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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Courtship of Morrice Buckler, by 
+A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley) Mason
+
+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 Courtship of Morrice Buckler
+       A Romance
+
+Author: A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley) Mason
+
+Release Date: January 25, 2012 [EBook #38665]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COURTSHIP OF MORRICE BUCKLER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen from page scans provided by the Web Archive
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+   1. Page scan source:
+      http://www.archive.org/details/courtshipofmorri00masouoft
+
+   2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe].
+
+
+
+                            THE COURTSHIP
+
+                                  OF
+
+                           MORRICE BUCKLER
+
+
+
+
+                            THE COURTSHIP
+
+                                  OF
+
+                           MORRICE BUCKLER
+
+                              A Romance
+
+
+
+        _Being a Record of the Growth of an English Gentleman
+ during the years 1685-1687, under strange and difficult circumstances
+   written some while afterwards in his own hand, and now edited by_
+
+
+                            A. E. W. MASON
+                  AUTHOR OF "A ROMANCE OF WASTDALE"
+
+
+
+                                London
+                       MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD.
+                      NEW YORK: MACMILLAN & CO.
+                                 1896
+
+
+
+
+                   _First Edition, February_, 1896.
+                     _Second Edition, May_, 1896.
+                     _Third Edition, June_, 1896.
+
+
+
+
+                              CONTENTS.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER I.
+
+TELLS OF AN INTERRUPTED MESSAGE.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER II.
+
+I REACH LONDON, AND THERE MAKE AN ACQUAINTANCE.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER III.
+
+TELLS HOW I REACH BRISTOL, AND IN WHAT STRANGE GUISE I GO TO MEET MY
+FRIEND.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER IV.
+
+SIR JULIAN HARNWOOD.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER V.
+
+I JOURNEY TO THE TYROL, AND HAVE SOME DISCOURSE WITH COUNT LUKSTEIN.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VI.
+
+SWORDS TAKE UP THE DISCOURSE.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VII.
+
+I RETURN HOME AND HEAR NEWS OF COUNTESS LUKSTEIN.
+
+
+                            CHAPTER VIII.
+
+I MAKE A BOW TO COUNTESS LUKSTEIN.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER IX.
+
+I RENEW AN ACQUAINTANCESHIP.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER X.
+
+DOUBTS, PERPLEXITIES, AND A COMPROMISE.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE COUNTESS EXPLAINS, AND SHOWS ME A PICTURE.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XII.
+
+LADY TRACY.
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XIII.
+
+COUNTESS LUKSTEIN IS CONVINCED.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIV.
+
+A GAME OF HIDE-AND-SEEK.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE HALF-WAY HOUSE AGAIN.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVI.
+
+CONCERNING AN INVITATION AND A LOCKED DOOR.
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XVII.
+
+FATHER SPAUR.
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+AT LUKSTEIN.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIX.
+
+IN THE PAVILION. I EXPLAIN.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XX.
+
+IN THE PAVILION. COUNTESS LUKSTEIN EXPLAINS.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXI.
+
+IN CAPTIVITY HOLLOW.
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XXII.
+
+A TALK WITH OTTO. I ESCAPE TO INNSPRUCK.
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+THE LAST.
+
+
+
+
+                                 THE
+                     COURTSHIP OF MORRICE BUCKLER
+
+
+                              CHAPTER I.
+
+                   TELLS OF AN INTERRUPTED MESSAGE.
+
+
+It chanced that as I was shifting the volumes in my library this
+morning, more from sheer fatigue of idleness than with any set
+intention--for, alas! this long time since I have lost the savour of
+books--a little Elzevir copy of Horace fell from the back of a shelf
+between my hands. It lay in my palm, soiled and faded with the dust of
+twenty years; and as I swept clean its cover and the edges of the
+leaves, the look and feel of it unlocked my mind to such an inrush of
+glistening memories that I seemed to be sweeping those years and the
+overlay of their experience from off my consciousness. I lived again
+in that brief but eventful period which laid upon the unaccustomed
+shoulders of a bookish student a heavy burden of deeds, but gave him
+in compensation wherewith to reckon the burden light.
+
+The book fell open of its own accord at the Palinodia at Tyndaridem.
+On the stained and fingered leaf facing the ode I could still decipher
+the plan of Lukstein Castle, and as I gazed, that blurred outline
+filled until it became a picture. I looked into the book as into a
+magician's crystal. The great angle of the building, the level row of
+windows, the red roofs of the turrets, the terrace, and the little
+pinewood pavilion, all were clearly limned before my eyes, and were
+overswept by changing waves of colour. I saw the Castle as on the
+first occasion of my coming, hung disconsolately on a hillside in a
+far-away corner of the Tyrol, a black stain upon a sloping wilderness
+of snow; I saw it again under a waning moon in the stern silence of a
+frosty night, as each window grew angry with a tossing glare of links;
+but chiefly I saw it as when I rode thither on my last memorable
+visit, sleeping peacefully above the cornfields in the droning sabbath
+of a summer afternoon. I turned my eyes to the ode. The score of my
+pencil was visible against the last verse:
+
+
+                        Nunc ego mitibus
+              Mutare quæro tristia dum mihi
+              Fias recantatis amica
+              Opprobriis animumque reddas.
+
+
+On the margin beside the first line was the date, Sept. 14, 1685, and
+beneath the verse yet another date, Sept. 12, 1687. And as I looked,
+it came upon me that I would set down with what clearness I might the
+record of those two years, in the hope that my memories might warm and
+cheer these later days of loneliness, much as the afterglow lingers
+purple on yonder summit rocks when the sun has already sunk behind the
+Cumberland fells. For indeed that short interspace of time shines out
+in my remembrance like a thick thread of gold in a woof of homespun. I
+would not, however, be understood to therefore deprecate the quiet
+years of happiness which followed. The two years of which I speak in
+their actual passage occasioned me more anxiety and suffering than
+happiness. But they have a history of their own. They mark out a
+portion of my life whereof the two dates in my Horace were the
+beginning and the end, and the verse between the dates, strangely
+enough, its best epitome.
+
+It was, then, the fourteenth day of September, 1685, and the time a
+few minutes past noon. Jack Larke, my fellow-student at the University
+of Leyden, and myself had but just returned to our lodging in that
+street of the town which they call the Pape-Graft. We were both fairly
+wearied, for the weather was drowsy and hot, and one had little
+stomach for the Magnificus Professor, the more particularly when he
+discoursed concerning the natural philosophy of Pliny.
+
+"'Tis all lies, every jot of it!" cried Larke. "If I wrote such
+nonsense I should be whipped for a heretic. And yet I must sit there
+and listen and take notes until my brain reels."
+
+"You sit there but seldom, Jack," said I, "and never played yourself
+so false as to listen; while as for the notes----!"
+
+I took up his book which he had flung upon the table. It contained
+naught but pictures of the Professor in divers humiliating attitudes,
+with John Larke ever towering above him, his honest features twisted
+into so heroical an expression of scorn as set me laughing till my
+sides ached.
+
+He snatched the book from my hand, and flung it into a corner.
+"There!" said he. "It may go to the dust-hole and Pliny with it, to
+rot in company." And the Latin volume followed the note-book.
+Whereupon, with a sigh of relief, he lifted a brace of pistols from a
+shelf, and began industriously to scour and polish them, though indeed
+their locks and barrels shone like silver as it was. For my part, I
+plumped myself down before this very ode of Horace; and so for a
+while, each in his own way, we worked silently. Ever and again,
+however, he would look up and towards me, and then, with an impatient
+shrug, settle to his task again. At last he could contain no longer.
+
+"Lord!" he burst out, "what a sick world it is! Here am I, fitted for
+a roving life under open skies, and plucked out of God's design by the
+want of a few pence."
+
+"You may yet sit on the bench," said I, to console him.
+
+"Ay, lad," he answered, "I might if I had sufficient roguery to supply
+my lack of wits." Then he suddenly turned on me. "And here are you,"
+he said, "who could journey east and west, and never sleep twice
+beneath the same roof, breaking your back mewed up over a copy of
+Horace!"
+
+At that moment I was indeed stretched full-length upon a sofa, but I
+had no mind to set him right. The tirade was passing old to me, and
+replies were but fresh fuel to keep it flickering. However, he had not
+yet done.
+
+"I believe," he continued, "you would sooner solve a knot in Aristotle
+than lead out the finest lady in Europe to dance a pavan with you."
+
+"That is true," I replied. "I should be no less afraid of her than you
+of Aristotle."
+
+"Morrice," said he solemnly, "I do verily believe you have naught but
+fish-blood in your veins."
+
+Whereat I laughed, and he, coming over to me:
+
+"Why, man," he cried, "had I your fortune on my back----"
+
+"You would soon find it a ragged cloak," I interposed.
+
+"And your sword at my side----"
+
+"You would still lack my skill in using it."
+
+Larke stopped short in his speech, and his face darkened. I had
+touched him in the tenderest part of his pride. Proficiency in manly
+exercises was the single quality on which he plumed himself, and so he
+had made it his daily habit to repair to the fencing-rooms of a noted
+French master, who dwelt in Noort-Eynde by the Witte Poort. Thither
+also, by dint of much pertinacity, for which I had grave reason to
+thank him afterwards, he had haled me for instruction in the art. Once
+I got there, however, the play fascinated me. The delicate intricacy
+of the movements so absorbed brain and muscle in a common service as
+to produce in me an inward sense of completeness, very sweet and
+strange to one of my halting diffidence. In consequence I applied
+myself with considerable enthusiasm, and in the end acquired some
+nimbleness with the rapier, or, to speak more truly, the foil. For as
+yet my skill had never been put to the test of a serious encounter.
+
+Now, on the previous day Larke and I had fenced together throughout
+the afternoon, and fortune had sided with me in every bout; and it
+was, I think, the recollection of this which rankled within him.
+However, the fit soon passed--'twas not in his nature to be silent
+long--and he broke out again, seating himself in a chair by the table.
+
+"Dost never dream of adventures, Morrice?" he asked. "A life brimful
+of them, and a quick death at the end?"
+
+"I had as lief die in my bed," said I.
+
+"To be sure, to be sure," he replied with a sneer. "Men ever wish to
+die in the place they are most fond of;" and then he leant forward
+upon the table and said, with a curious wonder: "Hast never a regret
+that thy sword rusted in June?"
+
+"Nay," I answered him quickly. "Monmouth was broken and captured
+before we had even heard he had raised his flag. And, besides, the
+King had stouter swords than mine, and yet no use for them."
+
+But none the less I turned my face to the wall, for I felt my cheeks
+blazing. My words were indeed the truth. The same packet which brought
+to us the news of Monmouth's rising in the west, brought to us also
+the news of his defeat at Sedgemoor. But I might easily have divined
+his project some while ago. For early in the spring I had received a
+visit from one Ferguson, a Scot, who, after uttering many fantastical
+lies concerning the "Duke of York," as he impudently styled the King,
+had warned me that such as failed to assist the true monarch out of
+the funds they possessed might well find themselves sorely burdened in
+the near future. At the time I had merely laughed at the menace, and
+slipped it from my thoughts. Afterwards, however, the remembrance of
+his visit came back to me, and with it a feeling of shame that I had
+lain thus sluggishly at Leyden while this monstrous web of rebellion
+was a-weaving about me in the neighbouring towns of Holland.
+
+"'Art more of a woman than a man, Morrice, I fear me," said Jack.
+
+I had heard some foolish talk of this kind more than once before, and
+it ever angered me. I rose quickly from the couch; but Jack skipped
+round the table, and jeered yet the more.
+
+"'Wilt never win a wife by fair means, lad," says he. "The Muses are
+women, and women have no liking for them. 'Must buy a wife when the
+time comes."
+
+Perceiving that his aim was but to provoke my anger, I refrained from
+answering him and got me back to my ode. The day was in truth too hot
+for quarrelling. Larke, however, was not so easily put off. He
+returned to his chair, which was close to my couch.
+
+"Horace!" he said gravely, wagging his head at me. "Horace! There are
+wise sayings in his book."
+
+"What know you of them?" I laughed.
+
+"I know one," he answered. "I learnt it yesternight for thy special
+delectation. It begins in this way:
+
+
+                  "Quem si puellarum chore inseres."
+
+
+He got no further in his quotation. For he tilted his chair at this
+moment, and I thrusting at it with my foot, he tumbled over backwards
+and sprawled on the ground, swearing at great length.
+
+"'Wilt never win a wife by fair means for all that," he sputtered.
+
+"Then 'tis no more than prudence in me to wed my books."
+
+So I spake, and hot on the heels of my saying came the message which
+divorced me from them for good and all. For as Larke still lay upon
+the floor, a clatter of horse's hoofs came to us through the open
+window. The sound stopped at our door. Larke rose hastily, and leaned
+out across the sill.
+
+"It is an Englishman," he cried. "He comes to us."
+
+The next moment a noise of altercation filled the air. I could hear
+the shrill speech of our worthy landlady, and above it a man's voice
+in the English dialect, growing ever louder and louder as though the
+violence of his tone would translate his meaning. I followed Larke to
+the window. The quiet street was alive with peeping faces, and just
+beneath us stood the reason of the brawl, a short, thick-set man,
+whose face was hidden by a large flapping hat. His horse stood in the
+roadway in a lather of spume. For some reason, doubtless the
+excitement of his manner, our hostess would not let him pass into the
+house. She stood solidly filling the doorway, and for a little it
+amused us to watch the man's vehement gesticulations; so little
+thought had we of the many strange events which were to follow from
+his visit. In a minute, however, he turned his face towards us, and I
+recognised him as Nicholas Swasfield, the body-servant of my good
+friend, Sir Julian Harnwood.
+
+"Let him up!" I cried. "Let him up!"
+
+"Yes, woman, let him up!" repeated Larke, and turning to me: "He hath
+many choice and wonderful oaths, and I fain would add them to my
+store."
+
+Thereupon the woman drew reluctantly aside, and Swasfield bounded past
+her into the passage. We heard him tumble heavily up the dark
+stairway, cursing the country and its natives, and then with a great
+bump of his body he burst open the door and lurched into the room. At
+the sight of me he brake into a glad cry:
+
+"Sir Julian, my master," he gasped, and stopped dead.
+
+"Well, what of him?" I asked eagerly.
+
+But he answered never a word; he stood mopping his brows with a great
+blue handkerchief, which hid his face from us. 'Tis strange how
+clearly I remember that handkerchief. It was embroidered at the
+corners with anchors in white cotton, and it recurred to me with a
+quaint irrelevancy that the man had been a sailor in his youth.
+
+"Well, what of him?" I asked again with some sharpness. "Speak, man!
+You had words and to spare below."
+
+"He lies in Bristol gaol," at last he said, heaving great breaths
+between his words, "and none but you can serve his turn."
+
+With that he tore at his shirt above his heart, and made a little
+tripping run to the table. He clutched at its edge and swayed forward
+above it, his head loosely swinging between his shoulders.
+
+"Hurry!" he said in a thick, strangled voice.
+"Assizes--twenty-first--Jeffries."
+
+And with a sudden convulsion he straightened himself, stood for a
+second on the tips of his toes, with the veins ridged on his livid
+face like purple weals, and then fell in a huddled lump upon the
+floor. I sprang to the stair-head and shouted for some one to run for
+a doctor. Jack was already loosening the man's shirt.
+
+"It is a fit," he said, clasping a hand to his heart.
+
+Luckily my bedroom gave onto the parlour, and between us we carried
+him within and laid him gently on my bed. His eyelids were open and
+his eyes fixed, but turned inwards, so that one saw but the whites of
+them, while a light froth oozed through his locked teeth.
+
+"He will die," I cried.
+
+A ewer of water stood by the bedside, and this I emptied over his head
+and shoulders, drowning the sheets, but to no other purpose. Our
+landlady fetched up a bottle of Dutch schnapps, which was the only
+spirit the house contained, but his jaws were too fast closed for us
+to open them. So we stood all three watching him helplessly, while
+those last words of his drummed at my heart. Jeffries! I knew enough
+of the bloody work he had taken in hand that summer to assure me there
+would be short shrift for Julian had he meddled in Monmouth's affairs.
+On the other hand, I reflected, if such indeed was my friend's case,
+wherein could I prove of effectual help? "None but you can serve his
+turn," the fellow had said. Could Julian have fallen under another
+charge? I was the more inclined to this conjecture, for that Julian
+had been always staunchly loyal to the King, and, moreover, a constant
+figure at the Court.
+
+However, 'twas all idle guess-work, and there before my eyes was
+stretched the one man, who could have disclosed the truth, struck down
+in the very telling of his story! I began to fear that he would die
+before the surgeon came. For he breathed heavily with a horrid sound
+like a dog snoring.
+
+All at once a thought flashed into my mind. He might have brought a
+letter from Julian's hand. I searched his pockets on the instant; they
+held nothing but a few English coins and some metal charms, such as
+the ignorant are wont to carry on their persons to preserve them from
+misadventure.
+
+While I was thus engaged, the doctor was ushered into the room, very
+deliberate in manner, and magnificent in his dress. Erudition was
+marked in the very cock of his wig. I sprang towards him.
+
+"Make him speak, Mynheer!" I implored. "He hath a message to deliver,
+and it cannot wait."
+
+But he put me aside with a wave of his hand and advanced towards the
+bed, pursing his lips and frowning as one sunk in a profundity of
+thought.
+
+"Can you make him speak?" I asked again with some impatience. But
+again he merely waved his hand, and taking a gilt box from his pocket,
+inhaled a large pinch of snuff. Then he turned to Larke, who stood
+holding the bottle of schnapps.
+
+"Tell me, young gentleman," he said severely, "what time the fit took
+him, and the manner of his seizure!"
+
+Larke informed him hastily of what had passed, and he listened with
+much sage bobbing of his head. Then to our hostess:
+
+"My assistant is below, and hath my instruments. Send him up!"
+
+He turned to us.
+
+"I will bleed him," he said. "For what saith the learned Hippocrates?"
+Whereupon he mouthed out a rigmarole of Latin phrases, wherein I could
+detect neither cohesion nor significance.
+
+"Leave him to me, gentlemen!" he continued with a third flourish of
+his wrist. "Leave him to me and Hippocrates!"
+
+"Which we do," I replied, "with the more confidence in that
+Hippocrates had so much foreknowledge of the Latin tongue."
+
+And so we got us back to the parlour. How the minutes dragged! Through
+the door I could still hear the noise of the man's breathing; and now
+and again the light clink of instruments and a trickling sound as of
+blood dripping into a bason. I paced impatiently about the room, while
+Jack sat him down at the table and began loading his pistols.
+
+"The twenty-first!" I exclaimed, "and this day is the fourteenth.
+Seven days, Jack! I have but seven days to win from here to Bristol."
+
+I went to the window and leaned out. Swasfield's horse was standing
+quietly in the road, tethered by the bridle to a tree.
+
+"'Canst do it, Morrice, if the wind holds fair," replied Jack. "Heaven
+send a wind!" and he rose from the table and joined me. Together we
+stretched out to catch the least hint of a breeze. But not a breath
+came to us; not a tree shimmered, not a shadow stirred. The world
+slumbered in a hot stupor. It seemed you might have felt the air
+vibrate with the passage of a single bird.
+
+Of a sudden Larke cried out:
+
+"Art sure 'tis the fourteenth to-day?"
+
+With that we scrambled back into the room and searched for a calendar.
+
+"Ay, lad!" he said ruefully as he discovered it; "'tis the fourteenth,
+not a doubt of it."
+
+I flung myself dejectedly on the couch. The volume of Horace lay open
+by my hand, and I took it up, and quite idly, with no thought of what
+I was doing, I wrote this date and the name of the month and the date
+of the year on the margin of the page.
+
+"Lord!" exclaimed Jack, flinging up his hands. "At the books again?
+Hast no boots and spurs?"
+
+I slipped the book into my pocket, and sprang to my feet. In the heat
+of my anxiety I had forgotten everything but this half-spoken message.
+But, or ever I could make a step, the door of the bedroom opened and
+the surgeon stepped into the room.
+
+"Can he speak now?" I asked.
+
+"The fit has not passed," says he.
+
+"Then in God's name, what ails the man?" cries Larke.
+
+"It is a visitation," says the doctor, with an upward cast of his
+eyes.
+
+"It is a canting ass of a doctor," I yelled in a fury, and I clapped
+my hat on my head.
+
+"Your boots?" cried Larke.
+
+"I'll e'en go in my shoes," I shouted back.
+
+I snatched up one of Jack's pistols, rammed it into my pocket, and so
+clattered downstairs and into the street. I untied Swasfield's horse
+and sprang on to its back.
+
+"Morrice!"
+
+I looked up. Jack was leaning out from the window.
+
+"Morrice," he said whimsically, and with a very winning smile, "'art
+not so much of a woman after all."
+
+I dug my heels into the horse's flanks and so rode out at a gallop
+beneath the lime-trees to Rotterdam.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER II.
+
+                  I REACH LONDON, AND THERE MAKE AN
+                            ACQUAINTANCE.
+
+
+At Rotterdam I was fortunate enough to light upon a Dutch skipper
+whose ship was anchored in the Texel, and who purposed sailing that
+very night for the Port of London. For a while, indeed, he scrupled to
+set me over, my lack of equipment--for I had not so much with me as a
+clean shirt--and my great haste to be quit of the country firing his
+suspicions. However, I sold Swasfield's horse to the keeper of a
+tavern by the waterside, and adding the money I got thereby to what I
+held in my pockets, I presently persuaded him; and a light wind
+springing up about midnight, we weighed anchor and stood out for the
+sea.
+
+That my purse was now empty occasioned me no great concern, since my
+cousin, Lord Elmscott, lived at London, in a fine house in Monmouth
+Square, and I doubted not but what I could instantly procure from him
+the means to enable me to continue my journey. I was, in truth,
+infinitely more distressed by the tardiness of our voyage, for towards
+sunrise the wind died utterly away, and during the next two days we
+lay becalmed, rocking lazily upon the swell. On the afternoon of the
+third, being the seventeenth day of the month, a breeze filled our
+sheets, and we made some progress, although our vessel, which was a
+ketch and heavily loaded, was a slow sailer at the best. But during
+the night the breeze quickened into a storm, and, blowing for twelve
+hours without intermission or abatement, drove us clean from our
+course, so that on the morning of the eighteenth we were scurrying
+northwards before it along the coast of Essex.
+
+This last misadventure cast me into the very bottom of despair. I knew
+that if I were to prove of timely help in Julian's deliverance, I must
+needs reach Bristol before his trial commenced, the which seemed now
+plainly impossible; and, atop of this piece of knowledge, my ignorance
+of the nature of his calamity, and of the service he desired of me,
+worked in my blood like a fever.
+
+For Julian and myself were linked together in a very sweet and
+intimate love. I could not, and I tried, point to its beginning. It
+seemed to have been native within us from our births. We took it from
+our fathers before us, and when they died we counted it no small part
+of our inheritance. Our estates, you should know, lay in contiguous
+valleys of the remote county of Cumberland, and thus we lived out our
+boyhood in a secluded comradeship. Seldom a day passed but we found a
+way to meet. Mostly Julian would come swinging across the fells, his
+otter-dogs yapping at his heels, and all the fresh morning in his
+voice. Together we would ramble over the slopes, bathe in the tarns
+and kelds, hunt, climb, argue, ay, and fight too, when we were
+gravelled for lack of arguments; so that even now, each time that I
+turn my feet homewards after a period of absence, and catch the first
+glimpse of these brown hillsides, they become bright and populous with
+the rich pageantry of our boyish fancies.
+
+But my clearest recollections of those days centre about Scafell, and
+a certain rock upon the Pillar Mountain in Ennerdale. A common share
+of peril is surely the stoutest bond of comradeship. You may find
+exemplars in the story of well-nigh every battle. But to hang half-way
+up a sheer cliff in the chill eerie silence, where a slip of the heel,
+a falter of the numbed fingers, would hurl both your companion and
+yourself upon the stones a hundred yards below--ah, that turns the
+friend into something closer than even a _frère d'armes_. At least, so
+it was with Julian and me.
+
+I think, too, that the very difference between us helped to fortify
+our love. Each felt the other the complement of his nature. And in
+later times, when Julian would come down from the Court to Oxford,
+tricked out in some new French fashion, and with all sorts of
+fantastical conceits upon his tongue, my rooms seemed to glow as with
+a sudden shaft of sunlight; and after that he had gone I was ever in
+two minds whether to send for a tailor, and follow him to Whitehall.
+
+But to return to my journey. On the nineteenth we changed our course,
+and tacked back to the mouth of the Thames. But it was not until the
+evening of the twentieth that we cast anchor by London Bridge. From
+the ship I hurried straight to the house of my cousin, Lord Elmscott,
+who resided in Monmouth Square, to the north of the town, being minded
+to borrow a horse of him and some money, and ride forthwith to
+Bristol. The windows, however, were dark, not a light glimmered
+anywhere; and knock with what noise I might, for a while I could get
+no answer to my summons.
+
+At last, just as I was turning away in no little distress of mind--for
+the town was all strange to me, and I knew no one else to whom I could
+apply at that late hour--a feeble shuffling step sounded in the
+passage. I knocked again, and as loudly as I could; the steps drew
+nearer, the bolts were slowly drawn from their sockets, and the door
+opened. I was faced by an old man in a faded livery, who held a
+lighted candle in his hand. Behind him the hall showed black and
+solitary.
+
+"I am Mr. Morrice Buckler," said I, "and I would have a word with my
+cousin, Lord Elmscott."
+
+The old man shook his head dolefully.
+
+"Nay, sir," he replied in a thin, quavering voice, "you do ill to seek
+him here. At White's perchance you may light on him, or at Wood's, in
+Pall Mall--I know not. But never in his own house while there is a
+pack of cards abroad."
+
+I waited not to hear the rest of his complaint, but dashed down the
+steps and set off westwards at a run. I crossed a lonely and noisome
+plain which I have since heard is named the pest-field, for that many
+of the sufferers in the late plague are buried there, and came out at
+the top of St. James' Street. There a stranger pointed out to me
+White's coffeehouse.
+
+"Is Lord Elmscott within?" I asked of an attendant as I entered.
+
+For reply he looked me over coolly from head to foot.
+
+"And what may be your business with Lord Elmscott?" he asked, with a
+sneer.
+
+In truth I must have cut but a sorry figure in his eyes, for I was all
+dusty and begrimed with my five days' travel. But I thought not of
+that at the time.
+
+"Tell him," said I, "that his cousin, Morrice Buckler, is here, and
+must needs speak with him." Whereupon the man's look changed to one of
+pure astonishment. "Be quick, fellow," I cried, stamping my foot; and
+with a humble "I crave your pardon," he hurried off upon the message.
+A door stood at the far end of the room, and through this he entered,
+leaving it ajar. In a moment I heard my cousin's voice, loud and
+boisterous:
+
+"Show him in! 'Od's wounds, he may change my luck."
+
+With that I followed him. 'Twas a strange sight to me. The room was
+small, and the floor so thickly littered with cards that it needed the
+feel of your foot to assure you it was carpeted. A number of gallants
+in a great disorder of dress stood about a little table whereat were
+seated a youth barely, I should guess, out of his teens, his face
+pale, but very indifferent and composed, and over against him my
+cousin. Elmscott's black peruke was all awry, his cheeks flushed, and
+his eyes bloodshot and staring.
+
+"Morrice," he cried, "what brings you here in this plight? I believe
+the fellow took you for a bailiff, and, on my life," he added,
+surveying me, "I have not the impudence to blame him." Thereupon he
+addressed himself to the company. "This, gentlemen," says he, "is my
+cousin, Mr. Morrice Buckler, a very worthy--bookworm."
+
+They all laughed as though there was some wit in the ill-mannered
+sally; but I had no time to spare for taking heed of their
+foolishness.
+
+"You can do me a service," I said eagerly.
+
+"You give me news," Elmscott laughed. "'Tis a strange service that I
+can render. Well, what may it be?"
+
+"I need money for one thing, and----" A roar of laughter broke in upon
+my words.
+
+"Money!" cries Elmscott. "Lord, that any one should come to me for
+money!" and he leaned back in his chair laughing as heartily as the
+best of them. "Why, Morrice, it's all gone--all gone into the devil's
+whirlpool. Howbeit," he went on, growing suddenly serious, "I will
+make a bargain with you. Stand by my side here. I have it in my mind
+that you will bring me luck. Stand by my side, and in return, if I
+win, I will lend you what help I may."
+
+"Nay, cousin," said I, "my business will not wait."
+
+"Nor mine," he replied, "nor mine. Stand by me! I shall not be long.
+My last stake's on the table."
+
+He seized hold of my arm as he spoke with something of prayer in his
+eyes, and reluctantly I consented. In truth, I knew not what else to
+do. 'Twas plain he was in no mood to hearken to my request, even if he
+had the means to grant it.
+
+"That's right, lad!" he bawled, and then to the servant: "Brandy!
+Brandy, d'ye hear! And a great deal of it! Now, gentlemen, you will
+see. Mr. Buckler is a student of Leyden. 'Tis full time that some good
+luck should come to us from Holland."
+
+And he turned him again to the table. His pleasantry was received with
+an uproarious merriment, which methought it hardly merited. But I have
+noted since that round a gaming-table, so tense is the spirit which it
+engenders, the poorest jest takes the currency of wit.
+
+I was at first perplexed by the difference of the stakes. Before my
+cousin lay a pair of diamond buckles, but no gold, not so much as a
+single guinea-piece. All that there was of that metal lay in scattered
+heaps beside his opponent.
+
+Lord Elmscott dealt the hands--the game was écarté--and the other
+nodded his request for cards. Looking over my cousin's shoulder I
+could see that he held but one trump, the ten, and a tierce to the
+king in another suit. For a little he remained without answering,
+glancing indecisively from his cards to the face of his player. At
+last, with a touch of defiance in his voice:
+
+"No!" he said. "Tis no hand to play on, but I'll trust to chance."
+
+"As you will," nodded the other, and he led directly into Elmscott's
+suit. Every one leaned eagerly forward, but each trick fell to my
+cousin, and he obtained the vole.
+
+"There! I told you," he cries.
+
+His opponent said never a word, but carelessly pushed a tinkling pile
+of coins across the table. And so the play went on; at the finish of
+each game a stream of gold drifted over to Lord Elmscott. It seemed
+that he could not lose. If he played the eight, his companion would
+follow with the seven.
+
+"He hath the devil at his back now," said one of the bystanders.
+
+"Pardon me!" replied my cousin very politely. "You insult Mr. Buckler.
+I am merely fortified with the learning of Leyden;" and he straightway
+marked the king. After a time the room fell to utter silence, even
+Elmscott stopped his outbursts. A strange fascination caught and
+enmeshed us all; we strained forward, holding our breaths as we
+watched the hands, though each man, I think, was certain what the end
+would be. For myself, I honestly struggled against this devilish
+enchantment, but to little purpose. The flutter of the cards made my
+heart leap. I sought to picture to myself the long dark road I had to
+traverse, and Julian in his prison at the end of it. I saw nothing but
+the faces of the players, Elmscott's flushed and purple, his
+opponent's growing paler and paler, while his eyes seemed to retreat
+into his head and the pupils of them to burn like points of fire. I
+loaded myself with reproaches and abuse, but the words ran through my
+head in a meaningless sequence, and were tuned to a clink of gold.
+
+And then an odd fancy came over me. In the midst of the yellow heap,
+ever increasing, on our side of the table, lay the pair of diamond
+buckles. I could see rays of an infinite variety of colours spirting
+out like little jets of flame, as the light caught the stones, and I
+felt a queer conviction that Elmscott's luck was in some way bound up
+with them. So strongly did the whim possess me that I lifted them from
+the table to test my thought. For so long as took the players to play
+two games, I held the buckles in my hands; and both games my cousin
+lost. I replaced them on the table, and he began to win once more with
+the old regularity, the heaps dwindling there and growing here, until
+at length all the money lay silted at my cousin's hand. You might have
+believed that a spell had been suddenly lifted from the company. Faces
+relaxed and softened, eyes lost their keen light, feet shuffled in a
+new freedom, and the heavy silence was torn by a Babel of voices.
+Strangely enough, all joined with Elmscott in attributing his change
+of fortune to my presence. Snuff-boxes were opened and their contents
+pressed upon me, and I think that I might have dined at no cost of
+myself for a full twelve months had I accepted the invitations I
+received. But the cessation of the play had waked me to my own
+necessities, and I turned to my cousin.
+
+"Now," said I, but I got no further, for he exclaimed:
+
+"Not yet, Morrice! There's my house in Monmouth Square."
+
+"Your house?" I repeated.
+
+"There's the manor of Silverdale."
+
+"You have not lost that?" I cried.
+
+"Every brick of it," says he.
+
+"Then," says I in a quick passion, "you must win them back as best you
+may. I'll bide no longer."
+
+"Nay, lad!" he entreated, laying hold of my sleeve. "You cannot mean
+that. See, when you came in, I had but these poor buckles left. They
+were all my fortune. Stay but for a little. For if you go you take all
+my luck with you. 'Am deadly sure of it."
+
+"I have stayed too long as it is" I replied, and wrenched myself free
+from his grasp.
+
+"Well, take what money you need! But you are no more than a stone," he
+whimpered.
+
+"The philosopher's stone, then," said I, and I caught up a couple of
+handsfull of gold and turned on my heel. But with a sudden cry I
+stopped. For as I turned, I glanced across the table to his opponent,
+and I saw his face change all in a moment to a strangely grey and
+livid colour. And to make the sight yet more ghastly, he still sat
+bolt upright in his chair, without a gesture, without a motion, a
+figure of marble, save that his eyes still burned steadily beneath his
+brows.
+
+"Great God!" I cried. "He is dying."
+
+"It is the morning," he said in a quiet voice, which had yet a very
+thrilling resonance, and it flashed across me with a singular
+uneasiness that this was the first time that he had spoken during all
+those hours.
+
+I turned towards the window, which was behind my cousin's chair.
+Through a chink of the curtains a pale beam of twilight streamed full
+on to the youth's face. So long as I had stood by Elmscott's side, my
+back had intercepted it; but as I moved away I had uncovered the
+window, and it was the grey light streaming from it which had given to
+him a complexion of so deathly and ashen a colour. I flung the
+curtains apart, and the chill morning flooded the room. One shiver ran
+through the company like a breeze through a group of aspens, and it
+seemed to me that on the instant every one had grown old. The heavy
+gildings, the yellow glare of the candles, the gaudy hangings about
+the walls, seen in that pitiless light, appeared inexpressibly
+pretentious and vulgar; and the gentlemen with their leaden cheeks,
+their disordered perukes, and the soiled finery of their laces and
+ruffles, no more than the room's fitting complement. A sickening qualm
+of disgust shot through me; the very air seemed to have grown acrid
+and stale; and yet, in spite of all I stayed--to my shame be it said,
+I stayed. However, I paid for the fault--ay, ten times over, in the
+years that were to come. For as I halted at the door to make my
+bow--my fingers were on the very handle--I perceived Lord Elmscott
+with one foot upon his chair, and the buckles in his hand. My
+presentiment came back to me with the conviction of a creed. I knew--I
+knew that if he failed to add those jewels to his stake, he would
+leave the coffeehouse as empty a beggar as when I entered it. I strode
+back across the room, took them from his hand, and laid them on the
+table. For a moment Elmscott stared at me in astonishment. Then I must
+think he read my superstition in my looks, for he said, clapping me on
+the back:
+
+"You will make a gambler yet, Morrice," and he sat him down on his
+chair. I took my former stand beside him.
+
+"You will stay, Mr. Buckler?" asked his opponent.
+
+"Yes," I replied.
+
+"Then," he continued, in the same even voice, "I have a plan in my
+head which I fancy will best suit the purposes of the three of us.
+Lord Elmscott is naturally anxious to follow his luck; you, Mr.
+Buckler, have overstayed your time; and as for me--well, it is now
+Wednesday morning, and a damned dirty morning, too, if I may judge
+from the countenances of my friends. We have sat playing here since
+six by the clock on Monday night, and I am weary. My bed calls for me.
+I propose then that we settle the bout with two casts of the dice. On
+the first throw I will stake your house in Monmouth Square against the
+money you have before you. If I win there's an end. If you win, I will
+set the manor of Silverdale against your London house and your
+previous stake."
+
+A complete silence followed upon his words. Even Lord Elmscott was
+taken aback by the magnitude of the stakes. The youth's proposal
+gained, moreover, on the mind by contrast with his tone of tired
+indifference. He seemed the least occupied of all that company.
