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diff --git a/21885.txt b/21885.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..162f534 --- /dev/null +++ b/21885.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1132 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Ruinous Face, by Maurice Hewlett + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Ruinous Face + +Author: Maurice Hewlett + +Release Date: June 21, 2007 [EBook #21885] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RUINOUS FACE *** + + + + +Produced by Jana Srna, Brian Janes and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +[Illustration: HELEN AND EUTYCHES] + + THE + RUINOUS FACE + + BY + MAURICE HEWLETT + + ILLUSTRATED + + + + HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS + + NEW YORK AND LONDON + MCMIX + + + Copyright, 1909, by HARPER & BROTHERS. + + _All rights reserved._ + + Published October, 1909. + + + + + "Hence there is in Rhodes a sanctuary + of Helen of the Tree." + + --_Pausanias_, iii., 19, 9. + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + +HELEN AND EUTYCHES _Frontispiece_ + +THE ABDUCTION OF HELEN _Facing p. 8_ +From the painting by Rudolph von Deutsch. + +HELEN OF TROY " _20_ +From the painting by Sir Frederick Leighton. + +PARIS AND HELEN " _30_ +From the painting by Jacques Louis David in the Louvre. + + + + +THE RUINOUS FACE + + +When the siege of Troy had been ten years doing, and most of the +chieftains were dead, both of those afield and those who held the walls; +and some had departed in their ships, and all who remained were +leaden-hearted; there was one who felt the rage of war insatiate in his +bowels: Menelaus, yellow-haired King of the Argives. He, indeed, rested +not day or night, but knew the fever fretting at his members, and the +burning in his heart. And when he scanned the windy plain about the +city, and the desolation of it; and when he saw the huts of the Achaeans, +and the furrows where the chariots ploughed along the lines, and the +charred places of camp-fires, smoke-blackened trees, and puddled waters +of Scamander, and corn-lands and pastures which for ten years had known +neither plough nor deep-breathed cattle, nor querulous sheep; even then +in the heart of Menelaus was no pity for Dardan nor Greek, but only for +himself and what he had lost--white-bosomed Helen, darling of Gods and +men, and golden treasure of the house. + + * * * * * + +The vision of her glowing face and veiled eyes came to him in the +night-season to make him mad, and in dreams he saw her, as once and many +times he had seen her, lie supine. There as she lay in his dream, all +white and gold, thinner than the mist-wreath upon a mountain, he would +cry aloud for his loss, and throw his arms out over the empty bed, and +feel his eye-sockets smart for lack of tears; for tears came not to +him, but his fever made his skin quite dry, and so were his eyes dry. +Therefore, when the chiefs of the Achaeans in Council, seeing how their +strength was wearing down like a snowbank under the sun, looked +reproachfully upon him, and thought of Hector slain, and of dead +Achilles who slew him, of Priam, and of Diomede, and of tall Patroclus, +he, Menelaus, took no heed at all, but sat in his place, and said, +"There is no mercy for robbers of the house. Starve whom we cannot put +to the sword. Lay closer leaguer. So shall I win my wife again and have +honor among the Kings, my fellows." So he spake, for it was so he +thought day and night; and Agamemnon, King of Men, bore with him, and +carried the voices of all the Achaeans. For since the death of Achilles +there was no man stout enough to gainsay him, or deny him anything. + +In those days there was little war, since every man outside the walls +was sick of strife, and consumed with longing for his home, and wife and +children there. And one told another, "My son will be a grown man in his +first beard," and one, "My daughter will be a wife." As for the men of +Troy, it was well for them that their foes were spent; for Hector was +dead, and Agenor, and Troilus; and King Priam, the old, was fallen into +dotage, which deprived him of counsel. He loved Alexandros only, whom +men called Paris. On which account AEneas, the wise prince, stood apart, +and kept himself within the walls of his house. There remained only that +beauteous Paris, the ravisher. Him Helen held fast enchained by her +white arms and slow, sweet smile, and by the shafts of light from her +kind eyes. All the compliance of a fair woman made for love lay in her; +she could refuse nothing that was asked of her by him who had her. And +she was gentle and very modest, and never dejected or low of heart; but +when comfort was asked of her she gave it, and when solace, solace; and +when he cried, "Oh for a deep draught of thee!" she gave him his desire. +In