The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Watcher, by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
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Title: The Watcher
and other weird stories
Author: J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Illustrator: Brinsley Sheridan Le Fanu
Release Date: August 15, 2012 [EBook #40510]
Language: English
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[Illustration: AS IT PASSED HIM HE THOUGHT HE HEARD IT SAY IN A
FURIOUS WHISPER, "STILL ALIVE!"--Page 25.
[_Frontispiece._]
[Illustration]
The Watcher
And Other Weird Stories
by
J. Sheridan Le Fanu
With Twenty-one Illustrations
by
Brinsley Sheridan Le Fanu
[Illustration]
LONDON
DOWNEY & CO.
12, York Street, Covent Garden
LONDON:
PRINTED BY GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, LD.,
ST. JOHN'S HOUSE, CLERKENWELL, E.C.
PREFACE.
Most of the tales in this volume were written prior to the publication
of "Uncle Silas," which is, perhaps, the novel by which my father is
best known. All the stories, with the exception of "The Watcher," were
included in "The Purcell Papers," edited by Mr. Alfred Perceval Graves
after my father's death, and published by Messrs. Bentley.
It may be of interest to point out that the central idea in the story
entitled "Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess" is
embodied in "Uncle Silas."
When "The Purcell Papers" were appearing in _The Dublin University
Magazine_ my father supplied the following note, which was reproduced by
Mr. Graves in his edition of the book:--
"The residuary legatee of the late Francis Purcell, who has the
honour of selecting such of his lamented old friend's manuscripts as
may appear fit for publication, in order that the lore which they
contain may reach the world before scepticism and utility have
robbed our species of the precious gift of credulity, and scornfully
kicked before them, or trampled into annihilation those harmless
fragments of picturesque superstition which it is our object to
preserve, has been subjected to the charge of dealing too largely
in the marvellous; and it has been half insinuated that such is his
love for _diablerie_, that he is content to wander a mile out of his
way in order to meet a fiend or a goblin, and thus to sacrifice all
regard for truth and accuracy to the idle hope of affrighting the
imagination, and thus pandering to the bad taste of his reader. He
begs leave, then, to take this opportunity of asserting his perfect
innocence of all the crimes laid to his charge, and to assure his
reader that he never pandered to his bad taste, nor went one inch
out of his way to introduce witch, fairy, devil, ghost, or any other
of the grim fraternity of the redoubted Raw-head-and-bloody-bones.
His province touching these tales has been attended with no
difficulty and little responsibility; indeed, he is accountable for
nothing more than an alteration in the names of persons mentioned
therein, when such a step seemed necessary, and for an occasional
note, whenever he conceived it possible innocently to edge in a
word. These tales have been _written down_ by the Rev. Francis
Purcell, P.P., of Drumcoolagh; and in all the instances, which are
many, in which the present writer has had an opportunity of
comparing the manuscript of his departed friend with the actual
traditions current amongst the families whose fortunes they pretend
to illustrate, he has uniformly found that whatever of supernatural
occurred in the story, so far from being exaggerated by him, had
been rather softened down, and, wherever it could be attempted,
accounted for."
BRINSLEY LE FANU.
_London,
November, 1894._
CONTENTS.
PAGE
THE WATCHER 1
PASSAGE IN THE SECRET HISTORY OF AN IRISH COUNTESS 65
STRANGE EVENT IN THE LIFE OF SCHALKEN THE PAINTER 126
THE FORTUNES OF SIR ROBERT ARDAGH 169
THE DREAM 185
A CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF A TYRONE FAMILY 208
[Illustration]
The Watcher.
It is now more than fifty years since the occurrences which I am about
to relate caused a strange sensation in the gay society of Dublin. The
fashionable world, however, is no recorder of traditions; the memory of
selfishness seldom reaches far; and the events which occasionally
disturb the polite monotony of its pleasant and heartless progress,
however stamped with the characters of misery and horror, scarcely
outlive the gossip of a season, and (except, perhaps, in the remembrance
of a few more directly interested in the consequences of the
catastrophe) are in a little time lost to the recollection of all. The
appetite for scandal, or for horror, has been sated; the incident can
yield no more of interest or novelty; curiosity, frustrated by
impenetrable mystery, gives over the pursuit in despair; the tale has
ceased to be new, grows stale and flat; and so, in a few years, inquiry
subsides into indifference.
Somewhere about the year 1794, the younger brother of a certain baronet,
whom I shall call Sir James Barton, returned to Dublin. He had served in
the navy with some distinction, having commanded one of his Majesty's
frigates during the greater part of the American war. Captain Barton was
now apparently some two or three-and-forty years of age. He was an
intelligent and agreeable companion, when he chose it, though generally
reserved, and occasionally even moody. In society, however, he deported
himself as a man of the world and a gentleman. He had not contracted any
of the noisy brusqueness sometimes acquired at sea; on the contrary, his
manners were remarkably easy, quiet, and even polished. He was in person
about the middle size, and somewhat strongly formed; his countenance was
marked with the lines of thought, and on the whole wore an expression of
gravity and even of melancholy. Being, however, as we have said, a man
of perfect breeding, as well as of affluent circumstances and good
family, he had, of course, ready access to the best society of the
metropolis, without the necessity of any other credentials. In his
personal habits Captain Barton was economical. He occupied lodgings in
one of the then fashionable streets in the south side of the town, kept
but one horse and one servant, and though a reputed free-thinker, he
lived an orderly and moral life, indulging neither in gaming, drinking,
nor any other vicious pursuit, living very much to himself, without
forming any intimacies, or choosing any companions, and appearing to mix
in gay society rather for the sake of its bustle and distraction, than
for any opportunities which it offered of interchanging either thoughts
or feelings with its votaries. Barton was therefore pronounced a saving,
prudent, unsocial sort of a fellow, who bid fair to maintain his
celibacy alike against stratagem and assault, and was likely to live to
a good old age, die rich and leave his money to a hospital.
It was soon apparent, however, that the nature of Captain Barton's plans
had been totally misconceived. A young lady, whom we shall call Miss
Montague, was at this time introduced into the fashionable world of
Dublin by her aunt, the Dowager Lady Rochdale. Miss Montague was
decidedly pretty and accomplished, and having some natural cleverness,
and a great deal of gaiety, became for a while the reigning toast. Her
popularity, however, gained her, for a time, nothing more than that
unsubstantial admiration which, however pleasant as an incense to
vanity, is by no means necessarily antecedent to matrimony, for,
unhappily for the young lady in question, it was an understood thing,
that, beyond her personal attractions, she had no kind of earthly
provision. Such being the state of affairs, it will readily be believed
that no little surprise was consequent upon the appearance of Captain
Barton as the avowed lover of the penniless Miss Montague.
His suit prospered, as might have been expected, and in a short time it
was confidentially communicated by old Lady Rochdale to each of her
hundred and fifty particular friends in succession, that Captain Barton
had actually tendered proposals of marriage, with her approbation, to
her niece, Miss Montague, who had, moreover, accepted the offer of his
hand, conditionally upon the consent of her father, who was then upon
his homeward voyage from India, and expected in two or three months
at furthest. About his consent there could be no doubt. The delay,
therefore, was one merely of form; they were looked upon as absolutely
engaged, and Lady Rochdale, with a vigour of old-fashioned decorum with
which her niece would, no doubt, gladly have dispensed, withdrew her
thenceforward from all further participation in the gaieties of the
town. Captain Barton was a constant visitor as well as a frequent guest
at the house, and was permitted all the privileges and intimacy which a
betrothed suitor is usually accorded. Such was the relation of parties,
when the mysterious circumstances which darken this narrative with
inexplicable melancholy first began to unfold themselves.
Lady Rochdale resided in a handsome mansion at the north side of
Dublin, and Captain Barton's lodgings, as we have already said, were
situated at the south. The distance intervening was considerable, and it
was Captain Barton's habit generally to walk home without an attendant,
as often as he passed the evening with the old lady and her fair charge.
His shortest way in such nocturnal walks lay, for a considerable space,
through a line of streets which had as yet been merely laid out, and
little more than the foundations of the houses constructed. One night,
shortly after his engagement with Miss Montague had commenced, he
happened to remain unusually late, in company only with her and Lady
Rochdale. The conversation had turned upon the evidences of revelation,
which he had disputed with the callous scepticism of a confirmed
infidel. What were called "French principles" had, in those days, found
their way a good deal into fashionable society, especially that portion
of it which professed allegiance to Whiggism, and neither the old lady
nor her charge was so perfectly free from the taint as to look upon
Captain Barton's views as any serious objection to the proposed union.
The discussion had degenerated into one upon the supernatural and the
marvellous, in which he had pursued precisely the same line of argument
and ridicule. In all this, it is but true to state, Captain Barton was
guilty of no affectation; the doctrines upon which he insisted were, in
reality, but too truly the basis of his own fixed belief, if so it
might be called; and perhaps not the least strange of the many strange
circumstances connected with this narrative, was the fact that the
subject of the fearful influences we are about to describe was himself,
from the deliberate conviction of years, an utter disbeliever in what
are usually termed preternatural agencies.
It was considerably past midnight when Mr. Barton took his leave, and
set out upon his solitary walk homeward. He rapidly reached the lonely
road, with its unfinished dwarf walls tracing the foundations of the
projected rows of houses on either side. The moon was shining mistily,
and its imperfect light made the road he trod but additionally dreary;
that utter silence, which has in it something indefinably exciting,
reigned there, and made the sound of his steps, which alone broke it,
unnaturally loud and distinct. He had proceeded thus some way, when on
a sudden he heard other footsteps, pattering at a measured pace, and,
as it seemed, about two score steps behind him. The suspicion of being
dogged is at all times unpleasant; it is, however, especially so in a
spot so desolate and lonely: and this suspicion became so strong in
the mind of Captain Barton, that he abruptly turned about to confront
his pursuers, but, though there was quite sufficient moonlight to
disclose any object upon the road he had traversed, no form of any
kind was visible.
The steps he had heard could not have been the reverberation of his
own, for he stamped his foot upon the ground, and walked briskly up
and down, in the vain attempt to wake an echo. Though by no means a
fanciful person, he was at last compelled to charge the sounds upon
his imagination, and treat them as an illusion. Thus satisfying
himself, he resumed his walk, and before he had proceeded a dozen
paces, the mysterious footfalls were again audible from behind, and
this time, as if with the special design of showing that the sounds
were not the responses of an echo, the steps sometimes slackened
nearly to a halt, and sometimes hurried for six or eight strides to
a run, and again abated to a walk.
Captain Barton, as before, turned suddenly round, and with the same
result; no object was visible above the deserted level of the road. He
walked back over the same ground, determined that, whatever might have
been the cause of the sounds which had so disconcerted him, it should
not escape his search; the endeavour, however, was unrewarded. In spite
of all his scepticism, he felt something like a superstitious fear
stealing fast upon him, and, with these unwonted and uncomfortable
sensations, he once more turned and pursued his way. There was no
repetition of these haunting sounds, until he had reached the point
where he had last stopped to retrace his steps. Here they were resumed,
and with sudden starts of running, which threatened to bring the unseen
pursuer close up to the alarmed pedestrian. Captain Barton arrested his
course as formerly; the unaccountable nature of the occurrence filled
him with vague and almost horrible sensations, and, yielding to the
excitement he felt gaining upon him, he shouted, sternly, "Who goes
there?"
The sound of one's own voice, thus exerted, in utter solitude, and
followed by total silence, has in it something unpleasantly exciting,
and he felt a degree of nervousness which, perhaps, from no cause had
he ever known before. To the very end of this solitary street the
steps pursued him, and it required a strong effort of stubborn pride
on his part to resist the impulse that prompted him every moment to
run for safety at the top of his speed. It was not until he had
reached his lodging, and sat by his own fireside, that he felt
sufficiently reassured to arrange and reconsider in his own mind the
occurrences which had so discomposed him: so little a matter, after
all, is sufficient to upset the pride of scepticism, and vindicate the
old simple laws of nature within us.
Mr. Barton was next morning sitting at a late breakfast, reflecting upon
the incidents of the previous night, with more of inquisitiveness than
awe--so speedily do gloomy impressions upon the fancy disappear under
the cheerful influences of day--when a letter just delivered by the
postman was placed upon the table before him. There was nothing
remarkable in the address of this missive, except that it was written in
a hand which he did not know--perhaps it was disguised--for the tall
narrow characters were sloped backward; and with the self-inflicted
suspense which we so often see practised in such cases, he puzzled over
the inscription for a full minute before he broke the seal. When he did
so, he read the following words, written in the same hand:--
"Mr. Barton, late Captain of the _Dolphin_, is warned of _danger_. He
will do wisely to avoid ---- Street--(here the locality of his last
night's adventure was named)--if he walks there as usual, he will meet
with something bad. Let him take warning, once for all, for he has good
reason to dread
"THE WATCHER."
Captain Barton read and re-read this strange effusion; in every light
and in every direction he turned it over and over. He examined the paper
on which it was written, and closely scrutinized the handwriting.
Defeated here, he turned to the seal; it was nothing but a patch of wax,
upon which the accidental impression of a coarse thumb was imperfectly
visible. There was not the slightest mark, no clue or indication of any
kind, to lead him to even a guess as to its possible origin. The
writer's object seemed a friendly one, and yet he subscribed himself as
one whom he had "good reason to dread." Altogether, the letter, its
author, and its real purpose, were to him an inexplicable puzzle, and
one, moreover, unpleasantly suggestive, in his mind, of associations
connected with the last night's adventure.
In obedience to some feeling--perhaps of pride--Mr. Barton did not
communicate, even to his intended bride, the occurrences which we have
just detailed. Trifling as they might appear, they had in reality most
disagreeably affected his imagination, and he cared not to disclose,
even to the young lady in question, what she might possibly look upon
as evidences of weakness. The letter might very well be but a hoax,
and the mysterious footfall but a delusion of his fancy. But although
he affected to treat the whole affair as unworthy of a thought, it yet
haunted him pertinaciously, tormenting him with perplexing doubts, and
depressing him with undefined apprehensions. Certain it is, that for a
considerable time afterwards he carefully avoided the street indicated
in the letter as the scene of danger.
It was not until about a week after the receipt of the letter which I
have transcribed, that anything further occurred to remind Captain
Barton of its contents, or to counteract the gradual disappearance from
his mind of the disagreeable impressions which he had then received. He
was returning one night, after the interval I have stated, from the
theatre, which was then situated in Crow Street, and having there handed
Miss Montague and Lady Rochdale into their carriage, he loitered for
some time with two or three acquaintances. With these, however, he
parted close to the College, and pursued his way alone. It was now about
one o'clock, and the streets were quite deserted. During the whole of
his walk with the companions from whom he had just parted, he had been
at times painfully aware of the sound of steps, as it seemed, dogging
them on their way. Once or twice he had looked back, in the uneasy
anticipation that he was again about to experience the same mysterious
annoyances which had so much disconcerted him a week before, and
earnestly hoping that he might _see_ some form from whom the sounds
might naturally proceed. But the street was deserted; no form was
visible. Proceeding now quite alone upon his homeward way, he grew
really nervous and uncomfortable, as he became sensible, with increased
distinctness, of the well-known and now absolutely dreaded sounds.
By the side of the dead wall which bounded the College Park, the sounds
followed, recommencing almost simultaneously with his own steps. The
same unequal pace, sometimes slow, sometimes, for a score yards or so,
quickened to a run, was audible from behind him. Again and again he
turned, quickly and stealthily he glanced over his shoulder almost at
every half-dozen steps; but no one was visible. The horrors of this
intangible and unseen persecution became gradually all but intolerable;
and when at last he reached his home his nerves were strung to such a
pitch of excitement that he could not rest, and did not attempt even to
lie down until after the daylight had broken.
He was awakened by a knock at his chamber-door, and his servant
entering, handed him several letters which had just been received by
the early post. One among them instantly arrested his attention; a
single glance at the direction aroused him thoroughly. He at once
recognized its character, and read as follows:--
"You may as well think, Captain Barton, to escape from your own shadow
as from me; do what you may, I will see you as often as I please, and
you shall see me, for I do not want to hide myself, as you fancy. Do not
let it trouble your rest, Captain Barton; for, with a _good conscience_,
what need you fear from the eye of
"THE WATCHER?"
It is scarcely necessary to dwell upon the feelings elicited by a
perusal of this strange communication. Captain Barton was observed to
be unusually absent and out of spirits for several days afterwards;
but no one divined the cause. Whatever he might think as to the
phantom steps which followed him, there could be no possible illusion
about the letters he had received; and, to say the least of it, their
immediate sequence upon the mysterious sounds which had haunted him
was an odd coincidence. The whole circumstance, in his own mind, was
vaguely and instinctively connected with certain passages in his past
life, which, of all others, he hated to remember.
It so happened that just about this time, in addition to his approaching
nuptials, Captain Barton had fortunately, perhaps, for himself, some
business of an engrossing kind connected with the adjustment of a
large and long-litigated claim upon certain properties. The hurry and
excitement of business had its natural effect in gradually dispelling
the marked gloom which had for a time occasionally oppressed him, and in
a little while his spirits had entirely resumed their accustomed tone.
During all this period, however, he was occasionally dismayed by
indistinct and half-heard repetitions of the same annoyance, and that
in lonely places, in the day time as well as after nightfall. These
renewals of the strange impressions from which he had suffered so
much were, however, desultory and faint, insomuch that often he really
could not, to his own satisfaction, distinguish between them and the
mere suggestions of an excited imagination. One evening he walked down
to the House of Commons with a Mr. Norcott, a Member. As they walked
down together he was observed to become absent and silent, and to a
degree so marked as scarcely to consist with good breeding; and this,
in one who was obviously in all his habits so perfectly a gentleman,
seemed to argue the pressure of some urgent and absorbing anxiety. It
was afterwards known that, during the whole of that walk, he had heard
the well-known footsteps dogging him as he proceeded. This, however,
was the last time he suffered from this phase of the persecution of
which he was already the anxious victim. A new and a very different
one was about to be presented.
Of the new series of impressions which were afterwards gradually to work
out his destiny, that evening disclosed the first; and but for its
relation to the train of events which followed, the incident would
scarcely have been remembered by any one. As they were walking in at the
passage, a man (of whom his friend could afterwards remember only that
he was short in stature, looked like a foreigner, and wore a kind of
travelling-cap) walked very rapidly, and, as if under some fierce
excitement, directly towards them, muttering to himself fast and
vehemently the while. This odd-looking person proceeded straight toward
Barton, who was foremost, and halted, regarding him for a moment or two
with a look of menace and fury almost maniacal; and then turning about
as abruptly, he walked before them at the same agitated pace, and
disappeared by a side passage. Norcott distinctly remembered being a
good deal shocked at the countenance and bearing of this man, which
indeed irresistibly impressed him with an undefined sense of danger,
such as he never felt before or since from the presence of anything
human; but these sensations were far from amounting to anything so
disconcerting as to flurry or excite him--he had seen only a singularly
evil countenance, agitated, as it seemed, with the excitement of
madness. He was absolutely astonished, however, at the effect of this
apparition upon Captain Barton. He knew him to be a man of proved
courage and coolness in real danger, a circumstance which made his
conduct upon this occasion the more conspicuously odd. He recoiled a
step or two as the stranger advanced, and clutched his companion's arm
in silence, with a spasm of agony or terror; and then, as the figure
disappeared, shoving him roughly back, he followed it for a few paces,
stopped in great disorder, and sat down upon a form. A countenance more
ghastly and haggard it was impossible to fancy.
"For God's sake, Barton, what is the matter?" said Norcott, really
alarmed at his friend's appearance. "You're not hurt, are you? nor
unwell? What is it?"
"What did he say? I did not hear it. What was it?" asked Barton, wholly
disregarding the question.
"Tut, tut, nonsense!" said Norcott, greatly surprised; "who cares what
the fellow said? You are unwell, Barton, decidedly unwell; let me call a
coach."
"Unwell! Yes, no, not exactly unwell," he said, evidently making an
effort to recover his self-possession; "but, to say the truth, I am
fatigued, a little overworked, and perhaps over anxious. You know I have
been in Chancery, and the winding up of a suit is always a nervous
affair. I have felt uncomfortable all this evening; but I am better now.
Come, come, shall we go on?"
"No, no. Take my advice, Barton, and go home; you really do need rest;
you are looking absolutely ill. I really do insist on your allowing me
to see you home," replied his companion.
It was obvious that Barton was not himself disinclined to be persuaded.
He accordingly took his leave, politely declining his friend's offered
escort. Notwithstanding the few commonplace regrets which Norcott had
expressed, it was plain that he was just as little deceived as Barton
himself by the extempore plea of illness with which he had accounted for
the strange exhibition, and that he even then suspected some lurking
mystery in the matter.
Norcott called next day at Barton's lodgings, to inquire for him, and
learned from the servant that he had not left his room since his return
the night before; but that he was not seriously indisposed, and hoped to
be out again in a few days. That evening he sent for Doctor Richards,
then in large and fashionable practice in Dublin, and their interview
was, it is said, an odd one.
He entered into a detail of his own symptoms in an abstracted and
desultory kind of way, which seemed to argue a strange want of interest
in his own cure, and, at all events, made it manifest that there was
some topic engaging his mind of more engrossing importance than his
present ailment. He complained of occasional palpitations, and headache.
Doctor Richards asked him, among other questions, whether there was any
irritating circumstance or anxiety to account for it. This he denied
quickly and peevishly; and the physician thereupon declared his opinion,
that there was nothing amiss except some slight derangement of the
digestion, for which he accordingly wrote a prescription, and was about
to withdraw, when Mr. Barton, with the air of a man who suddenly
recollects a topic which had nearly escaped him, recalled him.
"I beg your pardon, doctor, but I had really almost forgot; will you
permit me to ask you two or three medical questions?--rather odd ones,
perhaps, but as a wager depends upon their solution, you will, I hope,
excuse my unreasonableness."
The physician readily undertook to satisfy the inquirer.
Barton seemed to have some difficulty about opening the proposed
interrogatories, for he was silent for a minute, then walked to his
book-case and returned as he had gone; at last he sat down, and said,--
"You'll think them very childish questions, but I can't recover my wager
without a decision; so I must put them. I want to know first about
lock-jaw. If a man actually has had that complaint, and appears to have
died of it--so that in fact a physician of average skill pronounces him
actually dead--may he, after all, recover?"
Doctor Richards smiled, and shook his head.
"But--but a blunder may be made," resumed Barton. "Suppose an ignorant
pretender to medical skill; may _he_ be so deceived by any stage of the
complaint, as to mistake what is only a part of the progress of the
disease, for death itself?"
"No one who had ever seen death," answered he, "could mistake it in the
case of lock-jaw."
Barton mused for a few minutes. "I am going to ask you a question,
perhaps still more childish; but first tell me, are not the regulations
of foreign hospitals, such as those of, let us say, Lisbon, very lax and
bungling? May not all kinds of blunders and slips occur in their entries
of names, and so forth?"
Doctor Richards professed his inability to answer that query.
"Well, then, doctor, here is the last of my questions. You will probably
laugh at it; but it must out nevertheless. Is there any disease, in all
the range of human maladies, which would have the effect of perceptibly
contracting the stature, and the whole frame--causing the man to shrink
in all his proportions, and yet to preserve his exact resemblance to
himself in every particular--with the one exception, his height and
bulk; _any_ disease, mark, no matter how rare, how little believed in,
generally, which could possibly result in producing such an effect?"
The physician replied with a smile, and a very decided negative.
"Tell me, then," said Barton, abruptly, "if a man be in reasonable fear
of assault from a lunatic who is at large, can he not procure a warrant
for his arrest and detention?"
"Really, that is more a lawyer's question than one in my way," replied
Doctor Richards; "but I believe, on applying to a magistrate, such a
course would be directed."
The physician then took his leave; but, just as he reached the
hall-door, remembered that he had left his cane upstairs, and returned.
His reappearance was awkward, for a piece of paper, which he recognized
as his own prescription, was slowly burning upon the fire, and Barton
sitting close by with an expression of settled gloom and dismay. Doctor
Richards had too much tact to appear to observe what presented itself;
but he had seen quite enough to assure him that the mind, and not the
body, of Captain Barton was in reality the seat of his sufferings.
A few days afterwards, the following advertisement appeared in the
Dublin newspapers:--
"If Sylvester Yelland, formerly a foremast man on board his Majesty's
frigate _Dolphin_, or his nearest of kin, will apply to Mr. Robery
Smith, solicitor, at his office, Dame Street, he or they may hear of
something greatly to his or their advantage. Admission may be had at
any hour up to twelve o'clock at night for the next fortnight, should
parties desire to avoid observation; and the strictest secrecy, as to
all communications intended to be confidential, shall be honourably
observed."
The _Dolphin_, as we have mentioned, was the vessel which Captain Barton
had commanded; and this circumstance, connected with the extraordinary
exertions made by the circulation of hand-bills, etc., as well as by
repeated advertisements, to secure for this strange notice the utmost
possible publicity, suggested to Doctor Richards the idea that Captain
Barton's extreme uneasiness was somehow connected with the individual to
whom the advertisement was addressed, and he himself the author of it.
This, however, it is needless to add, was no more than a conjecture. No
information whatsoever, as to the real purpose of the advertisement
itself, was divulged by the agent, nor yet any hint as to who his
employer might be.
Mr. Barton, although he had latterly begun to earn for himself the
character of a hypochondriac, was yet very far from deserving it.
Though by no means lively, he had yet, naturally, what are termed
"even spirits," and was not subject to continual depressions. He soon,
therefore, began to return to his former habits; and one of the earliest
symptoms of this healthier tone of spirits was his appearing at a grand
dinner of the Freemasons, of which worthy fraternity he was himself a
brother. Barton, who had been at first gloomy and abstracted, drank much
more freely than was his wont--possibly with the purpose of dispelling
his own secret anxieties--and under the influence of good wine, and
pleasant company, became gradually (unlike his usual self) talkative,
and even noisy. It was under this unwonted excitement that he left his
company at about half-past ten o'clock; and as conviviality is a strong
incentive to gallantry, it occurred to him to proceed forthwith to Lady
Rochdale's, and pass the remainder of the evening with her and his
destined bride.
Accordingly, he was soon at ---- Street, and chatting gaily with the
ladies. It is not to be supposed that Captain Barton had exceeded the
limits which propriety prescribes to good fellowship; he had merely
taken enough of wine to raise his spirits, without, however, in the
least degree unsteadying his mind, or affecting his manners. With this
undue elevation of spirits had supervened an entire oblivion or contempt
of those undefined apprehensions which had for so long weighed upon his
mind, and to a certain extent estranged him from society; but as the
night wore away, and his artificial gaiety began to flag, these painful
feelings gradually intruded themselves again, and he grew abstracted and
anxious as heretofore. He took his leave at length, with an unpleasant
foreboding of some coming mischief, and with a mind haunted with a
thousand mysterious apprehensions, such as, even while he acutely felt
their pressure, he, nevertheless, inwardly strove, or affected to
contemn.
It was his proud defiance of what he considered to be his own weakness
which prompted him upon this occasion to the course which brought about
the adventure which we are now about to relate. Mr. Barton might have
easily called a coach, but he was conscious that his strong inclination
to do so proceeded from no cause other than what he desperately
persisted in representing to himself to be his own superstitious
tremors. He might also have returned home by a route different from that
against which he had been warned by his mysterious correspondent; but
for the same reason he dismissed this idea also, and with a dogged and
half desperate resolution to force matters to a crisis of some kind, to
see if there were any reality in the causes of his former suffering, and
if not, satisfactorily to bring their delusiveness to the proof, he
determined to follow precisely the course which he had trodden upon the
night so painfully memorable in his own mind as that on which his
strange persecution had commenced. Though, sooth to say, the pilot who
for the first time steers his vessel under the muzzles of a hostile
battery never felt his resolution more severely tasked than did Captain
Barton, as he breathlessly pursued this solitary path; a path which,
spite of every effort of scepticism and reason, he felt to be, as
respected _him_, infested by a malignant influence.
He pursued his way steadily and rapidly, scarcely breathing from
intensity of suspense; he, however, was troubled by no renewal of the
dreaded footsteps, and was beginning to feel a return of confidence,
as, more than three-fourths of the way being accomplished with impunity,
he approached the long line of twinkling oil lamps which indicated the
frequented streets. This feeling of self-congratulation was, however,
but momentary. The report of a musket at some two hundred yards behind
him, and the whistle of a bullet close to his head, disagreeably and
startlingly dispelled it. His first impulse was to retrace his steps in
pursuit of the assassin; but the road on either side was, as we have
said, embarrassed by the foundations of a street, beyond which extended
waste fields, full of rubbish and neglected lime and brick kilns, and
all now as utterly silent as though no sound had ever disturbed their
dark and unsightly solitude. The futility of attempting, single-handed,
under such circumstances, a search for the murderer, was apparent,
especially as no further sound whatever was audible to direct his
pursuit.
With the tumultuous sensations of one whose life had just been exposed
to a murderous attempt, and whose escape has been the narrowest
possible, Captain Barton turned, and without, however, quickening his
pace actually to a run, hurriedly pursued his way. He had turned, as we
have said, after a pause of a few seconds, and had just commenced his
rapid retreat, when on a sudden he met the well-remembered little man in
the fur cap. The encounter was but momentary. The figure was walking at
the same exaggerated pace, and with the same strange air of menace as
before; and as it passed him, he thought he heard it say, in a furious
whisper, "Still alive, still alive!"
The state of Mr. Barton's spirits began now to work a corresponding
alteration in his health and looks, and to such a degree that it was
impossible that the change should escape general remark. For some
reasons, known but to himself, he took no step whatsoever to bring the
attempt upon his life, which he had so narrowly escaped, under the
notice of the authorities; on the contrary, he kept it jealously to
himself; and it was not for many weeks after the occurrence that he
mentioned it, and then in strict confidence to a gentleman, the torments
of his mind at last compelled him to consult a friend.
Spite of his blue devils, however, poor Barton, having no satisfactory
reason to render to the public for any undue remissness in the
attentions which his relation to Miss Montague required, was obliged
to exert himself, and present to the world a confident and cheerful
bearing. The true source of his sufferings, and every circumstance
connected with them, he guarded with a reserve so jealous, that it
seemed dictated by at least a suspicion that the origin of his strange
persecution was known to himself, and that it was of a nature which,
upon his own account, he could not or dare not disclose.
The mind thus turned in upon itself, and constantly occupied with a
haunting anxiety which it dared not reveal, or confide to any human
breast, became daily more excited; and, of course, more vividly
impressible, by a system of attack which operated through the nervous
system; and in this state he was destined to sustain, with increasing
frequency, the stealthy visitations of that apparition, which from the
first had seemed to possess so unearthly and terrible a hold upon his
imagination.
* * * * *
It was about this time that Captain Barton called upon the then
celebrated preacher, Doctor Macklin, with whom he had a slight
acquaintance; and an extraordinary conversation ensued. The divine was
seated in his chambers in college, surrounded with works upon his
favourite pursuit and deep in theology, when Barton was announced. There
was something at once embarrassed and excited in his manner, which,
along with his wan and haggard countenance, impressed the student with
the unpleasant consciousness that his visitor must have recently
suffered terribly indeed to account for an alteration so striking, so
shocking.
After the usual interchange of polite greeting, and a few commonplace
remarks, Captain Barton, who obviously perceived the surprise which his
visit had excited, and which Doctor Macklin was unable wholly to
conceal, interrupted a brief pause by remarking,--
"This is a strange call, Doctor Macklin, perhaps scarcely warranted by
an acquaintance so slight as mine with you. I should not, under ordinary
circumstances, have ventured to disturb you, but my visit is neither an
idle nor impertinent intrusion. I am sure you will not so account it,
when--"
Doctor Macklin interrupted him with assurances, such as good breeding
suggested, and Barton resumed,--
"I am come to task your patience by asking your advice. When I say your
patience, I might, indeed, say more; I might have said your humanity,
your compassion; for I have been, and am a great sufferer."
"My dear sir," replied the churchman, "it will, indeed, afford me
infinite gratification if I can give you comfort in any distress of
mind, but--but--"
"I know what you would say," resumed Barton, quickly. "I am an
unbeliever, and, therefore, incapable of deriving help from religion,
but don't take that for granted. At least you must not assume that,
however unsettled my convictions may be, I do not feel a deep, a very
deep, interest in the subject. Circumstances have lately forced it upon
my attention in such a way as to compel me to review the whole question
in a more candid and teachable spirit, I believe, than I ever studied it
in before."
"Your difficulties, I take it for granted, refer to the evidences of
revelation," suggested the clergyman.
"Why--no--yes; in fact I am ashamed to say I have not considered even my
objections sufficiently to state them connectedly; but--but there is one
subject on which I feel a peculiar interest."
He paused again, and Doctor Macklin pressed him to proceed.
"The fact is," said Barton, "whatever may be my uncertainty as to the
authenticity of what we are taught to call revelation, of one fact I am
deeply and horribly convinced: that there does exist beyond this a
spiritual world--a system whose workings are generally in mercy hidden
from us--a system which may be, and which is sometimes, partially and
terribly revealed. I am sure, I know," continued Barton, with increasing
excitement, "there is a God--a dreadful God--and that retribution
follows guilt. In ways, the most mysterious and stupendous; by agencies,
the most inexplicable and terrific; there is a spiritual system--great
Heavens, how frightfully I have been convinced!--a system malignant, and
inexorable, and omnipotent, under whose persecutions I am, and have
been, suffering the torments of the damned!--yes, sir--yes--the fires
and frenzy of hell!"
As Barton continued, his agitation became so vehement that the divine
was shocked and even alarmed. The wild and excited rapidity with which
he spoke, and, above all, the indefinable horror which stamped his
features, afforded a contrast to his ordinary cool and unimpassioned
self-possession, striking and painful in the last degree.
"My dear sir," said Doctor Macklin, after a brief pause, "I fear you
have been suffering much, indeed; but I venture to predict that the
depression under which you labour will be found to originate in purely
physical causes, and that with a change of air and the aid of a few
tonics, your spirits will return, and the tone of your mind be once more
cheerful and tranquil as heretofore. There was, after all, more truth
than we are quite willing to admit in the classic theories which
assigned the undue predominance of any one affection of the mind to the
undue action or torpidity of one or other of our bodily organs. Believe
me, that a little attention to diet, exercise, and the other essentials
of health, under competent direction, will make you as much yourself as
you can wish."
"Doctor Macklin," said Barton, with something like a shudder, "I
_cannot_ delude myself with such a hope. I have no hope to cling to but
one, and that is, that by some other spiritual agency more potent than
that which tortures me, _it_ may be combated, and I delivered. If this
may not be, I am lost--now and for ever lost."
"But, Mr. Barton, you must remember," urged his companion, "that others
have suffered as you have done, and--"
"No, no, no," interrupted he with irritability; "no, sir, I am not a
credulous--far from a superstitious man. I have been, perhaps, too much
the reverse--too sceptical, too slow of belief; but unless I were one
whom no amount of evidence could convince, unless I were to contemn the
repeated, the _perpetual_ evidence of my own senses, I am now--now at
last constrained to believe I have no escape from the conviction, the
overwhelming certainty, that I am haunted and dogged, go where I may,
by--by a Demon."
There was an almost preternatural energy of horror in Barton's face, as,
with its damp and death-like lineaments turned towards his companion, he
thus delivered himself.
"God help you, my poor friend!" said Doctor Macklin, much shocked. "God
help you; for, indeed, you _are_ a sufferer, however your sufferings may
have been caused."
"Ay, ay, God help me," echoed Barton sternly; "but _will_ He help me?
will He help me?"
"Pray to Him; pray in an humble and trusting spirit," said he.
"Pray, pray," echoed he again; "I can't pray; I could as easily move a
mountain by an effort of my will. I have not belief enough to pray;
there is something within me that will not pray. You prescribe
impossibilities--literal impossibilities."
"You will not find it so, if you will but try," said Doctor Macklin.
"Try! I _have_ tried, and the attempt only fills me with confusion
and terror. I have tried in vain, and more than in vain. The awful,
unutterable idea of eternity and infinity oppresses and maddens my
brain, whenever my mind approaches the contemplation of the Creator;
I recoil from the effort, scared, confounded, terrified. I tell you,
Doctor Macklin, if I am to be saved, it must be by other means. The idea
of the Creator is to me intolerable; my mind cannot support it."
