With that the Hessian turned about and beat a hasty retreat, grumbling and swearing as he went.
Lyttleton stepped quickly to the door and secured it after him, then returned to Nell's side to whisper with triumphant air, "Ghost or mortal, I have driven the wretch away, and you are safe, fair lady."
The other two ladies, pale, trembling, half-fainting with terror, hailed him gratefully as their deliverer; but Nell had recovered from her fright in the very instant of uttering the shriek called forth by the sudden apparition.
Was there not something familiar in the face, the form, the stride with which he crossed the room?
She looked Lyttleton keenly in the eye, then returned his whisper with another.
"Did it require any great stretch of courage to order your valet out of the house?"
She had drawn her bow at a venture and was surprised to see by his air of overwhelming confusion and chagrin, that her arrow had sped straight to the mark.
"Your Hessian as sure as I stand here, sir!" cried Captain Bernard, recovering himself and clapping the major on the shoulder. "Well, well, I'll believe in ghosts hereafter. I never was more astonished or taken aback in my life. Lyttleton, you showed yourself the most quick-witted and self-possessed of any of us. Allow me to congratulate you on the laurels you have won."
"I—I—" stammered Lyttleton with a deprecating glance at Nell, whose lips were curling with scorn.
"We will spare your modesty," said the major, grasping the Englishman's hand warmly, "but let me tender you the thanks of the company."