When the reverend father took refuge in his chamber after this fearful
and memorable interview, he felt that strange mysterious sensation of
something dreadful hanging over him, though he scarcely knew what,
which so often weighs upon the mind when any great and unexpected
change has taken place in our destiny. He threw himself upon a
sofa, and endeavoured in vain to analyze his feelings. He was not
superstitious; but there was something about the Mummy that inspired
him with awe in spite of himself, and he felt that he was no longer his
own master, for a supernatural power seemed to mingle with his designs,
and control his actions: he endeavoured in vain to recur to the plans
he had that morning arranged for gaining over partizans to the side of
Rosabella; he could not govern his ideas; he could no longer direct
them as he wished; one sole thought occupied his mind, one sole image
floated before his senses. He held his head with his hands, he pressed
them firmly against his ears, and closed his eyes, as though by
shutting out external objects his mind could recover its tone. It was
all in vain! the gaunt figure of the Mummy still seemed to stalk before
his eyes, and his fiendish laugh still to ring in his ears. Father
Morris rose from his couch and threw open his window; the cool evening
breeze revived him, and restored his faculties. He now began to reason
with himself.
"It is very strange," said he; "but, unaccountable though it may seem,
the destinies of this fearful being are evidently interwoven with mine.
His appearance here at this eventful moment, and his forcing himself
upon my confidence, which a secret power superior to my own prevented
the possibility of my refusing him, cannot surely be accidental.
No, no--he is permitted to revisit this earth for some positive and
definite purpose; perchance to counteract my plans, perchance to aid
them. There is no vanity in the thought; for upon my destiny, at this
moment, hangs that of a mighty empire, and I feel that I am but a blind
instrument in the hands of Fate, condemned to work, mole-like, in the
dark, uncertain whether I be not drawing destruction upon my head at
the very moment when I fancy I am attaining the pinnacle of happiness
and glory. However, I will not be wanting to myself; this strange agent
may be sent to aid me, and it shall not be my fault if I do not avail
myself of his assistance. In his present garb he creates disgust and
terror; but clothed as a human being, his superhuman eloquence, and the
strange fearful interest excited by his looks and manner, might render
him a powerful assistant. It shall be my present business, then, to
endeavour to make him serviceable to my views; and to do this I must
persuade him to adopt the dress and manners of the country."
Pleased with the resolution he had taken, and quite forgetting the
lateness of the hour, Father Morris descended hastily to the usual
sitting room of Mrs. Montagu; but what was his horror, on entering it,
to find, instead of the usual cheerful party he expected, only the
dreaded Mummy! Cheops again lay stretched upon the couch he had before
occupied, his eyes fixed upon the brilliant constellation of Orion, and
his lips murmuring an address to the deity he fancied it to represent.
"Yes, blessed Horus!" cried Cheops, as Father Morris entered the room;
"thou wilt hear my prayer, for thou hast also been a stranger in a
foreign land; forced even in thy mother's arms to fly, pursued by all
the fury of fell Typhon's rage; thou knowest how to pity the unhappy!
And thou too, bright Isis!" continued he, addressing the moon, "thou
also hast known sorrow; when thy streaming tears occasioned the first
overflowing of the Nile, and grief for the loss of Osiris rent thy
bosom with despair--then becamest thou well fitted to be patroness of
the wretched. O Arsinoë! could I but recall the fatal moment when I saw
thee last!"
"Despair is sinful," said Father Morris, who now stood beside him;
"repentance may obtain forgiveness even of the most heinous crimes."
Cheops started upon his feet at the sound of the father's voice, and
burst into one of his fearful laughs: "And who art thou," cried he,
"who presumest to preach repentance to me? Oh! I know thee now, thou
art the priest whose confidant I am become. But though I will aid thee,
think not I will be thy slave--no, rather art thou mine, for thou art
in my power!"
Father Morris felt his blood curdle in his veins at this address, and,
though he strove to speak, his tongue clove to the roof of his mouth,
and he could not articulate a word. Cheops saw his embarrassment, and
continued in a milder tone, "Fear nothing; we may be useful to each
other. I would fain quit these garments of the tomb, and since I seem
destined to remain some time amongst your fellow-men, I will endeavour
to assume their manners. You seem to have influence amongst them;
try, then, to pacify their fears, and teach them to regard me as a
fellow-being."
At this moment the solemn clang of a deep-toned bell fell heavily upon
their ears. Cheops started at the sound, and, springing from the couch
on which he had reclined, bent forward eagerly to listen as it slowly
pealed through the deep silence of the night. It was the great bell of
the ancient cathedral of St. Paul, which tolled to announce that on the
following day the body of the deceased Queen would lie in state.
