“I'd say, very favorable,--very favorable, indeed. I remarked that he always spoke so freely, so liberally. Twice or thrice, too, he said, 'If the Papists do this, that, or t' other;' and when the Colonel asked whether the Catholics of Ireland submitted implicitly to Rome in all things, he laughed heartily, and said, 'About as much as we do to the Cham of Tartary!' “'I 'd like to examine our friend there before the Committee,' whispered an old gentleman at the Colonel's right hand. “'It was the very thing was passing through my own mind at the minute,' said the Colonel. “'That's exactly the kind of thing we want,' said the old gentleman again,--'a bold, straightforward denial; something that would tell admirably with the House! Present me to your friend, Massingbred!' And then the Chief Secretary said, 'The Member for Strudeham--Mr. Crutch-ley--is very desirous of being known to you, Mr. Rafferty.' And there was great smiling, and bowing, and drinking wine together after that.” Martin now re-entered the room, and taking his place at the table, sat for some minutes in moody silence. “Well,” said Repton, “what does my Lady think of your tidings?” “She says she does n't believe it!” “Does n't believe that these people dined with Massingbred; that Crow saw them, heard them, dined with them?” “No, no,--not that,” said Martin, gently, and laying his hand familiarly on Crow's arm. “Don't mistake me; nor don't let Repton play the lawyer with us, and pervert the evidence. Lady Dorothea can't believe that her distinguished relative, the Viceroy, would ever countenance this game; that--that--in fact, we're to dine there, Repton, and see for ourselves! Though,” added he, after a brief pause, “what we are to see, or what we are to do when we 've seen it, I wish anybody would tell me!” “Then I 'll be that man!” said Repton, with a mock solemnity, and imitating the tone and manner of a judge delivering sentence. “You 'll go from this place to the Lodge, where you 'll be fed 'to the neck,' feasted and flattered, and all your good resolves and high purposes will be cut down, and your noble indignation buried within the precincts of your own hearts!” And, so saying, he arose from the table and extended his hand to take leave, with all the gravity of a solemn farewell. “If you could say a word to his Excellency about Moses,” muttered Crow, as he was leaving the room, “it would be the making of me!” But Martin never heeded the appeal; perhaps he never heard it. CHAPTER XXVII. DARKENING FORTUNES