Clarice, meanwhile, was absent. Her friend seemed, at the end of a
month, to be little less distant from the grave than at first. My
impatience would not allow me to wait till her death. I visited her, but
was once more obliged to return alone. I arrived late in the city, and,
being greatly fatigued, I retired almost immediately to my chamber.
On hearing of my arrival, Sarsefield hastened to see me. He came to my
bedside, and such, in his opinion, was the importance of the tidings
which he had to communicate, that he did not scruple to rouse me from a
deep sleep----
At this period of his narrative, Clithero stopped. His complexion varied
from one degree of paleness to another. His brain appeared to suffer
some severe constriction. He desired to be excused, for a few minutes,
from proceeding. In a short time he was relieved from this paroxysm, and
resumed his tale with an accent tremulous at first, but acquiring
stability and force as he went on:--
On waking, as I have said, I found my friend seated at my bedside. His
countenance exhibited various tokens of alarm. As soon as I perceived
who it was, I started, exclaiming, "What is the matter?"
He sighed. "Pardon," said he, "this unseasonable intrusion. A light
matter would not have occasioned it. I have waited, for two days past,
in an agony of impatience, for your return. Happily you are, at last,
come. I stand in the utmost need of your counsel and aid."
"Heaven defend!" cried I. "This is a terrible prelude. You may, of
course, rely upon my assistance and advice. What is it that you have to
propose?"
"Tuesday evening," he answered, "I spent here. It was late before I
returned to my lodgings. I was in the act of lifting my hand to the
bell, when my eye was caught by a person standing close to the wall, at
the distance of ten paces. His attitude was that of one employed in
watching my motions. His face was turned towards me, and happened, at
that moment, to be fully illuminated by the rays of a globe-lamp that
hung over the door. I instantly recognised his features. I was
petrified. I had no power to execute my design, or even to move, but
stood, for some seconds, gazing upon him. He was, in no degree,
disconcerted by the eagerness of my scrutiny. He seemed perfectly
indifferent to the consequences of being known. At length he slowly
turned his eyes to another quarter, but without changing his posture, or
the sternness of his looks. I cannot describe to you the shock which
this encounter produced in me. At last I went into the house, and have
ever since been excessively uneasy."
"I do not see any ground for uneasiness."
"You do not then suspect who this person is?"
"No."
"It is Arthur Wiatte."
"Good heaven! It is impossible. What! my lady's brother?"
"The same."
"It cannot be. Were we not assured of his death? That he perished in a
mutiny on board the vessel in which he was embarked for transportation?"
"Such was rumour, which is easily mistaken. My eyes cannot be deceived
in this case. I should as easily fail to recognise his sister, when I
first met her, as him. This is the man; whether once dead or not, he is
at present alive, and in this city."
"But has any thing since happened to confirm you in this opinion?"
"Yes, there has. As soon as I had recovered from my first surprise, I
began to reflect upon the measures proper to be taken. This was the
identical Arthur Wiatte. You know his character. No time was likely to
change the principles of such a man, but his appearance sufficiently
betrayed the incurableness of his habits. The same sullen and atrocious
passions were written in his visage. You recollect the vengeance which
Wiatte denounced against his sister. There is every thing to dread from
his malignity. How to obviate the danger, I know not. I thought,
however, of one expedient. It might serve a present purpose, and
something better might suggest itself on your return.
"I came hither early the next day. Old Gowan, the porter, is well
acquainted with Wiatte's story. I mentioned to him that I had reason to
think that he had returned. I charged him to have a watchful eye upon
every one that knocked at the gate, and that, if this person should
come, by no means to admit him. The old man promised faithfully to abide
by my directions. His terrors, indeed, were greater than mine, and he
knew the importance of excluding Wiatte from these walls."
"Did you not inform my lady of this?"
"No. In what way could I tell it to her? What end could it answer? Why
should I make her miserable? But I have not done. Yesterday morning
Gowan took me aside, and informed me that Wiatte had made his
appearance, the day before, at the gate. He knew him, he said, in a
moment. He demanded to see the lady, but the old man told him she was
engaged, and could not be seen. He assumed peremptory and haughty airs,
and asserted that his business was of such importance as not to endure a
moment's delay. Gowan persisted in his first refusal. He retired with
great reluctance, but said he should return to-morrow, when he should
insist upon admission to the presence of the lady. I have inquired, and
find that he has not repeated his visit. What is to be done?"
I was equally at a loss with my friend. This incident was so
unlooked-for. What might not be dreaded from the monstrous depravity of
Wiatte? His menaces of vengeance against his sister still rung in my ears.
