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A FEW PRESS OPINIONS 
 
 "PEG THE RAK E." 
 
 Times. 
 
 " Rita first, and other masters of fiction nowhere. . . . The 
 qualifications which have made Rita the darling of the multitude 
 may be studied in 4 Peg the Rake '. Rita deserves her laurels far 
 more than some novelists whose books have the vogue for a 
 season." 
 
 Daily News. 
 
 " Miss Em is a delightful creation. The descriptions of Irish 
 society are excellent." 
 
 Morning Post. 
 
 " It is much to say of a tale by the author of ' Dame Durden ' 
 that her latest work is an improvement on any of its predecessors, 
 but this is likely to be the general verdict of readers of ' Peg the 
 Rake'. Its descriptions of Dublin society are as bright and 
 full of local colour as the rest of the novel, the popularity of which 
 it is quite safe to predict." 
 
 Daily Telegraph. 
 
 " Told with remarkable force and vivacity. For the thrilling 
 particulars we must refer our readers to Rita's strongest and latest 
 work of fiction. 'Peg the Rake' teems with clever dialogue and 
 graphic character sketches." 
 
 Academy. 
 
 " The incidents are at once dramatic and natural, and the 
 dialogues full of vivacity." 
 
 Saturday Review. 
 
 " Rita has powers of whose existence we never before faintly 
 suspected her." 
 
 Lady. 
 
 " This versatile authoress has given us many charming novels, 
 but none more brilliant than this, her latest. It is written in, 
 admirable style, and many a touch of delightful comedy and rich 
 Irish wit enlivens its pages, while several of the chapters reveal 
 considerable dramatic power. The characters are one and all 
 capitally drawn. The book will certainly become deservedly 
 popular when it appears, in due time, in the convenient one 
 volume edition." 
 
Court Journal. 
 
 " The dialogue is bright, the characters are full of actuality, and 
 Rita is by no means lacking in humour." 
 
 Speaker. 
 
 M Rita has given us a novel that fully deserves the success it is 
 likely to obtain. As a vivid and sympathetic study of feminine 
 character, ' Peg the Rake ' holds its own among the better class of 
 recent novels. It is written with a sobriety of style that greatly 
 enhances its intrinsic charm, while in the centre character Rita has 
 painted an artistic and carefully finished portrait, whose vivid 
 realism is felt in every touch." 
 
 Newcastle Daily Leader. 
 
 "' Peg the Rake' is unquestionably a powerful and interesting 
 story — fresh, original, easy in its movement, and marked by 
 unusual boldness and truth of characterisation. The book deserves 
 to be read. The Irish scenes and incidents are sketched with 
 admirable sureness and dexterity ; the characters are life-like and 
 distinct ; the dialogue is always almost natural and fresh ; and the 
 development of the story shows a high degree of dramatic capacity. 
 The work, as a whole, is a piece of remarkably clever and effective 
 invention." 
 
 Standard. 
 
 " ' Peg the Rake ' is amusing and vivacious, and will commend 
 itself especially to the feminine reader." 
 
 Daily Chronicle. 
 
 " This is a stronger and better piece of work than anything Rita 
 has yet done, very readable and well constructed." 
 
 Manchester Guardian. 
 
 " Rita has the true knack of the novelist. . . . As we read we 
 find ourselves unconsciously drawn to ' Peg the Rake ' ; she is a 
 personality and a force, a living creation and a true woman ; there 
 is movement, life, and originality in the book; it is never dull." 
 
 Liverpool Mercury. 
 
 " A racy, Irish story, brightly written and thoroughly interesting. 
 Peg is a finely conceived and well executed character. There are 
 also very charming traits which make it most loveable, and a 
 certain pathos that brings a curious sensation to the throat and 
 eyes of the sympathetic reader." 
 
 N. B. Daily Mail. 
 
 " Rita has given us this time an Irish story, which is both fresh 
 — rare quality — and powerful. A distinct addition to the gallery 
 of fiction is this lively heroine with a heart that breaks. Her 
 readers have to thank her." 
 
r* 
 
 > 
 
 P 
 
 EG 
 
 THE HAKE 
 
 BY 
 
 "RITA" tJ ^juuJi , 
 
 AUTHOR OF "DAME DURDEN," "A WOMAN IN IT," 
 "KITTY THE RAG," ETC. 
 
 NINTH EDl TION 
 
 Jkotxbon 
 HUTCHINSON & CO. 
 
 34 PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. 
 
Dramatic Rights reserved by the Author. 
 
 ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY PRESS. 
 
ff7ci f 
 
 a 
 
 PEG, THE RAKE." 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 M In every life a story ..." 
 
 " I'll go nap," said Miss Em. 
 
 " Get it," said the doctor, glancing up from 
 his own hand with an expression of doubt and 
 disappointment. 
 
 Miss Em's slender white fingers lingered 
 lovingly over the cards while three pair of eyes 
 watched keenly her first move. She put down an 
 ace of hearts with an air of defiance. 
 
 "Bravo, Miss Em!" said Captain Kearney, 
 usually known to friends and foes alike as 
 " Paddy ". " Where hearts are concerned, you're 
 pretty safe to win ! " 
 
 " Well, you haven't one to lose at any rate," 
 said Miss Em, flashing her grey Irish eyes at him 
 as he covered her ace with the five of spades. 
 "But remember, Dr. MacShamus, win or lose, 
 this is my last game to-night. Gracious ! 'tis ten 
 o'clock already," with a glance at the black 
 marble clock on the mantel-shelf. " You know 
 what my father is ! He was in a precious temper, 
 too, when I came out ; and I fear absence won't 
 be making his heart grow fonder." 
 
 " Ah ! don't be minding him," said Dr. Mac- 
 Shamus, to whom Miss Em's abundant vears of 
 discretion made such allusions unimportant. 
 " Your trick, of course ? " 
 
 Miss Em smiled significantly, and led the king 
 
 os; 
 
 j 
 
2 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 of the same suit, followed by the queen, ten, and 
 ace of clubs. 
 
 u Ah, faith ! 'tis nap sure enough," said the 
 doctor, with pretended disgust. " Fortune's 
 favoured you to-night, Miss Em ! " 
 
 The lady addressed carefully gathered up her 
 winnings with a keen glance at the gold gleaming 
 here and there amidst the pile. She never cared 
 to play unless the stakes were high, though she 
 professed to love cards for their own sake en- 
 tirely. 
 
 " Ah, doctor, you're disappointed," she said, as 
 she closed her purse. " But you needn't begrudge 
 me the luck to-night. I sorely need it, and 'tisn't 
 ' Miss Em ' would have gone nap unless she 
 felt sure of getting it." 
 
 " The old gentleman turned rusty again ? " 
 inquired Captain Kearney, twirling his fair 
 moustache, and watching his late opponent with 
 the interest and amusement she never failed to 
 arouse in him. 
 
 " Is he ever anything else ? " said Miss Em, 
 with a shrug of shapely shoulders under a well- 
 fitting but well-worn gown. " I expect there'll be 
 no getting off from Carrig-duve for me this many 
 a day. Sorry I am now I came over for Christ- 
 mas ; for with a stepmother who preaches filial 
 duty and then makes your home a hell, 'tis enough 
 to try a saint." 
 
 "Indeed it is, my dear," said Mrs. MacShamus, 
 with a vague idea that it was about time she 
 'took up her parable,' and spoke. The doctor's 
 conversational powers usually exercised a whole- 
 some check upon her own. 
 
 " But you wouldn't be calling yourself a saint, 
 Miss Em ? " interposed that loquacious individual. 
 " Shure, 'tis a chip of the old block you are, and 
 always will be, I'll take my oath o' that. Why, 
 don't I remember " 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 3 
 
 i 
 
 11 No tales now, doctor ! " interrupted Miss Em, 
 hastily. " Even the devil's not as black as he's 
 painted ! " 
 
 "And perhaps the saints aren't as white," said 
 Captain Kearney. " You'll let me have the 
 honour of escorting you home, Miss Em ? " 
 
 " Indeed, you're very kind," she answered, with 
 a glance at the handsome good-humoured face. 
 There was a faint pink flush on her own, born of 
 nervousness, not embarrassment. Miss Em's 
 savoir faire was proverbial. 
 
 She walked over to the large old-fashioned 
 fire-place, and began to smooth her hair at the 
 mirror. It was brown in hue and with a natural 
 ripple in it, and was worn in a somewhat old- 
 fashioned style, which her juveniles termed 
 " window curtains," but Miss Em was wise 
 enough to know that a fringe would only vulgarise 
 a face that could not only bear but look dis- 
 tinguished under a severe style of hair-dressing. 
 She gave an adjusting touch to a rebellious lock or 
 two, and a cautious pat to the elaborate coils 
 which graced the back of her head, and which 
 would have taxed even a child's credulity as to 
 being the natural growth of any human cranium. 
 
 She was a well-preserved woman of forty, though 
 with the advantage of appearing a good five years 
 less than her real age. Her friends on looking 
 back for her (a thing Miss Em never cared to do 
 for herself) produced from a traditional past a 
 goodly store of evidence as to her beauty and 
 conquests, but neither one nor other had resulted 
 in anything more satisfactory than " old maiden- 
 hood " and a career of adventure at which she 
 herself often jested in public. 
 
 Her private estimate of herself and her life was 
 locked safely away in the recesses of her own 
 heart. Not even her nearest and dearest (and 
 Miss Em had a power of attracting and retaining 
 
4 PEG, THE RAKB. 
 
 very warm affections) ever guessed the feelings 
 that lay concealed beneath that gay and reckless 
 exterior — or the true history of a girlhood that 
 had won for her the sobriquet of " Peg, the Rake ". 
 
 There are turned-down pages in most lives. 
 There were one or two in Miss Em's, which, even 
 now, she shrank from re-opening : pages thumbed 
 and worn, and discoloured with many tears ; pages 
 in a dusty volume which had its own special 
 niche, its own secret abiding place. The volume 
 of that youth whose requiem she had long since 
 heard in the strains of a useless regret. 
 
 " Come, Miss Em, you're beautiful enough," 
 said Dr. MacShamus jestingly. "And who's to 
 see you to-night ? Sorra a bit of moonlight or 
 starlight either is there. 'Tis your own eyes you 
 must trust to." 
 
 '* Miss Em wouldn't need any better lantern," 
 said Captain Kearney gallantly, as the lady in 
 question adjusted her bonnet, and slipped into a 
 shabby though serviceable sealskin. " By the 
 way," he added suddenly, " are you going to 
 Dublin for the Kellys' ball ? Because my 
 leave's up, and, as I've to return there, we might 
 travel the same day." 
 
 " What day do you go ? " asked Miss Em 
 diplomatically — she had received no invitation for 
 the ball, but the very hearing of it aroused a 
 determination to be present at whatever cost. 
 These little strategies were just what she en- 
 joyed- 
 
 " On Tuesday," answered the captain, rising, 
 
 as he saw she was ready. " The day before, you 
 know." (Miss Em did not know, but made a mental 
 note of the date.) " It's to be most brilliant," he 
 added ; " no expense spared, and half Dublin 
 asked." 
 
 Again that faint pink flush coloured Miss Em's 
 somewhat worn cheek — it was born of natural 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 5 
 
 indignation this time. Half Dublin asked, and 
 her name omitted ! Surely her popularity was 
 not on the wane. 
 
 " Tuesday would suit me very well, Paddy," 
 she said, drawing on her gloves, apparently 
 oblivious of the fact that the doctor had brewed 
 her a glass of punch, which was steaming with 
 inviting fragrance on the table. " We can arrange 
 time later on." 
 
 " Mine is at your disposal, of course," answered 
 Paddy, accepting a glass of the punch from the 
 doctor, and offering it with polite alacrity to her. 
 " Now don't shake your head, Miss Em. Shure, 
 this wouldn't hurt a babe, and it'll keep the cold 
 out. You know the doctor's recipe by this 
 time ? " 
 
 " 'Twould be mighty strange if she didn't," 
 observed Dr. MacShamus, with a good-humoured 
 twinkle in his eyes ; " for many's the time she's 
 had the benefit of it." 
 
 Miss Em accepted the glass without further 
 demur, and edged cautiously in the direction of 
 Mrs. MacShamus. 
 
 " I'm glad to be able to pay off my debt so 
 soon, dear," she whispered, slipping a sovereign 
 into the good lady's palm. " If it hadn't been for 
 the loan of this, 'tis little chance I'd have had of 
 getting off to Dublin, or anywhere else. I can't 
 screw a penny out of the gov'ner now. 'Tis 
 meaner and meaner he gets, and little to be 
 wondered at considering who he's got to back him 
 up. If it wasn't for my luck at cards I don't 
 know where I'd be ! " 
 
 " Poor dear," said Mrs. MacShamus sympatheti- 
 cally. " 'Tis a shame to be bullied and badgered 
 like a child, and at your age, too ! " 
 
 The good lady often spoilt an admirable 
 intention by a malapropos remark. Miss Em, 
 however, was too pachydermatous to feel such 
 
6 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 random shots as anything but the merest touch on 
 the target of vanity. Time was when they would 
 have penetrated deeply enough ; but the world and 
 its lessons had been an efficient cure, and her 
 unfailing good nature and unconsciousness of 
 offence were one of the secrets of her social 
 success. 
 
 "I'm afraid I can't stay to gossip any more," 
 she said now; "the doors will be locked and 
 barred as it is, but I asked Quinlan to let me in by 
 the little side entrance — she's such a good creature, 
 and willing to do anything in the world for me. 
 Oh, I'd almost forgotten " — and she glanced hali 
 nervously in the direction of the two men, who 
 were now discussing agrarian outrages in excited 
 tones — " do you happen to know if Lady Pat is 
 in Dublin ? I've not heard from her for ages." 
 
 " She was there for Christmas," said Mrs. 
 MacShamus. " The O'Briens told me that ; but 
 she wasn't meaning to make any long stay, she 
 wants to go abroad again." 
 
 Miss Em's grey eyes flashed eagerly. " No ? 
 You don't say so ? But her niece was so ill, and 
 she never travels alone ! " 
 
 " Maybe the poor thing is better now," hazarded 
 Mrs. MacShamus as an agreeable suggestion. 
 
 " Maybe she's not, and I pray she mayn't be," 
 was the thought in Miss Em's mind as she cheer- 
 fully echoed that suggestion and bade farewell to 
 host and hostess. 
 
 " Poor dear Miss Em ! " sighed the doctors 
 wife, as the door closed upon her at last. 
 
 " Ah, faith ! you needn't be wasting your pity 
 there ! " answered her husband, planting himself, 
 glass in hand, on the hearthrug. " Now just tell 
 me what she wormed out of you to-night, and I'll 
 give you a sketch of her manoeuvres for the spring 
 campaign." 
 
 " That's not a kind way of speaking of her, 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 7 
 
 jerry," said his wife rebukingly. " I'm sure the 
 poor thing is as innocent as a child, and very 
 hardly used to. There's neither man nor woman 
 could say a good word for that stepmother of 
 hers. Whatever possessed Mr. O'Hara to marry 
 her, and at his age too, beats me entirely." 
 
 " Marriage," said Dr. MacShamus oracularly, 
 "is just the one action in life that a man's friends 
 never can see any reason for ! I can give a pretty 
 good guess though for the reason of O'Hara's 
 marriage, badly as it's turned out." 
 
 " Why, Jerry, you've always said " 
 
 "Pooh, pooh," he interposed hastily. "And 
 why shouldn't I be saying it? I know what 
 women's tongues are. Was I going to tell you 
 anything that would be half over the parish the 
 next day? But the marriage is an old story now,|and 
 it didn't do what it was intended, more's the pity." 
 
 " But what was that ? " persisted Mrs. Mac- 
 Shamus, who when she once seized upon an idea 
 was loth to relinquish it. 
 
 The doctor sipped his punch slowly and thought- 
 fully and regarded his spouse with an air of doubt, 
 as if uncertain of her discretion in any matter of 
 marital confidence. " What was it ? " he said at 
 last. " Well, only that Peg, as they called her, 
 was getting a bit too wild, and needed curb, and 
 if there ever was a woman capable of clapping it 
 on and keeping it tight, then Mrs. O'Hara No. 2 
 is that woman." 
 
 " Miss Em hates her," said the old lady ; " and 
 she's quite turned her father's heart away from 
 her. 'Tis a shame, and his only child, too ! But, 
 Jerry," she resumed, harking back to a long 
 pent-up curiosity on this subject, "since we're 
 speaking of the O'Haras, do tell me what the 
 story was about Miss Em, I never could get the 
 rights of it. Not that I believe there was any- 
 thing wrong, though people do say " 
 
8 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 " There you go ! Women's tongues and 
 women's gossip ! " exclaimed the doctor. " And 
 as if I'd be adding to it ! Bygones are bygones ; 
 old heads won't grow on young shoulders, nor 
 young blood run cool and slow in young veins. 
 There's a wild strain in all the O'Hara lot and 
 has been for generations. It wasn't likely Peg 
 would escape it. She was a beautiful girl, too — 
 'tis a pity she didn't make a good match when she 
 had the chance." 
 
 " There's hope for her yet," said Mrs. Mac- 
 Shamus consolingly. " She's much admired, and 
 no one could say but what she's a fine woman and 
 as light a dancer as a girl, God bless her ! " 
 
 " Do you suppose a sensible man would be 
 marrying a woman of forty because she could 
 dance still?" asked the doctor, sarcastically. 
 ''What fools you take us for! He'd have to get 
 something better than that for his bargain, let me 
 tell you." 
 
 Mrs. MacShamus looked crestfallen, though 
 she was well used to snubbing. " You do snap 
 one up so, Jerry," she said plaintively. " Of 
 course, I wasn't meaning Miss Em would get a 
 husband only because of her figure and her 
 dancing. She's so good-hearted and companion- 
 able any man might be glad of such a wife." 
 
 " What was she asking you before she left ? " 
 inquired the doctor hastily, changing the subject. 
 
 Mrs. MacShamus cast her thoughts back with 
 some difficulty. " She repaid me the loan of a 
 sovereign," she exclaimed at last, unclasping her 
 hand, where the coin still reposed. " And she 
 talked about Dublin." 
 
 " Dublin ? Ah, I thought so," interrupted 
 the doctor sharply. " She's had no invitation to 
 the Kellys' ball, I'd stake my life on it, but all the 
 same she means to be there. You'll hear some- 
 thing to-morrow." 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. g 
 
 " How can she go if she's not been asked ? " 
 inquired Mrs. MacShamus, with an innocent un- 
 consciousness of manoeuvres and diplomacy which 
 struck the sharp-witted doctor as aggravating. 
 
 " How ? — how ? " he repeated. " Can't a woman 
 do anything if she makes up her mind to it ? I'm 
 not up to the ways and means she'll employ, but 
 I'd bet willingly on the result. Come, drink up 
 your punch ; you're letting it get cold, and there's 
 no more boiling water." 
 
 Mrs. MacShamus took out a netted silk purse 
 from her pocket and carefully placed Miss Em's 
 sovereign therein ; after which she slowly sipped 
 the contents of her tumbler, but her mind was ill 
 at ease. 
 
 " I told her Lady Patricia was in Dublin," she 
 remarked, with true feminine irrelevance. 
 
 The doctor started. His thoughts had drifted 
 far away from Miss Em and her concerns, to 
 professional matters. 
 
 For a moment he surveyed his wife with a sort 
 of wondering admiration. Then he laughed out- 
 right. 
 
 " Trust a child or a fool to cut the Gordian 
 knot of any difficulty! " he exclaimed. " My dear 
 Theresa, let me compliment you for once. 
 You've proved yourself an uncommonly clever 
 woman ! " 
 
 Mrs. MacShamus regarded him with bewilder- 
 ment. She never was quite sure whether her 
 husband was laughing at her or not. 
 
 " I wish you'd explain, Jerry," she said 
 nervously. " What was there clever in my 
 mentioning about Lady Pat, or that her niece 
 was still delicate and mightn't be able to go 
 abroad this winter?" 
 
 " Go on — go on," said the doctor approvingly. 
 
 "But that was all." 
 
 "All, are you sure? Well, you've not done 
 
10 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 badly; but I'll leave Miss Em to thank you later 
 on." 
 
 " I — I do wish I could understand you, Jerry," 
 said the old lady plaintively, as she rose. " But 
 you quite bewilder my poor brains ; I never was 
 clever, you know ; I'm not like you. I've often 
 wondered why you married me." 
 
 " Faith, and so have I ! " said Dr. MacShamus, 
 sotto voce ; his natural and national politeness 
 prevented the retort from being audible and 
 hurting the worthy lady's feelings ; but a long 
 experience of feminine peculiarities as exemplified 
 by patients in their respective relationship to the 
 opposite sex, had often led him to speculate on 
 the reasons of marriage. A man was so much 
 better off without it. What possessed him to tie 
 himself up, forfeit freedom, and burden himself 
 with a score of responsibilities when he might 
 just as well keep out of them ? 
 
 For himself there was always a professional 
 excuse. A married doctor was more popular 
 with lady patients than an unmarried one ; but 
 for the generality of mankind no such necessity 
 existed. 
 
 He watched his meek spouse gather up her 
 belongings — work-bag, spectacles and shawl — with 
 which she always travelled from room to room. 
 Then he opened the door, bade her good-night and 
 returned to his easy chair by the lire, and those 
 reflections, moralisings, speculations, what you 
 will, in which men indulge in that quiet half-hour 
 sacred to nicotine and slippers. 
 
 Fair goddess of the smoking-room, how much 
 you have to answer for ! What dreams of days 
 long dead, of hours both sweet and sad, hopeful 
 and hopeless, of memories and regrets and wasted 
 hopes, float phantom-like about those faint cloud 
 whiffs from weed, or briar ! 
 
 The living woman on whom the door has closed 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. II 
 
 little dreams of the rival who takes her place— a 
 place made sacred by the memories of youth ; a 
 slip of a girl perhaps in an old washed muslin, 
 the sunlight on her bright hair, the light of love 
 in her shy eyes, yet lovelier and more dear than 
 the beauty in diamonds and satin who bears the 
 name she should have borne. How sweet she 
 looks through the dim haze of long past years ! 
 How low and tender was her voice, how glad her 
 welcome, how sorrowful her parting words ! The 
 vision fades ; the eyes that gaze on it grow misty, 
 old, and world-weary as they are. Pshaw ! away 
 with such fancies ; they have had their day ; they 
 are buried with the hopes that faded like those 
 flowers exchanged, those vows whose "forever' 
 worldly pride or ambition made so brief. 
 
 But it was no girlish sweetheart who haunted 
 the good doctor's dreams to-night. Life, even in 
 youth, had meant for him hard work, stern disci- 
 pline, and many struggles. He had a genuine love 
 of his profession, but every step upwards had cost 
 him a heavy price. A country doctor has to put 
 up with much that his professional brethren in 
 large cities never encounter. Dr. MacShamus 
 as a young man had been enthusiastic, zealous, 
 and given to innovations more or less daring. 
 But the small circle of humanity among whom his 
 duties lay were obstinately averse to reform in any 
 shape, and a long battle with prejudice and super- 
 stition had left him a somewhat soured and 
 cynical man. He had married one of his own 
 patients when he was well past the season of 
 romance, and woman meant simply for him the 
 " sex feminine," who called forth the alternate 
 compassion and cynicism of his nature. His wife 
 had brought him some money, and they had never 
 widened their dual responsibilities by the obliga- 
 tion of parentage. In the present stage of their 
 history they were both well on in years, very 
 
12 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 comfortably oil, and fairly popular with their 
 neighbours, rich and poor alike. 
 
 The doctor himself was valued by reason of his 
 medical skill no less than by his being the safe 
 recipient of many family secrets and many queer 
 stories. They were never repeated ; and dearly as 
 Irish folk love gossip, none know better how to 
 appreciate a safe confidant. 
 
 It was a page of some such family history that 
 Dr. MacShamus was scanning to-night as he sat 
 alone by the fire and watched the smoke-clouds 
 curl about his head from that well-beloved briar 
 between his lips. A " dark queer page," he called 
 it, and one on which he had often speculated. It 
 concerned Miss Em, and was known only to her 
 father and himself, — at least, so he imagined. 
 Buried in a grave of twenty years was there now 
 any chance that it would have a resurrection ? 
 He hardly thought it possible, yet he wondered 
 vaguely why it should trouble him to-night. There 
 had been nothing to recall it, nothing to wake up 
 the old fear. Yet why was she so anxious to gc 
 to Dublin, and why the pretence that she had 
 received that invitation to the Kellys' ball ? 
 
 " There's no making her out," he muttered half 
 aloud, as he shook out the ashes of his pipe and 
 replaced it reluctantly on the rack above the 
 mantel-shelf. " And I'm doubtful if even forty 
 years have taught her prudence or discretion. 
 Yet, what the devil does it matter to me ? She 
 surely knows her own business best." 
 
 He stood contemplating the grey ashes of the 
 dying fire for a few moments still following out a 
 train of thought. " After all, would it have been 
 better to let her have her own way ? " he said 
 thoughtfully. " The blackguard might have 
 married her, and there's no knowing but the 
 property mayn't fall to him yet ! 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 13 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 "In every heart a grief." 
 
 Miss Em and her escort stepped boldly forth into 
 the dark, dreary night. She accepted his proffered 
 arm, and for some moments they walked along in 
 silence. 
 
 The chiming of the church clock sounded loud 
 and distinct and aroused an exclamation of sur- 
 prise from her. 
 
 " So late ! Why, they'll all have gone to bed 
 — and the fuss and botheration ! " 
 
 " Why do you mind them ? " asked Captain 
 Kearney. " Surely you can act as you please ? " 
 
 " I can, of course ; but I'm of a peaceable dis- 
 position and hate rows and scenes. Acting ' as 
 I please ' means both." 
 
 " I don't wonder you're so seldom at home. 
 You'll have a good time in Dublin, I hope." 
 
 "Yes; Lady Pat's house is a delightful one to 
 stay at. You do feel in touch with the world, 
 and the best people and the best things in it. 
 What a charming woman she is ! " 
 
 " Charming indeed ! I'm so glad you're going 
 there. Take care ; did you step into the mud ? " 
 
 " Very nearly," said Miss Em, with a little 
 catch in her breath. " Ugh ! how I hate these 
 dirty country roads ! I'm very sorry to be giving 
 you all this trouble, Paddy ; you're coming a good 
 deal out of your way." 
 
 "Oh, I'll take the short cut back," said the 
 young man, good-humouredly. " Don't be mention- 
 ing trouble, Miss Em. You know I'd walk ten 
 times to do you a service." 
 
 " I know you're very good to me," said Miss 
 Em, gratefully; "and I'm sure it's little cause 
 you have to be so. 'Tis not as if I was young and 
 
14 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 beautiful any longer. Time is very hard on 
 women, Paddy." 
 
 " But there are other charms besides youth and 
 beauty," said the young Irishman gallantly. 
 " And you'll never be needing admirers, or friends 
 either, as long as you live, that I'll swear." 
 
 " Whit are those lights yonder ? " asked Miss 
 Em suddenly. " Not at Castle Lustrell surely ! 
 Yes ; I do believe they are. Do you know if 
 they're entertaining to-night, Paddy? " 
 
 " I heard some word of a dinner-party, but I'm 
 not sure." 
 
 " And they didn't ask you — your own uncle 
 too ? Surely that's very strange." 
 
 " Well, you know, we're not the best of friends," 
 said the young man, in a somewhat embarrassed 
 manner. "The last quarrel was a bad one, indeed 
 if it weren't for Molly I'd have made it final, I think. 
 The old fellow was downright insulting. I hate 
 to have his money thrown at my head every time 
 I go there — just as if I cared for it." 
 
 " No, 'tis Molly I know," said Miss Em shrewdly ; 
 " but that amounts to nearly the same thing in 
 her father's eyes." 
 
 "Why, he's threatened todisinherit hera hundred 
 times ! There's nothing on earth to prevent him. 
 Indeed, he might be marrying again, he's always 
 talking about it." 
 
 " Is he really ? " exclaimed Miss Em, eagerly. 
 " I shouldn't have thought he'd ever do that. 
 After such a taste of matrimony as he's had 
 too ! " 
 
 " Isn't it wonderful that Molly should be so sweet 
 and lovely with such parents ? " 
 
 " Faith, 'tis a mercy we don't all take after our 
 progenitors," said Miss Em, bitterly. "They entail 
 quite enough upon us by giving us life, without 
 their tempers and infirmities being part of the 
 bargain. Ah, 'tis a weary world, Paddy dear; 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 15 
 
 often and often have I wished myself well out of 
 it!" 
 
 There was such a hopeless ring in her voice 
 that the young man looked at her with genuine 
 surprise. Miss Em had so long meant to him 
 the embodiment of all that was bright, cheery and 
 reckless, that he could not understand any darker 
 side to the brightness, any shadow to the sunny, 
 careless indifference habitually shown to life and 
 its responsibilities. 
 
 " I always thought you were on such good terms 
 with life," he said. 
 
 " Because I get the best I can out of it ? . . . 
 Hist ! Stay a moment. What was that ? " 
 
 They had opened a small gate and were pro- 
 ceeding carefully up the leafless avenue when she 
 uttered this exclamation. 
 
 It was too dark for Captain Kearney to see the 
 look of apprehension that had suddenly sprung 
 into her grey eyes, but no darkness could prevent 
 his noticing the sudden tremor of the hand that 
 clasped his arm. It struck him as strange that 
 Miss Em should be revealing herself in a new 
 light to him to-night — the light of the nervous 
 female who starts at shadows and hears in a 
 chance footstep the ominous sound of assault or 
 robbery. 
 
 " 'Tis only a falling twig from the trees," he 
 said reassuringly. " Why, Miss Em, you've 
 nothing to fear from moonlighters or ' the bhoys,' 
 have you ? " 
 
 She laughed somewhat hysterically. 
 
 " No, no ; of course not. Only I fancied I saw 
 a figure moving there, just between the stems." 
 
 " Then your sight is better than mine by a long 
 way," said the captain reassuringly. " I'm sure 
 there's no one. But I'll see you safe up to the 
 hall door, never fear." 
 
 'Tis the side way I'm going in," said Miss 
 
 a » 
 
l6 PEG, THE RAKii. 
 
 Em, lowering her voice. " I won't be disturbing 
 them since it's so late." 
 
 " All right," he said, giving her hand a re- 
 assuring pressure ; and they stumbled on together 
 in the brooding gloom, and over a path that 
 offered many impediments and obstructions. Un- 
 worn flints stood out in sharp relief from grassy 
 ruts, the low, bare boughs almost touched their 
 heads, the sighing wind was like a dirge heard in 
 the starless gloom. The key-note of desolation 
 was sharply struck by the whole desolate sur- 
 roundings, and even Paddy Kearney's habitual 
 cheerfulness was chilled into silence and fore- 
 boding as he assisted his equally silent companion 
 to the entrance she had indicated. 
 
 Two conspirators could scarce have parted with 
 more mystery and caution than did this strangely 
 assorted couple. The captain went cautiously 
 back over the rough path, while Miss Em herself 
 approached a window from which a faint light 
 gleamed, and tapped softly three times on the 
 pane. The whole of the house was wrapped in 
 darkness and every window barred and shuttered ; 
 but at this signal the door was gently opened, 
 revealing an elderly, woman who stepped forward 
 shading the candle with one hand and peering 
 intently into the darkness. 
 
 " 'Tis yourself, Miss Peg, dear." 
 " Of course, who else should it be ? " whispered 
 Miss Em, slipping quietly in, and closing the door 
 with alacrity, and yet with a noiselessness born of 
 long practice. " Have they gone up ? ' ! she 
 continued, as the bolt slipped quietly into its 
 well-greased socket. 
 
 " Yes, alanah, this half-hour and more. Spake 
 low or they'll hear ye. They don't know you're 
 out. Sure, the lies I've been after telling, but then,- 
 'twas in a good cause — glory be to God ! Faith, 
 'tis the mistress is in the divil of a temper to-night." 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 17 
 
 Miss Em shrugged her shoulders and took the 
 candle, gathering her skirts carefully about her. 
 
 " Good-night, Quinlan," she said in a whisper, 
 as she glanced up the well-worn carpeted stairs. 
 
 " Good-night, and God bless you, me dear," 
 whispered back the old woman, watching her 
 progress upwards with anxious eyes. Step by 
 step Miss Em advanced, neither rustle nor creak 
 betraying her movements. Long habit had made 
 her aware what stair was to be treated with 
 deference and what was " noise-proof". She 
 reached the upper landing, nodded triumphantly 
 to the old woman, and disappeared. 
 
 " Shure 'tis a shame to see the creature sneak- 
 ing into her own father's house, for all the world 
 as if she'd neither right nor place in it ; and 
 well I know 'tis herself ought to be mistress," 
 muttered Quinlan, who had been nurse, house- 
 keeper, and general factotum in the family for 
 over thirty years. To her, Miss Peg was still a 
 girl, still the wilful, reckless, extravagant creature 
 whose torn frocks she had mended, whose faults 
 she had screened, and whose escapades she had 
 hidden or excused. That she had driven her 
 mother to despair and half broken her father's 
 heart by her flirtations, extravagances, and heed- 
 lessness were all but venial sins in the eyes of the 
 doting old woman. Indeed, it is probable that but 
 for her Peg would have been a better child, and 
 " Miss Em " a better woman. 
 
 No sooner had the door closed on her, than, 
 with a sigh of relief, she placed the candlestick on 
 the dressing-table and sank into an arm-chair 
 beside it. It was curious to note how the whole 
 face changed, as if a mask had been removed. 
 Lines and shadows — thrown into strong relief 
 by the flickering light — revealed with unsparing 
 cruelty the ravages of Time. An expression of 
 intense weariness and depression darkened the 
 
 2 
 
l8 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 still brilliant eyes, and the lips, usually so gay 
 and smiling, grew set and stern. Miss Em looked 
 every day and hour of her age as she sat there, 
 wrapped in thoughts that seemed far from 
 pleasant ; her wearied brain busy with scheming ; 
 and yet something within her, of which she was 
 dimly conscious, despising those very schemes, 
 and at once condemning and ridiculing the end 
 for which she worked as the ignoble thing she 
 knew it to be. 
 
 Suddenly she rose and threw off her bonnet and 
 sealskin. Then with an impatient glance at the 
 mirror she went over to a cupboard, unlocked it 
 and took out two candles. These she placed in 
 a pair of broken china candlesticks on the dress- 
 ing-table and lit them. 
 
 "To think," she muttered contemptuously, 
 " that the very lights are begrudged one at Carrig- 
 duve ! How times have changed, and oh ! how 
 I hate and detest meanness, for 'tis nothing 
 else ! There's money enough and to spare, of that 
 I'm certain ; but that woman would skin a flint if 
 ever woman would." The three candles made 
 quite a brilliant illumination round the mirror, and 
 the kindly shadows left the general shabbiness of 
 the large room unrevealed. 
 
 Miss Em stood for a moment contemplating her 
 own reflection. 
 
 " I to be scheming for balls and parties ! " she 
 exclaimed, with a short bitter laugh. " I ! and 
 yet what would my life be if it weren't for these 
 poor excitements ? Home, love, youth, beauty, 
 all gone from me now, and there's nothing to 
 replace them — nothing! Fifteen, ay, even ten 
 years ago, what a different face looked back at 
 me from that very glass ! what a different heart 
 throbbed in this same breast ! But I can't give 
 in. I won't I'd sooner die than acknowledge 
 myself beaten; and I'll make something of my 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. ig 
 
 life yet ! Forty ! why, it's not such an age after 
 all ! and I don't look it always." 
 
 She unfastened the massive braids at the back 
 of her head and laid them carefully on the 
 dressing-table. Then shook down her own hair, 
 which made a soft screen for her face, the ends 
 curling naturally on her shoulders. Time was 
 when those thick rippling curls had been a charm 
 and delight ; but their sheen and abundance had 
 departed, and though Miss Em could still make 
 what she termed " a brave show in the front," 
 the aid of art had long been called in to supple- 
 ment the scanty scalp-locks of which the years 
 had taken a too generous toll. 
 
 " I want some new plaits, badly," she said with 
 a heavy sigh, as she held the false and true 
 together, and surveyed the advertisement of 
 " quantity not quality " with undisguised con- 
 tempt. " But, indeed, if it comes to that I want 
 a great many things that I stand small chance 
 of getting. I ought to have a new gown for the 
 Kellys' ball. That peach silk I saw in Tierney's 
 window would be the very thing. Lady Pat 
 would get it, and Mrs. Coadey make it up for 
 me by Tuesday, and the ball is on Wednesday. 
 I could try it on, there'd be a whole day for 
 alterations, if they were needed, but Coadey 
 knows my figure well enough. If only that bill 
 wasn't owing. Could I borrow ten pounds, I 
 wonder ? My father thinks so much of Lady 
 Pat ; he might fork out a fiver, and there's Mrs. 
 MacShamus, she's so good-natured. Well, it's 
 worth trying. Let me see, how much did I win 
 to-night?" 
 
 She drew out her purse and emptied its contents 
 on the table. A little heap of silver and four gold 
 sovereigns. 
 
 "Little enough," so ran on her reflections. 
 " There's my fare to come out of it, and I can't 
 
20 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 be without money altogether, though Lady Pat is 
 generosity itself. I wonder will she be willing to 
 ask me ? I ought to have my letter ready for 
 Quinlan to catch the first post in the morning. 
 She'll get it to-morrow night, and I should have 
 the answer next day. Here goes, — 'tis the bold 
 player wins the game." 
 
 On a small table at the foot of the bed stood a 
 supply of writing materials. Miss Em opened a 
 blotter and commenced the letter forthwith. She 
 wrote a fine dashing hand, and composition seemed 
 to give her no trouble, for the words flowed as 
 freely from her pen, as, on occasion, they could 
 from her lips. 
 
 " Dear Lady Patricia" (ran the missive), 
 
 " I want to run up to Dublin next Tuesday 
 for a few days, and I'm going to ask you to put 
 me up, if it won't be too inconvenient. I've a 
 little shopping to do, and some business matters 
 to see to. Besides, I want the pleasure of a chat 
 with you again, and to ask your valued advice on 
 a very important matter." 
 
 "That will flatter her," thought Miss Em, 
 pausing to read over the last sentence. " Lady 
 Pat dearly loves to be consulted, not that I've 
 really anything to ask her advice about, but that's 
 no matter, I can invent something when I'm 
 once there." 
 
 She hastily added a few more lines, signed 
 and closed the letter, and then proceeded to finish 
 her toilet for the night. 
 
 The rain was falling heavily now, and the low 
 " sough " of the wind had increased to a noisy 
 bluster. 
 
 Miss Em shivered as she removed her dress and 
 threw a warm crimson dressing-robe round her. 
 Then slowly and thoughtfully she proceeded to 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 21 
 
 brush her hair, pausing now and then to listen to 
 the signs of storm without. 
 
 Was it only fancy, or did a sudden soft tapping 
 sound at the window behind her ? 
 
 She started ; the brush fell from her hands ; 
 her white face and rigid figure betokened a wild 
 terror, and her eyes rested on the white blind with 
 an awful look of expectance and dread. But it 
 remained motionless, and the sound was not 
 repeated. 
 
 Gradually her features relaxed, the colour came 
 back to her face and lips. " How foolish I am ! 
 'tis only that old bough striking the glass. How 
 often I've said I'll have it cut off! " 
 
 She sank into the chair. She was trembling 
 so that she could not stand. " I don't know 
 what's the matter with me to-night. My nerves 
 seem all wrong. As if it were possible, ... as 
 if he would dare — ever again ! " 
 
 Her thoughts broke off. She clasped her hands 
 and bent her head on them, her whole attitude 
 intent on eager listening. 
 
 But the pitiless rain alone sounded in the 
 silence, and gradually the strained figure relaxed 
 and she lifted her head with an air of relief. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 PLOTS AND PLANS. 
 
 Carrig-duve was a large rambling old house 
 that stood among acres of neglected grounds and 
 ill-kept fields. 
 
 It spoke of desolation and decay within and 
 without ; but it had once breathed a very different 
 tale, and been no less renowned for hospitality and 
 splendour than its gorgeous rival Castle Lustrell. 
 But with Mr. 0*Hara's second marriage an entire 
 
22 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 change came over the establishment ; servants were 
 dismissed, carnages put down, entertainments 
 abolished, and the whole elaborate domestic 
 machinery ground down, so to speak, to powder, 
 under the iron heel of a penurious mistress. 
 
 Rebellion, grumbling, defiance, all were unavail- 
 ing. The second Mrs. O'Hara was a woman of 
 despotic will and furious temper; but a woman 
 who never undertook a thing unless she deter- 
 mined to carry it out. 
 
 Desmond O'Hara was weak, and loved a quiet 
 life. The result is easily imagined. He had 
 married in order to put some controlling power 
 over his household, which under Peg's manage- 
 ment was an exemplification of riot, waste and 
 extravagance, and also in the hope that female 
 influence might be beneficial to that young lady 
 herself, seeing that he had no control and very 
 little influence over her. 
 
 He had not breathed a word of his intention 
 until he was actually married, and the first Peg 
 knew of it was on her return from one of her 
 visits abroad, when to her wrath, fury and disgust 
 she found a new mistress in her place. 
 
 To say that there were battles, many and 
 fierce, between the wilful, reckless girl and her 
 determined stepmother is needless ; but even 
 Peg, spoilt and self-willed as she was, found that 
 the enemy was too strong for open warfare, and 
 that strategy would be her best weapon in the 
 future. With all her wildness and recklessness 
 the girl had a fund of common-sense to fall back 
 upon, so she took counsel with herself as to the 
 future, and formed a plan of action that had the 
 merit of serving her own interests and spiting her 
 enemy. 
 
 She had up to this time cared very little for the 
 opinions of any of the numerous friends and ac- 
 quaintances whom she alternately delighted or hor- 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 23 
 
 rifled by her vagaries. Now she commenced a 
 cautious " weeding out " of the undesirable or use- 
 less among them, and put forth all the charm of 
 manner, wit, and accomplishments with which she 
 was gifted in order to make herself a welcome 
 guest wherever it suited her purpose to stay. 
 
 It gradually dawned upon people's minds that 
 beautiful Peg O'Hara was a very ill-used and 
 persecuted creature ; and a warmer welcome was 
 given to the motherless girl whose home was so 
 wretched and whose lot so lonely, than even her 
 own charms of mind and manner had once called 
 forth. Thus Peg was less and less at home, 
 though each visit there maddened her with the 
 proofs of her stepmother's penurious management, 
 her father's increasing helplessness, and the gradual 
 disrepute into which the once brilliant and hospit- 
 able Carrig-duve had fallen. 
 
 Every one in the neighbourhood began to shun 
 Mrs. O'Hara, and the fact did not improve that 
 lady's sour and vengeful nature. It was openly 
 averred that her treatment of her step-daughter 
 had been shameful ; the poor girl was literally 
 driven from home, and deprived of all that she was 
 justly entitled to. Peg, in fact, was a martyr, and 
 Mrs. O'Hara a tyrant, besides being guilty of that 
 inexcusable fault in Irish eyes — meanness. 
 
 The very beggars avoided Carrig-duve, and, as 
 year after year passed on, the whole place began 
 to acquire that aspect of desolation and neglect 
 which speaks so eloquently of fallen fortunes. 
 
 But these same years brought many changes in 
 their train. Young girls, Peg's contemporaries, 
 married and settled down into contented matron- 
 hood and maternity, middle-aged women became 
 dowagers ; death stole silent-footed in and out of 
 populous households, taking here one, and there 
 another, and people began to wonder how it was 
 that Peg O'Hara remained Peg O'Hara still. 
 
24 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 Offers she must have had in plenty, yet the 
 twenties slipped into thirties, and they, one by 
 one, dropped into the lap of the past, and still 
 she manifested no intention of changing her 
 condition. 
 
 Her friends began to look anxious. Younger 
 and fairer and sprightlier rivals had sprung up, and 
 though Peg held her own bravely, there was effort 
 now in the struggle, and anxiety in the little 
 stratagems, and the girlish name was seldom 
 heard, for she herself always desired new acquaint- 
 ances to call her by Dr. MacShamus' pet appella- 
 tion of " Miss Em," a familiar rendering of the 
 more stately Emilia which graced her baptismal 
 certificate. 
 
 If there was any romance in her past, any 
 mystery connected with her reasons for preferring 
 this wandering life when she might have "settled 
 down " over and over again, no one but herself 
 knew it. Conjectures were numerous, of course, 
 and of hints and stories there was no lack, but no 
 one was absolutely certain that any of them were 
 correct ; and as year after year drifted by, gossip 
 grew weary of gossiping, and " Miss Em " of 
 Carrig-duve seemed to have buried the youthful 
 escapades of " Peg, the Rake," under a grave- 
 stone none cared to disturb. 
 
 The storm of the past night had been replaced 
 by fitful sunshine whose rays lingered warmly over 
 the breakfast-table and its appointments as Miss 
 Em entered the room. 
 
 She kissed her father as she passed his chair, 
 and nodded carelessly to her stepmother who 
 was presiding over cold and watery coffee and 
 whose only matutinal greeting consisted of the 
 remark: "Late as usual, Emilia! Will you 
 never learn to remember that nine o'clock means 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 25 
 
 nine o'clock in my establishment, whatever it may 
 do in that of your fashionable friends ! " 
 
 " Any letters ? " inquired Miss Em carelessly, 
 quite ignoring this observation. " Excuse my 
 reading them, dad, will you ? My coffee can't 
 get much colder than it is, but I've asked Quinlan 
 to keep back my slice of bacon in future until I 
 come down. I do draw the line there." 
 
 Mrs. O'Hara shot a venomous glance at her 
 step-daughter, and tightened her thin lips 
 ominously, but Miss Em proceeded to open her 
 letters with an utter disregard as to her opinion or 
 presence. She pushed them aside as the old 
 servant entered with the bacon and some fresh 
 toast. 
 
 "Thanks, Quinlan," she said heartily. "I 
 should fare badly if it wasn't for you, I'm think- 
 "mg." 
 
 " You'd fare as well as your father and myself," 
 interposed the stepmother sharply, " if you came 
 to meals at the proper time." 
 
 " Never could be punctual to save my life," 
 answered Miss Em coolly; "and I'm too old to 
 begin now. But don't let me detain you," she 
 added politely ; " I see you've finished your — 
 skilly, isn't it ? I promise I won't take more than 
 one lump of sugar. The butter, I see, you've 
 measured out. You can lock up and give your 
 orders if you wish." 
 
 A dull red flush came into Mrs. O'Hara's sallow 
 cheek. Her eyes flashed venomously. But 
 though the barb hit home, the ruling spirit was too 
 strong for even the sharpest sarcasm to affect it 
 for long. She proceeded to lock up the butter and 
 sugar as she always did, and then left the room 
 intent on what Miss Em called her " cheese- 
 paring " preparations for the day. 
 
 As the door closed, Miss Em pushed her 
 correspondence aside and glanced at her father. 
 
26 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 The faint winter sunlight falling on his wrinkled 
 face and scant grey locks seemed like a sudden 
 revelation to her. 
 
 " How old and feeble he looks ! " she thought, 
 with momentary tenderness. " It seems a shame 
 to worry him, and yet these bills must be 
 paid." 
 
 " Dad," she said gently, using the old girlish 
 appellation instead of the more slangy term she 
 had of late introduced, " I want to ask if you can 
 let me have my allowance a month earlier? I've 
 got some bills to settle, and the people are worry- 
 ing for payment.'' 
 
 " No, Em, I can't," said the old man pettishly. 
 "You're always forestalling your money, and it 
 throws my accounts all wrong. Besides, you've 
 no business to run up bills. I've told you so a 
 hundred times. Pay for what you get, or don't 
 get it at all, that's the only way to avoid diffi- 
 culties." 
 
 "But I can't pay for everything!" exclaimed 
 Miss Em indignantly. " You grind me down so 
 that I never have enough. What's fifty pounds 
 a year ? It's not as if you hadn't the money 
 either. I'm sure I don't know what you're 
 saving for ! Come now, dad," she added coaxingly, 
 " let me have twenty pounds to pay off these 
 little bills and I promise I'll keep strictly within 
 my allowance this next year." 
 
 " No, Em, no," said the old man, glancing 
 apprehensively at the door. " Twenty pounds ! 
 Why, it's a small fortune ! One or two I might 
 have managed, though even that wouldn't be easy, 
 but twenty — impossible, my dear. Impossible!" 
 
 "You'll drive me to do something desperate 
 with your meanness ! " exclaimed his daughter 
 passionately. " Good Lord ! to think of the 
 master of Carring-duve haggling over a paltry 
 twenty pounds ! And to his own daughter too ! 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 27 
 
 'Tis enough to make the very stones cry out on 
 you." 
 
 The old man took no notice of this outburst. 
 Domestic tyranny had cowed his spirit completely. 
 He always expected his women-folk to storm and 
 rave, and experience had taught him that the 
 louder the storm, the quicker it was exhausted. 
 
 Miss Em finished her breakfast and returned to 
 the charge. 
 
 "I'm going to Dublin next week," she said, 
 "to Lady Patricia Moira. There's to be a big 
 ball, and I must look presentable. I can put up 
 with a second-rate gown, but I must have my 
 mother's jewels. You will get them for me, 
 governor, won't you ? " 
 
 "I— I haven't them, Em. I mean they're in 
 your stepmother's charge," stammered the old 
 man, with a conscience-stricken look at the pale 
 and indignant face that flashed astonished wrath 
 at him. " She— well, she took the case from me 
 one day as I was looking over it, and " 
 
 " And of course you've never seen it since," 
 cried Miss^ Em in a tone of suppressed fury. 
 " But they're mine, you know my mother always 
 said I was to have them ! " 
 
 'Yes, yes," said the old man feebly. "But 
 legally, my dear, legally, they're not yours at all. 
 Most of them are family jewels and go to the 
 mistress of Carrig-duve. I gave them to your 
 mother, but if I had had a son " 
 
 Miss Em's eyes flashed ominously. "They 
 were mine," she reiterated in a low stern voice. 
 " I had more right to them than a stranger 
 whom you chose to place at the head of your 
 table, and who has dragged you down to penury 
 and shame, and made your very name a laughing- 
 stock in your own birth-place ! Have them & I 
 will," she continued, rising from the table, deter- 
 mination printed in every line of her face. 
 
28 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 " You must get them for yourself, then," said 
 her father despairingly. " I can't help you. Tis 
 a thousand pities, Em, you won't try and get on 
 with your stepmother. It would be so much 
 better and pleasanter for us all ! " 
 
 " I hate her, and I've told you so a hundred 
 times ! " cried Miss Em, the hot Irish blood 
 boiling in her veins, the fiery Irish temper flashing 
 from her eyes. " You brought her here, you put 
 her over me — you spoilt my whole life and made 
 my home a hell ! And now, because you're too 
 cowardly to stand up for your own rights, or care 
 what she does, you expect me to bow down to her 
 also. Never! I'd die sooner ! " 
 
 " Em, Em ! " entreated the old man piteously ; 
 " don't say such things ; remember your own 
 faults ; remember the ruin from which I have 
 saved you ! It was as much for your own sake as 
 mine I gave another mistress to Carrig-duve. I 
 saw you were too young, too wilful, too reckless to 
 rule here. Weren't you ready even to make ship- 
 wreck of your own life ? " 
 
 " Hush ! " said Miss Em, her face turning very 
 white ; " I thought we had agreed to bury that folly 
 for ever. Am I the only one in the family who 
 has made mistakes, or committed follies ? I think 
 the O'Hara's could show a pretty record of mis- 
 deeds, and worse, if we looked back for a few 
 generations. Once for all, father " 
 
 But the abrupt opening of the door and the 
 appearance of Mrs. O'Hara with the house- 
 keeping keys jingling in her hand cut short any 
 further remark, and to avoid discussion Miss Em 
 gathered up her letters and quickly left the room. 
 
 Once behind her own locked door and safe from 
 observation Miss Em tossed the letters and ac- 
 counts on to the dressing-table and sat herself 
 down to reflect on the situation. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 20, 
 
 Money she must have, and there seemed little 
 chance of wringing it from out of her father's 
 petticoat-guarded hoard. She knew well enough 
 how every penny was doled out, and accounted for 
 with the utmost strictness ; how not a cheque was 
 signed, nor a shilling advanced without her step- 
 mother's cognizance. Mrs. O'Hara even objected 
 to her paltry allowance, insufficient as it was, and 
 would have curtailed it, if possible. 
 
 " I'm afraid an old dress will have to do," re- 
 flected Miss Em ruefully. " But the diamonds I 
 will have, 'tis a little too much her getting hold of 
 them. I wonder where she keeps them. Perhaps 
 Quinlan knows ; I'll ask her when she comes up to 
 do my room. If I could only hear from Lady 
 Pat ! I wish now I'd asked her to telegraph. 'Tis 
 a whole day wasted." 
 
 A step in the corridor arrested her attention. 
 She opened her door and saw the old servant, 
 duster and broom in hand, approaching. 
 
 " Come in, Quinlan, a moment," said Miss Em 
 eagerly ; " I want you." 
 
 She closed the door again, and turned the key 
 against possible intrusion. 
 
 " You can pretend you did my room first," she 
 said hurriedly. " There, begin sweeping, for good- 
 ness sake, and listen to me. Come over this 
 side." 
 
 She hurried the old woman across to the other 
 end of the room, regardless of her bewilder- 
 ment. 
 
 ''Now tell me," she said imperatively; "do 
 you remember the black leather box that had my 
 mother's diamonds in it ? Nod, you needn't 
 speak. I daresay she's listening about some- 
 where. You do ? Well, where is it now ? " 
 
 " Locked in the old bureau, darlint, in the 
 mistress's bedroom," whispered the old nurse 
 obediently. 
 
30 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 Miss Em looked disconcerted. 
 
 " Botheration ! Is it there she keeps it ? How 
 on earth am I to get hold of them ? " 
 
 " Is it the jules you're wanting, Miss Peg dear ? " 
 asked Quinlan eagerly. " Shure but they're your 
 own. You've only to ask for them ! " 
 
 "Ask for them! Ask her!" exclaimed Miss 
 Em contemptuously. " Not I, indeed ! She's 
 no right to have them, and I mean her to know 
 that before long. Quinny dear," she added coax- 
 ingly, "you'll help me, won't you? I'm going to 
 a grand ball in Dublin, and I must have the 
 diamonds to wear at it." 
 
 " Of course, darlint. Who's the right but your- 
 self to do that same ! Help ye ? Shure and I 
 will with all my heart. What's it ye'd be want- 
 ing me to do now ? " 
 
 " To get me her keys any day before next Tues- 
 day, and keep her out of the way for ten minutes, 
 that's all, Quinny. I'd rather leave it as late as 
 possible," she added thoughtfully. " Less chance 
 of her missing them. Say Monday, any time. 
 Can you do it ? " 
 
 " 'Twon't be aisy, dear, but I'll try my best. 
 You know how close she is with everything, and 
 kays in particular. Besides you'd want the two 
 bunches, wouldn't you ? — the bureau and the 
 jule case? Ye're not going to take them all?" 
 
 " Every one, if I get the chance," said Miss Em 
 savagely, " What right has she, an interloper, a 
 nobody, to the O'Hara jewels ? She's mean enough 
 
 to sell them, or " she stopped abruptly, her 
 
 eyes flashed, a sudden ripple of mirth spread 
 over her whole face making it look almost youthful, 
 "I wonder I never thought of that before ! There's 
 one way out of my difficulties at all events. 
 Hush, Quinny, I hear her coming. Sweep, sweep 
 like the devil, can't you ! Here, give me the broom 
 and stand aside." 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 31 
 
 She seized it from the bewildered old woman's 
 hands and commenced so vigorous a use of it that 
 the noise made the knock at the door almost 
 inaudible. It was repeated more loudly, " Quin- 
 lan ! " came in sharp, peremptory tones; "what 
 are you doing there? You swept out Miss Emilia's 
 room yesterday ; it doesn't require to be done 
 again." 
 
 " Yes, it does," answered her step-daughter 
 from within. " The carpet's as dingy as an old 
 horse-cloth, and I'm trying to see the pattern 
 again. I've locked Quinlan in, so it's no use your 
 calling her. She can't get out till I choose to let 
 her." 
 
 There was a muttered exclamation, and the 
 sound of retreating steps. 
 
 " Shure, Miss Peg darlint, you do make her 
 mad ! " said Quinlan almost reproachfully. " And 
 there's a hape of things waitin' to be done down- 
 stairs." 
 
 " Let her do them herself then, if she won't 
 keep enough servants," answered Miss Em scorn- 
 fully. " 'Tis shameful to make an old woman 
 like you work so hard. I wonder you do it, 
 Quinny, I wouldn't." 
 
 "Ah, Miss Peg dear, when you come to my time 
 of life 'tisn't much of the spirit of rebellion that's 
 left in you. For the sake of pace and for the sake 
 of the family I'd work till the hands dropped off me." 
 
 " I believe you would ! " said Miss Em, 
 throwing down the broom, and with a sudden 
 impulse of tenderness putting her arms round the 
 old woman's neck. "Quinny, if ever I marry a 
 rich man I'll take you away from here, and you 
 shall live with me and never do another stroke of 
 work except to help me ordering the dinners and 
 superintending the servants. You shall have your 
 own room, and a black silk gown to wear, and 
 we'll be as happy as the days are long ! " 
 
32 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 " Faith, honey, and 'tis you have the generous 
 heart, I know," said the old woman, wiping a tear 
 from her eye. " And never, never a one in the 
 whole of Oireland wishes you better luck than 
 meself. But, darlint, you've been a long time picking 
 and choosing, if I may make so bold as to spake of 
 it, and there's but few good matches to be made 
 now-a-days. Shure the ould country isn't what 
 it was at all, at all ! " 
 
 " Quinny," said Miss Em suddenly, as she laid 
 both hands on the old woman's shoulders, and 
 looked gravely and almost sternly at the worn, 
 wrinkled face, " I've made up my mind to marry 
 some one, any one, if it is only for a home and 
 peace. I'm sick of this wandering life, sick of 
 scheming and plotting, and shifts and debts. God! 
 how tired I feel of it all ! " 
 
 Her hands dropped. The light died out of her 
 face. She walked across the room, and stood at 
 the window looking out at the desolate garden and 
 the leafless trees through which the pale wintry 
 sunlight gleamed. 
 
 " The spring will dawn again for them," she 
 said in her heart; "but never for me, never 
 again for me ! " 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 "When in doubt . . ." 
 
 "'Blessed are they who expect nothing:' how 
 much disappointment they escape ! " 
 
 Miss Em thought this if she did not express it 
 when Thursday morning failed to bring her the 
 expected letter from Lady Patricia. She had 
 made a supreme effort to be punctual at breakfast, 
 but the effort was destined to be unrewarded. 
 Her disappointment was so keen that Mrs. O'Hara 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 33 
 
 noticed it, and wondered what was the cause. 
 The usual battle of words between herself and 
 her step-daughter was for once foregone, despite 
 repeated challenges on her own part. Miss Em 
 seemed absorbed in thought and utterly indifferent 
 to her surroundings. 
 
 " What shall I do if she fails me ? " she said 
 to herself again and again. " And yet why should 
 she ? We've always been good friends, and I've 
 done nothing to offend her." 
 
 She retired to her own room and stood looking 
 out of the window in a disconsolate manner. The 
 whole long day to get through and nothing to look 
 forward to at the end of it ! 
 
 Her spirits fell to zero ; she could have cried 
 with vexation, but she felt that would be only 
 capping one folly with another. As a last resource 
 she determined to spend the time in looking over 
 her wardrobe All hopes of a new gown had 
 faded. The peach silk must be left for some more 
 fortunate rival ; still she had other dresses, and was 
 skilful enough in the art of alteration to make 
 even an old one present a totally new aspect. 
 
 With a desperate courage she plunged into the 
 recesses of boxes and cupboards, producing there- 
 from many strange and antiquated garments. 
 In most of them the richness of material was 
 rendered almost valueless by its extreme scanti- 
 ness, a fact of which Miss Em was fully aware. 
 " Why 'twould take three of these to make one 
 gown now," she murmured disconsolately, as she 
 turned over brocades, and moires, and poplins, all 
 useless garments according to fashion ; yet with 
 a quaint, old-world grace about the stiff whale- 
 boned bodices, the blonde lace, and crushed arti- 
 ficial flowers. 
 
 Most of them had belonged to her mother, a 
 few were relics of her own girlhood, and her hand 
 lingered lovingly over one or two, eloquent of a 
 
 3 
 
34 ^EG, THE RAKE. 
 
 bygone time, sacred to memories of what "might 
 have been ". 
 
 At last she pushed them all away in a heap on 
 the bed. Not one of them would do. " When in 
 doubt, wear black ! " she cried suddenly. " I 
 wonder I never thought of that now ! There's that 
 satin, 'twould be just the thing. I must sacrifice 
 the body, which is a pity, but 'twill easily cut low. 
 If only I had some good lace. There ought to be 
 some old Limerick somewhere ; but I suppose 
 Madame Skinflint has it, and I wouldn't demean 
 myself to ask for the loan of it." 
 
 She looked approvingly at the soft rich satin, 
 a little worn and shabby by daylight, but sure to 
 be " equal to the occasion," when a few magic 
 touches had renovated the weak places and made 
 the best of the strong. " Shall I cut up the bodice 
 now, or wait till to-morrow ? " reflected Miss Em, 
 as she surveyed it, scissors in hand. " I might 
 hear from Lady Pat next post, unless she's ill. 
 Gracious, I hope she's not ! I'll go round and see 
 Mrs. MacShamus this afternoon. Maybe she'll 
 have heard something, but I mustn't show I'm 
 anxious. I wonder if the Castle Lustrell people 
 are going? That's to say Molly and that old 
 harridan, Miss Lustrell. No fear of Sir Jasper 
 stirring out of his shell. That old maid watches 
 him like a cat. I believe she's afraid he'll marry 
 again. I wonder if it's in his head at all. I declare 
 I wouldn't mind taking him myself if I thought 
 he'd die in a twelvemonth ! " 
 
 A smile hovered over her lips as if the idea 
 were infinitely amusing. She began to fold up 
 the dresses and replace them in their various 
 receptacles. But however long she lingered over 
 the occupation the time passed very slowly. 
 There was no use in going out before luncheon 
 and 
 
 Her thoughts were cut short by a tap at the 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 35 
 
 door. She opened it, expecting to see her step- 
 mother, but found herself confronted by the red- 
 faced, red-armed abigail who was Quinlan's 
 11 under help," and did all the rough work of the 
 establishment. 
 
 " Somethin' for you, miss," she said with a 
 broad grin, and holding out a yellow paper with 
 the corner of her coarse apron. " The bhoy 
 came up to the front door as I was washing down 
 the steps, so I brought it up straight. He's 
 after asking sixpence for his trouble." 
 
 " Here, give him this," cried Miss Em, thrust- 
 ing some loose coppers into the girl's wet palm, 
 and closing the door again she hastily tore open 
 the envelope and glanced at the message. Then 
 her whole face grew radiant. 
 
 " Hurrah ! I thought she wouldn't fail me, 
 bless her, dear old soul ! " 
 
 Your letter just forwarded. Am staying at the 
 Gresham. Delighted to have you. Will engage room 
 for Tuesday. Am writing. 
 
 Moira. 
 
 She read this aloud from sheer inability to keep 
 it to herself, and literally danced to and fro, 
 waving it above her head. Then suddenly she 
 thrust the paper into her pocket and seizing a pair 
 of scissors commenced a ruthless cutting and 
 unripping of the black satin bodice which was 
 destined to transform it into an evening one. 
 
 Time passed swiftly enough now while Miss 
 Em's busy fingers were at work, and her thoughts, 
 to judge from her face, were of a pleasanter 
 nature than they had been an hour before. 
 
 The luncheon bell had just rung when she 
 heard the sound of wheels in the avenue, followed 
 by a loud ring at the front door. She started to 
 
36 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 her feet. " Good gracious ! I hope it's not 
 visitors, such a sight as I am too ! " 
 
 A hurried survey of her appearance in the glass 
 only confirmed that fact. An old shabby morning- 
 gown and dishevelled hair are not calculated to 
 enhance the post-meridian charms of any woman. 
 
 " Whoever it is I can't see them, Quinlan," 
 cried Miss Em protestingly, as the door opened 
 to admit the old woman. 
 
 11 Wisha, don't be after throubling yourself, 'tis 
 only a bit of a letter the doctor left for you," said 
 Quinlan, handing her the missive; ''and I was to 
 tell you luncheon was on the table, and they're 
 waiting ; shure 'tis a grand name to be giving to 
 purtaties, and bread and cheese and scraps." 
 
 " Oh ! for a good pint of champagne, Quinny," 
 cried Miss Em, with a little gasp. " I'm just dying 
 for it, and I know there's lots in the cellar; only I 
 suppose Mrs. O'Hara would sooner let it burst its 
 own bottles than give any one a drop." 
 
 She had opened her letter while speaking, and 
 glanced rapidly over a page of Mrs. MacShamus's 
 stiff, prim writing. 
 
 "Dear Miss Em, 
 
 " The two Barrington girls have come over ; 
 Minnie was nearly dead with the toothache and 
 the doctor had to extract the cause of suffering. 
 Charley Warren, their cousin, a nice young fellow, 
 came with them and they're staying till about 
 eight or nine to-night. So, my dear, will you drop 
 in to a high tea about six o'clock? I promise some 
 of your favourite cakes. I've a lot of news for you. 
 " Yours most affectionately, 
 " Theresa MacShamus. 
 
 " P.S. — Come as early as you wish." 
 
 "Gracious, Quinny ! " cried Miss Em; "it never 
 rains but it pours. 'Tis an invitation from Mrs. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 37 
 
 MacShamus for to-night ; so if the luncheon's 
 bad," she added laughingly, as she turned to leave 
 the room, " I'll have one good meal to-day." 
 
 With her hand on the door she paused and 
 looked back at the old woman. Then suddenly 
 approached and whispered warningly: " Don't forget 
 the keys ". 
 
 A sly look came into Quinlan's eyes. " Trust 
 me, my dear ! " she said with answering caution. 
 " And now hurry down or they'll be wondering 
 what we're about." 
 
 Miss Em ran down the stairs as lightly as a girl. 
 She was in wild spirits once more. The sort of 
 mood that meant mischievous possibilities, and 
 gave a tinge of excitement even to an existence 
 utterly antagonistic. 
 
 Her stepmother could not understand the 
 change, or read any satisfactory meaning for it in 
 Mrs. MacShamus's note which Miss Em tendered 
 as explanation. She had determined not to ex- 
 plode the Dublin mystery until she had received 
 Lady Pat's letter. 
 
 " I'm sure there's nothing to get excited about 
 in being asked to a tea-party," said Mrs. O'Hara 
 sourly. "And those Barrington girls are the 
 most stuck-up and conceited creatures one could 
 wish to meet. They may have birth, but I don't 
 know where the breeding comes in." 
 
 " I've heard them make the same remark about 
 — you," said Miss Em, helping herself to potatoes. 
 " Isn't there any beer ? " she asked, glancing 
 discontentedly at the glass jug of water by her 
 side. 
 
 "We're just out of it," snapped Mrs. O'Hara, 
 ignoring the first part of the speech. 
 
 " It's very odd, but you're always 'just out' of 
 everything decent in the eating and drinking line 
 when I chance to come home," said Miss Em. 
 "Things were very different under my manage- 
 
3^ PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 ment. Carrig-duve did not boast then of empty 
 larder and cellars." 
 
 " Probably not," retorted Mrs. O'Hara ; " but it 
 boasted of stacks of unpaid bills, and was a by- 
 word for waste and extravagance." 
 
 " You can hardly be expected to judge of Irish 
 hospitality," observed Miss Em coolly. " I've 
 always noticed that the middle-class society of 
 England are very mean. It is their notion of 
 economy." 
 
 "If the middle class or any class in Ireland had 
 a little of the English thrift and prudence, the 
 country wouldn't be in its present disgraceful 
 state." 
 
 "We'd be well enough if your country wouldn't 
 meddle with us," answered Miss Em sharply. 
 She was always patriotic in any controversy of 
 this nature. " You can't understand us either as 
 a nation or as individuals. The whole country's 
 gone to wreck and ruin since ever it gave in to the 
 Saxon rule." 
 
 " I should think the ' Saxon rule,' as you call it, 
 had a sorry bargain," sneered Mrs. O'Hara. " A 
 nation of beggars who are too proud to work, and 
 seem only bent on their own destruction ! Who 
 don't even show common gratitude for what's 
 done for them, and are as cowardly as they're 
 impecunious ! " 
 
 " You don't know what you're talking about," 
 said Miss Em contemptuously. " To judge of a 
 people you must study race, language, traditions 
 and laws. An Englishman's ideas of Ireland are 
 as narrow and bigoted as his own social prejudices. 
 Pride of birth and nobility of origin are as nothing 
 to him in comparison with a banking account at 
 Coutts's or a ' business in the city '. But neither 
 gold nor broadcloth will ever master us, or make 
 us plead what you term ' inferiority '." 
 
 " Oh, I know it's waste of breath to argue with 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 39 
 
 an Irish person," said Mrs. O'Hara loftily. 
 " You're all as obstinate as your favourite pigs 
 and as unreasonable as children. It would be a 
 good day for England if she could wash her hands 
 of you entirely, only you're so untrustworthy that 
 you can't be left alone ! " 
 
 She rose abruptly, as if to end the discussion. 
 Miss Em turned to her father, who had been a 
 silent listener. 
 
 " I wonder," she said wrathfully, " that the 
 O'Haras don't turn in their graves ! To think 
 that the last of their name should sit there silent, 
 letting himself be insulted at his own table by an 
 English alien ! " 
 
 " My dear Emilia," said the old man meekly, 
 "let us hope the O'Haras are better employed 
 than in paying the least attention to an illogical 
 discussion, the like of which they have shared 
 in a hundred times with a similar result — loss of 
 temper and waste of breath. When the lion lies 
 down with the lamb, then may England and 
 Ireland agree over a system of government, or 
 clasp hands in mutual deference to each other's 
 opinion." 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE BARRINGTON GIRLS. 
 
 " I'm not going to let myself down before those 
 Barrington girls," said Miss Em to herself as she 
 began her afternoon toilet. " I've not aired that 
 Bond Street costume here yet ; one walk down the 
 avenue is enough to destroy the tail of any gown 
 unless it was lined with leather, but I'll really 
 venture it to-day. It'll go hard with them to beat 
 that, though they do get their dresses from 
 London." 
 
40 PEG, THE R \KF.. 
 
 She was not far wrong; for the dark tweed skirt 
 and coat headed by a plain black hat with one 
 good ostrich feather curling round the brim, made 
 her look stylish enough to face more formidable 
 rivals than Mrs. MacShai. is's nieces. 
 
 " It's too early to show myself yet ; where can I 
 go in the meantime?" thought Miss Em, as she 
 was drawing on her gloves and surveying her 
 appearance with intense satisfaction as reflected 
 by the glass. " Oh ! I know ; I'll go and see old 
 Biddy Lynch in the village and take her some tea. 
 Poor old soul ! I haven't been there since I came 
 home at Christmas. I wonder if I could spare 
 her some money." 
 
 She looked over her store of loose silver and 
 selected two half-crowns from amongst it, which 
 she wrapped in paper and put into her pocket. 
 Then with one more glance at herself she took up 
 a neat umbrella, a Christmas present from Lady 
 Pat, and sailed majestically down the stairs. She 
 paused a moment at the dining-room door to look 
 in and inform her stepmother she "wouldn't be 
 late," which information was received with a grunt. 
 But Mrs. O'Hara's eyes had taken in every detail 
 of her appearance, and it formed a fine text for 
 extravagance when she was left alone with her 
 husband. 
 
 The delivery of the tea and the inevitable gossip 
 with old Biddy, who had been a servant at Carrig- 
 duve in the time of the first Mrs. O'Hara, brought 
 it close to five o'clock when Miss Em entered the 
 doctor's house. 
 
 The hall was lighted, and a warm glow of fire 
 and lamps streamed from the open door of the 
 dining-room. A savoury odour of cakes, hot bread, 
 and other good things signified that preparations 
 for tea were already under weigh. 
 
 Mrs. MacShamus came out into the hall when 
 she heard Miss Em's voice, a shawl trailing behind 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 41 
 
 her as it had slipped from her shoulders, her 
 ordinarily placid face flushed and worried-looking. 
 
 " Oh, my dear, I'm so glad to see you ! " she 
 exclaimed in a nervous whisper almost bordering 
 on tearfulness. " I'm tired to death of them," 
 with a glance at the closed drawing-room door ; 
 "they're worse than ever. I don't know what 
 to do to amuse them. Tis nothing but 'yes' 
 and ' no,' and spiteful hints at everybody ; and 
 the doctor took their cousin off with him, so it's 
 been all on my shoulders." 
 
 " You poor old dear!" cried Miss Em, kissing 
 her affectionately ; " what a time you must have 
 had ! Well, I'll take them off your hands now, 
 though, faith, I feel more like shocking them than 
 entertaining them, and that's the truth." 
 
 * Will you take off your hat ? " asked Mrs. 
 MacShamus. " Why, dear me, how very smart you 
 are to-day ! " 
 
 " And why wouldn't I be coming to meet 
 the grand Miss Barringtons ? " 
 
 " They're only in their old purple merinoes," 
 said Mrs. MacShamus, with an admiring survey of 
 the stylish tweed costume and becoming hat. 
 " My dear, you look twenty years younger than 
 they do, and with fifty times the style about 
 you." 
 
 Miss Em laughed softly. "Then I'll go in and 
 face them on the strength of that pretty speech," 
 she said. " If you've anything else to do, Mrs. 
 MacShamus, don't be standing on ceremony. 
 I'll entertain them, I promise you." 
 
 She walked straight into the drawing-room 
 without further prelude. It was occupied by two 
 girls, sisters evidently from the likeness, which 
 was further emphasised by their always dressing 
 alike. 
 
 The eldest, Minnie, was reclining on an arm- 
 chair by the fire, with her head propped by 
 
42 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 cushions. The youngest, Laura, sat a little 
 distance off, prim, precise, and dignified. Miss 
 Em took in the scene with one rapid glance, and 
 placed her lance in rest. 
 
 " How d'ye do, Miss Barrington ? How are you, 
 Miss Laura ? Sorry to hear about the toothache, 
 so unbecoming, and then to lose it. Not a front 
 one, I hope ? " 
 
 Miss Barrington lifted her head and extended a 
 languid hand in greeting. 
 
 " No; I was spared that misfortune. Dear me, 
 what an age it is since we met, Miss O'Hara ! 
 You've been away, I hear ; visiting, as usual, I 
 suppose ? " 
 
 " Yes," said Miss Em ; " I've been in London 
 and in Yorkshire both," and she seated herself 
 where the light would do justice to her figure and 
 costume. 
 
 "Do you propose making a long stay here?" 
 asked the other sister. 
 
 " No," said Miss Em shortly. " I'm going to 
 Dublin next week." 
 
 " To Dublin ! " The sisters exchanged glances. 
 Despite their advantages of race and blood, the 
 Barringtons were as impecunious as most old 
 Irish families, and a season in the brilliant little 
 capital was a rare event for them. 
 
 " Yes, Lady Patricia Moira has invited me 
 again. She's my godmother, you know, and 
 having no children of her own " 
 
 " Yes, yes, I know," interrupted Miss Barrington. 
 " She's very eccentric isn't she ? Likes to have 
 all sorts of odd people about her, actresses and 
 singers and writers ? At least, I've heard so." 
 
 " She likes to associate with clever and amusing 
 people," said Miss Em, " if that's being eccentric. 
 Her own birth and position are too irreproachable 
 for the scruples of less fortunate people to affect 
 her choice of society." 
 
PEG, THE RAKB, 43 
 
 Miss Em's spirits were rising. Female an- 
 tagonists were not new to her, and she dearly 
 loved what she termed " a brush with the 
 tongue ". 
 
 " People differ so much as to their views of 
 society," answered the fair Minnie languidly. 
 "There are those Kellys now, of whom every one's 
 talking. Goodness knows how old Kelly has 
 made his money ; but I hear no one in Dublin can 
 entertain as they do, and that they've got the 
 Lord Lieutenant to go to their ball next week. 
 I suppose you'll be there, Miss O'Hara ? " 
 
 " Certainly," said Miss Em mendaciously; " I'm 
 going with Lady Pat's party. 'Tis to be a most 
 brilliant affair ; all the flowers are coming from 
 Covent Garden ; and as for the supper, not the 
 Viceregal Lodge itself has ever given such an 
 order ! " 
 
 Miss Barrington fidgeted among her cushions. 
 News like this was gall and wormwood to her. 
 She was getting on in years, and her good looks 
 would soon be as traditional as other records of 
 the Barrington family. What was the use of 
 being "well brought up" and accomplished and 
 of unexceptionable lineage if one was condemned 
 to stagnate in a remote Irish county, seeing the 
 same people and doing the same things from 
 year's end to year's end ? And there was Miss 
 Em, a good fifteen or sixteen years older than 
 herself, getting twice as much fun and amusement 
 out of life. It was enough to sour the sweetest 
 temper to think how badly Fate arranged things 
 sometimes ! 
 
 " How well she's dressed, and how well she 
 wears ! " so ran her thoughts as she glanced 
 from under lowered eyelids at the beautifully 
 cut gown, and animated face which the becoming 
 glow of firelight and lamplight revealed at their 
 best. Miss Barrington was aggravatingly con- 
 
44 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 scious that she herself was very far from being 
 at "her best" this special afternoon. Toothache 
 and an unbecoming gown were disadvantages 
 against which even forty years of age in a Bond 
 Street costume might hold their own triumphantly, 
 and proud Miss Barrington's wrath grew apace at 
 the entrance of the doctor. Paddy Kearney anc 
 her own good-looking young cousin drew forth all 
 Miss Em's weapons of subjugation, and left herself 
 and her sister quite " out in the cold". 
 
 Certainly Miss Em was at her best to-day. The 
 reaction from disappointment to certainty had set 
 her mercurial spirits up to fever point. Besides, 
 the consciousness of being well dressed is an 
 eminent source of satisfaction to a woman, and 
 will give her more confidence than the possession 
 of all the virtues. 
 
