“We shall see that I don't concur in the opinion, but we shall see. It would be rather a tedious process to explain myself fully as to my project, but I 'll give you two or three little volumes.”
“No, no; don't give me anything to read; if you want me to understand you, tell it out plainly, whatever it is.”
“Here goes, then, and it is not my fault if you don't fully comprehend me; but mind, what I am about to reveal to you is strictly on honor, and never to be divulged to any one. I have your word for this?” They pressed hands, and he continued: “There is a government on the Continent so undermined by secret treachery that it can no longer rely upon its own arms for defence, but is driven to enlist in its cause the brave and adventurous spirits of other countries,—men who, averse to ignoble callings or monotonous labor, would rather risk life than reduce it to the mere condition of daily drudgery. To this government, which in principle has all my sympathies, I have devoted all that I have of fortune, hope, or personal energy. I have, in a word, thrown my whole future into its cause. I have its confidence in return; and I am enabled not only to offer a high career and a noble sphere of action, but all that the world calls great rewards, to those whom I may select to join me in its defence.”
“Is it France?” asked Tony; and Maitland had to bite his lip to repress a smile at such a question.
“No, it is not France,” said he, calmly; “for France, under any rule, I 'd not shed one drop of my blood.”
“Nor I, neither!” cried Tony. “I hate Frenchmen; my father hated them, and taught me to do the same.”
“So far from enlisting you to serve France, it is more than probable that in the cause I speak of you 'll find yourself arrayed against Frenchmen.”
“All right; I 'd do that with a heart and a half; but what is the State? Is it Austria?—is it Russia?”
“Neither. If you only give me to believe that you listen favorably to my plan, you shall hear everything; and I 'll tell you, besides, what I shall offer to you, personally,—the command of a company in an Irish regiment, with the certainty of rapid advancement, and ample means to supply yourself with all that your position requires. Is that sufficient?”
“Quite so, if I like the cause I 'm to fight for.”