"I have no time to listen," replied Sir Francis, and pushed past him. Mr. Driesen, however, followed him beyond the door, and caught him by the arm again, saying:--
"Nay, but you _shall_ listen to me, Tyrrell."
"Then you shall listen to me first, sir," replied Sir Francis, while his eyes flashed fire at feeling himself forcibly detained. "Let me tell you a secret, Mr. Driesen, which it may be convenient for you to know, let me tell you a secret!"
Mr. Driesen bent down his head to listen with a cynical smile upon his countenance; but whatever it was that Sir Francis said to him, it banished all smiles in a moment, and turned him very pale.
"I will not believe," he replied, "that you could act so ungentlemanly a part."
"You will see, sir, you will see," rejoined the baronet, with a menacing air, and breaking from him, he dashed into the wood by the selfsame path his son had taken.
When he was gone, Mr. Driesen stood in the midst of the lawn, putting his hand more than once to his head, as if the sun incommoded him. The butler who saw him, wisely ran and brought him his hat, which he took, still remaining in a deep fit of thought.
"You are right," he said at length, putting on the hat; "I had better go after them, for they are in a terrible state."
Thus saying, he walked on toward the corner of the wood, but there paused for a full minute, as if still undecided what to do. He then went on along the path, but not long after returned, and, walking into the library, paused for a moment in thought, and then went up to his own room; after which he soon came down again apparently quite satisfied that everything would resume its own course when the momentary storm had blown over.
About an hour after, while he was still sitting there, with the newspaper in his hand, Charles Tyrrell entered in haste and evident agitation. He said nothing to Mr. Driesen, who only looked up, for a moment, from the paper, but passed on to his own room, where he locked himself in, and remained for some time alone.
Not half an hour more had elapsed, when one of the gardeners was seen running across the lawn at full speed toward the house, and with the interval of a minute, five or six of the men-servants issued forth with the gardener, carrying a sofa between them. There was a great commotion in various parts of the house, a running to and fro, the voice of many tongues, and even the maids gathering round the door that opened into the front vestibule. All their eyes were turned in one particular direction, and at the end of about twenty minutes, the men were seen returning, bearing upon the sofa the form of some person, who seemed, from the sad and careful manner in which he was carried, to have received severe injuries.