He was followed soon after by a tall, thin, gloomy-looking personage, dressed in dark clothing, and somewhat heavily armed, for a period of internal peace.  His complexion was saturnine, his features sharp and angular, his eyes keen and sunk deep under the overhanging brows; and across one cheek, not far below the eye, was a deep gash, which drew down the inner corners of the eyelid, and gave a still more sinister expression to the countenance than it originally possessed.  He was followed by two others, both of whom were much younger men than himself.  One was gaily dressed, and had a fat and somewhat heavy countenance, which indeed seemed unmeaning, till suddenly a quick fierce glance of the eye and a movement of the large massy lower jaw, like that which is seen in the jaws of a dog eager to bite, showed that under that dull exterior there were passions strong and quick, and a spirit not so slow and heavy as a casual observer might imagine.

Besides these, there were one or two other persons whose dress denoted them of some rank and station in society, though those who had seen them in other circumstances might now have remarked that various devices had been employed to disguise their persons in some degree.

One of these, however, has been before introduced to the reader, being no other than that Sir John Fenwick whom we have more than once had occasion to mention.  He was now no longer dressed with the somewhat affected neatness and coxcombry which had marked his appearance in London, but, on the contrary, was clad in garments comparatively coarse, and bore the aspect of a military man no longer in active service, and enduring some reverses.  He also was heavily armed, though many of the others there present bore apparently nothing but the ordinary sword which was carried by every gentleman in that day.

The first of the personages we have mentioned approached with a slow step towards the fire, saying to Plessis as he advanced, “So the Colonel has not come, I see?”

“No, Sir George,” replied Plessis with a lowly inclination of the head, “he has not arrived yet; but I had a messenger from him at noon to-day, saying that he would be here to-night.”

“Ha!” exclaimed Sir George Barkley, “that is more than I expected—­But he will not come, he will not come!  Make us a bowl of punch, good Plessis—­make us a bowl of punch—­the night is very cold.—­But he will not come, I feel very sure he will not come.”

“I think I hear his horse’s feet even now,” replied Plessis—­“at all events, there is some one arrived.”

“Keep him some minutes down below, good Plessis,” exclaimed Sir George Barkley hastily.  “Run down and meet him.  Make up some story, and delay him as long as possible; for I have got something to consult with these gentlemen upon before we see him.”

Plessis hastened away; and as soon as the door was closed, Barkley turned to the gaily dressed man we have mentioned, saying, “Charnock, tell Sir John Friend and Captain Rookwood what we were saying as we came along; and all that has happened in London.”