I bowed my head in silence. I could not speak. Her sweet, womanly trust in me was yet another link to bind me to my purpose. The next moment she had left the room and I heard her close and bolt the heavy outer door. Then I turned upon the steward.
“Answer,” I cried, taking him by the shoulders, “and briefly, man. Is the boat still there below the cliff?”
“Yes,” he replied, catching something of my own energy.
“And know you of any craft in the harbour that would venture the coast of France to-night for gold?”
“Aye,” he answered, “or for love of the master. Nevertheless, there is the money collected last week from the rents——”
“Then fetch it,” I cried, interrupting him, “and follow to the beach. Haste, man, haste! The precious moments are fleeting fast!”
Without a word he turned away, and left me standing in the centre of the room. Then once again I drew near, it might be for the last time, and gazed down into my lady’s lovely face, now so white and still. One slender hand hung at her side. I stooped and, half timidly, put out my own towards it. On a sudden, I know not why, a sense of my unworthiness came over me. I bent lower still, and, raising the hem of her gown, pressed it to my lips. Then I passed out into the night.
CHAPTER XV
OF THE COMING OF THE DUTCH DRAGOONS
At the little bridge over the moat, the tall figure of my antagonist had halted, but upon my appearance on the terrace he turned his back on me and strode off resolutely in the direction of the cliffs. And I—I followed him with a strange conflict raging in my breast. ’Twas not of fear for the result of the encounter, though I did not deceive myself but that I should find a formidable opponent in the man before me. At that time skill in the use of the rapier formed not the least part of the education of a gentleman, and I could not doubt but that his Grace would have benefited by the lessons of the best foreign masters. No, it was rather a knowledge of the certain penalty that the success of my scheme must exact, and a feeling that I was playing a part more worthy of a hero of romaunt. Yet as my lady’s face as I had last seen it rose up before my eyes, I felt a simple pleasure in the thought that I could minister to her happiness. When all that I had it in my heart to perform was done, would she then think of me with scorn and loathing I wondered? Would the memory of me be but one of shuddering aversion in all the years to come? Happen what might, I knew that I could no longer deceive my own heart; that the image of this woman’s face would be with me until the end. All this time I had been striding rapidly through the moonlit gardens in the wake of the earl. On reaching the pathway at the head of the cliffs I paused to cast one lingering look in the direction of the manor. Here and there I could see lights shining through the trees, but no sound came from the house to show that our flight was as yet discovered. The gardens themselves were very still. A few bats fluttered silently through the darkness. Overhead, the moon sailed higher into the heavens, across which, ever and anon, a great star flashed and vanished. From below me came up the low murmur of the tide along the shore. It was such a night as might well shame the lust of murder in men’s hearts by its calm serenity. Light as it was, I found the descent of the cliff path to be little calculated to soothe the nerves of one about to engage in a duel of more than life. But the earl did not even pause in the descent—doubtless familiarity with it in his boyhood had robbed it for him of all its terrors—and for very shame’s sake I followed, pressing, I will confess, as near as possible to the cliff wall upon my right and striving to avoid gazing into the abyss at my side. Arriving at length at the foot of the path, I found my antagonist already testing the surface of the patch of sand that I had chosen. I saw that the steward had spoken truth. The boat lay close to the edge of the incoming tide. For the rest, the sand was firm, and the moon rendered the spot as suitable as one could desire for the matter in hand.
“I trust that the ground meets with your Grace’s approval?” I said after a short silence.