drawing herselfup.
"Well, that's as may be, Ann," answered Mr. Sleech, with a forced laugh."He who has the right to the property will have the right to cut downthe trees, or law's not law. However, that's neither here nor there.What I want to know, Ann, is when you and Mabel will be ready to pack upbag and baggage and turn out. There's that bow-windowed house in thetown, half-way up the street, which would just suit you two spinsterladies, and the fact is that my daughters and my sons and I have rathera fancy to come and take up our quarters here. We have been kept out ofthe place a pretty long number of years, and you see, in my opinion,it's time we had our rights."
"When our legal adviser considers that we have no longer a right toremain in this house, Mabel and I will immediately leave it," answeredthe old lady, with dignity. "I am sure such would be Captain Everard'swish. In the meantime, I must request, Mr. Sleech, that you and yourson will bring this interview to a conclusion. As relatives I wouldhave made you welcome; but I cannot feel that you are justified in thuscoming to insult my niece and me. I must therefore request that youwill take your departure."
"As you like, Ann, as you like," exclaimed Mr. Sleech, swinging abouthis hat, which he had lifted from the ground. "It won't be for long, Ican tell you; we shall soon be back again, I have an idea."
Silas endeavoured to shake hands with Mabel with a smile which heintended to be insinuating, but she indignantly turned from him.
"Oh, oh, proud as ever," he muttered, as he followed his father out ofthe room, at the door of which Paul was standing sentry. He had seenthem returning to the house, and it would have fared ill with either ofthem had they ventured to proceed much further in their insultingremarks to the ladies. Not a muscle of his countenance moved as heopened the hall-door; but his eyes glared down upon them with anexpression which made even Silas wince and keep close behind hisfather's heels.
"Well, that old fellow's the essence of glumness," observed Silas, asthey got beyond hearing.
"She threatened me, she did," muttered his father, between his teeth,not attending to what Silas had said. "But we will be even with them,or my name's not Tony Sleech."
Lynderton was at that time a place of fashionable resort during thesummer season. People came down there to enjoy the sea breezes and thebathing in salt water, to listen to the band of the foreign legion, andto enjoy the pleasant society which was to be found in the town and itsneighbourhood. During the lifetime of his sister, Lady Tryon, Mr.Coppinger had declined going there; but he now acceded to the urgententreaties of his daughters, and had taken a house for them, at whichthey had arrived. He himself, however, could only occasionally getdown. One of the very few visitors admitted at Stanmore was the youngBaron de Ruvigny. He also had soon become acquainted with the MissCoppingers, and from the account he gave of them, as well as from theway Harry had before spoken of his cousins, Mabel more than ever wasanxious to see them. Indeed, she consulted with her aunt whether shemight not with propriety call upon them. The matter was discussedseveral times; but Madam Everard could not yet bring herself to seestrangers.
"They are charming young ladies," said the young baron, "so full of lifeand spirits, and so sweet and gentle; so refined in manners, so lovelyin appearance."
"What! are the six sisters all charming?" asked Mabel, innocently.
The young baron hesitated, blushed, confessed that one in particular waseven more than he had described--a lovely pearl. Her name Sybella--whata sweet name. Her voice, too--she sang exquisitely.
"I have heard of her," said Mabel, at length, "from her cousin Harry.He described her as a very interesting girl, so pray tell them, baron,that I hope soon to make their acquaintance."
This was said before the visit of the Mr. Sleeches to Stanmore, whichhas just been described.
The Miss Coppingers thought Lynderton a most delightful place, and werenot at all surprised that Harry had praised it so much to them; theironly sorrow was that he was not there. Their father, with kindconsideration, had not told them that he had strong grounds forsuspecting Harry's honesty, nor had he given any reason for his absence.All he had said was that Harry had suddenly left the counting-house andhad not returned, and they all thought too well of him to suspect him ofany dishonourable conduct. They consequently spoke of him openly atLynderton as their cousin. He seemed to have many friends, but only twoappeared to know what had become of him: one was the Baron de Ruvigny,who was a very frequent visitor at their house, and the other wasCaptain Rochard, who came once or twice with the baron. He was, he toldthem, an old friend of Captain Everard's, and was therefore particularlyinterested in the place.