these days he seldom left his hall, where she sat at the loom with +her maids, or had them comb and braid her long hair. But of other women, +wives and widows of heroes, Andromache mourned Hector dead and outraged, +and Cassandra the wrath to come. Through the halls of the King's house +came little sound but of women weeping loss; therefore, if love made +Helen laugh sometimes, she laughed low and softly, lest some other +should be offended. The streets were all silent, and the dogs ate one +another. In the temples of the Gods they neglected the sacrifice, and +what little might be offered was eaten by clouds of birds. +Anniversaries and feasts were like common days. If the Gods were +offended with Troy, there was no help for it. Men must live first, +before they can serve God. + + * * * * * + +Now the tenth year was come to the Spring, when young men and virgins +worship Artemis the Bright; and abroad on the plains the crocus was +aflower, and the anemone; and the blades of the iris were like swords +stuck hilt downward in the earth. A green veil spread lightly over the +land, and men might see a tree scorched black upon one side and budded +with gold upon the other. Melted snow brimmed Simois and Scamander; +cranes and storks built their nests, and one stood sentinel while his +mate sat close, watchful in the reeds. On the mild, westerly airs came +tenderness to bedew the hearts of men war-weary. They stepped carefully +lest they should crush young flowers, thinking in their minds, "God's +pity must restrain me. If so fair a thing can thrive in place so foul, +who am I to mar it?" But upon Menelaus, the King, the season worked like +a ferment, so that he could never stay long in one place. All night long +he turned and stretched himself out; but in the gray of the morning he +would rise, and walk abroad by himself over the silent land, and about +the sleeping walls of the city. So found he balm for his ache, and so he +did every day. + + * * * * * + +The house of Paris stood by the wall, and the garden upon the roof of +the women's side was there upon it, and stretched far along the ramparts +of Troy. King Menelaus knew it very well, for he had often seen Helen +there with her maids when, with a veil to cover her face up to the eyes, +she had stood there to watch the fighting, or the games about the pyre +of some chieftain dead, or the manege of the ships lying off Tenedos. +Indeed, when he had been there in his chariot, urging an attack upon the +gate, he had seen Paris come out of the house to Helen where she stood +in the garden; and he saw that deceiver take the lovely woman in his +arm, and with his hand withdraw the veil from her mouth that he might +look at it. The maids were all about her, and below raged a battle among +men; but he cared nothing for these. No, but he lifted up her face by +the chin, and stooped his head, and kissed her twice; and would have +kissed her a third time, but that by chance he saw King Menelaus below +him, who stood up in his chariot and watched. Then he turned lightly and +left her, and went in, and so presently she too, with her veil in her +hand, not yet over her mouth, looked down from the wall and saw the +King, her husband. Long and deeply looked she; and he looked up at +her; and so they stood, gazing each at the other. Then came women from +the house and veiled her mouth, and took her away. Other times, too, he +had seen her there, but she not him; and now, at this turn of the year, +the memory of her came bright and hard before him; and he walked under +the wall of the house in the gray of the morning. And as he walked there +fiercely on a day, behold she stood above him on the wall, veiled, and +in a brown robe, looking down at him. And they looked at each other for +a space of time. And nobody was by. + +[Illustration: THE ABDUCTION OF HELEN +FROM THE PAINTING BY RUDOLPH VON DEUTSCH] + +Shaking, he said, "O Ruinous Face, art thou so early from the wicked +bed?" + +She said low, "Yea, my lord, I am so early." + +"These ten long years," he said then, "I have walked here at this hour, +but never yet saw I thee." + +She answered, "But I have seen my lord, for at this hour my lord +Alexandros is accustomed to sleep and I to wake. And so I take the air, +and am by myself." + +"O God!" he said, "would that I could come at thee, lady." She replied +him nothing. So, after a little while of looking, he spoke to her again, +saying, "Is this true which thou makest me to think, that thou walkest +here in order that thou mayst be by thyself? Is it true, O thou +God-begotten?" + +She said, smiling a little, "Is it so wonderful a thing that I should +desire to be alone?" + +"By my fathers," he said, "I think it wonderful. And more wonderful is +it to me that it should be allowed thee." And then he looked earnestly +at her, and asked her this: "Dost