“Not exactly so,” said L’Isle, a good deal flattered at this speech.  “He has indeed tasked me well, at times doing other men’s work; but it is all in a good cause, you know; and I never objected to these tasks till now—­My Lord, I hear, set out for Alcantara early this morning, taking Bradshawe and Conway with him.”

“Yes! they rode merrily off this morning,” said Lady Mabel in a gay tone.  “A summons to Alcantara breaks the monotony of their life here, and they were eager to meet Sir Rowland.  I hear that these conferences with his officers always conclude with a capital dinner.  That sallow Major Conway, with his fastidious appetite, and his Calcutta liver, will appreciate the excellence of the cuisine.  I have heard Colonel Bradshawe dilate, with enthusiasm, on Sir Rowland’s choice selection of wines.  Papa, too, will meet some new people there, which will give him an opportunity of once more undergoing his three years of siege, famine, and bombardment in Gibraltar thirty years ago, and of uttering a new edition to the expedition to Egypt, in which he will again put Sir Ralph Abercromby to a glorious death in the arms of victory.  They tell me, Sir Rowland, too, dearly loves these occasions for repeating his favorite lecture on strategy and grand tactics.  But you must have heard it so often, that you can repeat it verbatim to me, if you have nothing more entertaining to say.”

“I hope I could find topics more agreeable to us both,” said L’Isle, laughing and blushing.  “But unluckily I have in my pocket Sir Rowland’s order to meet him there, and have intelligence he is waiting for.  I am afraid he will have to wait.”

“I am afraid, he will,” said Lady Mabel, coolly, “for I do not see how you are to get out of the house now.  By this time Moodie has bolted, barred, and locked every door and window below, hidden the keys, and gone to bed in his usual condition.  He never can find them again, until his head gets clear in the morning.”

“What!” exclaimed L’Isle, “that respectable old man drunk every night!”

“Not every night!” said Lady Mabel.  “But have you forgotten in what condition he came back with us from Evora?”

“True.  But I thought that an accident, and more the effect of sickness than drinking.  He seemed quite sober when you came home, and a graver and more sedate man I do not know.”

“O, he is a Presbyterian, you know, and the more liquor he swallows the graver and more sanctimonious he becomes.”

“That may be.  Still Lady Mabel, I must find some way of getting out of the house.  Already I shall be too late at Alcantara.”

“I am afraid Sir Rowland will not drink in your news at breakfast.  But if it be good, it will come in capitally after dinner, by way of dessert.”

“After dinner!” said L’Isle hurriedly.  “I must be there many hours before that!”

“Then I am sorry to have kept you here so long.  I suppose Jenny and I must keep watch by ourselves all night, for I cannot keep those heavy-headed fellows awake.”