ot
know what you mean, sir. I shall go up to town at once and see Harbury
about this matter. It is in his hands----"

"Not now," interposed Hubert. "The Queen----"

"The Queen will hear reason, sir! I will make my way to her presence,
and speak to her myself. She will not refuse the prayer of an old man
who has served his country as long and as faithfully as I have done. I
will tell her the story myself, and she will see justice done--justice
on the man who murdered my brother!"

His voice grew louder and his breath came in choking gasps between the
words. His face was purple, the veins on his forehead were swollen and
his eyes bloodshot; with one hand he was leaning on the table, with the
other he gesticulated violently, shaking the closed fist almost in
Hubert's face, as if he mistook him for the murderer himself. It was a
pitiable sight. The old man had completely lost his self-command, and
his venerable white hairs and bowed form accentuated the harrowing
effect which his burst of passion produced upon his hearers. Hubert
stood silent, spell-bound, as it seemed, with sorrow and dismay; but
Miss Vane, shaking off her unwonted timidity, went up to her brother and
laid her hand upon his outstretched quivering arm.

"Richard, Richard, do not speak in that way!" she said. "It is not
Christian--it is not even human. You are not a man who would wish to
take away a fellow-creature's life or to rob him of a chance of
repentance."

The General's hand fell, but his eyes flamed with the look of an
infuriated beast of prey as he turned them on Miss Leonora.

"You are a woman," he said harshly, "and, as a woman, you may be weak;
but I am a man and a soldier, and would die for the honor of my family.
Not take away that man's life? I swear to you that, if I had him here, I
would kill him with my own hands! Does not the Scripture tell us that a
life shall be given for a life?"

"It tells us that vengeance is the Lord's, Richard, and that He will
repay."

"Yes--by the hands of His servants, Leonora. Are you so base as not to
desire the punishment of your brother's murderer! If so, never speak to
me, never come near my house again! And you, young gentleman, get ready
to come with me to London at once! I will see Harbury before the day is
over."

"My dear General," said Hubert, looking exceedingly perplexed, "I think
that you will hardly find Harbury in town. I heard yesterday that he was
leaving London for a few days."