+
+"I trust you will accept," he continued, speaking to my cousin with
+courteous gentleness. "As I have said, I am very tired. Luck is on
+your side, and, if I may be permitted to add, the advantage of the
+stakes."
+
+Elmscott glanced at me, paused for a second, and then, with a forced
+laugh:
+
+"Very well; so be it," he said. The dice were brought; he rattled them
+vigorously, and flung them down.
+
+"Four!" cried one of the gentlemen.
+
+"Damn!" said my cousin, and he mopped his forehead with his
+handkerchief. His antagonist picked up the dice with inimitable
+nonchalance, barely shook them in the cup, and let them roll idly out
+on to the table.
+
+"Three!"
+
+Elmscott heaved a sigh of relief. The other stretched his arms above
+his head and yawned.
+
+"'Tis a noble house, your house in Monmouth Square," he remarked.
+
+At the second throw, Elmscott discovered a most nervous anxiety. He
+held the cup so long in his hand that I feared he would lose the
+courage to complete the game. I felt, in truth, a personal shame at
+his indecision, and I gazed around with the full expectation of seeing
+a like feeling expressed upon the features of those who watched. But
+they wore one common look of strained expectancy. At last Elmscott
+threw.
+
+"Nine!" cried one, and a low murmur of voices buzzed for an instant
+and suddenly ceased as the other took up the dice.
+
+"Two!"
+
+Both players rose as with one motion. Elmscott tossed down his throat
+the brandy in his tumbler--it had stood by his side untasted since the
+early part of the night--and then turned to me with an almost
+hysterical outburst.
+
+"One moment."
+
+It was the youth who spoke, and his voice rang loud and strong. His
+weariness had slipped from him like a mask. He bent across the table
+and stretched out his arm, with his forefinger pointing at my cousin.
+
+"I will play you one more bout, Lord Elmscott. Against all that you
+have won back from me to-night--the money, your house, your estate--I
+will pit my docks in the city of Bristol. But I claim one condition,"
+and he glanced at me and paused.
+
+"If it affects my cousin's presence----" Elmscott began.
+
+"It does not," the other interrupted. "'Tis a trivial condition--a
+whim of mine, a mere whim."
+
+"What is it, then?" I asked, for in some unaccountable way I was much
+disquieted by his change of manner, and dreaded the event of his
+proposal.
+
+"That while your cousin throws you hold his buckles in your hands."
+
+It were impossible to describe the effect which this extraordinary
+request produced. At any other time it would have seemed no more than
+laughable. But after these long hours of play we were all tinder to a
+spark of superstition. Nothing seemed too whimsical for belief. Luck
+had proved so tricksy a sprite that the most trivial object might well
+take its fancy and overset the balance of its favours. The fierce
+vehemence of the speaker, besides, breaking thus unexpectedly through
+a crust of equanimity, carried conviction past the porches of the
+ears. So each man hung upon Elmscott's answer as upon the arbitrament
+of his own fortune.
+
+For myself, I took a quick step towards my cousin; but the youth shot
+a glance of such imperious menace at me that I stopped shamefaced like
+a faulty schoolboy. However, Elmscott caught my movement and, I think,
+the look which arrested me.
+
+"Not to-day," he said, "if you will pardon me. I am over-tired myself,
+and would fain keep to our bargain." Thereupon he came over to me.
+"Now, Morrice," he exclaimed, "it is your turn. You have the money.
+What else d'ye lack? What else d'ye lack?"
+
+"I need the swiftest horse in your stables," I replied.
+
+Elmscott burst into a laugh.
+
+"You shall have it--the swiftest horse in my stables. You shall e'en
+take it as a gift. Only I fear 'twill leave your desires unsatisfied."
+And he chuckled again.
+
+"Then," I replied, with some severity, for in truth his merriment
+struck me as ill-conditioned, "then I shall take the liberty of
+leaving it behind at the first post on the Bristol Road."
+
+"The Bristol Road?" interposed the youth. "You journey to Bristol?"
+
+I merely bowed assent, for I was in no mood to disclose my purpose to
+that company, and caught up my hat; but he gently took my arm and drew
+me into the window.
+
+"Mr. Buckler," he said, gazing at me the while with quiet eyes,
+"Fortune has brought us into an odd conjunction this night. I have so
+much of the gambler within me as to believe that she will repeat the
+trick, and I hope for my revenge."
+
+He held out his hand courteously. I could not but take it. For a
+moment we stood with clasped hands, and I felt mine tremble within
+his.
+
+"Ah!" he said, smiling curiously, "you believe so, too." And he made
+me a bow and turned back into the room.
+
+I remained where he left me, gazing blindly out of the window; for the
+shadow of a great trouble had fallen across my spirit. His words and
+the concise certainty of his tone had been the perfect voicing of my
+own forebodings. I did indeed believe that Fortune would some day pit
+us in a fresh antagonism; that somewhere in the future she had already
+set up the lists, and that clasp of the hands I felt to be our bond
+and surety that we would keep faith with her and answer to our names.
+
+"Morrice," said Elmscott at my elbow, and I started like one waked
+from his sleep, "we'll go saddle your horse."
+
+And he laughed to himself again as though savouring a jest. He slipped
+an arm through mine and walked to the door.
+
+"Good morning, gentlemen," he said. "Marston, _au revoir!_" And with a
+twirl of his hat, he stepped into the outer room. His servant was
+sleeping upon a bench, and he woke him up and bade him fetch the money
+and follow home.
+
+The morning was cold, and we set off at a brisk pace towards Monmouth
+Square, Elmscott chatting loudly the while, with ever and again, I
+thought, a covert laugh at me.
+
+I only pressed on the harder. It was not merely that I was vexed by
+his quizzing demeanour; but the moment I was free from that tawdry
+hell, and began to breathe fresh air in place of the heavy reek of
+perfumes and wine, the fulness of my disloyalty rolled in upon my
+conscience, so that Elmscott's idle talk made me sicken with
+repulsion; for he babbled ever about cards and dice and the feminine
+caprice of luck.
+
+"What ails you, Morrice?" at length he inquired, seeing that I had no
+stomach for his mirth. "You look as spiritless as a Quaker."
+
+"I was thinking," I replied, in some irritation, for he clapped me on
+the back as he spoke, "that it must be sorely humiliating for a man of
+your age either to win money or lose it when you have a mere stripling
+to oppose you."
+
+"A man of my age, indeed!" he exclaimed. "And what age do you take to
+be mine, Mr. Buckler?"
+
+He turned his face angrily towards me, and I scanned it with great
+deliberation.
+
+"It would not be fair," I answered, with a shake of the head. "It
+would not be fair for me to hazard a guess. Two nights at play may
+well stamp middle-age upon youth, and decrepitude upon middle-age."
+
+At this he knew not whether to be mollified or yet more indignant, and
+so did the very thing I had been aiming at--he held his tongue. Thus
+we proceeded in a moody silence until we were hard by Soho. Then he
+asked suddenly:
+
+"What drags you in such a scurry to Bristol?"
+
+"I would give much to know myself," I answered. "I journey thither at
+the instance of a friend who lies in dire peril. But that is the whole
+sum of my knowledge. I have not so much as a hint of the purport of my
+service."
+
+"A friend! What friend?" he inquired with something of a start, and
+looked at me earnestly.
+
+"Sir Julian Harnwood," said I, and he stopped abruptly in his walk.
+
+"Ah!" he said; then he looked on the ground, and swore a little to
+himself.
+
+"You know what threatens him?" said I; but he made me no answer and
+resumed his walk, quickening his pace. "Tell me!" I entreated. "His
+servant came to me at Leyden six days ago, but was seized by a
+fit or ever he could out with his message. So I learnt no more than
+this--that Julian lies in Bristol gaol and hath need of me."
+
+"But the assizes begin to-day," he interrupted, with an air of
+triumph. "You are over-late to help him."
+
+"Ah, no!" I pleaded. "I may yet reach there in time. Julian may haply
+be amongst the last to come to trial?"
+
+"'Twere most unlikely," returned he, with a snap of his teeth. "My
+Lord Jeffries wastes no time in weighing evidence. Why, at Taunton,
+but a fortnight ago, one hundred and forty-five prisoners were
+disposed of within three days. The man does not try; he executes.
+There's but one outlook for your friend, and that's through the noose
+of a rope. Jeffries holds a strict mandate from the King, I tell you,
+for the King's heart is full of anger against the rebels."
+
+"But Julian was no rebel," I exclaimed.
+
+"Tut, tut, lad!" he replied. "If he was no rebel himself, he harboured
+rebels. If he didn't flesh his sword at Sedgemoor, he gave shelter to
+those that did. And 'tis all one crime, I tell you. Hair-splitting is
+held in little favour at the Western Assizes."
+
+"But are you sure of this?" I asked. "Or is it pure town gossip?"
+
+"Nay," said he, "I have the news hot from Marston. He should know,
+eh?"
+
+"Marston?" said I.
+
+"Yes! The"--and he paused for a second, and smiled at me--"the _man_
+who played with me. 'Tis his sister that's betrothed to Harnwood."
+
+_His_ sister! The blood chilled in my veins. I had been aware, of
+course, that Julian was affianced to a certain Miss Marston of the
+county of Gloucestershire. But I had never set eyes upon her person
+and knew little of her history, beyond that she had been one of the
+ladies in attendance upon the Queen prior to her accession to the
+throne; I mean when she was still the Duchess of York. Miss Marston
+was, in fact, a mere name to me; and since consequently she held no
+place in my thoughts, it had not occurred to me to connect her in any
+way with this chance acquaintance of the gaming-table. Now, however,
+the relationship struck me with a peculiar and even menacing
+significance. It recalled to me the few words Marston had spoken in
+the window; and, lo! not half an hour after their utterance, here was,
+as it were, a guarantee of their fulfilment. Between Marston and
+myself there already existed, then, a certain faint accidental
+connection. I felt that I had caught a glimpse of the cord which was
+to draw us together.
+
+Elmscott's voice broke in upon my imaginings.
+
+"So, Morrice, I have sure knowledge to back my words. No good can come
+of your journey, though harm may, and it will fall on you. 'Twere best
+to stay quietly in London. You may think your hair grey, but you will
+never save Julian Harnwood from the gallows."
+
+My cheeks burned as I heard him, for my thoughts had been humming
+busily about my own affairs, and not at all about Julian's; and with a
+bitter shame, "God!" I cried, "that I should fail him so! Surely never
+was a man so misused as my poor friend! He is the very sport and
+shuttlecock of disaster. First his messenger must needs fall sick;
+then my boat must take five days to cross to England. And to cap it
+all, I must waste yet another night in a tavern or ever I can borrow a
+horse to help me on my way."
+
+By this time we had got to Elmscott's house. He drew a key from his
+pocket and mounted the steps thoughtfully, and I after him. On the
+last step, however, he turned, and laying a hand upon my shoulder, as
+I stood below him, said, with a very solemn gravity: "There is God's
+hand in all this. He doth not intend you should go. In His great
+wisdom He doth not intend it. He would punish the guilty, and He would
+spare you who are innocent."
+
+"But what harm can come to me?" I cried, with a laugh; though, indeed,
+the laugh was hollow as the echo of an empty house.
+
+"That lies in the dark," said he. "But 'tis no common aid Julian
+Harnwood asks from you. He has friends enough in England. Why should
+he send to Holland when his time's so short?" And then he added with
+more insistent earnestness: "Don't go, lad! If any one could avail,
+'twould be Marston. He has power in Bristol. And you see, he bides
+quietly in London."
+
+"But methinks he was never well-disposed to Julian," said I,
+remembering certain half-forgotten phrases of my friend. "He looked
+but sourly on the marriage."
+
+"Very well," said he, with a shrug of the shoulders. "Must make your
+own bed;" and he opened the door, and led me through the hall and into
+a garden at the back. At the far end of this the stables were built,
+and we crossed to them. "The rascals are still asleep," he remarked,
+and proceeded to waken them with much clanging of the bell and shouts
+of abuse. In a while we heard a heavy step stumbling down the stair.
+
+"I had meant to have a fine laugh at you over this," said Elmscott,
+with a rueful smile. "But I have no heart for it now that I know your
+errand."
+
+An ostler, still blinking and drowsy, opened the door. He rubbed his
+eyes at the sight of his master.
+
+"Don't stand gaping, you fish!" cried my cousin. "Whom else did you
+expect to see? Show us to the stables."
+
+The fellow led us silently into the stables. A long row of boxes stood
+against the wall, all neatly littered with straw, but to my
+astonishment and dismay, so far as I could see, not one of them held a
+horse.
+
+"She's at the end, sir," said the groom; and we walked down the length
+of the boxes, and halted before the last.
+
+"Get up, lass!" and after a few pokes the animal rose stiffly from its
+bed. For a moment I well-nigh cried from sheer mortification. Never in
+all my comings and goings since have I seen such a parody of Nature,
+not even in the booths of a country fair. 'Twas of a piebald colour,
+and stood very high, with long thin legs. Its knees were, moreover,
+broken. It had a neck of extraordinary length, and a huge, absurd head
+which swung pendulous at the end of it, and seemed by its weight to
+have dragged the beast out of shape, for the line of its back slanted
+downwards from its buttocks to its shoulders.
+
+"This is no fair treatment," I exclaimed hotly. "Elmscott, I deserve
+better at your hands. 'Tis an untimely jest, and you might well have
+spared yourself the pleasure of it."
+
+"And the name of her's Ph[oe]be," he replied musingly. "'Tis her one
+good point."
+
+He spoke with so droll a melancholy that I had some ado to refrain
+from laughing, in spite of my vexation.
+
+"But," said I, "surely this is not all your equipage?"
+
+"Nay," returned he proudly, "I have its saddle and bridle. But for the
+rest of my horses, I lost them all playing basset with Lord Culverton.
+He took them away only yesterday morning, but left me the mare, saying
+that he had no cart for her conveyance."
+
+"Well," said I, "I must e'en make shift with her. She may carry me one
+stage."
+
+And I walked out of the stables and back into the hall. Elmscott bade
+his groom saddle the mare and followed me, but I was too angry to
+speak with him, and seated myself sullenly at a table. However, he
+fetched a pie from the pantry and a bottle of wine, and set them
+before me. I had eaten nothing since I had disembarked the night
+before, and knowing, besides, that I had a weary day in store, I fell
+to with a good appetite. Elmscott opened the door. The sun had just
+risen, and a warm flood of light poured into the hall and brightened
+the dark panels of the walls. With that entered the sound of birds
+singing, the rustle of trees, and all the pleasant garden-smells of a
+fresh September morning. And at once a great hope sprang up in my
+heart that I might yet be in time to prove the minister of Julian's
+need. I heard the sound of hoofs on the road outside.
+
+"Lend me a whip!" I cried.
+
+"You are still set on going?"
+
+"Lend me a whip!"
+
+He offered me an oak cudgel.
+
+"Ph[oe]be has passed her climacteric, and her perceptions are dull,"
+he said; and then with a sudden change of manner he laid his hand on
+my shoulder. "'Twere best not to go," he declared earnestly. "Those
+who bring luck to others seldom find great store of it themselves."
+
+But in the sweet clearness of the morning such thoughts seemed to me
+no more than night vapours, and I sprang down the steps with a laugh.
+The mare shivered as I mounted, and swung her head around as though
+she would ask me what in the devil's name I was doing on her back. But
+I thwacked her flanks with the cudgel, and she ambled heavily through
+the square. I turned to look behind me. Elmscott was still standing on
+the steps.
+
+"Morrice," he called out, "be kind to her! She is an heirloom."
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER III.
+
+                TELLS HOW I REACH BRISTOL, AND IN WHAT
+                STRANGE GUISE I GO TO MEET MY FRIEND.
+
+
+At length, then, I was fairly started on my way to Bristol. For my
+direction over this first stage of my journey I had made inquiries of
+Elmscott, and I rode westwards towards the village of Knightsbridge,
+thanking Providence most heartily for that the city still slept. For
+what with my disordered dress, my oak cudgel, and the weedy screw
+which I bestrode--I scruple to dignify her with the name of mare, for
+I have owned mares since which I loved, and would not willingly
+affront them--I could not hope to pass unnoticed were any one abroad,
+and, indeed, should esteem myself well-used to be counted no worse
+than a mountebank. Thus I crossed Hounslow Heath and reached Brentford
+without misadventure. There I joyfully parted with my Rosinante, and
+hiring a horse, rode post. The way, however, was ill-suited for speedy
+travelling, and my hope of seeing Julian that night dwindled with my
+shadow as the sun rose higher and higher behind my shoulders. Ruts
+deep and broad as new furrows trenched the road, and here and there
+some slough would make a wide miry gap, wherein my horse sank over the
+fetlocks. Some blame, moreover, must attach to me, for I chose a false
+turn at the hamlet of Colnbrook, and journeyed ten miles clean from my
+path to Datchet; so that in the end night found me blundering on the
+edge of Wickham Heath, some sixty-one miles from London. I had changed
+horses at Newbury, and I determined to press on at least so far as
+Hungerford. But I had not counted with myself. I was indeed
+overwrought with want of sleep, and the last few stages I had ridden
+with dulled senses in a lethargy of fatigue. At what point exactly I
+wandered from the road I could not tell. But the darkness had closed
+in before I began to notice a welcome ease and restfulness in the
+motion of the gallop. I was wondering idly at the change, when of a
+sudden my horse pops his foot into a hole. The reins were hanging
+loose on his neck; I myself was rocking in the saddle, so that I shot
+clean over his shoulder, turned a somersault in mid-air, and came down
+flat on my back in the centre of the Heath. For a while I lay there
+without an effort or desire to move. I felt as if Mother Earth had
+taken pity on my weariness, and had thus unceremoniously put me to
+bed. The trample of hoofs, however, somewhat too close to my legs,
+roused me to wakefulness, and I started up and prepared to remount. To
+my dismay I found that my horse was badly lamed; he could barely set
+his foreleg to the ground. The accident was the climax of my
+misfortunes. I looked eagerly about me. The night was moonless, but
+very clear and soft with the light of the stars. I could see the
+common stretching away on every side empty and desolate; here a
+cluster of trees, there a patch of bushes, but never a house, never
+the kindly twinkle of a lamp, never a sign of a living thing. What it
+behoved me to do, I could not come at, think as hard as I might. But
+whatever that might have been, what I did, alas! was far different.
+For I plumped myself down on the grass and cried like a child. It
+seemed to me that God's hand was indeed turned against my friend and
+his deliverance.
+
+But somehow into the midst of my lament there slipped a remembrance of
+Jack Larke. On the instant his face took shape and life before me,
+shining out as it were from a frame of darkness. I saw an honest scorn
+kindle in his eyes, and his lips shot "woman" at me. The visionary
+picture of him braced me like the cut of a whip. At all events, I
+thought, I would make a pretence of manhood, and I ceased from my
+blubbering, and laying hold of the horse by the bridle, led him
+forward over the Heath.
+
+I kept a sharp watch about me as I walked, but it must have been a
+full two hours afterwards when I caught a glimpse of a light far away
+on my left hand, glimmering in a little thicket upon a swell of the
+turf. At first I was minded to reckon it a star, for the Heath at that
+point was ridged up against the sky. But it shone with a beam too warm
+and homely to match the silver radiance of the planets. I turned
+joyfully in its direction, and quickening my pace, came at length to
+the back of a house. The light shone from a window on the ground floor
+facing me. I looked into it over a little paling, and saw that it was
+furnished as a kitchen. Plates and pewter-pots gleamed orderly upon
+the shelves, and a row of noble hams hung from the rafters.
+
+I hurried round the side of the house and found myself, to my great
+satisfaction, on a bank which overlooked the road. I scrambled down
+the side of it and knocked loudly at the door. It was opened by an
+elderly man, who stared at me in some surprise.
+
+"You travel late, young sir," said he, holding the door ajar.
+
+"I have need to," I replied. "I should have been in Bristol long ere
+this."
+
+"'Tis strange," he went on, eyeing me a thought suspiciously. "I
+caught no sound of your horse's hoofs upon the road."
+
+"'Twould have been stranger if you had," said I. "For I missed my way
+soon after sundown, and have been wandering since on the Heath. I saw
+the light of your house some half an hour agone over yonder," and I
+pointed in the direction whence I had come.
+
+"Then you are main lucky, sir," he returned, but in a more civil tone.
+"This is the 'Half-way House,' and it has no neighbours. In another
+hour we should have gone to bed--for we have no guests to-night--and
+you might have wandered until dawn."
+
+With that he set the door back against the wall, and stood aside for
+me to pass.
+
+"You must pardon my surliness," he said. "But few honest travellers
+cross Wickham Heath by dark, and at first I mistook you. I have never
+held truck with the gentry of the road, though, indeed, my pockets
+suffer for the ease of my conscience. However, if you will step
+within, my wife will get you supper while I lead your horse to the
+stables."
+
+"The beast is lame," said I, "and I would fain continue my way
+to-night. Have you a horse for hire?"
+
+"Nay, sir," said he, shaking his head. "I have but one horse here
+besides your own, and that is not mine."
+
+"I need it only for a day," I urged eagerly; "for less than a day. I
+could reach Bristol in the morning, and would send it you back
+forthwith."
+
+I plunged my hand into my fob, and pulled out a handful of money as I
+spoke.
+
+"It is no use," he declared. "The horse is not mine. 'Twas left here
+for a purpose, and I may not part with it."
+
+"It would be with you again to-morrow," I repeated.
+
+"It may be needed in the meanwhile," said he. "It may be needed in an
+hour. I know not."
+
+I let the coins run from my right hand into the palm of my left, so
+that they fell clinking one on the top of the other. For a second he
+stood undecided; then he spoke in a low voice like a man arguing with
+himself.
+
+"I will not do it. The horse was left with me in trust--in trust.
+Moreover, I was well paid for the trust." And he turned to me.
+
+"Put up your money, sir," said he stubbornly. "You should think shame
+to tempt poor folk. You will get no horse 'twixt here and Hungerford."
+
+I slipped the money back into my pocket while he moved away with the
+horse. It limped worse than ever, and he stopped and picked up its
+foreleg.
+
+"It is no more than a strain, I think," he called out. "The wife shall
+make a poultice for it to-night, and you can start betimes in the
+morning."
+
+It was a poor consolation, but the only one. So I made the best of it,
+and, taking my supper in the kitchen, went forthwith to bed. I was
+indeed so spent and tired that I fell asleep in the corner by the fire
+while my ham was being fried, and after it, was almost carried
+upstairs in the arms of my landlord. I had not lain in a bed since I
+left Leyden, and few sights, I think, have ever affected me with
+so pleasant a sense of rest and comfort as that of the little
+inn-chamber, with its white dimity curtains and lavender-scented
+sheets. I have, in truth, always loved the scent of lavender since.
+
+The next morning I was early afoot, and, despatching a hasty
+breakfast, made my way to the stables. The innkeeper had preceded me
+in order to have all ready for my start; but he stood in the yard with
+the horse unsaddled.
+
+"'Tis no use, sir," he said. "You must e'en walk to Hungerford."
+
+I had but to see the horse take one step to realise the truth of his
+words, for it limped yet worse than the evening before. The foot,
+moreover, was exceeding hot and inflamed.
+
+"Take it back," said I. "The poor beast must bide here till I return."
+
+I followed him into the stable, and inquired of the road.
+
+"You go straight," he said, "till you come to Barton Court, opposite
+the village of Kintbury--" when of a sudden I stopped him. There were
+but two stalls in the building, and I had just caught a glimpse of the
+horse which was tied up in the second. It was of a light chestnut in
+colour, with white stockings, and a fleck of white in its coat at the
+joint of the hip. The patch was like a star in shape, and very
+unusual.
+
+"Why, this is Sir Julian Harnwood's horse," I cried, leaping towards
+it--"his favourite horse!"
+
+"Yes," he said, looking at me with some surprise, "that was the
+name--Sir Julian Harnwood. 'Tis the horse I told you of last night."
+
+And in a flash the truth came upon me.
+
+"It waits for me," I said. "Quick, man, saddle it! Sir Julian's life
+hangs upon your speed."
+
+But he planted himself sturdily before me.
+
+"Not so fast, young master," he said. "That trick will not serve your
+turn. 'Tis Sir Julian's horse, sure enough, and it waits its rider,
+sure enough; but that you are he, I must have some better warrant than
+your word."
+
+"My name may prove it," I replied. "It is Buckler--Morrice Buckler.
+Sir Julian's servant came to me in Holland."
+
+"Buckler!" the man repeated, as though he heard it for the first time.
+"Morrice Buckler! Yes, sir, that may be your name. I have nothing
+against it beyond that it is unfamiliar in these parts. But a strange
+name is a poor thing to persuade a man to forego his trust."
+
+I looked at the man. Though elderly and somewhat bent, he was of a
+large frame, and the sinews stood out in knots upon his bared arms.
+Plainly I was no match for him if it came to a struggle; and a
+sickening feeling of impotence and futility surged up within me. At
+every turn of the road destiny had built up its barrier. I understood
+that the clue to the matter lay hidden in that untold message which
+had been vainly conveyed to Leyden; that Swasfield had some pass-word,
+some token to impart whereby I might make myself known along the road.
+
+"The horse waits for me," I cried, my voice rising as I beseeched him.
+"In very truth it waits for me. Doubtless I should have some proof of
+that. But the man that bid me come fell in a swoon or ever he could
+hand it me."
+
+The innkeeper smiled, and sat him down on a corn-bin. Indeed, the
+explanation sounded weak enough to me, who was witness of its truth. I
+should hardly have credited it from another's lips.
+
+"Oh, can't you see," I entreated, in an extremity of despair, "can't
+you feel that I am telling you God's truth?"
+
+"No, master," he answered slowly, shaking his head, "I feel nought of
+that sort."
+
+His words and stolid bumpkin air threw me into a frenzy of rage.
+
+"Then," cried I, "may the devil's curse light on you and yours! That
+horse was left with you in trust. You have dinned the word into my
+ears; there's no gainsaying it. And I claim the fulfilment of your
+trust. Understand, fellow!" I went on, shaking my hand at him, for I
+saw his mouth open and his whole face broaden out into a laugh. "It's
+not a horse you are stealing; it is a life--a man's innocent life!"
+
+Thereupon he broke in upon my passion with a great gust of mirth that
+shook him from head to foot.
+
+"Lord, master!" said he, "that be mighty fine play-acting. I don't
+know that I ever saw better in Newberry Market"--and he slapped a
+great fist upon his thigh. "No, I'll be danged if I did. Go on! go on!
+Lord, I could sit here and laugh till dinner." And he thrust his feet
+forward, plunged his hands in his breeches pockets, and rolled back
+against the wall. I watched him in an utter vacancy of mind. For his
+stupid laughter had quenched me like a pailful of cold water. I
+searched for some device by which I might outwit his stubbornness. Not
+the smallest seed of a plan could I discover. I sent my thoughts back
+to the morning of the fourteenth, and cudgelled my memory in the hope
+that Swasfield might have dropped some hint which had passed
+unnoticed. But he had said so little, and I remembered his every word.
+Then in a twinkling I recollected the charms which I had found upon
+his person. Perchance one of them was the needed token. No idea was
+too extravagant for me to grasp at it. What had I done with them? I
+thought. I clapped my hand into the pocket of my coat, and my fingers
+closed, not on the charms, but on the barrel of the pistol which Larke
+had handed to me at the moment of my setting out. In an instant my
+mind was made up. I must have that horse, cost what it might. 'Twas
+useless to argue with my landlord. Money I had made trial of the night
+before. And here were the minutes running by, and each one of them, it
+might be, a drop of Julian's blood!
+
+I walked quickly to the door, at once to disengage the pistol secretly
+and to hide any change in my countenance. But the cock must needs
+catch in the flap of my pocket as I drew the weapon out. I heard a
+startled cry behind me, a rattle of the corn-bin, and a clatter of
+heavy shoes on the ground. I took one spring out of the stable,
+turned, and levelled the barrel through the doorway. For a moment we
+stood watching one another, he crouched for a leap, I covering his
+eyes with the pistol.
+
+"Saddle that horse," I commanded, "and bring it out into the road!"
+
+It was his turn now to argue and entreat, but I had no taste at the
+moment for "play-acting."
+
+"Be quick, man!" I said. "You have wasted time enough. Be quick, else
+I'll splatter your head against the wall!"
+
+The fellow rose erect and did as I bid, while I stood in the doorway
+and railed at him. For, alas! I was never over-generous by nature.
+
+"Hurry, you potatoe!" I exclaimed. Why that word above all other and
+more definite terms of abuse should have pained him I know not. But so
+it was; "Potatoe" grieved him immeasurably, and noting that, I
+repeated it more often, I fear me, than fitted my dignity. At length
+the horse was saddled.
+
+"Lead it out!" I said, and walked backwards to the road with my pistol
+still levelled.
+
+He followed me with the horse, and I bade him go back into the stable
+and close the door. Then I put up my pistol, sprang into the saddle,
+and started at a gallop past the inn. I had ridden little more than a
+hundred yards when I chanced to look back. My host was standing in the
+centre of the way, his legs firmly apart, and a huge blunderbuss at
+his shoulder. I flung my body forward on the neck of the horse, and a
+shower of slugs whistled through the air above my head. I felt for my
+pistol to return the compliment, but 'twould have been mere waste of
+the shot; I should never have hit him. So I just curved my hand about
+my mouth and bawled "Potatoe" at the top of my voice. It could have
+done no less hurt than his slugs.
+
+The horse, fresh from its long confinement, answered gladly to my call
+upon its speed, and settled into a steady gallop. But for all that,
+though I pressed on quickly through Marlborough and Chippenham, the
+nearer I came to Bristol the more lively did my anxieties become. I
+began to ponder with an increasing apprehension on the business which
+Julian might have in store for me. The urgency of his need had been
+proved yet more clearly that morning. The horse which I bestrode was a
+fresh and convincing evidence; and I could not but believe that
+similar relays were waiting behind me the whole length of the road
+from London.
+
+At the same time, as Elmscott had urged, I could bring him no solace
+of help in the matter of his trial. It would need greater authority
+than mine to rescue him from Jeffries' clutches. I realised that there
+must be some secret trouble at the back, and the more earnestly I
+groped after a hint of its nature, the more dark and awesome the
+riddle grew.
+
+For, to my lasting shame I own it, Elmscott's forebodings recurred to
+me with the mystical force of a prophecy:
+
+"There is God's hand in all this. He doth not mean you should go."
+
+The warning seemed traced in black letters on the air before me; fear
+whispered it at my heart, and the very hoofs of the horse beat it out
+in a ringing menace from the ground.
+
+At last, when I was well-nigh in the grips of a panic, over the brow
+of a hill I saw a cluster of church-spires traced like needles against
+the sun, and in a sudden impulse to outstrip my cowardice I drove my
+heels into my horse's flanks, and an hour later rode through Lawford's
+Gate into Bristol town. I inquired of the first person I met where the
+Court was sitting. At the Guildhall, he told me, and pointed out the
+way. A clock struck four as he spoke, and I hurriedly thanked him and
+hastened on.
+
+About the Guildhall a great rabble of people swung and pressed, and I
+reined up on the farther side of the street, but as nearly opposite to
+the entrance as I could force my way. In front of the building stood a
+carriage very magnificently equipped, with four horses, and footmen in
+powdered wigs and glistening liveries.
+
+From such converse as went on about me, I sought to learn what
+prisoners had been tried that day. But so great was the confusion of
+voices, curses, lamentations, and rejoicings being mixed and blended
+in a common uproar, that I could gather no knowledge that was
+particular to my purpose. Then from the shadow of the vestibule shot a
+gleam of scarlet and white, and at once a deep hush fell upon the
+crowd. Preceded by his officers, my lord Jeffries stepped out to his
+carriage, a man of a royal mien, with wonderfully dark and piercing
+eyes, though the beauty of his face was much marred by spots and
+blotches, and an evil smile that played incessantly about his lips. He
+seemed in truth in high good-humour, and laughed boisterously with
+those that attended him; and bethinking me of his savage cruelty, and
+the unholy lustfulness wherewith he was wont to indulge it, my heart
+sank in fear for Julian.
+
+The departure of his carriage seemed to lift a weight from every
+tongue, and the clamour recommenced. I cast about for some one to
+approach, when I beheld a little man with a face as wrinkled and
+withered as a dry pippin, pressing through the throng in my direction.
+I thought at first that he intended speech with me, for he looked me
+over with some care. But he came straight on to the horse's head, and
+without pausing walked briskly along its side to my right hand and
+disappeared behind me. A minute after I heard the noise of a dispute
+on my left. There was my little friend again. He had turned on his
+steps, and moving in the contrary direction had come up with me once
+more. In the hurry of his movements he had knocked up against a
+passer-by, and the pair straightway fell loudly to argument, each one
+accusing the other of clumsiness. I turned in my saddle to watch the
+quarrel, and immediately the little man, with profuse apologies, took
+the blame upon himself and continued his way. I followed him with my
+eyes. He had proceeded but ten yards when his pace began to slacken,
+then he dropped into a saunter, and finally stood still in a musing
+attitude with his eyes on the ground, as though he was debating some
+newly-remembered question. Of a sudden he raised his head, shot one
+quick glance towards me, and resumed his walk. The street was thinning
+rapidly, and I was able to pursue him without difficulty. For half a
+mile we went on, keeping the same distance between us, when he sharply
+turned a corner and dived into a narrow side-street. I checked my
+horse, thinking that I had mistaken his look; for he had never so much
+as turned round since. But the next minute he reappeared, and stood
+loitering in his former attitude of reflection. There could be no
+doubt of the man's intention, and I gathered up the reins again and
+followed him. This side-street was narrow and exceeding dark, for the
+storeys of the houses on each side projected one above the other until
+the gables nearly met at the top. The little man was waiting for me
+about twenty yards from the entrance, in an angle of the wall.
+
+"It is Mr. Buckler?" he asked shortly.
+
+"Yes," I answered. "What news of Julian?"
+
+"You have but just arrived?"
+
+"The clock struck four as I rode through Law-ford's Gate. What news of
+Julian?"
+
+He gave a sharp, sneering laugh.
+
+"Ay, ay," he said. "No one so flustered as your loiterer." And he
+stepped out from the shadow of the house. "Sir Julian?" he cried
+hastily. "Sir Julian will be hanged at noon to-morrow."
+
+I swayed in the saddle; the houses spun round me. I felt the man's arm
+catch at and steady me.
+
+"It is my fault?" I whispered.
+
+"No, lad!" he returned, with a new touch of kindliness in his tone.
+"Nothing could have saved him. I should know; I am his attorney. Maybe
+I spoke too harshly, but this last week he has been eating his heart
+out for the sight of you, and your tardiness plagued me. There, there!
+Lay hold of your pluck! It is a man your friend needs, not a weak
+girl."
+
+There was a pitying contempt in the tone of these last words which
+stung me inexpressibly. I sat up erect, and said, with such firmness
+as I could force into my voice:
+
+"Where does Sir Julian lie?"
+
+"In the Bridewell to-night. But you must not go there in this plight,"
+he added quickly, for I was already turning the horse. "You would ruin
+all."
+
+He glanced sharply up and down the lane, and went on:
+
+"We have been together over-long as it is." Then he tapped with his
+foot for a moment on the pavement. "I have it," said he. "Go to the
+'Thatched House Tavern,' in Lime Kiln Lane. I will seek you there.
+Wait for me; and, mind this, let no one else have talk with you! Tell
+the people of the house I sent you--Mr. Joseph Vincott. It will
+commend you to their care."
+
+With that he turned on his heel, ran up to the opening of the street,
+and after a cautious look this side and that, strolled carelessly
+away. I gave him a few moments' grace, and then hurried with all
+despatch to the tavern, asking my direction as I went. There I ordered
+a private room, and planting myself at the window, waited impatiently
+for Vincott's coming.
+
+It must have been an hour afterwards that I saw him turn into the lane
+from a passage almost opposite to where I stood. I expected him to
+cross the road, but he cast not so much as a glance towards the inn,
+and walked slowly past on the further side. I flung up the window,
+thinking that he had forgotten his errand, and leaned out to call him.
+But or ever I could speak he banged his stick angrily on the ground,
+raised it with a quick jerk and pointed twice over his shoulder behind
+him. The movement was full of significance, and I drew back into the
+shadow of the curtain. Mr. Vincott mounted the steps of a house,
+knocked at the door, and was admitted. No sooner had he entered than a
+man stepped out from the passage. He was of a large, heavy build, and
+yet, as I surmised from the litheness of his walk, very close-knit.
