Charles Tyrrell; or, The Bitter Blood. Volumes I and IIJames, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)
General
Charles Tyrrell; or, The Bitter Blood. Volumes I and II
James, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)
England -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction; Murder -- Fiction
"Oh! no sir!" answered the servant, "but a constable has been up from
the governor of the prison, who is searching Mrs. Effingham's. He said
the governor would not come up himself, for he did not think my young
master would come here; and the man saw clearly enough that we had not
seen him by our faces. He said, however, he had orders to hang about
the park, and see whether he came there."
"Send one of the gamekeepers to take him as a poacher, directly," said
Mr. Driesen. "Bid Wise go: he is deaf, and will not attend to what the
man says. The object is, to get him out of the way for two or three
hours."
The servant seemed to understand in a moment, the gamekeepers were
sent out, the unfortunate constable seized, upon the pretence that he
was poaching, and spent several hours in durance, till Mr. Driesen
thought that he might in safety be set at liberty.
We are already aware, however, that Charles Tyrrell met with no
interruption in effecting his flight, and we shall therefore pause no
longer upon the indignation of the constable, or upon the anger of the
governor of the prison. Mr. Driesen, for his part, appeared highly
delighted that the escape had taken place, and walked up and down the
room the greater part of the night, in a state of agitation unusual
with him.
On the following morning, however, he relapsed into gloom and sadness,
and so strange was the effect produced upon him by the agitation of
mind, to which he was so little accustomed, that his corporeal health
seemed to suffer. It was in vain that the cook employed her utmost
skill; he seemed to loathe his food, and could scarcely prevail upon
himself to eat above two or three mouthfuls at a time. His taste
indeed for wine was not gone, and he drank willingly and much of the
choicest produce of Sir Francis Tyrrell's cellar. It seemed, however,
to heat without exhilarating him. He had always been meager, but he
now became thinner than ever. He learned to stoop a good deal, and his
footsteps were remarked to be wavering and uneven. The mourning suit,
too, which he wore, ill made, in the haste of the moment, made him
look thinner and worse in health, than might otherwise have been the
case; and many who saw him took the opportunity of moralizing, and
making themselves wise in their own conceit, by showing the
unfruitfulness of wealth, as displayed in the case of Mr. Driesen, who
had scarcely become possessed of riches when health, the more
inestimable blessing, was denied him.
At length, however, one night as he was sitting down about to take his
coffee, a note was put into his hand, the contents of which made him
start, and turn pale. He read it over twice, however, and it may be as
well to give here the few words which produced that effect. It
began:--
"MY DEAR MR. DRIESEN,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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