Could we but have the heart of the wicked laid open before us; could we
but see how it is torn and wrung by the evil passions that harbour
within it; could we but mark how, even in the strongest and most
determined breast, when bent upon evil purposes, or engaged in wicked
acts, fear and apprehension go hand in hand with every deed of evil,
while repentance, remorse, and punishment follow more slowly, though
not less surely, in the distance; what an instructive, what an awful
lesson it would be, and how fearfully we should shrink back from the
commission of the first crime, as from the brink of a precipice which,
once overleapt, dashes us down over a thousand pointed rocks, even into
the gulf of hell itself!
When Sir Walter and Alice Herbert had left him, the Earl of Danemore
pressed his hand upon his burning brow for a few moments, while wild
and thrilling thoughts, all painful, all angry, all evil, crossed and
re-crossed each other through his brain. He then turned with a rapid
step, and entered the room where the lawyer had lingered, fearing to
follow to a scene where the violent passions which he knew existed in
his patron's breast were likely to be excited into fury. The Earl
closed the door, and casting himself down into a chair, covered his
eyes with his hands.
He was roused, however, in a moment, by a voice saying, "Do not grieve
so, Danemore; do not grieve so. It's a sad thing, truly, to have one's
fine boy killed, and never see him again; but we must all die once, and
you'll die too, and very likely not long first, for you are an old man
now. Then we shall be all comfortable again, when we get on the other
side of the mole's habitation. Let me speak to him, Master Kinsight;
why should I not comfort him? We should all comfort each other."
"I have been trying, my lord," said the lawyer, in an apologetic tone,
as the Earl raised his eyes towards the half-witted man, "I have been
trying to get out of this foolish fellow who were the people that he
saw bury your lordship's noble son. He admits that he knows them all.
but declares that he will never mention the names of any of them."
The Earl passed his hand once or twice before his eyes, as if to clear
away other images from before his mental vision, ere he returned to the
subject which was again suddenly presented to him.
"He shall be made to tell," he said, at length, in a stern tone,
knitting his dark brows as he spoke; "he shall be made to tell, after
he has pointed out the spot where the poor boy lies."
"Why, my lord," answered the lawyer, "we do not need his help for that,
as he himself says that it was under the beech trees by the Mere; but I
am sure I do not know how your lordship will make him speak, for I have
been trying for this half hour, threatening him with your lordship's
displeasure, and to have him put in the cage, and everything I could
think of, but without effect."
"There are ways would make the dumb speak," replied the Earl. "I have
seen,"--he continued; but then, suddenly breaking off, he changed his
form of speech, and added, "I have heard, I mean to say, of old
Spaniards in the new world, who loved their gold better than their
life, and would have died sooner than reveal the spot where their
treasures were hidden; and yet there have been found ways to make them
speak; there have been found means to make them scream forth the name
of every treasure-cave they had."
"But, my lord," replied the lawyer, with a somewhat apprehensive look,
"but, my lord, you know in this country we dare not make use of any
such means."
The Earl gazed at him sternly, and yet somewhat contemptuously. "We
will do everything lawfully, Master Lawyer," he said; "we will do
everything lawfully. First, we are justified, I think, in keeping this
good man in strict confinement till he has declared the names of the
murderers or their accomplices. Next, I believe there is no law which
can compel us, till he is fully committed, to give him either meat or
drink; neither are we told that light must be admitted to the place
where he is held. Dost thou hear, Sir Fool? If thou tellest not
immediately the names of all those who were engaged in this hellish
act, thou shalt be shut up without a crust of bread, or a drop of
water, or a ray of light; and hunger, and thirst, and darkness, shall
be your companions till you do tell."
The unhappy man gazed in his face for a moment with a wandering and
haggard look, as if he scarcely understood or believed the menaces held
out to him. He replied, at length, however, in a low sad tone, "I have
vowed a vow, and it can't be broken. They call me mad, but I never
broke a promise nor told a falsehood. Let the wise ones say as much if
they can. No! you may quench the light of these eyes for ever; you may
deny me food, or make me perish of thirst; but you shall never make me
tell one word more than I have told."