thou, therefore, desire that I should +leave thee?" + +"Nay," said she slowly, "I said not so." + +"Ask me to stay, and I stay," he said. But she made no answer to that; +but looked down to the earth at her feet. "Behold," said the King +presently, "ten years and more since I have known my wife. Now if I were +to cast my spear at thee and rive open thy golden side, what wonder were +it? Answer me that." + +She looked long at him, that he saw the deep gray of her eyes. And he +heard the low voice answer him, "I know that my lord would never do it." +And he knew it better than she, and the reason as well as she. + + * * * * * + +A little while more they talked together, alone in the sunless light; +and she was in a gentle mood, as indeed she always was, and calmed the +fret in him, so that he could keep still and take long breaths, and look +at her without burning in his heart. She asked him of their child, and +when he told her it was well, stood thoughtful and silent. "Here," said +she, presently, "I have no child," and it seemed to him that she +sighed. + +"O Lady," he said, "dost thou regret nothing of all these ten long +years?" + +Her answer was to look long at him without speech. And then again she +veiled her eyes with her eyelids and hung her head. He dared say +nothing. + +Paris came out of the house, fresh from the bath, rosy and beautiful, +and whistled a low clear note, like the call of a bird at evening. Then +he called upon Helen. + +"Where is my love? Where is the Desire of the World?" + +She looked up quickly at King Menelaus, and smiled half, and moved her +hand; and she went to Paris. Then the King groaned, and rent himself. +But he would not stay, nor look up, lest he should see what he dared not +see. + + * * * * * + +Next day, very early, and every day after, those two, long-severed, kept +a tryst: so in time she came to be there first, and a strife grew +between them which should watch for the other. And after a little she +would sit upon the wall and speak happily to him without disguise. So +happiness came to him, too, and he ceased to reproach her. For she +reasoned very gently with him of her own case, urging him not to be +angry with her. Defending herself, she said, "Thou shouldst not reproach +me, husband, nor wouldst thou in thy heart if thou knewst what is in +mine, or what my portion has been since with fair words in +many-mansioned Sparta he did beguile me. With words smoother than honey, +and sweeter than the comb of it he did beguile me, and with false words +made me believe that I was forsaken and betrayed; and urged me to take +ship with him in search of thee. Nor ever once did he reveal himself +until we touched Cranae in the ship. Then he showed me all his power, and +declared his purpose with me. And I could do nothing against him; and +so he brought me to Troy and kept me there. All these years he has +loved, and still loves me in his fashion: and art thou angry with me, my +lord, that I do not for ever reproach him, or spend myself in tears, and +fast, and go like one distraught, holding myself aloof from all his +house? Nay, but of what avail would that be, or what reward to many that +treat me well here in Troy? For King Priam, the old king, is good to me, +and the Queen also; and my lord Hector was above all men good to me, and +defended me always against scorn and evil report. True it is that I have +been the reproach of men, both Trojans and Achaeans; and all the woes of +the years have been laid to me who am most guiltless of offence. For all +my sin has been that I have been gentle with those who hold me here; and +have not denied them that which cannot be denied, but have given what I +must with fair-seeming." + + * * * * * + +And another time she said, "What mercy have men for a woman whom they +desire and cannot have? And what face have women for her who is more +sought than them? And what of such a woman, O lord Menelaus, what of her +in her misery? Is it true, thinkest thou, because she is good to look +upon and is desired by men, that she should have no desires of her own? +And must she have pleasure only in that which men seek of her, and none +in her house and child overseas? Is my face then, and are these my +breasts all that I have? And is my mind nothing at all, nor the kindness +in my heart, nor the joy I have in the busy world? My face has been ruin +unto many, and many have sought my breasts; but to me it has been misery +and shame, and my milk a bitter gall." + +Thus spake Helen of the fair girdle; and he saw her eyes filled with +tears, and pure sorrow upon her face; and he held up his arms to her, +crying, "O my dear one, wilt thou not come back to me?" She could not +speak for crying; but nodded her head often between her covering hands. + +Then he, seeing how her thoughts lay, gently toward home, and desiring +to please