 Tea was at last announced as ready by the neat 
 parlour-maid, and the party filed in to the cosy 
 dining-room with a sense of good things coming 
 that was speedily verified by the delicacies provided. 
 The Miss Barrington's languid airs and perpetual 
 sneers were not provocative of admiration, and even 
 their tolerant cousin showed an open preference 
 for Miss Em's gay sallies and unfailing good 
 humour. 
 
 Irish conversation has always astrong "personal" 
 tendency, and deals chiefly with human interests 
 and affairs. It is essentially of the world and the 
 society in which the speakers move and live. 
 Gossip maintains its own in all circles alike, and 
 there is deeper interest manifested in what is 
 "said and done" than in what is thought or 
 written. 
 
 No one who has lived long among Irish people 
 can fail to note the strong element of curiosity 
 that pervades their conversation, and seems the 
 motive power of any intimacy. Deeds and events 
 may be agitating the rest of the world, but the 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 45 
 
 fact of Mrs. MacCarthy's twins, the rumour of 
 Lord So-and-so's wife's elopement, or some sole- 
 cism in dress or manners perpetrated by a near 
 neighbour, will interest a circle of Irish folk far 
 more than the changes of politics, or triumphs of 
 literature and art. 
 
 Miss Em always took care to be well grounded 
 in the subjects of the day, even if she did not care 
 about them ; but she took equal care to suit her 
 conversation to her surroundings, and Mrs. Mac- 
 Shamus and even the worthy doctor dearly loved 
 a gossip. 
 
 " I was almost forgetting my grand bit of 
 news ! " exclaimed the old lady as she handed 
 Miss Em a second cup of tea. " Who do you think 
 is going to Dublin to-morrow for the season ? " 
 
 " You may just as well say it first as last, 
 Theresa," said the doctor. " Miss Em's not 
 likely to guess in a hurry." 
 
 " The Lustrells, every one of them ! Think of 
 that, my dear ! " cried Mrs. MacShamus triumph- 
 antly. 
 
 " What, Sir Jasper too ! " exclaimed Miss Em. 
 
 " Indeed, yes. Ask Paddy there if he isn't. 
 'Twas he told us. Perhaps 'tis on his daughter's 
 account. They'll be wanting her to make a good 
 match, seeing she's an only child." 
 
 " Is she really so pretty ? I've hardly seen her," 
 murmured Miss Barrington languidly, as she 
 accepted a soda scone from the plate Captain 
 Kearney offered. 
 
 " Pretty ? She's perfectly lovely ! " cried Miss 
 Em enthusiastically. " And so accomplished too ! 
 Why, she's been finished in Paris. She'll make 
 a sensation when she comes out, I'll warrant. 
 I wonder," she added suddenly, " are they going to 
 the Kellys' ball ? " 
 
 She glanced at Captain Kearney, sitting calm 
 and apparently unconcerned opposite to her. 
 
46 PEG, THFi RAKE. 
 
 " That's more than I can say," he answered, 
 meeting her eye. " My uncle is not a very 
 communicative person." 
 
 " Tis a long time since I've seen him," said 
 Miss Em thoughtfully. 
 
 " You must look out that he doesn't pick up a 
 wife in Dublin, Paddy," said the doctor. " That 
 would be putting your nose out of joint for you." 
 
 " There's no fear of that, he's too much of a 
 woman-hater," said the captain indifferently; 
 " and much too old." he added. 
 
 " Old, is it ? " laughed the doctor. " Sir 
 Jasper's a good sound score of years before him, I 
 can tell you. Those thin, wiry, bloodless-looking 
 men would wear out two of such rollicking devils 
 as you and your friend, Charley Raikes." 
 
 " Is Major Raikes here ? " exclaimed Miss 
 Barrington, with the first symptom of animation 
 she had shown. 
 
 " He is," said Paddy Kearney. " He was 
 staying with the Johnsons for a fortnight, but his 
 leave is up the same time as my own. We're 
 both going back to Dublin early next week. 
 Miss Em," and he turned pointedly to her, 
 "you mustn't forget your promise. I'll secure a 
 carriage, and you and I and Raikes will travel 
 together. You go by the express, I suppose ? " 
 
 " Indeed, yes, if that's your train," said Miss 
 Em joyfully. 
 
 " And mind," he continued, " that you're 
 booked to me for the first waltz, so be punctual." 
 
 " Gracious ! " thought Miss Em, " engaging 
 myself for a dance at a ball where I'm not even 
 invited. Mais I'audace, Vaudace, toujours Vaudace. 
 Nothing venture, nothing win." 
 
 Aloud she answered: "Paddy, you ought to 
 know that whatever else I may be late for, I never 
 miss a dance ; but, my gallant captain, you take 
 care that you're up to time, or a forfeit of half a 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. . 47 
 
 dozen pairs of gloves — Supple's, mind, I never 
 wear any others — six and a half and four buttons." 
 
 " I'll be there to the moment if I'm alive," he 
 replied solemnly, and producing a note-book he 
 proceeded to make an entry. 
 
 " Paddy," she said reproachfully, " couldn't you 
 remember an appointment with me without making 
 a note of it ? " 
 
 " It's not the appointment," he answered em- 
 phatically, " but I know you're particular about the 
 fit of your gloves." 
 
 " That sounds rather as if you were preparing 
 to pay the forfeit," interrupted the eldest Miss 
 Barrington, with an affected laugh. The inter- 
 change of badinage had tried her temper consider- 
 ably. " I suppose she's conceited enough to 
 swallow all that," she added in a lower key to her 
 cousin. " At her age to be flirting and dancing, 
 and going on like a school-girl ! Disgusting, I 
 call it ! " 
 
 " Miss Barrington," rang out Miss Em's clear 
 tones at this moment, " what has become of 
 that curate who was here last Christmas time ? 
 You know who I mean, Reverend George — George 
 — Oh ! I can't remember his name — but he wore a 
 Noak's-ark coat and talked with a whine, and 
 always held his hands so." 
 
 She exemplified the action of finger-tip to finger- 
 tip, and sanctimonious expression with such ad- 
 mirable mimicry that every one laughed. Every 
 one with the exception of Miss Barrington, whose 
 tendencies were strongly ritualistic, and in whose 
 face amazement and wrath were struggling for 
 adequate expression. 
 
 " I consider it very improper to jest on sacred 
 subjects," she said at last, when the laughter had 
 subsided. 
 
 " Is the Reverend George a sacred subject ? " 
 asked Miss Em innocently. " I'm sure if he is, 
 
48 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 I beg your pardon. Have they made a dean or 
 a bishop of him ? His talents were quite thrown 
 away here." 
 
 " You're certainly right there," answered the 
 fair Minnie savagely. " No one was capable of 
 understanding him, and all his efforts at improving 
 our services and elevating the general tone of 
 worship at St. Michael's were quite wasted on an 
 unappreciative congregation." 
 
 " Dear me, how very sad ! " murmured Miss 
 Em symprthisingly. " But you always went to 
 week-day services, Miss Barrington, and I remem- 
 ber how generous you were about flowers for the 
 decorations. Do you still dress the church for 
 festivals ? " 
 
 Miss Barrington's face grew crimson. It was 
 humiliating to confess that with the departure of 
 the Reverend George Crozier her enthusiasm had 
 faded, and her attendance at week-day services 
 become somewhat irregular. She cast about in 
 her mind for something with which to retort upon 
 her foe, but she could think of nothing till her 
 sister came to her aid with the remark — 
 
 " We all thought it was quite a case between 
 you and him, Miss O'Hara. He left soon after 
 you did and went to London. Why, we were all 
 looking out for wedding cards ! " 
 
 Miss Em laughed with unabated good-humour. 
 Speeches like this only amused her. Feminine 
 spite was so evident, and so wasted on one who 
 had learned from life at least one grand lesson, 
 — never to show the wound, however true the 
 shot. 
 
 " Wedding cards, is it ? " here interposed the 
 doctor. " I'll go bail that when Miss Em does 
 change her name it will be for a better one than 
 that of a weedy parson." 
 
 "If you allude to Mr. Crozier, uncle," answered 
 Miss Barrington with stately dignity, " I beg to 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 49 
 
 inform you that he was of unexceptionable 
 lineage." 
 
 " May be that's true enough ; but you wouldn't 
 be expecting a fine woman like Miss Em to fall in 
 love with him. She's mighty hard to please, I 
 can tell you. Eh, Miss Em ? " 
 
 " ' Faith, she melted the hearts of the swains 
 in them parts,' " quoted Paddy Kearney. 
 
 Miss Em looked significantly at Mrs. Mac- 
 Shamus, as a hint to leave the table. She did 
 not relish personal allusions. 
 
 " How time flies ! " she murmured, as a general 
 move followed the signal for drawing-room ad- 
 journment. Her glance rested dreamily on Miss 
 Barrington's sharp features as if to emphasise her 
 words. "Love, beauty, youth, how soon they 
 
 go! 
 
 " We must be going now, auntie dear," said 
 Laura Barrington, turning to the old lady. " You 
 know we've a long drive before us." 
 
 " Couldn't you stay for a game at cards ? " 
 asked her aunt. " Twill be no darker at nine 
 o'clock than it is now, and we're just a nice party 
 for a round game." 
 
 " Oh, no, I couldn't think of it," interposed 
 Minnie. " You're such terrible gamblers here," 
 she added with an affected laugh ; " and we never 
 go beyond penny points, you know." 
 
 " Well, it shall be penny points if you'll stay," 
 chimed in the doctor. " I'm agreeable to any- 
 thing." 
 
 But Miss Barrington was inexorable ; Miss 
 Em's well-known predilection for cards prompted 
 her to fulfil the agreeable duty of disappointing 
 any expectation of a game that evening. 
 
 She drew her sister's arm within her own as 
 they all stood at the foot of the stairs and marched 
 her off to put on hats and wraps. The move- 
 ment was decided. Mrs. MacShamus followed 
 
 4 
 
50 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 them meekly; and the handsome cousin, proclaim- 
 ing loudly his disappointment at being dragged 
 off sans ccrejnonie, lingered devotedly round Miss 
 Em and wished his autocratic relatives at Jericho. 
 
 " You'll stay for a rubber, at all events ? " said 
 the doctor, patting her arm as he held out a cigar- 
 case to the young men. " I promised for you to 
 Paddy when I met him. We'll send you home 
 all right, for I've to pay a last visit to a patient in 
 the village who's down with fever." 
 
 " I'll be delighted," she said readily, her eyes 
 sparkling with prospective enjoyment, adding, in a 
 stage whisper, "Not penny points I hope, doctor ? " 
 
 " Faith no," he said laughing. " Milk for babes 
 is all very well , but we like stronger diet, eh, 
 Miss Em ? " 
 
 She made no answer. She was gazing out through 
 the now opened hall door into the chill winter 
 night. 
 
 The light flickered on the waiting "jingle " and 
 its shabby driver. The shrubs that bordered the 
 drive loomed black and shadowy in the gloom. 
 
 Miss Em suddenly shivered and drew back. 
 
 " I feel as if some one was walking over my 
 grave," she said, and turned away from the cold 
 pulseless night into the warmth and comfort of 
 the house- 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 44 When shadows seemed omens." 
 
 It almost seemed as if with the exodus of the 
 Barringtons and their escort Miss Em's high 
 spirits had also departed. She scarcely noticed 
 the doctor's sallies, and even once forgot to return 
 her partner's lead, a solecism almost unprecedented 
 in her career as a whist player. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 51 
 
 " Are you thinking of your ball-dress, Miss 
 Em ? " asked Dr. MacShamus, glancing with some 
 wonder at her grave face. " Don't we all know 
 you'll look beautiful whatever you wear ? " 
 
 " You'll be having a new dress, of course, my 
 dear ? " interpolated Mrs. MacShamus, rousing 
 up with inherent feminine interest at the mention 
 of millinery. 
 
 "No," said Miss Em curtly; " I shall wear 
 black satin and diamonds." 
 
 " Ah, your poor mother's jewels ; and beautiful 
 they are, fit for the queen herself," said the old 
 lady. " I wish I could be there to see you." 
 
 " And so your uncle and cousin are really going 
 to Dublin, Paddy?" said Miss Em, rousing her- 
 self with an effort. " I hope we shall meet." 
 
 " Sure to," said Captain Kearney. " They're 
 putting up at the Gresham at first. I don't know 
 whether they mean to take a house later on. I'm 
 inclined to think it's a dodge of Aunt Sabina's ; 
 it will save the trouble and expense of entertain- 
 
 ing." 
 
 "Ah! "sighed Mrs. MacShamus; "the castle's 
 very different since she became mistress. It's to 
 be hoped she won't influence Sir Jasper and make 
 him like herself. I pity that poor girl with all my 
 heart — your trick again, Miss Em, dear — what luck 
 you have ! " 
 
 " ' Lucky at cards, unlucky in love,' you know 
 the proverb," said the doctor, surveying his own 
 hand with marked discontent. 
 
 " What makes you talk so much about love, this 
 evening ? " asked Miss Em, with a flash of the 
 dark grey eyes that were still her strong point. 
 " I thought you didn't believe in it. Haven't I 
 heard you say it's a species of cerebral affection, 
 and should be treated as a brain fever, or any 
 other physical ailment ? " 
 
 " Allowed to run its course, eh ? and then taken 
 
52 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 in hand. Not a bad method, doctor," laughed the 
 young captain. 
 
 " It's a decree of nature," said Dr. MacShamus 
 authoritatively, "that makes a man love all 
 women, and vice versa. The choice of one in 
 particular is but an accident, for which circum- 
 stances, or opportunity, are responsible." 
 
 " You don't believe in the ' affinity ' of natures 
 or hearts then ? " 
 
 " Divil a bit ! I've seen too much of life and 
 marriage for that. Doctors and lawyers get 
 behind the scenes, you know ; the world at large 
 only sees the way they're set, and the effect of 
 the limelight. On the whole I'm sorrier for 
 women than for men. They fall in love with the 
 ideal, but they've to marry the man, and it's a poor 
 bargain they get with even the best of us. 
 Marriage doesn't enchant for long, though love 
 may.' 
 
 " I'm sure, Jerry, we've been very happy and 
 comfortable," said his wife plaintively. "A great 
 deal depends on women themselves. I've known 
 quite as many bad wives as bad husbands." 
 
 "And don't you think that men have illusions 
 and ideals too ? " asked Paddy Kearney, scoring 
 the odd trick, and marking the game to himself 
 and partner. 
 
 " Oh ! we all set out in life with a great deal of 
 useless baggage," answered the doctor. " When 
 the miles and the pace begin to tell, we drop it 
 by degrees. 'Tis hard to part with some of it, but 
 the loss brings so much comfort that at last we 
 wonder why we ever took up such a burden." 
 
 " The longer one lives," said Miss Em with 
 some bitterness, " the more one wonders at the 
 uselessness of life ; what does it amount to at 
 best ? A little pleasure, a great deal of suffering, 
 schemes, hopes, ambitions, disillusions ; then, the 
 same end for all, and beyond that who can say ? 
 
PfeG, THE RAKE. $3 
 
 If only there were no ' afterwards ' one might get 
 some enjoyment out of existence; as it is " 
 
 She shrugged her shoulders, and began to deal 
 with rapid dexterous fingers 
 
 The doctor looked at her critically. He scarcely 
 knew what to make of her in this mood. 
 
 " Indeed, you're right about the ' afterwards, 
 Miss Em," said Paddy Kearney. " Why, there's 
 not a single pleasure, feeling, passion, or pursuit 
 that that little word doesn't spoil for us." 
 
 " Tis only the natural reaction of the moral 
 nature," said the doctor. " Not finding the 
 satisfaction it sought or imagined, it rebels 
 against temporary enslavement. We're all bent 
 on fighting the ' angel' within us, because the 
 devil offers us a more attractive bargain." 
 
 " Jerry, my dear ! " appealed Mrs. MacShamus, 
 in shocked accents. 
 
 He leant forward and patted the wrinkled old 
 hand that lay on the card table. 
 
 "Never mind, Theresa," he said; "the old 
 gentleman never could have had anything to say 
 to you, so you needn't be troubling your head 
 about his bargains." 
 
 What was the expression in Miss Em's face as 
 she looked at the placid brow, the soft white 
 hair, the kindly eyes whose lustre though dimmed 
 was yet replaced by a sweeter light than that of 
 youth ? Envy, regret, wonder ? Something of all 
 these. They could never be hers, she knew. 
 Perhaps the spirit which had so bravely met or 
 defied the storms of life was beginning to flag 
 under repeated battles, and recognised at last 
 that there might be something better in peace 
 than strife, in content than turmoil, in the quiet 
 stagnation of the haven rather than the restless 
 sea beyond. 
 
 The depression of this mood lasted despite her 
 efforts to appear her usual rattling, brilliant self. 
 
54 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 " I hope nothing is going to happen," she 
 thought, as she left the doctor's house an hour 
 later, under the joint escort of himself and 
 Captain Kearney. " 'Tis very odd I should feel 
 as if something was hanging over me ; misfortune 
 or trouble. Yet, I can't see what I'm to fear 
 now." 
 
 She made a vigorous endeavour to emulate her 
 companions' gaiety, and succeeded ell enough to 
 deceive them. A woman might have detected a 
 false ring in the laughter, an effort in the perpetual 
 flow of badinage ; but men are less keen of observa- 
 tion, and as a rule accept the opposite sex very 
 much as they show themselves. 
 
 The straggling ill-lit village street was almost 
 deserted. Above it the dark clouds lowered, heavy 
 with rain and starless. 
 
 It was a poor unsavoury place at best, — ill- 
 drained, ill-paved, an eloquent advertisement of 
 the poverty, thriftlessness and discontent which 
 are so thoroughly characteristic of the Irish lower 
 orders. 
 
 As far back as Miss Em could recollect it had 
 presented the same aspect, and probably would 
 continue to do so even when a new generation re- 
 placed the present. What is nobody's business in 
 particular seldom makes any loud demand on 
 popular attention. 
 
 " Who is your patient, doctor?" asked Miss Em 
 as they passed the cabins and little hucksters' 
 shops that made up the village. 
 
 Old Pat Mahoney at the inn," he answered. 
 And here we're at it. Paddy will take care of 
 you the rest of the way, Miss Em ; and don't you 
 be running off to Dublin without saying good-bye 
 to us, or there'll be ructions." 
 
 "Oh, don't fear but I'll see you often enough 
 between this and then," said Miss Em, in her 
 clear ringing tones. 
 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 55 
 
 Her voice fell on the ear of a man who was just 
 leaving the public-house. As if struck by something 
 familiar in it, he stopped and looked eagerly at 
 the little party. The light fell full on his face, 
 and revealed him perfectly to all three. The 
 doctor's eyes turned involuntarily to Miss Em. 
 No mask could have looked more impassively 
 unconscious than her face. Not so his own ; 
 astonishment plainly struggled with recognition, 
 and he answered the stranger's nod with a half 
 involuntary " Good-night ". 
 
 Miss Em took Captain Kearney's arm and 
 passed on. 
 
 " Who was that ? " asked Paddy, when they 
 were well out of earshot. "A stranger, I fancy. 
 I don't remember seeing him before. He looked 
 as if the world hadn't dealt over well with him." 
 
 " Did he?" said Miss Em indifferently. " I 
 suppose he's come over to see some relations. 
 He looked like a sailor." 
 
 Then she changed the subject abruptly, and the 
 incident soon slipped from Paddy Kearney's 
 memory. 
 
 • ••••••• • 
 
 There was no need for the side entrance to-night, 
 neither did the old house present such a gloomy 
 appearance as on the last occasion. Miss Em 
 found her father and his wife still sitting over the 
 fire in the large and gloomy dining-room. The old 
 man looking pinched and feeble ; Mrs. O'Hara's 
 shrivelled fingers were busy over a grey worsted 
 stocking she was knitting. 
 
 Contrary to her usual habits, Miss Em lingered 
 in the room until they both retired for the night, 
 and even seemed to find something interesting in 
 the locking of doors and cupboards, and the final 
 extinguishing of lights. There was something 
 strange and self-absorbed about her whole manner, 
 but Mrs. O'Hara was not a keen observer, save in 
 
56 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 matters respecting domestic economy, or servants' 
 peculations, and made no comment on her step- 
 daughter's unusual gravity. 
 
 An hour later, when the whole house was 
 hushed and silent, Quinlan, who slept down 
 stairs in a small room off the pantry, was aroused 
 by a timid knock at her door Then the handle 
 was softly turned, and a white scared face looked 
 in. 
 
 "You're not in bed, Quinny? I thought so." 
 
 " Gracious, Miss Peg darlint, what's the 
 matter ? " asked the old woman. " You look as 
 white as the driven snow ! Och, alannah ! is it a 
 ghost you've seen ? Why, you're shaking like the 
 trembling grass ! " 
 
 " Quinny ! " gasped Miss Em hysterically ; 
 " have you heard — has any one told you that — 
 that he's back ? " 
 
 "He? Who are you manin', darlint? 'Tis no- 
 thing I've heard this day, though Mary Buckley was 
 up from the village ; but shure, she kept her mouth 
 as tight as an oyster. But meself knew something 
 was goin' to happen, for we'd a bit of the cards to 
 pass the time, and may I be a corpse this blessed 
 night if the marriage card didn't turn up to you 
 three times." 
 
 " Marriage ! " Miss Em's face looked grey and 
 hard in the dim candle-light " No, no, Quinlan ! 
 I must not think of that. Ghost ? Yes, you're 
 right. It is a ghost I've seen ; the ghost of my past 
 youth, my past folly. There'll be no marriage lines 
 for me, Quinny, but those its hand has penned." 
 
 There was something so sad and so desperate 
 in her face that the old nurse looked at her in 
 alarm. 
 
 " There, there, darlint, you're a bit upset," she 
 said soothingly. "Just you sit down and wait a 
 minute, I'll fetch you something that will do you 
 good." 
 
'PEG, THE RAfcfe. $7 
 
 She drew Miss Em down on to the low truckle 
 bed, and lit another candle with which she left 
 the room. In a few moments she returned with 
 a tray containing an old-fashioned goblet, a bottle 
 half full of whisky, and another of water. 
 
 " There ! " she exclaimed triumphantly, as she 
 deposited them on the table and proceeded to mix 
 a bumper, which she thrust into Miss Em's trem- 
 bling hand ; "drink that down now, iverydhropof 
 it. 'Twill pull you together, and then you shall 
 tell me what's after upsetting you. That's right, 
 — as good as champagne, eh, darlint ? " 
 
 Miss Em gave her back the empty glass with a 
 sigh of content. The colour had come back to her 
 face and the light to her eyes. She drew the 
 folds of her dressing-gown more closely round her 
 and signed to the old woman to take a seat by her 
 side. 
 
 " I feel worlds better, Quinny. But now, follow 
 me. It is a fact what I said just now. I was 
 coming home through the village with the doctor 
 and Captain Kearney, and as we passed the public- 
 house who should step out but — Denis Morrison ! " 
 
 " Not old Morrison's son? Shure, darlint, 'tis 
 dramin' ye ware! " 
 
 " No, Quinny, I wish to heaven I had been. 
 He has come back. After all these years we stood 
 face to face again." 
 
 " What did you do, Miss Peg ? " asked the old 
 nurse timidly. 
 
 " Nothing," she answered drearily. " I don't 
 suppose he knew me. How could he? There's 
 not much likeness to the girl of twenty years ago 
 in this face, Quinny." 
 
 She glanced at it in the old cracked mirror 
 above the fire-place. Its response to that appeal 
 was, to say the least, unflattering. 
 
 " Oh, why doesn't one's heart get old ? why 
 doesn't one forget ? " she cried with sudden bitter- 
 
5$ PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 ness. " Look at my life, look at these years, 
 look at me ! and yet I've never forgotten ; I've 
 never cared for any man living since that time." 
 
 The old woman surveyed her compassionately 
 as she sat huddled up on the bed, staring with 
 unmeaning eyes at an unflattering vision. Hear- 
 ing all the cold, unpalatable truths of middle-age 
 in the echoes of " long ago ". Surely a sorrier and 
 more pathetic sight than the abandonment of youth, 
 or the fiery grief whose violence is often exceeded 
 by its brevity. 
 
 " Don't look like that, honey ! " entreated Quin- 
 lan. " After all, even if he is here, you're not 
 bound to meet. Bad cess to him for your evil 
 ganius, say I ! Shure he spoilt your whole life 
 for you. Tis more than he's worth to be sending 
 a sigh or a fret after him now." 
 
 " You are sure no one knows ; no one except dad 
 and Dr. MacShamus?" said Miss Em suddenly. 
 " Mrs. O'Hara never got hold of it ? " 
 
 " Sorra a word, my darlint. Twas managed 
 beautiful. But for all that," added the old woman 
 sorrowfully, " the master was bent on giving a 
 new mistress to the house and rulin' you ever 
 after." 
 
 " Nothing has been the same since," said Miss 
 Em hopelessly. 
 
 " No, nor ever will be ! Shure you've paid a 
 heavy price for a girl's freak, honey ! " 
 
 "You will try and find out why he's here, 
 Quinny!" entreated her mistress; "there must 
 be some reason." 
 
 " I did hear the ould gentleman was very ill ; 
 maybe he sent for him. 'Twould be strange now 
 if he left him the money and property after all." 
 
 A hot flush dyed Miss Em's cheek and crept up 
 to the shadows of her drooping braids of hair. 
 
 "He would scarcely do that," she said very 
 low. " You know the reason." 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 59, 
 
 " Ah, musha, there'd be ways and means of mak- 
 ing that right," said Quinlan contemptuously. "'Tis 
 aisy to square the law when you've got money. 
 And that ould Morrison can lave his as he likes, law 
 or no law. Who else has he belonging to him that 
 he hasn't fought with or insulted years ago ? " 
 
 Miss Em rose and wound up her loosely falling 
 hair. " Four days more and then I'm safe," she 
 muttered ; ' I needn't leave the house at all." 
 
 She moved away to the door and stood there a 
 moment, her hand on the handle. 
 
 " What was that about the marriage card, 
 Quinny ? " she asked with a faint smile. 
 
 " Three times for you, honey, as sure as I'm a 
 living woman, and riches next to it. Take my 
 word but there's some grand lord in Dublin waitin' 
 for ye, and ye're troubles are to end at last." 
 
 " With marriage ? " said Miss Em bitterly. 
 " More likely begin afresh, that's what my experi- 
 ence of life teaches." 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 "LOOKING BACK." 
 
 A clock in some distant region of the house was 
 striking the hour of midnight as Miss Em entered 
 her own room. She closed and locked the door 
 and set down her candle. She felt too alert and 
 wide awake for bed. All her thoughts were back 
 in the past, and the spell of an invisible hand 
 seemed forcing her to unlock at its will one secret 
 chamber of memory that she had told herself 
 should never again be opened. 
 
 To and fro she paced the floor, her hands 
 clenched, her face set and stern. Was she to be 
 drawn once more into the whirlpool of fate ? 
 Was the old sin, the old folly, destined to haunt 
 
60 PEG, THE RAKfi. 
 
 her anew ? The horizon of her life had often 
 seemed bounded by sheer hopelessness ; but again 
 and again had vitality of temperament and a 
 certain reckless courage which feared nothing, 
 dispersed the black clouds, and through the rifted 
 gloom shown streaks of brightness beyond. 
 
 But darkness was on her soul to-night, and 
 her eyes grew sullen and unhopeful as they met 
 their own reflection when some chance movement 
 brought her face to face with it. 
 
 " How I loved him once, how I believed in 
 him ! " The sharp sting of wounded faith and 
 broken trust sounded in the half-breathed words. 
 
 As if moved by some strong impulse she 
 suddenly paused before a small chest, brass-bound 
 and firmly secured, that stood in an obscure 
 corner of the large room. 
 
 " My Bluebeard's cupboard ! " and she laughed 
 mockingly. " How often have I resolved to 
 destroy your secrets, yet there they are, — intact ! " 
 
 She lifted the box and placed it on the table 
 where her writing materials were lying. Then 
 unlocking it with a curious-looking key from her 
 private bunch, she peered into its depths with a 
 half-fearful curiosity. 
 
 " It is like opening a grave," she thought, as 
 the faint odour of dead flowers and perfumed paper 
 reached her. Her hand wandered among packets 
 of letters, scraps of faded ribbon, dried and 
 withered blossoms, once emblematic of hopes 
 that like themselves were for ever dead. 
 
 Suddenly she touched a thick leather-covered 
 pocket-book lying at the bottom of the box. Half 
 reluctantly she drew it out. 
 
 The dust of withered flowers, and their faint 
 pot-pourri scent, were like haunting memories as 
 she opened and turned the fluttering leaves. 
 
 Gradually her face softened, her eyes grew misty 
 and tender. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 6l 
 
 Strange it is that of all associations with the 
 past, and with those we have loved, or lost, 
 nothing is so powerful as scent. The faint, subtle 
 breath of some remembered perfume will waft 
 thought and memory back as if by enchantment ; 
 and scenes long past spring into life, voices long 
 silent echo in our ears, tender half-forgotten words 
 come back to thrill our hearts again and waken 
 tears of longing, or regret. 
 
 Come and gaze on our face once more, 
 Bring us the smiles of the olden days; 
 Come and shine in your place once more 
 And change the dark into golden rays. 
 Gone ! Gone 1 Joy is fled from us 
 Into the night of the nevermore, 
 And darkness rests where once you shed for us 
 Light we will miss for evermore. 
 
 No world-hardened woman, no reckless adven- 
 turess stood there in that midnight solitude now. 
 
 The hand of Time turned back for her the pages 
 of intervening years. For one hour she gave her- 
 self up to the spell of memory, and the records of 
 that mad, glad, reckless girlhood for whose follies 
 she had paid so heavy a price. 
 
 " Frags." from " Peg's Diary." 
 
 " If ever I look back I shall like to remember 
 what a good time I have had ! As long as I can re- 
 member no one has crossed me or coerced me ; 
 I've done just what I pleased and shall continue 
 to do so even if I marry, which I suppose I shall 
 do some day ; not yet awhile though. From 
 seventeen to twenty are the three best years of a 
 girl's life. I'll have every bit of good out of them 
 that can be had. I'll live. Live to my finger-tips, 
 laugh, jest, enjoy! but I won't love ; that means 
 moping, brooding, discontent, worry, and wrinkles. 
 
62 PEG. THE RAKE. 
 
 Let as many love me as like ; but, Peg, be wise, 
 keep yourself heart-whole if you want to be happy. 
 
 " I hope I shall never get tired of dancing — I do 
 so love it. They say I'm the best dancer in the 
 county. Is that why I get so many partners ? 
 How jealous the O'Brady's, and Rushtons, and 
 Craufords all are of me ! There's nothing too bad 
 to say — I'm a coquette, I'm extravagant, I'm im- 
 modest (because my lace tucker is an inch lower 
 than their scraggy necks can bear), I laugh too 
 much ! Oh, there's no end to the catalogue of 
 sins ! But propriety's always dull, and I hate 
 dulness. How shocked they looked when I said 
 that wit and intelligence were as good as all the 
 virtues put together, and far more pleasant ! I 
 always respect successful iniquities, and have more 
 sympathy with sinners than with saints, even in 
 fiction. 
 
 • •••••• 
 
 "There's a sinner here, by the way. He's just 
 home from England; ' Morrison's son,' they call 
 him ; I don't know his other name ; but the father's 
 a bad lot, and no one has a good word for him or 
 his son, despite their wealth. They live about 
 five miles off from Carrig-duve; but the house is so 
 shut in by trees that I've never had a good look 
 at it. Old Morrison's not often there ; he goes 
 abroad a great deal, and the boy has been at 
 school or college ever since I can remember. 
 
 • • . • • • 
 " I've seen him at last ! 
 
 " He's the handsomest feillow for miles round ; 
 they'll all have to look out for their laurels now. 
 'Twas in the post-office we met. I went in for 
 some stamps, and he was leaning against the 
 **ounter talking to Mrs. Maloney. How he looked 
 at me ! 
 
 " Of course f< J didn't pretend $0 notice it. (Long 
 
TEG, THE RAKE. 63 
 
 eyelashes are very useful sometimes.) He left the 
 shop first, so Mrs. Maloney told me who he 
 was. 
 
 " It's odd that every one calls him only l Morri- 
 son's son '. I never remember a Mrs. Morrison at 
 Rooklands. Perhaps his father married a 
 foreigner. The son is dark, but gloriously hand- 
 some. Like a Spanish brigand, I think. 
 
 " I wonder if I shall meet him anywhere. The 
 Craufords have a dance to-night. Perhaps he's 
 invited. I hope so. I'll put on my pink silk on 
 the chance. Nothing becomes me like pink or 
 white, but I'll favour the first for this occasion ; 
 besides, the dress is fresher, and a better fit than 
 the muslin. 
 
 " He was at the Craufords. 
 
 " Young Crauford, it appears, was a school- 
 fellow, and they met yesterday, and so he asked 
 him in to-night. Mere Crauford seemed rather put 
 out about it. I don't know why she should be. 
 As for myself it was the usual, ' I came ! I saw ! I 
 conquered ! ' 
 
 " Now, I don't say this out of conceit, but 
 Denis Morrison was a fearful case of ' love at 
 first sight ' ; nor did he leave me long in doubt 
 about it. He's only nineteen or twenty, but, 
 thank heaven ! there's no gaucherie or hobble-de- 
 hoyness about him. I remember reading some- 
 where that a man always interests a woman best 
 by audacity. Your timid and modest fellow never 
 gets a second thought. Well, my new admirer 
 was audacious enough to get a good many ' second 
 thoughts ' from me. 
 
 " ' You're such a cool, delightful little devil,' 
 said he to me once this evening. 'Talking to you 
 is as good as a draught of champagne.' 
 
 " If that was so, he certainly went in extensively 
 for the ' champagne ' of my conversation. 
 
64 KEG, THE RAKB. 
 
 " He confided all his hopes and ambitions to 
 me. He was determined to be either a soldier or 
 a sailor ; a life of adventure was essential. He 
 hated stagnation. He looked so bold and hand- 
 some and daring that I could quite believe it, and 
 more — I could understand it was an impossible 
 state of existence for him. 
 
 " In some things he is so boyish still ! There's a 
 curious mingling of depths and shallows, hardihood 
 and judgment in his nature. At present all is 
 chaos and turbulence. As a rule, I hate boys. 
 No male creature under thirty is worth taking 
 seriously. The others are a mixture of idiot and 
 animal, boor and fop. Why is it they take so 
 much more knocking into shape than women, and 
 such a much longer time to be knocked into it? 
 I'll leave that conundrum unanswered, and go to 
 bed and dream perhaps of Denis Morrison's 
 wicked eyes and audacious compliments. 
 
 . • . • • • t 
 
 " How often we've met ! 
 
 " It can't be always accident ! 
 
 " He's not very popular in the neighbourhood. 
 A 'sense of mystery,' floats about him, as Hood 
 says of his haunted house. What it is I can't 
 imagine. I've asked Quinlan, my nurse, who is 
 generally up in all the gossip of the place, but she 
 won't say anything more than that there have 
 always been 'queer stones' of Wild Morrison, as 
 the father was called, and that the boy was a 
 ' regular young devil,' and up to any bit of mischief 
 imaginable from the time he could walk alone till 
 he went to college. 
 
 "He goes to very few houses where we visit. 
 Our meetings are mostly out of doors. If he 
 does not see me for two or three days he 
 haunts the lane beyond our orchard. Once he 
 even adventured the orchard itself. Dad was 
 away from home ; perhaps that was as well ; I 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 65 
 
 hardly think he would have liked so uncere- 
 monious a visitor. 
 
 " October gales have begun their pranks ; rain 
 clouds replace sunshine and blue sky. I feel 
 melancholy and out of sorts. We have had a 
 desperate quarrel. He wanted me to confess I 
 cared for him more than for Harrie Brady ; as I 
 wouldn't say so he showered abuse and accusations 
 upon me and flung himself off in a pet. 
 
 "I was too astounded and angry to care very 
 much at first. But three days have passed and 
 my wrath has begun to cool. It seems rather 
 strange that he has not made an attempt to see 
 me, or write to me ; he has always been the 
 first to come round in any difference or disagree- 
 ment. It is stranger still that I should miss him 
 so much ; usually it has been ' out of sight, out 
 of mind/ with me and my sweethearts. Well, if 
 he chooses to sulk I shall amuse myself by flirting 
 with Harrie more than ever ; not that there's any 
 comparison between them, but Denis Morrison 
 will never know I think so. 
 
 " Thank goodness, the hunting will soon com- 
 mence ! 
 
 " No better cure for low spirits and moping than 
 a good rousing gallop over stiff country. My little 
 Irish mare and I are of one mind on that point, 
 and our reputation ' second to none,' in the hunt- 
 ing field. 
 
 " For a whole month I've heard and seen nothing 
 of my fiery lover. I am too proud to ask for news; 
 I only conjecture he has gone to Dublin. Well, 1 
 am not going to fret over his loss ! He shall hear 
 that Peg O'Hara has never flirted so desperately, 
 laughed so gaily, danced so lightly, or ridden so 
 recklessly as now, when he in his vanity would 
 fain believe her fretting her heart out for his 
 
 5 
 
66 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 absence, or regretting the cruelty that banished 
 him." 
 
 The reader paused, and closed the book, and 
 for a moment stood there motionless, one hand 
 pressed to her eyes. 
 
 " How well I remember that time ! " she said to 
 herself. " The pain, the weariness, the long empty 
 days, the perpetual effort to seem the same. Oh ! 
 he was very cruel, — and then my accident, and the 
 dreary winter passed on the couch, and the news 
 of his entanglement with that hateful woman in 
 Dublin, and at last — at last — that letter. I was 
 so weak, and so tired of being unhappy, and life 
 only seemed to begin for me then, for, oh, I had 
 loved you all the time, my darling, ail the time ! " 
 
 She glanced at the book where it had fallen 
 among the letters and the withered flowers. 
 
 " I haven't courage to read any more to-night," 
 she said, and locked the box and pushed it away 
 with a sort of desperate earnestness. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 LOOKING FORWARD. 
 
 With hair neatly braided, and with a trim, if well- 
 worn, morning gown Miss Em entered the break- 
 fast room next morning almost on the stroke of 
 the clock. 
 
 Mrs. O'Hara, carefully measuring out the second 
 teaspoonful of tea for the pot, looked up in 
 astonishment. 
 
 " Is the world coming to an end ? " she ex- 
 claimed. 
 
 " I hope not," said Miss Em briskly. " I want 
 a good deal more out of it first." 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 67 
 
 Her eyes were on the letters, but she would not 
 allow her anxiety to appear, and calmly waited till 
 her father had sorted and peered into them in 
 his usual slow methodical fashion. 
 
 No disappointment this time ! There was Lady 
 Patricia's letter ; and if anything could have added 
 zest to her unappetising meal, those bright, cheery 
 lines and spicy bits of gossip, as well as the 
 certainty of a successful issue to her scheme, 
 might well have done so. 
 
 " My Dear Child," wrote Lady Pat, 
 
 " Of course I'm delighted to have you \ I 
 telegraphed yesterday to save time. I've put up 
 at the Gresham, having let my house, as I intend 
 leaving Ireland for some time. You know what 
 that means. They make you very comfortable here, 
 and one's saved the worry of servants ; and when 
 two or three choice spirits drop into lunch or 
 dinner, oh ! the blessing of feeling everything 
 will be right without the bother of preparation. 
 Why don't we all live in hotels, like those dear 
 Americans ? Be sure you come on Tuesday, as 
 your Dublin dissipation will commence on Wednes- 
 day with the Kellys' ball. (Have you heard of it ?) 
 The day I received your letter I met her at luncheon, 
 at the Vanecourts, Stephen's Green ; I mentioned 
 that a friend was coming to stay with me, and 
 angled for your invitation. On hearing the friend's 
 name Mrs. Kelly was more than delighted. 
 Couldn't understand how she could have forgotten 
 you, and begged me to make apologies. Hope 
 you've got a good gown. Every one will be there; 
 I hear the Lord Lieutenant has been ' caught ' 
 for it. I'm sure Lady A. won't put in an appear- 
 ance ; altogether it will be an omnium gatherum, 
 and, as Paddy Kearney would say, 'there'll be 
 ructions ! ' I hear from his sister, who is coming 
 out (she is downright pretty, my dear), that he 
 has been staying in your part of the country. 
 
68 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 Should you, he, and the MacShamus meet, what a 
 cosy whist party ! How is my dear doctor ? all 
 kind remembrances to both. By the by, I was 
 forgetting : make preparations for a lengthened 
 stay ; indeed, if I know you right, you're not likely 
 to be wanting to rush back to Castle Glum and 
 Madame Skinflint in a hurry. I have a little 
 proposition to make to you, but it must stand 
 over till we meet. I'm sorry to say poor Agnes is 
 much worse, she's going exactly like her sweet 
 mother. To take her abroad this winter is im- 
 possible ; I've given her two turns to Cannes, as 
 you know, but no real benefit has ensued. You've 
 not written to me since you left Yorkshire. Is it 
 true that the L'Estranges have come into such a 
 lot of money ? not before it was wanted, I'm sure. 
 I've heard bailiffs were pretty frequent visitors 
 there ! You say nothing of your father ; I hope 
 he is well. As for madam, you know my opinion, 
 and I don't pay the empty compliment of inquiries 
 in thai quarter. Well, my dear child, a week won't 
 exhaust all we have to say to one another. Get 
 as much good out of rural life and early hours 
 as you possibly can ; there'll not be much beauty- 
 sleep for you here. Au revoir till Tuesday. I 
 cannot meet you at the station, as I've an engage- 
 ment ; but come direct here, I've secured a bed- 
 room next my own, and the faithful Anne will do 
 everything for your comfort. We shall be quite by 
 ourselves on Tuesday night, but can dine at the 
 table d'hote if you prefer it. Love and kisses, my 
 dear Emilia, 
 
 " From your ever affectionate, 
 " Patricia Moira. 
 " P.S. — I have discovered a treasure of a dress- 
 maker if you want anything done ; I have patron- 
 ised her largely. You needn't mind what you 
 give her, — she'll even patch, so bring anything that 
 wants renovating ! " 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 69 
 
 Miss Em laid down the letter with a sigh of 
 content. Her satisfaction was so evident that 
 Mrs. O'Hara, whose attention had already been 
 excited by the length of the epistle, and who had 
 recognised the coroneted cipher on the envelope, 
 could not restrain a remark. " You seem mightily 
 pleased with your letter," she said. 
 
 " Lady Pat's letters are always charming," 
 answered Miss Em, folding the closely written 
 sheets together with a smile of triumph. 
 
 " Oh, is it from Lady Patricia Moira ? " inquired 
 Mrs. O'Hara suavely. 
 
 If she reverenced any one on earth it was her 
 step-daughter's aristocratic godmother, who, in 
 years gone by, she had alternately toadied and 
 abused. For Lady Pat had never pretended to 
 regard her as anything but a vulgar upstart, or 
 forgiven Mr. O'Hara for giving such a mistress to 
 Carrig-duve. 
 
 " Yes, it is from Lady Patricia Moira," replied 
 Miss Em, " and she has asked me to Dublin to 
 stay with her. I shall go next Tuesday." 
 
 " You certainly don't favour your home with 
 much of your society," sneered Mrs. O'Hara. " I 
 wonder you like to be always sponging on strangers 
 in the manner you do." 
 
 " I was not aware that Lady Pat was ' a 
 stranger,'" said Miss Em hotly. "And if I give 
 ' home,' as you call it, little of my society, it is for 
 the very excellent reason that I am happier out of 
 it. We needn't go into details at this time of day. 
 I think you know them as well as I do." 
 
 " I know that I have never experienced any- 
 thing but rudeness and ingratitude at your hands," 
 answered her stepmother ; " that all my sacri- 
 fices and efforts have been misrepresented, that 
 you have spoken against me to all your friends, 
 and prevented me from taking my proper position 
 in the county by your falsehoods and insolence." 
 
JO PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 " All of which means that Lady Pat snubbed 
 you years ago, and that the county followed her 
 example/' said Miss Em coolly. " Popularity isn't 
 such an easy matter as you seem to imagine." 
 
 " Popularity, indeed ! If I laid myself out for 
 it in the way some people do, I should have 
 enough and to spare." 
 
 " Is that the reason you prefer to ' spare ' it ? " 
 asked Miss Em. " How little contents you ! For 
 my part I've never had enough yet." 
 
 She took up her letter again and glanced at it 
 as if the conversation did not possess much 
 interest for her. 
 
 " How long are you going to stay with Lady 
 Patricia ? " asked Mrs. O'Hara presently. 
 
 " A month," answered her step-daughter at 
 random, " or longer perhaps," she added, shooting 
 " the arrow at a venture " in her usual reckless 
 fashion. " If she goes abroad, I may very 
 probably go with her." 
 
 " Don't expect us to find the money for foreign 
 travels, then," snapped Mrs. O'Hara. " Your 
 extravagance has crippled us nicely as it is." 
 
 " That's rather stale hearing by this time," 
 retorted Miss Em. " Surely what you term my 
 ' extravagance ' has been more than atoned for 03' 
 your judicious system of cheese-paring. Thank 
 goodness," she added with a sigh of relief as she 
 pushed back her chair, " that I shall see a decent 
 table again, and know what a dinner means when 
 I leave here." 
 
 And she left the room to avoid further sparring, 
 and to pen a long and chatty epistle, such as her 
 soul loved, to Lady Pat. 
 
 " It was a bold stroke, but it has succeeded 
 admirably,* she thought to herself with pardonable 
 triumph. " But the diamonds have yet to be 
 secured. My dress will be nothing without them. 
 I'm sure Lady Pat will let me have some lace. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. Jl 
 
 I declare, I think I'll leave the bodice alone now, 
 and trust to this dressmaker she mentions." 
 
 She had drawn her table over to the window, 
 and sat there now, the letter lying before her, her 
 cheek resting on her hand, while the other was 
 employed in idly tracing lines and figures on the 
 blotting-paper. 
 
 Her thoughts wandered vaguely to and fro, 
 settling on nothing, yet with a restless desire to 
 find anchorage. 
 
 Successful schemers are not always proud of 
 achieved success. There are victories as humiliat- 
 ing as defeat, though the fact may be known to 
 none but the victor. Miss Em, like many a great 
 political genius, was far happier in working for a 
 purpose than in the actual accomplishment of the 
 purpose itself. That oddly balanced temperament 
 of hers swung to and fro like an uneasy pendulum, 
 and recognised in her present success only an 
 omen of future failure. " When things come 
 right too easily 'tis a bad sign, so Quinlan used to 
 say. Hallo! what's that ? " 
 
 The sound of angry voices and loud argument 
 reached her, and she raised her head and listened 
 intently. 
 
 " My amicable stepmother again I What's poor 
 Quinny been doing now, I wonder ? Perhaps 
 she's discovered about the whisky last night. I 
 quite forgot to ask Quin where she got it, by the 
 way." 
 
 A knock at the door cut short her reflections. 
 " Come in," she cried, guessing who was the 
 applicant. 
 
 " Why, Quinny ! " she exclaimed, looking with 
 astonishment at the old woman's angry face ; 
 " what on earth's the matter?" 
 
 " Matter ! " repeated the old housekeeper, in 
 loud indignant tones. " Is it the matter ye're 
 asking about ? Indeed, then, Miss Peg, I'd like 
 
72 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 to know what in the name of all the saints in 
 glory Saint Patrick was about, when he druv all 
 the snakes and reptiles out of Ireland and forgot 
 to send all the mane ould women to kape thim 
 company?" 
 
 " I'm sure I can't tell you, Quinny," said Miss 
 Em smiling ; " but what's put you out so ? " 
 
 " Faith, alannah ! little enough, but that I was 
 just givin' Bridget Lehane, the poor crathur, and 
 she just afther losing her own mother last night 
 — (God rest her soul !) — a bit of salt fish and a 
 morsil of drippin' you couldn't blind a fly's eye 
 with, whin Mrs. O'Hara comes out and catches 
 me. Och ! the divil ! sich a shaun-a-mauling as I 
 got ! you'd think I'd robbed her of her last bite 
 and sup ! But faith, Miss Peg, darlin', I spoke 
 up as saucy as a latch. I wonder she didn't give 
 me the warnin' as she's always threatnin'. Maybe 
 she knows, though, 'tisn't Mary Quinlan would be 
 long wantin' a place. Don't all the quality know 
 her worth, as well as they know that many's the 
 fine dinner they've had here in the ould days whin 
 Carrig-duve was kept up in the best style, and no 
 one had call to be ashamed of it ? And isn't it 
 meself, tho' none so young as I was, that can 
 roast and baste and serve up wid the best of them ? 
 I tould the mistress so. Och, indeed, and I did ; 
 but I'll be even wid her yet," she added more 
 calmly, and with a cautious glance around ; 
 " when I gets a commission I does it, and — " 
 significantly, " I've got me eye on thim." 
 
 "On them? on what, Quinny?" asked Miss 
 Em, looking rather puzzled. 
 
 " Shure, darlin' you're not after forgettin' what 
 you asked me? The kays, of course. 'Twill be all 
 right, honey, never you fear." 
 
 " But not too soon, Quinny," urged Miss Em. 
 " I wouldn't for worlds have the diamonds missed 
 till I'm safe out of the way." 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 73 
 
 "They won't be missed, trust me for that. 
 Divil a sowl shall get wind or word of it till they're 
 safe in your kapin' ; and aren't they your own by 
 all lawful right, and no interlopers havin' any 
 call to them at all, at all ? Bad scran to them ! " 
 
 " There's something very satisfactory in receiv- 
 ing an endorsement of one's own opinion," thought 
 Miss Em. " It can't be wrong to take possession 
 of one's lawful possessions ; all the same, I'd 
 rather not have had to do it in this fashion." 
 
 She let Quinlan ramble on uninterruptedly for 
 some moments. At last she interrupted a string 
 of personal grievances by a question. 
 
 " Did Bridget Lehane tell you anything about — 
 I mean, did she mention any one having arrived 
 lately ? " she asked. 
 
 Quinlan nodded. " Yes, darlin' ! 'Tis true, 
 'twas Morrison's son you saw. He's been away in 
 foreign parts all these years. The talk in the 
 village is that he's come home with hapes of 
 money. I suppose, too, the ould gintleman will 
 be lavin' him his fortune. 'Tis hard to come at 
 the rights o' that story Miss Peg ; but there's them 
 as sez that the mother was no foreigner at all, but 
 could be found a dale nearer home than people 
 think for." 
 
 " It matters very little now," said Miss Em 
 wearily. " It was always a case of ' give a dog a 
 bad name ' with Denis Morrison. Even if he got 
 Rooklands and all the money, I'm sure he wouldn't 
 live in this part of the country again." 
 
 The old woman looked at her curiously. There 
 were times when, well as she knew Miss Em, she 
 was baffled and bewildered by her. That she 
 should have been so upset the previous night and 
 appear so indifferent this morning were contradic- 
 tions she could not reconcile. 
 
 " I'll find out all about him if you wish," she 
 said cautiously. " But shure you're goin' off wid 
 
74 PEG > TH E RAKE. 
 
 yourself next week, so why need you be troublin' 
 your head about him, or any one else here ? 'Tis 
 the grand time you'll be havin' in Dublin, Miss 
 Peg. You know that all the Castle people are 
 goin' there ? " 
 
 "Yes; Captain Kearney told me." 
 
 " The captain thinks a mighty lot o' ye, Miss 
 Peg, darlin'. Shure if I'd the chance betwixt him 
 and his uncle, it's the young man I'd be selectin'." 
 
 " But there's no question of either, Quinny," 
 laughed Miss Em ; " Sir Jasper has quite dropped 
 out of my sight these last ten years ; as for the 
 captain he's much too young, leaving out of the 
 question that he's in love with his cousin." 
 
 " Miss Molly's a beauty, and no mistake," said 
 the old woman. " But faith. Miss Peg, ne'er a one 
 o' them can hold a candle to yourself whin ye 
 ware a gurl. 'Tis mad I feel whin I think of the 
 chances you've thrown away. Not but what 
 you're a fine woman still, and when you're dressed 
 at night and laughin' and jokin' as I've seen you, 
 no one would iver say ye ware thirty." 
 
 Miss Em laughed. "You old flatterer!" she said; 
 "there — go along, and get on with your work, or 
 there'll be another scrimmage. I'll go down to the 
 village presently, and give Bridget something to 
 make up for her loss of salt fish and dripping." 
 
 " Ah, that's like your generous heart, Miss Peg. 
 Didn't we always say of you that you'd give away 
 the wurrld if ye had it ? " 
 
 " Quinlan ! " rang sharply out from the corridor. 
 "Haven't you finished that room yet? half an 
 hour's surely enough time for you." 
 
 "Go, Quinny dear," said Miss Em; "there's 
 no use in riling her more ; she'll have enough 
 vexation next w r eek." 
 
 " Faith, and that's true," chuckled the old 
 woman ; and picking up her duster she left the 
 room. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 75 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A CHURCH PARADE. 
 
 Two days of rain and gloom, and heavy clouds 
 brooding over earth and sky ushered in a Sunday 
 fit for April, so radiant was the morning with blue 
 and gold, and fresh rain-washed leaves of arbutus, 
 and laurel hedges, and late blossoms of autumn 
 flowers that winter had spared. 
 
 Miss Em, opening her eyes on such a changed 
 scene, felt her resolution of a lazy morning and 
 breakfast in bed rapidly vanishing. She made 
 her toilet with unusual care. A prolonged study of 
 The Queen, which she took regularly every week, 
 had suggested a new style of hair-dressing which 
 she essayed for the first time. It proved eminently 
 successful, and allowed of her dispensing with 
 quite half of the massive plaits that for long had 
 more disfigured than adorned the back of her 
 head. " I must practise that style till I get it 
 right for Wednesday," she said, as, hand-glass in 
 hand, she surveyed profile, back, and front view. 
 " I declare I look ten years younger ; and 'tis so 
 easy. I wonder if Madame O'Hara will notice any 
 difference." 
 
 If madame did she was not going to flatter her 
 obnoxious step-daughter by any allusion to the 
 change, or the improvement it had wrought. The 
 fact of coming down to breakfast a full quarter of an 
 hour late, and dressed in the Bond Street costume 
 previouslymentioned,were apalpable advertisement 
 of church-going intentions. 
 
 As a rule Miss Em spent her Sunday mornings 
 in bed with a novel, and her afternoons in letter- 
 writing. It was rarely that she accompanied her 
 people, and favoured the O'Hara pew with her 
 presence. The vicar was not a brilliant specimen 
 
76 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 of his order ; and his sermons, Miss Em declared, 
 were so far below even average intelligence that 
 they irritated her. However, on this particular 
 Sunday she seemed to have put prejudice aside 
 with the rusty and superfluous plaits that were 
 shut in her dressing-table drawer, and was alto- 
 gether so amiable and entertaining that Mrs. 
 O'Hara could not but wonder in vulgar parlance 
 " what was in the wind ". 
 
 Perhaps Miss Em herself was only vaguely 
 conscious of any special reason for this church- 
 going freak. Certainly there was something 
 strained and unnatural in her manner as they 
 passed up the old yew-shaded path, exchanging 
 occasional greetings with neighbours ; and she 
 kept close beside her father, instead of marching 
 in advance in her usual independent manner. 
 
 Apprehension, too, was in the nervous glance 
 that swept aisle and gallery from the vantage- 
 point of the high box-like pew. Yet absentees 
 and devotees were marked with unfailing preci- 
 sion. 
 
 As the service proceeded she felt more at ease. 
 Doubt became certainty, and fear ceased to quicken 
 her heart-throbs, or set her pulses fluttering. The 
 church was unusually full, and Miss Em arranged 
 an after-service programme of greetings and gossip 
 that promised to compensate for her present 
 martyrdom. 
 
 The day still held its promise, making winter 
 gowns and mantles take a reproachful shabbiness 
 that rebuked premature sunshine. Miss Em felt 
 safe on that point ; and the excellence of a well- 
 preserved complexion added to her satisfaction as 
 she stood receiving and exchanging greetings 
 which proved her popularity to be still unimpaired. 
 Mrs. O'Hara had passed on with a grim and vine- 
 garish expression after hearing her step-daughter 
 accept an invitation to lunch with the Mac- 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 77 
 
 Shamuses, and seen cordial greetings exchanged 
 between her and the Castle Lustrell folk. These 
 amenities were as gall and wormwood to the 
 mean ambitious woman whose place in the 
 county had been so clearly marked off for her, and 
 whose unpopularity was as sure as it certainly 
 was deserved. 
 
 Miss Em was standing beside the vicar's wife 
 when a pompous-looking woman, over-dressed in 
 velvet and furs, and evidently on excellent terms 
 with herself, passed them. 
 
 She bowed, and then extended her hand to the 
 old lady, but quite ignored her companion. 
 
 "Don't you know Miss O'Hara, Mrs. Mark- 
 ham ? " asked Mrs. Pigott innocently, with a view 
 to setting things right. 
 
 The lady apparently gave herself up to an effort 
 of memory and an eye-glass, and vaguely mur- 
 mured of " not having the pleasure ". 
 
 " I believe we met once, about two years ago," 
 said Miss Em in her coldest and clearest tones. 
 "In Dublin, was it not?" 
 
 "You — you really have the advantage of me," 
 murmured Mrs. Markham, getting hot and red 
 and generally uncomfortable beneath the smiling 
 gaze of those clear grey eyes. " I certainly was in 
 Dublin two or three years ago, but " 
 
 "Not at a luncheon-party at Lady Blake's?" 
 asked Miss Em innocently, knowing perfectly well 
 that the Markhams would have given their right 
 hands to be invited to such a house. " Oh, I beg 
 your pardon, I must have confused you with 
 some one else. Really, one meets so many people 
 now-a-days, society is so mixed. I heard of a 
 case of knighthood the other day where the 
 gentleman actually borrowed his wife's name, his 
 own being lost in obscurity. You are staying 
 here, I suppose, Mrs. Marks ? " 
 
 " Markham is my name," answered the lady, 
 
78 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 with an indignant glance at this impertinent 
 person. " We have come to reside in the county." 
 
 " Mr. Markham has bought River's Court, m}' 
 dear," said the vicar's wife in explanation. " And 
 they are restoring it in the most lavish manner. 
 You are away so much that these things come 
 quite as news to you." 
 
 " Indeed, they do," affirmed Miss Em. " Dear me, 
 restoring River's Court ! Do you know, I've quite a 
 horror of that word ! It means all sorts of 
 dreadful modern vulgarities, miscalled ' improve- 
 ments ' by house decorators and upholsterers. But 
 the good old families are fast dying out, and it is 
 impossible, I suppose, for strangers to recognise 
 that taste and suitability are more important than 
 flashy splendour." 
 
 A " taste of the O'Hara tongue " had once been 
 a proverb in the county. Miss Em felt a keen 
 delight in reviving it at such an opportunity. 
 She knew as well as Mrs. Markham herself where 
 they had really met, and why that lady pretended 
 to ignore the fact. 
 
 There could be but one answer to that last 
 remark. Not even the eye-glass was proof 
 against it. Mrs. Markham hurriedly murmured 
 that the carriage was waiting, and with an un- 
 graceful bow hastened away in its direction, a 
 mass of crimson humiliation, whose very outward 
 splendour seemed conscious of the amused glance 
 that followed, and the sarcastic comments that 
 would signalise her retreat. 
 
 "O'Hara, O'Hara," she repeated to herself. 
 " Yes, of course I remember. A poor middle- 
 aged shabby adventuress I thought her ; perhaps 
 she has come in for some money; she seems to be 
 thought a great deal of here. I declare one never 
 knows how to treat these Irish families. I suppose 
 I've put my foot in it. I wonder if she knows the 
 Lustrells ? How provoking if she does ! " 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 7g 
 
 " You were very severe on her, Miss O'Hara," 
 said the vicar's wife as the portly figure disappeared. 
 
 " Was I ? " said Miss Em indifferently. " Well, 
 I detest these nouveaux riches, who are taking 
 up all our good old places. Manchester cotton 
 spinners, and retired sausage makers like the 
 Burtons settling down and pretending they're as 
 good as any one in the county. Of course you 
 will say this sounds very uncharitable, Mrs. Pigott, 
 but you must allow for Irish prejudices." Mrs. 
 Pigott was English herself and of no particular 
 family or account. She had been a victim to 
 social and financial eclipse for the greater part of 
 her meek, over-burdened life, and was quite con- 
 tent to allow for Irish prejudices, or any other 
 peculiarity of that interesting nation, if it was 
 conducive to peace and quietness. She adroitly 
 turned the conversation, and as some other people 
 came up at the same moment, Miss Em moved 
 away and rejoined the doctor's wife. 
 
 The face she had feared, yet half-longed to re- 
 cognise, was not there. Possibly the ordeal of 
 church-going had been more than he could brave. 
 Relief and disappointment were mingled strangely 
 in her heart ; her eager acceptance of Mrs. Mac- 
 Shamus' offer arose mainly from a desire to hear 
 something she dared not ask. The doctor would 
 know, even if his wife were ignorant on the point. 
 
 "Jerry was called away to Rooklands," said the 
 old lady presently as they passed down the village. 
 " Old Morrison is very ill, they say." 
 
 " So I've heard," answered Miss Em. " Do 
 you know what's the matter ? " 
 
 " A general break-up, the doctor says. He lived 
 a hard life, and tried his constitution more than 
 most men of his age. He's a very troublesome 
 patient to manage." 
 
 Miss Em made no observation. Good actress 
 as she was, and hardened as she professed to be 
 
80 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 to most emotions, she could not bring herself to 
 utter that one name indifferently. She kept the 
 conversation on trivial matters until they reached 
 the house ; but time slipped by, the luncheon hour 
 had long passed, and yet the doctor made no 
 appearance on the scene. At last they sat down 
 to the meal without him, Mrs. MacShamus giving 
 it as her opinion that "old Morrison" must be 
 worse, and the doctor did not like to leave him. 
 
 Miss Em knew that it was the old lady's custom 
 to have a nap on Sunday afternoons ; and anxious 
 as she was to see the doctor she had too much 
 tact to make a prolonged stay. She bade her good- 
 by, with a half promise to look in the next even- 
 ing if she could manage to get through her packing ; 
 it was one of her peculiarities never to do that 
 till the last minute, and to make her departure a 
 scene of confusion that left every one in as much 
 excitement as herself, so the promise held little 
 hope of fulfilment. 
 
 The sunshine of the morning had faded into u, 
 grey soft haziness, as if the brilliant day had al- 
 ready repented of its prodigal gifts. Miss Em 
 avoided the main street, experience having taught 
 her that it was wiser to do this on Sunday after- 
 noons, as most of the boys and men in the neigh- 
 bourhood had a predilection for playing bowls 
 along the road, a habit which even magisterial 
 warnings and fines could not check. She took a 
 lane that lay to the right of the doctor's house and 
 wound in tortuous fashion to a branch of the river 
 that usually was little more than a creek. Midway, 
 the lane twisted to the margin of some low-lying 
 fields, whence a little path led into a wood, lovely 
 in summer-time when flowers decked and birds 
 haunted it, but desolate enough now with the 
 grey gloom of the January sky spread above its 
 leafless trees. 
 
 Miss Em paused before entering it. Nothing 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 8l 
 
 but a dread of the boys, and anxiety for her 
 London-made costume, would have made her 
 choose this lonely and desolate path. As she 
 glanced down between crooked tree-stems and 
 tangled underwood, she was surprised to see two 
 figures sauntering slowly along. 
 
 As they came nearer an involuntary smile broke 
 over her face. They were Molly Lustrell and 
 Paddy Kearney. 
 
 She moved forward and greeted them with en- 
 thusiasm. 
 
 " Do walk back with me ! " she entreated ; " I 
 was just dreading that lonely wood, and you can 
 take the short cut back to the castle instead of 
 the lane." 
 
 " Won't it make us very late ? " said Molly, 
 with an apprehensive glance at her cousin. 
 
 She was a lovely girl of eighteen, lovely enough 
 to justify all the encomiums Miss Em had lavished 
 on her beauty. 
 
 " Not a bit of it," he answered reassuringly ; 
 " besides, what does it matter if we are ? You 
 won't get more scolding for two sins than one ; and 
 as for me " — he shrugged his broad shoulders 
 with a gesture of indifference — " well, I'm too used 
 to rows to mind them." 
 
 " Are you out without leave ? " asked Miss Em 
 significantly, looking from one to the other. 
 
 Molly Lustrell coloured slightly. 
 
 " Aunt Sabina went to sleep," she said ; " and 
 papa was shut up in the library " 
 
 " And we were too considerate to disturb either 
 of them by asking permission for a trifle of liberty," 
 interposed Paddy laughing. 
 
 " Indeed, I don't blame you," said Miss Em, as 
 they all turned into the wood. "And 'tis great 
 luck I met you. I've been lunching with Mrs. 
 MacShamus, and I couldn't make my mind up to 
 face those bowl-players from the village ; I knew 
 
 6 
 
82 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 they'd be up to their Sunday pranks, so I thought 
 I'd come this way, and get home in peace." 
 
 " You're going to Dublin, I hear," said Molly. 
 " I'm so glad. I do wish you were to chaperon 
 me instead of Aunt Sabina. She'll spoil all my 
 pleasure, I'm sure." 
 
 " And mine," said Paddy Kearney with a sigh. 
 
 " I promise to do all I can," said Miss Em 
 eagerly. " I think you know, though, that Miss 
 Lustrell is no great friend to me." 
 
 " Nor to any one," said Molly pouting. " Some- 
 times I feel quite sorry I've left school, I had no 
 idea what a life I was going to have at home." 
 
 A murmur into a rose-tipped ear seemed to 
 breathe of sympathy at this announcement ; Miss 
 Em was conveniently deaf, and busied herself 
 with disentangling her skirt from an aggressive 
 bramble. 
 
 " If we all found life what we imagined or 
 wished it to be," she said at last, " this would be 
 a much pleasanter vale of woe to travel through. 
 But it's only natural for youth to rebel against all 
 that is obnoxious to, or opposes it. A few years 
 hence, Molly, you won't be for beating that pretty 
 head against stone walls, but just accept things 
 philosophically, the good with the bad. Fate 
 does throw us a few white beans among the black, 
 as a rule." 
 
 " Few people take life as well as you do, Miss 
 Em," said Paddy Kearney. " You're a standing 
 reproach to all the grumblers." 
 
 " Oh," she said, with her bright laugh, " that's 
 the fault, or virtue, of my nature. I simply won't 
 mope and be down-hearted. Besides, there's 
 always a comic side, even to misfortune, if you 
 like to look for it." 
 
 " Faith, I'd look keenly enough if I could hope 
 to find one," said Paddy. " But that's a side my 
 troubles have never shown to me, Miss Em." 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 83 
 
 " They can't be very heavy yet," she answered. 
 " A few tailor's bills, and the inconvenience of not 
 getting as much leave as you would like, that's the 
 sum total, I suppose ? " 
 
 " Indeed, I wish it was," said the young man, 
 a momentary cloud on his bright face. 
 
 " Give up cards, Paddy," said Miss Em warn- 
 ingly. " They wake up a vice before we are aware 
 of it. Many's the time I've been sorrier for 
 success than loss. But all the O'Hara's are born 
 gamblers. Do you remember my Aunt Bedelia ? 
 Well, she's nearer seventy than sixty now, I'm 
 sure, and as keen on play as ever. She has told 
 me that when she was a girl she'd either lose or 
 double her allowance the very day she received it. 
 All her jewels went long ago — I've got some, by 
 the way. The sight of a card or the rattle of the 
 dice-box would wake her up from her death-sleep, 
 I do believe." 
 
 " But Paddy doesn't gamble, does he ? " asked 
 Molly anxiously. 
 
 " No-o, of course; only a game now and then, 
 at sixpenny points," said Miss Em reassuringly. 
 
 But the captain made haste to change the sub- 
 ject of conversation. His cousin was too young 
 and too inexperienced to take as lenient a view of 
 the follies and amusements of men as Miss Em 
 did. He had no desire to appear absolutely fault- 
 less in her eyes, but on the other hand he had less 
 inclination to force her into the position of an 
 accusing angel — even if a forgiving one. 
 
 To a girl who is very young and very innocent 
 the minor offences of men assume proportions 
 out of all keeping with their actual sinfulness. 
 Hero-worship and idealisation are peculiar to 
 feminine youth. But, flattering as they un- 
 doubtedly are, they are apt to affect men less 
 agreeably than might be supposed. 
 
 To feel they are undeserved is as trying as the 
 
84 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 knowledge that it is impossible to live up to the 
 expectations on which they are founded. "Love 
 me and make the best of me," is the lover's prayer 
 for himself in the first flush and zest of adoration. 
 
 The woman may be less humble, because more 
 conscious of her own deserts, offering meekly, yet 
 with perfect sincerity, the white unstained page of 
 maiden truth, unscored, unblotted by any name 
 save that of the dream-prince for whom she has 
 waited, 
 
 Paddy Kearney was very much in love and very 
 desirous to stand well in the eyes of his cousin. 
 But he had not been immaculate, neither had he 
 " scorned delights and lived laborious days," so as 
 to be worthier of her who should one day stoop to 
 lift him to her heart. He had failed in many 
 things, and fallen oft and low from the heights of 
 good resolutions. But he was not vicious or im- 
 moral, and far more inclined to reverence women 
 for the good there was in them than for the evil 
 there might be. 
 
 The flames at which he had singed his wings 
 were not such as scorch or destroy the faith of 
 youth ; and from his boyhood up there had lived 
 in his heart a certain tender memory of the lovely 
 child who had been his pet and plaything, shared 
 his hopes, listened to his ambitions, and sympa- 
 thised with him in all the scrapes and troubles of 
 schoolboy life. Years of separation had sent him 
 into the world to fight his own battles, and for 
 long they had not met. But under all Paddy 
 Kearney's buoyancy and light-heartedness lingered 
 a strong reverence for kindred, and a strong cling- 
 ing to early affections and early ties. No one had 
 ever stood to him quite in the place of pretty 
 Molly Lustrell, and at the present stage of his 
 history he had convinced himself that no one could 
 ever do so. 
 
 The obstacle of her father's coldness and oppo- 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 85 
 
 sition was only another incentive to his passion ; 
 as yet it was only hovering on the border lines of 
 avowal, uncertain of tenure, and abject under 
 tyranny. He could not be sure in what light his 
 cousin regarded him. Her face and her words 
 were alike enigmatical, neither had she faced the 
 world as yet, or received any wider homage than 
 the limited sphere of home and school life afforded. 
 It was this test which her lover foresaw and 
 feared. Selfishness prompted a declaration of 
 the love that trembled on his lips a hundred times 
 a day, but wisdom counselled a more prudent 
 course. A girl's heart, untried, unknowing itself, 
 rich in impulses, generous, and self-sacrificing ; 
 would it be right to take advantage of such an 
 one ? His better nature said " No," — that side of it 
 at least which yields to the poetic phase of passion. 
 Let her look out on life, mix with and judge of 
 others, weigh him in the balance if she would, 
 then decide for herself. Storms he foresaw in plenty, 
 wrath of guardians, opposition, tyranny; but for such 
 things he cared nothing if only she would love 
 him as he loved her. 
 
 • ••••••• 
 
 " Here we are out of the wood," said Miss Em, 
 breaking in upon a prolonged silence. " I suppose 
 we must part now ; I can't in conscience detain 
 you longer. Molly, if your Aunt Sabina scolds you 
 lay the blame on me, I'll have it out with her in 
 Dublin!" 
 
 She shook hands with them both, laughing 
 gaily to the last. 
 
 Perhaps it was only the swaying boughs that 
 threw so dark a shadow on her face as she paused 
 and looked back at the two absorbed young figures. 
 " If youth could last ! " the wind seemed to sigh 
 in her ear. " If only youth could last ! " 
 
86 PEG, THE RAKB. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 SPOILING THE EGYPTIANS. 
 
 Chaos itself had no mean representation in the 
 sight afforded by Miss Em's room the next 
 morning. 
 
 To some women — and assuredly she was one — 
 packing is only another word for wholesale con- 
 fusion. The turning out of drawers and ward- 
 robes, the selecting of necessary and unnecessary 
 articles, the difficulty of determining what to take 
 and what to leave behind, seem a necessary part 
 of the business. 
 
 The ordeal of "selection" once passed, Miss 
 Em had an elaborate system of stowing away and 
 locking and sealing what was left behind for fear 
 of prying eyes during her absence. Then the 
 actual work of packing commenced, the neatest of 
 trunks and most perfect of travelling gear being 
 essentials which she never overlooked. No 
 objectionable tin trunk or canvas-covered box, 
 rendered still more unsightly by the rope cordage 
 popularly supposed to be a safeguard against weak 
 locks and strong porters, ever distinguished her 
 journeys, or called forth the sneers of footmen or 
 compassion of ladies' maids. But it must be 
 confessed that the preparations for such journeys 
 gave little promise of a hopeful result, and Quinlan 
 described herself as " fairly run off her legs " while 
 yet that Monday morning was young. 
 
 " Fold that skirt carefully, Quinny, and remem- 
 ber the fine handkerchiefs go in the sachet. If I 
 arrive at the Gresham without a maid 'tis no 
 reason that I shouldn't seem to have left one be- 
 hind me. Leave that black satin alone. It has 
 to go on the top, I want it for the ball " 
 
 " The ball, Miss Peg ! but shure, the bodice is 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 87 
 
 all to pieces," exclaimed Quinlan. " You're never 
 goin' to put that ould rag on ye ? " 
 
 "Indeed but I am," answered her mistress. 
 " Old rag do you call it ? Just wait and see what 
 
 a bit of good lace and a few " She stopped 
 
 abruptly. "Not much time now, Quinny, dear. 
 Do you think you can manage those keys ? " 
 
 The old woman nodded mysteriously. " When 
 it wants a quarter of an hour or so to the luncheon- 
 time, Miss Peg, just you be on the look-out. 
 Faith, I've got the nate little schame in me head, 
 and sorra a bit will she be discoverin' anything 
 this long while." 
 
 " She may be discovering what she likes once I'm 
 off," said Miss Em, selecting her neatest pair of 
 boots and putting them on one side. Unexception- 
 able foot-gear and gloves of the best make and 
 fit were among her travelling maxims. Every- 
 thing taut and trim. No fluttering ribbons or 
 draggled flounces, or loosely-tied veils ever dis- 
 figured her appearance. She was the sort of 
 woman men like as a companion on a journey, 
 never flustered or fidgetty, never worrying guards 
 and porters with needless questions, never mean 
 in the way of fees and tips. Cool, collected, 
 business-like, neat to look at, and pleasant to talk 
 to, it was no wonder Miss Em was a favourite 
 with young and old. 
 
 "There'll be fine hullagoning when she finds 
 the jule-case gone ! " chuckled Quinlan, as she 
 shook out a lace petticoat and carefully arranged 
 its delicate frills. 
 
 "Oh, I won't take the case," said Miss Em 
 hurriedly ; " not if I can open it, that's to say. 
 I want the necklace and the spray and bracelets, 
 and a brooch or two, but I'll leave the rest. Lady 
 Pat always lends me jewellery when I stay with 
 her. Come now, Quinny, hurry, will you ? It only 
 wants an hour of luncheon now." 
 
88 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 " Shure, darlin', you've all the afternoon and 
 evening to finish up. Aren't ye takin' a power an' 
 all of clothes wid ye this time ? " 
 
 " I may go abroad, or to England," said Miss 
 Em, giving a scrutinising glance at one or two 
 well-worn garments which had already undergone 
 the process of renovation. 
 
 She recalled Lady Pat's postscript and wondered 
 whether the ''treasure of a dressmaker" could 
 possibly do anything with them. 
 
 " In any case they'd do for a dark day," she 
 reflected, as a vision of the mud of " dear dirty 
 Dublin " rose before her. " That old brown tweed 
 is well-cut though it is shabby, very shabby, 
 and it's been turned once. Shall I venture ? " 
 She caught Quinlan's eye. " The king can do 
 no wrong," she said gaily: "and an O'Hara 
 can wear what a Smith or Brown wouldn't 
 dare be seen in. Pack it, Quinny, dear ; I'll 
 venture." 
 
 For some time neither spoke, and the travelling 
 trunk began to show signs of filling up. At last 
 the old housekeeper paused to ask the time, and 
 then commending her soul and herself and Miss 
 Em jointly to the care of sundry " saints in glory," 
 she cautiously left the room. 
 
 Miss Em felt strangely excited and curious as 
 to what the " schame " was to be. A little nervous 
 too as to results. 
 
 Presently a cautious tap came at the door. 
 She opened it, and saw Quinlan again. 
 
 " Now's yer time, honey," she said in a whisper. 
 " She's in her room changing her gown. The 
 kays of the bureau are in the pocket, the jule-case 
 she kapes in the bottom drawer. I'm going to 
 call her down to say the piece of beef has turned, 
 and must be salted ; shure, that'll bring her as 
 quick as ould Nick himself. Whin ye hear her 
 lave her bedroom, just step in. Trust me to kape 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 89 
 
 her in the kitchen, and make noise enough to let 
 ye know whin she's comin' back." 
 
 " All right, I quite understand," said Miss Em, 
 softly retreating and closing the door. 
 
 In a few moments the loud concerned tones of 
 Quinlan's voice and the bustle and confusion 
 without, assured her that the campaign had 
 opened. 
 
 She stepped out into the corridor and saw her 
 stepmother hastily descending the stairs, wrapped 
 in an old flannel dressing-gown, which she had 
 evidently snatched up in a hurry. 
 
 Quick as thought Miss Em crossed the inter- 
 vening space and entered the bedroom opposite. 
 As Quinlan had said, the dress Mrs. O'Hara had 
 worn all the morning had been removed, and lay 
 carelessly on the bed. 
 
 A moment — and the keys were in Miss Em's pos- 
 session. 
 
 A short delay ensued before she found the right 
 one, but the drawer was speedily opened, and the 
 jewel case lay before her; taking it out Miss Em 
 tried key after key in the lock ; none of them fitted 
 it. Afraid to waste more time she took the case 
 as it was, and hastily relocking the bureau put the 
 keys back where she had found them. 
 
 The sound of angry voices in the hall expedited 
 her movements, and assured her she was not a 
 moment too soon. Mrs. O'Hara was loudly de- 
 claiming against her housekeeper's folly. The 
 meat was perfectly good ; the idea of pickling it was 
 absurd, it was the luncheon hour and she would 
 scarcely have time to change her wrapper, and so 
 on. 
 
