Delaware; or, The Ruined Family. Vol. 2

by G. P. R. James

The old lady bade God bless him, and went away; and as soon as he had heard the constable seat himself again in the anteroom, he opened the paper he had received, and read the contents.

It began in the handwriting of the old housekeeper, and had probably been written in the first instance without consultation with any one else; but below there appeared a few lines from his father, which had evidently been added afterwards.

It began. "Master William, do get away as fast as you can. Don't stop, for God's Sake, to let those wicked people have their will. Remember the trapdoor under your bed, where you used to play at hide-and-seek when you were little. Master ordered it to be fastened up long ago; but I had only one nail put in, for what was the use, you know. You can easy get the nail out, I am sure; and there shall be a horse waiting for you at the back park gate at twelve o'clock to-night, and money and all to take you to foreign parts, till the conspiracy Miss Blanche says is against you, can be proved upon them. So, do now, for the love of Heaven!"

Beneath this epistle his father had written, in a hasty and tremulous hand--"I sincerely think the above is the best plan you can follow. There is evidently a conspiracy against us; and, as you have been selected for the victim, it is better for you to make your escape while you can, than remain, and risk all that malice, wealth, art, and villainy, can do against you. Take the road to ----, where there are always foreign vessels lying. Write to us when you are safe, under cover to Mr. ----, the trustee of your poor mother's little property. Fare-you-well, my dear boy, and God bless you! S. D."

A new struggle now arose in the breast of the prisoner. The idea of flight had never suggested itself to his mind before; and, though he had in truth lost all hope that his own innocence would prove his safety in the present instance, still the thought of giving additional weight to the charge against himself, by absconding, was painful. Yet his father advised it; and it was more than probable that Sir Sidney had better means of knowing the peculiar dangers of his situation than he had himself. Aware of his own innocence, he felt, no doubt, that sooner or later he should be able to establish it beyond all question, if time were but allowed him. All he had to fear was, that, by the rapidity with which such transactions are sometimes carried through, he might be condemned, and even executed, before some of those circumstances which time is sure eventually to disclose, could be discovered to prove him guiltless, and to fix their villainy upon his accusers.

It is wonderful how well the human mind reasons upon its own side of the question, when on the one hand is the prospect of an ignominious death, with but the remote hope of our innocence working a miracle in our favour, and, on the other, are presented the ready means of escape. Every one knows too well, that the law is not one of those lions that invariably lie down at the feet of virtue; and that, had poor Una, with such suspicions against her, met in the desert a law lion instead of a real one, the beast would infallibly have torn her in pieces. All this Captain Delaware knew. He had lost hope that his innocence would serve him; he was strongly urged by those who had the best opportunity of judging of his real situation; the means of escape were at hand, and he determined to make use of them.

Although he had been treated hitherto with great lenity, he knew not how soon an order for searching him might come, and therefore he took means immediately to destroy the paper he had received. This was scarcely accomplished when the constable again appeared with the soup, and, as the door opened and shut, he saw lying on the floor of the anteroom a set of fetters. They were evidently not intended to be put upon his limbs that night, as the officer made no allusion to them; but, had his intention of escaping even wavered, the sight of those badges of ignominy would have determined him from that moment.

"I shall leave you the candle. Captain," said the man, "though I believe it is out of rule--and I have a notion that, all things considered, one of us ought to sleep in the room with you; but, as that would not be agreeable to you I'm sure, we must get the old housekeeper to make us a shake-down in the outer room."

"I shall not forget your civility, Thomson," said Captain Delaware; "and, as you are quite sure that it is not in my nature to commit such a crime as that with which these fellows charge me, so you may be sure I shall some time have the means of thanking you better, when I have proved my innocence.

"I trust you may, Captain!--I am sure you may!" replied the man heartily; and, wishing him good-night, he left him.