第24章 Volume 1(24)

With this note the captain departed;and as we did not doubt that the message which he had delivered had been suggested by some unintentional misconstruction of O'Connor's first billet,we felt assured that the conclusion of his last note would set the matter at rest.In this belief,however,we were mistaken;before we had left the table,and in an incredibly short time,the captain returned.He entered the room with a countenance evidently tasked to avoid expressing the satisfaction which a consciousness of the nature of his mission had conferred;but in spite of all his efforts to look gravely unconcerned,there was a twinkle in the small grey eye,and an almost imperceptible motion in the corner of the mouth,which sufficiently betrayed his internal glee,as he placed a note in the hand of O'Connor.As the young man cast his eye over it,he coloured deeply,and turning to M'Donough,he said:

'You will have the goodness to make all the necessary arrangements for a meeting.

Something has occurred to render one between me and Mr.Fitzgerald inevitable.Understand me literally,when I say that it is now totally impossible that this affair should be amicably arranged.

You will have the goodness,M'Donough,to let me know as soon as all the particulars are arranged.Purcell,'he continued,'will you have the kindness to accompany me?'and having bowed to M'Creagh,we left the room.

As I closed the door after me,I heard the captain laugh,and thought I could distinguish the words--'By --I knew Fitzgerald would bring him to his way of thinking before he stopped.'

I followed O'Connor into his study,and on entering,the door being closed,he showed me the communication which had determined him upon hostilities.Its language was grossly impertinent,and it concluded by actually threatening to 'POST'

him,in case he further attempted 'to be OFF.'I cannot describe the agony of indignation in which O'Connor writhed under this insult.He said repeatedly that 'he was a degraded and dishohoured man,'that 'he was dragged into the field,'that 'there was ignominy in the very thought that such a letter should have been directed to him.'It was in vain that I reasoned against this impression;the conviction that he had been disgraced had taken possession of his mind.He said again and again that nothing but his DEATH could remove the stain which his indecision had cast upon the name of his family.Ihurried to the hall,on hearing M'Donough and the captain passing,and reached the door just in time to hear the latter say,as he mounted his horse:

'All the rest can be arranged on the spot;and so farewell,Mr.M'Donough--we'll meet at Philippi,you know;'and with this classical allusion,which was accompanied with a grin and a bow,and probably served many such occasions,the captain took his departure.

M'Donough briefly stated the few particulars which had been arranged.The parties were to meet at the stand-house,in the race-ground,which lay at about an equal distance between Castle Connor and the town of T--.The hour appointed was half-past five on the next morning,at which time the twilight would be sufficiently advanced to afford a distinct view;and the weapons to be employed were PISTOLS--M'Creagh having claimed,on the part of his friend,all the advantages of the CHALLENGED party,and having,consequently,insisted upon the choice of 'TOOLS,'as he expressed himself;and it was further stipulated that the utmost secrecy should be observed,as Fitzgerald would incur great risk from the violence of the peasantry,in case the affair took wind.

These conditions were,of course,agreed upon by O'Connor,and M'Donough left the castle,having appointed four o'clock upon the next morning as the hour of his return,by which time it would be his business to provide everything necessary for the meeting.On his departure,O'Connor requested me to remain with him upon that evening,saying that 'he could not bear to be alone with his mother.'It was to me a most painful request,but at the same time one which Icould not think of refusing.I felt,however,that the difficulty at least of the task which I had to perform would be in some measure mitigated by the arrival of two relations of O'Connor upon that evening.

'It is very fortunate,'said O'Connor,whose thoughts had been running upon the same subject,'that the O'Gradys will be with us to-night;their gaiety and good-humour will relieve us from a heavy task.I trust that nothing may occur to prevent their coming.'Fervently concurring in the same wish,I accompanied O'Connor into the parlour,there to await the arrival of his mother.

God grant that I may never spend such another evening!The O'Gradys DID come,but their high and noisy spirits,so far from relieving me,did but give additional gloom to the despondency,I might say the despair,which filled my heart with misery--the terrible forebodings which I could not for an instant silence,turned their laughter into discord,and seemed to mock the smiles and jests of the unconscious party.When I turned my eyes upon the mother,Ithought I never had seen her look so proudly and so lovingly upon her son before--it cut me to the heart--oh,how cruelly I was deceiving her!I was a hundred times on the very point of start-ing up,and,at all hazards,declaring to her how matters were;but other feelings subdued my better emotions.Oh,what monsters are we made of by the fashions of the world!how are our kindlier and nobler feelings warped or destroyed by their baleful influences!I felt that it would not be HONOURABLE,that it would not be ETIQUETTE,to betray O'Connor's secret.I sacrificed a higher and a nobler duty than I have since been called upon to perform,to the dastardly fear of bearing the unmerited censure of a world from which I was about to retire.O Fashion!thou gaudy idol,whose feet are red with the blood of human sacrifice,would I had always felt towards thee as I now do!