"Say, then, my dear sir," urged he, "say how you would have me serve
you. What you would learn of me. What can I do or say to relieve you?"
"Listen to me first," replied Captain Barton, with a subdued air, and
an evident effort to suppress his excitement; "listen to me while I
detail the circumstances of the terrible persecution under which my
life has become all but intolerable--a persecution which has made me
fear _death_ and the world beyond the grave as much as I have grown to
hate existence."
Barton then proceeded to relate the circumstances which we have already
detailed, and then continued,--
"This has now become habitual--an accustomed thing. I do not mean the
actual seeing him in the flesh; thank God, _that_ at least is not
permitted daily. Thank God, from the unutterable horrors of that
visitation I have been mercifully allowed intervals of repose, though
none of security; but from the consciousness that a malignant spirit is
following and watching me wherever I go, I have never, for a single
instant, a temporary respite: I am pursued with blasphemies, cries of
despair, and appalling hatred; I hear those dreadful sounds called after
me as I turn the corners of streets; they come in the night-time while I
sit in my chamber alone; they haunt me everywhere, charging me with
hideous crimes, and--great God!--threatening me with coming vengeance
and eternal misery! Hush! do you hear _that_?" he cried, with a horrible
smile of triumph. "There--there, will that convince you?"
The clergyman felt the chillness of horror irresistibly steal over him,
while, during the wail of a sudden gust of wind, he heard, or fancied he
heard, the half articulate sounds of rage and derision mingling in their
sough.
"Well, what do you think of _that_?" at length Barton cried, drawing a
long breath through his teeth.
"I heard the wind," said Doctor Macklin; "what should I think of it?
What is there remarkable about it?"
[Illustration: "THE PRINCE OF THE POWERS OF THE AIR!" MUTTERED BARTON.]
"The prince of the powers of the air," muttered Barton, with a shudder.
"Tut, tut! my dear sir!" said the student, with an effort to reassure
himself; for though it was broad daylight, there was nevertheless
something disagreeably contagious in the nervous excitement under which
his visitor so obviously suffered. "You must not give way to those wild
fancies: you must resist those impulses of the imagination."
"Ay, ay; 'resist the devil, and he will flee from thee,'" said Barton,
in the same tone; "but _how_ resist him? Ay, there it is: there is the
rub. What--_what_ am I to do? What _can_ I do?"
"My dear sir, this is fancy," said the man of folios; "you are your own
tormentor."
"No, no, sir; fancy has no part in it," answered Barton, somewhat
sternly. "Fancy, forsooth! Was it that made _you_, as well as me, hear,
but this moment, those appalling accents of hell? Fancy, indeed! No,
no."
"But you have seen this person frequently," said the ecclesiastic; "why
have you not accosted or secured him? Is it not somewhat precipitate, to
say no more, to assume, as you have done, the existence of preternatural
agency, when, after all, everything may be easily accountable, if only
proper means were taken to sift the matter."
"There are circumstances connected with this--this _appearance_," said
Barton, "which it were needless to disclose, but which to _me_ are
proofs of its horrible and unearthly nature. I know that the being who
haunts me is not _man_. I say I _know_ this; I could prove it to your
own conviction." He paused for a minute, and then added, "And as to
accosting it, I dare not--I could not! When I see it I am powerless; I
stand in the gaze of death, in the triumphant presence of preterhuman
power and malignity; my strength, and faculties, and memory all forsake
me. Oh, God! I fear, sir, you know not what you speak of. Mercy, mercy!
heaven have pity on me!"
He leaned his elbow on the table, and passed his hand across his eyes,
as if to exclude some image of horror, muttering the last words of the
sentence he had just concluded, again and again.
"Dr. Macklin," he said, abruptly raising himself, and looking full upon
the clergyman with an imploring eye, "I know you will do for me whatever
may be done. You know now fully the circumstances and the nature of the
mysterious agency of which I am the victim. I tell you I cannot help
myself; I cannot hope to escape; I am utterly passive. I conjure you,
then, to weigh my case well, and if anything may be done for me by
vicarious supplication, by the intercession of the good, or by any aid
or influence whatsoever, I implore of you, I adjure you in the name of
the Most High, give me the benefit of that influence, deliver me from
the body of this death! Strive for me; pity me! I know you will; you
cannot refuse this; it is the purpose and object of my visit. Send me
away with some hope, however little--some faint hope of ultimate
deliverance, and I will nerve myself to endure, from hour to hour, the
hideous dream into which my existence is transformed."
Doctor Macklin assured him that all he could do was to pray earnestly
for him, and that so much he would not fail to do. They parted with a
hurried and melancholy valediction. Barton hastened to the carriage
which awaited him at the door, drew the blinds, and drove away, while
Dr. Macklin returned to his chamber, to ruminate at leisure upon the
strange interview which had just interrupted his studies.
It was not to be expected that Captain Barton's changed and eccentric
habits should long escape remark and discussion. Various were the
theories suggested to account for it. Some attributed the alteration to
the pressure of secret pecuniary embarrassments; others to a repugnance
to fulfil an engagement into which he was presumed to have too
precipitately entered; and others, again, to the supposed incipiency of
mental disease, which latter, indeed, was the most plausible, as well as
the most generally received, of the hypotheses circulated in the gossip
of the day.
From the very commencement of this change, at first so gradual in its
advances, Miss Montague had, of course, been aware of it. The intimacy
involved in their peculiar relation, as well as the near interest which
it inspired, afforded, in her case, alike opportunity and motive for the
successful exercise of that keen and penetrating observation peculiar
to the sex. His visits became, at length, so interrupted, and his
manner, while they lasted, so abstracted, strange, and agitated, that
Lady Rochdale, after hinting her anxiety and her suspicions more than
once, at length distinctly stated her anxiety, and pressed for an
explanation. The explanation was given, and although its nature at first
relieved the worst solicitudes of the old lady and her niece, yet the
circumstances which attended it, and the really dreadful consequences
which it obviously threatened as regarded the spirits, and, indeed, the
reason, of the now wretched man who made the strange declaration, were
enough, upon a little reflection, to fill their minds with perturbation
and alarm.
General Montague, the young lady's father, at length arrived. He had
himself slightly known Barton, some ten or twelve years previously,
and being aware of his fortune and connections, was disposed to regard
him as an unexceptionable and indeed a most desirable match for his
daughter. He laughed at the story of Barton's supernatural visitations,
and lost not a moment in calling upon his intended son-in-law.
"My dear Barton," he continued gaily, after a little conversation, "my
sister tells me that you are a victim to blue devils in quite a new and
original shape."
Barton changed countenance, and sighed profoundly.
"Come, come; I protest this will never do," continued the General; "you
are more like a man on his way to the gallows than to the altar. These
devils have made quite a saint of you."
Barton made an effort to change the conversation.
"No, no, it won't do," said his visitor, laughing; "I am resolved to
say out what I have to say about this magnificent mock mystery of
yours. Come, you must not be angry; but, really, it is too bad to see
you, at your time of life, absolutely frightened into good behaviour,
like a naughty child, by a bugaboo, and, as far as I can learn, a very
particularly contemptible one. Seriously, though, my dear Barton, I
have been a good deal annoyed at what they tell me; but, at the same
time, thoroughly convinced that there is nothing in the matter that
may not be cleared up, with just a little attention and management,
within a week at furthest."
"Ah, General, you do not know--" he began.
"Yes, but I do know quite enough to warrant my confidence," interrupted
the soldier. "I know that all your annoyance proceeds from the
occasional appearance of a certain little man in a cap and great-coat,
with a red vest and bad countenance, who follows you about, and pops
upon you at the corners of lanes, and throws you into ague fits. Now,
my dear fellow, I'll make it my business to _catch_ this mischievous
little mountebank, and either beat him into a jelly with my own hands,
or have him whipped through the town at the cart's tail."
"If _you_ knew what I know," said Barton, with gloomy agitation, "you
would speak very differently. Don't imagine that I am so weak and
foolish as to assume, without proof the most overwhelming, the
conclusion to which I have been forced. The proofs are here, locked up
here." As he spoke, he tapped upon his breast, and with an anxious sigh
continued to walk up and down the room.
"Well, well, Barton," said his visitor, "I'll wager a rump and a dozen
I collar the ghost, and convince yourself before many days are over."
He was running on in the same strain when he was suddenly arrested,
and not a little shocked, by observing Barton, who had approached the
window, stagger slowly back, like one who had received a stunning
blow--his arm feebly extended towards the street, his face and his very
lips white as ashes--while he uttered, "There--there--there!"
General Montague started mechanically to his feet, and, from the window
of the drawing-room, saw a figure corresponding, as well as his hurry
would permit him to discern, with the description of the person whose
appearance so constantly and dreadfully disturbed the repose of his
friend. The figure was just turning from the rails of the area upon
which it had been leaning, and without waiting to see more, the old
gentleman snatched his cane and hat, and rushed down the stairs and into
the street, in the furious hope of securing the person, and punishing
the audacity of the mysterious stranger. He looked around him, but in
vain, for any trace of the form he had himself distinctly beheld. He ran
breathlessly to the nearest corner, expecting to see from thence the
retreating figure, but no such form was visible. Back and forward, from
crossing to crossing, he ran at fault, and it was not until the curious
gaze and laughing countenances of the passers-by reminded him of the
absurdity of his pursuit, that he checked his hurried pace, lowered his
walking-cane from the menacing altitude which he had mechanically given
it, adjusted his hat, and walked composedly back again, inwardly vexed
and flurried. He found Barton pale and trembling in every joint; they
both remained silent, though under emotions very different. At last
Barton whispered, "You saw it?"
"It!--him--someone--you mean--to be sure I did," replied Montague,
testily. "But where is the good or the harm of seeing him? The fellow
runs like a lamplighter. I wanted to _catch_ him, but he had stolen away
before I could reach the hall door. However, it is no great matter; next
time, I dare say, I'll do better; and, egad, if I once come within
reach of him, I'll introduce his shoulders to the weight of my cane, in
a way to make him cry _peccavi_."
Notwithstanding General Montague's undertakings and exhortations,
however, Barton continued to suffer from the self-same unexplained
cause. Go how, when, or where he would, he was still constantly dogged
or confronted by the hateful being who had established over him so
dreadful and mysterious an influence; nowhere, and at no time, was he
secure against the odious appearance which haunted him with such
diabolical perseverance. His depression, misery, and excitement became
more settled and alarming every day, and the mental agonies that
ceaselessly preyed upon him began at last so sensibly to affect his
general health, that Lady Rochdale and General Montague succeeded
(without, indeed, much difficulty) in persuading him to try a short tour
on the Continent, in the hope that an entire change of scene would, at
all events, have the effect of breaking through the influences of local
association, which the more sceptical of his friends assumed to be by no
means inoperative in suggesting and perpetuating what they conceived to
be a mere form of nervous illusion. General Montague, moreover, was
persuaded that the figure which haunted his intended son-in-law was by
no means the creation of his own imagination, but, on the contrary,
a substantial form of flesh and blood, animated by a spiteful and
obstinate resolution, perhaps with some murderous object in perspective,
to watch and follow the unfortunate gentleman. Even this hypothesis was
not a very pleasant one; yet it was plain that if Barton could once be
convinced that there was nothing preternatural in the phenomenon, which
he had hitherto regarded in that light, the affair would lose all its
terrors in his eyes, and wholly cease to exercise upon his health and
spirits the baneful influence which it had hitherto done. He therefore
reasoned, that if the annoyance were actually escaped from by mere
change of scene, it obviously could not have originated in any
supernatural agency.
Yielding to their persuasions, Barton left Dublin for England,
accompanied by General Montague. They posted rapidly to London, and
thence to Dover, whence they took the packet with a fair wind for
Calais. The General's confidence in the result of the expedition on
Barton's spirits had risen day by day since their departure from the
shores of Ireland; for, to the inexpressible relief and delight of
the latter, he had not, since then, so much as even once fancied a
repetition of those impressions which had, when at home, drawn him
gradually down to the very abyss of horror and despair. This exemption
from what he had begun to regard as the inevitable condition of his
existence, and the sense of security which began to pervade his mind,
were inexpressibly delightful; and in the exultation of what he
considered his deliverance, he indulged in a thousand happy
anticipations for a future into which so lately he had hardly dared
to look. In short, both he and his companion secretly congratulated
themselves upon the termination of that persecution which had been to
its immediate victim a source of such unspeakable agony.
It was a beautiful day, and a crowd of idlers stood upon the jetty to
receive the packet, and enjoy the bustle of the new arrivals. Montague
walked a few paces in advance of his friend, and as he made his way
through the crowd, a little man touched his arm, and said to him, in a
broad provincial _patois_,--
"Monsieur is walking too fast; he will lose his sick comrade in the
throng, for, by my faith, the poor gentleman seems to be fainting."
Montague turned quickly, and observed that Barton did indeed look deadly
pale. He hastened to his side.
"My poor fellow, are you ill?" he asked anxiously.
The question was unheeded, and twice repeated, ere Barton stammered,--
"I saw him--by ----, I saw him!"
"_Him!_--who?--where?--when did you see him?--where is he?" cried
Montague, looking around him.
"I saw him--but he is gone," repeated Barton, faintly.
"But where--where? For God's sake, speak," urged Montague, vehemently.
"It is but this moment--_here_," said he.
"But what did he look like?--what had he on?--what did he wear?--quick,
quick," urged his excited companion, ready to dart among the crowd, and
collar the delinquent on the spot.
"He touched your arm--he spoke to you--he pointed to me. God be merciful
to me, there is no escape!" said Barton, in the low, subdued tones of
intense despair.
Montague had already bustled away in all the flurry of mingled hope and
indignation; but though the singular _personnel_ of the stranger who had
accosted him was vividly and perfectly impressed upon his recollection,
he failed to discover among the crowd even the slightest resemblance to
him. After a fruitless search, in which he enlisted the services of
several of the bystanders, who aided all the more zealously as they
believed he had been robbed, he at length, out of breath and baffled,
gave over the attempt.
"Ah, my friend, it won't do," said Barton, with the faint voice and
bewildered, ghastly look of one who has been stunned by some mortal
shock; "there is no use in contending with it; whatever it is, the
dreadful association between me and it is now established; I shall never
escape--never, never!"
"Nonsense, nonsense, my dear fellow; don't talk so," said Montague, with
something at once of irritation and dismay; "you must not; never mind, I
say--never mind, we'll jockey the scoundrel yet."
It was, however, but lost labour to endeavour henceforward to inspire
Barton with one ray of hope; he became utterly desponding. This
intangible and, as it seemed, utterly inadequate influence was fast
destroying his energies of intellect, character, and health. His first
object was now to return to Ireland, there, as he believed, and now
almost hoped, speedily to die.
To Ireland, accordingly, he came, and one of the first faces he saw upon
the shore was again that of his implacable and dreaded persecutor.
Barton seemed at last to have lost not only all enjoyment and every hope
in existence, but all independence of will besides. He now submitted
himself passively to the management of the friends most nearly
interested in his welfare. With the apathy of entire despair, he
implicitly assented to whatever measures they suggested and advised;
and, as a last resource, it was determined to remove him to a house of
Lady Rochdale's in the neighbourhood of Clontarf, where, with the advice
of his medical attendant (who persisted in his opinion that the whole
train of impressions resulted merely from some nervous derangement) it
was resolved that he was to confine himself strictly to the house, and
to make use only of those apartments which commanded a view of an
enclosed yard, the gates of which were to be kept jealously locked.
These precautions would at least secure him against the casual
appearance of any living form which his excited imagination might
possibly confound with the spectre which, as it was contended, his
fancy recognized in every figure that bore even a distant or general
resemblance to the traits with which he had at first invested it. A
month or six weeks' absolute seclusion under these conditions, it was
hoped, might, by interrupting the series of these terrible impressions,
gradually dispel the predisposing apprehension, and effectually break up
the associations which had confirmed the supposed disease, and rendered
recovery hopeless. Cheerful society and that of his friends was to be
constantly supplied, and on the whole, very sanguine expectations were
indulged in, that under this treatment the obstinate hypochondria of the
patient might at length give way.
Accompanied, therefore, by Lady Rochdale, General Montague, and his
daughter--his own affianced bride--poor Barton, himself never daring to
cherish a hope of his ultimate emancipation from the strange horrors
under which his life was literally wasting away, took possession of
the apartments whose situation protected him against the dreadful
intrusions from which he shrank with such unutterable terror.
After a little time, a steady persistence in this system began to
manifest its results in a very marked though gradual improvement alike
in the health and spirits of the invalid. Not, indeed, that anything
at all approaching to complete recovery was yet discernible. On the
contrary, to those who had not seen him since the commencement of his
strange sufferings, such an alteration would have been apparent as might
well have shocked them. The improvement, however, such as it was, was
welcomed with gratitude and delight, especially by the poor young lady,
whom her attachment to him, as well as her now singularly painful
position, consequent on his mysterious and protracted illness, rendered
an object of pity scarcely one degree less to be commiserated than
himself.
A week passed--a fortnight--a month--and yet no recurrence of the hated
visitation had agitated and terrified him as before. The treatment had,
so far, been followed by complete success. The chain of association had
been broken. The constant pressure upon the overtasked spirits had been
removed, and, under these comparatively favourable circumstances, the
sense of social community with the world about him, and something of
human interest, if not of enjoyment, began to reanimate his mind.
It was about this time that Lady Rochdale, who, like most old ladies of
the day, was deep in family receipts, and a great pretender to medical
science, being engaged in the concoction of certain unpalatable mixtures
of marvellous virtue, despatched her own maid to the kitchen garden with
a list of herbs which were there to be carefully culled and brought back
to her for the purpose stated. The hand-maiden, however, returned with
her task scarce half-completed, and a good deal flurried and alarmed.
Her mode of accounting for her precipitate retreat and evident agitation
was odd, and to the old lady unpleasantly startling.
It appeared that she had repaired to the kitchen garden, pursuant to
her mistress's directions, and had there begun to make the specified
selection among the rank and neglected herbs which crowded one corner of
the enclosure, and while engaged in this pleasant labour she carelessly
sang a fragment of an old song, as she said, "to keep herself company."
She was, however, interrupted by a sort of mocking echo of the air she
was singing; and looking up, she saw through the old thorn hedge, which
surrounded the garden, a singularly ill-looking, little man, whose
countenance wore the stamp of menace and malignity, standing close to
her at the other side of the hawthorn screen. She described herself as
utterly unable to move or speak, while he charged her with a message for
Captain Barton, the substance of which she distinctly remembered to have
been to the effect that he, Captain Barton, must come abroad as usual,
and show himself to his friends out of doors, or else prepare for a
visit in his own chamber. On concluding this brief message, the stranger
had, with a threatening air, got down into the outer ditch, and seizing
the hawthorn stems in his hands, seemed on the point of climbing through
the fence, a feat which might have been accomplished without much
difficulty. Without, of course, awaiting this result, the girl, throwing
down her treasures of thyme and rosemary, had turned and run, with the
swiftness of terror, to the house. Lady Rochdale commanded her, on pain
of instant dismissal, to observe an absolute silence respecting all that
portion of the incident which related to Captain Barton; and, at the
same time, directed instant search to be made by her men in the garden
and fields adjacent. This measure, however, was attended with the usual
unsuccess, and filled with fearful and indefinable misgivings, Lady
Rochdale communicated the incident to her brother. The story, however,
until long afterwards, went no further, and of course it was jealously
guarded from Barton, who continued to mend, though slowly and
imperfectly.
Barton now began to walk occasionally in the courtyard which we have
mentioned, and which, being surrounded by a high wall, commanded no view
beyond its own extent. Here he, therefore, considered himself perfectly
secure; and, but for a careless violation of orders by one of the
grooms, he might have enjoyed, at least for some time longer, his
much-prized immunity. Opening upon the public road, this yard was
entered by a wooden gate, with a wicket in it, which was further
defended by an iron gate upon the outside. Strict orders had been given
to keep them carefully locked; but, in spite of these, it had happened
that one day, as Barton was slowly pacing this narrow enclosure, in his
accustomed walk, and reaching the further extremity, was turning to
retrace his steps, he saw the boarded wicket ajar, and the face of his
tormentor immovably looking at him through the iron bars. For a few
seconds he stood riveted to the earth, breathless and bloodless, in the
fascination of that dreaded gaze, and then fell helplessly upon the
pavement.
There was he found a few minutes afterwards, and conveyed to his
room, the apartment which he was never afterwards to leave alive.
Henceforward, a marked and unaccountable change was observable in the
tone of his mind. Captain Barton was now no longer the excited and
despairing man he had been before; a strange alteration had passed upon
him, an unearthly tranquillity reigned in his mind; it was the
anticipated stillness of the grave.
"Montague, my friend, this struggle is nearly ended now," he said,
tranquilly, but with a look of fixed and fearful awe. "I have, at last,
some comfort from that world of spirits, from which my _punishment_ has
come. I know now that my sufferings will be soon over."
Montague pressed him to speak on.
"Yes," said he, in a softened voice, "my punishment is nearly ended.
From sorrow perhaps I shall never, in time or eternity, escape; but
my _agony_ is almost over. Comfort has been revealed to me, and what
remains of my allotted struggle I will bear with submission, even with
hope."
"I am glad to hear you speak so tranquilly, my dear fellow," said
Montague; "peace and cheerfulness of mind are all you need to make you
what you were."
"No, no, I never can be that," said he, mournfully. "I am no longer fit
for life. I am soon to die: I do not shrink from death as I did. I am to
see _him_ but once again, and then all is ended."
"He said so, then?" suggested Montague.
"_He?_ No, no; good tidings could scarcely come through him; and these
were good and welcome; and they came so solemnly and sweetly, with
unutterable love and melancholy, such as I could not, without saying
more than is needful or fitting, of other long-past scenes and persons,
fully explain to you." As Barton said this he shed tears.
"Come, come," said Montague, mistaking the source of his emotions, "you
must not give way. What is it, after all, but a pack of dreams and
nonsense; or, at worst, the practices of a scheming rascal that enjoys
his power of playing upon your nerves, and loves to exert it; a sneaking
vagabond that owes you a grudge, and pays it off this way, not daring to
try a more manly one."
"A grudge, indeed, he owes me; you say rightly," said Barton, with a
sullen shudder; "a grudge as you call it. Oh, God! when the justice of
heaven permits the Evil One to carry out a scheme of vengeance, when
its execution is committed to the lost and frightful victim of sin, who
owes his own ruin to the man, the very man, whom he is commissioned to
pursue; then, indeed, the torments and terrors of hell are anticipated
on earth. But heaven has dealt mercifully with me: hope has opened to me
at last; and if death could come without the dreadful sight I am doomed
to see, I would gladly close my eyes this moment upon the world. But
though death is welcome, I shrink with an agony you cannot understand;
a maddening agony, an actual frenzy of terror, from the last encounter
with that--that DEMON, who has drawn me thus to the verge of the chasm,
and who is himself to plunge me down. I am to see him again, once more,
but under circumstances unutterably more terrific than ever."
As Barton thus spoke, he trembled so violently that Montague was really
alarmed at the extremity of his sudden agitation, and hastened to lead
him back to the topic which had before seemed to exert so tranquillizing
an effect upon his mind.
"It was not a dream," he said, after a time; "I was in a different
state, I felt differently and strangely; and yet it was all as real, as
clear and vivid, as what I now see and hear; it was a reality."
"And what _did_ you see and hear?" urged his companion.
"When I awakened from the swoon I fell into on seeing _him_," said
Barton, continuing, as if he had not heard the question, "it was slowly,
very slowly; I was reclining by the margin of a broad lake, surrounded
by misty hills, and a soft, melancholy, rose-coloured light illuminated
it all. It was indescribably sad and lonely, and yet more beautiful than
any earthly scene. My head was leaning on the lap of a girl, and she was
singing a strange and wondrous song, that told, I know not how, whether
by words or harmony, of all my life, all that is past, and all that is
still to come. And with the song the old feelings that I thought had
perished within me came back, and tears flowed from my eyes, partly
for the song and its mysterious beauty, and partly for the unearthly
sweetness of her voice; yet I know the voice, oh! how well; and I was
spell-bound as I listened and looked at the strange and solitary scene,
without stirring, almost without breathing, and, alas! alas! without
turning my eyes toward the face that I knew was near me, so sweetly
powerful was the enchantment that held me. And so, slowly and softly,
the song and scene grew fainter, and ever fainter, to my senses, till
all was dark and still again. And then I wakened to this world, as you
saw, comforted, for I knew that I was forgiven much." Barton wept again
long and bitterly.
From this time, as we have said, the prevailing tone of his mind was one
of profound and tranquil melancholy. This, however, was not without its
interruptions. He was thoroughly impressed with the conviction that
he was to experience another and a final visitation, illimitably
transcending in horror all he had before experienced. From this
anticipated and unknown agony he often shrunk in such paroxysms of
abject terror and distraction, as filled the whole household with dismay
and superstitious panic. Even those among them who affected to discredit
the supposition of preternatural agency in the matter, were often in
their secret souls visited during the darkness and solitude of night
with qualms and apprehensions which they would not have readily
confessed; and none of them attempted to dissuade Barton from the
resolution on which he now systematically acted, of shutting himself up
in his own apartment. The window-blinds of this room were kept jealously
down; and his own man was seldom out of his presence, day or night, his
bed being placed in the same chamber.
This man was an attached and respectable servant; and his duties, in
addition to those ordinarily imposed upon _valets_, but which Barton's
independent habits generally dispensed with, were to attend carefully
to the simple precautions by means of which his master hoped to exclude
the dreaded intrusion of the "Watcher," as the strange letter he had
at first received had designated his persecutor. And, in addition to
attending to these arrangements, which consisted merely in anticipating
the possibility of his master's being, through any unscreened window
or opened door, exposed to the dreaded influence, the valet was never
to suffer him to be for one moment alone: total solitude, even for a
minute, had become to him now almost as intolerable as the idea of going
abroad into the public ways; it was an instinctive anticipation of what
was coming.
It is needless to say, that, under these mysterious and horrible
circumstances, no steps were taken toward the fulfilment of that
engagement into which he had entered. There was quite disparity enough
in point of years, and indeed of habits, between the young lady and
Captain Barton, to have precluded anything like very vehement or
romantic attachment on her part. Though grieved and anxious, therefore,
she was very far from being heart-broken; a circumstance which, for the
sentimental purposes of our tale, is much to be deplored. But truth must
be told, especially in a narrative whose chief, if not only, pretensions
to interest consist in a rigid adherence to facts, or what are so
reported to have been.
Miss Montague, nevertheless, devoted much of her time to a patient but
fruitless attempt to cheer the unhappy invalid. She read for him, and
conversed with him; but it was apparent that whatever exertions he made,
the endeavour to escape from the one constant and ever-present fear that
preyed upon him was utterly and miserably unavailing.
Young ladies, as all the world knows, are much given to the cultivation
of pets; and among those who shared the favour of Miss Montague was a
fine old owl, which the gardener, who caught him napping among the ivy
of a ruined stable, had dutifully presented to that young lady.
The caprice which regulates such preferences was manifested in the
extravagant favour with which this grim and ill-favoured bird was at
once distinguished by his mistress; and, trifling as this whimsical
circumstance may seem, I am forced to mention it, inasmuch as it is
connected, oddly enough, with the concluding scene of the story.
Barton, so far from sharing in this liking for the new favourite,
regarded it from the first with an antipathy as violent as it was
utterly unaccountable. Its very vicinity was insupportable to him. He
seemed to hate and dread it with a vehemence absolutely laughable, and
to those who have never witnessed the exhibition of antipathies of
this kind, his dread would seem all but incredible.
With these few words of preliminary explanation, I shall proceed to
state the particulars of the last scene in this strange series of
incidents. It was almost two o'clock one winter's night, and Barton
was, as usual at that hour, in his bed; the servant we have mentioned
occupied a smaller bed in the same room, and a candle was burning. The
man was on a sudden aroused by his master, who said,--
"I can't get it out of my head that that accursed bird has escaped
somehow, and is lurking in some corner of the room. I have been dreaming
of him. Get up, Smith, and look about; search for him. Such hateful
dreams!"
The servant rose, and examined the chamber, and while engaged in so
doing, he heard the well-known sound, more like a long-drawn gasp than a
hiss, with which these birds from their secret haunts affright the quiet
of the night. This ghostly indication of its proximity, for the sound
proceeded from the passage upon which Barton's chamber-door opened,
determined the search of the servant, who, opening the door, proceeded a
step or two forward for the purpose of driving the bird away. He had,
however, hardly entered the lobby, when the door behind him slowly swung
to under the impulse, as it seemed, of some gentle current of air; but
as immediately over the door there was a kind of window, intended in the
daytime to aid in lighting the passage, and through which the rays of
the candle were then issuing, the valet could see quite enough for
his purpose. As he advanced he heard his master (who, lying in a
well-curtained bed had not, as it seemed, perceived his exit from the
room) call him by name, and direct him to place the candle on the table
by his bed. The servant, who was now some way in the long passage, did
not like to raise his voice for the purpose of replying, lest he should
startle the sleeping inmates of the house, began to walk hurriedly and
softly back again, when, to his amazement, he heard a voice in the
interior of the chamber answering calmly, and the man actually saw,
through the window which over-topped the door, that the light was slowly
shifting, as if carried across the chamber in answer to his master's
call. Palsied by a feeling akin to terror, yet not unmingled with a
horrible curiosity, he stood breathless and listening at the threshold,
unable to summon resolution to push open the door and enter. Then came
a rustling of the curtains, and a sound like that of one who in a low
voice hushes a child to rest, in the midst of which he heard Barton say,
in a tone of stifled horror--"Oh, God--oh, my God!" and repeat the same
exclamation several times. Then ensued a silence, which again was broken
by the same strange soothing sound; and at last there burst forth, in
one swelling peal, a yell of agony so appalling and hideous, that, under
some impulse of ungovernable horror, the man rushed to the door, and
with his whole strength strove to force it open. Whether it was that, in
his agitation, he had himself but imperfectly turned the handle, or that
the door was really secured upon the inside, he failed to effect an
entrance; and as he tugged and pushed, yell after yell rang louder and
wilder through the chamber, accompanied all the while by the same
hushing sounds. Actually freezing with terror, and scarce knowing what
he did, the man turned and ran down the passage, wringing his hands in
the extremity of horror and irresolution. At the stair-head he was
encountered by General Montague, scared and eager, and just as they met
the fearful sounds had ceased.
"What is it?--who--where is your master?" said Montague, with the
incoherence of extreme agitation. "Has anything--for God's sake, is
anything wrong?"
"Lord have mercy on us, it's all over," said the man, staring wildly
towards his master's chamber. "He's dead, sir; I'm sure he's dead."
Without waiting for inquiry or explanation, Montague, closely followed
by the servant, hurried to the chamber-door, turned the handle, and
pushed it open. As the door yielded to his pressure, the ill-omened bird
of which the servant had been in search, uttering its spectral warning,
started suddenly from the far side of the bed, and flying through the
doorway close over their heads, and extinguishing, in its passage, the
candle which Montague carried, crashed through the skylight that
overlooked the lobby, and sailed away into the darkness of the outer
space.
"There it is, God bless us!" whispered the man, after a breathless
pause.
"Curse that bird!" muttered the general, startled by the suddenness of
the apparition, and unable to conceal his discomposure.
"The candle was moved," said the man, after another breathless pause;
"see, they put it by the bed!"
"Draw the curtains, fellow, and don't stand gaping there," whispered
Montague, sternly.
The man hesitated.
"Hold this, then," said Montague, impatiently, thrusting the candlestick
into the servant's hand; and himself advancing to the bedside, he drew
the curtains apart. The light of the candle, which was still burning at
the bedside, fell upon a figure huddled together, and half upright, at
the head of the bed. It seemed as though it had shrunk back as far as
the solid panelling would allow, and the hands were still clutched in
the bed-clothes.
[Illustration: EXTINGUISHING IN ITS PASSAGE THE CANDLE WHICH MONTAGUE
CARRIED.]
"Barton, Barton, Barton!" cried the general, with a strange mixture of
awe and vehemence.
He took the candle, and held it so that it shone full upon his face.
The features were fixed, stern and white; the jaw was fallen, and the
sightless eyes, still open, gazed vacantly forward toward the front of
the bed.
"God Almighty, he's dead!" muttered the general, as he looked upon this
fearful spectacle. They both continued to gaze upon it in silence for a
minute or more. "And cold, too," said Montague, withdrawing his hand
from that of the dead man.
"And see, see; may I never have life, sir," added the man, after another
pause, with a shudder, "but there was something else on the bed with
him! Look there--look there; see that, sir!"
As the man thus spoke, he pointed to a deep indenture, as if caused by a
heavy pressure, near the foot of the bed.
Montague was silent.
"Come, sir, come away, for God's sake!" whispered the man, drawing close
up to him, and holding fast by his arm, while he glanced fearfully
round; "what good can be done here now?--come away, for God's sake!"
At this moment they heard the steps of more than one approaching, and
Montague, hastily desiring the servant to arrest their progress,
endeavoured to loose the rigid grip with which the fingers of the dead
man were clutched in the bed-clothes, and drew, as well as he was able,
the awful figure into a reclining posture. Then closing the curtains
carefully upon it, he hastened himself to meet those who were
approaching.
* * * * *
It is needless to follow the personages so slightly connected with this
narrative into the events of their after lives; it is enough for us to
remark that no clue to the solution of these mysterious occurrences was
ever afterwards discovered; and so long an interval having now passed,
it is scarcely to be expected that time can throw any new light upon
their inexplicable obscurity. Until the secrets of the earth shall be no
longer hidden these transactions must remain shrouded in mystery.
The only occurrence in Captain Barton's former life to which reference
was ever made, as having any possible connection with the sufferings
with which his existence closed, and which he himself seemed to regard
as working out a retribution for some grievous sin of his past life, was
a circumstance which not for several years after his death was brought
to light. The nature of this disclosure was painful to his relatives and
discreditable to his memory.
It appeared, then, that some eight years before Captain Barton's final
return to Dublin, he had formed, in the town of Plymouth, a guilty
attachment, the object of which was the daughter of one of the ship's
crew under his command. The father had visited the frailty of his
unhappy child with extreme harshness, and even brutality, and it was
said that she had died heart-broken. Presuming upon Barton's implication
in her guilt, this man had conducted himself towards him with marked
insolence, and Barton resented this--and what he resented with still
more exasperated bitterness, his treatment of the unfortunate girl--by
a systematic exercise of those terrible and arbitrary severities with
which the regulations of the navy arm those who are responsible for its
discipline. The man had at length made his escape, while the vessel was
in port at Lisbon, but died, as it was said, in an hospital in that
town, of the wounds inflicted in one of his recent and sanguinary
punishments.
Whether these circumstances in reality bear or not upon the occurrences
of Barton's after-life, it is of course impossible to say. It seems,
however, more than probable that they were, at least in his own mind,
closely associated with them. But however the truth may be as to the
origin and motives of this mysterious persecution, there can be no
doubt that, with respect to the agencies by which it was accomplished,
absolute and impenetrable mystery is like to prevail until the day of
doom.
[Illustration]
Passage in the Secret History of an Irish Countess.
The following paper is written in a female hand, and was no doubt
communicated to my much regretted friend by the lady whose early history
it serves to illustrate, the Countess D----. She is no more--she long
since died, a childless and a widowed wife, and, as her letter sadly
predicts, none survive to whom the publication of this narrative can
prove "injurious, or even painful." Strange! two powerful and wealthy
families, that in which she was born, and that into which she had
married, are utterly extinct.
To those who know anything of the history of Irish families, as they
were less than a century ago, the facts which immediately follow will
at once suggest the names of the principal actors; and to others
their publication would be useless--to us, possibly, if not probably
injurious. I have therefore altered such of the names as might, if
stated, get us into difficulty; others, belonging to minor characters in
the strange story, I have left untouched.
