"Faith," said the captain, "a pleasant part of the world to reside in! Yet 'tis indeed a noble estate you have here--it reminds me somewhat of my own in the Wicklow Mountains."
"But, sir," said Mary, "what are the chances of Lord St. Amande obtaining his rights, now that the Marquis has declared for him? Surely his uncle can do nothing against the truth!"
The captain mused a moment, shaking his head meditatively and as though pondering sadly on all the wickedness that had been wrought against that poor youth, and then he said:
"'Tis hard to tell. I fear me his uncle is a bad man--he has, indeed, deceived me who trusted and believed in him, for he has over and over again sworn that Gerald was not his brother's child. And I trusted him, I say, tho' now I begin to doubt. Yet 'tis ever so in this world. We who are of an innocent and confiding nature are made the sport of the unscrupulous and designing."
"But," I exclaimed, "surely there is law and justice at home, and upright judges, especially with so good a king as ours on the throne, tho', under the wicked Stuarts, it might have been different. And the judges of England and Ireland, with whom you doubtless are well acquainted, would not let so base a villain as his uncle prevail."
The captain nodded and said he did indeed know many of the judges of both countries (we learnt afterwards that he spake perfect truth), yet he doubted. Their judgments and decisions were not always those which he thought right nor worthy of approval; but still, with so strong a champion as the Marquis of Amesbury at his back (who could influence Sir Robert) he must hope that the young man would come by his own. We pressed him to stay to dinner, to which he consented and did full justice to our viands, praising them in a hearty, jolly fashion, and consenting more readily than before to attempt the wines and spirits. He also expressed much curiosity as to our convict and bond-servant labour, taking great interest in the various characters described by us. Indeed, at one time he testified a desire to walk down and inspect them and their dwellings, but desisted at last, saying we had given him such excellent accounts that he felt as if he had seen these creatures with his own eyes. Of them all, the case of Peter Buck, a highwayman, seemed to interest him the most, and he asked many questions about him; as to when he had come out, what his appearance was, and so forth. But, still, he finally decided not to go down to the plantation and see him or the others, saying he was bound to join a company of gentlemen at Albemarle Sound that night if possible, who had a vessel full of Saltzburghers to be conveyed to Savannah.
"But," said he with a laugh, "I do trust, ladies, I shall meet with none of your Indians on my ride. In battle, or with highwaymen, I know how to comport myself, and so long as my sword is true and my pistols well primed can hold my own. But with savages I know not what I should do, unless it were to cut and run."
So he mounted his horse having first bade his hired guide do the same, while we told him that his road ran too far south-east towards the coast for him to encounter any savages; and then, having paid courteous farewells to Mary and me, and having tossed an English gold coin to Mungo, he saluted us once more most gracefully and rode away.