"I 'll tell you my opinion, then," said Mr. Dunlop, who was evidently mollified by the cla.s.sical allusion; and with firm and solemn gesture he crossed over to where she sat, and whispered a few words in her ear.

A slight scream, and a long-drawn "Oh!" was all the answer.

"Upon my soul, I believe so," said Mr. Dunlop, thrusting both hands into the furthest depths of his coat-pockets; "nay, more, I'll maintain it!"

"I know what you are driving at," said Dempsey, laughing; "you think he's the gauger that went off with Mrs. Murdoch of Ballyquirk--"

"Mr. Dempsey! Mr. Dempsey! the ladies, sir! the ladies!" called out two or three reproving voices from the male portion of the a.s.sembly; while, as if to corroborate the justice of the appeal, the thin lady drew her shade down two inches lower, and Mr. Dunlop's face became what painters call "of a warm tint."

"Oh! never talk of a rope where a man's father was hanged," muttered Paul to himself, for he felt all the severity of his condemnation, though he knew that the point of law was against him.

"There 's a rule in this establishment, Mr. Dempsey," said Mr. Dunlop, with all the gravity of a judge delivering a charge,--"a rule devised to protect the purity, the innocence,"--here the ladies held down their heads,--"the beauty--"

"Yes, sir, and I will add, the helplessness of that s.e.x--"

"Paul 's right, by Jove!" hiccuped Jack Leonard, whose faculties, far immersed in the effects of strong whiskey-and-water, suddenly flashed out into momentary intelligence,--"I say he's right! Who says the reverse?"

"Oh, Captain Leonard! oh dear, Mr. Dunlop!" screamed three or four female voices in concert, "don't let it proceed further."

A faint and an anxious group were gathered around the little gentleman, whose warlike indications grew stronger as pacific entreaties increased.

"He shall explain his words," said he, with a cautious glance to see that his observation was not overheard; then, seeing that his adversary had relapsed into oblivion, he added, "he shall withdraw them;" and finally, emboldened by success, he vociferated, "or' he shall eat them.

I 'll teach him," said the now triumphant victor, "that it is not in Mark Dunlop's presence ladies are to be insulted with impunity. Let the attempt be made by whom it will,--he may be a lieutenant on half pay or on full pay!--I tell him, I don't care a rush."

"Of course not!" "Why would you?" and so on, were uttered in ready chorus around him; and he resumed,--

"And as for this Gwynne, or Quin, who lives up at 'The Corvy' yonder, for all the airs he gives himself, and his fine ladies too, my simple belief is he 's a Government spy!"

"Is that your opinion, sir?" said a deep and almost solemn voice; and at the same instant Miss Daly appeared at the open window. She leaned her arm on the sill, and calmly stared at the now terrified speaker, while she repeated the words, "Is that your opinion, sir?"

Before the surprise her words had excited subsided, she stood at the door of the apartment. She was dressed in her riding-habit, for she had that moment returned from an excursion along the coast.

"Mr. Dunlop," said the lady, advancing towards him, "I never play the eavesdropper; but you spoke so loud, doubtless purposely, that nothing short of deafness could escape hearing you. You were pleased to express a belief respecting the position of a gentleman with whom I have the honor to claim some friendship."

"I always hold myself ready, madam, to render an account to any individual of whom I express an opinion,--to himself, personally, I mean."

"Of course you do, sir. It is a very laudable habit," said she, dryly; "but in this case--don't interrupt me--in the present case it cannot apply, because the person traduced is absent. Yes, sir, I said traduced."

"Oh, madam, I must say the word would better suit one more able to sustain it. I shall take the liberty to withdraw." And so saying, he moved towards the door; but Miss Daly interposed, and, by a gesture of her hand, in which she held a formidable horsewhip, gave a very unmistakable sign that the pa.s.sage was not free.

"You 'll not go yet, sir. I have not done with you," said she, in a voice every accent of which vibrated in the little man's heart.

"You affect to regret, sir, that I am not of the s.e.x that exacts satisfaction, as it is called; but I tell you, I come of a family that never gave long scores to a debt of honor. You have presumed--in a company, certainly, where the hazard of contradiction was small--to asperse a gentleman of whom you know nothing,--not one single fact,--not one iota of his life, character, or fortune. You have dared to call him by words every letter of which would have left a welt on your shoulders if uttered in his hearing. Now, as I am certain he would pay any little debts I might have perchance forgotten in leaving a place where I had resided, so will I do likewise by him; and here, on this spot, and in this fair company, I call upon you to unsay your falsehood, or--" Here she made one step forward, with an air and gesture that made Mr. Dunlop retire with a most comic alacrity. "Don't be afraid, sir," continued she, laughing. "My brother, Mr. Bagenal Daly, will arrive here soon. He 's no new name to your ears. In any case, I promise you that whatever you find objectionable in my proceedings towards you he will be most happy to sustain. Now, sir, the hand wants four minutes to six. If the hour strike before you call yourself a wanton, gratuitous calumniator, I 'll flog you round the room."