* * * * *
MY DEAR FRIEND,--You have asked me to furnish you with a detail of
the strange events which marked my early history, and I have, without
hesitation, applied myself to the task, knowing that, while I live, a
kind consideration for my feelings will prevent you giving publicity to
the statement; and conscious that, when I am no more, there will not
survive one to whom the narrative can prove injurious, or even painful.
My mother died when I was quite an infant, and of her I have no
recollection, even the faintest. By her death, my education and habits
were left solely to the guidance of my surviving parent; and, so far as
a stern attention to my religious instruction, and an active anxiety
evinced by his procuring for me the best masters to perfect me in those
accomplishments which my station and wealth might seem to require, could
avail, he amply discharged the task.
My father was what is called an oddity, and his treatment of me, though
uniformly kind, flowed less from affection and tenderness than from a
sense of obligation and duty. Indeed, I seldom even spoke to him except
at meal-times, and then his manner was silent and abrupt; his leisure
hours, which were many, were passed either in his study or in solitary
walks; in short, he seemed to take no further interest in my happiness
or improvement than a conscientious regard to the discharge of his own
duty would seem to claim.
Shortly before my birth, a circumstance had occurred which had
contributed much to form and to confirm my father's secluded habits--it
was the fact that a suspicion of murder had fallen upon his younger
brother, a suspicion not sufficiently definite to lead to an indictment,
yet strong enough to ruin him in public opinion.
This disgraceful and dreadful doubt cast upon the family name my father
felt deeply and bitterly, and not the less so that he himself was
thoroughly convinced of his brother's innocence. The sincerity and
strength of this impression he shortly afterwards proved in a manner
which produced the dark events which follow. Before, however, I enter
upon the statement of them, I ought to relate the circumstances which
had awakened the suspicion; inasmuch as they are in themselves somewhat
curious, and, in their effects, most intimately connected with my after
history.
My uncle, Sir Arthur T----n, was a gay and extravagant man, and,
among other vices, was ruinously addicted to gaming; this unfortunate
propensity, even after his fortune had suffered so severely as to render
inevitable a reduction in his expenses by no means inconsiderable,
nevertheless continued to actuate him, almost to the exclusion of all
other pursuits. He was a proud, or rather a vain man, and could not bear
to make the diminution of his income a matter of gratulation and triumph
to those with whom he had hitherto competed; and the consequence was
that he frequented no longer the expensive haunts of dissipation, and
retired from the gay world, leaving his coterie to discover his reasons
as best they might.
He did not, however, forego his favourite vice, for, though he could not
worship his divinity in the costly temples where it was formerly his
wont to take his stand, yet he found it very possible to bring about him
a sufficient number of the votaries of chance to answer all his ends.
The consequence was that Carrickleigh, which was the name of my uncle's
residence, was never without one or more of such reckless visitors.
It happened that upon one occasion he was visited by one Hugh Tisdall--a
gentleman of loose habits but of considerable wealth--who had, in early
youth, travelled with my uncle upon the Continent. The period of his
visit was winter, and, consequently, the house was nearly deserted
except by its regular inmates; Mr. Tisdall was therefore highly
acceptable, particularly as my uncle was aware that his visitor's tastes
accorded exactly with his own.
Both parties seemed determined to avail themselves of their suitability
during the brief stay which Mr. Tisdall had promised; the consequence
was that they shut themselves up in Sir Arthur's private room for nearly
all the day and the greater part of the night, during the space of
nearly a week. At the end of this period the servant having one morning,
as usual, knocked at Mr. Tisdall's bedroom door repeatedly, received no
answer, and, upon attempting to enter, found that it was locked. This
appeared suspicious, and the inmates of the house having been alarmed,
the door was forced open, and, on proceeding to the bed, they found the
body of its occupant perfectly lifeless, and hanging half-way out, the
head downwards, and near the floor. One deep wound had been inflicted
upon the temple, apparently with some blunt instrument, which had
penetrated the brain; and another blow less effective, probably the
first aimed, had grazed the head, removing some of the scalp, but
leaving the skull untouched. The door had been double-locked upon the
inside, in evidence of which the key still lay where it had been placed
in the lock.
The window, though not secured on the interior, was closed--a
circumstance not a little puzzling, as it afforded the only other mode
of escape from the room; it looked out, too, upon a kind of courtyard,
round which the old buildings stood, formerly accessible by a narrow
doorway and passage lying in the oldest side of the quadrangle, but
which had since been built up, so as to preclude all ingress or egress.
The room was also upon the second story, and the height of the window
considerable. Near the bed were found a pair of razors belonging to the
murdered man, one of them upon the ground and both of them open. The
weapon which had inflicted the mortal wound was not to be found in
the room, nor were any footsteps or other traces of the murderer
discoverable.
At the suggestion of Sir Arthur himself, a coroner was instantly
summoned to attend, and an inquest was held; nothing, however, in any
degree conclusive was elicited. The walls, ceiling, and floor of the
room were carefully examined, in order to ascertain whether they
contained a trap-door or other concealed mode of entrance--but no such
thing appeared.
Such was the minuteness of investigation employed that although the
grate had contained a large fire during the night, they proceeded to
examine even the very chimney, in order to discover whether escape
by it were possible; but this attempt, too, was fruitless, for the
chimney, built in the old fashion, rose in a perfectly perpendicular
line from the hearth to a height of nearly fourteen feet above the roof,
affording in its interior scarcely the possibility of ascent, the flue
being smoothly plastered, and sloping towards the top like an inverted
funnel. Even if the summit of the chimney were attained, it promised,
owing to its great height, but a precarious descent upon the sharp and
steep-ridged roof. The ashes, too, which lay in the grate, and the soot,
as far as it could be seen, were undisturbed, a circumstance almost
conclusive.
Sir Arthur was of course examined; his evidence was given with a
clearness and unreserve which seemed calculated to silence all
suspicion. He stated that up to the day and night immediately preceding
the catastrophe, he had lost to a heavy amount, but that, at their last
sitting, he had not only won back his original loss, but upwards of
four thousand pounds in addition; in evidence of which he produced
an acknowledgment of debt to that amount in the handwriting of the
deceased, and bearing the date of the fatal night. He had mentioned the
circumstance to his lady, and in presence of some of the domestics;
which statement was supported by their respective evidence.
One of the jury shrewdly observed that the circumstance of Mr. Tisdall's
having sustained so heavy a loss might have suggested to some
ill-minded persons, accidentally hearing it, the plan of robbing him,
after having murdered him, in such a manner as might make it appear that
he had committed suicide; a supposition which was strongly supported by
the razors having been found thus displaced, and removed from their
case. Two persons had probably been engaged in the attempt, one watching
by the sleeping man, and ready to strike him in case of his awakening
suddenly, while the other was procuring the razors and employed in
inflicting the fatal gash, so as to make it appear to have been the act
of the murdered man himself. It was said that while the juror was making
this suggestion Sir Arthur changed colour.
Nothing, however, like legal evidence appeared against him, and the
consequence was that the verdict was found against a person or persons
unknown; and for some time the matter was suffered to rest, until, after
about five months, my father received a letter from a person signing
himself Andrew Collis, and representing himself to be the cousin of the
deceased. This letter stated that Sir Arthur was likely to incur not
merely suspicion, but personal risk, unless he could account for certain
circumstances connected with the recent murder, and contained a copy of
a letter written by the deceased, and bearing date--the day of the
week, and of the month--upon the night the deed of blood had been
perpetrated. Tisdall's note ran as follows:--
"DEAR COLLIS,--I have had sharp work with Sir Arthur; he tried some of
his stale tricks, but soon found that _I_ was Yorkshire too; it would
not do--you understand me. We went to the work like good ones, head,
heart and soul; and, in fact, since I came here, I have lost no time.
I am rather fagged, but I am sure to be well paid for my hardship; I
never want sleep so long as I can have the music of a dice-box, and
wherewithal to pay the piper. As I told you, he tried some of his queer
turns, but I foiled him like a man, and, in return, gave him more than
he could relish of the genuine _dead knowledge_.
"In short, I have plucked the old baronet as never baronet was plucked
before; I have scarce left him the stump of a quill; I have got
promissory notes in his hand to the amount of--if you like round
numbers, say, thirty thousand pounds, safely deposited in my portable
strong-box, _alias_ double-clasped pocket-book. I leave this ruinous old
rat-hole early on to-morrow, for two reasons--first, I do not want to
play with Sir Arthur deeper than I think his security, that is, his
money, or his money's worth, would warrant; and, secondly, because I am
safer a hundred miles from Sir Arthur than in the house with him. Look
you, my worthy, I tell you this between ourselves--I may be wrong, but,
by G----, I am as sure as that I am now living, that Sir A---- attempted
to poison me last night. So much for old friendship on both sides!
"When I won the last stake, a heavy one enough, my friend leant his
forehead upon his hands, and you'll laugh when I tell you that his
head literally smoked like a hot dumpling. I do not know whether his
agitation was produced by the plan which he had against me, or by his
having lost so heavily--though it must be allowed that he had reason to
be a little funked, whichever way his thoughts went; but he pulled
the bell, and ordered two bottles of champagne. While the fellow was
bringing them he drew out a promissory note to the full amount, which he
signed, and, as the man came in with the bottles and glasses, he desired
him to be off; he filled out a glass for me, and, while he thought my
eyes were off, for I was putting up his note at the time, he dropped
something slyly into it, no doubt to sweeten it; but I saw it all, and
when he handed it to me, I said, with an emphasis which he might or
might not understand:
"'There is some sediment in this; I'll not drink it.'
"'Is there?' said he, and at the same time snatched it from my hand and
threw it into the fire. What do you think of that? have I not a tender
chicken to manage? Win or lose, I will not play beyond five thousand
to-night, and to-morrow sees me safe out of the reach of Sir Arthur's
champagne. So, all things considered, I think you must allow that you
are not the last who have found a knowing boy in
"Yours to command,
"HUGH TISDALL."
Of the authenticity of this document I never heard my father express a
doubt; and I am satisfied that, owing to his strong conviction in favour
of his brother, he would not have admitted it without sufficient
inquiry, inasmuch as it tended to confirm the suspicions which already
existed to his prejudice.
Now, the only point in this letter which made strongly against my
uncle was the mention of the "double-clasped pocket-book" as the
receptacle of the papers likely to involve him, for this pocket-book
was not forthcoming, nor anywhere to be found, nor had any papers
referring to his gaming transactions been found upon the dead man.
However, whatever might have been the original intention of this
Collis, neither my uncle nor my father ever heard more of him; but he
published the letter in Faulkner's Newspaper, which was shortly
afterwards made the vehicle of a much more mysterious attack. The
passage in that periodical to which I allude appeared about four years
afterwards, and while the fatal occurrence was still fresh in public
recollection. It commenced by a rambling preface, stating that "a
_certain person_ whom _certain_ persons thought to be dead, was not
so, but living, and in full possession of his memory, and moreover
ready and able to make _great_ delinquents tremble." It then went on
to describe the murder, without, however, mentioning names; and in
doing so, it entered into minute and circumstantial particulars of
which none but an _eye-witness_ could have been possessed, and by
implications almost too unequivocal to be regarded in the light of
insinuation, to involve the "_titled gambler_" in the guilt of the
transaction.
My father at once urged Sir Arthur to proceed against the paper in an
action of libel; but he would not hear of it, nor consent to my father's
taking any legal steps whatever in the matter. My father, however, wrote
in a threatening tone to Faulkner, demanding a surrender of the author
of the obnoxious article. The answer to this application is still in
my possession, and is penned in an apologetic tone: it states that
the manuscript had been handed in, paid for, and inserted as an
advertisement, without sufficient inquiry, or any knowledge as to whom
it referred.
No step, however, was taken to clear my uncle's character in the
judgment of the public; and as he immediately sold a small property,
the application of the proceeds of which was known to none, he was said
to have disposed of it to enable himself to buy off the threatened
information. However the truth might have been, it is certain that no
charges respecting the mysterious murder were afterwards publicly made
against my uncle, and, as far as external disturbances were concerned,
he enjoyed henceforward perfect security and quiet.
A deep and lasting impression, however, had been made upon the public
mind, and Sir Arthur T----n was no longer visited or noticed by the
gentry and aristocracy of the county, whose attention and courtesies
he had hitherto received. He accordingly affected to despise these
enjoyments which he could not procure, and shunned even that society
which he might have commanded.
This is all that I need recapitulate of my uncle's history, and I now
recur to my own. Although my father had never, within my recollection,
visited, or been visited by, my uncle, each being of sedentary,
procrastinating, and secluded habits, and their respective residences
being very far apart--the one lying in the county of Galway, the other
in that of Cork--he was strongly attached to his brother, and evinced
his affection by an active correspondence, and by deeply and proudly
resenting that neglect which had marked Sir Arthur as unfit to mix in
society.
When I was about eighteen years of age, my father, whose health had been
gradually declining, died, leaving me in heart wretched and desolate,
and, owing to his previous seclusion, with few acquaintances, and almost
no friends.
The provisions of his will were curious, and when I had sufficiently
come to myself to listen to or comprehend them, surprised me not a
little: all his vast property was left to me, and to the heirs of my
body, for ever; and, in default of such heirs, it was to go after my
death to my uncle, Sir Arthur, without any entail.
At the same time, the will appointed him my guardian, desiring that I
might be received within his house, and reside with his family, and
under his care, during the term of my minority; and in consideration of
the increased expense consequent upon such an arrangement, a handsome
annuity was allotted to him during the term of my proposed residence.
The object of this last provision I at once understood: my father
desired, by making it the direct, apparent interest of Sir Arthur that
I should die without issue, while at the same time placing me wholly
in his power, to prove to the world how great and unshaken was his
confidence in his brother's innocence and honour, and also to afford
him an opportunity of showing that this mark of confidence was not
unworthily bestowed.
It was a strange, perhaps an idle scheme; but as I had been always
brought up in the habit of considering my uncle as a deeply-injured man,
and had been taught, almost as a part of my religion, to regard him as
the very soul of honour, I felt no further uneasiness respecting the
arrangement than that likely to result to a timid girl of secluded
habits from the immediate prospect of taking up her abode for the first
time in her life among total strangers. Previous to leaving my home,
which I felt I should do with a heavy heart, I received a most tender
and affectionate letter from my uncle, calculated, if anything could do
so, to remove the bitterness of parting from scenes familiar and dear
from my earliest childhood, and in some degree to reconcile me to the
change.
It was during a fine autumn that I approached the old domain of
Carrickleigh. I shall not soon forget the impression of sadness and of
gloom which all that I saw produced upon my mind; the sunbeams were
falling with a rich and melancholy tint upon the fine old trees, which
stood in lordly groups, casting their long, sweeping shadows over rock
and sward. There was an air of desolation and decay about the spot,
which amounted almost to desolation; the symptoms of this increased in
number as we approached the building itself, near which the ground
had been originally more artificially and carefully cultivated than
elsewhere, and the neglect consequently more immediately and strikingly
betrayed itself.
As we proceeded, the road wound near the beds of what had been formerly
two fish-ponds--now nothing more than stagnant swamps, overgrown with
rank weeds, and here and there encroached upon by the straggling
underwood. The avenue itself was much broken, and in many places the
stones were almost concealed by grass and nettles; the loose stone
walls which had here and there intersected the broad park were, in
many places, broken down, so as no longer to answer their original
purpose as fences; piers were now and then to be seen, but the gates
were gone. And, to add to the general air of dilapidation, some huge
trunks were lying scattered through the venerable old trees, either
the work of the winter storms, or perhaps the victims of some extensive
but desultory scheme of denudation, which the projector had not capital
or perseverance to carry into full effect.
After the carriage had travelled a mile of this avenue, we reached the
summit of rather an abrupt eminence, one of the many which added to the
picturesqueness, if not to the convenience of this rude passage. From
the top of this ridge the grey walls of Carrickleigh were visible,
rising at a small distance in front, and darkened by the hoary
wood which crowded around them. It was a quadrangular building of
considerable extent, and the front which lay towards us, and in which
the great entrance was placed, bore unequivocal marks of antiquity; the
time-worn, solemn aspect of the old building, the ruinous and deserted
appearance of the whole place, and the associations which connected
it with a dark page in the history of my family, combined to depress
spirits already predisposed for the reception of sombre and dejecting
impressions.
When the carriage drew up in the grass-grown courtyard before the hall
door, two lazy-looking men, whose appearance well accorded with that of
the place which they tenanted, alarmed by the obstreperous barking of a
great chained dog, ran out from some half-ruinous out-houses, and took
charge of the horses; the hall door stood open, and I entered a gloomy
and imperfectly lighted apartment, and found no one within. However, I
had not long to wait in this awkward predicament, for before my luggage
had been deposited in the house--indeed, before I had well removed my
cloak and other wraps, so as to enable me to look around--a young girl
ran lightly into the hall, and kissing me heartily, and somewhat
boisterously, exclaimed:
"My dear cousin, my dear Margaret, I am so delighted, so out of breath.
We did not expect you till ten o'clock; my father is somewhere about the
place; he must be close at hand. James, Corney--run out and tell your
master--my brother is seldom at home, at least at any reasonable
hour--you must be so tired, so fatigued, let me show you to your room.
See that Lady Margaret's luggage is all brought up, you must lie down
and rest yourself. Deborah, bring some coffee-- Up these stairs! We are
so delighted to see you, you cannot think how lonely I have been. How
steep these stairs are, are they not? I am so glad you are come; I could
hardly bring myself to believe that you were really coming; how good of
you, dear Lady Margaret."
There was real good nature and delight in my cousin's greeting, and a
kind of constitutional confidence of manner which placed me at once at
ease, and made me feel immediately upon terms of intimacy with her. The
room into which she ushered me, although partaking in the general air of
decay which pervaded the mansion and all about it, had nevertheless been
fitted up with evident attention to comfort, and even with some dingy
attempt at luxury; but what pleased me most was that it opened, by a
second door, upon a lobby which communicated with my fair cousin's
apartment; a circumstance which divested the room, in my eyes, of the
air of solitude and sadness which would otherwise have characterized
it, to a degree almost painful to one so dejected in spirits as I was.
After such arrangements as I found necessary were completed, we both
went down to the parlour, a large wainscoted room, hung round with grim
old portraits, and, as I was not sorry to see, containing in its ample
grate a large and cheerful fire. Here my cousin had leisure to talk more
at ease; and from her I learned something of the manners and the habits
of the two remaining members of her family, whom I had not yet seen.
On my arrival I had known nothing of the family among whom I was come
to reside, except that it consisted of three individuals, my uncle,
and his son and daughter, Lady T----n having been long dead. In
addition to this very scanty stock of information, I shortly learned
from my communicative companion that my uncle was, as I had suspected,
completely reserved in his habits, and besides that, having been
so far back as she could well recollect, always rather strict (as
reformed rakes frequently become), he had latterly been growing more
gloomily and sternly religious than heretofore.
Her account of her brother was far less favourable, though she did not
say anything directly to his disadvantage. From all that I could gather
from her, I was led to suppose that he was a specimen of the idle,
coarse-mannered, profligate, low-minded "squire-archy"--a result which
might naturally have flowed from the circumstance of his being, as it
were, outlawed from society, and driven for companionship to grades
below his own; enjoying, too, the dangerous prerogative of spending much
money.
However, you may easily suppose that I found nothing in my cousin's
communication fully to bear me out in so very decided a conclusion.
I awaited the arrival of my uncle, which was every moment to be
expected, with feelings half of alarm, half of curiosity--a sensation
which I have often since experienced, though to a less degree, when upon
the point of standing for the first time in the presence of one of whom
I have long been in the habit of hearing or thinking with interest.
It was, therefore, with some little perturbation that I heard, first a
light bustle at the outer door, then a slow step traverse the hall, and
finally witnessed the door open, and my uncle enter the room. He was a
striking-looking man; from peculiarities both of person and of garb, the
whole effect of his appearance amounted to extreme singularity. He was
tall, and when young his figure must have been strikingly elegant; as it
was, however, its effect was marred by a very decided stoop. His dress
was of a sober colour, and in fashion anterior to anything which I could
remember. It was, however, handsome, and by no means carelessly put on.
But what completed the singularity of his appearance was his uncut
white hair, which hung in long, but not at all neglected curls, even
so far as his shoulders, and which combined with his regularly classic
features and fine dark eyes, to bestow upon him an air of venerable
dignity and pride which I have never seen equalled elsewhere. I rose as
he entered, and met him about the middle of the room; he kissed my cheek
and both my hands, saying:
"You are most welcome, dear child, as welcome as the command of this
poor place and all that it contains can make you. I am most rejoiced to
see you--truly rejoiced. I trust that you are not much fatigued--pray
be seated again." He led me to my chair, and continued: "I am glad to
perceive you have made acquaintance with Emily already; I see, in your
being thus brought together, the foundation of a lasting friendship. You
are both innocent, and both young. God bless you--God bless you, and
make you all that I could wish!"
[Illustration: I ROSE AS HE ENTERED.]
He raised his eyes, and remained for a few moments silent, as if in
secret prayer. I felt that it was impossible that this man, with
feelings so quick, so warm, so tender, could be the wretch that public
opinion had represented him to be. I was more than ever convinced of his
innocence.
His manner was, or appeared to me, most fascinating; there was a mingled
kindness and courtesy in it which seemed to speak benevolence itself. It
was a manner which I felt cold art could never have taught; it owed most
of its charm to its appearing to emanate directly from the heart; it
must be a genuine index of the owner's mind. So I thought.
My uncle having given me fully to understand that I was most welcome,
and might command whatever was his own, pressed me to take some
refreshment; and on my refusing, he observed that previously to bidding
me good-night, he had one duty further to perform, one in whose
observance he was convinced I would cheerfully acquiesce.
He then proceeded to read a chapter from the Bible; after which he took
his leave with the same affectionate kindness with which he had greeted
me, having repeated his desire that I should consider everything in his
house as altogether at my disposal. It is needless to say that I was
much pleased with my uncle--it was impossible to avoid being so; and I
could not help saying to myself, if such a man as this is not safe from
the assaults of slander, who is? I felt much happier than I had done
since my father's death, and enjoyed that night the first refreshing
sleep which had visited me since that event.
My curiosity respecting my male cousin did not long remain
unsatisfied--he appeared the next day at dinner. His manners, though not
so coarse as I had expected, were exceedingly disagreeable; there was an
assurance and a forwardness for which I was not prepared; there was less
of the vulgarity of manner, and almost more of that of the mind, than I
had anticipated. I felt quite uncomfortable in his presence; there was
just that confidence in his look and tone which would read encouragement
even in mere toleration; and I felt more disgusted and annoyed at the
coarse and extravagant compliments which he was pleased from time to
time to pay me, than perhaps the extent of the atrocity might fully
have warranted. It was, however, one consolation that he did not often
appear, being much engrossed by pursuits about which I neither knew nor
cared anything; but when he did appear, his attentions, either with
a view to his amusement or to some more serious advantage, were so
obviously and perseveringly directed to me, that young and inexperienced
as I was, even _I_ could not be ignorant of his preference. I felt more
provoked by this odious persecution than I can express, and discouraged
him with so much vigour, that I employed even rudeness to convince him
his assiduities were unwelcome; but all in vain.
This had gone on for nearly a twelvemonth, to my infinite annoyance,
when one day as I was sitting at some needlework with my companion
Emily, as was my habit, in the parlour, the door opened, and my cousin
Edward entered the room. There was something, I thought, odd in his
manner; a kind of struggle between shame and impudence--a kind of flurry
and ambiguity which made him appear, if possible, more than ordinarily
disagreeable.
"Your servant, ladies," he said, seating himself at the same time;
"sorry to spoil your _tête-à-tête_, but never mind! I'll only take
Emily's place for a minute or two; and then we part for a while,
fair cousin. Emily, my father wants you in the corner turret. No
shilly-shally; he's in a hurry." She hesitated. "Be off--tramp, march!"
he exclaimed, in a tone which the poor girl dared not disobey.
She left the room, and Edward followed her to the door. He stood there
for a minute or two, as if reflecting what he should say, perhaps
satisfying himself that no one was within hearing in the hall.
At length he turned about, having closed the door, as if carelessly,
with his foot; and advancing slowly, as if in deep thought, he took his
seat at the side of the table opposite to mine.
There was a brief interval of silence, after which he said:
"I imagine that you have a shrewd suspicion of the object of my early
visit; but I suppose I must go into particulars. Must I?"
"I have no conception," I replied, "what your object may be."
"Well, well," said he, becoming more at his ease as he proceeded,
"it may be told in a few words. You know that it is totally
impossible--quite out of the question--that an off-hand young fellow
like me, and a good-looking girl like yourself, could meet continually,
as you and I have done, without an attachment--a liking growing up on
one side or other; in short, I think I have let you know as plain as if
I spoke it, that I have been in love with you almost from the first time
I saw you."
He paused; but I was too much horrified to speak. He interpreted my
silence favourably.
"I can tell you," he continued, "I'm reckoned rather hard to please, and
very hard to _hit_. I can't say when I was taken with a girl before; so
you see fortune reserved me----"
Here the odious wretch wound his arm round my waist. The action at
once restored me to utterance, and with the most indignant vehemence I
released myself from his hold, and at the same time said:
"I have not been insensible, sir, of your most disagreeable
attentions--they have long been a source of much annoyance to me; and
you must be aware that I have marked my disapprobation--my disgust--as
unequivocally as I possibly could, without actual indelicacy."
I paused, almost out of breath from the rapidity with which I had
spoken; and, without giving him time to renew the conversation, I
hastily quitted the room, leaving him in a paroxysm of rage and
mortification.
As I ascended the stairs, I heard him open the parlour-door with
violence, and take two or three rapid strides in the direction in which
I was moving. I was now much frightened, and ran the whole way until I
reached my room; and having locked the door, I listened breathlessly,
but heard no sound. This relieved me for the present; but so much had
I been overcome by the agitation and annoyance attendant upon the scene
which I had just gone through, that when Emily knocked at my door, I was
weeping in strong hysterics.
[Illustration: LEAVING HIM IN A PAROXYSM OF RAGE AND MORTIFICATION.]
You will readily conceive my distress, when you reflect upon my strong
dislike to my cousin Edward, combined with my youth and extreme
inexperience. Any proposal of such a nature must have agitated me; but
that it should have come from the man whom of all others I most loathed
and abhorred, and to whom I had, as clearly as manner could do it,
expressed the state of my feelings, was almost too overwhelming to be
borne. It was a calamity, too, in which I could not claim the sympathy
of my cousin Emily, which had always been extended to me in my minor
grievances. Still I hoped that it might not be unattended with good; for
I thought that one inevitable and most welcome consequence would result
from this painful _eclaircissement_, in the discontinuance of my
cousin's odious persecution.
When I arose next morning, it was with the fervent hope that I might
never again behold the face, or even hear the name, of my cousin Edward;
but such a consummation, though devoutly to be wished, was hardly likely
to occur. The painful impressions of yesterday were too vivid to be at
once erased; and I could not help feeling some dim foreboding of coming
annoyance and evil.
To expect on my suitor's part anything like delicacy or consideration
for me was out of the question. I saw that he had set his heart upon
my property, and that he was not likely easily to forego such an
acquisition--possessing what might have been considered opportunities
and facilities almost to compel my compliance.
I now keenly felt the unreasonableness of my father's conduct in placing
me to reside with a family of all whose members, with one exception,
he was wholly ignorant, and I bitterly felt the helplessness of my
situation. I determined, however, in case of my cousin's persevering in
his addresses, to lay all the particulars before my uncle (although
he had never in kindness or intimacy gone a step beyond our first
interview), and to throw myself upon his hospitality and his sense of
honour for protection against a repetition of such scenes.
My cousin's conduct may appear to have been an inadequate cause for
such serious uneasiness; but my alarm was caused neither by his acts
nor words, but entirely by his manner, which was strange and even
intimidating to excess. At the beginning of yesterday's interview there
was a sort of bullying swagger in his air, which towards the close gave
place to the brutal vehemence of an undisguised ruffian--a transition
which had tempted me into a belief that he might seek even forcibly
to extort from me a consent to his wishes, or by means still more
horrible, of which I scarcely dared to trust myself to think, to possess
himself of my property.
I was early next day summoned to attend my uncle in his private room,
which lay in a corner turret of the old building; and thither I
accordingly went, wondering all the way what this unusual measure might
prelude. When I entered the room, he did not rise in his usual courteous
way to greet me, but simply pointed to a chair opposite to his own. This
boded nothing agreeable. I sat down, however, silently waiting until he
should open the conversation.
"Lady Margaret," at length he said, in a tone of greater sternness than
I had thought him capable of using, "I have hitherto spoken to you as a
friend, but I have not forgotten that I am also your guardian, and that
my authority as such gives me a right to control your conduct. I shall
put a question to you, and I expect and will demand a plain, direct
answer. Have I rightly been informed that you have contemptuously
rejected the suit and hand of my son Edward?"
I stammered forth with a good deal of trepidation:
"I believe--that is, I have, sir, rejected my cousin's proposals; and my
coldness and discouragement might have convinced him that I had
determined to do so."
"Madam," replied he, with suppressed, but, as it appeared to me,
intense anger, "I have lived long enough to know that coldness and
discouragement, and such terms, form the common cant of a worthless
coquette. You know to the full, as well as I, that _coldness and
discouragement_ may be so exhibited as to convince their object that he
is neither distasteful nor indifferent to the person who wears this
manner. You know, too, none better, that an affected neglect, when
skilfully managed, is amongst the most formidable of the engines which
artful beauty can employ. I tell you, madam, that having, without one
word spoken in discouragement, permitted my son's most marked attentions
for a twelvemonth or more, you have no right to dismiss him with no
further explanation than demurely telling him that you had always looked
coldly upon him; and neither your wealth nor your _ladyship_" (there was
an emphasis of scorn on the word, which would have become Sir Giles
Overreach himself) "can warrant you in treating with contempt the
affectionate regard of an honest heart."
I was too much shocked at this undisguised attempt to bully me into an
acquiescence in the interested and unprincipled plan for their own
aggrandizement, which I now perceived my uncle and his son to have
deliberately entered into, at once to find strength or collectedness to
frame an answer to what he had said. At length I replied, with some
firmness:
"In all that you have just now said, sir, you have grossly misstated my
conduct and motives. Your information must have been most incorrect as
far as it regards my conduct towards my cousin; my manner towards him
could have conveyed nothing but dislike; and if anything could have
added to the strong aversion which I have long felt towards him, it
would be his attempting thus to trick and frighten me into a marriage
which he knows to be revolting to me, and which is sought by him only as
a means for securing to himself whatever property is mine."
As I said this, I fixed my eyes upon those of my uncle, but he was too
old in the world's ways to falter beneath the gaze of more searching
eyes than mine; he simply said:
"Are you acquainted with the provisions of your father's will?"
I answered in the affirmative; and he continued:
"Then you must be aware that if my son Edward were--which God
forbid--the unprincipled, reckless man you pretend to think him"--(here
he spoke very slowly, as if he intended that every word which escaped
him should be registered in my memory, while at the same time the
expression of his countenance underwent a gradual but horrible change,
and the eyes which he fixed upon me became so darkly vivid, that I
almost lost sight of everything else)--"if he were what you have
described him, think you, girl, he could find no briefer means than
wedding contracts to gain his ends? 'twas but to gripe your slender neck
until the breath had stopped, and lands, and lakes, and all were his."
[Illustration: "TWAS BUT TO GRIPE YOUR SLENDER NECK UNTIL THE BREATH HAD
STOPPED."]
I stood staring at him for many minutes after he had ceased to speak,
fascinated by the terrible serpent-like gaze, until he continued with a
welcome change of countenance:
"I will not speak again to you upon this topic until one month has
passed. You shall have time to consider the relative advantages of the
two courses which are open to you. I should be sorry to hurry you to
a decision. I am satisfied with having stated my feelings upon the
subject, and pointed out to you the path of duty. Remember this day
month--not one word sooner."
He then rose, and I left the room, much agitated and exhausted.
This interview, all the circumstances attending it, but most
particularly the formidable expression of my uncle's countenance while
he talked, though hypothetically, of murder, combined to arouse all my
worst suspicions of him. I dreaded to look upon the face that had so
recently worn the appalling livery of guilt and malignity. I regarded it
with the mingled fear and loathing with which one looks upon an object
which has tortured them in a nightmare.
In a few days after the interview, the particulars of which I have just
related, I found a note upon my toilet-table, and on opening it I read
as follows:
"MY DEAR LADY MARGARET,
"You will be perhaps surprised to see a strange face in your room
to-day. I have dismissed your Irish maid, and secured a French one to
wait upon you--a step rendered necessary by my proposing shortly to
visit the Continent, with all my family.
"Your faithful guardian,
"ARTHUR T----N."
On inquiry, I found that my faithful attendant was actually gone, and
far on her way to the town of Galway; and in her stead there appeared
a tall, raw-boned, ill-looking, elderly Frenchwoman, whose sullen and
presuming manners seemed to imply that her vocation had never before
been that of a lady's maid. I could not help regarding her as a creature
of my uncle's, and therefore to be dreaded, even had she been in no
other way suspicious.
Days and weeks passed away without any, even a momentary doubt upon my
part, as to the course to be pursued by me. The allotted period had at
length elapsed; the day arrived on which I was to communicate my
decision to my uncle. Although my resolution had never for a moment
wavered, I could not shake off the dread of the approaching colloquy;
and my heart sank within me as I heard the expected summons.
I had not seen my cousin Edward since the occurrence of the grand
_eclaircissement_; he must have studiously avoided me--I suppose from
policy, it could not have been from delicacy. I was prepared for a
terrific burst of fury from my uncle, as soon as I should make known my
determination; and I not unreasonably feared that some act of violence
or of intimidation would next be resorted to.
Filled with these dreary forebodings, I fearfully opened the study door,
and the next minute I stood in my uncle's presence. He received me with
a politeness which I dreaded, as arguing a favourable anticipation
respecting the answer which I was to give; and after some slight delay,
he began by saying:
"It will be a relief to both of us, I believe, to bring this
conversation as soon as possible to an issue. You will excuse me, then,
my dear niece, for speaking with an abruptness which, under other
circumstances, would be unpardonable. You have, I am certain, given the
subject of our last interview fair and serious consideration; and I
trust that you are now prepared with candour to lay your answer before
me. A few words will suffice--we perfectly understand one another."
He paused, and I, though feeling that I stood upon a mine which might in
an instant explode, nevertheless answered with perfect composure:
"I must now, sir, make the same reply which I did upon the last
occasion, and I reiterate the declaration which I then made, that I
never can nor will, while life and reason remain, consent to a union
with my cousin Edward."
This announcement wrought no apparent change in Sir Arthur, except that
he became deadly, almost lividly pale. He seemed lost in dark thought
for a minute, and then with a slight effort said:
"You have answered me honestly and directly; and you say your
resolution is unchangeable. Well, would it had been otherwise--would it
had been otherwise; but be it as it is, I am satisfied."
He gave me his hand--it was cold and damp as death; under an assumed
calmness, it was evident that he was fearfully agitated. He continued
to hold my hand with an almost painful pressure, while, as if
unconsciously, seeming to forget my presence, he muttered:
"Strange, strange, strange, indeed! fatuity, helpless fatuity!" there
was here a long pause. "Madness indeed to strain a cable that is rotten
to the very heart--it must break--and then--all goes."
There was again a pause of some minutes, after which, suddenly changing
his voice and manner to one of wakeful alacrity, he exclaimed:
"Margaret, my son Edward shall plague you no more. He leaves this
country on to-morrow for France--he shall speak no more upon this
subject--never, never more--whatever events depended upon your answer
must now take their own course; but, as for this fruitless proposal, it
has been tried enough; it can be repeated no more."
At these words he coldly suffered my hand to drop, as if to express
his total abandonment of all his projected schemes of alliance; and
certainly the action, with the accompanying words, produced upon my mind
a more solemn and depressing effect than I believed possible to have
been caused by the course which I had determined to pursue; it struck
upon my heart with an awe and heaviness which _will_ accompany the
accomplishment of an important and irrevocable act, even though no doubt
or scruple remains to make it possible that the agent should wish it
undone.
"Well," said my uncle, after a little time, "we now cease to speak upon
this topic, never to resume it again. Remember you shall have no further
uneasiness from Edward; he leaves Ireland for France on to-morrow; this
will be a relief to you. May I depend upon your honour that no word
touching the subject of this interview shall ever escape you?"
