feeling a momentary, but horrible uncertainty respecting my uncle's
character; which was not altogether unwarranted by the circumstances of
the two trying interviews whose particulars I have just detailed. The
unpleasant impression which these conferences were calculated to leave
upon my mind, was fast wearing away, when there occurred a circumstance,
slight indeed in itself, but calculated irresistibly to awaken all my
worst suspicions, and to overwhelm me again with anxiety and terror.
I had one day left the house with my cousin Emily, in order to take
a ramble of considerable length, for the purpose of sketching some
favourite views, and we had walked about half a mile when I perceived
that we had forgotten our drawing materials, the absence of which
would have defeated the object of our walk. Laughing at our own
thoughtlessness, we returned to the house, and leaving Emily without, I
ran upstairs to procure the drawing-books and pencils, which lay in my
bedroom.
As I ran up the stairs I was met by the tall, ill-looking Frenchwoman,
evidently a good deal flurried.
'Que veut, madame?' said she, with a more decided effort to be polite
than I had ever known her make before.
'No, no--no matter,' said I, hastily running by her in the direction of
my room.
'Madame,' cried she, in a high key, 'restez ici, s'il vous plait; votre
chambre n'est pas faite--your room is not ready for your reception yet.'
I continued to move on without heeding her. She was some way behind me,
and feeling that she could not otherwise prevent my entrance, for I was
now upon the very lobby, she made a desperate attempt to seize hold of
my person: she succeeded in grasping the end of my shawl, which she drew
from my shoulders; but slipping at the same time upon the polished oak
floor, she fell at full length upon the boards.
A little frightened as well as angry at the rudeness of this strange
woman, I hastily pushed open the door of my room, at which I now stood,
in order to escape from her; but great was my amazement on entering to
find the apartment preoccupied.
The window was open, and beside it stood two male figures; they appeared
to be examining the fastenings of the casement, and their backs were
turned towards the door. One of them was my uncle; they both turned on
my entrance, as if startled. The stranger was booted and cloaked,
and wore a heavy broad-leafed hat over his brows. He turned but for a
moment, and averted his face; but I had seen enough to convince me that
he was no other than my cousin Edward. My uncle had some iron instrument
in his hand, which he hastily concealed behind his back; and coming
towards me, said something as if in an explanatory tone; but I was too
much shocked and confounded to understand what it might be. He said
something about 'REPAIRS--window--frames--cold, and safety.'
I did not wait, however, to ask or to receive explanations, but hastily
left the room. As I went down the stairs I thought I heard the voice of
the Frenchwoman in all the shrill volubility of excuse, which was met,
however, by suppressed but vehement imprecations, or what seemed to me
to be such, in which the voice of my cousin Edward distinctly mingled.
I joined my cousin Emily quite out of breath. I need not say that my
head was too full of other things to think much of drawing for that day.
I imparted to her frankly the cause of my alarms, but at the same
time as gently as I could; and with tears she promised vigilance,
and devotion, and love. I never had reason for a moment to repent the
unreserved confidence which I then reposed in her. She was no less
surprised than I at the unexpected appearance of Edward, whose departure
for France neither of us had for a moment doubted, but which was now
proved by his actual presence to be nothing more than an imposture,
practised, I feared, for no good end.
The situation in which I had found my uncle had removed completely all
my doubts as to his designs. I magnified suspicions into certainties,
and dreaded night after night that I should be murdered in my bed.
The nervousness produced by sleepless nights and days of anxious fears
increased the horrors of my situation to such a degree, that I at length
wrote a letter to a Mr. Jefferies, an old and faithful friend of my
father's, and perfectly acquainted with all his affairs, praying him,
for God's sake, to relieve me from my present terrible situation, and
communicating without reserve the nature and grounds of my suspicions.
This letter I kept sealed and directed for two or three days always
about my person, for discovery would have been ruinous, in expectation
of an opportunity which might be safely trusted, whereby to have it
placed in the post-office. As neither Emily nor I were permitted to pass
beyond the precincts of the demesne itself, which was surrounded by
high walls formed of dry stone, the difficulty of procuring such an
opportunity was greatly enhanced.