 Miss Em heard, and laughed softly to herself; 
 her eyes had a vivid glow, her face something of 
 the glee and delight of a child who has success- 
 fully carried out a scheme of mischief. But soon 
 they were replaced by a look of anxiety. She put 
 
9° PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 the jewel case safely away in her box, and locked 
 it. "Let us hope and pray that she won't take 
 it into her head to look into that drawer for any- 
 thing," she thought uneasily. " If she does, I 
 scarcely see any hope of getting off scot-free ; she 
 would be certain to suspect me, especially if the 
 governor has mentioned our conversation the 
 other morning. There's the bell ! I had better 
 go down ; if she knows I'm in the dining-room she 
 will make all the more haste." 
 
 Mrs. O'Hara was in the worst of tempers, but 
 her step-daughter was provokingly amiable. 
 
 She accepted the scanty allowance of fat and 
 lean which Mrs. O'Hara skilfully "pared " off the 
 three days' joint, with perfect equanimity, and 
 drank the very "small" table-beer without a 
 murmur. 
 
 " We should have had a hot luncheon if you 
 had not detained Quinlan all the morning. One 
 would think you were packing for a trip to the 
 colonies," sneered the elder lady. 
 
 " I devoutly wish I was," answered Miss Em. 
 " But there's no such luck yet." 
 
 " In my young days," continued her stepmother, 
 "women were glad enough to stay by their own 
 firesides, and not go trapesing over the world, in- 
 flicting themselves on strangers ! " 
 
 " Perhaps so," said Miss Em tranquilly ; " but 
 the world has moved on apace since ' your ' day 
 and mine also. Besides, you are shooting a little 
 wide of the mark when you call Lady Pat a 
 * stranger' ; you forget she is my godmother." 
 
 "Judging from the rarity of her visits, it is she 
 who appears to forget that." 
 
 " Carrig-duve has lost its popularity," observed 
 Miss Em. "A thing unused may be ornamental ; 
 it is seldom useful." 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. gi 
 
 " Are you going to be away very long, my dear?' 
 asked her father gently. 
 
 " A month or two, so far as I know at present. 
 But of course I'll write to you, governor." 
 
 Mrs. O'Hara shuddered visibly ; she hated slang 
 terms, and took every opportunity of showing how 
 obnoxious Miss Em's mode of addressing her 
 father was to her ears. 
 
 " Your letters are like your visits," she said 
 coldly ; " as rare — and as " 
 
 " Unwelcome ? " suggested Miss Em, seeing her 
 pause for a word ; " don't hesitate to say what I 
 know you feel. Truth is a well-known English 
 virtue, and no one could ever accuse you of having 
 kissed the Blarney stone." 
 
 " I hate shams and affectations ! " asserted Mrs. 
 O'Hara. 
 
 Miss Em looked as if her stepmother's likings 
 were a matter of no importance, and turned in- 
 quiring eyes upon the clock. 
 
 " Isn't your packing finished yet ? " inquired the 
 elder lady with affected astonishment. 
 
 " Dear me, no ! I have heaps of things to see 
 to, but I won't rob you of Quinlan again." 
 
 "You are really too considerate," said Mrs. 
 O'Hara, rising from the table. " I hope you mean 
 it, for she is all behind with her work, and I am 
 going out to pay some visits this afternoon." 
 
 Miss Em looked up with unfeigned astonish- 
 ment. Rare indeed were her stepmother's calls, 
 unless some special motive — usually an ill-natured 
 one — prompted the civility. 
 
 " I owe Mrs. MacShamus a visit," continued 
 Mrs. O'Hara, " and I shall take Mrs. Pigott on 
 my way." 
 
 ^ " Botheration to the woman ! " muttered Miss 
 Em savagely ; " and I'd made up my mind to go 
 to the doctor's. I must borrow that money. Four 
 pounds won't be nearly enough." 
 
92 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 " This is Mrs. Pigott's afternoon for the mothers' 
 meeting," she said aloud ; " so you had better call 
 first on Mrs. MacShamus." 
 
 " I am quite as well acquainted with my neigh- 
 bours' affairs as you can be, Emilia," was the 
 rejoinder, " and I require no advice on the sub- 
 ject ; " and she took her angular form and rusty 
 black draperies out of the room. 
 
 " Peggy," said her father timidly, as soon as 
 they were alone, " I promised you a little money 
 if I could manage it. 'Tis only three pounds, but 
 you must make it do till it's time for your allow- 
 ance. You can't be at much expense with Lady 
 Patricia. She's very generous, and — and she 
 understands how things are with us." 
 
 He held out the gold half apologetically to his 
 daughter, but she took it with thankfulness. 
 
 " I'm spoiling the Egyptians to some purpose," 
 she thought. " All the same, I'm sorry for the 
 necessity ; poor old governor, he looks as frightened 
 as if he had stolen the money ! " 
 
 Then she left the room to finish the labour of 
 packing. 
 
 It was almost dark when she had locked and 
 sealed and secured everything in a manner that 
 satisfied herself; and throwing on a long dark 
 cloak, and adjusting the neat travelling hat left 
 ready for the morrow, she left the house for her 
 visit to the doctor's wife. 
 
 She could not afford to be nervous now, though 
 every rustling branch and chance shadow quickened 
 her heart-beats to an uncomfortable extent. But 
 whatever apprehensions she had, nothing happened 
 to support them, and she reached the well-known 
 gate and passed from there to the safe vantage- 
 point of the house with a sigh of relief. 
 
 Mrs. MacShamus was alone, though it appeared 
 that Miss Em had only missed her stepmother by 
 some ten minutes. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 93 
 
 " I can't stay very long. I've really only come to 
 say good-bye," she said, as the old lady entreated 
 her to remove her wraps. " Is the doctor in ? " 
 
 " No, and I don't expect him until late," answered 
 Mrs. MacShamus. "It is very provoking you 
 should miss each other so often, for I know he's 
 wanting to see you particularly. Why can't you 
 stay dinner?" 
 
 Miss Em shook her head decidedly. " It's my 
 last evening ; I must go back." 
 
 " Well, I hope you'll have a pleasant time, my 
 dear. But you're sure to with Lady Patricia. 
 You'll have lots to tell when you come back. I 
 shall be dying to hear about the Kellys' ball. 
 What are you going to wear, by the way ? " 
 
 " My black satin — as I said before, I can't afford 
 a new dress." 
 
 " My dear, why didn't you tell me? I'd gladly 
 have lent you the money." 
 
 " Well, the truth is I thought I'd have managed 
 it from my father — but that's impossible, and 
 
 so 
 
 The old lady dived into her pocket and produced 
 her purse. " My dear, you're more than welcome 
 to this if it's any use to you. There's ten pounds, 
 I think, and no hurry to pay it back — suit your 
 own convenience as to that." 
 
 "A thousand thanks!" exclaimed Miss Em 
 delightedly. " You've forestalled a request for 
 merely half this sum. I feel ashamed to be asking 
 
 it, but " 
 
 "Ah, don't I know all you've to put up with, 
 Miss Em dear ? You needn't think you're under any 
 compliment to such an old friend as myself. So 
 just make yourself happy, and say no more about 
 it." 
 
 If Miss Em did say " no more about it " it was 
 from no want of feeling. She was genuinely grate- 
 ful, and the relief of being " well in funds " for her 
 
94 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 forthcoming journey was so intense that her heart 
 glowed with good-will to all the world. 
 
 Perhaps, like Thackeray's famous heroine, Miss 
 Em felt at times that she could have been an 
 embodiment of feminine virtue on a thousand a 
 year. It was only the perversity of circumstances 
 that had warped her nature, and spoilt much that 
 was excellent in it. 
 
 Love, generosity and self-sacrifice were all 
 possible to her, even a certain amount of truthful- 
 ness and candour ; but, as she was wont to say in 
 moments of expansive confidence, the two latter 
 virtues were only permissible to rich and indepem 
 dent folk. 
 
 Yet as she went home now, after an affectionate 
 farewell to the kind-hearted doctor's wife, she felt 
 that little uncomfortable prick of conscience which 
 is so lowering to one's self-esteem, and so apt to 
 spoil the content of success. 
 
 There was a time when she would only have 
 laughed at the manoeuvres and schemes of the 
 past week; now the momentary triumph evaporated 
 so quickly that the odd and unusual sense of 
 weariness almost frightened her. 
 
 Was she growing old, really old ? She thought 
 of the face that looked at her sometimes, lined 
 and haggard in its sad truthfulness ; she remem- 
 bered the actual years that claimed her, despite 
 the possible youthfulness that she at times 
 achieved. 
 
 A week hence in the brilliance of the Dublin 
 season, or lured by the excitement of the gaming- 
 table, she would be Peg the Rake once more ; but 
 in this chill wintry gloom it was only a very weary 
 and heart-sick woman who passed up the village 
 street, the ghost of a brighter and fairer self, whose 
 feet had once tripped along those self-same stones. 
 
 As she reached the gates of Carrig-duve she 
 paused and looked back at the dark and silent 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 95 
 
 road stretching away into vague shadow. The 
 sky, holding still a faint gleam of the departing 
 twilight, seemed to drop over the distant hills, till 
 suddenly the dusk rose up to meet it and shut it 
 out from sight. 
 
 That solitary figure passed through the gates 
 and walked swiftly down the leafless avenue. 
 
 " What fools we women are ! " she thought with 
 momentary bitterness ; " we want and fear a thing 
 at the same time. I've been dreading a meeting 
 and resolving to avoid it. Now that Fate has 
 put it out of my power, I begin to regret. I can't 
 even hear anything. Why he is here ? What the 
 years have done for him ? But perhaps it is best I 
 should not ; that page was closed for ever long ago! 
 It would be worse than folly to re-open it." 
 
 A faint wind ran like a shiver through the 
 boughs. She looked up and saw the pale gleam 
 of the new moon in the misty clouds. Some swift 
 fancy of childhood flashed back and linked it with 
 a wish to be granted. 
 
 But the wish took so long to frame that the 
 little frail sickle of light had been hurried back 
 into the darkness before the thought had formu- 
 lated desire into outward expression. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 EN ROUTE. 
 
 The express was waiting, but it still wanted five 
 minutes of the starting-time when the Carrig-duve 
 wagonette deposited Miss Em and her trunk and 
 travelling-bag at the station. The shabby porter, 
 to whose official mind she was endeared by the 
 memory of many " tips/' at once hastened to re- 
 lieve her of any responsibility concerning luggage. 
 "The gintlemen are waitin' on the platform 
 
g6 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 miss," he said, touching his cap ; " and I was to 
 say they'd taken the tickets and engaged a 
 carriage." 
 
 The becoming flush on Miss Em's cheek 
 deepened ever so little, but she only nodded ; and 
 slipping a half-crown into the man's hand, passed 
 on. 
 
 There were several people standing about on 
 the platform. Her quick eye at once distinguished 
 Paddy and his friend ; but she gave a little start 
 of surprise as she saw they were talking to the 
 Barrington girls and their cousin. 
 
 " Gracious ! I do hope they're not going," she 
 thought, as she advanced to the group and ex- 
 changed cordial greetings. 
 
 The sharp feminine eyes took in every detail of 
 her appearance, from the altered style of hair- 
 dressing to the neat and irreproachable chaussure. 
 
 To the male mind Miss Em simply appeared 
 " well got up," and inspired that feeling of satis- 
 faction which is connected with suitability of 
 costume to occasion — a matter of more importance 
 than many womes think. 
 
 " Dear me, how are you all ? " she cried genially. 
 " Going to Dublin also, Miss Barrington ? " 
 
 " No," answered Laura frankly ; " I wish we 
 were." 
 
 " We merely drove our cousin over," interposed 
 the elder sister stiffly ; " he is summoned to Dublin 
 on business for a few days." 
 
 " Oh," said Miss Em, with one of her gracious 
 smiles, " that is an unexpected pleasure. Perhaps 
 you will be at this famous ball after all, Mr. 
 Barrington ? " 
 
 " He does not know the Kellys," answered 
 Minnie sharply. 
 
 " No ? " queried Miss Em, with a flash of her 
 eyes at the young man's good-looking face. " Oh, 
 but that could soon be remedied among us all, 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. g*/ 
 
 eh, Paddy ? Why, we shall be quite a party 
 going up. I hear you have engaged a carriage," 
 she added, turning to Captain Kearney. 
 
 " Yes, that one opposite " — he glanced at his 
 watch — " only two minutes, Miss Em ; we'd better 
 be taking our seats." 
 
 She walked on at once. Major Raikes, whom 
 she knew very slightly, having charged himself 
 with her travelling bag (in which were the 
 diamonds), and Paddy Kearney and young Phil 
 Barrington following. 
 
 The sight was gall and wormwood to the two 
 girls. If they could have found fault with her 
 appearance it would have been some satisfaction ; 
 but Miss Em looked only a stylish, handsome and 
 well-dressed woman of thirty or thereabouts, and 
 as such the three men accepted her. 
 
 " It's perfectly disgusting the way she goes on!" 
 exclaimed Minnie Barrington savagely, as the 
 train steamed out of the station ; Miss Em gracious 
 in smiles, and cordially waving her hand from the 
 carriage window. " I can't imagine what the men 
 can see in her." 
 
 " Nor I," agreed Laura ; " an old thing of forty ! 
 Not that she looks it though," she added with 
 grudging frankness. " And if it's ' make up ' it's 
 uncommonly well done. Did you notice her 
 hair ? " 
 
 " Of course ; but I wasn't going to say so, I 
 wonder if that's the new fashion ? " 
 
 " You may be sure it is, and that she's got it 
 for this ball. I almost wish we were going, Minnie." 
 
 "So do I, now; though they are snobs. I 
 wonder if it's true they've managed to hook the 
 Lord Lieutenant." 
 
 " If they have you may be sure that old 
 'standard medlar' will get hold of him and keep 
 him beside her all the evening ; she is without 
 doubt the most audacious woman I ever met." 
 
 7 
 
gS PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 " But they are very good people to know, you 
 know," said her sister; "they come next the 
 Lustrells, in spite of financial eclipse." 
 
 " Poor as church mice, and as mean as Jews," 
 snapped the fair Minnie savagely; " I simply detest 
 them. The father is a fool, the second wife a miser, 
 and Miss O'Hara herself an impudent adventuress ! " 
 
 " Some one's talking badly of me," laughed Miss 
 Em, as the train sped along and one by one the 
 familiar landmarks were passed. 
 
 She touched one small glowing ear as if to em- 
 phasise her words. 
 
 " I can give a pretty good guess who it is," said 
 Paddy significantly. 
 
 " Surely Miss O'Hara can have no enemies," 
 observed Major Raikes, with an admiring glance. 
 
 " Indeed, but she has," Miss Em answered for 
 herself, " and plenty of them ! " 
 
 " Beauty and popularity must always arouse a 
 certain amount of envy," said young Barrington 
 gallantly. 
 
 " Well, as to the first," confessed Miss Em 
 frankly, " I've had my day, and I can't complain. 
 I'm willing enough to let every one have theirs, 
 and I tell them so; but somehow," she added 
 reflectively, "straightforward courses don't seem 
 to take with women. If you tell them the truth 
 they either suspect a motive, or don't believe you." 
 
 " I often wonder," said Major Raikes, "whether 
 women ever tell us the truth about themselves. 
 If it's unflattering we can't believe it, and if the 
 reverse we think they — don't." 
 
 " You mustn't judge individuals by generalities," 
 said Miss Em, " or the whole sex by a chance 
 sample. I can tell you this though, — when young 
 we are men's hardest critics, and seldom grateful 
 for their worship. It is only pain that makes 
 youth merciful, or moulds it into shape." 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. go, 
 
 " That sounds a little cruel," said Paddy, think- 
 ing doubtless of Molly Lustrell's lovely face. 
 
 " I've no doubt it does; truth is seldom pleasant 
 to hear." 
 
 ' You mean to say, then, that a woman thinks 
 more of a man who treats her badly, than of one 
 who treats her well." 
 
 " I was speaking of girls," said Miss Em, with 
 an odd smile. "Surfeit them with love and 
 flattery and admiration, and what do you gain? 
 Indifference, and possibly contempt. Let them 
 feel you can do without them, that at all events 
 you can master yourself, and, if need be, them, 
 and they are ready to adore you at once." 
 
 " Your words are golden, Miss O'Hara ; I shall 
 lay them to heart," said Major Raikes. " How 
 you must have studied your sex ! " 
 " Or — ours," said Paddy Kearney. 
 "Oh, you are all repetitions, and pipe to the 
 same tune," said Miss Em sharply. "What 
 woman gets rational treatment at your hands? 
 She is an angel before you win her, and something 
 — very different— afterwards ! We say Irishmen 
 make the best lovers; but our praise does not 
 extend further, except in a few rare instances." 
 
 " I'm sorry you've such a poor opinion of your 
 countrymen," said Major Raikes, who was an 
 enthusiastic admirer of the "sex" and an arrant 
 flirt. "Do you think Englishmen are more 
 constant, or more virtuous?" 
 
 "Well, to tell you the truth I do," said Miss 
 Em gravely. _ "They have less personal charm 
 but more solid virtues than Irishmen — safer and 
 more reliable, I should pronounce them. Truer in 
 feeling, if less flattering in expression. An Irish- 
 man carries you off your feet, so to speak ; his 
 passion rages like a summer storm; you are at 
 once amazed at his audacity and flattered by his 
 recklessness, yet you have an instinctive fear that 
 
100 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 the storm will pass quickly, and the recklessness 
 turn to repentance." 
 
 " You are a severe critic, Miss O'Hara." 
 
 " Perhaps I've need to be. We can afford to 
 criticise what we have never possessed." 
 
 " Some man's loss, and your own cruelty spoke 
 there, Miss Em," said Paddy Kearney audaciously. 
 
 She laughed. " Perhaps so ; but no lost heaven 
 visits my dreams, Paddy. I've seen too many 
 prospective paradises turned into gardens of deso- 
 lation, to believe that the gates ever really 
 open." 
 
 "To think they do is surely some consolation 
 though," said young Barrington shyly. 
 
 " Oh, all illusions are pleasant. They are the 
 flowers among the weeds of life, only the pity is 
 the weeds will grow apace and choke them out. 
 Talkingof weeds though" (and she laughed merrily) 
 " if any of you gentlemen would like to indulge in 
 one at the present time I haven't the least objec- 
 tion." 
 
 "What a damned sensible woman!" thought 
 Major Raikes. " I really must cultivate her 
 acquaintance. I wonder if she has any money? " 
 
 Cigars were produced by Paddy and himself — 
 young Barrington did not smoke. 
 
 "What consolations you men have!" observed 
 Miss Em presently, — she had grown tired of 
 looking out of the window at a landscape known 
 by heart. " To swear or to smoke must be such a 
 relief in certain conditions of mind." 
 
 "You're right there," said Paddy. "'A big 
 swear' is an immense relief to the feelings, though 
 it sounds bad to say so. Doesn't some writer call 
 profanity ' the safety-valve of human nature ' ? " 
 
 "All our passions are pagan," remarked the 
 major. "The heirlooms of a remote ancestry. I 
 often think there is an innate savageness in us 
 that no civilisation will ever stamp out." 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 101 
 
 " It has been tried pretty often," said Miss Em, 
 " but the results don't appear promising." 
 
 She looked out on the bare bleak roads, the 
 starved-looking ragged children, the wretched 
 cabins and neglected fields, as if to emphasise her 
 words. The three men followed her glance, and 
 plunged into politics. The state of Ireland, the 
 faults of a Government that neither could, would, 
 nor should rule her. The short-sightedness of 
 patriots, and the illogical obstinacy of the lower 
 classes. How well Miss Em knew it all ! How 
 often she had heard the subject discussed, and how 
 hopeless seemed any attempts to restore order, or 
 bring about prosperity or content ! 
 
 " I'm not in any way prejudiced myself," she 
 said ; " but I cannot, with any degree of truth, 
 uphold the monstrous arguments that the country 
 sets up for independent government. A race so 
 passionate, obstinate, and bombastical could no 
 more govern themselves than a pack of school- 
 boys." 
 
 " That's fearfully true," agreed the major. 
 " Enthusiasts are seldom logical, and our repre- 
 sentatives seem to lose their heads entirely 
 once they begin to talk. I must say I never feel 
 so ashamed of my countrymen as when I read an 
 Irish speech in the House of Commons. The way 
 that facts are misrepresented is only surpassed by 
 the effrontery that represents them." 
 
 " You know what Kingsley says of us ? " said 
 Miss Em ; " that we are ' liars ingrain,' we can 
 neither be trusted, nor trust each other. How 
 can you expect justice in a country where no 
 man's word is to be depended on, and the name of 
 an oath is ridiculed by the very priests, who pro- 
 claim it is no wrong to break faith with a 
 heretic?" 
 
 " That's quite true," said Paddy eagerly. "Nine 
 out of ten wouldn't stick at a lie if it served a 
 
102 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 purpose. 1 don't wonder Kingsley called us a 
 k nation of liars'." 
 
 " Yet there was a simplicity and grandeur about 
 the ' good old Irish gentlemen,' " said the major 
 thoughtfully. " I remember my grandfather used 
 to say that if we told more fibs than our cold- 
 blooded neighbours across the Channel, we also 
 believed more. Certainly for generosity and open- 
 handedness few men could beat him." 
 
 "The present race of ' landed gentry' are less 
 inclined to laud those virtues than they used to 
 be," remarked Paddy. " Generosity and open- 
 handedness in one's ancestors have left but sorry 
 legacies for their descendants. The country gets 
 poorer and more wretched with every generation. 
 All the finest properties are going to rack and 
 ruin. The owners won't live here at all, and small 
 blame to them when they can't get their rents, 
 and go in fear of their lives even for asking for 
 them." 
 
 " Do you think we should be any better off if 
 we made our own laws ? " asked Miss Em of the 
 major. 
 
 "Indeed, no; worse I should say. A century 
 ago we had three hundred resident peers, a House 
 of Commons, and a mayor and corporation in 
 Dublin; yet the capital was a disgrace to civilisa- 
 tion, the country steeped in poverty and misery of 
 every description, and the peasants as savage and 
 brutal as the Russians of Warsaw. The streets of 
 Dublin and Cork were so dangerous that no 
 woman, and indeed very few men, could walk in 
 them after nightfall, and even carriages were 
 scarcely safe from molestation on their way to or 
 from an entertainment. The newspapers of the 
 time are full of accounts of ruffianism and lawless- 
 ness. It was a case of a ruined, half-civilised 
 nobility ruling, or trying to rule, a half-savage 
 population ; and a national Government would only 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. IO3 
 
 throw things back into the same disgraceful 
 condition." 
 
 " I believe you're right, Raikes," said Paddy 
 Kearney, who had listened thoughtfully to this 
 harangue. " The truth is the Irish don't know 
 what is best for them, or what they really want. 
 What they would like is probably an individual 
 income, and perfect independence for every one. 
 But I'm afraid no Government, even a national 
 one, could safely give them that." 
 
 There was a general laugh. 
 
 " A millennial Ireland, in fact," said Miss Em, 
 "with the pope and the queen standing side by 
 side saying, ' Bless you, my children,' and the 
 nation at large singing the ' Wearing of the Green/ 
 and the National Anthem in alternate verses ! 
 Mr. Gladstone will bring all that about some day." 
 
 " Mr. Gladstone doesn't know much of the 
 realities of Irish life," said Paddy Kearney. " No 
 one can who doesn't live in the country — and then 
 if he doesn't adopt the laissez faire system and let 
 everything take its own course and every one do 
 exactly as he pleases, he'll become unpopular. To 
 attempt any reform is to wage war against a host 
 of prejudices, religious and traditional, and to 
 contend with difficulties that are simply over- 
 whelming." 
 
 " It is a matter of extreme difficulty for any 
 English person to get at the real facts concerning 
 your country," said young Barrington. " We get 
 a general impression of dislike and discontent, of 
 grievances real and imaginary, of factions and 
 contentions at once opposing and opposed ; but 
 what you really want, or would consider univer- 
 sally beneficial, it is impossible to discover." 
 
 " Probably for the reason we don't know it our- 
 selves," said Miss Em. " Erin is true to her sex 
 in that peculiarity, and the poetic turbulence of 
 her character," 
 
104 PEG * THE RAKE - 
 
 " It seems a pity she can't get along like other 
 countries. And really she is her own worst 
 enemy. She has discouraged every attempt at 
 benefit, and exiled the wealthiest and noblest of 
 her landed proprietors. No Irish landlord cares to 
 live on his own estates any longer !" 
 
 " No wonder either ! " said Paddy Kearney ; " it 
 is all very fine to blame absentees but, faith, 'tis a 
 matter not only of convenience, but of personal 
 safety with most of them. My uncle perfectly 
 hates Ireland, but he's forced to live there now 
 on account of the property, such as it is." 
 
 "He should sell it to an English family like 
 the Marshalls of Rivers Court," said Miss Em 
 sarcastically ; " they would restore its ancient 
 splendour." 
 
 " I hear the Kellys are looking out for a pro- 
 perty," remarked Major Raikes. "Their Dublin 
 mansion is not sufficient." 
 
 " We all meet there to-morrow night, don't 
 we?" said Miss Em. 
 
 " I'm afraid I cannot hope for that privilege," 
 said Charlie Barrington. 
 
 " I'll take you if you like," said Paddy good- 
 naturedly; " I've carte blanche to bring my friends." 
 
 " And I'll give you a waltz," laughed Miss Em. 
 
 " That's no small favour, let me assure you," 
 said Major Raikes. " Miss O'Hara's dancing is 
 divine, as I've had the pleasure of experiencing. 
 May I beg to be equally honoured ? " he con- 
 tinued. 
 
 " Certainly, if you can remember to claim the 
 promise in time," she answered gaily. 
 
 " And where are you staying in Dublin ? " 
 
 " At the Gresham at first, with Lady Patricia 
 Moira. You know her, do you not ? " 
 
 " Oh ! very well indeed," he answered gaily. 
 " She is charming, and her house is one of the 
 few where one gets real enjoyment." 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 105 
 
 " She is not entertaining this season, I believe," 
 said Miss Em ; " she talks of going abroad." 
 
 " And I suppose you'll accompany her ? " sug- 
 gested Paddy Kearney. 
 
 " A consummation devoutly to be wished," 
 thought Miss Em. But aloud she only said diplo- 
 matically : " It is not — impossible, Paddy." 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 OPENING THE CAMPAIGN. 
 
 Miss Em's heart glowed with a feeling of satisfac- 
 tion as the fly bore her along through Sackville 
 Street and finally deposited her at the Gresham 
 Hotel. 
 
 " How one enjoys streets and shops after being 
 buried in the country!" she thought, as she stood 
 in the brilliantly lit portal and looked out at the 
 bustle and crowd. Then having seen her luggage 
 brought in, and paid the flyman, she walked into 
 the entrance hall. 
 
 " Why — Anne ! " she exclaimed delightedly, as a 
 stately personage in black silk and neat cap met 
 her at the foot of the staircase. " How well you're 
 looking ! How is Lady Patricia ? you see I've 
 arrived all safe." 
 
 " My lady is quite well, thank you, Miss O'Hara; 
 she regretted she had to go out ; but perhaps you 
 won't be sorry to rest after your journey ? If you 
 will kindly follow me I will show you your room. 
 Allow me to take your bag." 
 
 " The same dear, prim old thing ! " thought Miss 
 Em, as she delivered up the precious travelling 
 bag with some reluctance. It had never been out 
 of her sight for a single moment since she left 
 Carrig-duve. She followed the black skirt and 
 stately figure, and was presently ushered into a 
 
106 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 cosy bedroom, where a bright fire was burning, 
 and a solitaire tea-set, arranged on a small table, 
 gave an eloquent, if silent, promise of further com- 
 fort. 
 
 Miss Em sank into the depths of a big chintz- 
 covered easy-chair, and drew off her gloves with a 
 sigh of content. Anne relieved her of hat and 
 cloak in the deft delightful manner of a superior 
 lady's maid, and then rang for the tea, which was 
 immediately brought. 
 
 " Shall I pour it out, miss, or will you ? " asked 
 Anne respectfully. 
 
 " Oh, you do it," answered Miss Em, bending 
 towards the cheery blaze to warm her hands. 
 " And don't run away, Anne ; it's such an age 
 since I've seen you. Ah, there's my box," she 
 added, as the porter appeared and deposited 
 her trunk. " You'll find what I require for this 
 evening just on the top." 
 
 She handed over her keys and then gave herself 
 up to lazy enjoyment of her tea, while Anne busied 
 herself over unpacking and arranging various 
 garments. 
 
 She had a great regard for Miss Em, and a 
 great belief that she would one day "achieve great- 
 ness " in some form or other, probably matri- 
 monial. The sight of feminine frippery will 
 make even the most frozen female heart unbend 
 and become gracious. Anne's manner gradually 
 lost its stateliness, and her tongue unloosened 
 itself. 
 
 " You have not forgotten the ball to-morrow 
 night, Miss O'Hara ? " she asked anxiously, as no 
 very festive attire revealed itself to her gaze 
 among the dresses, cloaks, and underwear which 
 she spread out on the bed previous to arranging 
 in the drawers and wardrobes. 
 
 • I should think not," laughed Miss Em, watch- 
 ing her with lazy content. (It was so delightful 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 107 
 
 to have these things done for you instead of 
 having to do them yourself.) 
 
 ''Are you wondering about my dress?' she 
 asked presently. "That's it." 
 
 The stately Anne looked with dignified amaze- 
 ment at the half-unpicked bodice which she had 
 just lifted out of the tray. " I began to alter it," 
 continued Miss Em, " but I came to the conclusion 
 I had better leave it alone till I got here. It 
 doesn't look very promising, does it ? " And she 
 broke into a peal of unconstrained laughter at the 
 expression of Anne's face. 
 
 ''That's so like you, Miss O'Hara," said the 
 lady's maid, permitting herself the liberty of a 
 smile. " I suppose you mean to get a ready-made 
 dress at Madame Celestine's, as you did before." 
 
 " Indeed, but I don't," said Miss Em quickly. 
 " She palms off her misfits or returned orders on 
 me, and I'm not going to stand it any longer. 
 Seriously, Anne, that black satin will have to do. 
 I'm going to borrow some of Lady Patricia's lace, 
 and you'll see I shall look magnificent." 
 
 " I must say I never did see a lady set off 
 clothes as you do, Miss O'Hara," remarked Anne, 
 as she unfolded and shook out the black satin 
 skirt ; " but there's a good deal of work to be done 
 to this bodice before to-morrow night, though I'll 
 gladly do all in my power to get it ready." 
 
 " Thank you, Anne," said Miss Em gratefully. 
 " But Lady Patricia told me she had found out 
 some dressmaker here who wasn't above doing 
 alterations, and if she can manage to fix this to- 
 gether by to-morrow night I needn't trouble you." 
 "It's never anything but a pleasure to do 
 things for you, Miss O'Hara," was the gracious 
 response ; " though I won't deny I'm busy over my 
 lady's dress at present ; still, if Mrs. Mahony can't 
 promise this in time I'll manage it." 
 
 "You're a treasure, Anne," said Miss Em 
 
108 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 rapturously. " I feel quite safe when you're 
 within call. What is your mistress going to 
 wear ? " she added suddenly. 
 
 " Green velvet and jet, and her topaz orna- 
 ments, miss. It's a Paris gown. I don't think 
 you've ever seen it." 
 
 " It sounds delicious," said Miss Em ; " but, 
 dear me, the time is slipping away and I've a 
 letter to write before I dress. Are there many 
 people here, Anne ? " 
 
 " Yes, miss ; the hotel's nearly full. This ball 
 has brought a great many, but they dress very 
 quiet for table d'hote. My lady generally wears 
 black ; what shall I put out for you ? " she continued, 
 as she brought forward the writing case and re- 
 moved the tea-tray. 
 
 "There's not much choice," said Miss Em 
 lightly ; " so I'll leave it to you, Anne." 
 
 She busied herself for a few moments with her 
 letter, which was simply an announcement of her 
 safe arrival to her stepmother. 
 
 Miss Em never omitted this formality, though 
 she was perfectly aware it received little, if any, 
 encouragement. She closed the envelope with a 
 sigh of relief, and directed Anne to see to its 
 postage. Scarcely had she done this when a 
 knock at the door announced a visitor, and a 
 handsome white-haired woman entered the room. 
 
 This was Lady Patricia Moira, mostly known 
 as Lady Pat to her large and miscellaneous circle 
 of friends, intimes, and society in general. She 
 was a mondaine to her finger-tips, accomplished, 
 wealthy, and tolerably sincere ; loving popularity 
 above all things, and inclined to sacrifice a great 
 deal to obtain or retain it. 
 
 Her greeting to Miss Em was very cordial. 
 Indeed, if the truth be told, she had no greater 
 favourite than this erratic and brilliant god- 
 daughter, who had startled her by mad escapades 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. *°9 
 
 in youth, and was a source of constant marvel to 
 her in " years of discretion ". 
 
 « Have you had tea ? Has Anne made you 
 comfortable ? " asked Lady Pat, as she kissed her 
 with warm affection. . 
 
 Miss Em assured her on both points ; and they 
 stood by the fire chatting on various matters till 
 Anne had finished her task of arranging and hang- 
 ing, and put out what she considered suitable 
 " evening wear " for the table d'hote. 
 
 Then she retired to wait for her mistress, who 
 was giving Miss Em a rapid sketch of her doings 
 in Dublin, and of the engagements she had made 
 for them both. . , ,. „ 
 
 " But the topic of the day is the Kellys ball, 
 she said in conclusion ; " I wouldn't have haa you 
 miss it for the world. I'm sure you 11 say you 
 haven't been so amused for a long time What 
 about your dress by the by?" she added, some- 
 what anxiously. , . . 
 
 Miss Em laughed. " Well, Anne doesn t think 
 much of it at present ; but I'm coming out re- 
 splendent in the O'Hara diamonds, and they 11 
 atone for a multitude of sins in the way of cos- 
 
 tU -Have you brought them? I'm so glad There's 
 a stability and satisfaction about good old family 
 jewels that inspire and give confidence. ^ It time 
 
 wasn't so short, I was going to offer 
 
 " Yes I felt sure I could depend on you ; but 
 
 there'll be such a crush, I hear, that a new dress 
 
 would be quite thrown away. I m going in tor 
 
 - general effect \ U's safe, and it doesn t excite 
 
 envy or comment." „ 
 
 "We can leave splendour to the hostess, 
 
 laughed Lady Pat. " I suppose she'll wear her 
 
 pretention dress. Purple velvet tram over 
 
 amethyst satin, my dear; a tower of feathers, and 
 
 ornaments, sapphires and diamonds. 
 
110 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 " Sapphires ! What ! with such a coloured 
 gown ? " 
 
 "Yes," nodded Lady Pat; "she's never happy 
 unless she empties the contents of her jewel-case 
 over her abundant person. Isn't it a mercy, 
 Emilia, that I've never grown fat." 
 
 " I doubt if even that could spoil you," said Miss 
 Em, with an admiring glance. "You have such a 
 way of carrying yourself." 
 
 " Tut, tut," said Lady Pat graciously ; " no 
 flattery, my dear, though that reminds me you're 
 looking very well. You've altered your style of 
 hair-dressing, I see." 
 
 " Yes, I was practising for the benefit of the 
 ball. What do you think of the result ? " 
 
 " A decided improvement ; but there, I must run 
 off and dress. The table d'hote is at seven sharp. 
 You'll be ready? I know what an unpunctual 
 creature you are." 
 
 " I'll do my best," said Miss Em. "Anne has 
 saved me a good deal of trouble." 
 
 " I'll send her in for the ' finishing touches,' " 
 said Lady Pat, and nodding gaily she left the 
 room. 
 
 ■ ••••••• 
 
 Miss Em and her godmother were only five 
 minutes late, and the soup was still going its 
 round as they took their seats at a reserved 
 table in the large dining-room. 
 
 Before the first course was over, Miss Em's 
 quick eyes had focussed the noteworthy points 
 and persons in the large assemblage, and her 
 tongue gave satirical sketches of such peculiarities 
 as struck her power of observation. 
 
 She was at her best at such times, at least in 
 the opinion of Lady Pat, who hated dulness, and 
 liked nothing better than the swift summary of 
 looks, manners and apparel, which set all these 
 living puppets dancing before her, and spared her 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. Ill 
 
 eye-glass all trouble during the progress of gas- 
 tronomy. 
 
 Suddenly Miss Em started. "Why, here come 
 the Lustrells ! " she exclaimed, as a man, long 
 past middle age, with a delicate, peevish-looking 
 face, and small keen eyes advanced slowly up the 
 room. He was accompanied by two ladies, and 
 as their arrival seemed unexpected there was a 
 little confusion with regard to places. 
 
 Miss Em's eyes interrogated Lady Pat, and 
 received an affirmative response. She gave a 
 whispered order to the waiter, and he hurried off 
 to pilot the new arrivals to their table. 
 
 " There's plenty of room here," said Lady Pat 
 graciously ; " and you are very welcome, Sir 
 jasper, if you like to join us. When did you 
 arrive ? " 
 
 " Yesterday, but we went to Bray to-day to see 
 some friends," said the old baronet, as they all 
 shook hands. " I told them here we should not 
 be back to dinner, but we caught our train and 
 managed it. This is quite an unexpected pleasure, 
 Miss O'Hara." 
 
 " I agree with you," said Miss Em, with one of 
 her flashing glances. " Why, it is ages since we 
 met, Sir Jasper." 
 
 " You are such a runaway. Why, even this 
 Christmas visit of yours has lasted barely long 
 enough for any one to know you were at home," 
 said he graciously. 
 
 " It would have been longer but for this great 
 festivity which seems bringing us all to Dublin," 
 said Miss Em. " Molly is going, of course ? " 
 
 " Molly? oh yes, I've promised her a month of 
 gaieties, and she won't let me off." 
 
 His tone was not affable, and his expression one 
 of supreme discontent. Indeed, Sir Jasper Lustrell 
 was not remarkable for any special virtue or 
 amiability, and his outward courtesy was merely 
 
112 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 the thin veneer of a very cold and selfish nature. 
 His sister, a pinched, hook-nosed person, with 
 iron-grey hair severely banded, and a figure as 
 stiff as the proverbial back-board, resembled 
 him in point of selfishness, and added to that 
 characteristic a sordid and narrow habit of 
 mind that gave scant promise of an agreeable old 
 age. Miss Em and herself had never been very 
 friendly towards one another ; and even under 
 present amenities there was a good deal of 
 acidity underlying the politeness they preserved in 
 speaking. Molly was generally very quiet and 
 subdued in the presence of her aunt, who argued 
 that the young generation of the present day were 
 of a forward and independent nature, and required 
 rigorous " keeping under ". 
 
 The progress of dinner, and the satisfactoriness of 
 the menu, appeared to have an agreeable effect upon 
 Sir Jasper. He smiled at Miss Em's brilliant 
 sallies and unbent quite graciously to her badin- 
 age, while Lady Pat and Miss Lustrell exchanged 
 cut and dried phrases respecting the country, the 
 weather, and other popular subjects. 
 
 With the dessert, and the excellent bottle of 
 Burgundy that he reserved for his own delecta- 
 tion, Sir Jasper allowed himself to be drawn into 
 a wider communicativeness respecting plans and 
 intentions. Miss Em speedily discovered that he 
 had nothing in view for that evening, and a tele- 
 graphic glance to Lady Pat said as plainly as 
 words—" Whist " ? 
 
 The quick response that suggested an adjourn- 
 ment to that lady's sitting-room for a " quiet rubber n 
 just hit the baronet's humour, though it afforded 
 no very lively prospect to Molly, who not only was 
 the " odd man out " of the occasion, but hated 
 cards with all her heart. 
 
 " I declare," thought Lady Pat as they left the 
 dining-room, " it might come to something. I 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. II3 
 
 wonder if she has given it a thought ? I should 
 like to see her well married after all, and this 
 would be a most suitable match. Shall I give her 
 a hint, or leave things to themselves ? " 
 
 Her glance rested reflectively on Miss Em. 
 Rarely had she looked better or her years less self- 
 betraying than on this evening. Lady Pat 
 resolved to leave things alone unless Miss Em 
 alluded to the subject. She was not a very easy 
 person to deal with, and had broken off two or 
 three very promising " affairs " in a sudden fit of 
 temper or caprice. 
 
 It was very disappointing. Lady Pat had felt it 
 to be so, and not scrupled to say it. To " marry 
 well " was a duty every woman owed to herself, 
 especially if she possessed birth and beauty. 
 
 She herself, the youngest daughter of an im- 
 poverished peer, had made a wealthy marriage at 
 seventeen and never regretted it, despite an entire 
 absence of sentiment on her own part. But then 
 Lady Pat possessed one of those happily con- 
 stituted natures that can make its own ambitions 
 or its own successes of sufficient interest to engross 
 a lifetime. 
 
 She adored society, and it adored her. She had 
 travelled much, read much, and studied all grades 
 and conditions of men, women, and morals. At 
 sixty years of age she was still far from being weary 
 of life, and kept herself in touch with every social 
 and political event of the day. Wit and genius 
 found a ready admission to her salons. Dulness 
 she considered the greatest fault in man or woman. 
 The French and the Irish, she was wont to declare, 
 were the only two nations who had any esprit left, 
 and were entertaining enough to be entertained. 
 
 She did not particularly care for the Lustrells, 
 but having nothing to do this evening she was 
 quite willing to give in to Miss Em's evident de- 
 sire for cards. 
 
 8 
 
114 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 The suggestion had been what Miss Em termed 
 one of her " lucky shots" ; for Sir Jasper was an 
 appreciative whist-player as well as a good one, 
 and the fact of having so satisfactory a partner 
 put him into a most genial frame of mind. 
 
 With the advance of years he had become in- 
 tensely critical with regard to women. He ac- 
 knowledged to himself for a long time he had not 
 met with such agreeable companions as on this 
 evening ; though he had known Miss Em for years 
 the acquaintance had never ripened into intimacy, 
 and he had formed no decided opinion about her. 
 But a woman who was of that satisfactory age, 
 when vanity and frivolity have passed into the 
 background, who was moreover a good talker, and 
 an excellent cardplayer, was decidedly a woman 
 to be cultivated ; and his compliments assumed 
 a deferential as well as flattering tendency that 
 made his sister's expression grow more acidulated, 
 and caused Lady Pat to interrogate Miss Em's 
 grey eyes with considerable curiosity. 
 
 Molly noticed nothing, only sat by the fire with 
 a thrilling three-volume novel in her hand, and 
 wondered whatever people could find in cards to 
 interest them ! 
 
 Lady Pat lost games and money with the 
 utmost serenity. The events of the evening 
 being altogether unexpected, and yet ominous 
 with future results, were quite sufficient to in- 
 terest her ; and while losing trick after trick she 
 was mentally calculating the worth of a trump 
 card held by Sir Jasper, and representing no less 
 important a place than Castle Lustrell itself. 
 
 " He has been a widower a long time, and he's 
 arrived at a time of life when marrying and re- 
 penting are all that are left for a man with his re- 
 putation," she thought. "It would suit admirably 
 if Emilia would only look at it in a reasonable 
 frame of mind. But one never knows how far to 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 115 
 
 trust her, or when she will break out into one of 
 her mad freaks ; she is such a perfect O'Hara in 
 that respect." 
 
 The " perfect O'Hara" was just then indulging 
 in one of her reckless confessions. " Love cards, 
 Sir Jasper? I should think I did; I'd play all day 
 and all night if I had the chance." 
 
 "My dear Em!" and Lady Pat's foot gave a 
 warning touch under the table. "That's a burst of 
 Irish enthusiasm, Sir Jasper. Why, sometimes 
 she wont touch a card from month's end to month's 
 end." 
 
 "Because I know it's dangerous," said Miss Em. 
 " When the stakes are material I'm afraid to trust 
 myself. Don't I possess an ancestress who staked 
 herself to a man she hated ; yes, and lost and was 
 obliged to marry him ? And look at Aunt Bedelia, 
 why, " 
 
 " Oh, dear me ! she'll spoil everything," thought 
 Lady Pat distressfully. 
 
 " Miss Bedelia O'Hara?" questioned Sir Jasper 
 suavely. " Oh, a delightful old lady ! I enjoy her 
 society immensely. She knows every one and 
 everything, and is the most charming company 
 possible." 
 
 " Has she ever asked you to dinner?" inquired 
 Miss Em, with a sly glance. " If so, and you have 
 gone through the martyrdom of tasting one of her 
 ' surprises/ I marvel you have so good an opinion 
 of her." 
 
 " She has asked me several times," he answered 
 drily, " but I have never been able to accept the 
 invitation." 
 
 "Well, don't — if you are wise," laughed Miss 
 Em. " She has one little weakness, as all her 
 friends know to their cost. She always invents 
 one special dish of her own as the piece de resistance, 
 and each guest is bound to taste it. Never by 
 any chance has it turned out as it was expected to 
 
Il6 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 do, and ought to have done ; but the dear old soul 
 goes on inventing and concocting with what she 
 imagines to be the inventive genius of a Fran- 
 catelli." • 
 
 "It is extraordinary how few dinner-parties are 
 successful," put in Lady Pat. " People either 
 invite too large a party to be social, or too small a 
 one to assimilate agreeably. There are few forms 
 of entertainment that require so much thinking 
 out, and as a rule get so little. Don't you agree 
 with me, Miss Lustrell?" 
 
 Miss Lustrell did so with an undiminished 
 acerbity of demeanour that did not give an im- 
 pression of her own successes in that line ; but 
 Lady Pat was only desirous of turning the conver- 
 sation from the dangerous topic of ''gambling". 
 Miss Bedelia O'Hara was noted for her propen- 
 sities, and she considered it a most ill-advised 
 proceeding on Miss Em's part to allude to kindred 
 tastes. 
 
 This was the sort of undiplomatic conduct 
 which had ruined so many of her best chances, 
 and now left her stranded on the very borders of 
 " old maidism ". It was one thing to play an 
 admirable game of whist — men of Sir Jasper's age 
 and standing would regard that as a desirable 
 accomplishment — but gambling in that reckless, 
 mutinous fashion which Miss Em indulged in 
 when what she termed the " fit was on her," — that 
 was altogether a different matter, something to be 
 kept in the background, not advertised unblush- 
 
 ingly. 
 
 Miss Em was quick enough at taking hints 
 when it suited her, and some curious form of 
 mental telepathy assured her of what was passing 
 in Lady Pat's mind, and for a few moments kept 
 her on a debatable ground of " pros and cons ". 
 
 Was it possible ? . . . Could Sir Jasper be brought 
 to think seriously of a second marriage, . . . and of 
 
PEG, THE KAKE. II? 
 
 herself as the future Lady Lustrell ? It was a con- 
 sideration not to be lightly dismissed, an ambition 
 worthy even of the last of the O'Haras. Position, 
 wealth, freedom, prospective triumph, over many 
 foes, each and all of these seemed to lurk in the 
 admiration of those cold blue eyes, the courteous 
 compliments of those thin satirical lips. Sir 
 Jasper was not popular. His selfishness was 
 proverbial, and the records of his past anything 
 but — unblemished. But for all that he would make 
 a desirable husband to any woman, fortuneless, 
 and neither young nor romantic enough to expect 
 too much of her bargain. 
 
 Graver and more thoughtful grew Miss Em's 
 face. Sir Jasper was intently watching the game. 
 His fine straight brows were knitted, his mind 
 absorbed by a stroke of finesse that would deter- 
 mine the result. 
 
 " Six — we only want the odd trick," and his 
 eyes met those of his partner. 
 
 " It is mine ! " said Miss Em with triumph, as 
 she placed the queen of trumps on the green cloth. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 " Come into my room and have a chat," said Lady 
 Pat, after their guests had left. " It is quite early, 
 and I'm sure you're not tired." 
 
 " Not in the least," agreed Miss Em, follow- 
 ing her into the lofty well-appointed bedroom 
 where the faithful Anne was seated at work on the 
 much-discussed bodice, destined to emerge from its 
 chrysalis condition on the following night. 
 
 Miss Em's eyes rested on it with wondering 
 admiration. " You've lent me your lace, Lady 
 Pat ! How kind of you ! " she exclaimed raptur- 
 ously. " What do you think of it now — Anne ? " 
 
 Anne was of opinion that it would do no dis- 
 
Il8 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 credit to the wearer, if a process known as " trying 
 on " resulted in unanimous satisfaction. 
 
 " Black is such safe wear ! " said Miss Em, 
 yielding to the "process," and surveying her 
 dazzling white shoulders and arms with pardonable 
 pride. 
 
 "You keep your figure wonderfully, Emilia," 
 remarked her godmother. " But be careful ; you'll 
 be ruined once you grow stout." 
 
 She put herself into Anne's hands to be made 
 " comfortable " as she expressed it, and wrapped a 
 warm loose dressing-gown about her before subsid- 
 ing into the cosy padded chair by the fire. 
 
 Anne retired ; but presently returned with a 
 tray bearing two glasses of some fragrant steaming 
 beverage, prepared from a special receipt of her 
 mistress, and supposed to contain marvellous pro- 
 perties termed " nerve soothing ". 
 
 With her arched insteps on the fender-bar, and 
 her lips ever and anon inclined towards the fragrant 
 stimulant, Lady Pat unbent, and became a genial 
 and altogether delightful companion. 
 
 The conversation, at first desultory and consist- 
 ing of questions and answers, settled itself finally 
 into a discussion, the germ of which appeared to 
 be Sir Jasper's unwonted attentions of that even- 
 ing. 
 
 " Why don't you think about the matter, my 
 dear? it would be most suitable in every way," 
 asked Lady Pat ; " you would hold a splendid 
 position, none better in the county, and what a 
 triumph over your stepmother ! " 
 
 " Yes, there are advantages," agreed Miss Em. 
 " But he's such a selfish, cynical old thing, I'm 
 afraid we should quarrel dreadfully. He'd want 
 to rule, and a man of his age and with his experi- 
 ence is sure to be tyrannical." 
 
 " My dear child, you can't have everything. 
 You've been going on for years exemplifying the 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. II9 
 
 fable of the ' crooked stick \ There may be worse 
 crutches than Sir Jasper Lustrell." 
 
 " Sabina and I hate each other," said Miss Em. 
 
 " Well, you'll be mistress, and can easily get 
 rid of her. I'm sure if you'll only take a little 
 trouble, you will have Sir Jasper at your feet. 
 There was no mistaking his looks to-night." 
 
 " Do you really think," asked Miss Em suddenly, 
 " really and honestly, that it would be better for 
 me to marry? I have reached that debatable 
 ground when life seems to offer me even chances 
 of content. In a way I'm my own mistress. It is 
 true home is very uncomfortable, and money less 
 procurable than I could desire ; still — I shouldn't 
 care to place my neck under the heel of a selfish 
 old voluptuary like Sir Jasper." 
 
 " A woman," replied Lady Pat, " can always 
 manage a man if she likes to give herself the 
 trouble." 
 
 Miss Em shrugged her handsome shoulders 
 with some impatience. 
 
 "That's no answer to my question. I've never 
 believed in jumping at an offer simply as an 
 exchange of condition. I've always looked with 
 contempt at the curious readiness with which 
 women will take any male creature for a husband. 
 To me, it argues a want of self-respect." 
 
 " You err on the side of over-fastidiousness," 
 said Lady Pat. " I really do think it would be 
 better for you to marry. At present, your position 
 lacks stability, and much that you do and have 
 done is liable to misrepresentation. A brilliant 
 marriage, and such a position as Sir Jasper can give 
 you, are advantages you cannot afford to reject." 
 
 " It is just the ' advantages ' I am afraid of. I 
 don't know how he would bestow them, and I am 
 not disposed to accept benevolence as a sort of 
 state-trapping that only reflects dignity on the 
 giver." 
 
120 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 " That foolish O'Hara pride!" remarked Lady 
 Pat. 
 
 " You have often commended it, my dear god- 
 mother." 
 
 " If the question in point was of a mesalliance, 1 
 might do so again," answered Lady Pat. " But 
 not for years have I met with so desirable a chance 
 for you, and I do really entreat you to consider the 
 matter seriously." 
 
 A sudden hot flush swept over Miss Em's face. 
 She sat quite still, curiously still indeed, as if all 
 her will was concentrated on the effort to appear 
 unmoved. 
 
 " I daresay he means nothing," she said at last. 
 " He is not a marrying man, and I really fail to see 
 what benefit he would gain." 
 
 "A handsome wife of unexceptionable birth, and 
 a companion he would be capable of appreciating. 
 Believe me, my dear, Sir Jasper is neither too old 
 nor too cynical to be blind to your value. He 
 knows you are sensible and well gifted ; you have 
 corresponding advantages to those he proffers, and 
 need not consider yourself the only person bene- 
 fited." 
 
 She sipped the contents of her glass with a 
 satisfied air, and replaced it on the silver tray. 
 
 " Think it over," she repeated. " I have never 
 advised you but for your good. Above all, if this 
 chance should fall to your lot, consider what a 
 triumph over Madam O'Hara the second ! You 
 would be the great lady of the county." 
 
 " That seems your main argument," laughed 
 Miss Em. " Don't you think some triumphs exact 
 a heavier price than they are worth ? If I quarrel 
 with Madam Skinflint, I can, at least, manage to 
 beat a retreat ; but if I adopt the yoke of matrimony, 
 I shall have to wear it, whatever betides." 
 
 " Can't you take life easily — yet ? " said Lady 
 Pat, leaning back in her chair, and surveying her 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 121 
 
 slender feet and satin slippers with cheerful 
 approval. " To worry about real grievances is 
 bad enough, but about possible ones is worse than 
 foolish. The great art of content is to glide 
 through life without attempting to scale its heights 
 or pierce its depths. Tragedy brings wrinkles. 
 The mystery of life and its general topsy- 
 turveydoms are things no amount of ' taking 
 thought ' can explain, or do away with. By the 
 way, you said in your letter there was something 
 you wished to consult me about." 
 
 (" Ye gods ! so I did," thought Miss Em. " Now 
 come to my aid, powers of invention i What am I 
 to say?") 
 
 " It can stand over for to-night, dear," she said 
 with a suggested yawn. " It is not fair to keep 
 you up discussing my poor little worries and 
 troubles. You too had some suggestion to make 
 to me, but perhaps both had better remain undis- 
 cussed till after the ball." 
 
 " I think you are right," agreed Lady Pat, 
 " though a very few words would detail my plan, 
 which was simply to ask you to go abroad with 
 me for a couple of months. However," and she 
 laughed gaily, " I should prefer to marry you to 
 Sir Jasper, so we won't decide upon that point till 
 we see how affairs promise." 
 
 She rose as she finished speaking, and Miss Em 
 did the same. 
 
 "Sir Jasper is actually going to the ball, he told 
 me. Now, when a man of his age does such a 
 thing it argues there is a strong reason for it. My 
 experience is a wide one, Emilia, and I am sure 
 that after to-morrow night it will only rest with 
 yourself to win, or lose him." 
 
 "Might he not be going for Molly's sake?" 
 suggested Miss Em. " Paddy Kearney is to be 
 there, and she will need a dragon of some sort." 
 
 " I hope," said Lady Pat severely, " that you will 
 
122 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 be prudent for once, and not flirt with that young- 
 man in the reckless fashion you generally do. I 
 warn you it will ruin your chance with Sir Jasper." 
 
 " Oh, a fig for Sir Jasper!" cried Miss Em 
 recklessly. " I'll dance with Paddy all night if it 
 pleases me. He's the best waltzer in Dublin, and 
 a ball is a ball, you know." 
 
 "And what about a good chance of settling down 
 and ending your reckless, roving, knock-about 
 life?" 
 
 " I'm not sure I should be half so happy if I 
 were what the lawyers term ' strictly tied up '." 
 
 " Emilia, you are incorrigible ; you even try my 
 patience, and you must allow it is considerable." 
 
 " Dear Lady Pat," she said with sudden com 
 punction, " you have been always far too good to 
 me, and I know I'm not worth troubling your head 
 about." 
 
 " We won't talk about that, Emilia ; I only ask 
 a little prudence and common-sense at your hands, 
 and that you will consider this matter less flip- 
 pantly than you have other offers. It is for your 
 own good I speak, and I am sure you will be 
 grateful to me one day for the advice." 
 
 " I am sure of that too," said Miss Em warmly, 
 " and I'll promise to give the weighty matter my 
 fullest consideration. All the same we are crediting 
 Sir Jasper with intentions that may have no place 
 at all in his mind." 
 
 Lady Pat nodded significantly. " My dear, I 
 know men. He is thinking about you with the 
 utmost seriousness. I wish you would follow his 
 example." 
 
 " I have never been able to take myself seriously 
 yet. Lady Pat. It would be a hopeless task to 
 begin now." 
 
 " You know I didn't mean that, Emilia." 
 
 "As for Sir Jasper," laughed Miss Em, "he, 
 I grant you, might be regarded as a solemn sub- 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 123 
 
 ject ; but I've had enough of him for to-night. 
 How pleased he looked when I got that ' odd 
 trick,' didn't he? If he had known what was in 
 
 my mind " she paused, her face looked strangely 
 
 white. " Enough, enough ! " she cried suddenly 
 with one of those rapid changes of manner that 
 puzzled even those who knew her best. " Let us 
 see what to-morrow will bring forth ! " 
 
 " To-morrow ! " echoed Lady Pat. " Ah, my 
 dear, you always had faith in the future. To- 
 morrow is like the veiled goddess of the Greeks. 
 We may fancy a smile on her lips, but are all un- 
 conscious of the doom in her eyes." 
 
 ........ 
 
 Miss Em possessed even more than the average 
 share of impulsiveness and variability of her sex. 
 It seemed that whatever training life had given 
 her, had not been sufficiently coercive to tame 
 these rebellious instincts, even when expediency 
 clamoured its loudest. 
 
 No one knew this better than herself, and yet 
 the knowledge with all its practical lessons had 
 been wasted again and again. 
 
 The probabilities were in favour of her usual 
 recklessness on the night of the eventful ball, as, 
 " armed for the fray " to use her own expression, 
 she stood surveying two large bouquets which 
 Anne had just brought her. 
 
 One bore the name of Major Raikes, the other 
 that of Sir Jasper Lustrell. 
 
 Accompanying these was also a substantial 
 parcel, which on being opened resolved itself into 
 a Russia leather glove-box, filled with lavender 
 and pale grey gloves from the renowned Supple's 
 emporium. Miss Em's eyes sparkled with de- 
 light as they fell on this acceptable cadeaux. 
 
 " The darling boy ! " she exclaimed rapturously, 
 as she drew pair after pair of the dainty articles 
 from their silver papers. " How thoughtful and 
 
124 PEG > THE RAKE. 
 
 how much more sensible than flowers ! They are 
 all very well for girls like Molly, but I vote for 
 use before sentiment now, in the way of presents." 
 
 She selected a lavender-hued pair which would 
 go admirably with her toilette, and then gave her 
 attention to the bouquets. Sir Jasper's did not 
 please her taste at all. It was composed of red 
 and white camellias, arranged with the stiffness 
 inseparable from their nature. She threw it aside 
 after regarding the " effect " in the long pier glass. 
 Her own appearance was very satisfactory. 
 
 The simple flowing lines of black satin draped 
 her tall well-shaped figure to advantage, the low- 
 cut bodice relieved by exquisite lace, and starred 
 with diamonds, framed her shapely shoulders and 
 perfect bust in a manner that did infinite credit 
 to Anne's skill. The necklace at her throat, and 
 the spray glittering in her soft brown hair, still 
 further enhanced her undoubted claim to good 
 looks, and made her no mean rival to the youth 
 and beauty she would soon encounter. 
 
 Whatever she owed to art, the delicate flush on 
 her cheeks was supremely becoming, and her 
 natural high spirits and love of excitement gave 
 brilliance to the dark grey eyes, and expression to 
 the mobile lips whose sensitive nerves could so 
 readily exchange gravity for smiles. 
 
 " Certainly I haven't looked better any time in 
 these last ten years," she thought, as she surveyed 
 herself with critical scrutiny. "Those flowers of 
 Major Raikes are just the very thing I wanted. 
 What a lovely idea, the white and green, and the 
 ribbons to match ! They don't clash with any- 
 thing, but I suppose " 
 
 The supposition was cut short by the entrance of 
 Lady Patricia, resplendent in emerald green velvet, 
 her throat and bosom veiled in delicate lace, 
 among whose folds sparkled the lustre of topaz 
 and brilliant. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. I25 
 
 Miss Em surveyed her with rapture. 
 
 " You look like a beautiful old fairy ! " she ex- 
 claimed. " I feel — extinguished." 
 
 " You have no need to do so," laughed her god- 
 mother ; " but it is time for us to go, and I came 
 to see if you were ready. How charming those 
 flowers look ! I've always heard Sir Jasper had 
 good taste." 
 
 "These are not Sir Jasper's at all," answered 
 Miss Em lugubriously; "I wish they were. It's 
 so horrid to have to make one's choice. These 
 odious camellias are what he sent. I really can't 
 sacrifice myself to them." 
 
 "Who sent the others?" asked Lady Pat 
 sharply. 
 
 " Major Raikes. You know him ; he is delight- 
 ful." 
 
 "Yes, but impecunious, and not a marrying 
 man. I'm afraid you'll have to make the sacrifice, 
 my dear. You need only appear with the camellias 
 after all. They are easily lost or mislaid after the 
 first dance." 
 
 Miss Em made a grimace. " Odious things ! 
 what could have made him choose them ? As for 
 appearing with them, why, that is exactly what I 
 object to. No, my dear godmother, you mustn't 
 ask me. I'll sit out some dances with him, or let 
 him take me into supper, but wear these flowers I 
 won't,'" 
 
 " That is so like you, Emilia," said Lady Pat in 
 a tone of vexation ; " always spoiling some good 
 chance by a whim. Can't you forego vanity for 
 once, and learn the policy of expediency ? " 
 
 " It isn't vanity, it is a question of taste," said 
 Miss Em provokingly, as she placed the two 
 bouquets side by side. " Besides," she added, as 
 she threw the camellias on the dressing-table with 
 a disdainful gesture ; " it is very much better to 
 let a man see you don't care too much for his 
 
126 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 attentions. Expediency is not always the best 
 policy, Lady Pat, and there is a certain meanness 
 about it that sets me in revolt." 
 
 " Well, well, you must do what you please," 
 said Lady Pat diplomatically ; " only it is an 
 obvious slight to Sir Jasper to leave his flowers 
 behind." 
 
 " I'll say they came too late." 
 
 "You may be sure he'll take pains to ascertain 
 the fact, not a difficult one either, considering he 
 is staying at the same hotel." 
 
 " Then I'll tell him the plain truth for once," 
 exclaimed Miss Em, " and say they didn't suit my 
 dress. It would be as refreshing for him to hear, 
 as for me to speak it. It's wonderful how long we 
 accept shams, but a day comes when we get sick 
 of them. The acid of the lemon is an agreeable 
 change after a surfeit of sugar." 
 
 " I should think Sir Jasper was rather a 
 dangerous subject for an experiment of that 
 nature," said Lady Pat, beginning to draw on her 
 gloves, and giving a significant glance at the 
 clock on the mantel-piece. 
 
 " And I'm engaged for the first waltz to Paddy 
 Kearney ! I had almost forgotten, and he after 
 sending me all these delicious gloves, too ! " cried 
 Miss Em. 
 
 She snatched up her wraps, and taking the 
 white and green bouquet in her hand, followed 
 Lady Pat from the room, gaily humming a waltz. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 "OF REVELRY BY NIGHT." 
 
 The purple-clad dowager, whose nodding plumes 
 graced her welcome to the " all sorts and condi- 
 tions " of men and women crowding up her stair- 
 case, was quite unconscious of the amusement she 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 127 
 
 created in Miss Em's mind, or the satirical com- 
 ments of Lady Pat. 
 
 All the worry and expense, the heart-burnings 
 and manoeuvres, and fears and anxieties of the 
 past fortnight were forgotten in the glory of the 
 present triumph. Every titled name her footmen 
 shouted gave Mrs. Kelly a thrill of ecstasy, while 
 adding to the nervousness of the stout vulgar- 
 looking man by her side, who fidgeted with his 
 gloves, and mopped his brow from time to time 
 with a handkerchief that, as Miss Em said, one 
 felt ought to be of red cotton ! 
 
 " Why is it that in any social function needing 
 dress and display, women carry things off so much 
 better than men ? " she whispered to Lady Pat, as 
 she watched their hostess delightedly. 
 
 " I can only put it down to the satisfaction we 
 derive from dress," answered Lady Pat. " A skirt 
 from Worth or Elise will carry a woman triumph- 
 antly through any ordeal. It is a badge of 
 superiority before which all the virtues may shrink 
 abashed." 
 
 " It is a very delightful badge," said Miss Em, 
 glancing at the gorgeous gowns and peacock-like 
 trains that swept to and fro the brilliant ball-room, 
 mingling here and there with the simpler fabrics 
 of muslin and tulle worn by debutantes and youth- 
 ful belles. 
 
 " They've done it very well," said Lady Pat, 
 raising her lorgnette to survey the masses of flowers 
 banked and wreathed wherever the eye could rest, 
 and filling the air with fragrance. " A little too 
 much glare, perhaps ; subdued lights are so much 
 more becoming, especially when complexions are 
 not quite safe." 
 
 Miss Em felt a little pang of uneasiness at the 
 remark, which was not set at rest until a favouring 
 mirror assured her it could not possibly have been 
 meant for her. 
 
128 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 That delicate touch of pink, that faint softening 
 bloom of veloutine defied any stricture coarser than 
 " improvement " when viewed beside the vulgar 
 daubing, and eye-kohling, and ruby-reddened lips 
 that the unsoftened light displayed in all direc- 
 tions. 
 
 If she had needed further confirmation on the 
 point she gained it in the flattering glance of her 
 "trio," as she called them, who at this moment 
 marched up to greet her and her chaperon, and 
 claim various dances at her hand. 
 
 " Certainly three as fine looking men as one 
 would wish to see," thought Lady Pat. " I won- 
 der how Emilia always manages to keep a staff of 
 admirers about her, and such very creditable ones 
 too!" 
 
 Her attention was called off at this moment by 
 the entrance of the Lustrell party, who immedi- 
 ately attached themselves to her. 
 
 " Miss O'Hara ? Oh, yes, there she is dancing 
 with your nephew," she said in answer to Sir 
 Jasper's inquiries ; and then noting Charlie Bar- 
 rington's admiring glance at Molly, she at once 
 introduced them to each other, and sent them 
 whirling off to the strains of the Doctrinen Waltz, 
 while she and Sir Jasper seated themselves on a 
 convenient and comfortable settee, that com- 
 manded a view of the ball-room. 
 
 "How beautifully Miss O'Hara dances!" re- 
 marked Sir Jasper, as Miss Em floated past on 
 Paddy Kearney's arm. 
 
 " She does most things well," said Lady Pat 
 quietly. 
 
 " Indeed, I am sure of that," he answered with 
 read)' acquiescence ; " she is a most accomplished 
 woman. I am sorry my dancing days are over," 
 he added regretfully. " I fear I shall have but 
 little opportunity of enjoying her society to-night." 
 
 A smile from grey eyes, a flash of white teeth, 
 
PEG> THE RAKE. 120, 
 
 and Miss Em was swept away once more into the 
 mazy circle. 
 
 Sir Jasper was conscious of something very like 
 envy in his selfish heart as he watched her. He 
 had come to this ball greatly against his inclina- 
 tions, but had administered consolation to himself 
 by reflecting that he would have a delightful and 
 congenial companion for the greater part of the 
 evening. But he had never anticipated handing 
 over that companion to a host of younger rivals, 
 or receiving at her hands so decided a hint that 
 whatever time had done for him, it had not as yet 
 been cruel enough to " wither or stale her infinite 
 variety". 
 
 For years Sir Jasper had not experienced so 
 genuine an emotion as when she returned and 
 greeted him with the light flow of badinage and 
 good-humour that made even nonsense charming, 
 though, as Lady Pat declared afterwards, it sent 
 cold shivers down her back. 
 
 But Miss Em was in no mood for any stately 
 pastoral ; she wanted her shepherds to pipe and 
 dance and share her own gaiety ; and presently, 
 when Major Raikes appeared on the scene, she 
 gave full rein to her reckless spirits, and quite 
 ignored the elderly valetudinarian by her side. 
 
 Sir Jasper's delicate peevish face began to show 
 signs of dissatisfaction. He had no sympathy with 
 enjoyments from which he was excluded, and the 
 programme he had sketched out for himself was 
 entirely altered. Not all Lady Pat's tact and 
 energy could soothe his ruffled plumes ; and though 
 his ill-humour was a tribute to her perspicacity 
 it was also a source of annoyance. 
 
 "Really," she thought in vexation, "Emilia 
 ought to have more sense than to play fast and 
 loose with such a chance. All Major Raikes's 
 attentions count for nothing ; he can never marry 
 her; but there — she was always the same." 
 
I3O PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 However, she chatted on about a thousand 
 trifles, her project for spending the rest of the 
 winter abroad among them, and hinted at the 
 probability of her god-daughter's accompanying 
 her. 
 
 She was keen enough to notice the interest he 
 took in her plans, and her hopes kindled afresh. 
 
 The next time Miss Em joined them Sir Jasper 
 asked permission to take her down to supper, and 
 greatly to Lady Pat's relief she consented. Her 
 motive was twofold, as she had promised to give 
 Paddy Kearney an opportunity of a quiet talk 
 with Molly, free from parental supervision. With 
 her presence and acceptance of his offer Sir Jasper's 
 ill-humour apparently vanished ; and as Miss Em 
 announced her intention of sitting out the set of 
 quadrilles then in progress Lady Pat left them to 
 their own devices and moved away to speak to 
 some other friends. 
 
 " I am sorry to see my flowers did not please 
 you," remarked the old baronet with a glance at 
 the bouquet in her hand. 
 
 " Indeed, they pleased me very well," she 
 answered readily, " but they did not suit my dress, 
 so I arranged them for my own private gratification 
 instead of bringing them to wither in these hot 
 rooms. I think," and she glanced demurely at 
 the pleased face, " I have really paid you the 
 better compliment. These will have had their 
 brief hour of use and be thrown aside ; the others 
 will live on to please sight — and memory — for 
 many days to come." 
 
 " Then I am indeed honoured," murmured Sir 
 Jasper, and he leaned back in his seat and listened 
 with rapt attention to her gay chatter, her descrip- 
 tion of people, places and things, and thought again 
 what a charming companion she was, and what a 
 suitable age she had reached for matrimony. 
 
 Miss Em took his compliments and tender looks 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. I31 
 
 less seriously than they deserved. She had had 
 a surfeit of such things in her forty years, and the 
 hap-hazard element in her nature made her more 
 inclined to play bo-peep with destiny, than to 
 accept its favours with the decorum of matured 
 judgment. 
 
 1 hat fastidiousness of which Lady Pat had 
 accused her, made her shrink from the touch of the 
 chill, blue-veined hand on her arm, seeing in its 
 proffered caress only the tepid blood and loose, dry 
 skin of age. It was just one of those curious 
 prejudices which again and again had combated 
 the wider prudence that bade her accept instead 
 of criticising. 
 
 " He must be sixty at least," she thought ; " and 
 every year he will get more wrinkled, more selfish, 
 more crotchetty, and I should have to put up with 
 it all." 
 
 They went down to supper, prepared and served 
 on the same sumptuous scale as the whole enter- 
 tainment. Sir Jasper confined his attentions to 
 the champagne, which was excellent, and ate very 
 sparingly ; but Miss Em, whose digestion was as 
 perfect as her health, distributed her favours 
 equally among oyster patties, lobster salad, quails 
 in aspic, chicken chaudfroid, jellies and creams and 
 such-like delicacies. 
 
 Her companion watched her and listened to 
 her, and filled her glass with the sparkling liquid 
 again and again. 
 
 " It is a long time," he remarked, " since I have 
 enjoyed an evening so much. Your enthusiasms 
 quite carry me away. Women are rarely honest 
 enough to show their feelings." 
 
 " We are so often afraid of being misjudged," 
 said Miss Em. " If we say we like society we are 
 put down as frivolous ; to appreciate a good glass 
 of wine is to be accounted an inebriate ; to play 
 for more than ordinary stakes at cards stamps 
 
132 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 'gambler' on our reputation and makes skill a 
 vice. If we are hypocrites men make us so, 
 believe me." 
 
 " I am sure you are not a hypocrite," he said, 
 with a tender glance into the frank grey eyes. 
 11 Your face proclaims that." 
 
 She laughed. " I am like most of my sex," she 
 said. " You know the saying that a woman who 
 has nothing to conceal, can have nothing in her 
 life worth revealing. There is a great deal ot 
 truth in it." 
 
 " Worth revealing/" he repeated. " But that 
 may apply to her nature, not her secrets." 
 
 " It may," agreed Miss Em, " but I hardly think 
 it does. After all, wicked people are much more 
 interesting than good ones. Life without evil in 
 it would be a very tame affair. A level medio- 
 crity, without excitement and without benefit. 
 If every one was uniformly virtuous we should 
 have no sinners to convert, or patronise. Think of 
 the sudden loss of employment to priests and 
 philanthropists." 
 
 Sir Jasper smiled approvingly. Sentiments of 
 this sort delighted him. His own past was not 
 decked in very meritorious colours ; and so easy- 
 going a philosophy as " doing evil that good might 
 come," or mental satisfaction be afforded to those 
 whose duty it was to preach virtue, was just the 
 philosophy he could best appreciate. 
 
 " To look on at excellence while erring your- 
 self affords the charm of contrast," he murmured, 
 sipping his wine with connoisseur-like approval, 
 " and contrast is the salt and savour of life. Why 
 are most of us here to-night, for instance? Nine 
 out of ten came from curiosity, to see how money 
 would perform what rank and birth could not 
 accomplish. Good society wearies sometimes of 
 its own perfections, and dives into a lower strata 
 for mere relief." 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. I33 
 
 " Does that feeling account for the very odd 
 choice displayed in its amours?" asked Miss Em, 
 daringly. " One has read or heard of very strong 
 contrasts there." 
 
 Sir Jasper's keen eyes looked coldly interroga- 
 tive, then drooped, and hid an expression which 
 was somewhat uneasy. There was a page in his 
 life 
 
 " I wonder how much she knows ? " he thought, 
 but aloud he only observed that no doubt society 
 had displayed brief aberrations of intellect at 
 times. Sentiment was always illogical. Youth, 
 whether male or feminine, possessed very much 
 the same nature ; impressionable, passionate, im- 
 possible to guide, and only to be controlled by the 
 bit and spur of Experience. 
 
 It was odd that as he spoke Miss Em's eyes 
 flashed a kindred interrogation to that of which 
 she had been the subject a moment before. But 
 drooped lids are unrevealing, and the little smile 
 hovering over the thin lips might have meant any- 
 thing. 
 
 • ••••••• 
 
 A zealous partner unearthed Miss Em at last, 
 and brought that tete-a-tete to an abrupt conclusion. 
 
 Perhaps she was not sorry to end it, though Sir 
 Jasper's regret bordered almost on ill-temper. 
 What did she want to dance for ? Surely she had 
 exerted herself enough. That there could be 
 satisfaction in a well-filled programme after twenty 
 years of age did not occur to him. 
 
 But Miss Em loved dancing almost as well as 
 card-playing, and did it with equal enthusiasm 
 and perfection. It amused her to see the jealous 
 glances of younger rivals, and to hear the meant- 
 to-be-audible sneers of dowagers and less favoured 
 contemporaries who had to play the part of wall- 
 flowers while she was still " in request ". 
 
 The hours waned, the rooms thinned, the 
 
134 PEG > THE RAKE. 
 
 anxious hostess was thankfully imbibing refresh- 
 ment at her own supper-table, and still the " O'Hara 
 woman," as one or two spiteful friends called her, 
 danced on, and still Sir Jasper Lustrell lingered, 
 and Lady Pat wondered if he were serious, and 
 whether Miss Em knew best how to treat him 
 after all. 
 
 Some men had to be flattered, and some 
 harassed, and some piqued into love. Evidently, 
 Sir Jasper belonged to the latter class. 
 
 But at last Miss Em declared she had had 
 enough of it, and ruthlessly declined to fulfil two 
 or three remaining engagements. Molly was 
 summoned, and Sir Jasper's face lost its look of 
 peevish fatigue. With a sublime disregard of the 
 etiquette of age, he left Lady Pat to a more 
 juvenile escort, and gave his arm to Miss Em, 
 whom Molly and Paddy Kearney were secretly 
 blessing in the background. 
 
 " A most delightful evening ; I don't know when 
 I have enjoyed myself so much," murmured the 
 old baronet in his silkiest tones, bending 
 courteously over Mrs. Kelly's ungloved and be- 
 ringed hand. 
 
 "Charming — admirable — most enjoyable . . . 
 trust you are not very fatigued," echoed the van- 
 guard of the party as they followed suit. 
 
 " You are sure you are not tired ? " inquired Sir 
 Jasper tenderly, as he handed his companion into 
 the waiting carriage, and stood there bareheaded 
 and forgetful of cold and other inconveniences, the 
 chill grey light on his face, and the wind ruffling 
 his scanty white locks. 
 
 "Tired! not a bit of it," cried Miss Em gaily. 
 " Shure, Sir Jasper, doesn't our dear Tom Moore 
 (rest his soul !), tell us that the 
 
 Best of all ways to lengthen our days 
 Is to steal a few hours from the night ? 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 135 
 
 Many's the time you've done that, I'll be bound ; 
 and you're quite equal to doing it still ! " 
 
 Sir Jasper sighed. " What delightful spirits 
 you have ! How much I am in your debt for this 
 evening's enjoyment ! " 
 
 "Well, don't catch cold and be laid up to- 
 morrow," said Miss Em prudently. " Good-night, 
 or rather good-morning. There's the dawn re- 
 buking us, and giving hints of rheumatism and 
 bronchitis." 
 
 She closed the window, nodded a last farewell, 
 and threw herself back on the cushions with a 
 sigh of relief. 
 
 " It is hard work," she said to Lady Pat ; " mats 
 — V affaire marche bien" 
 
 " It does indeed," answered her companion. 
 " He seems quite fascinated. I think it only 
 rests with yourself, Emilia." 
 
 "What about Molly?" asked Miss Em 
 suddenly. "She may have something to say 
 about a prospective stepmother. That odious 
 word!" and she shivered and drew her wraps 
 more closely about her. 
 