I gave him the desired assurance; he said:
"It is well--I am satisfied; we have nothing more, I believe, to say
upon either side, and my presence must be a restraint upon you, I shall
therefore bid you farewell."
I then left the apartment, scarcely knowing what to think of the strange
interview which had just taken place.
On the next day my uncle took occasion to tell me that Edward had
actually sailed, if his intention had not been interfered with by
adverse circumstances; and two days subsequently he actually produced a
letter from his son, written, as it said, on board, and despatched while
the ship was getting under weigh. This was a great satisfaction to me
and as being likely to prove so, it was no doubt communicated to me by
Sir Arthur.
During all this trying period, I had found infinite consolation in the
society and sympathy of my dear cousin Emily. I never in after-life
formed a friendship so close, so fervent, and upon which, in all its
progress, I could look back with feelings of such unalloyed pleasure,
upon whose termination I must ever dwell with so deep, yet so
unembittered regret. In cheerful converse with her I soon recovered my
spirits considerably, and passed my time agreeably enough, although
still in the strictest seclusion.
Matters went on sufficiently smooth, although I could not help sometimes
feeling a momentary, but horrible uncertainty respecting my uncle's
character; which was not altogether unwarranted by the circumstances of
the two trying interviews whose particulars I have just detailed. The
unpleasant impression which these conferences were calculated to leave
upon my mind was fast wearing away, when there occurred a circumstance,
slight indeed in itself, but calculated irresistibly to awaken all my
worst suspicions, and to overwhelm me again with anxiety and terror.
I had one day left the house with my cousin Emily, in order to take a
ramble of considerable length, for the purpose of sketching some
favourite views, and she had walked about half a mile, when I perceived
that we had forgotten our drawing materials, the absence of which
would have defeated the object of our walk. Laughing at our own
thoughtlessness, we returned to the house, and leaving Emily without, I
ran upstairs to procure the drawing-books and pencils, which lay in my
bedroom.
As I ran up the stairs I was met by the tall, ill-looking Frenchwoman,
evidently a good deal flurried.
"Que veut, madame?" said she, with a more decided effort to be polite
than I had ever known her make before.
"No, no--no matter," said I, hastily running by her in the direction of
my room.
"Madame," cried she, in a high key, "restez ici, s'il vous plait; votre
chambre n'est pas faite--your room is not ready for your reception yet."
I continued to move on without heeding her. She was some way behind me,
and feeling that she could not otherwise prevent my entrance, for I was
now upon the very lobby, she made a desperate attempt to seize hold of
my person: she succeeded in grasping the end of my shawl, which she drew
from my shoulders; but slipping at the same time upon the polished oak
floor, she fell at full length upon the boards.
A little frightened as well as angry at the rudeness of this strange
woman, I hastily pushed open the door of my room, at which I now stood,
in order to escape from her; but great was my amazement on entering to
find the apartment occupied.
The window was open, and beside it stood two male figures; they appeared
to be examining the fastenings of the casement, and their backs were
turned towards the door. One of them was my uncle; they both turned on
my entrance, as if startled. The stranger was booted and cloaked, and
wore a heavy broad-leafed hat over his brows. He turned but for a
moment, and averted his face; but I had seen enough to convince me that
he was no other than my cousin Edward. My uncle had some iron instrument
in his hand, which he hastily concealed behind his back; and, coming
towards me, said something as if in an explanatory tone; but I was too
much shocked and confounded to understand what it might be. He said
something about "repairs--window-frames--cold, and safety."
I did not wait, however, to ask or to receive explanations, but hastily
left the room. As I went down the stairs I thought I heard the voice of
the French woman in all the shrill volubility of excuse, which was met,
however, by suppressed but vehement imprecations, or what seemed to me
to be such, in which the voice of my cousin Edward distinctly mingled.
I joined my cousin Emily quite out of breath. I need not say that my
head was too full of other things to think much of drawing for that day.
I imparted to her frankly the cause of my alarms, but at the same time
as gently as I could; and with tears she promised vigilance, and
devotion, and love. I never had reason for a moment to repent the
unreserved confidence which I then reposed in her. She was no less
surprised than I at the unexpected appearance of her brother, whose
departure for France neither of us had for a moment doubted, but which
was now proved by his actual presence to be nothing more than an
imposture, practised, I feared, for no good end.
The situation in which I had found my uncle had removed completely all
my doubts as to his designs. I magnified suspicions into certainties,
and dreaded night after night that I should be murdered in my bed. The
nervousness produced by sleepless nights and days of anxious fears
increased the horrors of my situation to such a degree, that I at length
wrote a letter to a Mr. Jefferies, an old and faithful friend of my
father's, and perfectly acquainted with all his affairs, praying him,
for God's sake, to relieve me from my present terrible situation, and
communicating without reserve the nature and grounds of my suspicions.
This letter I kept sealed and directed for two or three days always
about my person--for discovery would have been ruinous--in expectation
of an opportunity which might be safely trusted, whereby to have it
placed in the post-office. As neither Emily nor I was permitted to pass
beyond the precincts of the demesne itself, which was surrounded by high
walls formed of dry stone, the difficulty of procuring such an
opportunity was greatly enhanced.
At this time Emily had a short conversation with her father, which she
reported to me instantly.
After some indifferent matter, he had asked her whether she and I were
upon good terms, and whether I was unreserved in my disposition. She
answered in the affirmative; and he then inquired whether I had been
much surprised to find him in my chamber on the other day. She answered
that I had been both surprised and amused.
"And what did she think of George Wilson's appearance?"
"Who?" inquired she.
"Oh, the architect," he answered, "who is to contract for the repairs of
the house; he is accounted a handsome fellow."
"She could not see his face," said Emily, "and she was in such a hurry
to escape that she scarcely noticed him."
Sir Arthur appeared satisfied, and the conversation ended.
This slight conversation, repeated accurately to me by Emily, had the
effect of confirming, if indeed anything was required to do so, all
that I had before believed as to Edward's actual presence; and I
naturally became, if possible, more anxious than ever to despatch the
letter to Mr. Jefferies. An opportunity at length occurred.
As Emily and I were walking one day near the gate of the demesne, a man
from the village happened to be passing down the avenue from the house;
the spot was secluded, and as this person was not connected by service
with those whose observation I dreaded, I committed the letter to his
keeping, with strict injunctions that he should put it without delay
into the receiver of the town post-office; at the same time I added a
suitable gratuity, and the man, having made many protestations of
punctuality, was soon out of sight.
He was hardly gone when I began to doubt my discretion in having trusted
this person; but I had no better or safer means of despatching the
letter, and I was not warranted in suspecting him of such wanton
dishonesty as an inclination to tamper with it; but I could not be quite
satisfied of its safety until I had received an answer, which could not
arrive for a few days. Before I did, however, an event occurred which a
little surprised me.
I was sitting in my bedroom early in the day, reading by myself, when I
heard a knock at the door.
"Come in," said I; and my uncle entered the room.
"Will you excuse me?" said he. "I sought you in the parlour, and thence
I have come here. I desire to say a word with you. I trust that you have
hitherto found my conduct to you such as that of a guardian towards his
ward should be."
I dared not withhold my assent.
"And," he continued, "I trust that you have not found me harsh or
unjust, and that you have perceived, my dear niece, that I have sought
to make this poor place as agreeable to you as may be."
I assented again; and he put his hand in his pocket, whence he drew a
folded paper, and dashing it upon the table with startling emphasis, he
said,--
"Did you write that letter?"
The sudden and fearful alteration of his voice, manner, and face, but,
more than all, the unexpected production of my letter to Mr. Jefferies,
which I at once recognized, so confounded and terrified me that I felt
almost choking.
I could not utter a word.
"Did you write that letter?" he repeated, with slow and intense
emphasis. "You did, liar and hypocrite! You dared to write this foul and
infamous libel; but it shall be your last. Men will universally believe
you mad, if I choose to call for an inquiry. I can make you appear so.
The suspicions expressed in this letter are the hallucinations and
alarms of moping lunacy. I have defeated your first attempt, madam; and
by the holy God, if ever you make another, chains, straw, darkness, and
the keeper's whip shall be your lasting portion!"
With these astounding words he left the room, leaving me almost
fainting.
I was now almost reduced to despair; my last cast had failed; I had no
course left but that of eloping secretly from the castle and placing
myself under the protection of the nearest magistrate. I felt if this
were not done, and speedily, that I should be _murdered_.
No one, from mere description, can have an idea of the unmitigated
horror of my situation--a helpless, weak, inexperienced girl, placed
under the power and wholly at the mercy of evil men, and feeling that
she had it not in her power to escape for a moment from the malignant
influences under which she was probably fated to fall; and with a
consciousness that if violence, if murder were designed, her dying
shriek would be lost in void space; no human being would be near to aid
her, no human interposition could deliver her.
I had seen Edward but once during his visit, and, as I did not meet with
him again, I began to think that he must have taken his departure--a
conviction which was to a certain degree satisfactory, as I regarded
his absence as indicating the removal of immediate danger.
Emily also arrived circuitously at the same conclusion, and not without
good grounds, for she managed indirectly to learn that Edward's black
horse had actually been for a day and part of a night in the castle
stables, just at the time of her brother's supposed visit. The horse had
gone and, as she argued, the rider must have departed with it.
This point being so far settled, I felt a little less uncomfortable;
when, being one day alone in my bedroom, I happened to look out from the
window, and, to my unutterable horror, I beheld, peering through an
opposite casement, my cousin Edward's face. Had I seen the evil one
himself in bodily shape, I could not have experienced a more sickening
revulsion.
I was too much appalled to move at once from the window, but I did so
soon enough to avoid his eye. He was looking fixedly into the narrow
quadrangle upon which the window opened. I shrank back unperceived, to
pass the rest of the day in terror and despair. I went to my room early
that night, but I was too miserable to sleep.
At about twelve o'clock, feeling very nervous, I determined to call my
cousin Emily, who slept, you will remember, in the next room, which
communicated with mine by a second door. By this private entrance I
found my way into her chamber, and without difficulty persuaded her to
return to my room and sleep with me. We accordingly lay down together,
she undressed, and I with my clothes on, for I was every moment walking
up and down the room, and felt too nervous and miserable to think of
rest or comfort.
Emily was soon fast asleep, and I lay awake, fervently longing for the
first pale gleam of morning; reckoning every stroke of the old clock
with an impatience which made every hour appear like six.
It must have been about one o'clock when I thought I heard a slight
noise at the partition-door between Emily's room and mine, as if caused
by somebody turning the key in the lock. I held my breath, and the same
sound was repeated at the second door of my room--that which opened upon
the lobby--the sound was here distinctly caused by the revolution of the
bolt in the lock, and it was followed by a slight pressure upon the door
itself, as if to ascertain the security of the lock.
The person, whoever it might be, was probably satisfied, for I heard the
old boards of the lobby creak and strain, as if under the weight of
somebody moving cautiously over them. My sense of hearing became
unnaturally, almost painfully acute. I suppose my imagination added
distinctness to sounds vague in themselves. I thought that I could
actually hear the breathing of the person who was slowly returning down
the lobby. At the head of the staircase there appeared to occur a pause;
and I could distinctly hear two or three sentences hastily whispered;
the steps then descended the stairs with apparently less caution. I now
ventured to walk quickly and lightly to the lobby door, and attempted to
open it; it was indeed fast locked upon the outside, as was also the
other.
I now felt that the dreadful hour was come; but one desperate expedient
remained--it was to awaken Emily, and by our united strength to attempt
to force the partition-door, which was slighter than the other, and
through this to pass to the lower part of the house, whence it might be
possible to escape to the grounds, and forth to the village.
I returned to the bedside and shook Emily, but in vain. Nothing that
I could do availed to produce from her more than a few incoherent
words--it was a deathlike sleep. She had certainly drunk of some
narcotic, as had I probably also, spite of all the caution with which
I had examined everything presented to us to eat or drink.
I now attempted, with as little noise as possible, to force first one
door, then the other; but all in vain. I believe no strength could have
effected my object, for both doors opened inwards. I therefore collected
whatever movables I could carry thither, and piled them against the
doors, so as to assist me in whatever attempts I should make to
resist the entrance of those without. I then returned to the bed and
endeavoured again, but fruitlessly, to awaken my cousin. It was not
sleep, it was torpor, lethargy, death. I knelt down and prayed with an
agony of earnestness; and then seating myself upon the bed, I awaited my
fate with a kind of terrible tranquillity.
I heard a faint clanking sound from the narrow court which I have
already mentioned, as if caused by the scraping of some iron instrument
against stones or rubbish. I at first determined not to disturb the
calmness which I now felt by uselessly watching the proceedings of those
who sought my life; but as the sounds continued, the horrible curiosity
which I felt overcame every other emotion, and I determined, at all
hazards, to gratify it. I therefore crawled upon my knees to the window,
so as to let the smallest portion of my head appear above the sill.
The moon was shining with an uncertain radiance upon the antique grey
buildings, and obliquely upon the narrow court beneath, one side of
which was therefore clearly illuminated, while the other was lost in
obscurity; the sharp outlines of the old gables, with their nodding
clusters of ivy, being at first alone visible.
Whoever or whatever occasioned the noise which had excited my curiosity,
was concealed under the shadow of the dark side of the quadrangle. I
placed my hand over my eyes to shade them from the moonlight, which was
so bright as to be almost dazzling, and, peering into the darkness, I
first dimly, but afterwards gradually almost with full distinctness,
beheld the form of a man engaged in digging what appeared to be a rude
hole close under the wall. Some implements, probably a shovel and
pickaxe, lay beside him, and to these he every now and then applied
himself as the nature of the ground required. He pursued his task
rapidly, and with as little noise as possible.
"So," thought I, as, shovelful after shovelful, the dislodged rubbish
mounted into a heap, "they are digging the grave in which, before two
hours pass, I must lie, a cold, mangled corpse. I am _theirs_--I cannot
escape."
I felt as if my reason was leaving me. I started to my feet, and in mere
despair I applied myself again to each of the two doors alternately. I
strained every nerve and sinew, but I might as well have attempted, with
my single strength, to force the building itself from its foundation. I
threw myself madly upon the ground, and clasped my hands over my eyes as
if to shut out the horrible images which crowded upon me.
The paroxysm passed away. I prayed once more, with the bitter, agonized
fervour of one who feels that the hour of death is present and
inevitable. When I arose, I went once more to the window and looked out,
just in time to see a shadowy figure glide stealthily along the wall.
The task was finished. The catastrophe of the tragedy must soon be
accomplished.
I determined now to defend my life to the last; and that I might be able
to do so with some effect, I searched the room for something which might
serve as a weapon; but either through accident, or from an anticipation
of such a possibility, everything which might have been made available
for such a purpose had been carefully removed. I must then die tamely,
and without an effort to defend myself.
A thought suddenly struck me--might it not be possible to escape through
the door, which the assassin must open in order to enter the room? I
resolved to make the attempt. I felt assured that the door through which
ingress to the room would be effected was that which opened upon the
lobby. It was the more direct way, besides being, for obvious reasons,
less liable to interruption than the other. I resolved, then, to place
myself behind a projection of the wall, whose shadow would serve fully
to conceal me, and when the door should be opened, and before they
should have discovered the identity of the occupant of the bed, to
creep noiselessly from the room, and then to trust to Providence for
escape.
In order to facilitate this scheme, I removed all the lumber which I had
heaped against the door; and I had nearly completed my arrangements,
when I perceived the room suddenly darkened by the close approach of
some shadowy object to the window. On turning my eyes in that direction,
I observed at the top of the casement, as if suspended from above, first
the feet, then the legs, then the body, and at length the whole figure
of a man present himself. It was Edward T----n.
He appeared to be guiding his descent so as to bring his feet upon the
centre of the stone block which occupied the lower part of the window;
and, having secured his footing upon this, he kneeled down and began to
gaze into the room. As the moon was gleaming into the chamber, and the
bed-curtains were drawn, he was able to distinguish the bed itself and
its contents. He appeared satisfied with his scrutiny, for he looked up
and made a sign with his hand, upon which the rope by which his descent
had been effected was slackened from above, and he proceeded to
disengage it from his waist; this accomplished, he applied his hands to
the window-frame, which must have been ingeniously contrived for the
purpose, for, with apparently no resistance, the whole frame, containing
casement and all, slipped from its position in the wall, and was by him
lowered into the room.
The cold night wind waved the bed-curtains, and he paused for a moment;
all was still again, and he stepped in upon the floor of the room.
He held in his hand what appeared to be a steel instrument, shaped
something like a hammer, but larger and sharper at the extremities. This
he held rather behind him, while, with three long, tip-toe strides, he
brought himself to the bedside.
I felt that the discovery must now be made, and held my breath in
momentary expectation of the execration in which he would vent his
surprise and disappointment. I closed my eyes--there was a pause, but it
was a short one. I heard two dull blows, given in rapid succession: a
quivering sigh, and the long-drawn, heavy breathing of the sleeper was
for ever suspended. I unclosed my eyes, and saw the murderer fling the
quilt across the head of his victim: he then, with the instrument of
death still in his hand, proceeded to the lobby door, upon which he
tapped sharply twice or thrice. A quick step was then heard approaching,
and a voice whispered something from without. Edward answered, with a
kind of chuckle, "Her ladyship is past complaining; unlock the door, in
the devil's name, unless you're afraid to come in, and help me to lift
the body out of the window."
The key was turned in the lock--the door opened, and my uncle entered
the room.
I have told you already that I had placed myself under the shade of a
projection of the wall, close to the door. I had instinctively shrunk
down, cowering towards the ground, on the entrance of Edward through the
window. When my uncle entered the room, he and his son both stood so
very close to me that his hand was every moment upon the point of
touching my face. I held my breath, and remained motionless as death.
"You had no interruption from the next room?" said my uncle.
"No," was the brief reply.
"Secure the jewels, Ned; the French harpy must not lay her claws upon
them. You're a steady hand, by G----! not much blood--eh?"
"Not twenty drops," replied his son, "and those on the quilt."
"I'm glad it's over," whispered my uncle again. "We must lift the--the
_thing_ through the window and lay the rubbish over it."
They then turned to the bedside, and, winding the bed-clothes round the
body, carried it between them slowly to the window, and, exchanging
a few brief words with some one below, they shoved it over the
window-sill, and I heard it fall heavily on the ground underneath.
"I'll take the jewels," said my uncle; "there are two caskets in the
lower drawer."
He proceeded, with an accuracy which, had I been more at ease, would
have furnished me with matter of astonishment, to lay his hand upon the
very spot where my jewels lay; and having possessed himself of them, he
called to his son:
"Is the rope made fast above?"
"I'm not a fool--to be sure it is," replied he.
They then lowered themselves from the window. I now rose lightly and
cautiously, scarcely daring to breathe, from my place of concealment,
and was creeping towards the door, when I heard my cousin's voice, in
a sharp whisper, exclaim: "Scramble up again! G--d d----n you, you've
forgot to lock the room-door!" and I perceived, by the straining of the
rope which hung from above, that the mandate was instantly obeyed.
Not a second was to be lost. I passed through the door, which was only
closed, and moved as rapidly as I could, consistently with stillness,
along the lobby. Before I had gone many yards, I heard the door through
which I had just passed double-locked on the inside. I glided down the
stairs in terror, lest, at every corner, I should meet the murderer or
one of his accomplices.
I reached the hall, and listened for a moment, to ascertain whether all
was silent around; no sound was audible. The parlour windows opened on
the park, and through one of them I might, I thought, easily effect my
escape. Accordingly, I hastily entered; but, to my consternation, a
candle was burning in the room, and by its light I saw a figure seated
at the dinner-table, upon which lay glasses, bottles, and the other
accompaniments of a drinking-party. Two or three chairs were placed
about the table irregularly, as if hastily abandoned by their occupants.
A single glance satisfied me that the figure was that of my French
attendant. She was fast asleep, having probably drunk deeply. There was
something malignant and ghastly in the calmness of this bad woman's
features, dimly illuminated as they were by the flickering blaze of the
candle. A knife lay upon the table, and the terrible thought, struck
me--"Should I kill this sleeping accomplice, and thus secure my
retreat?"
Nothing could be easier--it was but to draw the blade across her
throat--the work of a second. An instant's pause, however, corrected me.
"No," thought I, "the God who has conducted me thus far through the
valley of the shadow of death, will not abandon me now. I will fall into
their hands, or I will escape hence, but it shall be free from the stain
of blood. His will be done!"
I felt a confidence arising from this reflection, an assurance of
protection which I cannot describe. There was no other means of escape,
so I advanced, with a firm step and collected mind, to the window. I
noiselessly withdrew the bars and unclosed the shutters--I pushed open
the casement, and, without waiting to look behind me, I ran with my
utmost speed, scarcely feeling the ground under me, down the avenue,
taking care to keep upon the grass which bordered it.
I did not for a moment slacken my speed, and I had now gained the centre
point between the park-gate and the mansion-house. Here the avenue made
a wider circuit, and in order to avoid delay, I directed my way across
the smooth sward round which the pathway wound, intending, at the
opposite side of the flat, at a point which I distinguished by a group
of old birch-trees, to enter again upon the beaten track, which was from
thence tolerably direct to the gate.
I had, with my utmost speed, got about half way across this broad flat,
when the rapid treading of a horse's hoofs struck upon my ear. My heart
swelled in my bosom as though I would smother. The clattering of
galloping hoofs approached--I was pursued--they were now upon the sward
on which I was running--there was not a bush or a bramble to shelter
me--and, as if to render escape altogether desperate, the moon, which
had hitherto been obscured, at this moment shone forth with a broad
clear light, which made every object distinctly visible.
The sounds were now close behind me. I felt my knees bending under me,
with the sensation which torments one in dreams. I reeled--I stumbled--I
fell--and at the same instant the cause of my alarm wheeled past me at
full gallop. It was one of the young fillies which pastured loose about
the park, whose frolics had thus all but maddened me with terror. I
scrambled to my feet, and rushed on with weak but rapid steps, my
sportive companion still galloping round and round me with many a frisk
and fling, until, at length, more dead than alive, I reached the
avenue-gate, and crossed the stile, I scarce knew how.
I ran through the village, in which all was silent as the grave, until
my progress was arrested by the hoarse voice of a sentinel, who cried,
"Who goes there?" I felt that I was now safe. I turned in the direction
of the voice, and fell fainting at the soldier's feet. When I came to
myself, I was sitting in a miserable hovel, surrounded by strange faces,
all bespeaking curiosity and compassion.
Many soldiers were in it also: indeed, as I afterwards found, it was
employed as a guard-room by a detachment of troops quartered for that
night in the town. In a few words I informed their officer of the
circumstances which had occurred, describing also the appearance of the
persons engaged in the murder; and he, without loss of time, proceeded
to the mansion-house of Carrickleigh, taking with him a party of his
men. But the villains had discovered their mistake, and had effected
their escape before the arrival of the military.
The Frenchwoman was, however, arrested in the neighbourhood upon the
next day. She was tried and condemned upon the ensuing assizes; and
previous to her execution, confessed that "_she had a hand in making
Hugh Tisdall's bed_." She had been a housekeeper in the castle at the
time, and a kind of _chère amie_ of my uncle's. She was, in reality,
able to speak English like a native, but had exclusively used the French
language, I suppose, to facilitate her disguise. She died the same
hardened wretch she had lived, confessing her crimes only, as she
alleged, that her doing so might involve Sir Arthur T----n, the great
author of her guilt and misery, and whom she now regarded with
unmitigated detestation.
With the particulars of Sir Arthur's and his son's escape, as far as
they are known, you are acquainted. You are also in possession of their
after fate--the terrible, the tremendous retribution which, after long
delays of many years, finally overtook and crushed them. Wonderful and
inscrutable are the dealings of God with His creatures.
Deep and fervent as must always be my gratitude to Heaven for my
deliverance, effected by a chain of providential occurrences, the
failing of a single link of which must have ensured my destruction, I
was long before I could look back upon it with other feelings than those
of bitterness, almost of agony. The only being that had ever really
loved me, my nearest and dearest friend, ever ready to sympathize, to
counsel, and to assist--the gayest, the gentlest, the warmest heart; the
only creature on earth that cared for me--_her_ life had been the price
of my deliverance; and I then uttered the wish, which no event of my
long and sorrowful life has taught me to recall, that she had been
spared, and that, in her stead, _I_ were mouldering in the grave,
forgotten and at rest.
[Illustration]
Strange Event in the Life of Schalken the Painter.
You will no doubt be surprised, my dear friend, at the subject of the
following narrative. What had I to do with Schalken, or Schalken with
me? He had returned to his native land, and was probably dead and buried
before I was born; I never visited Holland, nor spoke with a native of
that country. So much I believe you already know. I must, then, give you
my authority, and state to you frankly the ground upon which rests the
credibility of the strange story which I am about to lay before you.
I was acquainted, in my early days, with a Captain Vandael, whose father
had served King William in the Low Countries, and also in my own unhappy
land during the Irish campaigns. I know not how it happened that I
liked this man's society, spite of his politics and religion: but so it
was; and it was by means of the free intercourse to which our intimacy
gave rise that I became possessed of the curious tale which you are
about to hear.
I had often been struck, while visiting Vandael, by a remarkable
picture, in which, though no _connoisseur_ myself, I could not fail to
discern some very strong peculiarities, particularly in the distribution
of light and shade, as also a certain oddity in the design itself, which
interested my curiosity. It represented the interior of what might be a
chamber in some antique religious building--the foreground was occupied
by a female figure, arrayed in a species of white robe, part of which
was arranged so as to form a veil. The dress, however, was not strictly
that of any religious order. In its hand the figure bore a lamp, by
whose light alone the form and face were illuminated; the features were
marked by an arch smile, such as pretty women wear when engaged in
successfully practising some roguish trick; in the background, and
(excepting where the dim red light of an expiring fire serves to define
the form) totally in the shade, stood the figure of a man equipped in
the old fashion, with doublet and so forth, in an attitude of alarm, his
hand being placed upon the hilt of his sword, which he appeared to be in
the act of drawing.
"There are some pictures," said I to my friend, "which impress one, I
know not how, with a conviction that they represent not the mere ideal
shapes and combinations which have floated through the imagination of
the artist, but scenes, faces, and situations which have actually
existed. When I look upon that picture, something assures me that I
behold the representation of a reality."
Vandael smiled, and, fixing his eyes upon the painting musingly, he
said,--
"Your fancy has not deceived you, my good friend, for that picture is
the record, and I believe a faithful one, of a remarkable and mysterious
occurrence. It was painted by Schalken, and contains, in the face of the
female figure which occupies the most prominent place in the design, an
accurate portrait of Rose Velderkaust, the niece of Gerard Douw, the
first and, I believe, the only love of Godfrey Schalken. My father knew
the painter well, and from Schalken himself he learned the story of the
mysterious drama, one scene of which the picture has embodied. This
painting, which is accounted a fine specimen of Schalken's style, was
bequeathed to my father by the artist's will, and, as you have observed,
is a very striking and interesting production."
I had only to request Vandael to tell the story of the painting in order
to be gratified; and thus it is that I am enabled to submit to you a
faithful recital of what I heard myself, leaving you to reject or to
allow the evidence upon which the truth of the tradition depends--with
this one assurance, that Schalken was an honest, blunt Dutchman, and, I
believe, wholly incapable of committing a flight of imagination; and
further, that Vandael, from whom I heard the story, appeared firmly
convinced of its truth.
There are few forms upon which the mantle of mystery and romance could
seem to hang more ungracefully than upon that of the uncouth and
clownish Schalken--the Dutch boor--the rude and dogged, but most cunning
worker in oils, whose pieces delight the initiated of the present day
almost as much as his manners disgusted the refined of his own; and yet
this man, so rude, so dogged, so slovenly, I had almost said so savage
in mien and manner, during his after successes, had been selected by the
capricious goddess, in his early life, to figure as the hero of a
romance by no means devoid of interest or of mystery.
Who can tell how meet he may have been in his young days to play the
part of the lover or of the hero? who can say that in early life he had
been the same harsh, unlicked, and rugged boor that, in his maturer age,
he proved? or how far the neglected rudeness which afterwards marked his
air, and garb, and manners, may not have been the growth of that
reckless apathy not unfrequently produced by bitter misfortunes and
disappointments in early life?
These questions can never now be answered.
We must content ourselves, then, with a plain statement of facts,
leaving matters of speculation to those who like them.
When Schalken studied under the immortal Gerard Douw, he was a young
man; and in spite of the phlegmatic constitution and excitable manner
which he shared, we believe, with his countrymen, he was not incapable
of deep and vivid impressions, for it is an established fact that the
young painter looked with considerable interest upon the beautiful niece
of his wealthy master.
Rose Velderkaust was very young, having, at the period of which we
speak, not yet attained her seventeenth year; and, if tradition
speaks truth, she possessed all the soft dimpling charms of the fair,
light-haired Flemish maidens. Schalken had not studied long in the
school of Gerard Douw when he felt this interest deepening into
something of a keener and intenser feeling than was quite consistent
with the tranquillity of his honest Dutch heart; and at the same time he
perceived, or thought he perceived, flattering symptoms of a reciprocal
attachment, and this was quite sufficient to determine whatever
indecision he might have heretofore experienced, and to lead him to
devote exclusively to her every hope and feeling of his heart. In short,
he was as much in love as a Dutchman could be. He was not long in
making his passion known to the pretty maiden herself, and his
declaration was followed by a corresponding confession upon her part.
Schalken, howbeit, was a poor man, and he possessed no counterbalancing
advantages of birth or position to induce the old man to consent to a
union which must involve his niece and ward in the strugglings and
difficulties of a young and nearly friendless artist. He was, therefore,
to wait until time had furnished him with opportunity, and accident with
success; and then, if his labours were found sufficiently lucrative, it
was to be hoped that his proposals might at least be listened to by her
jealous guardian. Months passed away, and, cheered by the smiles of the
little Rose, Schalken's labours were redoubled, and with such effect and
improvement as reasonably to promise the realization of his hopes, and
no contemptible eminence in his art, before many years should have
elapsed.
The even course of this cheering prosperity was, unfortunately, destined
to experience a sudden and formidable interruption, and that, too, in a
manner so strange and mysterious as to baffle all investigation, and
throw upon the events themselves a shadow of almost supernatural horror.
Schalken had one evening remained in the master's studio considerably
longer than his more volatile companions, who had gladly availed
themselves of the excuse which the dusk of evening afforded to withdraw
from their several tasks, in order to finish a day of labour in the
jollity and conviviality of the tavern.
But Schalken worked for improvement, or rather for love. Besides, he was
now engaged merely in sketching a design, an operation which, unlike
that of colouring, might be continued as long as there was light
sufficient to distinguish between canvas and charcoal. He had not then,
nor, indeed, until long after, discovered the peculiar powers of
his pencil; and he was engaged in composing a group of extremely
roguish-looking and grotesque imps and demons, who were inflicting
various ingenious torments upon a perspiring and pot-bellied St.
Anthony, who reclined in the midst of them, apparently in the last stage
of drunkenness.
The young artist, however, though incapable of executing, or even of
appreciating, anything of true sublimity, had nevertheless discernment
enough to prevent his being by any means satisfied with his work; and
many were the patient erasures and corrections which the limbs and
features of saint and devil underwent, yet all without producing in
their new arrangement anything of improvement or increased effect.
The large, old-fashioned room was silent, and, with the exception
of himself, quite deserted by its usual inmates. An hour had
passed--nearly two--without any improved result. Daylight had already
declined, and twilight was fast giving way to the darkness of night.
The patience of the young man was exhausted, and he stood before his
unfinished production, absorbed in no very pleasing ruminations, one
hand buried in the folds of his long dark hair, and the other holding
the piece of charcoal which had so ill executed its office, and which he
now rubbed, without much regard to the sable streaks which it produced,
with irritable pressure upon his ample Flemish inexpressibles.
"Pshaw!" said the young man aloud, "would that picture, devils, saint,
and all, were where they should be--in hell!"
A short, sudden laugh, uttered startlingly close to his ear, instantly
responded to the ejaculation.
The artist turned sharply round, and now for the first time became aware
that his labours had been overlooked by a stranger.
Within about a yard and a half, and rather behind him, there stood what
was, or appeared to be, the figure of an elderly man: he wore a short
cloak, and broad-brimmed hat with a conical crown, and in his hand,
which was protected with a heavy, gauntlet-shaped glove, he carried a
long ebony walking-stick, surmounted with what appeared, as it glittered
dimly in the twilight to be a massive head of gold; and upon his
breast, through the folds of the cloak, there shone the links of a rich
chain of the same metal.
The room was so obscure that nothing further of the appearance of the
figure could be ascertained, and the face was altogether overshadowed by
the heavy flap of the beaver which overhung it, so that no feature could
be clearly discerned. A quantity of dark hair escaped from beneath this
sombre hat, a circumstance which, connected with the firm, upright
carriage of the intruder, proved that his years could not yet exceed
threescore or thereabouts.
There was an air of gravity and importance about the garb of this
person, and something indescribably odd--I might say awful--in the
perfect, stone-like movelessness of the figure, that effectually checked
the testy comment which had at once risen to the lips of the irritated
artist. He therefore, as soon as he had sufficiently recovered the
surprise, asked the stranger, civilly, to be seated, and desired to know
if he had any message to leave for his master.
"Tell Gerard Douw," said the unknown, without altering his attitude in
the smallest degree, "that Mynher Vanderhausen, of Rotterdam, desires to
speak with him to-morrow evening at this hour, and, if he please, in
this room, upon matters of weight; that is all. Good-night."
The stranger, having finished this message, turned abruptly, and, with
a quick but silent step quitted the room before Schalken had time to say
a word in reply.
The young man felt a curiosity to see in what direction the burgher of
Rotterdam would turn on quitting the studio, and for that purpose he
went directly to the window which commanded the door.
A lobby of considerable extent intervened between the inner door of the
painter's room and the street entrance, so that Schalken occupied the
post of observation before the old man could possibly have reached the
street.
He watched in vain, however. There was no other mode of exit.
Had the old man vanished, or was he lurking about the recesses of the
lobby for some bad purpose? This last suggestion filled the mind of
Schalken with a vague horror, which was so unaccountably intense as to
make him alike afraid to remain in the room alone and reluctant to pass
through the lobby.
However, with an effort which appeared very disproportioned to the
occasion, he summoned resolution to leave the room, and, having
double-locked the door, and thrust the key in his pocket, without
looking to the right or left, he traversed the passage which had so
recently, perhaps still, contained the person of his mysterious
visitant, scarcely venturing to breathe till he had arrived in the open
street.
"Mynher Vanderhausen," said Gerard Douw, within himself, as the
appointed hour approached; "Mynher Vanderhausen, of Rotterdam! I never
heard of the man till yesterday. What can he want of me? A portrait,
perhaps, to be painted; or a younger son or a poor relation to be
apprenticed; or a collection to be valued; or--pshaw! there's no one in
Rotterdam to leave me a legacy. Well, whatever the business may be, we
shall soon know it all."
It was now the close of day, and every easel, except that of Schalken,
was deserted. Gerard Douw was pacing the apartment with the restless
step of impatient expectation, every now and then humming a passage from
a piece of music which he was himself composing; for, though no great
proficient, he admired the art; sometimes pausing to glance over the
work of one of his absent pupils, but more frequently placing himself at
the window, from whence he might observe the passengers who threaded the
obscure by-street in which his studio was placed.
"Said you not, Godfrey," exclaimed Douw, after a long and fruitless gaze
from his post of observation, and turning to Schalken--"said you not the
hour of appointment was at about seven by the clock of the Stadhouse?"
"It had just told seven when I first saw him, sir," answered the
student.
"The hour is close at hand, then," said the master, consulting a
horologe as large and as round as a full-grown orange. "Mynher
Vanderhausen, from Rotterdam--is it not so?"
"Such was the name."
"And an elderly man, richly clad?" continued Douw.
"As well as I might see," replied his pupil. "He could not be young, nor
yet very old neither, and his dress was rich and grave, as might become
a citizen of wealth and consideration."
