THE PROPOSAL.--UNEXPECTED MEETINGS.
Return we once more to Markham Place.
Mr. Monroe had so far recovered from the malady into which the dread
discovery of his daughter's dishonour had plunged him, as to be enabled
to rise from his bed and sit by the fire in his chamber.
Ellen was constant in her attentions to the old man; and, with her child
in her arms, did she keep him company.
By a strange idiosyncrasy of our nature, Mr. Monroe, instead of
abhorring the sight of the infant which proclaimed his well-beloved
daughter's shame, entertained the most ardent affection for the innocent
cause of that disgrace; and he rapidly recovered health and spirits, as
he sate contemplating that young unwedded mother nursing her
sin-begotten babe.
Richard Markham pursued his studies, though rather for amusement than
with any desire of gain, inasmuch as the money repaid him by Count
Alteroni had once more restored him to a condition of comfort, although
not of affluence.
His mind was far more easy and tranquil than it had wont to be; for he
knew that he was beloved by Isabella; and, although she was a high-born
princess of Europe, he felt convinced that no circumstances could
alienate her affections from him.
One evening, when the year 1840 was about three weeks old, Whittingham
introduced Mr. Gregory into our hero's library.
The countenance of that gentleman wore a melancholy expression;--his
pace was sedate and solemn;--his voice was low and mournful. Markham was
shocked when he beheld his altered appearance.
"Mr. Markham," said the visitor, as he seated himself at Richard's
request, "you are, perhaps, surprised to see me here, especially after
the manner in which we parted. I am come to demand a favour, and not to
reproach you:--indeed, I have no right to use the word _reproach_
towards you at all. You conducted yourself like an honourable man in
respect to me: you taught my sons no lessons save those by which they
have profited. If you erred in early life, you have no doubt
repented;--and shall man dare to withhold that pardon which the Lord
vouchsafes to all who implore it? I beheld your triumph at the
theatre--would to God that nothing had sullied it! I beheld your
fall--and I commisserated you. But before that there were
reasons--cogent reasons which forbade me to continue the cultivation of
your friendship; and as a man of honour and of good taste, you have not
sought mine since we parted."
[Illustration]
"Before you proceed farther," said Richard,--"for I see that you have
some business of more or less importance to discuss with me,--allow me
to inform you that I was not overpowered by guilt on that fatal night
when I was so cruelly denounced at the theatre. The consciousness of
crime did not strike me level with the dust. I fell beneath a reaction
of feelings too powerful for human nature to struggle with. The proofs
of my innocence----"
"Your innocence!" cried Mr. Gregory, now strangely agitated; "your
innocence, say you?"
"Yes--my innocence," repeated Markham, his cheeks flushed with a noble
pride; "for I can glory in that innocence, and assert it boldly and
without fear of contradiction."
"In the name of God, explain your meaning!" exclaimed Mr. Gregory, so
excited that he could scarcely draw his breath.
"I mean that I was the victim of the most infernal treachery ever
planned," cried our hero; and he then related the whole particulars of
his early misfortunes to Mr. Gregory.
"Oh! now, indeed, I can make my proposal to you with joy and honour!"
cried this gentleman; "for you must know, Mr. Markham, that my daughter
loves you, and has for some time loved you with the most pure, the most
holy, and the most ardent affection! But you saw that she loved you--you
were not blind to that passion which her ingenuous nature would not
allow her to conceal: you knew that her heart was fondly devoted to
you."
"And most solemnly I declare," cried Markham, "that neither by word nor
deed did I ever encourage that feeling in Miss Gregory's heart."
"I believe you," said the father of that young lady; "for I noticed that
you were often reserved when she was gay and friendly towards you. And
it was to separate her from the object of her affection that I parted
with you as the tutor of my sons; for it was not until the disclosure at
the theatre that I learnt the sad accusation under which you had
laboured in your early youth."
