The dragoons had started at daybreak to scour the country, but did not succeed in capturing a single smuggler. They had discovered, however, in a cottage, a man dying from a gun-shot wound, and from the description given of him, Harry had little doubt that he was young Gaffin.
May appeared at breakfast, looking as bright and fresh as ever. As soon as the meal was over, Harry and Mr Shallard, a.s.sured that the ladies were in no further danger, were on the point of setting out for Texford, when Adam and Dame Halliburt arrived.
After the dame had expressed her joy at seeing May and the ladies safe, Adam described to Harry and Mr Shallard the events which had occurred on the previous evening, and gave them the information he had obtained from the dying man. May listened with breathless eagerness. Was indeed the secret of her birth to be at length disclosed? The heiress of Texford! That seemed impossible. It must have been a fancy of the dying smuggler. She might, indeed, be proved to belong to a n.o.ble family, and Sir Ralph"s objections to her might be removed; or, on the other hand, her birth might be such, that still greater obstacles might arise, or the proofs, had they existed, might have been removed. Fears and hopes alternately gaining the mastery, she in vain endeavoured to calm her agitation. Miss Mary stood holding her hand, her sightless eyes turned towards the speakers, listening to all that was said; while Miss Jane every now and then threw in a word, gave her advice, or cross-questioned Adam with an acuteness which won the lawyer"s admiration.
As they were still speaking, a dense wreath of smoke, with flickering points of flame rising beneath it, was seen in the direction of the cliff.
"The mill has been set on fire," exclaimed Mr Shallard. "Men ought to have been stationed to guard it. We may yet be in time to save the chest. Not a moment, however, must be lost."
The gardener having been despatched with an order to the fencibles to hasten to the mill, the lawyer, with Harry and Adam, set out in the same direction.
"Oh, Harry, do not run any risk in searching for the chest; far rather would I let the secret be lost," exclaimed May, as Harry sprang down the steps to overtake Mr Shallard and the fisherman.
They met the fencibles on their way to the mill. As they reached the neighbourhood, they found a number of fishermen and others collected round the burning building. There appeared, however, but little prospect of saving it. The flames had got possession of the interior woodwork, and the long arms of the sails were already on fire.
"Never mind the mill," cried a voice from the crowd. "It is the house we must look after," and Jacob appeared with several young men carrying a heavy piece of timber.
A few blows burst open the door, and, in spite of the clouds of smoke rushing out, and the ma.s.ses of burning wood which came crashing down, breaking through the roof already in flames, Jacob and his party boldly dashed in, still carrying their battering-ram. Harry with others followed. They were attacking an interior door. That quickly gave way.
Then suddenly, in the midst of the confusion, several men were seen emerging with a heavy chest, which they carried between them.
"We have got it, Mr Castleton, we have got it," cried Jacob, as several of the bystanders sprang forward to his a.s.sistance.
In another minute the whole house was in a blaze, and the rafters which supported the vault catching fire, the tall mill fell with a loud crash, and a huge fiery ma.s.s alone marked the spot where it had stood.
Enquiries were made for Dusty d.i.c.k. No one had seen him issue from the mill, and it was generally supposed that, following his master"s orders, he had set fire to it, and perished in his attempt to escape.
"If you will restrain your curiosity for a short time, Mr Castleton, we will have the chest carried up to Downside, and examine it there," said Mr Shallard. "It will be a fitter spot than the open Downs."
Plenty of bearers were found, and the old lawyer had some difficulty in keeping pace with them, as, followed by half the population of Hurlston, they bore it up to the Miss Pembertons" cottage.
CHAPTER FIFTY SIX.
SIR Ra.n.a.lD CASTLETON.
Harry, as he galloped off from Texford with the dragoons, had left the party in the house in a state of considerable anxiety.
Several of the other gentlemen had hurried out on foot towards the park-gates, near which they found General Sampson dismounted, and bending over the steward.
"He is alive, I am thankful to say," said the general; "and as I shall have no chance of overtaking Castleton and the dragoons, I shall be of more service in looking after this worthy man."
Mr Grooc.o.c.k was accordingly carried to the Hall by the general, the two n.o.blemen, and Sir John, a footman who had followed them leading the former"s horse.
"Oh, is it Harry?" cried Julia.
No sooner had she uttered the words than Lady Castleton started forward, and would have fallen fainting to the ground had not her husband and Mr Hastings supported her.
Julia"s alarm for her brother"s safety was soon set at rest by the arrival of the party, but it was long before Lady Castleton recovered.
A groom was in the meantime sent off for the surgeon. The general having examined the steward"s wounds, p.r.o.nounced them not likely to prove serious.
The attack of the smugglers, and the pursuit, had aroused Sir Ralph Castleton"s keenest interest, but the presence of Mr Hastings still more disquieted him. There was something in his presence which made a more intimate conversation imperative, and now the baronet, who was unusually pale and agitated, had invited his guest to meet him in his study.
