To all this she quietly submitted. He was to meet her at the ball at Carrick-on-Shannon, and then tell her what his definite plan of carrying her off would be; but he added that the ball night would be the last she would spend in the country, for that they would leave the next evening.
About five o"clock Ussher took his leave; she begged of him to come and see her the next day--every day till they went; but this he refused; she said that unless she saw him every day to comfort her, she would not be able to keep up her strength--that she was sure she would fall ill. It was now Friday, and she was to go to Mrs. McKeon"s on Monday; on Tuesday he said he would call on her there; the races and ball were to be on the Tuesday week. In vain she asked him how she was to bear the long days till she saw him again; Ussher had no true sympathy for such feelings as were racking Feemy"s heart and brain; he merely bid her keep up her spirits, and not be foolish;--that he would see her on Tuesday, and that after Tuesday week she would have nothing more to make her unhappy. And then, kissing her, he went away,--and as we have seen, Thady met him in the avenue, so satisfied in appearance, so contented, so triumphant, that he was able to forget the words which had been applied to him on the previous evening, and to nod to Feemy"s brother with as pleasant an air as though there were no grounds for ill-feeling between them.
Poor Feemy! those vain words that "after Tuesday week she would have nothing more to make her unhappy," sounded strangely in her ears.
Nothing more to make her unhappy! Could she have anything more, then or ever, to make her happy? Could she ever be happy again? All that had happened during the last few days pa.s.sed through her mind, and added to her torment. How indignant had she been when her brother had hinted to her that Ussher did not intend honestly by her; into what a pa.s.sion had she flown with Father John, when he had cautioned her that she should be circ.u.mspect in her conduct with her lover; what an insult she had felt it when Mary Brady alluded to the chance of Ussher"s deserting her! And now so soon after all this--but a few hours after this strong feeling--after the indignation she had then shown, she had herself submitted to worse than they had even dared to suspect; she had herself agreed to leave her father"s house as the mistress of the man, of whom she had then confidently boasted as her future husband! And it was not only for her own degradation, dreadful as that was, that she grieved, but Ussher himself--he of whom she had felt so fond--whom she had so loved--was this his truth, his love?--was this the protection he had sworn to give her against her father"s folly, and her brother"s violence?--and, as he had basely added, against Father John"s bigotry? Was this the protection--roughly to swear he"d leave her, desert her for ever, unless she agreed to give up her family, her home, her principles, and follow him, a base low creature, without a name? And was it likely that after she had agreed to this--after she had so debased herself, that he who had already deceived her so grossly would at last keep his word by marrying her?
She was lying down with her face buried in her hands, tormenting herself with such thoughts, when Biddy came to tell her that dinner was on the table. Feemy did not dare to refuse to go in lest something should be suspected; so she rubbed her red eyes till they were still redder, and went into the parlour, where she alleged that she had a racking headache, which would give her no peace; and having sat there for a miserable half hour till her father and Thady had finished their dinner, she went up stairs to her bed-room, and after laying awake half the night, at last succeeded in crying herself to sleep.
When Thady came from the kitchen, on being told that Father John was waiting for him at the hall-door, he left his pipe behind him, swallowed a draught of water to take off the smell of the spirits, and prepared to listen to the priest"s lecture, as he expected, with sullenness and patience; but he was surprised out of his determined demeanour by the kindness of the priest"s address. He came forward, and taking his hand, said,
"What, Thady, are you ill? What ails you?"
"Not much, then, Father John; only a headache."
"Are you too bad, my boy, to take a turn with me? I"ve a word or two I want to say; but if you"re really sick, Thady, and are going to bed, I"ll come down early to-morrow morning. Would you sooner I did so?"
Father John said this because he thought that Thady really looked ill. And so he did; his face was yellow, his hair unbrushed, his eyes sunken, and the expression of his countenance sad and painful; but he was overcome by the kindness of the priest"s manner, and replied,
"Oh no! I"m not going to bed. I believe, Father John, I did not come up to you because I was ashamed to see you afther last night."
"So I thought, my boy; and that"s why I came down. I"m not sorry for your shame, though there was not much cause for it. If it was a usual thing with you to be drinking too much, you wouldn"t be thinking so much of it yourself the next day."
"But I believe I said something to yourself, Father John."
"Something to me! Egad, I forget what you said to me, or whether you said anything. Oh no! you weren"t so bad as that; but you were going to eat Ussher about something. But never mind that now; don"t get tipsy again, if you can help it, and that"s all about it. It"s not the drinking I"m come to talk to you about; for you"re no drunkard, Thady; and indeed it"s not as your priest I want to talk to you at all, but as one friend to another. And now, my dear boy, will you take what I"ve to say in good part?"
These gentle words were the first comfort that had reached Thady"s heart that day, and tears were in his eyes as he answered,
"Indeed I will, Father John, for you"re the only friend I have now."
It was a fine moonlight evening, and they were on the road leading to the Cottage.
"Walk up this way, Thady; we"ll be less likely to be interrupted in the little parlour than here;" and they walked on to the priest"s house, Father John discoursing the while on the brightness of the moon and the beauty of the night, and Thady alternately thinking with pleasure of his kindness, and with dread of the questions he was about to be called upon to answer.
When they were in the parlour, and Thady had refused his host"s offers of punch, tea, or supper, and the door was close shut, Father John at once struck into the subject at his heart.
