Part 10 (1/2)
”What other way is there?”
Sir Oliver explained the ht Lionel relief
But this relief was ephemeral Further reflection presented a new fear to him It came to him that if Sir Oliver cleared himself, of necessity his own inified a risk that in itself was so slender as to be entirely negligible In his eyes it ceased to be a risk; it becaer
If Sir Oliver put forward this proof that the trail of blood had not proceeded froht Lionel, inevitably be concluded that it was his own As well ht Sir Oliver tell them the whole truth, for surely they could not fail to infer it Thus he reasoned in his terror, accounting hione with those fears of his to his brother, or had he but been able to abate them sufficiently to allow reason to prevail, he ht to understand how much further they carried him than was at all justified by probability Oliver would have shown hi of the charge against hiainst any there, that no scrap of suspicion had ever attached to Lionel, or ever could But Lionel dared not seek his brother in this matter In his heart he was ashamed of his fears; in his heart he knew himself for a craven He realized to the full the hideousness of his selfishness, and yet, as before, he was not strong enough to conquer it In short, his love of hireater than his love of his brother, or of twenty brothers
The ain at that alehouse at Penycuh A course had occurred to hiht his brother had reith his proofs since Rosareould reach her, he had said; and he would yet see her on her knees craving his pardon for the wrong she had done him, for the cruelty she had shown hireas absent from home just then; but he was expected to return by Easter, and to Easter there was but a week
Therefore he had little time in which to act, little time in which to execute the project that had co it, but held to it with all the strength of a weak nature
Yet when he cah in that little inn-parlour with the scrubbed table of plain deal between thee to set his proposal forth They drank sherry sack stiffly laced with brandy by Lionel's suggestion, instead of the more customary mulled ale Yet not until he had consumed the best part of a pint of it did Lionel feel hih his head huo when first the nah had passed between the So the price be high enough you h was ready to Lionel's hand; but it was Sir Oliver's money--the money that was placed at Lionel's disposal by his half-brother's open-handed bounty And this money he was to employ for Oliver's utter ruin! He cursed himself for a filthy, contemptible hound; he cursed the foul fiend that whispered such suggestions into his mind; he knew himself, despised hi and to go through hatever uilty of such a baseness; the next ain as he viewed the inevitable consequences that must attend it
Suddenly the captain set him a question, very softly, that fired the train and blew all his lingering self-resistance into shreds
”You'll ha' bornehis voice so as not to be overheard by the vintner as stirring beyond the thin wooden partition
Master Lionel nodded, nervously fingering the jewel in his ear, his eyes shi+fting from their consideration of the seaman's coarse, weather-tanned and hairy countenance
”I did,” he said ”But Sir Oliver is headstrong He will not stir”
”Will he not?” The captain stroked his bushy red beard and cursed profusely and horribly after the fashi+on of the sea ”Od's wounds! He's very like to swing if he bides him here”
”Ay,” said Lionel, ”if he bides” He felt his mouth turn dry as he spoke; his heart thudded, but its thuds were softened by a slight insensibility which the liquor had produced in him
He uttered the words in so curious a tone that the sailor's dark eyes peered at him from under his heavy sandy eyebrows There was alert inquiry in that glance Master Lionel got up suddenly
”Let us take a turn outside, captain,” said he
The captain's eyes narrowed He scented business There was soentleman's manner He tossed off the remains of his sack, slapped down the pot and rose
”Your servant, Master Tressilian,” said he
Outside our gentle to which he had attached the bridle; leading his horse he turned seaward and strode down the road that wound along the estuary towards S the water into white peaks of foahtness and the sun shone brilliantly
The tide was running out, and the rock in the very neck of the haven was thrusting its black crest above the water A cable's length this side of it rode the black hull and naked spars of the S--Captain Leigh's shi+p
Lionel stepped along in silence, very gloo even now And the craftythis hesitation, and anxious to conquer it for the sake of such profit as he conceived ht lie in the proposal which he scented, paved the way for him at last
”I think that ye'll have some matter to propose to me” said he slyly
”Out with it, sir, for there never was a man more ready to serve you”
”The fact is,” said Lionel, watching the other's face with a sidelong glance, ”I ah”