"What is it?" cried Cheops; "whence comes that fearful knell, awful
as the sound which is doomed to sink into the souls of the initiate
of the Isian mysteries? Again it tolls; speak! whence comes it? what
does it foretell? Is it the signal of another change of existence,
strange, awful, and mysterious, as that I have already experienced? Let
it come, I am prepared. The gods cannot inflict tortures more horrid
than those I already suffer. Cannot! have I said? dread Osiris, forgive
the impious thought! Methinks e'en now I see thy dark blue countenance
frowning in awful majesty at my unguarded rashness. Forgive me, mighty
Spirit! No longer will I repine at thy decrees, but teach my proud
rebellious heart submission. Alas! alas! had I before done so. But it
is now too late, and happiness is lost to me for ever."
Sighing, he hid his face in his hands as he spoke; and all again was
silent, save the deep-toned bell, which still fell heavily at intervals
upon the ear. Slowly the hours rolled on, yet still Father Morris sate
gazing on the Mummy, till the first bright tints of morning broke
through the dark grey sky, and a half-subdued bustle in the streets, as
of people hurrying to and fro, announced that preparations were making
to hang them with black.
The confused murmur--the busy voices hushed to whispers, and the
still-continued tolling of the muffled bell, harmonized with the
fearful form of the Mummy-visitant, which, now seen dimly by the
uncertain shades of the breaking twilight, seemed to acquire fresh
horrors from the obscure and wavering gleams thrown upon it. It was at
this moment, when objects were gradually becoming more distinct every
instant, that Lord Edmund rushed into the room--"Father Morris," cried
he, "you must aid me, or all is lost!"
And as he spoke, he started back aghast; for the terrific form of the
Mummy struck upon his sight. He had seen him, it was true, on his first
descent; but the events that had since occurred, involving as they did
the dearest interests of his soul, had almost driven the circumstance
from his memory. Now, however, aided by the illusive light, the spectre
appeared before him in all its frightful reality, and even the firm
mind of Edmund shrunk back aghast from the appalling sight.
"Why do you shrink?" said Cheops, his deep hollow voice thrilling
through the souls of his auditors; "why does my form appear to create
such terror? Is it because a tomb has been my dwelling? Oh, degenerate
race! know that the sons of Mizraim, bold, wise, and learned as they
were, held that communion with the dead was needful to the living.
They loved to gaze upon the empty casket, deprived of all that gave it
value, for it taught the meanness of the body; and who could dwell upon
the withering worthless clay, and not acknowledge to his soul how poor
were its highest pleasures, when compared to the sublime aspirations of
the spirit? Why then tremble? Virtue need fear no spectres, and vice
might shudder at itself. If thine own conscience do not upbraid thee,
what hast thou to fear?"
"Nothing!" said Lord Edmund firmly; "spectre or demon, whatever you
may be, I fear you not! 'Twas but the infirmity of human nature; it is
past, and I am again myself, and strong in the consciousness of the
integrity of my own mind. It is not in the power of Hell itself to
fright me from my purpose!"
"The integrity of thine own mind!" cried Cheops, with one of his horrid
laughs; "Poor weak offspring of clay! ay, confide in thy boasted
strength; rely upon thy vaunted firmness; but when the hour of trial
and temptation shall arrive, tremble!"
Lord Edmund shuddered in spite of himself, and his blood ran colder in
his veins! "Who art thou?" cried he, indignantly: "strange, terrible
being that thou art?--and why art thou permitted to revisit earth to
taunt me into madness?"
"I was once as thou art," returned Cheops. "Young, ardent, and
impetuous, I thought the world was made for happiness, and that men
were born to be my slaves. Glory was my idol, and Fame the only meed I
coveted. Deeply did I drink of her intoxicating cup; my renown spread
to the remotest corners of the earth, and my power became as boundless
as my ambition! To immortalize my name, I caused the erection of an
enormous pyramid! and my grandeur seemed beyond the reach of destiny to
destroy. But I trusted in my own strength, and I fell! Tremble then,
weak man! nor dare to boast how thou wilt act until the moment of
temptation shall arrive!"
The deep thrilling voice of the Mummy fell upon Lord Edmund's ear as
a warning from the tomb. He too was relying on his own strength, and
should he too fall? Forbid it Heaven! "No!" thought he, "in some cases
I might fear; but now, when the welfare of her I love is at stake, I
cannot fail!"
The Mummy smiled as he read the thoughts that passed over Lord Edmund's
expressive countenance. "Thus I too thought," muttered he; "and as I
was, so will he be deceived! Human nature is still the same even in
this remote corner of the globe. Fool that I was, then, to attempt to
reverse her decrees! Forgive me, mighty Isis!" The rest was lost in
inarticulate murmurs as the Mummy's head sank upon his breast.
