CHAPTER VI
At first I thought that my speech had given the aged Earl a stroke. Hewrithed on his bed, and something appeared at his lips which was likefroth. His lovely daughter sprang to him with a cry of fear and woe.But he was not dying; he was only mad with rage.
"How dare you? How dare you?" he gasped. "You whelp of Satan!"
"'Tis me that would not be fearing to dare anything," I rejoinedcalmly. "I would not so. I came here with a mind for fair words, butyou have met me with insult and something worse. We cannot talk thething. We must act it. The papers are yours, but you took them from meunfairly. You may destroy them. Otherwise I will have them back anddiscover what turned you into a great rogue near the end of yourdays."
"Hearken!" screamed the Earl. "Hearken! He threatens." The door intothe parlour flew open, and Lord Strepp and Colonel Royale appeared onthe threshold, their faces blank with wonder.
"Father," cried the young lord, stepping hastily forward, "whatever iswrong?"
"That!" screamed the Earl, pointing a palsied finger at me. "That! Hecomes here and threatens _me_,--a peer of England."
The Lady Mary spoke swiftly to her brother and the Colonel.
"'Tis a sick man's fancy," she said. "There have been no threats.Father has had a bad day. He is not himself. He talks wildly. He--"
"Mary!" yelled the Earl as well as he was able. "Do you betray me? Doyou betray your own father? Oh, a woman Judas and my daughter!"
Lord Strepp and Colonel Royale looked as if their minds were comingapart. They stared at Lady Mary, at the Earl, at me. For my part Iremained silent and stiff in a corner, keeping my eye upon the swordsof the other gentlemen. I had no doubt but that presently I would beengaged in a desperate attempt to preserve my life. Lady Mary wasweeping. She had never once glanced in my direction. But I wasthrilling with happiness. She had flung me her feeble intercessioneven as a lady may fling a bun to a bear in a pit, but I had theremembrance to prize, to treasure, and if both gentlemen had set uponme and the sick Earl had advanced with the warming-pan I believe mynew strength would have been able to beat them off.
In the meantime the Earl was screeching meaningless rubbish in whichmy name, with epithets, occurred constantly. Lady Mary, still weeping,was trying to calm him.
Young Lord Strepp at last seemed to make up his mind. He approached meand remarked:
"An inexplicable situation, Mr. O'Ruddy."
"More to me than to you," I repeated suavely.
"How?" he asked, with less consideration in his manner. "I know noughtof this mummery."
"At least I know no more," I replied, still suave.
"How, Mr. O'Ruddy?" he asked, frowning. "I enter and find youwrangling with my father in his sick chamber. Is there to be no wordfor this?"
"I dare say you will get forty from your father; a hundred, it maybe," said I, always pleasant. "But from me you will get none."
He reflected for a moment. "I dare say you understand I will brook nohigh-handed silence in a matter of this kind. I am accustomed to askfor the reasons for certain kinds of conduct, and of course I amsomewhat prepared to see that the reasons are forthcoming."
"Well, in this case, my lord," said I with a smile, "you can accustomyourself to not getting a reason for a certain kind of conduct,because I do not intend to explain myself."
But at this moment our agreeable conversation was interrupted by theold Earl who began to bay at his son. "Arthur, Arthur, fling therascal out; fling the rascal out! He is an impostor, a thief!" Hebegan to fume and sputter, and threw his arms wildly; he was in somekind of convulsion; his pillows tossed, and suddenly a packet fellfrom under them to the floor. As all eyes wheeled toward it, I stoopedswiftly and picked it up.
"My papers!" said I.
On their part there was a breathless moment of indecision. Then theswords of Lord Strepp and the Colonel came wildly from theirscabbards. Mine was whipped out no less speedily, but I took it andflung it on the floor at their feet, the hilt toward them. "No," saidI, my hands empty save for the papers, "'tis only that I would bemaking a present to the fair Lady Mary, which I pray her to receive."With my best Irish bow I extended to the young lady the papers, myinheritance, which had caused her father so much foaming at the mouth.
She looked at me scornfully, she looked at her father, she looked atme pathetically, she looked at her father, she looked at me piteously;she took the papers.