Some means of eluding them were indispensable. Could law be resorted to?
Against an evil like this, no legal provision had been made. Nine years
had elapsed since his transportation. Seven years was the period of his
exile. In returning, therefore, he had committed no crime. His person
could not be lawfully molested. We were justified merely in repelling an
attack. But suppose we should appeal to law: could this be done without
the knowledge and concurrence of the lady? She would never permit it.
Her heart was incapable of fear from this quarter. She would spurn at
the mention of precautions against the hatred of her brother. Her
inquietude would merely be awakened on his own account.
I was overwhelmed with perplexity. Perhaps if he were sought out, and
some judgment formed of the kind of danger to be dreaded from him, by a
knowledge of his situation and views, some expedient might be thence
suggested.
But how should his haunts be discovered? This was easy. He had intimated
the design of applying again for admission to his sister. Let a person
be stationed near at hand, who, being furnished with an adequate
description of his person and dress, shall mark him when he comes, and
follow him when he retires, and shall forthwith impart to us the
information on that head which he shall be able to collect.
My friend concurred in this scheme. No better could, for the present, be
suggested. Here ended our conference.
I was thus supplied with a new subject of reflection. It was calculated
to fill my mind with dreary forebodings. The future was no longer a
scene of security and pleasure. It would be hard for those to partake of
our fears who did not partake of our experience. The existence of Wiatte
was the canker that had blasted the felicity of my patroness. In his
reappearance on the stage there was something portentous. It seemed to
include in it consequences of the utmost moment, without my being able
to discover what these consequences were.
That Sarsefield should be so quickly followed by his arch-foe; that they
started anew into existence, without any previous intimation, in a
manner wholly unexpected, and at the same period,--it seemed as if there
lurked, under those appearances, a tremendous significance, which human
sagacity could not uncover. My heart sunk within me when I reflected
that this was the father of my Clarice. He by whose cruelty her mother
was torn from the enjoyment of untarnished honour, and consigned to
infamy and an untimely grave. He by whom herself was abandoned in the
helplessness of infancy, and left to be the prey of obdurate avarice,
and the victim of wretches who traffic in virgin innocence. Who had done
all that in him lay to devote her youth to guilt and misery. What were
the limits of his power? How may he exert the parental prerogatives?
To sleep, while these images were haunting me, was impossible. I passed
the night in continual motion. I strode, without ceasing, across the
floor of my apartment. My mind was wrought to a higher pitch than I had
ever before experienced. The occasion, accurately considered, was far
from justifying the ominous inquietudes which I then felt. How, then,
should I account for them?
Sarsefield probably enjoyed his usual slumber. His repose might not be
perfectly serene, but when he ruminated on impending or possible
calamities his tongue did not cleave to his mouth, his throat was not
parched with unquenchable thirst, he was not incessantly stimulated to
employ his superfluous fertility of thought in motion. If I trembled for
the safety of her whom I loved, and whose safety was endangered by being
the daughter of this miscreant, had he not equal reason to fear for her
whom he also loved, and who, as the sister of this ruffian, was
encompassed by the most alarming perils? Yet he probably was calm while
I was harassed by anxieties.
Alas! The difference was easily explained. Such was the beginning of a
series ordained to hurry me to swift destruction. Such were the primary
tokens of the presence of that power by whose accursed machinations I
was destined to fall. You are startled at this declaration. It is one to
which you have been little accustomed. Perhaps you regard it merely as
an effusion of frenzy. I know what I am saying. I do not build upon
conjectures and surmises. I care not, indeed, for your doubts. Your
conclusion may be fashioned at your pleasure. Would to Heaven that my
belief were groundless, and that I had no reason to believe my
intellects to have been perverted by diabolical instigations!
I could procure no sleep that night. After Sarsefield's departure I did
not even lie down. It seemed to me that I could not obtain the benefits
of repose otherwise than by placing my lady beyond the possibility of
danger.
I met Sarsefield the next day. In pursuance of the scheme which had been
adopted by us on the preceding evening, a person was selected and
commissioned to watch the appearance of Wiatte. The day passed as usual
with respect to the lady. In the evening she was surrounded by a few
friends. Into this number I was now admitted. Sarsefield and myself made
a part of this company. Various topics were discussed with ease and
sprightliness. Her societies were composed of both sexes, and seemed to
have monopolized all the ingenuity and wit that existed in the
metropolis.
After a slight repast the company dispersed. This separation took place
earlier than usual, on account of a slight indisposition in Mrs.
