“Do not offend Miss Henderson, sir,” interposed Lady Dorothea; “she has equal confidence in their valor and their virtue.”
“What does this mean?--when did she fall into this state?” asked he, eagerly. And although only spoken in a whisper, Lady Dorothea overheard them, and said,--“Let _her_ tell you. She can give you the very fullest explanation.”
“But, Dora, this is no time for trifling; we are here, in the midst of an enraged populace and a maddened soldiery. There, listen!--that was artillery; and now, hear!--the bells of the churches are sounding the alarm.”
“They are ringing the knell of the Monarchy!” said Kate, solemnly.
A hoarse, wild shout--aery like that of enraged wild beasts--arose from the Place beneath, and all rushed to the window to see what had occurred. It was a charge of heavy cavalry endeavoring to force the barricade; and now, vigorously repulsed by the defenders, men and horses were rolling on the ground in terrible confusion, while on the barricade itself a hand-to-hand conflict was raging.
“Sharp work, by George!” said a voice behind Kate's shoulder. She turned and saw Captain Martin, who had just joined them unobserved.
“I thought you many a mile away,” said Kate, in a whisper.
“So I should have been,” replied he, in the same tone, “but I was n't going to lose this. I knew it was to come off to-day, and I thought it would have been a thousand pities to be absent.”
“And are your wishes, then, with these gallant fellows?” said she, eagerly. “Do I hear you aright, that it was to aid them you remained? There! see how they bear down on the soldiery; they will not be restrained; they are crossing the barricade, and charging with the bayonet. It is only for liberty that men can fight thus. Oh that I were a man, to be amongst them!”
A stray shot from beneath here struck the architrave above their heads, and sent down a mass of plaster over them.
“Come, Dora, this is needless peril,” said Martin, drawing her within the room. “If you will not leave this, at least do not expose yourself unnecessarily.”
“But it is exactly to get away--to escape while there is time--that I came for,” said the Captain. “They tell me that the mob are getting the best of it, and, worse again, that the troops are joining them; so, to make sure, I 've sent off Fenton to the post for horses, and I 'm expecting him every moment. But here he is. Well, have you got the horses?”