Mr. Gregory paused for a moment, and then continued thus:--
"I hoped that my daughter's happiness was not altogether compromised by
her love for you;--I removed her to a change of scene; and there an
accident threw her into the society of a charming family, with whom she
passed about ten days. At the beginning of this week I fetched her home
to my house in Kentish Town; but I found that she was more melancholy
than ever. Her naturally joyous and lively disposition has changed to
mourning and sorrow. I have not, however, told her that I am acquainted
with her secret: I know not whether she even suspects that I have
penetrated it. I have studiously avoided all mention of your name; and
she never alludes to you by word. But she thinks of you always! She
nourished a flame which consumes her! Now I am come, Mr. Markham, to
propose to you the hand of my daughter,--to propose it to you with
frankness and candour! I know that the step which I am taking is an
unusual one--perhaps an improper one;--but the safety--the
happiness--the life of my daughter compels me thus to depart from the
usages of society. If your heart be not otherwise engaged--and I never
heard you hint that such was the case,--and if you think that the charms
and accomplishments of Mary-Anne are worthy of your notice,--in addition
to the handsome fortune which my means enable me to settle upon her,--in
that case----"
"My dear sir," interrupted Richard, pressing Mr. Gregory's hands warmly
in his own,--"you have honoured me with this proposal;--and, under other
circumstances, I should have been no doubt gratified--but--it is
impossible!"
"Impossible!" repeated Mr. Gregory, a cloud coming over his countenance.
"Yes--impossible! I appreciate your daughter's great merits--I admire
her personal beauty--I respect her excellent qualities,--and I could
have loved her dearly as a sister;--but my heart--_that_ is not mine to
give!"
"What? You love another!" ejaculated Mr. Gregory.
"For some time my affections have been devoted to a young lady, who has
confessed a reciprocal attachment to me----"
"Enough--enough!" cried the unhappy father: "for my poor daughter there
is now no hope! But you, Mr. Markham, will forget that this proposal was
ever made;--you will bury the particulars of this visit of mine in
oblivion?"
"With me the secret of your daughter's heart is sacred."
Mr. Gregory wrung the hand of our hero, and took his leave.
It is scarcely necessary to observe that Mary-Anne had not communicated
to her father one word of the conversation which had taken place a few
days previously between herself and Isabella, relative to Richard
Markham, and which has duly been narrated in a recent chapter; neither
was Richard aware that Mr. Gregory and his daughter had accidentally
formed the acquaintance of Count Alteroni's family.
So affected was Richard by the interview which had just taken place,
that he sought the fresh air in order to calm his mind, and divert his
thoughts from the contemplation of the unhappy condition of a lovely
young creature whose heart was so disinterestedly devoted to him.
He walked towards London: the night was fine, frosty, and moonlight; and
he was induced to prolong his ramble. He recollected that he required a
particular work which was published by a bookseller in Great Russell
Street, Bloomsbury; and thither did he proceed.
He entered the shop, made the purchase which he needed, and then
repaired to the bottom of Tottenham Court Road, where it joins Oxford
Street, in order to obtain a conveyance to take him home.
But as he turned the corner of Great Russell Street, an individual
coming in the opposite direction knocked somewhat violently against him.
"Why the devil don't you use your eyes?" exclaimed the fellow brutally.
Richard started back and uttered a cry of mingled astonishment and
horror; for the tone of the voice which had just addressed him was
familiar--oh! too familiar--to his ears.
"Wretch!" he ejaculated, almost instantly recovering his presence of
mind, and precipitating himself upon the other; "we have met at last
where you shall not escape me!"
"Damnation! Richard Markham!" growled the Resurrection Man--for it was
he; then, with a sudden jerk, rather characterised by a particular knack
than by any extraordinary degree of strength, he disengaged himself from
the grasp of our hero, and, turning on his heels, darted off at full
speed towards Saint Giles's.
All this was only the work of a single instant; but as soon as the
Resurrection Man thus escaped, Richard gave the alarm, and in a moment a
policeman and several persons who had witnessed the encounter (for it
was but a little past nine o'clock in the evening) joined in the
pursuit.
The Resurrection Man rushed along with desperate speed,--took the first
turning to the left, and plunged into the dark and narrow streets lying
between Great Russell Street and High Street.
