ptain Clayton. His mind had been altogether devoted to his work,
and amidst that work the trial of Pat Carroll had stood prominent.
"He and I are equally eager, or at any rate equally anxious;" he
had said to Edith, speaking of her brother, when he had met her
subsequent to the ball. "But the time is coming soon, and we shall
know all about it in another six weeks." This was said in June, and
the trial was to take place in August.

CHAPTER XXVI.

LORD CASTLEWELL.

The spring and early summer had worn themselves away in London, and
Rachel O'Mahony was still singing at the Embankment Theatre. She and
her father were still living in Cecil Street. The glorious day of
October, which had been fixed at last for the 24th, on which Rachel
was to appear on the Covent Garden boards, was yet still distant, and
she was performing under Mr. Moss's behests at a weekly stipend of
L15, to which there would be some addition when the last weeks of the
season had come about, the end of July and beginning of August. But,
alas! Rachel hardly knew what she would do to support herself during
the dead months from August to October. "Fashionable people always go
out of town, father," she said.

"Then let us be fashionable."

"Fashionable people go to Scotland, but they won't take one in there
without money. We shan't have L50 left when our debts are paid. And
L50 would do nothing for us."

"They've stopped me altogether," said Mr. O'Mahony. "At any rate
they have stopped the money-making part of the business. They have
threatened to take the man's license away, and therefore that place
is shut up."

"Isn't that unjust, father?"

"Unjust! Everything done in England as to Ireland is unjust. They
carried an Act of Parliament the other day, when in accordance with
the ancient privileges of members it was within the power of a dozen
stalwart Irishmen to stop it. The dozen stalwart Irishmen were there,
but they were silenced by a brutal majority. The dozen Irishmen were
turned out of the House, one after the other, in direct opposition to
the ancient privileges; and so a Bill was passed robbing five million
Irishmen of their liberties. So gross an injustice was never before
perpetrated--not even when the bribed members sold their country and
effected the accursed Union."

"I know that was very bad, father, but the bribes were taken by
Irishmen. Be that as it may, what are we to do with ourselves next
autumn?"

"The only thing fo