The intellectual powers and literary acquirements of Henry de Lancey
were first-rate, and feeling a consciousness of ability, he ardently
longed to coin them into fame and distinction. Full of high
aspirations, there was something grand in the outline of his head, and
in the expression of his speaking eyes, while animated by his desire to
render himself worthy of Caroline, and to reward the care of Sir Arthur
by his own exertions. He longed now to run the race of life with
others--to be useful among men--to win for himself a place in
society--to write his name perhaps in the records of time--but above
all, to promote the cause of truth, religion, and holiness. He had
learned in the society of Mr. Granville to believe that true happiness
is not to be found in the temple of fame, nor in the temple of pleasure
or of fortune, but in the temple of God; and at one time his thoughts
and studies were turned towards the church, with a fervent desire to
take orders, till the tide of his plans became entirely changed by the
unexpected arrival of a commission in the 15th Huzzars, then quartered
in Canada, which he felt bound, from whatever hand it came, to accept.
Henry had been deeply affected when first told all the peculiar
circumstances of his own history, but Sir Arthur accustomed him from
the first to discuss the subject confidentially, that every
recollection might be preserved which he yet retained of those earlier
days, now involved in impenetrable mystery, which none but himself had
witnessed, but the secret of which Sir Arthur still entertained a
sanguine hope of at last developing, while often, when gazing with
almost parental affection at his promising young _protege_, he
prophesied that his unnatural connections would yet be forced or
persuaded to acknowledge him.
Though lines of deep thought were already riveted on the youthful
countenance of Henry, yet his manner became full of life and animation;
and in personal courage he was the boldest of the bold, displaying a
fearless energy of character, which caused the Admiral to express, on
the night when they were about to part, a confident hope that, though
the service of his country had not been his choice, yet he was well
suited to his profession, and his profession to him.
"Let me only become another Sir Arthur Dunbar, and my utmost ambition
will be gratified!" exclaimed Henry, warmly clasping the hand of his
benefactor. "Often--oh, how often! I shall look back upon the only
home, and the best friend I have ever known!"
They were to meet no more, as young De Lancey had engaged his place in
the earliest coach next morning, and Marion saw, by the paleness of his
cheek, and the compression of his lip, that though for worlds he would
not have compromised his manhood by weeping, yet, moved as much by Sir
Arthur's evident grief as by his own, he had the utmost difficulty in
suppressing a burst of tears.
The aged Admiral grasped his young friend's hand in silence, and
leaning for some moments on his arm, he walked up and down the room
with heavy measured steps, his eyes cast down, his noble forehead
clouded with care, and his brows knit as in deep and painful thought.
He too seemed to dread the greatness of his own agitation, being little
fitted now to bear any, yet it seemed to Marion as if a tear had forced
its way into his glazed and nearly blinded eyes, though carefully
screening it from observation, and evidently unwilling or unable to say
a word. After several minutes had elapsed, Henry broke the long
silence, exclaiming, in a low, tremulous tone of incoherent agitation,
"Before my voice fails, Sir Arthur, I must speak!--I must say
something, to tell you what I feel----"
"No! no! my dear boy! I know it all! I will believe more than you say,
but spare yourself and me," interrupted Sir Arthur, in a tone of calm
and serious affection. "We know each other, Henry."
"But once--only once let me say all that has been treasured in my heart
for years! Can I leave the happiest home which ever blessed a son with
his father, and not remember that but for you I should have been a
friendless outcast! Every act of kindness you have shown me, every
smile of regard, every token of confidence, crowds upon my memory now,
and increases the store of obligations which it is my pride and my
happiness to owe you. If you could but read my heart, Sir Arthur, I
need not speak; for there you would see love without bounds, and
gratitude which it shall ever be my delight to cherish! If I am better
than the brutes that perish, you are, under Providence, the cause; and
I shall be worse than the worst of them, if I ever for one hour
overlook what I owe to you, or forget the principles of honor, duty,
truth, and piety that you have taught me."
Henry paused in speechless emotion, he clenched his hands together, the
youthful fire of his eye became dimmed, and he hurried to the window
for several moments, where, having in some measure recovered his
composure, he turned round, and saw, for the first time in his life,
tears rolling down the face of Sir Arthur--the tears of a good and
venerable man, of all sights upon earth the most affecting; and
overcome with emotion, Henry took his benefactor's hand in his own,
with an expression of the deepest solemnity and respect, saying, in
rapid but tremulous accents,
"It might soothe the very bed of death, for you, Sir Arthur, to
remember what you have done for me!--more than almost any man can ever
do for another. The first of earthly blessings is to be loved; and yet,
but from your kindness to me from childhood, no eye would ever have
saddened at my departure, nor brightened at my return! With not a
friend upon the visible earth but yourself, the child perhaps of shame
and misery, I must have become lost indeed! The thought of this will be
nearest my heart when it ceases to beat! If I perish abroad--or if--if
we meet no more on earth, take all I can offer, Sir Arthur, my fervent
prayers that you may be rewarded."