London was as well known to the miscreant as if it were a mere village,
whose topography may be learnt in an hour. This knowledge stood him in
good stead on the present occasion: he dived down one street--merged
into another--dodged down courts, and up alleys--and at length rushed
into a sort of lobby, the front door of which stood open, but the inner
door of which was shut.
At that inner door he knocked violently.
A trap was opened above, and a light streamed down upon him.
"What do you want?" cried a gruff voice, speaking through the trap-door
in the ceiling.
"Open--open!" exclaimed the Resurrection Man; "let me in, and I will
reward you well."
The trap was closed; the lobby was again pitch-dark, as it was before
the light streamed down into it; and in a few moments the house-door was
opened.
The Resurrection Man rushed in: the door was closed once more; and the
villain exclaimed, "I have done them, by God!"
"Who are you?" asked the man who had opened the door, and who had the
appearance of a gipsy.
"Judging by the way in which your house is secured, my good friend," was
the reply, "there can be no harm in telling you that I am persecuted by
blue-bottles--a race which cannot be altogether unknown to you."
"That's enough," said the gipsy; "you are safe here. Follow me."
The gipsy led the Resurrection Man into one of the lower rooms, where
King Zingary, Morcar, and five or six gipsy-chiefs were carousing. The
Rattlesnake was up stairs with the other women; the Traveller was not
yet returned from his day's hunt after his enemy; and the greater number
of the gipsies had already taken their departure from London.
The Resurrection Man was well aware that the gipsies had an
establishment in that district of London; but he had never been
previously acquainted with its precise whereabouts. It, however, now
instantly struck him that accident had led him into that very
establishment.
Advancing towards Zingary, he said, "If I am not mistaken, this is the
crib where the famous race of Bohemians and Egyptians are accustomed to
meet in London. I claim of them hospitality for a few hours."
"As long as suits your interests, friend," answered the King. "Sit down,
and do as we do."
The Resurrection Man needed no second invitation. He took the seat
offered him near the royal chair, and, in pursuance of another
invitation, speedily made himself comfortable with a snicker of rum-flim
and a broseley.
"Booze and be merry," said the King: "we shall have nothing to interrupt
our merriment to-night; the women have all gone to roost, that they may
get up early, for we leave the Holy Land to-morrow morning. At five
o'clock we depart. But you, my friend," he continued, addressing himself
to the Resurrection Man, "are welcome to remain here a day or two, if
such a plan suits your safety, as I suppose it does. We leave an
intendant of our royal palace behind us."
At this moment Skilligalee entered the room, and took his seat at the
board.
"All is quiet up stairs, your majesty," said this individual; "and so I
suppose the women are gone to the downy. They all seem glad at the idea
of leaving London to-morrow morning."
"And none more so, I think, than your Margaret," observed the King, with
a laugh. "She seems dreadfully afraid of that man who, she says, is in
pursuit of her."
The Resurrection Man was immediately struck by these remarks: he became
all attention, but said nothing.
"If you knew all," cried Skilligalee, "you would not blame her. It
appears that the fellow is a perfect demon. His regular trade is in dead
bodies; and so he can't be very nice."
"It is the Rattlesnake--it _must_ be!" said the Resurrection Man to
himself.
But not a muscle of his countenance moved; and he sat smoking his pipe
as coolly as if he had heard nothing capable of exciting him.
Nevertheless, within him there were emotions of the most fiendish
triumph--of the most hellish delight; for his victim was near--and the
hour of vengeance approached.
Then it struck him that his purpose might be defeated, were the
Rattlesnake, who had evidently made friends of the gipsies, to meet him
in their presence. But he recollected that the women were stated to have
already retired to rest; and he felt more easy on this head. Again, he
asked himself how he was to discover the room in which she slept;--and
to this question all his ingenuity could answer nothing more than that
he must trust to circumstances.
And accident did serve his infernal purposes even in this respect.
The gipsies, not dreaming that their conversation could have any
ulterior interest to him, continued it upon the same topic.