+His face was swarthy and bronzed, and he wore ear-rings in his ears. I
+should have taken him for an English sailor but that there was a
+singular compactness in his bearing, and his gait was that of a man
+perfectly balanced. For awhile he stood loitering at the entrance to
+the passage, and then noticing the inn, crossed quickly over and
+passed through the door beneath me.
+
+My senses were now strained into activity, and I watched with a
+quivering eagerness for the end of this strange game of hide-and-seek.
+I had not long to wait. The little lawyer came down the steps, stopped
+at the bottom, took a pinch of snuff with great deliberation, and
+blowing his nose with unnecessary noise and vehemence, walked down the
+street. He had nearly reached the end of it before his pursuer lounged
+out of the inn and strolled in the same direction. The moment Vincott
+turned the corner, however, he lengthened his stride; I saw him pause
+at the last house and peep round the angle, draw back for a few
+seconds, and then follow stealthily on the trail.
+
+The incident reawakened all my perplexed conjectures as to the
+business on which I was engaged. Why should the fact of my arrival in
+the town be so studiously concealed? Or again, what reason could there
+be for any one to suspect or fear it? The questions circled through my
+mind in an endless repetition. There was but one man who could answer
+them, and he lay helpless in his cell, adding to the torture of his
+last hours the belief that his friend had played him false. The
+thought stung me like Ino's gadfly. I paced up and down the room with
+my eyes ever on the street for Vincott's return. My heart rose on each
+sound of a nearing step, only to sink giddily with its dying
+reverberation. The daylight fell, a fog rolled up from the river in
+billows of white smoke, and still Vincott did not come. The very clock
+by the chimney seemed to tick off the seconds faster and faster until
+I began to fancy that the sounds would catch one another and run by in
+one continuous note. At last I heard a quick pattering noise of feet
+on the pavement below, and Vincott dashed up the stairs and burst into
+the room.
+
+"I have shaken the rascal off," he gasped, falling into a chair; "but
+curse me if it's lawyer's work. We live too sedentary a life to go
+dragging herrings across a scent with any profit to our bodies."
+
+"Then we can go," said I, taking my hat. But he struck it from my
+hands with his cane.
+
+"And you!" he blazed out at me. "You must poke your stupid yellow head
+out of the window as if you wanted all Bristol to notice it! Sit
+down!"
+
+"Mr. Vincott!" I exclaimed angrily.
+
+"Mr. Buckler!" he returned, mimicking my tone, and pulling a grimace.
+There was indeed no dignity about the man. "It may not have escaped
+your perceptions that I have some desire to conceal your visit to this
+town. Would it be too much to ask you to believe that there are
+reasons for that desire?"
+
+He spoke with a mocking politeness, and waited for me to answer him.
+
+"I suppose there are," I replied; "but I am in the dark as to their
+nature."
+
+"The chief of them," said he, "is your own security."
+
+"I will risk that," said I, stooping for my hat. "'Tis not worth the
+suffering which it costs Julian."
+
+"Dear, dear!" he gibed. "Tis strange that so much heart should tarry
+so long. Let me see! It must be full eight days since Swasfield came
+to you at Leyden." And he struck my hat once more out of my grasp.
+
+"Mr. Vincott," said I--and my voice trembled as I spoke--"if you have
+a mind to quarrel with me, I will endeavour to gratify you at a more
+seasonable time. But I cannot wrangle over the body of my friend. I
+came hither with all the speed that God vouchsafed me." And I informed
+him of my journey, and the hindrances which had beset my path.
+
+"Well, well," he said, when I had done, "I perceive that my thoughts
+have done you some injustice. And, after all, I am not sure but what
+your late coming is for the best. It has caused your friend no small
+anxiety, I admit. But against that we may set a gain of greater
+secrecy."
+
+He picked up my hat from the floor, and placed it on the table.
+
+"So," he continued, "you will pardon my roughness, but I have formed
+some affection for Sir Julian. 'Tis an unbusinesslike quality, and I
+trust to be well ashamed of it in a week's time. At the present,
+however, it angered me against you." He held out his hand with a
+genuine cordiality, and we made our peace.
+
+"Now," said he, "the gist of the matter is this. It is all-essential
+that you be not observed and marked as a visitor to Sir Julian.
+Therefore 'twere best to wait until it is quite dark; and meanwhile we
+must think of some disguise."
+
+"A disguise?" I exclaimed.
+
+"Yes," said he. "You must have noticed from that window that there are
+others awake beside ourselves."
+
+I stood silent for a moment, reluctantly considering a plan which
+had just flashed into my head. Vincott drew a flint and steel from
+his pocket, and lighted the candles--for the dusk was filling the
+room--and drew the curtains close. All at once the dizzy faintness
+which had come over me in the side-street near the Guildhall returned,
+and set the room spinning about me. I clutched at a chair to save
+myself from falling. Vincott snatched up a candle, and looked shrewdly
+into my face.
+
+"When did you dine?" he asked.
+
+"At breakfast-time," said I.
+
+He opened the door, and rang a bell which stood on a side-table.
+"Lucy!" he bawled over the bannisters.
+
+A great buxom wench with a cheery face answered the summons, and he
+bade her cook what meats they had with all celerity.
+
+"Meantime," said he, "we will while away the interval over a posset of
+Bristol milk. You have never tasted that, Mr. Buckler? I would that I
+could say the same. I envy you the pleasure of your first acquaintance
+with its merit."
+
+The "milk," as he termed it, was a strong brewage of Spanish wine,
+singularly luxurious and palatable. Mr. Vincott held up his glass to
+the light, and the liquid sparkled like a clear ruby.
+
+"'Tis a generous drink," he said. "It gives nimbleness to the body,
+wealth to the blood, and lightness to the heart. The true Promethean
+fire!" And he drained the glass, and smacked his lips.
+
+"That is a fine strapping wench," said I. "She must be of my height,
+or thereabouts."
+
+The lawyer cocked his head at me. "Ah!" said he drily, "a wonderful
+thing is Bristol milk."
+
+But I was thinking of something totally different.
+
+The girl fetched in a stew of beef, steaming hot, and we sat down to
+it, though indeed I had little inclination for the meal.
+
+"Now, Mr. Vincott," said I, "I will pray you, while we are eating, to
+help me to the history of Julian's calamities." I think that my voice
+broke somewhat on the word, for he laid his hand gently upon my arm.
+"I know nothing of it myself beyond what you have told me, and a
+rumour that came to me in London."
+
+The lawyer sat silent for a time, drumming with his fingers on the
+table.
+
+"Your story," I urged, "will save much valuable time when I visit
+Julian."
+
+"I was thinking," he replied, "how much I should tell you. You see,
+merely the facts are known to me. Of what lies underneath them--I mean
+the motives and passions which have ordered their sequence--I may have
+surmised something" (here his eyes twinkled cunningly), "but I have no
+certitude. That part of the business concerns you, not me. 'Twere
+best, then, that I show you no more than the plain face of the
+matter."
+
+He pushed away his plate, leaned both arms upon the table, and, with a
+certain wariness in his manner, told me the following tale:
+
+"In the spring of the year, Miss Enid Marston fell sick at Court. The
+air of St. James's is hardly the best tonic for invalids, and she came
+with her uncle and guardian to the family house at Bristol to recruit.
+Sir Julian Harnwood must, of course, follow her; and, in order that he
+may enjoy her company without encroaching upon her hospitality, he
+hires him a house in the suburbs, upon Brandon Hill. One night, during
+the second week of August, came two fugitives from Sedgemoor to his
+door. Sir Julian had some knowledge of the men, and the story of their
+sufferings so worked upon his pity that he promised to shelter them
+until such time as he could discover means of conveying them out of
+the country. To that end he hid them in one of his cellars, brought
+their food with his own hands, and generally used such precautions as
+he thought must avert suspicion. But on the morning of the 10th
+September he was arrested, his house searched, and the rebels
+discovered. The rest you know. Sir Julian was tried this afternoon
+with the two fugitives, and pays the penalty to-morrow. 'Tis the only
+result that could have been looked for. His best friends despaired
+from the outset--even Miss Marston."
+
+"I had not thought of her," I broke in. "Poor girl!"
+
+"Poor girl!" he repeated, gazing intently at the ceiling. "She was
+indeed so put back in her health, that her physician advised her
+instant removal to a less afflicting neighbourhood."
+
+As he ended, he glanced sideways at me from under half-closed lids;
+but I chanced to be watching him, and our eyes crossed. It seemed to
+me that he coloured slightly, and sent his gaze travelling idly about
+the room, anywhere, in short, but in my direction, the while he hummed
+the refrain of a song.
+
+"You mean she has deserted Julian?" I exclaimed.
+
+"I have no recollection that I suggested that, or indeed anything
+whatsoever," he returned blandly. "As I mentioned to you before, I
+merely relate the facts."
+
+"There is one fact," said I, after a moment's thought, "on which you
+have not touched."
+
+"There are two," he replied; "but specify if you please. I will
+satisfy you to the limit of my powers."
+
+"The part which I shall play in this business."
+
+He wagged his head sorrowfully at me.
+
+"I perceive," says he, "with great regret that they teach you no logic
+at the University of Leyden. You are speaking, not of a fact, but of
+an hypothesis. The part which you will play, indeed! You ask me to
+read the future, and I am not qualified for the task."
+
+It became plain to me that I should win no profit out of my
+questioning; there could be but one result to a quibbling match with
+an attorney; so I bade him roughly tell me what he would.
+
+"There are two facts," he resumed, "which are perhaps of interest. But
+I would premise that they are in no way connected. I would have you
+bear that in mind, Mr. Buckler. The first is this: it has never been
+disclosed whence the information came which led to the discovery of
+the fugitives. Sir Julian, as I told you, used great precautions. His
+loyalty, moreover, had never been suspected up till then."
+
+"From his servants, most like," I interposed.
+
+"Most like!" he sneered. "The remark does scanty credit to your
+perspicacity, and hardly flatters me. I examined them with some care,
+and satisfied myself on the score of their devotion to their master.
+'Tis doubtful even whether they were aware of Sir Julian's folly. 'Tis
+most certain that they never betrayed him. Besides, my lord Jeffries
+rated them all most unmercifully this afternoon. He would not have
+done that had they helped the prosecution. No, the secret must have
+leaked out if the information had come from them."
+
+"And you could gather no clue?"
+
+"Say, rather, that I did gather no clue. For my client forbad me to
+pursue my inquiries. 'Tis strange that, eh? 'Tis passing strange. It
+points, I think, beyond the servants."
+
+"Then Julian himself must know," I cried.
+
+"Tis a simple thought," said he. "If you will pardon the hint, you
+discover what is obvious with a singular freshness."
+
+I understood that I had brought the rejoinder upon myself by my
+interruption, and so digested it in silence.
+
+"The second point," he continued, "is interesting as a----" he made
+the slightest possible pause--"a coincidence. Sir Julian Harnwood was
+arrested at six o'clock in the morning, not in his house, but
+something like a mile away, on the King's down. 'Tis a quaint fancy
+for a gentleman to take it into his head to stroll about the King's
+down in the rain at six o'clock of the morning; almost as quaint as
+for an officer to go thither at that hour to search for him."
+
+An idea sprang through my mind, and was up to the tip of my tongue.
+But I remembered the fate of my previous suggestions, and checked it
+on the verge of utterance.
+
+"You were about to proffer a remark," said Mr. Vincott very politely.
+
+"No!" said I, in a tone of indifference, and he smiled.
+
+Then his manner changed, and he began to speak quickly, rapping with
+his fist upon the table as though to drive home his words.
+
+"The truth of the matter is, Mr. Buckler, Sir Julian went out that
+morning to fight a duel, and his antagonist was Count Lukstein, who
+came over to England six months ago in the train of the Emperor
+Leopold's ambassador. Ah! you know him!"
+
+"No!" I replied. "I know of him from Julian."
+
+"They were friends, it appears."
+
+"Julian made the Count's acquaintance some while ago in Paris, and
+has, I believe, visited his home in the Tyrol."
+
+"However that may be, they quarrelled in Bristol. Count Lukstein came
+down from London to take the waters at the Hotwell, by St. Vincent's
+rock, and has resided there for the last three months. 'Twas a
+trumpery dispute, but nought would content Sir Julian but that they
+must settle it with swords. He was on the way to the trysting-place
+when he was taken."
+
+And with a final rap on the table, Mr. Vincott leaned back in his
+chair, and froze again to a cold deliberation.
+
+"That," said he, "is the second fact I have to bring to your notice."
+
+"And the first," I cried, pressing the point on him, "the first is
+that no one knows who gave the information!"
+
+"I observed, I believe," he replied, returning my gaze with a mild
+rebuke, "that between those two facts there is no connection."
+
+At the time it seemed to me that he was bent on fobbing me off. But I
+have since thought that he was answering after his fashion the
+innuendo which my words wrapped up. He took out his snuff-box as he
+spoke, and inhaled a great pinch. The action suddenly recalled to me
+the man[oe]uvres which I had watched from the window.
+
+"It was a foreigner," I said, starting up in my excitement, "it was a
+foreigner who dogged your steps this afternoon."
+
+"I like the ornaments of the ceiling," says he (for thither had his
+eyes returned); and, as though he were continuing the sentence: "I may
+tell you, Mr. Buckler, that Count Lukstein left Bristol eleven days
+ago."
+
+"Did he take his servants with him?" I asked; and then, a new thought
+striking me: "Eleven days ago! That is, Mr. Vincott, the day after
+Julian's arrest."
+
+"Mr. Buckler," says he, "you appear to me to lack discretion."
+
+"I only re-state your facts," I answered, with some heat.
+
+"The facts themselves are perhaps a trifle indiscreet," he admitted.
+"I shall certainly have that ceiling copied in my own house." And with
+that he rose from his chair. "'Tis close on eight by the clock, and we
+must hit upon some disguise. But, Lord! how it is to be contrived with
+that canary poll of yours I know not, unless you shave your head and
+wear my peruke."
+
+"I have a better device than that," said I.
+
+"Well, man, out with it!"
+
+For I spoke with hesitation, fearing his irony.
+
+"You can trust the people of the inn?"
+
+He nodded his head.
+
+"Else I should not have sent you hither. They are bound to me in
+gratitude. I saved them last year from some pother with the Excise."
+
+"And Lucy--what of her?"
+
+"She is the landlord's daughter."
+
+Thus assured, I delivered to him my plan--that I would mask my person
+beneath one of Lucy's gowns.
+
+Vincott leapt at the notion, "'Od rabbit me!" he cried, "I misliked
+your face at first, but I begin to love it dearly now. For I see 'twas
+given you for some purpose."
+
+Once more he summoned Lucy, invented some story of a jest to be
+played, and bound her to the straitest secrecy. She gained no inkling
+from him, you may be sure, of the business which we had in hand. I
+stripped off my coat, and with much lacing and compressing, much
+exercise of vigour on Vincott's part, much panting on mine, and more
+roguish giggling upon Lucy's, I was at last squeezed into the girl's
+Sunday frock. It had a yellow bodice bedecked with red ribbons, and a
+red canvas skirt.
+
+"But, la!" she exclaimed, "your feet! Sure you must have a long cloak
+to hide them." And she whipped out of the room and fetched one. My
+feet did indeed but poorly match the dress, which descended no lower
+than my ankles.
+
+By good fortune the cloak had a hood attached, which could be drawn
+well forward, and blurred my features in its shadow.
+
+"So!" said I. "I am ready." And I strode quickly to the door. For
+Lucy's glee and my masquerading weighed with equal heaviness upon me.
+I was full-charged with sorrow for the coming interview. The old days
+in Cumberland lived and beat within my heart; the old dreams of a
+linked future voiced themselves again with a very bitter irony. 'Twas
+the last time my eyes were to be gladdened with the sight of my loved
+friend and playmate. I looked upon this visit as the sacred visit to a
+death-bed; nay, as something yet more sad than that, for Julian lay
+a-dying in the very bloom of health and youth, and the grotesque guise
+in which I went forth to him seemed to mock and flout the solemnity of
+the occasion.
+
+"Stop, lad!" said Vincott. "You must never walk like that. Your first
+step would betray you. Watch me!"
+
+With a peacock air, which at another time would have appeared to me
+inimitably ludicrous, the little attorney minced across the room on
+the tips of his toes. Lucy leaned against the wall holding her sides,
+and fairly screamed with delight.
+
+"What ails you, lass?" said he very sternly.
+
+"La, Mr. Vincott," she gulped out between bubbles of laughter, "I
+think you have but few honest women among your clients."
+
+Mr. Vincott rebuked her at some length for her sauciness, and would
+have prolonged his lecture yet further, but that my impatience
+mastered me and I haled him from the room. The girl let us out by a
+small door which gave on to an alley at the back of the house. The
+night was pitch-dark, and the streets deserted; not even a lamp swung
+from a porch.
+
+"Stay here for a moment," whispered Vincott. "I will move ahead and
+reconnoitre."
+
+His feet echoed on the cobbles with a strange lonely sound. In a
+minute or so a low whistle reached my ears, and I followed him.
+
+"All's clear," he said. "I little thought the time would ever come
+when I should bless his late Majesty King Charles for forbidding the
+citizens of Bristol to light their streets."
+
+We stepped quickly forward, threading the quiet roads as noiselessly
+as we could, until Vincott stopped before a large building. Lights
+streamed from the windows, piercing the mirk of the night with
+brownish rays, and a dull muffled clamour rang through the gateway.
+
+"The Bridewell," whispered Vincott. "Keep your face well shrouded, and
+for God's sake hide your feet!"
+
+He drew a long breath. I did the same, and we crossed the road and
+passed beneath the arch.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER IV.
+
+                         SIR JULIAN HARNWOOD.
+
+
+Mr. Vincott knocked at the great door within the arch, and we were
+presently admitted and handed over to the guidance of a gaoler.
+
+The fellow led us across a courtyard and into a long room clouded and
+heavy with the smoke of tobacco.
+
+"Keep the hood close!" whispered my companion a second time.
+
+I muffled my face and bent my head towards the ground. For a noisy
+clamour of drunken songs and coarse merriment, and, mingled with that,
+a ceaseless rattle of drinking-cans, rose about me on all sides. It
+seemed that the Bridewell kept open house that night.
+
+We traversed the room, picking out a path among the captives, for even
+the floor was littered with men in all imaginable attitudes, some
+playing cards, some asleep, and most of them drunk. My presence served
+to redouble the uproar, and each moment I feared that my disguise
+would be detected. I felt that every eye in the room was centred upon
+my hood. One fellow, indeed, that sat talking to himself upon a bench,
+got unsteadily to his feet and reeled towards us. But or ever he came
+near, the gaoler cut him across the shoulders with his stick and sent
+him back howling and cursing.
+
+"Back to your kennel!" he shouted. "'Tis an uncommon wench that would
+visit the lousy likes o' you."
+
+At the far end of the room he unlocked a door which opened on to a
+narrow flight of stairs. On the landing above he halted before a
+second door of a more solid make, the panels being strengthened by
+cross-beams, and secured with iron bars and a massive lock. The gaoler
+unfastened it and threw it open.
+
+"You have half an hour, mistress," he said, civilly enough. A startled
+cry of pain broke from the inside, I heard a sharp clink of fetters,
+and Julian confronted me through the doorway, his eyes ablaze with
+passion, and every limb strained and quivering.
+
+"What more? What more, madam?" he asked, in a hoarse, trembling voice.
+"Are you not satisfied?"
+
+He stopped suddenly with a gasping intake of the breath, and let his
+head roll forward on his breast like a fainting man. Vincott pushed me
+gently within the room, and I heard the door clang behind me. For a
+moment I could not speak. The tears rose in my throat and drowned the
+words. Julian was the first to recover his composure.
+
+"I crave your pardon," he said, and his voice sounded in my ears with
+a sad familiarity like the echo of our boyhood. "I mistook you for
+another." And he sat down on a bench and covered his face with his
+hands.
+
+"Julian!" I said, finding at length my voice, and I held out my hands
+to him. He uncovered his face and stared at me in sheer incredulity.
+Then with a cry of joy he sprang forwards, stumbling pitifully from
+the hindrance of his fetters.
+
+"Morrice at last!" He lifted his hands and clapped them down into
+mine, and the quick movement jerked the chain between his handlocks so
+that it fell cold across my wrists. So we stood silent, memory
+speeding to and fro between our eyes and telling the same wistful tale
+within the heart of each of us. But in that brumous cell, lit only by
+a smoky lamp which served rather to deepen the shadows of the space
+which it left obscure than to illumine the circle immediately about
+it, such thoughts could not beguile one long; and a strange,
+unaccountable fear began to creep up in my mind like a mist. It seemed
+to me that the chain pressed ever tighter and tighter about my wrists,
+and grew cold like a ring of ice. The chill of it slipped into the
+marrow of my bones. I came almost to believe that I myself was
+manacled, and with that I felt once again that premonition of evil
+drawing near, which had numbed my spirit in the grey dawn at London.
+Now, however, the warning came to me with a clearer and more
+particular message. I had a penetrating conviction that this cell
+prefigured some scene in the years to come wherein I should fill the
+place of Julian; and, seeing him, I saw a dim image of myself as when
+a man looks into a clouded mirror. So thoroughly, indeed, did the
+fancy master me that I too became, as it were, the shadow and reflex
+of another, a mere counter and symbol representing one as yet unknown
+to me.
+
+"I thought you would never come," said my friend, and I woke out of my
+trance.
+
+"I started at once from Leyden," I replied; but Julian cut short my
+explanation.
+
+"I am sure of it. I never doubted you. We have but half an hour, and I
+have much to tell."
+
+He turned away and flung himself down on the bench, which was broad
+and had a rail at the back, such as you may see outside a village
+alehouse.
+
+"Vincott has told you the history of my arrest?"
+
+"Yes!" said I. The lamp stood upon a stool beside the bench, and I
+lifted it up and placed it on a rough bracket which was fixed to the
+wall above. The light fell full upon his face, which had grown
+extraordinary thin, with the skin very bloodless and tight about his
+jaws, so that the bones looked to have sharpened. Only around his eyes
+was there any colour, and that of a heavy purple. I sat down upon the
+stool, and Julian gave something like a sigh of content.
+
+"I am glad you have come, Morrice," he said. "It has tired me so,
+waiting for you."
+
+He closed his eyes wearily, and appeared to be falling asleep. I
+touched him on the shoulder, and he sprang to his feet like one dazed,
+brushing against the bracket and making the flame of the lamp spirt up
+with a sudden flare. Once or twice he walked to and fro in the room,
+as though ordering his speech.
+
+"Here is the kernel of the matter," said he at last, coming back to
+the bench. "I was arrested to serve no ends of justice, but the vilest
+treachery and cowardice that man ever heard of. The tale, in truth,
+seems well-nigh inconceivable. Even I, who have sounding evidence of
+its truth," and he kicked one of his feet, so that the links of the
+fetters rattled on the floor, "even I find it hard to believe that
+'tis more than a monstrous fable. The man called himself my friend."
+
+"It was Count Lukstein, then?"
+
+"How did you find out that? Vincott could not have told you."
+
+"He did not tell me, but yet he gave me to know it."
+
+"Yes, it was Count Lukstein. He laid the information to spare himself
+a duel and to get rid of--well, of an obstacle. I meant to kill him. I
+should have killed him, and he knew it. The duel was arranged secretly
+on the afternoon of Saturday, the ninth; the spot chosen--a dip in the
+hill, solitary and unfrequented even at midday, for the descent is
+steep--and the time six o'clock on the Sunday morning. And yet
+there I was taken, on the very ground, at six o'clock on a Sunday
+morning--raining, too!"
+
+"There seems little doubt."
+
+"There is no doubt. 'Twas his life or mine. The dispute was the mere
+pretext and occasion of the duel."
+
+"So I understood."
+
+I was beginning to understand, besides, that the facts which Mr.
+Vincott had intended to impart to me were somewhat more numerous than
+he thought fit to admit.
+
+"The cause--but I can't speak of that. In any case, 'twas his life or
+mine, and he knew it, so deemed it prudent to take mine, since he had
+the power, without risking his own."
+
+"But," I objected, "could you trust your seconds? They knew the time,
+the place----"
+
+"But they did not know I was sheltering Monmouth's fugitives. Lukstein
+knew it."
+
+"You told him?"
+
+"No!"
+
+He stopped abruptly, and his eyes fell from my face to the ground. And
+then he said, in a very sad and quiet voice:
+
+"But I have none the less sure proof he knew."
+
+He sat silent with bowed head, labouring his breath, and his hands
+lying clasped together upon his knees. I noticed that the tips of his
+fingers were pressed tight into the backs of his palms, so that the
+flesh about them looked dead.
+
+I leaned forward and took him gently by the arm.
+
+"You must deliver me that proof, Julian," said I. For I began to have
+a pretty sure inkling of the service he had it in his mind to require
+of me.
+
+He shifted his eyes to my face and then back again to the floor.
+
+"I know, I know," he replied unsteadily. "I disclosed my secret to but
+one person in the world." And as I held my peace wondering, he flashed
+on me a tortured face. "Don't force me to give the name!" he cried.
+"Think! Think, Morrice! Who should I have told? Who should I have
+told?"
+
+The words seemed wrung from his soul. I understood what that first
+outburst meant when the gaoler had bidden me enter, and my gorge rose
+against this woman who could make such foul sport of her lover's
+trust. He read my thought in my face, and though he might upbraid his
+mistress himself, he would not suffer me to do the same.
+
+"You must not blame her," he said earnestly, laying a hand upon my
+knee. "Blame me! Blame us who wantoned the days away at Whitehall, and
+cloyed the very air with our flatteries. You chose the right part,
+Morrice, a man's part--work. As for us," he resumed his restless walk
+about the chamber, beating one clenched fist into the palm of the
+other, "as for us, a new fashion, a new dance, were our studies,
+cajoling women our work. The divine laws were sneered at, trampled
+down. They were meet for the ragged who had nought but hope in the
+next world to comfort them for their humiliation in this. But we--we
+who had silk to wear and money to spend, we needed a different creed.
+Sin was our God, and we worshipped and honoured it openly. When I
+think of it I, a Catholic, can find it in my heart to wish that
+Monmouth's cause had won. No, Morrice, you must not blame her. The
+fault is ours, and I am rightly punished for my share in it. Constancy
+was a burgess virtue, fit for a tradesman. We despised it in
+ourselves; what right had we to expect it in the women we surrounded?"
+
+He checked his vehement flow abruptly, and came and stood over me.
+
+"And yet, Morrice," he said, with a smile that was infinitely tender
+and sad, "and yet I loved her, with a sweet purity in the love, and a
+humble thankfulness for the knowledge of it, loved her as any country
+bumpkin might love the girl who rakes a furrow at his side."
+
+"And in return," I said bitterly, "she betrayed you to Count
+Lukstein?"
+
+He nodded "yes," and sat down again on his bench.
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Long before the duel. She had no suspicion of the consequences of her
+words," he said hastily. "She had no hand in this plot."
+
+"Why?" I repeated.
+
+He looked at me, imploring mercy.
+
+"I understand," said I.
+
+"Ah, no!" he said quickly; "your suspicions outstrip the truth. I
+think so," and again with a curiously pleading voice, "I think so. The
+man purred more softly than the rest, and so she----"
+
+He broke off in the middle of the sentence and began anew.
+
+"I must lay the whole truth bare, I see that. Only the shame of it
+cuts into me like a knife."
+
+He paused, and great beads of sweat broke out upon his forehead.
+
+"I have told you that my dispute with Lukstein was no more than the
+pretext of our quarrel. She was the cause. How long their acquaintance
+had lasted I know not, or to what length of intimacy it had gone.
+Lukstein was as secret as a cat, and he taught her his duplicity.
+'Twas I, myself, presented him to her formally when he came first to
+the Hotwell, but I think now the pair had met before in London. 'Twere
+too long to describe how my fears were aroused--an exchange of glances
+noted here, a letter in his hand dropped from a sachet there, a
+certain guarded hesitation she evinced when Lukstein and I were both
+with her, a word carelessly dropped showing knowledge of his
+movements; all trifles in themselves, but summed together a very
+weighty argument. So on the morning of the ninth, worn out with
+disquiet, I resolved to bring the matter to an issue, and I rode over
+to St. Vincent's rock. Lukstein was seated at an escritoire as I
+entered the room. I saw his face blanch and his hand fly to an open
+drawer, close, and lock it. He rose to greet me, and drew me to the
+window, which pleased me the more for that a bell stood upon the
+escritoire. I got between him and the bell and taxed him with his
+treachery. He denied it, larding me with friendly protestations. I
+backed to the escritoire and repeated the charge. He laughed at me for
+my unmanly lack of faith. With a sudden wrench I tore open the locked
+drawer. He bounded towards the bell; my sword was at his breast, and
+we stood watching one another while I rummaged with my left hand in
+the drawer.
+
+"'You shall pay for this,' says he, very softly.
+
+"'One of us will pay,' says I.
+
+"'Yes, you! You!' and he smiled, with his lips drawn back so that I
+saw the gums of his teeth on both jaws. If only I had known what he
+meant! I had him there at my sword's point. I had but to lean forward
+on my arm!
+
+"'Get back to the window!' I ordered, and he obeyed me with an
+affected jauntiness. Out of the drawer I drew a small gold box of an
+oval shape. I had given it but a fortnight agone to--to----you will
+understand; and it contained my miniature. The box fastened with a lock,
+and I forgot to ask him for the key. He has it still. There were letters
+besides in the drawer, and I made him burn them before my eyes. Then I
+took my leave, and sent my seconds."
+
+"Are you sure the box was the same?" I asked, when he had done. He
+slipped his hand into his pocket, and brought it out and placed it in
+my hand. His coat of arms was emblazoned on the cover.
+
+"Keep it!" he said. I tried the lid, but the box was locked.
+
+"Until I recover the key," I answered, and we clasped hands.
+
+"Thank you!" he said simply. "Thank you!"
+
+The smell of the Cumberland gorse was in my nostrils, my friend lay
+before me traitorously fettered, and this poor, belated adjustment of
+his wrong seemed the very right and fitting function of the love I
+bore for him. There was, however, still one point on which I still
+felt need to be assured.
+
+For I knew the timidity of my nature, and I was minded to leave no
+fissure in this wall of evidence through which after-doubts might leak
+to sap my resolution.
+
+"And the proof?" I asked. "The proof that she informed Count
+Lukstein."
+
+"She confessed that to me herself. She came to me here on the evening
+of the day that I was taken."
+
+I placed the gold box in the fob of my waistcoat, and as I did so I
+felt a book. I drew it out, wondering what it might be. 'Twas the
+small copy of Horace which I had thrust there unwittingly when I
+waited for the doctor's report at Leyden. I held it in my hands and
+turned over the pages idly.
+
+"Count Lukstein has left Bristol," I said.
+
+"Ay; he got little good out of his treachery beyond the saving of
+his carcase. But he left his servant here--Otto Krax. That is why I
+bade you come disguised. He knew I could not make the matter public
+for--for her sake. But I suppose that he feared I might reveal it to
+some friend if the trial went against me, entrust to him the just work
+I am forced to leave undone. Perchance he had some hint of Swasfield's
+departure; I know not. This only I know: Krax has been at Vincott's
+heels, keeping close watch on all who passed in with him to me; and
+should he find out that you had come from Holland in this great haste,
+it might prove an ill day's work for you, and, in any case, Lukstein
+would be forewarned."
+
+"He lives in the Tyrol?"
+
+"At Schloss Lukstein, six miles to the east of Glurns, in the valley
+of the Adige. But, Morrice, he is master there. The spot is remote,
+there's no one to gainsay him. You must needs be careful. He hath no
+love for honest dealing, and you had best take him privately."
+
+He spoke with so sombre a warning in his tone that the shadows
+appeared to darken about the room.
+
+"He is cunning," Julian went on; "you must match him in cunning. Nay,
+over-match him, for he has power as well."
+
+"You have visited this castle?"
+
+"Yes. 'Tis built in two wings which run from east to west, and north
+to south, and form a right angle at the north-east corner. At the
+extreme end of the latter wing there is a tower; a window opens on to
+the terrace from a small room in this tower. There are but two doors
+in the room; that on the left gives on to a passage which leads to the
+main hall. The servants sleep on the far side of the hall. The other
+door opens on to a narrow stairway which mounts to the Count's
+bedroom. 'Tis his habit of a night to sit in this small room."
+
+"I understand. And the entrance to this terrace?"
+
+"That is the danger, for the place is built upon a rock sheer and
+precipitous. However, there is one spot where the ascent may be
+contrived. I discovered the way by chance. The climb is hazardous, yet
+not more so than some that we attacked out of mere sport on Scafell
+crags. Ah, me! Morrice, those were the best days of my life. I wonder
+whether 'twill be the same with you!"
+
+Something like a shiver ran through me, but before I could answer him
+the key grated in the lock and the door was flung open. I turned, and
+saw in the shadow of the entrance the sombre figure of a priest. He
+was tall, and the cassock which robed him in black from head to foot
+made him show yet taller. In his hand he held a gleaming crucifix. He
+raised it above his head as he crossed the threshold, and in the
+twilight of the room it shone like a silver flame.
+
+Julian sprang from his bench; his shoulder caught the bracket, the
+lamp rocked once or twice, and then crashed to the ground. In the
+darkness no one spoke; the rustle of our breathing was marked like the
+ticking of a clock.
+
+After a while the gaoler fetched in a taper. Julian looked at me in
+some embarrassment The priest waited patiently by the door, and it was
+impossible for us to renew our discourse. In rising, however, I had
+let fall the Horace on to the floor, and the book lay open at my feet.
+Julian caught sight of it, and a plan occurred to him. He fumbled in
+his pocket for a pencil, picked the volume up, and drew a rapid sketch
+upon the open page.
+
+"That will make all clear," he remarked.
+
+I took the book from him, and we clasped hands for the last time.
+
+"At this hour to-morrow?" he said, with a little catch in his voice. I
+was still holding his hand. I could feel the blood beating in his
+fingers. At this hour to-morrow! It seemed incredible. "Morrice!" he
+cried, clinging to me, and his voice was the voice of a child crying
+out in the black of the night. In a moment he recovered his calm, and
+dropped my hand. I made my reverence to the priest, and the door
+clanged to between us.
+
+Vincott was waiting for me at the foot of the stairs, and we hurried
+silently to the gates. The porter came forward to let us out, but I
+noticed that he fumbled with his keys which he carried upon an iron
+ring. He tried first one and then another in the lock, as though he
+knew not which fitted it. His ignorance struck me as strange until
+Vincott pulled me by the sleeve.
+
+"Turn your back to the hutch," he whispered suddenly. Instinct made me
+face it instead, and I perceived, gazing curiously into my face, the
+very man who had tracked Vincott in the afternoon: Otto Krax, as I now
+knew him to be, Count Lukstein's servant. So startled was I by the
+unexpected sight of him that I let the volume of Horace fall from my
+fingers to the ground. On the instant he ran forward and picked it up.
+I snatched it from his hand before he could do more than glance at its
+cover, whereupon he made me a polite bow and returned to the
+embrasure. At last the porter succeeded in opening the door, and we
+got us into the street. Vincott was for upbraiding me at first in that
+I followed not his directions, but I cut him short roughly, and bade
+him hold his peace. For the world seemed very strange and empty, and I
+had no heart for talking. So we walked in silence back towards the
+inn.
+
+Of a sudden, however, Vincott stopped.
+
+"Listen!" he whispered.
+
+I strained my ears until they ached. Behind us, in the quiet of the
+night, I could hear footsteps creeping and stealthy, not very far
+away. Vincott drew me into an angle of the wall, and we waited there
+holding our breaths. The footsteps slid nearer and nearer. Never since
+have I heard a sound which so filled me with terror. The haunting
+secrecy of their approach had something in it which chilled the
+blood--the sound of a man on the trail. He passed no more than six
+feet from where we stood. It was Otto Krax; and we remained until we
+could hear him no more. Vincott wiped his forehead.
+
+"If he had stopped in front of us," I said, "I should have cried out."
+
+"And by the Lord," said he, "I should have done no less."
+
+A hundred yards further on, Vincott stopped again.
+
+"He has found out his mistake," he exclaimed in a low, quavering
+voice.
+
+We listened again; the footsteps were returning swiftly, but with the
+same quiet stealth.
+
+"Quick!" said Vincott, "against the wall!"
+
+"No," said I, "he is tracking along the side of it. Let us face and
+pass him."