her now more than anything in the world, spake of the child, +swearing by the Gods of Lacedaemon that she was not forgotten. "Nay," he +said, "but still she talks of her mother, and every day would know of +her return. And those about her in our house, faithful ones, say, 'The +King thy father has gone to bring our lady back; and all will be happy +again.' And so," said he, "it shall be, beloved, if thou wilt but come." +Then Helen lifted up her face from her covering hands, and showed him +her eyes. And he said, "O Wonder of the World, shall I come for thee?" + +And her words were sped down the wall, soft as dropping rose-leaves: +"Come soon." And King Menelaus returned to his quarters, glorying in his +strength. + + * * * * * + +This day he took counsel with King Agamemnon his brother, and with +Odysseus, wisest of the Achaeans, and told them all. And while they +pondered what the news might mean he declared his purpose, which was to +have Helen again by all means, and to enter Troy disguised by night, and +in the morning to drop with her in his arms over the wall, from the +garden of Paris' house. But Odysseus dissuaded him, and so did the King +his brother; for they knew very well that Troy must be sacked, and the +Achaeans satisfied with plunder, and death, and women. For after ten +years of strife men raven for such things, and will not give over until +they have them. Also it was written in the heart of Hera that the walls +of Troy must be cast down, and the pride thereof made a byword. So it +was that the counsel of King Menelaus was overpassed, and that of +Odysseus prevailed. And with him lay the word that he should make his +plan, and tell it over to Menelaus, that he might tell it again to Helen +when he saw her on the wall. + + * * * * * + +At this time a great heart was in Helen, and strong purpose. And it was +so that while Paris marvelled to see her beauty wax ever the clearer, +and while he loved her more than ever he had, and found her compliance +the sweeter, he guessed nothing of what spirit it was that possessed +her, nor of what she did when she was by herself. Nor could he guess, +since she refused him never what he asked of her, how she weighed him +lightly beside Menelaus her husband; nor, while she let herself be +loved, what soft desires were astir in her heart to be cherished as a +wife, sharer of a man's hearth, partaker of his counsels, comforter in +his troubles, and mother of his sons. But it came to pass that the only +joy of her life was in the seeing King Menelaus in the morning, and in +the reading in his gaze the assurance of that peace which she longed +for. And, again, her pride lay in fitting herself for it when it should +come. Now, therefore, she forsook the religion of Aphrodite, to whom all +her duty had been before, and in a grove of olive-trees in the garden of +the house had built an altar to Artemis Aristoboule. There offered she +incense daily, and paid tribute of wheaten cakes kneaded with honey, and +little figures of bears such as virgins offer to the Pure in Heart in +Athens. And she would have whipped herself as they do in Sparta had she +not feared discovery by him who still had her. So every day after +speech with Menelaus the King about companionship and the sanctities of +the wedded hearth, she prayed to the Goddess, saying, "O Chaste and +Fair, by that pure face of thine and by thy untouched zone; by thy proud +eyes and curving lip, and thy bow and scornful bitter arrows, aid thou +me unhappy. Lo, now, Maid and Huntress, I make a vow. I will lay up in +thy temple a fair wreath of box-leaves made of beaten gold on that day +when my lord brings me home to my hearth and child, to be his friend and +faithful companion, sharer of his joys and sorrows, and when he loves my +proved and constant mind better than the bounty of my body. Hear me and +fail me not, Lady of Grace." So prayed Helen, and then went back to the +house, and suffered her lot, and cherished in her heart her high hope. + + * * * * * + +When all was in order in the plans of the Achaeans, King Menelaus told +everything to Helen his wife; and how Odysseus was to come disguised +into the city and seek speech with her. To the which she listened, +marking every word; and bowed her head in sign of agreement; and at the +end was silent, looking down at her lap and deeply blushing. And at last +she lifted her eyes and showed them to the King, her husband, who marked +them and her burning color, and knew that she had given him her heart +again. So he returned that day to his quarters, glorifying and praising +God. Immediately he went over to the tents of Odysseus, and sought out +the prince, and said, "Go in, thou, this night, and the gray-eyed +Goddess, the Maiden, befriend thee! This I know, Helen my wife shall be +mine again before the moon have waned." + +[Illustration: