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(Harvard University)
THE HOUSE OF
THE WHITE SHADOWS
By
B. L. FARJEON
_Author of_
Samuel Boyd of Catchpole Square
Grif, Toilers of Babylon, etc.
R. F. FENNO & COMPANY
PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK: 1904
[Illustration]
Copyright, 1903, by
New Amsterdam Book Co.
_The House of the White Shadows_.
BENJAMIN LEOPOLD FARJEON
We regret to learn that since this book was sent to press in this
country, its gifted author has passed away in London at the ripe age
of 70 years. It seems appropriate and indeed necessary to preface "The
House of the White Shadows," on its appearance in America, with a
brief account of Mr. Farjeon's life and literary career. Considering
his popularity it is astonishing how very little is generally known
regarding this author's personality. The ordinary reference books, if
not altogether silent respecting him, have but a line or two, giving
the date of his birth with perhaps a list of two or three of his
principal novels. It is sincerely to be hoped that a competent
biography will ultimately appear, affording to his very many admirers
some satisfactory account of a man who has given the world more than
twenty-five remarkable works of fiction.
Mr. Farjeon was an Englishman, having been born in London in 1833. At
an early age he went to Australia and from thence to New Zealand. It
would be exceedingly interesting to learn how he employed himself in
those colonies. We know that he engaged in a journalistic venture in
Dunedin, but how long it continued or how he fed his intellectual life
during the years which intervened, until he published his first novel
in London, we know little or nothing. At all events he returned home
and launched his first literary venture in London in 1870. It was
called "Grif, a Story of Australian Life." This story proved to be
eminently successful, and probably determined its author's future
career. He produced "Joshua Marvel" in 1871; "London's Heart" in 1873;
"Jessie Trim" in 1874, and a long list of powerful novels ending with
"Samuel Boyd of Catchpole Square," published only two or three years
ago. Some of these works, like "Blade o' Grass," "Bread and Cheese and
Kisses," "Great Porter Square," etc., have been very popular both in
England and the United States, passing through many editions.
Mr. Farjeon's style is remarkable for its vivid realism. The London
"Athenæum" in a long and appreciative review styles him "a master of
realistic fiction." On account of his sentiment and minute
characterization he is regarded as a follower of the method of
Dickens. No writer since that master can picture like Farjeon the
touching and pathetic type of innocent childhood, pure in spite of
miserable and squalid surroundings. He can paint, too, a scene of
sombre horror so vividly that even Dickens himself could scarcely
emulate its realism.
Mr. Farjeon visited the United States several times during his long
life. Americans have always regarded him with kindly feelings. Perhaps
this kindliness was somewhat increased when it became generally known
that he had married a daughter of America's genial actor, Joseph
Jefferson.
"The House of the White Shadows" is published in this country by
arrangement with Messrs. Hutchinson & Co., of London, who have been
Mr. Farjeon's publishers in Great Britain for many years.
THE PUBLISHERS.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
Book I.--The Trial of Gautran.
I.--Only a Flower-girl,
II.--The Arrival of the Advocate,
III.--The Advocate's Wife Insists upon Having her Way,
IV.--Jacob Hartrich, the Baker, Gives his Reasons for
Believing Gautran the Woodman Guilty of the Murder of
Madeline,
V.--Fritz the Fool,
VI.--Mistress and Maid,
VII.--A Visit from Pierre Lamont--Dreams of Love,
VIII.--The Interview in Prison,
IX.--The Advocate Undertakes a Strange Case,
X.--Two Letters--From Friend to Friend, from Lover to Lover,
XI.--Fire and Snow--Fool Fritz Informs Pierre Lamont, where
Actual Love Commences,
XII.--The Struggle of Love and Duty,
XIII.--The Trial of Gautran,
XIV.--The Evidence of Witnesses,
XV.--The Widow Joseph Gives Evidence Respecting a Mysterious
Visitor,
XVI.--The Conclusion of the Prosecution,
XVII.--The Advocate's Defense--The Verdict,
Book II.--The Confession.
I.--A Letter from John Vanbrugh,
II.--A Startling Interruption,
III.--In the Dead of Night,
IV.--The Confession,
Book III.--The Grave of Honour.
I.--Preparations for a Visitor,
II.--A Love Story of the Past,
III.--A Mother's Treachery,
IV.--Husband and Wife,
V.--The Gathering of the Storm,
VI.--The Grave of Honour,
VII.--Husband and Wife,
VIII.--The Compact,
IX.--Mother Denise Has Strange Fancies in the Night,
X.--Christian Almer's Child-life,
XI.--Beatrice Almer Gives a Promise to Her Son,
XII.--The Last Meeting between Husband and Wife,
XIII.--The Arrival of Christian Almer,
Book IV.--The Battle with Conscience.