+
+We walked on at a good pace, and made no effort at concealment. The
+man stopped as soon as we had gone by, turned, and came after us. My
+heart raced in my breast. He quickened his pace and drew level.
+
+"Tis a strange time for women to run these streets." He spoke with a
+guttural accent, and his face leered over my shoulder. In a passion of
+fear I swung my arm free from the cloak, and hit at the face with all
+my strength. The dress I was wearing ripped at the shoulder as though
+you had torn a sheet of brown paper. My blow by good fortune caught
+him in the neck at the point where the jaw curves up into the cheek,
+and he fell heavily to the ground, his head striking full upon a
+rounded cobble. I waited to see no more, but tucked up my skirts and
+ran as though the fiend were at my heels, with Vincott panting behind
+me. We never halted until we had reached the alley which led to the
+back-door of the inn.
+
+I invited Vincott to come in with me and recruit his energies with a
+second dose of Bristol milk.
+
+"No! no!" he returned. "'Tis late already, and you have to start
+betimes in the morning."
+
+"There is the ceiling," I suggested.
+
+He laughed softly.
+
+"Mr. Buckler, I exaggerated its beauties," he said, "and I fear me if
+I went in with you I should be forced to repeat my error. It is just
+that which I wish to avoid."
+
+"There are other and indifferent topics," I replied, "on which we
+might speak frankly." For a change had come over my spirit, and I
+dreaded to be left alone. Vincott shook his head.
+
+"We should not find our tongues would talk of them."
+
+However, he made no motion of departure, but stood scraping a toe
+between the stones. Then I heard him chuckle to himself.
+
+"That was a good blow, my friend," he said; "a good, clean blow, pat
+on the angle of the jaw. I would never have credited you with the
+strength for it. The man has been a plaguy nuisance to me, and the
+blow was a very soothing compensation. Only conduct your undertaking
+with the like energy throughout, and I do believe----" He pulled
+himself up suddenly.
+
+"What do you believe?" I asked.
+
+"I believe," he replied sententiously, "that Lucy will need a new
+Sunday gown;" and he turned on his heel and marched out of the alley.
+
+The next morning came a foreigner to the inn, and made inquiry
+concerning a woman who had stayed there over-night. Lucy, faithful to
+her promise, stoutly declared that no woman had rested in the house
+for so little as an hour, and, not content with that asseveration, she
+must needs go on to enforce her point by assuring him that the inn had
+given shelter to but one traveller, and that traveller a man. But the
+traveller by this time was well upon his way to London, and so learnt
+nothing of the inquiry until long afterwards.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER V.
+
+                 I JOURNEY TO THE TYROL AND HAVE SOME
+                    DISCOURSE WITH COUNT LUKSTEIN.
+
+
+Dew jewelling the grasses in the fields, the chatter of birds among
+the trees, a sparkling freshness in the air, and before me the road,
+running white into the gold of the rising sun. But behind! On the top
+of St. Michael's hill, outlined black against the pearly western sky,
+rose the gaunt cross-trees of the gallows. 'Twas the last glimpse I
+had of Bristol, and I lingered as one horribly fascinated until the
+picture was embedded in my heart.
+
+In London I tarried but so long as sufficed for me to repair the
+deficiencies of my dress, since my very linen was now become unsightly
+and foul, and, riding to Gravesend, took ship for Rotterdam.
+
+I had determined to join Larke with me in my undertaking, for I
+bethought me of his craving for strange paths and adventures, and
+hoped to discover in him a readiness of wit which would counteract my
+own scrupulous hesitancy. For this I implicitly believed: that it was
+not so much the wariness that Julian bespoke which would procure
+success, as the instinct of opportunity, the power, I mean, at once to
+grasp the fitting occasion when it presented, and to predispose one's
+movements in the way best calculated to bring about its presentment.
+In this quality I knew myself to be deficient. 'Twas ever my
+misfortune to confuse the by-ways with the high-road. I would waste
+the vital moment in deliberation as to which was shortest, and alas!
+the path I chose in the end more often than not turned out to be a
+_cul-de-sac_.
+
+In the particular business in which I was engaged such overweening
+prudence would be like to nullify my purpose, and further, destroy
+both Jack and myself. For beyond a description of Count Lukstein's
+person which I had from Julian some while ago, I knew nothing but what
+he had told me in the prison; and that knowledge was too scanty to
+serve as the foundation for even the flimsiest plan. The region, the
+Castle, the aggregate of servants, and their manner of life--it
+behoved me to have certain information on all these particulars were I
+to prearrange a mode of attack. As things were, I must needs lie in
+ambush for chance, and seize it with all speed when it passed our way.
+
+At Leyden I found Jack, very glum and melancholy, poring over a folio
+of Shakespeare. 'Twas the single author whom he favoured, and he read
+his works with perpetual interest and delight. "This is the book of
+deeds," he would say, smacking a fist upon the cover. "There is but
+one bad play in it, and that is the tragedy of _Hamlet_. The good
+Prince is too speculative a personage."
+
+"You reached Bristol in time?" he asked, springing up as I entered the
+room.
+
+"In time; but not a moment too soon," I replied, and sat mum.
+
+"Then Sir Julian Harnwood is safe?"
+
+"No! There was never a hope of that."
+
+The old smile, half amusement, half contempt, flashed upon his lips;
+the old envy looked out from his eyes. I, of course, had bungled where
+a man of vigour might have accomplished.
+
+"It was not for that end that he sent for me," I hastened to add, and
+then I stuck. I had determined to relate to Jack forthwith the story
+of my mission, and to engage his assistance, but the actual sight of
+him overturned my intentions. I felt tongue-tied; I dared not tell him
+lest my resolution should trickle away in the telling; for I read upon
+his face his poor estimation of my powers, and I dreaded the ridicule
+of his comments upon my unfitness for the task to which I had set my
+hand. I had sufficient doubts of my own upon that score. Indeed, since
+I had entered the room, they had buzzed about me importunate as a
+cloud of gnats; for Larke had never been sparing of his homilies upon
+my incapacity. I think every article I possessed, at one time or
+another, had been twisted into a text for them; and now they all came
+flocking back to me, as my eyes ranged over the familiar objects they
+had been based upon. They seemed, in truth, to saturate the very air.
+
+Hence, I confided to Larke no more than the fact of our journey into
+the Tyrol; its reason and purpose I kept secret to myself. And to this
+self-distrust, trivial matter though it was, I owed my subsequent
+misfortunes. It was the first link in the chain of disaster, and I
+forged it myself unwittingly.
+
+"Jack," said I, "you were ever fond of adventures. One lies at your
+door."
+
+"Of what kind?" he asked.
+
+"A journey into the Tyrol."
+
+"For what purpose?"
+
+"I cannot tell you. You must trust me if you come."
+
+He looked at me doubtfully.
+
+"Your life will be risked," I urged; "I can gratify you so far."
+
+He closed the Shakespeare with a bang.
+
+"When do we start?"
+
+"As soon as ever we are prepared. To-morrow."
+
+"'Twere a pity to waste a day."
+
+I assured him that so far from wasting it, we should have much ado to
+get off even the next morning. For there were a couple of stout horses
+to be purchased, besides numberless other arrangements to be made. The
+horses we bought of a dealer in the Rapenburg, and then, enlisting the
+fencing-master to aid us, we sought the shop of an armourer in the
+Hout-Straat. From him we bought a long sword and a brace of pistols
+each, whereupon Larke declared that we were equipped cap-à-pie, and
+loudly protested against further hindrance. I insisted, however, in
+adding a pair of long cloaks of a heavier cloth than any we possessed,
+and divers other warm garments. For we were now in the last days of
+September, and I knew that winter comes apace in upland countries like
+the Tyrol. Then there were maps to be procured, and a route to be
+pricked out, so that it was late in the evening before we had
+completed our preparations.
+
+Meanwhile I inquired of Larke how it had fared with Swasfield. It
+appeared that it was not until some hours after I had ridden off that
+the man regained his senses, and then he was still too weak to amplify
+his tidings; in fact, he had only recovered sufficiently to depart
+from Leyden two days before I returned. Doubtless to some extent his
+convalescence was retarded by grief for that he had not fulfilled his
+errand. For he was ever lamenting the omission of his message, and
+more particularly of that portion which referred to the road between
+Bristol and London. For swift horses had been stabled at intervals of
+fifteen miles along the whole stretch, and in order to make sure that
+no one but myself should have the profit of them, as Swasfield said,
+or rather, as I think, in order that my name might not transpire if
+Count Lukstein's spies were watching the road and became suspicious at
+this posting of relays, it was arranged that they should be delivered
+only to the man who passed the word "Wastwater," that being the name
+of the lake in Cumberland on which my lands abutted.
+
+Of our journey into the Tyrol I have but faint recollections. We set
+off the next morning with no more impediments than we could carry in
+valises fixed upon our saddles. Even Udal, my body-servant, I left
+behind, for he had neither liking nor aptitude for foreign tongues, a
+few scraps of French and a meagre knowledge of Dutch forced on him by
+his residence in the country, being all that he possessed. He would,
+therefore, have only hindered our progress, and, besides, I had no
+great faith in his discretion. I was minded, accordingly, to secure
+some foreigner in Strasbourg who would think we were engaged upon a
+tour of pleasure; which I did, and dismissed him at Innspruck.
+
+For the rest I rode with little attention or regard for the provinces
+through which we passed. The very cities wherein we slept seemed the
+cities of a dream, so that now I am like one who strives to piece
+together memories of a journey taken in early childhood. An alley of
+trees recurs to me, the shine of stars in a midnight sky, or, again,
+the comfortable figure of a Boniface; but the images are confused and
+void of suggestion, for I rode eyes shut and hands clenched, as a
+coward rides in the press of battle.
+
+At times, indeed, when we halted, I would turn industriously to my
+Horace. The book had fallen open at the Palinodia when I dropped it in
+the prison, so that Julian's sketch was on the page opposite to the
+date September 14. I append here the diagram which was to enable me to
+find an entrance into the Castle, and it will be seen that I had much
+excuse for studying it. In truth, I could make neither head nor tail
+of its signification.
+
+[Illustration: Outline of Lukstein Castle]
+
+
+'Twas ever this outline of Lukstein Castle that I pondered, though
+Jack knew it not, and when he beheld the book in my hands would gaze
+at me with a troubled look of distrust. On the instant I would fall
+miserably to taking count of myself. "Here are you," I would object to
+myself, "a bookish student of a mean stature and a dilatory mind. You
+have faced no weapon more deadly than a buttoned foil, and you would
+compel a man of great strength and indubitable cunning to a mortal
+encounter in the privacy of his own house, that is, supposing you are
+not previously done to death by his serfs, which is most like to
+happen." Then would my courage, a very ricketty bantling, make weak
+protest: "You faced a blunderbuss and a volley of slugs, and you were
+not afraid." "But," I would answer hotly, "you did not face them, you
+were running away. Besides, you had called your assailant a potatoe,
+and therefore had already a contempt for him. This time it is you who
+will be the potatoe, as you will most surely discover when Count
+Lukstein spits you on his skewer;" and so I would get me wretchedly to
+bed.
+
+There were, indeed, but two thoughts which served to console me. In
+the first place, I was sensible that I had acquired some dexterity
+with the foils, and if I could but imagine a button on the point of
+the Count's sword I might hope to hold my own. In the second, I
+remembered very clearly a remark of Julian's. "The man's a coward," he
+had said, and I hugged the sentence to my breast. I repeated the
+words, indeed, until they fell into the cadence of a rhythm and lost
+all meaning and comfort for me, sounding hollow, like the tapping of
+an empty nut.
+
+Of what Larke suffered during that period I had no suspicion, but from
+subsequent hints I gather that his distress, though based upon far
+other grounds, was no whit inferior to my own. His behaviour, indeed,
+when I came to consider it, revealed to me new and amiable aspects of
+his character; for while he firmly disbelieved in my ability to
+captain an expedition, he never once pestered me for an explanation. I
+had entrusted the purse to his care, and at each town he made the
+arrangements for our stay, looked after the welfare of our horses, and
+in short, took modestly upon himself the troublesome conduct of our
+travels. Knowing nothing of my purpose but its danger, and distrustful
+of its achievement, he yet rode patiently forward, humming ever a
+French song, of which the refrain ran, I remember:
+
+
+              Que toutes joies et toutes honneurs
+              Viennent d'armes et d'amours.
+
+
+For he possessed that delicate gift of sympathy which keeps the friend
+silent when the acquaintance multiplies his questions.
+
+Thus we journeyed for over a month. It was, I fancy, on the 12th
+November that we reached the town of Innspruck, the weather very
+shrewd and bitter, for snow had fallen in great quantities, and a
+cutting wind blew from the hills. That night I told my companion of
+our destination, but disclosed no more of the business than that I had
+a private message for Count Lukstein's ear, which must needs be
+delivered secretly if we were to save our lives. We stayed here for
+two days that we might rest our horses, and early on the 14th set off
+for Glurns, which lay some eighty miles away in a broad valley they
+called the Vintschgau. The snow, however, was massed very deep, and
+though the road was sound, for it was the highway into Italy, we did
+not come up with the village until two o'clock on the third afternoon.
+Beyond Glurns the road traversed the valley in a diagonal line through
+a dreary avenue of stunted limes, which in their naked leaflessness
+looked in the distance like a palisade. Into this avenue we passed,
+and were well-nigh across the dale and under its northern barrier of
+mountains, when Larke suddenly reined up.
+
+"'Childe Roland to the dark tower came,'" he sang out. "Heaven send
+there be no one to complete the quotation!"
+
+I followed the direction of his gaze. Right ahead of us the Castle,
+the rock whereon it was pinnacled, and the village, huddled on a
+little plateau at its base, stood out from the hillside like a black
+stain upon the snow. A carriage-way, diverging from our road a hundred
+yards farther on, ran up towards it in long zigzags, and to this point
+we advanced.
+
+"Look!" suddenly cried Larke. "We are not the first to visit the
+worthy Count to-day."
+
+From both directions carriages or sledges had turned into this track,
+so that the snow at its entrance was trampled by the hoofs of horses,
+and cut by intersecting curves.
+
+"'Tis not certain," I said, "that the marks were made to-day."
+
+"It is," he replied, "else would the ruts have frozen."
+
+The thought that the Count had company doubled my disquiet. For there
+was the less chance of finding him alone, and I was anxious to have
+done with the matter.
+
+The first angle made by the zigzags was thickly covered with a boskage
+of pines. Into this we led our horses, and fastening them in the heart
+of it where the trees were most dense, we crept towards the west
+corner. At this point the track bent back upon itself and mounted
+eastwards to the border of the village, turned again, threading the
+houses at the bottom of the cliff, struck up thence at a right angle
+in a clear, open stretch beneath the west face of the rock, and
+finally curved round at the back to the gates. For the entrance to the
+Castle fronted the hillside and not the valley.
+
+I took my Horace from my pocket, and in an instant the diagram became
+intelligible to me. The long curving line represented the road, and
+the way of ascent, marked by the cross, was to be found on the western
+wall of rock, and above the open stretch of road. Of this we now
+commanded an unimpeded view, for the corner of the road at which we
+stood was situate to the west of the Castle.
+
+"I see it!" I exclaimed, and I handed the book to Larke.
+
+"So this is the secret of the poet's fascination," he answered. "But I
+see no path. The cliff is as smooth as an egg-shell, save for that one
+projecting rib."
+
+"That is the path," I replied.
+
+A shoulder of rock with a ribbon of snow upon its ridge jutted out
+from the summit of the cliff, and descended in an unbroken line to the
+road.
+
+"'Tis impossible to ascend that," said he. "We should break our necks
+for a surety or ever we were half-way up."
+
+"It shows steeper than it is," I answered. "We are not well-placed for
+judging of its incline; for that we should see it in profile. But
+where snow lies, there a man may climb."
+
+Jack raised no further objection; but ever and again I noticed him
+gazing at me with a puzzled expression upon his face. We crouched down
+in the undergrowth until such time as the night should fall, blowing
+on our fingers and pressing close against each other for warmth's
+sake. But 'twas of little use; my body tingled with cold, and I began
+to think my muscles would be frozen stiff, before the darkness gave us
+leave to move. The valley, moreover, looked singularly mournful and
+desolate in its shroud of white. As far as the eye could travel not a
+living thing could be seen, nor could the ear detect a sound. The
+region brooded in a sinister silence. I verily believe that I should
+have loosed my horse and fled but for the presence of my companion.
+
+Jack, however, was in no higher spirits than myself, and from the
+continual glances of his eyes I think that he was infected with a
+wholesome fear of the rib of rock. At last the dusk fell; the lights
+began to twinkle in the village and in the upper windows of the
+Castle. For a wall, broken here and there by round turrets, circled
+about the edge of the cliff and hid the lower storey from our sight.
+
+We looked to the priming of our pistols, buckled our swords tighter
+about the waist, shook the snow from our cloaks, and cautiously
+stepped out on to the path. At the edge of the village we stopped.
+'Twas but one street; but that very narrow and busy. Not a moment
+passed but a door opened, and a panel of orange light was thrown
+across the gloom, and the figures of men and women were seen passing
+and repassing. The village was astir and humming like a hive. But
+there was no other way. For on our right rose the tooth of rock in a
+sheer scarp; on our left the ground broke steeply away at the backs of
+the houses.
+
+"We must make a dash for it," said Larke. We waited until the street
+cleared for a moment, and then ran between the houses as fast as our
+legs would carry us. The snow deadened the sound of our feet, and we
+were well-nigh through the village when Larke tripped over a hillock
+and stumbled forward on his face with a curse. The next instant I
+dropped down beside him, and covering his mouth with my hand, forced
+him prone to the ground. For barely twenty feet ahead a door had
+suddenly opened, and a man dressed in the jacket and short breeches of
+the Tyroler came out on to the path. He stood with his back towards us
+and exchanged some jest with the inmates of the house, and I
+recognised his voice. I had heard it no more than once, it is true,
+but the occasion had fixed the sound of it for ever in my memories. It
+was the voice of the spy who had tracked us in the streets of Bristol.
+He turned towards the door, so that the light streamed full upon his
+face, shouted a "God be with you," and strode off in the direction of
+the Castle. The sight of him left me no room for doubt. That he had
+outstripped us caused me, indeed, little surprise, for we had
+travelled by a devious way, and had, moreover, delayed here and there
+upon the road.
+
+Larke commenced to sputter and cough.
+
+"Quiet!" I whispered, for the man was yet within hearing.
+
+"Loose your hand, then!" he returned. "Tis easy enough to say quiet,
+but 'tis not so easy to choke quietly."
+
+In my fluster I was holding his head tightly pressed into the snow, so
+that he could only have caught the barest glimpse of the man.
+
+"Who was it?" he asked.
+
+"One of Lukstein's servants."
+
+"You know him?"
+
+"I have seen him, and he has seen me. Maybe he would know me again."
+
+We got safely quit of the houses and turned into the upward stretch of
+road, towards the buttress of rock. It jutted out across our path, and
+was plainly distinguishable, for the night was pure and clean, and
+appeared to be tinctured with a vague light from the snow-fields. I
+noticed, too, that on the far side of the valley a pale radiance was
+welling over the brim of the hills with promise of the moon. 'Twas a
+very sweet sight to me, since climbing an unknown rock-ridge in the
+dark hath little to commend it, unless it be necessity.
+
+At the foot of the rib we halted and prepared to ascend. But nowhere
+could I find a cranny for my fingers or a knob for my boot. The
+surface was indeed, as Jack had said, as smooth as an egg-shell. I
+stepped back to the outer edge of the road and examined it as
+thoroughly as was possible.
+
+For the first twelve feet it was absolutely perpendicular; above that
+point it began to slope. It was as though the lowest portion of the
+rib had been cut purposely away.
+
+And then I remembered! Julian had spoken only of a descent. Now a man
+may drop twelve feet and come to no harm, but once at the bottom he
+must bide there. There was but one way out of the difficulty, and
+luckily Larke's shoulders were broad.
+
+"You must lend me your back," I said. "I will haul you up after me."
+
+He planted himself firmly against the rock, with his legs apart, and I
+climbed up his back on to his shoulders.
+
+"You teach me mercy to my horse," he said quietly.
+
+"Why? What have I done?" I asked. "Jabbed your spurs into my thighs
+and stood on them," he replied in a matter-of-fact voice. "But 'tis
+all one. Blood was meant to be spilled."
+
+Being now more than five feet from the ground, I was able to worm my
+fingers into a crack at the point where the ridge began to incline,
+and so hoist myself on to an insecure footing. But it was utterly
+beyond my power to drag Larke after me, for the snow was thin and
+shallow, and underneath it the rock loose and shattered. I should most
+surely have been pulled over had I made the attempt. I ascended the
+ridge in the hope of discovering a more stable position, whence I
+could lower my cloak to my companion. But 'twas all slabs at a pretty
+steep slope, with here and there little breaks and ledges. I could
+just crawl up on my belly, but I could do no more. There was never a
+yard of level where you could secure a solid grip of the feet. So I
+climbed back again and leaned over the edge.
+
+"Jack," I said, "I can't give you a helping hand. It would mean a
+certain fall."
+
+"I shall need little help, Morrice--very little," he answered, in a
+tone of entreaty.
+
+"I can't even give you that. The ridge is too insecure."
+
+"Ah! Don't say that!" he burst out "You have not come all these miles
+to be turned back by a foot or two of rock. It is absurd! It is worse
+than absurd. It is cowardly."
+
+"Hush!" I whispered gently. For I could gauge his disappointment, and
+gauging it, could pardon his railing, "I have no thought of turning
+back."
+
+"Then what will you do? Morrice, this is no time for dreaming! What
+will you do?"
+
+"Jack," I said, "you and I must part company. I must win through this
+trouble by myself."
+
+I heard something like a sob; it was the only answer he made.
+
+"Wait for me by the horses in the wood! Give me till dawn, but not a
+moment longer! If I am not with you then--well, 'tis the long good-bye
+betwixt you and me, Jack, and you had best ride for your life."
+
+Again he made no answer. For a moment I fancied that he had stolen
+away in a fury, and I craned my head over the rock, so that I could
+look down into the road. He was standing motionless with bent
+shoulders just beneath me.
+
+"Jack!" I called. For it might well be the last time I should speak to
+him. We had been good friends, and I would not have him part from me
+in anger. "There is no other way. It can't be helped."
+
+He turned up his face towards me, but it was too dark for me to read
+its expression.
+
+"Very well, Morrice," he said, and there was no resentment in his
+tone. "I will wait for your coming, and God send you come!"
+
+And with a dull, heavy step he walked back along the path.
+
+I turned and set my face to the cliff. After a while the ridge widened
+out, and the snow overlaid it more firmly, insomuch that a surefoot
+might have walked along by day. In the uncertain light, however--for
+the moon as yet hung low in a gap of the hills--I dared not venture
+it, and crept up on my hands and knees, testing carefully each tooth
+of rock or ever I trusted my weight to its stability. Towards the
+summit the rib thinned again to a sharp edge, and I was forced to
+straddle up it as best I could, with a leg dangling on either side.
+Altogether, what with the obstacles which the climb presented, and the
+numbing of my fingers, since the snow quickly soaked through my
+gloves, I made my way but slowly.
+
+At the top I found myself face to face with the Castle wall, which was
+some ten feet in height, and quite solid and uncrumbled. Between it
+and the rim of the crag, however, was a strip of level ground about
+half a yard broad, and I determined to follow it round until I should
+reach some angle at which it would be possible to climb the wall. On
+this strip the snow was heavily piled, and for security's sake I got
+me again to my hands and knees, flogging a path before me with the
+scabbard of my sword. I began to fear that I might be foiled in my
+endeavour for want of a companion; for again I bethought me, Julian
+only descended, and a man might drop from any portion of the wall,
+whereas the scaling of it was a different matter. I proceeded in the
+opposite direction to the Castle gates, and so came out above the
+south face of the precipice. Below me the houses of Lukstein village
+glimmered like a cluster of glow-worms; I had merely to roll over to
+fall dump among the roof-tops. I could even hear a faint murmur of
+brawling voices, and once I caught a plaintive snatch of song. For in
+that still, windless air sounds rose like bubbles in a clear pool of
+water.
+
+The wall on my left curved and twisted with the indents of the cliff,
+and a little more than halfway across the face I came to a spot where
+it ran in and out at a sharp angle. Moreover, one of the turrets which
+I had remarked from the wood bulged out from the line, and made of
+this angle a sort of crevice. Into the corner I thrust my back, and
+working my elbows and knees, with some help from the roughness of the
+stones, I managed to mount on to the parapet. The Castle lay stretched
+before me. In front stood the main body of the building; to my right a
+shorter wing, ending in a tower, jutted off towards the wall on which
+I lay. A broad terrace, enclosing in the centre a patch of lawn,
+separated me from the building.
+
+I fixed my eyes upon the tower. The window of the lower room was dark,
+and, strangely enough, 'twas the only window dark in the house. From
+the upper room there shone a faint gleam as of a lamp ill-trimmed. But
+all the other windows in the chief façade and the more distant part of
+this wing blazed out into the night. I could see passing figures
+shadowed upon the curtains, and music floated forth on a ripple of
+laughter, gavotte being linked to minuet and pavane in an endless
+melody.
+
+Every now and then some couple dainty with ribbons and jewels would
+step out from the porch, and with low voices and pensive steps pace
+the terrace until the cold froze the sweetness from their talk. They
+were plain to me, for the moon was riding high, and revealed even the
+nooks of the garden. Indeed, the only obscure corner was that in which
+I lay concealed. For a little pavilion leaned against the wall hard by
+me, and cast a deep shadow over the coping.
+
+But I hardly needed even that protection to screen me from these
+truants. I might have stood visible in the lawn's centre, and yet been
+asked no question. For such as braved the frost came not out to spy
+for strangers; their eyes sought each other with too intimate an
+insistance.
+
+I had indeed timed my visit ill. The revels of the village were being
+repeated in the Castle.
+
+The sharp contrast of my particular purpose forced its reality grimly
+upon me, and made this vigil one long agony. I had planned to tell
+Larke the true object of my coming during the hour or so we should
+have to wait, and to draw some solace from his companionship. Now,
+however, I was planted there alone with a message of death for my foe
+or for myself, and the glamour of life in my eyes, and it seemed to me
+that all the tedium of my journey had been held over for these hours
+of waiting.
+
+To cap my discomfort I found occasion to prove to myself that I was a
+most indisputable prig. I had often discoursed to Larke concerning the
+consolations to be drawn from the classics in moments of distress. Now
+I sought to practise the precept, and to that end lowered a bucket
+into the well of my memories. But alas! I hauled up naught but tags
+about Cerberus and Charon, and passages from the sixth book of Vergil.
+
+To tell the honest truth, I was dismally afraid. The very stars in the
+sky flashed sword-points at my breast, and the ice upon the hills
+glittered like breastplates of steel. Moreover, my hands were swollen
+and clumsy with the cold, and I dreaded lest I might lose the nervous
+flexibility of their muscles, and so the nice command of my sword. I
+stripped off my gloves which were freezing on my fingers, and thrust
+my hands inside my shirt to keep them warm against my skin.
+
+Somehow or another, however, the night wore through. The stars and the
+moon shifted across the mountains, the music began to falter into
+breaks, and the murmurs grew louder from the village. I heard sledges
+descend the road with a jingle of bells, first one, then another, then
+several in quick succession. Iron gates clanked on the far side of the
+Castle, the windows darkened, and finally a light sprang up in the
+lower of the chambers which I watched.
+
+I turned over on my face and dropped on to the snow. But my spurs
+rattled and clinked as I touched the ground, and I stooped down and
+loosed them from my feet. I cast a hurried glance around me. Not a
+shadow moved; the world seemed frozen to an eternal immobility. I
+crept across the lawn, up the terrace steps to the sill of the window,
+and peered into the room. It was small and luxuriously furnished, the
+roof, panels, and floor, being all of a polished and mellow pine-wood.
+Warm-coloured rugs and the skins of chamois were scattered on the
+floor, and four candles in heavy sconces blazed on the mantel. Sunning
+himself before the log-fire sat Count Lukstein. I knew him at once
+from Julian's account: a big, heavy-featured man with a loose dropping
+mouth. He was elaborately dressed in a suit of grey satin richly laced
+with silver, which seemed somewhat too airy and fanciful to befit the
+massive girth of his limbs. These he displayed to their full
+proportions, and the sight did little to enhearten me. For he sat with
+his legs stretched out and his arms clasped behind his head, the
+firelight playing gaily upon a sparkle of diamonds in his cravat.
+
+I noted the two doors of which Julian had spoken--that on my right
+leading to the bedroom, that on my left to the hall--and in particular
+a small writing-table which stood against the wall facing me. For a
+silver bell upon it caught the light of the candles and reflected it
+into my eyes. And I remembered Julian's story of his visit to the
+Hotwell.
+
+Whether it was that I rattled the frame of the window, or that chance
+turned the Count's looks my way, I know not; but he suddenly turned
+full towards me, My face was pressed flat to the glass. I drew back
+hastily into the shadow of the wall. One minute passed, two, three;
+the window darkened, and the Count, lifting his hands to his temples
+to shut out the light at his back, laid his forehead to the pane.
+Instinctively I clapped my hand to the pistol in my pocket and cocked
+it. The click of the hammer sounded loud in my ears as though I had
+exploded the charge. Count Lukstein flung open the window and set one
+foot outside.
+
+"Who is it?" he cried; and yet again, "who is it?"
+
+I drew a deep breath, stepped quickly past him into the room, and
+turned about. The two doors and the writing-table were now behind me.
+
+He staggered back from the window, and his hand dived at the hilt of
+his sword. But before he could draw it he raised his eyes to my face;
+he let go of his sword and stared in sheer bewilderment.
+
+"And in the devil's name," he asked, "who are you?"
+
+'Twas a humiliating moment for me. He spoke as a master might to an
+impudent schoolboy, and it was with a quavering schoolboy's treble
+that I answered him.
+
+"I am Morrice Buckler."
+
+"An Englishman?" he questioned, bending his brows suddenly; for we
+were speaking in German.
+
+"Of the county of Cumberland," I replied meekly. I felt as if I was
+repeating my catechism.
+
+"Then, Mr. Morrice Buckler, of the county of Cumberland," he began,
+with an exaggerated politeness. But I broke in upon him.
+
+"I have some knowledge of the county of Bristol, too," I said, with as
+much bravado as I could muster. But 'twas no great matter. The display
+would have disgraced a tavern bully.
+
+The words, however, served their turn. Just for a second, just long
+enough for me to perceive it, a startled look of fear flashed into his
+eyes, and his body seemed to shrink in bulk. Then he asked suddenly:
+
+"How came you here?"
+
+"By a path Sir Julian Harnwood told me of," says I.
+
+He stretched a finger towards the window.
+
+"Go!" he cried in a low voice. "Go!"
+
+I stood my ground, for I noted with a lively satisfaction that the
+quaver had passed from my voice into his.
+
+"Have a care, Master Buckler!" he continued. "You are no longer in
+England. You would do well to remember that. There are reasons why I
+would have no disturbance here to-night. There are reasons. But on my
+life, if you refuse to obey me, I will have you whipped from here by
+my servants."
+
+"Ah!" says I, "this is not the first time, Count Lukstein, that some
+one has stood between you and the bell."
+
+He cast a glance over my shoulder. I saw that he was going to shout,
+and I whipped out the pistol from my pocket.
+
+"If you shout," I said, "the crack of this will add little to the
+noise."
+
+"It would go ill with you if you fired it," he blustered.
+
+"It would go yet worse with you," I answered.
+
+And there we stood over against one another, the finest brace of
+cowards in Christendom, each seeking to overcome the other by a wordy
+braggadocio. Indeed, my forefinger so trembled on the trigger that I
+wonder the pistol did not go off and settle our quarrel out of hand.
+
+"What does it mean?" he burst out, screwing himself to a note of
+passion. "What does it mean? You skulk into my house like a thief."
+
+"The manner of my visit does in truth leave much to be desired," I
+conceded. "But for that you must thank your reputation."
+
+"It does, in truth," he returned, ignoring my last words. "It leaves
+much--very much. You see that yourself, Mr. Buckler. So, to-morrow!
+Return by the way you came, and come to me again tomorrow. We can talk
+at leisure. It is over-late to-night."
+
+"Nay, my lord," said I, drawing some solid comfort from the wheedling
+tone in which he spake. "Your servants will be abroad in the house
+tomorrow, and, as you were careful to remind me, I am not in England.
+I have waited for some six hours upon the parapet of your terrace, and
+I have no mind to let the matter drag to another day."
+
+His eyes shifted uneasily about the room; but ever they returned to
+the shining barrel of my pistol.
+
+"Well, well," said he at length, with a shrug of the shoulders, and a
+laugh that rang flat as a cracked guinea, "one must needs listen when
+the speaker holds a pistol at your head. Say your say and get it
+done."
+
+He flung himself into a chair which stood in the corner by the window.
+I sat me in the one from which he had risen, drawing it closer to the
+fire. A little table stood within arm's reach, and I pulled it up
+between us and laid my pistol on the edge.
+
+"I have come," said I, "upon Sir Julian Harnwood's part."
+
+"Pardon me!" he interrupted. "You will oblige me by speaking English,
+and by speaking it low."
+
+The request seemed strange, but 'twas all one to me what language we
+spoke so long as he understood.
+
+"Certainly," I answered. "I am here to undertake his share in the
+quarrel which he had with you, and to complete the engagement which
+was interrupted on the Kingsdown."
+
+"But, Mr. Buckler," he said, with some show of perplexity, "the
+quarrel was a private one. Wherein lies your right to meddle with the
+matter?"
+
+"I was Sir Julian's friend," I replied. "He knew the love I bore him,
+and laid this errand as his last charge upon it."
+
+"Really, really," said he, "both you and your friend seem strangely
+ill-versed in the conduct of gentlemen. You say Sir Julian laid this
+errand upon you. But I have your bare word for that. It is not enough.
+And even granting it to be true, my quarrel was with Sir Julian, not
+with you. One does not fight duels by proxy."
+
+He had recovered his composure, and spoke with an easy
+superciliousness.
+
+"My lord," I answered, stung by his manner, "I must ask you to get the
+better of that scruple, as I have of one far more serious, for, after
+all, one does not as a rule fight duels with murderers."
+
+He started forward in his chair as though he had been struck. I seized
+the butt of my pistol, for I fancied he was about to throw himself
+upon me.
+
+"I know more than you think," said I, nodding at him, "and this will
+prove it to you."
+
+I drew the oval gold box from my fob and tossed it on to his knees.
+His hands darted at it, and he turned it over and over in his palms,
+staring at the cover with white cheeks.
+
+"How got you this?" he asked hoarsely, and then remembering himself,
+"I know nothing of it. I know nothing of it."
+
+"Sir Julian gave it into my hands," said I. "I visited him in his
+prison on the evening of the 22nd September."
+
+He stared at me for a while, repeating "the 22nd September" like one
+busy over a sum.
+
+"The 22nd September," said I, "the 22nd September. It was the day of
+his trial."
+
+At the words his face cleared wonderfully. He rose with an
+indescribable air of relief, flung the box carelessly on the table,
+and said with a contemptuous smile:
+
+"Ah, Mr. Buckler! Mr. Buckler! You would have saved much time had you
+mentioned the date earlier. How much?" and he shook some imaginary
+coins in the cup of his hand.
+
+"Count Lukstein!" I exclaimed.
+
+I had not the faintest notion of what he was driving at, and the
+surprise which his change of manner occasioned me obscured the insult.
+
+"Tut, tut, man!" he resumed, with a wave of the hand. "How much?
+Surely the farce drags."
+
+"The farce," I replied hotly, "is one of those which are best played
+seriously. Remember that, Count Lukstein!"
+
+"Well, well," he said indulgently, "have your own way. But, believe
+me, you are making a mistake. I have no wish to cheapen your wares.
+That you have picked up some fragments of the truth I am ready to
+agree; and I am equally ready to buy your silence. You have but to
+name your price."
+
+"I have named it," I muttered, locking my teeth, for I was fast losing
+my temper, and feared lest I might raise my voice sufficiently to be
+heard beyond the room.
+
+"Let me prove to you that you are wasting time," said he with insolent
+patience. "You have been ill-primed for your work. You say that you
+visited Sir Julian on the night of the 22nd. You say that you were Sir
+Julian's friend. I would not hurt your feelings, Mr. Buckler, but both
+those statements are, to put it coarsely, lies. You were never Sir
+Julian's friend, or you would have known better than to have fixed
+that date. But two people visited him on the 22nd, a priest and a
+woman, the most edifying company possible for a dying man." He ended
+with a smooth scorn. I looked up at him and laughed.
