The interview so fatal in its results to Gerald's long formed
resolutions of virtuous purpose was followed by others of the same
description, and in the course of these, Matilda, profiting by her
knowledge of the past, had the address so to rivet the chains which
fettered the senses of her lover, by a well-timed, although apparently
unintentional display of the beauty which had enslaved him, that so far
from shrinking from the fulfilment of the dreadful obligation he had
imposed upon himself, the resolution of the youth became more confirmed
as the period for its enactment drew nigher. There were moments when,
his passion worked up to intensity by the ever-varying, over-exciting
picture of that beauty, would have anticipated the condition on which he
was to become possessed of it for ever, but on these occasions the
American would assume an air of wounded dignity, sometimes of deep
sorrow; and alluding to the manner in which her former confidence had
been repaid, reproach him with a want of generosity, in seeking to make
her past weakness a pretext for his present advances.
At length the day arrived when Gerald--the once high, generous and noble
minded Gerald,--was to steep his soul in guilt--to imbrue his hands in
the life blood of a fellow creature. The seducer of Matilda had arrived,
and even in the hotel in which Grantham resided, the entertainment was
to be given by his approving fellow citizens, in commemoration of the
heroism which had won to him golden opinions from every class. It had
already been arranged that the assassination was to take place on the
departure of their victim from the banquet, and consequently at a moment
when, overcome by the fumes of wine, he would be found incapable of
opposing any serious resistance to their design. The better to
facilitate his close and unperceived approach to the unhappy man, a pair
of cloth shoes had been made for her lover by the white hands of
Matilda, with a sort of hood or capuchin of the same material, to
prevent recognition by any one who might accidentally pass him on the
way to the scene of the contemplated murder. Much as Gerald objected to
it, Matilda had peremptorily insisted on being present herself, to
witness the execution of the deed, and the same description of disguise
had been prepared for herself. In this resolution the American,
independently of her desire to fortify the courage of her lover by her
presence, was actuated by another powerful and fearful motive, which
will be seen presently.
The private residence of the officer was situated in a remote part of
the town, and skirting that point of the circular ridge of hills where
the lights in the habitation of Matilda had attracted the notice of
Gerald, on the first night of his encounter. To one who viewed it from a
distance, it would have seemed that the summit of the wood-crowned ridge
must be crossed before communication could be held between the two
dwellings which lay as it were back to back, on either side of the
formidable barrier; but on a nearer approach, a fissure in the hill
might be observed, just wide enough to admit of a narrow horse track or
foot path, which wound its sinuous course from the little valley into
the open space that verged upon the town, on gaining which the residence
of the American officer was to be seen rising at the distance of twenty
yards. It was in this path, which had been latterly pointed out to him
by his guilty companion, that Gerald was to await the approach of the
intended victim, who on passing his place of concealment, was to be
cautiously followed and stabbed to the heart ere he could gain his door.
Fallen as was Gerald from his high estate of honor, it was not without a
deep sense of the atrocity of the act he was about to commit, that he
prepared for its accomplishment. It is true that, yielding to the
sophistry of Matilda's arguments, he was sometimes led to imagine the
avenging of her injuries an imperative duty; but such was his view of
the subject only when the spell of her presence was upon him. When
restored to his calmer and more unbiassed judgment, in the solitude of
his own chamber, conscience resumed her sway, and no plausibility of
pretence could conceal from himself that he was about to become that
vilest of beings--a common murderer. There were moments even when the
dread deed to which he had pledged himself appeared in such hideous
deformity, that he fain would have fled on the instant far from the
influence of her who had incited him to its perpetration; but when the
form of Matilda rose to his mental eye, remorse, conscience, every
latent principle of virtue, dissolved away--and although he no longer
sought to conceal from himself that what he meditated was crime of the
blackest dye, his determination to secure entire possession of that
beauty, even at the accursed price of blood, became but the more
resolute and confirmed.