I.--Lawyer and Priest,
II.--The White Shadow,
III.--The Watch on the Hill,
IV.--The Silent Voice,
V.--Gautran Finds a Refuge,
VI.--Pierre Lamont Reads Love-verses to Fritz the Fool,
VII.--Mistress and Maid,
VIII.--In the Home of His Childhood,
IX.--Christian Almer Receives Two Visitors,
X.--A Brief Survey of the Web,
XI.--A Crisis,
XII.--Self-justification,
XIII.--Shadows,
XIV.--The Advocate Fears he has Created a Monster,
XV.--Gautran and the Advocate,
XVI.--Pierre Lamont Seeks the Hospitality of the House of
White Shadows,
XVII.--Fritz the Fool Relates a Strange Dream to Pierre Lamont,
Book V.--The Doom Of Gautran.
I.--Adelaide Strives to Propitiate Pierre Lamont,
II.--Gautran Seeks John Vanbrugh,
III.--Gautran Resolves on a Plan of Escape,
IV.--Heaven's Judgment,
V.--Father Capel Discovers Gautran in His Peril,
VI.--The Written Confession,
Book VI.--A Record Of The Past.
I.--The Discovery of the Manuscript,
II.--Christian Almer's Father,
III.--A Dishonourable Concealment,
IV.--M. Gabriel is Dismissed,
V.--The Thief in the Night,
VI.--The Hidden Crime,
VII.--False Wife, False Friend,
Book VII.--Retribution.
I.--John Vanbrugh and the Advocate,
II.--A Terrible Revelation,
III.--Pauline,
IV.--Onward--to Death,
V.--The Doom of the House of White Shadows,
THE HOUSE OF WHITE SHADOWS.
_BOOK I.--THE TRIAL OF GAUTRAN_.
CHAPTER I
ONLY A FLOWER-GIRL.
The feverish state of excitement into which Geneva was thrown was not
caused by a proclamation of war, a royal visit, a social revolution, a
religious wave, or an avalanche. It was simply that a man was on his
trial for murder.
There is generally in Geneva a rational if not a philosophic
foundation for a social upheaving; unlike the people of most other
countries, the population do not care to play a blind game of follow
my leader. They prefer to think for themselves, and their leaders must
be men of mark. Intellect is passionately welcomed; pretenders find
their proper level.
What, then, in a simple trial for murder, had caused the excitement?
Had the accused moved in a high station, was he a poet, a renowned
soldier, a philanthropist, a philosopher, or a priest loved for his
charities, and the purity of his life? None of these; he was Gautran,
a woodman, and a vagabond of the lowest type. It would be natural,
therefore, to seek for an explanation in the social standing of his
victim. A princess, probably, or at least a lady of quality? On the
contrary. A common flower-girl, who had not two pair of shoes to her
feet.
Seldom had a trial taken place in which the interest manifested had
been so absorbing. While it was proceeding, the questions which men
and women asked freely of each other were:
"What news from the court-house?"
"How many days longer is it likely to last?"
"Has the monster confessed?"
"What will the verdict be?"
"Do you think it possible he can escape?"
"Why did the famous Advocate undertake the defence?"
In fashionable assemblies, and in _cafés_ where the people drank their
lager and red wine; in clubs and workshops; on steamboats and
diligences; in the fields and vineyards; on high-roads and
bye-roads--the trial of Gautran formed the principal topic of
conversation and debate, to the almost utter exclusion of trade, and
science, and politics, and of a new fashion in hats which was setting
the women of adjacent countries crazy. So animated were the
discussions that the girl lying in her grave might have been supposed
to be closely related to half the inhabitants of Geneva, instead of
having been, as she was, a comparative stranger in the town, with no
claim upon any living Genevese on the score of kinship. The evidence
against the prisoner was overwhelming, and it appeared as though a
spirit of personal hatred had guided its preparation. With deadly
patience and skill the prosecution had blocked every loophole of
escape. Gautran was fast in the meshes, and it was observed that his
counsel, the Advocate, in the line he adopted, elicited precisely the
kind of evidence which--in the judgment of those who listened to him
now for the first time-strengthened the case against the man he was
defending.
"Ah," said those observers, "this great Advocate shares the horror of
the murderer and his crime, and has undertaken the defence for the
purpose of ensuring a conviction."
A conclusion which could only occur to uninformed minds.
There were others--among them the prosecuting counsel, the judge, and
the members of the legal profession who thronged the court who, with a
better knowledge of the Advocate's marvellous resources, and the
subtle quality of his intellect, were inspired with the gravest doubts
as to the result of the trial. This remarkable man, who gazed before
him with calm, thoughtful eyes, whose face was a mask upon which no
trace of inward emotion could be detected, was to them at once a
source of perplexity and admiration. Instances were cited of trials in
which he had been engaged, in the course of which he had seemed to
play so directly into the hands of his antagonists that defeat was not
dreamt of until they were startled by the discovery that he had led
them into an ambush where, at the supreme moment, victory was snatched
from their grasp. And, when it was too late to repair their error,
they were galled by the reflection that the Advocate had so blinded
their judgment, and so cloaked his designs, that he had compelled them
to contribute largely to their own discomfiture.
