THE SHADOW OF A GREAT TERROR
"Sit down, my friend. Sir Felix and Lady Fordham have not come; but what
matter? There, take this chair. Ah, you look like yourself again. Has it
ever struck you that you are a handsome man? No; I do not flatter. I
looked around The Moscow to-night, and there was not a man in the room
to compare with you--not one who looked so distinguished, so much--a
man. I felt so glad--so proud."
He felt himself sink in the luxuriously upholstered chair, while she sat
at his feet and looked up into his face.
"Now, then, you are king; you are seated on your throne, while I, your
slave, am at your feet, ready to obey your will. Is not that the story
of man and woman?"
He did not answer He was struggling, struggling and fighting, and yet he
did not know against what he was fighting. Besides, he had no heart in
the battle. His will-power was gone; his vitality was lowered; he felt
as though some powerful narcotic were in his blood, deadening his
manhood, dulling all moral purpose. He was intoxicated by the influences
of the hour, careless as to what might happen to him, and yet by some
strange contradiction he was afraid. The shadow of a great terror rested
on him.
And Olga Petrovic seemed to know--to understand.
She started to her feet. "You have never heard me sing, have you? Ah no,
of course you have not. And has it not ever been in song and story that
the slave of her lord's will discoursed sweet music to him? Is there not
some old story about a shepherd boy who charmed away the evil spirits of
the king by music?"
She sat at a piano, and began to play soft, dreamy music. Her fingers
scarcely touched the keys, and yet the room was filled with peculiar
harmonies.
"You understand French, do you not, my friend? Yes; I know you do."
She began to sing. What the words were he never remembered afterwards,
but he knew they possessed a strange power over him. They dulled his
fears; they charmed his senses; they seemed to open up long vistas of
beauty and delight. He seemed to be in a kind of Mohammedan Paradise,
where all was sunshine and song.
How long she sung he could not tell; what she said to him he hardly
knew. He only knew that he sat in a luxuriously appointed room, while
this wonder of womanhood charmed him.
Presently he knew that she was making love to him, and that he was
listening with eager ears. Not only did he seem to have no power to
resist her--he had no desire to do so. He did not ask whether she was
good or evil; he ceased to care what the future might bring forth. And
yet he had a kind of feeling that something was wrong, hellish--only it
did not matter to him. This woman loved him, while all other love was
impossible to him.
Beatrice! Ah, but Beatrice had looked at him with horror; all her smiles
were given to another man--the man to whom she had promised to give
herself as his wife. What mattered, then?
But there was a new influence in the room! It seemed to him as if a
breath of sweet mountain air had been wafted to him--air full of the
strength of life, sweet, pure life. The scales fell from his eyes and he
saw.
The woman again sat at his feet, looking up at him with love-compelling
eyes, and he saw her plainly. But he saw more: the wrappings were torn
from her soul, and he beheld her naked spirit.
He shuddered. What he saw was evil--evil. Instead of the glorious face
of Olga Petrovic, he saw a grinning skull; instead of the dulcet tones
of her siren-like voice, he heard the hiss of snakes, the croaking of a
raven.
He was standing on the brink of a horrible precipice, while beneath him
was black, unfathomable darkness, filled with strange, noisome sounds.
What did it mean? He still beheld the beauty--the somewhat Oriental
beauty of the room; he was still aware of the delicate odours that
pervaded it, while this woman, glorious in her queenly splendour, was at
his feet, charming him with words of love, with promises of delight; but
it seemed to him that other eyes, other powers of vision, were given to
him, and he saw beyond.
Was that Romanoff's cynical, evil face? Were not his eyes watching them
with devilish expectancy? Was he not even then gloating over the loss of
his manhood, the pollution of his soul?
"Hark, what is that?"
"What, my friend? Nothing, nothing."
"But I heard something--something far away."
She laughed with apparent gaiety, yet there was uneasiness in her voice.