"We shall see." replied the Earl, "we shall see;" and he added a few
indistinct words to the lawyer, who withdrew, and almost immediately
returned, accompanied by two or three of the lower grade of serving
men, who instantly laid hands upon the object of the Earl's
indignation, and dragged him out of the room to fulfil the orders which
they had previously received by the mouth of the attorney.
After they were gone, Lord Danemore paused for a moment thoughtfully,
and the shadows of dark passions might be seen traversing his high and
haughty brow. Ere he spoke he recovered his calmness, and there was
even a degree of melancholy in his tone as he said, "Men drive me to
things that I would not willingly do. It is not the fault of the lion
that he is a beast of prey, nor would he, except when pressed by need,
destroy or devour any being, if the hunters did not torment him by
pursuit. There is a weakness in my heart towards this youth which must
be conquered. I cannot view him as the murderer of my son, although the
tidings we have this day received would in some degree prove this to be
the case. Nevertheless, I will conquer such feelings. I will overcome
such folly, for these very papers prove that it is necessary he should
be removed from my path."
As he spoke, he laid his hand on the packet of bills of exchange, which
had been sealed up, and remained upon the table.
The lawyer gazed in his face with a look of some wonder and inquiry;
but the Earl proceeded without explanation.
"You will act as we before determined," he said; "the evidence that we
have got is now strong, you will take means still further to strengthen
it. There wants but one link in the chain. Amongst all those that you
know in the country round, cannot some one be found, think you, to
supply that link? Some poacher, some deer-stealer, who may have seen
the shot fired or the blow struck, while lurking about on his unlawful
avocations? Some one who might merit forgiveness for his other offences
by bearing testimony in this matter?"
The lawyer looked down, and hesitated. Although his nature was no ways
scrupulous, yet the bold, straightforward, uncompromising decision of
his patron alarmed rather than encouraged him.
"I will do my best, my lord," he said, in a low tone; "nothing shall be
wanting that I can do; but at the same time if we can let the matter
prove itself, it would be much better than risking anything by
manufacturing testimony."
"See that he escape me not," said the Earl, sternly; "see that he
escape me not. Woe be unto you should he do so. Trifle not with petty
means, sir. Timidity in such matters is ruin. Boldly, fearlessly, but
skilfully and carefully, pursue your plan. You have already the
strongest of all foundations to build upon. See that you build well, or
you shall answer to me for it. And now to other matters, though
connected, as you will see, with that of which we have spoken. This Sir
Walter Herbert must be dealt with immediately. If we do not at once
engage him so deeply in his own affairs that he shall have neither
time, nor wish, nor opportunity to meddle with others, he will find
means to mar our schemes, and disappoint all our expectations. Besides,
you know my feelings on the subject; with him the matter must be
brought to a speedy conclusion."
"That may well be done, my lord," replied the lawyer; "now that he has
tendered you, in payment of his debt, that which you cannot accept, it
is very natural that you should immediately take measures against him.
I myself am not much skilled in such matters, and might make some
mistake; but I saw yesterday at the town-house a person who is now down
here upon some special business, whom I can well trust, and who will, I
know, so manage the matter, that, once having fixed his hands upon this
knight, no turn, no shift, no evasion, scarcely even the power of the
law itself, will make him let go his hold."
"Indeed!" said the Earl; "indeed! Pray, who is this tenacious
personage?"
"His name, my lord, is Bolland," replied the lawyer; "he is a man who,
in the good city of London, has made himself a reputation little
inferior to that of a great general. His origin, indeed, was somewhat
low, having been a butcher in the city, a bankrupt, with some suspicion
of fraud in his transactions, and for a certain period, we are told, a
gambler, in a small way of trade."
