Ravenshoe. By Henry Kingsley.

418' RAVENSHOE.
truth. Charles has come back. I will not bear the responsibility
any longer."
Poor Mackworth! He went back to his room, attended by the
kind-hearted young priest, who had left his beloved organ at
Segur, to come and attend to him. Lord Segur pished and
pshawed, and did something more, and his lordship's profane
oaths, which we won't talk about, for which he had to get absolution. But Murtagh Tiernay stayed at Ravenshoe, defying his
lordship,- and making the Ravenshoe organ talk to Father Mackworth about quiet churchyards and silent cloisters; and sometimes
raging on until the poor paralytic priest begun to see the great
gates rolled back, and the street of the everlasting city beyond,
crowded with glorious angels. Let us leave these two to their
music. Before we went to town for the wedding, we were sitting
one night, and playing at loo, in the hall. (Not guinea unlimited
loo, as they used to play at Lord Welter's, but penny loo, limited
to eighteen pence.) General Mainwaring had been looed in miss
four times running, making six shillings (an almost impossible
circumstance, but true), and Lady Ascot had been laughing at
him so, that she had to take off her spectacles and wipe them,
when Murtagh Tiernay came into the hall, and took away
Charles, and his brother, Father Tiernay.
The game was dropped soon after this. At Ravenshoe there
was an old-fashioned custom of having a great supper brought
into the hall at ten. A silly old custom, seeing that every one
had dined at seven. Supper was brought in, and every one sat
down to table. All sorts of things were handed to one by the
servants, but no one ate anything. No one ever did. But the
head of the table was empty. Charles was absent.
After supper was cleared away, every one drew, in a great
circle, round the fire, in the charming old-fashioned way one sees
very seldom now, for a talk before we went to bed. But nobody
talked much. Only Lady Ascot said, " I shall not go up-stairs
till he comes back. General, you may smoke your cigar, but
here I sit."
General Mainwaring would not smoke his cigar, even up the
chimney. Almost before he had time to say so, Charles and
Father Tiernay came into the room without saying a word, and
Charles, passing through the circle, pushed the logs on the hearth
together with his foot.
"Charles," said Lady Ascot, " has anything happened?"
"Yes, aunt."
" Is he dead?"
"Yes, aunt."
"I thought so," said Lady Ascot, " I hope he has forgiven me
any hard thoughts I had of him. I could have been brought to