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. Yet even in the very
moment she most denied him, she so contrived that the
restrained fire should burn with tenfold fury within his
heart--rendering him hourly more anxious for her possession,
even as he became hourly less fastidious about the means
of attainment.
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 he 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, 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 in 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 their
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 so 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 he 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 endeavouring 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 his 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 tomorrow. 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 threshhold, 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 blacks, 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 with 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 immerged
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
unlocked 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.