"But blood is soon traced," she said, in a tone of hesitation.
"We will have no blood," replied her lover, with a smile: "men die occasionally of very rapid diseases. I will plan it all--you must execute."
"But how shall we get the papers from him," asked the lady, "without--"
"That must be cared for," answered Lovet. "You must be tender, my fair Kate, till you have got him to produce his proofs; give him fair hopes, and lead him on. He will sup here, of course; and after supper, when he has trifled with somewhat dangerous viands, bid him show the weighty evidence he spoke of. When they are all spread forth, I will come in, to your surprise and his, and take my own again. Then, if he be inclined to quarrel, one hasty thrust, given ere any one has time to hear his tale, will settle all, and I shall pass blameless, for despatching one whom I found insulting my sweet cousin. It will be a claim, too, on her love--a fair motive in the world's eyes for her (in gratitude) to give me her soft hand."
The lady smiled with a meaning look. There was no surprise; there was no horror; there seemed hardly to be any fear. Had her mind been conversant with those ideas before? Who can tell? Such deeds were assuredly common in that day, and, at all events, they were commonly reported. The rumour of crimes always generates fresh ones of the same character. There is an infection in the very sound of such deeds, and the mind that hears it often catches the moral pestilence and dies. As she thought--and for some moments she did not reply--a look of triumph rose in her glittering eyes. "Ay!" she repeated, "ay! he shall rue it! Yes, he shall rue it!--William, you are right. It would not do to raise a clamour about this man's death, by taking your usual mode of settling such affairs; but against one thing you must guard right carefully, that his death be not traceable to us--unless, indeed, it be in hasty brawl, where weapons are soon out, and execution done ere men have time to think. I mean, if he quits my house alive, they must not be able to show that it was in the cup, or in the food which he there partook, that he found his fate."
"I will take care," said her cousin, significantly; "but you must be both ready and resolute, my sweet Kate,--no doubt--no hesitation--no weak remorse."
"I have none!" replied the lady, lifting her hand boldly; "we kill a wolf or a tiger, a snake or a shark. It is the first principle of nature and of right to destroy that which would destroy us. His death is needful to my life. He dies, or I die.--Nay, more; I feel the hunter's spirit within me, and life, for life, I would rather die myself with him, than not see him die."
"His offence must have been bitter," answered her cousin; "though it was very needful to our happiness that Hillingdon should be out of our way, you never thought of using such means with him."
"I may have thought of it," answered the lady, musing; "but I would not have done it, William. In moments of eager impatience, I may have wished him dead--nay, have said so, I think, to you; but yet I would have practised nought against his life. Hillingdon never offended me. He loved me not; but, as I loved him not, that was no offence. His tone was courteous, too, when he did write to me or to my uncle. Plainly and boldly he said he wished the contract dissolved; but I wished it too, and therefore it was a kindness, not an injury. His very absence, that he might never see me, had--as he turned it, and I believe as he felt it--a certain courtesy. Nay: Hillingdon, though cold and stiff, and opposite in almost everything to my nature and my wishes, is still a high and noble-minded man, a gentleman in heart and spirit."
Her companion bit his lip, for he loved not to hear his cousin's praises from that lady's tongue. He was silent, however, and she proceeded: "But this man has, indeed, offended me bitterly, as you say. Encouraged by a light smile, and perhaps some idle freedom--I will not deny it--he thought I had become his slave, assumed the air of triumph, boasted, I doubt not, of his conquest amongst drunken comrades, and thought mine was a heart that would bear the insolent tone, the rude assumption of success, the air and words of conquest. Fool! I taught him better; and then he threatened to turn my bold contempt to burning shame--he did more than threaten, William. He it is, and he alone, who has staid the dissolution of my infant marriage with Hillingdon.--The judges were all agreed--the king himself was won, when this man stepped in. The minion persuaded the king, by his cringing arts, to pause.--Nay, look not doubtful! He told me so himself; with scornful triumph vowed my fate was in his hands; and said, if I had not treated him so disdainfully I should have been now as free as air. Do not the facts bear out the assertion? All that was required by any one was Hillingdon's oath in open court that he had never seen me since I was ten years old. He came and gave it. Then suddenly the king paused and prevaricated, and Algernon returned disgusted and despairing. Have I not cause to say this man is a viper in my way? Have I not a right to set my heel upon his head?"