approaching hastily from the opposite side of the square. Considering
the season of the year and the genial mildness of the night, he was
somewhat closely muffled up; and as he came, for all his hurry, he kept
looking nervously behind him. Arrived before my door, he halted and set
one foot upon the step, as though about to enter; then, with a sudden
change, he turned and began to hurry away; halted a second time, as if
in painful indecision; and lastly, with a violent gesture, wheeled
about, returned straight to the door, and rapped upon the knocker. He
was almost immediately admitted by the first arrival.
My curiosity was now broad awake. I made myself as small as I could in
the very densest of the shadow, and waited for the sequel. Nor had I
long to wait. From the same side of the square a second young man made
his appearance, walking slowly and softly, and like the first, muffled
to the nose. Before the house he paused; looked all about him with a
swift and comprehensive glance; and seeing the square lie empty in the
moon and lamp-light, leaned far across the area railings and appeared to
listen to what was passing in the house. From the dining-room there came
the report of a champagne cork, and following upon that, the sound of
rich and manly laughter. The listener took heart of grace, produced a
key, unlocked the area gate, shut it noiselessly behind him, and
descended the stair. Just when his head had reached the level of the
pavement, he turned half round and once more raked the square with a
suspicious eyeshot. The mufflings had fallen lower round his neck; the
moon shone full upon him; and I was startled to observe the pallor and
passionate agitation of his face.
I could remain no longer passive. Persuaded that something deadly was
afoot, I crossed the roadway and drew near the area railings. There was
no one below; the man must therefore have entered the house, with what
purpose I dreaded to imagine. I have at no part of my career lacked
courage; and now, finding the area gate was merely laid-to, I pushed it
gently open and descended the stairs. The kitchen door of the house,
like the area gate, was closed but not fastened. It flashed upon me
that the criminal was thus preparing his escape; and the thought, as it
confirmed the worst of my suspicions, lent me new resolve. I entered the
house; and being now quite reckless of my life, I shut and locked the
door.
From the dining-room above I could hear the pleasant tones of a voice in
easy conversation. On the ground floor all was not only profoundly
silent, but the darkness seemed to weigh upon my eyes. Here, then, I
stood for some time, having thrust myself uncalled into the utmost
peril, and being destitute of any power to help or interfere. Nor will I
deny that fear had begun already to assail me, when I became aware, all
at once and as though by some immediate but silent incandescence, of a
certain glimmering of light upon the passage floor. Towards this I
groped my way with infinite precaution; and having come at length as far
as the angle of the corridor, beheld the door of the butler's pantry
standing just ajar and a narrow thread of brightness falling from the
chink. Creeping still closer, I put my eye to the aperture. The man sat
within upon a chair, listening, I could see, with the most rapt
attention. On a table before him he had laid a watch, a pair of steel
revolvers, and a bull's-eye lantern. For one second many contradictory
theories and projects whirled together in my head; the next, I had
slammed the door and turned the key upon the malefactor. Surprised at my
own decision, I stood and panted, leaning on the wall. From within the
pantry not a sound was to be heard; the man, whatever he was, had
accepted his fate without a struggle, and now, as I hugged myself to
fancy, sat frozen with terror and looking for the worst to follow. I
promised myself that he should not be disappointed; and the better to
complete my task, I turned to ascend the stairs.
The situation, as I groped my way to the first floor, appealed to me
suddenly by my strong sense of humour. Here was I, the owner of the
house, burglariously present in its walls; and there, in the
dining-room, were two gentlemen, unknown to me, seated complacently at
supper, and only saved by my promptitude from some surprising or deadly
interruption. It were strange if I could not manage to extract the
matter of amusement from so unusual a situation.
Behind this dining-room there is a small apartment intended for a
library. It was to this that I cautiously groped my way; and you will
see how fortune had exactly served me. The weather, I have said, was
sultry: in order to ventilate the dining-room and yet preserve the
uninhabited appearance of the mansion to the front, the window of the
library had been widely opened and the door of communication between the
two apartments left ajar. To this interval I now applied my eye.