I walked to the lowering and abashed points of the other men's swords,and picked my blade from the floor. I paid no heed to the glitteringpoints which flashed near my eyes. I strode to the door; I turned andbowed; as I did so, I believe I saw something in Lady Mary's eyeswhich I wished to see there. I closed the door behind me.
But immediately there was a great clamour in the room I had left, andthe door was thrown violently open again. Colonel Royale appeared in ahigh passion:
"No, no, O'Ruddy," he shouted, "you are a gallant gentleman. I wouldstake my life that you are in the right. Say the word, and I will backyou to the end against ten thousand fiends."
And after him came tempestuously young Lord Strepp, white on the lipswith pure rage. But he spoke with a sudden steadiness.
"Colonel Royale, it appears," he said, "thinks he has to protect myfriend The O'Ruddy from some wrong of my family or of mine?"
The Colonel drew in his breath for a dangerous reply, but I quicklybroke in:
"Come, come, gentlemen," said I sharply. "Are swords to flash betweenfriends when there are so many damned scoundrels in the world to parryand pink? 'Tis wrong; 'tis very wrong. Now, mark you, let us be men ofpeace at least until to-morrow morning, when, by the way, I have tofight your friend Forister."
"Forister!" they cried together. Their jaws fell; their eyes bulged;they forgot everything; there was a silence.
"Well," said I, wishing to reassure them, "it may not be to-morrowmorning. He only told me that he would kill me as soon as he came toBristol, and I expect him to-night or in the morning. I would ofcourse be expecting him to show here as quickly as possible after hisgrand speech; but he would not be entirely unwelcome, I am thinking,for I have a mind to see if the sword of an honest man, but nofighter, would be able to put this rogue to shame, and him with allhis high talk about killing people who have never done a thing in lifeto him but kick him some number of feet out into the inn yard, andthis need never to have happened if he had known enough to have kepthis sense of humour to himself, which often happens in this world."
Reflectively, Colonel Royale murmured:
"One of the finest swordsmen in England."
For this I cared nothing.
Reflectively, Lord Strepp murmured: "My father's partner in theshipping trade."
This last made me open my eyes. "Your father's partner in the shippingtrade, Lord Strepp? That little black rascal?"
The young nobleman looked sheepish.
"Aye, I doubt not he may well be called a little black rascal,O'Ruddy," he answered; "but in fact he is my father's partner incertain large--fairly large, you know--shipping interests. Of coursethat is a matter of no consequence to me personally--but--I believe myfather likes him, and my mother and my sister are quite fond of him, Ithink. I, myself, have never been able to quite--quite understand himin certain ways. He seems a trifle odd at moments. But he certainly isa friend of the family."
"Then," said I, "you will not be able to have the felicity of seeinghim kill me, Lord Strepp."
"On the contrary," he rejoined considerately, "I would regard it asusual if he asked me to accompany him to the scene of the fight."
His remark, incidentally, that his sister was fond of Forister, filledme with a sudden insolent madness.
"I would hesitate to disturb any shipping trade," I said with dignity."It is far from me to wish that the commerce of Great Britain shouldbe hampered by sword-thrust of mine. If it would please young LordStrepp, I could hand my apologies to Forister all tied up in blue-silkribbon."
But the youthful nobleman only looked at m
e long with a sad andreproachful gaze.
"O'Ruddy," he said mournfully, "I have seen you do two fine things.You have never seen me do anything. But, know you now, once and forall, that you may not quarrel with me."
This was too much for an Irish heart. I was moved to throw myself onthis lad's neck. I wished to swear to him that I was a brother inblood, I wished to cut a vein to give him everlasting strength--butperhaps his sister Mary had something to do with this feeling.
Colonel Royale had been fidgeting. Now he said suddenly:
"Strepp, I wronged you. Your pardon, Mr. O'Ruddy; but, damme, Strepp,if I didn't think you had gone wrong for the moment."
Lord Strepp took the offered hand. "You are a stupid old firebrain,"he said affectionately to the Colonel.