At this moment the sonorous boom of the Stadhouse clock told, stroke
after stroke, the hour of seven; the eyes of both master and student
were directed to the door; and it was not until the last peal of the old
bell had ceased to vibrate, that Douw exclaimed,--
"So, so; we shall have his worship presently--that is, if he means to
keep his hour; if not, thou mayst wait for him, Godfrey, if you court
the acquaintance of a capricious burgomaster. As for me, I think our old
Leyden contains a sufficiency of such commodities, without an
importation from Rotterdam."
Schalken laughed, as in duty bound; and, after a pause of some minutes,
Douw suddenly exclaimed,--
"What if it should all prove a jest, a piece of mummery got up by
Vankarp, or some such worthy! I wish you had run all risks, and
cudgelled the old burgomaster, stadholder, or whatever else he may be,
soundly. I would wager a dozen of Rhenish, his worship would have
pleaded old acquaintance before the third application."
"Here he comes, sir," said Schalken, in a low, admonitory tone; and
instantly, upon turning towards the door, Gerard Douw observed the same
figure which had, on the day before, so unexpectedly greeted the vision
of his pupil Schalken.
There was something in the air and mien of the figure which at once
satisfied the painter that there was no mummery in the case, and that he
really stood in the presence of a man of worship; and so, without
hesitation, he doffed his cap, and courteously saluting the stranger,
requested him to be seated.
The visitor waved his hand slightly, as if in acknowledgment of the
courtesy, but remained standing.
"I have the honour to see Mynher Vanderhausen, of Rotterdam?" said
Gerard Douw.
"The same," was the laconic reply.
"I understand your worship desires to speak with me," continued Douw,
"and I am here by appointment to wait your commands."
"Is that a man of trust?" said Vanderhausen, turning towards Schalken,
who stood at a little distance behind his master.
"Certainly," replied Gerard.
"Then let him take this box and get the nearest jeweller or goldsmith to
value its contents, and let him return hither with a certificate of the
valuation."
At the same time he placed a small case, about nine inches square, in
the hands of Gerard Douw, who was as much amazed at its weight as at the
strange abruptness with which it was handed to him.
In accordance with the wishes of the stranger, he delivered it into the
hands of Schalken, and repeating _his_ directions, despatched him upon
the mission.
Schalken disposed his precious charge securely beneath the folds of his
cloak, and rapidly traversing two or three narrow streets, he stopped at
a corner house, the lower part of which was then occupied by the shop of
a Jewish goldsmith.
Schalken entered the shop, and calling the little Hebrew into the
obscurity of its back recesses, he proceeded to lay before him
Vanderhausen's packet.
On being examined by the light of a lamp, it appeared entirely cased
with lead, the outer surface of which was much scraped and soiled, and
nearly white with age. This was with difficulty partially removed, and
disclosed beneath a box of some dark and singularly hard wood; this,
too, was forced, and after the removal of two or three folds of linen,
its contents proved to be a mass of golden ingots, close packed, and,
as the Jew declared, of the most perfect quality.
Every ingot underwent the scrutiny of the little Jew, who seemed to feel
an epicurean delight in touching and testing these morsels of the
glorious metal; and each one of them was replaced in the box with the
exclamation,--
"_Mein Gott_, how very perfect! not one grain of alloy--beautiful,
beautiful!"
The task was at length finished, and the Jew certified under his hand
that the value of the ingots submitted to his examination amounted to
many thousand rix-dollars.
With the desired document in his bosom, and the rich box of gold
carefully pressed under his arm, and concealed by his cloak, he retraced
his way, and, entering the studio, found his master and the stranger in
close conference.
Schalken had no sooner left the room, in order to execute the commission
he had taken in charge, than Vanderhausen addressed Gerard Douw in the
following terms:
"I may not tarry with you to-night more than a few minutes, and so I
shall briefly tell you the matter upon which I come. You visited the
town of Rotterdam some four months ago, and then I saw in the church of
St. Lawrence your niece, Rose Velderkaust. I desire to marry her, and if
I satisfy you as to the fact that I am very wealthy--more wealthy than
any husband you could dream of for her--I expect that you will forward
my views to the utmost of your authority. If you approve my proposal,
you must close with it at once, for I cannot command time enough to wait
for calculations and delays."
Gerard Douw was, perhaps, as much astonished as anyone could be by the
very unexpected nature of Mynher Vanderhausen's communication; but he
did not give vent to any unseemly expression of surprise. In addition to
the motives supplied by prudence and politeness, the painter experienced
a kind of chill and oppressive sensation--a feeling like that which
is supposed to affect a man who is placed unconsciously in immediate
contact with something to which he has a natural antipathy--an undefined
horror and dread--while standing in the presence of the eccentric
stranger, which made him very unwilling to say anything that might
reasonably prove offensive.
"I have no doubt," said Gerard, after two or three prefatory hems, "that
the connection which you propose would prove alike advantageous and
honourable to my niece; but you must be aware that she has a will of her
own, and may not acquiesce in what _we_ may design for her advantage."
"Do not seek to deceive me, Sir Painter," said Vanderhausen; "you are
her guardian--she is your ward. She is mine if _you_ like to make her
so."
The man of Rotterdam moved forward a little as he spoke, and Gerard
Douw, he scarce knew why, inwardly prayed for the speedy return of
Schalken.
"I desire," said the mysterious gentleman, "to place in your hands at
once an evidence of my wealth, and a security for my liberal dealing
with your niece. The lad will return in a minute or two with a sum in
value five times the fortune which she has a right to expect from a
husband. This shall lie in your hands, together with her dowry, and you
may apply the united sum as suits her interest best; it shall be all
exclusively hers while she lives. Is that liberal?"
Douw assented, and inwardly thought that fortune had been
extraordinarily kind to his niece. The stranger, he deemed, must be
most wealthy and generous, and such an offer was not to be despised,
though made by a humorist, and one of no very prepossessing presence.
Rose had no very high pretensions, for she was almost without dowry;
indeed, altogether so, excepting so far as the deficiency had been
supplied by the generosity of her uncle. Neither had she any right to
raise any scruples against the match on the score of birth, for her own
origin was by no means elevated; and as to other objections, Gerard
resolved, and, indeed, by the usages of the time was warranted in
resolving, not to listen to them for a moment.
"Sir," said he, addressing the stranger, "your offer is most liberal,
and whatever hesitation I may feel in closing with it immediately,
arises solely from my not having the honour of knowing anything of your
family or station. Upon these points you can, of course, satisfy me
without difficulty?"
"As to my respectability," said the stranger, drily, "you must take that
for granted at present; pester me with no inquiries; you can discover
nothing more about me than I choose to make known. You shall have
sufficient security for my respectability--my word, if you are
honourable; if you are sordid, my gold."
"A testy old gentleman," thought Douw; "he must have his own way. But,
all things considered, I am justified in giving my niece to him. Were
she my own daughter, I would do the like by her. I will not pledge
myself unnecessarily, however."
"You will not pledge yourself unnecessarily," said Vanderhausen,
strangely uttering the very words which had just floated through the
mind of his companion; "but you will do so if it _is_ necessary, I
presume; and I will show you that I consider it indispensable. If the
gold I mean to leave in your hands satisfies you, and if you desire that
my proposal shall not be at once withdrawn, you must, before I leave
this room, write your name to this engagement."
Having thus spoken, he placed a paper in the hands of Gerard, the
contents of which expressed an engagement entered into by Gerard Douw,
to give to Wilken Vanderhausen, of Rotterdam, in marriage, Rose
Velderkaust, and so forth, within one week of the date hereof.
While the painter was employed in reading this covenant, Schalken, as we
have stated, entered the studio, and having delivered the box and the
valuation of the Jew into the hands of the stranger, he was about to
retire, when Vanderhausen called to him to wait; and, presenting the
case and the certificate to Gerard Douw, he waited in silence until he
had satisfied himself by an inspection of both as to the value of the
pledge left in his hands. At length he said:
"Are you content?"
The painter said "he would fain have another day to consider."
"Not an hour," said the suitor, coolly.
"Well, then," said Douw, "I am content; it is a bargain."
"Then sign at once," said Vanderhausen; "I am weary."
At the same time he produced a small case of writing materials, and
Gerard signed the important document.
"Let this youth witness the covenant," said the old man; and Godfrey
Schalken unconsciously signed the instrument which bestowed upon another
that hand which he had so long regarded as the object and reward of all
his labours.
The compact being thus completed, the strange visitor folded up the
paper, and stowed it safely in an inner pocket.
"I will visit you to-morrow night, at nine of the clock, at your house,
Gerard Douw, and will see the subject of our contract. Farewell." And so
saying, Wilken Vanderhausen moved stiffly, but rapidly out of the room.
Schalken, eager to resolve his doubts, had placed himself by the window
in order to watch the street entrance; but the experiment served only to
support his suspicions, for the old man did not issue from the door.
This was very strange, very odd, very fearful. He and his master
returned together, and talked but little on the way, for each had his
own subjects of reflection, of anxiety, and of hope.
Schalken, however, did not know the ruin which threatened his cherished
schemes.
Gerard Douw knew nothing of the attachment which had sprung up between
his pupil and his niece; and even if he had, it is doubtful whether he
would have regarded its existence as any serious obstruction to the
wishes of Mynher Vanderhausen.
Marriages were then and there matters of traffic and calculation; and
it would have appeared as absurd in the eyes of the guardian to make a
mutual attachment an essential element in a contract of marriage, as it
would have been to draw up his bonds and receipts in the language of
chivalrous romance.
The painter, however, did not communicate to his niece the important
step which he had taken in her behalf, and his resolution arose not from
any anticipation of opposition on her part, but solely from a ludicrous
consciousness that if his ward were, as she very naturally might do, to
ask him to describe the appearance of the bridegroom whom he destined
for her, he would be forced to confess that he had not seen his face,
and, if called upon, would find it impossible to identify him.
Upon the next day, Gerard Douw having dined, called his niece to him,
and having scanned her person with an air of satisfaction, he took her
hand, and looking upon her pretty, innocent face with a smile of
kindness, he said:
"Rose, my girl, that face of yours will make your fortune." Rose blushed
and smiled. "Such faces and such tempers seldom go together, and, when
they do, the compound is a love-potion which few heads or hearts can
resist. Trust me, thou wilt soon be a bride, girl. But this is trifling,
and I am pressed for time, so make ready the large room by eight
o'clock to-night, and give directions for supper at nine. I expect
a friend to-night; and observe me, child, do thou trick thyself out
handsomely. I would not have him think us poor or sluttish."
With these words he left the chamber, and took his way to the room to
which we have already had occasion to introduce our readers--that in
which his pupils worked.
When the evening closed in, Gerard called Schalken, who was about to
take his departure to his obscure and comfortless lodgings, and asked
him to come home and sup with Rose and Vanderhausen.
The invitation was of course accepted, and Gerard Douw and his pupil
soon found themselves in the handsome and somewhat antique-looking room
which had been prepared for the reception of the stranger.
A cheerful wood-fire blazed in the capacious hearth; a little at
one side an old-fashioned table, with richly-carved legs, was
placed--destined, no doubt, to receive the supper, for which
preparations were going forward; and ranged with exact regularity
stood the tall-backed chairs whose ungracefulness was more than
counterbalanced by their comfort.
The little party, consisting of Rose, her uncle, and the artist, awaited
the arrival of the expected visitor with considerable impatience.
Nine o'clock at length came, and with it a summons at the street-door,
which, being speedily answered, was followed by a slow and emphatic
tread upon the staircase; the steps moved heavily across the lobby, the
door of the room in which the party which we have described were
assembled slowly opened, and there entered a figure which startled,
almost appalled, the phlegmatic Dutchmen, and nearly made Rose scream
with affright; it was the form, and arrayed in the garb, of Mynher
Vanderhausen; the air, the gait, the height was the same, but the
features had never been seen by any of the party before.
The stranger stopped at the door of the room, and displayed his form and
face completely. He wore a dark-coloured cloth cloak, which was short
and full, not falling quite to the knees; his legs were cased in dark
purple silk stockings, and his shoes were adorned with roses of the same
colour. The opening of the cloak in front showed the under-suit to
consist of some very dark, perhaps sable material, and his hands were
enclosed in a pair of heavy leather gloves which ran up considerably
above the wrist, in the manner of a gauntlet. In one hand he carried his
walking-stick and his hat, which he had removed, and the other hung
heavily by his side. A quantity of grizzled hair descended in long
tresses from his head, and its folds rested upon the plaits of a stiff
ruff, which effectually concealed his neck.
So far all was well; but the face!--all the flesh of the face was
coloured with the bluish leaden hue which is sometimes produced by the
operation of metallic medicines administered in excessive quantities;
the eyes were enormous, and the white appeared both above and below the
iris, which gave to them an expression of insanity, which was heightened
by their glassy fixedness; the nose was well enough, but the mouth was
writhed considerably to one side, where it opened in order to give
egress to two long, discoloured fangs, which projected from the upper
jaw, far below the lower lip; the hue of the lips themselves bore the
usual relation to that of the face, and was consequently nearly black.
The character of the face was malignant, even satanic, to the last
degree; and, indeed, such a combination of horror could hardly be
accounted for, except by supposing the corpse of some atrocious
malefactor, which had long hung blackening upon the gibbet, to have at
length become the habitation of a demon--the frightful sport of satanic
possession.
It was remarkable that the worshipful stranger suffered as little as
possible of his flesh to appear, and that during his visit he did not
once remove his gloves.
Having stood for some moments at the door, Gerard Douw at length found
breath and collectedness to bid him welcome, and, with a mute
inclination of the head, the stranger stepped forward into the room.
There was something indescribably odd, even horrible about all his
motions, something undefinable, something unnatural, unhuman--it was as
if the limbs were guided and directed by a spirit unused to the
management of bodily machinery.
The stranger said hardly anything during his visit, which did not exceed
half an hour; and the host himself could scarcely muster courage enough
to utter the few necessary salutations and courtesies: and, indeed, such
was the nervous terror which the presence of Vanderhausen inspired, that
very little would have made all his entertainers fly bellowing from the
room.
They had not so far lost all self-possession, however, as to fail to
observe two strange peculiarities of their visitor.
During his stay he did not once suffer his eyelids to close, nor even to
move in the slightest degree; and further, there was a death-like
stillness in his whole person, owing to the total absence of the heaving
motion of the chest caused by the process of respiration.
These two peculiarities, though when told they may appear trifling,
produced a very striking and unpleasant effect when seen and observed.
Vanderhausen at length relieved the painter of Leyden of his
inauspicious presence; and with no small gratification the little party
heard the street door close after him.
"Dear uncle," said Rose, "what a frightful man! I would not see him
again for the wealth of the States!"
"Tush, foolish girl!" said Douw, whose sensations were anything but
comfortable. "A man may be as ugly as the devil, and yet if his heart
and actions are good, he is worth all the pretty-faced, perfumed puppies
that walk the Mall. Rose, my girl, it is very true he has not thy pretty
face, but I know him to be wealthy and liberal; and were he ten times
more ugly--"
"Which is inconceivable," observed Rose.
"These two virtues would be sufficient," continued her uncle, "to
counterbalance all his deformity; and if not of power sufficient
actually to alter the shape of the features, at least of efficacy enough
to prevent one thinking them amiss."
"Do you know, uncle," said Rose, "when I saw him standing at the door,
I could not get it out of my head that I saw the old, painted, wooden
figure that used to frighten me so much in the church of St. Laurence at
Rotterdam."
Gerard laughed, though he could not help inwardly acknowledging the
justness of the comparison. He was resolved, however, as far as he
could, to check his niece's inclination to ridicule the ugliness of her
intended bridegroom, although he was not a little pleased to observe
that she appeared totally exempt from that mysterious dread of the
stranger, which, he could not disguise it from himself, considerably
affected him, as it also did his pupil Godfrey Schalken.
Early on the next day there arrived from various quarters of the town,
rich presents of silks, velvets, jewellery, and so forth, for Rose; and
also a packet directed to Gerard Douw, which, on being opened, was found
to contain a contract of marriage, formally drawn up, between Wilken
Vanderhausen of the Boom-quay, in Rotterdam, and Rose Velderkaust of
Leyden, niece to Gerard Douw, master in the art of painting, also of the
same city; and containing engagements on the part of Vanderhausen to
make settlements upon his bride far more splendid than he had before led
her guardian to believe likely, and which were to be secured to her use
in the most unexceptionable manner possible--the money being placed in
the hands of Gerard Douw himself.
I have no sentimental scenes to describe, no cruelty of guardians or
magnanimity of wards, or agonies of lovers. The record I have to make is
one of sordidness, levity, and interest. In less than a week after the
first interview which we have just described, the contract of marriage
was fulfilled, and Schalken saw the prize which he would have risked
anything to secure, carried off triumphantly by his formidable rival.
For two or three days he absented himself from the school; he then
returned and worked, if with less cheerfulness, with far more dogged
resolution than before; the dream of love had given place to that of
ambition.
Months passed away, and, contrary to his expectation, and, indeed, to
the direct promise of the parties, Gerard Douw heard nothing of his
niece or her worshipful spouse. The interest of the money, which was to
have been demanded in quarterly sums, lay unclaimed in his hands. He
began to grow extremely uneasy.
Mynher Vanderhausen's direction in Rotterdam he was fully possessed of.
After some irresolution he finally determined to journey thither--a
trifling undertaking, and easily accomplished--and thus to satisfy
himself of the safety and comfort of his ward, for whom he entertained
an honest and strong affection.
His search was in vain, however. No one in Rotterdam had ever heard of
Mynher Vanderhausen.
Gerard Douw left not a house in the Boom-quay untried; but all in vain.
No one could give him any information whatever touching the object of
his inquiry; and he was obliged to return to Leyden, nothing wiser than
when he had left it.
On his arrival he hastened to the establishment from which Vanderhausen
had hired the lumbering, though, considering the times, most luxurious
vehicle which the bridal party had employed to convey them to Rotterdam.
From the driver of this machine he learned, that having proceeded by
slow stages, they had late in the evening approached Rotterdam; but that
before they entered the city, and while yet nearly a mile from it, a
small party of men, soberly clad, and after the old fashion, with peaked
beards and moustaches, standing in the centre of the road, obstructed
the further progress of the carriage. The driver reined in his horses,
much fearing, from the obscurity of the hour, and the loneliness of the
road, that some mischief was intended.
His fears were, however, somewhat allayed by his observing that these
strange men carried a large litter, of an antique shape, and which they
immediately set down upon the pavement, whereupon the bridegroom, having
opened the coach-door from within, descended, and having assisted his
bride to do likewise, led her, weeping bitterly and wringing her hands,
to the litter, which they both entered. It was then raised by the men
who surrounded it, and speedily carried towards the city, and before it
had proceeded many yards the darkness concealed it from the view of the
Dutch chariot.
In the inside of the vehicle he found a purse, whose contents more than
thrice paid the hire of the carriage and man. He saw and could tell
nothing more of Mynher Vanderhausen and his beautiful lady. This mystery
was a source of deep anxiety and almost of grief to Gerard Douw.
There was evidently fraud in the dealing of Vanderhausen with him,
though for what purpose committed he could not imagine. He greatly
doubted how far it was possible for a man possessing in his countenance
so strong an evidence of the presence of the most demoniac feelings to
be in reality anything but a villain; and every day that passed without
his hearing from or of his niece, instead of inducing him to forget his
fears, tended more and more to intensify them.
The loss of his niece's cheerful society tended also to depress his
spirits; and in order to dispel this despondency, which often crept upon
his mind after his daily employment was over, he was wont frequently to
prevail upon Schalken to accompany him home, and by his presence to
dispel, in some degree, the gloom of his otherwise solitary supper.
One evening, the painter and his pupil were sitting by the fire, having
accomplished a comfortable supper. They had yielded to that silent
pensiveness sometimes induced by the process of digestion, when their
reflections were disturbed by a loud sound at the street-door, as if
occasioned by some person rushing forcibly and repeatedly against it.
A domestic had run without delay to ascertain the cause of the
disturbance, and they heard him twice or thrice interrogate the
applicant for admission, but without producing an answer or any
cessation of the sounds.
They heard him then open the hall door, and immediately there followed a
light and rapid tread upon the staircase. Schalken laid his hand on his
sword, and advanced towards the door. It opened before he reached it,
and Rose rushed into the room. She looked wild and haggard, and pale
with exhaustion and terror; but her dress surprised them as much even as
her unexpected appearance. It consisted of a kind of white woollen
wrapper, made close about the neck, and descending to the very ground.
It was much deranged and travel-soiled. The poor creature had hardly
entered the chamber when she fell senseless on the floor. With some
difficulty they succeeded in reviving her, and on recovering her senses
she instantly exclaimed, in a tone of eager, terrified impatience,--
"Wine, wine, quickly, or I'm lost!"
Much alarmed at the strange agitation in which the call was made, they
at once administered to her wishes, and she drank some wine with a haste
and eagerness which surprised him. She had hardly swallowed it, when she
exclaimed with the same urgency,--
"Food, food, at once, or I perish!"
A considerable fragment of a roast joint was upon the table, and
Schalken immediately proceeded to cut some, but he was anticipated; for
no sooner had she become aware of its presence than she darted at it
with the rapacity of a vulture, and, seizing it in her hands, she tore
off the flesh with her teeth and swallowed it.
When the paroxysm of hunger had been a little appeased, she appeared
suddenly to become aware how strange her conduct had been, or it may
have been that other more agitating thoughts recurred to her mind, for
she began to weep bitterly, and to wring her hands.
"Oh! send for a minister of God," said she; "I am not safe till he
comes; send for him speedily."
Gerard Douw despatched a messenger instantly, and prevailed on his niece
to allow him to surrender his bedchamber to her use; he also persuaded
her to retire to it at once and to rest; her consent was extorted upon
the condition that they would not leave her for a moment.
"Oh that the holy man were here!" she said; "he can deliver me. The dead
and the living can never be one--God has forbidden it."
With these mysterious words she surrendered herself to their guidance,
and they proceeded to the chamber which Gerard Douw had assigned to her
use.
"Do not--do not leave me for a moment," said she. "I am lost for ever if
you do."
Gerard Douw's chamber was approached through a spacious apartment, which
they were now about to enter. Gerard Douw and Schalken each carried a
wax candle, so that a sufficient degree of light was cast upon all
surrounding objects. They were now entering the large chamber, which,
as I have said, communicated with Douw's apartment, when Rose suddenly
stopped, and, in a whisper which seemed to thrill with horror, she
said,--
"O God! he is here--he is here! See, see--there he goes!"
She pointed towards the door of the inner room, and Schalken thought
he saw a shadowy and ill-defined form gliding into that apartment. He
drew his sword, and raising the candle so as to throw its light with
increased distinctness upon the objects in the room, he entered the
chamber into which the figure had glided. No figure was there--nothing
but the furniture which belonged to the room, and yet he could not be
deceived as to the fact that something had moved before them into the
chamber.
A sickening dread came upon him, and the cold perspiration broke out in
heavy drops upon his forehead; nor was he more composed when he heard
the increased urgency, the agony of entreaty, with which Rose implored
them not to leave her for a moment.
"I saw him," said she. "He's here! I cannot be deceived--I know him.
He's by me--he's with me--he's in the room. Then, for God's sake, as you
would save, do not stir from beside me!"
They at length prevailed upon her to lie down upon the bed, where she
continued to urge them to stay by her. She frequently uttered incoherent
sentences, repeating again and again, "The dead and the living cannot be
one--God has forbidden it!" and then again, "Rest to the wakeful--sleep
to the sleep-walkers."
These and such mysterious and broken sentences she continued to utter
until the clergyman arrived.
Gerard Douw began to fear, naturally enough, that the poor girl, owing
to terror or ill-treatment, had become deranged; and he half suspected,
by the suddenness of her appearance, and the unseasonableness of the
hour, and, above all, from the wildness and terror of her manner, that
she had made her escape from some place of confinement for lunatics, and
was in immediate fear of pursuit. He resolved to summon medical advice
as soon as the mind of his niece had been in some measure set at rest
by the offices of the clergyman whose attendance she had so earnestly
desired; and until this object had been attained, he did not venture to
put any questions to her, which might possibly, by reviving painful or
horrible recollections, increase her agitation.
The clergyman soon arrived--a man of ascetic countenance and venerable
age--one whom Gerard Douw respected much, forasmuch as he was a veteran
polemic, though one, perhaps, more dreaded as a combatant than beloved
as a Christian--of pure morality, subtle brain, and frozen heart. He
entered the chamber which communicated with that in which Rose reclined,
and immediately on his arrival she requested him to pray for her, as for
one who lay in the hands of Satan, and who could hope for deliverance
only from Heaven.
That our readers may distinctly understand all the circumstances of the
event which we are about imperfectly to describe, it is necessary to
state the relative positions of the parties who were engaged in it.
The old clergyman and Schalken were in the ante-room of which we have
already spoken; Rose lay in the inner chamber, the door of which was
open; and by the side of the bed, at her urgent desire, stood her
guardian; a candle burned in the bedchamber, and three were lighted in
the outer apartment.
The old man now cleared his voice, as if about to commence; but before
he had time to begin, a sudden gust of air blew out the candle which
served to illuminate the room in which the poor girl lay, and she with
hurried alarm, exclaimed:
"Godfrey, bring in another candle; the darkness is unsafe."
Gerard Douw, forgetting for the moment her repeated injunctions in the
immediate impulse, stepped from the bedchamber into the other, in order
to supply what she desired.
"O God! do not go, dear uncle!" shrieked the unhappy girl; and at the
same time she sprang from the bed and darted after him, in order, by her
grasp, to detain him.
But the warning came too late, for scarcely had he passed the threshold,
and hardly had his niece had time to utter the startling exclamation,
when the door which divided the two rooms closed violently after him, as
if swung to by a strong blast of wind.
Schalken and he both rushed to the door, but their united and desperate
efforts could not avail so much as to shake it.
Shriek after shriek burst from the inner chamber, with all the piercing
loudness of despairing terror. Schalken and Douw applied every energy
and strained every nerve to force open the door; but all in vain.
There was no sound of struggling from within, but the screams seemed to
increase in loudness, and at the same time they heard the bolts of the
latticed window withdrawn, and the window itself grated upon the sill
as if thrown open.
One last shriek, so long and piercing and agonized as to be scarcely
human, swelled from the room, and suddenly there followed a death-like
silence.
A light step was heard crossing the floor, as if from the bed to the
window; and almost at the same instant the door gave way, and yielding
to the pressure of the external applicants, they were nearly
precipitated into the room. It was empty. The window was open, and
Schalken sprang to a chair and gazed out upon the street and at the
canal below. He saw no form, but he beheld, or thought he beheld, the
waters of the broad canal beneath settling ring after ring in heavy
circular ripples, as if a moment before disturbed by the immersion of
some large and heavy mass.
No trace of Rose was ever after discovered, nor was anything certain
respecting her mysterious wooer detected or even suspected; no clue
whereby to trace the intricacies of the labyrinth, and to arrive at a
distinct conclusion was to be found. But an incident occurred, which,
though it will not be received by our rational readers as at all
approaching to evidence upon the matter, nevertheless produced a strong
and a lasting impression upon the mind of Schalken.
[Illustration: THE WATERS OF THE BROAD CANAL BENEATH SETTLING RING AFTER
RING IN HEAVY CIRCULAR RIPPLES.]
Many years after the events which we have detailed, Schalken, then
remotely situated, received an intimation of his father's death, and
of his intended burial upon a fixed day in the church of Rotterdam. It
was necessary that a very considerable journey should be performed by
the funeral procession, which, as it will readily be believed, was not
very numerously attended. Schalken with difficulty arrived in Rotterdam
late in the day upon which the funeral was appointed to take place. The
procession had not then arrived. Evening closed in, and still it did not
appear.
Schalken strolled down to the church--he found it open; notice of the
arrival of the funeral had been given, and the vault in which the body
was to be laid had been opened. The official who corresponds to our
sexton, on seeing a well-dressed gentleman, whose object was to attend
the expected funeral, pacing the aisle of the church, hospitably invited
him to share with him the comforts of a blazing wood fire, which as was
his custom in winter time upon such occasions, he had kindled on the
hearth of a chamber which communicated by a flight of steps with the
vault below.
In this chamber Schalken and his entertainer seated themselves; and
the sexton, after some fruitless attempts to engage his guest in
conversation, was obliged to apply himself to his tobacco-pipe and can
to solace his solitude.
In spite of his grief and cares, the fatigues of a rapid journey of
nearly forty hours gradually overcame the mind and body of Godfrey
Schalken, and he sank into a deep sleep, from which he was awakened by
some one shaking him gently by the shoulder. He first thought that the
old sexton had called him, but _he_ was no longer in the room.
He roused himself, and as soon as he could clearly see what was around
him, he perceived a female form, clothed in a kind of light robe of
muslin, part of which was so disposed as to act as a veil, and in her
hand she carried a lamp. She was moving rather away from him, and
towards the flight of steps which conducted towards the vaults.
Schalken felt a vague alarm at the sight of this figure, and at the same
time an irresistible impulse to follow its guidance. He followed it
towards the vaults, but when it reached the head of the stairs, he
paused; the figure paused also, and turning gently round, displayed, by
the light of the lamp it carried, the face and features of his first
love, Rose Velderkaust. There was nothing horrible, or even sad, in the
countenance. On the contrary, it wore the same arch smile which used to
enchant the artist long before in his happy days.
A feeling of awe and of interest, too intense to be resisted, prompted
him to follow the spectre, if spectre it were. She descended the
stairs--he followed; and, turning to the left, through a narrow passage
she led him, to his infinite surprise, into what appeared to be an
old-fashioned Dutch apartment, such as the pictures of Gerard Douw have
served to immortalize.
Abundance of costly antique furniture was disposed about the room, and
in one corner stood a four-post bed, with heavy black cloth curtains
around it. The figure frequently turned towards him with the same arch
smile; and when she came to the side of the bed, she drew the curtains,
and by the light of the lamp which she held towards its contents, she
disclosed to the horror-stricken painter, sitting bolt upright in the
bed, the livid and demoniac form of Vanderhausen. Schalken had hardly
seen him when he fell senseless upon the floor, where he lay until
discovered, on the next morning, by persons employed in closing the
passages into the vaults. He was lying in a cell of considerable size,
which had not been disturbed for a long time, and he had fallen beside
a large coffin which was supported upon small stone pillars, a security
against the attacks of vermin.
To his dying day Schalken was satisfied of the reality of the vision
which he had witnessed, and he has left behind him a curious evidence of
the impression which it wrought upon his fancy, in a painting executed
shortly after the event we have narrated, and which is valuable as
exhibiting not only the peculiarities which have made Schalken's
pictures sought after, but even more so as presenting a portrait, as
close and faithful as one taken from memory can be, of his early love,
Rose Velderkaust, whose mysterious fate must ever remain matter of
speculation.
[Illustration: SHE DREW THE CURTAINS.]
The picture represents a chamber of antique masonry, such as might be
found in most old cathedrals, and is lighted faintly by a lamp carried
in the hand of a female figure, such as we have above attempted to
describe; and in the background, and to the left of him who examines the
painting, there stands the form of a man apparently aroused from sleep,
and by his attitude, his hand being laid upon his sword, exhibiting
considerable alarm; this last figure is illuminated only by the expiring
glare of a wood or charcoal fire.
The whole production exhibits a beautiful specimen of that artful and
singular distribution of light and shade which has rendered the name
of Schalken immortal among the artists of his country. This tale is
traditionary, and the reader will easily perceive, by our studiously
omitting to heighten many points of the narrative, when a little
additional colouring might have added effect to the recital, that we
have desired to lay before him, not a figment of the brain, but a
curious tradition connected with, and belonging to, the biography of
a famous artist.
[Illustration]
The Fortunes of Sir Robert Ardagh.
"The earth hath bubbles as the water hath--
And these are of them."
In the south of Ireland, and on the borders of the county of Limerick,
there lies a district of two or three miles in length, which is rendered
interesting by the fact that it is one of the very few spots throughout
this country in which some vestiges of aboriginal forests still remain.
It has little or none of the lordly character of the American forest,
for the axe has felled its oldest and its grandest trees; but in the
close wood which survives live all the wild and pleasing peculiarities
of nature: its complete irregularity, its vistas, in whose perspective
the quiet cattle are browsing; its refreshing glades, where the grey
rocks arise from amid the nodding fern; the silvery shafts of the old
birch-trees; the knotted trunks of the hoary oak, the grotesque but
graceful branches which never shed their honours under the tyrant
pruning-hook; the soft green sward; the chequered light and shade;
the wild luxuriant weeds; the lichen and the moss--all are beautiful
alike in the green freshness of spring or in the sadness and sere of
autumn. Their beauty is of that kind which makes the heart full with
joy--appealing to the affections with a power which belongs to nature
only. This wood runs up, from below the base, to the ridge of a long
line of irregular hills, having perhaps, in primitive times, formed but
the skirting of some mighty forest which occupied the level below.
But now, alas! whither have we drifted? whither has the tide of
civilization borne us? It has passed over a land unprepared for it--it
has left nakedness behind it; we have lost our forests, but our
marauders remain; we have destroyed all that is picturesque, while we
have retained everything that is revolting in barbarism. Through the
midst of this woodland there runs a deep gully or glen, where the
stillness of the scene is broken in upon by the brawling of a
mountain-stream, which, however, in the winter season, swells into
a rapid and formidable torrent.
There is one point at which the glen becomes extremely deep and narrow;
the sides descend to the depth of some hundred feet, and are so steep
as to be nearly perpendicular. The wild trees which have taken root in
the crannies and chasms of the rock are so intersected and entangled,
that one can with difficulty catch a glimpse of the stream which wheels,
flashes, and foams below, as if exulting in the surrounding silence and
solitude.
This spot was not unwisely chosen, as a point of no ordinary strength,
for the erection of a massive square tower or keep, one side of which
rises as if in continuation of the precipitous cliff on which it is
based. Originally, the only mode of ingress was by a narrow portal in
the very wall which overtopped the precipice, opening upon a ledge of
rock which afforded a precarious pathway, cautiously intersected,
however, by a deep trench cut out with great labour in the living rock;
so that, in its pristine state, and before the introduction of artillery
into the art of war, this tower might have been pronounced, and that not
presumptuously, impregnable.
The progress of improvement and the increasing security of the times
had, however, tempted its successive proprietors, if not to adorn, at
least to enlarge their premises, and about the middle of the last
century, when the castle was last inhabited, the original square tower
formed but a small part of the edifice.
The castle, and a wide tract of the surrounding country, had from time
immemorial belonged to a family which, for distinctness, we shall call
by the name of Ardagh; and owing to the associations which, in Ireland,
almost always attach to scenes which have long witnessed alike the
exercise of stern feudal authority, and of that savage hospitality which
distinguished the good old times, this building has become the subject
and the scene of many wild and extraordinary traditions. One of them I
have been enabled, by a personal acquaintance with an eye-witness of the
events, to trace to its origin; and yet it is hard to say whether the
events which I am about to record appear more strange and improbable as
seen through the distorting medium of tradition, or in the appalling
dimness of uncertainty which surrounds the reality.
Tradition says that, sometime in the last century, Sir Robert Ardagh, a
young man, and the last heir of that family, went abroad and served in
foreign armies; and that, having acquired considerable honour and
emolument, he settled at Castle Ardagh, the building we have just now
attempted to describe. He was what the country people call a _dark_ man;
that is, he was considered morose, reserved, and ill-tempered; and, as
it was supposed from the utter solitude of his life, was upon no terms
of cordiality with the other members of his family.
The only occasion upon which he broke through the solitary monotony
of his life was during the continuance of the racing season, and
immediately subsequent to it; at which time he was to be seen among
the busiest upon the course, betting deeply and unhesitatingly, and
invariably with success. Sir Robert was, however, too well known as a
man of honour, and of too high a family, to be suspected of any unfair
dealing. He was, moreover, a soldier, and a man of intrepid as well as
of a haughty character; and no one cared to hazard a surmise, the
consequences of which would be felt most probably by its originator
only.
