THE EXORCISM.
It was the custom in Raglan to close the gates at eleven o'clock every
morning, and then begin to lay the tables for dinner; nor were they
opened again until the meal was over, and all had dispersed to their
various duties. Upon this occasion directions were given that the gates
should remain closed until the issue of further orders.
There was little talk in the hall during dinner that day, and not much
in the marquis's dining-room.
In the midst of the meal at the housekeeper's table, mistress Amanda was
taken suddenly ill, and nearly fell from her chair. A spoonful of one of
mistress Watson's strong waters revived her, but she was compelled to
leave the room.
When the remains of the dinner had been cleared away, the tables lifted
from the trestles, and all removed, solemn preparations began to be made
in the hall. The dais was covered with crimson cloth, and chairs were
arranged on each side against the wall for the lords and ladies of the
family, while in the wide space between was set the marquis's chair of
state. Immediately below the dais, chairs were placed by the walls for
the ladies and officers of the household. The minstrels' gallery was
hung with crimson; long ladders were brought, and the windows, the great
bay window and all save the painted one, were hung with thick cloth of
the same colour, so that a dull red light filled the huge place. The
floor was then strewn with fresh rushes, and candles were placed and
lighted in sconces on the walls, and in two large candlesticks, one on
each side of the marquis's chair. So numerous were the hands employed in
these preparations, that about one o'clock the alarum-bell gave three
great tolls, and then silence fell.
Almost noiselessly, and with faces more than grave, the people of the
castle in their Sunday clothes began at once to come trooping
in,--amongst the rest Tom Fool, the very picture of dismay. Mrs. Prescot
had refused to be left behind, partly from terror, partly from
curiosity, and supine on a hand-barrow was borne in, and laid upon two
of the table-trestles. Order and what arrangement was needful were
enforced amongst them by Mr. Cook, one of the ushers. In came the
garrison also, with clank and clang, and took their places with
countenances expressive neither of hardihood nor merriment, but a grave
expectancy.
Mostly by the other door came the ladies and officers, amongst them
Dorothy, and seated themselves below the dais. When it seemed at length
that all were present, the two doors were closed, and silence reigned.
A few minutes more and the ladies and gentlemen of the family, in full
dress, entered by the door at the back of the dais, and were shown to
their places by Mr. Moyle, the first usher. Next came the marquis,
leaning on lord Charles, and walking worse than usual. He too was,
wonderful to tell, in full dress, and, notwithstanding his corpulency
and lameness, looked every inch a marquis and the head of the house. He
placed himself in the great chair, and sat upright, looking serenely
around on the multitude of pale expectant faces, while lord Charles took
his station erect at his left hand. A moment yet, and by the same door,
last of all, entered lord Herbert, alone, in his garb of astrologer. He
came before his father, bowed to him profoundly, and taking his place by
his right hand, a little in front of the chair, cast a keen eye around
the assembly. His look was grave, even troubled, and indeed somewhat
anxious.
'Are all present?' he asked, and was answered only by silence. He then
waved his right hand three times towards heaven, each time throwing open
his palm outwards and upwards. At the close of the third wafture, a roar
as of thunder broke and rolled about the place, making the huge hall
tremble, and the windows rattle and shake fearfully. Some thought it was
thunder, others thought it more like the consecutive discharge of great
guns. It grew darker, and through the dim stained window many saw a
dense black smoke rising from the stone-court, at sight of which they
trembled yet more, for what could it be but the chariot upon which Modo,
or Mahu, or whatever the demon might be called, rode up from the
infernal lake? Again lord Herbert waved his arm three times, and again
the thunder broke and rolled vibrating about the place. A third time he
gave the sign, and once more, but now close over their heads, the
thunder broke, and in the midst of its echoes, high in the oak roof
appeared a little cloud of smoke. It seemed to catch the eye of lord
Herbert. He made one step forward, and held out his hand towards it,
with the gesture of a falconer presenting his wrist to a bird.
'Ha! art thou here?' he said.