+
+"Ah!" said he, "we are beginning to understand each other."
+
+I laughed a second time.
+
+"She was over-tall for a woman, my lord," said I, "though of no great
+stature for a man."
+
+I rose as I spoke the words and confronted him. We were standing on
+opposite sides of the little table. The smile died off his face; he
+leaned his hands upon the table and bent slowly over it, searching my
+looks with horror-stricken eyes.
+
+"What do you mean?" he asked in a hoarse whisper.
+
+"I was the woman. How else should I have got that box?"
+
+"You, you!" He spoke in a queer matter-of-fact tone of assent. All his
+feeling and passion seemed to have gathered in his eyes.
+
+So we stood waging a battle of looks. And then of a sudden I noticed a
+crafty, indefinable change in his expression, and from the tail of my
+eye I saw his fingers working stealthily across the table. I dropped
+my hand on to the butt of my pistol. With a ready cunning he picked up
+the gold box and began to examine it with so natural an air of
+abstraction that I almost wondered whether I had not mistaken his
+design.
+
+"And so," says he at length, "you would fight with me?"
+
+"If it please you, yes," says I.
+
+"Miss Marston, it seems, has more admirers than I knew of," he
+returned, with a cunning leer which made my stomach rise at him.
+
+He seemed incapable of conceiving a plain open purpose in any man. Yet
+for all that I could not but admire the nimbleness of his wits. Not
+merely had he recovered his easy demeanour, but he was already, as I
+could see, working out another issue from the impasse. I clung fast to
+the facts.
+
+"I have never seen Miss Marston," said I. "I fight for my friend."
+
+"For your friend? For your dead, useless friend?" He dropped the words
+slowly, one by one, with a smiling disbelief. "Come, come, Mr.
+Buckler! Not for your friend! We are both men of the world. Be frank
+with me! Is it sensible that two gentlemen should spill honest blood
+for the sake of a feather-headed wanton?"
+
+"If the name fits her, my lord," I replied, "who is to blame for that?
+And as for the honest blood, I have more hope of spilling it than
+faith in its honesty."
+
+The Count's face grew purple, and the veins swelled out upon his ample
+throat. I snatched up the pistol, and we both stood trembling with
+passion. The next moment, I think, must have decided the quarrel, but
+for a light sound which became distinctly audible in the silence. It
+descended from the room above. We both looked up to the ceiling, the
+Count with a sudden softness on his face, and I understood, or rather
+I thought I understood, why he had not raised the alarm before I
+produced my pistol, and why he bade me subsequently speak in English.
+For the sound was a tapping, such as a woman's heels may make upon a
+polished floor.
+
+I waited, straining my ears to hear the little stairway creak behind
+the door at my back, and cudgelling my brains to think what I should
+do. If she came down into the room, it was all over with my project
+and, most likely, with my life, too, unless I was prepared to shoot my
+opponent in cold blood and make a bolt for it. After a while, however,
+the sound ceased altogether, to my indescribable relief. The Count was
+the first to break the silence.
+
+"Very well, Mr. Buckler," said he; "send your friends to me in the
+morning. Let them come like men to the door and give me assurance that
+I may meet you without loss of self-respect, and you shall have your
+way."
+
+"You force me to repeat," said I, "that the matter must be disposed of
+to-night."
+
+"To-night!" he said, and stared at me incredulously. "Mr. Buckler, you
+must be mad."
+
+"To-night," I repeated stubbornly. For, apart from all considerations
+of safety, I felt that such courage as I possessed was but the froth
+of my anger, and would soon vanish if it were left to stand. The Count
+began to pace the room between the writing-table and the window. I set
+my chair against the wall and leaned against the chimney, and I noted
+that at each turn in his walk he drew, as though unconsciously, nearer
+and nearer to the bell.
+
+"Mr. Buckler," he said, "what you propose is quite out of the
+question. I can but attribute it to your youth. You take too little
+thought of my side of the case. To fight with one whom I have never so
+much as set eyes on before, who forces his way into my house in the
+dead of night--you must see for yourself that it fits not my dignity."
+
+"You are too close to the bell, Count Lukstein, and you raise your
+voice," I broke in sharply. "That fits not my safety."
+
+He stood still in the middle of the room and raised a clenched fist to
+his shoulder, glaring at me. In a moment, however, he resumed his
+former manner.
+
+"Besides," he went on, "there is a particular reason why I would have
+no disturbance here tonight. You got some inkling of it a moment ago."
+He nodded to the ceiling.
+
+I blush with shame now when I remember what I answered him. I took a
+leaf from his book, as the saying is, and could conceive no worthy
+strain in him.
+
+"The good lady," I said, "whom you honour with your attentions now
+must wait until the affairs of her predecessor are arranged."
+
+The Count came sliding over the floor with a sinuous movement of his
+body and a very dangerous light in his eyes.
+
+"You insult my wife," he said softly, and as I reeled against the hood
+of the fireplace, struck out of my wits by his words, he of a sudden
+gave a low bellowing cry, plucked his sword from his sheath, and
+lunged at my body. I saw the steel flash in a line of light and sprang
+on one side. The sword quivered in the wood level with my left elbow.
+My leap upset the table, the pistol clattered on the floor. I whipped
+out my sword, Count Lukstein wrenched his free, and in a twinkling we
+were set to it. I think all fear vanished from both of us, for Count
+Lukstein's face was ablaze with passion, and I felt the blood in my
+veins running like strong wine.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VI.
+
+                    SWORDS TAKE UP THE DISCOURSE.
+
+
+By these movements we had completely reversed our positions, so that
+now I stood with my back to the window, while the Count held that end
+of the room in which the doors were set. Not that I took any thought
+of this alteration at the time, for the Count attacked me with
+extraordinary fury, and I needed all my wits to defend myself from his
+violence. He was, as I had dreaded, a skilled swordsman, and he
+pressed his skill to the service of his anger. Now the point of his
+rapier twirled and spun like a spark of fire; now the blade coiled
+about mine with a sharp hiss like some lithe, glittering serpent.
+Every moment I expected it to bite into my flesh. I gave ground until
+my hindmost foot was stopped against the framework of the window; and
+there I stayed parrying his thrusts until he slackened from the ardour
+of his assault. Then in my turn I began to attack; slowly and
+persistently I drove him back towards the centre of the room, when
+suddenly, glancing across his shoulder, I saw something that turned my
+blood cold. The door leading to the staircase was ajar. I had heard no
+click of the handle; it must have been open before, I argued to
+myself, but I knew the argument was false. The door had been shut; I
+noted that from the garden, and it could not have opened so silently
+of itself. I renewed my attack upon the Count, pressing him harder and
+harder in a veritable panic. I snatched a second glance across his
+shoulder. The door was not only ajar; 'twas opening--very slowly, very
+silently, and a yellow light streamed through onto the wall beside the
+door. The sight arrested me at the moment of lunging--held me
+petrified with horror. A savage snarl of joy from Lukstein's lips
+warned me; his sword darted at my heart, I parried it clumsily, and
+the next moment the point leapt into my left shoulder. The wound
+quickened my senses, and I settled to the combat again, giving thrust
+for thrust. Each second I expected a scream of terror, a rush of feet.
+But not a sound came to me. I dared not look from the Count's face any
+more; the hit which he had made seemed to have doubled his energies. I
+strained my ears to catch the fall of a foot, the rustle of a dress.
+But our own hard breathing, a light rattle of steel as swords lunged
+and parried, a muffled stamp as one or the other stepped forward upon
+the rugs--these were the only noises in the room, and for me they only
+served to deepen and mark the silence. Yet all the while I felt that
+the door was opening--opening; I knew that some one must be standing
+in the doorway quietly watching us, and that some one a woman, and
+Count Lukstein's wife. There was something horrible, unnatural in the
+silence, and I felt fear run down my back like ice, unstringing my
+muscles, sucking my heart. I summoned all my strength, compressed all
+my intelligence into a despairing effort, and flung myself at
+Lukstein. He drew back out of reach, and behind him I saw a flutter of
+white. Through the doorway, holding a lighted candle above her head,
+Countess Lukstein advanced noiselessly into the room. Her eyes, dark
+and dilated, were fixed upon mine; still she spoke never a word. She
+seemed not to perceive her husband; she seemed not even to see me,
+into whose face she gazed. 'Twas as though she was looking through me,
+at something that stood in the window behind my head.
+
+The Count, recovering from my assault, rushed at me again. I made a
+few passes, thinking that my brain would crack. I could feel her eyes
+burning into mine. I was certain that some one was behind me, and I
+experienced an almost irresistible desire to turn my head and discover
+who it might be. The strain had become intolerable. There was just
+room for me to leap backwards.
+
+"Look!" I gasped, and I leaned back against the window-pane, clutching
+at the folds of the curtain for support.
+
+Count Lukstein turned; the woman was close behind him. A couple of
+paces more, and she must have touched him. He dropped his sword-point
+and stepped quickly aside.
+
+"My God!" he said in a hoarse whisper. "She is asleep!"
+
+My whole body was dripping with sweat. It seemed to me that a full
+hour must have passed since I had seen her first, and yet so brief had
+been the interval that she was not half-way across the room.
+
+Had she come straight towards me I could not have moved from her path.
+But she walked betwixt Count Lukstein and myself direct to the open
+window. She wore a loose white gown, gathered in a white girdle at the
+waist, and white slippers on her naked feet. Her face even then showed
+to me as incomparably beautiful, and her head was crowned with masses
+of waving hair, in colour like red corn. She passed between us without
+check or falter; her gown brushed against the Count. Through the open
+window she walked across the snowy terrace towards the pavilion by the
+Castle wall. The night was very still, and the flame of the candle
+burnt pure and steady.
+
+I looked at the Count. For a moment we gazed at one another in
+silence, and then without a word we stepped side by side to follow
+her. Our dispute appeared to have been swallowed up in this
+overmastering event, and I experienced almost a revulsion of
+friendliness for my opponent.
+
+"'Tis not the first time this has happened, I am told," said he, and
+as I looked at him inquiringly, he added, very softly: "We were only
+married to-day."
+
+"Only to-day," I exclaimed, and not noticing where I trod, I stumbled
+over a wolf-skin that lay on the floor with the head attached. My foot
+slipped on the polished boards beside it, and I fell upon my left
+knee. The Count stopped and faced me, an ugly smile suddenly flashing
+about his mouth. I saw him draw back his arm as I was rising. I
+dropped again upon hand and knee, and his sword whizzed an inch above
+my shoulder. I was still holding my own sword in my right hand, and or
+ever he could recover I lunged upwards at his breast with all my
+force, springing from the ground as I lunged, to drive the thrust
+home. The blade pierced through his body until the hilt rang against
+the buttons of his coat. He fell backwards heavily, and I let go of my
+sword. The point stuck in the floor behind him as he fell, and he slid
+down the blade on to the ground. Something dropped from his hand and
+rolled away into a corner, where it lay shining. I gave no thought to
+that, however, but glanced through the window. To my horror I saw that
+Countess Lukstein was already returning across the lawn. The Count had
+fallen across the window, blocking it. I plucked my sword free, and
+lugged the body into the curtains at the side, cowering down myself
+behind it. I had just time to gather up his legs and so leave the
+entrance clear, when she stepped over the sill. A little stream of
+blood was running towards her, and I was seized with a mad terror lest
+it should reach her feet. She moved so slowly and the stream ran so
+quickly. Every moment I expected to see the white of her slippers grow
+red with the stain of it. But she passed beyond the line of its
+channel just a second before it reached so far. With the same even and
+steady gait she recrossed the room and turned into the little
+stairway, latching the door behind her.
+
+For a while I remained kneeling by the body of the Count in a numbed
+stupor, All was so quiet and peaceful that I could not credit what had
+happened in this last hour, not though I held the Count within my
+arms. Then from the floor of the room above there came once more the
+light tapping sound of a woman's heels. I looked about me. The table
+lay overturned, the rugs were heaped and scattered, and the barrel of
+my pistol winked in the sputtering light of the fire. I rose, snatched
+up my sword, and fled out on to the snow.
+
+The moon was setting and the moonlight grey upon the garden, with the
+snow under foot very crisp and dry.
+
+I sheathed my sword and clambered on to the coping. I turned to look
+at the Castle--how quietly it slept, and how brightly burned the
+lights in those two rooms!--and then dropped to the ledge upon the
+further side of the wall.
+
+I had reached the top of the ridge of rock, when a cry rang out into
+the night--a cry, shrill and lonesome, in a woman's voice--a cry
+followed by a great silence. I halted in an agony. 'Twas not fear that
+I felt; 'twas not even pity. The cry spoke of suffering too great for
+pity, and I stood aghast at the sound of it, aghast at the thought
+that my handiwork had begotten it. 'Twas not repeated, however, and I
+tore down the ridge in a frenzy of haste, taking little care where I
+set my hands or my feet. How it was that I did not break my neck I
+have never been able to think.
+
+The village, I remember, was dark and lifeless save just at one house,
+whence came a murmur of voices, and a red beam of light slipped
+through a chink in the shutter and lay like a rillet of blood across
+the snow.
+
+Once clear of the houses. I ran at full speed down the track. At the
+corner of the wood, I stopped and looked upwards before I plunged
+among the trees. The moon had set behind the mountains while I was
+descending the ridge, and the Castle loomed vaguely above me as though
+at that spot the night was denser than elsewhere. 'Twas plain that no
+alarm had been taken, that the cry had not been heard. I understood
+the reason of this afterwards. The two rooms in the tower were
+separated by a great interval from the other bedrooms. But what of the
+Countess, I thought? I pictured her in a swoon upon the corpse of her
+husband.
+
+Within the coppice 'twas so black that I could not see my hand when I
+raised it before me, and I went groping my way by guesswork towards
+the trees to which we had tethered our horses. I dared not call out to
+Larke; I feared even the sound of my footsteps. Every rustle of the
+bushes seemed to betray a spy. In the end I began to fancy that I
+should wander about the coppice until dawn, when close to my elbow
+there rose a low crooning song:
+
+
+              Que toutes joies et toutes honneurs
+              Viennent d'armes et d'amours.
+
+
+"Jack!" I whispered.
+
+The undergrowth crackled as he crushed it beneath his feet.
+
+"Morrice, is that you? Where are you?"
+
+A groping hand knocked against my arm and tightened on it. I gave a
+groan.
+
+"Are you hurt, Morrice? Oh, my God! I thought you would never come!"
+
+"You have heard nothing?"
+
+"Nothing."
+
+"Not a sound? Not--not a cry?"
+
+"Nothing."
+
+"Quick, then!" said I. "We must be miles away by morning."
+
+He led me to where our horses stood, and we untied them and threaded
+through the trees to the road.
+
+"Help me to mount, Jack!" said I.
+
+He pulled a flask from his pocket and held it to my lips. 'Twas neat
+brandy, but I gulped a draught of it as though it were so much water.
+Then he helped me into the saddle and settled my feet in the stirrups.
+
+"Why, Morrice," he asked, "what have you done with your spurs?"
+
+"I left them on the terrace," said I, remembering. "I left my spurs,
+my pistol, and--and something else. But quick, Jack, quick!"
+
+'Twould have saved me much trouble had I brought that "something else"
+with me, or at least examined it more closely before I left it there.
+
+He swung himself on to the back of his horse, and we set off at a
+canter. But we had not gone twenty yards when I cried, "Stop!" 'Twas
+as though the windows of the Castle sprang at us suddenly out of the
+darkness, each one alive with a tossing glare of links. It seemed to
+me that a hundred angry eyes were searching for me. I drove my heels
+into my horse's flanks and galloped madly down the road in the
+direction of Italy. A quarter of a mile further, and a bend of the
+valley hid the Castle from our sight; but I knew that I should never
+get the face of Countess Lukstein from before my eyes, or the sound of
+her cry out of my ears.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VII.
+
+                    I RETURN HOME AND HEAR NEWS OF
+                          COUNTESS LUKSTEIN.
+
+
+From Lukstein we rode hot-foot down the Vintschgau Thal to Meran, and
+thence by easy stages to Verona, in Italy. I had no great fear of
+pursuit or detection after the first day, since the road was much
+frequented by travellers, and neither my spurs, nor my pistol, nor the
+miniature of Julian bore any marks by which Jack or myself could be
+singled out. At Verona an inflammation set up in my wounded shoulder,
+very violent and severe, so that I lay in that town for some weeks
+delirious and at death's door. Indeed, but for Jack's assiduous care
+in nursing me, I must infallibly have lost my life.
+
+At length, however, being somewhat recovered, I was carried southwards
+to Naples, and thence we wandered from town to town through the
+provinces of Italy until, in the year 1686, the fulness of the spring
+renewed my blood and set my fancies in a tide towards home. Jack
+accompanied me to England and took up his abode in my house in
+Cumberland, being persuaded without much difficulty to abandon his
+pretence of studying the law, and to throw in his lot with me for good
+and all.
+
+"My estates need a steward," said I, "and I--God knows I need a
+friend." And with little more talk the bargain was struck.
+
+During all this time, however, I had not so much as breathed a word to
+him concerning the doings of that night in Castle Lukstein. At first
+the matter was too hot in my thoughts, and even afterwards, when the
+horror of my memories had dimmed, I could not bring myself to the
+point of speech. Had it not been for the appearance and intervention
+of the Countess, doubtless I should have blurted out the tale long
+before. But with her face ever fixed within my view, I could not
+speak; I could only picture it desolate with grief, and washed with a
+pitiful rain of tears. Moreover, I knew that Jack would account my
+story as the story of a worthy exploit, and I shrank from his praise
+as from a burning iron.
+
+'Twould have, nevertheless, been strange had not my ravings in my
+delirium disclosed some portion of the night's incidents, and that
+they did so I understood from a certain speech Jack once made me.
+'Twas when I was yet lying sick at Verona. One morning, when I was
+come to my senses after a feverish night, he walked over to my bedside
+from the chair where he had been watching.
+
+"I have been a common fool," says he, and repeats the remark, shifting
+a foot to and fro on the floor; and then he claps his hand upon mine.
+
+"God send me such a friend as you, Morrice, if ever trouble comes to
+me!" says he, and so gets him quickly from the room.
+
+Often did I wonder how much I had betrayed, but I had reason
+subsequently to believe that 'twas very little; just enough to assure
+him that I had not flinched from the conflict, with probably some
+revelation of the fear in which I engaged upon it.
+
+'Twas in the last days of March that I saw once more the rolling
+slopes of Yewbarrow, streaked here and there with a ribbon of snow,
+and my house at the base of it, its grey tiles shining in the sunset
+like glass; and a homely restfulness settled upon my spirit, and
+looking back upon the last months of purposeless wandering, I resolved
+to pass my days henceforward in a placid ordering of my estate.
+
+This feeling of peace, however, stayed with me no great while, the
+very monotony of a quiet life casting me back upon my troubled
+recollections. As a relief, I sought diversion with Jack's ready
+assistance in the pleasures of the field. Hawking, hunting,
+and climbing--for which somehow my companion never acquired a
+taste--filled out the hours of daylight We chased the fox on foot
+along ridges of the hills; we hunted the red deer in the forests
+about Styhead; we walked miles across fell and valley to watch a
+wrestling-match or attend a fair. In a word, we lived a clean,
+open-air life of wholesome activity.
+
+But alas! 'Twas of little profit to me. I would get me tired to bed
+only to plunge into a whirlpool of unrestful dreams, and toss there
+until the morning. Sometimes it would be the door of the little
+staircase to the Count's bedroom. I would see it opening and opening
+perpetually, and yet never wide open; or again, it would grow gigantic
+in size, and swing back across the world as though it was hinged
+betwixt the poles. Most often, however, it would be Count Lukstein's
+wife. I beheld her now, tall and stately, with her glorious aureole of
+hair and her dark, unseeing eyes eating through me like a slow fire as
+she advanced across the room; now I followed her as she moved through
+the moonlit garden with the taper burning clear and steady in her
+hand. But, however the dream began, 'twould always end the same way.
+The fiery windows of Castle Lukstein would leap upon me out of the
+darkness, and I would wake in a cold sweat, my body a-quiver, and her
+lone cry knelling in my ears.
+
+A strange feature of these nightmare fancies, and a feature that
+greatly perplexed me, was that the Count himself played no part in
+them. Were my dreams the test and touchstone of the truth, I could
+never so much as have set eyes upon him. The encounter, the
+conversation which preceded it, the last cowardly thrust, and the dead
+form huddled up in my arms among the curtains--of these things I had
+not even a hint. They became erased from my memory the moment that I
+fell asleep. Then 'twas always the woman who was pictured to me; in no
+single instance the man. I wondered at this omission the more,
+inasmuch as I frequently thought of Count Lukstein during the
+day-time, remembering with an odd sense of envy the softness of his
+voice when he spoke concerning his wife.
+
+Spent with the double fatigue of the day's exertions and the night's
+phantasmal horrors, I betook myself at length to my library, seeking
+rest, if not forgetfulness, among my old companions. But the delight
+and joy of books had gone out from me, and nowise could I recover it.
+Once the very covers had seemed to me to answer the pressure of my
+fingers with a friendly welcome; now I applied myself straightway to
+the text as to a laborious and uncongenial task. I had looked so
+deeply into a tragic reality that these printed images of life
+appeared false and distorted, like reflections thrown from a convex
+mirror; and I understood how it is that those who act are but seldom
+their own historians, and when they are, content themselves with a
+simple register of deeds. However, I persevered in this course for a
+while, hoping that some time my former zest and liking would return to
+me, and I should taste again the fine flavour of a nicely-ordered
+sentence or of a discriminate sequence of thoughts.
+
+But one May morning, coming into the study shortly after sunrise, I
+sat me down, with my limbs unrefreshed and aching, before the "Religio
+Medici" of the Norwich doctor, and I fell immediately across this
+passage:
+
+"I have heard some with deep sighs lament the lost lines of Cicero;
+others with as many groans deplore the combustion of the library of
+Alexandria. For my own part, I think there be too many in the world,
+and could with patience behold the urn and ashes of the Vatican, could
+I, with a few others, recover the perished leaves of Solomon."
+
+The words chimed so appositely with my thoughts that I resolved there
+and then to put the theory into practice, and closing the book, I made
+a beginning with Sir Thomas Browne. Outside the window the birds piped
+happily from vernal branches; the shadows played hide-and-seek upon
+the grass, and the beck babbled and laughed as it raced down behind
+the house. I locked the door of the library, and taking the key in my
+hand, walked to the side of the beck. At this point the stream spouted
+in a fountain from a cleft of rock, and fell some twelve feet into a
+deep bason. A group of larches overhung the pool, and the sunlight,
+sprinkling between the leaves, dappled the clear green surface with an
+ever-shifting pattern. Into this bason I dropped the key, and watched
+it sink with a sparkling tail of bubbles to the bottom. 'Twas of a
+bright metal, so that I could still see it distinctly as it rested on
+the rock-bed. A large stone lay upon the bank beside me, and with a
+sudden, uncontrollable impulse I stripped off my clothes, picked up
+the stone, and diving into the cool water, set it carefully atop of
+the key. Many months passed before I came again to the pool, and found
+the key still hidden safe beneath the stone; and during those months
+so much that was strange occurred to me, and I wandered along such new
+and devious paths, that when I held it again, all rusty and corroded,
+in my hand, I felt as though it could not have been myself who had
+dropped it there, but some one whose memories had been transmitted to
+me and incorporated in my being by a mysterious alchemy.
+
+It was on that very afternoon that the letter was brought to me. Jack
+and I were sitting at dinner in the big oak dining-room about four of
+the clock; the great windows were open, and the sunny air streamed in
+laden with fresh perfumes. I can see Jim Ritson now as he rode up the
+drive--'twas part of his duty to meet the mail at the post-town of
+Cockermouth--I can almost hear his voice as he gave in the letter at
+the hall-door. "There's a letter for t' maister," he said.
+
+Jim is grown to middle age by this time, and owns a comfortable fat
+face and a brood of children. But whenever I pass him in the lanes and
+fields I ever experience a lively awe and respect for him as for the
+accredited messenger of fate.
+
+The letter came from Lord Elmscott and urged me to visit him in town.
+
+
+"Come!" he wrote. "To the dust of Leyden you are superadding the mould
+of Cumberland. Come and brush yourself clean with the contact of wits!
+There is much afoot that should interest you. What with Romish priests
+and English bishops, the town is in ferment. Moreover, a new beauty
+hath come to Court. There is nothing very strange in that. But she is
+a foreigner, and her rivals have as yet discovered no scandal to
+smirch her with. There is something very strange in that. Such a
+miracle is well worth a man's beholding. She hails from the Tyrol and
+is the widow of one Count Lukstein, who was in London last year. She
+wears no mourning for her husband, and hath many suitors. I have of
+late won much money at cards, and so readily forgive you for that you
+were the death of Ph[oe]be."
+
+
+The letter ran on to some considerable length, but I read no more of
+it. Indeed, I understood little of what I had read. The face of
+Countess Lukstein seemed stamped upon the page to the obscuring of the
+inscription. I passed it across to Jack without a word, and he perused
+it silently and tossed it back. All that evening I sat smoking my pipe
+and pondering the proposal. An overmastering desire to see her
+features alive with the changing lights of expression, began to
+possess me. The more I thought, the more ardently I longed to behold
+her. If only I could see her eyes alert and glancing, if only I could
+hear her voice, I might free myself from the picture of the blank,
+impassive mask which she wore in my dreams. That way, I fancied, and
+that way alone, should I find peace.
+
+"I shall go," I said at last, knocking the ashes from my pipe. "I
+shall go to-morrow."
+
+"You shan't!" cried Jack vehemently, springing up and facing me. "She
+knows you. She has seen you."
+
+"She has never seen me," I replied steadily, and he gazed into my face
+with a look of bewilderment which gradually changed into fear.
+
+"Are you mad, Morrice?" he asked, in a broken whisper, and took a step
+or two backwards, keeping his eyes fixed upon mine.
+
+"Nay, Jack," said I; "but unless God helps me, I soon shall be. He may
+be helping me now. I trust so, for this visit alone can save me."
+
+"She has never seen you?" he repeated. "Swear it! Morrice! Swear it!"
+
+I did as he bade me.
+
+"What brings her to England?" he mused.
+
+"What kept us wandering about Italy?" I answered. "The fear to return
+home."
+
+"'Twill not serve," said he. "She wears no mourning for her husband."
+
+I wondered at this myself, but could come at no solution, and so got
+me to bed. That night, for the first time since I left Austria, I
+slept dreamlessly. In the morning I was yet more determined to go. I
+felt, indeed, as though I had no power to stay, and, hurrying on my
+servants, I prepared to set out at two of the afternoon. Udal and two
+other of my men I took with me.
+
+"Morrice," said Jack, as he stood upon the steps of the porch, "don't
+stay with your cousin! Hire a lodging of your own!"
+
+"Why?" I asked, in surprise.
+
+"You talk overmuch in your sleep. Only two nights ago I heard you
+making such an outcry that I feared you would wake the house. I rushed
+into your room. You were crouched up among the bed-curtains at the
+head of the bed and gibbering: 'It will touch her. It flows so fast.
+Oh, my God! My God!'"
+
+I made no answer to his words, and he asked again very earnestly:
+
+"The Countess has never seen you? You are sure?"
+
+"Quite!" said I firmly, and I shook him by the hand, and so started
+for London.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER VIII.
+
+                  I MAKE A BOW TO COUNTESS LUKSTEIN.
+
+
+In London I engaged a commodious lodging on the south side of St.
+James' Park, and with little delay, you may be sure, sought out my
+cousin in Monmouth, or rather Soho, Square--for the name had been
+altered since the execution of the Duke. 'Twas some half an hour after
+noon, and my cousin, but newly out of bed, was breakfasting upon a
+bottle of Burgundy in his nightcap and dressing-gown.
+
+"So you have come, Morrice," said Elmscott languidly. "How do ye? Lord
+Culverton, this is my cousin of whom I have spoken."
+
+He turned towards a little popinjay man who was fluttering about the
+room in a laced coat, and powdered periwig which hung so full about
+his face that it was difficult to distinguish any feature beyond a
+thin, prominent nose.
+
+"You should know one another. For if you remember, Morrice, it was
+Culverton you robbed of Ph[oe]be."
+
+"Ph[oe]be?" simpered Lord Culverton. "I remember no Ph[oe]be. But in
+truth the pretty creatures pester one so impertinently that burn me if
+I don't jumble up their names. What was she like, Mr. Buckler?"
+
+"She was piebald," said I gravely, "and needed cudgelling before she
+would walk."
+
+"And Morrice killed her," added Elmscott, with a laugh.
+
+"Then he did very well to kill her, strike me speechless! But there
+must be some mistake. I have met many women who needed cudgelling
+before they would walk, but never one that was piebald."
+
+Elmscott explained the matter to him, and then, with some timidity, I
+began to inquire concerning the Countess Lukstein.
+
+"What! bitten already?" cried my cousin. "Faith, I knew not I had so
+smart a hand for description."
+
+"The most rapturous female, pink me!" broke in Lord Culverton. "She is
+but newly come to London, and hath the town at her feet already. Egad!
+I'm half-soused in love myself, split my windpipe!" and he flicked a
+speck of powder from his velvet coat, and carefully arranged the curls
+of his periwig. "The most provoking creature!" he went on. "A widow
+without a widow's on-coming disposition."
+
+"Ay, but she hath discarded the weeds," said Elmscott
+
+"She is a widow none the less. And yet breathe but one word of tender
+adoration in her ear, and she strikes you dumb, O Lard! with the most
+supercilious eyebrow. However, time may do much with the obstinate
+dear--time, a tolerable phrase, and a _je ne sçay quoi_ in one's
+person and conversation." He pointed a skinny leg before the mirror,
+and languished with a ludicrous extravagance at his own reflection.
+
+I had much ado to restrain myself from laughing, the more especially
+when Elmscott cried, with a wink at me:
+
+"Oh, if you have entered the lists, the rest of us may creep out with
+as little ignominy as we can. They say that every pretty woman has a
+devil at her elbow, and 'tis most true, so long as Culverton lives."
+
+"You flatter me! A devil, indeed! You flatter me," replied the fop,
+skipping with delight. "You positively flatter me. The ladies use
+me--no more. I am only their humble servant in general, and the
+Countess Lukstein's in particular."
+
+The remark had more truth in it than Culverton would have cared for us
+to believe. For the Countess did in very truth use this gossipy
+tittle-tattler, and with no more consideration than she showed to the
+humblest of her servants. However, he was born for naught else but to
+fetch and carry, and since he delighted in the work, 'twas common
+kindness to employ him.
+
+"Then we'll drink a health to your success," says Elmscott, pouring
+out three glasses of his Burgundy.
+
+"I never drink in the morning," objected Culverton. "'Tis a most
+villainous habit, and ruins the complexion irretrievably, stap my
+vitals!"
+
+However, I was less squeamish on the subject of mine, and draining the
+glass, I asked:
+
+"Is she come to London alone?"
+
+"She hath a companion, a very faded, nauseous person: a Frenchwoman,
+Mademoiselle Durette. She serves as a foil;" and Culverton launched
+forth into an affected estimation of Countess Lukstein's charms. Her
+eyes dethroned the planets, the brightness of her hair shamed the
+sunlight; for her mouth, 'twas a Cupid's bow that shot a deadly arrow
+with every word. When she danced, her foot was a snow-flake upon the
+floor, and the glint of the buckle on her instep, a flame threatening
+to melt it; when she played upon the harp, her fingers were the ivory
+plectrums of the ancients.
+
+"You make me curious," I interrupted him, "to become acquainted with
+the lady."
+
+"Then let me present you!" said he eagerly.
+
+"You see, Morrice," said Elmscott, "he has such solid grounds for
+confidence that he has no fear of rivals."
+
+"Nay, the truth is, she has a passion for fresh faces."
+
+"Indeed!" said I.
+
+"Oh, most extraordinary! A veritable passion, and no one so graciously
+received as he who brings a stranger to her side. For that reason," he
+added naïvely, "I would fain present you;" and then he suddenly
+stopped and surveyed me, shaking his head doubtfully the while.
+
+"But Lard! Mr. Buckler," he said, "you must first get some new
+clothes."
+
+"The clothes are good enough," I laughed, for I was dressed in my best
+suit, and though 'twas something more modest than my Lord Culverton's
+attire, I was none the less pleased with it on that account.
+
+"Rabbit me, but I daren't!" he said. "I daren't introduce you in that
+suit. I daren't, indeed! My character would never survive the
+imputation, strike me purple if it would! 'Tis a very yeoman's habit,
+and reeks of the country. I can smell onions and all sorts of horrible
+things, burn me!"
+
+"I will run the risk, Morrice," interposed Elmscott. "Dine with me
+to-day at Lockett's, and I will take you to the Countess' lodging in
+Pall Mall afterwards. But Culverton's right. You do look like a
+Quaker, and that's the truth."
+
+However, I paid little attention to what they said or thought
+concerning my appearance. The knowledge that I was to meet Countess
+Lukstein and have speech with her no later than that very evening,
+engendered within me an indescribable excitement. I got free from my
+companions as speedily as I could, and passed the hours till
+dinnertime in a vague expectancy; though what it was that I expected,
+I could not have told even to myself.
+
+About seven of the clock we repaired to her apartments. The rooms were
+already filled with a gay crowd of ladies and gentlemen dressed in the
+extreme of fashion, and at first I could get no glimpse of the
+Countess. But I looked towards the spot where the throng was thickest,
+and the tripping noise of pleasantries most loud, and then I saw her.
+Elmscott advanced; I followed close upon his heels, the circle opened,
+magically it seemed to me, and I stood face to face with her at last.
+
+Yet for all that I was prepared for it, now that I beheld her but six
+steps from me, now that I looked straight into her eyes, a strange
+sense of unreality stole over me, dimming my brain like a mist; so
+incredible did it appear to me that we who had met before in such a
+tragic conjunction in that far-away nook of the Tyrol, should now be
+presented each to the other like the merest strangers, amidst the
+brightness and gaiety of London town. I almost expected the candles to
+go out, and the company to dissolve into air. I almost began to dread
+that I should wake up in a moment to find myself in the dark, crouched
+up upon my bed in Cumberland. So powerfully did this fear possess me
+that I was on the point of crying aloud, "Speak! speak!" when Elmscott
+took me by the arm.
+
+"Madame," said he, "I have taken the liberty of bringing hither my
+cousin, Mr. Morrice Buckler, who is anxious--as who is not?--for the
+honour of your acquaintance."
+
+"It is no liberty," she replied graciously, in a voice that was
+exquisitely sweet, and she let her eyes fall upon my face with a quick
+and watchful scrutiny.
+
+The next instant, however, the alertness died out of them.
+
+"Mr. Buckler is very welcome," she said quietly, and it struck me that
+there was some hint of disappointment in her tone, and maybe a touch
+of weariness. If, indeed, what Culverton had said was true, and she
+had a passion for fresh faces, 'twas evident that mine was to be
+exempted from the rule.
+
+It might have been the expression of her indifference, or perchance
+the mere sound of her voice broke the spell upon me, but all at once I
+became sensible to the full of my sober, sad-coloured clothes. I
+looked about me. Coats and dresses brilliant with gold and brocade
+mingled their colours in a flashing rainbow, jewels sparkled and
+winked as they caught the light, and I felt that every eye in this
+circle of elegant courtiers was fixed disdainfully upon the awkward
+intruder.
+
+I faltered through a compliment, conscious the while that I had done
+better to have held my tongue. I heard a titter behind me, and here
+and there some fine lady or gentleman held a quizzing-glass to the
+eye, as though I was some strange natural from over-seas. All the
+blood in my body seemed to run tingling into my face. I half turned to
+flee away and take to my heels, but a second glance at the sneering
+countenances around me stung my pride into wakefulness, and resolving
+to put the best face on the matter I could, I attempted a sweeping
+bow. Whether my foot slipped, whether some one tripped me purposely
+with a sword, I know not--I was too flustered to think at the time or
+to remember afterwards--but whatever the cause, I found myself plumped
+down upon my knees before her, with the titter changed into an open
+laugh.
+
+"Hush!" lisped one of the bystanders, "don't disturb the gentleman; he
+is saying his prayers."
+
+I rose to my feet in the greatest confusion.
