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_"Laden with Golden Grain"_
* * * * *
THE
ARGOSY.
EDITED BY
CHARLES W. WOOD.
* * * * *
VOLUME LI.
_January to June, 1891._
* * * * *
RICHARD BENTLEY & SON,
8, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, LONDON, W.
Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty.
_All rights reserved._
LONDON:
PRINTED BY OGDEN, SMALE AND CO. LIMITED,
GREAT SAFFRON HILL, E.C.
_CONTENTS._
THE FATE OF THE HARA DIAMOND. Illustrated by M.L. GOW.
Chap. I. My Arrival at Deepley Walls Jan
II. The Mistress of Deepley Walls Jan
III. A Voyage of Discovery Jan
IV. Scarsdale Weir Jan
V. At Rose Cottage Feb
VI. The Growth of a Mystery Feb
VII. Exit Janet Hope Feb
VIII. By the Scotch Express Feb
IX. At "The Golden Griffin" Mar
X. The Stolen Manuscript Mar
XI. Bon Repos Mar
XII. The Amsterdam Edition of 1698 Mar
XIII. M. Platzoff's Secret--Captain Ducie's Translation of
M. Paul Platzoff's MS Mar
XIV. Drashkil-Smoking Apr
XV. The Diamond Apr
XVI. Janet's Return Apr
XVII. Deepley Walls after Seven Years Apr
XVIII. Janet in a New Character May
XIX. The Dawn of Love May
XX. The Narrative of Sergeant Nicholas May
XXI. Counsel taken with Mr. Madgin May
XXII. Mr. Madgin at the Helm Jun
XXIII. Mr. Madgin's Secret Journey Jun
XXIV. Enter Madgin Junior Jun
XXV. Madgin Junior's First Report Jun
* * * * *
THE SILENT CHIMES. By JOHNNY LUDLOW (Mrs. HENRY WOOD).
Putting Them Up Jan
Playing Again Feb
Ringing at Midday Mar
Not Heard Apr
Silent for Ever May
* * * * *
THE BRETONS AT HOME. By CHARLES W. WOOD, F.R.G.S. With
35 Illustrations Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun
* * * * *
About the Weather Jun
Across the River. By HELEN M. BURNSIDE Apr
After Twenty Years. By ADA M. TROTTER Feb
A Memory. By GEORGE COTTERELL Feb
A Modern Witch Jan
An April Folly. By GILBERT H. PAGE Apr
A Philanthropist. By ANGUS GREY Jun
Aunt Phoebe's Heirlooms: An Experience in Hypnotism Feb
A Social Debut Mar
A Song. By G.B. STUART Jan
Enlightenment. By E. NESBIT Feb
In a Bernese Valley. By ALEXANDER LAMONT Feb
Legend of an Ancient Minster. By JOHN GRÆME Mar
Longevity. By W.F. AINSWORTH, F.S.A. Apr
Mademoiselle Elise. By EDWARD FRANCIS Jun
Mediums and Mysteries. By NARISSA ROSAVO Feb
Miss Kate Marsden Jan
My May Queen. By JOHN JERVIS BERESFORD, M.A. May
Old China Jun
On Letter-Writing. By A.H. JAPP, LL.D. May
Paul. By the Author of "Adonais, Q.C." May
"Proctorised" Apr
Rondeau. By E. NESBIT Mar
Saint or Satan? By A. BERESFORD Feb
Sappho. By MARY GREY Mar
Serenade. By E. NESBIT Jun
Sonnets. By JULIA KAVANAGH Jan, Feb, Apr, Jun
So Very Unattractive! Jun
Spes. By JOHN JERVIS BERESFORD, M.A. Apr
Sweet Nancy. By JEANIE GWYNNE BETTANY May
The Church Garden. By CHRISTIAN BURKE May
The Only Son of his Mother. By LETITIA MCCLINTOCK Mar
To my Soul. From the French of Victor Hugo Jun
Unexplained. By LETITIA MCCLINTOCK Apr
Who Was the Third Maid? Jan
Winter in Absence Feb
* * * * *
_POETRY._
Sonnets. By JULIA KAVANAGH Jan, Feb, Apr, Jun
A Song. By G.B. STUART Jan
Enlightenment. By E. NESBIT Feb
Winter in Absence Feb
A Memory. By GEORGE COTTERELL Feb
In a Bernese Valley. By ALEXANDER LAMONT Feb
Rondeau. By E. NESBIT Mar
Spes. By JOHN JERVIS BERESFORD, M.A. Apr
Across the River. By HELEN M. BURNSIDE Apr
My May Queen. By JOHN JERVIS BERESFORD, M.A. May
The Church Garden. By CHRISTIAN BURKE May
Serenade. By E. NESBIT Jun
To my Soul. From the French of Victor Hugo Jun
Old China Jun
* * * * *
_ILLUSTRATIONS._
By M.L. Gow.
"I advanced slowly up the room, stopped, and curtsied."
"I saw and recognised the mysterious midnight visitor."
"He came back in a few minutes, but so transformed in outward
appearance that Ducie scarcely knew him."