"Oh, God!" cried Edmund to Father Morris; "whence comes this fearful
spectre? what does it import?"
"I know not," said Father Morris, in a hoarse unnatural whisper, his
eyes still strained upon the Mummy. Edmund started, for the unusual
abstraction of Father Morris added fresh horror to the scene: his
senses seemed bewildered; he scarcely knew where he was, or what was
passing around him; he rubbed his eyes, and tried to wake from what
appeared a frightful dream; but in vain; the vision was still there
in all its horrible distinctness, and Edmund felt a terrific creeping
steal along his nerves as the hollow sepulchral voice of the Mummy
again fell upon his ears.
"Alas! where am I?" continued he; "can that river be a ramification
of my beloved Nile? or am I indeed torn from all I prize and love,
to be cast upon this secluded spot, where all seems strange and
insignificant? O deity of the foaming waters! holy Sirius, hear me!
Calm my troubled spirit, and grant some gracious manifestation of thy
divinity to chase my growing doubts. But I deceive myself; this is
not the Nile! No papyrine boats glide o'er its polished surface. No
acanthus groves nor forests of lofty palm border its banks. No, no! the
immortal palm, fit emblem of the soul, grows only in those favoured
realms, where, spurning at oppression, it resists the feeble efforts of
man to bend it to the earth, and springs upward with only added vigour
from the feeble attempts made to subdue it!"
The Mummy ceased, and a solemn silence prevailed; whilst passions
fierce as the whirlwind's fury flitted across his face, chilling the
beholder's heart with horror at the fearful being whose bosom could
conceive them.
Father Morris was not naturally timid; he even possessed uncommon
strength both of nerves and mind; yet an unwonted shuddering ran
through his frame as he gazed upon Cheops, and traced the workings of
that demoniac mind as they were successively imprinted on his features.
Involuntarily he turned away in disgust. "For God's sake, let us go!"
cried he, gasping for breath; for a strange feeling that he could not
define, seemed to impede his respiration.
"Yes, yes--let us go!" stammered forth Edmund; still, however, keeping
his eyes fixed upon the awful object of his fear, as he slowly moved
towards the door.
"Stay!" cried Cheops in a voice of thunder. Involuntarily they obeyed.
"How feeble is this race of men!" resumed the Mummy; "how different
from the sons of ancient Mizraim, from the Macrobian Ethiopians, or
even our Pallic foes; degenerate in form as well as spirit, their
souls no longer seem emanations from the divinity, though perhaps the
immortal spark becomes degraded and abased from its long continuance in
clay, and is sunk for ever from its pristine greatness! Stay, then!"
continued he; "why should you fly me? I mean you no harm, and I swear
by the sacred tomb of Osiris in Philæ, that I will not hurt you. Drive
me not then from amongst you, and I may aid your projects: at least, it
is your duty to receive me as the destined instrument of Fate, since
Osiris decrees that my soul shall quit its transmigrations in the form
of animals to re-animate this worthless body. Take me then into your
counsels, confide in my power and I swear by the holy dust of Isis that
you shall not repent."
"Avaunt, demon!" cried Lord Edmund, and, bursting from the room, he
rushed out of the house.
What farther passed between the priest and his awful visitor, was
known only to themselves; for when the family descended to breakfast,
the Mummy was gone, and Father Morris appeared absorbed in his
usual studies, without taking the slightest notice of the terrific
occurrences of the night.
The death of the Queen being now generally known, her remains, laid in
state, were exposed to the lamentations of her subjects, and the family
of Mrs. Montagu were amongst the earliest visitors to the mournful
spectacle.
In an immense hall, hung with black, was placed a kind of bier, covered
with black cloth, supporting the body of the deceased Queen, over which
was thrown a velvet pall, so disposed, however, as to display the
beautiful features of the deceased, which, though now fixed in death,
still retained their native expression of majestic dignity.
Immense tapers of an enormous thickness lighted the sombre walls, hung
with black cloth; whilst chorister boys walked up and down chanting
hymns in honour of the deceased, and flinging incense in the air from
silver vessels suspended by silver chains, which they carried in their
hands; thus shedding fragrance around, and chasing the fearful odour
of mortality even from the very chamber of death. Priests wrapped in
funeral garments also slowly paraded the room, muttering prayers, and
joining occasionally their full, deep-toned voices with the shriller
chant of the boys.
