Well, as I was about to say, we had everything ready, and
the night was set; and then, all of a sudden, Phil Winwood swoops down
on me; treats me in a most unbrotherly fashion, I must say" (Ned cast
an oblique look at his embarrassed shoulder); "and alarmed the camp.
And when the British party rode up, instead of catching Washington
they caught hell. And I leave it to you, sir, whether your daughter
there, after playing the traitor to her husband's cause, for the sake
of her lover; didn't turn around and play the traitor to her own game,
for the benefit of her husband, and the ruin of her brother. Such
damnableness!"
"'For the sake of her lover,'" Mr. Faringfield repeated. "What do you
mean by that, sir?" The phrase, indeed, had given us all a
disagreeable start.
"What I say, sir. How could he be otherwise? I guessed it before; and
I became sure of it this evening, from the way he spoke of her at
General Knyphausen's quarters."
"What a lie!" cried Margaret. "Captain Falconer is a gentleman; he's
not of a kind to talk about women who have given him no reason to do
so. 'Tis ridiculous! You maligning villain!"
"Oh, 'twasn't what he said, my dear; 'twas his manner whenever he
mentioned you. When a man like him handles a woman's name so
delicate-like, as if 'twas glass and might break--so grave-like, as if
she was a sacred subject--it means she's put herself on his
generosity.
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