Sir Arthur mournfully held out his hand to Henry, who kneeled down and
kissed it with the profoundest reverence; then starting hastily up, he
seemed about to rush out of the room, when he was arrested by the deep,
solemn voice of the Admiral, whose eye had now become calm and steady,
while in a low and impressive voice he said,
"It is true, Henry, we shall probably meet no more! I know, and so must
you, that this is our last interview on earth; but long after I am at
rest in the grave, may you remember, and may you deserve the fervent
blessing I now give you, trusting that both my children, yourself and
Marion, may hereafter enjoy as bright a destiny as any child of earth
can know in this suffering and sin-blighted world. In speaking of the
past, Henry, do not suppose that the obligation is all on your side!
No! your dutiful affection has more than re-paid me. It is something to
know that my aged years have not been spent in vain--that I leave a
record in your heart, where my name will be respectfully and
affectionately remembered! No man living can endure the thought of
being utterly forgotten; and to you, my young friends, I commit my
memory. The earth will lie lighter on my grave for the belief, that you
have loved me so well, and will so truly lament me. Your young spirits
have cheered my heart--your welfare has deeply interested me; and I
know that one day or other, my young soldier will do me honor in his
profession, and not forget to shed a tear over my remains."
Many were the tears of both Henry and Marion at these words; but Sir
Arthur calmly continued in a firmer voice,
"When I called you back, my dear Henry, it was not for any vain attempt
to express my feelings,--that would be impossible,--but to mention how,
in all probability, you may one day be able more than to return the
little I have done. It is easy for men to wrestle through the
difficulties of life, and with such talent and enter-enterprise as
yours, to conquer them all. For other reasons, too, I have no doubt of
your at last being most happily settled for life, but many anxious
thoughts beset me respecting Marion. The uncertainty of Richard
Granville's prospects, and the certainty that my nephew will refuse his
consent to her marriage, weighs heavily at my heart. I do trust that a
long life of happiness awaits you both; but if my worst anticipations
were ever to be realised--if your brother, Marion, a bankrupt already
in fortune and character, were hereafter to desert you--if your sister,
heartless and vain, should throw herself away, and leave you in bleak
and sorrowful loneliness,--then remember, Henry, my solemn and last
injunction is laid upon you, to act as a brother towards Marion,--much
may then be in your power--more than you now expect--and you must then
protect her, as I would have done myself, considering all that you may
ever do for her, as done for me."
"It would be something to live for, if I had a hope of being useful to
Marion, Sir Arthur! Under any circumstances that would have been a
pleasure; but now it has become ten times more a sacred duty than ever.
Your injunction shall remain with me till my dying hour!"
In the solitude and silence of his own apartment, Henry gave ample vent
to his long-suppressed anguish, while mourning over the sad conviction,
that he had now seen, probably for the last time, that generous and
noble-hearted benefactor, whom he loved with an enthusiasm to which no
words could do justice. Though every action of his life had been
actuated by grateful attachment, he now felt as if his existence had
been wasted without sufficiently testifying his ardent affection, and
he wondered to think that any opportunities were ever formerly
overlooked, of conversing with Sir Arthur, and attending on him. Henry
thought of his growing infirmities, of his solitary home, of his high
spirit, and of his resolute mind, now enervated by advancing years, and
mourned to think that in sickness, or even at the hour of death, he
himself must no longer be at hand, to console and support his
benefactor.
Exhausted nature at length needed repose, and amidst the stillness and
darkness of a night which had already seemed interminable, Henry felt
himself slowly sinking into the calmness of slumber, when suddenly he
was awakened to consciousness by a slight rustling sound from beside
his bed, and the noise of some one breathing, as if trying in vain to
suppress it. Uncertain what this might be, he opened his eyes, and lay
perfectly immoveable; but gradually his heart almost ceased to beat,
and quailed with a feeling of supernatural apprehension, when the
curtains were slowly opened, and a dark form cautiously stooping over
him, gazed into his face, till he felt the warm breath upon his cheek.
In the dead hour of the night, Marion was startled out of a dull,
heavy, unrefreshing sleep, by a sharp shrill cry for help, which seemed
to proceed from Henry's room, and was succeeded by stifled cries, and
the sound of a violent scuffle. Springing out of bed with an
instantaneous decision, Marion flew towards the spot, calling loudly
for assistance, and the instant she opened the door, some one, uttering
a wild and fearful shriek, rushed violently out, striking her what
seemed at the moment a severe blow on the arm, but an instant
afterwards she became deluged with blood.
Henry was in the act of eagerly pursuing the rapidly receding figure,
when, seeing Marion stagger backwards, he caught her in his arms,
supported her to a chair, and hastily bound up her wound, which was
bleeding profusely.
"Leave me! I am well! Look to my uncle," cried she, eagerly. "He must
have been alarmed! How was it, Henry? Are you hurt? Is Sir Arthur safe?
Oh! there he is!" exclaimed she, rushing into her uncle's arms, and
bursting into tears.
"Here is Mr. Howard too!" added Henry, turning round, as that gentleman
entered with a calm but rather anxious look, while the paleness of his
cheek was almost startling. "You seem, Sir, to have dropped ready
dressed from the clouds!"
