THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE BODY.—FLORA’S RECOVERY AND MADNESS.—THE
OFFER OF ASSISTANCE FROM SIR FRANCIS VARNEY.
“He is human!” cried Henry; “I have surely killed him.”
“It would seem so,” said Mr. Marchdale. “Let us now hurry round to the
outside of the wall, and see where he lies.”
This was at once agreed to, and the whole three of them made what
expedition they could towards a gate which led into a paddock, across
which they hurried, and soon found themselves clear of the garden wall,
so that they could make way towards where they fully expected to find
the body of him who had worn so unearthly an aspect, but who it would
be an excessive relief to find was human.
So hurried was the progress they made, that it was scarcely possible to
exchange many words as they went; a kind of breathless anxiety was upon
them, and in the speed they disregarded every obstacle, which would,
at any other time, have probably prevented them from taking the direct
road they sought.
It was difficult on the outside of the wall to say exactly which was
the precise spot which it might be supposed the body had fallen on;
but, by following the wall in its entire length, surely they would come
upon it.
They did so; but, to their surprise, they got from its commencement
to its further extremity without finding any dead body, or even any
symptoms of one having lain there.
At some parts close to the wall there grew a kind of heath, and,
consequently, the traces of blood would be lost among it, if it so
happened that at the precise spot at which the strange being had
seemed to topple over, such vegetation had existed. This was to be
ascertained; but now, after traversing the whole length of the wall
twice, they came to a halt, and looked wonderingly in each other’s
faces.
“There is nothing here,” said Harry.
“Nothing,” added his brother.
“It could not have been a delusion,” at length said Mr. Marchdale, with
a shudder.
“A delusion?” exclaimed the brothers. “That is not possible; we all saw
it.”
“Then what terrible explanation can we give?”
“By heavens! I know not,” exclaimed Henry. “This adventure surpasses
all belief, and but for the great interest we have in it, I should
regard it with a world of curiosity.”
“It is too dreadful,” said George; “for God’s sake, Henry, let us
return to ascertain if poor Flora is killed.”
“My senses,” said Henry, “were all so much absorbed in gazing at that
horrible form, that I never once looked towards her further than
to see that she was, to appearance, dead. God help her! poor—poor,
beautiful Flora. This is, indeed, a sad, sad fate for you to come to.
Flora—Flora—”
“Do not weep, Henry,” said George. “Rather let us now hasten home,
where we may find that tears are premature. She may yet be living and
restored to us.”
“And,” said Mr. Marchdale, “she may be able to give us some account of
this dreadful visitation.”
“True—true,” exclaimed Henry; “we will hasten home.”
They now turned their steps homewards, and as they went they much
blamed themselves for all leaving home together, and with terror
pictured what might occur in their absence to those who were now
totally unprotected.
“It was a rash impulse of us all to come in pursuit of this dreadful
figure,” remarked Mr. Marchdale; “but do not torment yourself, Henry.
There may be no reason for your fears.”
At the pace they went, they very soon reached the ancient house, and
when they came in sight of it, they saw lights flashing from the
windows, and the shadows of faces moving to and fro, indicating that
the whole household was up, and in a state of alarm.
Henry, after some trouble, got the hall door opened by a terrified
servant, who was trembling so much that she could scarcely hold the
light she had with her.
“Speak at once, Martha,” said Henry. “Is Flora living?”
“Yes; but——”
“Enough—enough! Thank God she lives; where is she now?”
“In her own room, Master Henry. Oh, dear—oh, dear, what will become of
us all?”
Henry rushed up the staircase, followed by George and Mr. Marchdale,
nor paused he once until he reached the room of his sister.
“Mother,” he said, before he crossed the threshold, “are you here?”
“I am, my dear—I am. Come in, pray come in, and speak to poor Flora.”
“Come in, Mr. Marchdale,” said Henry—“come in; we make no stranger of
you.”
They all then entered the room.
