The Midnight Queen [41]
have you left your horse?"
"I told you before," said Sir Norman, rather impatiently, "I that
I have seen nothing - at least, nothing you would care about; and
my horse is waiting me at the Golden Crown."
"Very well, we have no time to lose; so get there as fast as you
can, and mount him and ride as if the demon were after you back
to London."
"Back to London? Is the man crazy? I shall do no such thing,
let me tell you, to-night."
"Oh, just as you please," said Ormiston, with a great deal of
indifference, considering the urgent nature of his former
request. "You can do as you like, you know, and so can I - which
translated, means, I will go and tell her you have declined to
come."
"Tell her? Tell whom? What are you talking about? Hang it,
man!" exclaimed Sir Norman, getting somewhat excited and profane,
"what are you driving at? Can't you speak out and tell me at
once?"
"I have told you!" said Ormiston, testily: "and I tell you again,
she sent me in search of you, and if you don't choose to come,
that's your own affair, and not mine."
This was a little too mach for Sir Norman's overwrought feelings,
and in the last degree of exasperation, he laid violent hands on
the collar of Ormiston's doublet let, and shook him as if be
would have shaken the name out with a jerk.
"I tell you what it is, Ormiston, you had better not aggravate
me! I can stand a good deal, but I'm not exactly Moses or Job,
and you had better mind what you're at. If you don't come to the
point at once, and tell me who I she is, I'll throttle you where
you stand; and so give you warning."
Half-indignant, and wholly laughing, Ormiston stepped back out of
the way of his excited friend.
"I cry you mercy! In one word, then, I have been dispatched by a
lady in search of you, and that lady is - Leoline."
It has always been one of the inscrutable mysteries in natural
philosophy that I never could fathom, why men do not faint.
Certain it is, I never yet heard of s man swooning from excess of
surprise or joy, and perhaps that may account for Sir Norman's
not doing so on the present occasion. But he came to an abrupt
stand-still in their rapid career; and if it had not been quite
so excessively dark, his friend would have beheld a countenance
wonderful to look on, in its mixture of utter astonishment and
sublime consternation.
"Leoline!" he faintly gasped. "Just atop a moment, Ormiston, and
say that again - will you?"
"No," said Ormiston, hurrying unconcernedly on; "I shall do no
such thing, for there is no time to lose, and if there were I
have no fancy for standing in this dismal road. Come on, man,
and I'll tell you as we go."
Thus abjured, and seeing there was no help for it, Sir Norman, in
a dazed and bewildered state, complied; and Ormiston promptly and
briskly relaxed into business.
"You see, my dear fellow, to begin at the beginning, after you
left, I stood at ease at La Masque's door, awaiting that lady's
return, and was presently rewarded by seeing her come up with an
old woman called Prudence. Do you recollect the woman who rushed
screaming out of the home of the dead bride?"
"Yes, yes!"
"Well, that was Prudence. She and La Masque were talking so
earnestly they did not perceive me, and I - well, the fast is,
Kingsley, I stayed and listened. Not a very handsome thing,
perhaps, but I couldn't resist it. They were talking of some one
they called Leoline, and I, in a moment, knew that it was your
flame, and that neither of them knew any more of her whereabouts
than we did."
"And yet La Masque told me to come here in search of her,"
interrupted Sir Norman.
"Very true! That was odd - wasn't it? This Prudence, it
appears, was Leoline's nurse, and La Masque, too, seemed to have
a certain authority over her; and between them, I learned she was
to have been married
"I told you before," said Sir Norman, rather impatiently, "I that
I have seen nothing - at least, nothing you would care about; and
my horse is waiting me at the Golden Crown."
"Very well, we have no time to lose; so get there as fast as you
can, and mount him and ride as if the demon were after you back
to London."
"Back to London? Is the man crazy? I shall do no such thing,
let me tell you, to-night."
"Oh, just as you please," said Ormiston, with a great deal of
indifference, considering the urgent nature of his former
request. "You can do as you like, you know, and so can I - which
translated, means, I will go and tell her you have declined to
come."
"Tell her? Tell whom? What are you talking about? Hang it,
man!" exclaimed Sir Norman, getting somewhat excited and profane,
"what are you driving at? Can't you speak out and tell me at
once?"
"I have told you!" said Ormiston, testily: "and I tell you again,
she sent me in search of you, and if you don't choose to come,
that's your own affair, and not mine."
This was a little too mach for Sir Norman's overwrought feelings,
and in the last degree of exasperation, he laid violent hands on
the collar of Ormiston's doublet let, and shook him as if be
would have shaken the name out with a jerk.
"I tell you what it is, Ormiston, you had better not aggravate
me! I can stand a good deal, but I'm not exactly Moses or Job,
and you had better mind what you're at. If you don't come to the
point at once, and tell me who I she is, I'll throttle you where
you stand; and so give you warning."
Half-indignant, and wholly laughing, Ormiston stepped back out of
the way of his excited friend.
"I cry you mercy! In one word, then, I have been dispatched by a
lady in search of you, and that lady is - Leoline."
It has always been one of the inscrutable mysteries in natural
philosophy that I never could fathom, why men do not faint.
Certain it is, I never yet heard of s man swooning from excess of
surprise or joy, and perhaps that may account for Sir Norman's
not doing so on the present occasion. But he came to an abrupt
stand-still in their rapid career; and if it had not been quite
so excessively dark, his friend would have beheld a countenance
wonderful to look on, in its mixture of utter astonishment and
sublime consternation.
"Leoline!" he faintly gasped. "Just atop a moment, Ormiston, and
say that again - will you?"
"No," said Ormiston, hurrying unconcernedly on; "I shall do no
such thing, for there is no time to lose, and if there were I
have no fancy for standing in this dismal road. Come on, man,
and I'll tell you as we go."
Thus abjured, and seeing there was no help for it, Sir Norman, in
a dazed and bewildered state, complied; and Ormiston promptly and
briskly relaxed into business.
"You see, my dear fellow, to begin at the beginning, after you
left, I stood at ease at La Masque's door, awaiting that lady's
return, and was presently rewarded by seeing her come up with an
old woman called Prudence. Do you recollect the woman who rushed
screaming out of the home of the dead bride?"
"Yes, yes!"
"Well, that was Prudence. She and La Masque were talking so
earnestly they did not perceive me, and I - well, the fast is,
Kingsley, I stayed and listened. Not a very handsome thing,
perhaps, but I couldn't resist it. They were talking of some one
they called Leoline, and I, in a moment, knew that it was your
flame, and that neither of them knew any more of her whereabouts
than we did."
"And yet La Masque told me to come here in search of her,"
interrupted Sir Norman.
"Very true! That was odd - wasn't it? This Prudence, it
appears, was Leoline's nurse, and La Masque, too, seemed to have
a certain authority over her; and between them, I learned she was
to have been married