Wax tapers, set in silver candlesticks, shed their chastened brightness
on the damask of the tablecloth and the remains of a cold collation of
the rarest delicacy. The two gentlemen had finished supper, and were now
trifling with cigars and maraschino; while in a silver spirit-lamp,
coffee of the most captivating fragrance was preparing in the fashion of
the East. The elder of the two, he who had first arrived, was placed
directly facing me; the other was set on his left hand. Both, like the
man in the butler's pantry, seemed to be intently listening; and on the
face of the second I thought I could perceive the marks of fear. Oddly
enough, however, when they came to speak, the parts were found to be
reversed.
"I assure you," said the elder gentleman, "I not only heard the slamming
of a door, but the sound of very guarded footsteps."
"Your highness was certainly deceived," replied the other. "I am endowed
with the acutest hearing, and I can swear that not a mouse has rustled."
Yet the pallor and contraction of his features were in total discord
with the tenor of his words.
His highness (whom, of course, I readily divined to be Prince Florizel)
looked at his companion for the least fraction of a second; and though
nothing shook the easy quiet of his attitude, I could see that he was
far from being duped. "It is well," said he: "let us dismiss the topic.
And now, sir, that I have very freely explained the sentiments by which
I am directed, let me ask you, according to your promise, to imitate my
frankness."
"I have heard you," replied the other, "with great interest."
"With singular patience," said the prince politely.
"Ay, your highness, and with unlooked-for sympathy," returned the young
man. "I know not how to tell the change that has befallen me. You have,
I must suppose, a charm, to which even your enemies are subject." He
looked at the clock on the mantelpiece and visibly blanched. "So late!"
he cried. "Your highness--God knows I am now speaking from the
heart--before it be too late, leave this house!"
The prince glanced once more at his companion, and then very
deliberately shook the ash from his cigar. "That is a strange remark,"
said he; "and _a propos de bottes_, I never continue a cigar when once
the ash is fallen; the spell breaks, the soul of the flavour flies away,
and there remains but the dead body of tobacco; and I make it a rule to
throw away that husk and choose another." He suited the action to the
words.
"Do not trifle with my appeal," resumed the young man, in tones that
trembled with emotion. "It is made at the price of my honour and to the
peril of my life. Go--go now! lose not a moment; and if you have any
kindness for a young man, miserably deceived indeed, but not devoid of
better sentiments, look not behind you as you leave."
"Sir," said the prince, "I am here upon your honour; I assure you upon
mine that I shall continue to rely upon that safeguard. The coffee is
ready; I must again trouble you, I fear." And with a courteous movement
of the hand, he seemed to invite his companion to pour out the coffee.
The unhappy young man rose from his seat. "I appeal to you," he cried,
"by every holy sentiment, in mercy to me, if not in pity to yourself,
begone before it is too late."
"Sir," replied the prince, "I am not readily accessible to fear; and if
there is one defect to which I must plead guilty, it is that of a
curious disposition. You go the wrong way about to make me leave this
house, in which I play the part of your entertainer; and, suffer me to
add, young man, if any peril threaten us, it was of your contriving, not
of mine."
"Alas, you do not know to what you condemn me," cried the other. "But I
at least will have no hand in it." With these words he carried his hand
to his pocket, hastily swallowed the contents of a phial, and, with the
very act, reeled back and fell across his chair upon the floor. The
prince left his place and came and stood above him, where he lay
convulsed upon the carpet. "Poor moth!" I heard his highness murmur.
"Alas, poor moth! must we again inquire which is the more
fatal--weakness or wickedness? And can a sympathy with ideas, surely not
ignoble in themselves, conduct a man to this dishonourable death?"
By this time I had pushed the door open and walked into the room. "Your
highness," said I, "this is no time for moralising; with a little
promptness we may save this creature's life; and as for the other, he
need cause you no concern, for I have him safely under lock and key."
The prince had turned about upon my entrance, and regarded me certainly
with no alarm, but with a profundity of wonder which almost robbed me of
my self-possession. "My dear madam," he cried at last, "and who the
devil are you?"
