"Alice," said Lucy, "this is shocking; if you love me, leave the room."

"Love you! miss," replied the indignant but faithful girl, bursting into
bitter tears; "love you!--merciful heaven, wouldn't I give my life for
you?--who that knows you doesn't love you? and it's for that reason that
I don't wish to see you murdhered--nor won't. Come, sir, you must let
her out of this marriage. It'll be no go, I tell you. I won't suffer it,
so long as I've strength and life. I'll dash myself between them. I'll
make the ole clergyman skip if he attempts it; ay, and what's more, I'll
see Dandy Dulcimer, and we'll collect a faction."

"Do not hold me, Lucy," said her father; "I must certainly put her out
of the room."

"Don't, papa," replied Lucy, restraining him from laying hands upon her,
"don't, for the sake of honor and manhood. Alice, for heaven's sake!
if you love me, as I said, and I now add, if you respect me, leave the
room. You will provoke papa past endurance."

"Not a single toe, miss, till he promises to let you cut o' this match.
Oh, my good man," she said, addressing the struggling baronet, "if
you're for fighting, here I am I for you; or wait," she added, whipping
up one of the pistols, "Come, now, if you're a man; take your ground
there. Now I can meet you on equal terms; get to the corner there, the
distance is short enough; but no matther, you're a good mark. Come, now,
don't think I'm the bit of goods to be afeard o' you--it's not the first
jewel I've seen in my time, and remember that my name is Mahon"--and she
posted herself in the corner, as if to take her ground. "Come, now,"
she repeated, "you called me a 'brazen jade' awhile ago, and I demand
satisfaction."

"Alice," said Lucy, "you will injure yourself or others, if you do not
lay that dangerous weapon down. For God's sake, Alice, lay it aside--it
is loaded."

"Deuce a bit o' danger, miss," replied the indignant heroine. "I know
more about fire-arms than you think; my brothers used to have them to
protect the house. I'll soon see, at any rate, whether it's loaded or
not."

While speaking she whipped out the ramrod, and, making the experiment
found, that it was empty.

"Ah," she exclaimed, "you desateful old tyrant: and so you came down
blusterin' and bullyin', and frightenin' your child into compliance,
with a pair of empty pistols! By the life in my body, if I had you in
Ballytrain, I'd post you."

"Papa," said Lucy, "you must excuse this--it i