And to the eyes of all, a creature like a bat was plainly visible,
perched upon his forefinger, and waving up and down its filmy wings. He
looked at it for a moment, bent his head to it, seemed to whisper, and
then addressed it aloud.
'Go,' he said, 'alight upon the head of him or of her who hath wrought
the evil thou knowest in this house. For it was of thine own kind, and
would have smirched a fair brow.'
As he spoke he cast the creature aloft. A smothered cry came from some
of the women, and Tom Fool gave a great sob and held his breath tight.
Once round the wide space the bat flew, midway between floor and roof,
and returning perched again upon lord Herbert's hand.
'Ha!' said his lordship, stooping his head over it, 'what meanest thou?
Is not the evil-doer in presence? What?--Nay, but it cannot be? Not
within the walls?--Ha! "Not in the HALL" thou sayest!'
He lifted his head, turned to his father, and said,
'Your lordship's commands have been disregarded. One of your people is
absent.'
The marquis turned to lord Charles.
'Call me the ushers of the hall, my lord,' he said.
In a moment the two officers were before him.
'Search and see, and bring me word who is absent,' said the marquis.
The two gentlemen went down into the crowd, one from each side of the
dais.
A minute or two passed, and then Mr. Cook came back and said,--
'My lord, I cannot find Caspar Kaltoff.'
'Caspar! Art not there, Caspar?' cried lord Herbert.
'Here I am, my lord,' answered the voice of Caspar from somewhere in the
hall.
'I beg your lordship's pardon,' said Mr. Cook. 'I failed to find him.'
'It matters not, master usher. Look again,' said lord Herbert.
At the moment, Caspar, the sole attendant spirit, that day at least,
upon his lord's commands, stood in one of the deep windows behind the
crimson cloth, more than twenty feet above the heads of the assembly.
The windows were connected by a narrow gallery in the thickness of the
wall, communicating also with the minstrels' gallery, by means of which,
and a ladder against the porch, Caspar could come and go unseen.
As lord Herbert spoke, Mr. Moyle came up on the dais, and brought his
report that mistress Amanda Fuller was not with the rest of the ladies.
Lord Herbert turned to his wife.
'My lady,' he said, 'mistress Amanda is of your people: knowest thou
wherefore she cometh not?'
'I know not, my lord, but I will send and see,' replied lady
Margaret.--'My lady Broughton, wilt thou go and inquire wherefore the
damsel disregardeth my lord of Worcester's commands?'
She had chosen the gentlest-hearted of her women to go on the message.
Lady Broughton came back pale and trembling--indeed there was much
pallor and trembling that day in Raglan--with the report that she could
not find her. A shudder ran through the whole body of the hall. Plainly
the impression was that she had been FETCHED. The thunder and the smoke
had not been for nothing: the devil had claimed and carried off his own!
On the dais the impression was somewhat different; but all were one in
this, that every eye was fixed on lord Herbert, every thought hanging on
his pleasure.
For a whole minute he stood, apparently lost in meditation. The bat
still rested on his hand, but his wings were still.
He had intended causing it to settle on Amanda's head, but now he must
alter his plan. Nor was he sorry to do so, for it had involved no small
risk of failure, the toy requiring most delicate adjustment, and its
management a circumspection and nicety that occasioned him no little
anxiety. It had indeed been arranged that Amanda should sit right under
the window next the dais, so that he might have the assistance of Caspar
from above; but if by any chance the mechanical bat should alight upon
the head of another, mistress Doughty or lady Broughton instead of
Amanda--what then? He was not sorry to find himself rescued from this
jeopardy, and scarcely more than a minute had elapsed ere he had devised
a plan by which to turn the check to the advantage of all--even that of
Amanda herself, towards whom, while he felt bound to bring her to shame
should she prove guilty, he was yet willing to remember mercy; while,
should she be innocent, no harm would now result from his mistaken
suspicion. He turned and whispered to his father.
'I will back thee, lad. Do as thou wilt,' returned the marquis, gravely
nodding his head.