+
+"Madame," I stammered, "I come to my knees no earlier than the rest of
+your acquaintance. Only being country-bred, I do it with the less
+discretion."
+
+She laughed with a charming friendliness which lifted me somewhat out
+of my humiliation.
+
+"The adroitness of the recovery, Mr. Buckler," she said, "more than
+atones for the maladresse of the attack."
+
+"Nay," I protested, with what may well have appeared excessive
+earnestness, "the simile does me some injustice, for it hints of an
+antagonism betwixt you and me."
+
+She glanced at me with some surprise and more amusement in her eyes.
+
+"Are not all men a woman's antagonists?" she said lightly.
+
+But to me it seemed an ill-omened beginning. There was something too
+apposite in her chance phrase. I remembered, besides, that I had
+stumbled to the ground in much the same way before her husband, and I
+bethought me what had come of the slip.
+
+'Twas but for a little, however, that these gloomy forebodings
+possessed me, and I retired to the outer edge of the throng, whence I
+could observe her motions and gestures undisturbed. And with a growing
+contentment I perceived that ever and again her eyes would stray
+towards me, and she would drop some question into Elmscott's ear.
+
+The Countess wore, I remember, a gown of purple velvet fronted with
+yellow satin, which to my eyes hung a trifle heavily upon her young
+figure and so emphasized its slenderness, imparting even to her neck
+and head a certain graceful fragility. The rich colour of her hair was
+hidden beneath a mask of powder after the fashion, and below it her
+face shone pale, pale indeed as when I saw her last, but with a
+wonderful clarity and pureness of complexion, so that as she spoke the
+blood came and went very prettily about her cheeks and temples. The
+two attributes, however, which I noted with the greatest admiration
+were her eyes and voice. For it seemed to me well-nigh beyond belief
+that the eyes which I now saw flashing with so lively a fire were the
+same which had stared vacantly into mine at Lukstein Castle, and that
+the voice which I now heard musical with all the notes of laughter was
+that which had sent the shrill, awful scream tearing the night.
+
+After a while the company sat down to basset and quadrille, and I was
+left standing disconsolately by myself. I looked around for Elmscott,
+being minded to depart, when her voice sounded at my elbow, and I
+forgot all but the sweetness of it.
+
+"Mr. Buckler," she asked, "you do not play?"
+
+"No," I replied. "I have seen but little of either cards or dice, and
+that little has given me no liking for them."
+
+"Then I will make bold to claim your services, for the room is hot,
+and my ears, perchance, a little tired."
+
+'Twas with no small pride, you may be sure, that I gave my arm to the
+Countess; only I could have wished that she had laid her hand less
+delicately upon my sleeve. Indeed, I should hardly have known that it
+rested there at all had I not felt its touch more surely on the
+strings of my heart.
+
+We went into a smaller apartment at the end of the room, which was
+dimly lit, and very cool and peaceful. The window stood open and
+showed a little balcony with a couch. The Countess seated herself upon
+it with a sigh of relief, and leaning forward, plucked a sprig of
+flowers which grew in a pot at her side.
+
+"I love these flowers," said she, holding the spray towards me.
+
+'Twas the blue flower of the aconite plant, and I answered:
+
+"They remind you of your home."
+
+"Then you know the Tyrol, and have travelled there." She turned to me
+with a lively interest.
+
+"I learnt that much of botany at school."
+
+"There should be a fellow-feeling between us, Mr. Buckler," she said
+after a pause; "for we are both strangers to London, waifs thrown
+together for an hour."
+
+"But there is a world of difference, for you might have lived amongst
+these gallants all your days, while I, alas! have no skill even to
+hide my awkwardness."
+
+"Nay, no excuses, for I like you the better for the lack of that
+skill."
+
+"Madame," I began, "such words from you----"
+
+She turned to me with a whimsical entreaty.
+
+"Prithee, no! To tell the honest truth, I am surfeited with
+compliments, and 'twould give me a great pleasure if during these few
+minutes we are together you would style me neither nymph, divinity,
+nor angel, but would treat me as just a woman. The fashion, indeed, is
+not worth copying, the more especially when, to quote your own phrase,
+one copies it without discretion."
+
+She laughed pleasantly as she spake, and the words conveyed not so
+much a rebuke as the amiable raillery of an intimate.
+
+"'Tis true," I replied, "I do envy these townsmen. I envy them their
+grace of bearing and the nimbleness of their wits, which ever reminds
+me of the sparkle in a bottle of Rhenish wine."
+
+She shook her head, and made room for me by her side.
+
+"The bottle has stood open for me these two months since, and I begin
+to find the wine is very flat."
+
+She dropped her voice at the end of the sentence, and leaned wearily
+back upon the cushions.
+
+"You see, Mr. Buckler," she explained, "I live amongst the hills," and
+there was a certain wistfulness in her tone as of one home-sick.
+
+"Then there is a second bond between us, for I live amongst the hills
+as well."
+
+"It is that," said she, "which makes us friends," and just for a
+second she laid a hand upon my sleeve. It seemed to me that no man
+ever heard sweeter words or more sweetly spoken from the lips of
+woman.
+
+"But since you are here," I questioned eagerly, "you will stay--you
+will stay for a little?"
+
+"I know not," she replied, smiling at my urgency; and then with a
+certain sadness, "some day I shall go back, I hope, but when, I know
+not. It might be in a week, it might be in a year, it might be never."
+Of a sudden she gave a low cry of pain. "I daren't go home," she
+cried, "I daren't until--until----"
+
+"Until you have forgotten." The words were on the tip of my tongue,
+but I caught them back in time, and for a while we sat silent. The
+Countess appeared to grow all unconscious of my presence, and gazed
+steadily down the quiet street as though it stretched beyond and
+beyond in an avenue of leagues, and she could see waving at the end of
+it the cedars and pine-trees of her Tyrol.
+
+Nor was I in any hurry to arouse her. A noisy rattle of voices
+streamed out on a flood of yellow light from the further windows on my
+left, and here she and I were alone in the starlit dusk of a summer
+night. Her very silence was sweet to me with the subtlest of
+flatteries. For I looked upon it as the recognition of a tie of
+sympathy which raised me from the general throng of her courtiers into
+the narrow circle of her friends.
+
+So I sat and watched her. The pure profile of her face was outlined
+against the night, the perfume of her hair stole into my nostrils, and
+every now and then her warm breath played upon my cheek. A fold of her
+train had fallen across my ankle, and the soft touch of the velvet
+thrilled me like a caress; I dared not move a muscle for fear lest I
+should displace it.
+
+At length she spoke again--'twas almost in a whisper.
+
+"I have told you more about myself than I have told to any one since I
+came to England. It is your turn now. Tell me where lies your home!"
+
+"In the north. In Cumberland."
+
+"In--in Cumberland," she repeated, with a little catch of her breath.
+"You have lived there long?"
+
+"'Twas the home of my fathers, and I spent my boyhood there. But
+between that time and this year's spring I have been a stranger to the
+countryside. For I was first for some years at Oxford, and thence I
+went to Leyden."
+
+She rose abruptly from the couch, drawing her train clear of me with
+her hand, and leaned over the balcony, resting her elbow on its
+baluster, and propping her chin upon the palm of her hand.
+
+"Leyden!" she said carelessly. "'Tis a town of great beauty, they tell
+me, and much visited by English students."
+
+"There were but few English students there during the months of my
+residence," said I. "I could have wished there had been more."
+
+A second period of silence interrupted our talk, and I sat wondering
+over that catch in her breath and the tremor of her voice when she
+repeated "Cumberland." Was it possible, I asked myself, that she could
+have learnt of Sir Julian Harnwood and of his quarrel with her
+husband? If she did know, and if she attributed the duel in which her
+husband fell to a result of it, why, then--Cumberland was Julian's
+county, and the name might well strike with some pain upon her
+hearing. But who could have informed her? Not the Count, surely; 'twas
+hardly a matter of which a man could boast to his wife. I remembered,
+besides, that he had asked me to speak English, and to speak it low.
+There could have been but one motive for the request--a desire to keep
+the subject of our conversation a secret from the Countess.
+
+I glanced towards her. Without changing her attitude she had turned
+her head sideways upon her palm, and was quietly looking me over from
+head to foot. Then she rose erect, and with a frank and winning smile,
+she said, as if in explanation:
+
+"I was seeking to discover, Mr. Buckler, what it was in you that had
+beguiled me to forget the rest of my guests. However, if I have shown
+them but scant courtesy, I shall bid them reproach you, not me."
+
+"Prithee, madame, no! Have some pity on me! The statement would get me
+a thousand deadly enemies."
+
+"Hush!" said she, with a playful menace. "You go perilous near to a
+compliment;" and we went back into the glare and noise of the
+drawing-room.
+
+"Ah, Ilga! I have missed you this half-hour."
+
+'Twas a little woman of, I should say, forty years who bustled up to
+us on our entrance.
+
+"You see?" said the Countess, turning to me with a whimsical reproach.
+"You must blame Mr. Buckler, Clemence, and I will make you acquainted
+that you may have the occasion."
+
+She presented me thus to Mademoiselle Durette, and left us together.
+But I fear the good woman must have found me the poorest company, for
+I paid little heed to what she said, and carried away no recollection
+beyond that her chatter wearied me intolerably, and that once or twice
+I caught the word "convenances," whence I gather she was reading me a
+lecture.
+
+I got rid of her as soon as I decently could, and took my leave of the
+Countess. She gave me her hand, and I bent over and kissed it. 'Twas
+only the glove I kissed, but the hand was within the glove, as I had
+reason to know, for I felt it tremble within my fingers and then tug
+quickly away.
+
+"One compliment I will allow you to pay me," she said, "and that is a
+renewal of your visit."
+
+"Madame permits," I exclaimed joyfully.
+
+"Madame will be much beholden to you," says she, and drops me a
+mocking curtsey.
+
+I walked down the staircase in a prodigious elation. Six steps from
+the floor of the hall it made a curve, and as I turned at the angle I
+stopped dead of a sudden with my heart leaping within my breast. For
+at the foot of the stairs, and looking at me now straight in the face,
+as he had looked at me in the archway of Bristol Bridewell, I saw Otto
+Krax, the servant of Count Lukstein. The unexpected sight of his
+massive figure came upon me like a blow. I had forgotten him
+completely. I staggered back into the angle of the wall. He must know
+me, I thought. He _must_ know me. But he gazed with no more than the
+stolid attention of a lackey. There was not a trace of recognition in
+his face, not a start of his muscles; and then I remembered the
+difference in my garb. 'Twould have been strange indeed if he had
+known me.
+
+I recovered my composure, drew a long breath of relief, and was about
+to step down to him when I happened to glance up the stairway.
+
+The Countess herself was leaning over the rail at its head, with the
+light from the hall-lamp below streaming up into her face. I had not
+heard her come out on the landing.
+
+"I knew not whether Otto Krax was there to let you out" She smiled at
+me. "Good night!"
+
+"Good night," said I, and looking at Otto, I understood whence she
+might have got some knowledge of Sir Julian Harnwood.
+
+Once outside, I stood for a while loitering in front of the house, and
+wondering how much 'twould cost to buy it up. For I believed that it
+would be a degradation should any other woman lodge in those same
+rooms afterwards.
+
+In a few minutes Elmscott came out to me.
+
+"You have seen the Countess Lukstein before?" he asked, and the words
+fairly startled me.
+
+"What in Heaven's name makes you think that?"
+
+"I fancied I read it in your looks. Your eyes went straight to her
+before ever I presented you."
+
+"That proves no more than the merit of your description."
+
+"Well, did I exaggerate? What think you?"
+
+I drew a long breath. 'Twas the only description I could give. There
+were no words in the language equal to my thoughts.
+
+"That will suffice," said Elmscott, and he turned away.
+
+"One moment," I cried. "I need a service of you."
+
+He burst out into a laugh.
+
+"A thousand pounds to a guinea I know the service. 'Tis the address of
+my tailor you need. I saw you looking down at your clothes as though
+the wearing of them sullied you. Very well, one of my servants shall
+be with you in the morning with a complete list of my tradesmen." And
+he swung off in the direction of Piccadilly, laughing as he went,
+while I, filled with all sorts of romantical notions, walked back to
+my lodging. Though, indeed, to say that I walked, falls somewhat short
+of the truth; to speak by the book, I fairly scampered, and arrived
+breathless at my doorstep.
+
+My servants had unpacked my baggage, and with a momentary pang of
+misgiving, I observed, lying on the table, my ill-omened copy of
+Horace.
+
+"How comes this here?" I inquired sharply of Udal, taking the book in
+my hands.
+
+It opened at once at the diagram, and the date upon the leaf opposite.
+So often had this outline been scanned and examined that the merest
+fingering of the cover served to make the book fall open at this
+particular page. I doubt, indeed, whether it had been possible to lift
+or move the volume at all without noticing the diagram.
+
+Udal told me that Jack himself had placed the book in my trunk. He
+intended it as a hint for my conduct, I made certain, and, newly come
+as I was from the presence of Countess Lukstein, I felt no gratitude
+for his interference. I tossed the book on to a side-table by the
+chimney, where it lay henceforward forgotten, and proceeded to light
+my pipe.
+
+'Twas late when I mounted to my bedroom. The moon was in its last
+quarter, and the park which my window overlooked lay very fair and
+quiet in the soft light. What nonsense does a man con over and ponder
+at such times! Yet 'tis very pleasant nonsense, and though it keeps
+him out of bed o' nights, he may yet draw good from it--ay, and more
+good than from quartos of philosophy.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER IX.
+
+                     I RENEW AN ACQUAINTANCESHIP.
+
+
+The next morning, and while I was still in bed drinking a cup of
+chocolate, came Elmscott's servant to me, and under his guidance I set
+forth to purchase such apparel as would enable me to cut a more
+passable figure in the eyes of Countess Lukstein. Seldom, I think, had
+the shopkeepers a customer so nice and difficult to please. Here the
+wares were too plain and insignificant; there too gaudy and
+pretentious, for while I was resolved to go no longer dressed like a
+Quaker, I was in no way minded to ape the extravagance of my lord
+Culverton. At last I determined upon a dozen suits, rich but of a
+sober colour, and being measured for them, went from the tailor's to
+the hosier's, shoemaker's, lace-merchant's, and I know not what other
+tradesmen. Muslin jabots, Holland shirts, ruffles of Mechlin and point
+de Venise, silk stockings, shoes with high red heels, which I needed
+particularly, for I was of no great stature, laced gloves--I bought
+enough, in truth, to make fine gentlemen of a company of soldiers.
+
+Needless to say, when once my purchases were delivered at my lodging,
+I let no long time slip by before I repeated my visit to the house in
+Pall Mall. The Countess welcomed me with the same kindliness, so that
+I returned again and again. She distinguished me besides by displaying
+an especial interest not merely in my present comings and goings, but
+in the past history of my uneventful days. Surely there is no flattery
+in the world so potent and bewitching as the questions which a woman
+puts to a man concerning those years of his life which were spent
+before their paths had crossed. And if the history be dull as mine
+was, a trivial, homely record of common acts and thoughts, why, then
+the flattery is doubled. I know that it intoxicated me like a heady
+wine, and I almost dared to hope that she grudged the time during
+which we had been strangers.
+
+Her bearing, indeed, towards me struck me as little short of
+wonderful, for I observed that she evinced to the rest of her
+courtiers and friends a certain pride and stateliness which, while it
+sat gracefully upon her, tempered her courtesy with an unmistakable
+reserve.
+
+The summer was now at its height, and the Countess--or Ilga, as I had
+come to style her in my thoughts--would be ever planning some new
+excursion. One day it would be a water-party to view the orangery and
+myrtelum of Sir Henry Capel at Kew; on another we would visit the new
+camp at Hounslow, which in truth, with its mountebanks and booths,
+resembled more nearly a country fair than a garrison of armed men; or
+again on a third we would attend a coursing match in the fields behind
+Montague House. In short, seldom a day passed but I saw her and had
+talk with her; and if it was but for five minutes, well, the remaining
+hours went by to the lilt of her voice like songs to the sweet
+accompaniment of a viol.
+
+One afternoon Elmscott walked down to my lodging, and carried me with
+him to see a famous comedy by Mr. Farquhar which was that day repeated
+by the Duke's players. The second act was begun by the time we got to
+the theatre, and the house, in spite of the heat, very crowded. For
+awhile I watched with some interest the packed company in the pit, the
+orange-girls hawking their baskets amongst them, the masked women in
+the upper boxes and the crowd of bloods upon the stage, who were
+continually shifting their positions, bowing to ladies in the
+side-boxes, ogling the actresses, and airing their persons and dress
+to the great detriment of the spectacle. Amongst these latter
+gentlemen I observed Lord Culverton combing the curls of his periwig
+with a little ivory comb so that a white cloud of powder hung about
+his head, and I was wondering how long his neighbours would put up
+with his impertinence when Elmscott, who was standing beside me, gave
+a start.
+
+"So he has come back," said he. I followed the direction of his gaze,
+and looked across the theatre. The Countess Lukstein and Mademoiselle
+Durette had just entered one of the lower boxes; behind them in the
+shadow was the figure of a man.
+
+"Who is it?" I asked.
+
+"An acquaintance of yours."
+
+The man came forward as Elmscott spoke to the front of the box, and
+seated himself by the side of Ilga. He was young, with a white face
+and very deep-set eyes, and though his appearance was in some measure
+familiar to me, I could neither remember his name nor the occasion of
+our meeting.
+
+"You have forgotten that night at the H. P.?" asked Elmscott.
+
+In a flash I recollected.
+
+"It is Marston," I said, and then after a pause: "And he knows the
+Countess!"
+
+"As well as you do; maybe better."
+
+"Then how comes it I have never seen him with her before?"
+
+"He left London conveniently before you came hither. We all thought
+that he had received his dismissal. It rather looks as if we were out
+of our reckoning, eh?"
+
+Marston and the Countess were engaged in some absorbing talk with
+their heads very close together, and a sharp pang of jealousy shot
+through me.
+
+"'Tis strange that she has never mentioned his name," I stammered.
+
+"Not so strange now that Hugh Marston has returned. Had he been no
+more than the discarded suitor we imagined him, then yes--you might
+expect her to boast to you of his devotion. 'Tis a way women have. But
+it seems rather that you are rivals."
+
+Rivals! The word was like a white light flashed upon my memories. I
+recalled Marston's half-forgotten prophecy. Was this the contest, I
+wondered, which he had foretold in the chill dawn at the tavern? Were
+we to come to grips with Ilga for the victor's prize? On the heels of
+the thought a swift fear slipped through my veins like ice. He had
+foretold more than the struggle; he had forecast its outcome and
+result.
+
+It was, I think, at this moment that I first understood all that the
+Countess Lukstein meant to me. I leaned forward over the edge of the
+box, and set my eyes upon her face. I noted little of its young
+beauty, little of its wonderful purity of outline; but I seemed to see
+more clearly than ever before the woman that lurked behind it, and I
+felt a new strength, a new courage, a new life, flow out from her to
+me, and lift my heart. My very sinews braced and tightened about my
+limbs. If Marston and I were to fight for Ilga, it should be hand to
+hand, and foot to foot, in the deadliest determination.
+
+Meanwhile she still spoke earnestly with her companion. Of a sudden,
+however, she raised her eyes from him, and glanced across towards us.
+I was still leaning forward, a conspicuous mark, and I saw her face
+change. She gave an abrupt start of surprise; there appeared to me
+something of uneasiness in the movement She looked apprehensively at
+Marston, and back again at me; then she turned away from him, and sat
+with downcast head plucking with nervous fingers at the fan which lay
+on the ledge before her, and shooting furtive glances in our
+direction.
+
+Elmscott, for some reason, began to chuckle.
+
+"Let us make our compliments to the Countess!" he said.
+
+We walked round the circle of the theatre. At the door of the box I
+stopped him.
+
+"Marston heard nothing from you of my journey to Sir Julian Harnwood?"
+I asked.
+
+"Not a word! He knows you were travelling to Bristol; so much you said
+yourself. But for my part, I have never breathed a word of the matter
+to a living soul." And we went in. The Countess held out her hand to
+me with a conscious timidity.
+
+"You are not angered?" she said, in a low voice.
+
+The mere thought that she should take such heed of what I might feel,
+made my pulses leap with joy. She seemed to recognise, as I should
+never have dared to do myself, that I had a right to be jealous, and
+her words almost granted me a claim upon her conduct. For answer I
+bent over her hand and kissed it, and behind me again I heard Elmscott
+chuckling.
+
+Hugh Marston had risen from his chair as we entered, and stood looking
+at me curiously.
+
+"You have not met Mr. Marston," she said. "I must make my two best
+friends acquainted."
+
+I would that she had omitted that word "best," the more especially
+since she laid some emphasis upon it. It undid some portion of her
+previous work, and set us both upon a level in her estimation.
+
+"We have met before," said Marston, and he bowed coldly.
+
+"Indeed? I had not heard of that."
+
+Marston recounted to her the story of the gambling-match, but she
+listened with no apparent attention, fixing her eyes upon the stage.
+
+"I fancied, Mr. Buckler, you had no taste for cards or dice," she said
+carelessly, when he had done.
+
+"Mr. Buckler in truth only stayed there on compulsion," replied
+Marston. "He came from Leyden in a great fluster without any money in
+his pockets, and so must needs wait upon his cousin's pleasure before
+he could borrow a horse to help him on his way."
+
+I threw a glance of appeal towards Elmscott, and he broke in quickly:
+
+"'Twas Lord Culverton lent him the horse, after all."
+
+But the next moment the Countess herself, to my great relief, brought
+the conversation to an end.
+
+"Gentlemen, gentlemen!" she said abruptly, with a show of impatience.
+"I fear me I am as yet so far out of the fashion as to feel some
+slight interest in the unravelling of the play, and I find it
+difficult to catch what the players say."
+
+After that there was no more to be said, and we sat watching the stage
+with what amusement we might, or conversing in the discreetest of
+whispers. For my part I remembered that Ilga had shown no great
+interest in the comedy while she was alone with Marston, and I began
+to wonder whether our intrusion had angered her. It was impossible for
+me to see her face, since she held up a hand on the side next to me
+and so screened her cheek.
+
+Suddenly, however, she cried:
+
+"Oh, there's Lord Culverton!" and she bowed to him with marked
+affability.
+
+Now Culverton had ranged himself in full view with an eye ever turned
+upon our box, so that it seemed somewhat strange she had not observed
+him till now. He swept the boards with his hat, and looking about the
+theatre, his face one gratified smirk, as who should say, "'Tis an
+every-day affair with me," immediately left his station, and
+disappearing behind the scenery, made his way into the box. The
+Countess received him graciously, and kept him behind her chair,
+asking many questions concerning the players, and laughing heartily at
+the pleasantries and innuendos with which he described them. It seemed
+to me, however, that there was more scandal than wit in his anecdotes,
+and, marvelling that she should take delight in them, I turned away
+and let my eyes wander idly about the boxes.
+
+When I glanced again at my companions I perceived that though
+Culverton was still chattering in Countess Lukstein's ear, her gaze
+was bent upon me with the same scrutiny which I had noticed on the
+evening that we sat together in her balcony. It was as though she was
+taking curious stock of my person and weighing me in some balance of
+her thoughts. I fancied that she was contrasting me with Marston, and
+gained some confirmation of the fancy in that she coloured slightly,
+and said hastily, with a nod at the stage:
+
+"What think you of the sentiment, Mr. Buckler?"
+
+"Madame," I replied, "for once I am in the fashion, for I gave no heed
+to it."
+
+I had been, in truth, thinking of her lucky intervention in Marston's
+narrative, for by her impatience she had prevented him from telling
+either the date of the gambling-match or the name of the town which I
+was in such great hurry to reach. Not that I had any solid reason to
+fear she would discover me on that account, for many a man might have
+ridden from London to Bristol at the time of the assizes and had
+naught to do with Sir Julian Harnwood. But I had so begun to dread the
+possibility of her aversion and hatred, that my imagination found a
+motive to suspicion lurking in the simplest of remarks.
+
+"'Twas that a man would venture more for his friend than for his
+mistress," she explained. "What think you of it?"
+
+"Why, that the worthy author has never been in love."
+
+"You believe that?" she laughed.
+
+"'Twixt friend and friend a man's first thought is of himself. Shame
+on us that it should be so; but, alas! my own experience has proved
+it. It needs, I fear me, a woman's fingers to tune him to the true
+note of sacrifice."
+
+"And has your own experience proved that too?" she asked with some
+hesitation, looking down on the ground, and twisting a foot to and fro
+upon its heel.
+
+"Not so," I answered in a meaning whisper. "I wait for the woman's
+fingers and the occasion of the sacrifice."
+
+She shot a shy glance sideways at me, and, as though by accident, her
+hand fell lightly upon mine. I believed, indeed, that 'twas no more
+than an accident until she said quietly: "The occasion may come, too."
+
+She rose from her chair.
+
+"The play begins to weary me," she continued aloud. "Besides, Mr.
+Buckler convinces me the playwright has never been in love, and 'tis
+an unpardonable fault in an author."
+
+Marston and myself started forward to escort her to her carriage. The
+Countess looked from one to the other of us as though in doubt, and we
+stood glaring across her. Elmscott commenced to chuckle again in a way
+that was indescribably irritating and silly.
+
+"If Lord Culverton will honour me," suggested the Countess.
+
+The little man was overwhelmed with the favour accorded to him, and
+with a peacock air of triumph led her from the box.
+
+"Tis a monkey, a damned monkey!" said Marston, looking after him.
+
+The phrase seemed to me a very accurate description of the fop, and I
+assented to it with great cordiality. For a little Marston sat
+sullenly watching the play, and then picking up his hat and cloak,
+departed without a word. His precipitate retreat only made my cousin
+laugh the more heartily; but I chose to make no remark upon this
+merriment, believing that Elmscott indulged it chiefly to provoke me
+to question him. I knew full well the sort of gibe that was burning on
+his tongue, and presently imitating Marston's example, I left him to
+amuse himself.
+
+In the portico of the theatre Marston was waiting. A thick fog had
+fallen with the evening, and snatching a torch from one of the
+link-boys who stood gathered within the light of the entrance, he
+beckoned to me to follow him, and stepped quickly across the square
+into a deserted alley. There he waited for me to come up with him,
+holding the torch above his head so that the brown glare of the flame
+was reflected in his eyes.
+
+"So," he said, "luck sets us on opposite sides of the table again, Mr.
+Buckler. But the game has not begun. You have still time to draw
+back."
+
+For the moment his words and vehement manner fairly staggered me. I
+had not expected from him so frank an avowal of rivalry.
+
+"The stakes are high," he went on, pressing his advantage, "and call
+for a player of more experience than you."
+
+"None the less," said I, meeting his gaze squarely, "I play my hand."
+
+Instantly his manner changed. He looked at me silently for a second,
+and then with a calmness which intimidated me far more than his
+passion:
+
+"Are you wise? Are you wise?" he asked slowly. "Think! What will the
+loser keep?"
+
+"What will the winner gain?"
+
+We stood measuring each other for the space of a minute in the flare
+of the torch. Then he dropped it on the ground, and stamped out the
+sparks with his heel. 'Twas too dark for me to see his face, but I
+heard his voice at my elbow very smooth and soft, and I knew that he
+was stooping by my side.
+
+"You will find this the very worst day's work," he said, "to which
+ever you set your hand;" and I heard his footsteps ring hollow down
+the street. He had certainly won the first trick in the game, for he
+left me to pay the link-boy.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER X.
+
+               DOUBTS, PERPLEXITIES, AND A COMPROMISE.
+
+
+Two days later the Countess paid her first visit to my lodging. I had
+looked forward to the moment with a great longing, deeming that her
+presence would in a measure consecrate the rooms, and that the memory
+of what she did and said would linger about them afterwards like a
+soft and tender light.
+
+We had journeyed that morning in a party to view the Italian
+Glass-house at Greenwich, and dining at a hostelry in the
+neighbourhood, had returned by water. We disembarked at Westminster
+steps, and I induced the company to favour me with their presence and
+drink a dish of bohea in my apartment.
+
+Now the sitting-rooms which I occupied were two in number and opened
+upon each other, the first, which was the larger, lying along the
+front of the house, and the second, an inner chamber, giving upon a
+little garden at the back. Ilga, I noticed, wandered from one room to
+the other, examining my possessions with an indefatigable curiosity.
+For, said she:
+
+"It is only by such means that one discovers the true nature of one's
+friends. Conversation is but the pretty scabbard that hides the sword.
+The blade may be lath for all that we can tell."
+
+"You distrust your friends so much?"
+
+"Have I no reason to?" she exclaimed, suddenly bending her eyes upon
+me, and she paused in expectation of an answer. "But I forgot; you
+know nothing of my history."
+
+I turned away, for I felt the blood rushing to my face.
+
+"I would fain hear you tell it me," I managed to stammer out.
+
+"Some time I will," she replied quietly, "but not to-day; the time is
+inopportune. For it is brimful of sorrow, and the telling of it will,
+I trust, sadden you."
+
+The strangeness of the words, and a passionate tension in her voice,
+filled me with uneasiness, and I wheeled sharply round.
+
+"For I take you for my friend," she explained softly, "and so count on
+your sympathy. Yet, after all, can I count on it?"
+
+I protested with some confusion that she could count on far more than
+my sympathies.
+
+"It may be," she replied. "But I believe, Mr. Buckler, the whole story
+of woman might be written in one phrase. 'Tis the continual mistaking
+of lath for steel."
+
+"And never steel for lath?" I asked.
+
+"At times, no doubt," she answered, recovering herself with an easy
+laugh. "But we only find that error out when the steel cuts us. So
+either way are we unfortunate. Therefore, I will e'en pursue my
+inquiries," and she stepped off into the inner room, whither presently
+I went to join her.
+
+"Well, what have you discovered?" I asked.
+
+"Nothing," she replied, with a plaintive shake of the head. "You
+disappoint me sorely, Mr. Buckler. A student from the University of
+Leyden should line his walls with volumes and folios, and I have found
+but one book of Latin poems in that room, and not so much as a
+pamphlet in this."
+
+I started. The book of poems could be no other than my copy of Horace,
+and it contained the plan of Lukstein Castle. I reflected, however,
+that the plan was a mere diagram of lines, without even a letter to
+explain it, and with only a cross at the point of ascent. The
+Countess, moreover, had spoken in all levity; her tone betrayed no
+hint of an afterthought.
+
+A small package fastened with string lay on the table before her, and
+beside of it a letter in Elmscott's handwriting. She picked up the
+package.
+
+"And what new purchase is this?" she asked, with a smile.
+
+"I know nothing of it. It is no purchase, and I gather from the
+inscription of the letter it comes from my cousin."
+
+"I shall open it," said she, "and you must blame my sex for its
+inquisitiveness."
+
+"Madame," I replied, "the inquisitiveness implies an interest in the
+object of it, and so pays me a compliment."
+
+"Tis the sweetest way of condoning a fault that ever I met with," she
+laughed, and dropped me a sweeping curtsey.
+
+I broke the seal of Elmscott's letter while she untied the parcel.
+
+"Marston's conversation at the theatre," he wrote, "reminded me of
+these buckles. They belong of right to you, and since it seems your
+turn has come to need luck's services, I send them gladly in the hope
+that they may repeat their office on your behalf."
+
+The parcel contained a shagreen case which Ilga unfastened. The
+diamond buckles from it flashed with a thousand rays, and she tipped
+them to and fro so that the stones might catch the light.
+
+"Your cousin must have a great liking for you," she said. "For in
+truth they are very beautiful."
+
+"Elmscott is a gambler," I laughed, "with all a gambler's
+superstitions," and I handed her the letter.
+
+She read it through. "These buckles were your cousin's last stake, Mr.
+Marston related," she said. "Do you believe that they will bring you
+luck?"
+
+"To believe would be presumption. I have no more courage than suffices
+me to copy Elmscott's example, and hope."
+
+She returned me no answer, giving, so it seemed, all her attention to
+the brilliant jewels in her hands. But I saw the colour mounting in
+her cheeks.
+
+"Meanwhile," she said, after a pause, with a little nervous laugh,
+"you are copying my bad example, and leaving your guests to divert
+themselves."
+
+Not knowing surely whether I had offended her or not, I deemed it best
+to add nothing further or more precise to my hints, and got me back
+into the larger room. Ilga remained standing where I left her, and
+through the doorway I could see her still flashing the buckles
+backwards and forwards. Her evident admiration raised an idea in my
+mind. My guests were amusing themselves without any need of help from
+me. Some new scandal concerning the King and the Countess of
+Dorchester was being discussed for the tenth time that day with an
+enthusiasm which expanded as the story grew, so that I was presently
+able to slip back unnoticed. The inner room, however, was empty; but
+the glass door which gave on to the garden stood open, and picking up
+the shagreen case, I stepped out on to the lawn. Ilga was seated in a
+low chair about the centre of the grass-plot, and the sun, which hung
+low and red just above the ivied wall, burnished her hair, and was
+rosy on her face.
+
+"Madame," said I, advancing towards her, "I have discovered how best
+to dispose of the buckles so that they may bring me luck."
+
+"Indeed?" she asked indifferently. "And which way is it?"
+
+"They are too fine for a plain gentleman's wearing," said I. "Sweet
+looks and precious jewels go best together." With that, and awkwardly
+enough, I dare say, for I always stumbled at a compliment, I opened
+the case and offered it.
+
+She looked at me for a space as though she had not understood, and
+then:
+
+"No, no," she cried, with extraordinary vehemence, repulsing my gift
+so that the case flew out of my grasp, and the buckles sparkled
+through the air in two divergent arcs, and dropped some few feet away
+into the grass. She rose from her seat and drew herself up to her full
+height, her eyes flashing and her bosom heaving. "How dare you?" she
+exclaimed, and yet again, "How dare you?"
+
+Conscious of no intention but to please her by a gift which she
+plainly admired, I stared dumbfounded at the outburst.
+
+"Madame!" I faltered out at last; and with a great effort she
+recovered a part of her self-control.
+
+"Mr. Buckler," she said, speaking with difficulty, while the blood
+swirled in and out of her cheeks, "the present hurts me sorely, even
+though--nay, all the more _because_, it comes from you. It is the
+fashion, I know well, to believe that a few gems will bribe the good
+will of any woman. But I hardly thought that--that you held me in such
+poor esteem."
+
+I protested that nothing could have been further from my designs than
+the notion which she attributed to me, and went so far as to hint that
+there was something extravagant and unreasonable in her anger. For,
+said I, the gift was no bribe but a tribute, and, I continued, with
+greater confidence as her pride diminished, if either of us had a
+right to feel hurt, it was myself, whom she insulted by the imputation
+of so mean a spirit.
+
+"Then I am to humbly beg your pardon, I suppose," she cried, with
+another flash of anger.
+
+"Oh, there's no arguing with you," I burst out in a heat no less
+violent than her own. "Who bids you beg my pardon? What makes you
+suppose I need you should, unless it be your own proper and fitting
+compunction? There's no moderation in your thoughts. You jump from one
+extreme to the other as nimbly as--as----"
+
+I was turning away with the sentence unfinished, when:
+
+"I could supply the simile you want," she said, with a whimsical
+demureness as sudden and inexplicable as her wrath, "only 'tis
+something indelicate," and she broke into a ringing laugh.
+
+To a man of my slow disposition, whose very passions have a certain
+[oe]conomy which delays their growth, the rapid transitions of a
+woman's humours have ever been confusing, and now I stood stockish and
+dumb, gazing at the Countess open-mouthed, and vainly endeavouring,
+like a fool, to reduce the various emotions she had expressed into a
+logical continuity.
+
+"And there!" she continued, "now I have shocked you by lack of
+breeding!"
+
+And once more she commenced to laugh with a mirth so natural and
+infectious that presently it gained on me, and for no definite reason
+that I could name I found myself laughing to her tune and with equal
+heartiness. 'Twas none the less a wiser action than any deliberation
+could have prompted me to, for here was our quarrel ended decisively,
+and no words said.
+
+For a while we strolled up and down the lawn, Ilga interspacing her
+talk with little spirts of laughter, as now and again she looked at my
+face, until we stopped at the end of the garden, just before a small
+postern-door in the wall.
+
+"It leads into the Park?" she asked.
+
+"Yes! Shall we slip out?"
+
+She looked back at the house.
+
+"The host can hardly run away from his guests."
+
+"There is no one in the room to notice us."
+
+"But the room above? 'Twould look strange, whoever saw us."