HELEN OF TROY +FROM THE PAINTING BY SIR FREDERICK LEIGHTON] + +Odysseus nodded his head. "Enough said, Son of Atreus," said he. "I go +in this night." + +Now, in these days of weariness of strife, when the leaguer was not +strict, the gates of Troy were often opened, now this one, now that, to +let in fugitives from the hill-country. Odysseus, therefore, disguised +himself as one of these, in sheepskin coat and swathes of rushes round +his legs; and he stood with wounded feet, leaning upon a holly staff, as +one of a throng. White dust was upon his beard, and sweat had made seams +in the dust of his face and neck. Then, when they asked him at the gate, +"Whence and what art thou, friend?" he answered, "I am a shepherd of the +hills, named Glykon, whose store of sheep the Achaeans have reived, whose +wife stolen away, whose little ones put to the sword and fire. Me only +have they left alive; and where should I come if not here?" So they let +him in, and he came and stood in the hall of Paris with many other +wretches. Then presently came Helen of the starry eyes and sweet pale +face, she and her women to minister. And she knelt down with ewer and +basin and a napkin to wash the feet of the poor. To whom, as she knelt +at the feet of Odysseus, and rinsed his wounds and wiped away the dry +blood, spake that crafty one in her ear, saying: "There are other wounds +than mine for thy washing, lady, and deeper. For they are in the heart +of King Menelaus, and in thy daughter's heart." + +She kept her face hidden from him, bending to his feet; but he saw that +she trembled and moved her shoulders. So then he said again, "I know +that thou art pitiful. I know that thou wilt wash his wounds." + +She answered him, whispering, "Yes; oh, yes." + +He said, "Let me have speech with thee, lady, when may be." + +And she, "It shall be when my lord sleepeth toward morning. Watch thou +for me here, before the sun rise." And he was satisfied with what she +said. + + * * * * * + +Now, it was toward morning; and Odysseus watched in the hall of Paris. +Then came Helen in, and stepped lightly over the bodies of sleeping men, +and touched him on the shoulder where he sat by the wall with his chin +upon his knees. Over her head was the hood of a dark blue cloak; and the +cloak fell to her feet. Her face was covered, not so but that he could +see the good intention of her eyes. And he arose and stood beside her, +and she beckoned him to follow after. Then she took him to the grove of +olive-trees in the garden, and burned incense upon the altar she had set +up, and laid her hand upon the altar of Artemis the Bright. "So do that +quick Avenger to me," she said, "as she did to Amphion's wife, whenas +her nostrils were filled with the wind of her rage, if I play false to +thee, Odysseus." And Odysseus praised her. Then stooping, with her +finger she traced the lines of Troy in the sand, and all the gates of +it; and told over the number of the guard at each; and revealed the +houses of the chiefs, where they stood, and the watches set. + +Odysseus marked all in his heart. But he asked, "And which is the golden +house of King Priam?" + +She said, "Nay, but that I will not tell thee. For he has been always +kind to me from the very first; and even when Hector, his beloved, was +slain, he had no ill words for me, though all Troy hissed me in the +shrines of the Gods, and women spat upon the doors of Paris' house as +they passed by. Him, an old man, thou shalt spare for my sake who am +about to betray him." + +Odysseus said, "Be it so. One marvel I have, lady, and it is this: If +now, in these last days, thou wilt help thy people, why didst thou not +before?" + +She was silent for a while. Then she said, "I knew not then what now I +know, that my lord, the King, loves me." + +Odysseus marvelled. "Why," said he, "when all the hosts of the Achaeans +were gathered at his need, and out of all the nations of Hellas arose +the cry of women bereaved and children fatherless, so that he might have +thee again! And thou sayest, 'He loved thee not!'" + +"Nay," said she quickly, "not so. But I knew very well that he desired +me for his solace and delight, as other men have done and still do: but +to be craved is one thing and to be loved is another thing. I am not all +fair flesh, Odysseus: I am wife and mother and I would be companion and +comforter of a man. Now I know of a truth that my husband loveth me +dearly; and I sicken of Paris, who maketh me his delight. Hateful to me +are the ways of men with women. Have I not cause enough to hate them, +these long years a plaything for his arms, and a fruit to allay the +drouth of his eyes? Am I less a woman in that I am fair, or less woman +grown because I can never be old? Now I loathe the sweet lore of +Aphrodite, which she taught me too well; and all my hope is in that +Blessed