There was silence in the room, and the candles for want of snuffing were very dim.
“Why don’t you speak to me?” cried Frank passionately. “Am I such a boy that you treat me as a child?”
“My poor lad! You must know the truth,” said Captain Murray gently. “Your father’s and Colonel Forbes’s names are both in the despatch as prisoners.”
“No, no, no!” cried Frank wildly. “The Princess—”
“Kept the worst news back, to try and spare your poor mother pain. It is as I always feared.”
“Then you are right,” moaned Frank; and he uttered a piteous cry. “Yes, it would have been better if he had died.”
For the headsman’s axe seemed to be glimmering in the black darkness ahead, and he shuddered as he recalled once more what he had seen on Temple Bar.