+
+"Nay, there can be no one there, for it is my dressing-room."
+
+She took hold of the handle doubtfully and tried it.
+
+"It is locked."
+
+"But the key is on the mantelshelf. I will get it."
+
+"In this little room?"
+
+"No, 'tis in the larger room, but----"
+
+"Nay," she interrupted, "our absence will be enough remarked as it is.
+Clemence will read me a lecture on the proprieties all the way home."
+
+Consequently we returned to the house, and the Countess took her leave
+shortly with the rest of the company; but as I conducted her to the
+door, she said a strange thing to me.
+
+"Mr. Buckler," she said, "you should be angry more often," and so with
+another laugh she walked away.
+
+That night, as I sat smoking a pipe upon the lawn, I saw something
+flash and sparkle in the rays of the moon, and I remembered that
+Elmscott's buckles still lay where they had fallen. Picking them up, I
+returned to my seat and fell straightway into a very bitter train of
+thought. 'Twas the recollection of the Countess' indignation that set
+me on it, for since the mere gift could provoke so stormy and sincere
+an outburst, how would it have been, I reflected, had she really known
+who the giver was? The thought pressed in upon me all the more heavily
+for the reason which she had offered to account for her anger. She set
+a value upon my esteem, and no small value either; so much she had
+told me plainly. Now it had been my lot hitherto to meet with a
+half-contemptuous tolerance rather than esteem; so that this unwonted
+appreciation shown by the one person from whom I most desired it
+filled me with a deep gratitude, and obliged me in her service. Yet
+here was I requiting her with a calculating and continuous deception.
+'Twas no longer of any use to argue that Count Lukstein had received
+no greater punishment than his treachery merited; that but for his
+last coward thrust he would have escaped even that; that the advantage
+of the encounter had been on his side from first to last, since I was
+chilled to the bone with my long vigil upon the terrace parapet. Such
+excuses were the merest thistledown, and it needed but a breath from
+her to blow them into air. The solid stalk of my thoughts was: "I was
+deceiving her." And it was not merely the knowledge of my concealments
+which tortured me, but an anticipation of the disdain and contempt
+into which her kindliness would turn, should she ever discover the
+truth.
+
+For so closely had the idea and notion of her become inwoven in my
+being that I ever estimated my actions and purposes by imagining the
+judgment which she would be like to pass on them, and, indeed, saw no
+true image of myself at all save that which was reflected from the
+mirror of her thoughts.
+
+I came then to consider what path I should follow. There were three
+ways open to my choice. I might go on as heretofore, practising my
+duplicity; or, again, I might pack my trunks and scurry ignominiously
+back to my estate; or I might take my courage between my two hands and
+tell the truth of the matter to the Countess, be the consequences what
+they might.
+
+Doubtless the last was the only honest course, and if I did not bring
+myself to adopt it--well, I paid dearly enough for the fault. At the
+time, however, the objections appeared to me insurmountable. In the
+first place, my natural timidity cried out against this hazard of all
+my happiness upon a single throw. Then, again, how could I tell her
+the truth? For it was not merely myself that the story accused, nor
+indeed in the main, but her husband. His treachery towards me in the
+actual righting of the duel I might conceal, but not his treachery to
+Julian, and I shrank from inflicting such shame upon her pride as the
+disclosure must inevitably bring.
+
+I deem it right to set out here the questions which so troubled me,
+with a view to the proper understanding of this story. For on the very
+next day, while I was still debating the matter in great abasement and
+despondency, an incident occurred which determined me upon a
+compromise.
+
+It happened in this way. I had ridden out into the country early in
+the morning, hoping that a vigorous gallop might help me to some
+solution of my perplexities, and returning home in the evening,
+chanced to be in my dressing-room shortly after seven of the clock.
+
+My valet announced that Lord Culverton and my cousin were below, and I
+sent word down that I would be with them in the space of a few
+minutes. Elmscott, however, followed the servant up the stairs, and
+coming into the room entertained me with the latest gossip, walking
+about the while that he talked. In the middle of a sentence he stopped
+before the window which, as I have said, overlooked the Park, and
+broke off his speech with a sudden exclamation. I crossed to where he
+stood, wishing to see what had brought him so abruptly to a stop. The
+walks, however, were empty and deserted, it being the fashion among
+the gentry of the town rather to favour Hyde Park at this hour. A
+chair, certainly, stood at no great distance, but the porters were
+smoking their pipes as they leaned against the poles, and I inferred
+from that that it had no occupant.
+
+"Wait," said Elmscott; "the wall of your garden hides them for the
+moment."
+
+As he spoke, two figures emerged from its shelter and walked into the
+open. I gave a start as I saw them, and gripped Elmscott by the arm.
+
+"Lord!" said he, "are you in so deep as that?"
+
+The woman I knew at the first glance. The easy carriage of her head,
+the light grace of her walk, were qualities which I had noted and
+admired too often to make the ghost of a doubt possible. The man, who
+was gaily dressed in a scarlet coat, an instinct of jealousy told me
+was Hugh Marston. Their backs were towards the house, and I waited for
+them to turn, which they did after they had walked some hundred paces.
+Sure enough my suspicions were correct. The Countess was escorted by
+Marston, her hand was upon his arm, and the pair sauntered slowly,
+stopping here and there in their walk as though greatly concerned with
+one another.
+
+"Damn him!" I cried. "Damn him!"
+
+Elmscott burst into a laugh.
+
+"The pretty Countess," said he, "would be more discreet did she but
+know you overlooked her."
+
+"But she does know," I returned. "She knows that I lodge in the house;
+she knows also that this room is mine."
+
+"Oh!" he exclaimed, in a tone of comprehension, "she knows that!"
+
+"Ay; and 'twas no further back than yesterday that she discovered it.
+I told her myself."
+
+Elmscott remained silent for a while, watching their promenade. Again
+they disappeared within the shelter of the wall; again they emerged
+from it, and again they promenaded some hundred paces and turned.
+
+"I thought so," he muttered; "'tis all of a piece."
+
+I asked what his words meant.
+
+"You remember the evening at the Duke's Theatre, when she caught sight
+of you across the pit? One might have imagined she would not have had
+you see her on such close terms with our friend; that she feared you
+might mistake her courtesy for proof of some deeper feeling."
+
+"Well?" I asked, remembering how he had chuckled through the evening.
+For such in truth had been my thought, and I had drawn no small
+comfort from it.
+
+"Well, she saw you long ere that; she saw you the moment she entered
+the box, before I pointed her out to you. For she looked straight in
+your direction and spoke to the Frenchwoman, nodding towards you."
+
+"No, it is impossible!" I replied. I recollected how her hand had
+fallen upon mine, and the musical sound of her words--"the occasion
+may come, too." "There is no trace of the coquette about her. This
+must be a mistake."
+
+"It is you who are making it. Add her behaviour now," he waved his
+hand to the window, "to what I have told you! See how the incidents
+fit together. Yesterday she finds out your room commands the Park,
+to-day she walks in Marston's company underneath the window, and
+backwards and forwards, mark that! never moving out of range. 'Tis all
+part of one purpose."
+
+"But what purpose?" I cried passionately. "What purpose could she
+serve?"
+
+"The devil knows!" he replied, with a shrug of his shoulders. "It is
+of a woman we are speaking--you forget that."
+
+I flung open the window noisily, in a desire to attract their
+attention and observe how the Countess would take our discovery of her
+interview. But she paid not the slightest heed to the sound. Elmscott
+made a sudden dash to the door.
+
+"Culverton!" he cried over the baluster.
+
+I tried to check him, for I had no wish that Culverton's meddlesome
+fingers should pry into the matter. I was too late, however; he
+entered the room, and Elmscott drew him to the open window.
+
+"Burn me, but 'tis the oddest thing!" he smirked.
+
+For a minute or so we stood watching the couple in silence. Then the
+Countess dropped her fan, and as Marston stooped to pick it up she
+shot one quick glance towards us. Her companion handed her the fan,
+and they resumed the promenade. But they took no more than half a turn
+before the Countess signalled to the porters, and getting into the
+chair, was carried off. Marston waited until she was out of sight,
+with his hat in his hand, and then cocking it jauntily on his head,
+marched off in the opposite direction. The satisfaction of his manner
+made my blood boil with rage.
+
+"The conceited ass!" I cried, stamping my feet.
+
+"She heard the window open after all," said Elmscott.
+
+As for Culverton, he tittered the more.
+
+"The oddest thing!" he repeated. "The very oddest thing! Strike me
+purple if I know what to make of the delightful creature!"
+
+"'Tis as plain as my hand," replied Elmscott roughly. "No sooner did
+she perceive that you were watching her than she gave Marston his
+congé. He had done his work, and she had no further use for him. She
+is a woman--there's the top and bottom of it. A couple of men to frown
+at each other and grimace prettily to her! Her vanity demands no less.
+She is like one of our Indian planters who value their wealth by the
+number of their slaves; so she her beauty."
+
+"Nay," interposed the fop. "If that were the whole business, one would
+hear less concerning Mr. Buckler from her rapturous lips. But rat me
+if she ever talks about any one else."
+
+"Do you mean that?" I asked eagerly.
+
+"Oh, most inquisitive, on my honour! In truth, your name is growing
+plaguy wearisome to me. Why, but the other night, when she selected me
+to lead her to her carriage at the theatre, 'twas but to question me
+concerning you, and whether you gambled, and the horse of mine you
+rode, and what not. And there was I with a thousand tender nothings to
+whisper in her ear, and pink me if I could get one of 'em out!"
+
+"Then I give the riddle up," rejoined Elmscott, though I would fain
+have heard more of this strain from Culverton. "I make neither head
+nor tail of the business, unless, Morrice, she would bring you on by a
+little wholesome jealousy." He looked at me shrewdly, and continued:
+"You are a timid wooer, I fancy. Why not go to her boldly? Tell her
+you are going away, and have had enough of her tricks! 'Twould bring
+your suit to a climax."
+
+"One way or another," said I doubtfully.
+
+"If Mr. Buckler would take the advice of one who has had some small
+experience of ladies' whims," interposed Culverton, "and some
+participation in their favours, he would buy some new clothes."
+
+"These are new," I said. "I followed your advice before, and bought
+enough to stock a shop."
+
+"But of such a desperate colour," he replied. "Lard, Mr. Buckler, you
+go dressed like a mute at a funeral! The ladies loathe it; stap me,
+but they loathe it! A scarlet coat, like our friend wears, a full
+periwig, an embroidered stocking, makes deeper inroads into their
+affections than a year's tedious love-making. The dear creatures'
+hearts, Mr. Buckler, are in their eyes."
+
+With that the subject of Countess Lukstein dropped. For Culverton,
+once started upon his favourite topic, launched forth into a complete
+philosophy of clothes. The colour of each garment, according to him,
+had a particular effect upon the sex; the adjustment of each ribbon
+conveyed a particular meaning. He had, indeed, ingeniously classified
+the various coats, hats, breeches, vests, periwigs, ruffles, cravats
+and the other appurtenances of a gentleman's wardrobe, with the modes
+of wearing them, as expressions of feeling and emotion. The larger and
+more dominant emotions were voiced in the clothes, the delicate and
+subtler shades of feeling in the disposition of ornaments. In short,
+'twould be a very profitable philosophy for a race which had neither
+tongues to speak nor faces and limbs to act their meaning.
+
+This incident, as I have said, determined me upon a compromise, for it
+set my heart aflame with jealousy. I had not taken Marston into my
+calculations before; now I reflected that if I retired to the North, I
+should be leaving a free field for him, and that I was obstinately
+minded I would not do. On the other hand, however, this promenade in
+front of my windows, whether undertaken of set purpose or from sheer
+carelessness, seemed to show that after all I had no stable footing in
+Ilga's esteem, and I feared that if I disclosed to her the deception
+which I had used towards her, there could be but one result and
+consequence.
+
+I determined then to forward my suit with what ardour and haste I
+might, and to unbosom myself of my fault in the very hour that I
+pleaded my love.
+
+The Countess, however, gave me no heart or occasion for the work. Her
+manner towards me changed completely of a sudden, and where I had
+previously met with smiles and kindly words, I got now disdainful
+looks and biting speeches. She would ridicule my conversation, my
+person, and my bearing, and that, too, before a room full of people,
+so that I was filled with the deepest shame; or again, she would
+shrink from me with all the appearances of aversion. Mademoiselle
+Durette, it is true, sought to lighten my suffering. "It is ever
+Love's way to blow hot and cold," she would whisper in my ear. But I
+thought that she spoke only out of compassion. For 'twas the cold wind
+which continually blew on me.
+
+At times, indeed, though very rarely, she would resume her old
+familiarity, but there was a note of effort in her voice as though she
+subdued herself to a distasteful practice, and something hysterical in
+her merriment; and as like as not, she would break off in the middle
+of a kindly sentence and load me with the extremity of scorn.
+
+Moreover, Marston was perpetually at her side, and in his company she
+made more than one return to the Park; so that at last, being fallen
+into a most tormenting despair, I made shift to follow Elmscott's
+advice, and called at her lodging one morning to inform her that I
+intended setting my face homewards that very afternoon.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XI.
+
+                 THE COUNTESS EXPLAINS, AND SHOWS ME
+                              A PICTURE.
+
+
+It was a full week since I had last waited on my cruel mistress, and I
+hoped, though with no great confidence, that this intermission of my
+visits might temper and moderate her scorn. I had besides taken to
+heart Culverton's advice as well as that of my cousin. For I was in
+great trepidation lest she should take me at my word, and carelessly
+bid me adieu, and so caught eagerly at any hint that seemed likely to
+help me, however trivial it might be, and from whatever source it
+came.
+
+Consequently I had had my own hair cropped, and had purchased a
+cumbersome full-bottomed peruke of the latest mode. With that on my
+head, and habited in a fine new brocaded coat of green velvet and
+lemon-coloured silk breeches and stockings, I went timidly to confront
+my destiny. How many times did I walk up and down before her house, or
+ever I could summon courage to knock! How many phrases and dignified
+reproaches did I con over and rehearse, yet never one that seemed
+other than offensive and ridiculous! What in truth emboldened me in
+the end to enter was a cloud of dust which a passing carriage caused
+to settle on my coat. If I hesitated much longer, I reflected, all my
+bravery would be wasted, and dusting myself carefully with my
+handkerchief, I mounted the steps. Otto Krax opened the door, and
+preceded me up the staircase.
+
+But while we were still ascending the steps, Mademoiselle Durette came
+from the parlour which gave on to the landing.
+
+"Very well, Otto," she said, "I will announce Mr. Buckler."
+
+She waited until the man had descended the stairs, and then turned to
+me with a meaning smile.
+
+"She is alone. Take her by surprise!"
+
+With that she softly turned the handle of the door, and opened it just
+so far as would enable me to slip through. I heard the voice of Ilga
+singing sweetly in a low key, and my heart trembled and jumped within
+me, so that I hesitated on the threshold.
+
+"I have no patience with you," said Mademoiselle Durette, in an
+exasperated whisper. "Cowards don't win when they go a-wooing. Haven't
+you learnt that? Ridicule her, if you like, as she does you--abuse
+her, do anything but gape like a stock-fish, with a white face as
+though all your blood had run down into the heels of your shoes!"
+
+She pushed me as she spoke into the room, and noiselessly closed the
+door. The Countess was seated at a spinnet in the far corner of the
+room, and sang in her native tongue. The song, I gathered, was a
+plaint, and had a strange and outlandish melancholy, the voice now
+lifting into a wild, keening note, now sinking abruptly to a dreary
+monotone. It oppressed me with a peculiar sadness, making the singer
+seem very lonely and far-away; and I leaned silently against the wall,
+not daring to interrupt her. At last the notes began to quaver, the
+voice broke once and twice; she gave a little sob, and her head fell
+forward on her hands.
+
+An inrush of pity swept all my diffidence away. I stepped hastily
+forward with outstretched hands. At the sound she sprang to her feet
+and faced me, the colour flaming in her cheeks.
+
+"Madame," cried I, "if my intrusion lacks ceremony, believe me----"
+
+But I got no further in my protestations. For with a sneer upon her
+lips and a biting accent of irony,
+
+"So," she broke in, looking me over, "the crow has turned into a
+cockatoo." And she rang a bell which stood upon the spinnet. I stopped
+in confusion, and not knowing what to say or do, remained foolishly
+shifting from one foot to the other, the while Ilga watched me with a
+malicious pleasure. In a minute Otto Krax came to the door. "How comes
+it," she asked sternly, "that Mr. Buckler enters unannounced? Have I
+no servants?"
+
+The fellow explained that Mademoiselle Durette had taken the duty to
+herself.
+
+"Send Mademoiselle Durette to me!" said the Countess.
+
+I was ready to sink through the floor with humiliation, and busied my
+wits in a search for a plausible excuse. I had not found one when the
+Frenchwoman appeared.
+
+Countess Lukstein repeated her question.
+
+Mademoiselle Burette was no readier than myself, and glanced with a
+frightened air from me to her mistress, and back again from her
+mistress to me. Remembering what she had said on the landing about my
+irresolution, I felt my shame doubled.
+
+"Madame," I stammered out, "the fault is in no wise your companion's.
+The blame of it should fall on me."
+
+"Oh!" said she, "really?" And turning to Mademoiselle Durette, she
+began to clap her hands. "I believe," she exclaimed in a mock
+excitement, "that Mr. Buckler is going to make me a present of a
+superb cockatoo. Clemence, you must buy a cage and a chain for its
+leg!"
+
+Clemence stared in amazement, as well she might, and I, stung to a
+passion,
+
+"Nay," I cried, and for once my voice rang firmly. "By the Lord, you
+count too readily upon Mr. Buckler's gift. Mr. Buckler has come to
+offer you no present, but to take his leave for good and all."
+
+I made her a dignified bow and stepped towards the door.
+
+"What do you mean?" she asked sharply.
+
+"That I ride homewards this afternoon."
+
+She shot a glance at Mademoiselle Durette, who slipped obediently out
+of the room.
+
+"And why?" she asked, with an innocent assumption of surprise, coming
+towards me. "Why?"
+
+"What, madame!" I replied, looking her straight in the face. "Surely
+your ingenuity can find a reason."
+
+"My ingenuity?" She spoke in the same accent of wonderment. "My
+ingenuity? Mr. Buckler, you take a tone----" She came some paces
+nearer to me and asked very gently: "Am I to blame?"
+
+The humility of the question, and a certain trembling of the lips that
+uttered it, well-nigh disarmed me; but I felt that did I answer her,
+did I venture the mildest reproach, I should give her my present
+advantage.
+
+"No, no," I replied, with a show of indifference; "my own people need
+me."
+
+She took another step, and spoke with lowered eyes. "Are there no
+people who need you here?"
+
+I forgot my part.
+
+"You mean----" I exclaimed impulsively, when a movement which she made
+brought me to a stop. For she drew back a step, and picking up her fan
+from a little table, began to pluck nervously at the feathers. Her
+action recalled to my mind her behaviour at the Duke's Theatre and
+Elmscott's commentary thereon.
+
+"None that I know of," I resumed, "for even those whom I counted my
+friends find me undeserving of even common civility."
+
+"Civility! Civility!" she cried out in scorn. "'Tis the very proof and
+attribute of indifference--the crust one tosses carelessly to the
+first-comer because it costs nothing."
+
+"But I go fasting even for that crust."
+
+"Not always," she replied softly, shooting a glance at me. "Not
+always, Mr. Buckler; and have you not found at times some butter on
+the bread?"
+
+She smiled as she spoke, but I hardened my heart against her and
+vouchsafed no answer. For a little while she stood with her eyes upon
+the ground, and then:
+
+"Oh, very well, very well!" she said petulantly, and turning away from
+me, flung the fan on to the table. The table was of polished mahogany,
+and the fan slid across its surface and dropped to the floor. I
+stepped forward, and knelt down to pick it up.
+
+"What, Mr. Buckler!" she said bitterly, turning again to me, "you
+condescend to kneel. Surely it is not you; it must be some one else."
+
+I thought that I had never heard sarcasm so unjust, for in truth
+kneeling to her had been my chief occupation this many a day, and I
+replied hotly, bethinking me of Marston and the episode which I had
+witnessed in the Park.
+
+"Indeed, madame, and you may well think it strange, for have I not
+seen you drop your fan in order to deceive the man who picks it up?"
+With that I got to my feet and laid the fan on the table.
+
+She flushed very red, and exclaimed hurriedly:
+
+"All that can be explained."
+
+"No doubt! no doubt!" I replied. "I have never doubted the subtlety of
+madame's invention."
+
+She drew herself up with great pride, and bowed to me.
+
+I walked to the door. As I opened it, I turned to take one last look
+at the face which I had so worshipped. It was very white; even the
+lips were bloodless, and oddly enough I noticed that she wore a loose
+white gown as on the occasion of our first meeting.
+
+"Adieu," I said, and stepped behind the door.
+
+From the other side of it her voice came to me quietly:
+
+"Does this prove the sword to be lath or steel?"
+
+I shut the door, and went slowly down the stairs, slowly and yet more
+slowly. For her last question drummed at my heart.
+
+"Lath or steel?" Was I playing a man's part, or was I the mere
+bond-slave of a petty pride? "That can be explained," she had said.
+What if it could? Then the sword would be proved lath indeed! Just to
+salve my vanity I should have wasted my life--and only _my_ life? I
+saw her lips trembling as the thought shot through me.
+
+What if those walks with my rival beneath my window had been devised
+in some strange way for a test--a woman's test and touchstone to essay
+the metal of the sword, a test perhaps intelligible to a woman, though
+an enigma to me? If only I knew a woman whom I could consult!
+
+My feet lagged more and more, but I reached the bottom of the stairs
+in the end. The hall was empty. I looked up towards the landing with a
+wild hope that she would come out and lean over the balustrade, as on
+the evening when Elmscott first brought me to the house. But there was
+no stir or movement from garret to cellar. I might have stood in the
+hall of the Sleeping Palace. From a high window the sunlight slanted
+athwart the cool gloom in a golden pillar, and a fly buzzed against
+the pane. I crossed the hall, and let myself out into the noonday. The
+door clanged behind me with a hollow rattle; it sounded to my hearing
+like the closing of the gates of a tomb, and I felt it was myself that
+lay dead behind it.
+
+As I passed beneath the window, something hard dropped upon the crown
+of my hat, and bounced thence to the ground at my feet. I picked it
+up. It was a crust of bread. For a space I stood looking at it before
+I understood. Then I rushed back to the entrance. The door stood open,
+but the hall was empty and silent as when I left it. I sprang up the
+stairs, and in my haste missed my footing about halfway up, and rolled
+down some half-a-dozen steps. The crash of my fall echoed up the well
+of the staircase, and from behind the parlour door I heard some one
+laugh. I got on to my legs, and burst into the room.
+
+Ilga was seated before a frame of embroidery very demure and busy. She
+paid no heed to me, keeping her head bent over her work until I had
+approached close to the frame. Then she looked up with her eyes
+sparkling.
+
+"How dare you?" she asked, in a mock accent of injury.
+
+"I don't know," I replied meekly.
+
+She bent once more over her embroidery.
+
+"Humours are the prerogative of my sex," she said.
+
+"I set you apart from it."
+
+"Is that why you cannot trust me even a little?"
+
+The gentle reproach made me hot with shame. I had no words to answer
+it. Then she laughed again, bending closer over her frame, in a low
+joyous note that gradually rose and trilled out sweet as music from a
+thrush.
+
+"And so," she said, "you came all trim and spruce in your fine new
+clothes to show me what my discourtesy had lost me! What a child you
+are! And yet," she rose suddenly, her whole face changing, "and yet,
+are you a child? Would God I knew!" She ended with a passionate cry,
+clasping her hands together upon her breast; but before I could make
+head or tail of her meaning she was half-way through another mood.
+"Ah!" she cried, "you have brought my courtesy back with you." I had
+not noticed until then that I still held the crust in my hand. "You
+shall swallow it as a penance."
+
+"Madame!" I laughed.
+
+"Hush! you shall eat it. Yes, yes!" with a pretty imperious stamp of
+the foot. "Now! Before you speak a word!"
+
+I obeyed her, but with some difficulty, for the crust was very dry.
+
+"You see," she said, "courtesy is not always so tasteful a morsel. It
+sticks in the throat at times;" and crossing to a sideboard, she
+filled a goblet from a decanter of canary and brought it to me.
+
+"You will pledge me first," I entreated.
+
+Her face grew serious, and she balanced the cup doubtfully in her
+hand.
+
+"Of a truth," she said, "of a truth I will." She raised it slowly to
+her lips; but at that moment the door opened.
+
+"Oh!" cried Mademoiselle Durette, with a start of surprise, "I fancied
+that Mr. Buckler had gone," and she was for whipping out of the room
+again, but Ilga called to her. The astonishment of the Frenchwoman
+made one point clear to me concerning which I felt some curiosity. I
+mean that 'twas not she who had set the hall-door open for my return.
+
+"Clemence!" said the Countess, setting down the wine untasted, as I
+noticed with regret, "will you bid Otto come to me? I ransacked Mr.
+Buckler's rooms, and it is only fair that I should show him my poor
+treasures in return."
+
+She handed a key to Otto, and bade him unlock a Japan cabinet which
+stood in a corner. He drew out a tray heaped up with curiosities,
+medals and trinkets, and bringing it over, laid it on a table in the
+window.
+
+"I have bought them all since I came to London. You shall tell me
+whether I have been robbed."
+
+"You come to the worst appraiser in the world," said I, "for these
+ornaments tell me nothing of their value though much of your
+industry."
+
+"I have a great love for these trifles," said she, though her action
+seemed to belie her words, for she tossed and rattled them hither and
+thither upon the tray with rapid jerks of her fingers which would have
+made a virtuoso shiver. "They hint so much of bygone times, and tell
+so provokingly little."
+
+"Their example, at all events, affords a lesson in discretion," I
+laughed.
+
+"Which our poor sex is too trustful to learn, and yours too
+distrustful to forget."
+
+There was a certain accent of appeal in her voice, very tender and
+sweet, as though she knew my story and was ready to forgive it. Had we
+been alone I believe that I should have blurted the whole truth out;
+only Otto Krax stood before me on the opposite side of the table,
+Mademoiselle Durette was seated in the room behind.
+
+Ilga had ceased to sort the articles, and now began to point out
+particular trinkets, describing their purposes and antiquity and the
+shops where she had discovered them. But I paid small heed to her
+words; that question--did she know?--pressed too urgently upon my
+thoughts. A glance at the stolid indifference of Otto Krax served to
+reassure me. Through him alone could suspicion have come, and I felt
+certain that he had as yet not recognised me.
+
+Besides, I reflected, had she known, it was hardly in nature that she
+should have spoken so gently. I dismissed the suspicion from my mind,
+and turned me again to the inspection of the tray.
+
+Just below my eyes lay a miniature of a girl, painted very delicately
+upon a thin oval slip of ivory. The face was dark in complexion, with
+black hair, the nose a trifle tip-tilted, and the lips full and red,
+but altogether a face very alluring and handsome. I was most struck,
+however, with the freshness of the colours; amongst those old curios
+the portrait shone like a gem. I took it up, and as I did so, Otto
+Krax leaned forward.
+
+"Otto!" said Ilga sharply, "you stand between Mr. Buckler and the
+light."
+
+The servant moved obediently from the window.
+
+"This," said I, "hath less appearance of antiquity than the rest of
+your purchases."
+
+"It was given to me," she replied. "The face is beautiful?"
+
+Now it had been my custom of late to consider a face beautiful or not
+in proportion to its resemblance to that of Countess Lukstein. So I
+looked carefully at the miniature, and thence to Ilga. She was gazing
+closely at me with parted lips, and an odd intentness in her
+expression. I noticed this the more particularly, for that her eyes,
+which were violet in their natural hue, had a trick of growing dark
+when she was excited or absorbed.
+
+"Why!" I exclaimed, in surprise. "One might think you fancy me
+acquainted with the lady."
+
+"Well," she replied, laying a hand upon her heart, "what if I
+did--fancy that?" She stressed the word "fancy" with something of a
+sneer.
+
+"Nay," said I, "the face is strange to me."
+
+"Are you sure?" she asked. "Look again! Look again, Mr. Buckler!"
+
+Disturbed by this recurrence of her irony, I fixed my eyes, as she
+bade me, upon the picture, and strangely enough, upon a closer
+scrutiny I began gradually to recognise it; but in so vague and dim a
+fashion, that whether the familiarity lay in the contour of the
+lineaments or merely in the expression, I could by no effort of memory
+determine.
+
+"Well?" she asked, with a smile which had nothing amiable or pleasant
+in it. "What say you now?"
+
+"Madame," I returned, completely at a loss, "in truth I know not what
+to say. It may be that I have seen the original. Indeed, I must think
+that is the case----"
+
+"Ah!" she cried, interrupting me as one who convicts an opponent after
+much debate, and then, in a hurried correction: "so at least I was
+informed."
+
+"Then tell me who informed you!" I said earnestly, for I commenced to
+consider this miniature as the cause of her recent resentment and
+scorn. "For I have only seen this face--somewhere--for a moment. Of
+one thing I am sure. I have never had speech with it."
+
+"Never?" she asked, in the same ironical tone. "Look yet a third time,
+Mr. Buckler! For your memory improves with each inspection."
+
+She suddenly broke off, and "Otto!" she cried sternly--it was almost a
+shout.
+
+The fellow was standing just behind my shoulder, and I swung round and
+eyed him. He came a step forward, questioning his mistress with a
+look.
+
+"Replace the tray in the cabinet!"
+
+I kept the miniature in my hand, glancing ever from it to the Countess
+and back again in pure wonder and conjecture.
+
+"Madame," I said firmly, "I have never had speech with the lady of
+this picture."
+
+She looked into my eyes as though she would read my soul.
+
+"It is God's truth!"
+
+She signed a dismissal to Otto. Clemence Durette rose and followed the
+servant, and I thought that I had never fallen in with any one who
+showed such tact and discretion in the matter of leaving a room.
+
+The Countess remained stock-still, facing me.
+
+"And yet I have been told," she said, nodding her head with each word,
+"that she was very dear to you."
+
+"Then," I replied hotly, "you were told a lie, a miserable calumny. I
+understand! 'Tis that that has poisoned your kind thoughts of me."
+
+She turned away with a slight shrug of the shoulders.
+
+"Oh, believe that!" I exclaimed, falling upon a knee and holding her
+by the hem of her dress. "You must believe it! I have told you what my
+life has been. Look at the picture yourself!" and I forced it into her
+hands. "What do you read there? Vanity and the love of conquest. Gaze
+into the eyes! What do they bespeak? Boldness that comes from the
+habit of conquest. Is it likely that such a woman would busy her head
+about an awkward, retiring student?"
+
+"I am not so sure," she replied thoughtfully, though she seemed to
+relent a little at my vehemence; "women are capricious. You yourself
+have been complaining this morning of their caprice. And it might be
+that--I can imagine it--and for that very reason."
+
+"Oh, compare us!" I cried. "Compare the painted figure there with me!
+You must see it is impossible."
+
+She laid a hand upon each of my shoulders as I knelt, and bent over
+me, staring into my eyes.
+
+"I have been told," said she, "that the lady was so dear to you that
+for her sake you fought and killed your rival in love."
+
+"You have been told that?" I answered, in sheer incredulity; and then
+a flame of rage against my traducer kindling in my heart, I sprang to
+my feet.
+
+"Who told you?"
+
+"I may not disclose his name."
+
+"But you shall," said I, stepping in front of her. "You shall tell me!
+He has lied to you foully, and you owe him therefore no consideration
+or respect. He has lied concerning me. I have a clear right to know
+his name, that I may convince you of the lie, and reckon with him for
+his slander. Confront us both, and yourself be present as the judge!"
+
+Of a sudden she held out her hand to me.
+
+"Your sincerity convinces me. I need no other proof, and I crave your
+pardon for my suspicion."
+
+I looked into her face, amazed at the sudden change. But there was no
+mistaking her conviction or the joy which it occasioned her. I saw a
+light in her eyes, dancing and sparkling, which I had never envisaged
+before, and which filled me with exquisite happiness.
+
+"Still," I said, as I took her hand, "I would fain prove my words to
+you."
+
+"Can you not trust me at all?"
+
+She had a wonderful knack of putting me in the wrong when I was on the
+side of the right, and before I could find a suitable reply she
+slipped out of my grasp, and crossing the room, took in her hand the
+cup of wine.
+
+"Now," said she, "I will pledge you, Mr. Buckler;" which she did very
+prettily, and handed the cup to me. As I raised it to my lips,
+however, an idea occurred to me.
+
+"It is you who refuse to pledge me," she said.
+
+"Nay, nay," said I, and I drained the cup. "But I have just guessed
+who my traducer is."
+
+She looked perplexed for a moment.
+
+"You have guessed who----" she began, in an accent of wonder.
+
+"Who gave you the picture," I explained.
+
+She stared at me in pure astonishment.
+
+"You can hardly have guessed accurately, then," she remarked.
+
+"Surely," said I, "it needs no magician to discover the giver. I know
+but one man in London who can hope to gain aught by slandering me to
+you."
+
+Ilga gave a start of alarm. It seemed almost as though I were telling
+her news, as though she did not know herself who gave her the picture;
+and for the rest of my visit she appeared absent and anxious. This was
+particularly mortifying to me, since I thought the occasion too apt to
+be lost, and I was minded to open my heart to her. Indeed, I began the
+preface of a love-speech in spite of her preoccupation, but sticking
+for lack of encouragement after half-a-dozen words or so, I perceived
+that she was not even listening to what I said. Consequently I took my
+leave with some irritation, marvelling at the flighty waywardness of a
+woman's thoughts, and rather inclined to believe that the properest
+age for a man to marry was his ninetieth year, for then he might
+perchance have sufficient experience to understand some portion of his
+wife's behaviour and whimsies.
+
+My mortification was not of a lasting kind, for Ilga came out on to
+the landing while I was still descending the stairs.
+
+"You do not know who gave me the picture," she said, entreating me;
+and she came down two of the steps.
+
+"It would be exceeding strange if I did not," said I, stopping.
+
+"You would seek him out and----" she began.
+
+"I had that in my mind," said I, mounting two of the steps.
+
+"Then you do not know him. Say you do not! There could be but one
+result, and I fear it."
+
+A knock on the outer door rang through the hall; this time we took two
+steps up and down simultaneously.
+
+"Swords!" she continued, "for you would fight?"
+
+I nodded.
+
+"Oh!" she exclaimed, "swords are no true ordeal. Skill--it is skill,
+not justice, which directs the thrust."
+
+I fancied that I comprehended the cause of her fear, and I laughed
+cheerfully.
+
+"I have few good qualities," said I, "but amongst those few you may
+reckon some proficiency with the sword." I ascended two steps.
+
+"So," she replied, with an indefinable change of tone, "you are
+skilled in the exercise?" But she stood where she was.
+
+Otto Krax came from the inner part of the house and crossed to the
+door.
+
+"It is my one qualification for a courtier."
+
+Since Ilga had omitted to take the two steps down, I deemed it right
+to take four steps up.
+
+She resumed her tone of entreaty.
+
+"But chance may outwit skill; does--often."
+
+We heard the chain rattle on the door as Krax unfastened it. Ilga bent
+forward hurriedly.
+
+"You do not know the man!" and in a whisper she added: "For my
+sake--you do not!"
+
+There were only four steps between us. I took them all in one spring.
+
+"For your sake, is it?" and I caught her hand.
+
+"Hush!" she said, disengaging herself. Marston's voice sounded in the
+entrance. "You do not know! Oh, you do not!" she beseeched in shaking
+tones. Then she drew back quickly, and leaned against the balustrade.
+I looked downwards. Otto was ushering in Marston, and the pair stood
+at the foot of the staircase. I glanced back at the Countess. There
+were tears in her eyes.
+
+"Madame!" said I, "I have forgotten his name."
+
+With a bow, I walked down the steps as Marston mounted them.
+
+"'Tis a fine day," says I, coming to a halt when we were level.
+
+"Is it?" says he, continuing the ascent.
+
+"It seems to me wonderfully bright and clear," said the Countess from
+the head of the stairs.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XII.
+
+                             LADY TRACY.
+
+
+Outside the house I came face to face with the original of the
+miniature. So startled and surprised was I by her unexpected
+appearance that I could not repress an exclamation, and she turned her
+eyes full upon me. She was seated upon a horse, while a mounted groom
+behind her held the bridle of a third horse, saddled, but riderless.