Several lights had been now brought into that antique chamber, and, in
addition to the mother of the beautiful girl who had been so fearfully
visited, there were two female domestics, who appeared to be in the
greatest possible fright, for they could render no assistance whatever
to anybody.
The tears were streaming down the mother’s face, and the moment she saw
Mr. Marchdale, she clung to his arm, evidently unconscious of what she
was about, and exclaimed,—
“Oh, what is this that has happened—what is this? Tell me, Marchdale!
Robert Marchdale, you whom I have known even from my childhood, you
will not deceive me. Tell me the meaning of all this?”
“I cannot,” he said, in a tone of much emotion. “As God is my judge, I
am as much puzzled and amazed at the scene that has taken place here
to-night as you can be.”
The mother wrung her hands and wept.
“It was the storm that first awakened me,” added Marchdale; “and then I
heard a scream.”
The brothers tremblingly approached the bed. Flora was placed in a
sitting, half-reclining posture, propped up by pillows. She was quite
insensible, and her face was fearfully pale; while that she breathed
at all could be but very faintly seen. On some of her clothing, about
the neck, were spots of blood, and she looked more like one who had
suffered some long and grievous illness, than a young girl in the prime
of life and in the most robust health, as she had been on the day
previous to the strange scene we have recorded.
“Does she sleep?” said Henry, as a tear fell from his eyes upon her
pallid cheek.
“No,” replied Mr. Marchdale. “This is a swoon, from which we must
recover her.”
Active measures were now adopted to restore the languid circulation,
and, after persevering in them for some time, they had the satisfaction
of seeing her open her eyes.
Her first act upon consciousness returning, however, was to utter a
loud shriek, and it was not until Henry implored her to look around
her, and see that she was surrounded by none but friendly faces, that
she would venture again to open her eyes, and look timidly from one to
the other. Then she shuddered, and burst into tears as she said,—
“Oh, Heaven, have mercy upon me—Heaven, have mercy upon me, and save me
from that dreadful form.”
“There is no one here, Flora,” said Mr. Marchdale, “but those who love
you, and who, in defence of you, if needs were would lay down their
lives.”
“Oh, God! Oh, God!”
“You have been terrified. But tell us distinctly what has happened? You
are quite safe now.”
She trembled so violently that Mr. Marchdale recommended that some
stimulant should be given to her, and she was persuaded, although not
without considerable difficulty, to swallow a small portion of some
wine from a cup. There could be no doubt but that the stimulating
effect of the wine was beneficial, for a slight accession of colour
visited her cheeks, and she spoke in a firmer tone as she said,—
“Do not leave me. Oh, do not leave me, any of you. I shall die if left
alone now. Oh, save me—save me. That horrible form! That fearful face!”
“Tell us how it happened, dear Flora?” said Henry.
“Or would you rather endeavour to get some sleep first?” suggested Mr.
Marchdale.
“No—no—no,” she said, “I do not think I shall ever sleep again.”
“Say not so; you will be more composed in a few hours, and then you can
tell us what has occurred.”
“I will tell you now. I will tell you now.”
She placed her hands over her face for a moment, as if to collect her
scattered, thoughts, and then she added,—
“I was awakened by the storm, and I saw that terrible apparition at the
window. I think I screamed, but I could not fly. Oh, God! I could not
fly. It came—it seized me by the hair. I know no more. I know no more.”
She passed her hand across her neck several times, and Mr. Marchdale
said, in an anxious voice,—
“You seem, Flora, to have hurt your neck—there is a wound.”
“A wound!” said the mother, and she brought a light close to the bed,
where all saw on the side of Flora’s neck a small punctured wound; or,
rather two, for there was one a little distance from the other.
It was from these wounds the blood had come which was observable upon
her night clothing.
“How came these wounds?” said Henry.
“I do not know,” she replied. “I feel very faint and weak, as if I had
almost bled to death.”
“You cannot have done so, dear Flora, for there are not above
half-a-dozen spots of blood to be seen at all.”