"You heard nothing but my foolish confession, Dick. I love you, love
you! Do you hear? I love you. I tried to kill it--in vain. But what
matter? Love is everything--there is nothing else to live for. And you
and I are all the world. Your love is mine. Tell me, is it not so? And I
am yours, my beloved, yours for ever."
But he only half heard her; forces were at work in his life which he
could not comprehend. A new longing came to him--the longing for a
strong, clean manhood.
"Do you believe in angels?" he asked suddenly.
Why the question passed his lips he did not know, but it sprung to his
lips without thought or effort on his part. Then he remembered. Beatrice
Stanmore had asked him that question weeks before down at Wendover Park.
Angels! His mind became preternaturally awake; his memory flashed back
across the chasm of years.
"Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them
who shall be heirs of salvation?"
Yes; he remembered the words. The old clergyman had repeated them years
before, when he had seen the face of the woman which no other man could
see.
Like lightning his mind swept down the years, and he remembered the
wonderful experiences which had had such a marked influence on his life.
"Angels!" laughed the woman. "There are no angels save those on earth,
my friend. There is no life other than this, so let us be happy."
"Look, look!" he cried, pointing to a part of the room which was only
dimly lit. "She is there, there! Don't you see? Her hand is pointing
upward!"
Slowly the vision faded, and he saw nothing.
Then came the great temptation of Dick Faversham's life. His will-power,
his manhood, had come back to him again, but he felt that he had to
fight his battle alone. His eyes were open, but because at his heart was
a gnawing despair, he believed there was nothing to live for save what
his temptress promised.
She pleaded as only a woman jealous for her love, determined to triumph,
can plead. And she was beautiful, passionate, dangerous. Again he felt
his strength leaving him, his will-power being sapped, his horror of
wrong dulled.
Still something struggled within him--something holy urged him to fight
on. His manhood was precious; the spark of the Divine fire which still
burnt refused to be extinguished.
"Lord, have mercy upon me! Christ, have mercy upon me!"
It was a part of the service he had so often repeated in the old school
chapel, and it came back to him like the memory of a dream.
"Countess," he said, "I must go."
"No, no, Dick," cried the woman, with a laugh. "Why, it is scarcely ten
o'clock."
"I must go," he repeated weakly.
"Not for another half an hour. I am so lonely."
He was hesitating whether he should stay, when they both heard the sound
of voices outside--voices that might have been angry. A moment later the
door opened, and Beatrice Stanmore came in, accompanied by her
grandfather.
"Forgive me," panted the girl, "but I could not help coming. Something
told me you were in great danger--ill--dying, and I have come."
She had come to him just as she had come to him that night at Wendover
Park, and at her coming the power of Romanoff was gone. It was the same
now. As if by magic, he felt free from the charm of Olga Petrovic. The
woman was evil, and he hated evil.
Again the eyes of Beatrice Stanmore were fixed on the face of Olga
Petrovic. She did not speak, but her look was expressive of a great
loathing.
"Surely this is a strange manner to disturb one's privacy," said the
Countess. "I am at a loss to know to what I am indebted for this
peculiar attention. I must speak to my servants."
But Beatrice spoke no word in reply to her. Turning towards Dick again,
she looked at him for a few seconds.
"I am sorry I have disturbed you," she said. "Something, I do not know
what, told me you were in some terrible danger, and I went back to the
restaurant. A man there told us you had come here. I am glad I was
mistaken. Forgive me, I will go now."
"I am thankful you came," said Dick. "I--I am going."
"Good-night, Countess," he added, turning to Olga, and without another
word turned to leave the room. But Olga Petrovic was not in the humour
to be baffled. She rushed towards him and caught his arm.
"You cannot go yet," she cried. "You must not go like this, Dick; I
cannot allow you. Besides, I want an explanation. These people, who are
they? Dick, why are they here?"
"I must go," replied Dick sullenly. "I have work to do."
"Work!" she cried. "This is not the time for work, but love--our love,
Dick. Ah, I remember now. This girl was at The Moscow with that soldier
man. They love each other. Why may we not love each other too? Stay,
Dick."