One whom men call Of Good Counsel. For, behold, love is a cruel +thing of unending strife and wasting thought; but the ways of Artemis +are ways of peace and they shall be my ways." + +A little longer he reasoned with her, and appointed a day when the entry +should be made; but then afterward, when light filled the earth and the +coming of the sun was beaconed upon the tops of the mountains, she arose +and said: + +"My husband awaits me. I must go to him;" and left Odysseus, and went to +the wall to talk with Menelaus below it. In her hand was a yellow +crocus, sacred to Artemis the Bright. And Helen put it to her lips, and +touched her eyes with it, and dropped it down the wall to Menelaus her +husband. + +Then the Greeks fashioned a great horse out of wood, and set the images +of two young kings upon it, with spears of gold, and stars upon their +foreheads made of gold. And they caused it to be drawn to the Skaean Gate +in the nighttime, and left it there for the Trojans to see. Dolon made +it; but Odysseus devised the images of the two kings. And his craft was +justified of itself. For the Trojans hailed in the images the +twin-brothers of Helen, even Castor and Polydeuces, come to save the +state for their sister's sake; and opened wide their gates, and drew in +the horse, and set it upon the porch of the temple of Zeus the Thunder. +There it stood for all to see. And King Priam was carried down in his +litter to behold it; and with him came Hecabe the Queen, and Paris, and +AEneas, and Helen, with Cassandra the King's daughter. + +Then King Priam lifted up his hands and blessed the horse and the riders +thereof. And he said, "Hail to ye, great pair of brothers! Be favorable +to us now, and speedy in your mercy." + +But Cassandra wailed and tore at the covering of her breast, and cried +out, "Ah, and they shall be speedy! Here is a woe come upon us which +shall be mercy indeed to some of you. But for me there is no mercy." + +Now was Helen, with softly shining eyes, close to the horse; and she +laid her hand upon its belly and stroked it. And Cassandra saw her and +reviled her, saying, "Thou shame to Ilium, and thou curse! The Ruinous +Face, the Ruinous Face! Cried I not so in the beginning when they +praised thy low voice and soft beguiling ways? But thou too, thou shalt +rue this night!" + +But Helen laughed softly to herself, and stroked the smooth belly of the +horse where her promise lay hidden. And they led Cassandra away, blind +with weeping. And Helen returned to Paris' house and sought out +Eutyches, a slave of the door, who loved her. Of him by gentle words and +her slow sweet smile she besought arms: a sword, breastplate, shield and +helmet. And when he gave them her, unable to deny her anything, she hid +them under the hangings of the bed. + + * * * * * + +That night Paris came to her where she lay bathed and anointed, and +sought her in love; and she denied him nothing. Him thought such joy had +never been his since first he held her in his arms in Cranae. Deeply and +long he loved; and in the middle of the night a great horn blew afar +off, and there came the sound of men in the streets, running. That was +the horn which they kept in the temple of Showery Zeus, to summon all +Troy when needs were. Paris, at the sound thereof, lifted up his head +from Helen's fair breast, listening. And again the great horn blew a +long blast, and he said, "O bride, I must leave thee. Behold, they call +from the temple of the God." But she took his face in her two hands and +turned it about to look at her; and he saw love in her eyes and the dew +of it upon her mouth, and kissed her, and stayed. So by and by the horn +blew a third time, and there arose a great shout; and he started away +from her, and stepped down from the bed, and stood beside it, +unresolved. Then Helen put her arms about his body and urged herself +toward him till her face touched his flank. And she clung to him, and +looked up at him, and he stayed. + +[Illustration: PARIS AND HELEN +FROM THE PAINTING BY JACQUES LOUIS DAVID IN THE LOUVRE] + +Now did rumor break out all at once, about the house and in the city +afar off. Men cried, "The fire, the fire!" and "Save yourselves!" and +"Oh, the Achaeans!" and Paris tore himself away, and made haste to arm +himself by the light of the fire in the city, which made the room as +bright as day. And he put on all his harness, and took his sword and +buckler, and ran out of the chamber and down the stairs, crying, "Arm +ye, arm ye, and follow me!" Then Helen arose and swiftly withdrew the +arms from below the bed, and called Eutyches to her from the gallery, +and made him fasten the breastplate about her, and gird the thongs of +the shield to her white arm, and fix the helmet of bronze upon her head. +So he did, and trembled as he touched her; for he loved her out of +measure