"Poor Meg is terribly put out because she has lost all her companions up
stairs," continued Skilligalee. "She couldn't bear the idea of sleeping
all alone in the great room just over this."
"Then she should get married, and have a husband to take care of her,"
said the Resurrection Man, with a coarse laugh;--but his remark was
merely for the purpose of clearing up a doubt.
"And so she has some one to take care of her," cried Skilligalee; "and
that's me. But there's one rule in this place--men sleep in their rooms,
and women in theirs."
"We can't split the palace into a hundred different bed-chambers,"
observed Zingary.
"Certainly not," said the Resurrection Man. "But surely the lady you are
talking of can't be afraid in such a fortress as this?"
"But she is, though," answered Skilligalee. "The women that occupied the
same room with her went away this morning, because the court is going
out of town again," he added, with a jovial laugh. "Meg wanted to move
into her majesty's room; but Aischa and Eva told her that she must learn
to get rid of her stupid fears."
"And very properly," said the Resurrection Man.
"But never mind these matters of talk," cried Skilligalee; "they're only
domestic, after all. Come, I'll sing you a song, as it's the last night
we shall be here."
Skilligalee accordingly chanted a merry lay; and the conversation
afterwards turned upon a variety of topics, none of which possessed
sufficient interest to be recorded in our pages.
At length a clock in the passage struck eleven; and King Zingary
instantly rose from his seat.
This was a signal for the revellers to retire.
"Skilligalee," said the King, "you will tell the trap-faker[100] that
the Traveller is the only one out; and you will conduct our new guest to
the strangers' ward. Lieges and friends, good-night."
The king withdrew; the other gipsy-chiefs dispersed to their
dormitories; and Skilligalee proceeded to conduct the Resurrection Man
to the room where he was to sleep.
If any doubt had remained in the mind of Anthony Tidkins relative to the
identity of the Margaret then in that house with the Margaret whom he
sought, it would have been dispelled by the mention of the name of
Skilligalee--a name which had occurred in the Rattlesnake's history of
her life. The Resurrection Man immediately comprehended that she had
fallen in with her old companion.
Skilligalee lighted a candle, and led the way up stairs. On the first
floor, he looked into the porter's lodge, which was immediately over,
and corresponded in size with, the lobby below.
"Trap-faker, old fellow," he said, "the Traveller is out late to-night;
but I suppose he means to come back. He's the only one abroad."
"All right," returned the porter: "I'll attend to him."
Skilligalee then conducted the Resurrection Man up another flight of
stairs, and into a room which Tidkins knew, from what had been already
said, to be immediately over the one where Margaret Flathers slept.
Skilligalee left the Resurrection Man a candle, wished him good night,
and retired to the room in which he slept.
The moment the Resurrection Man was alone, his hideous countenance threw
aside its constraint composure, and assumed an expression so truly
fiend-like, that, had a spectator been by, it must have inspired
sentiments of terror. Like every greedy and avaricious man, he
entertained the most ferocious hatred against the person who had robbed
him of his treasure;--and now that the means of revenge were within his
reach, together with a hope of recovering his gold, (for he resolved to
converse with the Rattlesnake ere he killed her), he experienced that
kind of demoniac joy which invariably characterises the triumph of the
ruffian.
Beneath the rough upper coat which the Resurrection Man wore, he had a
pair of loaded pistols; and in his pocket he carried a clasp-knife, with
a blade as long, pointed, and sharp as a dagger.
Thus armed to the very teeth, as it were,--and moreover endowed with
that reckless kind of daring which we have seen him exercise on so many
different occasions,--the Resurrection Man was as desperate and
formidable a villain as any Italian bravo that ever wielded the elastic
steel of Milan, or any Spanish bandit whose hand was familiar with the
bright blade of Albaceta.
An hour passed away; and profound silence reigned throughout the Palace
in the Holy Land.
The Resurrection Man, with a candle in his left hand, and his right
ready to grasp a weapon of defence, stole cautiously from his room.
He descended the stairs, and proceeded to the apartment in which the
Rattlesnake slept.