 " But she is fond of you, and you are not of the 
 dragon type. I think she would hail you as a 
 relief after an experience of her Aunt Sabina." 
 
 Miss Em said nothing, only sat silently in her 
 corner of the carriage gazing out at the grey dawn 
 and the paling lights of the streets. The memory 
 of the dance, and + he music, and the scents of the 
 flowers, were alike an oppressive burden. 
 
 How often she had shared in such scenes, and 
 left them light of heart as any girl whose echoing 
 laugh told of sheer enjoyment ! Now, there was 
 always an afterwards — more or less distasteful. 
 
 The " afterwards " in the present instance was 
 the memory of that cold hand which had rested 
 for a moment unrebuked upon her arm. She 
 could not forget its touch, and even when she 
 
Ij6 PEG, THE fcAfcfe. 
 
 closed her eyes she was haunted by a vision of 
 wrinkled flesh, bloodless and heavily veined — 
 the touch of age with its selfish exactions and 
 chill reminder of Time's cruelty. To yield to its 
 clasp, to give up her vigorous healthy woman- 
 hood, her long-treasured independence of mind 
 and action, filled her with unaccountable repug- 
 nance. 
 
 The laws of nature are sometimes stronger than 
 the laws of man, and they were strong enough still 
 within her breast to threaten revolt and set bodv 
 
 J 
 
 and mind against a mere commercial alliance. 
 
 Her unusual quiet and restraint surprised Lad}' 
 Pat, but she attributed them to natural reaction 
 after the evening's excitement, and the wild spirits 
 she had displayed throughout. There was no 
 possibility of Miss Em's ever hitting the juste 
 milieu of mental balance. She was always in ex- 
 tremes. 
 
 They bade each other "good-night" without 
 further confidences, and Lady Pat put herself 
 into Anne's kindly care, while Miss Em closed 
 her door with a sigh of relief. 
 
 The fire was burning dully in the grate. The 
 faint daylight shone in through one window where 
 the blind had not been drawn. 
 
 Mechanically she lit the candles, and began to 
 unfasten the diamonds from her hair and dress. 
 Her lips took a more scornful curve as she laid 
 them down on the toilet-table. 
 
 " All the scheming and worry they cost," she 
 thought ; " and now it is all over, and I've gained 
 — what ? An old rotie's approval, fanned a dying 
 spark from fast cooling ashes ! I who once craved 
 love deep as the sea, and for that and that only 
 would have given myself ! " 
 
 A storm of contempt swept over her face. She 
 seized the jewels and tossed them into the case 
 and closed the lid with a fierce gesture. Some 
 
£kg, the rake. 137 
 
 difficulty as the catch escaped the lock reminded 
 her that she had been obliged to force it, and it 
 was now useless. 
 
 She opened it again, and began to arrange the 
 different ornaments more carefully, instead of 
 leaving them heaped here and there upon the 
 velvet tray. Still the lid would not close, and 
 half impatient of the delay caused by its obstinacy 
 she lifted out the tray in order to see if any ob- 
 struction came from below. A thick layer of 
 cotton-wool covered the contents of the lower 
 compartment. She lifted it up and saw to her 
 surprise a variety of other ornaments. An old- 
 fashioned hunting-watch, one or two massive gold 
 bracelets, a pair of long " dropper" earrings, 
 hideous enough in fashion and design to adorn 
 some savage queen, a hair chain, a gigantic cameo 
 brooch, and two or three other articles equally 
 antique and ugly revealed themselves, and for a 
 moment she stared at them in utter bewilderment. 
 
 " Gracious ! they must all belong to Mrs. 
 O'Hara," she exclaimed aloud. " And if she 
 misses them, won't there be a hue and cry ! Not 
 but what it serves her right for putting them into 
 my case." 
 
 She went carefully through them again, then 
 took the diamonds out of their tray, and placed 
 them together in a heap. 
 
 " She must have her rubbish back, of course ; 
 but I'm — well, anything an O'Hara likes to pro- 
 nounce me — if I ever part with the diamonds now 
 I've got them. However, the cat's out of the bag 
 with a vengeance now ! " 
 
 And with one of her rapid changes of mood she 
 sat down and gave vent to a perfect peal of 
 laughter that sounded almost startling in the 
 silence that filled the hotel 
 
138 PEG, THE HAKE. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 "THE PHILISTINES ARE UPON THEE." 
 
 It was almost noon, and Lady Pat and Miss Em 
 were lingering over their midday breakfast of 
 cutlets, pommes de terrefrittes, St. Julien and coffee, 
 a continental fashion of dejeuner dear to both their 
 hearts. 
 
 Without — the sun was shining, the street full of 
 life, gaiety and bustle, and a prospective morning 
 of shopping, suggested by Lady Pat, still further 
 conduced to raise Miss Em's spirits and put her 
 into that comfortable state of feeling described as 
 being " in charity with all mankind ". 
 
 " You don't seem interested in your correspond- 
 ence, Emilia," at last observed the elder lady with 
 a glance at the unopened letters lying beside her 
 god-daughter's plate. 
 
 " No," answered Miss Em tranquilly ; " I prefer 
 a hot cutlet to news or bills. There's nothing 
 so interesting as the former — here," and her 
 white fingers moved the various envelopes aside, 
 then suddenly singled out one, and for a moment 
 lifted it to interested scrutiny. 
 
 " It looks like Aunt Bedelia's writing ! " she 
 exclaimed. * But how could she know I was 
 here?" 
 
 " Why do people always speculate as to the 
 identity or motives of a correspondent, when the 
 mere opening of an envelope would at once answer 
 both?" murmured Lady Pat lazily. 
 
 Miss Em laughed. "Sounds like a conundrum," 
 she said; "I suppose it is foolish. Well, here goes 
 to convince myself," and she tore open the flimsy 
 covering, and ran her eyes rapidly over the close, 
 fine writing it revealed. 
 
 " It is from Aunt Bedelia. She only says she 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 139 
 
 ' has heard ' I am staying here. She wants me to 
 dine with her to-night. Have we any engage- 
 ment ? " 
 
 " I think not," answered Lady Pat reflectively. 
 "I was going to propose the theatre, but you know 
 our arrangement, my dear, — you are always to do 
 exactly as you please when you stay with me. 
 Your aunt, of course, has a claim upon you ; you 
 had better go there to-night. I suppose it is one 
 of her card parties ? " 
 
 "She only says: 'Two or three old friends,' 
 Miss Em answered, looking down at the letter. 
 What it did say was really : " If you know any man 
 who plays a good hand at whist or loo pray bring him ; 
 but no woman, ' an you love me \ I am looking for- 
 ward to one of our old delightful evenings /" 
 
 "The wicked old rake!" thought Miss Em. 
 " She's not a bit changed— and seventy-five if she's 
 a day." 
 
 She folded up the missive and put it in her 
 pocket, while slie finished her breakfast with a 
 leisurely appreciation of its excellence, to which 
 recent memories of Mrs. O'Hara's menage afforded 
 additional zest. 
 
 Lady Pat said nothing about Sir Jasper, though 
 they discussed the ball freely, and wondered why 
 the lord lieutenant had not put in an appearance, 
 and what could have induced Mrs. Druce-Hay, 
 usually known as " Satan" and about as broad as 
 she was long, to appear in white satin, and decol- 
 letee a faire peurc, and why Lady Jolijambe had 
 painted so glaringly, and the faded Miss Nolan 
 chosen to whiten her face with a powder that gave 
 it a ghastly resemblance to a clown's. Then 
 having satirised and dissected friends and enemies 
 with charming impartiality they retired to their 
 own rooms to prepare for their drive. 
 
 "After all, monev makes life very pleasant," 
 reflected Miss Em. as she donned her neat tweed 
 
140 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 costume, and made notes of the various articles 
 necessary to replenish her wardrobe, and which 
 Lady Pat's credit would furnish forth. " One 
 can't get along without it. Washed muslins and 
 turned skirts may pass muster for * sweet seven- 
 teen,' but there's no doubt a woman must dress 
 well, if she wants to hold her own." 
 
 She drew on her gloves thoughtfully, her mind 
 busy with projects and reflections chiefly connec- 
 ted with the evening. 
 
 " If by some happy chance I could meet Raikes 
 I'd ask him to go with me, and Paddy too for 
 that matter. It's a mercy she hasn't invited 
 Lady Pat ; I think we should be a little too much 
 even for her nerves." 
 
 Then she laughed softly and took up her list 
 and for the next two hours gave herself up to the 
 delights of selecting and ordering gowns and 
 bonnets and other articles of feminine adorn- 
 ment. 
 
 " You'll want a lot of clothes if we go away," 
 said Lady Pat, as they stopped before the humble 
 residence of the "useful dressmaker" to leave a 
 message requiring her attendance the next morn- 
 ing. 
 
 " Is there an if about it ? " asked Miss Em, her 
 eyes flashing a rapid challenge which Lady Pat 
 understood perfectly. 
 
 "'The best laid plans of mice and men,'" she 
 quoted laughingly. " You know I am never sure of 
 doing anything until it is actually done." 
 
 " She wants to be sure of Sir Jasper's inten- 
 tions," thought Miss Em. " I could almost find 
 it in me to hope she may be disappointed, but I 
 suppose that's rather foolish ; it may be my last 
 chance." 
 
 The sight of a hat lifted in salutation arrested 
 her attention. 
 
 She bent forward eagerly. " It is Major Raikes; 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. I4I 
 
 do stop the carriage, please ; the very person I 
 want to speak to ! " 
 
 " And I'm going into this shop, so I'll not in- 
 terrupt you," as the carriage drew up at a fashion- 
 able emporium in Sackville Street. She dis- 
 mounted, and, after a few words to the major 
 passed in, leaving him and Miss Em together. 
 
 " My dear major," she exclaimed impetuously, 
 " will you come to a card party with me to-night ? 
 I've carte blanche to bring any one I like, so long 
 as he can play, and doesn't object to moderately 
 high stakes." 
 
 " I think I can answer for myself in both those 
 particulars," said the major; "and of course I'm 
 at your service Miss O'Hara, and honoured to be 
 so. May I ask, do I know the " 
 
 " Oh ! it's at my aunt's, Miss Bedelia O'Hara's. 
 Surely you've met her somewhere. She's lived in 
 Dublin the best part of her life. No ? haven't you ? 
 (as he shook his head) well then, it's time you 
 should ; she's quite the historical character of the 
 family. If I possessed any literary talent I'd w T rite 
 her life. She has two weaknesses, cookery and 
 cards. Shall you be seeing Paddy to-day ? If so, 
 do ask him to come also." 
 
 The major promised, "What time ? " he asked. 
 " You've only said evening." 
 
 "Oh, nine o'clock or thereabouts," said Miss 
 Em. " Here's the address." 
 
 She tore off a slip of paper, the heading of the 
 letter she had received, and thrust it into his hand 
 just as Lady Pat appeared in the doorway. The 
 major raised his hat to both ladies, and walked 
 off. 
 
 " I do hope she is not flirting with him," 
 thought Lady Pat anxiously, as she glanced at 
 Miss Em's radiant face. " She never looks as 
 pleased zsthat, unless she's plotting some mischief ! " 
 
142 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 " Well, aunt, here lam!" 
 
 Thus Miss Em announced herself at seven 
 o'clock that evening, popping her head uncere- 
 moniously into the "parlour," as Miss O'Hara 
 called the apartment which modern villa-ism now 
 thinks fit to term "drawing-room". 
 
 But Miss Bedelia O'Hara had a great many 
 old-fashioned prejudices, and this was one. 
 
 She was an erect spare old lady, of any age 
 between sixty and seventy — no one knew exactly 
 to a few years. She wore her own hair looped over 
 either side, of sharply defined features and keen 
 dark eyes, in a style she termed bandeaux, but 
 which Miss Em described as "window curtains". 
 
 Her erect carriage and pale clear skin and 
 the aforesaid sharp features gave her an air of 
 distinction. She always dressed in black, and 
 was addicted to massive gold ornaments, in the 
 shape of chain, brooch and earrings. Her love of 
 gossip and keen acquaintance with her neighbours' 
 affairs made her rather formidable to those of- 
 fenders in whose interests she acted as detective, 
 or whose private life shunned that " fierce light 
 which beats " not only upon the " throne," but the 
 ordinary leather-covered arm-chair of the evil- 
 doer. Yet she was ease-loving and kindly at 
 heart, despite her sharpness of tongue, and keen- 
 ness of vision. She was no friend to calm surround- 
 ings ; her life had never been tranquil, and age 
 for her was no smoothly gliding stream, but a 
 restless current, apt to twist and turn and make 
 eccentric dashes into various inlets which might 
 as well have been avoided. 
 
 It was to this lady that Miss Em announced 
 herself so unceremoniously, yet with the confi- 
 dence of one who knows herself welcome. 
 
 " I've come early on purpose," she added after 
 the old lady had embraced her with effusive affec- 
 tion. " I knew you would have plenty to tell me." 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. I43 
 
 For the next five minutes question and answer 
 went on with the briskness of a fusillade, as if to 
 emphasise the truth of this statement. Lady Pat, 
 the Kellys' ball, the health of the folk at Carrig- 
 duve, the probable duration of Miss Em's stay in 
 Dublin, a bankruptcy and divorce case, a new re- 
 ceipt for fish sauce which Miss Bedelia had in- 
 vented for that evening, and a lament over a run 
 of ill-luck at nap, — all these subjects were jumbled 
 together, and seemed to possess the deepest inter- 
 est for both aunt and niece. 
 
 " I hope Lady Patricia won't think me dis- 
 courteous for not inviting her," remarked the old 
 lady at last. " But I wanted you all to myself 
 until dinner was over. By the way, my dear, 
 have you asked any one in to take a hand ? " 
 
 " Yes ; two men — Paddy Kearney, you know, 
 and a friend of his — a Major Raikes. He is 
 delightful company and doesn't object to high 
 stakes." 
 
 Aunt Bedelia's dark eyes glistened approvingly. 
 These were guests after her own heart. 
 
 Miss Em had been perfectly right when she 
 spoke of the "vice of gambling " as an inheritance 
 of the O'Hara blood. Bedelia O'Hara was a 
 gambler, heart and soul. She could bear loss or 
 gain with equal equanimity, and, having fortunately 
 a small income secured against risks, had managed 
 to keep her head above water even under long runs 
 of bad luck and the obligation of recklessly incurred 
 debts. 
 
 She was warmly attached to her niece, in whom 
 she had always recognised the true O'Hara charac- 
 teristics, and whose rebellion against the yoke of 
 matrimony resembled her own, and indeed dis- 
 played every prospect of leaving her stranded also 
 on the shores of celibacy. 
 
 The announcement of dinner cut short the dis- 
 cussion of personal matters for a time, and the 
 
144 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 two ladies betook themselves to the dining-room, 
 a small, cosy apartment, whose limited accommoda- 
 tion was seldom taxed to the extent of more than 
 six or eight guests. But Miss Bedelia had a 
 weakness for cookery and a talent for invention, 
 which rendered this limited number a boon, just 
 as isolated cases of sickness are preferable to 
 epidemics. 
 
 Along with the ardour of inventive genius, Fate 
 had dowered this amateur Francatelli with the 
 perpetual odium of failure. She would lie awake 
 for hours studying out some marvellous combina- 
 tion of seasoning, or flavouring, or icing; she would 
 see in her " mind's eye," as she described it, the 
 perfection of a dish, the charm of an entree ; and 
 yet, wedded to the prosaic details of ingredients, 
 and the hazards of oven or frying-pan, the said 
 dish or entree would degenerate into a nauseous 
 compound, over-flavoured or under-cooked, or else 
 show a malevolent determination to turn into 
 something totally different from its inventor's 
 original design. 
 
 But all artists have suffered from similar freaks. 
 The design of the creator and the obduracy of the 
 thing created have from time immemorial sounded 
 a harsh note of discouragement to inventive ears. 
 Miss Bedelia was not to be discouraged by such 
 paltry rebuffs. She returned again and again to 
 the charge with a zeal that was almost admirable, 
 and a tenacity of purpose that was worthy of a 
 Napoleon. "Not to know yourself defeated" is 
 an excellent principle, and acts almost as well as 
 an assurance of victory. 
 
 Miss Em, secure in the possession of an admir- 
 able digestion, awaited the advent of the new 
 sauce with perfect equanimity. 
 
 Its look left nothing to be desired, though a 
 strong flavour of sherry suggested antagonism 
 to the accompanying turbot. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. I45 
 
 Miss Bedelia's invention had not thought pro- 
 per to ''leave well alone," but boldly dashed at 
 marsala for flavouring Sauce Hollandaise, arguing 
 that sherry was the due accompaniment to fish. 
 
 " What do you think of it, Peg my dear ? " she 
 asked her niece anxiously. 
 
 Miss Em tried to be diplomatic, and observed 
 that the colour was beautiful, but the flavour was 
 surely a little — well — just a very little — vinous. 
 Otherwise it was a delightful sauce, putting 
 shrimps and anchovy and orthodox " melted 
 butter" quite into the shade. 
 
 All the same she secured her plate from obser- 
 vation, and gave a significant glance to the elderly 
 parlour-maid, well understood of that personage, 
 who had known her from girlhood, and ranked 
 her next to her mistress in her affections. 
 
 That glance had the freemasonry of an under- 
 stood signal, and the plate was dexterously re- 
 moved without hurting the feelings of the hostess 
 by any hint of rejected contents. 
 
 She was already astride of her hobby, having 
 had a new inspiration which she described poetic- 
 ally as "a dream of potatoes boiled in milk, 
 shredded and iced, and served as a sweet ". 
 
 Miss Em agreed that it sounded delicious, 
 though a little unseasonable for winter parties. 
 She breathed freely as the next course displayed 
 the simplicity of a homely fowl, boiled and served 
 with parsley and bacon ; the sweets too were 
 simple and safe, as Miss Bedelia had entrusted 
 them to the cook, being too absorbed by her own 
 particular invention of the hour to attempt any- 
 thing else. 
 
 Coffee and liqueur were brought in with the 
 dessert, while the elderly parlour-maid prepared 
 the "parlour" for expected guests by bringing 
 out a green baize-covered table, and arranging 
 various packs of cards on it. 
 
 10 
 
146 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 Aunt Becielia sipped her chartreuse with the 
 approbation of a connoisseur, and waxed commu- 
 nicative over a recent " scandal in high life" 
 which had shocked society in Dublin to the core. 
 
 " To lose such a position ! " — she lamented, " and 
 after having put up with her husband for so long. 
 I really don't know why she should have left him. 
 There's so little difference in men when it comes 
 to living with them that I never can understand 
 a woman running away from one to take up with 
 another." 
 
 Miss Em's eyes looked faintly quizzical ; perhaps 
 she wondered how a maiden lady of Aunt Bede- 
 lia's years could pronounce so authoritatively on 
 the nature of the stronger sex. 
 
 " There seems a great deal of difference in 
 them," she observed. 
 
 " Yes, while they are lovers," said Aunt Bedelia 
 sharply. " Gracious powers ! the foolish things 
 women do for men ! I lose all patience when I 
 think of it. What a multitude of faults she can 
 excuse in him, if he only pleads he ' loves her' ! " 
 
 " Love is the best thing in life according to the 
 best authorities," said Miss Em, who delighted in 
 drawing out sentiments of this description from 
 the old lady. 
 
 " According to fools ! " snapped Aunt Bedelia. 
 " Love ! faugh ! a schoolboy's fancy for the first 
 pretty face, a girl's dream of the impossible, and 
 a woman's realisation of it ! " 
 
 " But there must be a good deal in it, or we 
 should not see so many wrecked and unhappy lives." 
 
 " There is no more in love itself, as a passion 
 or sentiment, than there is in the individual who 
 professes it. Human nature is weak, and the 
 wear and tear of life leave no room for poetry." 
 
 " And yet," argued Miss Em, "no woman likes 
 to marry without some sort of sentiment in the 
 matter." 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. I47 
 
 "Don't they?" answered her aunt. "I fancy 
 society could tell you a different story. If I 
 had my youth over again " 
 
 She stopped abruptly. Perhaps memory can 
 give a stab of remembered pain even when hearts 
 are old, and brows wrinkled ; and the O'Haras, 
 men and women alike, had been credited with the 
 ability "to love madly, and hate badly;" but the 
 bond of remembrance soon released its hold, and 
 the keen well-tutored face took back its natural 
 expression. 
 
 " Perhaps it's as well I can't," she went on. " I 
 might make a fool of myself; there's no knowing, 
 and we won't take other folk's counsel. However, 
 a pinch of experience is worth a pound of advice. 
 You've had both, Peg." 
 
 " I have," said Miss Em, with a sudden tighten- 
 ing of her lips; "I can't say, though, that I've 
 made very good use of them." 
 
 " I always feel that you'll make a good sensible 
 marriage yet," remarked Aunt Bedelia, as she 
 placidly crossed her withered hands, on which a 
 few valuable rings were sparkling ; "you owe it to 
 your family, and yourself." 
 
 "You might have set me the example," said 
 Miss Em ; " you had every opportunity." 
 
 " Perhaps I had. But I was hard to please 
 when pleasure was possible ; and Time has a 
 knack of drifting us on before we are well aware 
 of it. I might have done a great deal w r ith my 
 life, but I have only been one of the paviors of 
 hell," she added bitterly. "Be warned by me, 
 Peg. There's no living creature I care for but 
 yourself, and all I have will be yours, as I've often 
 told you ; still, I fancy you'd be happier for having 
 a house of your own, and an assured position." 
 
 Miss Em shook her head rebelliously. " I like 
 freedom, and all the married women I've ever 
 known are little better than slaves. Willing 
 
I48 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 ones, rebellious ones ; but slaves in some sort, with 
 chains either proudly displayed, or jealously hidden 
 — but wasn't that the bell, aunt ? " 
 
 "Yes," said the old lady, rising and pushing 
 aside the liqueur stand ; " I wonder who are the 
 first arrivals — your friends or mine? " 
 
 • •••••• 
 
 Aunt Bedelia made a charming hostess to men. 
 Her own sex were less approving. Her sharp 
 tongue, quick vision, and insight into their " little 
 ways," being characteristics that met with various 
 uncomplimentary opinions. 
 
 It was strange that both aunt and niece should 
 be so popular with a sex to whom both had denied 
 the privilege of annexation. Miss Em had studied 
 her aunt with curious interest, seeing in her mode 
 of life a possible reflection of her own future. 
 They had always been strangely attached to one 
 another, lenient to errors, and admiring of better 
 qualities, upheld by that curious family chivalry 
 which is essentially Irish, and will allow no third 
 person to find fault with faults however apparent. 
 
 The card party consisted of six, and midnight 
 found them deeply absorbed in nap. The stakes 
 had been moderate hitherto, and the luck pretty 
 evenly divided. A handsome, and rather " fast " 
 little widow, Mrs. O'Connell, and an elderly admirer 
 of hers, were the two guests Aunt Bedelia had 
 invited. Major Raikes had brought Paddy 
 Kearney. 
 
 As the clock struck twelve, they left off playing 
 for a short time, and discussed luck and losses, 
 while partaking of the sandwiches, wine and 
 whisky punch, and various other refreshments 
 which had been brought in. 
 
 Miss Em made some remark as to departure, 
 but Mrs. O'Connell overruled the suggestion, and 
 she was easily persuaded to stay on. As for 
 Aunt Bedelia, she was ready to sit up all the night 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 149 
 
 when cards were in question, and Fortune had 
 favoured her to-night in a special manner. 
 
 The chill sound of rain was audible in the street 
 without, and rendered the cosy parlour doubly 
 attractive. The mellow odours of punch and 
 the permission for cigars were further induce- 
 ment to remain ; and Mrs. O'Connell's tongue 
 became more recklessly amusing, and Miss Em 
 and Aunt Bedelia more than usually entertaining, 
 under the influence of the somewhat potent 
 beverage which had been served to them by 
 Paddy and the major. 
 
 Play was resumed, and a suggestion of higher 
 stakes met with no opposition. Time passed 
 swiftly, but no memory of prudence touched the 
 flying hours with anything so powerful as re- 
 straint. 
 
 Miss Em, glancing at the paper beside her, was 
 surprised to find her losses touching on three 
 figures ; but the fact seemed only to fire the 
 chances of the game with fresh excitement. She 
 threw herself heart and soul into it, playing as no 
 one there played, losing as no one there lost. 
 
 The first faint streaks of daylight were peering 
 through the closed blinds before any thought of 
 leaving that fatal green board seemed to occur 
 to hostess or guests. 
 
 When they at last separated and Miss Em, for 
 decency's sake, felt compelled to accept her aunt's 
 offer of a bed, instead of returning to the hotel, she 
 had lost over a hundred pounds. 
 
 "Anne," said Lady Pat next morning, weary 
 of waiting breakfast, "do go to Miss O'Hara's 
 room and tell her how late it is. I'm quite tired 
 of waiting." 
 
 In two or three minutes Anne, the stately, 
 returned, her face white and anxious. 
 
 "If you please, my lady, Miss O'llara isn't in 
 
150 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 her room, and she can't have come home all night, 
 for the bed hasn't been slept in." 
 
 Lady Pat looked first startled, then scandalised. 
 " Not come home all night ! What will the hotel 
 people think ? " 
 
 " Perhaps she has stayed at her aunt's, my 
 lady?" 
 
 " Ah ! " Lady Pat gave a sigh of relief. " Not 
 unlikely, Anne. Oblige me by going round to 
 inquire if that is the case. You know the address; 
 you had better take a fly " 
 
 She stopped abruptly. Hurried steps, voices, a 
 gay laugh, and the culprit was in the room. 
 
 " Dear Lady Pat, a thousand apologies ! Do 
 forgive me. Aunt Bedelia kept things up so late, 
 and it was such a wretched night, so I slept there ; 
 I thought I'd just catch you at breakfast. Morning, 
 Anne ! You look quite scared ; did you think I 
 had made away with myself? Lady Pat, a cup of 
 coffee or I'll die. Any letters ? " 
 
 " One — from Carrig-duve," and Lady Pat handed 
 it to her, while Anne retired and closed the door, 
 her face having regained its usual dignified com- 
 posure. 
 
 " Madam O'Hara, as I live ! Gracious powers, 
 what has happened that she should write to me ? " 
 
 She tore open the envelope, and flashed her 
 eyes rapidly over the contents. A red flush rose 
 to her brow, and for a moment anger and defiance 
 fought swiftly for expression, then she suddenly 
 crushed up the letter and put it in her pocket. 
 Lady Pat handed her the coffee-cup, with an inquir- 
 ing glance. 
 
 " Well ? " she asked. 
 
 Miss Em's answer was enigmatical. 
 
 " The Philistines be upon thee, Samson," she 
 said. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 151 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 TROUBLED WATERS. 
 
 Lightly as Miss Em treated the subject, she was 
 secretly furious at Mrs. O'Hara's letter, which was 
 couched in most insulting terms, and demanded 
 instant restoration of her stolen property. 
 
 The fact of that " old trumpery," as her step- 
 daughter termed it, being amongst the diamonds, 
 threatened unpleasant complications. 
 
 But Miss Em had a scheme in her own mind 
 which she had intended to put into execution this 
 very morning ; and after a brief parley with herself, 
 in which prudence played a small, but wholly in- 
 efficient part, she determined to carry it out. 
 
 The first thing was to get rid of Lady Pat and 
 gain for herself a free hour. Fortunately, this 
 proved easier than at first appeared possible ; for 
 Lady Pat reminded her that the "useful dress- 
 maker" was to put in an appearance, in order to 
 supervise, fit, and modernise such dresses as were 
 worth these alterations. Suggesting that ^ Miss Em 
 had better give up the morning to this important 
 matter, and take Anne into the conference, Lady 
 Pat excused herself from being present on the plea 
 of an engagement. Thus favoured by circum- 
 stances, Miss Em saw the way clear to her own 
 project. 
 
 No sooner had Lady Pat departed in the carriage 
 than she summoned Anne, and gave her full direc- 
 tions as to the different skirts and bodices which 
 offered any possibility of improvement ; thus 
 judiciously" flattering the maid by relying on her 
 assistance, and permitting her suggestions. 
 
 " I quite trust to you," she said in conclusion, 
 as she hastily put herself into walking garb, sup- 
 plemented by a more than usually thick veil, 
 
152 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 Anne noticed this, and also that she carried two 
 parcels in her hand ; but Miss Em's eccentricities 
 and vagaries were no novelty to her, and even had 
 they been so, she would not have felt it her place 
 to make any remark thereon. 
 
 The rain had passed off, but the sky was grey 
 and lowering. It was one of those days that de- 
 pression seems to have marked for its own, and 
 Nature heaves death sighs throughout hours of 
 gloom. Miss Em stood in the hotel porch and 
 surveyed the muddy streets and threatening clouds 
 with some apprehension. 
 
 " I ought to have brought an umbrella," she 
 thought, but her hands were encumbered, and her 
 skirts would require attention ; she resolved to run 
 the risk of showers, and was just stepping boldly 
 forward when she heard her name pronounced, 
 and glancing back saw Sir Jasper Lustrell hasten- 
 ing after her. 
 
 "Are you going out?" he asked eagerly and 
 unnecessarily. " May I have the pleasure of walk- 
 ing with you ? " 
 
 " Good heavens ! what a nuisance ! " thought 
 Miss Em. " However shall I get rid of him ? " 
 
 But she only smiled sweetly on the old valetu- 
 dinarian, and said that she would be delighted. 
 ''But I'm only going to the post-office," she 
 added. 
 
 Sir Jasper, it appeared, was bound in the same 
 direction ; so they proceeded down the street 
 together, unconscious of the lynx eyes of Miss 
 Sabina watching this proceeding from an upper 
 window. 
 
 Miss Em dashed into conversation with her 
 usual aplomb; but her mind was ill at ease, and 
 Sir Jasper's courtly compliments were more 
 annoying than pleasing. When they reached 
 the post - office she expected he would take his 
 leave, but he only offered to wait for her. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 153 
 
 There was nothing for it but to lie boldly. Miss 
 Em stated that an appointment with a dressmaker 
 would prevent her taking advantage of his escort. 
 
 The old baronet looked disconcerted ; it was 
 rarely that he offered such attentions, and pro- 
 bably he was surprised they were not more 
 ardently welcomed. However, he had no further 
 excuse for lingering and so took himself off. 
 
 Miss Em registered one of her parcels, and left 
 it to be forwarded to its destination ; the other 
 she retained. On leaving the post-office she walked 
 down the street very rapidly, glancing with some 
 apprehension at the different figures she passed. 
 She stopped at last before a plate-glass window, 
 whose tempting array of jewellery, old china, and 
 old silver, was well deserving of attention. But 
 Miss Em's eyes, to any one observing her, were 
 only roving to right and left, and not until the 
 street was comparatively deserted, did she seem 
 to make up her mind to enter the emporium. It 
 was a full quarter of an hour before she emerged, 
 flushed and radiant, but minus her parcel. 
 
 Calling the first vacant fly she sprang into it 
 and was driven rapidly away to the Gresham. 
 Lady Pat had not yet returned ; so she speedily 
 divested herself of hat and mantle, and then sat 
 down to write a letter which she had been com- 
 posing at intervals all the morning. 
 
 The task appeared to afford her unmitigated 
 satisfaction. 
 
 " I'd like to see Madam Skinflint's face when 
 she reads that!" she said, as she closed the enve- 
 lope ; " there's not much, but there's enough." 
 
 Certainly there was not much. The letter said 
 briefly, and without even the customary form of 
 address : — 
 
 " I have sent back your own valuable property, 
 which I discovered accidentally amongst my 
 diamonds ; your claim to the latter has yet to be 
 
154 PEG j THfi Rake. 
 
 proved. In the interim of the proceedings you 
 threaten I have placed them in the safe custody 
 of Messrs. Needham, Watts and Co., who have 
 kindly advanced me £200 on them. 
 
 "Emilia O'Hara." 
 
 • ••••••• 
 
 Miss Em was in radiant spirits at luncheon ; 
 so much so that Lad}- Pat suspected mischief. 
 She gave an account of Aunt Bedelia's dinner and 
 card party that amused the elder lady immensely ; 
 but, needless to say, she observed a discreet 
 silence on the subject of her own losses, and the 
 proceedings of the morning. But the satisfaction 
 arising from a successfully carried out scheme 
 was apparent, and the relief of knowing her debt 
 to Mrs. O'Connell and Major Raikes could be paid 
 off at once, sent her mercurial temperament up to 
 its highest limits. 
 
 Besides, there were engagements for afternoon 
 and evening that promised an agreeable distrac- 
 tion. Miss Em, however, vainly endeavoured to 
 gain any positive information respecting Lady 
 Pat's intentions as to going abroad. It was 
 plain that the scheme of marrying her to Sir 
 Jasper was paramount in the mind of her god- 
 mother; and though Miss Em affected to laugh at 
 it as impossible, she was quite conscious that it 
 mainly rested with herself to prove the reverse. 
 
 As yet, however, she had not made up her mind 
 on the subject ; nor could she bring herself to 
 view it without distaste. But the necessity of 
 " keeping in " with Lady Pat made her diplo- 
 matic, and she had no desire that the affair of 
 the diamonds or her recent losses at cards should 
 reach that lady's ears. 
 
 The strongest spirits have their moments of 
 timidity, and Miss Em never felt so genuinely 
 weak as after she had done something unusually 
 audacious. If her father and stepmother chose to 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 155 
 
 make a fuss over this last exploit it would be 
 extremely unpleasant for her, to say the least of 
 it, and viewed in that light Sir Jasper seemed an 
 admirable sop to throw to Cerberus. They would 
 not be severe on an escapade which reflected on 
 the first lady of the county. 
 
 It was not till night, however, that her spirits 
 quieted down, when the allurement of a tete-a-tete 
 had brought forth all the worldly wisdom and 
 skilful counsel of that astute mondaine, Lady Pat. 
 
 They had met Sir Jasper at dinner, and again 
 his attentions had been so marked as to attract 
 notice and add another shade of sourness to Miss 
 Sabina Lustrell's expression. She had been as 
 nearly rude as possible to Miss Em, thereby 
 adding only an incentive to her acceptance of the 
 old baronet's compliments and flatteries. 
 
 "If I ever marry him it will be as much to 
 spite that hateful old maid as anything else ! " 
 she said to Lady Pat as they sat by the fire and 
 sipped Anne's carefully prepared cordial before 
 retiring for the night. 
 
 " Marry him for any reason you please, so only 
 you do marry him," thought Lady Pat ; but aloud 
 she only remarked that it was a pity good women 
 were so uninteresting. "I daresay," she murmured 
 dreamily, "that the excellent Sabina has never 
 done anything wrong or regrettable in her life ; 
 and yet I've never heard she had one real friend. 
 nor would her death wring a genuine tear from 
 any eye." 
 
 " You think, then, that to be interesting it is 
 necessary to be wicked? " remarked Miss Em. 
 
 "Oh no, I don't go as far as that. I mean 
 that a little experience, a little knowledge of 
 temptation, is worth more to a woman than a 
 thousand theories. What is unknown cannot 
 be understood ; and so many women preach virtue 
 from an exalted pinnacle of pure ignorance of 
 
I56 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 vice, that their opinions are practically worth- 
 less." 
 
 "That is true enough," said Miss Em. "The 
 fact of being ' untempted ' seems to afford a moral 
 standpoint from which to view the weak and the 
 fallen. Do you remember what they were saying 
 to-night of Lady Gaylord ? " 
 
 " Yes. One hears of nothing else but that 
 case. The curious part about it is that the man 
 she has gone off with is every whit as bad a 
 character as Lord Gaylord himself." 
 
 " Still, he has been devoted to her for years ; 
 and a villain all one's own is at least preferable 
 to a villain who is unfaithful." 
 
 " I suppose it is possible to hate the sin and 
 love the sinner," observed Lady Pat, between 
 thoughtful sips of her cordial. " Women are 
 anomalies, my dear. There's no doubt of that. 
 Our hearts outweigh our brains, and even the 
 most reasonable of us seem to lose our heads at 
 times. Oh, the blessing of a quiet slumbrous 
 nature, that cannot rage and fume and dash itself 
 against the rocks of circumstance ! " 
 
 " Its losses may outweigh its gain." 
 
 " Not if the owner is unconscious of the fact. I 
 have come across two or three such people in the 
 course of my life, and they seemed as nearly happy 
 as any mortals could be on this uncertain plane." 
 
 "Happy!" echoed Miss Em drearily: "that 
 misapplied and misunderstood word! How vague 
 its meaning is to most of us ! " 
 
 " I think," said Lady Pat, as she raised an 
 embroidered flounce from an arched instep, so as 
 to give her feet the benefit of the fire, " that the 
 best definition I ever heard of happiness was that 
 it is 'a sense of possibilities waiting for fulfil- 
 ment ' ." 
 
 "That's only a new cloak for an old truth, 
 ' Man never is, but always to be blessed,'" Miss 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 157 
 
 Em answered. " Of course, it is eminently right, 
 not to say religious, to be satisfied with one's 
 position in life, and pretend to believe it is the 
 very best position for us, but who is so — honestly ? " 
 
 " No one, I'm afraid," laughed Lady Pat, 
 " unless it's a bishop ; they have always seemed 
 to me most enviable persons. I should like to 
 have married one if only to prove my theory." 
 
 " Might not that have been the very way to 
 disprove it ? " asked Miss Em mischievously. " A 
 bishop is but a man after all ; and I suppose the 
 silk apron and gaiters don't cover more exalted 
 virtues than may exist under tweed knickerbockers 
 or check suits." 
 
 " Oh, my dear ! how shocking ! a dignitary of 
 the Church compared to " 
 
 "Our own tourist's inexpressibles at 19/11/ 5 
 laughed Miss Em. "And why not ? If they 
 were both shipwrecked on a desert island we 
 should soon prove the relative value of the man 
 and the profession." 
 
 ' 'But there is no question of desert islands,' 
 said Lady Pat with dignity. " And though I am 
 not a prejudiced person exactly, I have always 
 maintained that clerical dignity should be upheld 
 and reverenced." 
 
 " It is a pity that the clerical dignitaries them- 
 selves haven't done more to elevate their office," 
 said Miss Em, who had strong ideas on this point. 
 "Those who hold the highest positions in the 
 Church have proved but frail reeds to trust to 
 when leadership or guidance is required. In any 
 cases of intellectual difficulty a clergyman is the 
 last person I should dream of consulting. The 
 chains of dogma and sectarianism bind them so 
 closely that freedom of thought is impossible." 
 
 "They hold a very responsible position," said 
 Lady Pat, "and naturally feel reluctant to give 
 opinions that may reflect upon it." 
 
PtLG, TttB RAKE. 
 
 ''There are two points I have always noticed as 
 distinguishing them, Catholics and Protestants 
 alike," said Miss Em ; " one is a strong belief in 
 their own importance (by virtue of office), the 
 other a Jesuitical tendency which, however true 
 the religion it upholds, fails in making it a religion 
 of truth. A priest — I speak in general terms, 
 without reference to creed — will never give you a 
 straight, fair answer to a plain question. His 
 office seems to forbid it. They generalise, and 
 take refuge in platitudes and reservations which 
 can only deepen one's distrust. Sometimes I 
 think that a state of calm scepticism would be 
 preferable to unsolved doubts, and unanswerable 
 arguments." 
 
 Lady Pat sighed. "It is a state of feeling we 
 all go through," she said. " For my part I never 
 could find any comfort in the Romish faith. It 
 vulgarises so much that is beautiful. Look at 
 their symbols and images if you want an illustra- 
 tion of my meaning. Their bleeding hearts and 
 distorted figures, and idiotic pictures of so-called 
 ' saints '. The grandest school of Art the world 
 has ever known was ruined by the age of super- 
 stition in which it was founded. All independ- 
 ent taste, all wealth of genius had to be sacrificed 
 to the iron rule of the priesthood ; and I have 
 always felt that such sacrifice of fame and inde- 
 pendence was dearly bought. You have only to 
 wander through any of the churches or cathe- 
 drals in France, Italy, or Spain, to have ample 
 illustration of my meaning. The average con- 
 ception of the Deity must be a very low one if 
 men can limit His taste to what is repulsive and 
 inartistic to their own." 
 
 " I have had the same idea while looking on 
 at a Roman Catholic service," remarked Miss 
 Em. " I can never do so without wondering 
 how the mind of man could possibly frame any- 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 150 
 
 thing so idiotic and insulting ! The posturing, 
 the gestures, the dressing up like mature dolls, 
 the bowing and bobbing and grimacing, — it is all 
 so painfully humiliating, so wanting in true 
 dignity, and so utterly uncalled for. It says so 
 plainly: 'I, man, am doing all this in self-glorifica- 
 tion,' but it never — at least, to my mind — conveys 
 one thought of reverence, or one feeling of exalted 
 worship. The music does its best to excite 
 emotion, but that even is made more sensual than 
 elevating and when you hear a boy's exquisite 
 voice, and know that there are men cruel enough 
 to force him to sacrifice the whole future of man- 
 hood for its sake, so that some pontiff or selfish 
 
 dignitary may boast of its possession Oh ! of 
 
 course, one oughtn't to speak of such things, we 
 know that ; but, all the same, they exist, along with 
 a hundred other vices and cruelties that hypocrisy 
 veils, and conventionality governs ! " 
 
 " Why, Emilia, my dear child ! " 
 
 Lady Pat was looking at her in astonishment, — 
 at the flushed cheek, the flashing eye, the quiver- 
 ing lips, signs of fierce and unwonted emotion 
 which she had rarely witnessed. 
 
 Miss Em made a sudden effort to regain her 
 usual self-control, but it was not easy. "The 
 subject excited me," she said. " It brought back 
 a time of misery and weakness — a time when I 
 cried for bread and received a stone ! When I 
 would have poured my heart's blood out for any 
 real comfort, any certain assurance that God and 
 Peace were in that dark future to which the grave 
 was but a passage." 
 
 " You mean," said Lady Pat in a low strained 
 voice, "that time you entered the convent ? " 
 
 "Yes. Life had lost all charm. I was in the 
 mood that makes saints or sinners of women. 
 Unfortunately, there is no neutral ground. We 
 either harm, or bless." 
 
l6o PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 Lady Pat looked at her somewhat anxiously. 
 There were portions and phases of her god- 
 daughter's life with which she was quite unfamiliar, 
 despite the affection and confidence which existed 
 between them. This convent episode was one, 
 when she had thrown aside one form of religion 
 for another, and sought to place a barrier between 
 herself and that world with which she was at 
 variance. It was the only time in her life when 
 dissatisfaction had taken positive form ; but she 
 came forth from the ordeal or experiment in a worse 
 state than she had entered it. " Happiness makes 
 goodness,' 5 she affirmed, " and misery makes sin." 
 The truism was an old one, but self-evident. 
 Years and youth went by in the endeavour to re- 
 capture what seemed happiness ; but that restless 
 Will o' the Wisp defied her efforts, and led her 
 only into quagmires of recklessness, the mire of 
 whose memory clung about her to this day. 
 
 " Don't you think," suggested Lady Pat softly, 
 "that having seen so much, and felt so much, you 
 might quiet down into a sort of content ? There 
 are few troubles that money cannot soothe, and 
 an assured position benefit. Promise me to think 
 seriously of this. I have a special reason for 
 asking it." 
 
 Miss Em looked up quickly. Her heart gave 
 a guilty throb of apprehension. " You have heard 
 — something? " she said faintly. 
 
 "Yes," said Lady Pat, with gravity; "I don't 
 know why I shouldn't tell you. Of course, I knew 
 always that you had certain expectations from 
 your aunt, Miss O'Hara, and that her money 
 would leave you independent of anything your 
 father might be influenced to do. Well, to-day 
 I happened to meet her solicitor, who is also mine, 
 and in course of conversation he let out that she 
 has suffered so severely by speculations of one sort 
 or another that in a sudden fit of terror she has 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. l6l 
 
 sunk a large portion of her income in an annuity. 
 This means that at her death you will have really 
 next to nothing. He seemed to think she had 
 told you, but I felt sure you were ignorant of the 
 matter." 
 
 Miss Em had grown very pale. " Yes," she said , 
 " I knew nothing of it." 
 
 They were both silent for a time, lost in a train 
 of thought that led to a vast area of possibilities. 
 To Miss Em it seemed that a net of doom was 
 closing round her slowly and surely, that what 
 had looked merely a jest at first was turning into 
 very serious earnest. To live as she had been doing 
 for the last ten years was becoming distasteful ; 
 the constant strain it entailed on mind, energy, 
 and invention was more of a tax than an amuse- 
 ment. There were times when peace and rest 
 seemed the most desirable of earthly blessings, 
 yet they were blessings only possible to an assured 
 and certain amount of wealth. 
 
 Poverty had always been to her a thing hateful 
 and to be avoided ; she considered that most of the 
 ills and troubles of life sprang from want of means. 
 Riches gave independence to men and women 
 alike, and were surely worth some sacrifice. She 
 roused herself at last with a sort of desperate 
 
 energy. 
 
 "Aunt Bedelia was my last chance," she said. 
 " You know I have nothing to expect from my 
 father. He is completely under the thumb of 
 Madam Skinflint." 
 
 "And an old man now, my dear," said Lady 
 Pat softly. 
 
 " Yes ; that makes it worse." 
 
 She sat very still, looking at the fire as it 
 glowed between the iron bars of the grate. 
 5 " I think," she said at last, " I shall do it." 
 
 "Do what?" asked Lady Pat, a little too 
 eagerly, 
 
 II 
 
l62 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 " Marry Sir Jasper Lustrell, if he asks me. All 
 the same, he may never do that" 
 
 Lady Pat dropped her skirt over the embroidered 
 stockings and slender feet she had been toasting 
 so carefully ; a complacent smile hovered round 
 her lips. " I wish," she said, as she rose and 
 pushed back her chair, " that I was only half as 
 sure of meeting my bishop." 
 
 Miss Em laughed somewhat mirthlessly. She 
 was suddenly conscious of fatigue and general 
 weariness. 
 
 " It is always the unexpected that happens," she 
 said ; " who knows but what his Grace of Lawn and 
 Gaiters may appear on your horizon yet ? " 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 "I WILL SAY 'YES'." 
 
 A week had gone by. Time had not wrought 
 any startling change in the relative positions of Miss 
 Em and Sir Jasper, but it had brought news from 
 Carrig-duve in the shape of a letter from Quinlan, 
 describing what she termed " ructions " after the 
 discovery of the diamond abstraction. It appeared 
 that the receipt of her own jewellery and Miss 
 Em's letter had thrown Mrs. O'Hara into such a 
 " fayver of rage," that she had been quite ill, and 
 obliged to keep her bed, " for which," added the 
 writer, " the saints be praised, for I was just fairly 
 moithered wid her goings on, and she swearin' to 
 have the law o' you, Miss Peg darlint, if it was 
 to cost her last sixpence in this world, — and she 
 meant it, and no lie at all, at all." 
 
 "I wonder if she means it still," thought Miss- 
 Em somewhat uneasily, after reading the letter a 
 second time. It was one of her " dark days," — 
 days when melancholy and disgust lay heavy on 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 163 
 
 her soul and stamped every prospect with their 
 
 image. 
 
 Feeling utterly unfit for any company but her 
 own, she at last put on her hat and went out, 
 resolving to try a brisk walk to the Phoenix Park 
 as a cure for the threatened attack of " blues ". 
 
 The sky was, for once, blue and clear, the air 
 had the freshness and crispness of winter without 
 its cold. Her dress of black cloth, with a touch of 
 scarlet at the throat and a wing of the same 
 colour in her astrachan hat, was eminently becom- 
 ing, and, though she had felt too dispirited to dress 
 for effect, she had rarely looked more effective. 
 Half an hour of rapid exercise brought colour to 
 her clear skin, and calmed her nerves. She 
 moderated her pace, and began to take some 
 notice of her surroundings. It was with a sudden 
 sharp sense of distaste and surprise mingled that 
 she saw advancing towards her the well-known 
 figure of Sir Jasper. 
 
 His hat was off, and he was shaking hands with 
 her before she had quite made up her mind what 
 to do in order to avoid his company. 
 
 ^ " This is indeed fortunate," said the old baronet, 
 his face and voice for once sincere in their duet of 
 expression. " I was just wishing for a congenial 
 companion, something in harmony with Nature, 
 and, lo ! Fate sends me Miss O'Hara ! " 
 
 " I'm afraid I'm not at all in harmony with 
 Nature this morning," announced Miss Em, who 
 was in no mood for florid compliments, and whose 
 present humour made her the reverse of diplo- 
 matic. 
 
 She evaded his ardent glances, and stood there 
 as if determined that no hint of accompanying her in 
 her walk should be forthcoming. Sir Jasper was 
 far too keen an observer of feminine weakness not 
 to read the signs of petulance. She was out of 
 temper, and had evidently no intention of trying 
 
164 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 any of the pretty little devices of pleasing which 
 he knew so well. 
 
 This fact seemed to him rather pleasant than 
 otherwise. It offered an opportunity of discovering 
 what the genuine Miss Em was like, and also 
 appealed to his vanity to soothe or render her 
 forgetful of private annoyance by the charm of his 
 own company. He had been a great favourite 
 with women once, and he had always contrived to 
 make them believe in him. His vanity was easily 
 piqued ; and having come out with the hope of this 
 meeting, he resolved not to forego any possible 
 excitement or pleasure it might afford. 
 
 " Not in harmony with Nature ! " he said, re- 
 peating her words. " Your looks belie that 
 speech. They are as radiant as the morning 
 itself. May I ask if you are bound in any special 
 direction, and ask you to take pity on my loneli- 
 ness ? " 
 
 " I merely came out for a walk," she answered ; 
 " but I intended making it a long one." 
 
 " The longer the better if I may only share it," 
 he said with exaggerated tenderness. 
 
 She murmured something neither coherent 
 nor very audible, but Sir Jasper accepted it as 
 permission, and turned back with her at once. 
 The path was hilly and bordered by shrubberies ; 
 Miss Em made no effort to slacken her speed, and 
 her companion felt half inclined to regret his 
 persistence. Conversation was fitful, and rather 
 one sided for the first half-hour ; but after that 
 Miss Em appeared to forget her ill-humour and 
 her grievances, and became her usual gay and 
 brilliant self. The change delighted the old 
 baronet, more especially as he was at liberty to 
 attribute it to his own influence. Still, he vainly 
 endeavoured to give their talk a personal or 
 tender tone. Miss Em would speak of Ireland, 
 its people, and its complex grievances, of home 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 1 65 
 
 and foreign politics, of " places, persons, and 
 things," in fact ; but allow no meandering down 
 side-paths of intimacy, and understand no hints of 
 the passion she was fanning into flame with every 
 successive day. 
 
 The truth was she had a horror of being forced 
 into a decision from which there could be no 
 retreat. So long as the future dealt with possi- 
 bilities, and so long as it offered a prize to win, a 
 goal to reach, life had still some degree of interest; 
 but a marriage with Sir Jasper meant simply a 
 barrier to all future pleasure or excitement, — a 
 haven certainly, but a haven from whence she 
 could only gaze out at a dull shoreless ocean, 
 stretching into limitless distance. 
 
 But every rebuff he met with in this delicate 
 fencing was only an incentive to perseverance on 
 the part of Sir Jasper. He was not in love with 
 Miss Em, being far too selfish and self-engrossed 
 for the tender passion to have any effect upon him 
 at this period of existence ; but he was fascinated 
 by her, and her companionship offered an attrac- 
 tive contrast to that of his sour-tempered and 
 penurious sister ; moreover, a strong spirit of oppo- 
 sition to Miss Sabina's judgment and opinions 
 inclined him irresistibly towards one whom she 
 had lost no opportunity of traducing. 
 
 Some remark that hinted at an approaching 
 departure from Dublin surprised him into an 
 entreaty that she would remain there a little 
 longer. " It will be so dull without you," he said ; 
 " I shall miss you more than I can say." 
 
 " Miss me? " Miss Em looked at him question- 
 ingly, and yet with genuine surprise. "That is 
 too flattering to believe, Sir Jasper," she said. 
 
 " I have no wish to flatter you," he answered 
 with serious meaning. " I am only speaking the 
 truth. All the pleasure I have received from my 
 stay here, I owe to you. It seems rather hard 
 
l66 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 that I should be deprived of It at the very moment 
 when I had learnt my dependence." 
 
 " We have been neighbours and acquaintances 
 for a long time, Sir Jasper," she said sarcastically, 
 " and yet this discovery is only a fortnight old." 
 
 "That, of course, is both my fault and my mis- 
 fortune," he said tenderly ; " though I might plead 
 as excuse the small encouragement given by 
 Carrig-duve to Castle Lustrell." 
 
 " You cannot blame me for that," she said 
 hurriedly, the quick blood mounting to her face. 
 
 " Certainly not ; I am prepared to sympathise 
 with what I feel to be your very trying position 
 there. I only wish I could feel that you would 
 accept such sympathy as an assurance of my 
 personal regard and admiration." 
 
 The flush faded as quickly as it had risen ; she 
 made a strong effort to laugh off the seriousness 
 of the situation. " You are very good, Sir Jasper, 
 and sympathy is always a pleasant salve to wound- 
 ed vanity. Perhaps — now we understand one 
 another better " 
 
 "Ah/' he interrupted, " I am glad to hear you 
 say that ! Dear Miss O'Hara, would it be quite 
 impossible for you to — to overlook the disparity of 
 years between us and believe in the sincerity of a 
 devotion you have called to life ? It may seem 
 presumptuous to speak of marriage to one so 
 justly admired and so deservedly popular as your- 
 self; but, at least, I can offer you along with such 
 an alliance the position of independence denied 
 you in your own home. Pray do not decide 
 nastily," he added as she was about to speak ; — 
 " favour me, at least, by giving some consideration 
 to what I feel is more an appeal than an induce- 
 ment." 
 
 " You mean — you really ask me to — to " 
 
 stammered Miss Em in genuine bewilderment. 
 
 "To be my wife. That is the plain fact. I 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 167 
 
 may seem foolish — indeed, I frankly confess to you 
 I had no idea of a second marriage until — until I 
 felt how indispensable your society was becoming." 
 
 " People will say that I " 
 
 " That you have married the ' old fool ' for his 
 money. Let them ; the world is always more or 
 less uncharitable ; its falsehoods matter as little 
 to me now as its judgments did once. I have 
 learnt the value of both. Perhaps age has brought 
 me wisdom or — indifference ; at least, it has taught 
 me the worth of a woman's companionship, the 
 need of a true friend in my hours of loneliness. 
 You will not refuse some consideration to these 
 pleas," he urged, growing eloquent as he read the 
 signs of disturbance on her face. " After all it 
 may be but for a few years the sacrifice would be 
 required of you. Tell me you will think it 
 over." 
 
 "Who hesitates is lost," thought Miss Em, her 
 mind suddenly caught and engulfed in a conflict 
 of doubts and fears. She could not but feel that 
 she had achieved a great victory, and might achieve 
 a greater triumph. After being " knocked about 
 half her life," as she expressed it, here was an end 
 to such rough usage ; and its acknowledged draw- 
 backs might only be brief after all. Sir Jasper 
 was old ; a few years might set her free from 
 the unpalatable bondage of matrimony. The 
 thought of wealth and independence, the position 
 of mistress of Castle Lustrell, the persuasions and 
 arguments of Lady Pat, all came crowding on her 
 memory. 
 
 She turned towards Sir Jasper and met his 
 anxious gaze. " There is one point you have 
 not considered," she said gravely. — " Molly ! I 
 know what I have suffered myself at the hands of 
 a stepmother. I should not like to think I had 
 made any young life as unhappy as my own was 
 rendered." 
 
l68 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 A slight frown darkened Sir Jasper's brow. 
 " Molly ! Surely she is no obstacle — a girl just from 
 school, who ought to be thankful for such a com- 
 panion as yourself ; besides, she has always been 
 warmly attached to you. If that is your only ob- 
 jection I have nothing to fear." 
 
 " Will you wait for my decision until I have 
 spoken to her? " 
 
 " I must bow to your commands whatever form 
 they take," he said, biting his thin delicate lips 
 with ill-concealed impatience, "but it would be re- 
 assuring to hear that you have no decided objec- 
 tion to — myself." 
 
 " Oh ! I am sure you know that, Sir Jasper." 
 " Indeed, I feel the honour you have done me 
 more than I can express." 
 
 " And when may I hope to have my answer ? " 
 
 " To-morrow," she said. " I will see Molly in 
 the morning, and let you know the result." 
 
 He raised her hand to his lips with old-fashioned 
 courtesy. 
 
 " It will seem an eternity; but I can only hope 
 the result will answer my anticipations." 
 
 They had reached the park gates, and, though 
 Sir Jasper would have died sooner than confess to 
 fatigue, Miss Em saw that the long walk and 
 somewhat rapid pace had taxed his feeble strength 
 considerably. She suggested a cab, and they 
 drove back to the hotel, arriving there just at the 
 moment Lady Pat's carriage stopped the entrance 
 way. She was too diplomatic to look the surprise 
 she felt, and greeted Sir Jasper as if the circum- 
 stance of his driving about with her god-daughter 
 was quite an ordinary occurrence. They parted 
 at the door of Lady Pat's sitting-room, Sir Jasper 
 giving a warm pressure to the hand Miss Em 
 extended, and a tender glance that conveyed 
 " Remember " as plainly as any spoken words. 
 
 Lady Pat shut the door, and turned an eager 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. l6g 
 
 face towards her companion. " Well," she said, 
 " has he spoken ? " 
 
 Miss Em nodded carelessly. 
 
 "Yes; the die is cast. I'm to give my answer 
 to-morrow." 
 
 " To-morrow ! but why did you not decide at 
 once?" 
 
 "I — I could not!" she exclaimed, with a sort of 
 despairing energy; "I never found it so hard to 
 make up my mind before." 
 
 "Then how did you put him off?" asked Lady 
 Pat curiously. 
 
 " I said I must consult Molly." 
 
 " Why, what has she to do with it ? ° 
 
 "A great deal if I'm to be her stepmother. I 
 should hate the position if she objected." 
 
 "You are not at all the type of objectionable 
 stepmother, and I am sure Molly would greet the 
 arrangement with delight. You'll, of course, have 
 to get rid of Miss Sabina ; then there's no 
 earthly reason why Molly and yourself should not 
 hit it off admirably." 
 
 " Oh ! I've gone over all the pros and cons," said 
 Miss Em somewhat irritably ; " and I suppose it 
 will end in saying ' Yes '." 
 
 She took off her hat and sighed. 
 
 " I should so much prefer going abroad with 
 you," she added drearily. 
 
 " Make Sir Jasper take you to Paris for your 
 honeymoon," suggested Lady Pat, " and then 
 go on to the Riviera. I'll meet you there." 
 
 Miss Em shuddered. 
 
 " Honeymoon ! " she exclaimed bitterly; " as if 
 our very appearance wouldn't give the lie to the 
 word. No, thank you ; I shall stay in my own 
 land and my own house — if possible. I have no 
 illusions to destroy ; no hopes to fulfil ; marriage 
 is but a matter of business, and as such will be 
 conducted." 
 
170 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 " I see no reason why you should not be very 
 happy," said Lady Pat. " It is not as if you were 
 marrying a mere parvenu for his money ; Sir 
 Jasper is a gentleman." 
 
 " I never said he was not, but even gentlemen 
 can be guilty of meanness and dishonour. His 
 past is not stainless, and if age has improved his 
 morals, it has increased his selfishness. However, 
 I'm tired of the subject : let us say no more 
 about it. Will you send a note or message asking 
 Molly to come in this afternoon ? I must see 
 her." 
 
 She left the room then, nor would she come 
 down to luncheon despite Lady Pat's entreaties. 
 
 She drew down the blinds, and threw herself on 
 the bed, remaining there for hour after hour, 
 staring with wide musing eyes at the nickering 
 shadows on the wall, and hearing all the sounds 
 of outer life in a dull absent fashion. 
 
 " I wonder why he wants to marry me ! " she 
 thought. " Perhaps when he has done so, he will 
 repent it. I am not a bit the woman he fancies, 
 and he certainly is no more in love with me than 
 I with him." 
 
 Which was true enough, for Sir Jasper's love 
 centred chiefly in himself; but in the advanc- 
 ing shades of age he dreaded to find himself 
 companionless and comparatively alone. His 
 daughter was too young, and his sister too old 
 and sour, to be of either comfort or amusement. 
 Miss Em, on the other hand, had an indescribable 
 charm. She had become, not a passionate neces- 
 sity, but a daily need ; a rest, not a fever, which 
 after all to a man of his years was the most de- 
 sirable attraction a woman could possess. 
 
 He knew nothing of those vagaries of tempera- 
 ment and nature which had been so great a source 
 of trouble to herself and those connected with her. 
 He imagined she would be always as he had found 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 171 
 
 her in the pleasant daily intimacy of their life of 
 late. 
 
 Had he seen her now in the grip of this dark 
 hour he would have been startled and shocked. 
 As it was she let her mood run its course un- 
 checked ; its errant thoughts seared by the past 
 and distrustful of the future. 
 
 A knock at the door, timidly repeated more than 
 once, at last struck upon her semi-conscious medi- 
 tations. She raised herself on one arm and de- 
 manded to know who was there. 
 
 " It is I, Molly," said the sweet girl voice, with 
 its faint Irish accent, that she knew so well. 
 " May I come in for a moment ? " 
 
 Miss Em moved slowly to the door and opened 
 it. The pressure of warm arms about her neck, 
 of fresh young lips upon her cheek, seemed startling 
 and strange in the gloom of her surroundings. 
 
 She said nothing, but closed the door, and drew 
 the girl gently into the room. 
 
 " Dear Miss Em, how could you doubt, how 
 could you hesitate for one moment ? Papa told me 
 all. What is for his happiness must be for mine, 
 — and you of all people ! Why in the whole world 
 there is no one — no one — I would sooner see his 
 wife." 
 
 Still Miss Em was silent, thrilled by a sense of 
 calamity from which there was no escape. A 
 sudden helplessness left her passive in the hands 
 of a fate too recklessly challenged. 
 
 Molly grew alarmed. The room was so dark 
 that she could scarcely see the face on which her 
 kisses had left the seal of this new bond ; but 
 something in the rigidity and silence of the figure, 
 and the coldness of the hands she touched, warned 
 her that she had intruded upon some grief or 
 trouble of whose nature she was quite ignorant. 
 
 " Are you ill ? What is it ? " she asked in 
 alarm. 
 
172 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 Miss Em roused herself by a great effort. " 111 ? 
 No, my dear, only tired, and very, very sad. I have 
 had a great deal of trouble lately, and been obliged 
 to keep it to myself." 
 
 " You poor dear ! " said the girl sympathisingly. 
 " But it will all be over now, won't it ? and we 
 shall be so happy. The castle will be quite 
 another place under your rule. And — " she hesi- 
 tated, then added softly, as if afraid of her own 
 temerity, " you won't let Aunt Sabina remain 
 there, will you ? " 
 
 " I — I really can't say — I haven't made up my 
 mind," stammered Miss Em, all her usual savoir 
 faire overthrown by this unexpected interview. 
 " You see, my dear, I did not accept your father's 
 offer, I — only " 
 
 " Oh, Miss Em ! " cried the girl disappointedly; 
 " he seemed so sure you would do so. He said it 
 merely rested with me, and, of course, I could not 
 but be pleased — we've always been such good 
 friends, you and I, and the thought of having you 
 always with me was so delightful ! Why, I 
 felt sure it was all settled." 
 
 Miss Em seated herself in the arm-chair, and 
 drew the girl caressingly towards her. 
 
 "Marriage is a serious thing, Molly," she said. 
 "It's true I'm no young girl fired with romance, 
 and full of ideals ; — but still there are many things 
 to consider." 
 
 " Papa is very fond of you ; he says you are 
 the most charming woman he ever met, and he 
 only wishes to devote himself to your happiness." 
 
 "He is very good," said Miss Em, "and his 
 opinion of me is much too flattering." 
 
 "And you will say 'Yes'?" whispered Molly 
 coaxingly. " Ah, do, and make us all happy." 
 
 She felt the sudden quick throb of the heart 
 against which her pretty head was leaning; 
 it was well, perhaps, that she could not guess at 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 173 
 
 the conflict raging within, or read in the eyes 
 gazing into deepening shadows, the despair, but 
 not the peace, of an ended struggle. 
 
 " For the happiness I dare not vouch," said 
 Miss Em; "but I will say 'Yes,' Molly, if you 
 wish it." 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 CONGRATULATIONS. 
 
 An earthquake, a thunderbolt, or any similar 
 eccentricity of Nature could not have startled the 
 inmates of Carrig-duve more than did the unan- 
 nounced arrival of Miss Em one rainy evening in 
 February. 
 
 Mrs. O'Hara was sitting over a scanty fire 
 nursing a cold she had caught ; her spare figure 
 wrapped in an old woollen shawl, and her nose 
 and eyes in a state of acute inflammation that was 
 shared by her temper. 
 
 A more inopportune moment for the arrival ot 
 an unwelcome guest could not well have been dis- 
 covered, but her step-daughter appeared quite 
 indifferent to the form of her reception. 
 
 "Well," she said coolly, "here I am ; I 
 thought it was no use saying I was coming, as 
 you never do kill the fatted calf in my honour! 
 How are you both ? " 
 
 She nodded carelessly toward the shawled 
 figure, now sitting bolt upright and surveying 
 her with freezing dignity, dropped a hurried kiss 
 on the startled face of the old man opposite, and 
 then stood facing them both, drawing off her gloves 
 in leisurely fashion. 
 
 " What — what is the meaning of this intru- 
 sion ? " demanded Mrs. O'Hara, in a voice hoarse 
 with suppressed wrath and catarrh. 
 
174 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 " I — beg your pardon," said Miss Em coolly. 
 " Intrusion, did you call it ? I have been under 
 the impression that this was my home for the 
 last forty years ? is it possible I can have made a 
 mistake ? " 
 
 " I said intrusion, and I mean it ! " exclaimed 
 Mrs. O'Hara. "Your disgraceful and unwarrant- 
 able conduct on the occasion of your last visit 
 has forced me to — to close my doors against you. 
 I — I do not choose to harbour a thief in the house 
 any longer ! " 
 
 " Then you ought to leave it yourself, my dear 
 madam," said Miss Em, quite unabashed ; " for 
 the term is decidedly applicable. You helped your- 
 self to my property without the least ceremony, 
 and I knew it would be useless to ask for its re- 
 turn. That you should have put those paltry 
 bits of pinchbeck of your own with what you 
 knew were family jewels, was a rather foolish 
 proceeding ; I returned them as soon as I dis- 
 covered them. As for the diamonds " 
 
 She paused, with something of the cruelty that 
 leads a cat to spare a little breathing space to the 
 mouse it has been torturing before its final de- 
 struction. " As for the diamonds, they are per- 
 fectly safe, as I mentioned in my letter, and you 
 can have them back, if you wish, by parting with 
 a little of that gold you are so uselessly hoarding ; 
 you can't take it with you to the next world, you 
 know, and you've no child to leave it to. However," 
 she added, laughing at the wrathful face, " I 
 daresay you were put out about the matter ; still, 
 it's all over and done with. I had my position to 
 consider, and the meanness I met with here was 
 my chief inducement to help myself to what I 
 knew would be refused if asked for ; and really 
 when you hear what has brought me back you 
 must allow that the investment has produced very 
 satisfactory interest." 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 175 
 
 "The fact of your coming back " began 
 
 Mrs. O'Hara wrathfully. 
 
 " Oh, it's not for long, believe me," said Miss 
 Em ; " only I thought it would look better to be 
 married from here than in Dublin, and I felt sure 
 I could trust to your generosity to do everything 
 in a becoming manner." 
 
 "To — be— married!" gasped Mrs. O'Hara. "Im- 
 possible ! you are joking." 
 
 " I am perfectly serious, I assure you. I am 
 going to marry Sir Jasper Lustrell of Castle 
 Lustrell, in exactly one month from the present 
 time." 
 
 " But — but — " stammered Mrs. O'Hara, gazing 
 in bewilderment at the calm face and mocking eyes 
 before her. 
 
 " But what ? Have you any objections to 
 make ? " demanded Miss Em, with an enjoyment of 
 the situation that exceeded even her anticipations. 
 
 " Sir Jasper — Castle Lustrell ! " murmured Mrs. 
 O'Hara distractedly. " I don't believe it. We 
 should have heard something. He would have 
 told your father." 
 
 " He left the pleasure of that announcement to 
 me. As I am not only ' of age ' but over it, there 
 was no need to make a formal request for my 
 hand ; however, as I know you are a stickler for 
 etiquette, your mind will be relieved by the morn- 
 ing post." 
 
 She was calmly folding her gloves, but her eyes 
 never relaxed their watchful observation of her 
 stepmother's face, and every sign of disturbance 
 and doubt and anger added zest to a long antici- 
 pated triumph. 
 
 Mr. O'Hara, roused from a soothing nap, first 
 by his daughter's entrance, and then by this angry 
 warfare, rose from his chair and addressed her : 
 " Emilia, my dear, this is scarcely becoming ; 
 what am I to understand ? " 
 
176 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 Miss Em turned to him and her face softened. 
 "I have promised to marry Sir Jasper Lustrell, 
 father, subject, of course, to your approval. He 
 is writing to you on the matter. I came home to 
 tell you. I should prefer to be married from 
 Carrig-duve, though Lady Pat wished me to stay 
 in Dublin and allow her to arrange everything." 
 
 " No, no, of course not. That would never do ! " 
 burst forth the old man excitedly. " My daughter 
 must, of course, be married from her father's 
 house, and — and everything shall be done in a 
 manner befitting an O'Hara, my dear. It is only 
 right that it should be. I — I congratulate you on 
 your choice. It is most — suitable, and I trust you 
 will be very happy — very happy." 
 
 He rubbed his thin hands together, and glanced 
 appealingly at his wife, whose looks were anything 
 but congratulatory. 
 
 " That I'm sure she won't," snapped the good 
 lady bitingly. " A mercenary marriage with an 
 old hypochondriac who has one foot in the grave ! 
 Of course, every one can see what it's done for, 
 — one wants a nurse and the other a fortune ! 
 Marriage, indeed ! I call it a disgraceful bargain, 
 and so will every one who hears of it." 
 
 " I think," said Miss Em, growing very white, 
 " that you are the last person in the world to 
 speak in such terms of marriage. You can 
 scarcely pretend that you considered it from a very 
 lofty standpoint, or were blind to its material 
 advantages, even when you were considerably my 
 senior. Neither have you made home so agreeable 
 that I should cling to it in preference to an inde- 
 pendent position, and a very enviable one. If you 
 had a daughter to marry I fancy we should hear 
 very little of the disadvantages attending Castle 
 Lustrell and its prospective mistress." 
 
 This being far too sharp a home-thrust for denial, 
 Mrs. O'Hara took refuge in portentous sniffs and 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. I77 
 
 snorts and broken ejaculations, which seemed to 
 convey that Sir jasper was a deluded victim and 
 Miss Em a designing hypocrite. 
 
 Her step-daughter cut short these jeremiads 
 abruptly, however, by announcing that she had 
 arranged to have everything connected with the 
 ceremony done in first-rate style by a Dublin firm ; 
 that she had ordered her trousseau at one of the 
 best houses, and hoped also that her father would 
 at once redeem the O'Hara diamonds, as she would 
 need them for the occasion. Having by this time 
 reduced Mrs. O'Hara into speechless rage at so 
 much audacity, Miss Em considered it best to re- 
 tire, and swept out of the room in lofty triumph, 
 secure of victory for once. 
 
 In the bedroom she found Quinlan on her knees 
 lighting a fire, as a set-off to the comfortless and 
 dismantled appearance of that apartment. 
 
 " Shure, 'twas a shame for yez not to be saying 
 ye was coming back, Miss Peg dear," said the old 
 woman, between puffs of smoke and energetic 
 appeals from the bellows. " Goin' away for months^ 
 as ye said, and thin taking us by surprise like this, 
 and divil a bit o' comfort in the house for ye; and 
 what I'm to send up for dinner the Lord only 
 knows. I've turned Bridget down to the village ; 
 but whether she'll be getting flesh or fowl, or even 
 a herrin', is more than I can say. What's brought 
 ye back, darlin', — not bad luck, I hope?" 
 
 " No," answered her mistress, coming over to 
 the fireplace, and there standing to look thought- 
 fully down at the blazing wood ; " far from it. 
 You remember your prophecies before I left, Quin- 
 lan?" 
 
 " Faith, an' I do. The marriage card as sure as 
 fate. An' it's turned up, darlin' — raly and truly ? 
 Ah, glory be ! didn't I always know you'd be in 
 luck ? Who is it, Miss Peg honey ? " 
 
 " Sir Jasper Lustrell." 
 
 12 
 
178 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 There was something almost mechanical in the 
 utterance of the name. It seemed as if the full 
 ripe lips had grown tired of speaking it, and the 
 face to which Quinlan's eager eyes were lifted 
 looked pale and fatigued. 
 
 " Sir Jasper ! " The bellows dropped from the 
 old woman's hands, astonishment and dissatisfac- 
 tion struggled for expression. " The ould baronet, 
 him as we thought would niver be marrying again ! 
 Shure, 'tis the foine match for yez, miss, barrin' 
 the disparity of age." 
 
 Miss Em smiled listlessly. " There's not so very 
 much difference, Quinny; a matter of twenty years 
 or so." 
 
 " Well, God's blessin' on yez, darlint, and may ye 
 be happy," said the old woman tenderly. " You'll 
 be holding your head high enough over Mrs. 
 O'Hara now. It's herself that's astonished and 
 envyin' of ye, I'll be sworn." 
 
 " What admirable reasons every one seems find- 
 ing for my choice ! " thought Miss Em bitterly. 
 " Did ever bride elect have such odd congratula- 
 tions ? " 
 
 She remained standing there, looking thought- 
 fully at the now blazing fire, while Quinlan fed it 
 with sticks between an endless stream of exclama- 
 tions, and questions, and good wishes. 
 
 " Now sit down, darlint, and rest," she said, rising 
 at last, and noting for the first time how tired and 
 pale Miss Em looked. " I'll soon have the room 
 straight for ye. Not a week since ye left but I'\ 
 had broom and duster to it." 
 
 She wheeled the most comfortable chair to the 
 fire, and Miss Em sank gratefully into its capacious 
 embrace, while the old woman bustled about, 
 slipping off covers and arranging furniture till the 
 room gradually assumed its familiar appearance. 
 
 By this time it was quite dark, and she went 
 in search of candles and of the errant Bridget, 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. I79 
 
 whose aid was needed to convey Miss Em's trunk 
 upstairs. 
 
 "There I" she exclaimed, returning successfully 
 from both errands, and lighting two candles on 
 the dressing-table : " Shure, 'tis herself that's just 
 flabbergasted, and gives me up the kays of the store- 
 room as meek as a lamb, and not a word to say 
 whin I told her I'd been after sending Bridget for 
 fowls for dinner. Ye shall have thim in time, 
 Miss Peg dear, and a cup o' tay manetime, for 'tis 
 just dead ye look. Now, don't be botherin' 
 about yer box, I'll come and help ye the minnit 
 I've fixed the fowls for roasting; for there, Bridget's 
 getting the foine cook now, and can see to thim 
 crathurs once they're on the way." 
 
 " You needn't have troubled about dinner for 
 me, Quinny. A cup of tea is all I care about." 
 
 "And is it to have ye starvin' yerself I'd be, 
 and comin' off a journey too ? Faix, I never 
 heard the likes o' that ; and if the master isn't 
 for goin' to the wine-cellar and bringin' up his 
 best bottle o' wine to drink luck to yez this 
 blessed night, 'tis meself will be givin' thim the 
 taste o' my tongue, I can promise ye, darlint, and 
 no mistake." 
 
 Miss Em sighed wearily. How different it all 
 was to the life of luxury and ease she had left 
 behind ! She felt more than ever justified in her 
 choice. She could not have borne this state of 
 things much longer ; even the excitement of 
 "rows" would have palled upon her. The penury 
 and mismanagement, the tyranny and discomfort 
 of her stepmother's rule would soon be exchanged 
 for something widely different. 
 
 " I did wisely to come here," she thought, 
 looking round the room and noting keenly how 
 shabby and worn was the furniture. " Every 
 day will teach me how much I have to gain, how 
 little to lose," 
 
ISO PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 When Quinlan returned to help unpack, she 
 found her still sitting there in the same attitude, 
 not a trace of its usual energy in the listless 
 figure, or the pale tired face. The old woman 
 felt seriously uneasy. She forced her to drink 
 some hot tea, and eat a few morsels of crisp thin 
 toast. She brought a footstool for her feet, 
 and made up the fire, and drew the curtains, and, 
 leaving the dinner to take its chance under 
 Bridget's charge, she unpacked the trunk that 
 had been so jubilantly filled but a few weeks 
 before. 
 
 When everything was arranged in drawers and 
 cupboards to her satisfaction, she looked triumph- 
 antly round. " Ye'll be having yer own maid of 
 course at the castle, Miss Peg, and a grand one 
 I make no doubt ; but she won't bring the heart 
 to yer service that I've brought these many 
 years." 
 
 " I'm sure of that, Quinny," said Miss Em, 
 rousing herself by an effort, and looking gratefully 
 at the wrinkled face and loving eyes. " There's 
 no friends like the old friends after all ; and now, 
 tell me," she added somewhat hurriedly, " is there 
 any news in the village ; any one born, or married, 
 or dead ? " 
 
 Quinlan reflected. " Shure, ye've not been so 
 long away, darlint ; and 'tis little time I've had 
 for gossip, what with the mistress ill, and the 
 ructions over thim diamonds, and Bridget that 
 contrairy on account of Tim the postman keepin' 
 company with Mrs. MacShamus's housemaid after 
 as good as promisin' Bridget." 
 
 Miss Em moved restlessly in her chair. "The 
 doctor and his wife are well, I suppose ? And, by 
 the way, did you ever hear how the old man at 
 Rooklands was going on ? " 
 
 " Morrison, is it ? shure an' he's dead, darlint ; 
 didn't ye hear ? " 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. l8l 
 
 « No— o— ! " faltered Miss Em. " Dead, at last ! 
 And the money? " 
 
 " Left to the son, ivery penny on it. Faix, 'tis 
 he's the rich man now, so they're sayin', and no 
 mistake, though divil a sowl has had sight or 
 wurrd o' him since the buryin,' and that was 
 nothing much to spake of; not one of the quality 
 there, and only the darlin' doctor and Denis Mor- 
 rison himself to follow the hearse." 
 