and without hope. Then said she to Eutyches, "Arm thyself and +follow me." And together, armed, they went down the stair. + +There was a great press of men fighting about the doors of Paris' house, +and loud rumor. But beyond in the city the Achaeans in a multitude +carried fire and sword from house to house. And there was the noise of +women crying mercy, and calling their children's names. And the flames +leaped roaring to Heaven; and the Gods turned away their faces; and Troy +was down. + + * * * * * + +Now Paris, fighting, came backwards into the hall where Helen was; and +Menelaus came fiercely after him, and in the doorway drove a spear at +him that went through the leather of his shield, through all the folds +of it and ran deep into the flesh of his throat where it fastens to the +shoulder. Then Paris groaned and bent his knees, and fell, calling Helen +by her name. Then came she in her bright harness, with a burning face, +and stood over the body of Paris, and held out her arms to the King, +saying, "Husband, lord, behold, here am I, by your side!" Eutyches came +after her, armed also. + +Then Menelaus, with the bloody spear in his hand newly plucked from the +neck of Paris, gazed at his wife, not knowing her. So presently he said, +weak-voiced, "What is this, O loveliest in the world?" But he knew +Eutyches again, who had been with him and her in Sparta, and said to +him, "Disarm her, but with care, lest the bronze bruise her fair flesh." +So Eutyches, trembling, disarmed her, that she stood a lovely woman +before the King. And Menelaus, with a shout, took her in his arms and +cried out above the fire and dust and shrieking in the street, "Come, +come, my treasure and desire! Love me now or I die!" + +But she clung to him, imploring. "Not here," she said, "not here, +Menelaus. Take me hence; let me fare by thy side this night." + +But he pressed her the closer, saying, "Come, thou must love me now," +and lifted her in his arms and ran up the stair and through the gallery +of the house to the great chamber where of late she had lain. And he +called her women to disrobe her; and Helen fell to crying bitterly, and +said, "Oh, I am a slave, I am a slave: I am bought and sold and handed +about." And she could not be comforted or stayed from weeping. But +nothing recked King Menelaus for that. + + * * * * * + +When the walls of wide-wayed Troy were cast down, and of the towers and +houses of the chiefs nothing stood but staring walls and rafters charred +by fire; and when the temples of the Dardan Gods had been sacked, and +scorn done to the body of Priam the Old; and Cassandra in the tent of +King Agamemnon shuddered and rocked herself about; and when dogs had +eaten the fair body of Paris, then the Achaeans turned their eyes with +longing to their homesteads. So there was a great ship-building and +launching of keels; and at last King Menelaus embarked for peopled +Lacedaemon, and took his lovely wife with him in the ship, and stayed his +course at Rhodes for certain days, resting there with Helen. There he +set a close guard about her all day; and as Paris had loved her, so +loved he. But she was wretched, and spent her days in weeping; and grew +pale and thin, and was for ever scheming shifts how she might be +delivered from such a life as she led. Ever by the door of the chamber +stood Eutyches, and watched her closely, marking her distress. And she +knew that he knew it; for what woman does not know the secret mind of a +man with regard to her? + + * * * * * + +So, on a day, sat Helen by the window with her needlework in her lap, +and looked out over the sea. Eutyches came into the room where she was, +silently, through the hangings of the door, and kneeling to her, kissed +her knee. She turned to him her sad face, saying, "What wouldst thou of +me, Eutyches?" + +"Lady," he said, "thy pardon first of all." + +She smiled upon him. "Thou hast it," she said; "what then?" + +He said to her, "Lady, I have served thee these many years, and no man +knows thy mind better than I do, who know it only from thy face. For I +have been but a house-dog in thy sight. But I have never read it +wrongly; and now I know that thou art unhappy...." + +"Yes," she said, "it is true. I am very unhappy, and with reason." + +Eutyches drew from his bosom a sharp sword and laid it upon her knee. +"Take this sovereign remedy from thy servant," he said. "No ills can +withstand it, so sharp it is." And he left her with the bare sword upon +her knees. She hid it in the coverings of the bed. + +Now, when King Menelaus had feasted in the hall, he came immediately +after into the Queen's chamber. And he said to her, "Hail, loveliest of +women born!" and again, "Hail, thou Rose of the World!" + +She answered him nothing, but went to her women and suffered herself to +be made ready. Then came the King in to her