The door yielded to his hand--and he entered the chamber.
It was a large room, with twelve mattresses spread upon the floor; but
only one of the beds was occupied--and that was by Margaret Flathers.
The intended victim slept.
Anthony Tidkins approached the bed, placed the candle upon the floor,
knelt down, and bent over the bolster.
"Margaret!" he said, in a low tone, giving her a gentle shake by the
shoulder at the same time.
She opened her eyes; and at the same moment the Resurrection Man clapped
his hand tightly upon her mouth. But this precaution was unnecessary;
for, without it, profound terror would have sealed the lips of the
affrighted woman.
"If you cause an alarm," muttered the Resurrection Man, in a low but
hoarse and dogged tone, "I'll cut your throat that minute. I want to
speak to you; and if you tell me the truth I will do you no harm."
The Rattlesnake clasped her hands together, and cast a glance of the
most humble and earnest supplication up into the countenance of the
demon whose sudden appearance--_there_--and at the still hour of
night--leaning over her in so menacing a manner, and with dark resolve
expressed in his foreboding face,--had struck such terror to her inmost
soul.
"Now, mind," added the Resurrection Man,--"one word to disturb the
house--and you die!"
He then withdrew his hand from her mouth; but she scarcely breathed more
freely. Her alarm would not have been of a more appalling character, had
she awoke to find herself encircled in the horrible coils of a
boa-constrictor.
"You see, Margaret," continued Tidkins, "no one can escape me: sooner or
later I fall in with those who thwart or injure me. But we have not much
time for idle chattering. In one word; what have you done with the money
you stole from me?"
"The gipsies have got it all," answered the woman, scarcely able to
articulate through intense terror; "but a part of it is mine whenever I
choose to claim it."
"Who has got it? Where is it kept?" demanded the Resurrection Man,
speaking in a low and sullen whisper.
"The king of the gipsies."
"What--the old fool with a white beard?"
"The same."
"And where does he keep it, I say?"
"I have been told that the bag containing the gipsies' treasure is
always placed under his bolster."
"Are you sure of that?" asked the Resurrection Man.
"Certain," was the reply: and now Margaret Flathers began to breathe
more freely; for she thought that the object of the terrible individual
present was not to kill her, but to obtain back his gold.
"Has any of it been spent?"
"No--no," answered the Rattlesnake, eagerly; although she well knew that
a third had been already divided between the royal family, the
Traveller, and Skilligalee--those being the persons who had found her
asleep beneath the tree, and possessed themselves of her treasure in the
first instance.
"Do you know where the king, as you call him, sleeps?" proceeded the
Resurrection Man.
"Yes--I am acquainted with every nook and corner of this place," replied
Margaret, her presence of mind gradually returning to her aid.
"But he does not sleep alone," said the Resurrection Man: "I know all
about _that_. How many men occupy the same room with him?"
"Only his son Morcar."
"Are they armed?"
"No," answered the Rattlesnake; "they have nothing--or fancy they have
nothing--to fear: this house is so well guarded!"
"Now listen," said the Resurrection Man, after a pause: "I have no time
to waste in words. Will you conduct me to the room where this king of
yours sleeps, and help me to get back my gold? or will you have your
throat cut this minute?" And as he uttered these terrific words, he
coolly drew his clasp-knife from his pocket.
"Oh! put away that horrid thing, and I will do all you tell me!" said
the Rattlesnake, clasping her hands again together, while a cold shudder
passed over her entire frame.
"Well--I don't want to do you any harm," returned Tidkins, with
difficulty suppressing a sardonic smile. "But I warn you, that if you
attempt any treachery, I will shoot you upon the spot without an
instant's hesitation, let the consequences be what they may."
And this time he showed her the butt-ends of his pistols in the
side-pocket of his rough coat.
"You need not threaten me, Tony," said the woman, endeavouring to assume
an insinuating tone; but the dark scowl with which the Resurrection Man
surveyed her as she thus addressed him, instantly checked that partial
overture towards reconciliation and confidence.
