of motiveless guilt, and in a quarter from which I had so little reason
to look for ingratitude or treachery, that your announcement almost
deprived me of speech; the person in question, however, has one excuse,
her mind is, as I told you before, unsettled. You should have remembered
that, and hesitated to receive as unexceptionable evidence against the
honour of your husband, the ravings of a lunatic. I now tell you that
this is the last time I shall speak to you upon this subject, and, in
the presence of the God who is to judge me, and as I hope for mercy in
the day of judgment, I swear that the charge thus brought against me is
utterly false, unfounded, and ridiculous. I defy the world in any point
to taint my honour; and, as I have never taken the opinion of madmen
touching your character or morals, I think it but fair to require that
you will evince a like tenderness for me; and now, once for all, never
again dare to repeat to me your insulting suspicions, or the clumsy and
infamous calumnies of fools. I shall instantly let the worthy lady who
contrived this somewhat original device understand fully my opinion upon
the matter. Good morning."
And with these words he left me again in doubt, and involved in all the
horrors of the most agonizing suspense.
I had reason to think that Lord Glenfallen wreaked his vengeance upon
the author of the strange story which I had heard, with a violence which
was not satisfied with mere words, for old Martha, with whom I was a
great favourite, while attending me in my room, told me that she feared
her master had ill-used the poor blind Dutchwoman, for that she had
heard her scream as if the very life were leaving her, but added a
request that I should not speak of what she had told me to any one,
particularly to the master.
"How do you know that she is a Dutchwoman?" inquired I, anxious to learn
anything whatever that might throw a light upon the history of this
person, who seemed to have resolved to mix herself up in my fortunes.
"Why, my lady," answered Martha, "the master often calls her the Dutch
hag, and other names you would not like to hear, and I am sure she is
neither English nor Irish; for, whenever they talk together, they speak
some queer foreign lingo, and fast enough, I'll be bound. But I ought
not to talk about her at all; it might be as much as my place is worth
to mention her, only you saw her first yourself, so there can be no
great harm in speaking of her now."
"How long has this lady been here?" continued I.
"She came early on the morning after your ladyship's arrival," answered
she; "but do not ask me any more, for the master would think nothing of
turning me out of doors for daring to speak of her at all, much less to
_you_, my lady."
I did not like to press the poor woman further, for her reluctance to
speak on this topic was evident and strong.
You will readily believe that upon the very slight grounds which my
information afforded, contradicted as it was by the solemn oath of my
husband, and derived from what was, at best, a very questionable source,
I could not take any very decisive measures whatever; and as to the
menace of the strange woman who had thus unaccountably twice intruded
herself into my chamber, although, at the moment, it occasioned me some
uneasiness, it was not, even in my eyes, sufficiently formidable to
induce my departure from Cahergillagh.
A few nights after the scene which I have just mentioned, Lord
Glenfallen having, as usual, retired early to his study, I was left
alone in the parlour to amuse myself as best I might.
It was not strange that my thoughts should often recur to the agitating
scenes in which I had recently taken a part.
The subject of my reflections, the solitude, the silence, and the
lateness of the hour, as also the depression of spirits to which I had
of late been a constant prey, tended to produce that nervous excitement
which places us wholly at the mercy of the imagination.
In order to calm my spirits I was endeavouring to direct my thoughts
into some more pleasing channel, when I heard, or thought I heard,
uttered within a few yards of me, in an odd, half-sneering tone, the
words,--
"There is blood upon your ladyship's throat."
So vivid was the impression that I started to my feet, and involuntarily
placed my hand upon my neck.
I looked around the room for the speaker, but in vain.
I went then to the room-door, which I opened, and peered into the
passage, nearly faint with horror lest some leering, shapeless thing
should greet me upon the threshold.
When I had gazed long enough to assure myself that no strange object was
within sight,--
"I have been too much of a rake lately; I am racking out my nerves,"
said I, speaking aloud, with a view to reassure myself.
I rang the bell, and, attended by old Martha, I retired to settle for
the night.
While the servant was--as was her custom--arranging the lamp which I
have already stated always burned during the night in my chamber, I was
employed in undressing, and, in doing so, I had recourse to a large
looking-glass which occupied a considerable portion of the wall in which
it was fixed, rising from the ground to a height of about six feet; this
mirror filled the space of a large panel in the wainscoting opposite the
foot of the bed.