The space where the public were admitted, was railed off from the lower
end of the hall; but near the body knelt a beautiful female arrayed
in black velvet, and her fair face and arms shaded by a veil of black
crape.--
"O Osiris!" cried a figure wrapped in a long dark cloak, grasping the
arm of Father Morris, "who is that lovely creature? There, bending over
the last awful relics of mortality, methinks she looks beauteous as the
phœnix rising from the funeral pile, and triumphing in glory over the
impotent malice of the grave."
"Hush! hush! for Heaven's sake!" whispered the deep, full voice of
Father Morris; "it is Elvira, the rival of Rosabella, whom you have
sworn to support."
"Typhon himself could not injure her," said Cheops, for it was he; and
he stood with his eyes fixed upon her, apparently lost in meditation.
"For mercy's sake, let us go on!" whispered the priest, "you will
excite attention--we shall be discovered. Besides," continued he in
a lower tone, "did you find a crown so delightful that you think you
would injure her by depriving her of one?"
"No! by the holy limbs of Osiris!" said Cheops; and, obeying the
influence of the friar's arm, he moved onwards.
"Why was not Rosabella with Elvira in the hall?" asked Sir Ambrose.
"I thought it was commanded by the law that all the princesses of the
Blood Royal should exhibit themselves publicly as mourners by the
corpse of the deceased Queen."
"Rosabella is ill," replied the duke. "Grief for the loss of her cousin
has produced an access of fever, and she is unable to quit her bed."
"Indeed!" returned Sir Ambrose, incredulously; "it is very strange! I
own I did not give Rosabella credit for so much sensibility."
Notwithstanding the incredulity of Sir Ambrose, however, Rosabella was
really dangerously ill; though her illness did not proceed exactly from
the cause she chose to assign for it. The terror she had felt at the
sudden appearance of the Mummy, whom she thought a supernatural being,
at the very moment she believed the death of her cousin was darkly
hinted at by the monk, operating upon an over-excited imagination, had
produced fever; and for some days Rosabella was in considerable danger.
The secret exertions of Father Morris, however, in her behalf,
prevented Rosabella's cause from being injured by her illness; and,
by the time she was able to leave her bed, Lord Gustavus de Montfort,
Lord Maysworth, and Dr. Hardman, with the Lords Noodle and Doodle, had
declared themselves her adherents, bringing with them all the numerous
host who, finding it too much trouble to judge for themselves, are
always ready to follow in the train of a great man. The day when this
important declaration was made, was that on which all the nobility of
the realm assembled in that splendid monument of antiquity, Westminster
Hall, to choose the council of state to govern the kingdom during the
interregnum. This venerable pile, which had seen so many generations
successively rise and pass away, now cleared of the encumbrances with
which the bad taste of the middle ages had loaded it, shone in all its
original magnificence, and opened wide its ponderous portals to receive
the whole nobility of England upon this important occasion.
It was a glorious, and almost an awful sight, to see so many great and
illustrious characters, some of whose names were celebrated even to the
remotest corners of the globe, collected together in that magnificent
hall. Few however, thought of the grandeur of the spectacle; the deep
interest excited by the occasion that assembled them absorbing all
minor feelings. The business of the day was soon entered upon; and
twelve noble individuals chosen to direct the affairs of state, till
another Queen should be elected.
The Duke of Cornwall, Lord Edmund Montagu, Lord Gustavus de Montfort,
Lord Maysworth, and the Lords Noodle and Doodle, were amongst the
number chosen; and as soon as the election was completed, the council
retired together to an apartment appropriated to their use, to consult
upon the measures to be taken to secure the due election of their
future Queen. Then it was, that the anxious father of Elvira was
paralyzed, to hear the noble lords above-mentioned declare themselves
partizans of her rival; and to see others who had till then remained
neuter, seem inclined to range themselves upon the same side. In vain
did Edmund exert his powerful eloquence; the weight and influence of
the adverse lords far outweighed all his arguments in the breasts of
the auditors; and the poor old duke returned home depressed and almost
broken-hearted, from the conviction he received, that the feeling of
the majority of the council was decidedly against his child.
The moment the duke reached his own palace, he repaired to the
apartment of Rosabella, and found her apparently in a state of
convalescence, reclining upon a sofa, supported by her confidant
Marianne, with Father Morris sitting at her feet. The holy father was
evidently confused at the unexpected arrival of the duke; and he rose
hastily in great disorder, to endeavour to account for his appearance
there. The duke, however, was too much enraged to listen to him, or,
indeed, to notice the suspicious circumstance of his secretly visiting
the princess; his passion was solely directed against Rosabella, and
not even her present feeble and emaciated appearance was sufficient to
disarm his anger.
