he set off hot-foot, but was stopped by a figure
advancing from the corner of the house.
This was not a graceful figure, as of gentle maiden, nor venerable and
slow of foot, as that of an ancient mariner, but a man in the prime of
strength, and largely endowed with that blessing--the mate of truth.
Carne perceived that he had met his equal, and perhaps his better, in a
bout of muscle, and he tried to escape by superior mind.
“Twemlow, how glad I am that I have met you! You are the very man I
wanted. There has been a sad accident in there with one of the Admiral's
pistols, and the dear old man is badly wounded. I am off for a doctor,
for my horse is at hand. For God's sake run in, and hold his head up,
and try to staunch the bleeding. I shall be back in half an hour with
the man that lives at Pebbleridge. Don't lose a moment. Particulars
hereafter.”
“Particulars now!” replied Twemlow, sternly, as he planted himself
before his cousin. “For years I have lived among liars, and they called
a lie Crom, and worshipped it. If this is not Crom, why did you bolt the
door?”
“You shall answer for this, when time allows. If the door was bolted, he
must have done it. Let me pass; the last chance depends on my speed.”
Carne made a rush to pass, but Twemlow caught him by the breast, and
held him. “Come back,” he said, fiercely, “and prove your words. Without
that, you go no further.”
Carne seized him by the throat, but his mighty beard, like a collar of
hemp, protected him, and he brought his big brown fist like a hammer
upon the traitor's forehead. Carne wrenched at his dagger, but failed to
draw it, and the two strong men rolled on the grass, fighting like two
bull-dogs. Reason, and thought, and even sense of pain were lost in
brutal fury, as they writhed, and clutched, and dug at one another,
gashing their knuckles, and gnashing their teeth, frothing with one
another's blood, for Carne bit like a tiger. At length tough condition
and power of endurance got the mastery, and Twemlow planted his knee
upon the gasping breast of Carne.
“Surrend,” he said, for his short breath could not fetch up the third
syllable; and Carne with a sign of surrender lay on his back, and
put his chin up, and shut his eyes as if he had fainted. Twemlow with
self-congratulation waited a little to recover breath, still keeping
his knee in the post of triumph, and pinning the foe's right arm to his
side. But the foe's left hand was free, and with the eyes still shut,
and a continuance of gasping, that left hand stole its way to the left
pocket, quietly drew forth the second pistol, pressed back the hammer on
the grass, and with a flash (both of eyes and of flint) fired into the
victor's forehead. The triumphant knee rolled off the chest, the body
swung over, as a log is rolled by the woodman's crowbar, and Twemlow's
back was on the grass, and his eyes were closed to the moonlight.
Carne scrambled up and shook himself, to be sure that all his limbs were
sound. “Ho, ho, ho!” he chuckled; “it is not so easy to beat me. Why,
who are you? Down with you, then!”
Lord Robert Chancton, a lad of about sixteen, the eldest son of
the Marquis, had lost his way inside the house, in trying to find a
short-cut to the door, and coming up after the pistol was fired, made a
very gallant rush at the enemy. With a blow of the butt Carne sent him
sprawling; then dashing among the shrubs and trees, in another minute
was in the saddle, and galloping towards the ancestral ruins.
As he struck into the main road through the grounds, Carne passed and
just missed by a turn of the bridle another horseman ascending the hill,
and urging a weary animal. The faces of the men shot past each other
within a short yard, and gaze met gaze; but neither in the dark flash
knew the other, for a big tree barred the moonlight. But Carne, in
another moment, thought that the man who had passed must be Scudamore,
probably fraught with hot tidings. And the thought was confirmed, as
he met two troopers riding as hard as ride they might; and then saw the
beacon on the headland flare. From point to point, and from height to
height, like a sprinkle of blood, the red lights ran; and the roar of
guns from the moon-lit sea made echo that they were ready. Then the
rub-a-dub-dub of the drum arose, and the thrilling blare of trumpet;
the great deep of the night was heaved and broken with the stir of human
storm; and the staunchest and strongest piece of earth--our England--was
ready to defend herself.