The night previous to that fixed for the assassination was passed by the
guilty Gerald in a state of dreadful excitement. Large drops fell from
his forehead in agony, and when he arose at a late hour, his pale,
emaciated features, and wavering step, betrayed how little the mind or
the body had tasted of repose. Accustomed, however, as he had latterly
been, to sustain his sinking spirits by artificial means, he was not
long in having recourse to his wonted stimulants. He called for brandy
to deaden the acuteness of his feelings, and give strength to his
tottering limbs; and when he had drank freely of this, he sallied forth
into the forest, where he wandered during the day, without other aim or
purpose than to hide the brand of guilt, which he almost felt upon his
brow, from the curious gaze of his fellow men. It was dark when he
returned to the hotel, and as, on his way to his own private apartment,
he passed the low large room chiefly used as an ordinary, the loud hum
of voices which met his ear, mingled with the drawing of corks and
ringing of glasses, told him that the entertainment provided for his
unconscious victim had already commenced. Moving hastily on, he gained
his own apartment, and summoning one of the domestics, he directed that
his own frugal meal (the first he had tasted that day) should be brought
up. But even for this he had no appetite, and he had recourse once more
to the stimulant for assistance. As the night drew on he grew more
nervous and agitated, yet without at all wavering from his purpose. At
length ten o'clock struck. It was the hour at which he had promised to
issue forth to join Matilda in the path, there to await the passage of
his victim to his home. He cautiously descended the staircase, and, in
the confusion that reigned among the household, all of whom were too
much occupied with the entertainment within to heed the movements of
individuals, succeeded in gaining the street without notice. The room in
which the dinner was given was on the ground floor, and looked through
numerous low windows into the street, through which Gerald must
necessarily pass to reach the place of his appointment. Sounds of loud
revelry mixed with laughter and the strains of music, now issued from
these, attesting that the banquet was at its height, and the wine fast
taking effect on its several participators.
A momentary feeling of vague curiosity caused the degraded youth to
glance his eye through one of the uncurtained windows upon the scene
within, but scarcely had he caught an indistinct and confused view of
the company, most of whom glittered in the gay trappings of military
uniforms, when a secret and involuntary dread of distinguishing from his
fellows the man whom he was about to slay, caused him as instantaneously
to turn away. Guilty as he felt himself to be, he could not bear the
thought of beholding the features of the individual he had sworn to
destroy. As there were crowds of the humbler citizens of the place
collected round the windows to view the revelry within, neither his
appearance nor his action had excited surprise; nor, indeed, was it even
suspected, habited as he was in the common garments of the country, that
he was other than a native of the town.
On gaining the narrow pass or lane, he found Matilda wrapped in her
cloak, beneath which she carried the disguise prepared for both. The
moon was in the last quarter, and as the fleecy clouds passed away from
before it, he could observe that the lips and cheek of the American were
almost livid, although her eyes sparkled with deep mental excitement.
Neither spoke, yet then breathing was heavy and audible to each. Gerald
seated himself on a projection of the hill, and removing his shoes,
substituted those which his companion had wrought for him. He then
assumed the hood, and dropping his head between his hands, continued for
some minutes in that attitude, buried in profound abstraction.
At length Matilda approached him. She seated herself at his side, threw
her arms around his neck, called him in those rich and searching tones
which were peculiarly her own--her beloved and affianced husband; and
bidding him be firm of purpose, as he valued the lives and happiness of
both, placed in his hand a small dagger, the handle of which was richly
mounted in silver. Gerald clutched the naked weapon with a convulsive
grasp, while a hoarse low groan escaped him, and again he sank his head
in silence upon his chest.
Nearly an hour had passed in this manner, neither seeking to disturb the
thoughts of the other, nor daring to break the profound silence that
every where prevailed around them. At length a distant and solitary
footstep was heard, and Matilda sprang to her feet, and with her head
thrown eagerly forward, while one small foot alone supported the whole
weight of her inclined body, gazed intently out upon the open space, and
in the direction whence the sounds proceeded.
"He comes, Gerald, he comes!" she at length whispered in a quick tone.