"A goodly commencement for a future lawyer!" said the Earl, with a
bitter sneer curling his lip. "Of course he has prospered in the
world?"
"Your lordship's pardon," replied the other, somewhat sharply, "he is
no lawyer, nor has aught to do with the law but in following its
mandates. He is now a sheriff's officer of the county of Middlesex, but
he is not one to scruple at where he exercises his calling. I have
heard that he is amassing great wealth by the skill with which he deals
with his poor victims; sometimes suffering them to go at large on
payment of a weekly sum, sometimes even furnishing them with money
when, by putting them in this or that calling, he can ensure to himself
cent. per cent. repayment; but never does he suffer any one to slip
through his fingers; and if your lordship will permit me, I will mount
my horse directly, seek out Master Bolland, and charge him to execute a
writ against this Sir Walter."
"Do, do," said the Earl; "but yet," he continued, "I fear that all we
can do will hardly be in time to prevent this meddling old man--fool I
will not call him, for fool he is not--from taking such steps as may
embarrass our proceedings."
"I do not know, my lord," replied the lawyer; "I do not know; but one
thing I can answer for, that if you but trust the matter to me and
Bolland, and pay him well for his trouble, Sir Walter Herbert shall be
in the county gaol ere the sun goes down to-night."
"Indeed!" exclaimed the Earl, "that were quick, indeed. Promise him
this night a hundred pounds if he contrive to execute the writ as you
mention. Now go; no time must be lost."
But as he saw the lawyer rise to obey his directions, a look of doubt
and hesitation came over his countenance for a moment. "My poor boy
loved the girl," he said, "and therein there is a tie between those
Herberts and myself which I feel to be a weakness; and yet it comes
upon me even now when I think I am destroying the father of one for
whom he felt so tenderly. Stay, Master Attorney, stay. My poor boy
loved the girl!"
Accursed be all those, doubly accursed, who, when better feelings are
coming over our hearts--when the well of sweet waters is gushing up,
which is found somewhere in almost every desert--when a touch of human
affection is softening the harsh asperity of anger, blunting the sting
of hatred, or relaxing the iron grasp of revenge!--accursed be all
those, I say, who at such moments come in, and rouse up again within us
the evil passions that have been lulled to sleep, and might, perchance,
be strangled in their slumber, if some fiendish voice from without did
not waken them into fresh activity!
The lawyer saw, with pain, the shade of unwonted gentleness that passed
over his patron's countenance, for his own mind was made up altogether
of the considerations of petty interest, and he foresaw loss in any
relaxation of the other's harsh determinations.
With the skill of a demon, he instantly perceived how he might turn the
rare drop of honey into gall and bitterness; and he replied, "Yes, my
lord, he did love her dearly, but she did not love him as he deserved
to be loved; and the last most painful feelings of all his life were
brought about by her conduct to him."
"It is true!" said the Earl, frowning; "it is true! Go, and lose no
time. I have a sad task before me in the meantime, and I would fain
have intrusted you with it, Master Kinsight; but it cannot be. You
would not have time and opportunity to accomplish both."
"Pray what may it be, my lord?" demanded the lawyer, eagerly, fearful
of losing some other lucrative occupation. "My business with Bolland
will be over in a minute. I give him but directions, and trust the rest
to him. Pray what may it be?"
"Can you not divine, man?" demanded the Earl, fixing his large stern
eyes upon him; "can you not divine, that it is to seek and bring home
the dead body of my unhappy son from the spot where this idiot says
they have laid him."
"Oh, my lord!" exclaimed the lawyer, with some touch of human feeling
breaking even through his sordid nature, like a misty ray of sunshine
streaming through a dark cloud; "Oh, my lord! such is no task for you.
It would wring your heart sadly to be present yourself. Besides, the
magistrates ought to be there. Now, after I have spoken with Bolland,
and left the business in his hands, I shall have plenty of time to see
Sir Matthew Scrope and Sir Thomas Waller, and go with them to the spot.