But she pleaded in vain. The power of her spell had gone. Something
strong, virile, vital, stirred within him, and he was master of
himself.
"Good-night, Countess," he replied. "Thank you for your kind invitation,
but I must go."
He scarcely knew where he was going, and he had only a dim remembrance
of refusing to take the lift and of stumbling down the stairs. He
thought he heard old Hugh Stanmore talking with Beatrice, but he was not
sure; he fancied, too, that they were close behind him, but he was too
bewildered to be certain of anything.
A few minutes later he was tramping towards his own humble flat, and as
he walked he was trying to understand the meaning of what had taken
place.
* * * * *
Olga Petrovic had been alone only a few seconds, when Count Romanoff
entered the room. Evidently he had been in close proximity all the time.
In his eyes was the look of an angry beast at bay; his face was
distorted, his voice hoarse.
"And you have allowed yourself to be beaten--beaten!" he taunted.
But the woman did not speak. Her hands were clenched, her lips
tremulous, while in her eyes was a look of unutterable sorrow.
"But we have not come to the end of our little comedy yet, Olga," went
on Romanoff. "You have still your chance of victory."
"Comedy!" she repeated; "it is the blackest tragedy."
"Tragedy, eh? Yes; it will be tragedy if you fail."
"And I must fail," she cried. "I am powerless to reach him, and yet I
would give my heart's blood to win his love. But go, go! Let me never
see your face again."
"You will not get rid of me so easily," mocked the Count. "We made our
pact. I will keep my side of it, and you must keep yours."
"I cannot, I tell you. Something, something I cannot understand, mocks
me."
"You love the fellow still," said Romanoff. "Fancy, Olga Petrovic is
weak enough for that."
"Yes, I love him," cried the woman--"I admit it--love him with every
fibre of my being. But not as you would have me love him. I have tried
to obey you; but I am baffled. The man's clean, healthy soul makes me
ashamed. God alone knows how ashamed I am! And it is his healthiness of
soul that baffles me."
"No, it is not," snarled Romanoff. "It is because I have been opposed by
one of whom I was ignorant. That chit of a girl, that wayside flower,
whom I would love to see polluted by the filth of the world, has been
used to beat me. Don't you see? The fellow is in love with her. He has
been made to love her. That is why you have failed."
Mad jealousy flashed into the woman's eyes. "He loves her?" she asked,
and her voice was hoarse.
"Of course he does. Will you let him have her?"
"He cannot. Is she not betrothed to that soldier fellow?"
"What if she is? Was there not love in her eyes as she came here
to-night? Would she have come merely for Platonic friendship? Olga, if
you do not act quickly, you will have lost him--lost him for ever."
"But I have lost him!" she almost wailed.
"You have not, I tell you. Go to her to-night. Tell her that Faversham
is not the man she thinks he is. Tell her--but I need not instruct you
as to that. You know what to say. Then when he goes to her to explain,
as he will go, she will drive him from her, Puritan fool as she is, with
loathing and scorn! After that your turn will come again."
For some time they talked, she protesting, he explaining, threatening,
cajoling, promising, and at length he overcame. With a look of
determination in her eyes, she left her flat, and drove to the hotel
where Romanoff told her that Hugh Stanmore and Beatrice were staying.
Was Miss Beatrice Stanmore in the hotel? she asked when she entered the
vestibule.
Yes, she was informed, Miss Stanmore had returned with her grandfather
only half an hour before.
She took one of her visiting cards and wrote on it hastily.
"Will you take it to her at once," she commanded the servant, and she
handed him the card. "Tell her that it is extremely urgent."
"But it is late, your ladyship," protested the man; "and I expect she
has retired."
Nevertheless he went. A look from the woman compelled obedience. A few
minutes later he returned.
"Will you be pleased to follow me, your ladyship?" he said. "Miss
Stanmore will see you."
Olga Petrovic followed him with a steady step, but in her eyes was a
look of fear.