Sir Jasper Carew Part 19

"And yet, sir, the fact is so, whether I speak it or not," said f.a.gan.

"Once let this affair come before a public tribunal, and what is there that can be held back from the prying impertinence of the world? And I see no more reason why you should peril life than risk all that makes life desirable."

"But what or where is all this peril, f.a.gan? You talk as if I had been committing a murder."

"It is precisely the name they would give it in the indictment, sir,"

said the other, boldly. "Nay, hear me out, Mr. Carew. Were I to tell the adventure of last night as the bare facts reveal it, who would suggest the possibility of its being a duel? Think of the place--the hour--the solitude--the mere accident of the meeting! Oh, no, sir; duels are not fought in this fas.h.i.+on."

"You are arguing against yourself, Tony. You have convinced me that there is but one course open. I must surrender myself!"

"Think well of it first, Mr. Carew," said f.a.gan, drawing his chair closer, and speaking in a lower tone. "We must not let any false delicacy deceive us. There never was a case of this kind yet that did not less depend upon its own merits than on fifty things over which one has no control. The temper of the judge--the rank in life of the jury--the accidental tone of public opinion at the moment--the bias of the press: these are the agencies to be thought of. When Grogan Hamilton was tried for shooting John Adair in the mess-room at Carlow, his verdict was p.r.o.nounced before the jury was empanelled!"

"I never heard of that case," said my father, anxiously.

"It occurred when you were a boy at school, sir; and although the facts would not read so condemnatory now, at that time there was not one voice to be heard on the side of mercy. The duel, if duel it could be called, took place after every one, save themselves, had left the table. The quarrel was an old grudge revived over the bottle. They fought without witnesses and with Heaven knows what inequality of weapons; and although Hamilton gave himself up----"

"He gave himself up?" interrupted my father.

"Yes, sir; in direct opposition to his friends' advice, he did so: but had he followed a different course,--had he even waited till the excitement had calmed down a little, till men began to talk more dispa.s.sionately on the subject, the result might have been different."

"And what was the result?"

"I have already told you, sir,--a conviction."

"And what followed?"

"He was hanged,--hanged in front of the old jail at Naas, where the regiment he once had served in was quartered. I don't know how or why this was done. Some said it was to show the people that there was no favoritism towards a man of rank and fortune. Some alleged it was to spare the feelings of his relatives, who were Carlow people."

"Good Heavens!" exclaimed my father, pa.s.sionately; "was there ever such an infamy!"

"The event happened as I tell you, sir. I believe I have the trial in the house; if I have not, Crowther will have it, for he was engaged in the defence, and one of those who endeavored to dissuade Hamilton from his resolution of surrender."

"And who is Crowther?"

"A solicitor, sir, of great practice and experience."

"In whom you have confidence, f.a.gan?"

"The most implicit confidence."

"And who could be useful to us in this affair?"

"Of the very greatest utility, sir,--not alone from his legal knowledge, but from his consummate acquaintance with the world and its modes of thinking."

"Can you send for him? Can you get him here without exciting suspicion?"

said my father; for already had terror seized hold on him, and even before he knew it was he entangled in the toils.

"I can have him here within an hour, sir, and without any risk whatever; for he is my own law adviser, and in constant intercourse with me."

f.a.gan now persuaded my father to lie down and try to obtain some sleep, promising to awake him the moment that Crowther arrived.

CHAPTER XIV. A CONFERENCE

Scarcely had my father laid himself down on the bed, when he fell off into a heavy sleep. Fatigue, exhaustion, and loss of blood all combined to overcome him, and he lay motionless in the same att.i.tude he at first a.s.sumed.

f.a.gan came repeatedly to the bedside, and, opening the curtains slightly, gazed on the cold, impa.s.sive features with a strange intensity. One might have supposed that the almost deathlike calm of the sleeper's face would have defied every thought or effort of speculation; but there he sat, watching it as though, by dint of patience and study, he might at length attain to reading what was pa.s.sing within that brain.

At the slightest sound that issued from the lips, too, he would bend down to try and catch its meaning. Perhaps, at moments like these, a trace of impatience might be detected in his manner; but, for the most part, his hard, stern features showed no sign of emotion, and it was in all his accustomed self-possession that he descended to the small and secluded chamber where Crowther sat awaiting him.

"Still asleep, f.a.gan?" asked the lawyer, looking hastily up from the papers and doc.u.ments he had been perusing.

"He is asleep, and like enough to continue so," replied the other, slowly, while he sank down into an arm-chair, and gave himself up to deep reflection.

"I have been thinking a good deal over what you have told me,"

said Crowther, "and I own I see the very gravest objections to his surrendering himself."

"My own opinion!" rejoined f.a.gan, curtly.

"Even if it were an ordinary duel, with all the accustomed formalities of time, place, and witnesses, the temper of the public mind is just now in a critical state on these topics; MacNamara's death and that unfortunate affair at Kells have made a deep impression. I'd not trust too much to such dispositions. Besides, the chances are they would not admit him to bail, so that he 'd have to pa.s.s three, nearly four, months in Newgate before he could be brought to trial."

"He'd not live through the imprisonment. It would break his heart, if it did not kill him otherwise."

"By no means unlikely."

"I know him well, and I am convinced he 'd not survive it. Why, the very thought of the accusation, the bare idea that he could be arraigned as a criminal, so overcame him here this morning that he staggered back and sunk into that chair, half fainting."

"He thinks that he was not known at that hotel where he stopped?"

"He is quite confident of that; the manner of the waiters towards him convinces him that he was not recognized."

"Nor has he spoken with any one since his arrival, except yourself?"

"Not one, save the hackney carman, who evidently did not know him."

"He left home, you say, without a servant?"

"Yes! he merely said that he was going over for a day or two, to the mines, and would be back by the end of the week. But, latterly, he has often absented himself in this fas.h.i.+on; and, having spoken of visiting one place, has changed his mind and gone to another, in an opposite direction."

"Who has seen him since he arrived here?"

"No one but myself and Raper."

"Ah! Raper has seen him?"

"That matters but little. Joe has forgotten all about it already, or, if he has not, I have but to say that it was a mistake, for him to fancy that it was so. You shall see, if you like, that he will not even hesitate the moment I tell him the thing is so."

"It only remains, then, to determine where he should go,--I mean Carew; for although any locality would serve in one respect, we must bethink ourselves of every issue to this affair: and, should there be any suspicion attaching to him, he ought to be out of danger,--the danger of arrest. Where do his princ.i.p.al estates lie?"