Aurelia my wife!--the wife of a perjured and apostate monk! It may seem
incredible that my mind could undergo so many changes; but it is
nevertheless true, that though this idea had so long been cherished, and
had been familiar to myself, yet now, when I for the first time heard it
announced by another, it was attended by a clear perception of its
unfitness, and the almost utter unfeasibility of its realization. No!
said I to myself, the dark powers by whom my actions have been
instigated, whatever else of evil they may have in store, cannot have
resolved on this! I endeavoured to combat these fears, but in vain; and
yet to determine on voluntary separation from Aurelia was impossible.
It was the idea of the marriage ceremony, which filled me with a degree
of terror to myself inexplicable. I believed, indeed, that if the
perjured monk dared to kneel before the altar, making a mockery of
sacred vows, then, of necessity, the figure of that spectral omnipresent
painter, not with a demeanour mild and friendly as in the prison, but
announcing vengeance and destruction, would appear--as at Francesco's
marriage--to overwhelm me with disgrace and misery.
But then methought I heard, in a deep solemn tone, the words, "And yet
must Aurelia be thine! Weak-minded fool! How durst thou think of
changing that destiny which hangs over her and thee?" Scarcely were
these words uttered, when another voice rose within me--"Down--down!
throw thyself into the dust, thou blind wicked mortal! Never can she be
thine!--It is the blessed St Rosalia herself, whom thou madly think'st
to clasp in the embraces of terrestrial passion!"
Thus utterly at variance with myself, tost hither and thither by
contending impulses, I had left the palace, and wandered through the
park, in a state of such distraction, that, to arrive at any rational
plan for my future conduct, was wholly impossible. Past and gone was now
that happier mood, in which I had looked upon my whole former life, and
especially on my adventures at the Baron's castle, as a frightful
dream! On the contrary, I saw in myself only a base criminal, and
hypocritical deceiver. All that I had said to the physician and the
judge was only a collection of foolish and badly invented falsehoods, by
no means inspired, as I had before persuaded myself, by any supernatural
voice, but the off-spring of my own feeble ingenuity.
Lost and wrapt up in these bitter reflections, I was hurrying through
the streets towards my lodgings, when I was overtaken by one of the
Prince's carriages, which immediately stopped. I heard my own name
pronounced aloud, and saw that I was beckoned to by the physician, who
alighted, and immediately took me with him to his apartments.
"What means all this?" said he, "you violent unreasonable man! You have
thought proper, it seems, to make your appearance like a ghost to the
Baroness Aurelia, in the gloom of night too, so suddenly, that the poor
nervous young lady has been almost frightened out of her senses, and has
been attacked by serious indisposition--Well, well," (continued he,
perceiving a change in my countenance,) "I must not frighten you. Her
illness has not lasted long. She has again been out walking, and will
return to-morrow with the Princess into town. Of you, Mr Leonard, the
Baroness has in confidence said much to me. She longs greatly to see you
again, and to excuse herself; for she allows, that her conduct at your
last visit, must have appeared to you both childish and silly."
When I reflected on what had really passed at the summer-house, I was at
a loss how to interpret these expressions of Aurelia. The physician,
however, gave me no time to brood over this, but indulged in his usual
vein of loquacity. He gave me to understand, that he was perfectly aware
of the Prince's views for my advancement in rank, and marriage with
Aurelia. Hereupon reverting to her late fit of nervous irritability, he
gave, wickedly enough, such a caricature (for he was an excellent mimic)
of her conduct and expressions, when he had arrived express at the
summer-house, contrasting these also, with the grave ceremonious
_hauteur_ of the Princess, that I was forced, even against my will, to
laugh, (for the good humour of the physician was infectious,) and
gradually recovered a degree of cheerfulness, which, but a few minutes
before, I had supposed lost for ever.
"Could the imagination of any man," said the physician, "have
anticipated, when you came to our _residenz_, that so many wonderful
events would, in so short a time, have taken place: First, the absurd
misunderstanding which brought you as a criminal before the Justiciary
Court--Then the truly enviable fortune which has acquired for you the
special friendship and patronage of the Prince!"
"His highness," said I, "no doubt treated me from the first with marked
condescension and politeness. As to the advances that I have lately made
in his good graces, I ascribe this to his recollection of the unjust
prosecution by which I suffered, and which he is now desirous to atone
for."
"The Prince's favour," said the physician, "perhaps is not owing so much
to this, as to another circumstance, which you, no doubt, can guess."
"I cannot," answered I.
"The people, it is true," resumed the physician, "continue to give you
the same name which you assumed on your first arrival. Every one knows,
however, that you are by birth noble, as the intelligence which has been
received from Poland confirms all that you had asserted!"
