第55章

His friend Sir James Brooke's parting advice occurred to our hero; his eyes began to open to Lady Dashfort's character; and he was, from this moment, freed from her power.Lady Isabel, however, had taken no part in all this--she was blameless; and, independently of her mother, and in pretended opposition of sentiment, she might have continued to retain the influence she had gained over Lord Colambre, but that a slight accident revealed to him her real disposition.

It happened, on the evening of this day, that Lady Isabel came into the library with one of the young ladies of the house, talking very eagerly, without perceiving Lord Colambre, who was sitting in one of the recesses reading.

'My dear creature, you are quite mistaken,' said Lady Isabel, 'he was never a favourite of mine; I always detested him; I only flirted with him to plague his wife.Oh that wife, my dear Elizabeth, I do hate!' cried she, clasping her hands, and expressing hatred with all her soul and with all her strength.

'I detest that Lady de Cresey to such a degree, that, to purchase the pleasure of making her feel the pangs of jealousy for one hour, look, I would this moment lay down this finger and let it be cut off.'

The face, the whole figure of Lady Isabel at this moment appeared to Lord Colambre suddenly metamorphosed; instead of the soft, gentle, amiable female, all sweet charity and tender sympathy, formed to love and to be loved, he beheld one possessed and convulsed by an evil spirit--her beauty, if beauty it could be called, the beauty of a fiend.Some ejaculation, which he unconsciously uttered, made Lady Isabel start.She saw him--saw the expression of his countenance, and knew that all was over.

Lord Colambre, to the utter astonishment and disappointment of Lady Dashfort, and to the still greater mortification of Lady Isabel, announced this night that it was necessary he should immediately pursue his tour in Ireland.We pass over all the castles in the air which the young ladies of the family had built, and which now fell to the ground.We pass all the civil speeches of Lord and Lady Killpatrick; all the vehement remonstrances of Lady Dashfort; and the vain sighs of Lady Isabel, To the last moment Lady Dashfort said--'He will not go.'

But he went; and, when he was gone, Lady Dashfort exclaimed, 'That man has escaped from me.' And after a pause, turning to her daughter, she, in the most taunting and contemptuous terms, reproached her as the cause of this failure, concluding by a declaration that she must in future manage her own affairs, and had best settle her mind to marry Heathcock, since every one else was too wise to think of her.

Lady Isabel of course retorted.But we leave this amiable mother and daughter to recriminate in appropriate terms, and we follow our hero, rejoiced that he has been disentangled from their snares.Those who have never been in similar peril will wonder much that he did not escape sooner; those who have ever been in like danger will wonder more that he escaped at all.Those who are best acquainted with the heart or imagination of man will be most ready to acknowledge that the combined charms of wit, beauty, and flattery, may, for a time, suspend the action of right reason in the mind of the greatest philosopher, or operate against the resolutions of the greatest of heroes.

Lord Colambre pursued his way to Castle Halloran, desirous, before he quitted this part of the country, to take leave of the count, who had shown him much civility, and for whose honourable conduct, and generous character, he had conceived a high esteem, which no little peculiarities of antiquated dress or manner could diminish.Indeed, the old-fashioned politeness of what was formerly called a well-bred gentleman pleased him better than the indolent or insolent selfishness of modern men of the ton.

Perhaps, notwithstanding our hero's determination to turn his mind from everything connected with the idea of Miss Nugent, some latent curiosity about the burial-place of the Nugents might have operated to make him call upon the count.In this hope he was disappointed; for a cross miller to whom the abbey-ground was set, on which the burial-place was found, had taken it into his head to refuse admittance, and none could enter his ground.

Count O'Halloran was much pleased by Lord Colambre's visit.The very day of Lord Colambre's arrival at Halloran Castle, the count was going to Oranmore; he was dressed, and his carriage was waiting; therefore Lord Colambre begged that he might not detain him, and the count requested his lordship to accompany him.

'Let me have the honour of introducing you, my lord, to a family, with whom, I am persuaded, you will be pleased; by whom you will be appreciated; and at whose house you will have an opportunity of seeing the best manner of living of the Irish nobility.' Lord Colambre accepted the invitation, and was introduced at Oranmore.

The dignified appearance and respectable character of Lady Oranmore; the charming unaffected manners of her daughters; the air of domestic happiness and comfort in her family; the becoming magnificence, free from ostentation, in her whole establishment; the respect and affection with which she was treated by all who approached her, delighted and touched Lord Colambre; the more, perhaps, because he had heard this family so unjustly abused; and because he saw Lady Oranmore and her daughter, in immediate contrast to Lady Dashfort and Lady Isabel.'

A little circumstance which occurred during this visit increased his interest for the family, When Lady de Cresey's little boys came in after dinner, one of them was playing with a seal, which had just been torn from a letter.The child showed it to Lord Colambre, and asked him to read the motto.The motto was,'Deeds, not words'--his friend Sir James Brooke's motto, and his arms.