"None of that nonsense with me, Meg," whispered Tidkins; "it has
deceived me before. But I warn you! So now jump up and lead the way to
the king's room."
The Resurrection Man rose from his kneeling posture over the bed, which,
as our readers have been already informed, was made up on the floor;
and Margaret Flathers got up.
"Shall I dress myself?" she said.
"What for? You don't think that you're going away with me--do you? No,
no; I shall leave you in the excellent company which you have chosen for
yourself, and with your friend Skilligalee."
The Rattlesnake made no reply; but she marvelled how the Resurrection
Man became acquainted with so many particulars concerning her
companions.
"Take the light, and go first," said the Resurrection Man; and, pulling
off his heavy shoes, he prepared to follow her.
Margaret Flathers took the candle in her hand, and led the way
cautiously to the room in which Zingary and Morcar slept.
The door was a-jar--and she entered, followed by the Resurrection Man.
The king and Morcar were fast asleep in their beds, which were also
spread on the floor.
The Resurrection Man drew a pistol from his pocket, and advanced to the
head of the king's couch.
The Rattlesnake remained in the middle of the room, holding the candle.
Tidkins cautiously introduced his hand beneath the bolster; and, to his
inexpressible joy, his fingers came in contact with a bag evidently
containing no small quantity of coin.
By the sudden flash of delight which overspread his countenance, the
Rattlesnake perceived that her words had not misled him; and she
rejoiced in her turn--for she had dreaded the consequences of any
disappointment experienced on his part.
A difficult task yet remained for the Resurrection Man to perform: he
had to draw the bag, as gently as he could, from beneath the king's
head. At one moment a horrible idea entered his imagination;--he thought
of cutting the old man's throat, in order to abstract the treasure
without molestation. But then, there was the other man who might happen
to awake! Accordingly he abandoned this horrible scheme, and commenced
his task of slowly removing the bag.
But just at the moment when this difficulty seemed entirely overcome,
Morcar started up in the next bed, and uttered a loud cry.
The candle fell from the hands of the Rattlesnake, and was extinguished.
Availing himself of the darkness into which the room was thus suddenly
plunged, the Resurrection Man seized the bag, and darted towards the
door.
But scarcely had he set foot in the adjacent passage, when the deep
tones of a bell suddenly boomed throughout the house; and the notes of
the tocsin were instantly responded to by the clamour of voices and the
rushing of many persons from the various rooms to know the cause of the
alarm.
The entire house was now in confusion: the alarm, which Morcar rang,
awoke every one throughout the establishment.
Meantime, the Resurrection Man had precipitated himself down stairs, and
had already begun to unbolt the front door, when lights appeared, and in
another moment he was surrounded by the gipsy chiefs, and pinioned by
them.
"Villain!" cried Morcar, tearing the bag of gold from his grasp: "is
this the reward of our hospitality?"
"It's mine--and I can prove it," thundered the Resurrection Man. "But
let me go--I don't want to hurt any of you--and you needn't hurt me."
"Ah! that voice!" ejaculated the Traveller, who had just reached the
bottom of the stairs as Tidkins uttered those words: then, before a
single arm could even be stretched out to restrain him, he rushed with
the fury of a demon upon the Resurrection Man, and planted his long
dagger in the miscreant's breast.
Tidkins fell: a cry of horror broke from the gipsies; and the Traveller
was instantly secured.
"He is not dead--but he is dying," exclaimed Morcar, raising the
Resurrection Man in his arms.
"Tell him, then," cried the Traveller, in a tone of mingled triumph and
joy,--"tell him that the man who was transported four years ago by his
infernal treachery has at length been avenged,--tell him that he dies by
the hand of Crankey Jem!"
These words seemed to animate the Resurrection Man for a few moments: he
made an effort to speak--but his tongue refused to articulate the curses
which his imagination prompted; and, turning a glance of the most
diabolical hatred upon the avenger, he sank back insensible in the arms
of Morcar.
The gipsies conveyed him up stairs, and placed him on a bed, where
Aischa, who, like many females of her race, possessed no inconsiderable
amount of medical knowledge, immediately attended upon him.