"Admitting this intelligence to have been received," said I, "I know not
why it should have any influence on my reception at court, since, at my
first introduction there, I declared that I had no pretensions to any
rank beyond that of a citizen _particulier_, and yet was treated by all
with kindness, and even respect."
To this the physician replied, by a harangue, which lasted nearly an
hour, on the true principles which regulate the distinction of ranks;
and the lecture being delivered with his usual vivacity, had at least
the beneficial effect of engaging my attention, and putting to flight
the gloomy thoughts by which I had been overwhelmed. I could not but
feel also a kind of triumph at the manner in which I had again seemed to
rule over my own destiny, as by accidentally choosing the Polish name of
Kwicziczwo in conversation with the old lady, on the evening of my first
presentation at court, I had created for myself that patent of nobility
which induced the Prince to bestow on me the Baroness in marriage.
* * * * *
As soon as I ascertained that the Princess was returned to the palace, I
hastened to Aurelia, and immediately obtained an interview. The desire
to excuse herself for the needless and capricious agitation, to which
she had given way on my last visit, gave a new tone to her voice and
manner, and new expression to her eyes, so that her timidity being less,
I could once more say to myself, "The prize will yet be thine!" Tears
glistened in her beautiful eyes, and her tone was that of earnest and
plaintive supplication.
Still haunted by the idea of my spectral _double_, I wished to learn
from her explicitly what had been the real cause of her terror.
"Aurelia," said I, "I conjure you by all the saints, tell me what
horrible phantom was it that then appeared to you?" At this question she
gazed at me with obvious astonishment--her looks became always more and
more fixed, as if in deep thought--then suddenly started up as if to go,
but stood irresolute. At last, with both hands pressed on her eyes, she
sobbed out--"No--no--no;--It is not--it cannot be he!"--
Unconsciously she allowed me to support her to a chair, into which she
sank down exhausted. "For God's sake, Aurelia, who is it that you mean?"
cried I, though I had already dark anticipations of what was passing
through her mind. "Alas!" said she, "my beloved friend, were I to
confess to you the whole truth, would you not look on me as an insane
visionary? A horrible phantom accompanies me through life, and mars, by
its irresistible influence, every enjoyment, even at the times when I
should otherwise be most happy. At our very first meeting, this
frightful dream hovered, as if on dark wings, over me, spreading an
ice-cold atmosphere of death around us, where there should have
prevailed only a buoyant spirit of cheerfulness and hope.
"In like manner, when you came into my room at the Princess's
country-house, the same evil power acquired its full dominion over me.
But this persecution is not without its especial cause. Precisely in the
same manner in which you entered my apartments, though at a later hour
of the night, an accursed monk of the Capuchin order once surprised me.
Spare me the repetition of what then occurred. Suffice it, that he
became the murderer of my brother; and _now_, your features--your tone
of voice--your figure--But no more--no more of this--let me be silent on
that subject for ever, and forgive, if possible, my weakness in this
betrayal!"
Aurelia reclined on the sofa on which I had placed her, and seemed
unconscious of that freedom with which I now contemplated the exquisite
contour of her shape, and the angelic beauty of her features. Once
more--all better inspirations--all doubts and fears vanished from my
mind--with a fiendlike scorn and contempt, I said in a low voice--"Thou
unhappy _fated_ girl! Thou bought and sold of Satan! Thou, forsooth,
believest that thou hast escaped from thine old enemy--from the Capuchin
monk, who long ago would have led thee on to ruin and despair! But
_now_, thou art his bride; and in unconscious mockery of the religion
which thou cherishest, art doomed to kneel with him at the altar of the
Most High!"
The powers of darkness had, for a time, acquired over me supreme
dominion. I exulted over Aurelia as my devoted prey, and began to think,
like a professed libertine, that her destruction would form the noblest
epoch in my life. Our present interview, however, was not suffered to be
of long duration, for Aurelia was summoned to attend the Princess, and I
was left alone. Her expressions in apologizing for her conduct at the
Princess's _chateau_, had convinced me that there existed some mystery
betwixt us, of the nature of which I was yet unaware, and which I had
not the means of unravelling, for I perceived that there was no chance
of inducing Aurelia to speak more explicitly on the subject.
Accident soon after revealed to me that which she had been so determined
to conceal. One day I happened to be in the apartment of that officer of
the court, whose business it was to take charge of the receipt and
delivery of letters. He was suddenly called out, when Aurelia's
waiting-maid came with a large packet, and placed it among others which
were already on the table. A fleeting glance confirmed me that the
hand-writing was that of the Baroness, and I perceived that the
superscription was to the Abbess of the Cistertian Nunnery at
Kreuzberg. With the rapidity of lightning the thought vibrated through
me, that this packet would afford the key to many yet unexplored
mysteries, and before the officer returned, I had retired, and taken
with me Aurelia's letter--of which now follows a transcript--