"Behold!"
"Sister Agnes knelt for a few moments and bent her head in silent
prayer."
"He put his hand to his side, and motioned Mirpah to open the letter."
* * * * *
Illustrations to "The Bretons at Home."
[Illustration: SISTER AGNES KNELT FOR A FEW MOMENTS, AND BENT HER HEAD
IN SILENT PRAYER.]
THE ARGOSY.
_MAY, 1891._
THE FATE OF THE HARA DIAMOND.
CHAPTER XVIII.
JANET IN A NEW CHARACTER.
On entering Lady Chillington's room for the second time, Janet found
that the mistress of Deepley Walls had completed her toilette in the
interim, and was now sitting robed in stiff rustling silk, with an
Indian fan in one hand and a curiously-chased vinaigrette in the other.
She motioned with her fan to Janet. "Be seated," she said, in the iciest
of tones; and Janet sat down on a chair a yard or two removed from her
ladyship.
"Since you were here last, Miss Hope," she began, "I have seen Sister
Agnes, who informs me that she has already given you an outline of the
duties I shall require you to perform should you agree to accept the
situation which ill-health obliges her to vacate. At the same time, I
wish you clearly to understand that I do not consider you in any way
bound by what I have done for you in the time gone by, neither would I
have you in this matter run counter to your inclinations in the
slightest degree. If you would prefer that a situation as governess
should be obtained for you, say so without hesitation; and any small
influence I may have shall be used ungrudgingly in your behalf. Should
you agree to remain at Deepley Walls, your salary will be thirty guineas
a-year. If you wish it, you can take a day for consideration, and let me
have your decision in the morning."
Lady Chillington's mention of a fixed salary stung Janet to the quick:
it was so entirely unexpected. It stung her, but only for a moment; the
next she saw and gratefully recognised the fact that she should no
longer be a pensioner on the bounty of Lady Chillington. A dependent she
might be--a servant even, if you like; but at least she would be earning
her living by the labour of her own hands; and even about the very
thought of such a thing there was a sweet sense of independence that
flushed her warmly through and through.
Her hesitation lasted but a moment, then she spoke. "Your ladyship is
very kind, but I require no time for consideration," she said. "I have
already made up my mind to take the position which you have so
generously offered me; and if my ability to please you only prove equal
to my inclination, you will not have much cause to complain."
A faint smile of something like satisfaction flitted across Lady
Chillington's face. "Very good, Miss Hope," she said, in a more gracious
tone than she had yet used. "I am pleased to find that you have taken so
sensible a view of the matter, and that you understand so thoroughly
your position under my roof. How soon shall you be prepared to begin
your new duties?"
"I am ready at this moment."
"Come to me an hour hence, and I will then instruct you."
In this second interview, brief though it was, Janet could not avoid
being struck by Lady Chillington's stately dignity of manner. Her tone
and style were those of a high-bred gentlewoman. It seemed scarcely
possible that she and the querulous, shrivelled-up old woman in the
cashmere dressing-robe could be one and the same individual.
Unhappily, as Janet to her cost was not long in finding out, her
ladyship's querulous moods were much more frequent than her moods of
quiet dignity. At such times she was very difficult to please;
sometimes, indeed, it was utterly impossible to please her: not even an
angel could have done it. Then, indeed, Janet felt her duty weigh very
hardly upon her. By nature her temper was quick and passionate--her
impulses high and generous; but when Lady Chillington was in her worse
moods, she had to curb the former as with an iron chain; while the
latter were outraged continually by Lady Chillington's mean and miserly
mode of life, and by a certain low and sordid tone of thought which at
such times pervaded all she said and did. And yet, strange to say, she
had rare fits of generosity and goodwill--times when her soul seemed to
sit in sackcloth and ashes, as if in repentance for those other
occasions when the "dark fit" was on her, and the things of this world
claimed her too entirely as their own.
After her second interview with Lady Chillington, Janet at once hurried
off to Sister Agnes to tell her the news. "On one point only, so far as
I see at present, shall I require any special information," she said. "I
shall need to know exactly the mode of procedure necessary to be
observed when I pay my midnight visits to Sir John Chillington."
"It is not my intention that you should visit Sir John," said Sister
Agnes. "That portion of my old duties will continue to be performed by
me."
"Not until you are stronger--not until your health is better than it is
now," said Janet earnestly. "I am young and strong; it is merely a part
of what I have undertaken to do, and you must please let me do it. I
have outgrown my childish fears, and could visit the Black Room now
without the quiver of a nerve."
"You think so by daylight, but wait until the house is dark and silent,
and then say the same conscientiously, if you can do so."
But Janet was determined not to yield the point, nor could Sister Agnes
move her from her decision. Ultimately a compromise was entered into by
which it was agreed that for one evening at least they should visit the
Black Room together, and that the settlement of the question should be
left until the following day.
