“Chief mixes his strokes with chief, and man with man;
Steel, clanging, sounds on steel!”
The mysterious stranger, our hero still following, descended the great
stairs, crossed the inner and entrance-halls, and went out at the great
door; then, hurrying past the flaring flambeaux of the servants in
attendance on waiting carriages, made for a thick grove at a considerable
distance. Arrived at the grove the figure proceeded some way among the
thickest of the trees. Edmund followed, for a time, in silence; at length
he demanded, rather angrily, whither the fellow meant to lead him. The
stranger made no reply, but continued his rapid pace towards the most
remote, and, by there appearing no lights in that direction, evidently
the most unfrequented part of the grounds. “I will follow no further,”
said Edmund, standing still, after a quick pursuit of some minutes. “If
there is, indeed, any important communication which it is necessary
should be made to me in private, we have been long since far enough
removed from all possibility of being overheard.” The juggler stopped,
and faced about. “Young man,” he said, “you may well believe that my
business here this evening was not to play the idle mummery you have
witnessed. Follow me, therefore!”
“If your business regards me, name it now, and here!” said Edmund. The
stranger fixed his eyes on those of our hero, while, beneath his cloak,
he grasped something which Edmund almost held out his hand to receive,
so sure did he feel for the moment that it must be a packet of papers
containing the information he so much desired to obtain. The stranger’s
hand appeared to hesitate. The fellow spoke again, perhaps to gain time.
“The daughter of Lord L⸺,” he said slowly, his eyes still fixed on
Edmund, “must never be the wife of ⸺,” he paused, drew a step nearer,
then recommenced, “hereafter you shall know, of whom; at this crisis
there might be danger in the discovery.”
“I will know all this moment!” exclaimed Edmund, “else why have I been
led here? I will not be trifled with, sir! If your words have any
meaning, explain them! If they have none, and that you have dared to make
my most sacred feelings the subject of an impertinent and indelicate
jest, be assured that, whoever you may be, you shall answer to me for
such conduct.” So saying, he seized a firm hold of the fellow’s cloak.
The ruffian turned, with a sort of triumphant laugh, grasped Edmund’s
right arm with his left hand, while with his right he drew a sword from
beneath his cloak, and made a thrust at our unprepared hero. Edmund,
however, by a single fortunate effort, disengaged himself, evaded the
first thrust, drew his sword, and intercepted the second. The villain
made another and another stroke, each of which our hero parried with
equal success; when, the now infuriated ruffian, with a sudden leap
backward and bound forward, made a direct lunge at the breast of his
intended victim; which, as our hero at the instant dexterously sprang
aside, came with such force on the trunk of the tree, in front of which
he had stood but the second before, that the sword of his ferocious
assailant was shattered to the very hilt.
Edmund, now resting the point of his weapon on the ground, commanded the
man, whom he considered in no condition to resist, being disarmed, to
return with him to the Castle. For reply, the juggler drew a pistol from
the belt beneath his cloak, and, thrusting it close to our hero’s face,
fired! The steadiness of the ruffian’s hand must have been previously
shaken by the force with which his sword had struck against the trunk
of the tree; for the lighting charge shot perpendicularly upwards, like
a sky-rocket. Throwing the pistol from him, and cursing it aloud, the
villain drew out the second, levelled it better, and was in the act of
pulling the trigger, when Edmund, by this time more on his guard, had the
presence of mind to strike its muzzle aside with his sword. The balls
flew through the trees, wide of the intended aim. The juggler stood a
moment confounded, then eyed Edmund’s raised arm, as if meditating a dart
at it, with the desperate purpose of possessing himself of the weapon
it held. But the threatening position of the blade seemed to deter him,
while, the noise of the shots having arrested the attention of the
nearest group of merry-makers, their flambeaux were seen, by their quick
movements, to express instant alarm, crossing and recrossing each other
in great confusion. Then, they separated in every possible direction,
resembling wandering meteors through the surrounding darkness; while
each moving star was accompanied by a voice, crying, “Thieves! thieves!
thieves!” as they evidently approached, guided by Edmund’s directing
call, to the spot on which he stood.
The hitherto determined ruffian now turned and fled. Edmund pursued,
and was at first so close behind him, that he again laid hold of the
villain’s cloak, which, however, now yielded itself a too easy captive;
while its owner darted round a thick clump of wood, and was seen no more.
All who came up of course assisted in the pursuit or rather search, but
in vain. From the moment the fugitive was first lost sight of, no one
knew in what direction to seek him. Some suggested that he had most
probably turned back, favoured by the shelter of the trees, and throwing
off such of his disguises as might lead to a recognition of his person,
joined the throng of his own pursuers. Indeed, the multitude of people on
the grounds at the time was so great, that to have traced among them an
unknown individual, and in the dark too, was a thing so totally out of
the range of possibility, that the idea was soon given up. On the part
of Edmund, certainly, with infinite regret, for he was very unwilling
to resign the not irrational hope he had for a short time entertained
of discovering something of his own mysterious fate; even by finding
out who had an interest in his destruction. A very little reflection,
however, served to convince him, that any further attempt at pursuit must
be perfectly vain; for if the villain were even seized, how was he to be
identified? no one had seen him unmasked, and the very proportions of
his figure had been concealed by his juggler’s robes. Much disappointed,
therefore, our hero bent his steps towards the Castle, which the alarm
had not yet reached.