“Now, dear, we will proceed thither at once; that is if you are not afraid to face this tiger,” for such Jones calls him.
“Oh, dear, no, I am not afraid.”
The two ladies hurried along till they had reached the temporary prison-house of Charles Peace. The lock was turned, the door opened, then they entered, closing the door after them.
Lady Marvlynn, who had taken the precautions to provide herself with a flat-glass lantern, now turned its rays full upon the features of the imprisoned man, who was, as already stated, tied to a post, having been previously bound hand and foot.
Peace at this time looked the most miserable dejected wretch it was possible to conceive, and those who were not very well acquainted with his features would have found it impossible to recognise him, but Aveline, or rather Lady Batershall, at once saw that the wretched criminal was the same person she had known in the earlier period of her life.
She started back, and exclaimed in a subdued tone—
“It is he; but oh, how strangely altered!”
At the sound of her voice Charles Peace became deeply moved, albeit he strove to maintain an air of bravado.
“And has it come to this, you unscrupulous abandoned man?” said Aveline. “A common robber—a disgrace to society.”
“I’m ill—have been cruelly treated—and don’t care what becomes of me,” whined Peace, in a cringing tone. “Taunt me and upbraid me as you please. I am powerless, and am at your mercy.”