Gossip, however, was not silent; it was remarked that Sir Robert never
appeared at the race-ground, which was the only place of public resort
which he frequented, except in company with a certain strange-looking
person, who was never seen elsewhere, or under other circumstances. It
was remarked, too, that this man, whose relation to Sir Robert was never
distinctly ascertained, was the only person to whom he seemed to speak
unnecessarily; it was observed that while with the country gentry he
exchanged no further communication than what was unavoidable in
arranging his sporting transactions, with this person he would converse
earnestly and frequently. Tradition asserts that, to enhance the
curiosity which this unaccountable and exclusive preference excited,
the stranger possessed some striking and unpleasant peculiarities of
person and of garb--though it is not stated, however, what these
were--but they, in conjunction with Sir Robert's secluded habits and
extraordinary run of luck--a success which was supposed to result from
the suggestions and immediate advice of the unknown--were sufficient to
warrant report in pronouncing that there was something _queer_ in the
wind, and in surmising that Sir Robert was playing a fearful and a
hazardous game, and that, in short, his strange companion was little
better than the Devil himself.
Years rolled quietly away, and nothing very novel occurred in the
arrangements of Castle Ardagh, excepting that Sir Robert parted with his
odd companion, but as nobody could tell whence he came, so nobody could
say whither he had gone. Sir Robert's habits, however, underwent no
consequent change; he continued regularly to frequent the race meetings,
without mixing at all in the convivialities of the gentry, and
immediately afterwards to relapse into the secluded monotony of his
ordinary life.
It was said that he had accumulated vast sums of money--and, as his bets
were always successful and always large, such must have been the case.
He did not suffer the acquisition of wealth, however, to influence his
hospitality or his house-keeping--he neither purchased land, nor
extended his establishment; and his mode of enjoying his money must have
been altogether that of the miser--consisting merely in the pleasure of
touching and telling his gold, and in the consciousness of wealth.
Sir Robert's temper, so far from improving, became more than ever gloomy
and morose. He sometimes carried the indulgence of his evil dispositions
to such a height that it bordered upon insanity. During these paroxysms
he would neither eat, drink, nor sleep. On such occasions he insisted on
perfect privacy, even from the intrusion of his most trusted servants;
his voice was frequently heard, sometimes in earnest supplication,
sometimes raised, as if in loud and angry altercation with some unknown
visitant. Sometimes he would for hours together walk to and fro
throughout the long oak-wainscoted apartment which he generally
occupied, with wild gesticulations and agitated pace, in the manner of
one who has been roused to a state of unnatural excitement by some
sudden and appalling intimation.
These paroxysms of apparent lunacy were so frightful, that during their
continuance even his oldest and most faithful domestics dared not
approach him; consequently his hours of agony were never intruded upon,
and the mysterious causes of his sufferings appeared likely to remain
hidden for ever.
On one occasion a fit of this kind continued for an unusual time; the
ordinary term of their duration--about two days--had been long past,
and the old servant who generally waited upon Sir Robert after these
visitations, having in vain listened for the well-known tinkle of his
master's hand-bell, began to feel extremely anxious; he feared that his
master might have died from sheer exhaustion, or perhaps put an end to
his own existence during his miserable depression. These fears at length
became so strong, that having in vain urged some of his brother servants
to accompany him, he determined to go up alone, and himself see whether
any accident had befallen Sir Robert.
He traversed the several passages which conducted from the new to the
more ancient parts of the mansion, and having arrived in the old hall
of the castle, the utter silence of the hour--for it was very late in
the night--the idea of the nature of the enterprise in which he was
engaging himself, a sensation of remoteness from anything like human
companionship, but, more than all, the vivid but undefined anticipation
of something horrible, came upon him with such oppressive weight that
he hesitated as to whether he should proceed. Real uneasiness, however,
respecting the fate of his master, for whom he felt that kind of
attachment which the force of habitual intercourse not unfrequently
engenders respecting objects not in themselves amiable, and also a
latent unwillingness to expose his weakness to the ridicule of his
fellow-servants, combined to overcome his reluctance; and he had just
placed his foot upon the first step of the staircase which conducted to
his master's chamber, when his attention was arrested by a low but
distinct knocking at the hall-door. Not, perhaps, very sorry at finding
thus an excuse even for deferring his intended expedition, he placed
the candle upon a stone block which lay in the hall and approached the
door, uncertain whether his ears had not deceived him. This doubt was
justified by the circumstance that the hall entrance had been for nearly
fifty years disused as a mode of ingress to the castle. The situation of
this gate also, which we have endeavoured to describe, opening upon a
narrow ledge of rock which overhangs a perilous cliff, rendered it at
all times, but particularly at night, a dangerous entrance. This
shelving platform of rock, which formed the only avenue to the door, was
divided, as I have already stated, by a broad chasm, the planks across
which had long disappeared, by decay or otherwise; so that it seemed at
least highly improbable that any man could have found his way across the
passage in safety to the door, more particularly on a night like this,
of singular darkness. The old man, therefore, listened attentively, to
ascertain whether the first application should be followed by another.
He had not long to wait. The same low but singularly distinct knocking
was repeated; so low that it seemed as if the applicant had employed
no harder or heavier instrument than his hand, and yet, despite the
immense thickness of the door, with such strength that the sound was
distinctly audible.
The knock was repeated a third time, without any increase of loudness;
and the old man, obeying an impulse for which to his dying hour he could
never account, proceeded to remove, one by one, the three great oaken
bars which secured the door. Time and damp had effectually corroded the
iron chambers of the lock, so that it afforded little resistance. With
some effort, as he believed, assisted from without, the old servant
succeeded in opening the door; and a low, square-built figure,
apparently that of a man wrapped in a large black cloak, entered
the hall. The servant could not see much of this visitor with any
distinctness; his dress appeared foreign, the skirt of his ample cloak
was thrown over one shoulder; he wore a large felt hat, with a very
heavy leaf, from under which escaped what appeared to be a mass of long
sooty-black hair; his feet were cased in heavy riding-boots. Such were
the few particulars which the servant had time and light to observe. The
stranger desired him to let his master know instantly that a friend had
come, by appointment, to settle some business with him. The servant
hesitated, but a slight motion on the part of his visitor, as if to
possess himself of the candle, determined him; so, taking it in his
hand, he ascended the castle stairs, leaving the guest in the hall.
[Illustration: HE PAUSED, BUT THERE WAS NO SOUND.]
On reaching the apartment which opened upon the oak-chamber he was
surprised to observe the door of that room partly open, and the room
itself lit up. He paused, but there was no sound; he looked in, and saw
Sir Robert, his head and the upper part of his body reclining on a
table, upon which two candles burned; his arms were stretched forward on
either side, and perfectly motionless; it appeared that, having been
sitting at the table, he had thus sunk forward, either dead or in a
swoon. There was no sound of breathing; all was silent, except the
sharp ticking of a watch, which lay beside the lamp. The servant coughed
twice or thrice, but with no effect; his fears now almost amounted to
certainty, and he was approaching the table on which his master partly
lay, to satisfy himself of his death, when Sir Robert slowly raised his
head, and, throwing himself back in his chair, fixed his eyes in a
ghastly and uncertain gaze upon his attendant. At length he said, slowly
and painfully, as if he dreaded the answer,--
"In God's name, what are you?"
"Sir," said the servant, "a strange gentleman wants to see you below."
At this intimation Sir Robert, starting to his feet and tossing his arms
wildly upwards, uttered a shriek of such appalling and despairing terror
that it was almost too fearful for human endurance; and long after the
sound had ceased it seemed to the terrified imagination of the old
servant to roll through the deserted passages in bursts of unnatural
laughter. After a few moments Sir Robert said,--
"Can't you send him away? Why does he come so soon? O Merciful Powers!
let him leave me for an hour; a little time. I can't see him now; try to
get him away. You see I can't go down now; I have not strength. O God!
O God! let him come back in an hour; it is not long to wait. He cannot
lose anything by it; nothing, nothing, nothing. Tell him that! Say
anything to him."
The servant went down. In his own words, he did not feel the stairs
under him till he got to the hall. The figure stood exactly as he had
left it. He delivered his master's message as coherently as he could.
The stranger replied in a careless tone:
"If Sir Robert will not come down to me; I must go up to him."
The man returned, and to his surprise he found his master much more
composed in manner. He listened to the message, and though the cold
perspiration rose in drops upon his forehead faster than he could wipe
it away, his manner had lost the dreadful agitation which had marked it
before. He rose feebly, and casting a last look of agony behind him,
passed from the room to the lobby, where he signed to his attendant not
to follow him. The man moved as far as the head of the staircase, from
whence he had a tolerably distinct view of the hall, which was
imperfectly lighted by the candle he had left there.
He saw his master reel, rather than walk, down the stairs, clinging all
the way to the banisters. He walked on, as if about to sink every moment
from weakness. The figure advanced as if to meet him, and in passing
struck down the light. The servant could see no more; but there was
a sound of struggling, renewed at intervals with silent but fearful
energy. It was evident, however, that the parties were approaching the
door, for he heard the solid oak sound twice or thrice, as the feet of
the combatants, in shuffling hither and thither over the floor, struck
upon it. After a slight pause, he heard the door thrown open with such
violence that the leaf seemed to strike the side-wall of the hall, for
it was so dark without that this could only be surmised by the sound.
The struggle was renewed with an agony and intenseness of energy that
betrayed itself in deep-drawn gasps. One desperate effort, which
terminated in the breaking of some part of the door, producing a sound
as if the door-post was wrenched from its position, was followed by
another wrestle, evidently upon the narrow ledge which ran outside the
door, overtopping the precipice. This proved to be the final struggle;
it was followed by a crashing sound as if some heavy body had fallen
over, and was rushing down the precipice through the light boughs that
crossed near the top. All then became still as the grave, except when
the moan of the night-wind sighed up the wooded glen.
The old servant had not nerve to return through the hall, and to him the
darkness seemed all but endless; but morning at length came, and with
it the disclosure of the events of the night. Near the door, upon the
ground, lay Sir Robert's sword-belt, which had given way in the scuffle.
A huge splinter from the massive door-post had been wrenched off by
an almost superhuman effort--one which nothing but the gripe of a
despairing man could have severed--and on the rocks outside were left
the marks of the slipping and sliding of feet.
[Illustration: AT THE FOOT OF THE PRECIPICE.]
At the foot of the precipice, not immediately under the castle, but
dragged some way up the glen, were found the remains of Sir Robert,
with hardly a vestige of a limb or feature left distinguishable. The
right hand, however, was uninjured, and in its fingers were clutched,
with the fixedness of death, a long lock of coarse sooty hair--the only
direct circumstantial evidence of the presence of a second person.
[Illustration]
The Dream.
Dreams! What age, or what country of the world, has not felt and
acknowledged the mystery of their origin and end? I have thought not a
little upon the subject, seeing it is one which has been often forced
upon my attention, and sometimes strangely enough; and yet I have never
arrived at anything which at all appeared a satisfactory conclusion. It
does appear that a mental phenomenon so extraordinary cannot be wholly
without its use. We know, indeed, that in the olden times it has been
made the organ of communication between the Deity and His creatures;
and when a dream produces upon a mind, to all appearance hopelessly
reprobate and depraved, an effect so powerful and so lasting as to break
down the inveterate habits, and to reform the life of an abandoned
sinner, we see in the result, in the reformation of morals which
appeared incorrigible, in the reclamation of a human soul which seemed
to be irretrievably lost, something more than could be produced by a
mere chimera of the slumbering fancy, something more than could arise
from the capricious images of a terrified imagination. And while Reason
rejects as absurd the superstition which will read a prophecy in every
dream, she may, without violence to herself, recognize, even in the
wildest and most incongruous of the wanderings of a slumbering
intellect, the evidences and the fragments of a language which may be
spoken, which _has_ been spoken, to terrify, to warn and to command. We
have reason to believe too, by the promptness of action which in the
age of the prophets followed all intimations of this kind, and by the
strength of conviction and strange permanence of the effects resulting
from certain dreams in latter times--which effects we ourselves may have
witnessed--that when this medium of communication has been employed
by the Deity, the evidences of His presence have been unequivocal. My
thoughts were directed to this subject in a manner to leave a lasting
impression upon my mind, by the events which I shall now relate, the
statement of which, however extraordinary, is nevertheless accurate.
About the year 17--, having been appointed to the living of C----h, I
rented a small house in the town which bears the same name: one morning
in the month of November, I was awakened before my usual time by my
servant, who bustled into my bedroom for the purpose of announcing a
sick call. As the Catholic Church holds her last rites to be totally
indispensable to the safety of the departing sinner, no conscientious
clergyman can afford a moment's unnecessary delay, and in little more
than five minutes I stood ready, cloaked and booted for the road, in the
small front parlour in which the messenger, who was to act as my guide,
awaited my coming. I found a poor little girl crying piteously near the
door, and after some slight difficulty I ascertained that her father was
either dead or just dying.
"And what may be your father's name, my poor child?" said I. She held
down her head as if ashamed. I repeated the question, and the wretched
little creature burst into floods of tears still more bitter than she
had shed before. At length, almost angered by conduct which appeared to
me so unreasonable, I began to lose patience, and I said rather
harshly,--
"If you will not tell me the name of the person to whom you would lead
me, your silence can arise from no good motive, and I might be justified
in refusing to go with you at all."
"Oh, don't say that--don't say that!" cried she. "Oh, sir, it was that
I was afeard of when I would not tell you--I was afeard, when you heard
his name, you would not come with me; but it is no use hidin' it
now--it's Pat Connell, the carpenter, your honour."
She looked in my face with the most earnest anxiety, as if her very
existence depended upon what she should read there. I relieved the child
at once. The name, indeed, was most unpleasantly familiar to me; but,
however fruitless my visits and advice might have been at another time,
the present was too fearful an occasion to suffer my doubts of their
utility, or my reluctance to re-attempting what appeared a hopeless
task, to weigh even against the lightest chance that a consciousness of
his imminent danger might produce in him a more docile and tractable
disposition. Accordingly I told the child to lead the way, and followed
her in silence. She hurried rapidly through the long narrow street which
forms the great thoroughfare of the town. The darkness of the hour,
rendered still deeper by the close approach of the old-fashioned houses,
which lowered in tall obscurity on either side of the way; the damp,
dreary chill which renders the advance of morning peculiarly cheerless,
combined with the object of my walk--to visit the death-bed of a
presumptuous sinner, to endeavour, almost against my own conviction,
to infuse a hope into the heart of a dying reprobate--a drunkard but
too probably perishing under the consequences of some mad fit of
intoxication; all these circumstances served to enhance the gloom and
solemnity of my feelings, as I silently followed my little guide, who
with quick steps traversed the uneven pavement of the Main Street. After
a walk of about five minutes, she turned off into a narrow lane, of that
obscure and comfortless class which is to be found in almost all small
old-fashioned towns, chill, without ventilation, reeking with all manner
of offensive effluviæ, and lined by dingy, smoky, sickly and pent-up
buildings, frequently not only in a wretched but in a dangerous
condition.
"Your father has changed his abode since I last visited him, and, I am
afraid, much for the worse," said I.
"Indeed he has, sir; but we must not complain," replied she. "We have to
thank God that we have lodging and food, though it's poor enough, it is,
your honour."
Poor child! thought I. How many an older head might learn wisdom from
thee--how many a luxurious philosopher, who is skilled to preach but not
to suffer, might not thy patient words put to the blush! The manner and
language of my companion were alike above her years and station; and,
indeed, in all cases in which the cares and sorrows of life have
anticipated their usual date, and have fallen, as they sometimes do,
with melancholy prematurity to the lot of childhood, I have observed the
result to have proved uniformly the same. A young mind, to which joy and
indulgence have been strangers, and to which suffering and self-denial
have been familiarized from the first, acquires a solidity and an
elevation which no other discipline could have bestowed, and which, in
the present case, communicated a striking but mournful peculiarity to
the manners, even to the voice, of the child. We paused before a narrow,
crazy door, which she opened by means of a latch, and we forthwith began
to ascend the steep and broken stairs which led to the sick man's room.
As we mounted flight after flight towards the garret-floor, I heard more
and more distinctly the hurried talking of many voices. I could also
distinguish the low sobbing of a female. On arriving upon the uppermost
lobby, these sounds became fully audible.
"This way, your honour," said my little conductress; at the same time,
pushing open a door of patched and half-rotten plank, she admitted me
into the squalid chamber of death and misery. But one candle, held in
the fingers of a scared and haggard-looking child, was burning in the
room, and that so dim that all was twilight or darkness except within
its immediate influence. The general obscurity, however, served to throw
into prominent and startling relief the death-bed and its occupant. The
light fell with horrible clearness upon the blue and swollen features of
the drunkard. I did not think it possible that a human countenance could
look so terrific. The lips were black and drawn apart; the teeth were
firmly set; the eyes a little unclosed, and nothing but the whites
appearing. Every feature was fixed and livid, and the whole face wore a
ghastly and rigid expression of despairing terror such as I never saw
equalled. His hands were crossed upon his breast, and firmly clenched;
while, as if to add to the corpse-like effect of the whole, some white
cloths, dipped in water, were wound about the forehead and temples.
As soon as I could remove my eyes from this horrible spectacle, I
observed my friend Dr. D----, one of the most humane of a humane
profession, standing by the bedside. He had been attempting, but
unsuccessfully, to bleed the patient, and had now applied his finger to
the pulse.
"Is there any hope?" I inquired in a whisper.
A shake of the head was the reply. There was a pause, while he continued
to hold the wrist; but he waited in vain for the throb of life--it was
not there: and when he let go the hand, it fell stiffly back into its
former position upon the other.
"The man is dead," said the physician, as he turned from the bed where
the terrible figure lay.
Dead! thought I, scarcely venturing to look upon the tremendous and
revolting spectacle. Dead! without an hour for repentance, even a moment
for reflection. Dead! without the rites which even the best should have.
Was there a hope for him? The glaring eyeball, the grinning mouth, the
distorted brow--that unutterable look in which a painter would have
sought to embody the fixed despair of the nethermost hell--These were my
answer.
The poor wife sat at a little distance, crying as if her heart would
break--the younger children clustered round the bed, looking with
wondering curiosity upon the form of death, never seen before.
When the first tumult of uncontrollable sorrow had passed away, availing
myself of the solemnity and impressiveness of the scene, I desired the
heart-stricken family to accompany me in prayer, and all knelt down
while I solemnly and fervently repeated some of those prayers which
appeared most applicable to the occasion. I employed myself thus in a
manner which I trusted was not unprofitable, at least to the living, for
about ten minutes; and having accomplished my task, I was the first to
arise.
I looked upon the poor, sobbing, helpless creatures who knelt so humbly
around me, and my heart bled for them. With a natural transition I
turned my eyes from them to the bed in which the body lay; and, great
God! what was the revulsion, the horror which I experienced on seeing
the corpse-like, terrific thing seated half upright before me. The white
cloths which had been wound about the head had now partly slipped from
their position, and were hanging in grotesque festoons about the face
and shoulders, while the distorted eyes leered from amid them--
"A sight to dream of, not to tell."
I stood actually riveted to the spot. The figure nodded its head and
lifted its arm, I thought, with a menacing gesture. A thousand confused
and horrible thoughts at once rushed upon my mind. I had often read
that the body of a presumptuous sinner, who, during life, had been the
willing creature of every satanic impulse, had been known, after the
human tenant had deserted it, to become the horrible sport of demoniac
possession.
I was roused by the piercing scream of the mother, who now, for the
first time, perceived the change which had taken place. She rushed
towards the bed, but, stunned by the shock and overcome by the conflict
of violent emotions, before she reached it she fell prostrate upon the
floor.
I am perfectly convinced that had I not been startled from the torpidity
of horror in which I was bound by some powerful and arousing stimulant,
I should have gazed upon this unearthly apparition until I had fairly
lost my senses. As it was, however, the spell was broken--superstition
gave way to reason: the man whom all believed to have been actually dead
was living!
Dr. D---- was instantly standing by the bedside, and upon examination he
found that a sudden and copious flow of blood had taken place from the
wound which the lancet had left; and this, no doubt, had effected his
sudden and almost preternatural restoration to an existence from which
all thought he had been for ever removed. The man was still speechless,
but he seemed to understand the physician when he forbade his repeating
the painful and fruitless attempts which he made to articulate, and he
at once resigned himself quietly into his hands.
I left the patient with leeches upon his temples, and bleeding freely,
apparently with little of the drowsiness which accompanies apoplexy.
Indeed, Dr. D---- told me that he had never before witnessed a seizure
which seemed to combine the symptoms of so many kinds, and yet which
belonged to none of the recognized classes; it certainly was not
apoplexy, catalepsy, nor _delirium tremens_, and yet it seemed, in some
degree, to partake of the properties of all. It was strange, but
stranger things are coming.
During two or three days Dr. D---- would not allow his patient to
converse in a manner which could excite or exhaust him, with anyone; he
suffered him merely as briefly as possible to express his immediate
wants. And it was not until the fourth day after my early visit, the
particulars of which I have just detailed, that it was thought expedient
that I should see him, and then only because it appeared that his
extreme importunity and impatience to meet me were likely to retard
his recovery more than the mere exhaustion attendant upon a short
conversation could possibly do. Perhaps, too, my friend entertained some
hope that if by holy confession his patient's bosom were eased of the
perilous stuff which no doubt oppressed it, his recovery would be more
assured and rapid. It was then, as I have said, upon the fourth day
after my first professional call, that I found myself once more in the
dreary chamber of want and sickness.
The man was in bed, and appeared low and restless. On my entering the
room he raised himself in the bed, and muttered, twice or thrice,--
"Thank God! thank God!"
I signed to those of his family who stood by to leave the room, and took
a chair beside the bed. So soon as we were alone, he said, rather
doggedly,--
"There's no use in telling me of the sinfulness of bad ways--I know it
all. I know where they lead to--I have seen everything about it with my
own eyesight, as plain as I see you." He rolled himself in the bed, as
if to hide his face in the clothes; and then suddenly raising himself,
he exclaimed with startling vehemence, "Look, sir! there is no use in
mincing the matter: I'm blasted with the fires of hell; I have been in
hell. What do you think of that? In hell--I'm lost for ever--I have not
a chance. I am damned already--damned--damned!"
The end of this sentence he actually shouted. His vehemence was
perfectly terrific; he threw himself back, and laughed, and sobbed
hysterically. I poured some water into a tea-cup, and gave it to him.
After he had swallowed it, I told him if he had anything to communicate,
to do so as briefly as he could, and in a manner as little agitating to
himself as possible; threatening at the same time, though I had no
intention of doing so, to leave him at once in case he again gave way to
such passionate excitement.
"It's only foolishness," he continued, "for me to try to thank you for
coming to such a villain as myself at all. It's no use for me to wish
good to you, or to bless you; for such as me has no blessings to give."
I told him that I had but done my duty, and urged him to proceed to the
matter which weighed upon his mind. He then spoke nearly as follows:--
"I came in drunk on Friday night last, and got to my bed here; I don't
remember how. Sometime in the night it seemed to me I wakened, and
feeling unasy in myself, I got up out of the bed. I wanted the fresh
air; but I would not make a noise to open the window, for fear I'd waken
the crathurs. It was very dark and throublesome to find the door; but at
last I did get it, and I groped my way out, and went down as asy as I
could. I felt quite sober, and I counted the steps one after another, as
I was going down, that I might not stumble at the bottom.
"When I came to the first landing-place--God be about us always!--the
floor of it sunk under me, and I went down--down--down, till the senses
almost left me. I do not know how long I was falling, but it seemed to
me a great while. When I came rightly to myself at last, I was sitting
near the top of a great table; and I could not see the end of it, if it
had any, it was so far off. And there was men beyond reckoning sitting
down all along by it, at each side, as far as I could see at all. I did
not know at first was it in the open air; but there was a close
smothering feel in it that was not natural. And there was a kind of
light that my eyesight never saw before, red and unsteady; and I did not
see for a long time where it was coming from, until I looked straight
up, and then I seen that it came from great balls of blood-coloured fire
that were rolling high overhead with a sort of rushing, trembling sound,
and I perceived that they shone on the ribs of a great roof of rock
that was arched overhead instead of the sky. When I seen this, scarce
knowing what I did, I got up, and I said, 'I have no right to be here; I
must go.' And the man that was sitting at my left hand only smiled, and
said, 'Sit down again; you can _never_ leave this place.' And his voice
was weaker than any child's voice I ever heerd; and when he was done
speaking he smiled again.
"Then I spoke out very loud and bold, and I said, 'In the name of God,
let me out of this bad place.' And there was a great man that I did not
see before, sitting at the end of the table that I was near; and he was
taller than twelve men, and his face was very proud and terrible to look
at. And he stood up and stretched out his hand before him; and when he
stood up, all that was there, great and small, bowed down with a sighing
sound; and a dread came on my heart, and he looked at me, and I could
not speak. I felt I was his own, to do what he liked with, for I knew at
once who he was; and he said, 'If you promise to return, you may depart
for a season;' and the voice he spoke with was terrible and mournful,
and the echoes of it went rolling and swelling down the endless cave,
and mixing with the trembling of the fire overhead; so that when he sat
down there was a sound after him, all through the place, like the
roaring of a furnace. And I said, with all the strength I had, 'I
promise to come back--in God's name let me go!'
"And with that I lost the sight and the hearing of all that was there,
and when my senses came to me again, I was sitting in the bed with the
blood all over me, and you and the rest praying around the room."
Here he paused, and wiped away the chill drops which hung upon his
forehead.
I remained silent for some moments. The vision which he had just
described struck my imagination not a little, for this was long before
Vathek and the "Hall of Eblis" had delighted the world; and the
description which he gave had, as I received it, all the attractions of
novelty beside the impressiveness which always belongs to the narration
of an _eye-witness_, whether in the body or in the spirit, of the scenes
which he describes. There was something, too, in the stern horror with
which the man related these things, and in the incongruity of his
description with the vulgarly received notions of the great place of
punishment, and of its presiding spirit, which struck my mind with awe,
almost with fear. At length he said, with an expression of horrible,
imploring earnestness, which I shall never forget,--
"Well, sir, is there any hope; is there any chance at all? or is my soul
pledged and promised away for ever? is it gone out of my power? must I
go back to the place?"
In answering him, I had no easy task to perform; for however clear
might be my internal conviction of the groundlessness of his fears, and
however strong my scepticism respecting the reality of what he had
described, I nevertheless felt that his impression to the contrary, and
his humility and terror resulting from it, might be made available as no
mean engines in the work of his conversion from profligacy, and of his
restoration to decent habits and to religious feeling.
I therefore told him that he was to regard his dream rather in the light
of a warning than in that of a prophecy; that our salvation depended not
upon the word or deed of a moment, but upon the habits of a life; that,
in fine, if he at once discarded his idle companions and evil habits,
and firmly adhered to a sober, industrious, and religious course of
life, the powers of darkness might claim his soul in vain, for that
there were higher and firmer pledges than human tongue could utter,
which promised salvation to him who should repent and lead a new life.
I left him much comforted, and with a promise to return upon the next
day. I did so, and found him much more cheerful, and without any remains
of the dogged sullenness which I suppose had arisen from his despair.
His promises of amendment were given in that tone of deliberate
earnestness which belongs to deep and solemn determination; and it was
with no small delight that I observed, after repeated visits, that his
good resolutions, so far from failing, did but gather strength by time;
and when I saw that man shake off the idle and debauched companions
whose society had for years formed alike his amusement and his ruin, and
revive his long-discarded habits of industry and sobriety, I said within
myself, There is something more in all this than the operation of an
idle dream.
One day, some time after his perfect restoration to health, I was
surprised, on ascending the stairs for the purpose of visiting this
man, to find him busily employed in nailing down some planks upon the
landing-place, through which, at the commencement of his mysterious
vision, it seemed to him that he had sunk. I perceived at once that he
was strengthening the floor with a view to securing himself against such
a catastrophe, and could scarcely forbear a smile as I bid "God bless
his work."
He perceived my thoughts, I suppose, for he immediately said:
"I can never pass over that floor without trembling. I'd leave this
house if I could, but I can't find another lodging in the town so cheap,
and I'll not take a better till I've paid off all my debts, please God;
but I could not be asy in my mind till I made it as safe as I could.
You'll hardly believe me, your honour, that while I'm working, maybe a
mile away, my heart is in a flutter the whole way back, with the bare
thoughts of the two little steps I have to walk upon this bit of a
floor. So it's no wonder, sir, I'd thry to make it sound and firm with
any idle timber I have."
I applauded his resolution to pay off his debts, and the steadiness with
which he perused his plans of conscientious economy, and passed on.
Many months elapsed, and still there appeared no alteration in his
resolutions of amendment. He was a good workman, and with his better
habits he recovered his former extensive and profitable employment.
Everything seemed to promise comfort and respectability. I have little
more to add, and that shall be told quickly. I had one evening met Pat
Connell, as he returned from his work, and as usual, after a mutual, and
on his side respectful salutation, I spoke a few words of encouragement
and approval. I left him industrious, active, healthy--when next I saw
him, not three days after, he was a corpse.
The circumstances which marked the event of his death were somewhat
strange--I might say fearful. The unfortunate man had accidentally met
an old friend just returned, after a long absence; and in a moment of
excitement, forgetting everything in the warmth of his joy, he yielded
to his urgent invitation to accompany him into a public house, which lay
close by the spot where the encounter had taken place. Connell, however,
previously to entering the room, had announced his determination to take
nothing more than the strictest temperance would warrant.
But oh! who can describe the inveterate tenacity with which a drunkard's
habits cling to him through life? He may repent, he may reform, he may
look with actual abhorrence upon his past profligacy; but amid all this
reformation and compunction, who can tell the moment in which the base
and ruinous propensity may not recur, triumphing over resolution,
remorse, shame, everything, and prostrating its victim once more in all
that is destructive and revolting in that fatal vice?
The wretched man left the place in a state of utter intoxication. He was
brought home nearly insensible, and placed in his bed. The younger part
of the family retired to rest much after their usual hour; but the poor
wife remained up sitting by the fire, too much grieved and shocked at
the occurrence of what she had so little expected, to settle to rest.
Fatigue, however, at length overcame her, and she sank gradually into an
uneasy slumber. She could not tell how long she had remained in this
state; but when she awakened, and immediately on opening her eyes, she
perceived by the faint red light of the smouldering turf embers, two
persons, one of whom she recognized as her husband, noiselessly gliding
out of the room.
"Pat, darling, where are you going?" said she.
There was no answer--the door closed after them; but in a moment she was
startled and terrified by a loud and heavy crash, as if some ponderous
body had been hurled down the stair.
[Illustration: NOISELESSLY GLIDING OUT OF THE ROOM.]
Much alarmed, she started up, and going to the head of the staircase,
she called repeatedly upon her husband, but in vain.
She returned to the room, and with the assistance of her daughter, whom
I had occasion to mention before, she succeeded in finding and lighting
a candle, with which she hurried again to the head of the staircase.
At the bottom lay what seemed to be a bundle of clothes, heaped
together, motionless, lifeless--it was her husband. In going down
the stairs, for what purpose can never now be known, he had fallen
helplessly and violently to the bottom, and coming head foremost, the
spine of the neck had been dislocated by the shock, and instant death
must have ensued.
The body lay upon that landing-place to which his dream had referred.
It is scarcely worth endeavouring to clear up a single point in a
narrative where all is mystery; yet I could not help suspecting that the
second figure which had been seen in the room by Connell's wife on the
night of his death might have been no other than his own shadow.
I suggested this solution of the difficulty; but she told me that the
unknown person had been considerably in advance of her husband, and on
reaching the door, had turned back as if to communicate something to his
companion.
It was, then, a mystery.
[Illustration: AT THE FOOT OF THE STAIRS.]
Was the dream verified?--whither had the disembodied spirit sped? who
can say? We know not. But I left the house of death that day in a state
of horror which I could not describe. It seemed to me that I was scarce
awake. I heard and saw everything as if under the spell of a nightmare.
The coincidence was terrible.
[Illustration]
A Chapter in the history of a Tyrone Family
In the following narrative I have endeavoured to give as nearly as
possible the _ipsissima verba_ of the valued friend from whom I received
it, conscious that any aberration from _her_ mode of telling the tale of
her own life would at once impair its accuracy and its effect.
Would that, with her words, I could also bring before you her animated
gesture, the expressive countenance, the solemn and thrilling air and
accent with which she related the dark passages in her strange story;
and, above all, that I could communicate the impressive consciousness
that the narrator had seen with her own eyes, and personally acted in
the scenes which she described. These accompaniments, taken with the
additional circumstance that she who told the tale was one far too
deeply and sadly impressed with religious principle to misrepresent
or fabricate what she repeated as fact, gave to the tale a depth of
interest which the recording of the events themselves could hardly have
produced.
I became acquainted with the lady from whose lips I heard this narrative
nearly twenty years since, and the story struck my fancy so much that I
committed it to paper while it was still fresh in my mind; and should
its perusal afford you entertainment for a listless half hour, my labour
shall not have been bestowed in vain.
I find that I have taken the story down as she told it, in the first
person, and perhaps this is as it should be.
She began as follows:
My maiden name was Richardson, the designation of a family of some
distinction in the county of Tyrone. I was the younger of two daughters,
and we were the only children. There was a difference in our ages of
nearly six years, so that I did not, in my childhood, enjoy that close
companionship which sisterhood, in other circumstances, necessarily
involves; and while I was still a child, my sister was married.
The person upon whom she bestowed her hand was a Mr. Carew, a gentleman
of property and consideration in the north of England.
I remember well the eventful day of the wedding; the thronging
carriages, the noisy menials, the loud laughter, the merry faces, and
the gay dresses. Such sights were then new to me, and harmonized ill
with the sorrowful feelings with which I regarded the event which was to
separate me from a sister whose tenderness alone had hitherto more than
supplied all that I wanted in my mother's affection.
The day soon arrived which was to remove the happy couple from Ashtown
House. The carriage stood at the hall-door, and my poor sister kissed me
again and again, telling me that I should see her soon.
The carriage drove away, and I gazed after it until my eyes filled with
tears, and, returning slowly to my chamber, I wept more bitterly and, so
to speak, more desolately, than ever I had wept before.
My father had never seemed to love or to take an interest in me. He had
desired a son, and I think he never thoroughly forgave me my unfortunate
sex.
My having come into the world at all as his child he regarded as a kind
of fraudulent intrusion; and as his antipathy to me had its origin in an
imperfection of mine too radical for removal, I never even hoped to
stand high in his good graces.
My mother was, I dare say, as fond of me as she was of anyone; but she
was a woman of a masculine and a worldly cast of mind. She had no
tenderness or sympathy for the weaknesses, or even for the affections,
of woman's nature, and her demeanour towards me was peremptory, and
often even harsh.
It is not to be supposed, then, that I found in the society of my
parents much to supply the loss of my sister. About a year after her
marriage, we received letters from Mr. Carew, containing accounts of my
sister's health, which, though not actually alarming, were calculated to
make us seriously uneasy. The symptoms most dwelt upon were loss of
appetite, and a cough.
The letters concluded by intimating that he would avail himself of my
father and mother's repeated invitation to spend some time at Ashtown,
particularly as the physician who had been consulted as to my sister's
health had strongly advised a removal to her native air.
There were added repeated assurances that nothing serious was
apprehended, as it was supposed that a deranged state of the liver was
the only source of the symptoms which at first had seemed to intimate
consumption.
In accordance with this announcement, my sister and Mr. Carew arrived in
Dublin, where one of my father's carriages awaited them, in readiness to
start upon whatever day or hour they might choose for their departure.
It was arranged that Mr. Carew was, as soon as the day upon which they
were to leave Dublin was definitely fixed, to write to my father, who
intended that the two last stages should be performed by his own
horses, upon whose speed and safety far more reliance might be placed
than upon those of the ordinary post-horses, which were at that time,
almost without exception, of the very worst order. The journey, one of
about ninety miles, was to be divided; the larger portion being reserved
for the second day.
On Sunday a letter reached us, stating that the party would leave Dublin
on Monday, and in due course reach Ashtown upon Tuesday evening.
Tuesday came: the evening closed in, and yet no carriage; darkness came
on, and still no sign of our expected visitors.
Hour after hour passed away, and it was now past twelve; the night was
remarkably calm, scarce a breath stirring, so that any sound, such as
that produced by the rapid movement of a vehicle, would have been
audible at a considerable distance. For some such sound I was feverishly
listening.