At this time Emily had a short conversation with her father, which she
reported to me instantly.
After some indifferent matter, he had asked her whether she and I were
upon good terms, and whether I was unreserved in my disposition. She
answered in the affirmative; and he then inquired whether I had been
much surprised to find him in my chamber on the other day. She answered
that I had been both surprised and amused.
'And what did she think of George Wilson's appearance?'
'Who?' inquired she.
'Oh, the architect,' he answered, 'who is to contract for the repairs of
the house; he is accounted a handsome fellow.'
'She could not see his face,' said Emily, 'and she was in such a hurry
to escape that she scarcely noticed him.'
Sir Arthur appeared satisfied, and the conversation ended.
This slight conversation, repeated accurately to me by Emily, had the
effect of confirming, if indeed anything was required to do so, all that
I had before believed as to Edward's actual presence; and I naturally
became, if possible, more anxious than ever to despatch the letter to
Mr. Jefferies. An opportunity at length occurred.
As Emily and I were walking one day near the gate of the demesne, a lad
from the village happened to be passing down the avenue from the house;
the spot was secluded, and as this person was not connected by service
with those whose observation I dreaded, I committed the letter to his
keeping, with strict injunctions that he should put it without delay
into the receiver of the town post-office; at the same time I added
a suitable gratuity, and the man having made many protestations of
punctuality, was soon out of sight.
He was hardly gone when I began to doubt my discretion in having trusted
this person; but I had no better or safer means of despatching the
letter, and I was not warranted in suspecting him of such wanton
dishonesty as an inclination to tamper with it; but I could not be quite
satisfied of its safety until I had received an answer, which could not
arrive for a few days. Before I did, however, an event occurred which a
little surprised me.
I was sitting in my bedroom early in the day, reading by myself, when I
heard a knock at the door.
'Come in,' said I; and my uncle entered the room.
'Will you excuse me?' said he. 'I sought you in the parlour, and thence
I have come here. I desired to say a word with you. I trust that you
have hitherto found my conduct to you such as that of a guardian towards
his ward should be.'
I dared not withhold my consent.
'And,' he continued, 'I trust that you have not found me harsh or
unjust, and that you have perceived, my dear niece, that I have sought
to make this poor place as agreeable to you as may be.'
I assented again; and he put his hand in his pocket, whence he drew a
folded paper, and dashing it upon the table with startling emphasis, he
said:
'Did you write that letter?'
The sudden and tearful alteration of his voice, manner, and face, but,
more than all, the unexpected production of my letter to Mr. Jefferies,
which I at once recognised, so confounded and terrified me, that I felt
almost choking.
I could not utter a word.
'Did you write that letter?' he repeated with slow and intense
emphasis.' You did, liar and hypocrite! You dared to write this foul and
infamous libel; but it shall be your last. Men will universally believe
you mad, if I choose to call for an inquiry. I can make you appear
so. The suspicions expressed in this letter are the hallucinations and
alarms of moping lunacy. I have defeated your first attempt, madam; and
by the holy God, if ever you make another, chains, straw, darkness, and
the keeper's whip shall be your lasting portion!'
With these astounding words he left the room, leaving me almost
fainting.
I was now almost reduced to despair; my last cast had failed; I had no
course left but that of eloping secretly from the castle, and placing
myself under the protection of the nearest magistrate. I felt if this
were not done, and speedily, that I should be MURDERED.
No one, from mere description, can have an idea of the unmitigated
horror of my situation--a helpless, weak, inexperienced girl, placed
under the power and wholly at the mercy of evil men, and feeling that
she had it not in her power to escape for a moment from the malignant
influences under which she was probably fated to fall; and with a
consciousness that if violence, if murder were designed, her dying
shriek would be lost in void space; no human being would be near to aid
her, no human interposition could deliver her.
I had seen Edward but once during his visit, and as I did not meet with
him again, I began to think that he must have taken his departure--a
conviction which was to a certain degree satisfactory, as I regarded his
absence as indicating the removal of immediate danger.