I was already on the floor beside the dying man. I had, of course, no
idea with what drug he had attempted his life, and I was forced to try
him with a variety of antidotes. Here were both oil and vinegar, for the
prince had done the young man the honour of compounding for him one of
his celebrated salads; and of each of these I administered from a
quarter to half a pint, with no apparent efficacy. I next plied him
with the hot coffee, of which there may have been near upon a quart.
"Have you no milk?" I inquired.
"I fear, madam, that milk has been omitted," returned the prince.
"Salt, then," said I; "salt is a revulsive. Pass the salt."
"And possibly the mustard?" asked his highness, as he offered me the
contents of the various salt-cellars poured together on a plate.
"Ah," cried I, "the thought is excellent! Mix me about half a pint of
mustard, drinkably dilute."
Whether it was the salt or the mustard, or the mere combination of so
many subversive agents, as soon as the last had been poured over his
throat, the young sufferer obtained relief.
"There!" I exclaimed, with natural triumph, "I have saved a life!"
"And yet, madam," returned the prince, "your mercy may be cruelly
disguised. Where the honour is lost, it is, at least, superfluous to
prolong the life."
"If you had led a life as changeable as mine, your highness," I replied,
"you would hold a very different opinion. For my part, and after
whatever extremity of misfortune or disgrace, I should still count
to-morrow worth a trial."
"You speak as a lady, madam," said the prince; "and for such you speak
the truth. But to men there is permitted such a field of licence, and
the good behaviour asked of them is at once so easy and so little, that
to fail in that is to fall beyond the reach of pardon. But will you
suffer me to repeat a question, put to you at first, I am afraid, with
some defect of courtesy; and to ask you once more, who you are and how I
have the honour of your company?"
"I am the proprietor of the house in which we stand," said I.
"And still I am at fault," returned the prince.
But at that moment the timepiece on the mantelshelf began to strike the
hour of twelve; and the young man, raising himself upon one elbow, with
an expression of despair and horror that I have never seen excelled,
cried lamentably: "Midnight? oh, just God!" We stood frozen to our
places, while the tingling hammer of the timepiece measured the
remaining strokes; nor had we yet stirred, so tragic had been the tones
of the young man, when the various bells of London began in turn to
declare the hour. The timepiece was inaudible beyond the walls of the
chamber where we stood; but the second pulsation of Big Ben had scarcely
throbbed into the night, before a sharp detonation rang about the house.
The prince sprang for the door by which I had entered; but quick as he
was, I yet contrived to intercept him.
"Are you armed?" I cried.
"No, madam," replied he. "You remind me appositely; I will take the
poker."
"The man below," said I, "has two revolvers. Would you confront him at
such odds?"
He paused, as though staggered in his purpose. "And yet, madam," said
he, "we cannot continue to remain in ignorance of what has passed."
"No!" cried I. "And who proposes it? I am as curious as yourself, but
let us rather send for the police; or, if your highness dreads a
scandal, for some of your own servants."
"Nay, madam," he replied, smiling, "for so brave a lady, you surprise
me. Would you have me, then, send others where I fear to go myself."
"You are perfectly right," said I, "and I was entirely wrong. Go, in
God's name, and I will hold the candle!"
Together, therefore, we descended to the lower story, he carrying the
poker, I the light; and together we approached and opened the door of
the butler's pantry. In some sort, I believe, I was prepared for the
spectacle that met our eyes; I was prepared, that is, to find the
villain dead, but the rude details of such a violent suicide I was
unable to endure. The prince, unshaken by horror as he had remained
unshaken by alarm, assisted me with the most respectful gallantry to
regain the dining-room.
There we found our patient, still, indeed, deadly pale, but vastly
recovered and already seated on a chair. He held out both his hands with
a most pitiful gesture of interrogation.
"He is dead," said the prince.
