Dandy Dick Part 51

That I will, ma'am, and gladly.

[_They deposit THE DEAN in a chair and GEORGIANA and SIR TRISTRAM each seize a hand, feeling THE DEAN'S pulse, while HATCHAM puts his hand on THE DEAN'S heart._

THE DEAN.

[_Opening his eyes._] Where am I now?

GEORGIANA.

 

He lives! Hurrah! Cheer man, cheer!

SIR TRISTRAM _and_ HATCHAM

[_Quietly._] Hurrah! [_To HATCHAM._] We can't shout here; go and cheer as loudly as you can in the roadway by yourself.

HATCHAM.

Yes, Sir.

[_HATCHAM runs out at the window._

THE DEAN.

[_Gradually recovering._] Georgiana--Mardon.

SIR TRISTRAM.

How are you, Jedd, old boy?

GEORGIANA.

How do you feel now, Gus?

THE DEAN.

Torn to fragments.

SIR TRISTRAM.

So you are. Thank heaven, he's conscious.

THE DEAN.

I feel as if I had been walked over carefully by a large concourse of the lower orders!

GEORGIANA.

So you have been. Thank heaven, his memory is all right.

[_HATCHAM'S voice is heard in the distance cheering. They all listen._

SIR TRISTRAM.

That's Hatcham; I'll raise his wages.

THE DEAN.

Do I understand that I have been forcibly and illegally rescued?

SIR TRISTRAM.

That's it, old fellow.

THE DEAN.

Who has committed such a reprehensible act?

SIR TRISTRAM.

A woman who would have been a heroine in any age--Georgiana!

THE DEAN.

Georgiana, I am bound to overlook it, in a relative, but never let this occur again.

SIR TRISTRAM.

Tell him.

GEORGIANA.

You found out that that other woman's plan went lame, didn't you?

THE DEAN.

I discovered its inefficacy, after a prolonged period of ineffectual whistling.

GEORGIANA.

But we ascertained the road the genial constable was going to follow.

He was bound for the edge of the hill, up Pear Tree Lane, to watch the Races. Directly we knew this, Tris and I made for the Hill. Bless your soul, there were hundreds of my old friends there--welshers, pick-pockets, card-sharpers, all the lowest race-course cads in the kingdom. In a minute I was in the middle of 'em, as much at home as a d.u.c.h.ess in a Drawing-room.

SIR TRISTRAM.

A Queen in a Palace!

GEORGIANA.