Let us take a drink," he
concluded suddenly, but without any levity of tone.
I was touched by his words, and consented. He sat down on the table in the
dining-room, and held up the glass of sherry to his eye.
"If you beat me, Frank," he said, "I shall take to drink. What will you
do, if it goes the other way?"
"God knows," I returned.
"Well," said he, "here is a toast in the meantime: '_Italia irredenta_!'"
The remainder of the day was passed in the same dreadful tedium and
suspense. I laid the table for dinner, while Northmour and Clara prepared
the meal together in the kitchen. I could hear their talk as I went to and
fro, and was surprised to find it ran all the time upon myself. Northmour
again bracketed us together, and rallied Clara on a choice of husbands;
but he continued to speak of me with some feeling, and uttered nothing to
my prejudice unless he included himself in the condemnation. This awakened
a sense of gratitude in my heart, which combined with the immediateness of
our peril to fill my eyes with tears. After all, I thought--and perhaps
the thought was laughably vain--we were here three very noble human beings
to perish in defense of a thieving banker.
Before we sat down to table, I looked forth from an upstairs window. The
day was beginning to decline; the links were utterly deserted; the
dispatch box still lay untouched where we had left it hours before.
Pages:
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273