"Alas!" cried the young man, "and it should be I! What do I do, thus
lingering on the stage I have disgraced, while he, my sure comrade,
blameworthy indeed for much, but yet the soul of fidelity, has judged
and slain himself for an involuntary fault? Ah, sir," said he, "and you
too, madam, without whose cruel help I should be now beyond the reach of
my accusing conscience, you behold in me the victim equally of my own
faults and virtues. I was born a hater of injustice; from my most tender
years my blood boiled against Heaven when I beheld the sick, and against
men when I witnessed the sorrows of the poor; the pauper's crust stuck
in my throat when I sat down to eat my dainties, and the cripple child
has set me weeping. What was there in that but what was noble? and yet
observe to what a fall these thoughts have led me! Year after year this
passion for the lost besieged me closer. What hope was there in kings?
what hope in these well-feathered classes that now roll in money? I had
observed the course of history; I knew the burgess, our ruler of to-day,
to be base, cowardly, and dull; I saw him, in every age, combine to pull
down that which was immediately above and to prey upon those that were
below; his dulness, I knew, would ultimately bring about his ruin; I
knew his days were numbered, and yet how was I to wait? how was I to let
the poor child shiver in the rain? The better days, indeed, were coming,
but the child would die before that. Alas, your highness, in surely no
ungenerous impatience I enrolled myself among the enemies of this unjust
and doomed society; in surely no unnatural desire to keep the fires of
my philanthropy alight, I bound myself by an irrevocable oath.
"That oath is all my history. To give freedom to posterity, I had
forsworn my own. I must attend upon every signal; and soon my father
complained of my irregular hours and turned me from his house. I was
engaged in betrothal to an honest girl; from her also I had to part, for
she was too shrewd to credit my inventions and too innocent to be
intrusted with the truth. Behold me, then, alone with conspirators!
Alas! as the years went on, my illusions left me. Surrounded as I was by
the fervent disciples and apologists of revolution, I beheld them daily
advance in confidence and desperation; I beheld myself, upon the other
hand, and with an almost equal regularity, decline in faith. I had
sacrificed all to further that cause in which I still believed; and
daily I began to grow in doubts if we were advancing it indeed. Horrible
was the society with which we warred, but our own means were not less
horrible.
"I will not dwell upon my sufferings; I will not pause to tell you how,
when I beheld young men still free and happy, married, fathers of
children, cheerfully toiling at their work, my heart reproached me with
the greatness and vanity of my unhappy sacrifice. I will not describe to
you how, worn by poverty, poor lodging, scanty food, and an unquiet
conscience, my health began to fail, and in the long nights, as I
wandered bedless in the rainy streets, the most cruel sufferings of the
body were added to the tortures of my mind. These things are not
personal to me; they are common to all unfortunates in my position. An
oath, so light a thing to swear, so grave a thing to break: an oath,
taken in the heat of youth, repented with what sobbings of the heart,
but yet in vain repented, as the years go on: an oath, that was once the
very utterance of the truth of God, but that falls to be the symbol of a
meaningless and empty slavery; such is the yoke that many young men
joyfully assume, and under whose dead weight they live to suffer worse
than death.
"It is not that I was patient. I have begged to be released; but I knew
too much, and I was still refused. I have fled; ay, and for the time
successfully. I reached Paris. I found a lodging in the Rue St. Jacques,
almost opposite the Val de Grace. My room was mean and bare, but the sun
looked into it towards evening; it commanded a peep of a green garden; a
bird hung by a neighbour's window and made the morning beautiful; and I,
who was sick, might lie in bed and rest myself: I, who was in full
revolt against the principles that I had served, was now no longer at
the beck of the council, and was no longer charged with shameful and
revolting tasks. Oh! what an interval of peace was that! I still dream,
at times, that I can hear the note of my neighbour's bird.
"My money was running out, and it became necessary that I should find
employment. Scarcely had I been three days upon the search, ere I
thought that I was being followed. I made certain of the features of the
man, which were quite strange to me, and turned into a small cafe, where
I whiled away an hour, pretending to read the papers, but inwardly
convulsed with terror. When I came forth again into the street, it was
quite empty, and I breathed again; but alas, I had not turned three
corners, when I once more observed the human hound pursuing me. Not an
hour was to be lost; timely submission might yet preserve a life which
otherwise was forfeit and dishonoured; and I fled, with what speed you
may conceive, to the Paris agency of the society I served.