"I seldom retire early to bed," replied he, with a quick, sharp,
scrutinizing glance at Henry. "Hearing a tumult in the house, I--I----"
"You gave it time to subside before attempting to interfere," added
Henry, with a thrilling emphasis in his voice, while closely observing
Mr. Howard's countenance. "There is a strange and fearful mystery
here!"
"There is!" replied he, gnawing his nails to the very quick, while he
shot a momentary glance of rancorous detestation at young De Lancey,
after which, his features became as passionless and immoveable as if
they had been fixed in a vice. "The whole affair is mysterious--very----"
"What! you already know all!"
"I do!--I--I met the man rushing out of the house," answered Mr.
Howard, with the air of one outfacing an accusation, but his voice
became low and suffocated. "I attempted to stop him, but----"
"I am glad you did!" observed Sir Arthur, looking anxiously at Henry,
and then gazing intently on the sallow countenance of Mr. Howard, which
became gradually dyed with the deepest hectic; his lips were now
closely compressed, he raised his tall figure to its full height, and
closed his eyes, as if wishing thus to exclude some fearful spectre
from his mind, but after a momentary struggle, he became once more calm
and resolute, with a singular serenity of look and manner.
"You met some one in the passage! The assassin must have escaped long
before!" muttered Henry, in a vague and dreaming tone; but his brow
grew darker, and there was an anxious intensity in his look and voice,
when he added in a tone of resolute determination, "Let me be plain
with you, Mr. Howard! Your expression of countenance when I saw you
last night, filled me with astonishment--almost with apprehension; it
was a look never to be forgotten! Your manner now perplexes me! There
is something amiss which I cannot understand, but for your sake as well
as my own, this very strange affair must be fully investigated!"
"You suspect me!" exclaimed Mr. Howard, with a sudden laugh of terrible
mirth, and in a voice elevated into accents of indescribable fury,
while his eye throwing off the torpor in which it had been shrouded,
glittered with the fearful brightness of delirium, his veins became
swollen, and his figure dilated beyond its ordinary height, assuming an
aspect of rage and of almost supernatural strength, such as insanity
alone can give. "You suspect me, and you have dared to confess it. Many
a word lightly spoken carries weight. The arrow has been shot at
random, but you are right. Lightning rushes through my brain! I would
be destructive as a whirlwind to you, De Lancey, as I once was to your
wretched mother. She stood in the way of my advancement, as you may yet
do,--she accused, betrayed, and ruined my sister," continued he in a
rapid voice, insupportably shrill and piercing. "You too have injured
me, and you shall suffer for it as she did--she died!"
With the spring and the strength of a tiger, he rushed toward Henry,
and a knife which he had plucked from his sleeve, gleamed like
lightning in the air, when suddenly Sir Arthur placed himself so as to
intercept the madman's career, and fixed upon him his commanding eye,
with a look of calm, stern, and lofty composure, while Henry vainly
strove to advance before him, and Marion, with frantic vehemence,
called for help.
"Take my life, if you must have blood. I have trusted you,
Howard,--shown you kindness when no other hand was stretched out in
compassion, and through my heart only shall you reach that boy!" said
Sir Arthur, firmly. "I am old, and ready to die, but he is a son to me,
and shall not perish in my sight."
"Your life! no! not yours," replied the maniac, in accents of vehement
horror, yet still fastening his glaring eyes on Henry, with looks of
deadly malignity. "May my hand wither before it injures one hair of
your venerable head! May my life be sacrificed first, and my limbs be
manacled in chains! But for him, his days shall be few! He bears a
charmed life, or he must have died long ago! I would extinguish all
mankind!--the whole human race, if I could; but there are two whom I
have sworn to destroy, and he is one! I have said it! The will and the
power are mine! I cannot fail! His life shall be hunted by night and by
day! This knife shall be plunged to the very hilt in his blood! I have
said it. One blow--one mortal blow, and it is done!"
Having said these words, with gestures of outrageous madness, he
bounded towards the door, broke through every impediment with a
strength which ten men could scarcely have mastered, and giving a loud
delirious cry of insufferable wildness, he instantaneously vanished.
Before long, the neighborhood was aroused, lights gleamed and reddened
in the opposite windows, shouts arose among the assembling crowd, and a
rapid search was made for the frantic and mysterious criminal, but not
a trace of any living being could be discovered, and when they paused
to listen, not a sound broke the stillness of the night.
"This is my second preservation from a violent death!" said Henry, in
once more taking leave of Sir Arthur. "And most forcibly do all these
circumstances bring to mind the horrors of that fearful night which
first threw me on the care of my benefactor. It is exactly such a
shadowy form bending over me in the silence of midnight, which has
often from that hour haunted me in my dreams. I am ready, I trust, to
brave any danger in the open face of day; but there is something
terrible to me, I confess--something vague and appalling in the
stealthy, mysterious, death-like approach of an enemy evidently insane,
who has pursued me with remorseless hatred from childhood to the
present hour, breaking upon me in the darkest hours of midnight, and
invading me amidst the moments of helpless repose; but I am under the
care of one who slumbereth not, nor sleepeth, and to Him I confidently
commit myself."