"Wretch!" he exclaimed; "vile, ungrateful wretch that thou art! Thou
hast destroyed me. Thou wilt bring the grey hairs of thy benefactor
with sorrow to the grave! And so treacherously too! Oh, Rosabella! how
could you plot against me whilst you were enjoying the shelter of my
roof. Against me, did I say? Alas! would it were only against me! But
no! with fiend-like barbarity, you have conspired to destroy my child!"
The duke had here unwittingly struck a chord that thrilled through the
inmost souls of his auditors; he did not heed their confusion, however,
but went on.
"Oh, Rosabella! if I could have guessed, when thou wert brought to me
a little smiling infant, and I took thee under my protection to foster
thee as my own child, that thou wouldst prove a serpent to sting my
heart to the core! But I was told it would be so--Sir Ambrose warned me
to beware. 'Your brother,' said he, 'has proved a villain; the violence
of his passions has led him to commit unheard-of crimes; and may not
the same furies glow in the bosom of this smiling infant? Do not desert
her, but do not educate the offspring of guilt in the bosom of your own
family.'"
"And did Sir Ambrose say this?" exclaimed Father Morris, grinding his
teeth together, and scarcely able to articulate from the strength
of the emotion that convulsed his frame. The duke, however, did not
hear his question, and passionately continued--"He advised well, but
I was deaf to his counsel; Fate hurried me on to my own destruction,
and I nourished with the tenderest care a wretch whom I have this
day discovered plotting with traitors to deprive my child of her
birth-right!"
"What do you mean, my Lord?" said Rosabella; "I do not understand you."
"Yes, yes!" replied the duke, "ask what I mean; you may well assume
that face of smiling innocence--too--too often it has served your
purpose! Fool, idiot, that I have been, to have been so easily
deceived! But your arts will now be vain. Lord Gustavus de Montfort
would not have openly declared himself your friend, as he did to-day,
if the most insidious arts had not been practised to win him."
"And has he done so?" asked Rosabella, her eyes sparkling with joy.
"Has he done so?" repeated the duke bitterly; "no doubt you know it
but too well. Also that the prosing Lord Maysworth, the enlightened
Lord Noodle, and the intelligent Lord Doodle, have enlisted their empty
heads and long purses upon your side."
"Have they?" cried Rosabella, transport brightening every feature.
"Oh, Rosabella!" exclaimed the duke, passion giving way to agony, and
torrents of tears streaming down his aged face; "that look of affected
astonishment is intolerable! You must have known all this! I am a poor,
weak, old man! there needed not such plotting to deceive me. It breaks
my heart to find you guilty of hypocrisy."
Rosabella was affected by her uncle's tears: all his former kindness
rushed upon her mind, and Nature resuming her powerful influence,
she forgot all her ambitious projects, her hopes, her fears, and her
intrigues; she thought only of the feeble, miserable, old man before
her; and, attempting to throw her arms round his neck, she sought to
mingle her tears with his, and, clinging to his feet, implored his
forgiveness. The duke, however, could not read her heart, and, blinded
by his passion, saw in this action only an aggravated insult: violently
he spurned her from him, commanding her to leave his house immediately,
and, by so doing, extinguished for ever every gentler feeling in his
niece's breast.
Rosabella's haughty spirit did not wait a second repulse. Her tears
were instantly dried, and, with eyes flashing fire and cheeks glowing
with indignation, she rushed out of the room, without deigning to reply.
The duke's rage, if possible, exceeded her own; and these near
relations, united as they were by the tenderest ties, parted in mutual
hatred, sincerely hoping, on both sides, that they might never meet
again.
Father Morris and Marianne followed Rosabella; and they found, as they
expected, that the violent over-excitement of the moment had given way
to hysterics. These tremendous convulsive agonies soon exhausted her
enfeebled frame, and she lay upon a sofa in a state of torpid languor
nearly approaching to insensibility, whilst her friends consulted upon
what course they should pursue. During this pause of uncertainty and
painful deliberation--for as Rosabella was entirely dependent upon her
uncle, the case seemed hopeless--a letter arrived from Lord Gustavus
de Montfort, offering the loan of his palace and his purse to the
princess. That prudent and calculating nobleman was fully aware of
the situation in which Rosabella would be thrown by his declaration
in her favour, and of the advantage that would accrue to himself in
after-times, if she should obtain the crown, from his having at such a
moment conferred an important service upon his future sovereign.
Father Morris did not hesitate to open this letter and read it.
Rosabella was not in a state to be consulted. Indeed, the case was
one that did not admit of hesitation; and a conveyance having been
procured, the princess was removed to the house of Lord Gustavus,
before she had recovered the full use of her faculties.