"My submission was accepted. I took up once more the hated burthen of
that life; once more I was at the call of men whom I despised and hated,
while yet I envied and admired them. They at least were whole-hearted in
the things they purposed; but I, who had once been such as they, had
fallen from the brightness of my faith, and now laboured, like a
hireling, for the wages of a loathed existence. Ay, sir, to that I was
condemned; I obeyed to continue to live, and lived but to obey.
"The last charge that was laid upon me was the one which has to-night so
tragically ended. Boldly telling who I was, I was to request from your
highness, on behalf of my society, a private audience, where it was
designed to murder you. If one thing remained to me of my old
convictions, it was the hate of kings; and when this task was offered
me, I took it gladly. Alas, sir, you triumphed. As we supped, you gained
upon my heart. Your character, your talents, your designs for our
unhappy country, all had been misrepresented. I began to forget you were
a prince; I began, all too feelingly, to remember that you were a man.
As I saw the hour approach, I suffered agonies untold; and when, at
last, we heard the slamming of the door which announced in my unwilling
ears the arrival of the partner of my crime, you will bear me out with
what instancy I besought you to depart. You would not, alas! and what
could I? Kill you, I could not; my heart revolted, my hand turned back
from such a deed. Yet it was impossible that I should suffer you to
stay; for when the hour struck and my companion came, true to his
appointment, and he, at least, true to our design, I could neither
suffer you to be killed nor yet him to be arrested. From such a tragic
passage, death, and death alone, could save me; and it is no fault of
mine if I continue to exist.
"But you, madam," continued the young man, addressing himself more
directly to myself, "were doubtless born to save the prince and to
confound our purposes. My life you have prolonged; and by turning the
key on my companion, you have made me the author of his death. He heard
the hour strike; he was impotent to help; and thinking himself forfeit
to honour, thinking that I should fall alone upon his highness and
perish for lack of his support, he has turned his pistol on himself."
"You are right," said Prince Florizel: "it was in no ungenerous spirit
that you brought these burthens on yourself; and when I see you so nobly
to blame, so tragically punished, I stand like one reproved. For is it
not strange, madam, that you and I, by practising accepted and
inconsiderable virtues, and commonplace but still unpardonable faults,
should stand here, in the sight of God, with what we call clean hands
and quiet consciences; while this poor youth, for an error that I could
almost envy him, should be sunk beyond the reach of hope?
"Sir," resumed the prince, turning to the young man, "I cannot help you;
my help would but unchain the thunderbolt that overhangs you; and I can
but leave you free."
"And, sir," said I, "as this house belongs to me, I will ask you to have
the kindness to remove the body. You and your conspirators, it appears
to me, can hardly in civility do less."
"It shall be done," said the young man, with a dismal accent.
"And you, dear madam," said the prince, "you, to whom I owe my life, how
can I serve you?"
"Your highness," I said, "to be very plain, this is my favourite house,
being not only a valuable property, but endeared to me by various
associations. I have endless troubles with tenants of the ordinary
class; and at first applauded my good fortune when I found one of the
station of your Master of the Horse. I now begin to think otherwise;
dangers set a siege about great personages; and I do not wish my
tenement to share these risks. Procure me the resiliation of the lease,
and I shall feel myself your debtor."
"I must tell you, madam," replied his highness, "that Colonel Geraldine
is but a cloak for myself; and I should be sorry indeed to think myself
so unacceptable a tenant."
"Your highness," said I, "I have conceived a sincere admiration for your
character; but on the subject of house property I cannot allow the
interference of my feelings. I will, however, to prove to you that there
is nothing personal in my request, here solemnly engage my word that I
will never put another tenant in this house."
"Madam," said Florizel, "you plead your cause too charmingly to be
refused."
Thereupon we all three withdrew. The young man, still reeling in his
walk, departed by himself to seek the assistance of his
fellow-conspirators; and the prince, with the most attentive gallantry,
lent me his escort to the door of my hotel. The next day the lease was
cancelled; nor from that hour to this, though sometimes regretting my
engagement, have I suffered a tenant in this house.
THE SUPERFLUOUS MANSION (_continued_)
As soon as the old lady had finished her relation, Somerset made haste
to offer her his compliments.