[Illustration: SOMETHING LIKE A BLACK PALL WAS SLOWLY WAVED.]
I had hardly been before it for the lapse of a minute when something
like a black pall was slowly waved between me and it.
"Oh, God! there it is," I exclaimed, wildly. "I have seen it again,
Martha--the black cloth."
"God be merciful to us, then!" answered she, tremulously crossing
herself. "Some misfortune is over us."
"No, no, Martha," said I, almost instantly recovering my collectedness;
for, although of a nervous temperament, I had never been superstitious.
"I do not believe in omens. You know I saw, or fancied I saw, this thing
before, and nothing followed."
"The Dutch lady came the next morning," replied she.
"But surely her coming scarcely deserved such a dreadful warning," I
replied.
"She is a strange woman, my lady," said Martha; "and she is not _gone_
yet--mark my words."
"Well, well, Martha," said I, "I have not wit enough to change your
opinions, nor inclination to alter mine; so I will talk no more of the
matter. Good-night," and so I was left to my reflections.
After lying for about an hour awake, I at length fell into a kind of
doze; but my imagination was very busy, for I was startled from this
unrefreshing sleep by fancying that I heard a voice close to my face
exclaim as before,--
"There is blood upon your ladyship's throat."
The words were instantly followed by a loud burst of laughter.
Quaking with horror, I awakened, and heard my husband enter the room.
Even this was a relief.
Scared as I was, however, by the tricks which my imagination had played
me, I preferred remaining silent, and pretending to sleep, to attempting
to engage my husband in conversation, for I well knew that his mood was
such, that his words would not, in all probability, convey anything that
had not better be unsaid and unheard.
Lord Glenfallen went into his dressing-room, which lay upon the
right-hand side of the bed. The door lying open, I could see him by
himself, at full length upon a sofa, and, in about half an hour, I
became aware, by his deep and regularly drawn respiration, that he was
fast asleep.
When slumber refuses to visit one, there is something peculiarly
irritating, not to the temper, but to the nerves, in the consciousness
that some one is in your immediate presence, actually enjoying the boon
which you are seeking in vain; at least, I have always found it so, and
never more than upon the present occasion.
A thousand annoying imaginations harassed and excited me; every object
which I looked upon, though ever so familiar, seemed to have acquired
a strange phantom-like character, the varying shadows thrown by the
flickering of the lamplight seemed shaping themselves into grotesque and
unearthly forms, and whenever my eyes wandered to the sleeping figure
of my husband, his features appeared to undergo the strangest and most
demoniacal contortions.
Hour after hour was told by the old clock, and each succeeding one found
me, if possible, less inclined to sleep than its predecessor.
It was now considerably past three; my eyes, in their involuntary
wanderings, happened to alight upon the large mirror which was, as I
have said, fixed in the wall opposite the foot of the bed. A view of it
was commanded from where I lay, through the curtains. As I gazed fixedly
upon it, I thought I perceived the broad sheet of glass shifting its
position in relation to the bed; I riveted my eyes upon it with intense
scrutiny; it was no deception, the mirror, as if acting of its own
impulse, moved slowly aside, and disclosed a dark aperture in the wall,
nearly as large as an ordinary door; a figure evidently stood in this,
but the light was too dim to define it accurately.
It stepped cautiously into the chamber, and with so little noise, that
had I not actually seen it, I do not think I should have been aware of
its presence. It was arrayed in a kind of woollen night-dress, and a
white handkerchief or cloth was bound tightly about the head; I had no
difficulty, spite of the strangeness of the attire, in recognizing the
blind woman whom I so much dreaded.
She stooped down, bringing her head nearly to the ground, and in that
attitude she remained motionless for some moments, no doubt in order to
ascertain if any suspicious sounds were stirring.
She was apparently satisfied by her observations, for she immediately
recommenced her silent progress towards a ponderous mahogany
dressing-table of my husband's. When she had reached it, she paused
again, and appeared to listen attentively for some minutes; she then
noiselessly opened one of the drawers, from which, having groped for
some time, she took something, which I soon perceived to be a case of
razors. She opened it, and tried the edge of each of the two instruments
upon the skin of her hand; she quickly selected one, which she fixed
firmly in her grasp. She now stooped down as before, and having listened
for a time, she, with the hand that was disengaged, groped her way into
the dressing-room where Lord Glenfallen lay fast asleep.