Silas Sleech had obtained a holiday for the purpose of visitingLynderton, not at all aware at the time that Mr. Coppinger was about toproceed there himself. Great was the merchant's astonishment when, theday after he came down, his eyes fell on his clerk, dressed in theheight of fashion, walking up and down among the gay company assembledunder an avenue of trees at the outside of the town to hear the bandplay. His amazement was increased when he saw him bow with a mostfamiliar glance at his own daughters. Directly afterwards his clerk'seye met his. Now Silas possessed as much impudence and assurance asmost men, but his glance sank abashed before the stern look of thedignified Mr. Coppinger. The young ladies were, they declared, utterlyignorant who he was. He had introduced himself as a friend of theofficers of the legion, on the previous evening, without giving hisname, while they had seen him dancing with several young ladies. Silaswas ambitious. He was endeavouring to work his way into good society,in the outside circles of which only his family had hitherto moved, inspite of their connection by marriage with the Everards.
Meantime Roger Kyffin had returned from Ireland. His grief at findingthat Harry had gone away with so grievous an imputation on his characterwas very great. Still he did not, he could not, believe Harry to beguilty. He found no letter, however, from him at Idol Lane, nor wasthere one at his own house.
"Surely the boy would have written to me," he thought, "and told mewhere he was going. With all his faults, I believe he regarded me withsincere affection. I am sure he would have written."
On speaking to his housekeeper one day about some letter which had beenleft during his absence, she mentioned that Mr. Silas Sleech had on oneoccasion come to the house and requested to see Mr. Kyffin's letters,stating that he had been desired to forward some of them to him.
"I never gave any such directions," said Mr. Kyffin. "Did he take anyletter?"
"Yes, sir, there was one--a particularly thick one, too--and thedirection was in a good bold hand, just such as I have seen Master Harrywrite. I thought at the time, `Surely that's the very letter masterwould like to have,' so I let Mr. Sleech take it off, making sure thathe was going to send it on to you."
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.
THE OLD FAMILY DRIVEN FROM THEIR HOME.
Paul Gauntlett watched the Mr. Sleeches till they disappeared at thefarther end of the avenue, amid the shadows of the trees.
"I am thankful they're gone without me doing them a mischief; but thecolonel said to me, `Paul, take charge of this place till you deliver itup to my nephew, the captain.' And that is what I hope to do,"soliloquised the old soldier.
He stood for some minutes inside the porch, with his hands claspedbefore him in a stand-at-ease position. His plans were speedily formed.There were four stout fellows he could rely on generally employed aboutthe grounds. He placed them, with thick oaken cudgels in their hands,two at a time, to watch the approaches to the hall, while he himself,armed in a similar manner, continued at intervals night and day to paceround and round the house, to see, as he said to himself, that thesentries were on the alert.
Once or twice Mabel caught sight of him, and wondered what he was about;but he did not think it necessary to inform her and her aunt of hisplans. His chief post was the front porch, where he would sit thelivelong day, keeping a watchful eye up and down the avenue. His onlyentertainment was reading the newspaper, which was br
ought by a man onhorseback from Lynderton. It was a very different production from thelarge sheet of news at the present day.
Whatever were Mr. Sleech's plans, he seemed to have some hesitation inputting them into execution; for day after day Paul was allowed to keephis post unmolested.
One morning the groom brought the paper which had arrived the eveningbefore from London, and as the ladies were out in the grounds, Paul tookupon himself to peruse it first. He had spelt down two or threecolumns, when his eye fell on a paragraph in which the name of hisMajesty's frigate the "Brilliant" was mentioned. He read it eagerly.The paper trembled in his hands. "We regret to state" (so it ran) "thatwe have received information of the loss of HuMu's frigate the`Brilliant,' on