"Well," said the Colonel jubilantly, "now everything is clear. If Mr.O'Ruddy will have me, I will go with him to meet this Forister; andyou, Strepp, will accompany Forister; and we all will meet in afriendly way--ahem!"
"The situation is intimately involved," said Lord Strepp dejectedly."It will be a ridiculous business--watching each blade lunge towardthe breast of a friend. I don't know that it is proper. Royale, let usset ourselves to part these duellists. It is indecent."
"Did you note the manner in which he kicked him out of the inn?" askedthe Colonel. "Do you think a few soothing words would calm the mind ofone of the finest swordsmen in England?"
I began to do some profound thinking.
"Look you, Colonel," said I. "Do you mean that this wretched littleliar and coward is a fine swordsman?"
"I haven't heard what you call him," said the Colonel, "but hissword-play is regular firelight on the wall. However," he addedhopefully, "we may find some way to keep him from killing you. I haveseen some of the greatest swordsmen lose by chance to a novice. It issomething like cards. And yet you are not an ignorant player. That, I,Clarence Royale, know full well. Let us try to beat him."
I remembered Forister's parting sentence. Could it be true that a manI had kicked with such enthusiasm and success was now about to takerevenge by killing me? I was really disturbed. I was a very braveyouth, but I had the most advanced ideas about being killed. Onoccasion of great danger I could easily and tranquilly develop aphilosophy of avoidance and retirement. I had no antiquated notionsabout going out and getting myself killed through sheer bull-headedscorn of the other fellow's hurting me. My father had taught me thisdiscretion. As a soldier he claimed that he had run away from ninebattles, and he would have run away from more, he said, only that allthe others had turned out to be victories for his side. He wasadmittedly a brave man, but, more than this, he had a great deal ofsense. I was the child of my father. It did not seem to me profitableto be killed for the sake of a sentiment which seemed weak anddispensable. This little villain! Should I allow him to gratify afurious revenge because I was afraid to take to my heels? I resolvedto have the courage of my emotions. I would run away.
But of all this I said nothing. It passed through my mind like lightand left me still smiling gayly at Colonel Royale's observations uponthe situation.
"Wounds in the body from Forister," quoth he academically, "are almostcertain to be fatal, for his wrist has a magnificent twist whichreminds one of a top. I do not know where he learned this wristmovement, but almost invariably it leads him to kill his man. Lastyear I saw him--I digress. I must look to it that O'Ruddy has quiet,rest, and peace of mind until the morning."
Yes; I would have great peace of mind until the morning! I saw thatclearly.
"Well," said I, "at any rate we will know more to-morrow. A good dayto you, Lord Strepp, and I hope your principal has no more harm cometo him than I care to have come to me, which is precious little, andin which case the two of us will be little hurted."
"Good-bye, O'Ruddy," said the young man.
In the corridor the Colonel slapped my shoulder in a sudden exuberantoutburst.
"O'Ruddy," he cried, "the chance of your life! Probably the best-knownswordsman in all England! 'Pon my word, if you should even graze him,it would almost make you a peer. If you truly pinked him, you couldmarry a duchess. My eye, what an opportunity for a young and ambitiousman."
"And what right has he to be such a fine swordsman?" I demandedfretfully. "Damn him! 'Tis no right of a little tadpole like him to bea great cut-throat. One could never have told from the look of him,and yet it simply teaches one to be always cautious with men."
The Colonel was bubbling over with good nature, his mind full of theprospective event.
"I saw Ponsonby kill Stewart in their great fight several yearsagone," he cried, rubbing his hands, "but Ponsonby was no suchswordsman as Forister, and I misdoubt me that Stewart was much betterthan you yourself."
Here was a cheerful butcher. I eyed him coldly.
"And out of this," said I slowly, "comes a vast deal of entertainmentfor you, and a hole between two ribs for me. I think I need a drink."
"By all means, my boy," he answered, heartily. "Come to my chamber. Aquart of port under your waistcoat will cure a certain bilious desirein you to see the worst of things, which I have detected lately inyour manner. With grand sport before us, how could you be otherwisethan jolly? Ha, Ha!"
So saying, he affectionately took my arm and led me along thecorridor.