Fabiola : or, The church of the catacombs - Digital Repository Services

I
!hat end ns expressions of
Mr. liennet hud ii ut of 1m case,
r good-will, nor energy, nor ku w't-dgp, nor mo;,
LT. Publicity was courted; and far and wide, through
.ina, when lence could
vrepapers could penetrate, the account of this murid
the whole story of the life of the suspected man was
I'd to and talked about.
( ho throne of grace.
rememberad Peter at Mass. Holy Communions were
d up for him by the people.
:
Mrs. Pomvanu; had desired that no effort should be spared;
had written a note to Mrs. Beauchamp, and she
i it if by Faille;- Joseph for Peter to r. ad. And while this
man waited through the days and weeks before his trial could
there.
failed him ;
. >rds that had been said to him seemed to fill the air
i him, aa if angels were whispering
these consolations
v. as a man who could not be idle. His love of reading
under the circumstances in which he lived he could
not give his mind to outside things, but his love of drawing
came to his help. There was a touch of sadness about the
. too.
The drawing might be something to leave
.it headlands stretching out in o the sea,
the priest's house, the church, and the church-yard with the
cross that marked where the mortal part of Colonel Penwarne
d for the resurrection of the just.
])< ling these occupied his evenings. His days now had
ul interviews in them interviews with Mr. Bennet and
men of law, who never argued on the theory of his inee,
as it appeared to him ; but always as if ho were
. e his life.
At this time of severest trial Peter reaped the fruit of a life
id company, and blessed by habitual acts of piety.
There were no evil memories nor bad thoughts to interrupt
the inpourings of divine grace. When a good thought came
to him it came in its own purity ; and not an idle habit nor
any pmc-.ice of vicious self-indulgence ever came in the way
[i him in his prayers or to prevent him from the perfor-
cept its results. Every help, spirit r
But the ge ing was that In- .
U'TEli VI.
rHy.
As soon as Petw was committed for trial the Misa L
had sent for Mr. Breward.
They had lr d a profound talk together as to who were to be
employed iu Peter's ease. Lady Edith May had also written
for her aunt on this point. It was understood that n
trouble nor money was to be spared to do all that could be
done for Peter Sands.
"I wrote to Mr. Monitor," said Mr. would rather not undertake the case.
"
Breward, but he
He tells me so in a,
private letter."
" He has been very successful," said Miss Lance.
"He is, above all others, the man wo want," said Mr. Breward.
" I think you had better write to him."
"
O, we will write," exclaimed Miss Lance. " We will writ a
to-night."
" Make a personal favor of it. He names another. But
Bennet says he can't do without him. We want himself.
However, there must be no time lost."
The letter was written, and the result of the letter was that
one evening Mr. Monitor entered Miss Lauce's drawing-room,
and announced that he was come to tea.
After a few words he said :
"
I have been to see the young man in whom you are interested.
We have been all three of us Bennet, Breward, and
'
:im. He had a supply of paper, pens, and ink. All the
he found impressed on his mind he put on paper,
ig them carefully up, like woodcuts, with pen and ink.
i-Jtoaemoor, and the men grouped together telling
i James Gardener's threats there was Penwarne ; village,
myself. How very good-looking he is !"
Miss Jane felt as if she could have boxed her friend's ears.
"I suppose,"
, and as if it required superhuman efforts of ingenuity
she said, "that we must submit to everything
even nonsense about beauty to save the life of an innocent
man. Are you going to prove him innocent?"
"
No, Miss Jane; I am going to save his life."
" That is doing things by halves."
" I think it must be sufficient for the present emergency.
Now take me a walk. We can go just where we went that
night, or wo can be content with a stroll in your garden. "
The garden was fixed on. Mr. Monitor loved ilowers. He
walked and talked. He went through the house. He sat in
Peter's room and wrote some letters. They showed him Peter's
glass bower, and they took a good-night glance at the pris'onwalls;
which little bit of romance' they had now got into a
of performing every night. The next day Mr. Beimet, Mr.
Breward,
and Mr. Monitor all lunched at Miss Lancu's 1 .
They were dreadfully cheerful; at least so the ladies th
It made them sad all the evening to think of to bed.
it, and they
mance of the devotions most necessary in his present condition.
The good tilings that he had heard and liked to hear came
to his mind vividly as healing ap2)licatious to his wounded
spirit. So came Mrs. Penwarne's last words :
" Remember this, in thorite that lies before you that Gocl,
in His mercy and might, never deserts those who serve Him
never ! Never leaves those to themselves whose faith and
devi'ion are known unto Him."
Such words now seemed to have been prophetic. He ac-
1 them with all his heart. He said they were true. He
cried, " Lord, I believe, help Thou my unbelief."
When, at times, anguish overcame him he would cast himself
ut the feet of his Divine LI a-d. He would fling himself
lion on that Sacred Heart, from which alone perfect
i 'an come, and where only perfect sympathy can be
found.
Ho had hid his sleepless nights, he had shed his bitter
tears, ho had gone thron- terrible torturing conflicts
which a man, whom the world believes to be guilty of n hideknows
himself to be innocent, may well
had t;> go through llio trial of waiting.
...iy of crying
trial, and then
Just before the day fixed for the trial these gentlemen were
again together at Treduington, and they had an hour's talk in
the evening at Miss Lance's. The ladies were present.
" Some one," said Mr. Bennet, addressing the two ladies,
" has spoken falsely as to those knives. Not a shadow of suspicion
falls on any one but Peter. Character will go a great
way. Appearances are against him. And appearances must
be met by appearances. Help me to think of the best wi
es to IHK character that we. can get together. Of course t ho
shopman is mistaken about the man who bought the kni
"And is that the best you can do for him just to get him
off, not to prove him innocent ? It will bo against him for the
whole of his life."
Mr. Henuet did not contradict Miss Lance. She said to Mr.
Monii
" Is that all you can do?"
There was bitter disappointment in her manner.
" We won'tlet him be hanged if we can help it, Miss Lance."
"And don't you believe him innocent?"
"My opinion has nothing to do with it," he said. "In
. oulu only be an embarrassment. The opinion
oou the jury is that there is not evidence
enough to hang him. "