dread, of his sister's marrying, and of his thus being forced to divide
everything--all his spoil, with some confounded stranger. But for her
to marry a shopkeeper's son, in the very village in which he lived, was
more than he could bear. He could never hold up his head in the county
again. And then, he thought of his debts, and tried to calculate
whether he might get over to France without paying them, and be able to
carry his share of the property with him; and so he went on, pursuing
his wretched, uneasy, solitary ride, sometimes sauntering along at a
snail's pace, and then again spurring the poor brute, and endeavouring
to bring his mind to some settled plan. But, whenever he did so, the
idea of his sister's death was the only one which seemed to present
either comfort or happiness.

He made up his mind, at last, to put a bold face on the matter; to find
out from Anty herself whether there was any truth in the story; and,
if there should be,--for he felt confident she would not be able to
deceive him,--to frighten her and the whole party of the Kellys out of
what he considered a damnable conspiracy to rob him of his father's
property,

He got off his horse, and stalked into the house. On inquiry, he found
that Anty was in her own room. He was sorry she was not out; for, to
tell the truth, he was rather anxious to put off the meeting, as he
did not feel himself quite up to the mark, and was ashamed of seeming
afraid of her. He went into the stable, and abused the groom; into the
kitchen, and swore at the maid; and then into the garden. It was a
nasty, cold, February day, and he walked up and down the damp muddy
walks till he was too tired and cold to walk longer, and then turned
into the parlour, and remained with his back to the fire, till the man
came in to lay the cloth, thinking on the one subject that occupied all