It was, however, my father's rule to close the house at nightfall, and
the window-shutters being fastened, I was unable to reconnoitre the
avenue as I would have wished. It was nearly one o'clock, and we began
almost to despair of seeing them upon that night, when I thought I
distinguished the sound of wheels, but so remote and faint as to make me
at first very uncertain. The noise approached; it became louder and
clearer; it stopped for a moment.
I now heard the shrill screaming of the rusty iron, as the avenue gate
revolved on its hinges; again came the sound of wheels in rapid motion.
"It is they," said I, starting up; "the carriage is in the avenue."
We all stood for a few moments breathlessly listening. On thundered
the vehicle with the speed of the whirlwind; crack went the whip, and
clatter went the wheels, as it rattled over the uneven pavement of the
court. A general and furious barking from all the dogs about the house
hailed its arrival.
We hurried to the hall in time to hear the steps let down with the sharp
clanging noise peculiar to the operation, and the hum of voices exerted
in the bustle of arrival. The hall door was now thrown open, and we all
stepped forth to greet our visitors.
The court was perfectly empty; the moon was shining broadly and brightly
upon all around; nothing was to be seen but the tall trees with their
long spectral shadows, now wet with the dews of midnight.
We stood gazing from right to left as if suddenly awakened from a dream;
the dogs walked suspiciously, growling and snuffling about the court,
and by totally and suddenly ceasing their former loud barking, expressed
the predominance of fear.
We stared one upon another in perplexity and dismay, and I think I never
beheld more pale faces assembled. By my father's directions, we looked
about to find anything which might indicate or account for the noise
which we had heard; but no such thing was to be seen--even the mire
which lay upon the avenue was undisturbed. We returned to the house,
more panic-struck than I can describe.
On the next day, we learned by a messenger, who had ridden hard the
greater part of the night, that my sister was dead. On Sunday evening
she had retired to bed rather unwell, and on Monday her indisposition
declared itself unequivocally to be malignant fever. She became hourly
worse, and, on Tuesday night, a little after midnight, she expired.
I mention this circumstance, because it was one upon which a thousand
wild and fantastical reports were founded, though one would have thought
that the truth scarcely required to be improved upon; and again, because
it produced a strong and lasting effect upon my spirits, and indeed, I
am inclined to think, upon my character.
I was, for several years after this occurrence, long after the violence
of my grief subsided, so wretchedly low-spirited and nervous, that I
could scarcely be said to live; and during this time, habits of
indecision, arising out of a listless acquiescence in the will of
others, a fear of encountering even the slightest opposition, and a
disposition to shrink from what are commonly called amusements, grew
upon me so strongly, that I have scarcely even yet altogether overcome
them.
We saw nothing more of Mr. Carew. He returned to England as soon as the
melancholy rites attendant upon the event which I have just mentioned
were performed; and not being altogether inconsolable, he married again
within two years; after which, owing to the remoteness of our relative
situations, and other circumstances, we gradually lost sight of him.
I was now an only child; and, as my elder sister had died without issue,
it was evident that, in the ordinary course of things, my father's
property, which was altogether in his power, would go to me; and the
consequence was, that before I was fourteen, Ashtown House was besieged
by a host of suitors. However, whether it was that I was too young, or
that none of the aspirants to my hand stood sufficiently high in rank or
wealth, I was suffered by both parents to do exactly as I pleased; and
well was it for me, as I afterwards found, that fortune, or rather
Providence, had so ordained it, that I had not suffered my affections to
become in any degree engaged, for my mother would never have suffered
any silly fancy of mine, as she was in the habit of styling an
attachment, to stand in the way of her ambitious views--views which she
was determined to carry into effect in defiance of every obstacle, and
in order to accomplish which she would not have hesitated to sacrifice
anything so unreasonable and contemptible as a girlish passion.
When I reached the age of sixteen, my mother's plans began to develop
themselves; and, at her suggestion, we moved to Dublin to sojourn for
the winter, in order that no time might be lost in disposing of me to
the best advantage.
I had been too long accustomed to consider myself as of no importance
whatever, to believe for a moment that I was in reality the cause of all
the bustle and preparation which surrounded me; and being thus relieved
from the pain which a consciousness of my real situation would have
inflicted, I journeyed towards the capital with a feeling of total
indifference.
My father's wealth and connection had established him in the best
society, and consequently, upon our arrival in the metropolis, we
commanded whatever enjoyment or advantages its gaieties afforded.
The tumult and novelty of the scenes in which I was involved did not
fail considerably to amuse me, and my mind gradually recovered its tone,
which was naturally cheerful.
It was almost immediately known and reported that I was an heiress, and
of course my attractions were pretty generally acknowledged.
Among the many gentlemen whom it was my fortune to please, one, ere
long, established himself in my mother's good graces, to the exclusion
of all less important aspirants. However, I had not understood or even
remarked his attentions, nor in the slightest degree suspected his or my
mother's plans respecting me, when I was made aware of them rather
abruptly by my mother herself.
We had attended a splendid ball, given by Lord M----, at his residence
in Stephen's Green, and I was, with the assistance of my waiting-maid,
employed in rapidly divesting myself of the rich ornaments which, in
profuseness and value, could scarcely have found their equals in any
private family in Ireland.
I had thrown myself into a lounging-chair beside the fire, listless and
exhausted after the fatigues of the evening, when I was aroused from the
reverie into which I had fallen by the sound of footsteps approaching my
chamber, and my mother entered.
"Fanny, my dear," said she, in her softest tone, "I wish to say a word
or two with you before I go to rest. You are not fatigued, love, I
hope?"
"No, no, madam, I thank you," said I, rising at the same time from my
seat, with the formal respect so little practised now.
"Sit down, my dear," said she, placing herself upon a chair beside me;
"I must chat with you for a quarter of an hour or so. Saunders" (to the
maid), "you may leave the room; do not close the room door, but shut
that of the lobby."
This precaution against curious ears having been taken as directed, my
mother proceeded:
"You have observed, I should suppose, my dearest Fanny--indeed, you
_must_ have observed Lord Glenfallen's marked attentions to you?"
"I assure you, madam--" I began.
"Well, well, that is all right," interrupted my mother. "Of course, you
must be modest upon the matter; but listen to me for a few moments, my
love, and I will prove to your satisfaction that your modesty is quite
unnecessary in this case. You have done better than we could have hoped,
at least, so very soon. Lord Glenfallen is in love with you. I give you
joy of your conquest;" and, saying this, my mother kissed my forehead.
"In love with me!" I exclaimed in unfeigned astonishment.
"Yes, in love with you," repeated my mother; "devotedly, distractedly in
love with you. Why, my dear, what is there wonderful in it? Look in the
glass, and look at these," she continued, pointing, with a smile, to the
jewels which I had just removed from my person, and which now lay in a
glittering heap upon the table.
"May there not--" said I, hesitating between confusion and real alarm,
"is it not possible that some mistake may be at the bottom of all
this?"
"Mistake, dearest! none," said my mother. "None; none in the world.
Judge for yourself; read this, my love." And she placed in my hand a
letter, addressed to herself, the seal of which was broken. I read it
through with no small surprise. After some very fine complimentary
flourishes upon my beauty and perfections, as also upon the antiquity
and high reputation of our family, it went on to make a formal proposal
of marriage, to be communicated or not to me at present, as my mother
should deem expedient; and the letter wound up by a request that the
writer might be permitted, upon our return to Ashtown House, which was
soon to take place, as the spring was now tolerably advanced, to visit
us for a few days, in case his suit was approved.
"Well, well, my dear," said my mother, impatiently; "do you know who
Lord Glenfallen is?"
"I do, madam," said I, rather timidly; for I dreaded an altercation with
my mother.
"Well, dear, and what frightens you?" continued she. "Are you afraid of
a title? What has he done to alarm you? He is neither old nor ugly."
I was silent, though I might have said, "He is neither young nor
handsome."
"My dear Fanny," continued my mother, "in sober seriousness, you have
been most fortunate in engaging the affections of a nobleman such as
Lord Glenfallen, young and wealthy, with first-rate--yes, acknowledged
_first-rate_ abilities, and of a family whose influence is not exceeded
by that of any in Ireland. Of course, you see the offer in the same
light that I do--indeed, I think you _must_."
This was uttered in no very dubious tone. I was so much astonished by
the suddenness of the whole communication, that I literally did not know
what to say.
"You are not in love?" said my mother, turning sharply, and fixing her
dark eyes upon me with severe scrutiny.
"No, madam," said I, promptly; horrified--what young lady would not have
been?--at such a query.
"I'm glad to hear it," said my mother, drily. "Once, nearly twenty years
ago, a friend of mine consulted me as to how he should deal with a
daughter who had made what they call a love-match--beggared herself, and
disgraced her family; and I said, without hesitation, take no care for
her, but cast her off. Such punishment I awarded for an offence
committed against the reputation of a family not my own; and what I
advised respecting the child of another, with full as small compunction
I would _do_ with mine. I cannot conceive anything more unreasonable or
intolerable than that the fortune and the character of a family should
be marred by the idle caprices of a girl."
She spoke this with great severity, and paused as if she expected some
observation from me.
I, however, said nothing.
"But I need not explain to you, my dear Fanny," she continued, "my views
upon this subject; you have always known them well, and I have never yet
had reason to believe you are likely to offend me voluntarily, or to
abuse or neglect any of those advantages which reason and duty tell you
should be improved. Come hither, my dear; kiss me, and do not look so
frightened. Well, now, about this letter--you need not answer it yet; of
course, you must be allowed time to make up your mind. In the meantime,
I will write to his lordship to give him my permission to visit us at
Ashtown. Good-night, my love."
And thus ended one of the most disagreeable, not to say astounding,
conversations I had ever had. It would not be easy to describe exactly
what were my feelings towards Lord Glenfallen;--whatever might have been
my mother's suspicions, my heart was perfectly disengaged--and hitherto,
although I had not been made in the slightest degree acquainted with his
real views, I had liked him very much as an agreeable, well-informed
man, whom I was always glad to meet in society. He had served in the
navy in early life, and the polish which his manners received in his
after intercourse with courts and cities had not served to obliterate
that frankness of manner which belongs proverbially to the sailor.
Whether this apparent candour went deeper than the outward bearing, I
was yet to learn. However, there was no doubt that, as far as I had seen
of Lord Glenfallen, he was, though perhaps not so young as might have
been desired in a lover, a singularly pleasing man; and whatever feeling
unfavourable to him had found its way into my mind, arose altogether
from the dread, not an unreasonable one, that constraint might be
practised upon my inclinations. I reflected, however, that Lord
Glenfallen was a wealthy man, and one highly thought of; and although I
could never expect to love him in the romantic sense of the term, yet I
had no doubt but that, all things considered, I might be more happy with
him than I could hope to be at home.
When next I met him it was with no small embarrassment; his tact and
good breeding, however, soon reassured me, and effectually prevented
my awkwardness being remarked upon. And I had the satisfaction of
leaving Dublin for the country with the full conviction that nobody,
not even those most intimate with me, even suspected the fact of Lord
Glenfallen's having made me a formal proposal.
This was to me a very serious subject of self-gratulation, for, besides
my instinctive dread of becoming the topic of the speculations of
gossip, I felt that if the situation which I occupied in relation to
him were made publicly known, I should stand committed in a manner which
would scarcely leave me the power of retraction.
The period at which Lord Glenfallen had arranged to visit Ashtown House
was now fast approaching, and it became my mother's wish to form me
thoroughly to her will, and to obtain my consent to the proposed
marriage before his arrival, so that all things might proceed smoothly,
without apparent opposition or objection upon my part. Whatever
objections, therefore, I had entertained were to be subdued; whatever
disposition to resistance I had exhibited or had been supposed to feel,
were to be completely eradicated before he made his appearance; and my
mother addressed herself to the task with a decision and energy against
which even the barriers her imagination had created could hardly have
stood.
If she had, however, expected any determined opposition from me, she was
agreeably disappointed. My heart was perfectly free, and all my feelings
of liking and preference were in favour of Lord Glenfallen; and I well
knew that in case I refused to dispose of myself as I was desired, my
mother had alike the power and the will to render my existence as
utterly miserable as even the most ill-assorted marriage could possibly
have made it.
You will remember, my good friend, that I was very young and very
completely under the control of my parents, both of whom, my mother
particularly, were unscrupulously determined in matters of this kind,
and willing, when voluntary obedience on the part of those within their
power was withheld, to compel a forced acquiescence by an unsparing use
of all the engines of the most stern and rigorous domestic discipline.
All these combined, not unnaturally induced me to resolve upon yielding
at once, and without useless opposition, to what appeared almost to be
my fate.
The appointed time was come, and my now accepted suitor arrived; he was
in high spirits, and, if possible, more entertaining than ever.
I was not, however, quite in the mood to enjoy his sprightliness; but
whatever I wanted in gaiety was amply made up in the triumphant and
gracious good-humour of my mother, whose smiles of benevolence and
exultation were showered around as bountifully as the summer sunshine.
I will not weary you with unnecessary details. Let it suffice to say,
that I was married to Lord Glenfallen with all the attendant pomp and
circumstance of wealth, rank, and grandeur. According to the usage of
the times, now humanely reformed, the ceremony was made, until long past
midnight, the season of wild, uproarious, and promiscuous feasting and
revelry.
Of all this I have a painfully vivid recollection, and particularly of
the little annoyances inflicted upon me by the dull and coarse jokes of
the wits and wags who abound in all such places, and upon all such
occasions.
I was not sorry when, after a few days, Lord Glenfallen's carriage
appeared at the door to convey us both from Ashtown; for any change
would have been a relief from the irksomeness of ceremonial and
formality which the visits received in honour of my newly-acquired
titles hourly entailed upon me.
[Illustration: THE SEASON OF WILD, UPROARIOUS, AND PROMISCUOUS FEASTING
AND REVELRY.]
It was arranged that we were to proceed to Cahergillagh, one of the
Glenfallen estates, lying, however, in a southern county; so that, owing
to the difficulty of the roads at the time, a tedious journey of three
days intervened.
I set forth with my noble companion, followed by the regrets of some,
and by the envy of many; though God knows I little deserved the latter.
The three days of travel were now almost spent, when passing the brow of
a wild heathy hill, the domain of Cahergillagh opened suddenly upon our
view.
It formed a striking and a beautiful scene. A lake of considerable
extent stretching away towards the west, and reflecting from its broad,
smooth waters the rich glow of the setting sun, was overhung by steep
hills, covered by a rich mantle of velvet sward, broken here and there
by the grey front of some old rock, and exhibiting on their shelving
sides and on their slopes and hollows every variety of light and shade.
A thick wood of dwarf oak, birch, and hazel skirted these hills, and
clothed the shores of the lake, running out in rich luxuriance upon
every promontory, and spreading upward considerably upon the side of the
hills.
"There lies the enchanted castle," said Lord Glenfallen, pointing
towards a considerable level space intervening between two of the
picturesque hills which rose dimly around the lake.
This little plain was chiefly occupied by the same low, wild wood which
covered the other parts of the domain; but towards the centre, a mass of
taller and statelier forest trees stood darkly grouped together, and
among them stood an ancient square tower, with many buildings of a
humbler character, forming together the manor-house, or, as it was more
usually called, the Court of Cahergillagh.
As we approached the level upon which the mansion stood, the winding
road gave us many glimpses of the time-worn castle and its surrounding
buildings; and seen as it was through the long vistas of the fine old
trees, and with the rich glow of evening upon it, I have seldom beheld
an object more picturesquely striking.
I was glad to perceive, too, that here and there the blue curling smoke
ascended from stacks of chimneys now hidden by the rich, dark ivy which,
in a great measure, covered the building. Other indications of comfort
made themselves manifest as we approached; and indeed, though the place
was evidently one of considerable antiquity, it had nothing whatever of
the gloom of decay about it.
"You must not, my love," said Lord Glenfallen, "imagine this place
worse than it is. I have no taste for antiquity--at least I should
not choose a house to reside in because it is old. Indeed, I do not
recollect that I was even so romantic as to overcome my aversion to
rats and rheumatism, those faithful attendants upon your noble relics
of feudalism; and I much prefer a snug, modern, unmysterious bedroom,
with well-aired sheets, to the waving tapestry, mildewed cushions, and
all the other interesting appliances of romance. However, though I
cannot promise you all the discomfort generally belonging to an old
castle, you will find legends and ghostly lore enough to claim your
respect; and if old Martha be still to the fore, as I trust she is,
you will soon have a supernatural and appropriate anecdote for every
closet and corner of the mansion. But here we are--so, without more
ado, welcome to Cahergillagh!"
We now entered the hall of the castle, and while the domestics were
employed in conveying our trunks and other luggage which we had
brought with us for immediate use, to the apartments which Lord
Glenfallen had selected for himself and me, I went with him into a
spacious sitting-room, wainscoted with finely-polished black oak, and
hung round with the portraits of various worthies of the Glenfallen
family.
This room looked out upon an extensive level covered with the softest
green sward, and irregularly bounded by the wild wood I have before
mentioned, through the leafy arcade formed by whose boughs and trunks
the level beams of the setting sun were pouring. In the distance a group
of dairy-maids were plying their task, which they accompanied throughout
with snatches of Irish songs which, mellowed by the distance, floated
not unpleasingly to the ear; and beside them sat or lay, with all the
grave importance of conscious protection, six or seven large dogs of
various kinds. Farther in the distance, and through the cloisters of the
arching wood, two or three ragged urchins were employed in driving such
stray kine as had wandered farther than the rest to join their fellows.
As I looked upon the scene which I have described, a feeling of
tranquillity and happiness came upon me, which I have never experienced
in so strong a degree; and so strange to me was the sensation that my
eyes filled with tears.
Lord Glenfallen mistook the cause of my emotion, and taking me kindly
and tenderly by the hand, he said:
"Do not suppose, my love, that it is my intention to _settle_ here.
Whenever you desire to leave this, you have only to let me know your
wish, and it shall be complied with; so I must entreat of you not to
suffer any circumstances which I can control to give you one moment's
uneasiness. But here is old Martha; you must be introduced to her, one
of the heirlooms of our family."
A hale, good-humoured, erect old woman was Martha, and an agreeable
contrast to the grim, decrepit hag which my fancy had conjured up, as
the depositary of all the horrible tales in which I doubted not this old
place was most fruitful.
She welcomed me and her master with a profusion of gratulations,
alternately kissing our hands and apologizing for the liberty; until at
length Lord Glenfallen put an end to this somewhat fatiguing ceremonial
by requesting her to conduct me to my chamber, if it were prepared for
my reception.
I followed Martha up an old-fashioned oak staircase into a long, dim
passage, at the end of which lay the door which communicated with the
apartments which had been selected for our use; here the old woman
stopped, and respectfully requested me to proceed.
I accordingly opened the door, and was about to enter, when something
like a mass of black tapestry, as it appeared, disturbed by my sudden
approach, fell from above the door, so as completely to screen the
aperture; the startling unexpectedness of the occurrence, and the
rustling noise which the drapery made in its descent, caused me
involuntarily to step two or three paces backward. I turned, smiling
and half-ashamed, to the old servant, and said,--
"You see what a coward I am."
The woman looked puzzled, and, without saying any more, I was about to
draw aside the curtain and enter the room, when, upon turning to do so,
I was surprised to find that nothing whatever interposed to obstruct the
passage.
I went into the room, followed by the servant-woman, and was amazed to
find that it, like the one below, was wainscoted, and that nothing like
drapery was to be found near the door.
"Where is it?" said I; "what has become of it?"
"What does your ladyship wish to know?" said the old woman.
"Where is the black curtain that fell across the door, when I attempted
first to come to my chamber?" answered I.
"The cross of Christ about us!" said the old woman, turning suddenly
pale.
"What is the matter, my good friend?" said I; "you seem frightened."
"Oh no, no, your ladyship," said the old woman, endeavouring to conceal
her agitation; but in vain, for tottering towards a chair, she sank into
it, looking so deadly pale and horror-struck that I thought every moment
she would faint.
"Merciful God, keep us from harm and danger!" muttered she at length.
"What can have terrified you so?" said I, beginning to fear that she had
seen something more than had met my eye. "You appear ill, my poor
woman!"
"Nothing, nothing, my lady," said she, rising. "I beg your ladyship's
pardon for making so bold. May the great God defend us from misfortune!"
"Martha," said I, "something _has_ frightened you very much, and I
insist on knowing what it is; your keeping me in the dark upon the
subject will make me much more uneasy than anything you could tell me.
I desire you, therefore, to let me know what agitates you; I command you
to tell me."
"Your ladyship said you saw a black curtain falling across the door when
you were coming into the room," said the old woman.
"I did," said I; "but though the whole thing appears somewhat strange, I
cannot see anything in the matter to agitate you so excessively."
"It's for no good you saw that, my lady," said the crone; "something
terrible is coming. It's a sign, my lady--a sign that never fails."
"Explain, explain what you mean, my good woman," said I, in spite of
myself, catching more than I could account for, of her superstitious
terror.
"Whenever something--something _bad_ is going to happen to the
Glenfallen family, some one that belongs to them sees a black
handkerchief or curtain just waved or falling before their faces. I saw
it myself," continued she, lowering her voice, "when I was only a little
girl, and I'll never forget it. I often heard of it before, though I
never saw it till then, nor since, praised be God. But I was going into
Lady Jane's room to waken her in the morning; and sure enough when I got
first to the bed and began to draw the curtain, something dark was waved
across the division, but only for a moment; and when I saw rightly into
the bed, there she was lying cold and dead, God be merciful to me! So,
my lady, there is small blame to me to be daunted when any one of the
family sees it; for it's many the story I heard of it, though I saw it
but once."
I was not of a superstitious turn of mind, yet I could not resist a
feeling of awe very nearly allied to the fear which my companion had
so unreservedly expressed; and when you consider my situation, the
loneliness, antiquity, and gloom of the place, you will allow that the
weakness was not without excuse.
In spite of old Martha's boding predictions, however, time flowed on in
an unruffled course. One little incident, however, though trifling in
itself, I must relate, as it serves to make what follows more
intelligible.
Upon the day after my arrival, Lord Glenfallen of course desired to make
me acquainted with the house and domain; and accordingly we set forth
upon our ramble. When returning, he became for some time silent and
moody, a state so unusual with him as considerably to excite my
surprise.
I endeavoured by observations and questions to arouse him--but in vain.
At length, as we approached the house, he said, as if speaking to
himself,--
"'Twere madness--madness--madness," repeating the words bitterly; "sure
and speedy ruin."
There was here a long pause; and at length, turning sharply towards me,
in a tone very unlike that in which he had hitherto addressed me, he
said,--
"Do you think it possible that a woman can keep a secret?"
"I am sure," said I, "that women are very much belied upon the score of
talkativeness, and that I may answer your question with the same
directness with which you put it--I reply that I _do_ think a woman can
keep a secret."
"But I do not," said he, drily.
We walked on in silence for a time. I was much astonished at his
unwonted abruptness--I had almost said rudeness.
After a considerable pause he seemed to recollect himself, and with an
effort resuming his sprightly manner, he said,--
"Well, well, the next thing to keeping a secret well is not to desire to
possess one; talkativeness and curiosity generally go together. Now I
shall make test of you, in the first place, respecting the latter of
these qualities. I shall be your _Bluebeard_--tush, why do I trifle
thus? Listen to me, my dear Fanny; I speak now in solemn earnest. What I
desire is intimately, inseparably connected with your happiness and
honour as well as my own; and your compliance with my request will not
be difficult. It will impose upon you a very trifling restraint during
your sojourn here, which certain events which have occurred since our
arrival have determined me shall not be a long one. You must promise me,
upon your sacred honour, that you will visit _only_ that part of the
castle which can be reached from the front entrance, leaving the back
entrance and the part of the building commanded immediately by it to the
menials, as also the small garden whose high wall you see yonder; and
never at any time seek to pry or peep into them, nor to open the door
which communicates from the front part of the house through the corridor
with the back. I do not urge this in jest or in caprice, but from
a solemn conviction that danger and misery will be the certain
consequences of your not observing what I prescribe. I cannot explain
myself further at present. Promise me, then, these things, as you hope
for peace here and for mercy hereafter."
I did make the promise as desired, and he appeared relieved; his manner
recovered all its gaiety and elasticity: but the recollection of the
strange scene which I have just described dwelt painfully upon my mind.
More than a month passed away without any occurrence worth recording;
but I was not destined to leave Cahergillagh without further adventure.
One day, intending to enjoy the pleasant sunshine in a ramble through
the woods, I ran up to my room to procure my hat and cloak. Upon
entering the chamber I was surprised and somewhat startled to find it
occupied. Beside the fireplace, and nearly opposite the door, seated in
a large, old-fashioned elbow-chair, was placed the figure of a lady. She
appeared to be nearer fifty than forty, and was dressed suitably to her
age, in a handsome suit of flowered silk; she had a profusion of
trinkets and jewellery about her person, and many rings upon her
fingers. But although very rich, her dress was not gaudy or in ill
taste. But what was remarkable in the lady was, that although her
features were handsome, and upon the whole pleasing, the pupil of each
eye was dimmed with the whiteness of cataract, and she was evidently
stone-blind. I was for some seconds so surprised at this unaccountable
apparition, that I could not find words to address her.
[Illustration: UPON ENTERING THE CHAMBER, I WAS SURPRISED AND SOMEWHAT
STARTLED TO FIND IT OCCUPIED.]
"Madam," said I, "there must be some mistake here--this is my
bedchamber."
"Marry come up," said the lady, sharply; "_your_ chamber! Where is Lord
Glenfallen?"
"He is below, madam," replied I; "and I am convinced he will be not a
little surprised to find you here."
"I do not think he will," said she, "with your good leave; talk of what
you know something about. Tell him I want him. Why does the minx
dilly-dally so?"
In spite of the awe which this grim lady inspired, there was something
in her air of confident superiority which, when I considered our
relative situations, was not a little irritating.
"Do you know, madam, to whom you speak?" said I.
"I neither know nor care," said she; "but I presume that you are some
one about the house, so again I desire you, if you wish to continue
here, to bring your master hither forthwith."
"I must tell you, madam," said I, "that I am Lady Glenfallen."
"What's that?" said the stranger, rapidly.
"I say, madam," I repeated, approaching her that I might be more
distinctly heard, "that I am Lady Glenfallen."
"It's a lie, you trull!" cried she, in an accent which made me start,
and at the same time, springing forward, she seized me in her grasp, and
shook me violently, repeating, "It's a lie--it's a lie!" with a rapidity
and vehemence which swelled every vein of her face. The violence of her
action, and the fury which convulsed her face, effectually terrified me,
and disengaging myself from her grasp, I screamed as loud as I could for
help. The blind woman continued to pour out a torrent of abuse upon me,
foaming at the mouth with rage, and impotently shaking her clenched fist
towards me.
I heard Lord Glenfallen's step upon the stairs, and I instantly ran out;
as I passed him I perceived that he was deadly pale, and just caught the
words: "I hope that demon has not hurt you?"
I made some answer, I forget what, and he entered the chamber, the door
of which he locked upon the inside. What passed within I know not; but I
heard the voices of the two speakers raised in loud and angry
altercation.
I thought I heard the shrill accents of the woman repeat the words,
"Let her look to herself;" but I could not be quite sure. This short
sentence, however, was, to my alarmed imagination, pregnant with fearful
meaning.
The storm at length subsided, though not until after a conference of
more than two long hours. Lord Glenfallen then returned, pale and
agitated.
"That unfortunate woman," said he, "is out of her mind. I daresay she
treated you to some of her ravings; but you need not dread any further
interruption from her: I have brought her so far to reason. She did not
hurt you, I trust."
"No, no," said I; "but she terrified me beyond measure."
"Well," said he, "she is likely to behave better for the future; and I
dare swear that neither you nor she would desire, after what has passed,
to meet again."
This occurrence, so startling and unpleasant, so involved in mystery,
and giving rise to so many painful surmises, afforded me no very
agreeable food for rumination.
All attempts on my part to arrive at the truth were baffled; Lord
Glenfallen evaded all my inquiries, and at length peremptorily forbade
any further allusion to the matter. I was thus obliged to rest satisfied
with what I had actually seen, and to trust to time to resolve the
perplexities in which the whole transaction had involved me.
Lord Glenfallen's temper and spirits gradually underwent a complete and
most painful change; he became silent and abstracted, his manner to me
was abrupt and often harsh, some grievous anxiety seemed ever present to
his mind; and under its influence his spirits sank and his temper became
soured.
I soon perceived that his gaiety was rather that which the stir and
excitement of society produce, than the result of a healthy habit of
mind; every day confirmed me in the opinion, that the considerate
good-nature which I had so much admired in him was little more than
a mere manner; and to my infinite grief and surprise, the gay, kind,
open-hearted nobleman who had for months followed and flattered me, was
rapidly assuming the form of a gloomy, morose, and singularly selfish
man. This was a bitter discovery, and I strove to conceal it from myself
as long as I could; but the truth was not to be denied, and I was forced
to believe that my husband no longer loved me, and that he was at little
pains to conceal the alteration in his sentiments.
One morning after breakfast, Lord Glenfallen had been for some time
walking silently up and down the room, buried in his moody reflections,
when pausing suddenly, and turning towards me, he exclaimed:
"I have it--I have it! We must go abroad, and stay there too; and
if that does not answer, why--why, we must try some more effectual
expedient. Lady Glenfallen, I have become involved in heavy
embarrassments. A wife, you know, must share the fortunes of her
husband, for better for worse; but I will waive my right if you prefer
remaining here--here at Cahergillagh. For I would not have you seen
elsewhere without the state to which your rank entitles you; besides, it
would break your poor mother's heart," he added, with sneering gravity.
"So make up your mind--Cahergillagh or France. I will start if possible
in a week, so determine between this and then."
He left the room, and in a few moments I saw him ride past the window,
followed by a mounted servant. He had directed a domestic to inform me
that he should not be back until the next day.
I was in very great doubt as to what course of conduct I should pursue
as to accompanying him in the continental tour so suddenly determined
upon. I felt that it would be a hazard too great to encounter; for at
Cahergillagh I had always the consciousness to sustain me, that if his
temper at any time led him into violent or unwarrantable treatment of
me, I had a remedy within reach, in the protection and support of my own
family, from all useful and effective communication with whom, if once
in France, I should be entirely debarred.
As to remaining at Cahergillagh in solitude, and, for aught I
knew, exposed to hidden dangers, it appeared to me scarcely less
objectionable than the former proposition; and yet I feared that with
one or other I must comply, unless I was prepared to come to an actual
breach with Lord Glenfallen. Full of these unpleasing doubts and
perplexities, I retired to rest.
I was wakened, after having slept uneasily for some hours, by some
person shaking me rudely by the shoulder; a small lamp burned in my
room, and by its light, to my horror and amazement, I discovered that my
visitant was the self-same blind old lady who had so terrified me a few
weeks before.
I started up in the bed, with a view to ring the bell, and alarm the
domestics; but she instantly anticipated me by saying:
"Do not be frightened, silly girl! If I had wished to harm you, I could
have done it while you were sleeping; I need not have wakened you.
Listen to me, now, attentively and fearlessly, for what I have to say
interests you to the full as much as it does me. Tell me here, in the
presence of God, did Lord Glenfallen marry you--_actually marry you_?
Speak the truth, woman."
"As surely as I live and speak," I replied, "did Lord Glenfallen marry
me, in presence of more than a hundred witnesses."
"Well," continued she, "he should have told you _then_, before you
married him, that he had a wife living,--that I am his wife. I feel you
tremble--tush! do not be frightened. I do not mean to harm you. Mark me
now--you are _not_ his wife. When I make my story known you will be so
neither in the eye of God nor of man. You must leave this house upon
to-morrow. Let the world know that your husband has another wife living;
go you into retirement, and leave him to justice, which will surely
overtake him. If you remain in this house after to-morrow, you will reap
the bitter fruits of your sin."
So saying, she quitted the room, leaving me very little disposed to
sleep.
Here was food for my very worst and most terrible suspicions; still
there was not enough to remove all doubt. I had no proof of the truth of
this woman's statement.
Taken by itself, there was nothing to induce me to attach weight to
it; but when I viewed it in connection with the extraordinary mystery
of some of Lord Glenfallen's proceedings, his strange anxiety to
exclude me from certain portions of the mansion, doubtless lest I
should encounter this person--the strong influence, nay, command which
she possessed over him, a circumstance clearly established by the very
fact of her residing in the very place where, of all others, he should
least have desired to find her--her thus acting, and continuing to act
in direct contradiction to his wishes; when, I say, I viewed her
disclosure in connection with all these circumstances, I could not
help feeling that there was at least a fearful verisimilitude in the
allegations which she had made.
Still I was not satisfied, nor nearly so. Young minds have a
reluctance almost insurmountable to believing, upon anything short of
unquestionable proof, the existence of premeditated guilt in anyone
whom they have ever trusted; and in support of this feeling I was
assured that if the assertion of Lord Glenfallen, which nothing in
this woman's manner had led me to disbelieve, were true, namely that
her mind was unsound, the whole fabric of my doubts and fears must
fall to the ground.
I determined to state to Lord Glenfallen freely and accurately the
substance of the communication which I had just heard, and in his words
and looks to seek for its proof or refutation. Full of these thoughts,
I remained wakeful and excited all night, every moment fancying that I
heard the step or saw the figure of my recent visitor, towards whom I
felt a species of horror and dread which I can hardly describe.
There was something in her face, though her features had evidently been
handsome, and were not, at first sight, unpleasing, which, upon a nearer
inspection, seemed to indicate the habitual prevalence and indulgence
of evil passions, and a power of expressing mere animal anger with an
intenseness that I have seldom seen equalled, and to which an almost
unearthly effect was given by the convulsive quivering of the sightless
eyes.
You may easily suppose that it was no very pleasing reflection to me to
consider that, whenever caprice might induce her to return, I was within
the reach of this violent and, for aught I knew, insane woman, who had,
upon that very night, spoken to me in a tone of menace, of which her
mere words, divested of the manner and look with which she uttered them,
can convey but a faint idea.
Will you believe me when I tell you that I was actually afraid to leave
my bed in order to secure the door, lest I should again encounter the
dreadful object lurking in some corner or peeping from behind the
window-curtains, so very a child was I in my fears?
The morning came, and with it Lord Glenfallen. I knew not, and indeed I
cared not, where he might have been; my thoughts were wholly engrossed
by the terrible fears and suspicions which my last night's conference
had suggested to me. He was, as usual, gloomy and abstracted, and I
feared in no very fitting mood to hear what I had to say with patience,
whether the charges were true or false.
I was, however, determined not to suffer the opportunity to pass, or
Lord Glenfallen to leave the room, until, at all hazards, I had
unburdened my mind.
"My lord," said I, after a long silence, summoning up all my firmness,
"my lord, I wish to say a few words to you upon a matter of very great
importance, of very deep concernment to you and to me."
I fixed my eyes upon him to discern, if possible, whether the
announcement caused him any uneasiness; but no symptom of any such
feeling was perceptible.
"Well, my dear," said he, "this is no doubt a very grave preface, and
portends, I have no doubt, something extraordinary. Pray let us have it
without more ado."
He took a chair, and seated himself nearly opposite to me.
"My lord," said I, "I have seen the person who alarmed me so much a
short time since, the blind lady, again, upon last night." His face,
upon which my eyes were fixed, turned pale; he hesitated for a moment,
and then said:
"And did you, pray, madam, so totally forget or spurn my express
command, as to enter that portion of the house from which your promise,
I might say your oath, excluded you? Answer me that!" he added fiercely.
"My lord," said I, "I have neither forgotten your _commands_, since
such they were, nor disobeyed them. I was, last night, wakened from my
sleep, as I lay in my own chamber, and accosted by the person whom I
have mentioned. How she found access to the room I cannot pretend to
say."
"Ha! this must be looked to," said he, half reflectively. "And pray,"
added he quickly, while in turn he fixed his eyes upon me, "what did
this person say? since some comment upon her communication forms, no
doubt, the sequel to your preface."