'Ushers of the hall,' cried lord Herbert, 'close and lock both its
doors. Lock also the door to the minstrels' gallery, and, with my lord's
leave, that to my lord's stair. My lord Charles, go thou prithee, and
with chalk draw me a pentacle upon the threshold of each of the four;
and do thou, sir Toby Mathews, make the holy sign thereabove upon the
lintel and the doorposts. For the door to the pitched court, however,
leave that until I am gone forth and it is closed behind me, and then do
thereunto the same as to the others, after which let all sit in silence.
Move not, neither speak, for any sound of fear or smell of horror. For
the gift that is in him from his mother, Thomas Rees shall accompany me.
Go to the door, and wait until I come.'
Having thus spoken he raised the bat towards his face, and, approaching
his lips, seemed once more to be talking to it in whispers. The menials
and the garrison had no doubt but he talked to his familiar spirit. Of
their superiors, mistress Watson at least was of the same conviction.
Then he bent his ear towards it as if he were listening, and it began to
flutter its wings, at which sir Toby's faith in him began to waver. A
moment more and he cast the creature from him. It flew aloft, traversed
the whole length of the roof, and vanished.
It had in fact, as its master willed, alighted in the farthest corner of
the roof, a little dark recess. Then, bowing low to his father, the
magician stepped down from the dais, and walked through a lane of
awe-struck domestics and soldiery to the door, where Tom stood waiting
his approach. The fool was in a strange flutter of feelings, a conflict
of pride and terror, the latter of which would, but for the former, have
unnerved him quite; for not only was he doubtful of the magician's
intent with regard to himself, but the hall seemed now the only place of
security, and all outside it given over to goblins or worse.
The moment they crossed the threshold, the door was closed behind them,
the holy sign was signed over the one, and the pentacle drawn upon the
other.
All eyes were turned upon the marquis. He sat motionless. Motionless,
too, as if they had been carved in stone like the leopard and wyvern
over their heads, sat all the lords and ladies, embodying in themselves
the words of the motto there graven, Mulaxe Vel Timere Sperno.
Motionless sat the ladies beneath the dais, but their faces were
troubled and pale, for Amanda was one of them, and their imaginations
were busy with what might now be befalling her. Dorothy sat in much
distress, for although she could lay no evil intent to her own charge,
she was yet the cause of the whole fearful business. As for Scudamore,
though he too was white of blee, he said to himself, and honestly, that
the devil might fly away with her and welcome for what he cared. One
woman in the crowd fainted and fell, but uttered never a moan. The very
children were hushed by the dread that pervaded the air, and the smell
of sulphur, which from a suspicion grew to a plain presence, increased
not a little the high-wrought awe.
After about half an hour, during which expectation of something
frightful had been growing with every moment, three great knocks came to
the porch door. Mr. Moyle opened it, and in walked lord Herbert as he
had issued, with Tom Fool, in whom the importance had now at length
banished almost every sign of dread, at his heels. He reascended the
dais, bowed once more to his father, spoke a few words to him in a tone
too low to be overheard, and then turning to the assembly, said with
solemn voice and stern countenance:
'The air is clear. The sin of Raglan is purged. Every one to his place.'
Had not Tom Fool, who had remained by the door, led the way from the
hall, it might have been doubtful when any one would venture to stir;
but, with many a deep-drawn breath and sigh of relief, they trooped
slowly out after him, until the body of the hall was empty. In their
hearts keen curiosity and vague terror contended like fire and water.
From that hour, while Raglan stood, the face of Amanda Serafina was no
more seen within its walls. At midnight shrieks and loud wailings were
heard, but if they came from Amanda, they were her last signs.
I shall not, however, hide the proceedings of lord Herbert without the
hall any more than he did himself when he reached the oak parlour with
the members of his own family, in which Dorothy seemed now included. He
had taken Tom Fool both because he knew the castle so well, and might
therefore be useful in searching for Amanda, and because he believed he
might depend, if not on his discretion, yet on his dread, for secrecy.
