restore something like order to his chamber, as a means of avoiding
the rumors that would be circulated by the servants; to write some
letters,--the last, perhaps, he should ever indite; to dress and appear
among his company; to send for some one with whom he might confer as to
his affairs,--such were the impulses that alternately swayed him, and
to which he yielded by turns; now seating himself at his table;
now hastening hither and thither, tossing over the motley livery of
distasteful pleasure, or handling, with the rapture of revenge, the
weapons by which he hoped to wreak his vengeance. The only fear that
dwelt upon his mind was, lest Linton should escape him,--lest, by any
accident, this, which now appeared the great business of his life,
should go unacquired. Sometimes he reproached himself for having
postponed the hour of vengeance, not knowing what chances might
intervene, what accidents interrupt the course of his sworn revenge.
Fortune, wealth, station, love itself had no hold upon him; it was
that mad frame of mind where one sole thought predominates, and, in
its mastery, makes all else subordinate. Would Linton be true to
the rendezvous?--Could such a man be a coward?--Would he compass
the vengeance he had threatened by other means? were questions that
constantly occurred to his mind.

If the sounds of music and the clangor of festivity did break in upon
this mood from time to time, it was but to convey some indistinct and
shadowy impression of the inconsistency between his sad brooding and the
scene by which he was surrounded,--between the terrible conflict within
him and the wild gayety of those who wasted no thought upon him.

CHAPTER XXVII. MURDER OF MR. KENNYFECK--CASHEL DETAINED ON SUSPICION.

"Amid their feasting and their joy
A cry of 'Blood!' was heard."

It was past midnight, and the scene within the walls of Tubbermore
was one of the most brilliant festivity. All that could fascinate
by beauty,--all that could dazzle by splendor, or amuse by fancy, or
enliven by wit, were there, stimulated by that atmosphere of pleasure
in which they moved. Loveliness elevated by costume, gayety exalted into
exuberant joyousness by the impulse of a thousand high-beating hearts,
passed and repassed, and mingled together, till they formed that
brilliant assemblage wherein individuality is lost, and the memory
carries away nothing but dreamy images of enjoyment, visions of liquid
eyes and silky