A cry of horror burst from the female portion of the a.s.sembly at a threat the utterance of which was really not less terrific than the meaning.

"Such a spectacle," continued Miss Daly, sarcastically, "I should scruple to inflict on this fair company; but the taste that could find pleasure in witless, pointless slander may not, it is possible, dislike to see a little castigation. Now, sir, you have just one minute and a quarter."

"I protest against this conduct, madam. I here declare--"

[Ill.u.s.tration: 146]

"Declare nothing, sir, till you have avowed yourself by your real name and character. If you cannot restrain your tongue, I 'll very soon convince you that its consequences are far from agreeable. Is what you have spoken false?"

"There may come a heavy reckoning for all this, madam," said Dunlop, trembling between fear and pa.s.sion.

"I ask you again, and for the last time, are your words untrue? Very well, sir. You held a commission in Germany, they say; and probably, as a military man, you may think it undignified to surrender, except on compulsion."

With these words Miss Daly advanced towards him with a firm and determined air, while a cry of horror arose through the room, and the fairer portion intrepidly threw themselves in front of their champion, while Dempsey and the others only restrained their laughter for fear of personal consequences. Pushing fiercely on, Miss Daly was almost at his side, when the door of the room was opened, and a deep and well-known voice called out to her,--

"Maria, what the devil is all this?"

"Oh, Bagenal," cried she, as she held out her hand, "I scarcely expected you before eight o'clock."

"But in the name of everything ridiculous, what has happened? Were you about to horsewhip this pleasant company?"

"Only one of its members," said Miss Daly, coolly,--"a little gentleman who has thought proper to be more lavish of his calumny than his courage. I hand him over to you now; and, faith, though I don't think that he had any fancy for me, he 'll gain by the exchange! You 'll find him yonder," said she, pointing to a corner where already the majority of the party were gathered together.

Miss Daly was mistaken, however, for Mr. Dunlop had made his escape during the brief interchange of greetings between the brother and sister. "Come, Bagenal," said she, smiling, "it's all for the best. I have given him a lesson he 'll not readily forget,--had you been the teacher, he might not have lived to remember it."

"What a place for _you!_" said Bagenal, as he threw his eye superciliously around the apartment and its occupants; then taking her arm within his own, he led her forth, and closed the door after them.

Once more alone, Daly learned with surprise, not unmixed with sorrow, that his sister had never seen the Darcys, and save by a single call, when she left her name, had made no advances towards their acquaintance.

She showed a degree of repugnance, too, to allude to the subject, and rather endeavored to dismiss it by saying shortly,--"Lady Eleanor is a fine lady, and her daughter a wit What could there be in common between us?"

"But for Darcy's sake?"

"For _his_ sake I stayed away," rejoined she, hastily; "they would have thought me a bore, and perhaps have told him as much. In a word, Bagenal, I did n't like it, and that's enough. Neither of us were trained to put much constraint on our inclinations. I doubt if the lesson would be easily learned at our present time of life."

Daly muttered some half-intelligible bitterness about female obstinacy and wrong-headedness, and walked slowly to and fro. "I must see Maurice at once," said he, at length.

"That will be no easy task; he left this for Dublin on Tuesday last."

"And has not returned? When does he come back?"

"His old butler, who brought me the news, says not for some weeks."

"Confusion and misery!" exclaimed Daly, "was there ever anything so ill-timed! And he's in Dublin?"

"He went thither, but there would seem some mystery about his ultimate destination; the old man binted at London."

"London!" said he, with a heavy sigh. "It's now the 18th, and on Sat.u.r.day she sails."

"Who sails?" asked Miss Daly, with more of eagerness than she yet exhibited.

"Oh, I forgot, Molly, I had n't told you, I 'm about to take a voyage,--not a very long one, but still distant enough to make me wish to say good-bye ere we separate. If G.o.d wills it, I shall be back early in the spring."

"What new freak is this, Bagenal?" said she, almost sternly; "I thought that time and the world's crosses might have taught you to care for quietness, if not for home."