They had scarcely left the hall before they were joined by Caspar, who,
while his master and the fool went in one direction, set off in another,
and after a long search in vain, at length found her in an empty stall
in the subterranean stable, as if, in the agony of her terror at the
awful noises and the impending discovery, she had sought refuge in the
companionship of the innocent animals. She was crouching, the very image
of fear, under the manger, gave no cry when he entered, but seemed to
gather a little courage when she found that the approaching steps were
those of a human being.
'Mistress Amanda Fuller,' said his lordship with awful severity, 'thou
hast in thy possession a jewel which is not thine own.'
'A jewel, my lord?' faltered Amanda, betaking herself by the force of
inborn propensity and habit, even when hopeless of success in
concealment, to the falsehood she carried with her like an atmosphere;
'I know not what your lordship means. Of what sort is the jewel?'
'One very like this,' returned lord Herbert, producing the false ring.
'Why, there you have it, my lord!'
'Traitress to thy king and thy lord, out of thine own mouth have I
convicted thee. This is not the ring. See!'
As he spoke he squeezed it betwixt his finger and thumb to a shapeless
mass, and threw it from him--then continued:
'Thou art she who did show the rebel his way from the prison into which
her lord had cast him.'
'He took me by the throat, my lord,' gasped Amanda, 'and put me in
mortal terror.'
'Thou slanderest him,' returned lord Herbert. 'The roundhead is a
gentleman, and would not, to save his life, have harmed thee, even had
he known what a worthless thing thou art. I will grant that he put thee
in fear. But wherefore gavest thou no alarm when he was gone?'
'He made me swear that I would not betray him.'
'Let it be so. Why didst thou not reveal the way he took?'
'I knew it not.'
'Yet thou wentest after him when he left thee. And wherefore didst thou
not deliver the ring he gave thee for mistress Dorothy?'
'I feared she would betray me, that I had held talk with the prisoner.'
'Let that too pass as less wicked than cowardly. But wherefore didst
thou lock the door upon her when thou sawest her go into the roundhead's
prison? Thou knewest that therefrom she must bear the blame of having
set him free, with other blame, and worse for a maiden to endure?'
'It was a sudden temptation, my lord, which I knew not how to resist,
and was carried away thereby. Have pity upon me, dear my lord,' moaned
Amanda.
'I will believe thee there also, for I fear me thou hast had so little
practice in the art of resisting temptation, that thou mightst well
yield to one that urged thee towards such mere essential evil. But how
was it that, after thou hadst had leisure to reflect, thou didst spread
abroad the report that she was found there, and that to the hurt not
only of her loyal fame, but of her maidenly honour, understanding well
that no one was there but herself, and that he alone who could bear
testimony to her innocence and thy guilt was parted from her by
everything that could divide them except hatred? Was the temptation to
that also too sudden for thy resistance?'
At length Amanda was speechless. She hung her head, for the first time
in her life ashamed of herself.
'Go before to thy chamber. I follow thee.'
She rose to obey, but she could scarcely walk, and he ordered the men to
assist her. Arrived in her room she delivered up the ring, and at lord
Herbert's command proceeded to gather together her few possessions. That
done, they led her away to the rude chamber in the watch tower, where
stood the arblast, and there, seated on her chest, they left her with
the assurance that if she cried out or gave any alarm, it would be to
the publishing of her own shame.
At the dead of night Caspar and Tom, with four picked men from the
guard, came to lead her away. Worn out by that time, and with nothing to
sustain her from within, she fancied they were going to kill her, and
giving way utterly, cried and shrieked aloud. Obdurate however, as
gentle, they gave no ear to her petitions, but bore her through the
western gate, and so to the brick gate in the rampart, placed her in a
carriage behind six horses, and set out with her for Caerleon, where her
mother lived in obscurity. At her door they set her down, and leaving
the carriage at Usk, returned to Raglan one by one in the night, mounted
on the horses. By the warders who admitted them they were supposed to be
returned from distinct missions on the king's business.
Many were the speculations in the castle as to the fate of mistress
Amanda Serafina Fuller, but the common belief continued to be that she
had been carried off by Satan, body and soul.
END OF VOLUME II.
START OF VOLUME III