“Of course they have not; such things are not settled like the fare of a hackney-coach. But our claim is acknowledged, and, fifty thousand times better, George Barrington's name absolved from every shadow of an imputation.”
“What is the amount they agree to give?”
“Upon my life, I don't know,—that is, I don't recollect, there were so many interviews and such discussions; but Withering can tell you everything. Withering knows it all. Without him and Conyers I don't know how I could have got on. If you had heard how he spoke of George at the Council! 'You talk of my services,' said he; 'they are no more fit to be compared with those of Colonel Barrington, than are my petty grievances with the gross wrongs that lie on his memory.' Withering was there; he heard the words, and described the effect of them as actually overwhelming.”
“And Withering believes the whole thing to be settled?”
“To be sure, he does! Why should he oppose his belief to that of the whole world? Why, my dear Dinah, it is not one, nor two, but some hundreds of people have come to wish me joy. They had a triumphal arch at Naas, with 'Welcome to Barrington' over it. At Carlow, Fishbourne came out with the corporation to offer me congratulations.”
She gave a hasty, impatient shake of the head, but repressed the sharp reply that almost trembled on her lips.
“By George!” cried he, “it does one's heart good to witness such a burst of generous sentiment. You 'd have thought some great national benefit had befallen, or that some one—his country's idol—had just reaped the recompense of his great services. They came flocking out of the towns as we whirled past, cheering lustily, and shouting, 'Barrington forever!'”
“I detest a mob!” said she, pursing up her lips.
“These were no mobs, Dinah; these were groups of honest fellows, with kind hearts and generous wishes.”
Another, but more decisive, toss of the head warned Peter that the discussion had gone far enough; indeed she almost said so, by asking abruptly, “What is to be done about the boy Conyers? He is madly in love with Josephine.”