I was fixed as if in the tremendous spell of a nightmare. I could not
stir even a finger; I could not lift my voice; I could not even breathe;
and though I expected every moment to see the sleeping man murdered, I
could not even close my eyes to shut out the horrible spectacle which I
had not the power to avert.
I saw the woman approach the sleeping figure, she laid the unoccupied
hand lightly along his clothes, and having thus ascertained his
identity, she, after a brief interval, turned back and again entered my
chamber; here she bent down again to listen.
I had now not a doubt but that the razor was intended for my throat; yet
the terrific fascination which had locked all my powers so long, still
continued to bind me fast.
I felt that my life depended upon the slightest ordinary exertion, and
yet I could not stir one joint from the position in which I lay, nor
even make noise enough to waken Lord Glenfallen.
The murderous woman now, with long, silent steps, approached the bed;
my very heart seemed turning to ice; her left hand, that which was
disengaged, was upon the pillow; she gradually slid it forward towards
my head, and in an instant, with the speed of lightning, it was clutched
in my hair, while, with the other hand, she dashed the razor at my
throat.
A slight inaccuracy saved me from instant death; the blow fell short,
the point of the razor grazing my throat. In a moment, I know not how, I
found myself at the other side of the bed, uttering shriek after shriek;
the wretch was however determined, if possible, to murder me.
Scrambling along by the curtains, she rushed round the bed towards me;
I seized the handle of the door to make my escape. It was, however,
fastened. At all events, I could not open it. From the mere instinct of
recoiling terror, I shrunk back into a corner. She was now within a yard
of me. Her hand was upon my face.
I closed my eyes fast, expecting never to open them again, when a blow,
inflicted from behind by a strong arm, stretched the monster senseless
at my feet. At the same moment the door opened, and several domestics,
alarmed by my cries, entered the apartment.
I do not recollect what followed, for I fainted. One swoon succeeded
another, so long and death-like, that my life was considered very
doubtful.
At about ten o'clock, however, I sank into a deep and refreshing sleep,
from which I was awakened at about two, that I might swear my deposition
before a magistrate, who attended for that purpose.
I accordingly did so, as did also Lord Glenfallen, and the woman was
fully committed to stand her trial at the ensuing assizes.
I shall never forget the scene which the examination of the blind woman
and of the other parties afforded.
She was brought into the room in the custody of two servants. She wore
a kind of flannel wrapper, which had not been changed since the night
before. It was torn and soiled, and here and there smeared with blood,
which had flowed in large quantities from a wound in her head. The
white handkerchief had fallen off in the scuffle, and her grizzled hair
fell in masses about her wild and deadly pale countenance.
She appeared perfectly composed, however, and the only regret she
expressed throughout, was at not having succeeded in her attempt, the
object of which she did not pretend to conceal.
On being asked her name, she called herself the Countess Glenfallen, and
refused to give any other title.
"The woman's name is Flora Van-Kemp," said Lord Glenfallen.
"It _was_, it _was_, you perjured traitor and cheat!" screamed the
woman; and then there followed a volley of words in some foreign
language. "Is there a magistrate here?" she resumed; "I am Lord
Glenfallen's wife--I'll prove it--write down my words. I am willing to
be hanged or burned, so _he_ meets his deserts. I did try to kill that
doll of his; but it was he who put it into my head to do it--two wives
were too many; I was to murder her, or she was to hang me: listen to all
I have to say."
Here Lord Glenfallen interrupted.
"I think, sir," said he, addressing the magistrate "that we had better
proceed to business; this unhappy woman's furious recriminations but
waste our time. If she refuses to answer your questions, you had better,
I presume, take my depositions."
"And are you going to swear away my life, you black-perjured murderer?"
shrieked the woman. "Sir, sir, sir, you must hear me," she continued,
addressing the magistrate; "I can convict him--he bid me murder that
girl, and then, when I failed, he came behind me, and struck me down,
and now he wants to swear away my life. Take down all I say."
"If it is your intention," said the magistrate, "to confess the crime
with which you stand charged, you may, upon producing sufficient
evidence, criminate whom you please."