"I told you, Thady, that I thought but little of your having been drinking yesterday evening; not but that I think it very foolish for a man to make himself a beast; but what I did think of was the company you were drinking in. Now I heard--and I know you won"t contradict me unless it"s untrue--that the party consisted of you, and Brady, and Joe Reynolds, and Byrne, and Corney Dolan, and one or two others from Drumleesh, your own or your father"s tenants, and the very lowest of them--all of them infamous characters--men never, or seldom, seen at ma.s.s--makers of potheen--fellows who are known to be meeting nightly at that house of Mrs. Mulready, at Mohill, and who are strongly suspected to be Ribbonmen, or Terryalts, or to call themselves by some infernal name and sect, by belonging to which they have all become liable to death or transportation."
The priest paused; but Thady sat quite still, listening, with his eyes fixed on the fender.
"Now, Thady, if this is so, what could you gain by mixing with them?
You weren"t drunk when you went among them, or I should think nothing about it--for a drunken man doesn"t know what he does; and it wasn"t from chance--for a man never seeks society so much beneath himself from chance; and it wasn"t from habit--for I know your habits well enough, and that"s not one of them; but I fear you were there by agreement. If so, what could you get by a secret meeting with such men as those? You know their characters and vices; are you fool enough to think that you will find comfort in their society, or a.s.sistance in their advice?"
"I didn"t think so, Father John."
"Then why were you with them? I know the most of your sorrows, Thady, and the most of your cares; and I also know and appreciate the courage with which you have tried to bear them; and if you would make me your friend, your a.s.sistant, and your counsellor, though I mightn"t do much for you, I think I could do more, or show you how to do more, than you are likely to learn from the men you were with yesterday; and at any rate, I shall not lead you into the danger which will beset you if you listen to them, and which, you may be sure, would soon end in your disgrace and destruction. Can you tell me, Thady, why you were with them, or they were with you?"
"I was only just talking to them about--" Thady began; but he felt that he was going to tell his friend a falsehood, and again held his tongue.
"If you"ll not tell me why you were there, I"ll tell you; at least, I"ll tell you what my fears are. You went to them to talk over your father"s affairs respecting Keegan and Flannelly; you went to induce those poor misguided men not to pay their rent to him; and oh! Thady, if what I"ve heard is true, you went there to consult with them respecting a greater crime than I"ll now name, and to instigate them to do that which would lead to their and your eternal shame and punishment."
Thady now shook in his chair, as though he could hardly keep his seat; he felt the perspiration stand upon his brow, and he wiped it off with his sleeve; he did not dare to deny that he had done this, of which Father John was accusing him, though he felt that he had been far from instigating them to any crime like murder. Father John continued:
"If you have joined these men,--if you have bound yourself to these men by any oath,--if there is any league between you and them, let me implore you to disregard it; nothing can be binding, that is only to bind you to greater wickedness. I do not ask you to tell me any of their secrets or plans, though, G.o.d knows, what you tell me now would be as sacred as if I heard it in the confessional; but if you have such secrets, if you know their signs, whatever may be the consequence, at once renounce them."
"I know no secrets or signs, Father John, and I don"t belong to any society."
"Then, if you don"t, you can have nothing to bind you. Is it true that you were rash enough, mad enough, to speak to these men about murdering Keegan? Tell me; have you a plan made to murder Keegan?
Have you had such a crime in your thoughts?"
It had been in his thoughts all day: what answer should he make?
should he lie, and deny it all? or should he confess it all, just as it was?
"If you"ll not tell me, I must, for Mr. Keegan"s sake, take some step to secure his safety. Come, Thady, come; you know it"s not by threats I wish to guide you; you know I love you. I know well enough your patient industry--your want of selfishness. I know, if you have for a moment thought of this crime, you have now repented it: tell me how far you have gone, and if you are in danger;--if you have done that which was very, very wicked. I will still try and screen you from the effects of a sin, which I am sure was not premeditated. Is there any plot to murder Keegan?"
"There is not."
"As you are a living man, there"s none?"
"There is not."
"What were you saying about Keegan, then, to those men yesterday?"
"I don"t know what I said--I don"t know I said anything; they were threatening him, if he came on Drumleesh for rent; if they have a plot, I don"t know it."
"But, Thady, are you to join them again? do you mean again to renew your revellings of last night? have you agreed to see them again?"
"I have."
"And where?"
"At Mulready"s in Mohill."
"And when?"
"They sent to-day to say it was to-morrow night, but I have refused to go."
"You have refused?"
"Yes, Father John. I got the message from them just before dinner, and I said I"d not go to-morrow."
"But have you said you"d never join them again? have you sent to them to say you"d never put your foot in that hole of sin? did you say you were mad when you promised it, and that you would never keep that promise? did you say, Thady, that you would not come? or are you still, in their opinion, one of their accursed set?"
"I"ll niver go there, Father John. I"ve not had one moment"s ase since I said I would; it"s been on my heart like lead all the morning; indeed, indeed, Father John, I"ll niver go there."
"I will not doubt you, Thady; but still, that you may feel how solemnly you are bound not to peril your life and soul by joining them who can only wish to lead you into crime, give me your honour, on the sacred word of G.o.d, that you will never go to that place;--or join those men in any lawless plans or secret meetings."
And Thady swore most solemnly, on the sacred volume, that he would do as the priest directed him respecting these men.