Leave it to me, my lord, leave it to me; and if I bring those two
worthy justices over here with me, we may, perhaps, find some means of
making this half-witted man give us further information regarding the
murderers."
"Bring them not! bring them not!" replied the Earl, vehemently. "Mark
me, my good friend! In this matter I am moved by many very opposite
feelings. You know--you must feel, for you are a father yourself, how I
thirst to discover, and to drink the heart's blood of my son's
murderer! and yet I doubt that this fool, if forced to speak to any
other ear but my own, might reveal matter which might tend to exculpate
him whom we have there shut up above, and who must be swept from my
path, if I would have any peace during my remaining years. I am not a
man to live in doubt or hesitation; and as soon as any man gives me
cause to fear him, the matter between us must be brought to an issue at
once, and he or I must fall! No," he added, "no! bring not those men
hither! I am sick of them. We must use them as tools, but not let them
use us. Take them, then, with you to search under the beech trees, but
bring them not hither. When all is done, return yourself, and let me
know. I shall have occupation enough in the meantime to busy my
thoughts with things less sad, though not less painful, perhaps, than
the task which I make over to you--and now go quickly."
"Shall I take these papers with me?" demanded the lawyer, laying his
hand upon the packet of bills of exchange which had been sealed up
before Sir Walter Herbert.
"No!" answered the Earl, sternly; "leave them where they are."
"I thought they were to be deposited with me?" rejoined the agent, with
a lingering affection for the money which he could not restrain, even
though he feared to offend his patron.
"I say, sir, leave them where they are, and go upon your errand,"
rejoined the Earl, in a tone not to be misunderstood; and without
uttering another word, he pointed towards the door, and drove the
lawyer out of the room by the fierce sternness of his gaze.
As soon as he was gone and the door closed, the Earl took up the packet
and deliberately broke the seals; then examined each of the papers
minutely, muttering as he did it, "I thought so--I thought so. They
have watched all that I have done; they have tracked me from land to
land, and they have gained that knowledge of my past deeds which they
think will give them power over me, and force me to do that which they
know I would never do without. But they shall find themselves mistaken.
Yet when I think upon all the past, the memory of friendship and of
love is stronger even than hatred and apprehension; and I find that the
lines graven on the soft heart of youth in early days may be crossed
and traversed by many others in after life, but can never wholly be
erased. Would to God that they had not driven me to it; would to God
that they did not thrust themselves in the path of one who is forced to
go forward on his way; who cannot, who must not, go back; who must
trample on all that oppose him! But I am weak again; I am weak, to
think of such things. He has sought his fate, and he must find it. Yet
I will see him once more; I will make myself sure of myself and of him
before I do that which can never be recalled; but not now--not in the
broad day. He is too like the dead; and the dark glimmer of the lamp,
or the blue gleam of the lightning, gives the only light by which we
should meet. I doubt that woman Bertha, too--I doubt her much, but yet
I love not to question her about such things; for she will come harshly
upon the bitter subject of the past, and will turn once more those
memories, which time is softening and rendering more gentle, into all
that is dark, and bitter, and fearful."
Such were some of the words that broke from the bosom of a man torn by
contending passions. They were spoken also; they were words as well as
thoughts; for he was one with whom the struggles of the impatient
spirit within, especially in his solitary moments, often mastered the
guard set habitually upon the lips, and gave voice to thoughts and
feelings, when alone, which he most anxiously concealed when the
watchful and oppressive world was around him.
Again and again he looked over these papers, and again and again some
new comment sprang to his lips; but his thoughts evidently became more
and more painful as his mind was drawn forcibly back to dwell upon the
past; and at length, covering his eyes with his hands, he gave way to
many a bitter and mingled feeling, and groaned aloud in agony of heart,
as he recollected the deeds he had done--the flowers he had trampled
on--the treasures he had scattered from his path, never to be found
again.