It was in the acknowledgment of these extraordinary powers that the
doubt arose whether Gautran would not slip through the hands of
justice. Every feature of the case and the proceedings, whether
picturesque or horrible, that afforded scope for illustration by pen
and pencil was pressed into the service of the public--whose appetite
for such fare is regarded as immoderate and not over-nice--by special
correspondents and artists. Descriptions and sketches of the river and
its banks, of the poor home of the unfortunate flower-girl, of the
room in which she had slept, of her habits and demeanour, of her
dress, of her appearance alive and dead; and, as a contrast, of
Gautran and his vile surroundings--not a detail was allowed to escape.
It was impossible, without favour or influence, to obtain admission to
the court in which the trial was held, and, could seats have been
purchased, a higher price would willingly have been paid for them than
the most celebrated actress or prima donna could have commanded.
Murders are common enough, but this crime had feverishly stirred the
heart of the community, and its strangest feature was that the
excitement was caused, not so much by the murder itself, as by an
accidental connection which imparted to it its unparalleled interest.
The victim was a young girl seventeen years of age, who, until a few
months before her cruel and untimely death, had been a stranger in the
neighbourhood. Nothing was known of the story of her life. When she
first appeared in the suburbs of Geneva she was accompanied by a woman
much older than herself, and two facts made themselves immediately
apparent. That a strong attachment existed between the new-comers, and
that they were very poor. The last circumstance was regarded as a
sufficient indication that they belonged to the lower classes. The
name of the younger of the women was Madeline, the name of the elder
Pauline.
That they became known simply by these names, Madeline and Pauline,
was not considered singular by those with whom they consorted; as they
presented themselves, so they were accepted. Some said they came from
the mountains, some from the plains, but this was guess-work. Their
dress did not proclaim their canton, and they brought nothing with
them to betray them.
To the question asked of them, "What are you?" Pauline replied,
"Cannot you see? We are common working people."
They hired a room in a small cottage for three francs a month, and
paid the first month's rent in advance, and their landlady was correct
in her surmise that these three francs constituted nearly the whole of
their wealth. She was curious to know how they were going to live, for
although they called themselves working people, the younger of the two
did not seem to be fitted for hard work, or to be accustomed to it.
For a few days they did nothing, and then their choice of avocation
was made. They sold flowers in the streets and _cafés_ of Geneva, and
gained no more than a scanty living thereby.
The woman in whose cottage they lived said she was surprised that they
did not make a deal of money, as much because of Madeline's beauty as
of their exquisite skill in arranging their posies.
Had Pauline traded alone it is likely that failure would have attended
her, for notwithstanding that she was both comely and straight-made,
there was always in her eyes the watchful look of one who mistrusts
honeyed words from strangers, and sees a snare in complimentary
phrases.
It was otherwise with Madeline, in whose young life Nature's fairest
season was opening, and it would have been strange indeed if her
smiling face and winning manners had not attracted custom. This
smiling face and these winning manners were not an intentional part of
the trade she followed; they were natural gifts.
Admiration pursued her, not only from those in her own station in
life, but from some who occupied a higher, and many an insidious
proposal was whispered in her ear whose poisonous flattery would have
beguiled her to her ruin. If she had not had in Pauline a staunch and
devoted protector, it is hard to say whether she could have resisted
temptation, for her nature was singularly gentle and confiding; but
her faithful companion was ever on the alert, and no false wooer could
hope to win his way to Madeline's heart while Pauline was near.
One gave gold for flowers, and was about to depart with a smile at the
success of his first move, when Pauline, with her hand on his sleeve,
stopped his way.
"You have made a mistake," she said, tendering the gold; "the flowers
you have taken are worth but half-a-franc."
"There is no mistake," he said airily; "the gold is yours for beauty's
sake."
"I prefer silver," she said, gazing steadily at him, "for fair
dealing's sake."
He took back his gold and gave her silver, with a taunting remark that
she was a poor hand at her trade. She made no reply to this, but there
was a world of meaning in her eyes as she turned to Madeline with a
look of mingled anxiety and tenderness. And yet she desired money,
yearningly desired it, for the sake of her young charge; but she would
only earn it honestly, or receive it from those of whom she had a
right to ask.
She guarded Madeline as a mother guards her young, and their affection
for each other grew into a proverb. Certainly no harm could befall the
young flower-girl while Pauline was by her side. Unhappily a day
arrived when the elder of the women was called away for a while. They
parted with tears and kisses, never to meet again!