 " But, Quinny ! " exclaimed Miss Em eagerly, 
 " surely the mystery is out now ? " 
 
 The old woman shook her head. u There was 
 no will left, so I've heard. The ould gintleman 
 kept the saycret to the last, and jist handed ivery- 
 thing over to Denis by deed o' gift or some sich 
 contrivance, so the doctor tould me. And 'tis 
 he, Denis Morrison I'm maning, can kape the 
 silent tongue in his head, and manes to do it. 
 But of course ivery one will take notice of him 
 now, without axing questions. Shure, riches is a 
 great power, Miss Peg." 
 
 " And he will be rich and owner of Rooklands ? " 
 said Miss Em, in a slow mechanical way. " How 
 strange it all seems, after all these years." 
 
 " Now, don't yez be letting yerself think av all 
 thim past troubles, darlint," said the old woman. 
 " Shure, rich or poor, he was never the match for 
 ye, lavin' alone his wildness and wickedness ; 
 and proud and glad I am that ye'll be able to 
 show him that. Shure, 'tis the best day's news I've 
 heard this long time." 
 
 "I — I — don't know why I did it!" exclaimed 
 Miss Em suddenly. " I was tired of this life, but 
 perhaps the exchange won't be for the better. 
 Sometimes I hate the thought — Sir Jasper — every- 
 thing ; at others I know it is not only my best 
 chance, but my last." 
 
 " Well, I wouldn't be too sure o' that, darlint ; 
 you've no need to put yerself on the shelf yet 
 
l82 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 awhile. But, shure, never a one in the place will 
 be a better mistress for the castle, and grace her 
 velvets and her jules as ye will." 
 
 " I should like it known as soon as possible, 
 Quinny," said Miss Em suddenly and decidedly. 
 " There's no need for secrecy, and it will be very 
 soon — a month from to-day." 
 
 "The sooner the better, Miss Peg dear. 'Tis 
 the hard time you always have av it here, and 
 little else but worry and ructions and botherations. 
 Is it to be a grand wedding ? " 
 
 " It will be one befitting the position, age, and 
 prospects of bride and bridegroom," was the 
 answer. 
 
 Quinlan looked at her somewhat doubtfully. 
 " Ye're — ye're not unhappy, or troubled, are 
 yez, darlint ? " 
 
 "No, " replied Miss Em, rising, and pushing 
 back the disarranged hair from a face that belied 
 her words ; " not unhappy. I seem to have 
 become numbed to my own identity, that's all. I 
 don't care to look forward — I am afraid to look 
 back. If I could just live on from day to day 
 without thinking — but then I should cease to be 
 human." 
 
 The old woman was silent, dimly feeling that 
 something sad and desolate lurked under the 
 reckless words, and conscious, too, of a feeling 
 that prompted her to take the tired, drooping 
 figure in her arms as if she were the child of old, 
 and soothe her with tender words and caresses as 
 she had so often done. But something in the 
 face, the changed aspect, the curious hardening 
 and coldness of expression chilled the impulse, 
 and kept her silent. 
 
 " Can I do anything more for yez, Miss Peg 
 dear ? " she asked kindly, with a sudden memory 
 of culinary duties, and Bridget. 
 
 ''No, Quinny, no," said Miss Em, rousing 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 183 
 
 herself with an effort ; " I feel quite rested, and I 
 shall change my dress and go downstairs directly. 
 Dinner at seven, I suppose ? " 
 
 " Yes, me dear, 'Twill be a poor show after 
 what ye've been havin' with Lady Moira, but 'deed 
 ye know that's no fault of Mary Quinlan's." 
 
 " It's not the dinner, but the long, long, lonely 
 evening," cried Miss Em drearily. " Oh these 
 evenings, Quinny ! ." 
 
 " Well, 'tis not for long now, darlint Ye're 
 tired to-night, and that makes yez feel low. But 
 ye'll be all right to-morrow, and ivery one in the 
 place talkin' and congratulatin' ye." 
 
 " Oh, yes ! "—she laughed bitterly; " I shall be 
 all right to-morrow." 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 "HOW SHOULD I GREET THEE?" 
 
 A feminine conclave was assembled in Mrs. 
 MacShamus's drawing-room, and tongues were 
 eager in discussion, sounding various notes of 
 incredulity, wonder and spite. 
 
 The subject was not hard to guess. 
 
 Miss Em had been but two days at Carrig-duve, 
 and already the trumpet-blast of gossip had sent 
 her name forth coupled with the astonishing an- 
 nouncement that she was to marry Sir Jasper 
 Lustrell. 
 
 The extreme unpopularity of Mrs. O'Hara had 
 long barred the gates to visitors, though Mrs. 
 Pigott and Mrs. MacShamus still called at rare 
 intervals ; therefore such important personages as 
 the Barringtons and the Markhams could not con- 
 descend to the formality of a call, though dying 
 with curiosity to know if the rumour were true or 
 not. 
 
184 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 " If any one would know it would be Mrs. Mac- 
 Shamus," was the general decision ; and by an 
 odd coincidence the universal curiosity resolved 
 itself into a unanimous call on that lady. 
 
 Great was the bridling and tossing of heads 
 when the rumour was pronounced perfectly 
 correct, and the old lady's panegyrics on her 
 favourite declared her good fortune to be well 
 deserved. 
 
 The Barrington girls " hoped she would like 
 being tied to a selfish old invalid, who any one 
 could see was only marrying for a nurse." Mrs. 
 Pigott, the rector's wife, trusted that such a union 
 might be blessed, but for her part she could but 
 consider it most unsuitable. Every one knew what 
 an erratic and peculiar creature Miss Em was 
 and how flighty she had always been. Of course 
 she might settle down now, but still " 
 
 An italicised doubt was significant of her own 
 want of faith in any such change for the better, 
 and set tongues wagging in a new direction. 
 "What sort of wedding would it be?" "What 
 did Mrs. O'Hara think of it?" " Doubtless she 
 would be glad to get rid of her troublesome step- 
 daughter ; they had never agreed, and it was well 
 known the scenes at Carrig-duve had been some- 
 thing fearful." " It was all owing to Miss Em's 
 extravagance that her people had been beggared ; 
 indeed, Mrs. O'Hara had once hinted at card debts 
 whose total was simply appalling," and so on, and 
 so on, with that delight in exposing error, and 
 ignoring any virtue that redeems it, that is so 
 truly characteristic of feminine malice. 
 
 Suddenly, into the hubbub of discussion and 
 scandal, entered calm and triumphant the very 
 person who was being discussed. Beautifully 
 dressed, armed cap-a-pie for an encounter of which 
 she had been almost certain, and brimming over 
 with enjoyment of the situation, Miss Em "took 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 185 
 
 the room," so to speak, with a dignity there was 
 no denying. 
 
 Even the armed neutrality of Mrs. Pigott was 
 not proof against her radiant graciousness ; and 
 though the conversation at first dealt merely with 
 generalities, it was not long before the great subject 
 was introduced, and the assembly found itself 
 offering congratulations of the customary stereo- 
 typed form. 
 
 Miss Em received them with the self-possession 
 of a sovereign accepting her just rights. She 
 neither looked conscious nor foolish. Her soon- 
 to-be acquired honours seemed to fit her natu- 
 rally and easily ; and not the most daring of 
 her traducers could throw in a hint at the un- 
 suitability of the union they had just been lament- 
 ing. 
 
 "The marriage was to be soon; almost too 
 soon for her taste," Miss Em announced; "but 
 Sir Jasper wished it, and there was really no 
 reason for opposing his wishes. Molly also was 
 desirous that her stepmother should be at the 
 castle with as little delay as possible. So sweet 
 of her, you know," Miss Em went on with a 
 glance at the discomfited faces. " She welcomes 
 me quite as a sister, and I certainly prefer 
 the role to that of stepmother. Indeed, the 
 one objection I had to accepting Sir Jasper arose 
 chiefly from the fact of his possessing a grown-up 
 daughter, but their joint entreaties overruled my 
 scruples at last." 
 
 " Her scruples indeed ! " thought the rector's 
 wife. " Fine scruples they must have been ! 
 Angling with all her arts for that foolish old man, 
 and pretending it was he who wanted to marry 
 her. I call it disgusting." 
 
 By way of emphasising her feelings she rose 
 abruptly, and bade a hurried good-bye to her 
 aostess and the assembly in general. It was 
 
l86 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 singular that the said assembly immediately made 
 a unanimous discovery as to the lateness of the 
 hour, and the necessity for getting to their respec- 
 tive homes. There was a stir and bustle, a stormy 
 rustling of skirts, an interchange of rapid remarks 
 and farewells ; and then Miss Em found herself 
 sole occupant of the drawing-room, Mrs. Mac- 
 Shamus having accompanied her nieces to the 
 hall door, to see that the delicate and neuralgic 
 Minnie was safely shawled and wrapped against 
 the effect of the chilly evening air. 
 
 When a man is left alone he generally thinks 
 of a cigar, and lets his hand stray fondly to his 
 coat pocket. A woman in the first exigencies of 
 solitude looks round for a mirror. Miss Em, 
 catching a vision of becoming head-gear in the 
 glass over the mantel-shelf, marched straight 
 towards it, and took in the flattering reflection 
 with no small pride. 
 
 Her toilette that afternoon had cost her an 
 infinitude of thought and care. She well knew 
 the keen eyes that would vivisect her appearance, 
 and every detail had been studied in order to 
 make the whole a success. 
 
 Resting one foot on the fender, she stood look- 
 ing at herself as critically as her severest judge 
 could have done, and so absorbed was she in the 
 study that the sound of male voices scarcely 
 roused her. 
 
 " Only the doctor, I suppose," she thought as 
 the door opened. She did not alter her position, 
 but kept her eyes on the mirror. The figure in 
 the doorway was reflected there ; and her gaze, at 
 first so indifferent, flashed on it a look of terror, 
 while the colour rushed from cheek and lips, 
 leaving a white frozen face that bore little like- 
 ness to the glowing life and warmth at which she 
 had been gazing a moment before. 
 
 Slowly, uncertainly, as if compelled against her 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 1 87 
 
 will, she turned, and for an instant's space the 
 advancing and the motionless figure faced each 
 other. A quick breath, the sounding of a name, 
 a hurried recognition, and then as hurried a 
 shrinking back. She noted it all while sum- 
 moning to her aid every power of concealment, 
 and every sign of indifference of which her own 
 face and voice were capable. 
 
 " Mr. — Morrison, I believe ? How do you do ? 
 It is so many years since we met I scarcely 
 believed you would recognise me." 
 
 " That's not true," answered the stranger 
 roughly ; " even in the dark street that winter 
 night I knew you at once. Men haven't such 
 short memories as women, thank God ! " 
 
 There was a certain brusquerie and roughness 
 about him that broke down her more delicate 
 fencing without scruple. It frightened and yet 
 pleased her. The colour stole warmly back to 
 her face ; in the dim light of the room she 
 looked strangely young and attractive to those 
 fierce wild eyes that swept over her so boldly. 
 
 " How little you've changed ! " he said at last. 
 " In all these years too ! Why, I'm an old man 
 —look ! " 
 
 He raised his hand and swept the thick hair 
 back from his brow. She saw it was quite grey. 
 
 " I suppose you've heard about my luck," he 
 went on abruptly, " if it deserves to be called 
 that. I daresay it sounds odd to say I was sorry 
 for the old man, and yet I was. Not that I had 
 much to thank him for while he lived. And when 
 I'd money enough of my own without his, of 
 course it was thrown at my head." 
 
 "Wealth is a good thing," said Miss Em care- 
 lessly, as she seated herself on the couch ; "very 
 few people complain of having too much of it. 
 Do you intend to settle down at Rooklands ? " 
 
 " Yes," he said ; " I do. I've no particular affec- 
 
l88 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 tion for my native place, but I owe it a grudge 
 which I'm going to pay off in my own fashion, 
 and in a manner it least expects." 
 
 She had no time to ask or hear more, for at this 
 moment the doctor came bustling in having heard 
 from his wife that Miss Em was in the drawing- 
 room. His sharp eyes glanced from one to the 
 other as he shook hands with her, and bade Denis 
 Morrison take a chair ; but he could read nothing 
 in either of their faces to give any clue to the 
 feelings this unexpected meeting might have 
 aroused. 
 
 " I suppose," he said, " I needn't go through 
 the form of introducing you, though it must be, 
 dear me — ten — fifteen, or more, years since you 
 left us, Denis. Faith, time flies in these Sleepy 
 Hollows of villages. One year's so like another 
 there's nothing to mark or take count of." 
 
 " It's a long time," said Denis Morrison 
 thoughtfully. 
 
 " Long enough for friends, foes and feuds to 
 be buried and forgotten," remarked Miss Em, 
 with a swift look that was as swiftly averted. 
 
 " I never forget," he said curtly. 
 
 "A bad habit," laughed the doctor, "and 
 mighty inconvenient too. Never make memory 
 a storehouse if you want to get any happiness out 
 of life." 
 
 " I never did expect — that," was the answer. 
 " It's never shown a particularly pleasant face to 
 me, or fulfilled any promise it made." 
 
 " Well, well ; we all find fault with it more or 
 less," said the doctor good-humouredly ; "and I 
 suppose we'd do just the same if we had our own 
 way of it. We are all Faint-hearts when duty is 
 disagreeable, and giants when it's pleasant. How- 
 ever, you've no need to complain of luck now, 
 Morrison. The ' long lane ' has had a particularly 
 pleasant turning for you." 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. l8g 
 
 " One can only value money for what it brings, 
 not its own sake. I've yet to discover whether 
 mine will purchase anything worth having." 
 
 "You'll be hard to please, if it doesn't," said 
 Doctor MacShamus, with a keen glance at the 
 square sun-browned face and well-knit figure. 
 How strong and handsome and self-reliant he 
 looked ! The mere boyish beauty of youth had been 
 replaced by the stern moulding of manhood. 
 Strong passions and strong will might still 
 struggle for mastery, but the will would gain 
 the victory over the passions, if physiognomy 
 was to be believed. 
 
 It seemed to Miss Em that every line and look 
 of that altered face had fastened upon her memory 
 in one brief glance. Outwardly calm and indiffer- 
 ent, her every pulse was throbbing and thrilling 
 to remembered happiness. The passage of Time 
 seemed brief as a dream ; a fresh sweet current 
 of life flowed in her veins. Hope, re-baptised, 
 lent itself to strange imaginings. 
 
 " He is so changed. We are both so much 
 wiser and older. Why should we not be friends ? 
 I like that strong, steadfast look of his ; he was 
 always masterful, but now one feels it would not 
 be for the mere sake of tyranny he would seek to 
 bend one to his will, but simply because that will 
 was best. And he has not forgotten — how strange 
 it seems ! Twenty years of absence, hardship, 
 knocking about the world, and yet to remember 
 one year that antedated all." 
 
 The doctor's voice broke across the current of 
 her thoughts and stemmed the advancing tide of 
 sentiment by a rough barrier of facts. 
 
 " I was going up to Carrig-duve," he said, "this 
 evening. You mustn't think the worse of me for 
 being a bit behind with my good wishes. Faith, 
 Miss Em, you've given us all a surprise, and a 
 welcome one too. My old lady has been just off 
 
igO PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 her head with delight since she heard it. Divil a 
 word of sense have I got out of her these two 
 days." 
 
 Miss Em started, recalled to prose and actual- 
 ity. 
 
 " I — I suppose you were surprised," she said, 
 her face slightly averted from the keen blue eyes 
 that had suddenly questioned its composure. 
 
 " Well, I've made it a rule not to be surprised 
 at anything," answered the doctor, rubbing his 
 hands together in a cheery fashion ; " but I must 
 confess this rather proved an exception. I'm glad 
 we're not losing you, though. I was afraid it would 
 be an Englishman when you did make up your 
 mind." 
 
 " Oh, no, I'm true to my country, with all its 
 faults. But where's Mrs. MacShamus, doctor? 
 I've scarcely had a word with her, and I must be 
 going home directly." 
 
 " Faith, and if you think we're going to let you 
 off like that you're mightily mistaken," answered 
 the doctor. " You'll just stay the evening now 
 you are here. 'Twill be time enough to be giving 
 us the go by when you're Lady Lustrell, but I 
 won't hear of it before." 
 
 There was a slight nervous movement of the 
 figure in the adjoining chair, but no comment 
 broke the silence following these last words, and 
 the entrance of Mrs. MacShamus was a welcome 
 interruption to the feeling of restraint that seemed 
 to have seized upon them all. 
 
 " They've gone at last," she said. " What an 
 odd thing that I've been weeks without a soul to 
 see me, and then they all fix upon the same day ! 
 Now, Miss Em dear, come and take your bonnet off, 
 for I am not going to part with you yet. Mr. 
 Morrison, won't you stay too and have a cup of 
 tea with us ? I'm sure it's very lonely for you up at 
 the big house now." 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. I9I 
 
 Denis Morrison rose abruptly. 
 
 "You're very kind, but I can't stay to-night. 
 I've some business to attend to. Indeed^ I drove 
 in to meet the lawyer and take him back." 
 
 " The Dublin train is due in ten minutes, I'm 
 sorry to say," observed the doctor. 
 
 "I know. I shall only just get to the station in 
 time, so I'll say good-bye at once." 
 
 He shook hands with them all. There was no 
 discernible shade of difference in the manner of 
 his doing so. Perhaps Miss Em had expected that 
 there would be; but the careless touch and 
 mechanical " good-bye " conveyed nothing— neither 
 remembrance, nor regret, nor reproach. 
 
 The excitement of whist with a dummy, followed 
 by shilling nap, failed to arouse any great interest 
 in Miss Em. She tried her best to return the 
 doctor's cheery jests and jokes as to her forth- 
 coming marriage with her old gaiety of manner, 
 and to gossip over Dublin folk and Dublin news, 
 as if she enjoyed the subjects under discussion ; 
 but she alone knew how much of effort was con- 
 cerned in doing it all, and how the emotions so 
 well controlled began to resent the unprofitable 
 strain put upon them. 
 
 She left early, trying in vain to avoid the 
 doctor's proffered escort ; but he was inexorable, 
 declaring the future Lady Lustrell to be a person 
 of vast importance, for whose welfare he felt in a 
 measure responsible. 
 
 The way seemed interminable ; she longed with 
 every fibre of her being for solitude and silence, 
 and it seemed as if they were never to be hers. 
 The one subject about which her thoughts 
 hovered was the one which the doctor avoided ; 
 and, for once, a sense of dread that was almost 
 cowardice prompted her from bringing it for- 
 ward. 
 
IQ2 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 Besides, what could it matter to her now ? 
 
 Long years ago two paths had diverged vso 
 widely that they could never join again. If absence 
 had been powerless against memory it was equally 
 powerless against the barrier those years of sever- 
 ance had erected. 
 
 " I never thought we should meet again," said 
 Feminine self-deception. 
 
 " You hoped it, always," said Truth sternly. 
 
 The duet lasted with persevering monotony 
 throughout that walk. 
 
 It sounded even through the cheery strains of 
 the doctor's farewell words. Its echoes floated 
 through the dreary hall of Carrig-duve, and enter- 
 ing the silent house refused to be shut out even 
 when the welcome solitude of her own room at 
 last closed around Miss Em. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 " IF SORROW HAS TAUGHT ME ANYTHING." 
 
 Swiftly enough the days and weeks flew by, 
 each lessening in its flight that cherished liberty 
 of spinsterhood so dear to Miss Em's heart. 
 
 Latterly she had thrown herself with almost 
 feverish recklessness into the preparations for her 
 marriage, and, to use Mrs. O'Hara's expression, 
 was bent on " turning the whole house upside 
 down ". Carrig-duve awoke from its long spell of 
 lonely quiet, and burst forth into bustle and noise 
 and confusion. New servants rioted in the kitchen, 
 and drove Mrs. O'Hara wild with extravagant 
 demands ; rooms were prepared for guests ; the 
 sound of broom and brush and pail was an hourly 
 annoyance to the sordid mistress of the house ; 
 carpets and curtains long laid by in store-room 
 or cupboard were unearthed, and returned to their 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. IOJ 
 
 respective uses, and, when all was completed, the 
 old mansion looked as for years it had not ven- 
 tured to look, and Miss Em at last declared 
 herself satisfied. 
 
 Mrs. O'Hara might groan in spirit, but for once 
 she had to submit to the will of husband and step- 
 daughter. The dignity of the O'Haras demanded 
 certain forms and ceremonies, and her only conso- 
 lation was that it was for the last time. 
 
 Once the obnoxious " Emilia " was out of the 
 way and safely married, there would be no one to 
 interfere with her penurious designs, and a future 
 of rigorous economy might in some measure atone 
 for present useless extravagance. 
 
 Lady Patricia and her maid arrived two days 
 before the wedding, and Miss Bedelia on the 
 previous evening ; Molly, who was the only brides- 
 maid, had also come over that day, and was to 
 sleep at Carrig-duve so as to be ready for the 
 important ceremony next morning. 
 
 The dinner-party, arranged by Miss Em, con- 
 sisted of these three guests, Sir Jasper and his 
 nephew, Dr. and Mrs MacShamus, and Charley 
 Warren, the cousin of the Barrington girls. 
 
 The shabby old dining-room looked wonderful 
 in the soft glow of lamplight and candles; the 
 napery and glass and silver would have done credit 
 to the castle itself; and Miss Em had wisely 
 decided on simplicity and excellence, instead of 
 profusion, in drawing out the menu, with the 
 result that cooking and service were beyond re- 
 proach. 
 
 Mr. O'Hara seemed to have taken a fresh lease 
 of life, and glowed and beamed on his guests from 
 the head of the well-appointed table, as had been 
 his wont in days of old when Carrig-duve had been 
 renowned for hospitality and style. 
 
 Miss Em herself looked radiant. She was 
 dressed in black lace, a few of the famous diamonds 
 
 13 
 
194 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 sparkling amidst its dusky softness. Excitement 
 lent brilliance to her grey eyes and flushed her 
 cheek, and whatever of art had been called into 
 requisition to efface the marks of time, had, at 
 least, the merit of doing its duty, and offending 
 neither eye nor taste by obvious advertisement. 
 
 Every one seemed in excellent spirits. Molly 
 was seated by Paddy Kearney and was blissfully 
 ignorant of all or everything besides that fact ; 
 Lady Pat was entertaining Mr. O'Hara; Sir 
 Jasper was politely attentive to his hostess, while 
 observant of his fiancee, who sat between the 
 doctor and Charley Warren ; while Mrs. Mac- 
 Shamus and Miss Bedelia discussed recipes and 
 domestic grievances and changes in Ireland, with 
 a zest that was only secondary to their enjoyment 
 of the excellent dinner itself. 
 
 Once or twice some thought of the morrow flashed 
 across Miss Em's memory, and she caught her 
 breath with a sudden spasm of fear that banished 
 the jest on her tongue, or the laugh on her lip. 
 Once or twice her eyes met those coldly watchful 
 eyes of the man so soon to be her husband ; and 
 the dislike and fear, coiled about her heart like a 
 dreaming snake, would begin to wake and stir 
 with a sense of apprehension. But the old reck- 
 less spirit soon re-asserted itself, and banished the 
 dread and mocked at the repugnance. 
 
 She was not of the type of whom female slaves 
 are made ; and while she studied Sir Jasper, recog- 
 nising all the good "points" of the stately figure, 
 the clear-cut features, the austere elegance of dress 
 and appearance, she was inwardly resolving to 
 preserve her own independence intact from the 
 outset of matrimonial life, and to mark out with 
 accurate distinctness the road she intended to take. 
 
 When the ladies withdrew and were seated in 
 the drawing-room, Miss Bedelia approached her 
 niece with some ceremony, and handed her a 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 195 
 
 morocco case, with the announcement that it was 
 her wedding-gift. Miss Em opened it and dis- 
 closed a set of emeralds and diamonds reposing 
 on a bed of white velvet. An exclamation of 
 delight escaped her, and Lady Pat and Molly 
 echoed it as she turned towards them with the 
 open case in her hand. 
 
 ''They'll become you well," said Miss Bedelia, 
 " and they'll not make a bad show when you wear 
 them along with your own diamonds. The 
 mistress of Castle Lustrell will need jewels, and, 
 indeed, 'tis a pity that so many of the O'Hara 
 diamonds are gone out of the family. Well do I 
 remember your poor mother when she wore them 
 at the Lord Lieutenant's ball the first year she was 
 married." 
 
 She sighed and glanced around the great shabby 
 drawing-room. "Ah, many's the change since 
 then," she murmured regretfully. 
 
 The sigh that emphasised her words and the 
 glance that marked them, fired Mrs. O'Hara's 
 already smouldering wrath to bursting-point. 
 
 "Indeed, Miss O'Hara," she exclaimed, " the 
 changes you speak of are only the results of 
 family follies. It's hard work I've had trying to 
 repair the fortune that was being wasted in riotous 
 living, and senseless extravagance ! " 
 
 " Riotous living ! " exclaimed Miss Bedelia, 
 firing up in defence of the family honour ; " and 
 pray, ma'am, what do you know of how a good old 
 family should live or behave, or keep up the 
 traditions of its race ? I'd have you know that no 
 O'Hara yet was ever guilty of meanness, or hadn't 
 bed and board for the friend who needed them. 
 Carrig-duve was something to be proud of in those 
 days, let me tell you. But there, there, what's the 
 use to speak of it ? Alien blood can't understand 
 what Irish hospitality meant in t«he old times that 
 are gone." 
 
I96 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 " It meant drunkenness and wantoning ; it meant 
 beggary and shame for those that came after ; it 
 meant debt and disorder and disgrace ! " cried 
 Mrs. O'Hara furiously. " Don't talk to me of 
 your good old families. Ireland has only them to 
 thank for its present condition of destitution and 
 misrule. Better live on bread and cheese and be 
 honest and pay your debts, than keep up a show of 
 extravagance, and be liberal with other people's 
 money ! " 
 
 " Oh, pray don't begin that old argument," 
 interposed Miss Em hastily. " We are never 
 likely to agree, and surely it's time to bury the 
 hatchet at last. Talking of the past won't alter it 
 or mend the future either. Come, Aunt Bedelia," 
 and she put her hand on the irate spinster's arm 
 and drew her aside, " you promised to tell me 
 your new recipe for curry," she gently insinuated. 
 " I'd be glad to know of it, for Molly tells me the 
 cook at Castle Lustrell is not famous for novelties." 
 
 Miss Bedelia was mollified, and consented to 
 impart the valuable knowledge her niece desired. 
 " But don't be after telling her how to do it," she 
 added as a caution. " The economy of the thing 
 would be its virtue in her eyes. When folks are 
 mean, you can't expect them to go against the 
 grain, and the saving of an ounce of butter or a 
 single egg would make Mrs. O'Hara happy for a 
 month." 
 
 This was so true that Miss Em laughed. 
 " Don't you wonder at all — this ? " she asked, with 
 a comprehensive wave of the hand. "A fine 
 battle I had, I can tell you ! But I was determined 
 to leave the old place with credit, and I simply 
 took the law into my own hands, ordered in 
 servants and everything that was necessary, and 
 declared I'd borrow the money from Sir Jasper 
 if she wouldn't let my father pay; that shamed 
 her, I think." 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. I97 
 
 " I'm surprised that was possible," said Miss 
 Bedelia, with an acrimonious glance at the lady 
 in question. " Has she treated herself to a new 
 gown for to-morrow ? " she added abruptly. 
 
 " Oh, no ! " laughed Miss Em ; " that would be 
 the height of extravagance ! She has had her 
 green silk altered a little, and is going to wear 
 that." 
 
 " Green ? why, 'tis the most unlucky colour she 
 could wear at a wedding." 
 
 " Perhaps that's why she selected it. After all 
 what does it matter ? It's not I who am going to 
 wear it." 
 
 " I hope you'll be happy, my dear," said Miss 
 Bedelia warmly. " You've waited long, but you've 
 made an excellent choice at last. 'Tis a fine posi- 
 tion, and Sir Jasper's none so old but that he'll 
 make a very creditable husband. And now tell 
 me all about the trousseau; I'm sorry not to have 
 seen it. I hear that muslin insertion and fine 
 tucks are so much used, and " 
 
 " Yes, yes," interposed Miss Em ; " I've had 
 the very latest fashion, and a dozen of everything. 
 I'll show you my dress by and by, if you'll come 
 up to my room. I was determined to be married 
 in my travelling gown ; it saves two toilets and — 
 and is more suitable," she added hurriedly. 
 
 "What's the colour?" asked Miss Bedelia. 
 
 " Chestnut brown silk, and I've a travelling 
 cloak of cloth to match, for going away in, and a 
 plain felt hat. I — I don't want to be taken for a 
 bride." 
 
 " I quite understand, and your taste is always 
 excellent," said Miss Bedelia. " Shall you be 
 away long ? " 
 
 " I hope to goodness — not ! " exclaimed Miss Em 
 with a passionate vehemence that startled her 
 questioner. " I — I mean I'd rather be home and 
 settled down ; I'm tired of knocking about, and 
 
198 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 it's so long since I've known what a house of my 
 own is like." 
 
 "I can well believe that," said Miss Bedelia, 
 with a vindictive glance at her enemy, who was 
 sitting by the fireplace in sulky dignity, exchang- 
 ing occasional frigid remarks with Lady Pat. 
 " It's but a poor place this has been for many a 
 long year. However, my dear, you've a bright and 
 prosperous future before you, and that will make 
 amends for all you've had to put up with. Ah, 
 here come the gentlemen. I must have a few 
 words with Sir Jasper ; 'tis very proud I am of 
 the connection, I assure you, my dear child, and 
 not a bit regretful that you've waited so long 
 now you've done so well at last." 
 
 "Done so well!" echoed Miss Em bitterly; 
 " have I indeed done so well ? If they only knew 
 what I feel, to-night ! " 
 
 The party broke up early, for Sir Jasper had a 
 long drive before him, and there was a certain 
 restraint and strangeness upon them all that 
 nothing seemed to disperse, and for which no one 
 could account. 
 
 Perhaps it originated with Miss Em, whose 
 spirits seemed to flag suddenly, as if the effort to 
 keep up was beyond her. Mrs. O'Hara was sulky 
 and silent, and Lady Pat had hard work to " keep 
 the ball rolling" and entertain the circle generally. 
 But even she felt it was a relief when the guests 
 of the evening departed, and the house party were 
 free to seek their respective chambers. 
 
 She lingered for a moment on the threshold of 
 Miss Em's door, as if half expectant of an invita- 
 tion to enter ; but it was a very white tired face 
 that turned itself apologetically to her, and 
 very tremulous lips that murmured, " Good- 
 night ". 
 
 Lady Pat kissed her warmly. " I can see you are 
 done up," she said. " Promise me you'll go to 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. I99 
 
 bed and try to sleep at once. Don't sit up think- 
 ing, whatever you do." 
 
 The door closed. A haggard, weary woman 
 stood alone in the room that from childhood had 
 been so familiar to her. Her eyes glanced from 
 one object to another, insignificant enough to 
 strangers, but full of unconscious eloquence to 
 herself ; full of the life and sunshine and prattle of 
 harmless innocent days ; full also of a wider mean- 
 ing as childhood reached the golden borderland of 
 youth ; then, touched with deeper significance by 
 the hand of Time, speaking of weary vigils kept 
 here ; of griefs spent, yet unforgotten ; of sorrows 
 drifting hither and thither like clouds in a brooding 
 sky, settling at last in one heavy mass to break 
 and spend themselves in stormy warfare. 
 
 Long and deep was that spell of silence. 
 
 The sounds in the house hushed one by one, and 
 the solitude and stillness shut in that motionless 
 figure as a wall may entomb life. She was back 
 in the past of happy years ; a girl dreaming a girl's 
 fancies, hoping a girl's hopes, idealising a girl's 
 idyls, trusting with a girl's innocent faith. 
 
 So small and weak a thing in a world so vast 
 and cruel ! A thing to be moulded by Fate, to be 
 the sport of circumstance, to look back on a life 
 so different from what hope and intention had pur- 
 posed it should be, that she could scarcely recognise 
 in the woman of forty one point of resemblance to 
 the girl of eighteen. 
 
 Thought brought her back gradually to the 
 present hour, yet seemed to flash with sickening 
 suddenness upon her long dream of " what had 
 been ". She started and moved slowly across the 
 room, impelled by some irresistible power to un- 
 lock that storehouse of events, suggestions, possi- 
 bilities, which had held the treasures of her 
 vanished youth, and was now but the charnel- 
 house of memory. 
 
200 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 Once more the book was in her hand ; the 
 fluttering leaves breathed forth their story, faint 
 with the perfume of dead summers, dim as colours 
 sun-dried and for ever unmatchable because of 
 that fact, at once a blemish and a beauty. 
 
 Page after page was rapidly scanned ; tear- 
 blotted scrawls, hurried entries, long rhapsodies 
 clearly written, sparkling with fun and humour, 
 brimful of youth's light-heartedness. 
 
 Heavy tears fell slowly on the last page. The 
 eyes that shed them looked back at their own re- 
 flection and read there the sequel to that girlish 
 story. 
 
 Every line of the altered face emphasised its 
 shame and sorrow. Past and present stood side 
 by side in the quiet darkness and pointed warningly 
 to the future. 
 
 For the years change but our outward form, 
 they do not change ourselves. As we were, we 
 are. Modified or hardened perhaps by life's hard 
 bondage, but still recognisable to our own inner 
 sight, even as the design of the artist is visible to 
 himself through its faulty embodiment of workman- 
 ship. 
 
 The candles had almost burnt themselves out. 
 Midnight had long since sounded its note of 
 warning when the solitary occupant of the darken- 
 ing room at last roused herself. 
 
 She looked irresolutely at the thick volume in 
 her hand and then at the grate where the last 
 gleams of firelight flickered amongst grey ashes. 
 
 " I ought to destroy it," she said to herself. 
 " On the threshold of a new life it is best to have 
 done with the old, and women's secrets are so 
 easily twisted into sins." 
 
 She moved slowly towards the fireplace, and 
 stood there holding the book, her fingers trembling 
 on the pages she was nerving herself to tear out. 
 
 Suddenly there sounded in the stillness a soft 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 201 
 
 yet imperative tap, as of some one knocking at the 
 window from without. 
 
 She started. Her face, grey with terror, turned 
 itself in the direction from whence the noise came. 
 The book dropped from her hand to the floor, and 
 there lay unheeded. Once again the knock was 
 repeated, louder and more imperative. 
 
 She crossed the room and drew up the blind, 
 but started back with a faint scream of terror as 
 she caught sight of a face pressed against the 
 window. 
 
 The outer hasp was turned, and a figure stepped 
 from the little stone balcony into the dimly lighted 
 room. 
 
 " Don't scream, for God's sake ... I won't stay 
 five minutes, but speak to you I must. You 
 wouldn't answer my letter, and I've haunted the 
 village till I'm sick of every shop and shanty that 
 it holds ! But I swore I'd see you once again be- 
 fore — before you married that old fool ! Peg, don't 
 look as if I were a murderer, I'm only desperate. 
 Will you listen ? " 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 A BRIDAL EVE. 
 
 " I will listen," said Miss Em. 
 
 She drew herself up to her full height, and moved 
 a few steps away from the intruder. Her courage 
 had returned. Her eyes looked at him without 
 fear, despite the pallor of face and lips. The dim 
 light accentuated her whiteness, as throat and 
 neck and arms gleamed from out the dusky lace 
 of her evening gown. 
 
 The unexpectedness and risk of the situation 
 appealed to that bizarre element in her nature, 
 unaffected by the passage of years, though toned 
 
202 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 down from youth's recklessness by exigencies of 
 circumstance and surroundings. She was ready 
 to listen to any appeal, though perfectly conscious 
 of its uselessness. The man, on the other hand, 
 felt his courage evaporating before that steady 
 glance, that frigid dignity. The words that had 
 been thronging to his lips were suddenly arrested, 
 but the eyes meeting in mute challenge said 
 much. 
 
 " Are you going to explain your reason for this 
 intrusion ? " asked that clear ringing voice, whose 
 modulated tones had once held all life's music for 
 his ears. 
 
 " Reason ! " he cried impetuously. "God knows 
 I have enough, or I wouldn't have come here now, 
 Peg. Why didn't you answer my letter as I 
 begged ? " 
 
 " What was the use ? " she said coldly. " The 
 past is over and done with — buried in its grave of 
 misery. Do you think I would stir a finger to 
 open that grave — now ? I have little to thank you 
 for, Denis Morrison ; but, at least, I can prevent 
 you from repeating that mistake." 
 
 " I asked you to let me repair it." 
 
 The white face flushed with a sudden hot glow. 
 
 " Yes ! " she said in a stifled voice, broken and 
 jarred, like strings too roughly handled; "you 
 dared do that. And you failed to read my answer 
 in silence." 
 
 " I wanted a reason. I could not believe you 
 had changed so utterly. We are both free now. 
 I told you the truth when I said I had never 
 forgotten you. I never have. A man may have 
 a hundred fancies in his life. He loves once. I 
 always loved you, even when I " 
 
 " When you did your best to ruin my w T hole 
 life ! " she interposed. " Even when you took 
 advantage of ignorance and recklessness, and 
 fanned the flame of my mad love for you by every 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 203 
 
 art a man possesses. And you had everything to 
 help you I Hereditary impulses, my defenceless 
 youth, the utter loneliness and unprotectedness 
 of my life. God forgive you, Denis! You knew 
 what you were doing. I did not. I neither thought 
 nor cared. For your sake I made a moral ship- 
 wreck of that life, and it left me the woman I 
 have become." 
 
 " The past is dead, Peg. You said so yourselt. 
 Don't rake up these memories. I was a bad 
 fellow, I know ; but think of my bringing up, my 
 position, the daily humiliations that were my lot, 
 the temptations I met with— and then— oh, how I 
 loved you, Peg ! God ! how I loved you ! Even 
 now, when I think of it, I could do the same again 
 for a smile or a word. And you gave more than 
 that—Feg. Your love was as generous as your 
 nature. Surely you can't have altered so much. 
 Something of that girl must linger in your heart, 
 even as something of the boy who worshipped you 
 lingers in mine. Our pulses haven't grown chill 
 yet ; your eyes are still eloquent for me. Oh, Peg, 
 come back ! Don't do this rash thing. I can give 
 you wealth now. I am no longer a penniless 
 adventurer. The world is wide, we can make 
 our home where we will. Life needn't cheat us 
 out of happiness. Some good years are still left. 
 We can reconquer our past joys and renew them. 
 
 We " 
 
 "Never/" 
 
 Brief words sometimes tell a long history. 
 That one word told revelation, confession, de- 
 spair. She said no more, only sank slowly down 
 on the low cane chair beside her, and covered her 
 face from sight with shuddering arms on which the 
 diamonds sparkled mockingly, like evil eyes re- 
 joicing over human woe. 
 
 He looked at her. 
 
 A woman whose best years were spent and over ; 
 
204 PEG > THE R AR E. 
 
 a woman for whom life held no single illusion, 
 who had tasted the fruits of the Tree of Know- 
 ledge even as he himself had done, — more spar- 
 ingly perhaps, but with equal avidity, and to 
 whom the knowledge thus acquired was as dis 
 tasteful now as it had been desirable — once. 
 
 " Do you mean that ? " he asked hoarsely. 
 " Once before you sent me from you — sent me 
 rolling down the hill of evil at the devil's own 
 pace. You know what Irish recklessness is, 
 Peg; we both had a fair share of it in those 
 days, I think. I have spent my life in unsatisfied 
 longing ; no woman but you has ever contented 
 me. I come to you to-night wasted with the 
 famine of long desire. I come to you with a right 
 which you must acknowledge, the right which 
 says, 'Remember'." 
 
 The passionate appeal of his glance swept over 
 her bent head, but the motionless figure made no 
 sign. He came nearer and knelt at her side. 
 
 " Listen — it is for the last time. If I leave you 
 to-night it is to go to worse than death. I've been 
 driven to you despite my efforts, despite myself, 
 Peg. Why are you going to marry this man ? 
 He is not a good man, though, God knows, I'd be 
 the last to throw stones at any one. He's only 
 giving you the dregs of a selfish sensualist's life. 
 I can offer you something better than that!" 
 
 She lifted her head. 
 
 " Can you offer me an honourable name ? " she 
 said. " Can you offer me one pure, good feeling 
 for which I loved you once ? " 
 
 A sullen flush rose to his brow. 
 
 "No," he said; "but such as I am you made 
 me." 
 
 "And such as / am you made me! If I am 
 content to accept the dregs of this man's life, I, 
 at least, know the worthlessness of what I give in 
 exchange." 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 205 
 
 " Is that your final answer ? " 
 
 " It is ; I wonder you dared to ask another." 
 
 Their eyes met with a flash of defiance. It was 
 mortal combat between two natures alike in their 
 very dissimilarity. Hot youth spoke out again, 
 and all the intervening years were swept aside, as 
 a storm-blast rents an insufficient barrier. 
 
 They had loved to madness once ; such love 
 cannot wake again for any prayer. What a 
 woman suffers at a man's hands he dimly recog- 
 nises in such a moment as this ! 
 
 Slowly Denis Morrison rose to his feet. His 
 last hope was vanishing, going down, down, down 
 into deep waters, from whence resurrection was 
 impossible. He had thought to find some trace 
 of the girl in the woman to whom he had appealed ; 
 but there was none, so he felt, or so she chose to 
 make him feel. 
 
 For a moment he stood there, and life seemed 
 to pause and then die slowly out of pulse and vein, 
 leaving him blind, and dumb, and deaf. Then 
 sharp pain stirred his heart, and the past and the 
 present turned their veiled faces towards him. 
 "What have you made of us, you two mad, human 
 things ? " they seemed to ask ; and the dreary 
 silence echoed the mocking laugh that was their 
 only answer. 
 
 The cold night wind blew in through the opening 
 window, stirring the laces of the woman's dress, 
 and chilling with damp breath her bare arms and 
 throat. 
 
 She raised her head. Her eyes followed the 
 vanishing figure, as, with one hand resting on the 
 stone balustrade, it turned towards her in a last 
 appeal. Even in that dim light the eyes seemed 
 to burn her with remembered shame, and sorrow, 
 and sweetness, all commingled in one magic 
 memory. 
 
 She did not move. Not the tremor of an eye- 
 
200 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 lash, or the flutter of uplifted hand signalled him 
 to linger, or delay. 
 
 Love was dead. 
 
 Into the cold darkness of the dying night he 
 took it forth, to bury it where youth and hope and 
 all fair things of life were buried too. 
 
 Strained to a certain point feeling becomes 
 numbness. A passive quiescence takes the place 
 of pain, and torture spends itself in faint recurrent 
 throbs instead of useless agony. 
 
 Miss Em rose to her feet as the snap of the 
 window proclaimed itself closed. The fire had 
 sunk to a heap of grey ashes, the candles were 
 flickering in their sockets. A white, haggard face 
 looked at her from the mirror, the eyes darkly 
 circled, the lips closed in a hard line. " What a 
 face to greet one's bridal morn ! " she thought. 
 
 With one long shuddering sigh she took in 
 ever} 7 detail of herself. Then a swift breath ex- 
 tinguished the candle's flickering light, and in the 
 darkness of the room came only the sound of a 
 woman's broken sobs. 
 
 • ••••••• 
 
 The day broke rosy and fair, and the warm sun- 
 light stole into the chamber and flickered to and 
 fro, playing hide and seek with the jewels on bare 
 arms, and kissing the dead whiteness of a face 
 that sleep at last had tranquillised. 
 
 With a sudden start the sleeper woke and gazed 
 with wonder at her strange appearance. 
 
 She had thrown herself dressed as she w r as on 
 the bed, and had fallen asleep in sheer weariness. 
 
 She rose now, and with hurried fingers removed 
 her diamonds and unlaced her dress, and went 
 through all the old hateful routine which night 
 and morn render compulsory for civilised beings, 
 be they ever so weary, or ever so sad. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 207 
 
 Then she crept back to bed, old and faint and 
 unutterably wretched, vainly woong sleep again. 
 
 She watched the light grow brighter at that 
 fatal window, and the glow seemed to scorch her 
 brain. The dingy pattern of the carpet, the orna- 
 ments on the mantel-shelf, the hundred and one 
 commonplace and remembered things that were 
 sacred to her own possession seemed to take a 
 new aspect and grow vivid in an atmosphere of 
 regret. 
 
 Time ticked its slow course from the little 
 china clock, and every moment brought nearer the 
 fatal hour when she must nerve herself to dress 
 and smile and play her part in the dreary pageant 
 of the day. 
 
 " Why have I done this ? " she asked herself. 
 " I had grown used to my life. Better have left it 
 as it was, not taken a new burden by way of 
 lightening the old. But all my days seem to 
 have been spent in committing mistakes and re- 
 gretting them too late. I can't escape now. 
 What a ghastly mockery it would have been to do 
 what he prayed last night ; to try to retrieve the 
 youth he murdered, to let him for ever contrast 
 the woman in her faded bloom with the girl whose 
 love he so little valued ! Oh ! how I remember it 
 all ; that is the worst of women, or such a woman 
 as I am. I can't forget ; I remember his words, 
 his kisses, the very way he used to look at me 
 across a room ; the mad wild things he would do 
 and say. And after all what does it come to ? 
 What does any man's love ever come to when the 
 novelty has worn off? Satiety, weariness, regret ! 
 Oh ! how could he have dared to come to me last 
 night ; it was a worse insult even than " 
 
 Her thoughts broke off abruptly. " I hope I 
 shall never see him again. I thought I had out- 
 lived his power to hurt me . . . Will he go away 
 again ? He did not say. Oh ! he must, he must. 
 
208 JPEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 It is too horrible that he should be here, at my 
 gates almost, waiting to see me that old man's 
 wife. Oh ! I think I've been mad. God is very 
 cruel to me. He doesn't let me feel old ! He 
 doesn't put chill calm into my soul and let me 
 take life easily as others do. It's always been 
 like this to me. I mean to do right, but then, 
 somehow, the right turns out to be all wrong. 
 They say nothing is so bad but that it can be 
 worse. I wonder if anything, anything could be 
 worse to me than what I am doing ? I can't 
 imagine it — now." 
 
 She closed her eyes and lay there very quiet. 
 
 " The pain is lulling at last," she murmured 
 faintly. " It seems only like a bad dream. I — I 
 haven't prayed for a long, long time, but I could 
 pray now with all my soul that God would let me 
 get through this day as if last night had never 
 been. Oh ! how shall I ever face the cruel light 
 — the cruel eyes of women ? Among them all is 
 there one who would be sorry if she knew me as I 
 am, as I know myself, as — to my lasting misery — 
 that one man knows me ? " 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 AFTERWARDS. 
 
 " Shure, 'twas an illigant ceremony intirely, and 
 went off beautiful," said Quinlan, wiping her eyes 
 with a corner of her muslin apron and appealing 
 to Miss Bedelia as a " kindred soul " after the 
 excitement of the day. " And Miss Peg, the 
 saints presarve her, that composed and grand- 
 looking, not the highest in the land could bate 
 her an' they tried. Yet she was feelin' it all the 
 time. I saw the lips of her quiver when they was 
 speechifying at the breakfast, and only for the 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 200, 
 
 high spirit that was always in her she'd have let 
 the tears rowl down her face, instead of houlding 
 thim back in thim beautiful eyes. Arrah ! wisha, 
 wisha ! Miss O'Hara, 'tis a sorry day for me to be 
 losin' the likes o' her." 
 
 " Perhaps she'll engage you at the castle, 
 Quinlan," said Miss Bedelia. "You know 'twas 
 an old promise as a girl that whenever she married 
 you should go to her new home." 
 
 " Do ye think that I'm after forgetting that, 
 Miss O'Hara, ma'am ? Faith, an' it's kept the 
 heart o' me from brakin' outright entirely, en- 
 tirely, all this holy and blessed day. And yet the 
 master here has need o' me. 'Twill be fairly 
 starved he'll be after all this to make up for the 
 extravagance, and ivery crust and candle-end 
 counted. Faith, 'tis a taste of purgatory we get 
 here whin Miss Peg, bless her, is out of the way." 
 
 Miss Bedelia smiled grimly. Mrs. O'Hara was 
 no favourite of hers, and she was prepared to 
 believe anything that was ill of her. Besides, 
 Quinlan had the privileges of an old servant and 
 an Irish servant to boot, and there was nothing 
 derogatory in a gossip with her. 
 
 The conversation was taking place in Miss 
 Bedelia's room, whither she had inveigled Quinlan 
 on the plea of needing her assistance in packing. 
 
 She was always eager to " shake off the dust " of 
 Carrig-duve from her shoes, and never by any 
 chance stayed a day longer than was absolutely 
 necessary. 
 
 " It was a sorry day for the family when my 
 brother married an Englishwoman," she remarked 
 at last. " I have often wondered why my niece 
 didn't marry long ago, if only to escape from here. 
 It certainly was not from any want of offers." 
 
 " Offers, indeed ! Why, 'twas the pick of the 
 county Miss Peg had to choose a husband from. 
 And 'tis a quare choice she's made, after all," she 
 
 14 
 
210 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 added regretfully. " Not but what the position is 
 foine enough, though they do say Sir Jasper's 
 none so well off as he'd make folks believe." 
 
 Miss Bedelia started. " Is that true, Quinlan ? 
 I always understood he was so wealthy." 
 
 " Was, ma'am, that's thrue for ye. But I've 
 heard tell o' mortgages and sich like ; and you 
 know yerself, Miss O'Hara dear, that the land 
 isn't worth a quarter what it was, even tin years 
 ago. And, shure, Sir Jasper's not the gintleman 
 to be denyin' himself anything he's a mind for. 
 Och ! glory be to God, poor Ireland's in a moighty 
 quare way intirely, intirely, and 'tis the landed 
 gintry know where the shoe pinches ! " 
 
 Miss Bedelia still looked thoughtful. The 
 doubt thrown out by Quinlan's words was likely 
 to be a pebble of uneasiness in the shoe of that 
 future comfort she had promised herself. She 
 had looked upon Miss Em's future as secure at 
 last, and silenced a little conscience prick of her 
 own with the inward assurance that her money 
 would never be needed now. However, after a 
 few moments' consideration she decided that all 
 this could only be village gossip, and had probably 
 no real foundation. Emilia surely knew what she 
 was about, and would have been the last woman in 
 the world to marry without assuring herself she 
 had all she bargained for. 
 
 She changed the subject abruptly, and set 
 Quinlan off on a fresh recital of the sins and 
 shortcomings of Mrs. O'Hara, while she folded 
 skirts, and shook out laces, and arranged all 
 Miss Bedelia's belongings with a view to getting 
 the maximum of articles into the minimum of 
 space. 
 
 In the midst of her work Quinlan suddenly 
 started. 
 
 " Faith, and I'm jest forgettin' the very thing 
 I promised Miss Peg ! " she exclaimed. " Axin' 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 211 
 
 yer pardon, ma'am, Miss O'Hara dear, ye'll jest 
 excuse me for a moment, whilst I give a look 
 round her room. She's that careless, bless her 
 sowl, and I tould her I'd be givin' a squint round 
 to see if she'd left anything behind. For 'tis she 
 knows as well as meself, the pryin' eyes that are 
 in this house. So I'll jest — arrah whist ! . . . Was 
 that her door I'm after hearin' ? " 
 
 She went eagerly to the door of Miss Bedelia's 
 room and looked out. A moment after she turned 
 round. 
 
 " Well, ma'am, it's a quare thing," she said 
 slowly, " but I'd be sworn I saw the tail of a 
 gown whiskin' round the corner this minnit, and, 
 more beyant, I know whose gown it was. Now 
 what had the mistress to do pryin' into Miss 
 Peg's room at all, tell me that ? " 
 
 " I'm sure I don't know," answered Miss Bede- 
 lia. "But there's nothing wonderful in it, Quin- 
 lan ; maybe she only wanted to see that Emilia 
 hadn't forgotten anything." 
 
 Quinlan shook her head disapprovingly. " No, 
 ma'am. She's after no good, and why did she 
 slink away like that as if she'd been caught 
 thavin' or worse ? I'll jest go and look for meself 
 if the drawers is locked and her boxes sthropped, 
 as I promised. If there's one left open divil a 
 bit but I know who's been at it." 
 
 She left, and Miss Bedelia followed her. 
 
 Tidiness was never Miss Em's strong point, and 
 the aspect of her room on this eventful occasion 
 was a few degrees more chaotic than usual. 
 Quinlan cast sharp glances about her as she 
 moved to and fro gathering up various articles of 
 apparel, and endeavouring to "straighten" the 
 disordered apartment. The window was open, 
 and Miss Bedelia approached it, and stood for a 
 few seconds looking out at the garden below, and 
 the waving boughs of the great elm where they 
 
212 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 rustled against the low stone balustrade of the 
 little balcony. The air was soft and spring-like, 
 the branches as they swayed to and fro almost 
 touched the window by which she stood. Her eyes 
 carelessly roving over the scene were suddenly 
 conscious of a momentary arrest, — something 
 slight and trivial, and yet destined to haunt 
 her with a pertinacity almost irritating. 
 " Come here, Quinlan," she said at last. 
 The old woman approached and stood by her 
 side, as if waiting for explanation of the summons. 
 " Look there," Miss Bedelia continued presently ; 
 " tell me — do you notice anything peculiar about 
 that tree?" 
 
 Quinlan's eyes followed the direction of the 
 pointing hand, but the face spoke no surprise. 
 
 " Shure, 'tis much as it iver was, a bit near the 
 window, but 'twas a fancy of Miss Peg's to have 
 it left so ; she'd niver have a twig of it touched." 
 
 "I — I don't mean about it being so near, though 
 it is very near ; why, any one could climb up to the 
 balcony from that bough." 
 
 "Ah! glory be to God, and what for should 
 they be doin' that, ma'am ? Shure, 'tis a quare 
 fancy you've got in your head. There's bolts and 
 bars and shutters to the window if it's Fenians or 
 burglars ye're thinkin' of; though sorra' a one av 
 thim gentry would iver come masqueradin' round 
 Carrig-duve. 'Tisn't much here that's waitin' to 
 timpt them, and well they knows it." 
 
 " But look at the bough, Quinlan," persisted the 
 old lady ; " don't you see it's all bent and crushed; 
 and see there, on the balcony, those broken twigs! 
 Doesn't it look as if some one had climbed up, 
 
 and " 
 
 " Arrah ! naubbeen bouragh! 1 What will ye 
 be saying next, ma'am ? " scoffed Quinlan, as she 
 
 1 " Don't be bothering me." 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 21$ 
 
 stepped forward and peered about. But the in- 
 difference of the voice was belied by the anxious 
 look in her eyes. " Shure, 'tis jest a bit o' a 
 breeze that's broken thim dry twigs. Come in 
 now out o' the cold, ma'am," she added hastily; 
 " for I'll be lockin' up here while 'tis daylight. 
 And for goodness sake, Miss O'Hara, me dear, 
 don't be after sayin' sich things downstairs ; for 
 'tis as narvous they are, mistress and the master 
 too, as iver childer could be. Why, since Biddy 
 Lehane came here full o' the Headless Coach being 
 seen again, not a sowl in the house will look out 
 of a window after dusk, an' the mistress herself 
 worse than any o' thim — an onaisy conscience 
 I'm thinking ; and sorra a wonder, if she's throubled 
 in mind after all the evil she's worked in this 
 house." 
 
 Her tongue rattled on and her busy fingers closed 
 and bolted the window, while still the swaying 
 boughs moved softly to and fro, and the young 
 fresh green of the leaves stood out in faint relief 
 against the pale primrose of the sky. 
 
 Miss Bedelia's face still wore that anxious ex- 
 pression, but she said no more. 
 
 Meanwhile Quinlan bustled about, replacing 
 things in drawers, smoothing down the bed, and 
 setting the chairs straight in their accustomed 
 places. " God bless and make her happy," she 
 murmured at last, as she rested from her labours, 
 and looked with brimming eyes at the familiar 
 room. " 'Tis sad I am at heart this day, and 
 sorely I'll miss her. Haven't I had care o' her 
 from the hour she was born, the loveliest babe as 
 iver drew the breath o' life, and the sweetest child 
 and the merriest girl that iver danced herself into 
 fun and mischief from sheer love o' divilry ? Och ! 
 'twas the fine spirit she had, the saints presarve 
 her; and didn't I tell her luck was changin', and 
 ►be marriage card turnin' up too that very night 
 
214 PEG > THE RAKE - 
 
 as she was spakin' of going to Dublin ? Faith, 
 Miss O'Hara, 'twas a thrue prophet I was that 
 time." 
 
 " Were you fortune-telling again, Quinlan ? 
 You were alwa) r s great at the cards. You'd more 
 signs and meanings than any one I ever met. 
 And so you told Emilia her fortune ? " 
 
 " Ah ! thrue for you, I did that. And it's come 
 thrue, ivery blessed word av it." 
 
 " I should rest -content then," said Miss Bedelia 
 gravely, " and not ask any more of Fate or the 
 future." 
 
 " Maybe I won't. But marriage is a quare 
 thing intirely, and you can't be sure how 'twill 
 turn out. 'Tis all very well in story books, but 
 shure they jest lave the folk at the church door, 
 whin 'tis after their own door closes on them that 
 the rale throubles begin. And now, Miss O'Hara 
 dear, savin' your presence, I'll be after shuttin' up 
 this apartment for good an' all, seein' things is 
 straight, and the trunks safely locked. They're 
 to go to the castle next week." 
 
 She paused and looked scrutinisingly round the 
 room once more. " What made the mistress come 
 pryin' about here?" she muttered. " I'd give a 
 good dale to know. Well, 'tisn't much she'd 
 have the chance of discovering now. Miss Peg 
 was a mighty good hand at kapin' her own secrets, 
 and she's safe now, glory be to God ! " 
 
 Safe ! If Quinlan had possessed a little more 
 worldly knowledge she would have known that a 
 woman whose life holds a secret is never safe, and 
 can never be sure but that some lurking foe lies in 
 ambush to spring upon her with betrayal or accu- 
 sation, even when she deems herself most secure ! 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 215 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 FEELING THE GROUND. 
 
 It was a cold wet evening when, a fortnight later, 
 the lady of Castle Lustrell drove up to her new 
 home. 
 
 The promise of spring had not been kept, and 
 the flowers and leafage looked shrunk and sodden 
 as the carriage made its way up the avenue. Its 
 two occupants looked silently out at either window, 
 each mind busy with its own reflections. Judging 
 from the expression of the two faces, it might be 
 supposed that the honeymoon had not been a 
 success. They looked bored and discontented, and 
 unutterably weary. The dispiriting effects of the 
 long journey and the present aspect of Nature 
 were not conducive to any display of cheerfulness ; 
 and Miss Em, as she gazed at the brooding clouds, 
 massed heavily over the blood-red gleam in the 
 west, felt as if the ominous face of earth and sky 
 was but the reflection of her own forebodings. 
 
 The carriage stopped at the entrance ; a glow of 
 light and warmth shone from out the opening 
 door, revealing the hall with its antique furniture 
 and faded tapestry, and the dull gold of a picture- 
 frame above the great fireplace. 
 
 The old butler, older far than his master, stood 
 bowing respectful welcome to the travellers. A 
 few steps beyond him Molly was waiting, her 
 bright young beauty shining royally in the warm 
 glow, her eyes eager and fond as they rested on 
 the two weary faces. 
 
 "There, there, child, don't fuss," muttered her 
 father impatiently, as she sprang forward and threw 
 her arms round his neck. " I'm tired to death and 
 half frozen. Where's Bates ? " and he looked round 
 petulantly for his valet " I'll go to my room at 
 
2l6 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 once. Dinner at half-past seven, [ suppose, as 
 usual, Molly ? " 
 
 " Yes, papa," said Molly, who had turned to 
 greet her stepmother, and was wondering a little 
 at the intense fervour of the quiet embrace which 
 had answered her welcome. 
 
 Sir Jasper moved away and left them both 
 standing by the fire. 
 
 " You'll have some tea, won't you ? " asked 
 Molly ; " I thought you'd like it better than any- 
 thing else. How pale you look, dear, and so tired ! 
 Sit down here, and let me take off your cloak." 
 
 Her deft fingers removed the travelling wraps, 
 and with a sigh of relief Miss Em sank into the 
 comfortable chair by the great open fireplace and 
 glanced round at the preparations for her comfort 
 which the girl had so lovingly made. 
 
 She took off her gloves and veil, and pushed the 
 close felt hat a little off her head, as if its weight 
 troubled her. Molly thought she looked very ill 
 and strangely old, but she said nothing, only 
 busied herself with the tea that had just been 
 brought in by the old butler. 
 
 Miss Em drank a cup, and it seemed to revive 
 her. A faint glow came into her pale cheeks, and 
 the tired absent look was replaced by one of 
 interest. 
 
 " I am glad to be home," she said. " It is weary 
 work travelling, especially at this time of year. 
 And it was awful at Killarney — rain, rain, rain, 
 one incessant downpour ! But now tell me all 
 about yourself, Molly. What have you been 
 doing ? Was it very dull ? And how are things 
 and people in general ? It seems an age since I 
 left." 
 
 " That doesn't sound as if she were very happy," 
 thought the girl ; but she only knelt down on the 
 velvet footstool at Miss Em's feet and chatted 
 away in her old merry fashion, telling her of the 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 217 
 
 hundred and one trivialities of Irish village life, 
 which seem so important or entertaining to Irish 
 people. 
 
 " Have you seen any one from Carrig-duve ? ; ' 
 inquired Miss Em, after some ten minutes' gossip 
 of this nature. 
 
 " No ; but I believe they are quite well. The 
 house-party left the day after the wedding, and, I 
 heard, most of the servants." 
 
 " That I can quite believe ; I expected the 
 establishment would be reduced to its ordinary 
 limits as soon as my back was turned." 
 
 " I hope you will find your rooms as you like 
 them," continued the girl presently. " I could not 
 do much. Everything is very old-fashioned, just 
 as they were in my mother and grandmother's 
 time, but at least they're comfortable." 
 
 " My dear, whatever they are, I am not likely 
 to find fault with them," said Miss Em ; " Carrig- 
 duve has not made me ultra-fastidious." 
 
 " Are you going to have a maid ? " inquired 
 Molly. " I have never required one ; papa said it 
 was nonsense, and one of the girls here is very 
 handy and does any little thing I want. But you, 
 perhaps " 
 
 " If I have any one, I should like my old servant 
 Quinlan," said her stepmother. " But I'm not 
 very anxious about one ; they're generally more 
 bother than they're worth. Of course if we enter- 
 tain a great deal or go out much, I should like 
 somebody to assist me in dressing, and to re-arrange 
 gowns and do my hair. But at present I shall 
 do very well without one." 
 
 " We haven't a very large establishment," con- 
 tinued Molly ; " indeed, of late, papa has been 
 cutting down everything in the oddest way. The 
 servants declare they can't manage to keep the 
 house as it ought to be kept ; and when I say 
 that to my father, he only answers, 'They must 
 
2l8 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 do the best they can '. But things will be different 
 now," she added more cheerfully. " I'm sure you'll 
 manage much better than I could ever do. To 
 tell you the truth, I hate housekeeping. I like 
 books and music, and walks and rides and croquet, 
 and all that sort of thing ; but managing servants 
 and regulating household expenses and ordering 
 dinners, I positively hate ! " 
 
 Miss Em looked somewhat wistfully at the 
 bright face. " You needn't do it any longer, dear, 
 unless you choose," she said; "though it is good 
 practice. You may be having a house of your 
 own some day, and you'll be none the worse for 
 understanding the details of management." 
 
 Molly flushed to the roots of her pretty hair. 
 " Shall we go upstairs now ? " she asked, ignoring 
 the insinuation in Miss Em's speech. " I told 
 Dwyer — the girl I was speaking of — to take your 
 dressing-bag to your room, and that you would tell 
 her what trunk you wished opened. All your 
 boxes have been sent from Carrig-duve, and they 
 are in the little ante-room opening out of your 
 dressing-room, so you can soon have them un- 
 packed." 
 
 Miss Em rose, and they left the hall and went 
 up the broad oak staircase together. 
 
 The castle was very old, and for long years 
 had been falling into neglect. Only a few of the 
 rooms were ever used, the others had been closed 
 to daylight and left to the tender mercies of damp 
 and dust. The hall was very spacious, and served 
 the purposes of general sitting-room and drawing- 
 room. The dining-room was a long lofty chamber 
 with a panelled ceiling, from which hung two massive 
 chandeliers, capable of holding fifty candles each. 
 It was lighted by three large windows deeply set, 
 and showing views of the park and a glimpse of 
 the sea. The large drawing-room was on the 
 opposite side, with windows opening on the terrace. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 210, 
 
 Miss Em had never seen it, nor had it been 
 opened for use in her memory at all. 
 
 The suite of rooms to which Molly conducted 
 her were over this drawing-room and on the same 
 side of the house. They consisted of bedroom, 
 dressing-room, and boudoir, all opening one into 
 the other, and the small ante-room of which Molly 
 had spoken. The dressing-room which they en- 
 tered first was large and lofty, with deep bay 
 windows. The furniture was old and sombre, 
 but rich of its kind, and harmonised well with 
 the oak-panelled walls and vast fireplace ; the 
 windows were hung with rich old damask ; the 
 great dressing-table which stood between them 
 was a wonder of carving, and the large old- 
 fashioned sofa and chairs were covered in chintz 
 and piled with soft cushions. 
 
 The glow of the firelight made cheerful re- 
 flections in the polished woodwork and tall mirrors, 
 and gave the room an air of comfort and homeli- 
 ness. 
 
 Through the open doorway the adjoining bed- 
 chamber was visible, furnished in a similar style, 
 but with the addition of an immense four-post 
 bedstead draped in silk damask. 
 
 The boudoir was smaller, and furnished in a 
 lighter and more cheerful style. The window 
 seats were padded and cushioned ; a carved oak- 
 writing-table and bookcase, ebony consoles bearing 
 quaint china, folding screens, and quaint chairs 
 of all shapes and sizes, distinguished this room ; 
 and Molly had filled every nook and corner with 
 flowers and plants, and re-arranged the prints and 
 pictures and innumerable ornaments with some 
 sense of artistic fitness that the eyes of the new 
 Lady Lustrell were quick to recognise and ap- 
 preciate. 
 
 " Everything is charming," she said, looking 
 from one to the other of the open doors with their 
 
220 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 glimpses of comfortable interiors. " I am so glad 
 there is nothing modem here ; I detest up-to-date 
 furniture and decorations." 
 
 " Do you ?" said Molly, opening wide her pretty 
 eyes. "Oh, I love them; they are so bright and 
 artistic and fanciful." 
 
 " Yes, that I grant," said Miss Em, with fine 
 contempt ; " fanciful enough and capable of lasting 
 some half dozen years, if cared for. Why, such 
 furniture as this lasts for generations and is as 
 good at the end as at the beginning. Besides, it 
 has such a respectable old-world flavour about it," 
 she added laughing. "Your modern millionaire 
 can't compete with that. His surroundings, like 
 himself, bear the stamp of nouveau riche on every- 
 thing." 
 
 "Well, I'm very glad you are pleased," said 
 Molly. " I was so thankful Aunt Sabina left all 
 the arranging to me. She took herself off a week 
 ago, and then we began work on these rooms." 
 
 "You have done wonders," Miss Em said, 
 dropping a kiss on the bright upturned face. 
 " But now I am going to be rude enough to turn 
 you out, for I want a rest before I dress for dinner. 
 Tell Dwyer that the long leather trunk holds my 
 evening dresses, and I will wear the black velvet 
 to-night." 
 
 Molly nodded, and drew the big cushioned sofa 
 a little nearer the fire. " There," she said, " have 
 a good rest. You needn't dress for an hour yet ; 
 and don't make a grand toilette, we're quite alone, 
 you know." 
 
 " Your aunt isn't coming back yet ? " asked Miss 
 Em somewhat anxiously. 
 
 " No ; not for ages," answered Molly. " She has 
 gone to live with a widowed cousin at Ballymena. 
 The Lord be thanked for all His mercies ! " she 
 added piously, as she closed the door behind her. 
 
 Left alone, Miss Em threw herself wearily on 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 221 
 
 the big soft couch, and closed her eyes with a sigh 
 of relief. 
 
 " So it's all over, at last ! " she thought, " and 
 now, I suppose, for the tug of war. I want the 
 full worth of my bargain, and I mean to be the 
 sole ruler here to begin with. Thank goodness 
 that odious Sabina has had the discretion to take 
 herself off. It would have been impossible for the 
 two of us to live here. Molly is pliant and sweet 
 enough ; besides, I am fond of her, fonder than I 
 ever imagined I could be of any one of my own 
 sex. Between us we will wake the old castle up 
 again, whether Sir Jasper likes it or not. I must 
 have the best people here, and they must talk of 
 me as of a person of importance — the person in the 
 county in fact. Of course, a series of dinners must 
 open the campaign. It is an odd thing that one 
 can do nothing to acquire popularity or reward dis- 
 tinction, except through the medium of eating and 
 drinking. However, it is safer to begin on old 
 lines before branching off into new ones. I intend 
 to do both. Henceforth I shall live for society, 
 and popularity, and the world. It will be fatiguing, 
 I make no doubt, but it will keep me well employed, 
 and form my best vengeance for slights and snubs 
 in the past." 
 
 She opened her eyes again, and took a leisurely 
 and more complete survey of her surroundings 
 " Yes, these rooms will do very well," she 
 reflected ; " they suit the place and they suit me. 
 Rose-hued draperies and fanciful furnishing would 
 be all very well for a bride of eighteen, but I 
 prefer something solid and good. Everything 
 here speaks of the past, a past with which I have 
 nothing to do, but whose old-world flavour I like. 
 I wonder what I shall have to do to the state 
 drawing-room ; I must see that to-morrow. The 
 library and dining-room I know ; I think they are 
 all right." 
 
222 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 Gradually her eyes closed, the warmth and 
 stillness and perfume of flowers lulled her senses 
 and soothed her tired nerves, peace stole softly 
 over her wandering fancies, and she lost all 
 memory of troubles, present or to come, in the 
 deep trance of slumber. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 THE FIRST CLOUD. 
 
 A clock softly chiming the hour of seven startled 
 the sleeper at last. She sprang up for a moment, 
 gazed in bewilderment at the strange room, " I 
 — I was dreaming I was back at Carrig-duve," 
 she said as she rose. " Seven o'clock, and they 
 dine at half-past ! Gracious, how could I have 
 slept so long, and how shall I ever manage to 
 dress in half an hour ? " 
 
 She hurried into the adjoining room. The fire 
 was burning brightly, and a number of wax candles 
 had been lit in the china candelabra each side of 
 the dressing-table. 
 
 The black velvet dress lay on a couch at the 
 foot of the bed, and her jewel-case stood on a 
 small table beside it. 
 
 She stood for a moment silently surveying her- 
 self ere she took off her travelling dress and opened 
 her dressing-bag. 
 
 " I won't risk a maid's inquisitive eyes — yet" 
 she said. " There'll be talk enough in the 
 servants' hall presently. I mustn't betray my 
 petits secrets." 
 
 When she rang the bell for Dwyer's assistance 
 with her dress, the girl thought she had never seen 
 a " finer looking lady " than the new mistress of 
 the castle. Sleep had given colour to her cheeks 
 and light to her eyes, and her own experience of 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 223 
 
 "judicious aids " had worked wonders. The rich 
 black velvet showed off her white throat and arms 
 to perfection, and the diamonds and emeralds of 
 Miss Bedelia's wedding gifts still further enhanced 
 her striking appearance. 
 
 " Not a day over thirty-five, and good at that!" 
 she said to herself triumphantly. " I see I want 
 rich and good materials now ; muslins and silks 
 and laces won't do any longer — except as acces- 
 sories." 
 
 She took her gloves and handkerchief from the 
 girl's hands, and swept downstairs just as the 
 second bell had ceased ringing. 
 
 Sir Jasper and Molly were standing by the great 
 fireplace in the hall. She came slowly down 
 the wide shallow stairs, the soft rich folds of 
 velvet trailing behind her beautiful figure, and the 
 emeralds and diamonds gleaming on throat and 
 arms. Involuntarily her eyes rested on her hus- 
 band's face as he looked up and watched her ap- 
 proach. Something in it — a new expression — an 
 expression that had not been there when he left 
 her two hours before — caught her ever quick glance 
 — and for a second's space turned her cold and 
 sick with sudden apprehension. 
 
 " He has learnt — something" So the fear trans- 
 lated itself, and the blood grew cold in her veins, 
 even while the instinctive courage of her nature 
 and her race set every nerve in steely defiance 
 against the folly of self-betrayal. 
 
 Not a tremor in face or lips or voice gave any 
 sign that she had noticed what Sir Jasper had 
 been equally unconscious of betraying; and yet they 
 met with so wide a gulf of difference between their 
 parting two hours previously and that present 
 meeting that no power or will of either could ever 
 bridge it over. 
 
 Sir Jasper offered his arm, and Molly followed 
 them both into the dining-room. She was nervous 
 
224 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 as to the dinner, for it was her first attempt at 
 ordering one on her own responsibility, and this 
 nervousness kept her from remarking the con- 
 straint of her two companions, or the strange 
 manner in which from time to time her father 
 eyed his wife. 
 
 The flush on Miss Em's cheek grew deeper ; 
 her eyes had a wild brilliance that betokened in- 
 tense mental excitement. She ate scarcely any- 
 thing, but her champagne glass was filled rather 
 oftener than was prudent, and she rattled on about 
 a hundred different subjects without waiting for 
 response, or ever seeming to heed the fact of Sir 
 Jasper's silence. The change in her from the 
 tired, weary, heavy-eyed, haggard woman of two 
 hours before astonished Molly, who was innocent 
 as yet of the magic powers of rouge and blanc de 
 perle and kohl judiciously applied. 
 
 She had always admired Miss Em ; and she 
 admired her more than ever to-night, as the meal 
 drew to a close and she felt it had been a success 
 in every way ; any little omissions or drawback 
 passing unnoticed while Lady Lustrell's sallies 
 and anecdotes were flashing merrily round the 
 board. 
 
 " Was it all right ? " she asked anxiously after 
 they had gone back to the hall and seated them- 
 selves on either side the bright and welcome wood 
 fire. 
 
 Miss Em took up a hand-screen and held it be- 
 tween her face and the glowing flames. " Was 
 what all right, dear?" she asked somewhat ab 
 sently. 
 
 "The dinner," answered Molly. 
 
 " Oh charming — perfect, " returned her step- 
 mother vaguely. " Ugh ! what a storm ! " she 
 added, lifting her head as if listening to the fierce 
 blasts of wind and torrents of rain. 
 
 "Yes; and we always hear it so plainly, " said 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 225 
 
 Molly. " The wind howls round this old castle 
 like a legion of fiends." 
 
 Miss Em shivered. " That's one of the advan- 
 tages of a fine situation," she said. "At Carrig- 
 duve we are quite sheltered, but then it is so 
 shut in." 
 
 " Do you think you will be happy here ? " asked 
 Molly suddenly, as she slipped down on the rug 
 beside her and leant her head caressingly against 
 her shoulder. " I hope so ! " 
 
 " Happy ! " exclaimed Miss Em involuntarily. 
 
 " As if Yes, of course I shall," she added 
 
 with a little forced laugh ; " I expect to have plenty 
 of enjoyment out of life still. We'll wake 
 them all up, Molly. The castle must regain its 
 old prestige — music, dancing, laughter, riot shall 
 ring out through these old rooms once more. 
 Young faces, young feet, young voices will wake 
 the echoes again. Oh ! I love youth about me ; 
 I have lost mine, but I remember it so well that 
 for its sake " 
 
 A dry significant cough cut short her words. 
 She started and glanced round. Sir Jasper was 
 standing in the open doorway, his colourless face, 
 and steely blue eyes thrown into strong relief by 
 the lights from the room he was leaving and the 
 hall he was entering, — those eyes were fixed on 
 Miss Em's face with the same strange expression 
 that had already made her heart thrill with fear. 
 
 Slowly he advanced — his face set as a waxen 
 mask. Her mind, already filled with apprehen- 
 sion, shrank from giving expression to its fore- 
 bodings, but her heart grew heavy as lead, and 
 her features refused to answer her effort at indif- 
 ference. 
 
 Molly sprang up from her caressing attitude and 
 drew a large low chair forward for her father to 
 sit in. He dropped into it, and spread his thin 
 wrinkled hands to the warm blaze. 
 
 15 
 
226 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 " So you love youth and young life about you, 
 my lady? " he said significantly. " I should have 
 imagined that memories of the past were none so 
 pleasant as to raise any desire for their recall. I, 
 for my part, should prefer to forget what I have 
 —outlived." 
 
 Molly looked at him, a little surprised at the 
 acrimony of his tone and the curious expression of 
 his eyes. His wife let her gaze rest tranquilly on 
 the fire. Her hand trembled slightly where it lay 
 against the soft dark velvet of her skirt. She 
 lifted it, and slowly and languidly moved the 
 screen between her and the cold watchful face 
 opposite her own. 
 
 " We cannot all feel alike, my dear Sir Jasper," 
 she said lightly. " I was saying that young life 
 around one keeps one young, and for Molly's 
 sake " 
 
 " Thanks for your consideration," said Sir Jas- 
 per, in that cool languid drawl which, to any one 
 who knew him, was always a sign of intense irri- 
 tation ; " but I do not intend to make any differ- 
 ence in the arrangements here, for — Molly's sake." 
 
 A hot flush dyed Miss Em's cheek. Her grey 
 eyes flashed up at that chill brooding face with 
 sharp interrogation ; some covert meaning was in 
 those words, she felt assured, but she was too 
 proud to risk a discussion or a scene before Molly. 
 
 " Of course," she said readily, " I shall be only 
 too happy to fall in with your views in everything, 
 Sir Jasper." 
 
 " I am glad of that," he said curtly. " They 
 may not be quite in harmony with your own at 
 first, so it is as well we should come to an under- 
 standing." 
 
 He turned to his daughter, whose wondering 
 eyes were eloquent of surprise. " Molly, my 
 dear," he said, " in my dressing-room you will 
 find a letter which I wish you to copy and send off 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 227 
 
 for me by first post. It is to your Aunt Sabina," 
 he added significantly, as the girl rose at once to 
 obey. 
 
