“Yes; do you agree with this plan?” asked Martin, approaching her. “Look!” cried she, eagerly, and not heeding the question; “the troops are rapidly joining the people,--they come in numbers now,--and yonder is an officer in his uniform.” “Shame on him!” exclaimed Lady Dorothea, indignantly. “So say I too,” said Kate. “He who wears a livery should not assume the port and bearing of a free man. This struggle is for liberty, and should only be maintained by the free!” “How are we to pass these barricades?” cried Martin, anxiously. “I will be your guide, sir, if that be all,” said Kate. “You may trust me. I promise no more than I can perform.” “She speaks truly,” said Lady Dorothea. “Alas that we should see the day when we cannot reject the aid!” “There is a matter I want to speak to you about,” said Martin, drawing his father aside, and speaking in a low, confidential tone. “Massingbred--Jack Massingbred--is now here, in my room. I know all about my mother's dislike to him, and _he_ knows it; indeed, he has as much as owned to me that he deserved it all. But what is to be done? We cannot leave him here.” “How came he to be here?” asked Martin. “He accompanied me from the Club, where, in an altercation of some sort, he had just involved himself in a serious quarrel. He came here to be ready to start this morning for Versailles, where the meeting was to take place; but indeed he had no thought of accepting shelter under our roof; and when he found where he was, it was with the greatest difficulty I could persuade him to enter. None of us anticipated such a serious turn of affairs as this; and now, of course, a meeting will be scarcely possible. What are we to do with him?” “Ask him frankly to join us if we obtain the horses.” “But my mother?” “I 'll speak to her,--but it were better you did it, Harry. These are not times to weigh scruples and balance difficulties. I don't myself think that Massingbred treated us fairly, but it is not now I 'd like to remember it. There, go; tell her what you have told me, and all will be well.” The Captain drew nigh Lady Dorothea, and, leaning over her chair, whispered to her for some minutes. At first, a slight gesture of impatience burst from her, but afterwards she seemed to hear him calmly and tranquilly. “It would seem as though the humiliations of this night are never to have an end,” said she, with a sigh. “But I'll bear my share of them.” “Remember,” said the other, “that it was by no choice of _his_ he came here. His foot was on the threshold before he suspected it.” “Miss Henderson sent me, my Lady,” said a servant, entering hastily, “to say that there is not a minute to be lost. They are expecting an attack on the barricade in the Rue de la Paix, and we ought to pass through at once.” “By whose orders?” began she, haughtily; then, checking herself suddenly, and in a voice weak and broken, added: “I am ready. Give me your arm, Harry, and do not leave me. Where is Mr. Martin?” asked she.