‘The charge is a falsehood; I am a Frenchman,’ was my answer.
‘Have respect for the Court, sir,’ said Peters; ‘you mean that you are a French officer, but by birth an Irishman.’
‘I mean no such thing—that I am French by birth, as I am in feeling—that I never saw Ireland till within a few months back, and heartily wish I had never seen it.’
‘So would General Humbert, too, perhaps,’ said Daly, laughing; and the Court seemed to relish the jest.
‘Where were you born, then, Tiernay?’
‘In Paris, I believe.’
‘And your mother’s name, what was it?’
‘I never knew; I was left an orphan when a mere infant, and can tell little of my family.’
‘Your father was Irish, then?’
‘Only by descent. I have heard that we came from a family who bore the title of “Timmahoo”—-Lord Tiernay of Timmahoo.’