 " Aunt Sabina ! " she echoed. Her voice was 
 full of dismay, but her father only waved her 
 aside, with an impatient frown. 
 
 As the door closed on the girl's white figure, 
 Miss Em let the screen fall on her lap and looked 
 him straight in the face. 
 
 " Sir Jasper," she said slowly and distinctly, 
 " you will perhaps explain what you mean. In 
 what way have I offended you that your manner 
 has changed so suddenly, and why do you wish to 
 humiliate me before your daughter ? " 
 
 He leant back in the chair, and, joining the 
 finger tips of both hands together as if to empha- 
 sise his speech, surveyed her for a moment with a 
 sullen fury that alarmed her. 
 
 " I have — humiliated — you, as you call it," he 
 said slowly, " because you have deceived me. Be- 
 cause I have found out your secret ; because, had I 
 known you as you are I would never have com- 
 mitted the folly of marrying you. Last of all, 
 because having committed that folly I at least in- 
 tend to suffer as little as possible from its results. 
 Are you prepared to listen to my intentions with 
 respect to our present situation ? " 
 
 "I — I do not understand what you mean ; 
 how you dare " 
 
 He held up his hand — that thin, wrinkled, blue- 
 veined hand at which she had once shuddered. 
 " That is a lie," he said sternly. " But I have no 
 wish to unveil your past to-night ; sufficient that 
 I know it. Sufficient that having recognised your 
 deception and its reasons I shall allow myself the 
 sweetness of my own revenge for my own reasons. 
 Your life here will be regulated by my desires— 
 not your own. Your position I cannot, unfor- 
 tunately, gainsay ; but I shall take care you have 
 
228 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 but its empty honours — no substantial good. I 
 have requested my sister to return here at once, 
 and she will resume her old place as housekeeper. 
 You are at liberty to make any excuse you desire 
 by way of explanation — want of inclination, dislike 
 to domestic matters, any of the pretty little tarra- 
 diddles at which you have always been an adept." 
 
 " I — I will not submit to such treatment ! " 
 exclaimed Miss Em furiously as she sprang to her 
 feet. " I insist on knowing your reasons." 
 
 " Pray moderate your voice and your temper," 
 he answered smilingly. " You have of course an 
 alternative if you prefer to rebel instead of submit. 
 You can return to Carrig-duve, or live apart on an 
 allowance from me. But permit me to remind 
 you that the eyes of the whole county will be upon 
 you then, and that even after — twenty years — a 
 secret may leak out." 
 
 She sank into her chair again, white and cold 
 and trembling. " Some one has maligned me. 
 I — I have so many enemies," she muttered. 
 " But it is unfair to condemn me unheard." 
 
 " Thank you," he said icily; "but I have not 
 reached my present stage of life without knowing 
 how well a woman can make out her tale if it is to 
 serve her interests. Of course, all this comes of my 
 being such a fool as to marry you. I can't imagine 
 what possessed me. I saw through your arts 
 plainly enough. I knew what you and Lady 
 Patricia were aiming at, but I also knew I was 
 not by any means the wealthy ' catch ' you both 
 imagined, and that the bargain was not so one- 
 sided after all. I am by no means sure that I 
 haven't the best of it," he added, surveying her 
 with a cool insolence that fired her blood, and 
 woke the fierce O'Hara temper into one of its 
 fiercest outbursts. But it might as well have 
 spent itself on a marble rock as on the cool, icy 
 indifference of Sir Jasper. Long years of selfish- 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 229 
 
 ness had moulded him into a beautiful passivity 
 where women were concerned. In ybuth they had 
 suffered enough at his hands to bring forth tears 
 and reproaches innumerable. Such grief and such 
 reproach never touched his conscience ; they only 
 affected his comfort for the time being, and led 
 him to avoid diplomatically any temptation to their 
 repetition. 
 
 He was not incapable of kindness, so long as it 
 entailed no personal sacrifice, but he objected to 
 scenes, and he disliked to be " found out ". It 
 was unnecessary, and it was bad taste, and he did 
 his best to avoid such a social blunder, less as a 
 tribute to virtue than one to conventionality and 
 comfort. A man of more sensitive nature and 
 less immoral tendencies might have taken his evil 
 deeds to heart, or felt his hearth shadows chilled 
 by remorseful memories, but Sir Jasper Lustrell was 
 at once too callous and too selfish to be so troubled. 
 
 The one thing that roused him to anger was an 
 offence against his peace of mind. He was merci- 
 less both to the crime and the offender. For years 
 he had not been so disturbed and so infuriated as 
 by his discovery to-night. It had roused all that 
 was bitter and evil in his nature; had recalled long 
 past scenes when the position of deceiver and de- 
 ceived had been reversed, and had sharpened his 
 faculty for malice into a keen, savage desire that 
 was only a degree less brutal than the violence of 
 revenge. 
 
 " She shall suffer every day and every hour of 
 her life henceforward," so ran his reflections as he 
 leant back and surveyed his wife, listening un- 
 moved to her anger, smiling cynically from time 
 to time at the illogical phases that anger took. 
 " It will be an occupation for me to invent such 
 punishment. But I must take her measure first. 
 There are women whom it is not safe to drive to 
 desperation. I learnt that — once," 
 
230 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 He rose abruptly. A long dead memory cut 
 him sharply to the quick ; the vision of an angry 
 face, that in one brief hour had been brought into 
 his presence again with all the anger hushed to 
 eternal peace, and all the reproaches silenced. 
 
 " One never knows what women will do," he 
 reflected, " and I don't desire another scandal." 
 
 " We will end this discussion once and for all," 
 he said curtly. " It is desirable to maintain some 
 appearance of propriety in our very recent relation- 
 ship. But in everything appertaining to the 
 management of affairs here, I alone am to be 
 consulted. You wished to be Lady Lustrell, and 
 you have achieved your desire. I advise you for 
 your own sake to make the best of the empty 
 honour you have gained. There will be little else 
 to reward your achievement." 
 
 He bowed ironically, and left her standing there, 
 the anger in her heart spent and burnt to ashes of 
 despair ! 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 REAPING THE WHIRLWIND. 
 
 Molly was surprised to find the hall vacant 
 when she returned after copying that distasteful 
 letter. Her stepmother had retired to her own 
 room without even a " Good-night ". 
 
 If the girl had seen her face as she stood on 
 the threshold of those luxurious chambers, she 
 would have been almost scared by its passion and 
 fierceness. 
 
 With a deliberation, terrible in its contrast 
 to the flash and fury of her anger, Miss Em closed 
 and locked door after door of communication. 
 
 Then she lit the candles before the long mirror, 
 and stood there, silently surveying herself, every 
 nerve and fibre of her frame quivering and thrilling 
 with rage. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 23 1 
 
 " Oh ! is there nothing I can do ? " she cried ; 
 "nothing, nothing? Surely my wits haven't 
 deserted me. I never yet have given in to any 
 man ; am I to begin — now ? " 
 
 The light fell on the flashing jewels, swaying 
 with the storm of her breast — the hurried breath 
 and suppressed sobs of a woman's futile anger. 
 Tears rushed in a burning throng to her eyes, 
 but her strong will held them back. 
 
 " I won't cry, I am sick of tears," she went on ; 
 " they are so useless, and I have shed so many." 
 
 Her arms fell to her side, she turned away from 
 the glass and began to pace to and fro the long 
 shadowy room. 
 
 " I wonder which is the saddest stage of a 
 woman's sorrow," she reflected; "to cry because 
 her heart is breaking for misery, or fear to cry 
 because she has learnt the uselessness of tears, 
 and knows that grief brings fresh wrinkles, 
 shadows unobliterable, lines and furrows no cos- 
 metics can cure ! " 
 
 She caught sight of her tall figure moving to 
 and fro with the grace and restlessness of some 
 untamable creature. " God ! Of what did you 
 make me ? " she cried suddenly, the passion 
 in her voice breaking the hushed silence of the 
 room like a jarring discord. 
 
 The sound startled her and acted like a spell 
 on her excited nerves. 
 
 "This will never do," she thought; "I shall 
 be going out of my mind, or doing something 
 desperate ; and I have to live, act, endure still. 
 Oh! how cruel life is! I thought I had done 
 with all the horrible part of it ; that I could 
 afford at last to be natural, and it seems I am 
 worse off than ever. Truly Fate must have a 
 spite against me ! I can't let myself down now 
 before all those hateful women. How they would 
 enjoy my disgrace after all these years of defiance ! 
 
232 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 Better give in to Sir Jasper than let them have 
 the laugh ! I wonder how much he knows ? I 
 wonder how he heard ? he spoke too positively 
 for conjecture. Could Denis have betrayed me ? 
 There is no one else I have to fear." 
 
 She paused, losing herself apparently in a maze 
 of conjecture, then suddenly she seized one of the 
 candlesticks and hurried into the little ante-room 
 where her boxes were standing, just as they had 
 arrived from Carrig-duve. Taking a bunch of 
 keys from her pocket, she opened one of the 
 trunks, a small insignificant-looking one, piled 
 up with books, papers, writing-cases, and odds 
 and ends of all kinds. Impetuously she seized 
 one after another of the various articles and flung 
 them out on the floor ; a strange anxious look 
 crept into her face as she ended a search appar- 
 ently futile. 
 
 " It is no use looking in the others," she muttered ; 
 "they were all packed and locked before that 
 last evening. I only left this one open and put 
 everything in that was lying about or forgotten. 
 What can have become of it ? " 
 
 She knelt down amidst the debris, peering 
 anxiously to and fro, her hands moving among 
 the fragile, useless things with anxious hopelessness. 
 
 " If I left it there — if it was in my room — if 
 she has found it ! " 
 
 She gave a little inarticulate cry, and pressed 
 her hands to her brow. " Oh ! Let me think, let 
 me be calm. How was it ? I had the book in my 
 hand ; I was going to burn it, I remember ; then 
 the knock came to the window — the old signal. I 
 must have dropped it by the fireplace ; I never 
 thought of it again. Oh ! what a fool I was ! 
 Now I see it all ; she has read it and told Sir 
 Jasper, or written. The sudden change in him 
 from the hour of our arrival proves that ! Ah, have 
 I found thee, O mine enemy ? " 
 
PEG. THE RAKE. 233 
 
 She rose to her feet and stood there gazing 
 with helpless wrath at the confusion she had 
 created. Then she seized the things, and thrust 
 them pell-mell into the box, closing and locking 
 it with savage haste. 
 
 " There is just one loop-hole of escape. Quinlan 
 may have found it. I must go to Carrig-duve 
 to-morrow and find that out. But yet, Sir Jasper's 
 strange conduct — his accusation ? He must have 
 had good authority for speaking as he did. Oh 
 Heavens ! they will drive me mad between them, 
 or to " 
 
 She looked strangely round the room. 
 
 "No; I mustn't take to that" she cried wildly. 
 " God of mercy, hold me back, even in all my 
 misery, from so desperate a remedy ! And oh ! if 
 Thou dost heed or care for prayers, listen to mine 
 to-night ! Send me sleep and rest, for I can bear 
 no more." 
 
 She stumbled back to her bedroom and replaced 
 the candlestick, and then threw herself dressed 
 as she was on the couch before the fire. The 
 climax to all she had endured the past fortnight 
 had been reached this evening. The result was 
 an inevitable collapse. Mind and brain were 
 alike incapable of bearing more. Helplessness and 
 hopelessness overwhelmed her, and she felt like 
 some battered, storm-driven barque drifting over 
 the dark waters of Fate. 
 
 As the night deepened, a deeper mournfulness 
 sounded in the moan of the wind, and the falling 
 tears of heaven. She lay and listened in the 
 frozen apathy of despair, thankful only for the 
 sudden lull of peace which had stolen at last to 
 her spent and overwrought brain. 
 
 It was not sleep, it was not even rest ; but it 
 was the precursor to either ; a temporary lull in 
 the fearful storm that had racked and rent her in 
 these last fearful hours ! 
 
234 PEG > THE RAKE « 
 
 If the veil could have been lifted from the 
 hearts of the three people who met at the breakfast 
 table at Castle Lustrell next morning, strange and 
 diverse would have been the revelations of each. 
 
 Sir Jasper, never at his best either in looks or 
 temper in the early part of the day, looked feeble 
 and querulous to a degree. Miss Em, despite cold 
 water and skilful use of toilet adjuncts, showed 
 unmistakable signs of the conflict of the previous 
 night. The morning is always cruel to women 
 who have passed their premiere jeunesse; and Miss 
 Em, who would have faced a regiment fearlessly 
 by the light of candle or lamp, knew how much 
 she betrayed when the searching rays of sunshine 
 fell upon her at the breakfast-table of any house 
 where she had not yet found the best vantage- 
 point for seating herself. 
 
 To judge from her manner, however, the conver- 
 sation of the previous night might never have 
 taken place. She smiled at and turned aside all 
 Sir Jasper's ill-natured cynical speeches, and 
 simply would not be driven to retort. 
 
 When breakfast was nearly over, she turned to 
 the old butler who had been waiting on his master 
 during the meal. " Brian," she said, " I want the 
 carriage round in an hourVtime. Be good enough 
 to order it." 
 
 Sir Jasper looked up sharply. "The morning 
 is fine enough for a walk," he said ; " I never 
 allow r the carriage out till after luncheon." 
 
 "Very well," said Miss Em quietly; "it is 
 rather a long walk to Carrig-duve, and the roads 
 will hardly be at their best after the storm of last 
 night, but I suppose I can manage it. You need 
 not expect me back to luncheon." 
 
 " Oh, if it's to Carrig-duve you're going," 
 grumbled Sir Jasper, "you had better have the 
 carriage. You're in a great hurry to see them." 
 
 Miss Em gave no reply. She finished her tea 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 235 
 
 and put down her cup. The man had left the 
 room to give the necessary orders. 
 
 " May I ask what day you expect your sister ? " 
 she said coolly to Sir Jasper, " because I detest 
 housekeeping, and it would be no use commenc- 
 ing what I do not intend to continue. Molly may 
 as well give the orders up to the time of Miss 
 Lustrell's return. It will be conferring quite a 
 favour on me." 
 
 Sir Jasper's brow darkened. He had not ex- 
 pected to have the ground cut from under his feet 
 in this fashion. He had meant to give the first 
 intimation to his daughter of the slight to be put 
 upon his wife, but she had forestalled him. 
 
 He looked at her, quite at a loss to reply, and 
 Molly's pained, astonished face added fuel to his 
 
 wrath. 
 
 "Your family were proverbial lor being bad 
 managers," he sneered; "but I should have 
 imagined a woman of your age would have been 
 capable of domestic superintendence." 
 
 " Capable— yes," agreed Miss Em smilingly; 
 " but not inclined to undertake it when any one 
 slse in the house will do it. These little matters 
 are so much better put on a proper footing from 
 the first, my dear Sir Jasper, that I prefer to 
 mention it at once to your daughter and yourself." 
 
 " Madam," said the old man sharply, " I might 
 insist upon your fulfilling certain duties which 
 appertain to the mistress of this house." 
 
 " Oh, no, no," laughed Miss Em merrily; "you 
 would never be so cruel, Sir Jasper ! I am a most 
 incapable housekeeper, I assure you, and you 
 would never have a dinner fit to eat if I had the 
 ordering of it. You can't tell what a relief it was 
 to hear that your sister was coming back to us. 
 She will take the responsibility of our first dinner- 
 party entirely off my hands, and keep up the 
 prestige of the castle so much better than I could do." 
 
236 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 "Dinner-party?" queried Sir Jasper, "Pray, 
 who said anything about dinner-parties? If you 
 think I am going to give any, you were never more 
 mistaken in your life." 
 
 " Oh ! do you really mean that ? " said Miss 
 Em, raising her eyebrows with affected surprise. 
 " Well, it is good news. I have been quite dreading 
 the ordeal, I assure you. I detest dinner-parties 
 myself, but I was so afraid you might look upon 
 one at least as obligatory to your position. But 
 you don't ? That is really very charming, and 
 makes it so easy for me to explain to people : ' Sir 
 Jasper does not like dinners ' ; ' Sir Jasper is such an 
 invalid that the fatigue and excitement of dinners 
 quite upset him ' ; ' Sir Jasper ' " 
 
 " D — n it, madam, will you hold your tongue ? " 
 roared the old baronet furiously. " Do you sup- 
 pose I'm going to be represented as a hypochon- 
 driac to please you ? I'll give a dinner every night 
 of the week if I choose, and ask whom I like to it ! 
 I'll have no woman dictating to me what I'm to 
 do, or not to do." 
 
 Miss Em rose from her seat with quiet dignity. 
 
 " I have no wish to dictate to you in any way, 
 Sir Jasper — quite the reverse. But permit me to 
 remark I am not accustomed to be sworn at ; and 
 if you cannot moderate your language in the 
 presence of ladies, / at least must decline to listen 
 to it." 
 
 She had swept out of the room and closed the 
 door before the old man had recovered from his 
 astonishment. 
 
 There was nothing to do except vent his wrath 
 on Molly, who, though personally unoffending, 
 belonged to the same sex as the offender. This 
 he did unsparingly, until he had reduced the girl 
 to tears. When that was accomplished he retired 
 to his own study, a luxurious octagon chamber 
 opecially dedicated to himself and his comforts. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 237 
 
 and where no rash intruder ever dared to venture. 
 Here he sat himself down before a fire which, 
 except in the heat of summer, was always kept 
 burning in the vast open fireplace. A table 
 beside the tall velvet-backed chair held papers, 
 books, cigar-boxes, all the paraphernalia of a 
 man's comfort. The walls were lined with book- 
 cases and rare engravings, and a few choice 
 bronzes and sculpture relics of bygone days, when 
 his ancestry had loved art, or patronised it, re- 
 lieved the sombre aspect of the room. The owner 
 of it all looked the picture of refined discontent, as 
 he lit a choice cigar and leant back against the 
 cushions. For some moments he smoked in 
 silence, the frown deepening on his brow, the 
 lines about his mouth showing hard and cruel in 
 their set savagery of expression. 
 
 When the cigar was finished he suddenly leant 
 forward and unlocked the drawer of the table by 
 his side. From amongst the mass of papers and 
 letters, all neatly arranged and docketed, he took 
 out a small thick packet wrapped in brown paper. 
 For a moment he held it in his hands, looking at 
 it as if it were some noxious thing; then he laid it 
 down on the table before him and began to scan 
 page after page with moody, sullen eyes. 
 
 The writing was a woman's writing. The 
 entries were the mad, impulsive, incoherent con- 
 fessions of a girl's undisciplined heart, a girl who 
 called herself, in these tear-blotted, accusing pages, 
 " Peg, the Rake ". 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 FOREARMED. 
 
 " Bless us and save us, if it baint Miss Peg her- 
 self; beggin' yer pardin', darlin', me lady, I mane ! " 
 Quinlan had opened the door to the footman's 
 
238 PEG, THE RAKE 
 
 loud rap and found herself confronted by the 
 castle carriage, from which Miss Em had alighted. 
 
 " How are you, Quinny ? " she said hurriedly. 
 " Hush ! " she added warningly, as she closed the 
 door and laid her hand on the old woman's arm ; 
 " it's you I've come to see. Keep your wits about 
 you and answer me one question — straight. Did 
 you find a leather-covered pocket-book in my bed- 
 room after I left ? — full of writing. Yes — or no." 
 
 " No, darlin' ! me lady, I mane. I found 
 nothing save an old pair of silk stockings, and a 
 bog-oak brooch stuck in the pin-cushion." 
 
 " Did any one else go there before you ? think 
 well, Quinny. You don't know how important it 
 is for me to know." 
 
 " Shure, now an' I come to think of it, me lady, 
 I remimbers the whisk of a gown as I looked out 
 of Miss Bedelia's door, and my remarkin' that 
 same to her and wonderin' who would be after 
 peerin' and pryin' into the room so soon after 
 ye'dleftit." 
 
 " Ah ! " — Miss Em caught her breath sharply. 
 " Then I know where I am ; that'll do, Quinny. 
 I'll speak with you later on. Now — announce 
 me! " 
 
 So might a royal visitor have spoken ; so might 
 a duchess have swept into the old dingy dining- 
 room ; so might an O'Hara alone have answered 
 to the whip and spur of circumstances, determined 
 that neither eye nor limb should show sign of 
 failing or of fear. 
 
 Mrs. O'Hara rose at her entrance, her face 
 white, her manner somewhat nervous. This 
 splendid vision, faultless in attire, radiant in looks, 
 startled her out of her usual composure. 
 
 " How are you both ? You see I lost no time 
 in coming over to see you ! " exclaimed Miss Em, 
 greeting first one and then the other. " You 
 don't look very well, father ; not fed up enough I 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 239 
 
 suppose. At your time of life you want good 
 nourishment and plenty of it. You should insist 
 on getting it. Well, you see I'm alive and 
 hearty. We returned yesterday ; everything is 
 delightful at the castle. Sir Jasper's sister had 
 considerately gone away, but I've asked her to 
 return. And Molly, the dear girl, is as charming 
 as ever she can be. I thought I'd just run over 
 and pay my respects here. Thank you for send- 
 ing over my boxes " — (with a gay little nod at Mrs. 
 O'Hara) ; "they were there safe, and my maid 
 unpacked them last night. I found everything 
 all right." 
 
 She dropped a hurried kiss on her father's head, 
 and then drew up a chair beside him. 
 
 "I'll stay to luncheon," she said agreeably. 
 " I suppose you have something in the house. 
 And you must treat me to a bottle of Burgundy, 
 father, just to welcome me back, you know." 
 
 " Certainly, my dear, certainly," said the old 
 gentleman, beaming on her with proud and admir- 
 ing gaze. " I'll fetch it from the cellar myself. 
 You have the keys there, I suppose ? " he said, 
 looking at the basket which Mrs. O'Hara was 
 jealously guarding. 
 
 Miss Em made a sudden dive at it and handed 
 it to her father. "There," she said, giving him 
 the key which she knew well ; " now you run off 
 and show me what a good old cellarer you can be. 
 Remember you've got a titled lady for your daugh- 
 ter now,, and you must do her honour." 
 
 Her gay little laugh, her incessant chatter 
 seemed but the exuberance of supreme content 
 and heart-whole gaiety ; only a very sharp eye 
 would have discovered that both mirth and chatter 
 were thoroughly artificial, and that she herseli 
 was in a state of supreme nervousness. 
 
 Mrs. O'Hara was puzzled as well as irate. Her 
 step-daughter was even more insolent than of yore,, 
 
240 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 and yet she felt she could not snub Lady Lustreli 
 as she had been accustomed to snub Emilia O'Hara. 
 They sat for a moment in silence, casting furtive 
 glances at each other ; the one conscious of a 
 meanness that had all the will and purpose of 
 wrecking the other's life, and that other equally 
 conscious of the action and its authorship, and 
 storing up future vengeance in a sorely troubled 
 mind. 
 
 " She has done it ; I can read it in the fear in 
 her eyes," thought Miss Em savagely. 
 
 "I wonder if he has told her yet. No; impossible. 
 She could not be so indifferent and cool if he had. 
 There would have been a scene, I am sure," so ran 
 Mrs. O'Hara's reflections. "What a hypocrite 
 she is ! How she has deceived every one all her 
 life ! How completely she hoodwinked that poor 
 old man ! Well, I hope he will serve her out for 
 it. She certainly deserves it. I only did my 
 duty by warning him. What a pity I only found 
 out her secret a day too late ! " 
 
 " Do you wish to go to your room and remove 
 your bonnet ? " she said at last stiffly. " You will 
 find it all in order ; I saw to that myself." 
 
 "Thanks, how kind of you," said Miss Em ; " but 
 I don't think I'll go upstairs. It's not worth while 
 for the short time I shall be here. Perhaps, though, 
 you would send something out to the men? Bread 
 and cheese and whisky, or something of that 
 sort." 
 
 A thin streak of crimson came into Mrs. O'Hara's 
 shallow face. She could scarcely refuse the re- 
 quest, but it went to her heart to have to dispense 
 hospitality to her hated step-daughter's servants. 
 
 " I'll tell Quinlan," she muttered, darting an 
 angry glance at the imperturbable face. " Perhaps 
 you'll excuse me now for I have to see about the 
 luncheon." 
 
 "Oh, certainly, certainly," said Miss Em suavely. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 24I 
 
 ''You wouldn't be standing on ceremony with me 
 at this time of day, I'm sure; and I think I hear 
 the governor returning. We'll find plenty to talk 
 about, I've no doubt ; and as for luncheon, really 
 a glass of wine and a biscuit is as much as I care 
 for. But I know you are a very Martha of hospi- 
 tality, so I'll not presume to dictate." 
 
 " There, I think that was a good shot," she said 
 to herself as her enemy retreated abruptly. 
 
 The mask fell from her face as the door closed. 
 All the anxiety she felt, the indignation she had 
 suppressed, the dread of what the hateful prescient 
 future might have in store for her, flashed out in 
 the brooding darkness of her eyes and the frown 
 that deepened on her brow. " It gets so weari- 
 some, this perpetual playing of a part, and oh ! I 
 am so tired of it," she thought. " In all the 
 world there's not a creature with whom I can 
 afford to be perfectly open and truthful, except 
 perhaps Quinny." 
 
 The entrance of her father roused her again. 
 She rose from her chair, and going up to the old 
 man put her arms round his neck and stood for a 
 moment leaning her head against his shoulder. 
 
 "Why — Peg, why, my dear! " he exclaimed in 
 some surprise at so unwonted a display of feeling. 
 " There's nothing the matter, is there ? " he asked 
 tenderly. " You're not unhappy, Peg ? " 
 
 "No, father, oh, no," she said quickly; "a 
 little tired and worn out, that's all. But I want 
 you to say you forgive me for being such a bad, 
 troublesome daughter as I have been to you. I — 
 I never asked before, did I ? But I do now. 
 After all I am your child, your only child, and 
 you were so fond of me, once." 
 
 "Always, always, my darling," said the old man 
 patting her gently on the shoulder as if she wer^ 
 a child he was soothing. "Just as fond now, Peg, 
 as when you were a little snoilt, mischievous girl, 
 
 16 l 
 
242 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 the life and sunshine of the place. Surely you 
 don't think I've ever changed towards you ? M 
 
 " No, father, no," she said chokingly ; li but 
 it's good sometimes to feel one is loved. I've 
 given you a lot of trouble in my time, you poor old 
 dear," she added, lifting her head and gazing with 
 strangely wistful eyes at the worn face and silver 
 hair. " A lot of trouble. But there, it's all over 
 now ; you'll have no more heartaches on my 
 account, and no worries either, if I can prevent it. 
 You're quite sure you forgive me — everything ? " 
 she repeated. 
 
 " Everything," answered the old man ; " and I 
 do hope this was a wise step of yours, and that 
 you'll be happy. You were always wilful, you 
 know, Peg. You took your own way in this as in 
 other things ; I hope it wasn't a foolish proceeding 
 on your part. Ah ! marriage is a great risk, my 
 dear, a great, great risk." 
 
 She sighed heavily, and unclasped her arms. 
 
 " I know it is," she said slowly. " But I am 
 too old now to begin life again. I must be content 
 with the lees and the dregs, and be thankful I 
 once had something better." 
 
 She walked over to the window and stood there 
 looking out at the neglected garden, where the 
 spring wind rioted amongst trails and tangles 
 of creepers, and the spring sunshine glowed over 
 weeds and flowers alike. 
 
 " Dear old garden, dear old home ! " ran her 
 thoughts. " I never knew till now how happy I 
 was here once, and how safe. Ah, well ! I mustn't 
 begin to think these thoughts, or I'll break down 
 altogether, and my time hasn't come for that. I 
 can't afford the luxury of a ' good cry ' even ; tears 
 take too much out of one at forty." 
 
 She went back to her old place by her father 
 and smiled down at his anxious face, and then 
 began to chatter of a hundred trifles — anecdotes 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 243 
 
 of her wedding tour; of people she had met and 
 spoken with at Killarney ; of the castle and its 
 inmates. 
 
 But now and then she stopped abruptly, and 
 tried to remember what it was she was saying, 
 and seemed to be listening to herself as if she were 
 an outsider in the conversation. " How I go on / " 
 she thought ; " I'm like a machine set a-going for 
 a driven time. Shall I break down some day and 
 betray myself? " 
 
 To her father she seemed just the old random, 
 inconsequent Peg he had always known. He 
 could not dream that she found it easier to act 
 as was habitual and expected, than to reason out 
 a new line of conduct or lay bare her unhappi- 
 ness to any living creature. She had set herself 
 a part, and she went through it merciless, but 
 resolute, as was her nature when a given object 
 was at stake. 
 
 When at last she left Carrig-duve, she also left 
 Mrs. O'Hara puzzled beyond expression as to the 
 success of her scheme, and smarting inwardly 
 from many a sharp speech and veiled insolence 
 on the part of Lady Lustrell. 
 
 But when the door closed on her, and the 
 carriage was driving rapidly down the stony 
 avenue, she poured forth vials of wrath on her 
 unoffending husband, declaring that she could 
 not and would not put up with his daughter's 
 sneers and impertinences any longer ; and wind- 
 ing up with a covert hint that the said lady might 
 find the path of matrimony less smooth than she 
 anticipated if something of her past career was 
 brought to light. 
 
 " Old sins have long shadows," she wound up, 
 " and perhaps my Lady Lustrell hasn't seen the 
 last of her's." 
 
 Old Mr. O'Hara looked at the sharp, vindictive 
 face in some alarm at the remark. 
 
*44 PEG > THE r ake. 
 
 "Sins!" he echoed; "what sins of Peg's can 
 be brought against her now ? She was only foolish 
 and reckless, no worse than other girls. Even if 
 she had been she might be excused, she was so 
 very beautiful, and she had no mother." 
 
 " Of course you will take her part — that is only 
 to be expected," sneered Mrs. O'Hara. " She could 
 make you believe anything. But, mark my words," 
 she added emphatically, " the day will come when 
 her sins will find her out; and the first person 
 to visit them on her will be the selfish old fool 
 she has married." 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 "ONE TOUCH OF NATURE." 
 
 Miss Em had not trusted herself to speak to Quin- 
 lan again. 
 
 She had learnt all she wished to learn, and 
 knew exactly what she had to combat in the 
 future. That foolish record of her girlhood had 
 fallen into Sir Jasper's hands, and her step-mother 
 had been the means of its doing so. Everything 
 it contained had doubtless been read by both, and 
 she had now two enemies to face instead of one. 
 
 "The question is, can I do it?" she reflected. 
 " Have I strength and courage sufficient, and is 
 the game worth the candle that will have to be 
 burnt out in the playing ? " 
 
 She leant her head back against the soft cushions 
 of the carriage, and closed her eyes with a sense of 
 utter weariness. 
 
 After all life is very hard for women ; women of 
 Miss Em's type, who live for the world and its 
 social prizes, and have no definite object or ambi- 
 tion on which superfluous energy and mental 
 strength can spread themselves ; whose minds 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 245 
 
 are but a general cargo of things, good, bad or in- 
 different, and hold no special store on which to 
 draw for individual benefit. 
 
 The march of progress has decided that women 
 ought all to " do something," if only to keep them 
 out of mischief ; and there is no doubt that the 
 dwarfed domestic sphere to which they have been 
 so long relegated can no longer content them. 
 
 To the genius that has defied arbitrary control, 
 and the intellect that has scaled barrier after 
 barrier in its search for knowledge, the paltry 
 vanities of ordinary female existence are utterly 
 insignificant. 
 
 Man enters on the field of enterprise with less zest 
 and far less enthusiasm, because to him it is no 
 new thing. He has not undergone centuries of re- 
 pression. He has no weakening hereditary theories 
 to combat. But every gate her determination has 
 unlocked, every bar her desire has leaped, every 
 obstacle her will has vanquished, these make 
 woman at once an incentive and a triumph ! 
 
 She who has once loved art and touched the 
 wine cup of fame can never again be satisfied with 
 the stunted career so long relegated to her. 
 Fashion, folly and frivolity fly abashed before 
 mental freedom. What can they offer in any way 
 worthy of comparison with the delight that thrills 
 both soul and sense as the brain leaps into warm 
 full life, untrammeled, undeterred ! To own no 
 rule but that of thought, no sway but the 
 magic dominance that at once controls and com- 
 mands it, this is indeed to live. To live by right 
 of single birth-throe which has created a power 
 and a life ! To will and to be at the bidding of 
 desire. To know that failure has no meaning, 
 and success no shadow ; to yield to the spell of 
 inspiration, and leave brain or hand to put into 
 visible shape what " eye hath not seen, nor ear 
 heard " ? 
 
246 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 If the spell would but last, if the physical nature 
 were only less arbitrary ! Alas ! alas ! as well say 
 if it were possible to paint the glitter of the dew, the 
 bloom of the rose petals, the hues of the rainbow. 
 
 Life for many a long year had seemed impos- 
 sible to Miss Em without perpetual excitement. 
 If she had had any special ambition it was to be 
 rich, and to be able to lord it over women who 
 had at one time been very spiteful to herself. 
 
 Not a very noble ambition, or, indeed, a very 
 creditable one ; but, all the same, it was a crush- 
 ing blow to be confronted with its failure just 
 when achievement was possible. 
 
 She was not possessed of any distinctive talent 
 or gift of genius. Her sphere of thought and life 
 were limited to a purely personal existence, and to 
 purely personal ambitions. She had no "views," 
 and loved a social whirl better than contempla- 
 tive comfort. She was clever enough to escape 
 being overlooked among clever people, and 
 skilful enough to appear retiring when it would 
 have been risky to be assertive. 
 
 With a different training and different surround- 
 ings she might have been a better woman, and a 
 more important one. But we have yet to discover 
 whether circumstances or ourselves are to blame 
 for our manifold failures. Miss Em only knew 
 that a foolish, hot-headed youth had left her 
 stranded now on the barren shore of middle-age, 
 with nothing very reputable to look back upon and 
 nothing very hopeful to look forward to. 
 
 It was a sorry prospect. Life at the stage of 
 regrets must always be that. 
 
 She stood apart from herself and contemplated 
 that self as an onlooker might have done ; and the 
 long drive seemed all too short for the contempla- 
 tion, and the weary brain refused to lighten the 
 picture by any prospective view of hope. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 24'/ 
 
 Luncheon was long over when she reached the 
 castle, and the old butler informed her that Sir 
 Jasper was in his study, and Miss Molly in the 
 grounds. 
 
 Thankful for a prospect of rest Miss Em went 
 to her own room, giving orders to the maid that 
 she was not to be disturbed till tea-time. 
 
 Her one chance she now knew lay in saving her 
 energies, and making the best of the situation. 
 As yet, Sir Jasper had made no tangible accusa- 
 tion ; she must, if possible, prevent his doing so. 
 When tact and submission would serve her end 
 she was ready to appear submissive. On the 
 other hand when warfare was imperative she 
 must have bow and spear in readiness. But not 
 for any consideration must she let herself down 
 before the county who would criticise her, and the 
 women who would envy her. " On guard " must 
 be her watchword henceforth; "on guard" till 
 the weary day had earned the rest of evensong, 
 till the spent and storm-tossed vessel might 
 " cross the bar " at last and know the peace of a 
 sure haven ! 
 
 The quiet and warmth of her room, and the 
 absolute rest which two hours of solitude gave 
 her, did much totranquillise Miss Em's nerves and 
 prepare her for the next meeting with Sir Jasper. 
 
 She had made up her mind that she would not 
 quarrel with him, that nothing short of absolute 
 cruelty should force her to do so. The hardest 
 part of her life would be the infliction of Miss 
 Sabina's presence, but even that she could tolerate 
 when so much was at stake. 
 
 " After all it might not be for very long ; Sir 
 Jasper was old, twenty years older than herself." 
 So ran her thoughts as she stood surveying herself 
 in the glass before leaving her room for tea. 
 
 Molly was waiting for her in the hall. She 
 looked a little croubled and perplexed ; she had a 
 
248 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 vague feeling that all was not right between her 
 father and his new wife, and the anxiety of her 
 mind showed itself in her eyes as she turned to 
 ;reet her step-mother. 
 
 " Papa has had some tea taken into his study," 
 she said, and could not help noticing the relief 
 that sprang into Miss Em's face as she heard the 
 announcement. 
 
 " Oh then, we shall be all to ourselves," she 
 said, sinking down into the low, deep chair Molly 
 had drawn forward. 
 
 "Yes," said the girl; "we generally shall be 
 alone at this hour too, for papa rarely joins me. 
 Oh ! how I wish he hadn't asked Aunt Sabina 
 back. What could have induced him, and how 
 could you let him ? " 
 
 " My dear Molly," said Miss Em slowly, as she 
 poured out the tea, "when you have lived as 
 long in the world as I have done, you will find out 
 that very little is to be gained by opposing a man 
 in small matters. Indeed, the very fact of giving 
 in on minor points often enables a woman to gain 
 an important one." 
 
 " Throwing a sprat to catch a mackerel," 
 laughed the girl. " But I shouldn't call Aunt 
 Sabina's presence here a ' small matter '. You 
 can have no idea what a disagreeable person she 
 is to live with. Such a screw. The servants 
 all hate her. I'm sure there will be ' ructions ' 
 when they hear she is coming back. But surely 
 you don't mean what you said this morning, that 
 you would let her manage the house, just as if 
 she were mistress ? You were only joking, weren't 
 you ? " 
 
 Miss Em looked at the lovely pleading face 
 with quite a new sense of the difficulty of " acting 
 a part ". 
 
 She swallowed her tea and set down the cup. 
 For once in her life she longed to be able to be 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 249 
 
 honest and open with the girl, but the temptation 
 had to be resisted. It would not do to risk be- 
 trayal ; and youth is apt to be out-spoken and 
 disingenuous. 
 
 " No, Molly; I was in earnest," she said. " I'm 
 a dreadfully lazy person, and I do hate house- 
 keeping. I've never been used to it, you see, and 
 I should be sure to make a desperate muddle oi 
 it all. Now your aunt has for years managed 
 everything here, and knows exactly how to suit 
 your father's tastes. The arrangement, therefore, 
 satisfies him, while leaving me at liberty. I wo'nt 
 say that I'm fond of the estimable lady," she 
 added, laughing somewhat forcedly, " but no doubt 
 we shall get on very well. I'm used to living 
 with queer people." 
 
 " That is one reason why I imagined you would 
 be thankful to be independent and free," said 
 Molly. " I candidly confess I detest her, and I'm 
 sure she'll spoil life here for both of us ; it's a 
 terrible disappointment — it is indeed." 
 
 Her lip quivered ; the lovely radiant eyes looked 
 almost tearful. Miss Em glanced away quickly, 
 the sudden pain at her heart surprised herself. 
 
 " Oh ! why can't one's actions only concern 
 oneself? " she thought bitterly. "Why must the 
 innocent always suffer with the guilty ? " 
 
 " My dear," she said after that moment's pause, 
 " I'm very sorry that you are averse to your 
 father's wish. I — oh Molly, Molly!" she burst 
 out suddenly, " I can't talk platitudes ! It — it 
 sounds so unreal ; I've not got ' a little hoard of 
 maxims' stored up with which to preach down 
 a girl's heart. Oh, my dear, believe I'm fond of 
 you, fonder, I think, than of any human being ; 
 and I wanted to make you so happy if I could. 
 If this could have been avoided, believe me I 
 would have done my best to avoid it for both our 
 sakes, and when I say ' it must be,' I only say it 
 
250 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 because I know it. I can't give you any reasons 
 either, only what your father decides upon that 
 is what we both have to give into, whether we 
 like it or not." 
 
 " Ah ! " said Molly in quick alarm ; "you have 
 heard something about him — his health. I know 
 his heart is weak ; Doctor MacShamus told me so ; 
 and that's why you are so sweet and submissive 
 to him. How good you are ! I don't wonder that 
 every one loves you ; I've always said that you 
 were my ideal of a perfect woman." 
 
 " A perfect woman — I ! Good heavens, child, 
 what an ideal you have formed ! " 
 
 Her voice was husky and uncertain, but she 
 nerved herself to be calm. A girl's foolish fond- 
 ness, — what was that to break down the composure 
 and self-control of years ? 
 
 " But you are my ideal, you know," said Molly 
 protestingly; she came and knelt down on the rug 
 by Miss Em's side and leant her head against her 
 as she had a childish trick of doing. " Ask Paddy 
 if you're not. I've always admired you so. Why, 
 when you're in the room you can attract every one 
 around you. You're so brilliant, and then you're 
 so kind-hearted ; you don't mind trouble or bother 
 if it's to please any one else, and the poor people 
 about the place all adore you. Why, only the other 
 day Mrs. Rooney, the ' dalin woman ' as they call 
 her, was telling the cook how good you were to 
 her and her children when they had the fever two 
 years ago. No, don't shake your head, I mean it 
 all. I've always thought you're such a good 
 woman." 
 
 Such a good woman ! 
 
 The words echoed and re-echoed in the weary 
 over-strained brain. Such a good woman ! The 
 passionate denial forced back was only the indig- 
 nant protest of genuine feeling. " What she thinks 
 me, so I might have been," cried Self-accusation, 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 25 1 
 
 " if only my youth had known one such friend as 
 I feel it in me to be to her" 
 
 The soft slow tears, unchecked because un- 
 heeded, pure, womanly tears, gathered and fell one 
 by one on the clasped hands. 
 
 Miss Em had broken down at last. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 " MAKES THE WHOLE WORLD KIN." 
 
 The lady of Castle Lustrell was very, very ill. 
 
 So ill that Dr. MacShamus, summoned in hot 
 haste at dead of night, looked more than serious, 
 and suggested a specialist from Dublin ; so ill that 
 Molly crept about on tip-toe, scared and terror- 
 stricken ; so ill that Miss Sabina's presence, hate- 
 ful as it was, seemed both necessary and beneficial, 
 inasmuch as nothing so weak as " feelings " ever 
 shook her self-composure or betrayed her into any 
 display of emotion. 
 
 " She has been living at high pressure so long," 
 said Dr. MacShamus to his wife, " that it's no 
 wonder she has broken down. The marvel is how 
 she has kept going all these years." 
 
 " But why did she do it ? " asked Mrs. Mac- 
 Shamus. The good worthy soul could not imagine 
 any one living under " higher pressure " than that 
 demanded by purely domestic obligations, varied 
 by little social calls on one's attention. 
 
 " Why? " — the doctor looked at her as if won- 
 dering how much she could bear. " Why ? well, 
 women do queer things sometimes, my dear. 
 The ' cow-type ' is the only safe one. To eat, 
 drink, sleep, and rear their young. To chew the 
 cud of sweet and homely fancies — never bitter ones. 
 To take life easily, and make its amusements a 
 pleasure — not a task. To know monotony only 
 
252 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 as a luxury easy of attainment and never an 
 irksome bondage forced on endurance. I fear 
 Miss Em was not of the cow-type — far from it. 
 Life meant too much for her — monotony was 
 death. She could not take her fill of idle purpose- 
 less days ; and so varied her existence by escapades 
 and excitements, and stratagems which have landed 
 her at last into congestion of the brain. It is the 
 natural consequence of an unnatural state of things. 
 I deplore it, but I have foreseen it since " 
 
 " Since when, Jerry ? " asked Mrs. MacShamus, 
 looking up wonderingly as he paused. 
 
 "Since that day when she and Denis Morrison 
 met again," answered the doctor absently. 
 
 The start of surprise, the quick flush on the old 
 lady's cheek, warned him he had been imprudent. 
 
 " Don't you mention that to any living soul — 
 on peril of your life ! " he added with sudden stern- 
 ness. " I'll have no gossip and scandal about the 
 poor soul now. She's attained her ambition, I 
 
 suppose, but all the same I'm d d sorry for 
 
 her. That cold-blooded petrifaction yonder is 
 just essence of self and nothing more. He's 
 scarcely the decency to appear sorry or even con- 
 cerned. Molly is the only one at the place with 
 an ounce of feeling, and she's a little too much. 
 I had no idea she was so fond of her step- 
 mother." 
 
 " Every one was fond of Miss Em who knew 
 her," said Mrs. MacShamus, wiping her eyes. 
 " But what did you mean, Jerry, just now, when 
 you spoke of Denis Morrison ? Surely that old 
 story could have nothing to do with Miss Em's 
 present illness." 
 
 " Nothing whatever," said the doctor curtly. 
 " I never said it had." 
 
 "You — you mentioned his name," suggested 
 the old lady. 
 
 " Yes, and I mentioned a cow, and — and a 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 253 
 
 few other trifles — therapeutics, congestion, phle- 
 botomy, cardiac affections," answered the doctor 
 sharply ; " but they're not of material importance 
 to the case. I wish Sir Jasper would let me tele- 
 graph for Possett," he added suddenly ; — " mean 
 old brute ! " 
 
 " But it's paying you a very high compliment, 
 jerry," said Mrs. MacShamus, " to be saying he's 
 quite satisfied with your treatment." 
 
 " It's a compliment that saves him a hundred 
 guineas, and that's more to the point," snapped 
 the doctor sharply. " I've never had such a case 
 before, and, frankly, I don't like the responsibility. 
 The very fact of the sentiment concerned in the 
 matter upsets me. If she were a stranger I 
 wouldn't care ; but I'm as fond of her as if she 
 were my own child, and that's not a word of a 
 lie, let me tell you." 
 
 " I can quite believe it, Jerry," said the old 
 lady, " and indeed if I were you I'd not be stand- 
 ing on ceremony. Her life's more important than 
 Sir Jasper's whims. Why don't you send for that 
 Dublin man they say is so clever ? You remember 
 Miss Bedelia was speaking of him at the time of 
 the wedding." 
 
 " True for you, old lady ! I do believe you are 
 really waking up at last. Faith, and I'll send off 
 at once, and have him here to-morrow whether 
 the old petrifaction likes it or not. Give me a 
 kiss, old lady. 'Twas a brilliant idea entirely ; 
 Miss Em will be thanking you yet, or my name 
 isn't Gerald MacShamus. He's just the man — 
 young, clever, advanced, iron nerve, and a reputa- 
 tion to make. I wonder I never thought of him. 
 Well, I'll be off and send the telegram. I don't 
 know his address, but Dublin will find him no 
 doubt. 'Tisn't a very common name ! " 
 
 He bustled off in a whirl of excitement, leaving 
 his wife to wipe her eyes at her leisure, and enter- 
 
254 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 tain " droppers in " with the latest bulletin of 
 news from the castle. 
 
 • »•••••• 
 
 If Miss Em had racked her powers of invention 
 for a method of springing into sudden popularity 
 she could not have hit upon one more successful 
 than this illness. 
 
 It was sudden, it was unexpected, it was at 
 once tragic and affecting. The bride of a fort- 
 night, and stricken down like this — fighting with 
 the grim foe whom all alike shun and dread ! 
 Her name ran like wildfire from lip to lip, and 
 every good deed and kindly word was remem- 
 bered now. Even her traducers held their peace, 
 and felt they could afford to " assume a virtue if 
 they had it not," and express their sorrow for such 
 a calamity. Rich and poor alike flocked to the 
 castle gates with sympathy and offers of help. It 
 was the topic of the hour, and the concern even of 
 the most unconcerned. 
 
 Meanwhile, the sufferer herself lay in a darkened 
 room — blind, deaf, forgetful — and unconscious of 
 anything around her. 
 
 Life had come to a sudden pause. The whole 
 complex machinery was at a standstill. There 
 was no physical suffering, only a sense of darkness 
 and oppression — a bewildered endeavour to travel 
 on a journey that offered perpetual obstacles — a 
 progress met by blank, impossible walls — an en- 
 trance through gates which clanged and closed, 
 and shut the traveller into a darkness dense and 
 tomblike, from which she shrank shrieking in vain 
 terror, and forced on by inexorable hands. 
 
 Yet, through all that terrible time the brain let 
 no secret escape. No word betrayed the past or 
 let in any light on the long-borne burden of 
 shame, misery, false excitement, and false living 
 which had made up the sum of existence for the 
 last twenty years. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 255 
 
 It was strange how one foolish incident seemed to 
 haunt her. With what wearisome reiteration she 
 returned to it day after day, hour after hour ; she 
 was always at work on that old black satin, trying 
 to get it ready for the Dublin ball. Always un- 
 picking and rearranging, and trying on, and be- 
 seeching every one to help her, or it would never 
 be ready in time. 
 
 Molly nearly cried her eyes out over the pathos 
 of those entreaties, and the utter uselessness of 
 trying to soothe her into believing the task accom- 
 plished. 
 
 That ball seemed to date an epoch in her 
 memory. Of her life before she said nothing ; and 
 of her life since there was but vague, foolish bab- 
 bling : nothing that could possibly convey to any 
 listener the effort it had been or still might be. 
 
 Miss Sabina listened, as she took her share of 
 watching, with grim, unsmiling lips. To her this 
 illness of her sister-in-law was but an ill-advised 
 and inopportune proceeding. But she did not 
 shrink from the duties it imposed on her, or from 
 carrying out any instructions of the two doctors. 
 
 The "new man" from Dublin fully justified 
 Miss Bedelia's encomiums, and his treatment, 
 though somewhat audacious in Dr. MacShamus's 
 old-fashioned opinion, was skilful enough to startle 
 that worthy practitioner into praise of the most 
 unqualified description. 
 
 It was a matter of no surprise (though it gave 
 rise to much incidental warfare afterwards) when 
 Quinlan marched up to the castle and announced 
 her intention of nursing the patient. In vain Miss 
 Sabina put on her most forbidding aspect, and de- 
 clared that her services were not required. 
 
 " Savin' yer presence, ma'am," was the old 
 woman's rejoinder, " it's not his lordship himself 
 nor the whole medical faculty that could be after 
 kapin' me back from me dear child. Shure, an' 
 
256 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 haven't I nursed and tinded and waited on her all 
 her life, and is it now when she's lying at death's 
 door that I'm to be forbidden her presence ? If 
 ye boults the door I'll get in through the windy; 
 and if ye forbids me the castle, faith I'll jist 
 sit meself down at the gates yonder and tell ivery 
 blessed sowl that comes near the place that it's yer 
 spite and ill feelin' as is preventin' the darlin' from 
 recavin' proper attintion, for ye was always jeal- 
 ous of her, that's thrue for ye; and I'll git the ears 
 of the doctors, more power to thim, but nurse and 
 care my dear Miss Peg I will, an' laste said the 
 better for all ! 
 
 "And I suppose she's quite capable of doing all 
 she threatens," reflected Miss Sabina savagely, 
 " making a scandal of the place. This comes of 
 marrying into such a set ! I'd like to see any 
 servant of the Lustrells behave in such a manner!" 
 
 Which, indeed, was most unlikely, for every 
 domestic in the castle hated her and despised Sir 
 Jasper, and were never inclined to do a hand's 
 stroke for them that was beyond the radius of 
 actual duty, laid down and paid for as service. 
 The two women looked at each other in silence 
 for a moment after this declaration, measuring 
 swords, as it were, for the conflict. 
 
 They were a strange contrast. 
 
 Miss Lustrell, tall, bony, severe, in prim black 
 lutestring gown and stiff cap ; Quinlan, in " com- 
 pany dress," donned in haste before she left Carrig- 
 duve, which en passant it may be stated she did 
 with the most complete want of ceremony, much 
 to Mrs. O'Hara's indignation. 
 
 The Paisley shawl was a gift from the first Mrs. 
 O'Hara, and had been present at all the weddings, 
 christenings and festivities of the village for years 
 past. She had put it on to do honour to " Miss 
 Peg," as she still called her, not because it or 
 the purple merino gown, its accompaniment^ 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 257 
 
 were suitable attire for a sick-room. Her apron 
 and cap were in a paper parcel, which she was 
 jealously guarding. 
 
 "Well, ma'am," she said inquiringly, as Miss 
 Lustrell still remained silent, " what more creden- 
 tials do ye want ? " 
 
 " Oh, you can stay for a few days if you are so 
 bent on it," snapped that lady; "but it's quite 
 unnecessary — Lady Lustrell has every care and 
 attention." 
 
 " I'm not doubtin' that, ma'am ; but, all the same, 
 love can't be bought like sarvice, and a lovin' hand 
 and a watchful eye are better than physic any day." 
 
 Miss Lustrell deigned no reply to so foolish a 
 statement, but handed the old woman over to 
 Molly, with the information that she could sleep 
 in the little ante-room while at the castle — Molly 
 herself having taken the dressing-room so as to be 
 within call night or day. 
 
 The person who approved most of this arrange- 
 ment was Dr. MacShamus. Molly was too young 
 and impulsive, the maid too inexperienced, and 
 Miss Lustrell herself too selfish and unfeeling to 
 be good nurses. Quinlan was just what was 
 wanted ; devoted, patient, watchful, untiring. 
 
 The wiry frame, the quick eye, the gentle touch, 
 were in themselves valuable aids to the treatment 
 prescribed ; and a sense of relief came with the 
 very presence of the faithful old woman, as she 
 took her place by the sick-bed, and gave her two 
 subordinates to understand the routine to be ob- 
 served henceforward. 
 
 Still the patient's progress was very slow, and 
 for long clouds of uncertainty brooded heavily over 
 the castle. 
 
 Sir Jasper kept almost entirely in his own room, 
 contenting himself with a daily inquiry as to his 
 wife's condition. Miss Lustrell took up her old 
 place in the household, and badgered servants, and 
 
 17 
 
258 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 spied into cupboards and pantries, and screwed 
 down every item of expenditure as if ruin were 
 imminent. Molly grew pale and listless. The life 
 was a dreary one for a young girl, and Paddy 
 Kearney was away on duty, so she had no one to 
 relieve the monotony of her existence. 
 
 She and Quinlan struck up a great friendship, 
 and her devotion to her mistress seemed to Molly 
 at once the most beautiful and touching thing she 
 had ever witnessed. 
 
 Many a story and anecdote she heard from the 
 old woman in those long hours when there was 
 nothing to do except watch and wait for some 
 hopeful change. Many a quaint conceit and jest 
 brought the smile to her lips and whiled away the 
 tedium of the anxious, monotonous days that 
 dragged their slow length into weeks, before one 
 could assure the other that there was hope at 
 last. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 TOUCHING THE BORDERLAND. 
 
 " Quinlan," said Molly one evening as the two 
 sat in the room adjoining Miss Em's, enjoying a 
 cup of tea while the patient slept, " what was 
 that Dwyer was saying to you this morning about 
 the ' Headless Coach ' ? Surely it hasn't been seen 
 again ? " 
 
 " Shure, Miss Molly, 'twas but servant's gossip, 
 — nothing else at all." 
 
 " But you know, Quinlan, it does appear," said 
 the girl anxiously. " I've heard of it ever since 
 I was a child." 
 
 " Faith, darlin', one hears many things wid 
 sorra a wurrd o' truth in thim." 
 
 " But you believe in the story, don't you, 
 Quinlan ? " 
 
 " Maybe I do, maybe I don't, Miss Molly. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 259 
 
 There's a power o' sich like tales to be heard for 
 the axin'. Folks about here is jist crammed wid 
 thim. Tis at wakes and births and sich times 
 they tells thim, just by way o' cheerin' up the 
 company. As for the Headless Coach now — well, 
 that's a quare thing, Miss Molly, but 'twas near the 
 gates o' Carrig-duve they're after sayin' it was 
 seen. The saints presarve us!" (And she crossed 
 herself hurriedly.) " But maybe 'taint thrue. 'Twas 
 Pat Mulligan who set the tale goin', but shure 
 he's not much to be believed whin he's the drain 
 o' drink taken, and as often as not that's the time 
 he sees things." 
 
 " A sign of death ! " faltered Molly. " Quinlan, 
 I wonder why we're all so frightened of death ? 
 We ought not to be, if we believe what we pro- 
 fess, that heaven is so much happier than 
 earth!" 
 
 " Ah now, miss, don't ye be troublin' yer pretty 
 head with sich rubbish!" exclaimed Quinlan, 
 replenishing her cup with a genuine appreciation 
 of the castle tea. " Lave it to the praists and the 
 clargymin. Faith, they're the proper people to larn 
 us. Not that they know so very much after all," 
 she added. " 'Tis some quare stories I've heard 
 o' thim gintlemin in my time, and not often 
 that I throubles confession since Father Flavin 
 made me do penance for sayin' this wurrld was 
 bad enough widout our going into purgatory 
 afterwards. Heresy, he called it ; and, faith, it 
 took nearly a quarter's wages to buy enough 
 candles to plaze him agin. Since thin I've had 
 my own idays of what 'tis best to say to the 
 praistes." 
 
 " You're not a very good Catholic, then ? " asked 
 Molly. 
 
 " Faith, I'm good enough for a poor one," 
 answered Quinlan, with a shrewd twinkle in her 
 eye. " The quality is bound to support the 
 
260 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 chapel, and not poor craythurs widout a spare 
 sixpence for themselves." 
 
 " What do they want so many candles for, 
 Quinlan ? " asked Molly curiously. 
 
 " Faith, and I'd like to know, miss ! p'raps 'tis 
 afraid o' the dark they are. Though, if 'tis to 
 light the sowls in purgatory (God rest thim !) I'm 
 thinkin' they'd a dale rather be in the dark, for 
 t'wad be a quare mixture, and more like 'atin' each 
 other than agrayin' they'd be. Didn't Timmy 
 Hoolihan die scrachin' because he couldn't git at 
 his mother-in-law to pound the life out o' her, and 
 she herself dyin' the Tuesday after ? " 
 
 Molly laughed. " But they're not in this world 
 any longer," she said; " and you know it says in 
 the Bible, 'There is no night there '." 
 
 " Thrue for ve, Miss Molly ; now I niver thought 
 o' that." 
 
 " I expect that is the way with many of us, we 
 never do think for ourselves about these matters," 
 said Molly gravely. " But you have always the 
 priests to go to. Don't they explain anything you 
 are puzzled about — miracles and things, you 
 know ? " 
 
 " Miracles is it ? Ah now, miss, how wud they 
 be explainin' what they don't know thimselves ? 
 Sorra a miracle I've iver heard explained save the 
 one of Mrs. Moriarty's legs ; and t'was Johnnie 
 Dorney, the fisherman, towld me o' that, seein' 
 that it happened to himself. A regular rollickin' 
 divil he was, savin' yer presence, Miss Molly." 
 
 " And what was the story ? " asked Molly 
 curiously. 
 
 " Ah now, 'tain't for the likes o' ye to hear per- 
 haps, miss, though many's the time Miss Peg and 
 I have laughed fit to kill ourselves over it. Well, 
 'twas like this, ye see. The bishop, he came to 
 open a new chapel down Kilkee way, a poor place 
 enough, and mostly fisher folks who get their 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 261 
 
 livin' there. 'Twas quite a grand ceremony, and 
 ivery one went to the sarvice, and among thim 
 was Mrs. Moriarty, a fine buxom widdy woman 
 wid two children, and as nate a foot an' ankle as 
 ye'd wish to see. They did say as Johnnie 
 Dorney was kapin' an eye on her for himself, 
 but I wouldn't be after swearin' to that in a court 
 of justice. Well, 'twas an illigant little chapel, 
 more by raison of a gallery that ran at one side 
 and was thought a grand piece o' work intirely. 
 And 'twas in this same gallery that the Widdy 
 Moriarty was settin,' and the childer, one on 
 aiche side, and Dorney himself down below castin' 
 a glance from time to time, jist to see how she 
 was lookin' maybe. Well, miss, what wid the 
 excitement, and the incense, and the singin', and 
 the neighbours crowdin' her, and the children 
 pushin' her to see the bishop at the High Mass, 
 — for 'twas a rare fine sight for thim all — the widdy 
 she took to lanin' over the little railin' o' the 
 gallery by way of gettin' a better view, and what 
 happens to her, but that she falls right over, and 
 dead and kilt entirely she'd have been this blessed 
 day, not a wurrd av' a lie about it, but that she'd 
 the luck to catch her skirts (and for a mercy 
 she wore thim fine and full) right on to a 
 grand branch for houlding the candles which 
 was fixed in the pillar benayth. There she hung, 
 miss, thrue as gospel, wid her legs down and 
 scramin' like a Kerry cow, and the bishop he saw 
 the inconvayniance of it, and quick as lightnin' 
 he roars out : ' Av iny one looks at that woman 
 I'll strike him blind '. Shure in a twinkling ivery 
 eye in the place was shut tight as a grave and 
 ivery head bent down, save only that rogue 
 Johnnie Dorney, for he claps his hand over his 
 left eye only — and sez he : ' Begorra, I'll vinture 
 one ! ' and what he saw wid that right eye — well, 
 maybe the bishop and he had it out betwane 
 
262 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 thim, as to the power o' Holy Churcn In thim 
 parts ; but all I know is that a month afterwards 
 the widdy was Mrs. Dorney, and divil a bit o' 
 blindness in Johnnie's right eye more than his 
 left." 
 
 " But where does the miracle come in ? " asked 
 Molly, bubbling over with soft laughter. 
 
 " Faith, an' that's what I'd like to know, miss. 
 'Twas jist the iday of the bishop, and, shure, 'twas 
 a dacint one enough, that he'd make thim believe 
 he'd the power as well as the will to do what he 
 said." 
 
 " And so you don't go to confession now, Quin- 
 lan ? " 
 
 " Oh, once in a way, miss, I goes ; jist to kape 
 on the right side o' it." 
 
 " Of purgatory, do you mean ? " 
 
 " Well, maybe it is that ; I don't know. An' 
 Miss Peg she's tould me many a story out of the 
 Good Book ; an' if it's good enough religion for her 
 who is so clever, why, 'tisn't the likes o' me wud 
 be takin' axception to it." 
 
 " If the priests knew ? " asked Molly. 
 
 " Well, there'd be a power av penances, that's 
 sure ; so 'tis best they don't know, miss. ' Father 
 darlin',' sez I, the last time as I was at the chapel, 
 ' shure me mimry isn't what it was, nor me legs 
 either, and that's the rayson I'm not comin' 
 so often ; an' as for sins,' sez I, ' shure there's 
 moighty little chance o' committin' any where you 
 niver see a blessed sowl from week's end to week's 
 end, and have to work hard and jist tired to death 
 as the night comes round, an' yer prayers no 
 sooner said than you're aslape.' 
 
 " ' God pardon ye av' yer desavin' me,' he sez ; 
 ' but you was always the pious, well-manin'crayture, 
 an' it's yer sowl ye've to think of, more than yer 
 work,' he sez.' 
 
 " ' Shure, father darlin',' sez I, * if I didn't work 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 263 
 
 to presarve me body, where wud the sowl o' me 
 be at all, at all ? ' Thin he remimbered some- 
 thin' pressin' as wanted immadiate attention, an' 
 he's not bothered about confession agin'." 
 
 " You've always lived here, Quinlan, haven't 
 you? " asked Molly presently. 
 
 " Always, miss darlin' ; I've niver been more 
 than ten miles beyant Carrig-duve since I was 
 born." 
 
 " And never married ? " 
 
 "Thrue for ye, miss. I niver have. Not from 
 want av' offers, but I niver see the bhoy that I'd 
 have cared to wed. An' I've niver loved any 
 livin' craythure as I've loved me swate Miss Peg, 
 God save her! " 
 
 " She's always been very good and kind, hasn't 
 she, Quinlan, and a favourite with every one ? " 
 
 " That she has ! " said Quinlan energetically. 
 " An' a hard life she's had av' it too for many 
 years, as no one knows better than meself. Kept 
 as poor as a beggar, and the very candles be- 
 grudged her, not to mintion food and drink. No 
 fault av' her father, miss, an O'Hara always gave 
 laun and vaula. 1 But that Mrs. O'Hara the 
 second — shure, I'd better not be talkin' o' her, or 
 me tongue will be runnin' away wid me. So I'll 
 say no worse av' her, miss darlin', than that she'd 
 skin a flint an' make soup av the lavings, and 
 that's gospel thruth." 
 
 " Poor Miss Em ! " said Molly thoughtfully. 
 " And yet she was always so bright and cheery, 
 and such good company." 
 
 " Maybe she's payin' for it now," said Quinlan 
 sadly. — " Hark, was that her spakin'? — Miss Molly, 
 listen, listen, darlin'." 
 
 They both sprung to their feet, and grasped 
 each other's hands convulsively. 
 
 1 Full and plenty, 
 
264 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 The voice that reached them from the adjoining 
 room was the well-known voice, but the words 
 — Oh, blessed change ! — the words, weak and 
 broken as they were, were rational and coherent 
 at last. 
 
 " Quinny, I'm sure I heard your voice ; Quinny, 
 come to me," cried Miss Em faintly. 
 
 " The Lord of Heaven be praised, she's mendin' 
 at last ! " gasped the old woman, as with the great 
 unheeded tears rolling down her cheeks she 
 rushed into the room and fell down by the bedside 
 in a paroxysm of thankfulness and joy. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 EDGED TOOLS 
 
 " 'Twas a near thing, Miss Em," said Dr. Mac 
 Shamus a week later as he sat by the bedside of 
 his patient. 
 
 She smiled faintly, more at the old nickname 
 which still clung to her than from any self-con- 
 gratulation caused by the remark itself. 
 
 " A mighty near thing," he repeated ; " and let 
 me warn you that you'll suffer the consequences 
 for a long time yet. Your only safeguard is to 
 live a perfectly natural, easy life. No false 
 excitement, no strain on mind or brain. Thank 
 God there's no further need for it now ! You 
 ought to have all you can wish for here, and the 
 quieter you live for some time the better." 
 
 " Will you let every one know that, doctor? " 
 she said eagerly. " Coming from you it would 
 have a good effect ; not be put down to meanness, 
 or inability on my part. The more you can 
 spread it about the better." 
 
 "Oh! faith, I'll do that for you," said the 
 doctor. " But why should you suppose people 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 265 
 
 would be giving you the character of meanness at 
 this time o' the day ? 'Tis quite the other way 
 about. You were always inclined too much for 
 generosity, not to say extravagance." 
 
 She clasped her thin white hands convulsively. 
 "All my life," she said, " I have wanted money, I 
 have longed to be rich ; and now " 
 
 " Well, you've got your wish," said Dr. Mac- 
 Shamus ; " and what would you be flinging your 
 money about for, entertaining other people ? 
 Shure, that's just foolishness. Take care of your- 
 self, and don't stint yourself in anything you 
 fancy. Above all, keep your mind free from worry. 
 There's nothing to fear now" he added impres- 
 sively as he met her eye. 
 
 A swift hot flush crept up to her temples. She 
 made no reply. 
 
 " Your position is safe ; no one can harm you, 
 however ill-natured they are," he went on. " I'm 
 not saying that Sir Jasper is a very lively or a 
 very devoted husband ; but you knew well enough 
 what sort of a man you were marrying, so that's 
 enough about it. You've got to think of yourself 
 now. Remember, I'm speaking very seriously. 
 You've had a hard life, and you've lived it, you 
 broke down at last. If ever such a thing happens 
 again to you " 
 
 He paused ; his impressive clasp rested a 
 moment on her trembling hands. 
 
 " Well ? " she questioned, and her strangely 
 bright eyes met his fearlessly. " I'm not afraid 
 to hear the consequences ; what are they ? " 
 
 " You'd go mad — or die," he answered gravely. 
 
 There was a long, thoughtful pause. 
 
 She broke it at last. 
 
 " Tell me, doctor, did I ever say anything all 
 that time you know, about — about " 
 
 "Never a word," he answered quickly; " only 
 nonsense about dresses and parties and * going 
 
266 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 nap/ which I suppose you'll be doing again 
 as soon as you're up and about. 'Tis only in 
 books, you know, that the heroine lets out her love 
 affairs and her most cherished secrets. We medical 
 men know how close a hold the brain keeps on 
 what affects the mind. People babble of all the 
 nonsense imaginable ; as a rule, their real nature 
 seems to get topsy-turvey. It's a queer thing. 
 The saintly ones take to swearing and bad lan- 
 guage generally, and the bad ones to praying and 
 psalm-singing, the clever ones to foolishness, and 
 the foolish ones to learned discourses." 
 
 Miss Em gave a sigh of relief. " I'm glad I 
 didn't make a fool of myself. It's been on my 
 mind ever since I recovered my balance." 
 
 " Well, rest assured you've not betrayed any- 
 thing ; and now I'm not going to stop here talking 
 any longer. It won't do to excite you. Sleep as 
 much as you can; that's the medicine you need, 
 and no gossiping with Quinlan or Molly. On the 
 whole," he added with a sly twinkle in his eye, 
 " perhaps Miss Lustrell would be the best nurse 
 for you — not so much temptation to talk, eh ? " 
 
 Miss Em shuddered. " Oh, what a threat ! I 
 simply can't endure her presence. Doctor," she 
 went on hurriedly, " am I very much altered by 
 all this ? Don't think it's vanity — indeed, indeed 
 it's not. I know they've cut my hair off, and I 
 suppose I look a queer object ; but they won't give 
 rne a glass to look at myself, and I've been thinking 
 there's a reason for it." 
 
 " Reason ? Pooh ! What reason should there 
 be?" scoffed the doctor. " Shure, you'll be as 
 handsome as ever when you gtt your flesh and 
 your colour again. Wait till you're out of bed 
 and then you can have your looking-glass. You 
 feminine creatures are all alike, Miss Em. Vanity 
 —vanity ! " 
 
 A little wan smile hovered over the pale lips. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 267 
 
 " Are we ? Then give me a hand-glass, doctor, 
 or I shall think there is some very strong reason 
 for your refusing." 
 
 He looked at her gravely, and his eyes grew a 
 little misty before that thoughtful survey was 
 ended. 
 
 Then he went over to the dressing-table and 
 brought an ivory hand-mirror from among the 
 various objects of use or uselessness scattered 
 there. 
 
 Without a word he gave it her. One quick 
 glance, and with a little sharp cry her hand went 
 to her head, clutching its short soft curls with 
 wondering horror. 
 
 They were white as snow ! 
 
 The quiet monotonous days drifted by, each one 
 bringing strength and calm to the long-taxed 
 brain ; full of gentle tendence, of thoughtful care, 
 of tireless devotion. 
 
 Peace and tranquillity alone breathed in the 
 atmosphere of that room. No alien voice, no 
 harsh intrusion, no disturbing suggestion of or 
 from the outer world ever found entrance through 
 those jealously guarded doors. 
 
 The deepest and most restful pause Miss Em's 
 life had ever known was this time of convalescence, 
 while the spring deepened into summer and the 
 warm and lovely air came through the open 
 windows as she lay on her couch, resting and 
 dreaming, incapable of exertion, almost even of 
 thought, content just to lie there and be nursed 
 and cared for like a child. 
 
 A deeper and more spiritual beauty had stolen 
 into her expression. The worn anxious look had 
 left her ; the white rings and ripples about her 
 brow seemed to accentuate her dark eyes and 
 lashes, her clear colourless skin looked almost 
 transparent in its delicacy. 
 
268 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 Molly used to survey her with admiring wonder. 
 
 " You dear lovely Cleopatra ! " she exclaimed 
 one day as she stood surveying her, " age certainly 
 can't wither you, nor custom stale your charms. 
 You are more beautiful than ever ! I wish you 
 could see what a picture you make in that pale 
 blue gown." 
 
 Miss Em smiled at the girlish flattery. " Ah 
 Molly," she said, " my day is over. I feel it at 
 last. I used to think I never could get old, — never 
 be tired of life, excitement, gaiety. But I've had 
 my warning, dear ; I've been so close to the border- 
 land that something of its chill breath is with me 
 still. I've looked into mysteries that I can't 
 forget. I'll never be the woman I was — not that 
 that is anything to regret perhaps," she added 
 softly. 
 
 Molly was silent. 
 
 The " Miss Em " of the present was apt to 
 startle her at times by the contrast with that gay, 
 fun-loving, reckless spirit she had so long known. 
 This quiet, dreaming woman with her deep sad 
 eyes and grave smile was so totally different, that 
 the change would have alarmed her, if it had not 
 been accounted for by the nature of her illness and 
 the serious warnings of Dr. MacShamus ; warnings 
 which had made even Miss Sabina considerate, 
 and Sir Jasper — neutral. 
 
 Indeed, that expression best suits this admirable 
 gentleman at this period. He was neutral in 
 affection, feeling, behaviour. He had decided, in 
 the comparative loneliness of those past weeks, 
 that his second experiment in matrimony had not 
 been successful ; but, in the first struggle for 
 supremacy he had come out conqueror, and he 
 meant to retain his position. 
 
 This strange and unexpected illness of his wife's 
 had altered his plans for a time, but not the 
 feeling that had led him to form those plaps. It 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 20Q 
 
 had modified their first harshness and intolerance, 
 but had not placed her actions or code of morals 
 before him in a more favourable light. 
 
 The position of Adventuress and Fool were the 
 relative positions they held towards each other in 
 his review of the situation. It was not a review 
 that pleased his morbid, selfish nature. Fie had 
 never adored women theoretically : his estimate of 
 them was too low, and his mind too fastidious. 
 It was impossible to reconcile such contradictory 
 elements, so he permitted the exigencies of nature, 
 as interpreted by centuries of manly prejudice, 
 to sway any sentiment that had the misfortune to 
 obtrude itself on his notice. 
 
 When danger was over, and he knew that his 
 wife's position in his household and the county 
 generally must be established on a decisive basis, 
 he held long and uncomfortable debates with 
 himself in order to arrive at a satisfactory decision 
 with respect to that basis. 
 
 That she should feel the curb he determined, 
 but he had no desire now to call on others to 
 witness her humiliation. 
 
 He felt sorry sometimes that he had asked his 
 sister to return. Her rule was not comfortable, 
 and her presence had in it something that was 
 aggressively unfeminine to fastidious eyes. But 
 by having re-established her at the castle he had 
 aimed the first blow at his wife's independence, 
 and that was an achievement he would not again 
 forego. 
 
 Meanwhile the long wearisome days dragged 
 themselves on. The old life with something 
 burdensome in its old monotony was his once 
 more. His marriage seemed at times a dream, 
 at times a memory, that roused him to savage 
 irritation ; at times a piece of folly which was 
 unpardonable, though capable of excuse. 
 
 The progress of the patient upstairs was now a 
 
270 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 steady progress from convalescence to health, and 
 he had no longer any excuse for avoiding her, or 
 postponing the explanation which both knew to 
 be inevitable. 
 
 He had decided upon the interview one bright 
 sunny spring morning. 
 
 There was something peculiarly suitable to his 
 grim ironical frame of mind in the contrast 
 afforded by the beauty and peace and fragrance of 
 the world without, and the warfare of human 
 passions within. 
 
 Miss Em lay on the couch in her dressing-room. 
 She wore a morning-robe (as yet tea-gowns were 
 not) of pale pink cashmere, the hue of a blush rose, 
 some soft creamy lace was thrown about her head, 
 a few shades deeper than the snowy curls cluster- 
 ing in profusion about her brow. A faint, very 
 faint flush on her cheeks, and the most delicate 
 accentuation of eyebrows were due to Quinlan's 
 advice and assistance, for she was desirous of her 
 mistress looking her "very best"; having more 
 than a suspicion in her own keen mind that Sir 
 Jasper had not fully appreciated the treasure he 
 had won, or treated her with the consideration 
 she deserved. 
 
 " Tis all very well for Miss Peg, the darlin', to 
 be pretendin' she doesn't mind that Miss Lustrell 
 givin' herself the airs av' a mistress, but I have 
 my own opinions on that point," she said to her- 
 self. " She was axed here before the poor sowl 
 was taken ill, an' I'd loike to have the nndin' out 
 av that reason, an' I will too, before I leave the 
 castle." 
 
 When Sir Jasper entered the room, however, 
 she only curtsied respectfully and then withdrew, 
 just turning as she reached the door to remind her 
 mistress that in half an hour she was to take her 
 " tonic-medicine ". 
 
 Sir Jasper touched his wife's extended hand, 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 27 1 
 
 and then seated himself beside her. The 
 window was open, the blind partly drawn. A 
 flood of sunshine bathed the outer terrace and 
 garden, and lost itself in dim radiance where the 
 great trees of the park stood in serried ranks, 
 stretching out thick boughs and screening leafage 
 for the noisy birds to rest and shelter in. 
 
 The fragrance of flowers was in the air, the 
 table beside the invalid held masses of them 
 arranged in bowl, or vase, by Molly's hands every 
 morning. 
 
 In the stillness of the room the fragrance 
 seemed almost oppressive. The monotonous buzz 
 of an enterprising bee struck sharply on Miss Em's 
 attention ; that and the quick throbs of her heart 
 were strangely audible to her excited fancy. 
 
 As she grew calmer she turned her eyes expect- 
 antly on his face. For the first time she seemed 
 to recognise the hardness and cruelty of it beneath 
 that thin veneer of courtliness. For the first time 
 she recognised that she had given herself to this 
 man, solely and entirely, and thrilled with a sudden 
 quick apprehension of the folly of her bargain. 
 
 "They assure me you are quite strong again," 
 said Sir Jasper at last. He was surveying her 
 critically, but without disapprobation. He had 
 heard of the change in her hair, but this was the 
 first time he had seen it. He confessed that it 
 had only the effect of making her look distinguished, 
 and in no way aged her beyond her actual years. 
 That this change might bring her into stronger 
 similitude with himself and render the contrast 
 between their ages less remarkable, flashed 
 through his mind, and left behind it a certain 
 satisfaction which, however, he had no intention 
 of expressing. 
 
 " Strong ? " she said in answer to his remark ; 
 " well, hardly that yet. But I am on the way to 
 health and strength, I hope." 
 
272 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 " You are prepared, of course, for some explana- 
 tion of my words on the occasion of our first 
 evening here," he said coldly. " I am here to 
 offer it, and at the same time to lay down the 
 rules which are to regulate our future life to- 
 gether." 
 
 He saw the quick flush of apprehension rise 
 and die away. It argued a sense of power to 
 wound her that was in itself an incentive and a 
 gratification. 
 
 He leant back in his chair, balancing his delicate 
 finger-tips and watching her face intently beneath 
 his lowered eyelids. 
 
 " I say together, because in spite of your decep- 
 tion I do not choose to let the world know me as 
 the dupe of an unprincipled woman." 
 
