Leicester only bowed low in answer to this rebuke, and retired. At the
door of the apartment he was met by Varney, who eagerly drew him apart,
and whispered in his ear, "All is well!"
"Has Masters seen her?" said the Earl.
"He has, my lord; and as she would neither answer his queries, nor
allege any reason for her refusal, he will give full testimony that she
labours under a mental disorder, and may be best committed to the charge
of her friends. The opportunity is therefore free to remove her as we
proposed."
"But Tressilian?" said Leicester.
"He will not know of her departure for some time," replied Varney; "it
shall take place this very evening, and to-morrow he shall be cared
for."
"No, by my soul," answered Leicester; "I will take vengeance on him with
mine own hand!"
"You, my lord, and on so inconsiderable a man as Tressilian! No, my
lord, he hath long wished to visit foreign parts. Trust him to me--I
will take care he returns not hither to tell tales."
"Not so, by Heaven, Varney!" exclaimed Leicester. "Inconsiderable do you
call an enemy that hath had power to wound me so deeply that my whole
after-life must be one scene of remorse and misery?--No; rather than
forego the right of doing myself justice with my own hand on that
accursed villain, I will unfold the whole truth at Elizabeth's
footstool, and let her vengeance descend at once on them and on myself."
Varney saw with great alarm that his lord was wrought up to such a pitch
of agitation, that if he gave not way to him he was perfectly capable of
adopting the desperate resolution which he had announced, and which was
instant ruin to all the schemes of ambition which Varney had formed
for his patron and for himself. But the Earl's rage seemed at once
uncontrollable and deeply concentrated, and while he spoke his eyes
shot fire, his voice trembled with excess of passion, and the light foam
stood on his lip.
His confidant made a bold and successful effort to obtain the mastery of
him even in this hour of emotion. "My lord," he said, leading him to
a mirror, "behold your reflection in that glass, and think if these
agitated features belong to one who, in a condition so extreme, is
capable of forming a resolution for himself."
"What, then, wouldst thou make me?" said Leicester, struck at the change
in his own physiognomy, though offended at the freedom with which Varney
made the appeal. "Am I to be thy ward, thy vassal,--the property and
subject of my servant?"