"Evidence!--I have no evidence but myself," said the woman. "I will
swear it all--write down my testimony--write it down, I say--we shall
hang side by side, my brave lord--all your own handy-work, my gentle
husband!"
This was followed by a low, insolent, and sneering laugh, which, from
one in her situation, was sufficiently horrible.
"I will not at present hear anything," replied he, "but distinct answers
to the questions which I shall put to you upon this matter."
"Then you shall hear nothing," replied she sullenly, and no inducement
or intimidation could bring her to speak again.
Lord Glenfallen's deposition and mine were then given, as also those of
the servants who had entered the room at the moment of my rescue.
The magistrate then intimated that she was committed, and must proceed
directly to gaol, whither she was brought in a carriage of Lord
Glenfallen's, for his lordship was naturally by no means indifferent to
the effect which her vehement accusations against himself might produce,
if uttered before every chance hearer whom she might meet with between
Cahergillagh and the place of confinement whither she was despatched.
During the time which intervened between the committal and the trial of
the prisoner, Lord Glenfallen seemed to suffer agonies of mind which
baffled all description; he hardly ever slept, and when he did, his
slumbers seemed but the instruments of new tortures, and his waking
hours were, if possible, exceeded in intensity of terror by the dreams
which disturbed his sleep.
Lord Glenfallen rested, if to lie in the mere attitude of repose were
to do so, in his dressing-room, and thus I had an opportunity of
witnessing, far oftener than I wished it, the fearful workings of his
mind. His agony often broke out into such fearful paroxysms that
delirium and total loss of reason appeared to be impending. He
frequently spoke of flying from the country, and bringing with him all
the witnesses of the appalling scene upon which the prosecution was
founded; then, again, he would fiercely lament that the blow which he
had inflicted had not ended all.
The assizes arrived, however, and upon the day appointed Lord Glenfallen
and I attended in order to give our evidence.
The cause was called on, and the prisoner appeared at the bar.
Great curiosity and interest were felt respecting the trial, so that the
court was crowded to excess.
The prisoner, however, without appearing to take the trouble of
listening to the indictment, pleaded guilty, and no representations on
the part of the court availed to induce her to retract her plea.
After much time had been wasted in a fruitless attempt to prevail upon
her to reconsider her words, the court proceeded, according to the usual
form, to pass sentence.
This having been done, the prisoner was about to be removed, when she
said, in a low, distinct voice:
"A word--a word, my lord!--Is Lord Glenfallen here in the court?"
On being told that he was, she raised her voice to a tone of loud
menace, and continued:
"Hardress, Earl of Glenfallen, I accuse you here in this court of
justice of two crimes,--first, that you married a second wife while the
first was living; and again, that you prompted me to the murder, for
attempting which I am to die. Secure him--chain him--bring him here!"
There was a laugh through the court at these words, which were naturally
treated by the judge as a violent extemporary recrimination, and the
woman was desired to be silent.
"You won't take him, then?" she said; "you won't try him? You'll let him
go free?"
It was intimated by the court that he would certainly be allowed "to go
free," and she was ordered again to be removed.
Before, however, the mandate was executed, she threw her arms wildly
into the air, and uttered one piercing shriek so full of preternatural
rage and despair, that it might fitly have ushered a soul into those
realms where hope can come no more.
The sound still rang in my ears, months after the voice that had uttered
it was for ever silent.
The wretched woman was executed in accordance with the sentence which
had been pronounced.
For some time after this event, Lord Glenfallen appeared, if possible,
to suffer more than he had done before, and altogether his language,
which often amounted to half confessions of the guilt imputed to him,
and all the circumstances connected with the late occurrences, formed a
mass of evidence so convincing that I wrote to my father, detailing the
grounds of my fears, and imploring him to come to Cahergillagh without
delay, in order to remove me from my husband's control, previously to
taking legal steps for a final separation.
Circumstanced as I was, my existence was little short of intolerable,
for, besides the fearful suspicions which attached to my husband, I
plainly perceived that if Lord Glenfallen were not relieved, and that
speedily, insanity must supervene. I therefore expected my father's
arrival, or at least a letter to announce it, with indescribable
impatience.
About a week after the execution had taken place, Lord Glenfallen one
morning met me with an unusually sprightly air.
