About midday
She had seen the peasantry forsaking their work in the fields and the gardens , and apparently intent upon some object of absorbing interest ; but she feared to leave the house , for she had promised Henry that she would not do so , lest the former pacific conduct of the vampyre should have been but a new snare , for the purpose of drawing her so far from her home as to lead her into some danger when she should be far from assistance . And yet more than once was she tempted to forget her promise , and to seek the open country , for fear that those she loved should be encountering some danger for her sake , which she would willingly either share with them or spare them . The solicitation , however , of her brother kept her comparatively quiet ; and , moreover , since her last interview with Varney , in which , at all events , he had shown some feeling for the melancholy situation to which , he had reduced her , she had been more able to reason calmly , and to meet the suggestions of passion and of impulse with a sober judgment . About midday , then , she saw the domestic party returning -- that party , which now consisted of her two brothers , the admiral , Jack Pringle , and Mr. Chillingworth . As for Mr. Marchdale , he had given them a polite adieu on the confines of the grounds of Bannerworth Hall , stating , that although he had felt it to be his duty to come forward and second Henry Bannerworth in the duel with the vampyre , yet that circumstance by no means obliterated from his memory the insults he had received from Admiral Bell , and , therefore , he declined going to Bannerworth Hall , and bade them a very good morning . To all this , Admiral Bell replied that he might go and be d -- d , if he liked , and that he considered him a swab and a humbug , and appealed to Jack Pringle whether he , Jack , ever saw such a sanctified looking prig in his life . `` Ay , ay , '' says Jack .