Willy Reilly: The Works of William Carleton, Volume OneCarleton, William
General
Willy Reilly: The Works of William Carleton, Volume One
Carleton, William
Ireland -- Social life and customs -- Fiction
Doldrum did see her, and was astonished at the striking change which
had, in so short a time, taken place in her appearance. She was pale,
and exhibited all the symptoms of an invalid, with the exception of her
eyes, which were not merely brilliant, but dazzling, and full of a
fire that flashed from them with something like triumph whenever her
attention was directed to the purport of her testimony. On this subject
they saw that it; would be quite useless, and probably worse than
useless, to press her, and they did not, consequently, put her to the
necessity of specifying the purport of her evidence.
“I have already stated,” said she, “that I shall attend the trial; that
ought, and must be, sufficient for you. I beg, then, you will withdraw,
sir. My improved health will enable me to attend, and you may rest
assured that if I have life I shall be there, as I have already told
you; but, I say, that if you wish to press me for the nature of my
evidence, you shall have it, and, as she spoke, her eyes flashed
fearfully, as they were in the habit of doing whenever she felt deeply
excited. Folliard himself became apprehensive of the danger which might
result from the discussion of any subject calculated to disturb her,
and insisted that she should be allowed to take her own way. In the
meantime, after they had left her, at her own request, her father
informed the attorney that she was getting both strong and cheerful, in
spite of her looks.
“To be sure,” said he, “she is pale! but that's only natural, after her
recent slight attack, and all the excitement and agitation she has for
some time past undergone. She sings and plays now, although I have heard
neither a song nor a tune from her for a long time past. In the
evening, too, she is exceedingly cheerful when we sit together in the
drawing-room; and she often laughs more heartily than I ever knew her to
do before in my life. Now, do you think, Doldrum, if she was breaking
her heart about Reilly that she would be in such spirits?”
“No, sir; she would be melancholy and silent, and would neither sing,
nor laugh, nor play; at least I felt, so when I was in love with Miss
Swithers, who kept me in a state of equilibrium for better than two
years;--but that wasn't the worst of it, for she knocked the loyalty
clean out of me besides--indeed, so decidedly so that I never once sang
'Lillibullero' during the whole period of my attachment, and be hanged
to her.”
“And what became of her?”
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