_Lorimer_. Sarsefield and I went out together. We took that
opportunity of examining our agent, and, receiving no satisfaction from
him, we dismissed him for that night, enjoining him to hold himself in
readiness for repeating the experiment to-morrow. My friend directed his
steps homeward, and I proceeded to execute a commission with which I had
charged myself.
A few days before, a large sum had been deposited in the hands of a
banker, for the use of my lady. It was the amount of a debt which had
lately been recovered. It was lodged here for the purpose of being paid
on demand of her or her agents. It was my present business to receive
this money. I had deferred the performance of this engagement to this
late hour, on account of certain preliminaries which were necessary to
be adjusted.
Having received this money, I prepared to return home. The inquietude
which had been occasioned by Sarsefield's intelligence had not
incapacitated me from performing my usual daily occupations. It was a
theme to which, at every interval of leisure from business or discourse,
I did not fail to return. At those times I employed myself in examining
the subject on all sides; in supposing particular emergencies, and
delineating the conduct that was proper to be observed on each. My daily
thoughts were, by no means, so fear-inspiring as the meditations of the
night had been.
As soon as I left the banker's door, my meditations fell into this
channel. I again reviewed the recent occurrences, and imagined the
consequences likely to flow from them. My deductions were not, on this
occasion, peculiarly distressful. The return of darkness had added
nothing to my apprehensions. I regarded Wiatte merely as one against
whose malice it was wise to employ the most vigilant precautions. In
revolving these precautions nothing occurred that was new. The danger
appeared without unusual aggravations, and the expedients that offered
themselves to my choice were viewed with a temper not more sanguine or
despondent than before.
In this state of mind I began and continued my walk. The distance was
considerable between my own habitation and that which I had left. My way
lay chiefly through populous and well-frequented streets. In one part of
the way, however, it was at the option of the passenger either to keep
along the large streets, or considerably to shorten the journey by
turning into a dark, crooked, and narrow lane. Being familiar with every
part of this metropolis, and deeming it advisable to take the shortest
and obscurest road, I turned into the alley. I proceeded without
interruption to the next turning. One night-officer, distinguished by
his usual ensigns, was the only person who passed me. I had gone three
steps beyond when I perceived a man by my side. I had scarcely time to
notice this circumstance, when a hoarse voice exclaimed, "Damn ye,
villain, ye're a dead man!"
At the same moment a pistol flashed at my ear, and a report followed.
This, however, produced no other effect than, for a short space, to
overpower my senses. I staggered back, but did not fall.
The ball, as I afterwards discovered, had grazed my forehead, but
without making any dangerous impression. The assassin, perceiving that
his pistol had been ineffectual, muttered, in an enraged tone, "This
shall do your business!" At the same time, he drew a knife forth from
his bosom.
I was able to distinguish this action by the rays of a distant lamp,
which glistened on the blade. All this passed in an instant. The attack
was so abrupt that my thoughts could not be suddenly recalled from the
confusion into which they were thrown. My exertions were mechanical. My
will might be said to be passive, and it was only by retrospect and a
contemplation of consequences that I became fully informed of the nature
of the scene.
If my assailant had disappeared as soon as he had discharged the pistol,
my state of extreme surprise might have slowly given place to resolution
and activity. As it was, my sense was no sooner struck by the reflection
from the blade, than my hand, as if by spontaneous energy, was thrust
into my pocket. I drew forth a pistol.
He lifted up his weapon to strike, but it dropped from his powerless
fingers. He fell, and his groans informed me that I had managed my arms
with more skill than my adversary. The noise of this encounter soon
attracted spectators. Lights were brought, and my antagonist discovered
bleeding at my feet. I explained, as briefly as I was able, the scene
which they witnessed. The prostrate person was raised by two men, and
carried into a public house nigh at hand.
I had not lost my presence of mind. I at once perceived the propriety of
administering assistance to the wounded man. I despatched, therefore,
one of the bystanders for a surgeon of considerable eminence, who lived
at a small distance, and to whom I was well known. The man was carried
into an inner apartment and laid upon the floor. It was not till now
that I had a suitable opportunity of ascertaining who it was with whom I
had been engaged. I now looked upon his face. The paleness of death
could not conceal his well-known features. It was Wiatte himself who was
breathing his last groans at my feet!
The surgeon, whom I had summoned, attended; but immediately perceived
the condition of his patient to be hopeless. In a quarter of an hour he
expired. During this interval, he was insensible to all around him. I
was known to the surgeon, the landlord, and some of the witnesses. The
case needed little explanation. The accident reflected no guilt upon me.
The landlord was charged with the care of the corpse till the morning,
and I was allowed to return home, without further impediment.