Emily also arrived circuitously at the same conclusion, and not without
good grounds, for she managed indirectly to learn that Edward's black
horse had actually been for a day and part of a night in the castle
stables, just at the time of her brother's supposed visit. The horse had
gone, and, as she argued, the rider must have departed with it.
This point being so far settled, I felt a little less uncomfortable:
when being one day alone in my bedroom, I happened to look out from
the window, and, to my unutterable horror, I beheld, peering through
an opposite casement, my cousin Edward's face. Had I seen the evil one
himself in bodily shape, I could not have experienced a more sickening
revulsion.
I was too much appalled to move at once from the window, but I did so
soon enough to avoid his eye. He was looking fixedly into the narrow
quadrangle upon which the window opened. I shrank back unperceived, to
pass the rest of the day in terror and despair. I went to my room early
that night, but I was too miserable to sleep.
At about twelve o'clock, feeling very nervous, I determined to call
my cousin Emily, who slept, you will remember, in the next room, which
communicated with mine by a second door. By this private entrance I
found my way into her chamber, and without difficulty persuaded her to
return to my room and sleep with me. We accordingly lay down together,
she undressed, and I with my clothes on, for I was every moment walking
up and down the room, and felt too nervous and miserable to think of
rest or comfort.
Emily was soon fast asleep, and I lay awake, fervently longing for the
first pale gleam of morning, reckoning every stroke of the old clock
with an impatience which made every hour appear like six.
It must have been about one o'clock when I thought I heard a slight
noise at the partition-door between Emily's room and mine, as if caused
by somebody's turning the key in the lock. I held my breath, and the
same sound was repeated at the second door of my room--that which opened
upon the lobby--the sound was here distinctly caused by the revolution
of the bolt in the lock, and it was followed by a slight pressure upon
the door itself, as if to ascertain the security of the lock.
The person, whoever it might be, was probably satisfied, for I heard
the old boards of the lobby creak and strain, as if under the weight
of somebody moving cautiously over them. My sense of hearing became
unnaturally, almost painfully acute. I suppose the imagination added
distinctness to sounds vague in themselves. I thought that I could
actually hear the breathing of the person who was slowly returning down
the lobby. At the head of the staircase there appeared to occur a pause;
and I could distinctly hear two or three sentences hastily whispered;
the steps then descended the stairs with apparently less caution. I now
ventured to walk quickly and lightly to the lobby-door, and attempted
to open it; it was indeed fast locked upon the outside, as was also the
other.
I now felt that the dreadful hour was come; but one desperate expedient
remained--it was to awaken Emily, and by our united strength to attempt
to force the partition-door, which was slighter than the other, and
through this to pass to the lower part of the house, whence it might be
possible to escape to the grounds, and forth to the village.
I returned to the bedside and shook Emily, but in vain. Nothing that
I could do availed to produce from her more than a few incoherent
words--it was a death-like sleep. She had certainly drank of some
narcotic, as had I probably also, spite of all the caution with which I
had examined everything presented to us to eat or drink.
I now attempted, with as little noise as possible, to force first one
door, then the other--but all in vain. I believe no strength could have
effected my object, for both doors opened inwards. I therefore collected
whatever movables I could carry thither, and piled them against the
doors, so as to assist me in whatever attempts I should make to
resist the entrance of those without. I then returned to the bed and
endeavoured again, but fruitlessly, to awaken my cousin. It was not
sleep, it was torpor, lethargy, death. I knelt down and prayed with an
agony of earnestness; and then seating myself upon the bed, I awaited my
fate with a kind of terrible tranquillity.
I heard a faint clanking sound from the narrow court which I have
already mentioned, as if caused by the scraping of some iron instrument
against stones or rubbish. I at first determined not to disturb the
calmness which I now felt, by uselessly watching the proceedings of
those who sought my life; but as the sounds continued, the horrible
curiosity which I felt overcame every other emotion, and I determined,
at all hazards, to gratify it. I therefore crawled upon my knees to the
window, so as to let the smallest portion of my head appear above the
sill.
The moon was shining with an uncertain radiance upon the antique grey
buildings, and obliquely upon the narrow court beneath, one side of
which was therefore clearly illuminated, while the other was lost in
obscurity, the sharp outlines of the old gables, with their nodding
clusters of ivy, being at first alone visible.
