"Do not leave us," said Flora; "let me beg of you, Admiral Bell, not to
leave us; for my sake remain here, for to you I can speak freely and
with confidence, of Charles, when probably I can do so to no one else. You knew him well and have a confidence in him, which no one else can
aspire to. I pray you, therefore, to stay with us." "Only on one condition," said the admiral. "Name it--name it! "You think of letting the Hall?" "Yes, yes." "Let me have it, then, and let me pay a few years in advance. If you
don't, I'm d----d if I stay another night in the place. You must give me
immediate possession, too, and stay here as my guests until you suit
yourselves elsewhere. Those are my terms and conditions. Say yes, and
all's right; say no, and I'm off like a round shot from a carronade. D----me, that's the thing, Jack, isn't it?" "Ay, ay, sir." There was a silence of some few moments after this extraordinary offer
had been made, and then they spoke, saying,--

"Admiral Bell, your generous offer, and the feelings which dictated it,
are by far too transparent for us to affect not to understand them. Your
actions, Admiral--"

"Oh, bother my actions! what are they to you? Come, now, I consider
myself master of the house, d--n you! I invite you all to dinner, or
supper, or to whatever meal comes next. Mrs. Bannerworth, will you
oblige me, as I'm an old fool in family affairs, by buying what's wanted
for me and my guests? There's the money, ma'am. Come along, Jack, we'll
take a look over our new house. What do you think of it?" "Wants some sheathing, sir, here and there." "Very like; but, however, it will do well enough for us; we're in port,
you know. Come along." "Ay, ay, sir." And off went the admiral and Jack, after leaving a twenty pound note in
Mrs. Bannerworth's lap. CHAPTER XXXVII. SIR FRANCIS VARNEY'S SEPARATE OPPONENTS.--THE INTERPOSITION OF FLORA. [Illustration]

The old admiral so completely overcame the family of the Bannerworths by
his generosity and evident single-mindedness of his behaviour, that
although not one, except Flora, approved of his conduct towards Mr.
Marchdale, yet they could not help liking him; and had they been placed
in a position to choose which of the two they would have had remain with
them, the admiral or Marchdale, there can be no question they would have
made choice of the former. Still, however, it was not pleasant to find a man like Marchdale
virtually driven from the house, because he presumed to differ in
opinion upon a very doubtful matter with another of its inmates. But as
it was the nature of the Bannerworth family always to incline to the
most generous view of subjects, the frank, hearty confidence of the old
admiral in Charles Holland pleased them better than the calm and serious
doubting of Marchdale. His ruse of hiring the house of them, and paying the rent in advance,
for the purpose of placing ample funds in their hands for any
contingency, was not the less amiable because it was so easily seen
through; and they could not make up their minds to hurt the feelings of
the old man by the rejection of his generous offer. When he had left, this subject was canvassed among them, and it was
agreed that he should have his own way in the matter for the present,
although they hoped to hear something from Marchdale, which should make
his departure appear less abrupt and uncomfortable to the whole of the
family. During the course of this conversation, it was made known to Flora with
more distinctness than under any other circumstances it would have been,
that George Holland had been on the eve of fighting a duel with Sir
Francis Varney, previous to his mysterious disappearance. When she became fully aware of this fact, to her mind it seemed
materially to add to the suspicions previously to then entertained, that
foul means had been used in order to put Charles out of the way. "Who knows," she said, "that this Varney may not shrink with the
greatest terror from a conflict with any human being, and feeling one
was inevitable with Charles Holland, unless interrupted by some vigorous
act of his own, he or some myrmidons of his may have taken Charles's
life!" "I do not think, Flora," said Henry, "that he would have ventured upon
so desperate an act; I cannot well believe such a thing possible. But
fear not; he will find, if he have really committed any such atrocity,
that it will not save him." These words of Henry, though it made no impression at the time upon
Flora, beyond what they carried upon their surface, they really,
however, as concerned Henry himself, implied a settled resolution, which
he immediately set about reducing to practice. When the conference broke up, night, as it still was, he, without saying
anything to any one, took his hat and cloak, and left the Hall,
proceeding by the nearest practicable route to the residence of Sir
Francis Varney, where he arrived without any interruption of any
character. Varney was at first denied to him, but before he could leave the house,
a servant came down the great staircase, to say it was a mistake; and
that Sir Francis was at home, and would be happy to see him. He was ushered into the same apartment where Sir Francis Varney had
before received his visitors; and there sat the now declared vampyre,
looking pale and ghastly by the dim light which burned in the apartment,
and, indeed, more like some spectre of the tomb, than one of the great
family of man. "Be seated, sir," said Varney; "although my eyes have seldom the
pleasure of beholding you within these walls, be assured you are a
honoured guest." "Sir Francis Varney," said Henry, "I came not here to bandy compliments
with you; I have none to pay to you, nor do I wish to hear any of them
from your lips." "An excellent sentiment, young man," said Varney, "and well delivered. May I presume, then, without infringing too far upon your extreme
courtesy, to inquire, to what circumstances I am indebted for your
visit?" "To one, Sir Francis, that I believe you are better acquainted with than
you will have the candour to admit." "Indeed, sir," said Varney, coldly; "you measure my candour, probably,
by a standard of your own; in which case I fear, I may be no gainer; and
yet that may be of itself a circumstance that should afford little food
for surprise, but proceed, sir--since we have so few compliments to
stand between us and our purpose, we shall in all due time arrive at
it." "Yes, in due time, Sir Francis Varney, and that due time has arrived. Know you anything of my friend, Mr. Charles Holland?" said Henry, in
marked accents; and he gazed on Sir Francis Varney with earnestness,
that seemed to say not even a look should escape his observation. Varney, however, returned the gaze as steadily, but coldly, as he
replied in his measured accents,--

"I have heard of the young gentleman." "And seen him?" "And seen him too, as you, Mr. Bannerworth, must be well aware.