"Your lordship is not mistaken," said I; "her statement was so
extraordinary that I could not think of withholding it from you. She
told me, my lord, that you had a wife living at the time you married me,
and that she was that wife."
Lord Glenfallen became ashy pale, almost livid; he made two or three
efforts to clear his voice to speak, but in vain, and turning suddenly
from me, he walked to the window. The horror and dismay which, in the
olden time, overwhelmed the woman of Endor when her spells unexpectedly
conjured the dead into her presence, were but types of what I felt when
thus presented with what appeared to be almost unequivocal evidence of
the guilt whose existence I had before so strongly doubted.
There was a silence of some moments, during which it were hard to
conjecture whether I or my companion suffered most.
Lord Glenfallen soon recovered his self-command; he returned to the
table, again sat down, and said:
"What you have told me has so astonished me, has unfolded such a tissue
of motiveless guilt, and in a quarter from which I had so little reason
to look for ingratitude or treachery, that your announcement almost
deprived me of speech; the person in question, however, has one excuse,
her mind is, as I told you before, unsettled. You should have remembered
that, and hesitated to receive as unexceptionable evidence against the
honour of your husband, the ravings of a lunatic. I now tell you that
this is the last time I shall speak to you upon this subject, and, in
the presence of the God who is to judge me, and as I hope for mercy in
the day of judgment, I swear that the charge thus brought against me is
utterly false, unfounded, and ridiculous. I defy the world in any point
to taint my honour; and, as I have never taken the opinion of madmen
touching your character or morals, I think it but fair to require that
you will evince a like tenderness for me; and now, once for all, never
again dare to repeat to me your insulting suspicions, or the clumsy and
infamous calumnies of fools. I shall instantly let the worthy lady who
contrived this somewhat original device understand fully my opinion upon
the matter. Good morning."
And with these words he left me again in doubt, and involved in all the
horrors of the most agonizing suspense.
I had reason to think that Lord Glenfallen wreaked his vengeance upon
the author of the strange story which I had heard, with a violence which
was not satisfied with mere words, for old Martha, with whom I was a
great favourite, while attending me in my room, told me that she feared
her master had ill-used the poor blind Dutchwoman, for that she had
heard her scream as if the very life were leaving her, but added a
request that I should not speak of what she had told me to any one,
particularly to the master.
"How do you know that she is a Dutchwoman?" inquired I, anxious to learn
anything whatever that might throw a light upon the history of this
person, who seemed to have resolved to mix herself up in my fortunes.
"Why, my lady," answered Martha, "the master often calls her the Dutch
hag, and other names you would not like to hear, and I am sure she is
neither English nor Irish; for, whenever they talk together, they speak
some queer foreign lingo, and fast enough, I'll be bound. But I ought
not to talk about her at all; it might be as much as my place is worth
to mention her, only you saw her first yourself, so there can be no
great harm in speaking of her now."
"How long has this lady been here?" continued I.
"She came early on the morning after your ladyship's arrival," answered
she; "but do not ask me any more, for the master would think nothing of
turning me out of doors for daring to speak of her at all, much less to
_you_, my lady."
I did not like to press the poor woman further, for her reluctance to
speak on this topic was evident and strong.
You will readily believe that upon the very slight grounds which my
information afforded, contradicted as it was by the solemn oath of my
husband, and derived from what was, at best, a very questionable source,
I could not take any very decisive measures whatever; and as to the
menace of the strange woman who had thus unaccountably twice intruded
herself into my chamber, although, at the moment, it occasioned me some
uneasiness, it was not, even in my eyes, sufficiently formidable to
induce my departure from Cahergillagh.
A few nights after the scene which I have just mentioned, Lord
Glenfallen having, as usual, retired early to his study, I was left
alone in the parlour to amuse myself as best I might.
It was not strange that my thoughts should often recur to the agitating
scenes in which I had recently taken a part.
The subject of my reflections, the solitude, the silence, and the
lateness of the hour, as also the depression of spirits to which I had
of late been a constant prey, tended to produce that nervous excitement
which places us wholly at the mercy of the imagination.
In order to calm my spirits I was endeavouring to direct my thoughts
into some more pleasing channel, when I heard, or thought I heard,
uttered within a few yards of me, in an odd, half-sneering tone, the
words,--
"There is blood upon your ladyship's throat."
So vivid was the impression that I started to my feet, and involuntarily
placed my hand upon my neck.
I looked around the room for the speaker, but in vain.
I went then to the room-door, which I opened, and peered into the
passage, nearly faint with horror lest some leering, shapeless thing
should greet me upon the threshold.
When I had gazed long enough to assure myself that no strange object was
within sight,--
"I have been too much of a rake lately; I am racking out my nerves,"
said I, speaking aloud, with a view to reassure myself.
I rang the bell, and, attended by old Martha, I retired to settle for
the night.
While the servant was--as was her custom--arranging the lamp which I
have already stated always burned during the night in my chamber, I was
employed in undressing, and, in doing so, I had recourse to a large
looking-glass which occupied a considerable portion of the wall in which
it was fixed, rising from the ground to a height of about six feet; this
mirror filled the space of a large panel in the wainscoting opposite the
foot of the bed.
[Illustration: SOMETHING LIKE A BLACK PALL WAS SLOWLY WAVED.]
I had hardly been before it for the lapse of a minute when something
like a black pall was slowly waved between me and it.
"Oh, God! there it is," I exclaimed, wildly. "I have seen it again,
Martha--the black cloth."
"God be merciful to us, then!" answered she, tremulously crossing
herself. "Some misfortune is over us."
"No, no, Martha," said I, almost instantly recovering my collectedness;
for, although of a nervous temperament, I had never been superstitious.
"I do not believe in omens. You know I saw, or fancied I saw, this thing
before, and nothing followed."
"The Dutch lady came the next morning," replied she.
"But surely her coming scarcely deserved such a dreadful warning," I
replied.
"She is a strange woman, my lady," said Martha; "and she is not _gone_
yet--mark my words."
"Well, well, Martha," said I, "I have not wit enough to change your
opinions, nor inclination to alter mine; so I will talk no more of the
matter. Good-night," and so I was left to my reflections.
After lying for about an hour awake, I at length fell into a kind of
doze; but my imagination was very busy, for I was startled from this
unrefreshing sleep by fancying that I heard a voice close to my face
exclaim as before,--
"There is blood upon your ladyship's throat."
The words were instantly followed by a loud burst of laughter.
Quaking with horror, I awakened, and heard my husband enter the room.
Even this was a relief.
Scared as I was, however, by the tricks which my imagination had played
me, I preferred remaining silent, and pretending to sleep, to attempting
to engage my husband in conversation, for I well knew that his mood was
such, that his words would not, in all probability, convey anything that
had not better be unsaid and unheard.
Lord Glenfallen went into his dressing-room, which lay upon the
right-hand side of the bed. The door lying open, I could see him by
himself, at full length upon a sofa, and, in about half an hour, I
became aware, by his deep and regularly drawn respiration, that he was
fast asleep.
When slumber refuses to visit one, there is something peculiarly
irritating, not to the temper, but to the nerves, in the consciousness
that some one is in your immediate presence, actually enjoying the boon
which you are seeking in vain; at least, I have always found it so, and
never more than upon the present occasion.
A thousand annoying imaginations harassed and excited me; every object
which I looked upon, though ever so familiar, seemed to have acquired
a strange phantom-like character, the varying shadows thrown by the
flickering of the lamplight seemed shaping themselves into grotesque and
unearthly forms, and whenever my eyes wandered to the sleeping figure
of my husband, his features appeared to undergo the strangest and most
demoniacal contortions.
Hour after hour was told by the old clock, and each succeeding one found
me, if possible, less inclined to sleep than its predecessor.
It was now considerably past three; my eyes, in their involuntary
wanderings, happened to alight upon the large mirror which was, as I
have said, fixed in the wall opposite the foot of the bed. A view of it
was commanded from where I lay, through the curtains. As I gazed fixedly
upon it, I thought I perceived the broad sheet of glass shifting its
position in relation to the bed; I riveted my eyes upon it with intense
scrutiny; it was no deception, the mirror, as if acting of its own
impulse, moved slowly aside, and disclosed a dark aperture in the wall,
nearly as large as an ordinary door; a figure evidently stood in this,
but the light was too dim to define it accurately.
It stepped cautiously into the chamber, and with so little noise, that
had I not actually seen it, I do not think I should have been aware of
its presence. It was arrayed in a kind of woollen night-dress, and a
white handkerchief or cloth was bound tightly about the head; I had no
difficulty, spite of the strangeness of the attire, in recognizing the
blind woman whom I so much dreaded.
She stooped down, bringing her head nearly to the ground, and in that
attitude she remained motionless for some moments, no doubt in order to
ascertain if any suspicious sounds were stirring.
She was apparently satisfied by her observations, for she immediately
recommenced her silent progress towards a ponderous mahogany
dressing-table of my husband's. When she had reached it, she paused
again, and appeared to listen attentively for some minutes; she then
noiselessly opened one of the drawers, from which, having groped for
some time, she took something, which I soon perceived to be a case of
razors. She opened it, and tried the edge of each of the two instruments
upon the skin of her hand; she quickly selected one, which she fixed
firmly in her grasp. She now stooped down as before, and having listened
for a time, she, with the hand that was disengaged, groped her way into
the dressing-room where Lord Glenfallen lay fast asleep.
I was fixed as if in the tremendous spell of a nightmare. I could not
stir even a finger; I could not lift my voice; I could not even breathe;
and though I expected every moment to see the sleeping man murdered, I
could not even close my eyes to shut out the horrible spectacle which I
had not the power to avert.
I saw the woman approach the sleeping figure, she laid the unoccupied
hand lightly along his clothes, and having thus ascertained his
identity, she, after a brief interval, turned back and again entered my
chamber; here she bent down again to listen.
I had now not a doubt but that the razor was intended for my throat; yet
the terrific fascination which had locked all my powers so long, still
continued to bind me fast.
I felt that my life depended upon the slightest ordinary exertion, and
yet I could not stir one joint from the position in which I lay, nor
even make noise enough to waken Lord Glenfallen.
The murderous woman now, with long, silent steps, approached the bed;
my very heart seemed turning to ice; her left hand, that which was
disengaged, was upon the pillow; she gradually slid it forward towards
my head, and in an instant, with the speed of lightning, it was clutched
in my hair, while, with the other hand, she dashed the razor at my
throat.
A slight inaccuracy saved me from instant death; the blow fell short,
the point of the razor grazing my throat. In a moment, I know not how, I
found myself at the other side of the bed, uttering shriek after shriek;
the wretch was however determined, if possible, to murder me.
Scrambling along by the curtains, she rushed round the bed towards me;
I seized the handle of the door to make my escape. It was, however,
fastened. At all events, I could not open it. From the mere instinct of
recoiling terror, I shrunk back into a corner. She was now within a yard
of me. Her hand was upon my face.
I closed my eyes fast, expecting never to open them again, when a blow,
inflicted from behind by a strong arm, stretched the monster senseless
at my feet. At the same moment the door opened, and several domestics,
alarmed by my cries, entered the apartment.
I do not recollect what followed, for I fainted. One swoon succeeded
another, so long and death-like, that my life was considered very
doubtful.
At about ten o'clock, however, I sank into a deep and refreshing sleep,
from which I was awakened at about two, that I might swear my deposition
before a magistrate, who attended for that purpose.
I accordingly did so, as did also Lord Glenfallen, and the woman was
fully committed to stand her trial at the ensuing assizes.
I shall never forget the scene which the examination of the blind woman
and of the other parties afforded.
She was brought into the room in the custody of two servants. She wore
a kind of flannel wrapper, which had not been changed since the night
before. It was torn and soiled, and here and there smeared with blood,
which had flowed in large quantities from a wound in her head. The
white handkerchief had fallen off in the scuffle, and her grizzled hair
fell in masses about her wild and deadly pale countenance.
She appeared perfectly composed, however, and the only regret she
expressed throughout, was at not having succeeded in her attempt, the
object of which she did not pretend to conceal.
On being asked her name, she called herself the Countess Glenfallen, and
refused to give any other title.
"The woman's name is Flora Van-Kemp," said Lord Glenfallen.
"It _was_, it _was_, you perjured traitor and cheat!" screamed the
woman; and then there followed a volley of words in some foreign
language. "Is there a magistrate here?" she resumed; "I am Lord
Glenfallen's wife--I'll prove it--write down my words. I am willing to
be hanged or burned, so _he_ meets his deserts. I did try to kill that
doll of his; but it was he who put it into my head to do it--two wives
were too many; I was to murder her, or she was to hang me: listen to all
I have to say."
Here Lord Glenfallen interrupted.
"I think, sir," said he, addressing the magistrate "that we had better
proceed to business; this unhappy woman's furious recriminations but
waste our time. If she refuses to answer your questions, you had better,
I presume, take my depositions."
"And are you going to swear away my life, you black-perjured murderer?"
shrieked the woman. "Sir, sir, sir, you must hear me," she continued,
addressing the magistrate; "I can convict him--he bid me murder that
girl, and then, when I failed, he came behind me, and struck me down,
and now he wants to swear away my life. Take down all I say."
"If it is your intention," said the magistrate, "to confess the crime
with which you stand charged, you may, upon producing sufficient
evidence, criminate whom you please."
"Evidence!--I have no evidence but myself," said the woman. "I will
swear it all--write down my testimony--write it down, I say--we shall
hang side by side, my brave lord--all your own handy-work, my gentle
husband!"
This was followed by a low, insolent, and sneering laugh, which, from
one in her situation, was sufficiently horrible.
"I will not at present hear anything," replied he, "but distinct answers
to the questions which I shall put to you upon this matter."
"Then you shall hear nothing," replied she sullenly, and no inducement
or intimidation could bring her to speak again.
Lord Glenfallen's deposition and mine were then given, as also those of
the servants who had entered the room at the moment of my rescue.
The magistrate then intimated that she was committed, and must proceed
directly to gaol, whither she was brought in a carriage of Lord
Glenfallen's, for his lordship was naturally by no means indifferent to
the effect which her vehement accusations against himself might produce,
if uttered before every chance hearer whom she might meet with between
Cahergillagh and the place of confinement whither she was despatched.
During the time which intervened between the committal and the trial of
the prisoner, Lord Glenfallen seemed to suffer agonies of mind which
baffled all description; he hardly ever slept, and when he did, his
slumbers seemed but the instruments of new tortures, and his waking
hours were, if possible, exceeded in intensity of terror by the dreams
which disturbed his sleep.
Lord Glenfallen rested, if to lie in the mere attitude of repose were
to do so, in his dressing-room, and thus I had an opportunity of
witnessing, far oftener than I wished it, the fearful workings of his
mind. His agony often broke out into such fearful paroxysms that
delirium and total loss of reason appeared to be impending. He
frequently spoke of flying from the country, and bringing with him all
the witnesses of the appalling scene upon which the prosecution was
founded; then, again, he would fiercely lament that the blow which he
had inflicted had not ended all.
The assizes arrived, however, and upon the day appointed Lord Glenfallen
and I attended in order to give our evidence.
The cause was called on, and the prisoner appeared at the bar.
Great curiosity and interest were felt respecting the trial, so that the
court was crowded to excess.
The prisoner, however, without appearing to take the trouble of
listening to the indictment, pleaded guilty, and no representations on
the part of the court availed to induce her to retract her plea.
After much time had been wasted in a fruitless attempt to prevail upon
her to reconsider her words, the court proceeded, according to the usual
form, to pass sentence.
This having been done, the prisoner was about to be removed, when she
said, in a low, distinct voice:
"A word--a word, my lord!--Is Lord Glenfallen here in the court?"
On being told that he was, she raised her voice to a tone of loud
menace, and continued:
"Hardress, Earl of Glenfallen, I accuse you here in this court of
justice of two crimes,--first, that you married a second wife while the
first was living; and again, that you prompted me to the murder, for
attempting which I am to die. Secure him--chain him--bring him here!"
There was a laugh through the court at these words, which were naturally
treated by the judge as a violent extemporary recrimination, and the
woman was desired to be silent.
"You won't take him, then?" she said; "you won't try him? You'll let him
go free?"
It was intimated by the court that he would certainly be allowed "to go
free," and she was ordered again to be removed.
Before, however, the mandate was executed, she threw her arms wildly
into the air, and uttered one piercing shriek so full of preternatural
rage and despair, that it might fitly have ushered a soul into those
realms where hope can come no more.
The sound still rang in my ears, months after the voice that had uttered
it was for ever silent.
The wretched woman was executed in accordance with the sentence which
had been pronounced.
For some time after this event, Lord Glenfallen appeared, if possible,
to suffer more than he had done before, and altogether his language,
which often amounted to half confessions of the guilt imputed to him,
and all the circumstances connected with the late occurrences, formed a
mass of evidence so convincing that I wrote to my father, detailing the
grounds of my fears, and imploring him to come to Cahergillagh without
delay, in order to remove me from my husband's control, previously to
taking legal steps for a final separation.
Circumstanced as I was, my existence was little short of intolerable,
for, besides the fearful suspicions which attached to my husband, I
plainly perceived that if Lord Glenfallen were not relieved, and that
speedily, insanity must supervene. I therefore expected my father's
arrival, or at least a letter to announce it, with indescribable
impatience.
About a week after the execution had taken place, Lord Glenfallen one
morning met me with an unusually sprightly air.
"Fanny," said he, "I have it now for the first time in my power to
explain to your satisfaction everything which has hitherto appeared
suspicious or mysterious in my conduct. After breakfast come with me to
my study, and I shall, I hope, make all things clear."
This invitation afforded me more real pleasure than I had experienced
for months. Something had certainly occurred to tranquillize my
husband's mind in no ordinary degree, and I thought it by no means
impossible that he would, in the proposed interview, prove himself the
most injured and innocent of men.
Full of this hope, I repaired to his study at the appointed hour. He was
writing busily when I entered the room, and just raising his eyes, he
requested me to be seated.
I took a chair as he desired, and remained silently awaiting his
leisure, while he finished, folded, directed, and sealed his letter.
Laying it then upon the table with the address downward, he said,--
"My dearest Fanny, I know I must have appeared very strange to you and
very unkind--often even cruel. Before the end of this week I will show
you the necessity of my conduct--how impossible it was that I should
have seemed otherwise. I am conscious that many acts of mine must have
inevitably given rise to painful suspicions--suspicions which, indeed,
upon one occasion, you very properly communicated to me. I have
got two letters from a quarter which commands respect, containing
information as to the course by which I may be enabled to prove the
negative of all the crimes which even the most credulous suspicion
could lay to my charge. I expected a third by this morning's post,
containing documents which will set the matter for ever at rest, but
owing, no doubt, to some neglect, or perhaps to some difficulty in
collecting the papers, some inevitable delay, it has not come to hand
this morning, according to my expectation. I was finishing one to the
very same quarter when you came in, and if a sound rousing be worth
anything, I think I shall have a special messenger before two days
have passed. I have been anxiously considering with myself, as to
whether I had better imperfectly clear up your doubts by submitting to
your inspection the two letters which I have already received, or wait
till I can triumphantly vindicate myself by the production of the
documents which I have already mentioned, and I have, I think, not
unnaturally decided upon the latter course. However, there is a person
in the next room whose testimony is not without its value--excuse me
for one moment."
So saying, he arose and went to the door of a closet which opened from
the study; this he unlocked, and half opening the door, he said, "It is
only I," and then slipped into the room, and carefully closed and locked
the door behind him.
I immediately heard his voice in animated conversation. My curiosity
upon the subject of the letter was naturally great, so, smothering any
little scruples which I might have felt, I resolved to look at the
address of the letter which lay, as my husband had left it, with its
face upon the table. I accordingly drew it over to me, and turned up the
direction.
For two or three moments I could scarce believe my eyes, but there could
be no mistake--in large characters were traced the words, "To the
Archangel Gabriel in Heaven."
I had scarcely returned the letter to its original position, and in some
degree recovered the shock which this unequivocal proof of insanity
produced, when the closet door was unlocked, and Lord Glenfallen
re-entered the study, carefully closing and locking the door again upon
the outside.
"Whom have you there?" inquired I, making a strong effort to appear
calm.
"Perhaps," said he, musingly, "you might have some objection to seeing
her, at least for a time."
"Who is it?" repeated I.
"Why," said he, "I see no use in hiding it--the blind Dutchwoman. I have
been with her the whole morning. She is very anxious to get out of that
closet; but you know she is odd, she is scarcely to be trusted."
A heavy gust of wind shook the door at this moment with a sound as if
something more substantial were pushing against it.
"Ha, ha, ha!--do you hear her?" said he, with an obstreperous burst of
laughter.
The wind died away in a long howl, and Lord Glenfallen, suddenly
checking his merriment, shrugged his shoulders, and muttered:
"Poor devil, she has been hardly used."
"We had better not tease her at present with questions," said I, in as
unconcerned a tone as I could assume, although I felt every moment as if
I should faint.
"Humph! may be so," said he. "Well, come back in an hour or two, or when
you please, and you will find us here."
He again unlocked the door, and entered with the same precautions which
he had adopted before, locking the door upon the inside; and as I
hurried from the room, I heard his voice again exerted as if in eager
parley.
I can hardly describe my emotions; my hopes had been raised to the
highest, and now, in an instant, all was gone: the dreadful consummation
was accomplished--the fearful retribution had fallen upon the guilty
man--the mind was destroyed, the power to repent was gone.
The agony of the hours which followed what I would still call my awful
interview with Lord Glenfallen, I cannot describe; my solitude was,
however, broken in upon by Martha, who came to inform me of the arrival
of a gentleman, who expected me in the parlour.
I accordingly descended, and, to my great joy, found my father seated by
the fire.
This expedition upon his part was easily accounted for: my
communications had touched the honour of the family. I speedily
informed him of the dreadful malady which had fallen upon the wretched
man.
My father suggested the necessity of placing some person to watch him,
to prevent his injuring himself or others.
I rang the bell, and desired that one Edward Cooke, an attached servant
of the family, should be sent to me.
I told him distinctly and briefly the nature of the service required of
him, and, attended by him, my father and I proceeded at once to the
study. The door of the inner room was still closed, and everything in
the outer chamber remained in the same order in which I had left it.
We then advanced to the closet-door, at which we knocked, but without
receiving any answer.
We next tried to open the door, but in vain; it was locked upon the
inside. We knocked more loudly, but in vain.
Seriously alarmed, I desired the servant to force the door, which was,
after several violent efforts, accomplished, and we entered the closet.
Lord Glenfallen was lying on his face upon a sofa.
"Hush!" said I; "he is asleep." We paused for a moment.
"He is too still for that," said my father.
We all of us felt a strong reluctance to approach the figure.
"Edward," said I, "try whether your master sleeps."
The servant approached the sofa where Lord Glenfallen lay. He leant his
ear towards the head of the recumbent figure, to ascertain whether the
sound of breathing was audible. He turned towards us, and said:
"My lady, you had better not wait here; I am sure he is dead!"
"Let me see the face," said I, terribly agitated; "you _may_ be
mistaken."
The man then, in obedience to my command, turned the body round, and,
gracious God! what a sight met my view.
The whole breast of the shirt, with its lace frill, was drenched with
his blood, as was the couch underneath the spot where he lay.
The head hung back, as it seemed, almost severed from the body by a
frightful gash, which yawned across the throat. The razor which had
inflicted the wound was found under his body.
All, then, was over; I was never to learn the history in whose
termination I had been so deeply and so tragically involved.
The severe discipline which my mind had undergone was not bestowed in
vain. I directed my thoughts and my hopes to that place where there is
no more sin, nor danger, nor sorrow.
Thus ends a brief tale whose prominent incidents many will recognize as
having marked the history of a distinguished family; and though it
refers to a somewhat distant date, we shall be found not to have taken,
upon that account, any liberties with the facts.
THE END.
LONDON:
PRINTED BY GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, LD.,
ST. JOHN'S HOUSE, CLERKENWELL, E.C.
BY THE AUTHOR OF "BALLYBEG JUNCTION."
THE
MERCHANT OF KILLOGUE
A Munster Tale
BY
F. M. ALLEN
AUTHOR OF "THROUGH GREEN GLASSES," "A HOUSE OF TEARS,"
"IN ONE TOWN," ETC., ETC.
In Three Volumes.
THE WORLD.
"An inside and intimate picture of Irish life and character, in phases
and circumstances which have not, so far as we know, been approached by
any other novelist or satirist. The work is not describable, it is not
to be indicated by comparison; the very touch of occasional caricature
in the election scenes, and in the 'brigand' of the story, O'Ruark,
which throws out the sheer clear actuality of the people, the places,
the 'ways'; the extraordinary humour of the talk; the jarring of small
interests and petty ambitions in the town that is all the world to its
inhabitants; the swift stroke of fate and sudden investment of the scene
with tragic interest--are Mr. Downey's own. Mick Moloney's last 'few
words with the master' is an incident worthy to be placed beside the
famous death scene in the mountain-pass in 'Tom Burke.'"
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH.
"Vivid and convincing sketches of Irish provincial life abound in 'The
Merchant of Killogue.'... The story is admirably worked up to a
surprising and startling _dénouement_."
WESTMINSTER GAZETTE.
"The only fault we have to find with 'The Merchant of Killogue' is that
it is too conscientious.... In depicting his characters he shows rare
skill and knowledge as well as a very considerable gift of humour. They
are all vivid, distinct, and lifelike.... The workmanship is of quite
unusual merit."
DAILY CHRONICLE.
"Mr. Downey's Celts are human beings, motived by the ordinary motives,
and talking like rational men and women. His central figure, John
O'Reilly, is an artistic creation."
LITERARY WORLD.
"Natural, strong in local characterisation and colouring, with many
touches of quaint humour peculiarly Irish and racy, and bright and
readable from cover to cover."
SATURDAY REVIEW.
"There is no questioning the ability of Mr. Edmund Downey's Munster
tale. It is long since a writer has introduced us to a set of characters
so fresh, so unlike the usual creations of the novelist."
VANITY FAIR.
"Every character in the book is put down in words so subtle and strong
that for yourself you know the people. There is nothing of the new woman
in it, and not a line concerning the analyses of soul and body. It is
just a picture of Irish life which might have been written in shorthand
as it happened, and written out afterwards in longhand, so clear and
sharp and vital is it. It is an exciting story, with a thrilling winding
up."
ST. JAMES'S GAZETTE.
"When we say that Mr. Downey reminds us not a little of his great
precursor, Lever, we are paying him no idle compliment."
GUARDIAN.
"One of the best descriptions of Irish life that we have read since
Lever."
SPECTATOR.
"A very bright and vivacious book.... The merchant is a very carefully
painted portrait, and he is really made to live."
THE SUN.
"Before you are half-way through the first chapter of this entertaining
book you realize that you are here face to face with Ireland drawn from
the life, that this is fiction not of stale convention but of first-hand
observation, and that the story demands more than ordinary attention."
ATHENÆUM.
"It is pleasant for a reviewer to be able to congratulate him on the
good account to which he has now turned his extensive acquaintance with
Irish provincial life."
ST. PAUL'S.
"The humour is neither farcical nor conventional, it is the humour of
situation and character.... The dialogue is animated, easy, and natural
throughout."
LLOYDS'.
"The rich racy humour of Irish life bubbles up in many fantastic forms
and shapes throughout Mr. Downey's novel."
MORNING POST.
"Excellent portraits abound in this tale of Munster."
STANDARD.
"The plot acts mainly as a peg on which the author hangs his sketches of
Irish character, and these are excellently done. The merchant himself
... is a remarkable study.... O'Ruark is, in his way, quite a creation,
and his perennial flow of Irish wit is one of the pleasantest things in
the three volumes."
TRUTH.
"The characters and the scenes are excellently drawn."
LIVERPOOL MERCURY.
"A story that holds the attention of the reader down to the last page."
FREEMAN'S JOURNAL.
"The book has all the interest of a story that we feel derives its life
from experience."
IRISH WEEKLY INDEPENDENT.
"'The Merchant of Killogue' is a book in which high spirits predominate.
It is no mean compliment to say that two or three chapters read like
chapters of 'Charles O'Malley' or 'Harry Lorrequer.'"
BOSTON (U.S.A.) LITERARY WORLD.
"A remarkable novel of Irish life is 'The Merchant of Killogue.' I do
not know any novel which paints the life so realistically.... As a
portrait of the time and the people the book ought to live."
+W. HEINEMANN+, PUBLISHER,
BEDFORD STREET, STRAND, LONDON
G. W. APPLETON'S NOVELS.
A TERRIBLE LEGACY:
A Tale of the South Downs.
"One of the most amusing novels we have ever read. The author revels in
a good character, and so the book is filled with grotesque oddities, at
which we laugh consumedly.... A novelist who possesses the rare gift of
humour. We are grateful for an afternoon of hearty laughter. Could we
say as much of nine books out of ten?"--_World._
"One of the most amusing novels we have ever read. Mr. Appleton has done
for the South Downs what Mr. Blackmore has done for Exmoor."--_St.
Stephen's Review._
"It is not in respect of this rare gift of humour that I alone value the
author. This story is a tale of the South Downs, and Mr. Appleton has
the power of depicting in words the changing aspects of nature with an
absolute fidelity to truth. Counties differ, as human faces differ, only
more so. Mr. Appleton has made the South Downs his own literary
property."--_Vanity Fair._
"The reader will not be long in discovering that the book is the work of
a good and clever writer of no mean dramatic powers--whether in point
of conception or of execution--with much drollery and quaintness at
command, and a well-developed faculty of dealing with the mysterious,
and other admirable gifts."--_Illustrated London News._
"Laughter-moving from first to last. Mr. Appleton has written nothing
better than this."--_Scotsman._
"The readers of this strange romance will be bound to confess that the
author has held them captive."--_Daily News._
"From first to last absorbs the attention of the reader."--_Morning
Post._
"The novel is a novel in the true sense of the word, and whoever reads
it must feel refreshed at finding he is perusing altogether a new style
of book."--_Observer._
"The novel is a piece of sound workmanship, and distinctly marked
off from the ordinary run. It is worthy of its author's high
reputation."--_Weekly Dispatch._
"He has created types that deserve to survive and acquire as much
popularity as has fallen to the share of some of those of our most
famous humorists."--_Echo._
"One of the most original works of fiction we have met with for a
long time, as different from the usual feeble imitations of 'Ouida'
and 'George Eliot' as a breezy common or a bright spring day is
from the faint, perfume-laden atmosphere of an aristocratic
drawing-room."--_London Journal._
"Mr. Appleton's genius seems freer, brighter, and more effective in the
lighter moods, and he is able to display a varied cultivation without
the slightest obtrusion of learning."--_Sunday Times._
"'A Terrible Legacy' is a book of great ability and power. It is a
curious tribute to the vast vitality of Dickens' genius that a
comparatively new and an able writer should openly take him for a model.
Mr. Appleton is not a mere imitator: he does not follow in Dickens'
footsteps by appropriating his materials, but by adopting his point of
view. He has chosen his master wisely, for his own talent is similar in
kind."--_New York Daily Graphic._
FROZEN HEARTS:
A Romance.
"There is so much power and pathos in the narrative as to give it an
impress of realism, and it is, on the whole, one that most people can
read with hearty relish."--_Scotsman._
"'Frozen Hearts' makes high pretensions, and justifies
them."--_Westminster Review._
"Good melodrama, such as this is, is a sure panacea against dulness, and
implies the possession of that vigour and _élan_ which every novelist
should have about him. In some portions, as in the exciting description
of the barricade fighting, and in the interview between the unjustly
slandered heroine and the mother who is breaking her own heart with her
own cruelty, the author rises to real power."--_Globe._
"It is full of all kinds of excitement, and in some places reveals
evidence of strong dramatic power."--_Academy._
"The story is new and striking.... Some of the less important characters
are amusing, and the light comedy scenes are above the average.... Mr.
Appleton possesses the knack, so useful to a novelist, of getting to his
point without any superfluous matter, and is always original and
generally correct."--_Sunday Times._
_Victor Hugo_ writes: "Je trouve grand plaisir à la lecture de ce livre.
Le chapitre sur les troubles à Paris m'a vivement interessé."
CATCHING A TARTAR:
A Novel.
"Mr. Appleton's new novel is in every way the equal, if it be not
positively the superior of 'Frozen Hearts,' the work which established
his just claims to popularity. It is a capital story, written in a
most natural and graceful style. The plot is interesting, and all
the characters are distinct and realistic creations; some, indeed,
are likely to 'live,' and become by reason of their quaint sayings
and doings, popular, as were in days of yore some of Dickens' and
Thackeray's personages. Notably is this the case with John, a most
original and amusing character, whose pithy sayings provoke many a
hearty laugh. The intrigue of the story is lively and intricate, but
so skilfully contrived that the 'situations' never appear forced or
unnatural. 'Catching a Tartar' is worthy of much praise, and is
decidedly one of the cleverest novels we have read or reviewed for a
long time. Mr. Appleton possesses exceptional talent as a novelist, and,
above all, the rare quality of getting to his point without encumbering
his narrative with superfluous matter. He is always original, and never
dull or commonplace. His next venture in the shape of a novel will be
looked forward to with much interest."--_Morning Post._
"Many able men have come short of being successful novel writers,
simply because they lacked brightness or lightness or smoothness of
composition. Mr. Appleton displays these qualities; his book is
therefore easy to read.... A vein of humour throughout, the effect
of which is heightened by many a touch of genuine pathos. So
marked an advance in the course of a single year is deserving of
note."--_Athenæum._
"Mr. Appleton has here achieved a very decided success in the way of a
novel of mystery. We must, if we are honest, admit that our attention
has been irresistibly enchained throughout the three volumes. The book
is one, altogether, to be read, and we may safely predict that no one
who masters the first fifty pages will be the least likely to leave it
unfinished."--_Graphic._
"The story is contrived with great ingenuity, and told with great skill
and spirit.... Characters firmly and sharply drawn, with a good deal of
quiet fun and humour."--_Guardian._
"The narrative moves on briskly, and never lets the attention
flag."--_Spectator._
JACK ALLYN'S FRIENDS:
A Novel.
"Mr. Appleton knows how to write novels of absorbing and unflagging
interest and of remarkable cleverness, and his latest effort, 'Jack
Allyn's Friends,' unmistakably possesses these qualities. Much of the
peculiar interest of the story is derived from the subtlety with which
the catastrophe is brought about. But there is also a brisk, almost
boisterous vitality about the book--a sort of vigorous simplicity,
resembling that of Messrs. Besant and Rice--with abundant humour and
some cleverly-managed love-making under difficulties. With all these
characteristics, 'Jack Allyn's Friends' is a novel which even those who
may pronounce its condemnation from the serene heights of æstheticism
will read and enjoy."--_Scotsman._
"Mr. Appleton has succeeded in writing a novel which combines the
merits of Miss Braddon with those of Bret Harte. The plot is carefully
prepared, and the interest sustained until the very close of the third
volume. The stout old American, Bill Hooker, reminds us of one of Bret
Harte's Rocky Mountain heroes, whose hearts are of the same sterling
metal as the ore from their mines."--_Graphic._
"There is no doubt about the interest of this novel. The plot is
certainly contrived with no little art. The secret is ingeniously kept.
Suspicion is skilfully directed, first in one direction, then in
another, and the _dénouement_ will probably be unsuspected. A decidedly
readable novel."--_Spectator._
Transcriber's note
For this txt-version text in italics has been surrounded with
_underscores_, and a spaced-out word with +signs. Text in small
capitals was changed to all capitals.
A few errors in punctuation were silently corrected. Also the
following corrections were made:
In the table of contents "183" was changed to "185" (The Dream 185),
also on page
38 "behavour" changed to "behaviour" (frightened into good behaviour,
like a naughty child)
102 "stange" changed to "strange" (to think of the strange interview
which had just)
102 "communciated" changed to "communicated" (it was no doubt
communicated to me)
103/4 "he" changed to "she" (favourite views, and she had walked)
229 "decrepid" changed to "decrepit" (the grim, decrepit hag which my
fancy had)
238 "first" changed to "fist" (shaking her clenched fist to me)
257 "coninued" changed to "continued" (still continued to bind me)
Otherwise the original text has been preserved, including inconsistent
hyphenation, and unusual spelling of foreign words.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Watcher, by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
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