Gerald, who had also risen, and now stood looking over the shoulder of
the American, was not slow in discovering the tall figure of a man,
whose outline, cloaked even as it was, bespoke the soldier, moving in an
oblique direction towards the building already described.
"It is he--too well do I know him," continued Matilda, in the same eager
yet almost inaudible whisper, "and mark how inflated with the incense
which has been heaped upon him this night does he appear. His proud step
tells of the ambitious projects of his vile heart. Little does he
imagine that this arm--and she tightly grasped that which held the fatal
dagger--will crush them for ever in the bud. But hist!"
The officer was now within a few paces of the path, in the gloom of
which the guilty pair found ample concealment, and as he drew nearer and
nearer, their very breathing was stayed to prevent the slightest chance
of a discovery of their presence. Gerald suffered him to pass some yards
beyond the opening, and advanced with long yet cautious strides across
the grass towards his victim. As he moved thus noiselessly along, he
fancied that there was something in the bearing of the figure that
reminded him of one he had previously known, but he had not time to
pause upon the circumstance for the officer was already within ten yards
of his own door, and the delay of a single moment would not only deprive
him of the opportunity on which he had perilled all in this world and in
the next, but expose himself and his companion to the ignominy of
discovery and punishment.
A single foot of ground now intervened between him and the unhappy
officer, whom wine, or abstraction, or both, had rendered totally
unconscious of his danger. Already was the hand of Gerald raised to
strike the fatal blow--another moment and it would have descended, but
even in the very act he found his arm suddenly arrested. Turning quickly
to see who it was who thus interfered with his purpose, he beheld
Matilda.
"One moment stay," she said in a hurried voice; "poor were my revenge
indeed, were he to perish not knowing who planned his death." Then in a
hoarser tone, in which could be detected the action of the fiercest
passions of the human mind, "Slanderer--villain--we meet again."
Startled by the sound of a familiar voice, the officer turned hastily
round, and seeing all his danger at a single glance, made a movement of
his right hand to his side, as if he would have grasped his sword--but
finding no weapon there, he contented himself with throwing his left arm
forward, covered with the ample folds of his cloak, with a view to the
defence of his person.
"Yes, Forrester," continued Matilda, in the same impassioned voice, "we
meet again, and mark you," pulling back the disguise from Gerald, "'tis
no vile slave, no sable paramour by whose hand you die, villain," she
pursued, her voice trembling with excitement--"my own arm should have
done the deed, but that he whose service I have purchased with the hand
you rejected and despised, once baulked me of my vengeance when I had
deemed it most secure. But enough! To his heart, Gerald, now that in the
fulness of his wine and his ambition, he may the deeper feel the sting
of death--strike to his heart--what! do you falter--do you turn coward?"
Gerald neither moved nor spoke; his upraised hand had sunk at his side
at the first address of Matilda to her enemy, and the dagger had fallen
from his hand upon the sward, where it might be seen glittering in the
rays of the pale moon. His head was bent upon his chest in abject shame,
and he seemed as one who had suddenly been turned to stone.
"Gerald, my husband!" urged Matilda, rapidly changing her tone into that
of earnest persuasion, "wherefore do you hesitate? Am I not your wife,
your own wife, and is not yon monster the wretch who has consigned my
fair fame to obloquy for ever--Gerald!" she added, impetuously.
But the spell had lost its power, and Gerald continued
immoveable--apparently fixed to the spot on which he stood.
"Gerald, Gerald!" repeated the officer, with the air of one endeavoring
to recollect.
At the sound of that voice Gerald looked up. The moon was at that moment
unobscured by a single cloud, and as the eyes of the murderer and his
intended victim met, their recognition was mutual and perfect.
"I had never expected to see Lieutenant Grantham figuring in the
character of an assassin," said Colonel Forrester, in a voice of deep
and bitter reproach, "still less to find his arm raised against the
preserver of his life. This," he continued, as if speaking to himself,
"will be a bitter tale to recount to his family."
