"Oh, Sybil!" he groaned, in an agony of despairing love.
"Quick! quick! Lyon! We have but this moment! Strike here now--now, this
instant! Strike first, and then kiss me! kiss me as I die!"
"Sybil! Sybil, darling you wring my heart."
"I am not afraid of death, Lyon; I am only afraid of shame. Kill me, to
save me, Lyon! Be a Roman husband. Slay your wife, to save her from
shame!" she cried, gazing on him with great bright dilated eyes, where
the fires of frenzy, if not of insanity, blazed.
"My best beloved! my only beloved! there can be no shame where there is
no sin. I will save you, Sybil; I swear it by all my hopes of Heaven! I
do not yet see clearly how; but I will do it," he said, solemnly, and
pressing her again to his heart.
"Do it this way! do it this way!" she wildly entreated, never removing
her frenzied eyes from his face.
"No, not that way, Sybil. But listen: there are safe means--sinless
means that we may use for your deliverance. The journey back will be a
long one, broken up by many stoppages at small hamlets and roadside
inns. Escape from these will be comparatively easy. I have also about
me, in money and notes, some five thousand dollars. With those I can
purchase connivance or assistance. Besides, to farther our views, I
shall offer our wagon and horses, which luckily were not sold, but
remain at the livery-stable at Portsmouth--I shall offer them, I say, to
the officer for his use, and try to persuade him to take us down to
Blackville by that conveyance, which will be easier even for him, than
by the public stage coach. Take courage, dear Sybil, and take patience;
and above all, do not think of using any desperate means to escape this
trouble. But trust in Divine Providence. And now, dear Sybil, we must
not try the temper of these officers longer, especially as we have got
to leave the ship before it sails."
And so saying, Lyon Berners beckoned the bailiffs to approach.
"I hope the lady feels better," said the elder one.
"She is more composed, and will go quietly," answered Mr. Berners.
"Then the captain says we must be in a hurry. So if there is anything
you wish to have removed, you had better attend to it at once," said the
man.
"I do not wish to leave the side of my wife for an instant; so if you
would be so kind as to speak to the captain and ask him to have our
luggage removed from our state-room and put upon the boat, I should feel
much obliged."
Leaving his companion in charge of the prisoner, the senior officer went
forward and gave his message. And the captain, with a seaman-like
promptness, immediately executed the order.