and began to woo her; but +she, looking strangely upon him by the light of the torch in the wall, +sat up and held him off with her hand. "Touch me not, Menelaus," she +said, "touch me no more until I know whether thou art true or false." + +He was astonished at her, saying, "What is this, dear love? Dost thou +call me false who for ten bitter years have striven to have thee again; +and have forsworn all other women for thy sake?" + +But her eyes were hard upon him, glittering. "Ay," she said, "and I do. +For to thee, through those bitter years, I was faithful in heart, and +utterly; and that which thou lovest is the bounty of my body, the which +if I should mar it, thou wouldst spurn me as horrible. And now I will +prove thee and my words together." So, while he gazed at her in wonder, +she drew out the sword. "With this sword," she said, "I will do one of +two things. Choose thou." + +The King said, hollow-voiced, "What wilt thou do?" + +She said, "With the sword I will lay open this poisonous face of mine;" +and she touched her right cheek; "or with it I will cut off this my +wicked breast;" and she put her hand upon her left breast, and said +again, "Choose thou." + +But Menelaus with a loud cry threw himself upon her, and took each of +her wrists in a hand, and held her down on the bed. The sword dropped +out and fell to the floor; but he let it lie. Now his love waxed the +greater for the danger she had been in. And in the morning, when as she +lay as one dead, he picked up the sword and brake it, and threw it out +of the window. Also before he left her he gave straight order that she +should be watched throughout the day. But he gave the order to Eutyches, +believing him to be faithful for his former and latter service. + + * * * * * + +By and by came Eutyches and spoke again with her, saying, "Lady, I fear +me thou didst not use my remedy aright." + +She heard him in a stare, and answered in a dry voice, "I fear so too." + +Then said Eutyches, "There is but one way to use it. So shalt thou be +free from pain and sorrow of heart." She would not look at him, but he +knew that she understood his thought. "If thou wilt swear to me by +Artemis the Bright," he said, "that thou wilt never use it against +thyself, I will put another remedy on thy knees, lady." + +She swore it; and he fetched her a sword, and put it on her knees. That +night, in the dark, she slew her husband Menelaus, as he lay asleep by +her side; and she knew that he was dead because, after groaning once, he +neither moved nor stirred, and because his foot which was upon her ankle +was heavy as lead. + +Then came Eutyches in with a torch, and asked her if all was well. She +told him what she had done; and Eutyches came close with the torch and +saw that the King was dead. Then he said, "Before dawn we must depart, +thou and I." + +She said, "Where can I go? What will become of me?" + +He gazed upon her, saying, "I will love thee for ever, as I have these +twelve years and more." + +She said to him, "I will go now if thou wilt help me, Eutyches." + +He said, "I will help thee when I can." + +Then Helen looked at him, and saw his eyes, and was horribly afraid. She +said, "I know not whether I can trust thee;" but he answered her: + +"Have I not proved that to thee? Did I not give thee the sword with +which to free thyself?" + +"Yea," she said, "but have I freed myself indeed?" + +He stretched out his arms to her, saying, "Free? Yes, thou art free, +most glorious one. And now I too am free to love thee." + +But she used craft in her fear, saying, "I am soiled with wicked blood. +Stay thou here, Eutyches, and I will purify myself, and be as thou +wouldst have me." + +And he let her go with a kiss, saying, "Be quick. Have I not waited +twelve years?" + +Then Helen arose and went out of the chamber, and out of the house into +the garden. And she stood before the altar of Artemis Eileithyia, and +prayed before it, saying, "O Holy One, I give thee thanks indeed that +now I know the way of peace." And then she went farther into the grove +of ilex-trees where the altar and the image stood, and took off her +girdle and bound it straightly round her neck. And she clomb the tree, +and tied the end of the girdle about the branch thereof; and afterward +cast herself down, and hung there quite still. And the cord which she +used was of silk, and had girt her raiment about her, below her fair +breasts. + + +THE END + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Ruinous Face, by Maurice Hewlett + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RUINOUS FACE *** + +***** This file should be named 21885.txt or 21885.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/8/8/21885/ + +Produced by Jana Srna, Brian Janes and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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