"Almighty God, have mercy!" exclaimed Gerald as, overcome with shame and
misery, he threw himself upon the earth at its full length, his head
nearly touching the feet of the officer. Then clasping his feet--"Oh,
Colonel Forrester, lost, degraded as I am, believe me when I swear that
I knew not against whom my arm was to be directed. Nay, that you live at
this moment is the best evidence of the truth of what I utter, for I
came with a heart made up to murder. But _your_ blood worlds could not
tempt me to spill."
"I believe you," said the American feelingly. "Well do I know the arts
of the woman who seems to have lured you into the depths of crime; yet
low as you are fallen, Lieutenant Grantham--much as you have disgraced
your country and profession, I cannot think you would willingly have
sought the life of him who saved your own. And now rise, sir, and gain
the place of your abode, before accident bring other eyes than my own to
be witnesses of your shame. We will discourse of this to-morrow.
Meanwhile, be satisfied with my promise that your attempt shall remain a
secret with myself."
While he spoke, Colonel Forrester made a movement as if to depart.
Aroused by the apprehension of losing her victim, Matilda, who had
hitherto been an impatient listener, called wildly upon Gerald, who had
now risen, to fulfil his compact; but the youth turned from her with a
movement of disgust, exclaiming, with bitterness--"leave me, woman,
leave me!"
Matilda looked after him for an instant with an expression of intensest
scorn; then springing to, and snatching up the dagger, which lay
glittering a few paces from the spot on which she stood, she advanced
silently, but rapidly upon her retreating enemy. Colonel Forrester had
gained his threshold, and had already knocked for admittance, when he
heard the deep voice of Matilda at his ear, exclaiming, in a triumphant
tone.
"Think you twice, then, to escape your doom, traitor?"
Before he could make an attempt to shield himself, the fatal steel had
entered deep into his side. Uttering a groan, he sank senseless on the
steps, whither Gerald, who had watched the action of his companion, had
flown in the hope of arresting the blow. Confused voices, mingled with
the tramp of feet, were now heard within the hall. Presently the door
opened, and a crowd of servants, chiefly black, appeared with lights.
The view of their bleeding master, added to the disguise of Gerald, and
the expression of triumph visible in the pale countenance of Matilda, at
once revealed the truth. By some the former was borne to his apartment,
while the greater portion busied themselves in securing the two latter,
who, however, made not the slightest effort at resistance, but suffered
themselves to be borne, amid hootings and execrations, from the spot.
The different groups we have described as being gathered together in
front of the hotel, had dispersed on the breaking up of the party, which
Colonel Forrester, in compliment to those who entertained him, had been
one of the last to quit; so that on passing through the streets, not an
idler was found to swell the sable crowd that bore the wretched
prisoners onward to the common prison of the town. Just as they had
arrived at this latter, and a tall and muscular negro, apparently
enjoying some distinction in his master's household, was about to pull
the bell for admission, a man came running breathlessly to the spot, and
communicated to the negro just mentioned a message, in which the name of
Colonel Forrester was distinctly audible to the ear of Gerald. A
retrograde movement was the immediate consequence of this interruption,
and the party came once more upon the open space they had so recently
quitted. Stupified with the excess of abjectness in which he had
continued plunged, from the moment of his discovery of the identity of
his intended victim, Gerald had moved unconsciously and recklessly
whithersoever his conductors led; but now that he expected to be
confronted face to face with the dying man, as the sudden alteration in
the movement of the party gave him reason to apprehend, he felt for the
first time that his position, bitter as it was, might be rendered even
worse. It was a relief to him, therefore, when he found that, instead of
taking the course which led to the residence of Colonel Forrester, the
head of the party, of which Matilda and himself were the centre,
suddenly diverged into the narrow lane which conducted to the residence
of that unhappy woman. Instead, however, of approaching this, Gerald
remarked that they made immediately for the fatal temple. When they had
reached this, the door was opened by the tall negro above described,
who, with a deference in his manner not less at variance with the
occasion than with the excited conduct of the whole party on their way
to the prison, motioned both his prisoners to enter. They did so, and
the lock having been turned and the key removed, they silently
withdrew.