“Ask him frankly to join us if we obtain the horses.”
“But my mother?”
“I 'll speak to her,—but it were better you did it, Harry. These are not times to weigh scruples and balance difficulties. I don't myself think that Massingbred treated us fairly, but it is not now I 'd like to remember it. There, go; tell her what you have told me, and all will be well.”
The Captain drew nigh Lady Dorothea, and, leaning over her chair, whispered to her for some minutes. At first, a slight gesture of impatience burst from her, but afterwards she seemed to hear him calmly and tranquilly.
“It would seem as though the humiliations of this night are never to have an end,” said she, with a sigh. “But I'll bear my share of them.”
“Remember,” said the other, “that it was by no choice of his he came here. His foot was on the threshold before he suspected it.”
“Miss Henderson sent me, my Lady,” said a servant, entering hastily, “to say that there is not a minute to be lost. They are expecting an attack on the barricade in the Rue de la Paix, and we ought to pass through at once.”
“By whose orders?” began she, haughtily; then, checking herself suddenly, and in a voice weak and broken, added: “I am ready. Give me your arm, Harry, and do not leave me. Where is Mr. Martin?” asked she.
“He is waiting for your Ladyship at the foot of the stairs with another gentleman,” said the servant.
“That must be Massingbred, for I told them to call him,” said the Captain.