 "I am not that" she interposed haughtily, the 
 old pride and fierceness and impetuosity waking 
 as a soldier wakes at the cry of " battle," and 
 rousing her to arms in self-defence. " My sins 
 bear the excuse of youth and ignorance, never of 
 actual vice. That I deceived you I grant, but you 
 asked nothing of my past any more than I did of 
 yours. I gave you, perhaps, a far better bargain 
 than you had any right to expect. What degree 
 of purity or single-mindedness does a man who 
 has led your life, bring to a woman ? What right 
 has he to ask more from her than he can give in 
 exchange ? " 
 
 " These are not points on which to argue with 
 a woman," answered Sir Jasper. " The same 
 laws can never suit both sexes. At your time 
 of life you must surely know that. You can't 
 expect me to believe you took me with any of the 
 squeamishness of girlhood left in you." 
 
 She grew white to the lips. " I should not 
 advise you to ask why I took you," she said in 
 a suppressed voice that vibrated with intense 
 passion. " Nor to drive me too far by your 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 273 
 
 method of regulating our position henceforward. 
 There have been times in my life, before this, 
 when neither man, nor angel, nor devil could 
 hold me back from what I had set my mind 
 on accomplishing!" 
 
 "That — I can well believe," he said with a 
 curious chill smile hovering on his thin lips. 
 " On the whole I'm not sure that I don't admire 
 that side of your nature. It is dangerous, but 
 interesting. It explains so much too in the in- 
 genuous confessions of — ' Peg the Rake'." 
 
 "Then you have that book in your possession!" 
 exclaimed Miss Em, raising herself to a sitting 
 position. " I know who sent it to you. Well, 
 what do you intend to do ? " 
 
 His cold keen glance held her fascinated yet 
 rebellious; but that pride of race, so dominant 
 within her, nerved her to defy, where a weaker 
 and more cowardly woman would have faltered. 
 " What do you intend ? " said nothing of what she 
 herself chose to agree to ; and again that sense of 
 reluctant admiration fired the old baronet's tepid 
 blood, and set before him an employment for 
 future days and years that had the charm of 
 novelty, and the zest of danger. 
 
 " There is something of the tigress in all 
 women who are worth caring for," he thought, as 
 he recognised the daring and defiance of this one. 
 " It is a type I have always appreciated — at a safe 
 distance ! " 
 
 Aloud he remarked : " My intentions with 
 respect to our future attitude are based in a great 
 measure upon the study of your character as 
 portrayed in this interesting record ". He drew 
 out an old, shabby, leather-covered pocket-book as 
 he spoke, and began turning over the leaves with 
 his thin wrinkled fingers. 
 
 " It might almost be called the ' Female Rake's 
 Progress,' " he went on ironically. " As a study of 
 
 18 
 
274 PEG > THE RAKE - 
 
 some portions of feminine nature it is unequalled. 
 I really feel almost grateful for the opportunity it 
 has afforded me of seeing below the surface of a 
 woman who has done me the honour to marry me, 
 sooner than destroy her femininity by being con- 
 sistent to the end of her days." 
 
 He paused, but the lowered eyelids and tightly 
 compressed lips at which he glanced gave no re- 
 sponse. 
 
 " Judging by this," he went on, closing the book 
 and tapping the cover emphatically, " I have arrived 
 at a better understanding of your complex char- 
 acter than even years of marriage would have 
 afforded. I learn that you are ambitious of 
 social success, that you love riches, that you 
 have the sensuous female appreciation of all 
 things beautiful, and self-satisfying." He glanced 
 round the room as he spoke, taking in every 
 alteration which a sense of artistic fitness 
 had brought about, every detail of colour and 
 fragrance and beauty which surrounded the 
 invalid. "Well," he went on slowly, "you 
 wouldn't be a woman if you had not these tastes 
 in a greater or less degree. I cannot, of course, 
 flatter myself for a moment that you married me 
 for any other reason than their complete gratifica- 
 tion. It is, therefore, my intention to oppose 
 that gratification by way of disciplining a cha- 
 racter that is far from perfect." 
 
 Again he paused. Again he looked for response, 
 but the face on the pillow neither changed nor 
 winced. 
 
 She might not have heard him at all for any 
 sign she gave ; but he saw her hands tremble 
 where they rested amidst the soft laces of her 
 gown, and he knew that every cold and cruel 
 phrase had hit its mark. 
 
 " Discipline," he went on, " is often the salva- 
 tion of a reckless nature. This " — again he tapped 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 275 
 
 the Look emphatically, — " this ' Peg the Rake ' 
 appears singularly unfortunate in her utterly bad 
 training and complete lawless liberty. Perhaps it 
 is somewhat late in the day for interference, or 
 any attempt to reform the evil of years. A young 
 woman might be malleable and obedient ; but a 
 woman of — forty-two — is it not ? well, no matter, we 
 needn't be too exact, a woman of Lady Lustrell's 
 age, will naturally be more difficult of management. 
 However, I do not despair. You have achieved 
 your ambition at last," he went on more rapidly; 
 " you are the owner of a name and position such 
 as your young ambition coveted. But, having 
 given them to you in ignorance of what you really 
 were, I intend to modify the gift in my own way. 
 I — I presume you are listening ; you are not faint 
 or asleep, are you ? " 
 
 The long lashes lifted themselves as swiftly as 
 if the passionate glance of the flashing eyes had 
 acted as a leverage to their restraining limits. 
 
 " No," she said; " I am all attention." 
 
 " Thank you. In the first place, then, you will 
 be to all real intents and purposes a mere cypher 
 in the house you have entered as mistress. All 
 orders will be given through my sister, all enter- 
 tainments I may deem necessary will be regulated 
 and arranged by her ; but you shall have the credit 
 of them ; — that I am willing to grant." 
 
 " The credit of Miss Lustrell's well-known bad 
 taste and incompetency! Thank you, that is 
 indeed an honour!" burst out Miss Em scorn- 
 fully. 
 
 " It is honour enough for ' Peg the Rake,' " said 
 Sir Jasper icily. " But pray do not interrupt 
 until I have finished. You will then be able to 
 agree to, or refuse my terms. One of the laments 
 in your beautifully frank confession is the constant 
 want of money. Well, you doubtless consider you 
 will never need to raise that lament again. But I 
 
276 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 must inform you that the allowance you will 
 receive will be merely sufficient for your dress — in 
 fact, the same amount as I allow my daughter and 
 my sister. This sum alone will you possess while 
 Heaven grants me life and opportunity to enjoy 
 my own wealth. At my death there will, of course, 
 be a provision made for you, a provision that is 
 solely and entirely dependent on one condition." 
 
 " And that ? " 
 
 " Surely you can guess. No ? Well the con- 
 dition is that you never marry the man called Denis 
 Morrison ! Ah, have I hit you at last ? " 
 
 " Hit me ? " she raised her white face, so proud 
 and beautiful in its calm defiance, that narrow- 
 minded vengeance and bitter spite sank abashed 
 like noxious things that felt their own foulness. 
 "No," she said quietly; "you have not hit or 
 hurt me, as you imagine. What if I tell you 
 that so far from ever marrying Denis Morrison, 
 I would not for all the world might offer accept 
 him now ? What if I told you that the very 
 night before my marriage with you, he used every 
 argument and persuasion to induce me to become 
 his wife, and I refused ? Refused wealth besides 
 which your mortgaged fortunes sink into insigni- 
 ficance ; refused the only love I ever returned in 
 all my wasted reckless life ! You look incredulous ; 
 you don't believe me. I tell you it is gospel truth ! 
 I could have made you the laughing stock of the 
 county ; have seen you bite the dust as the old 
 jilted fool that even I — I the woman you call 
 Peg, the Rake — would not condescend to marry ! 
 I could have done this, and yet, I withheld my 
 hand. I sent away the only man I have ever loved 
 and took you for my husband ! You ! " — she 
 laughed aloud. " They say there is madness in 
 the O'Hara blood, you know; surely the taint of 
 it was in me then ! " 
 
 She threw herself back ; a loud clear peal of 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 277 
 
 laughter rang through the room. " Will you put 
 that clause in your will, now ? " she said, and 
 laughed again. 
 
 He sprang to his feet white with rage and 
 maddened by her mockery. At the same instant 
 the door was hastily opened, and Quinlan appeared. 
 
 "Lord bless us and save us ! Miss Peg darlin', 
 you shouldn't be excitin' yerself in this fashion. 
 Sir Jasper, sir, axin yer parding, what's the 
 matter wid herself, at all, at all ? " 
 
 " Oh, I'm all right, Quinny," said Miss Em, 
 calming voice and face by a strong effort. " I 
 was only laughing at something Sir Jasper was 
 telling me ; it was so entertaining. All the same 
 I am a little tired. You'll excuse my sending you 
 away, Sir Jasper, won't you? but I'm afraid I 
 must." 
 
 She waved a playful dismissal as he turned 
 abruptly away. 
 
 " And now, Quinlan, my tonic," she said. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 FRIENDS IN COUNCIL. 
 
 " I don't believe her ; I don't believe a word ot 
 it," muttered Sir Jasper, pacing to and fro his 
 study in a fury that had no outlet. " She loves that 
 man — she confessed it — and if I died to-morrow 
 she would marry him. If he had been as well off 
 as she says, she would have jumped at his offer, 
 especially after " 
 
 His thoughts broke off. He looked about in 
 sudden bewilderment, and his hand went to the 
 breast-pocket of his coat. 
 
 He uttered one word. It was a strong one. 
 Then commenced a fruitless search in every 
 pocket, and amongst the papers on his study table. 
 
 " I've left it in her hands ! What a fool I am ! 
 
278 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 Yes, it must have fallen and I never noticed. 
 There'll never be a chance of getting it again; 
 she'll take good care of that, and there's only my 
 word against hers now. I've lost my trump card. 
 Confound these women ! why did I ever meddle 
 with one again ? Hadn't I lesson enough ? " 
 
 He sank down beside the table, spent and 
 trembling now his rage was over. " It was all so 
 foolish after all, so exhausting, and in such bad 
 taste ; and a woman always got the best of it 
 — somehow." 
 
 He sighed heavily ; regret at his own failure 
 was tantamount to remorse. He was sorry now 
 he had risked a scene. But who would have 
 calculated on the tables being turned on him in 
 this fashion ? 
 
 " In any case they shall not meet or speak 
 while she's under my roof," he resumed presently ; 
 "I'll make that a condition, and I'll take good 
 care it's kept. She must account for every hour 
 of absence either to Sabina or myself. For the 
 rest — well, her pride will have to give in. I shall 
 enjoy seeing her 'do the honours' at our first 
 dinner-party." 
 
 He sat there through the hot bright noon, brood- 
 ing over his past life, and vainly trying to shape 
 his present. A cold feeling of fear and aversion 
 came over him as he pictured those wild defiant 
 eyes, and heard again the echoes of that strange 
 laughter. Suppose Fate chose to play him that 
 trick? Suppose the wild strain in the O'Hara 
 blood leapt into sudden madness ? The shame 
 and horror of the thought held him there spell- 
 bound till he almost fancied he heard the slow 
 cautious step, and the noiseless approach of the 
 Thing that calls itself Insanity ! In his home, 
 about his hearth, ready to spring out of shadow 
 and silence this lurking terror appalled him by the 
 very possibility of its advent. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 279 
 
 He had had his warning once. It seemed to 
 nave sprung to life again in the shape of Memory. 
 The memory of one woman framing the despera- 
 tion of another affected his peace of mind 
 and was therefore to be avoided. But such 
 avoidance means something more than a mere 
 effort of will ; and he made that discovery at last. 
 
 " I'll not risk another scene," he said ; " I've told 
 her what I mean to do. If she is wise she will 
 submit. It is to her advantage, so doubtless she 
 will." 
 
 • ••••••• 
 
 Miss Em, taking counsel with herself after he 
 had left her, came to that conclusion also. It was 
 decidedly best to submit up to a certain point. 
 She must not let the daylight of the world's know- 
 ledge into this darkened chamber. She must 
 keep her skeleton well under lock and key, and 
 let no rattle of chains betray its presence. 
 
 The effect of the interview with Sir Jasper had 
 somewhat retarded her progress. Her nervous 
 system was still too unstrung to bear excitement 
 or any strong call upon its forces. 
 
 The quick eye of Quinlan noted this immediately, 
 and her opinion of Sir Jasper as a husband grew 
 more and more unfavourable. 
 
 It took all her skill and tact to soothe her 
 mistress again, and avert the threatened hysteria. 
 
 It was while employed in alternately soothing 
 and scolding that the old woman's foot struck 
 against something on the floor close to the couch. 
 She bent down to discover what it was, and lifted 
 the old leather pocket-book to light, which had 
 fallen from Sir Jasper's hand when he sprung up 
 at that startling peal of laughter from his wife's 
 lips. He had been too perturbed to notice its 
 loss. Quinlan gave it to her mistress unconscious 
 of its importance, and the vivid flush of joy in Miss 
 Em's face was a revelation to her. 
 
280 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 " My book ! " she cried. " Oh, I've got it again, 
 thank Heaven ! Oh, Quinny, what a stroke of 
 luck ! He can't hart me now ; he's got no proof." 
 
 Quinlan looked puzzled. " Proof, Miss Peg 
 darlin' ? And what proof wud he be wantin' at 
 all ? Shure, isn't it yerself is a thousand times 
 too good for the likes av him ? Proof? proof av 
 what ? Is it certificates av birth and baptism as 
 well as marriage lines that people are after 
 wantin' now-a-days ? Faith, the wurrld is goin' 
 topsy-turvy I'm thinkin'." 
 
 Miss Em laughed, and hugged her recovered 
 treasure to her bosom with quite childish rapture. 
 " No, no, Quinny dear ; it's only my old book I 
 asked you about. The one I left behind me at 
 Carrig-duve. Oh, Quinny ! if you had only found 
 it in time what a world of trouble I'd have been 
 saved ! " 
 
 " And was they sich important documents, Miss 
 Peg darlin' ? Shure, me tongue will niver re- 
 mimber to call you ' my lady '." 
 
 " Yes," said Miss Em thoughtfully ; " import- 
 ant enough to ruin my whole life henceforward." 
 
 "Ah, now, darlin', don't be after sayin' that; 
 shure, 'tis no great sin lies at yer door beyant jist a 
 little divilment an' foolishness when ye were 
 young an' the beauty av the place. Small wonder 
 at that either, seein' the way the young men was 
 after yez. An', shure, the little bit av a trick ye 
 played yer father was nothin' so bad neither. 
 Didn't we all know that it was with Dr. Mac- 
 Shamus ye were all the time, and wasn't it the 
 masther hisself as brought ye home, jist as wild 
 an' full av yer nonsinse and wickedness as iver ? " 
 
 The hot pained flush deepened in Miss Em's 
 white face. She did not meet the old woman's 
 kindly gaze, or give any response, but a sigh — long, 
 quivering, full of pain remembered, of joy fore- 
 gone. Then she sank back amongst the soft 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 28l 
 
 cushions Molly had arranged for her comfort, and 
 closed her eyes. 
 
 " I'm so tired, Quinny," she said. " Draw down 
 the blinds and I'll try to sleep for an hour. Don't 
 let any one disturb me." 
 
 When Quinlan looked in an hour later she 
 found her mistress sleeping as peacefully as a little 
 child, the old worn pocket-book still clasped in 
 one hand. 
 
 • •••••• 
 
 It was late in the afternoon before Miss Em 
 woke, refreshed and invigorated by that deep 
 restful slumber. The room was full of tranquil 
 shade and sweet fragrance, and in her hand was 
 safely clasped her recovered treasure. 
 
 As she stirred and lifted her hand the soft 
 flutter of a skirt came through the quiet room, 
 and Molly appeared. 
 
 " What a long sleep ! " she said. " And you've had 
 no luncheon. You must take some jelly and 
 champagne at once ; Quinlan left it ready for 
 you." 
 
 "Where is she ? " asked Miss Em, surprised that 
 such attendance as this was relegated to any one 
 else. 
 
 Molly coloured and hesitated. " I'm sorry to 
 say she has had to go back," she faltered. 
 
 " To go back ! Do you mean to say she has 
 returned to Carrig-duve, and in this manner, 
 without even saying good-bye ?" 
 
 " Well, dear, you see she really couldn't help it. 
 She was sent for. Some one's ill there, and they 
 want her." 
 
 " Is it Mrs. O'Hara ? " asked Miss Em eagerly. 
 " She's always complaining, yet she will never see 
 a doctor, or take any remedies." 
 
 Molly had turned to the little table, and was 
 busy opening the pint bottle of champagne. 
 
 " I believe it was your stepmother," she said. 
 
282 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 " But it was all so hurried, and poor Quinlan was 
 so distressed that there was some confusion. I 
 sent her back in the jingle that they sent, and if 
 things are not very serious she will return to- 
 morrow." 
 
 Miss Em looked searchingly at the girl's face 
 as she came nearer, with the wine in her hand. 
 
 " Molly," she said abruptly, " is this the 
 truth ? Are you sure it wasn't your father who 
 sent her away ? " 
 
 "My father!" exclaimed the girl; "why, he 
 doesn't even know she has gone. Dear Miss Em, 
 whatever put such a strange idea into your 
 head ? " 
 
 " I don't know ; I only thought perhaps he 
 didn't like her coming here so unceremoniously ; 
 and as I am so much better, there really is no 
 need for her to remain." 
 
 " Come, drink your wine and don't worry," said 
 Molly. " You are in my hands now, you dear old 
 lady, and I'm going to be a very strict nurse." 
 
 Miss Em held out her hand and pressed the 
 girl's soft fingers. " I do think you're fond of me, 
 Molly," she said. 
 
 " Fond of you ! I should just think I was ! I 
 told you that when you spoke to me about marry- 
 ing papa. Only I don't want to call you ' mother,' 
 if you don't mind. Somehow I couldn't ; you'll 
 be always ' Miss Em ' to me, you know." 
 
 " Call me anything you like, dear child, only 
 don't cease to love me, Molly. A young fresh 
 affection means so much to my old jaded heart. 
 And promise me you'll always believe the best of 
 me, whatever you may hear ; will you ? " 
 
 " There never can be anything but the ' best of 
 you ' for me to hear," said the girl warmly. "I'll 
 promise you that I won't believe it if there is." 
 
 Miss Em drank the champagne slowly, and 
 made no remark. Molly drew up the blinds now, 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 283 
 
 and the warm sunset glow flooded the room with 
 its soft radiance. 
 
 " There ! that's more cheerful," she said in her 
 sweet coaxing voice. " How much better you 
 look! Why, you'll soon be able to come downstairs 
 again, and we can begin to wake up this old 
 ' Castle Grim ' as we promised." 
 
 All the colour died out of Miss Em's face. 
 
 "No, my dear, no," she said feebly; "I shall 
 never be able to do that now. The will and the 
 power have gone from me. For my own sake, I 
 don't regret it ; but for yours " 
 
 " Will, indeed ! " burst forth Molly impetuously. 
 "And if you think I'm going to let you tumble 
 down into an old woman you never were more 
 mistaken in your life. Why, once you're about 
 you'll be as bright and gay as ever you were ; and 
 I prophesy a rare good time for Castle Lustrell 
 yet ! " 
 
 Miss Em smiled a somewhat tremulous smile 
 — one that made Molly inclined to lay her head 
 down in her lap and cry. It was so pathetic, and 
 so unlike that bright and cheerful smile which 
 she had so long known. 
 
 "I wish," said Miss Em slowly, "that your 
 prophecy may come true. Molly, why doesn't 
 Paddy Kearney get your father's consent to your 
 marriage ? He knows you care for each other." 
 
 "Paddy is so poor," said Molly ruefully; "if 
 he were only rich papa wouldn't hesitate. As it 
 is" — and she sighed as the "maiden all forlorn" 
 she deemed herself — " I suppose we must just wait 
 and wait until we have worn out his patience. I 
 have told him I shall never marry any one else. 
 I often think," she added thoughtfully, " that it 
 was Aunt Sabina who set him against Paddy. 
 They hate each other ! But you, dear Miss Em," 
 she added suddenly, "you will be able to talk 
 papa over. You can influence him so, and " 
 
284 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 "II" The sharp harsh cry startled Molly, 
 and she looked in surprise at the drawn changed 
 face. " I have no influence. You mistake ; I can 
 do nothing," Miss Em went on hurriedly. "Some- 
 thing — something you will never know, Molly, has 
 altered my position here. I may seem the mistress 
 of Castle Lustrell, but I am only a cypher. The 
 part I play is but a stage part. I can't tell you 
 more. I — I never meant to tell you this ; but you 
 would soon have found it out, and better you 
 should know at once. Your aunt will be the real 
 mistress, Molly ; I — I am only " 
 
 " Hush ! " said the girl almost sternly; " I 
 won't hear you lower yourself, dear Miss Em. If 
 things are as you say I — I shall never appear to 
 notice it. All the honour and respect that should 
 be given to you as Lady Lustrell I will give, and 
 make others give. We will fight together, if it 
 is to be war ; stand together, if it is to be defence. 
 The household all love me, and for my sake they 
 shall love you. Not one iota of dignity shall you 
 lose, I can promise that, and you will find I am 
 right. As for Aunt Sabina" — she drew her slight 
 young form to its full height, and flashed defiance 
 with her glowing eyes, " she will have two 
 against her now ; let her do her worst." 
 
 The colour and warmth came back to Miss 
 Em's face. The situation suited her exactly, and 
 a thrill of the old defiant spirit ran through her 
 veins; but the day had passed for that; she felt it 
 now, as curbed and restrained by sad hopelessness 
 the momentary passion died out, leaving her cold 
 and passive. 
 
 " Dear child," she said softly, " you mean all 
 you say, I am sure ; but, believe me, submission- 
 outward submission — is best ; and don't flourish ou 
 alliance in their faces, Molly, it would only lead 
 to fresh troubles. They might part us, and 
 then " 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 285 
 
 Her voice broke, she looked lovingly at the 
 beautiful young face. " I shall never have a child 
 of my own to love, and they say without that no 
 woman's life is complete ; but no child could be 
 dearer to me than you are, Molly, and to lose you 
 would almost break my heart. I could give you to 
 the man you love, I could bear to see you leave me 
 a happy wife, blessed in the devotion of a good 
 man's life ; but I could not bear to know you 
 were sent away from here because — because I 
 loved you." 
 
 " No one could do that, dear Miss Em ; my 
 father wouldn't be so cruel, even though he is 
 jealous; and as for Aunt Sabina " 
 
 "How do you know your father is jealous?" 
 questioned Miss Em sharply. 
 
 " Oh, I have learnt it in a hundred ways. He 
 likes to be first and foremost in the affections of 
 any one he cares for; he would never show that 
 he was jealous of your loving me, but he would 
 make you feel it ; he has always been like that." 
 
 Miss Em remained silent and thoughtful. She 
 was thinking of that clause in Sir Jasper's will. 
 In Molly's unconscious words she read its real 
 meaning. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 THE HEADLESS COACH. 
 
 The summons to Carrig-duve had been imperative 
 enough to alarm Quinlan, and render the call of 
 loyalty more imperative than that of affection. 
 For it was her master who lay at death's door, 
 stricken down suddenly by that worst foe of age — 
 paralysis. 
 
 The stroke had been swift and without any sort 
 of premonition ; and Mrs. O'Hara, who was some- 
 
286 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 thing of the " braggart in peace and coward in 
 war" type, was terrified out of her wits, and 
 despatched messengers for Dr. MacShamus and 
 Quinlan, and even telegraphed to her arch-foe, 
 Miss Bedelia, without loss of time. 
 
 The whole house was in confusion when Quinlan 
 arrived. The Irish servant whom she had left 
 behind her could only express herself as " that 
 moithered, she couldn't be afther tellin' what to do 
 an' what to lave ". And to simplify that condition 
 of mind she proceeded to " lave " everything, and 
 wander about the house with her apron to her 
 eyes, calling on all the saints in the calendar of 
 her memory to be merciful to the house and its 
 occupants. 
 
 Quinlan took the helm and proceeded to right 
 affairs with all promptness. The dejection and 
 submission of Mrs. O'Hara were matters of worn 
 der to her, but she refrained from noticing them 
 specially. 
 
 A talk with Dr. MacShamus convinced her that 
 there was every cause for alarm, and she braced 
 herself for the situation with all the courage and 
 devotion that a loyal Irish servant undoubtedly 
 possesses. 
 
 So little could be done. The old man lay like 
 a log, unconscious of anything around him. Save 
 for the heavy stertorous breathing one would not 
 have known he lived. 
 
 The night fell, but his condition remained un- 
 changed. 
 
 Quinlan announced her intention of sitting up 
 with him, but Mrs. O'Hara declared she would 
 share the watch. The old woman was none too 
 pleased at the companionship, and gave very brief 
 response to her mistress's efforts at conversa- 
 tion. 
 
 She had a rooted conviction that Mrs. O'Hara 
 wanted to " pump " her respecting Castle Lustrell 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 287 
 
 and its affairs, and she was determined to give her 
 no satisfaction on these points. 
 
 In order, however, to keep up the dignity of the 
 family she was scrupulously exact in speaking of 
 Miss Em as "my lady" or Lady Lustrell, the 
 more so as her keen eye detected that this was 
 extremely annoying to her listener. 
 
 Mrs. O'Hara at last changed the conversation 
 abruptly. 
 
 " I wish, Quinlan," she said after a pause, 
 " that you would stop this idle gossip in the 
 kitchen about the thing they call the ' Headless 
 Coach '. It's ridiculous the way they've been 
 going on about it. Bridget flatly refuses to go on 
 an errand after dusk, and the boy is nearly as bad." 
 
 Quinlan crossed herself hastily. " Musha, ma'am, 
 and why wouldn't they be frightened ? Well they 
 know what it manes ; shure, 'tis very well for you 
 to be sayin' it's nonsense ; maybe ye have no 
 raisin to fear, not bein' a rale O'Hara, but whin the 
 quality gits a warnin' av that sort, 'tis a sarious 
 thing, let me tell ye." 
 
 "Well, I don't believe these superstitions," said 
 Mrs. O'Hara sharply; "the Banshee, and the 
 White Lady, and the Headless Coach, they're all 
 imaginary and all nonsense." 
 
 " Shure, ye've no call to believe in thim," snapped 
 Quinlan, touched in her tenderest point by such 
 criticism of valued superstitions ; " but any one 
 who has lived in the good ould families knows that 
 sich warnings do come to thim ; and as for the 
 coach " 
 
 "Hush!" said Mrs. O'Hara suddenly, "what 
 was that — wheels ? . . . and at this time of night. 
 It can't be the doctor again — or Miss O'Hara? " 
 
 " Whist wid ye ? " cried Quinlan, turning white 
 as death ; " faith, and 'tis jist bringin' a judgmint 
 on the house perhaps ye are, wid yer scoffin' an' 
 naythin principles." 
 
288 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 They both listened intently. The night was 
 very still, scarce a breath of air was stirring ; and 
 distinctly audible in that stillness was the sound 
 of wheels coming slowly up the avenue. Mrs. 
 O'Hara sprang to her feet, and going to the win- 
 dow threw it open and looked out. A strange 
 stifled cry escaped her. 
 
 " My God ! Quinlan \—What is it ? " 
 
 Shaking in every limb the old woman followed 
 her, and they stood side by side watching the 
 strange weird vehicle approach — a black hearse- 
 shaped carriage, drawn by four horses, whose feet 
 made no sound, and whose heads were muffled in 
 some shroud-like drapery. 
 
 The full clear light of the moon shone on the 
 strange thing, and showed it with startling clear- 
 ness to the terrified eyes of the two women. 
 
 At the great entrance door it paused. The 
 noiseless steeds stood still, their strange muffled 
 head-gear distinctly visible. Then the driver 
 lifted his head ; and a skeleton face, with the moon- 
 rays lighting its ghastly outlines, looked straight 
 up at the window of Mrs. O'Hara's room. 1 
 
 With a wild scream she fell to the floor in a 
 dead faint ; but Quinlan, instead of attending to 
 her, rushed over to the bedside of her master. 
 As she looked at the motionless form a strange 
 grey shadow flickered over the face. There was 
 a faint quiver of the closed lids, a fainter sigh 
 from the white lips, and the last of the male 
 line of O'Haras had passed into his rest. 
 
 " Wisha ! wisha ! an' how shall I tell Miss Peg? 
 Shure, 'twill nigh kill her, and she scarce recovered 
 from sickness herself," lamented Quinlan. 
 
 The terrible night was over. The bright sun- 
 
 1 This Irish superstition is vouched for by an eye-witness 
 of the event described. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 2§9 
 
 shine streamed into the desolate rooms despite 
 closed blinds. 
 
 A great peace and quiet reigned everywhere. 
 
 Dr. MacShamus had ordered Mrs. O'Hara to 
 keep her bed. She was still suffering from the 
 shock of the preceding night, and passive as a 
 lamb in any one's hands. 
 
 "How shall I tell Miss Peg at all, at all?" 
 That was Quinlan's one thought, whether ex- 
 pressed or not. 
 
 The doctor could not help her. 
 
 He had a horror of scenes and of what is called 
 " breaking the news ". Long acquaintance with 
 female nerves and female nature had not hardened 
 him. Their way of taking sorrow, whether pa- 
 thetic, stony, or hysterical, was always trying 
 to witness. He therefore made no suggestion, 
 such as Quinlan hoped, but simply advised her to 
 drive over to Castle Lustrell with the least possible 
 delay, for "ill news flies apace" in Ireland, 
 where the very crows must carry information, so 
 swiftly does it travel from place to place. 
 
 The administration of a soothing draught to 
 Mrs. O'Hara promised a few hours' respite ; and 
 leaving Bridget in charge, Quinlan some half-hour 
 later took her place in the jingle Dr. MacShamus 
 had ordered, and was driven to the castle in the 
 usual break-neck fashion of Irish drivers. 
 
 " Well, glory be to God I'm alive, an' that's 
 all ! " she exclaimed as she at last reached her 
 destination. " Pat, ye young omadhaun, it's a good 
 batin' ye want, drivin' that poor craythur for all the 
 wurrld as av yez was race-coorsin' in Cork, an' me 
 bones that stiff and sore from want av me night's 
 rest. Av ye takes me back like yez brought me, 
 I'll just lay the information at yer father's, an' 
 sorra a bit will he be trustin' ye wid that horse 
 agin, lave alone the jingle, though, faith, 'tis evin 
 worse than ould Jack Cotter's." 
 
2C/t> PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 The boy grinned approvingly. " That's thrue 
 for ye, ma'am," he said. " 'Tis jist a wonder that 
 it houlds togither. But it makes a foine match 
 for the harness anyway." 
 
 "Harness /" scoffed Quinlan ; "arrah now, is it 
 harness yer after callin' it ? Thim bits o' rope and 
 sthraps o' leather ! foine harness, an' the poor 
 baste knows it. Shure, he only stays inside thim 
 shafts out av perliteness. There's divil a bit o' 
 sthrap wud kape him unless he'd a mind to be 
 kept, havin' been so long in the family." 
 
 The boy only laughed, and steered his animal 
 round to the stable-yard, in lively expectation of a 
 feed for both, though the castle of late years had 
 not been famous for an}' sort of hospitality. 
 
 Meanwhile, with beating heart and trembling 
 limbs, Quinlan entered the hall and asked to see 
 Molly. 
 
 She felt she could not face Miss Em with her 
 bad tidings just at first. 
 
 The girl came tripping down the wide shallow 
 stairs looking as radiant as the morning. 
 
 " You've come back ! oh, I'm so glad. Then 
 it wasn't serious after all ? Why — Quinlan ? " 
 
 The sad look and tearful eyes of the old woman 
 spoke of some fatality, and checked her light words. 
 
 " What is it ? " she gasped. 
 
 " It's — the master himself, miss dear," faltered 
 Quinlan. " Shure, he's been taken — God rest his 
 sowl ! An' how am I to tell Miss Peg? Shure, 
 'twill go nigh to kill her. They were that fond o' 
 one another always — and the suddenness av it." 
 
 " What was it? " asked Molly sympathetically ; 
 '* accident or illness ? " 
 
 " Shure, 'twas both, Miss Molly dear. A stroke, 
 the doctor calls it, an' he niver spoke nor stirred a 
 limb till the call came, and thin 'twas jist a sigh, 
 an' as paceful as a babe that sinks to slape. Ah, 
 wisha, wisha ! 'tis a bad day for Carrig-duve. He 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 291 
 
 was the kind gintleman and the good master, and 
 sad it is to think av the ould place goin' to 
 strangers, for, shure, Mrs. O'Hara hasn't the 
 falins nor the ways of the family at all; not but 
 what the poor woman's in a sad way wid the 
 shock, and the grief, and one thing wid another. 
 But there I go runnin' off wid talkin' this an' the 
 other, and Miss Peg waitin' to hear. Is she fairly 
 well this mornin', miss ? How did she slape, the 
 darlin'?" 
 
 " Very well, I think," answered Molly. "I was 
 in the dressing-room all night, and I never heard 
 a sound from her, and she told me this morning 
 she felt much better." 
 
 "Ah, may the heavens be yer bed, miss, that's 
 good news ; though how she'll be whin I tell her 
 this " 
 
 " She knows you're here, Quinlan," interrupted 
 Molly; " for Dwyer came to tell me when I was in 
 her room, so the sooner you go to her the better. 
 She'll be wondering what we are talking about. 
 Poor Mr. O'Hara," she added; " he seemed such 
 a dear old gentleman." 
 
 " Ah ! thrue for ye, miss, he was that, but it's a 
 bad time he's had av it one way an' another. 
 The mistress — well, 'tis well known that she has 
 the timper, an' not his sowl could he call his own 
 these many years. Howsomdiver, I'll not be 
 gossipin' here any longer, miss. Shure, 'tis a hard 
 task I've got before me; the Lord lend me 
 strength ! " 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 COUNTER-PLOTTING. 
 
 Spring and summer, seedtime and harvest had 
 run their course for one brief year. 
 
 It seemed long enough to the Lady of Castle 
 
292 PEG, THE RAKB. 
 
 Lustrell, — a period of dulness, dreariness, and 
 depression such as she had never known. But 
 dull and uneventful as the months had been, they 
 had brought with them health and strength, and 
 such measure of restfulness as she could not but 
 recognise as beneficial. 
 
 In a way, too, Fate had played into her hands. 
 Sir Jasper's intention to humiliate her had 
 signally failed. The state of her health was quite 
 sufficient reason for Miss Sabina's re-appearance ; 
 and when Lady Lustrell explained to the house- 
 hold, with a gracious dignity all her own, that she 
 must waive the privilege of direction and give the 
 control of domestic affairs to her sister-in-law, not 
 one of the servants thought it in any way strange, 
 although they disapproved strongly of the arrange- 
 ment. 
 
 The death of Mr. O'Hara had been a great 
 shock to his only child, and for a time she had 
 been quite prostrate with grief, and Dr. Mac- 
 Shamus almost expected a recurrence of the brain 
 trouble. But she rallied once more, and then 
 followed months of enforced and absolute retire- 
 ment that in themselves explained to the county 
 generally the reason of Lady Lustrell's withdrawal 
 from all society. Not a soul ever suspected what 
 good cause she had to be grateful for such ex- 
 planation. 
 
 Miss Lustrell herself could not be blind to the 
 fact that the relationship between husband and 
 wife was of the most strained description. The 
 ordinary civilities of life alone passed between 
 them, and even these were savoured by bitter 
 ironies, and cynical innuendoes on the part of the 
 old baronet. But the skill and tact which long 
 practice had made habitual enabled Miss Em to 
 ignore the sense of inferiority which was being 
 forced upon her. 
 
 Again and again she had come out conqueror 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 293 
 
 from these passages of arms, and Sir Jasper felt that 
 she was so, and grew more bitter and more resent- 
 ful. She obeyed every injunction, and seemed to 
 carry out every wish, and yet he knew that in 
 spirit she thwarted each, and by a hundred subtle 
 methods avoided his tyranny. 
 
 With the passage of time some of the old 
 brightness and light-heartedness seemed to come 
 back to her; only she herself knew of the trans- 
 forming change that at times showed her the old 
 nature, — its hopes ruined, its pleasures destroyed, 
 its strength enfeebled. 
 
 Every new shock of humiliation added bitterness 
 to the growing hatred she felt for her husband. It 
 was a hatred distilled from poison-seeds of wounded 
 pride and self-effacement ; a hatred which she 
 feared, for its intensity was almost prophetic of 
 active results. 
 
 But the long dark desolate year was over, and 
 the castle might at last throw off its cloak of 
 mourning. 
 
 Miss Sabina had hinted at this, and observed 
 that the refusal of invitations by no means released 
 the recipients from obligations connected with 
 their return. 
 
 Sir Jasper listened to these remarks with some 
 of his old grim humour. Probably there would be 
 a fight between the two women at last. He was 
 prepared to encourage one. 
 
 However, there was no discernible shade of 
 difference in Miss Em's manner. She merely said 
 a dinner-party to include every one responsible for 
 the long list of unaccepted invitations would be 
 rather a formidable undertaking:. 
 
 " Oh ! let us have a ball ! " cried Molly eagerly. 
 " A real big proper ball in the old ball-room. Some- 
 thing to which every one can come, and which 
 will sweep them all off the lists of ' to be, or not to 
 be ' — invited/' 
 
294 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 Her father looked at her with frowning brows. 
 
 "A ball indeed ! Do you suppose I'm going to 
 have the whole place turned upside down to please 
 you ? " Then he glanced sharply at his wife. " Has 
 Lady Lustrell no suggestion to offer ? " he asked 
 with frigid politeness. 
 
 Miss Em gave a scarcely perceptible shrug of 
 her shapely shoulders. 
 
 " No," she said with perfect indifference; "you 
 must arrange it between yourselves. I see no 
 particular reason for burning incense before the 
 shrine of popularity. We have accepted nothing. 
 I imagined we were to continue as we had begun." 
 
 Sir Jasper leaned back in his chair and surveyed 
 her critically. 
 
 The discussion was taking place at breakfast- 
 time. 
 
 " Now, I wonder what the deuce she means ? " 
 he reflected. " If I thought she would rather 
 evade a public recognition of her new dignity, I 
 should insist upon it." 
 
 Miss Sabina looked from one to the other and 
 pursed up her thin lips significantly. " Of course," 
 she said, " if neither of you wish to keep up the 
 reputation of the castle I have no more to say 
 on the subject. It would be a great expense 
 saved." 
 
 "That," said Miss Em, "should decide the 
 question at once." 
 
 " It does," said Sir Jasper, his thin delicate 
 face flushing faintly. " We will give the ball, and 
 ask every one." 
 
 " Miss Lustrell will, of course, arrange the 
 details," said Miss Em, with perfect indifference. 
 " I don't care to undertake such a responsibility." 
 
 " We could manage the supper in the house," 
 said Miss Sabina thoughtfully. 
 
 " With such a cook ! " flashed out Miss Em. 
 Then she coloured, and, with her usual readiness 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 295 
 
 of resource, said playfully : " It would be a praise- 
 worthy experiment. She might have Quinlan to 
 assist, if you think it advisable." 
 
 " Certainly not," snapped Sir Jasper. " I don't 
 choose to have any one else's servants interfering 
 in my kitchen. What the cook can't manage 
 must be ordered from Dublin. See to that, 
 Sabina." 
 
 He rose, apparently unobservant of his sister's 
 look of dismay, and Molly's smiles of delight. As 
 for his wife, her face was as inexpressive as a 
 block. She had learnt of late to make it so, and 
 he chafed at her success. This sleepy-eyed in- 
 difference to all that was passing around her was 
 delusive he knew, but he could not combat it 
 except by personal affront, and, as yet, he hesitated 
 to offer that. 
 
 His first anger at her deception towards him 
 was in some degree mollified by the docility with 
 which she had accepted his orders, and the obedi- 
 ence she never failed to display to any expressed 
 wish. But in his heart a lurking jealousy gnawed 
 cruelly and incessantly. 
 
 Jealousy of herself, her thoughts, her spirit 
 — which might bow but never break — her ready 
 wit, her ability to seem gay, amused, indifferent, 
 defiant, as the fancy seized her. 
 
 " She has a demon in her to match the worst 
 man that ever lived, I believe," was his verdict, 
 after a year of watchfulness and coercion. But 
 he knew that demon would always escape him, 
 and was never quite safe to arouse, since chain 
 and weapon were taken out of his hands. He 
 could not, for his own credit's sake, rake up an 
 old scandal, more especially one that in no way 
 reflected on his credit, or added to his dignity. 
 There lay the secret of her real supremacy, that 
 uncapturable defiance which for ever mocked at 
 his ostensible victories. 
 
296 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 Now, from under her lowered lids she watched 
 him leave the room, and a quiet smile of amuse- 
 ment flickered over her lips. " Let them arrange 
 their ball as they please," she thought to herself. 
 " I shall play the part of guest, and criticise 
 instead of entertain. It would be rather amusing 
 for Sir Jasper, if the rumour got about that his 
 wife was a little off her head. The county may 
 come once, but I fancy it rests with myself if they 
 ever come again ; and yet I never thwart a com- 
 mand of his or oppose a wish." 
 
 " Emilia ! " exclaimed Miss Sabina sharply, " I 
 have twice asked you a question, and you sit 
 there like a deaf person, smiling at nothing. Will 
 you give me your attention ? " 
 
 Miss Em rose to her feet and shot one sharp 
 irritated glance at her sister-in-law. 
 
 "No," she said defiantly; "I will not. My 
 wishes go for nothing here, so I shall keep my 
 opinions to myself. You may arrange things just 
 as you please ; manage, or muddle, it's all the 
 same to me ! The only questions of any impor- 
 tance as far as I'm concerned are the date, and 
 my dress." 
 
 "Well!" gasped Miss Sabina; but Lady 
 Lustrell was sweeping out of the room, her head 
 loftily erect, her soft black draperies trailing on 
 the old worn carpet, her face, could she but have 
 seen it, beaming with mischievous delight. 
 
 " Oh ! my dear Miss Em, why did you do it ? " 
 exclaimed Molly, a few minutes later, as she 
 followed her stepmother into her boudoir. 
 
 " Do — what ? " asked Miss Em, turning from 
 the contemplation of the May glories, to the 
 wistful, lovely face beside her. 
 
 Strangely wistful and pale it had grown of late r 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 297 
 
 losing the girlish bloom and radiance, and gaining 
 instead the thoughtful yet sadder shadows that 
 are the gifts of experience. 
 
 " Well, of course I mean letting Aunt Sabina 
 have the management of this ball — if ball it is to 
 be. Perhaps you don't know how dreadful her 
 parties can be. The dinners are bad enough, 
 goodness knows ! She'd spoil everything for the 
 want of an additional pound of butter, or dozen 
 of eggs ; and she'd grudge the fruit, though we 
 have so much of it. I believe myself, she sells it, 
 and has a private agreement with the gardener. 
 But, as I was saying, the dinners were nothing 
 when compared with the evening parties ! " 
 
 She wrung her hands in comic despair. " And 
 now you're going to let her give a ball — and in 
 your name /" 
 
 No italics could give any idea of the emphasis 
 she laid on those two words. Surely it was bad 
 enough to perpetrate a failure ; but to get the 
 credit of that failure, wrongfully, that did indeed 
 seem the height of folly. 
 
 Miss Em only smiled at the impetuous out- 
 burst. 
 
 Her eyes turned again to the beauty of the 
 landscape in all the blossoming loveliness of May, 
 — the snow and rose tints of petals, the gold of sun- 
 touched leaves, the vivid green of boughs against 
 the sky's intense blue. Lustrell Park was at its 
 fairest in these early months of summer, and she 
 had not yet wearied of that fairness. 
 
 " My dear Molly," she said at last, " have not 
 we both agreed not to vex our heads about any- 
 thing they do here ? Now to me, half the fun of the 
 entertainment will be watching the way Miss 
 Sabina carries it out. All the anxiety will be 
 hers, all the amusement mine. I would say ours, 
 only you seem inclined to look at the serious 
 side." 
 
20,8 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 " Yes, I do," answered Molly, " because you see, 
 dear, I — know what it is." 
 
 " Then you ought to be all the more ready to 
 laugh. After all, what does it matter? I don't 
 care a straw for the people, or what they say or 
 think. In Dublin it would be a different matter, 
 I grant; but for these old county fogies " 
 
 " But it's to be a ball" reiterated Molly; "there 
 won't be so many fogies at that. And the young 
 ones are so keen ; and Paddy will come, you know, 
 and he'll expect to find everything so different 
 under vour regime." 
 
 "True, I forgot Paddy," said Miss Em thought- 
 fully. " Well, Molly asthore, I see nothing for it 
 but a trick, and you must aid and abet me. We'll 
 have two suppers, and in two different rooms ! 
 What do you say ? " 
 
 "Lovely!" cried Molly, her eyes sparkling. 
 " But how on earth can you manage? " 
 
 Miss Em laughed. " I'll manoeuvre all that," 
 she said, her eyes glowing with the old rakish 
 enjoyment of long ago. " Trust me, my dear ; 
 we'll have our supper from Dublin, and Miss 
 Sabina shan't know a word about it. As for 
 waiting, I'll have Quinlan round unbeknown to 
 any one, and our maid Dwyer is clever enough, 
 and that young footman Macan — I daresay we can 
 smuggle him away. Now the question is, what 
 room ? It must be one that no one enters, or is 
 likely to require for that occasion, and we must 
 have our own password for our party when the 
 time arrives, and separate them skilfully. Oh, 
 faith, 'twill be diverting enough, and make up for 
 many a long day's boredom we've had with 
 them." 
 
 Molly laughed ecstatically, " 'Twill be the grand- 
 est fun I've ever had," she said. " Only I suppose 
 we shall catch it afterwards." 
 
 " My dear child," said Miss Em mockingly, 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 299 
 
 " did you ever hear of the Irishman yet who 
 spoilt a bit of devilment for sake of that word 
 ' afterwards ' ? No, nor an Irish woman either, 
 and it isn't Peg O'Hara (though I'm not that 
 now) that's going to begin." 
 
 Molly surveyed her with gentle wonder. What 
 a chameleon she was ! And how did it happen 
 that anything in the way of mischief or wicked- 
 ness always called up that touch of the " brogue," 
 and banished the set intonation and unreal suavity 
 which was characteristic of her ordinary manner ? 
 
 So far as absolute discussion went, Miss Em's 
 plot was in a somewhat sketchy state ; she pre- 
 ferred it to "simmer," she told Molly. 
 
 So for several days no more was said about it, 
 though Miss Em's brain was actively at work in 
 elaborating her first design. The thought of 
 Paddy Kearney fired her energies ; he, at least, 
 must never know how doubtful a position she 
 held in her own house, and he would enjoy more 
 than any one the plot which she had determined 
 upon carrying to a successful issue. 
 
 Meanwhile days flew by, and acceptances began 
 to fall in showers of polite unanimity. Miss Em 
 was secretly delighted and outwardly indifferent. 
 Side by side, however, with Miss Sabina's list she 
 framed her own, arranged her supper-table, and 
 paired off her respective couples. 
 
 The whole of the youthful and mirth-loving 
 contingent were to be swept off in her train ; Miss 
 Sabina and Sir Jasper could do what they pleased 
 with the dowagers and fogies. 
 
 It was necessary to confide in Miss Bedelia to 
 some extent, as she had to be entrusted with the 
 Dublin order; but she imagined Miss Em's in- 
 junctions as to strict secrecy was only part of her 
 love of mystery, and that she was "up to some- 
 thing " at last. 
 
 The old lady had of course received an invita- 
 
300 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 tion, as had also Lady Pat, and both had accepted. 
 They would therefore have to share in Miss Em's 
 plan, as she fully intended to include them among 
 her guests. 
 
 " Faith, Molly, 'twill be a nice party," she said ; 
 " only, let us pray your aunt won't go spying 
 about and discover this room, or we're lost." 
 
 The room in question was a quaint octagonal 
 chamber — once the schoolroom — that for years had 
 been given over to dust and lumber. By dint of 
 watching their opportunities Molly and Miss Em 
 and the girl Dwyer had weeded out all the rubbish, 
 and so cleaned and re-arranged the place that no 
 one could have recognised it. 
 
 The arrangements had been skilfully and quietly 
 conducted, and not a soul except those concerned 
 in the plot ever dreamt of what was going on. 
 
 Every one else in the house was busily occupied 
 with preparing the great ball-room — a work of no 
 small pretensions; but Miss Sabina insisted it 
 should be done by the servants, and would give no 
 extra help. There was much grumbling and ill- 
 temper displayed, and a general amount of dis- 
 order and confusion that secretly delighted Miss 
 Em, and was also a good cover for her own and 
 Molly's handiwork. 
 
 Over two hundred people were expected ; of the 
 number Miss Em had selected forty for her own 
 supper-party, — twenty pairs of choice spirits who 
 would think Lady Lustrell's surprise the best 
 part of the entertainment. 
 
 As the day approached, Molly was in a state of 
 nervous trepidation for fear of discovery. Miss 
 Em, on the other hand, was cool and composed, 
 and brimming over with enjoyment at the prospect 
 of " turning the tables " so completely. 
 
 Sir Jasper could not understand her apparent 
 indifference to the great occasion. Finally, he 
 put it down to sullenness at the insignificant part 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 301 
 
 she was allowed in the whole matter, and deriving 
 some gratification from this belief, he awaited the 
 evening of the ball with complacent curiosity. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 "A SOUND OF REVELRY BY NIGHT." 
 
 Sir Jasper and Miss Lustrell were awaiting their 
 guests in the small drawing-room that opened 
 into the ball-room of the castle. Lady Lustrell 
 had not yet appeared, and the old baronet was 
 fuming and fidgetting at her dilatoriness. 
 
 Her constant unpunctuality was one of his 
 causes of complaint against her, but neither wrath 
 nor irony seemed to amend the habit. 
 
 The sound of wheels was distinctly heard when 
 she hurried into the room, followed by Molly. Sir 
 Jasper and his sister started as they looked at the 
 regally magnificent woman who walked up the 
 room buttoning her gloves and apparently quite 
 unconscious of the sensation she created. 
 
 A magnificent court train of rich emerald-hued 
 velvet worn over a dress of soft black lace, and 
 caught here and there with jet, composed her 
 toilette. Her white hair was swept off her brow, 
 dressed high, and powdered. She wore not a 
 single ornament to detract from the faultless 
 contour and milky whiteness of throat and bust. 
 Her arms were bare to the elbow, and guiltless 
 even of a bracelet ; but she looked so splendidly 
 handsome that Miss Sabina grew green with envy, 
 and Sir Jasper could scarcely remove his eyes from 
 her. 
 
 Molly looked somewhat pale and anxious, and 
 her dress of pure white silk with trails of May 
 blossom rather enhanced her pallor. She was 
 terribly uneasy, and full of misgivings as to the 
 
302 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 success of the plot. But no misgivings troubled 
 Miss Em ; she was always in her element when 
 mischief was on, and never had she perpetrated 
 such a glorious piece of daring as this. 
 
 How she had managed was still a mystery to 
 Molly, although they had only both rushed in that 
 very moment from a last visit to the supper-room. 
 
 It was a scene of beauty that perfectly dazzled 
 the girl. Flowers and plants hid all the " bad 
 corners," as Miss Em called them. Plate and 
 glass hired from Dublin glittered on the table and 
 buffet ; dainty dishes, piles of exquisite fruit and 
 wines of the choicest brands all promised un- 
 limited enjoyment to the revellers. 
 
 The lights were not numerous enough to show 
 up deficiencies, or betray " toilet secrets ". Every- 
 thing was soft and dim, and restful to the eye ; a 
 picture to please any sense of artistic fitness in 
 the guests, without too forcibly diverting their 
 attention from each other. 
 
 For conviviality was Miss Em's watchword, and 
 she had made a judicious selection of "kindred 
 souls " who would ably second her own lead in 
 that line. 
 
 Meanwhile people began to arrive in quick 
 succession, and Lady Lustrell had enough to do in 
 receiving them. 
 
 The younger members passed on into the ball- 
 room, where the band had already commenced to 
 play. The elder lingered in the drawing-room or 
 hall, where card-tables and seats gave promise of 
 comfort and entertainment more in keeping with 
 their years. 
 
 In a very short space of time the ballroom- 
 presented a magnificent coup d'czil. Uniforms, 
 dresses, jewels, faces pretty and plain, forms 
 manly and meagre, all the curious and hetero- 
 geneous contrasts which mean " social enjoy- 
 ment " were here displayed. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 303 
 
 To Miss Em this return to her old well-loved 
 life after so long an eclipse, was as the taste of 
 blood to the tiger. A few moments, and all her 
 good resolutions were thrown to the winds. She 
 was talking, laughing, jesting, arranging, in the 
 old bright resistless way. The flashing lights, 
 the happy faces, the strains of the music, all 
 combined to fire her blood, and make her, as of 
 old, the centre of all that was wittiest, gayest, 
 and most reckless in the crowd. Old faces smiled 
 familiar welcome, and lips long silent bandied 
 familiar jests. Here and there the electric 
 current of affinity attracted groups, and she was 
 invariably one of the number, only breaking them 
 up to form them afresh in kaleidoscopic changes 
 whose variety possessed incessant charm. 
 
 Sir Jasper watched her with frowning brows. 
 He felt he could do nothing to stop this torrent of 
 popularity, nothing to subdue or crush this bril- 
 liant comet-like creature, who flashed here and 
 there before his amazed eyes, everywhere receiving 
 homage, flattery, attention, such as he had declared 
 should never again be her portion. 
 
 Outwardly bland, but inwardly raging, he had to 
 receive congratulations long evaded, and doubly 
 distasteful now. As for Miss Lustrell, she was 
 furious. This excitement and restlessness and 
 mobility of the hostess were far removed from her 
 idea of manner and demeanour. She had been 
 accustomed to a dignified and well-regulated 
 mode of entertainment, and had certainly never 
 behaved in the "harum scarum " way of Lady 
 Lustrell. But the crowning shock of all was 
 when the said Lady Lustrell laughingly announced 
 to some dozen or so of the elite of " county fogy- 
 dom " — " Do not please give me the credit of this 
 delightful evening, you are all indebted to my 
 sister-in-law for it. I merely look upon myself as 
 a guest, like one of yourselves." 
 
304 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 Fogydom gasped, and surveyed each other in 
 astonishment as the emerald velvet trian swept 
 itself away into another circle; and, judging from 
 the mirth and hilarity following its arrival, the 
 effect produced was in contrast to the gloom left 
 behind. 
 
 Time passed on ; and the elder members of the 
 assembly, chaperons, and wall-flowers, and card- 
 players began to meditate upon the possibilities of 
 supper. As a rule the suppers and dinners at 
 Castle Lustrell were not of the very best descrip- 
 tion ; but the advent of Lady Lustrell, and her 
 well-known capabilities, promised that this occasion 
 would vary agreeably from previous experiences. 
 
 Shortly before midnight Miss Sabina might have 
 been observed peering anxiously about in nooks 
 and corners, and varying this occupation by diving 
 into her pocket or giving surreptitious shakes to 
 her black satin skirts. 
 
 Her face gradually betrayed consternation, and 
 at last she hurried up to Sir Jasper to confide the 
 reason. 
 
 " I've lost my supper list," she whispered. 
 "You know there were to be two detachments, 
 and dancing was still to go on, and now I don't 
 know how to arrange the people." 
 
 "Pooh, pooh," said the old baronet impatiently, 
 " you can remember well enough without a list ; 
 or stay," he added quickly, "ask Lady Lustrell 
 to manage it, she has all the names at her fingers' 
 ends. Of course the young folk are to be left till 
 the elders have finished. There can't be much 
 difficulty." 
 
 Miss Sabina looked round for her sister-in-law. 
 For once she felt she would be glad of her assist- 
 ance. 
 
 It almost seemed as if Miss Em divined the 
 necessity, for she appeared at this moment and 
 suavely inquired if it was not time for supper. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 3°5 
 
 " Of course it is," snapped Miss Sabina ; " bui 
 unfortunately I've lost my list, and I can't remem- 
 ber how I had arranged the two parties," 
 
 " Oh ! I'll do that for you," said Miss Em 
 genially. " The old fogies, of course, go in first." 
 
 "I remember Lady Patricia and Dr. MacShamus 
 were to be among them," began Miss Sabina, 
 " and the Barringtons, and Sir Lucius and Lady 
 
 Carew, and the Lovells and Mrs. O'Hara, and " 
 
 She ran through the names feebly, but Miss Em 
 cut her short with a rapid gesture. 
 
 " Don't worry yourself," she said, and moved 
 swiftly away to give the necessary hints. Sir 
 Jasper moved off to the side of his appointed 
 dowager, and Sir Lucius Carew, an old sexagena- 
 rian, but a noted county favourite, approached 
 Miss Sabina. 
 
 Lady Lustrell had decided on going in with the 
 second detachment. 
 
 A general move was soon apparent. 
 
 It was some time, however, before Miss Sabina 
 discovered that not only was the dining-room 
 crowded beyond the limits she had decided, but 
 that a great many people were there who ought 
 not to have been present, and a great many were 
 absent whose places should decidedly have been 
 among the elect. 
 
 However, it was impossible to alter anything 
 now, and she had to make the best of affairs. She 
 looked in vain for Lady Pat's dignified figure, or 
 Dr. MacShamus's genial face, though his wife was 
 there with old Mr. Barrington. 
 
 " So like Emilia ! " she said to herself in vexa- 
 tion. "Just doing everything in that helter- 
 skelter fashion of hers. It's not a bit what I had 
 planned." 
 
 From time to time the strains of the band 
 reached them, but there was no doubt that the 
 party " hung fire " and were universally dull and 
 
306 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 bored. The supper itself seemed strangely insuffi- 
 cient for the large number who had crowded in ; 
 and Miss Sabina could not help thinking that the 
 viands had considerably decreased since she had 
 superintended the table. 
 
 Still the meal dragged itself on, and conversa- 
 tion, though more spasmodic than brilliant, did 
 not seem to flag. It annoyed Sir Jasper that Sir 
 Lucius Carew would get up on his feeble old legs 
 and propose, with many senile chuckles and 
 flatteries, the health of their " beautiful and 
 charming hostess". The speech was long and 
 prosy, and Sir Jasper was bound to reply to it in 
 the character of the "proud and happy husband" 
 he had been called. The idea of toasts once 
 started spread like an epidemic, and it seemed as 
 if the second contingent would have to wait till 
 morning for their chance of supper, when, at last, 
 Miss Sabina in desperation rose from the table. 
 
 In pairs and groups they all struggled back to 
 the ball-room, but on reaching it there was an 
 involuntary exclamation of surprise. 
 
 It was perfectly empty. 
 
 The musicians were chatting and laughing, and 
 occasionally twanging a string of harp or violin, 
 but they had evidently ceased playing for want of 
 the " dancers dancing in tune ". 
 
 Miss Sabina turned to her brother, amazement 
 depicted on her face. 
 
 " Why — where are all the others ? " she gasped. 
 
 As if in answer there came a sudden peal of 
 laughter, loud, clear, ringing, the laughter that 
 could still make Sir Jasper's heart contract with 
 icy horror ; following it — the sound of voices, the 
 clatter of glass, the unmistakable uproar of festivity 
 — and very jovial festivity too. Sir Jasper turned 
 suddenly in the direction of these remarkable 
 sounds. One of the doors of the ball-room, cur- 
 tained over for the occasion, opened into a passage 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 307 
 
 at the end of which was a swing door of green 
 baize. Through this door, down the passage he 
 marched, every nerve of his body quivering with 
 excitement and dread of he knew not what. 
 After him came Miss Sabina, and following close 
 on her a few more curious or more venturesome 
 spirits than by right ought to belong to "fogy- 
 dom ". 
 
 Thrusting open this swing door with nervous 
 hands Sir Jasper was confronted by a scene that 
 riveted him to the spot. He was unconscious of 
 the crowding forms behind : he only saw a dazzling 
 array of rose-shaded lights, and flowers, and silver, 
 and glass, and pretty faces, massed in wonderful 
 confusion. The babble of laughter and tongues 
 was indescribable; no doubt that "enjoyment" 
 was the order of the day, or rather night, here. 
 
 Amidst it all one face shone out, beaming with 
 happiness and mischief, one voice rang out more 
 clearly than any other. The brilliant eyes were 
 sparkling with pleasure, wit and mirth fired every 
 laughing speech and jest that she showered 
 around. Sir Jasper, fascinated yet bewildered, 
 stood there and watched her, while over his 
 shoulder appeared Miss Sabina's shocked and 
 rigid face. 
 
 Then a sudden silence fell, a whispered hush-h 
 stole round the glittering board. 
 
 Dr. MacShamus was proposing a health ; his full 
 sonorous voice and rounded periods rolled through 
 the room. The brief speech touched all hearts. 
 It spoke much that was felt by each, and that 
 none but so old and tried a friend could have put 
 into words. 
 
 " One whose popularity is as familiar as it is 
 deserved — whose kind heart and generous nature 
 no friend has ever taxed in vain, whom we all love 
 and respect, and whose pleasant surprise of this 
 evening is only another signa 1 instance of what 
 
308 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 her wit and versatility are capable of — one whom 
 we all pray may live for many a long year happy 
 and prosperous as she deserves — one who, in the 
 character of hostess to-night, has given us a more 
 delightful entertainment than the famous Castle 
 Lustrell has ever yet approached, — this is the toast 
 I propose, the health I ask you all to drink, with 
 every honour and good wish that she deserves. 
 
 Ladies and gentlemen, I propose the health of 
 
 >j 
 
 " Peg, the Rake ! " 
 
 Miss Em had sprung to her feet, in her hand a 
 brimming goblet of champagne, and so standing 
 she faced the stern horrified faces grouped in the 
 doorway. 
 
 There was a second's astonished pause, then 
 the voices round took up the name as if by one 
 consent ; the name their hostess had given them, in 
 place of the empty title she abhorred. 
 
 Those who knew and those who did not know its 
 origin alike seized upon it, and cheered her to the 
 echo. And she — lau°Tiin°- defiance at the man 
 
 o o 
 
 who had deemed that name a humiliation — tossed 
 off the sparkling wine in very mockery, and flaunted 
 it before his eyes ; cheered and honoured, and echo- 
 ing the applause of half a hundred tongues, here 
 in his own house, here at his own table, here by 
 unanimous assent of his own guests ! 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 A FEMININE CAUSERIE. 
 
 " Faith," said Miss Bedelia, " it's the big^csi mis- 
 take in the world to say women are ever too old 
 for a bit of devilry — Irishwomen I mean. If they 
 are it's only because the right person isn't there to 
 put them up to it ! " 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 3°9 
 
 "I believe you're right," laughed Lady Pat. 
 "Even I enjoyed the surprise party better than 
 the orthodox one. As for you, Em, you seemed 
 to have gone back to the old days once more. 
 
 " She has the true O'Hara temperament," saia 
 Miss Bedelia approvingly. 
 
 Miss Em shrugged her shapely shoulders and 
 moved slowly towards a small table on which 
 Quinlan had just placed a tray of glasses, a spirit 
 stand, and some bottles of soda-water. 
 
 The three women had congregated in her dress- 
 ing-room to discuss the ball and the people before 
 going to bed. They had removed their finery for 
 dressing-gowns and slippers, and disposed them- 
 selves in the deep cushioned arm-chairs that the 
 mistress of the castle so dearly loved, and of which 
 she had a supply in every room that she used. 
 
 "You'll not say— No?" she questioned, bringing 
 a glass of the foaming mixture to each of the elder 
 
 ladies. 
 
 "Ill answer for myself," said Miss Bedelia. 
 "The fatigues of pleasure begin to tell on me 
 now. Not that I'd be saying it to any one, or 
 refusing any party for the sake of aching joints the 
 day after. Ah, that's as good as champagne, and 
 better any day," she said, putting down her empty 
 glass " 'Twas very thoughtful of you, my dear, 
 though I must say I had plenty of refreshment 
 downstairs." 
 
 "And now," said Lady Pat, as Miss Em re- 
 seated herself, " tell me why you played that trick 
 on Miss Lustrell, for I feel sure it was a trick. 
 Sir Jasper and herself looked thunderstruck as 
 they stood in the doorway." 
 
 Miss Em laughed. "Well, I'll confess to you 
 both," she said. " I don't get on too well with 
 Sabina, and her ideas of catering for so large an 
 assembly were not quite so lavish as they might 
 have been. But I didn't want to worry the 
 
310 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 creature unnecessarily, so I thought I'd have a 
 supper party of my own. That's all." 
 
 " Then they didn't know about the second room 
 at all ? " questioned Lady Pat. 
 
 " No ; Molly and I did everything, with the help 
 of one maid." 
 
 " Shure, it was mighty creditable," laughed Miss 
 Bedelia. " It reminds me of the tricks we'd play 
 at home when we were youngsters, only we didn't 
 carry out our jokes on such a large scale as you, 
 Em. I'm thinking, all the same, people will talk 
 about this." 
 
 " Let them," said Miss Em scornfully. " What 
 do I care for their talking ? I've had my way, and 
 I've shown that I intend to have it " 
 
 She paused abruptly. She had not aired her 
 skeleton before other eyes yet, and she did not in- 
 tend that Lady Pat should guess at its existence. 
 
 " Perhaps they wanted waking up a bit," re- 
 marked Miss Bedelia. " It's all very fine to be 
 grand, but it's not amusing." 
 
 "Do you find many things amusing?" asked 
 Lady Pat languidly. " I wish I could." 
 
 " Try shocking Mrs. Grundy," suggested Miss 
 Bedelia. 
 
 "Oh, Lady Pat couldn't do that," said Miss 
 Em ; " she's on too good terms with the old lady, 
 and she'd only be called eccentric when you and I 
 would be pronounced disgraceful." 
 
 " Faith, it's not what we Irish do, but what we'd 
 dare that frightens people," laughed Miss Bedelia. 
 " Look at Charley Bray, now ! trying to carry off 
 his own wife in the light of day and against all 
 the injunctions and penalties of the law, for you 
 know she went in fear of her life of him, and had 
 even got a separation." 
 
 " What was that ? " asked Lady Pat, sipping 
 soda-water and — something — abstractedly. 
 
 " Haven't you heard ? Why, 'tis common talk 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 311 
 
 now. He was a rare blackguard, and he'd only 
 married her for her money and was making ducks 
 and drakes of it, not to mention other little vagaries 
 which no decent woman could countenance. Well, 
 when she got the separation he couldn't have the 
 money any longer, and she was safe from him, 
 living with her two brothers at Ballinatray, and a 
 good twenty miles between them. One day she 
 was out in the carriage by herself, and just outside 
 the village, Bray and two of his friends set or it 
 and stopped the horses, and one of them threatened 
 to brain the coachman if he stirred a hand, and 
 Charley Bray himself opened the door and tried 
 to drag the poor woman out, she all the time 
 
 screeching and kicking like the ahem. Well. 
 
 you know, Emilia, my dear, what a powerful big 
 woman she was. At last she gave him a kick 
 that sent him flying across the road, and his friends 
 ran to help him, and up she jumps on the coach- 
 man's box and takes the reins and drives off like 
 fury till she reaches the lodge gates. Her husband 
 hasn't troubled her since, I'm told." 
 
 " I'm not surprised at that," said Lady Pat 
 smiling. 
 
 "The family on her side always did give them- 
 selves mighty airs," said Miss Em. " You remem- 
 ber Lady Anne ? Why, no one was good enough 
 for her to speak to ; and yet there were some 
 pretty queer stories going round about her, and 
 those trips to Paris and Algiers, and — Cairo, 
 wasn't it?" 
 
 " A mighty safe place Cairo would be to go to 
 if one was minded to have a diversion," said Miss 
 Bedelia. " I commend it to your notice, Emilia, 
 when you find the air of Castle Lustrell doesn't 
 agree with you. Faith, 'twould be as good as 
 Polynesia or Samoa, and more interesting too, 
 in the way of society." 
 
 " Lady Anne always had her husband's per* 
 
312 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 mission to winter at Cairo," interpolated Lady 
 Pat. " You mustn't be uncharitable, Em." 
 
 " I'm not," answered Miss Em ; " only I happen 
 to know how very agreeably he managed to pass 
 those winters when his wife's lungs were delicate." 
 
 " Indeed, 'tis a wicked world," said Miss Bedelia 
 with sudden gravity, " and society's getting worse 
 every day. It smiles at hypocrites when it should 
 stamp sinners. It kisses us in public, and 
 shudders at us in private. It affects to believe 
 what we say we are, and questions our morals no 
 more than it does our religion. Both are too 
 sacred for intrusion." 
 
 " I've had a wide experience," said Lady Pat 
 presently. " I sometimes ask myself if I oughtn't 
 to regret instead of boast of it. Dear, dear, it 
 is sad to grow old, and look back on a volume of 
 histories, and remember how few among them are 
 creditable, or wise, or happy." 
 
 " The happy have no histories," quoted Miss Em ; 
 " for them life is only a stagnant pool, a dead 
 level, a valley from which they never lift their eyes 
 to gaze at mountain heights or hill tops beyond 
 their reach." 
 
 " If that's so I'm glad I was never happy," 
 laughed Miss Bedelia. " Many's the hill top I've 
 climbed, and many's the slip and tumble I've had 
 on my way. All the same, I'm glad to have tried 
 to breathe a higher atmosphere, though my success 
 wasn't much to boast of." 
 
 "You've always taken life easily," said Lady 
 Pat, regarding her thoughtfully. " I suppose 
 you've never regretted that — that " 
 
 " Don't fear to give it a name," said Miss 
 Bedelia ; " that I didn't exchange my liberty, you 
 mean ? Well, it's a difficult question to answer 
 truthfully. There have been times when I was 
 sorry that I'd denied myself the love of husband 
 or child. All women must ieel that some time 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 313 
 
 or other. Sure, isn't it Nature that speaks to 
 us?" 
 
 " We are three childless women," said Lady 
 Pat with sudden gravity, " and we have said we 
 know life. Why, a woman may have all the gifts 
 of fortune, all the triumphs of beauty, a lover's 
 worship, a husband's love, but believe me, if she 
 has not felt a little child's lips touch her own 
 unasked — her own little child — she has missed 
 something life can never atone for." 
 
 A little shiver ran through Miss Em's quiet 
 frame, but her face seemed to grow suddenly hard 
 and cold. 
 
 "That is only sentiment," she said. " Children 
 are but another form of heart-break. Every new 
 tie in life is only a new burden ; fresh worry, 
 anxiety, expense. I fail to see where the com- 
 pensation comes in." 
 
 " That's what many a woman says before she 
 becomes a mother," remarked Miss Bedelia. "I 
 suppose, as with most things, the theory is differ- 
 ent to the practice. I've known some very bad 
 mothers whom the world called good women, and 
 on the other hand some very bad women who 
 were good mothers. But indeed we're weak 
 creatures at the best, and men have much to 
 answer for." 
 
 "Don't say men" said Lady Pat languidly; 
 " that limits our horizon so painfully ; we ought 
 to have some wider sphere than their praise or 
 countenance has given us." 
 
 Miss Em's eyes flashed with sudden scorn. 
 " There would be no sphere too wide for us if we 
 once got our chance ! The world would be a dif- 
 ferent place to-day if women hadn't contented 
 themselves with being what men had decreed 
 them to be. A patent with no need of improve- 
 ment ! that's the Eternal Feminine, according 
 to them." 
 
314 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 " But, according to us," said Lady Pat, " the 
 Eternal Feminine will prove a dangerous per- 
 sonage before many years are over. That rib is 
 growing to alarming proportions." 
 
 "Well, it may stop where it is for me," laughed 
 Miss Bedelia. " I've had my day and a very good 
 day it was too. What would we be turning the 
 world topsy-turvy for? Faith, 'tis a bad place 
 enough, but who's to right it ? Priests haven't 
 done it, kings haven't done it, sorrow and suffer- 
 ing, wars and governments haven't done it ; and 
 maybe you'll say I'm behind the times if I give 
 you my opinion that women won't do it, though 
 I'd not prevent them having a try at it. They're 
 queer creatures at best, swayed one way and 
 another, carried off their feet by impulse ; wicked 
 without vice, and pure without virtue; the queerest 
 contradictions into which God ever put the breath 
 of life." 
 
 " I used to be very hard on women's follies and 
 women's sins — once," said Lady Pat thoughtfully; 
 " but I am older now — I won't say wiser — and I 
 confess frankly that if life has taught me nothing 
 else it has taught me charity in judgment. I 
 could excuse anything, everything, every sin they 
 commit, every temptation to which they yield, so 
 cruel is life to them ! " 
 
 " It is cruel," cried Miss Em suddenly. " Never 
 more so than when it takes our youth and leaves 
 us only * footprints of memory on the sands of 
 time'." 
 
 " The curse of modern life is self-analysis," said 
 Lady Pat ; " don't let us turn Hamlets at this 
 time of night, or rather, morning. Better to 
 discuss our neighbours' faults than to dissect our 
 own natures. It is a waste of time, thought and 
 emotion." 
 
 " It's a necessity to which we are driven de- 
 spite ourselves," said Miss Em moodily. "Our 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 315 
 
 sphere is limited to that, when we seek interest in 
 anything beyond the dismal routine of existence." 
 
 " Limitations," observed Lady Pat, " are the 
 fate of life. They prove the impossibility of doing 
 what you want to do with it." 
 
 " I fancy if we could do what we want to do, 
 some of us would be landed in very queer 
 places," said Miss Bedelia. " There's things I've 
 heard women say they wanted to do would astonish 
 you, Lady Pat, with all your acquaintance with 
 society. You never heard, I'm sure, of that pretty 
 little Mrs. Vaughan-Smith ; looks like a piece of 
 Dresden china, so fragile and dainty and innocent. 
 Well, nothing would content her but dressing up 
 in her brother's clothes (they were twins, and like 
 as two peas, height and all), and going out at 
 night in the Dublin streets ; and if she didn't meet 
 one of his friends, and he took her to a music hall, 
 and a fine time she had of it, and no one would 
 ever have been the wiser only she let out what 
 the man said of another married woman. That 
 led to ructions, and in a fit of recklessness she 
 told the whole story. But her husband was a good 
 soul and he forgave her, and she snapped her 
 fingers at other folk, and after a few days' talk, 
 faith, 'twas the man had the laugh against him, 
 and she not a penny the worse." 
 
 " Didn't I say 'tis a case of 'what a woman would 
 do, what an Irishwoman would dare' ? " said Lady 
 Pat laughing. " I happen to know the Dresden 
 china doll you mention. If ever innocence was 
 belied, her mind gives the lie to her face. But 
 every one believes in her, and she has never had to 
 go to Cairo." 
 
 " Ah, now that's very uncharitable," said Miss 
 Bedelia. " You're as bad as Mrs. Lyons' nurse, 
 who tells the story of attending her whole family 
 through the scarlet fever, and the morning she 
 went away Mrs. Lyons vowed she must send her a 
 
316 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 handsome present, and then — borrowed half a 
 crown. I needn't tell you she never got sight of 
 the present, and indeed had to summons her for 
 her nursing fee afterwards." 
 
 " Was that the Mrs. Harry Lyons who came in 
 for so much money a year ago ? " asked Miss 
 Em. 
 
 " The same. Did you ever hear of that grand 
 dinner they gave — their first ? The husband was 
 just a common man, and she wasn't much better ; 
 but the airs now, faith — they'd make the dead and 
 gone Lyons stare ! " 
 
 " What about the dinner-party ? " asked Ladv 
 Pat. 
 
 " Oh ! a queer set-out that was," laughed Miss 
 Bedelia, " and not the most select of company, 
 the men especially — indeed, 'twas the first time 
 some of them had ever put on dress clothes. She 
 herself was just as nervous as a hen on a hot 
 griddle, and keeping an eye all the time on their 
 behaviour, for she'd been studying the ' etiquette 
 of the dinner-table ' ever since she'd the party in 
 her mind. But I suppose she wasn't sure they 
 knew as much as she did, for when it came to the 
 time for the ladies retiring she jumps up and says : 
 ' Gintlemen, you'll all please to stand while the 
 ladies lave the room '." 
 
 Lady Pat laughed heartily. 
 
 " I can quite believe that of her," she said. 
 
 " And now, she's got the best set in Dublin 
 round her," added Miss Bedelia. 
 
 " What a pity wealth and vulgarity so often go 
 together ! " continued Lady Pat. " But here we 
 are scandalising our neighbours at three o'clock in 
 the morning, instead of going to bed like sensible 
 folk." 
 
 She rose, yawning slightly, but Miss Bedelia 
 shook herself jauntily and declared her intention 
 of sitting up for an hour longer, as she hadn't had 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 317 
 
 an opportunity of talking to her niece alone since 
 she married. Lady Pat kissed them both and left 
 the room. 
 
 " Now, my dear," said Miss Bedelia when the 
 door closed, " if you could get such a thing as a 
 kettle of hot water and let me make myself a drop 
 of punch, it would just settle all that champagne, 
 not to mention the ices and creams I partook of. 
 It was a fine supper, and no mistake. Ah, I see 
 you've got a spirit-lamp and kettle; I call that 
 quite a neat invention now. You never know 
 whether you mightn't be taken with cramp in the 
 stomach, or some such ailment in the night, and 
 you're not such a young woman now, Peg, my 
 darling, though you wear your years well, that I 
 will say, and you looked magnificent to-night. 
 Now, come and tell me all about it," she added 
 coaxingly, and drawing Miss Em's chair close to 
 her own, "wouldn't they let you have your own 
 way about the party at all ? " 
 
 " Not without a battle," said Miss Em some- 
 what wearily, " and I didn't feel inclined for that, 
 so I tried strategy." 
 
 " But what's the reason ? " asked Miss Bedelia. 
 " Don't you and Sir Jasper agree? as for that sour 
 old maid, I can't for the life of me understand why 
 you have her here at the castle at all. You're 
 well and strong now, and it's but right you should 
 be your own mistress." 
 
 Miss Em bent over the little silver kettle which 
 was bubbling and hissing promisingly, and evaded 
 a direct answer. 
 
 " It's very dull being grand," went on Miss 
 Bedelia. " Somehow all respectability is that, but 
 of course we owe it to our station. I never co uld 
 stand it for long though. I like amusing society, 
 and I'm not too particular as to who or what 
 people are if they please me. And that's what 
 puzzles me, Peg, with you ; faith, I'd have Miss 
 
318 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 Lustrell out of the house before another sun sets 
 if she gave me any of her airs !" 
 
 " You don't understand my position/' said Miss 
 Em, carefully measuring and mixing the punch as 
 only an Irish person can. " It suits me not to 
 quarrel with Sir Jasper, and therefore I must allow 
 his sister to remain here. It also suits me not to 
 be overruled by her, and so I circumvent her 
 plots by counter-plots. That is the state of affairs 
 between us." 
 
