"Do you expect any more pa.s.sengers?" he inquired of the Captain.
"Oh, lots!" answered the latter.
"Are those some of your pa.s.sengers coming in the boat?"
The Captain threw a hasty glance at the approaching object and answered carelessly:
"Of course they are! Don"t you see they are making right for the ship?"
The boat was very near. It was at the side of the ship. The oars were drawn in. The pa.s.sengers were climbing up to the deck.
"They look like nice people! I am sure they will make it still pleasanter for us on the voyage," said Sybil, who in her happy mood was inclined to be delighted with every event.
The Captain went to meet the new-comers.
Two gentlemen of the party spoke for a moment with him, and then advanced towards the spot where the husband and wife were standing.
"They _are_ nice people," repeated Sybil, positively; but Lyon said nothing; he was pale as ashes. The two gentlemen came up and stood before Lyon and Sybil. The elder of the two took off his hat, and bowing gravely, said to Sybil:
"You are Mrs. Sybil Berners of Black Hall?"
Then all at once an agony of terror took possession of her; her heart sank, her brain reeled, her limbs tottered.
"You are Mrs. Sybil Berners of Black Hall?" repeated the stranger, drawing from his pocket a folded paper.
"Yes," faltered Sybil, in a dying voice.
"Then, Madam, I have a most painful duty to perform. Sybil Berners, you are my prisoner," he said, and he laid his hand upon her shoulder.
With an agonizing shriek she sprang from under his hand, and threw herself into the arms of her husband, wildly crying:
"Save me, Lyon! Oh! don"t let them force me away! Save me, my husband!
Save me!"
CHAPTER x.x.xI.
THE ARREST.
Had it pleased Heaven To try me with affliction; had He rained All kinds of sores and shames on my bare head; Steeped me in poverty to the very lips; I could have found in some part of my soul A drop of patience; but alas, to make me A fixed figure for the time of scorn To point his slow, unmoving finger at!--SHAKESPEARE.
"Save me! Oh, save me!" she continued to cry, clinging wildly to her husband"s bosom. "Save me from this deep degradation! This degradation worse than death!"
And it is certain that if the immediate sacrifice of his own life could have saved her, Lyon Berners would have willingly died for Sybil; or even if the drowning of that law officer could have delivered her, he would have incontinently pitched the man overboard; but as neither of these violent-means could possibly have served her, he could only clasp her closer to his heart, and consider what was to be done.
At length he looked up at the sheriff"s officer, and said:
"I wish to have a word alone with my wife, if you will permit me."
The man hesitated.
"You can do it with perfect safety. We cannot possibly escape from this ship, you know; and besides, you can keep us in sight," he added.
Still the man hesitated, and at length inquired:
"Why do you wish to speak with her alone?"
"To try to soothe her spirits. I know it would be quite useless to tell you how entirely innocent this lady is of the heinous crime imputed to her; for even if you should believe her to be so, you would have to do your duty all the same."
"Yes, certainly; and a most distressing duty," put in the officer.
"This arrest has come upon her so suddenly, and when she is so utterly unprepared to meet it, that it has quite overcome her, as you see; but leave her alone with me for a few minutes, and I will try to calm her mind, and induce her to yield quietly to this necessity," added Lyon.
"Well, sir, I am indeed very willing to do all in my power to make this sad affair as little distressing to the lady as possible," answered the officer as he touched his companion on the shoulder, and they both walked off to some little distance.
As their retreating steps sounded upon the deck, Sybil raised her head from Lyon"s breast and looked around with an expression half-frightened, half-relieved, and murmured:
"They are gone! They are gone!"
Then clasping her husband suddenly around the neck, and gazing wildly into his eyes, she exclaimed:
"You can save me, Lyon, you can save me from this deep dishonor that no Berners ever suffered before! There is but one way, Lyon, and there is but one moment. You have a small penknife; but it is enough. Open it, and strike it _here_, Lyon. One blow will be enough, if it is firmly struck! Here--Lyon! here, strike here!" And she placed her hand on her throat, under her ear, and gazed wildly, prayerfully in his face.
"_Oh, Sybil!_" he groaned, in an agony of despairing love.
"Quick! quick! Lyon! We have but this moment! Strike here now--now, this instant! Strike first, and then kiss me! kiss me as I die!"
"Sybil! Sybil, darling you wring my heart."
"I am not afraid of death, Lyon; I am only afraid of shame. Kill me, to save me, Lyon! Be a Roman husband. Slay your wife, to save her from shame!" she cried, gazing on him with great bright dilated eyes, where the fires of frenzy, if not of insanity, blazed.
"My best beloved! my only beloved! there can be no shame where there is no sin. I will save you, Sybil; I swear it by all my hopes of Heaven! I do not yet see clearly how; but I will do it," he said, solemnly, and pressing her again to his heart.
"Do it this way! do it this way!" she wildly entreated, never removing her frenzied eyes from his face.
"No, not that way, Sybil. But listen: there are safe means--sinless means that we may use for your deliverance. The journey back will be a long one, broken up by many stoppages at small hamlets and roadside inns. Escape from these will be comparatively easy. I have also about me, in money and notes, some five thousand dollars. With those I can purchase connivance or a.s.sistance. Besides, to farther our views, I shall offer our wagon and horses, which luckily were not sold, but remain at the livery-stable at Portsmouth--I shall offer them, I say, to the officer for his use, and try to persuade him to take us down to Blackville by that conveyance, which will be easier even for him, than by the public stage coach. Take courage, dear Sybil, and take patience; and above all, do not think of using any desperate means to escape this trouble. But trust in Divine Providence. And now, dear Sybil, we must not try the temper of these officers longer, especially as we have got to leave the ship before it sails."
And so saying, Lyon Berners beckoned the bailiffs to approach.
"I hope the lady feels better," said the elder one.
"She is more composed, and will go quietly," answered Mr. Berners.
"Then the captain says we must be in a hurry. So if there is anything you wish to have removed, you had better attend to it at once," said the man.