What transpired during the conversation was not known.
The surgeon arrived sooner than expected, the groom having fortunately met him on the road. He corroborated the general"s favourable opinion of Mr Grooc.o.c.k"s wounds.
"The old man seems highly flattered at the way he was brought back to the house by the general and his friends, and I believe it will contribute greatly to his recovery," he observed, smiling.
Lady Castleton appeared, however, much to require the surgeon"s attention. She had remarked the agitation Mr Hastings" appearance had caused her husband, and dreaded the effect it might produce on him. She frequently inquired whether he had yet come out of the study, and Julia could with difficulty prevent her from attempting to get up, and join him there.
The general, who had been bustling about the house, giving directions to the servants, and trying to entertain the other guests, at length entered the drawing-room to which Lady Castleton had been conveyed.
There she lay, still unable to move, on a sofa.
"Oh, General Sampson, who is that terrible man?" she exclaimed, catching a glimpse of the general, who, not aware that she was there, was about to retire.
"They tell me that he is a ruffian called Gaffin, but my friend Harry and the dragoons will soon give a good account of him, I suspect,"
answered the general, not understanding her question.
"The person who is now with Sir Ralph," cried Lady Castleton; "he called himself Mr Hastings."
"I beg your ladyship ten thousand pardons," answered the general. "I had no idea of whom you were speaking. There is nothing terrible about him; he is a most gentlemanly refined person, has evidently mixed in good society all his life. He tells me that I knew him in our younger days, and he is certainly an old acquaintance of Sir Ralph"s."
Julia was perfectly ready to believe the general"s account, and a.s.sisted him at length in sufficiently calming her mother"s fears to induce her to retire to her chamber.
At last the hungry guests, whose dinner had been so long postponed, a.s.sembled in the dining-room, where they were joined by the master of the house and Mr Hastings. Sir Ralph still looked nervous, and instead of exhibiting his usual self-possession, his manner was subdued, and his mind evidently distracted, as he appeared frequently not to have heard the remarks made to him. He treated Mr Hastings with the most marked attention, while he seemed almost at times to forget the presence of the marquis and his other t.i.tled guests. Julia excused herself from coming downstairs on the plea of having to attend to her mother.
The general tried to make amends for Sir Ralph"s want of attention to his guests, and talked away for the whole party.
"I hope, Mr Hastings," said the general, drawing him aside after dinner, "you have convinced my friend Sir Ralph that your gallant son is a fit match for his fair daughter, Miss Julia. I should like to be able to give the young lady a hint to calm her anxiety on the subject."
"I think, my dear general, that her father will no longer object to the match; but I have agreed to retain my incognito till the arrival of my son, whose ship was announced as having reached Spithead yesterday evening, and as I obtained leave for him at the Admiralty, he will come on here at once."
The general, who was as much at home at Texford as at his own house, found means to communicate with Julia, and to give her the satisfactory intelligence.
He was too good a soldier to neglect placing sentinels on the watch during the night, which, however, pa.s.sed without any appearance of the enemy in the neighbourhood of the Hall.
Next morning the marquis and Lord Frederick, who had not been un.o.bservant of what was taking place, though somewhat puzzled, were prepared for the hint which the general conveyed to them, that the heart and hand of Miss Julia Castleton were engaged. Regretting that their stay should have been so short, they paid their respects to the master and mistress of the house, and took their departure, much to Sir Ralph"s satisfaction.
Julia, who had become somewhat alarmed at not hearing of Harry, was much relieved during the course of the morning by receiving a message from him, saying that he was at Downside, and hoped shortly to return to Texford. She hurried to Lady Castleton to inform her, and then went to Sir Ralph, who was alone in his study, engaged in writing. He was so absorbed that he scarcely noticed her entrance. She had to repeat what she had said.
"Foolish boy!" he exclaimed, without expressing any satisfaction. "If he knew the position in which I am placed, he would see that I have greater reason than ever for objecting to his making that match. If a proper pride, and a sense of what is due to his family no longer restrains him, let him understand that his father is a mere beggar, dependent on the will of another, though you have nothing to fear, as I may tell you that he acknowledges your lover as his son, and insists on my sanction to your marriage."
"My dear father," exclaimed Julia, "I had hoped, indeed, that all impediments to my happiness would be removed, but how can that affect you or Harry?"
"You shall know all in time," answered Sir Ralph, gloomily. "Till the arrival of Captain Headland, I am prohibited from saying more. Leave me now, only if you have any feelings of affection and duty you will use your influence with Harry. I do not wish to make an enemy of my only son, but tell him while I live I will never be a party to his committing the rash act he contemplates. Go, girl, go," and Sir Ralph waved his daughter from the room.