 "Ah, well, marriage is a lottery," said Miss 
 Bedelia, sipping the cordial gratefully. " Faith, 
 darling, the longer I live the better pleased I am 
 I never gave up my liberty. It's a grand thing 
 to be able to do what you like, and never need to 
 say ' By your leave ' to man or woman." 
 
 She crossed her feet, and leant back and indulged 
 in another sip of the mellow draught. " Why 
 don't you mix yourself a glass ? " she said pre- 
 sently, looking at her niece's tired white face as it 
 rested against the crimson cushions ; " 'twill do 
 you good ; you look fatigued, my dear." 
 
 Miss Em shook her head. 
 
 " No," she said ; " 'tis a dangerous comforter, 
 and my head isn't what it was." 
 
 " I'm sorry for that," said Miss Bedelia sym- 
 pathisingly. " But I'd be the last person to advise 
 stimulants to any one against their own know- 
 ledge of themselves. Did you hear of Mrs. 
 Murray — not married a year — Peggy Harrison that 
 was, you know ? Such a pretty girl, lovely, indeed, 
 all the men raved about her when she was pre- 
 sented. Well, her husband, poor man, is just 
 driven wild with her. She's never sober a day 
 they say, and he can't keep the drink away from 
 her. She pawned her very rings to get it when 
 he wouldn't let her have the keys of the cellar. 
 She'll kill herself, all the doctors say." 
 
 Miss Em shuddered, "Thev made her marry 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 319 
 
 him," she said presently; "you know she was 
 madly in love with that young officer Jimmy For- 
 tescue, but he hadn't a penny. This is the result, 
 I suppose." 
 
 " 'Twas done for the best. Trying to hammer 
 out the old nail with a new one, you know. May- 
 be the old one was driven in too far. Anyway 
 they're going to leave Dublin and go to America or 
 Australia, or some foreign place. That's the last 
 chance." 
 
 " It's very sad," said Miss Em thoughtfully. 
 " If they had let her have her own way she might 
 have been a better woman. There are worse 
 things to face than poverty." 
 
 " Perhaps so, but poverty's a mighty uncomfort- 
 able thing for all that," said Miss Bedelia, glanc- 
 ing round at the luxurious chamber. "I'm glad 
 your lines have fallen in pleasant places, my 
 darling, at all events ; and even if Sir Jasper's a 
 bit trying, and Miss Sabina an old harridan, they 
 can't live for ever, and you're bound to be rich 
 and free some day." 
 
 " Bound ? " echoed Miss Em drearily. " Don't 
 they say it is always the unexpected that happens ? 
 I might die before either of them, and then, what 
 have I gained in exchange for " 
 
 " For what ? " questioned Miss Bedelia sharply. 
 
 " For my soul, I often think," came the reckless 
 answer. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 THREADS OF THE NET. 
 
 Miss Em had so fully expected a storm after her 
 last escapade that she was almost disappointed at 
 hearing no remark from Sir Jasper on the subject. 
 But when their visitors had left the castle and 
 
320 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 iife had resumed its routine, she began to note a 
 subtle curious change in the way she was treated. 
 It might be described as the humouring of a sick 
 person's fancies, the yielding, under protest, to the 
 whims of some one not quite responsible for those 
 whims. At first she was amused at this, and even 
 laughed it over with Molly ; but soon it began to 
 irritate her highly-strung nerves, and when it 
 took the form of a certain covert watchfulness on 
 the part of Miss Sabina and the servants, she 
 grew highly indignant, and demanded an explan- 
 ation. 
 
 Soothing words and a patronising pretence of 
 consideration were the only result. They planted 
 the first germs of a suspicion in Miss Em's quick 
 brain, but fortunately for herself that suspicion 
 was treated at first as a jest. It seemed too absurd 
 that they should really believe her head was — well, 
 not quite rig! t ; that even slight contradictions 
 must now be avoided. The forced manner in 
 which her wishes were consulted, even when 
 plainly disobeyed, irritated her even more than all 
 previous ignoring of her authority. 
 
 It was Sir Jasper's revenge she knew, but the 
 knowledge was decidedly unpleasant. Besides, it 
 was carrying the jest too far when the same 
 obtrusive deference was displayed before visitors, 
 or at any entertainment to which they had 
 accepted an invitation. 
 
 Slowly but surely the whisper spread, and 
 unkind tongues were not loth to give it utterance. 
 Poor Lady Lustrell was a little " queer in her 
 head ; " not absolutely insane, of course, but odd, 
 and requiring much vigilance and care. 
 
 A few staunch friends refused to believe it, and 
 the MacShamuses did their best to give the 
 rumour stout denial. But it is easier to assert a 
 lie than to disprove one ; and the rolling stone of 
 slander managed to gather a good deal of moss in 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 321 
 
 the way of hints, stones, and suggestions, as it 
 made its way through the county. 
 
 The Emerald Isle is not behind the rest of the 
 world in its judgments, or its uncharitableness. 
 Indeed, why should it be, considering that no 
 people take a deeper interest in their fellows, 
 whatever be their station, rank, or calling, than 
 these warm-hearted, erratic and most insincere 
 Celts ? Gossip is the breath of life to every village 
 and hamlet. It is the salt of existence to those 
 higher classes, "the quality" ; no one is too mean, 
 or too insignificant, or too evil to escape discussion ; 
 and if the smallest soupcon of mystery is dropped 
 into the dish of scandal, that dish becomes doubly 
 delectable, and no one dreams of passing it on 
 untasted. 
 
 There had always been something " odd " about 
 Miss Em ; every one agreed on that now, and the 
 wild strain in the O'Hara blood was again re- 
 called to the memory of the present generation by 
 their elders, who claimed contemporary know- 
 ledge with past members of that ill-omened 
 family. 
 
 Lady Lustrell's extraordinary conduct at her 
 own supper-table was related again and again. 
 The wild outburst in which she had claimed once 
 more the old title of "Peg, the Rake," was com- 
 mented on in a way that would have made its 
 originator shudder. So strangely do we earn our 
 judgments by our deeds ! 
 
 People still called on her, and still invited her ; 
 but that strange frost, that subtle change of 
 manner spreading through every circle into which 
 she intruded, were keenly and cruelly apparent, 
 and touched her sensitive nature sometimes to 
 pain, and sometimes to a wild, helpless rage that 
 was almost terrifying. 
 
 Molly tried to assure her that her suspicions 
 were unfounded, and by her bright and happy 
 
 21 
 
322 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 companionship did much to disperse the clouds 
 that at times gathered so ominously. But there 
 were dark hours at hand when Molly could not be 
 present, hours in which Miss Em could not evade 
 the threatening shadow on the threshold, hours 
 when her own company grew hateful, and yet she 
 feared to seek other. 
 
 Probably the thumb-screw of the Inquisition 
 did not look a very terrible instrument of torture ; 
 but only the martyr who felt its slow increasing 
 pressure knew what agony it caused, and the 
 thumb-screw of an unseen tyranny was being 
 steadily applied to Miss Em's inner life. 
 
 If she could have seized, raged at it, battled 
 with it, there would have been some satisfaction 
 to be gained. But this was impossible. Her own 
 pride would not let her acknowledge that her fears 
 had tangible foundation. She was for ever on the 
 defence, but the foe never approached near enough 
 for absolute conflict. 
 
 It was a situation infinitely more trying to 
 nerves and temper than one of more positive 
 aggravation. To all appearance Sir Jasper and 
 herself agreed perfectly, and he was in the worst 
 position of the two, but in her own heart she 
 recognised with growing horror that indifference 
 and dislike were developing into hatred, hatred of 
 the cold sneer, the veiled discourtesy, the hidden 
 tyranny, the hundred and one petty meannesses 
 which met her perpetually. 
 
 She went out into society still ; she laughed, 
 talked, jested in the old light-hearted fashion ; but 
 the zest was gone from it all, and her heart ached 
 as it had never ached since her girlhood's wild 
 glad days. 
 
 She had nothing to fall back upon ; no occupa- 
 tion, no dilettante tampering with art, no domestic 
 interests, nothing but Molly's companionship ; and 
 Molly was often kept away or sent on visits, so 
 that they might be parted. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 323 
 
 All through the warm bright days of summer 
 she suffered and endured, while inwardly raging 
 at her bonds. 
 
 She felt old at last. Too old for such vengeance 
 as once she might have taken, too old to win the 
 world's favour or forgiveness once she had lost 
 her hold on it — the hold that her position as Sir 
 Jasper's wife still gave her. 
 
 Sometimes a cold fear touched her. " If he 
 tempted me to an outbreak," she thought. " If 
 he tried to prove me mad, what should I do ? 
 There's no one now to whom I could appeal." 
 
 And, indeed, she was right. Her father was 
 dead; her stepmother hated her; Miss Bedelia 
 would have no right to interfere. 
 
 The thought and the fear grew side by side — 
 twin shapes of dread that rarely left her, and the 
 very brooding over them was a danger which she 
 dimly recognised, but a danger that there was no 
 kind strong voice to warn her of. 
 
 If she could have spoken of it to Dr. Mac- 
 Shamus he would have combated the growing 
 horror with his cheery counsel, or laughed at it as 
 a childish bugbear ; but of late she had shunned 
 these old friends with an odd shrinking from their 
 pity, and fenced her life with a barrier of reserve 
 that defied the kindest effort at intrusion. 
 
 As time went on, her gradual shrinking from 
 society became evident, and in marked contrast to 
 that withdrawal was the growing popularity of the 
 new master of Rooklands. The county seemed to 
 have forgiven Denis Morrison the sins of his youth, 
 and to be gradually, but surely, welcoming him 
 back. His vast wealth was in itself a power that 
 could not but prove a powerful lever in his favour. 
 His lavish generosity, his reckless extravagance, 
 the style in which he lived and entertained, were 
 all subjects of importance. 
 
 People began to talk of him incessantly; to 
 
324 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 wonder whom he would marry ; how he had made 
 his enormous fortune ; his reasons for buying the 
 adjoining estate, which estate spread almost to 
 the borders of Castle Lustrell, and made a far finer 
 property ? And all this filtered by degrees to Miss 
 Em's ears, with additional gossip as to the lady 
 favoured by his attentions, who varied according 
 to the invention or liking of the informant. 
 
 Minnie Barrington was the latest candidate for 
 the honour, according to Quinlan, who had come 
 to the castle one hot afternoon to " have a peep " 
 at her darlin', as she announced it. 
 
 She was distressed beyond measure to find her 
 looking so pale and listless, and unlike her- 
 self. 
 
 " Shure, me darlin,' 'tis a change yer wantin'," 
 said the old woman in deep concern. " Why 
 don't ye go to the sayside for a few weeks ? 'Twud 
 do ye a power o' good." 
 
 Miss Em shook her head. 
 
 " Sir Jasper hates leaving the castle," she said, 
 " and the air here is good enough, Quinny dear. 
 I'm all right ; don't look so anxious," and she 
 kissed the old woman's withered cheek with 
 sudden passionate tenderness. 
 
 But those faithful eyes were not to be deceived. 
 This pale haggard creature, with anxious lines 
 on her brow and heavy shadows under her 
 eyes, was very unlike the brilliant handsome 
 woman who had been the life and soul of the 
 castle ball a few months previously. She looked 
 ten years older in this brief time. Her spasmodic 
 fits of gaiety were more painful to her nurse's 
 watchful eyes than previous depression. She 
 could have recognised the fateful Irish tempera- 
 ment in the one, for she knew well how volatile 
 and changeable it is, but she could not bear to see 
 effort where once all had been spontaneous ; she 
 could not bear to think her beloved Miss Peg 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 325 
 
 should deem it necessary to be unreal with her, as 
 undoubtedly she was. 
 
 That interview was painful to both, and sorely 
 perplexing to Quinlan, who vainly tried to discover 
 the reason for a change so strenuously denied. 
 
 Was she unhappy ? No. Did Sir Jasper vex 
 her or trouble her? No. Was it Miss Sabina 
 then, bad luck to her, who had brought this 
 change upon her ? Still no, no, no. 
 
 " There's nothing the matter indeed, Quinny," 
 reiterated Miss Em ; " except that I'm growing 
 old, and life is no longer a jest to me." 
 
 " Old is it ? " ejaculated Quinlan scornfully, 
 " an' yer eyes as bright, an' yer figure as straight as 
 a gurrl's ! Ah now, don't be after talkin' that sort 
 o' nonsinse to me, my darlin'. It's not ould ye'll 
 iver be ; an' while the heart's young and fresh 'tis 
 small matter that the hair is white." 
 
 She stayed on chatting encouragingly and in- 
 differently in her old random fashion, and after a 
 while went down to have her tea in the servants' 
 hall. She was determined to keep her eyes open 
 for any hint that might explain this strange 
 change in the mistress of the castle. But when 
 that hint came through a chance phrase from the 
 old housekeeper that " Lady Lustrell, poor soul, 
 had never been quite right in her mind since her 
 illness," the faithful creature's indignation was 
 boundless. That they should dare say such a 
 thing of her adored " Miss Peg " called forth an 
 amount of vituperation only possible to an Irish 
 tongue. 
 
 The war raged violently. Hints became asser- 
 tions, and statements became proofs ; soon enough 
 Quinlan saw what was at work, the origin of this 
 cruel change, and the more dreadful possibilities 
 it unfolded. 
 
 With quick tact she curbed her anger, and 
 affected to treat the whole thing as a jest. Peace 
 
326 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 once more reigned, and the ready wit and jokes 
 with which she turned off the subject into other 
 channels created a diversion of opinion in the 
 minds of those she left behind her. 
 
 Who should know their mistress better than her 
 old nurse did, and how she had laughed at them ! 
 If eccentricity meant incipient madness then 
 surely no Irish family was free from the taint. 
 Quinlan had related incidents before which Lady 
 Lustrell's deeds paled into insignificance ! Still, 
 mud is apt to stick when once thrown, and the 
 impression created by Quinlan's staunch disbelief 
 was not a lasting one. 
 
 Unconsciously Miss Em did much to further 
 it. A sudden shrinking from society, a nervous 
 manner on entering a room or seeing any one else 
 suddenly enter it, gave rise to fresh comments. 
 The real reason was known only to herself. 
 
 She dreaded to meet Denis Morrison face to 
 face, and she knew that she constantly ran this 
 risk. 
 
 She had promised Sir Jasper that she would 
 never speak to him, but as his popularity increased 
 she felt this would be a difficult promise to keep. 
 Once or twice they had narrowly escaped a meeting, 
 and often she had caught sight of him riding or 
 walking, and avoided an encounter. But she 
 thought of him perpetually as her life narrowed 
 itself into more personal channels ; as long hours 
 of loneliness and dreariness shadowed her dailv 
 existence, and the deadly fangs of ennui fastened 
 on her mental energies and held them cramped 
 and tortured in its grip. 
 
 The failure of this energy, and the absolute in- 
 difference she felt to matters that had once been 
 of interest and importance, were sometimes dis- 
 tressful to herself; she could not understand 
 them. She knew she was watched by critical and 
 exacting eyes ; the eyes of the man she had 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 327 
 
 married, and of the man who knew her secret as 
 no other save herself knew it. There had been a 
 time when to play a part to each of these would 
 have been only a delightful stimulant, a something 
 that would have braced every energy and called 
 up every feminine art, but now — it seemed only 
 weariness. 
 
 As Lady Lustrell there were demands upon her 
 she felt compelled to answer, exactions on the 
 part of her husband that she was bound to meet. 
 If he discerned any opposing will in her he had 
 also acquired a power of coercion that reduced 
 such opposition to mere foolishness, that set 
 before her a part and forced her to play it, what- 
 ever rebellion might be going on within her soul. 
 
 Only a woman knows the force of a thousand 
 and one minute threads, so to speak, weaving a 
 web of obligation around each action of her daily 
 life, fragile, intangible at first, but growing stronger 
 and more complicated with every hour that knows 
 them unbroken. 
 
 Who would believe, seeing the first feeble loops 
 of the hunter's net, that they could be multiplied 
 into a trap strong enough to enfold the king of 
 beasts ? Yet so it is ; and so is many another net 
 that Fate weaves for human lives ; so fragile at 
 first a child's fingers might break it, so strong at 
 last a man's whole will may not force its meshes 
 or defy its soft entanglement. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 "MY SPINNING IS ALL DONE." 
 
 There were times when Lady Patricia Moira 
 wondered whether that matrimonial scheme on 
 which she had been so bent, had not proved a 
 ghastly failure ; whether it had been quite wise, 
 
328 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 after all, to persuade, and argue, and influence her 
 godchild's mind as she had done. 
 
 The result seemed to point to the contrary. 
 
 A wall of reserve was creeping up between Miss 
 Em and herself. Those visits to Castle Lustrell 
 which she had confidently anticipated in her part 
 of the scheme, had never taken the shape of an 
 invitation yet. The ball indeed was an exception, 
 but even then she had only been asked for two 
 days ; and Miss Bedelia and herself had come to the 
 conclusion that something was decidedly wrong in 
 the household, though neither could define the 
 " something " very exactly. 
 
 Lady Lustrell was not a free agent. So much, 
 at least, was apparent. The usual position of a 
 comparatively young wife towards an old husband 
 was not the position she held. Sir Jasper was 
 neither uxorious, nor devoted ; his manner was 
 politely cold, but politely suggestive of a " steel 
 hand beneath the velvet glove " ; and neither Lady 
 Pat nor her friend could quite fit in the " steel 
 hand " theory with their own preconceived ideas of 
 husband and wife. 
 
 When they were on their way back to Dublin 
 they discussed the point keenly, but came to the 
 inevitable conclusion that by whatever means it 
 had been done, Miss Em was mastered at last. 
 
 She had tried to throw dust in their eyes to no 
 purpose. Their experience of her had been long 
 enough to convince them that only some ver) 
 strong power could ever coerce her into submission. 
 It had not occurred to either that Sir Jasper could 
 be the person to possess this power ; and yet, in 
 the mind of each, there lurked something stronger 
 than suspicion that he did. 
 
 He had not displayed himself in a very favour- 
 able light as a host, and their acute eyes detected 
 much that he had fancied successfully concealed. 
 They felt alarmed for their favourite, though not 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 329 
 
 for worlds would they have confessed it. The old 
 random nature which had led to that scene in the 
 supper-room had been quite recognisable, as also 
 the invitation to assemble in her dressing-room in 
 the small hours of the morning, and discuss 
 persons, circumstances, and things with such 
 accompaniments as Quinlan had judiciously sup- 
 plied. Hot punch and whisky and soda were no 
 mean inducements to gossip or confidence, and 
 many a party had been concluded in a similar 
 fashion ; but this occasion had wanted something 
 of the old mirth, the old interest, the old reckless 
 jests and quips which had been wont to make 
 Miss Em's company exhilarating. 
 
 And instinctively they felt it was the last of 
 such meetings. 
 
 Their tepid host had given no invitation to 
 repeat the visit, and expressed no regret at its 
 termination. The chill of a long parting fell on 
 each as they kissed Miss Em's cold lips, and 
 heard the strained unnatural tones of her voice. 
 
 But the raison d'etre puzzled them. 
 
 As time wore on they grew more uneasy respect- 
 ing her. Her letters, once so numerous and so 
 full of fun and gossip, grew fewer and fewer, and 
 their contents lacked interest or invention. She 
 never hinted at any desire to see them, and told 
 them scarcely anything of her own immediate 
 life. 
 
 " She was well, she had gone to a dinner-party, 
 or given one." " Miss Lustrell had done a little 
 more cheese-paring in the way of household 
 economy." " Molly was away on a visit." — These 
 were the scanty items of news that came at rare- 
 intervals. Scarcely a word of herself; her feelings, 
 thoughts, actions, that bright magnetic mis- 
 chievous anomaly which had moved in their 
 immediate circle, and was so sorely missed. 
 
 At times Lady Pat grew seriously uneasy. She 
 
330 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 would have gladly risked the discomfort of a visit 
 to the castle, despite Sir Jasper's coolness, had its 
 mistress hinted at a desire for such a thing ; but 
 this she never did. 
 
 They could but dimly guess at unhappiness, and 
 yet shrink from uttering sympathy which was un- 
 asked — and to all appearance undesired. 
 
 One thing Lady Lustrell felt keenly in the new 
 position of affairs was the want of money. The 
 humiliation of refusal had once been her experience, 
 and then she determined never to ask again. If it 
 had been possible to win any by her old luck at 
 the card table, she would not have hesitated at 
 trying it ; but Sir Jasper had a horror of women 
 gambling, or said so, and sternly forbade his wife 
 even the innocent pastime of sixpenny whist. A 
 swift flood of rebellion was let loose by reason of 
 this mandate, and indeed Miss Em would have 
 disobeyed it openly had she had the chance ; but 
 that was denied her. The runs over to the doctor's 
 house, the hastily got up rubber, the ever wel- 
 come " nap," things possible to the vagrant " Miss 
 Em," were not possible to Lady Lustrell. 
 
 For her must be the carriage drive, the state 
 call, the ceremonious announcement. Frolic and 
 fun were things of the past, never again to be in- 
 dulged in. On every side her helplessness hedged 
 her in, and she shrank alike from any appeal or 
 any passionate outbreak, for fear that worse might 
 happen. 
 
 The time when she would have acted without 
 counting the cost was gone by. She felt, however 
 little she had gained, that she had still a great deal 
 to lose. And she had resolved that Mrs. O'Hara 
 should never have the satisfaction of feeling she 
 had spoilt her life for her at the very crowning 
 point of its success. 
 
 So she endured, though inwardly rebelling ; en- 
 dured as women do and must, once they have 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 331 
 
 fettered themselves with obligations ; but under 
 her silence and passivity a dangerous hatred 
 and vindictiveness lurked, like mastiffs kept in 
 leash by a strong hand, but certain to break loose 
 some day and spring at the throat of their tor- 
 mentor. 
 
 • •••»•••• 
 
 August had taken its departure. September, 
 her sweet and genial sister, was breathing fresh 
 and wholesome airs over the garnered harvest 
 fields, ruffling the golden stubble and scarlet 
 poppies, giving here and there a gentle hint of 
 change in store. 
 
 The trees in Lustrell Park were gorgeous in 
 their colouring. The flushed leaves had a tremu- 
 lous delight in their own beauty. Hips and haws 
 glowed ruddily in the hedges ; the nuts were hard 
 and brown, and only the clustering ivy berries 
 mourned in duller colouring amongst tears of dew 
 that nightly fell through clustering leaves. 
 
 The whirr of wings and crack of guns were now 
 daily sounds. Brilliant-hued pheasants fled scared 
 into sheltering coverts, recognising the fate of 
 their small brown sisterhood as a judgment about 
 to fall on themselves. 
 
 Lady Lustrell stood at her boudoir window one 
 evening, watching the red glow in the west with 
 that dreary indifference now becoming habitual. 
 
 " It is hateful to be alone," she thought, as her 
 eyes caught sight of two figures — only a farm 
 labourer and a " colleen " — skirting a distant field 
 path, a right-of-way leading to the village. The 
 girl's scarlet petticoat made a bright spot of colour 
 against the russet hedge ; her lithe form was in- 
 stinct with natural grace. The man's arm was 
 wound about her waist in loving proprietorship, 
 and her dusky head leant against his shoulder. 
 
 Those tired grey eyes watched the scene with 
 a sadness more mournful than tears. 
 
332 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 " I too might have been loved," so her heart 
 whispered ; " I too might have known the strong 
 protecting care — the manly help — the cheery com- 
 radeship that means so much ! Oh fool ! fool ! 
 fool ! For what have I bartered all that makes or 
 means life ? " 
 
 One of those tempests of rage that in years gone 
 by had meant a revolt against all social decorum 
 shook her from head to foot. She paced her 
 room like a caged lioness, twisting her interlaced 
 hands until the joints ached ; her bosom rent and 
 racked with stormy sighs that found no relief in 
 tears. 
 
 Suddenly came a soft tapping at the door. She 
 straightened herself, and the dropped mask was 
 replaced in an instant, even as she crossed the 
 room and turned the key. 
 
 There came one glad cry, almost fierce in its 
 intensity of relief and surprise : " Molly ! You ! 
 Oh, my darling, my darling ! " 
 
 Tears rained from her eyes on the girl's soft 
 cheek as she kissed her wildly, hungrily — as one 
 kisses the one dear thing one loves in a world of 
 emptiness. The passion and joy of her welcome 
 startled and half frightened the girl, accustomed 
 as she was by now to these fits of passionate 
 devotion. 
 
 " You poor dear, how glad you always are to 
 have me back ! " she said tenderly. " Has it been 
 very lonely for you this time ? " 
 
 " Lonely ! it has been hateful, horrible — a living 
 death ! There, there, Molly, don't let us talk of 
 it. You have come home ; I shall be happy again. 
 What a surprise though ! — you did not write ? " 
 
 " I wrote to Aunt Sabina. Didn't she tell 
 you ? " 
 
 " No," said Miss Em with sudden gloom ; " she 
 never does tell me anything now." 
 
 "Ah, well, we won't mind her," said Molly 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 333 
 
 brightly. "You mope too much when I leave 
 you, that's the truth. I've come back in time for 
 the Barringtons' ball ; Papa and Aunt Sabina 
 won't go, so we'll have a fine time of it." 
 " But I've refused ! " exclaimed Miss Em. 
 " Well, I accepted, and I can't go alone. They 
 sent my invitation on to me at Bray. Oh, non- 
 sense, you'll have to come ; it will do you a world 
 of good. Why, you've been nowhere for months ! 
 it's quite ridiculous." 
 
 " I can't be for ever wearing that green velvet. 
 It's as well known as— as your aunt's black satin," 
 laughed Miss Em, her spirits rising at the girl's 
 cheery voice. 
 
 "Oh! we'll concoct something," said Molly 
 laughing also. " I'll tell you a secret— Mrs. Creagh 
 when I was leaving had to go into mourning 
 suddenly, and as she's had no end of gorgeous 
 gowns for Bray, she insisted on giving me a 
 couple. One is a peach-coloured brocade, the 
 very thing for you ; with the green velvet train, 
 and the front draped with lace, you'll look lovely, 
 and every one will think it's a new gown. I'm 
 going to wear the loveliest white satin, made up 
 like that old picture of Dame Lustrell— you know ; 
 hanging quite straight and with a broad sash 
 under the arms, and my hair twisted high on the 
 top of my head. What do you think of that idea ? ' ! 
 " Lovely ! " exclaimed Miss Em, warming to the 
 old foolish subject as if the girl's enthusiasm had 
 recalled her own. " But you couldn't help looking 
 lovely, my darling," she added fondly; "it matters 
 little what you wear." ?) 
 
 " Oh, indeed it matters a very great deal, said 
 the girl merrily, "much more than you think. 
 By the way," she added abruptly, " is it really true 
 that Minnie Barrington is engaged at last? A 
 great match too, I heard ; but as you're on the spot 
 you ought to know." 
 
334 PJ£G > THE RAKE. 
 
 " I — I've heard it spoken of," said Miss Em, 
 turning away quickly. " How dark it has grown, 
 dear ! Shall I ring for lights, and will you have tea 
 up here ? Your father and Miss Lustrell are 
 dining out to-night." 
 
 " How delightful ! " exclaimed Molly. " I don't 
 want any dinner. Let's have some chicken or 
 something up here with our tea, and we'll have 
 a real long cosy talk over everything and every- 
 body." 
 
 Miss Em rang the bell, and gave the necessary 
 orders to her maid, who conveyed it to the kitchen 
 dignitaries; and they, scenting an evening of liberty 
 and freedom from espionage, readily obeyed the 
 instructions. 
 
 The result was that a charming little repast 
 was served in Lady Lustrell's boudoir, with an 
 absence of formality and detail, that specialised 
 the suitability of tea-gowns, and awoke in Miss 
 Em herself much of the old merriment and zest 
 that the frost of Molly's absence had killed. 
 
 Miss Sabina and Sir Jasper went to their dinner- 
 party. He captious and grumbling at the obliga- 
 tion ; she sour and stiff as her wont, and both 
 secretly bitter at Miss Em for absenting herself 
 on the plea of severe headache, which plea had 
 been conveyed to them some half-hour before 
 Molly's arrival, else they would have suspected 
 another cause for the excuse. 
 
 Meanwhile, the two left to their own sweet wills 
 enjoyed themselves immensely. They gossiped 
 of all the events, circumstances, and possibilities 
 affecting their immediate surroundings ; of Molly's 
 conquests at Bray ; of Paddy Kearney's jealousy 
 and impatience which were rapidly threatening to 
 break all bounds, and kept the girl in a state of 
 terror. 
 
 " Papa will never consent, I'm sure of that," 
 she reiterated ; " and what's the use of running 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 335 
 
 away and getting married, when Paddy, dear old 
 boy, has more debts than his income can cover ? 
 I'm not worldly-minded, goodness knows ; but I 
 know one can't live without a house, and clothes, 
 and servants, and Paddy is in an expensive regi- 
 ment, and wouldn't like his wife to be shabby, or 
 put up in lodgings." 
 
 " I wonder how it is," said Miss Em thought- 
 fully, "that people who have wealth always make 
 such a bad use of it, and those who would be glad 
 to do good, or be generous, never get the chance. 
 Oh, my dear, my dear, if I were only rich and 
 — independent, what I might make of life, even 
 now ! " 
 
 Her eyes flashed. She threw out her arms 
 with a sudden gesture, as if the freedom she 
 craved were within her grasp. Then as suddenly 
 she let them fall, and the old miserable cloud of 
 dissatisfaction fell upon her. 
 
 "To have followed that will o' the wisp so 
 long," she muttered to herself, forgetful even of 
 the girl's presence in her fierce regrets, " and 
 to land in this quagmire of misery after all ! " 
 
 "But are you so very unhappy?" asked Molly 
 softly. " I often wondered what made you marry 
 papa, but I thought you were getting on better 
 now. He is trying, I know, and as for Aunt 
 Sabina " 
 
 Miss Em laughed somewhat harshly. " Don't 
 let us talk about them," she said ; "even captives 
 cheat themselves into forgetfulness of their chains 
 sometimes. I think my life has all gone wrong, 
 like that of the lady in Mrs. Browning's poem 
 whose ' spinning was all done ' ; do you remem- 
 ber ? " 
 
 " I remember," said the girl softly, as she kissed 
 the trembling lips, " one line ; it is — ' This sinner 
 was a loving one.' " 
 
 " Ah ! dear heart," cried Miss Em, drawing 
 
336 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 the bright young head close to her. " There are 
 many sinners of whom that might be said ; but it 
 wins no mercy from men who have ruined, or 
 women who have scorned them." 
 
 " Is the world so merciless ? " 
 
 " Utterly, utterly ; I speak of what I know, 
 Molly — what I have seen, felt, experienced ; for 
 now life to me means only ' my spinning is all 
 done ' ". 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 "AND WRONG DID TEACH THIS JESTING BOLD." 
 
 " It is like old times ! " said Miss Em, surveying 
 breadths of peach-coloured brocade which were 
 being draped and arranged by Molly and the 
 useful maid, upon her patient figure. 
 
 There was no time to call in professional assist- 
 ance. The dress must be ready by to-night, and 
 three pair of hands worked actively to get it done 
 through the bright morning hours. Miss Em was 
 going through a martyrdom of pins and "tack- 
 ings," and fixing and unfixing, so as to produce a 
 totally new effect from the combination of old and 
 new materials. 
 
 The result was more than creditable to all 
 concerned. The lovely emerald hue of the rich 
 velvet set off the delicate tints of the brocade, which 
 fell in graceful folds from throat to feet, leaving 
 the beautiful arms bare. 
 
 " I always hope I shall wear as well as you," 
 said Molly admiringly. " But do you know, dear, 
 you have got very thin lately ? " 
 
 "Yes, that is why I am eschewing low necks," 
 said Miss Em. " A woman has no right to inflict 
 her anatomy on the public gaze ; a scraggy neck 
 or a too plump one calls alike upon one's sense of 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 337 
 
 delicacy. Fashion is often idiotic, but it needn't 
 be arbitrary, if one has any sense of proportion or 
 becomingness." 
 
 "There, we have done with you now," said 
 Molly, releasing her from her strained attitude, 
 and deftly removing the gown. " I prophesy this 
 will be a success, and every one will think it is an 
 entirely new confection." 
 
 Miss Em smiled as she assumed her ordinary 
 attire. " I was afraid your father would object to 
 our going at all," she said presently. 
 
 "Oh, he did at first," said Molly, "but I talked 
 him over. I said the girls had been most pressing, 
 and I had accepted, and of course I couldn't go 
 alone. But we're not to stay a moment after 
 twelve, and he and Aunt Sabina are going to sit 
 up for us, to make sure we are home by the half- 
 hour. How foolish to give a dance on a Saturday 
 night, isn't it ? " 
 
 " Yes," said Miss Em somewhat abstractedly, 
 as she threaded her needle ; " but if you get there 
 by half-past nine you will have plenty of time for 
 dancing." 
 
 "And two hours' chaperonage is enough inflic- 
 tion for you," said Molly brightly ; " not that you 
 need be a wall-flower at all, unless 30U choose." 
 
 An odd smile swept over Miss Em's face. She 
 wondered if Molly would notice how often now 
 she was left alone, or relegated to the fossilised 
 attentions of some ancient member of county 
 society ; if the girl's quick eye would detect what 
 to her excited fancy seemed slights, veiled only by 
 polite indifference, the reason of which she had 
 failed to discover. To-night would be a test-point. 
 The Barringtons were in a good set, and if the 
 occasion was what gossip had declared it to be, 
 almost every one of any note or importance would 
 be at the dance. 
 
 Her brain was on fire with curiosity to discover 
 
338 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 the truth of this rumour. Was Denis Morrison 
 caught at last, and by such a shallow, ill-natured 
 piece of femininity as Minnie Barrington ? She 
 felt thankful that the gossip had not filtered to 
 Sir Jasper's ear through any chance channel ; 
 thankful that he would not be present if she and 
 this man had to meet at last. Meet and greet 
 each other with a grave of buried memories be- 
 tween ; meet in bitterness and pain no longer, 
 having learnt life's great lesson at last — to endure 
 in silence, to bear with patience, to forgive — with 
 charity. 
 
 She had learnt it in this hateful year of disci- 
 pline and bondage ; learnt it when the hot fires of 
 youth had burnt themselves out of her heart at last, 
 leaving behind only grey ashes of hopelessness. 
 
 The day sped on, the industrious feminine 
 fingers did their work successfully and with un- 
 ceasing patience. 
 
 Outside the red sun glowed warmly over wood 
 and stubble field and covert sides. The noise of 
 birds was shrill and sweet in the ivy round the 
 open windows of Miss Em's rooms. The crack of 
 sportsmen's guns rang from time to time with 
 sharp detonation on the quiet air. 
 
 "They are shooting the new coverts, I suppose," 
 said Molly once. "I've heard Mr. Morrison is a 
 splendid shot. He has a fine property now, hasn't 
 he, with all those acres added to Rooklands ? I 
 suppose he'll build a new house there when he is 
 married." 
 
 " Why should he ? " asked Miss Em quickly. 
 " Rooklands is a beautiful old place, and large 
 enough for half a dozen families, I should say." 
 
 "You know it then ? " asked Molly glancing up 
 from her work. " I never heard you say you had 
 been there." 
 
 " It was many years ago," said Miss Em in- 
 differently, " when the old man was alive." 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 339 
 
 " Wasn't he very wicked, or something ? " asked 
 the girl curiously. 
 
 "Not more wicked than many men who manage 
 to get baptised in the Jordan of respectability 
 after committing every sin they feel inclined for," 
 answered Miss Em bitterly. " Society has an odd 
 way of classifying sins and sinners. A reformed 
 rake is generally the most circumspect of mortals, 
 and he visits relentlessly on others those very 
 offences which once were so dear to his own 
 heart." 
 
 " Then old Morrison was that sort of man ? " 
 queried Molly, with the curiosity of innocence that 
 is no longer ignorant, but pitiful and full of wonder 
 at what is dimly felt to be " unclean ". 
 
 "He was— that sort of man," said Miss Em. 
 "But we will not discuss him, if you please, Molly; 
 it is not a subject I care to talk about. 5 ' 
 
 To be late for dinner was no unusual proceeding 
 on the part of Lady Lustrell, and Sir jasper was 
 just beginning to fume and rage when she swept 
 into the room tiree a quatre (or even more) epingles 
 and looking as for months she had not looked. 
 
 The old man's sharp and jealous eyes took in 
 the change at once. " She cares how she looks 
 to-night," he thought. " I wonder why ? " 
 
 He gave her his arm in his usual formal fashion, 
 and they went at once into the dining-room. 
 
 " You have a new gown for this occasion, I per- 
 ceive," he remarked as they crossed the hall. " I 
 should scarcely have imagined it was important 
 enough for so magnificent a toilette." 
 
 " The gown," said his wife coldly, " is only an 
 old one made up again by Molly and myself. 
 This piece of brocade," and she touched the lustrous 
 silk almost fondly, " was a gift from her. > You 
 need not fear that my costume to-night will be 
 
340 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 productive of any expense to your pocket, Sir 
 Jasper." 
 
 He bit his thin lips. " I'm glad to hear it," he 
 said. " It is about time you learnt to make your 
 allowance meet your expenditure." 
 
 " Oh ! " said Miss Em, with the old flippancy 
 that he detested ; " that would be an easy enough 
 matter. Unfortunately my difficulty is to make 
 my expenditure meet my allowance." 
 
 He could not reply for they had reached the 
 table, and she took her accustomed place with some 
 of the old mocking defiance in her glance. 
 
 " She is always like that when Molly is here," 
 thought the old man, " one abets the other. I've 
 a great mind to forbid them going to-night. No, 
 no soup," he added irritably to the butler, "that 
 fool of a cook can no more make clear soup than 
 fly. You know I never touch it." 
 
 " No one can make soup without the necessary 
 ingredients," observed Miss Em, also declining 
 the proffered plate. " The cooking here is expected 
 to be done on the same principle as the Egyptians 
 ordered bricks from the Israelites." 
 
 " I never encourage waste and extravagance," 
 snapped Miss Sabina, taking a spoonful of the weak 
 muddy liquid, for appearance sake. 
 
 " You can't encourage what does not exist," 
 observed Miss Em. "Waste, not to mention ex- 
 travagance, presupposes something to waste, or to 
 squander ; a microscope wouldn't discover either 
 in the Castle Lustrell kitchens." 
 
 "And a very good thing too," interposed Sir 
 Jasper irritably. " One family ruined through 
 extravagance is warning enough of some persons' 
 ideas of housekeeping." 
 
 " You wouldn't particularise the persons would 
 you, Sir Jasper ? " questioned Miss Em. delighted 
 at provoking a passage of arms. " Hints and 
 generalities are so confusing." 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 34I 
 
 She glanced at the old, wizened, cynical face, 
 aged so much, wrinkled and soured so much, even 
 in this brief year. How hateful it was to her ! 
 How she longed to dash his insults back, to spring 
 to her feet and sound the war-note of defiance as 
 once she had deemed it would be so easy to do ! 
 
 If she only dared ! 
 
 A moment of sharp consciousness showed her 
 Temptation and Danger side by side holding out 
 inviting hands. Then her new unnatural self 
 came to the rescue, and the apparitions fled into 
 the shadowy background from whence they had 
 sprung. 
 
 " A letter for you, my lady," said a voice at her 
 elbow. The footman was holding out a salver 
 towards her half apologetically. " The messenger 
 said it was immediate and to be delivered without 
 delay," he added, as he met his master's cold and 
 sternly-questioning eyes. 
 
 " Excuse me," muttered Miss Em hurriedly, as 
 the turned a little aside and tore open the letter. 
 
 It was from Dr. MacShamus. A few lines only, 
 a few lines that seemed to her to run in mad, zigzag 
 fashion up and down the paper. A few lines, — well, 
 death-warrants are brief, they say. 
 
 " Dear Lady Lustrell, 
 
 " Come at once to Rooklands. I don't say 
 if you can, for a dying man asks for you ; he has 
 not long to live, and this is his one cry. I wait 
 for you here. 
 
 "J. MacShamus." 
 
 A dying man asks for you ! 
 
 She folded the note mechanically. She felt her 
 face growing stiff and cold and white beneath its 
 delicate rouge. How still the room was, and 
 what a strange song some one was singing ! She 
 had been so fond of that sons: once — a man's 
 
 b 
 
 voice, tender and low, used to sing it so often. 
 
34 2 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 Was that an elm bough tap, tap, tapping so 
 persistently at the window? . . . 
 
 A dying man asks for you ! 
 
 A sharp thrill of agony pierced the momentary 
 stupefaction. She must act, pretend, scheme, 
 just a little while longer; the curtain could not 
 fall yet, the play was not over. A little while she 
 must hold the stage, and then, nothing would 
 matter, happen what might, nothing would matter 
 any — any more. 
 
 " Are you deaf, Emilia ? or what is this import- 
 ant message ? " asked Sir Jasper sharply. " This 
 is the second time I've put the inquiry." 
 
 " I beg your pardon," she answered. "I — I 
 was thinking. Oh ! it's nothing important. You 
 needn't wait," she added impatiently to the foot- 
 man. " But tell them to be punctual with the 
 carriage." 
 
 " You kept dinner waiting nearly half an hour," 
 said Sir Jasper, glancing at the timepiece on the 
 carved oak mantel. " Let me see, nine to twelve. 
 You can leave here at a quarter to nine, it will take 
 half an hour to drive, and you are to leave a quar- 
 ter before twelve sharp ; do you hear ? " 
 
 " I hear," said Miss Em stonily. 
 
 "A dying man calls for you." And she must eat 
 and drink, and sit on here listening to this old 
 man's maddening twaddle — this old man, her 
 husband, who had no right to be her husband, 
 who had taken the place of that other. . . . 
 But she must not think, she must not let that 
 weak, strained brain run off the beaten track so 
 long laid down for it. 
 
 How her heart beat ! its quick painful throbs 
 hurt her. How long the moments were, how 
 wearily they dragged ! 
 
 The carriage at last ! 
 
 She rose with a half-suppressed cry. She was 
 dimly conscious of orders and behests, but they 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 343 
 
 all rang unintelligibly in her ears. She felt Molly's 
 light touch on her arm, the breath of the cool 
 night air was on her face ; then the tension snapped. 
 The time for fear was over, and the time for action 
 had come. 
 
 "Molly," she cried wildly, "I am not going 
 with you to this ball. I — I cannot. I shall get 
 out of the carriage as we pass Rooklands, and you 
 must go alone. . . . Do you hear, child ? . . . I — I 
 can't see you." She put her hands to her head 
 in a sudden dazed way. " I've been summoned 
 to some one who is dying — dying, Molly. Some 
 one I used to love when I was a girl like you." 
 
 " Oh, my dear, my dear, try and calm yourself. 
 Is it so very bad ? Perhaps there is some mis- 
 take." 
 
 "There was a mistake — once," said Miss Em 
 drearily. " A mistake which set two lives wrong 
 for ever. There is no mistake now, Molly. Go 
 to your ball, my dear, and be happy. All your life 
 is before you ; all mine will soon be in a grave." 
 
 Puzzled and distracted, the girl knew not how 
 to reply. It was all so strange, so sudden, so 
 bewildering. Rooklands, too, where Denis Morri- 
 son lived — Denis Morrison, who they said was to 
 be the hero of this evening's entertainment. 
 
 The carriage stopped suddenly. Miss Em had 
 pulled the check-string, and now the door was 
 open and the astonished footman waiting by the 
 step. 
 
 "Shall I call back for you ? " asked Molly, still 
 bewildered. 
 
 " No," answered Miss Em sharply. " I shall 
 be sent back ; do not trouble." 
 
 She drew her cloak closely round her, and 
 hurried up the avenue with swift uneven steps. 
 
 The door was open. 
 
 A flood of light poured itself redly over the 
 lawn which led to the great dark mansion. 
 
344 PEG > THE Rake. 
 
 Miss Em shuddered ; it was like blood. A 
 warm bright crimson stream flowing down to her 
 feet. 
 
 She hurried in, dimly conscious of a hand that 
 helped her swaying steps ; of a voice, the kind 
 cheery voice of Dr. MacShamus, entreating, sooth- 
 ing, explaining. 
 
 An accident, — a gunshot wound. That was 
 what he said. A gunshot wound, and she had 
 been frivolling with laces and satins, and all the 
 folly and fantasy of millinery, when the sharp 
 crack of a rifle had sounded in the still September 
 air, and meant — this. 
 
 Oh, foolish, short-sighted mortality that is too 
 clogged and coarse for any prescience of doom ! 
 that cannot foresee danger or feel peril to the 
 dearest treasure of its heart ! 
 
 " Calm — I am quite calm, doctor, do not fear. 
 It is not now I shall break down or forget my- 
 self." 
 
 Then she was in a vast dimly-lighted room, 
 The scents of chloroform and ether were heavy 
 on the air. Before her, as she stood in the door- 
 way, was a large old-fashioned bed, the hangings 
 all drawn back for air, and lying on it — the hand- 
 some leonine head helpless on its pillows — was the 
 stricken figure of a dying man. 
 
 Dying? Yes. One glance told her that, even 
 as the heavy glazed eyes met her own — as the 
 arms, helpless now as a year-old child's, stretched 
 themselves feebly towards her in the gathering 
 gloom. 
 
 Then one low sobbing cry thrilled the silence : — 
 
 " Denis, Denis ! — oh ! my love ! " 
 
 The door was softly closed. 
 
 What those two breaking hearts had to confess 
 or to atone for, was not for alien ears to hear ! 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 345 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 "THE SECRET IS OUT." 
 
 It was scarcely midnight when the Castle Lustrel! 
 carriage returned. Sir Jasper and his sister were 
 sitting together in the hall; he moody and ab- 
 sorbed, stretching thin hands to the welcome 
 warmth of the fire ; she busy over some coarse 
 wool-work destined to rasp the skin of some grate- 
 ful, but thriftless, dependant on the Castle chari- 
 ties. 
 
 "They are back in good time," she observed, 
 as the man opened the outer door. 
 
 Sir Jasper said nothing; his eyes, turned in the 
 direction of the approaching figure, gave one 
 startled glance beyond it, then remained fixed on 
 the pale face and wondering gaze of his daughter. 
 
 " Why are you alone ? Has Lady Lustrell re- 
 mained on and allowed you to return by yourself?" 
 he demanded in those icy self-controlled tones that 
 betokened intense irritation. 
 
 " Is she not here ? " faltered Molly, her face and 
 lips growing white as her gown. 
 
 " Here ? How should she be here before you " ? 
 snapped Aunt Sabina, pushing the glasses back 
 from her eyes, and surveying her niece with undis- 
 guised astonishment. 
 
 Molly still stood there like one frozen into 
 passivity, She seemed lost in thought, only her 
 eyes still glanced here and there as if entreating 
 some one in hiding to come forth and play no 
 more tricks. 
 
 "What is the meaning of this? Can't you 
 speak? " thundered Sir Jasper. 
 
 The girl started, and the warm colour flushed 
 her face nervously. 
 
 " She . . . she did not go to the ball," she 
 
.',46 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 faltered. " She stayed — on the way — to see a 
 friend who was ill. I thought she would have 
 been home before this." 
 
 Sir Jasper's white wrinkled face took a sudden 
 sickly pallor. He sank into his seat without a 
 word, and Miss Sabina indulged in a prolonged 
 snort. 
 
 " I really wonder what next vagary we shall 
 hear of on the part of Lady Lustrell," she re- 
 marked. " She gets more eccentric and unaccount- 
 able every day." 
 
 " Did she tell you," demanded Sir Jasper sud- 
 denly, "who had written her that letter? " 
 
 " No," answered the girl in the same frightened 
 way. 
 
 " Where did she leave you ? " 
 
 " At Rooklands," answered Mollyunhesitatingly. 
 
 " What ! " thundered Sir Jasper, springing from 
 his seat as if shot. " You're mad, girl; don't tell 
 me she dared set foot there ! It's preposterous, 
 impossible ! " 
 
 " Hush, oh hush ! " cried the girl in sudden 
 pitiful entreaty. " I hear wheels. She has re- 
 turned. Don't condemn her until you have heard 
 what she has to say ! I am sure she can explain 
 everything." 
 
 She did not wait for the ring that might have 
 followed, but flew across the hall and in an 
 instant had the door open, while her glad cry of 
 relief told those waiting beyond, who it was that 
 stood on the threshold. 
 
 Without a word, without the faintest notice of 
 the girl's tender greeting, Lady Lustrell put her 
 quietly aside and moved on up the hall with the 
 slow measured step of a sleep-walker. Her face 
 was ashy white, her eyes had a curious glitter, her 
 hands alone seemed to have any life or movement 
 as they twitched nervously at the fastening of her 
 heavy cloak. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 347 
 
 Sir Jasper was still standing in the same atti- 
 tude. 
 
 Miss Sabina, her work resting on her knees, her 
 sharp ill-natured face alert and curious, glanced 
 from one to the other, wondering if the hour had 
 come at last ; the hour for which she had waited 
 so long and so patiently; the hour which should 
 see her enemy overthrown and herself triumphant. 
 Molly, a white trembling figure, hovered in the 
 background, forgotten by all. 
 
 A few paces in front of her husband, Lady 
 Lustrell halted. The cloak was unclasped at 
 last. She threw it off with a sudden gesture, and 
 tossed it aside on to the seat upon which Sir 
 Jasper had been sitting. 
 
 Something in her face, her air, her very silence, 
 betokened a change A change such as might 
 befall a prisoner hearing innocence as a verdict 
 after long weeks of suspense ; a change such as 
 the announcement of victory might bring to the 
 flagging energies )f the weary soldier ; a change — 
 something indefinable but eloquent — as her eyes 
 met those of the man who had played the part of 
 judge to such a prisoner, enemy to such a warrior. 
 
 The hour had come. Miss Sabina was right. 
 The two opponents faced each other for the coming 
 battle, the last they would ever fight, the decisive 
 conflict that would henceforth alter their relative 
 positions. 
 
 Sir Jasper, with weak-minded fury, made the 
 first attack. 
 
 " Where have you been, madam ? " he demanded. 
 
 " I have been," she said, " to Rooklands — at 
 Denis Morrison's request," 
 
 " You dared to go there ! to that low-born 
 villain's house — against my express commands — 
 against your own promise ? You stand there 
 and tell me this ? " 
 
 Low as muttered thunder, but awful in its 
 
348 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 intensity of rage, every accent of the old man's 
 voice fell on the ears of the startled listeners. 
 
 His wife lifted her head, the light flashing on 
 the beautiful snowy hair and the diamonds that- 
 nestled amidst its masses. "Yes; I dared to go 
 there, Sir Jasper," she said quietly. " I would 
 have dared a great deal more than your wrath to 
 give an hour's comfort to Denis Morrison." 
 
 " You say this — to me — to my face ? " he 
 thundered furiously. " Do you forget the penalty ? 
 Do you forget what I told you when I learnt 
 your miserable secret ? " 
 
 "I forget — nothing," she answered tranquilly. 
 " I will repeat your words for the edification of 
 your daughter and sister. I think they were to 
 this effect : ' If you ever cross Denis Morrison's 
 threshold, if you so much as touch his hand in 
 greeting, I will send you from my roof; I will 
 tell the world you have cheated so long the real 
 history of Peg the Rake '. Well, Sir Jasper, I 
 have crossed Denis Morrison's threshold; I have 
 touched Denis Morrison's hand ; nay more — his 
 lips. More true to him in death than in life, I 
 have come from his side now — come here to you — 
 and I bid you do your worst. Tell my story to 
 the world — your paltry, miserable world that 
 flatters and fawns on you to your face and mocks 
 at you behind your back ! Tell it — cry it from the 
 house-tops if you please ! I fear you no longer. 
 You are nothing to me — do you hear, nothing ? — 
 from this hour /" 
 
 Sir Jasper's face could not grow whiter than 
 it was, but surely never in human voice had 
 sounded malice so deep, hatred so intense, as now 
 sounded in his. 
 
 "You are mad to say such things; but I can 
 excuse you to-night ; to-morrow it will be a differ- 
 ent story — to-morrow when the tale of your shame 
 rings in every decent house. You, the cast-off 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 349 
 
 mistress of a low-born bastard, who schemed and 
 trapped an honest man into making her his 
 wife ! " 
 
 " Stop ! " she cried, for that low moan from 
 Molly cut her to the heart — Molly who, trembling 
 like a leaf, had sunk down by Miss Sabina's side, 
 and buried her shamed young face from sight. 
 
 " For your daughter's sake," she went on, the 
 long restrained passion breaking dangerously 
 into her voice at last, "stop! — I am not what 
 you say ! I never was ! The secret of Denis 
 Morrison's birth is known at last. He was his 
 father's lawful son — you will all learn that soon. 
 He " 
 
 " I don't believe it. He was a liar, a villain, a 
 blackguard, from his youth up ! " 
 
 The light stinging touch of a gloved hand smote 
 back that lie upon his cruel lips. 
 
 The wild O'Hara blood was up at last, flaming 
 in face, and eye, and stormy gesture of the woman 
 whom long repression had well-nigh maddened, 
 who, in such a moment as this, could count no 
 cost, hesitate at no sacrifice ; who would have 
 faced peril, pain, death, unflinchingly, for the one 
 dearly-bought relief of giving rein to the long pent- 
 up passions of her nature. Nothing could have 
 stayed her; not Molly's piteous entreaty; not 
 Miss Sabina's horrified cry ; not Sir Jasper's white 
 face of fury ; not one or all of these. She seized 
 the diamonds in her hair and threw them at his 
 feet, the costly bracelets on her bare arms followed 
 them, the very rings she tore from her white 
 fingers in the raging, senseless fury that makes 
 unoffending things at times so hateful. 
 
 "Take back your gifts, take back everything 
 with which you bought me," she cried. "I 
 warned vou once not to try me too far. You 
 stepped beyond that boundary when you called me 
 Denis Morrison's mistress. Hear the truth at 
 
350 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 last ! / was Denis Morrison's wife ! I was never 
 
 — yours ! " 
 
 The blank horror of the silence that followed 
 was only broken by the soft gliding sound of a 
 velvet train sweeping away — away — into the dark- 
 ness beyond. 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 « OLD SINS HAVE LONG SHADOWS." 
 
 The silence of the room was only broken by a 
 girl's low heart-broken sobs ; those terrible sobs 
 that tell of youth's disillusion, and of the horror 
 and shrinking and disbelief that make up the 
 sum total of such disillusion. 
 
 On the floor lay the costly satin dress where it 
 had fallen disregarded from the pretty figure, the 
 figure that lay on the little white bed with loose 
 falling hair tossed wildly over bare arms and heav- 
 ing shoulders — a pathetic picture of sorrow and 
 desolation. 
 
 Outside, the unquiet darkness was filled by wild 
 gusts of wind and rain, the clouds chased each 
 other stormily, and through their rents the stars 
 looked out at some chance interval. The trees 
 showered golden tributes over the sodden grass 
 below, the autumn flowers lay wet and beaten 
 across the devastated beds and gravel paths. In 
 the faint east a yellow light touched softly the 
 surrounding grey, powerless as yet to lift Night's 
 dusky curtain from the world where the travail of 
 humanity cried out to heaven in prayers of broken 
 hearts, and lives left desolate cried as Faith bade, 
 as creeds had taught, as misery, even hopeless, 
 unrelieved — impelled. 
 
 Some such prayer moaned out at intervals from 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 351 
 
 those girlish lips. " I loved her so ! I thought 
 her so good ! God ! it can't be true ; don't let 
 it be true ; better she were mad as they say." 
 
 " Molly ! " The low pained beseeching in the 
 voice made the girl start; she raised herself on 
 one arm and her wide tear-filled eyes met the 
 quiet steady gaze of what she dimly felt was 
 " sorrow beyond all words ". 
 
 " Molly, I have come to bid you good-bye ; I 
 am going away, I shall never come back here any 
 more. But, before I go, I should like to tell you 
 something of my story — my miserable story. You 
 will hear it on many tongues, no doubt ; but let 
 me tell you the truth, the plain simple truth. 
 Molly, don't cry so ! Oh ! my dear, I'm not worth 
 your tears, try and think that." She sank slowly 
 down on her knees beside the low white bed ; with 
 one hand clasped in the girl's feverish palm she 
 began to speak : — 
 
 " You heard what I said to-night, Molly. It 
 was true ; but I did not know I was legally bound 
 to Denis Morrison when I promised to be your 
 father's wife. I was but a girl like yourself when 
 I fled with him from my father's roof, against his 
 commands. Denis Morrison had a bad name here, 
 partly deserved no doubt, but I was reckless and 
 hot-blooded and self-willed, and I — loved him. God 
 help us O'Haras when we love or hate ! We reck 
 nothing of consequences, and I — I was only a 
 motherless, passionate, headstrong girl ; I nevei 
 thought; I never cared. I went to my fate as 
 thoughtlessly as a child to its play, and that fate 
 made me Denis Morrison's wife. We were 
 to go to America, he and I ; I had left a note 
 for my father to tell him so. We travelled 
 separately to avert suspicion ; but in the same train 
 was a — a friend of mine, the best and truest friend 
 I've ever known ; and he saw us and suspected 
 something, and sent a message to my father." 
 
352 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 She paused and pushed the thick soft hair from 
 her brow with a sudden weary gesture. " I grow 
 confused ; that time was always like a dream, a 
 dream broken in its gladness and beauty by some 
 hideous nightmare. I only know that at Liver- 
 pool we were overtaken by my father and this — 
 this friend. There was a dreadful scene. My 
 father called Denis that name you heard to-night — 
 what — what every one here had believed him ; but 
 I had never known that, Molly, and the horrible 
 humiliation of it nearly killed me. I — I was so proud, 
 and I had been spoilt and made so much of, and I 
 could not bear to think I had fallen so low as to be- 
 come the wife of a — what they called him. He did 
 not deny it, even when I entreated. How could he ? 
 he never knew the truth himself until his father's 
 death. He was purposely kept in ignorance, 
 because old Morrison hated him for his mother's 
 fault, and on his innocent head visited her sins. 
 Oh, Molly ! I can't paint that scene. It was 
 awful, horrible, and he — he was so cold and proud. 
 ( If you cannot trust my word,' he said, ' go back to 
 your father. I have no name to give you, and we 
 are not married, legally — yet.' I started. I could 
 not believe it, Molly ; but what did I know of 
 forms and ceremonies, and how could I think his 
 pride was great as my own, or that he wanted to 
 prove my love ? Molly, as he said that, my father 
 struck him to the ground. I — I remember no 
 more ; they took me home again, and he, Denis 
 Morrison, went to America alone. The story of 
 my flight was never known ; that friend never be- 
 trayed me, but it nearly broke my father's heart. 
 He thought he must have some one to look after 
 me, to watch me in the future, and so he married 
 again, and my life became one of martyrdom and 
 misery. I had blighted all the happiness of youth; I 
 had brought shame and grief on the dear old man 
 whose only fault had been to love me far too well. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 353 
 
 I had nothing to look forward to, for I could never, 
 never marry ; so, at least, I told myself, and 
 so I resolved. I kept the resolution too, Molly, 
 for more than twenty years. And all that time, a 
 lifetime it must seem to you, I never had word or 
 sign from Denis Morrison. I never knew whether 
 he was alive or dead I thought I had outlived all 
 tenderness, and almost all memory of him. As I 
 grew older and learnt more of life, I taught myself 
 to hate him. I would not, of my own free will, 
 have touched his hand or have looked into his face 
 again. But also, as I grew older, Molly, I craved 
 for wealth, freedom, luxury, all the good things 
 that other women revelled in, that I must always 
 be denied. I knew that only a wealthy marriage 
 could give me these things, but I shrank again 
 and again from the temptation ; at last your father 
 asked me to be his wife. You know what I told 
 you that night, Molly, before I had given my 
 answer. You know a word from you could have 
 influenced me as nothing else could have done. 
 You did not speak that word." 
 
 "jHow — how could I ? " sobbed the girl brokenly. 
 " I loved you, I believed in you, I thought we 
 should be so happy." 
 
 A shiver ran through the kneeling figure. 
 " Happy — Ah ! dear heaven ! — that old dream, 
 that old will-o'-the-wisp, Molly. I was never 
 happy ; not for one single hour. Dearly indeed 
 have I bartered the liberty I so long cherished. 
 Your father learnt my secret; I will not tell you 
 how ; sufficient that he knew it, and used it as a rod 
 of humiliation for every hour of my life here. But 
 for you I could not have endured it; I should have 
 left him, reckless of consequences, but I bore it 
 and struggled on, and thought to live down that 
 hateful past in time. Ah ! Molly, old sins have 
 long shadows. The shadow of mine has fallen 
 qow ; darkly, miserably, never to rise again ! " 
 
 23 
 
354 PEG > THE Rake. 
 
 The grey uplifted face, framed in snow-white 
 hair, the glittering eyes, burning as with hidden 
 fever, terrified the girl. But the old love and pity 
 swept aside all other feelings; the warm trust- 
 ing young heart cried out in defiance of worldly 
 wisdom, and tried to comfort the distraught 
 sinner whom henceforth all would condemn. 
 
 " My dear, my poor dear, how you have 
 suffered ! " 
 
 " Suffered /—my God ! " 
 
 She rose unsteadily and stood there looking 
 down at the sorrowful young face, held uncon- 
 sciously by the tender arms. 
 
 " Suffering is a wide word, Molly. May you 
 never know it as I have known it ! but you never 
 will ; you are too sweet and innocent and good. 
 If I could make you happy, dear, I should die con- 
 tent. There is no one in all the world I love, 
 now, besides yourself — I, who but a few hours ago 
 thought that all the worth of life would be mine 
 were I only rich and free. Molly, I am rich now. 
 Rich beyond my wildest dreams — the holder of 
 Denis Morrison's wealth. Free, as I have never 
 thought to be free, because I count your father's 
 claim on me as nought. I have all I once prayed 
 for, and it is useless. So are prayers granted. 
 Remember that, dear heart, and now " 
 
 "No, no — not good-bye! I can't let you go, I 
 won't let you go. You are ill, fevered, unfit — you 
 must not ! " 
 
 Slowly, heavily the great tears fell on the girl's 
 uplifted face ; tears wrung from the woman's very 
 soul in the keenest anguish that had ever rent it. 
 For this love was pure — a blessing, not an evil — a 
 rest, not a consuming fire ; it was the one innocent 
 spontaneous gift that life had ever bestowed on 
 her, and she must put it aside for evermore. 
 
 Harder task she had never set herself, harder 
 task she felt it was not in life to demand from 
 her again. 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 355 
 
 " Don't hold me — don't tempt me ! " she cried 
 hoarsely, and with sudden fierceness she unwound 
 the tender clinging arms, and with one hurried 
 kiss on the quivering lips she closed their plead- 
 ing, and went forth carrying her cross of suffering 
 — alone. 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 " THIS SINNER WAS A LOVING ONE." 
 
 " Miss Peg, darlin', I'm here. It's not for the 
 likes o' me to be expressin' surprise, but whin I 
 got yer summons this mornin', and Biddy the 
 kitchen-maid read out the writin' to me (all printed 
 be thim new-fangled telegram wires, she said) you 
 cud have knocked the legs from under me wid 
 a feather, that you cud. Howsomediver, I jest 
 put up me bundle and laves word for the misthress 
 that I'm off to Dublin to jine ye at the Gresham 
 Hotel; an' here I am alive, faith, an' that's jest all, 
 for sich a journey I niver tuk, an' what wid the 
 scraachin' o' that injin, an' the noise an' smoke an' 
 confusion, shure, 'tisn't meself as knows how I 
 iver got here at all. But the saints forgive me 
 for lettin' me tongue run away wid me ! What's 
 the matter wid yerself, Miss Peg ? yez look white 
 and drawn as a ghost; is it ill ye are, me darlin'?" 
 
 " I — I am afraid so, Quinny," came the languid 
 answer — so languid that the very effort at speaking 
 made the white face whiter. " And if I should be 
 ill again I wanted to feel you were near me, you — 
 only you. Don't let any one else come ; promise 
 me. 
 
 " Shure, an' I won't, darlin', if ye don't wish 
 it. But yer only fancyin' things maybe, an' the 
 journey's upset ye. Let me bring ye a sup o' soup 
 an' a glass av good wine, an' then you jist go to 
 
356 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 bed an' slape; shure, yer eyes tells me it's not a 
 blessed wink ye'v had this last night.'' 
 
 " And for many, many nights before, Quinny. 
 Oh, I wish I could sleep. But there, dear old 
 soul, get me what you wish, do what you like. 
 I've a task to accomplish'before I rest — I must do 
 it and you must help me." 
 
 " Help ye, is it ? Shure, Miss Peg, darlin', ye 
 know I'd buy the very gun av ye tould me ye 
 wanted to shoot any one ! Help ye ! is there any- 
 thing in the wide world I wudn't do for ye ? " 
 
 Tears came into Miss Em's dry and burning 
 eyes as they turned to the old woman's wrinkled 
 face. " How faithful you have been always ! 
 How little I deserve it ! " 
 
 " Well, darlin', we won't be talkin' av sich 
 nonsinse now. I'll just go an' ax the waiter for 
 the soup an' wine, an' faith 'tis a different 
 craythur ye'll be after that." 
 
 The refreshment was brought and Miss Em 
 took it ; the effort was visible enough, but Quinlan 
 made no remark on it. As soon as the last 
 mouthful was swallowed she assisted Miss Em 
 to the adjoining bedroom and made her lie down 
 on the comfortable bed, and covered her up 
 warmly before she departed on that mission which 
 was so feverishly entreated of her. 
 
 " Though what she's wantin' wid a lawyer, an' 
 the cleverest an' best in Dublin, she sez, bates me 
 altogether. Maybe 'tis a divorce or a siparation 
 from that ould curmudgeon av a husband, bad 
 cess to him, bringin' a foine woman as she was 
 two years ago to sich a wreck as she is. Ah, 
 'twas a sorry day whin she married him, an' she'd 
 better have let it alone after all, an' remained a 
 single woman — in spite av the cards." 
 
 It was late when the old woman returned from 
 her errand, and brought back the answer to Miss 
 Em's note. She was lying just as she had left 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 357 
 
 her ; the wide burning eyes unclosed and un- 
 calmed by any welcome touch of sleep ; the pallor 
 of her face intensified by the two bright spots that 
 spoke of fever even more plainly than dry hand 
 and hurrying pulse. 
 
 The effort to rise was so plainly an effort that 
 Quinlan sternly forbade it. " Shure the gintle- 
 man can jist do his bizness wid ye here," she said 
 imperatively. "Though 'tis a docthor ye need 
 more than a lawyer, an' a docthor ye'll be seem' 
 before anither hour is over, or 'tis I'll know the 
 rasin why." 
 
 Miss Em made no answer. She felt she was very 
 ill, and might be worse, and she could not allow 
 herself to be so until this self-appointed task was 
 done. After that nothing would matter, but she 
 needed all her calmness and all her strength just 
 for a few hours longer. 
 
 The lawyer came and found her sitting up in 
 her room beside a table on which were pens, ink 
 and paper. She impressed him as a singularly 
 good business woman, so calm was her manner, so 
 clear her instructions, so concise and to the point 
 the few questions she deemed necessary. 
 
 " You are quite sure," he asked as the deed was 
 drawn up, and the signature alone needed, " quite 
 sure that you care to benefit no one else with this 
 munificent bequest. It is all to go to this young 
 lady — who is no relation — I understand you to 
 say." 
 
 " Quite sure. I wish her to have it all. She is 
 of age, there need be no waiting." 
 
 " Oh, my dear madam, let us trust for your sake 
 there will be. It is not a necessary conclusion to 
 the making of a will that the testator should im- 
 mediately benefit his or her heirs. No other 
 legacy — except this one to your old nurse ? " 
 
 "None." 
 
 " Then we are read)- for signatures." 
 
358 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 " You are quite sure it is correct ? The money 
 is not absolutely mine yet. The formalities maj 
 need a week, a month, or even more." 
 
 "That is of no consequence. You state — 'All 
 I possess, or to which I may be entitled at the 
 time of my demise ; ' that conveys possible fortune 
 that may accrue to you." 
 
 " No one could dispute this — upset it ; no one 
 who had a spite against me ? " 
 
 " My dear lady," exclaimed the astonished law- 
 yer, " it is as valid and regular as possible once 
 it is signed and witnessed. We had better have 
 two of the hotel people to do that. Your old 
 nurse benefits under this clause so she must not 
 sign. Shall I ring ? " 
 
 " Certainly," said Miss Em, the brilliant colour 
 flushing her cheeks with momentary excitement, 
 but her hand steady as a rock as she took the pen 
 from his fingers. 
 
 " Ah, so 'tis makin' her last will an' tistayment 
 she is, the craythur," murmured Quinlan, as she 
 received the order and took in the scene with a 
 rapid glance. " Well, maybe 'twill set her mind 
 at ease ; I niver remimber seein' her in so moithered 
 a state, an' lookin' so quare an* wild, jist as she 
 did whin she was off her head that time." 
 
 " Quinny," said Miss Em, "are you there?" 
 
 It was quite dark now, for she would have no 
 lights in the room, only through the open door 
 came the faint gleam of a lamp from the room 
 beyond. 
 
 " Shure, me blessed darlin', it's not moved nor 
 stirred I have this last hour. I thought ye was 
 aslape." 
 
 " No ; I feel as if I should never sleep again ; I 
 fear I'm going to be very ill, Quinny." 
 
 " Don't be thinkin' ony such thing, darlin'. 'Tis 
 worryin' yer poor brain ye are, an' all for nothing." 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 359 
 
 " They told me if ever I had a recurrence of 
 that fever, it would mean cne of two things — death 
 or madness. Oh, Quinny, I've prayed against 
 that horror with all my soul and strength ; better 
 to die, than " 
 
 " Ah, musha now, Miss Peg, wid sich talk ! 
 dying, not a bit av it." 
 
 " Hush, Quinny, dear, I — I want to speak to you 
 of — many things ; let me say them while I can 
 think clearly. If I should get worse send for Doctor 
 MacShamus; he will understand. Under my pillow 
 you will find a packet of letters, give them to him 
 after I have gone I want no one with me but 
 you. It is strange, I have always had the idea 
 that I should die — alone." 
 
 A bitter cry, quickly suppressed, came from the 
 old woman's lips, falling like a discordant note on 
 the faltering sweetness of the other voice. 
 
 " Don't grieve for me, Quinny, you faithful old 
 soul. After all, we had a ' grand time ' together 
 as you used to say. And perhaps some one higher 
 than priests or saints won't be as hard on my 
 wickedness and waywardness, as the world. I wish 
 I had been a good woman, Quinny. What was 
 that Molly said to me once ? — ' You're such a good 
 woman ! ' I — are you laughing, Quinny ? — I tried 
 to laugh, but it hurt me. I, who know how wicked 
 and how worthless my life has been. I should like 
 to have been good for her sake. I might have 
 been, once, but I lost my way somehow. There 
 are so many roads in life, and I took a wrong one 
 — and I never got back again." 
 
 "Ah, Miss Peg, darlin', don't be breakin' the 
 heart av me wid yer quare talk. Shure, yer an 
 angel av goodness. Sorra a better one I'd nade 
 to show me the road to heaven's glory ! Try an' 
 rest yer poo*' head, an' don't be thinkin' av all yer 
 troubles an' vexations. They're over now. Shure, 
 didn't ye tell me ye'd been left the biggest fortune 
 
360 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 in the county, an' don't I see ye at the spendin* 
 av it, an' the foine times once more ! Dyin', is it ? 
 sorra a bit. 'Tis yerself will be laughin' at the 
 very iday in a week's time ! " 
 
 " Quinny, you're crying — I hear the tears in your 
 voice." 
 
 " Cryin' ! not a bit av it, Miss Peg ; wud I be 
 cryin' over sich foolish talk ? Now close yer eyes, 
 darlin', and I'll jist sing ye to slape as av ye were 
 a little child again in the ould nurserv at Carrig- 
 duve." 
 
 " A little child ! Oh the weary, weary years f 
 Your arms held me first, Quinny ; let them be the 
 last about me when — when I put out on the dark 
 lonely sea. How frightened I used to feel of it once. 
 But I'm too tired now to feel even — frightened. 
 Quinny, it's getting very dark. Fold something 
 cold and tight about my head. Ah, that is good ! 
 Now sit beside me and hold my hand — so — and 
 don't loose it, Quinny, until you know I am not 
 talking sensibly any more. And tell Molly I want 
 her to be happy. She will make better use of 
 money than I could ever have done. . . . You'll 
 remember." 
 
 " I'll remimber, darlin'." 
 
 " Then, Quinny, kiss me and say ' God bless 
 you ' — while I know. 1 " 
 
 Fainter and fainter came the broken words, 
 losing purpose and coherence, drifting aimlessly 
 across a sea of troubled thoughts and anxious 
 memories ; now steadied by strong effort ; again 
 breaking loose from the resolute mooring of the 
 tortured brain. 
 
 Long before the kindly voice of Dr. MacShamus 
 had given sad affirmation to the first verdict 
 uttered by a stranger's lips, Quinlan had recog- 
 nised that nothing could be done. 
 
 " I warned her," said the faithful old friend, as 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 361 
 
 he stood listening to the feeble voice growing 
 feebler every hour, but never for one moment 
 ceasing its pitiful, monotonous chatter. " I told 
 her human strength could never undergo such 
 another ordeal ; and her strength has been taxed 
 beyond even that. I know her life as no one 
 else knows it." 
 
 Messages with their note of alarm flew hither 
 and thither; Lady Pat and Miss Bedelia came 
 hurrying to their favourite's side — never again to 
 meet recognition or greeting from those babbling 
 unconscious lips. 
 
 Slowly the dawn broke, and the day moved on 
 to eventide. With every hour the sapped, un- 
 natural strength yielded itself to that resistless 
 foe whose strength none may combat. 
 
 Once more twilight fell soft as a shadowy veil 
 over the quiet room, touching with tender grace 
 the now exhausted form by which such faithful 
 love still watched, forgetful of life's follies and 
 youth's errors, forgetful of all save the kindly 
 heart and generous nature that were only to be a 
 memory henceforward. 
 
 Twilight, and grey shadows, and a sudden 
 hushed stillness. 
 
 Dr. MacShamus's hand rested with kindly touch 
 on Quinlan's arm as she brought a fresh iced 
 bandage. 
 
 " She will not need any more," he said huskily. 
 
 Their eyes, tear-filled, but resigned now, turned 
 as by one common impulse to the face on the 
 pillows. A change, subtle, faint, but strangely 
 beautiful, had come over it. Just for one second's 
 space the lids quivered, opened — then fell — curtain- 
 ing the mystery that the wisest may not know — 
 the mystery that silences even human agony by 
 its whisper, " God knows best ". 
 
 ...••••.a 
 
 In the library of Castle Lustrell Molly and 
 
362 PEG, THE RAKE. 
 
 Paddy Kearney were standing hand in hand, their 
 faces grave even in the gladness of a sanctioned 
 betrothal, their eyes thoughtfully resting on a 
 letter the girl had been reading. 
 
 " Poor Miss Em ! " said Paddy at last. " What 
 a strange life, and what a secret to hold in it all 
 these years ! But, Molly, darling, what a legacy to 
 leave you : why, you're the biggest heiress in the 
 county. Faith, sweetheart, I'm a bold man to 
 be asking you to marry me." 
 
 " But, Paddy, it isn't as if you'd only asked me 
 now. We've loved each other too long for any 
 nonsense of this sort to part us." 
 
 " Nonsense ? She calls £15000, a year nonsense \ 
 My darling, do you know I shall be the envy of 
 every man who's ever had the felicity of saying 
 good-morning to you ? I'm only surprised your 
 father has consented." 
 
 " He's too broken down now to care much 
 what I do. I — I don't think he'll live long, Paddy," 
 she went on sadly. " It was a terrible blow to 
 his pride. Oh ! how glad I am no one knows it 
 but just — ourselves. How glad I am that she, 
 poor dear, did not commit this sin knowingly ! " 
 
 " I often think it was just said in bravado," said 
 Paddy gravely, " one of her dare-devil explosions, 
 as we used to call them. You see, the ceremony 
 of marriage she and Denis Morrison went through 
 was rather strange ; and then twenty years 9 
 desertion is as good as a divorce, surely. I don't 
 believe she could have upset her marriage with 
 your father, but fortunately there's no need to 
 discuss the point. They're dead now, poor souls ; 
 and their suffering and sins are over, let us hope ! n 
 
 " It seems so strange, that very day when 
 Denis Morrison died, her saying how she had 
 craved for wealth and freedom," said Molly mus- 
 ingly. " And then to gain both, and only know 
 them useless." 
 
PEG, THE RAKE. 363. 
 
 " Not quite useless, sweetheart," said her lover 
 gently. " She has made us happy at last; yes, and 
 taught us a lesson too. We'll put this money to 
 a better use, please God, than she might have 
 done. We'll revive the good names of Carrig- 
 duve and Castle Lustrell too, and make them 
 loved and honoured for the sake of poor Miss Em." 
 
 " And Quinlan shall live with us," said Molly 
 eagerly. 
 
 "With all my heart, but not Aunt Sabina, an 
 you love me." 
 
 "Oh, no," said Molly laughing. "She bids us 
 good-bye from the moment we are married ; poor 
 papa has insisted on that. I shall be the real 
 mistress of Castle Lustrell at last," 
 
 " And I," said Paddy, falling on one knee and 
 touching her pretty hand with laughing lips, 
 "your most obedient slave." 
 
 "Ah, no," said the girl hurriedly; "even with 
 all I've heard and seen of the perils of wedded life ; 
 I want no slave for a husband, only " 
 
 " Only what, sweetheart ? " 
 
 " A true man." 
 
 " I can promise to be that, Molly, darling," he 
 said, rising and folding her to his heart with grave 
 tenderness. " God helping me, those sweet eyes 
 shall never shed a tear for wrong or sin of mine. 
 There, no more tears, you've cried enough for one 
 day. Give that letter to me." 
 
 " No, Paddy, no ; I shall keep it always. It is 
 just as if she herself were speaking to me in every 
 line, just as if her own voice whispered the tale of 
 that warped, strange life. I could never utter 
 harsh judgment of her, dear. Let us only think 
 what once I said to her, ' This sinner was a loving 
 one 
 
 I" 
 
 FINIS. 
 
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