Harley was startled. This burst of emotion from a man so corrupt and cynical arrested even the scorn he felt for the usurer. Levy soon recovered himself. “But our revenge is not baffled yet. Egerton, if not already in my power, is still in yours. His election may save him from arrest, but the law has other modes of public exposure and effectual ruin.”
“For the knave, yes,—as I intimated to you in your own house,—you who boast of your love to Nora Avenel, and know in your heart that you were her destroyer; you who witnessed her marriage, and yet dared to tell her that she was dishonoured!”
“My Lord—I—how could you know—I mean, how think that—that—” faltered Levy, aghast.
“Nora Avenel has spoken from her grave,” replied Harley, solemnly. “Learn that, wherever man commits a crime, Heaven finds a witness!”
“It is on me, then,” said Levy, wrestling against a superstitious thrill at his heart—“on me that you now concentre your vengeance; and I must meet it as I may. But I have fulfilled my part of our compact. I have obeyed you implicitly—and—”
“I will fulfil my part of our bond, and leave you undisturbed in your wealth.”
“I knew I might trust to your Lordship’s honour,” exclaimed the usurer, in servile glee.
“And this vile creature nursed the same passions as myself; and but yesterday we were partners in the same purpose, and influenced by the same thought!” muttered Harley to himself. “Yes,” he said aloud, “I dare not, Baron Levy, constitute myself your judge. Pursue your own path,—all roads meet at last before the common tribunal. But you are not yet released from our compact; you must do some good in spite of yourself. Look yonder, where Randal Leslie stands, smiling secure, between the two dangers he has raised up for himself. And as Randal Leslie himself has invited me to be his judge, and you are aware that he cited yourself this very day as his witness, here I must expose the guilty; for here the innocent still live, and need defence.”
Harley turned away, and took his place by the table. “I have wished,” said he, raising his voice, “to connect with the triumph of my earliest and dearest friend the happiness of others in whose welfare I feel an interest. To you, Alphonso, Duke of Serrano, I now give this despatch, received last evening by a special messenger from the Prince Von ———, announcing your restoration to your lands and honours.”
The squire stared with open mouth. “Rickeybockey a duke? Why, Jemima’s a duchess! Bless me, she is actually crying!” And his good heart prompted him to run to his cousin and cheer her up a bit.