Whoever or whatever occasioned the noise which had excited my curiosity,
was concealed under the shadow of the dark side of the quadrangle. I
placed my hand over my eyes to shade them from the moonlight, which was
so bright as to be almost dazzling, and, peering into the darkness, I
first dimly, but afterwards gradually, almost with full distinctness,
beheld the form of a man engaged in digging what appeared to be a
rude hole close under the wall. Some implements, probably a shovel and
pickaxe, lay beside him, and to these he every now and then applied
himself as the nature of the ground required. He pursued his task
rapidly, and with as little noise as possible.
'So,' thought I, as, shovelful after shovelful, the dislodged rubbish
mounted into a heap, 'they are digging the grave in which, before two
hours pass, I must lie, a cold, mangled corpse. I am THEIRS--I cannot
escape.'
I felt as if my reason was leaving me. I started to my feet, and in mere
despair I applied myself again to each of the two doors alternately. I
strained every nerve and sinew, but I might as well have attempted, with
my single strength, to force the building itself from its foundation. I
threw myself madly upon the ground, and clasped my hands over my eyes as
if to shut out the horrible images which crowded upon me.
The paroxysm passed away. I prayed once more, with the bitter,
agonised fervour of one who feels that the hour of death is present and
inevitable. When I arose, I went once more to the window and looked out,
just in time to see a shadowy figure glide stealthily along the wall.
The task was finished. The catastrophe of the tragedy must soon be
accomplished.
I determined now to defend my life to the last; and that I might be able
to do so with some effect, I searched the room for something which might
serve as a weapon; but either through accident, or from an anticipation
of such a possibility, everything which might have been made available
for such a purpose had been carefully removed. I must then die tamely
and without an effort to defend myself.
A thought suddenly struck me--might it not be possible to escape through
the door, which the assassin must open in order to enter the room? I
resolved to make the attempt. I felt assured that the door through which
ingress to the room would be effected, was that which opened upon the
lobby. It was the more direct way, besides being, for obvious reasons,
less liable to interruption than the other. I resolved, then, to place
myself behind a projection of the wall, whose shadow would serve fully
to conceal me, and when the door should be opened, and before they
should have discovered the identity of the occupant of the bed, to creep
noiselessly from the room, and then to trust to Providence for escape.
In order to facilitate this scheme, I removed all the lumber which I
had heaped against the door; and I had nearly completed my arrangements,
when I perceived the room suddenly darkened by the close approach of
some shadowy object to the window. On turning my eyes in that direction,
I observed at the top of the casement, as if suspended from above, first
the feet, then the legs, then the body, and at length the whole figure
of a man present himself. It was Edward T----n.
He appeared to be guiding his descent so as to bring his feet upon the
centre of the stone block which occupied the lower part of the window;
and, having secured his footing upon this, he kneeled down and began to
gaze into the room. As the moon was gleaming into the chamber, and the
bed-curtains were drawn, he was able to distinguish the bed itself and
its contents. He appeared satisfied with his scrutiny, for he looked up
and made a sign with his hand, upon which the rope by which his
descent had been effected was slackened from above, and he proceeded to
disengage it from his waist; this accomplished, he applied his hands
to the window-frame, which must have been ingeniously contrived for the
purpose, for, with apparently no resistance, the whole frame, containing
casement and all, slipped from its position in the wall, and was by him
lowered into the room.
The cold night wind waved the bed-curtains, and he paused for a
moment--all was still again--and he stepped in upon the floor of the
room. He held in his hand what appeared to be a steel instrument, shaped
something like a hammer, but larger and sharper at the extremities. This
he held rather behind him, while, with three long, tip-toe strides, he
brought himself to the bedside.