Precisely as midnight struck they set out together up the wide,
old-fashioned staircase, past the door of Janet's old room, up the
narrower staircase beyond, until the streak of light came into view and
the grim, nail-studded door itself was reached. Janet was secretly glad
that she was not there alone; so much she acknowledged to herself as
they halted for a moment while Sister Agnes unlocked the door. But when
the latter asked her if she were not afraid, if she would not much
rather be snug in bed, Janet only said: "Give me the key; tell me what I
have to do inside the room, and then leave me."
But Sister Agnes would not consent to that, and they entered the room
together. Instead of seven years, it seemed to Janet only seven hours
since she had been there last, so vividly was the recollection of her
first visit still impressed upon her mind. Everything was unchanged in
that chamber of the dead, except, perhaps, the sprawling cupids on the
ceiling, which looked a shade dingier than of old, and more in need of
soap and water than ever. But the black draperies on the walls, the huge
candles in the silver tripods, the pall-covered coffin in the middle of
the room, were all as Janet had seen them last. There, too, was the
oaken _prie-dieu_ a yard or two away from the head of the coffin. Sister
Agnes knelt on it for a few moments, and bent her head in silent prayer.
"My visit to this room every midnight," said Sister Agnes, "is made for
the simple purpose of renewing the candles, and of seeing that
everything is as it should be. That the visit should be made at
midnight, and at no other time, is one of Lady Chillington's whims--a
whim that by process of time has crystallised into a law. The room is
never entered by day."
"Was it whim or madness that caused Sir John Chillington to leave orders
that his body should be kept above ground for twenty years?"
"Who shall tell by what motive he was influenced when he had that
particular clause inserted in his will? Deepley Walls itself hangs on
the proper fulfilment of the clause. If Lady Chillington were to cause
her husband's remains to be interred in the family vault before the
expiry of the twenty years, the very day she did so the estate would
pass from her to the present baronet, a distant cousin, between whom and
her ladyship there has been a bitter feud of many years' standing.
Although Deepley Walls has been in the family for a hundred and fifty
years, it has never been entailed. The entailed estate is in Yorkshire,
and there Sir Mark, the present baronet, resides. Lady Chillington has
the power of bequeathing Deepley Walls to whomsoever she may please,
providing she carry out strictly the instructions contained in her
husband's will. It is possible that in a court of law the will might
have been set aside on the ground of insanity, or the whole matter might
have been thrown into Chancery. But Lady Chillington did not choose to
submit to such an ordeal. All the courts of law in the kingdom could
have given her no more than she possessed already--they could merely
have given her permission to bury her husband's body, and it did not
seem to her that such a permission could compensate for turning into
public gossip a private chapter of family history. So here Sir John
Chillington has remained since his death, and here he will stay till the
last of the twenty years has become a thing of the past. Two or three
times every year Mr. Winter, Sir Mark's lawyer, comes over to Deepley
Walls to satisfy himself by ocular proof that Sir John's instructions
are being duly carried out. This he has a legal right to do in the
interests of his client. Sometimes he is conducted to this room by Lady
Chillington, sometimes by me; but even in his case her ladyship will not
relax her rule of not having the room visited by day."
Sister Agnes then showed Janet that behind the black draperies there was
a cupboard in the wall, which on being opened proved to contain a
quantity of large candles. One by one Sister Agnes took out of the
silver tripods what remained of the candles of the previous day, and
filled up their places with fresh ones. Janet looked on attentively.
Then, for the second time, Sister Agnes knelt on the _prie-dieu_ for a
few moments, and then she and Janet left the room.
Next day Sister Agnes was so ill, and Janet pressed so earnestly to be
allowed to attend to the Black Room in place of her, and alone, that she
was obliged to give a reluctant consent.
It was not without an inward tremor that Janet heard the clock strike
twelve. Sister Agnes had insisted on accompanying her part of the way
upstairs, and would, in fact, have gone the whole distance with her, had
not Janet insisted on going forward alone. In a single breath, as it
seemed to her, she ran up the remaining stairs, unlocked the door, and
entered the room. Her nerves were not sufficiently composed to allow of
her making use of the _prie-dieu_. All she cared for just then was to
get through her duty as quickly as possible, and return in safety to the
world of living beings downstairs. She set her teeth, and by a supreme
effort of will went through the small duty that was required of her
steadily but swiftly. Her face was never turned away from the coffin the
whole time; and when she had finished her task she walked backwards to
the door, opened it, walked backwards out, and in another breath was
downstairs, and safe in the protecting arms of Sister Agnes.
Next night she insisted upon going entirely alone, and made so light of
the matter that Sister Agnes no longer opposed her wish to make the
midnight visit to the Black Room a part of her ordinary duty. But
inwardly Janet could never quite overcome her secret awe of the room and
its silent occupant. She always dreaded the coming of the hour that took
her there, and when her task was over, she never closed the door without
a feeling of relief. In this case, custom with her never bred
familiarity. To the last occasion of her going there she went the prey
of hidden fears--fears of she knew not what, which she derided to
herself even while they made her their victim. There was a morbid thread
running through the tissue of her nerves, which by intense force of will
might be kept from growing and spreading, but which no effort of hers
could quite pluck out or eradicate.