"Fanny," said he, "I have it now for the first time in my power to
explain to your satisfaction everything which has hitherto appeared
suspicious or mysterious in my conduct. After breakfast come with me to
my study, and I shall, I hope, make all things clear."
This invitation afforded me more real pleasure than I had experienced
for months. Something had certainly occurred to tranquillize my
husband's mind in no ordinary degree, and I thought it by no means
impossible that he would, in the proposed interview, prove himself the
most injured and innocent of men.
Full of this hope, I repaired to his study at the appointed hour. He was
writing busily when I entered the room, and just raising his eyes, he
requested me to be seated.
I took a chair as he desired, and remained silently awaiting his
leisure, while he finished, folded, directed, and sealed his letter.
Laying it then upon the table with the address downward, he said,--
"My dearest Fanny, I know I must have appeared very strange to you and
very unkind--often even cruel. Before the end of this week I will show
you the necessity of my conduct--how impossible it was that I should
have seemed otherwise. I am conscious that many acts of mine must have
inevitably given rise to painful suspicions--suspicions which, indeed,
upon one occasion, you very properly communicated to me. I have
got two letters from a quarter which commands respect, containing
information as to the course by which I may be enabled to prove the
negative of all the crimes which even the most credulous suspicion
could lay to my charge. I expected a third by this morning's post,
containing documents which will set the matter for ever at rest, but
owing, no doubt, to some neglect, or perhaps to some difficulty in
collecting the papers, some inevitable delay, it has not come to hand
this morning, according to my expectation. I was finishing one to the
very same quarter when you came in, and if a sound rousing be worth
anything, I think I shall have a special messenger before two days
have passed. I have been anxiously considering with myself, as to
whether I had better imperfectly clear up your doubts by submitting to
your inspection the two letters which I have already received, or wait
till I can triumphantly vindicate myself by the production of the
documents which I have already mentioned, and I have, I think, not
unnaturally decided upon the latter course. However, there is a person
in the next room whose testimony is not without its value--excuse me
for one moment."
So saying, he arose and went to the door of a closet which opened from
the study; this he unlocked, and half opening the door, he said, "It is
only I," and then slipped into the room, and carefully closed and locked
the door behind him.
I immediately heard his voice in animated conversation. My curiosity
upon the subject of the letter was naturally great, so, smothering any
little scruples which I might have felt, I resolved to look at the
address of the letter which lay, as my husband had left it, with its
face upon the table. I accordingly drew it over to me, and turned up the
direction.
For two or three moments I could scarce believe my eyes, but there could
be no mistake--in large characters were traced the words, "To the
Archangel Gabriel in Heaven."
I had scarcely returned the letter to its original position, and in some
degree recovered the shock which this unequivocal proof of insanity
produced, when the closet door was unlocked, and Lord Glenfallen
re-entered the study, carefully closing and locking the door again upon
the outside.
"Whom have you there?" inquired I, making a strong effort to appear
calm.
"Perhaps," said he, musingly, "you might have some objection to seeing
her, at least for a time."
"Who is it?" repeated I.
"Why," said he, "I see no use in hiding it--the blind Dutchwoman. I have
been with her the whole morning. She is very anxious to get out of that
closet; but you know she is odd, she is scarcely to be trusted."
A heavy gust of wind shook the door at this moment with a sound as if
something more substantial were pushing against it.
"Ha, ha, ha!--do you hear her?" said he, with an obstreperous burst of
laughter.
The wind died away in a long howl, and Lord Glenfallen, suddenly
checking his merriment, shrugged his shoulders, and muttered:
"Poor devil, she has been hardly used."
"We had better not tease her at present with questions," said I, in as
unconcerned a tone as I could assume, although I felt every moment as if
I should faint.
"Humph! may be so," said he. "Well, come back in an hour or two, or when
you please, and you will find us here."
He again unlocked the door, and entered with the same precautions which
he had adopted before, locking the door upon the inside; and as I
hurried from the room, I heard his voice again exerted as if in eager
parley.
I can hardly describe my emotions; my hopes had been raised to the
highest, and now, in an instant, all was gone: the dreadful consummation
was accomplished--the fearful retribution had fallen upon the guilty
man--the mind was destroyed, the power to repent was gone.