I felt that the discovery must now be made, and held my breath in
momentary expectation of the execration in which he would vent his
surprise and disappointment. I closed my eyes--there was a pause, but
it was a short one. I heard two dull blows, given in rapid succession:
a quivering sigh, and the long-drawn, heavy breathing of the sleeper was
for ever suspended. I unclosed my eyes, and saw the murderer fling the
quilt across the head of his victim: he then, with the instrument of
death still in his hand, proceeded to the lobby-door, upon which he
tapped sharply twice or thrice. A quick step was then heard approaching,
and a voice whispered something from without. Edward answered, with a
kind of chuckle, 'Her ladyship is past complaining; unlock the door, in
the devil's name, unless you're afraid to come in, and help me to lift
the body out of the window.'
The key was turned in the lock--the door opened--and my uncle entered
the room.
I have told you already that I had placed myself under the shade of a
projection of the wall, close to the door. I had instinctively shrunk
down, cowering towards the ground on the entrance of Edward through the
window. When my uncle entered the room he and his son both stood so very
close to me that his hand was every moment upon the point of touching my
face. I held my breath, and remained motionless as death.
'You had no interruption from the next room?' said my uncle.
'No,' was the brief reply.
'Secure the jewels, Ned; the French harpy must not lay her claws upon
them. You're a steady hand, by G----! not much blood--eh?'
'Not twenty drops,' replied his son, 'and those on the quilt.'
'I'm glad it's over,' whispered my uncle again. 'We must lift the--the
THING through the window, and lay the rubbish over it.'
They then turned to the bedside, and, winding the bed-clothes round the
body, carried it between them slowly to the window, and, exchanging
a few brief words with some one below, they shoved it over the
window-sill, and I heard it fall heavily on the ground underneath.
'I'll take the jewels,' said my uncle; 'there are two caskets in the
lower drawer.'
He proceeded, with an accuracy which, had I been more at ease, would
have furnished me with matter of astonishment, to lay his hand upon the
very spot where my jewels lay; and having possessed himself of them, he
called to his son:
'Is the rope made fast above?'
'I'm not a fool--to be sure it is,' replied he.
They then lowered themselves from the window. I now rose lightly and
cautiously, scarcely daring to breathe, from my place of concealment,
and was creeping towards the door, when I heard my cousin's voice, in
a sharp whisper, exclaim: 'Scramble up again! G--d d----n you, you've
forgot to lock the room-door!' and I perceived, by the straining of the
rope which hung from above, that the mandate was instantly obeyed.
Not a second was to be lost. I passed through the door, which was only
closed, and moved as rapidly as I could, consistently with stillness,
along the lobby. Before I had gone many yards, I heard the door through
which I had just passed double-locked on the inside. I glided down the
stairs in terror, lest, at every corner, I should meet the murderer or
one of his accomplices.
I reached the hall, and listened for a moment to ascertain whether all
was silent around; no sound was audible. The parlour windows opened on
the park, and through one of them I might, I thought, easily effect
my escape. Accordingly, I hastily entered; but, to my consternation, a
candle was burning in the room, and by its light I saw a figure seated
at the dinner-table, upon which lay glasses, bottles, and the other
accompaniments of a drinking-party. Two or three chairs were placed
about the table irregularly, as if hastily abandoned by their occupants.
A single glance satisfied me that the figure was that of my French
attendant. She was fast asleep, having probably drank deeply. There
was something malignant and ghastly in the calmness of this bad woman's
features, dimly illuminated as they were by the flickering blaze of
the candle. A knife lay upon the table, and the terrible thought
struck me--'Should I kill this sleeping accomplice in the guilt of the
murderer, and thus secure my retreat?'
Nothing could be easier--it was but to draw the blade across her
throat--the work of a second. An instant's pause, however, corrected
me. 'No,' thought I, 'the God who has conducted me thus far through the
valley of the shadow of death, will not abandon me now. I will fall into
their hands, or I will escape hence, but it shall be free from the stain
of blood. His will be done.'
I felt a confidence arising from this reflection, an assurance of
protection which I cannot describe. There was no other means of escape,
so I advanced, with a firm step and collected mind, to the window. I
noiselessly withdrew the bars and unclosed the shutters--I pushed open
the casement, and, without waiting to look behind me, I ran with my
utmost speed, scarcely feeling the ground under me, down the avenue,
taking care to keep upon the grass which bordered it.