Mr. Marchdale leaned against the carved head of the bed for support,
and he uttered a deep groan. All eyes were turned upon him, and Henry
said, in a voice of the most anxious inquiry,—
“You have something to say, Mr. Marchdale, which will throw some light
upon this affair.”
“No, no, no, nothing!” cried Mr. Marchdale, rousing himself at once
from the appearance of depression that had come over him. “I have
nothing to say, but that I think Flora had better get some sleep if she
can.”
“No sleep—no sleep for me,” again screamed Flora. “Dare I be alone to
sleep?”
“But you shall not be alone, dear Flora,” said Henry. “I will sit by
your bedside and watch you.”
She took his hand in both hers, and while the tears chased each other
down her cheeks, she said,—
“Promise me, Henry, by all your hopes of Heaven, you will not leave me.”
“I promise!”
She gently laid herself down, with a deep sigh, and closed her eyes.
“She is weak, and will sleep long,” said Mr. Marchdale.
“You sigh,” said Henry. “Some fearful thoughts, I feel certain, oppress
your heart.”
“Hush—hush!” said Mr. Marchdale, as he pointed to Flora. “Hush! not
here—not here.”
“I understand,” said Henry.
“Let her sleep.”
There was a silence of some few minutes’ duration. Flora had dropped
into a deep slumber. That silence was first broken by George, who said,—
“Mr. Marchdale, look at that portrait.”
He pointed to the portrait in the frame to which we have alluded, and
the moment Marchdale looked at it he sunk into a chair as he exclaimed,—
[Illustration: George and Marchdale observe the portrait.]
“Gracious Heaven, how like!”
“It is—it is,” said Henry. “Those eyes——”
“And see the contour of the countenance, and the strange shape of the
mouth.”
“Exact—exact.”
“That picture shall be moved from here. The sight of it is at once
sufficient to awaken all her former terrors in poor Flora’s brain if
she should chance to awaken and cast her eyes suddenly upon it.”
“And is it so like him who came here?” said the mother.
“It is the very man himself,” said Mr. Marchdale. “I have not been in
this house long enough to ask any of you whose portrait that may be?”
“It is,” said Henry, “the portrait of Sir Runnagate Bannerworth, an
ancestor of ours, who first, by his vices, gave the great blow to the
family prosperity.”
“Indeed. How long ago?”
“About ninety years.”
“Ninety years. ’Tis a long while—ninety years.”
“You muse upon it.”
“No, no. I do wish, and yet I dread——”
“What?”
“To say something to you all. But not here—not here. We will hold a
consultation on this matter to-morrow. Not now—not now.”
“The daylight is coming quickly on,” said Henry; “I shall keep my
sacred promise of not moving from this room until Flora awakens; but
there can be no occasion for the detention of any of you. One is
sufficient here. Go all of you, and endeavour to procure what rest you
can.”
“I will fetch you my powder-flask and bullets,” said Mr. Marchdale;
“and you can, if you please, reload the pistols. In about two hours
more it will be broad daylight.”
This arrangement was adopted. Henry did reload the pistols, and placed
them on a table by the side of the bed, ready for immediate action, and
then, as Flora was sleeping soundly, all left the room but himself.
Mrs. Bannerworth was the last to do so. She would have remained, but
for the earnest solicitation of Henry, that she would endeavour to get
some sleep to make up for her broken night’s repose, and she was indeed
so broken down by her alarm on Flora’s account, that she had not power
to resist, but with tears flowing from her eyes, she sought her own
chamber.
And now the calmness of the night resumed its sway in that evil-fated
mansion; and although no one really slept but Flora, all were still.
Busy thought kept every one else wakeful. It was a mockery to lie
down at all, and Henry, full of strange and painful feelings as he
was, preferred his present position to the anxiety and apprehension on
Flora’s account which he knew he should feel if she were not within the
sphere of his own observation, and she slept as soundly as some gentle
infant tired of its playmates and its sports.