+'Twas evident that she had come to the house in Marston's company, and
+now waited his return. My conviction that Marston had handed the
+miniature to Ilga was, I thought, confirmed beyond possibility of
+doubt, and I scanned her face with more eagerness than courtesy,
+hoping to discover by those means a clue to her identity. For a moment
+or so she returned my stare without giving a sign of recognition, and
+then she turned her head away. It was clear, at all events, that she
+had no knowledge or remembrance of me, and though her lips curved with
+a gratified smile, and she glanced occasionally in my direction from
+the tail of her eye, I could not doubt that she considered my
+exclamation as merely a stranger's spontaneous tribute to her looks.
+
+Indeed, the more closely I regarded her, the less certain did I myself
+become that I had ever set eyes on her before. I was sensible of a
+vague familiarity in her appearance, but I was not certain but what I
+ought to attribute it to my long examination of her likeness. However,
+since Providence had brought us thus opportunely together, I was
+minded to use the occasion in order to resolve my perplexities, and
+advancing towards her:
+
+"Madam," I said, "you will, I trust, pardon my lack of ceremony when I
+assure you that it is no small matter which leads me to address you. I
+only ask of you the answer to a simple question. Have we met before
+to-day?"
+
+"The excuse is not very adroit," she replied, with a coquettish laugh,
+"for it implies that you are more like to live in my memory than I in
+yours."
+
+"Believe me!" said I eagerly, "the question is no excuse, but one of
+some moment to me. I should not have had the courage to thrust myself
+wantonly upon your attention, even had I felt----"
+
+I broke off suddenly and stopped, since I saw a frown overspread her
+face, and feared to miss the answer to my question.
+
+"Well! Even had you felt the wish. That is your meaning, is it not?
+Why not frankly complete the sentence? I hear the sentiment so seldom,
+that of a truth I relish it for its rarity."
+
+She gave an indignant toss of her head, and looked away from me,
+running her fingers through the mane of her horse. I understood that
+flattery alone would serve my turn with her, and I answered boldly:
+
+"You are right, madam. You supply the words my tongue checked at, but
+not the reason which prompted them. In the old days, when a poor
+mortal intruded upon a goddess, he paid for his presumption with all
+the pangs of despair, and I feared that the experience might not be
+obsolete."
+
+She appeared a trifle mollified by my adulation, and replied archly,
+making play with her eyebrows:
+
+"'Tis a pretty interpretation to put upon the words, but the words
+came first, I fear, and suggested the explanation."
+
+"You should not blame me for the words, but rather yourself. An
+awkward speech, madam, implies startled senses, and so should be
+reckoned a more genuine compliment than the most nicely-ordered
+eulogy."
+
+"That makes your peace," said she, much to my relief, for this work of
+gallantry was ever discomforting to me, my flatteries being of the
+heaviest and causing me no small labour in the making. "That makes
+your peace. I accept the explanation."
+
+"And will answer the question?" said I, returning to the charge.
+
+"You deserve no less," she assented. "But indeed, I have no
+recollection of your face, and so can speak with no greater certainty
+than yourself. Perchance your name might jog my memory."
+
+"I am called Morrice Buckler," said I.
+
+At that she started in her saddle and gathered up the reins as though
+intending to ride off.
+
+"Then I can assure you on the point," she said hurriedly. "You and I
+have never met."
+
+I was greatly astonished by this sudden action which she made. 'Twas
+as though she was frightened; and I knew no reason why any one should
+fear me, least of all a stranger. But what she did next astonished me
+far more; for she dropped the reins and looked me over curiously,
+saying with a little laugh:
+
+"So you are Morrice Buckler. I gave you credit for horn-spectacles at
+the very least."
+
+Something about her--was it her manner or her voice?--struck me as
+singularly familiar to me, and I exclaimed:
+
+"Surely, surely, madam, it is true. Somewhere we have met."
+
+"Nowhere," she answered, enjoying my mystification. "Have you ever
+been presented to Lady Tracy, wife of Sir William Tracy?"
+
+"Not that I remember," said I, still more puzzled, "nor have I ever
+heard the name."
+
+"Then you should be satisfied, for I am Lady Tracy."
+
+"But you spoke of horn-spectacles. How comes it that you know so much
+concerning me?"
+
+"Nay," she laughed. "You go too fast, Mr. Buckler. I know nothing
+concerning you save that some injustice has been done you. I was told
+of a homespun student, glum and musty as an old book, and I find
+instead a town-gallant point-de-vice, who will barter me compliments
+with the best of them."
+
+"You got your knowledge, doubtless, from Hugh Marston," I replied,
+with a glance at the door; "and I only wonder the description was not
+more unflattering."
+
+"I did not mean him," she said slowly. "For I did not even know that
+you were acquainted with"--she paused, and looked me straight in the
+face--"with my brother."
+
+"Your brother!" I exclaimed. "Hugh Marston is your brother?" And I
+took a step towards her. Again I saw a passing look of apprehension in
+her face, but I did not stop to wonder at it then. I understood that
+the indefinable familiarity in her looks was due to the likeness which
+she bore her brother--a likeness consisting not so much of a distinct
+stamp of features as of an occasional and fleeting similarity of
+expression.
+
+"I understand," said I, more to myself than to her.
+
+She flushed very red in a way which was unaccountable, and broke in
+abruptly.
+
+"So you see we have never seen one another before to-day. For the last
+year I have been travelling abroad with my husband, and only came to
+London unexpectedly this morning."
+
+Her words revealed the whole plot to me, or so I thought. Secured from
+discovery by the pledge of secrecy which he had exacted from Ilga,
+Marston had shown this miniature of his absent sister, and invented a
+story which there was no one to disprove. Looking back upon the
+incident with the cooler reflection which a lapse of years induces, I
+marvel at the conviction with which I drew the inference. But although
+now I see clearly how incredible it was that a man of Marston's
+breeding and family should so villainously misuse the fair fame of one
+thus near to hand, at the time I measured his jealousy by the violence
+of my own, and was ready to believe that he would check at no barriers
+of pride and honour which stood between him and his intention. Events,
+moreover, seemed to jump most aptly with my conclusion.
+
+So, full of my discovery of his plot, I said a second time, "I.
+understand;" and a second time she flushed unaccountably. I spoke the
+words with some bitterness and contempt, and she took them to refer to
+herself.
+
+"You blame me," she began nervously, "for marrying so soon after
+Julian died. But it is unfair to judge quickly."
+
+The speech was little short of a revelation to me. So busy had my
+thoughts been with my own affairs, that I had not realised this was in
+truth the woman who had been betrothed to Julian, and who had betrayed
+him to his shameful death. I looked at her for a moment, stunned by
+the knowledge. She was, as her portrait showed her to be, very pretty,
+with something of the petted child about her; of a trim and supple
+figure, and with wonderfully small hands. I remarked her hands
+especially, because her fingers were playing restlessly with the
+jewelled butt of her riding-whip; and I did not wonder at her power
+over men's hearts. A small, trembling hand laid in a man's great palm!
+In truth, it coaxes him out of very pity for its size. For my part,
+however, conscious of the evil which her treachery had done to Julian,
+ay, and to myself, too, I felt nothing but aversion for her, and,
+taking off my hat, I bowed to her silently. Just as I was turning
+away, an idea occurred to me. She knew nothing of her brother's plot
+to ruin me in Ilga's estimation. Why should I not use her to confound
+his designs?
+
+"Lady Tracy," said I, returning to her side, "it is in your power to
+do me a service."
+
+"Indeed?" she asked, her face clearing, and her manner changing to its
+former flippancy. "Is it the new fashion for ladies to render services
+to gentlemen? It used to be the other way about."
+
+"As you have sure warrant for knowing," I added.
+
+The look of fear which I had previously noticed sprang again into her
+eyes; now I appreciated the cause. She was afraid that I knew
+something of her share in Julian's death.
+
+"It has been my great good fortune," she replied uneasily, "when I
+needed any small services, to meet with gentlemen who rendered them
+with readiness and forbearance."
+
+She laid a little stress upon the last word, and I took a step closer
+to her.
+
+"You cannot be aware, I think, who lodges in this house."
+
+"I am not," she replied. "Why? Who lodges here?"
+
+"Countess Lukstein."
+
+She gave a little faltering cry, and turned white to the lips.
+
+"You need have no fear," I continued. "I said Countess Lukstein, the
+wife, or rather, the widow. For a widow she has been this many a
+month."
+
+"A widow!" she repeated. "A widow!" And she drew a long breath of
+relief, the colour returning to her cheeks. Then she turned defiantly
+on me. "And what, pray, is this Countess Lukstein to me?"
+
+"God forbid that I should inquire into that!" said I sternly, and her
+eyes fell from my face. "Now, madam," I went on, "will you do me the
+favour I ask of you?"
+
+"You ask it with such humility," she answered bitterly, "that I cannot
+find it in my heart to refuse you."
+
+"I expected no less," I returned. "Let me assist you to dismount."
+
+She drew quickly away.
+
+"For what purpose? You would not take me to--to his wife."
+
+"Even so!"
+
+"Ah, not that! Not that! Mr. Buckler, I beseech you," she implored
+piteously, laying a trembling hand upon my shoulder. "I have not the
+courage."
+
+"There is nothing to fear," I said, reassuring her. "Nothing
+whatsoever. Your brother is there. That guarantees no harm can come to
+you. But, besides, Countess Lukstein knows nothing of the affair. No
+one knows of it but you and I."
+
+She still sat unconvinced upon her saddle.
+
+"How is it you know, Mr. Buckler?" she asked, in a low tone.
+
+"Julian told me," I answered, perceiving that I must needs go further
+than I intended if I meant to get my way. "Cannot you guess why? I
+said the Count was dead. I did not tell you how he died. He was killed
+in a duel."
+
+She looked at me for a moment with a great wonder in her eyes.
+
+"You!" she whispered. "You killed Count Lukstein?"
+
+"It is the truth," I answered. "And the Countess knows so little of
+the affair that she is even ignorant of that."
+
+"Are you sure?"
+
+"Should I come here a-visiting, think you, if she knew?"
+
+The words seemed somewhat to relieve her of apprehension, and she
+asked:
+
+"To what end would you have me speak to her? What am I to say?"
+
+"Simply that you and I have met by chance, for the first time this
+morning."
+
+"Then she couples your name with mine," she exclaimed, in a fresh
+alarm. "Without ground or reason! Your name--for you killed him--with
+mine. Don't you see? She must suspect!"
+
+"Nay," I answered. "It is the strangest accident which has led her to
+link us together in her thoughts. She can have no suspicion."
+
+"Then how comes it that she couples us who are strangers?"
+
+I saw no object in relating to her the device of her brother, or in
+disclosing my own passion for the Countess. Moreover, I bethought me
+that at any moment Marston might take his leave, and I was resolved
+that Lady Tracy should speak in his presence, since by that means he
+would be compelled to confirm her words. So I broke in abruptly upon
+her questioning.
+
+"Lady Tracy, we are wasting time. You must be content with my
+assurances. 'Tis but a little service that I claim of you, and one
+that may haply repair in some slight measure the fatal consequences of
+your disloyalty."
+
+She slipped her foot from the stirrup, and, without touching the hand
+I held out to assist her, sprang lightly to the ground. It may be that
+I spoke with more earnestness than I intended.
+
+"What mean cowards love makes of men!" she said, looking at me
+scornfully.
+
+The remark stung me sharply because I was fully sensible that I played
+but a despicable part in forcing her thus to bear testimony for me
+against her will, and I answered angrily:
+
+"Surely your memory provides you with one instance to the contrary;"
+and I mounted the steps and knocked at the door.
+
+Otto Krax answered my summons, and for once in his life he betrayed
+surprise. At the sight of Lady Tracy, he leaped backwards into the
+hall, and stared from her to me. Lady Tracy laid a hand within my arm,
+and the fingers tightened convulsively upon my sleeve; it seemed as
+though she were on the point of fainting. I bade the fellow, roughly,
+to wait upon his mistress, and inquire whether she would receive me,
+and a friend whom I was most anxious to present to her. With a
+curiosity very unusual, he asked of me my companion's name, that he
+might announce it. But since my design was to surprise Hugh Marston, I
+ordered him to deliver the message in the precise terms which I had
+used.
+
+So changed indeed was the man from his ordinary polite impassivity,
+that he abruptly left us standing in the hall, and departed on his
+errand with no more ceremony than a minister's servant shows to the
+needy place-seekers at his master's levée. We stood, I remember
+particularly, in a line with the high window of which I have already
+spoken, and the full light of the noontide sun fell athwart our faces.
+I set the circumstance down here inasmuch as it helped to bring about
+a very strange result.
+
+"Who is the man?" whispered Lady Tracy, in an agitated voice. "Does he
+know me?"
+
+"Nay," said I, reassuring her. "It may be that he has seen you before,
+at Bristol, for he was Count Lukstein's servant. But it is hardly
+probable that the Count shared his secret with him. And the matter was
+a secret kept most studiously."
+
+"But his manner? How account for that?"
+
+"Simply enough," said I. "The person who slandered us to the Countess,
+gave her, as a warrant and proof, a miniature of you."
+
+"A miniature!" she exclaimed, clinging to me in terror. "Oh, no! no!"
+
+"Gott im Himmel!"
+
+The guttural cry rang hoarsely from the top of the stairs. I looked
+up; Otto was leaning against the wall, his mouth open, his face
+working with excitement, and his eyes protruding from their sockets. I
+had just sufficient time to notice that, strangely enough, his gaze
+was directed at me, and not at the woman by my side, when I felt the
+hand slacken on my arm, and with a little weak sigh, Lady Tracy
+slipped to the floor in a swoon.
+
+I stooped down, and lifting her with some difficulty, carried, or
+rather dragged her to a couch.
+
+"Quick, booby!" I shouted to Otto. "Fetch one of the women and some
+water!"
+
+My outcry brought Ilga onto the landing.
+
+"What has befallen?" she asked, leaning over the rail.
+
+"'Tis but a swoon," I replied; "nothing more. There is no cause for
+alarm."
+
+"Poor creature!" she said tenderly, and came running down the stairs.
+"Let me look, Mr. Buckler. Ailments, you know, are a woman's
+province."
+
+I was kneeling by the couch, supporting Lady Tracy's head upon my arm,
+and I drew aside, but without removing my arm. Ilga caught sight of
+her face, and stopped.
+
+"Oh!" she cried, with a gasping intake of the breath; then she turned
+on me, her countenance flashing with a savage fury, and her voice so
+bitter and harsh that, had I closed my eyes, I could not have believed
+that it was she who spoke.
+
+"So you lied! You lied to me! You tell me one hour that you have never
+had speech with her, the next I find her in your arms."
+
+"Madame," I replied, withdrawing my arm hastily, "I told you the
+truth."
+
+The head fell heavily forward upon my breast, and I sought to arrange
+the body full-length upon the couch.
+
+"Nay," said the Countess. "Let the head rest there. It knows its
+proper place."
+
+"I told you the truth; believe it or not as you please!" I repeated,
+exasperated by her cruel indifference to Lady Tracy. "I never so much
+as set eyes upon this lady before to-day. I know that now. For the
+first time in my life, I saw her when I left you but a few minutes
+ago. She was waiting on horseback at your steps, and I persuaded her
+to dismount and bear me out with you."
+
+"A very likely plausible story," sneered Ilga. "And whom did your
+friend await at my steps?"
+
+"Her brother," I replied shortly. "Hugh Marston."
+
+"Her brother!" she exclaimed. "We'll even test the truth of that."
+
+She ran quickly to the foot of the stairs, as though she would ascend
+them. But seeing Otto still posted agape half-way up, she stopped and
+called to him.
+
+"Tell Mr. Marston that his sister lies in the hall in a dead faint!"
+
+Otto recovered his wits, and went slowly up to the parlour, while the
+Countess eyed me triumphantly. But in a moment Marston came flying
+down the stairs; he flung himself on his knees beside his sister.
+
+"Betty!" he cried aloud, and again, whispering it into her ear with a
+caressing reproach, "Betty!" He shook her gently by the shoulders,
+like one that wakes a child from sleep. "Is there no help, no doctor
+near?"
+
+One of the Countess's women came forward and loosed the bodice of Lady
+Tracy's riding-habit at the throat, while another fetched a bottle of
+salts.
+
+"It is the heat," they said. "She will soon recover."
+
+Marston turned to me with a momentary friendliness.
+
+"It was you who helped my sister. Thank you!" He spoke simply and with
+so genuine cordiality that I could not doubt his affection for Lady
+Tracy; and I wondered yet the more at the selfish use to which he had
+put her reputation.
+
+After a while the remedies had their effect, and Lady Tracy opened her
+eyes. Ilga was standing in front of her a few paces off, her face set
+and cold, and I noticed that Lady Tracy shivered as their glances met.
+
+"Send for a chair, Hugh!" she whispered, rising unsteadily to her
+feet.
+
+"'Twere wiser for you to rest a little before you leave," said the
+Countess, but there was no kindliness in her voice to second the
+invitation, and she did not move a step towards her.
+
+"I would not appear discourteous, madame," faltered Lady Tracy, "but I
+shall recover best at home."
+
+"I will fetch a chair, Betty," said Marston, and made as though to go;
+but with a terrified "No, no!" Lady Tracy caught him by the coat and
+drew his arm about her waist, clasping her hand upon it to keep it
+there. 'Twas the frankest confession of fear that ever I chanced upon,
+and I marvelled not that Ilga smiled at it. However, she despatched
+Otto upon the errand, and presently Marston accompanied his sister to
+her home.
+
+Ilga and myself were thus left standing in the hall, looking each at
+the other. I was determined not to speak, being greatly angered for
+that she had not believed me when I informed her Lady Tracy was
+Marston's sister, and I took up my hat and cane and marched with my
+nose in the air to the door. But she came softly behind me, and said
+in the gentlest tone of contrition:
+
+"I seem to spend half my life in giving you offence and the other half
+in begging your pardon."
+
+And contrasting her sweet patience with me against the cold dislike
+which she had evinced to Lady Tracy, I, poor fool, carried home with
+me the fancy yet more firmly rooted than before, that her antagonism
+to the original of the miniature was no more than the outcome of a
+woman's jealousy.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XIII.
+
+                   COUNTESS LUKSTEIN IS CONVINCED.
+
+
+One detail of this mischancy episode occasioned me considerable
+perplexity. Conjecture as I might, I could hit upon no cause or
+explanation of it that seemed in any degree feasible. The astonishment
+of Otto Krax I attributed, and as I afterwards discovered rightly
+attributed, to the appearance of Lady Tracy so pat upon the discussion
+of her picture, and to my expressed desire to present her to the
+Countess within a few minutes of strenuously denying her acquaintance;
+and I deemed it not extravagant. That he recognised her as the object
+of his master's capricious fancy at Bristol, I considered most
+improbable. For I remembered how successfully the intrigue had been
+concealed; so that even Julian himself came over-late to the knowledge
+of it. His second exclamation on the stairs I set down to the
+probability that he had perceived Lady Tracy was on the point of
+swooning.
+
+It was indeed the fact of the lady's swoon which troubled me. Her
+natural repugnance to meeting the Countess was not motive enough. Nor
+did I believe her sufficiently sensible to shame for that feeling to
+work on her to such purpose. It seemed of a piece with the terror
+which she had subsequently shown on her recovery. The miniature, I
+conjectured, had something, if not everything to do with it. Resolving
+wisely that I had best ascertain the top and bottom of the matter, I
+called upon Marston at his house in Lincoln's Inn Fields, close to the
+new college of Franciscans, and asked where his sister stayed, on the
+plea that I would fain pay my respects to her, and assure myself of
+her convalescence.
+
+"I can satisfy you on the latter point," he returned cordially, "but
+at the cost of denying you the pleasure of a visit. For my sister left
+London on the next day, and has gone down into the country."
+
+"So soon?" I asked in some surprise. For Lady Tracy hardly impressed
+me as likely to find much enjoyment in the felicities of a rural life.
+
+"Her illness left her weak, and she thought the country air would give
+her health."
+
+For a moment I was in two minds whether to inquire more precisely of
+her whereabouts and follow her; but I reflected that I might encounter
+some difficulty in compassing an interview, for it was evident that
+she had fled from London in order to avoid further trouble and concern
+in the matter. And even if I succeeded so far, I saw no means of
+eliciting the explanation I needed, without revealing to her the
+unscrupulous use which her brother had made of her miniature; and that
+I had not the heart to do. The business seemed of insufficient
+importance to warrant it. There was besides a final and convincing
+argument which decided me to remain in London. If I journeyed into the
+West, I should leave an open field for my rival, and no ally with the
+Countess to guard against his insinuations; and I reflected further
+that there were few possible insinuations from which he would refrain.
+
+On this point of his conduct, however, I was minded to teach him a
+lesson, which would make him more discreet in the future, and at the
+same time effect the purpose I had in view when Lady Tracy
+inopportunely swooned. For when I came to think over the events of
+that morning, I recollected that after all Lady Tracy had not spoken
+as I asked her, and though the last words Ilga had said to me as I
+left the house seemed to show me that she no longer believed the
+calumny, I was none the less anxious to compel Marston to disavow it.
+
+Now it was the fashion at the time of which I write for the fine
+ladies and gentlemen of the town to take the air of a morning in the
+Piazza, of Covent Garden; and choosing an occasion when Marston was
+lounging there in the company of the Countess and her attendant,
+Mdlle. Durette, I inquired of him pointedly concerning his sister's
+health, meaning to lead him from that starting-point to an admission
+that Lady Tracy was until that chance meeting a complete stranger to
+me.
+
+But or ever he could reply, Ilga broke in with an air of flurry, and
+calling to Lord Culverton, who was approaching, engaged him in a rapid
+conversation. She was afraid, I supposed, that I meant to break the
+promise which I had given her upon the stairs, and tax Marston with
+his treachery; and I was confirmed in the supposition when I repeated
+the question. For she shot at me a look of reproach, and said quickly:
+
+"I was telling your friend when you joined us," she said, "of my home
+in the Tyrol." She laid some stress upon the word "friend." "'Twere
+hard, I think, at any season to find a spot more beautiful."
+
+"'Twere impossible," rejoined Culverton, with his most elegant bow.
+"For no spot can be more beautiful than that which owns Beauty for its
+queen."
+
+"The compliment," replied Ilga, with a bow, "is worthy of the
+playhouse."
+
+"Nay, nay," smirked my lord, mightily gratified; "the truth, madame,
+the truth extorted from me, let me die! And yet it hath some wit. I
+cannot help it, wit will out, the more certainly when it is truth as
+well."
+
+"Lady Tracy, then----" I began to Marston.
+
+"But at this time of the year," interrupted the Countess immediately,
+"Lukstein has no rival. Cornfields redden below it, beeches are
+marshalled green up the hillside behind it, gentian picks out a mosaic
+on the grass, and night and day waterfalls tumble their music through
+the air. Yet even in winter, when the ice binds it and gags its
+voices, it has a quiet charm of silence whereof the memory makes one
+homesick."
+
+As she proceeded the anxiety died out of her face, and she grew
+absorbed in the picture which her memories painted.
+
+"Madame," said Marston, "I should appreciate the description better if
+it spoke less of a longing to return."
+
+"It is my kingdom, you see," she replied. "Barbarous no doubt, with a
+turbulent populace, but still it is my kingdom, and very loyal to me."
+
+Culverton paid her the obvious flattery, but she took no heed of it.
+
+"The tiniest, compactest kingdom," she went on in a musing tone,
+"sequestered in a nook of the world." She seated herself on a chair
+which stood at the edge of the Piazza. "Indeed, I shall return there,
+and that, I fancy, soon."
+
+"Countess!" replied Culverton. "That were too heartless. 'Twould
+decimate London, let me perish! For never a gallant but would drink
+himself to death. Oh, fie!"
+
+Marston joined eagerly in the other's protestations. For my part,
+however, I remained silent, well content with what she had said. For I
+recollected the evening when I first had talk with her, and the
+construction which I had placed upon her words; how she would never
+return to Lukstein until she was eased of the pain which her husband's
+disaster had caused her. The notion that her memories had lost their
+sting thrilled me to the heart, and woke my vanity to conjecture of a
+cause.
+
+"Then," said the Countess, "would my friends be proved heartless. For
+it is their turn to visit me, and I would not be baulked of requiting
+them for their kindness to me here. 'Tis not so tedious a journey
+after all."
+
+"I can warrant the truth of that," said Culverton. "For I have been as
+far as Innspruck myself."
+
+"Indeed?" said the Countess. She looked hard at him for a second, and
+then laughed to herself. "When was that?" she asked.
+
+"Some six years ago. I was on the grand tour with a tutor--a most
+obnoxious person, who was ever poring over statues and cold marble
+figures, but as for a fine woman, rabbit me if he ever knew one when
+he saw her. He dragged me with him from Italy to Innspruck to view
+some figures in the Cathedral."
+
+"Then you must needs have passed beneath Lukstein," said the Countess,
+"for it hangs just above the high-road from Italy."
+
+Culverton would not admit the statement. Some instinct, some angelic
+warning, he declared, would surely have bidden him stop and climb to
+the Castle as to a holy shrine. The Countess laughingly assured him
+that nevertheless he had passed her home, and with a fond minuteness
+she described to him its aspect and position.
+
+Then the strangest thing occurred. She leaned forward in her chair,
+and with the tip of the stick she carried, drew a line on the gravel
+at the edge of the pavement.
+
+"That represents the road from Meran," she explained. "The stone
+yonder is the Lukstein rock, on which the Castle stands." She briefly
+described the character of the village, and marked out the windings of
+the road from the gates at the back of the Castle down the hillside,
+until she had well-nigh completed a diagram in all essentials similar
+to that which Julian had sketched for me in my Horace.
+
+"From the village," she said, "the road runs in a zigzag to join the
+highway."
+
+She traced two long, distinct lines, but stopped of a sudden at the
+apex of the second angle, where the coppice runs to a point, with her
+face puckered up in a great perplexity. Culverton asked her what
+troubled her.
+
+"I was forgetting," she said. "I was forgetting how often the road
+twisted," and very slowly she drew the final line to join with that
+which she had marked to represent the highway in the bed of the
+valley.
+
+It struck me as peculiar for the moment, that with her great affection
+for Lukstein, she should forget so simple and prominent a detail as
+the number of angles which the road made in its descent. But I gave
+little thought to the matter, being rather engrossed in the strange
+coincidence of the diagram. It brought home to me with greater
+poignancy than ever before the deceit which I was practising upon my
+mistress. For I compared the use to which I had put my plan of the
+Castle with the motive which had led her unconsciously to reproduce
+it, I mean her desire that her friends should appreciate the home in
+which she took such manifest delight.
+
+But while I was thus uneasily reproaching myself I perceived Marston
+separate from the group, and being obstinately determined that he
+should admit before Ilga the tenuity of my acquaintance with his
+sister, I called him back and asked him at what period Lady Tracy
+might be expected again in town.
+
+This time the Countess made no effort to divert me. Indeed, she seemed
+barely to notice that I had put the question, but sat with her chin
+propped on the palms of her hands gazing with a thoughtful frown at
+the outline which she had drawn; and I believed her to be engrossed in
+the picture which it evoked in her imagination.
+
+"It appears that you feel great interest in my sister, Mr. Buckler,"
+said Marston curiously. Doubtless my question was a clumsy one, for I
+was never an adept at finesse; but this was the last answer which I
+desired to hear. "Nay, nay," I said hurriedly, and stopped at a loss,
+idly adding with my cane a line here and there to Countess Lukstein's
+diagram.
+
+To my surprise, however, Ilga herself came to my rescue, and in a
+careless tone brought the matter to an issue.
+
+"Perhaps Mr. Buckler," she remarked, "is an old friend of Lady
+Tracy's."
+
+I raised my eyes from the Countess, fixing them upon Marston to note
+how he took the thrust, and with a quick sweep of her stick she
+smoothed the gravel, obliterating the lines. That I expected to see
+Marston disconcerted and in a pother to evade the question, I need not
+say, and 'twas with an amazement which fell little short of
+stupefaction that I heard him answer forthwith in a brusque, curt
+tone.
+
+"That can hardly be. For my sister has been abroad all this year, and
+Mr. Buckler in the same case until this year."
+
+I turned to Ilga. But she seemed more interested in Lady Tracy than in
+the fact of the admission.
+
+"Ah! Lady Tracy was abroad," she said. "When did she leave England?"
+
+"In September."
+
+"The very month that I returned," I exclaimed triumphantly.
+
+The Countess turned quickly towards me. "I fancied you only returned
+this spring."
+
+"I was in England for a short while in September," said I, regretting
+the haste with which I had spoken.
+
+"September of last year?"
+
+"Of last year."
+
+"Anno Domini 1685," laughed Culverton. "There seems to be some doubt
+about the date."
+
+"September, 1685," repeated the Countess with a curious insistency.
+
+"There is no doubt," returned Marston hotly. "I could wish for Betty's
+sake we had not such cause to remember it. She was betrothed to one of
+Monmouth's rebels, curse him! and Betty was so distressed by his
+capture that her health gave way."
+
+I was upon tenterhooks lest Ilga should inquire the name of the rebel.
+But she merely remarked in an absent way, as though she attached no
+significance to his words:
+
+"'Tis a sad story."
+
+"In truth it is, and the only consolation we got from it was that the
+rebel swung for his treachery. Betty was ordered forthwith abroad, and
+she left England on the fourteenth of September. I remember the day
+particularly since it was her birthday."
+
+"September the fourteenth!" said the Countess; and I, thinking to make
+out my case beyond dispute, cried triumphantly:
+
+"The very day whereon I bade good-bye to Leyden."
+
+The words were barely off my lips when Ilga rose to her feet. She
+stood for a moment with her eyes very wide and her bosom heaving.
+
+"I am convinced," she whispered to me with an odd smile. "I ought not
+to have needed the proof. I am convinced."
+
+With that she turned a little on one side, and Marston resumed:
+
+"That proves how little Mr. Buckler is acquainted with Lady Tracy."
+
+He spoke as though I had been endeavouring to persuade the company
+that I was intimate with his sister; he almost challenged me to
+contradict him. I could not but admire the effrontery of the man in
+carrying off the exposure of his falsity with so high a head, and I
+surmised that he had some new contrivance in his mind whereby he might
+subsequently set himself right with Ilga. One thing, however, was
+apparent to me: that he had no suspicion of his sister's acquaintance
+with Count Lukstein.
+
+"It was on the fourteenth that Betty set out for France," he once more
+declared, and so walked away.
+
+"Where she married most happily three months later," sniggered
+Culverton. "As you say, madame, it is a very sad story."
+
+The Countess laughed.
+
+"She was not over-constant to her rebel."
+
+"In the matter of the affections," replied Culverton, "Lady Tracy was
+ever my Lady Bountiful."
+
+It seemed to me that the Countess turned a shade paler, but any
+inference which I might have drawn adverse to myself from that was
+prevented by a proposal which she presently mooted. For some other of
+our friends joining us about this time, she proposed for a frolic that
+the party should take chairs and immediately invade my lodgings.
+Needless to say, I most heartily seconded the proposition, apologising
+at the same time for the poor hospitality which the suddenness of the
+invitation compelled me to offer.
+
+Since by chance I had the key in my pocket, we entered from the Park
+by the little door in the wall of the garden. I mention this because I
+was waked up about the middle of the night by the sound of this door
+banging to and fro against the jambs, and I believed that I must have
+failed to lock it after I had let my friends into the garden, the door
+having neither latch nor bolt, but was secured only by the lock. For
+awhile I lay in bed striving to shut my ears to the sound. But the
+wind was high, and, moreover, blew straight into the room through the
+open window, so that I could not but listen, and in the end grew very
+wakeful. The sounds were irregularly spaced according to the lulls of
+the wind. Now the door would flap to three or four times in quick
+succession, short and sharp as the crack of a pistol; now it would
+stand noiseless for a time while I waited and waited for it to slam.
+At last I could endure the worry of it no longer, and hastily donning
+some clothes, I clattered downstairs.
+
+The moon was shining fitfully through a scurrying rack of clouds, but
+as I always placed the key of the door upon the mantel-shelf of the
+larger parlour, and thus knew exactly where to lay my hand on it, I
+did not trouble to strike a light, to which omission I owed my life,
+and, indeed, more than my life. I stumbled past the furniture, crossed
+the garden, locked the door, and got me back to bed.
+
+In a few moments I fell asleep, but by a chance association of
+ideas--for I think that the banging of the postern must have set my
+thoughts that way--I began, for the first time since I came to London,
+to dream once more of the door in Lukstein Castle, and to see it open,
+and open noiselessly across the world. For the first time in the
+history of my nightmare fancies, that door swung back against the
+wall. It swung heavily, and the sound of the collision shook me to the
+centre. I woke trembling in every limb. It was early morning, the sun
+being risen, and, to my amazement, through the open window I heard the
+postern bang against the jamb.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIV.
+
+                       A GAME OF HIDE-AND-SEEK.
+
+
+Outside the boughs tossed blithely in the golden air; the wind piped
+among the leaves, and the birds called cheerily. But for me the
+morning was empty of comfort. For the recurrence of this dream filled
+me with an uncontrollable terror; I felt like one who gets him to bed
+of a night in the pride of strength, and wakes in the morning to see
+the stains of an old disease upon his skin. I looked back upon those
+first months of agony in Italy; I remembered how I had dreaded the
+coming of night and the quiet shadows of evening; how each day, from
+the moment I rose from bed, appeared to me as no more than night's
+forerunner. Into such desperate straits did I fall that I was seized
+with a wild foreboding that this period of torture was destined to
+return upon me again and again in some inevitable cycle of fate.
+
+There seemed indeed but one chance for me: to secure the pardon of
+Ilga! It was only on her account that I felt remorse. I had realised
+that from the beginning. And I determined to seek her out that very
+day, unbosom myself of my passion, and confess the injury which I had
+done her.
+
+It may be remembered that I was on the brink of the confession when
+Marston ascended the stairs at the apartment of the Countess, and
+interrupted me. Since then, though I had enjoyed opportunities enough,
+I had kept silence; for it was always my habit, due, I fancy, to a
+certain retiring timidity which I had not as yet thoroughly mastered,
+to wait somewhat slavishly upon circumstances, rather than to direct
+my wits to disposing the circumstances in the conjunction best suited
+to my end. Before I spoke or acted, I needed ever "the confederate
+season," as Shakespeare has it. Now, however, I determined to take the
+matter into my own hands, and tarry no longer for the opportune
+accident. So, leaving orders with my servants that they should procure
+a locksmith and have the lock of the garden door repaired, I set out
+and walked to Pall Mall.
+
+To my grief, I discovered that I had tarried too long. Countess
+Lukstein, the servant told me--he was not Otto--had left London early
+that morning on a visit into the country. A letter, however, had been
+written to me. It was handed to me at the door, since the messenger
+had not yet started to deliver it. With the handwriting I was
+unfamiliar, and I turned at once to the signature. It was only
+natural, I assured myself, that Mademoiselle Durette should write;
+Ilga would no doubt be busy over the arrangements for her departure.
+But none the less I experienced a lively disappointment that she had
+not spared a moment to pen the missive herself. Mademoiselle Durette
+informed me that news had arrived from Lukstein which compelled them
+to return shortly to the Tyrol, and that consequently they had
+journeyed that morning into the country, in order to pay a visit which
+they had already put off too long. The Countess would be absent for
+the space of a fortnight, but would return to London without fail to
+take fitting leave of her friends.
+
+The first three days of her absence lagged by with a most tedious
+monotony. It seems to me now that I spent them entirely in marching
+backwards and forwards on the pavement of Pall Mall. Only one thing,
+indeed, afforded me any interest--the door in my garden wall. For
+there was nothing whatever amiss with the lock, and on no subsequent
+night did it fly open. I closely examined my servants to ascertain
+whether any one of them had made use of it for egress, but they all
+strenuously denied that they had left the house that night, and I was
+driven to the conclusion that I had turned the key before closing the
+door, so that the lock had missed its socket in the post.
+
+On the fourth day, however, an incident occurred which made the next
+week fly like a single hour, and brought me to long most ardently, not
+merely that the Countess might lengthen her visit, but that she would
+depart from England without so much as passing through London on her
+way. For as I waked that morning at a somewhat late hour, I perceived
+Marston sitting patiently on the edge of my bed. He was in
+riding-dress, with his boots and breeches much stained with mud, and
+he carried a switch in his hand. For a while I lay staring at him in
+silent surprise. He did not notice that I was awake, and sat absorbed
+in a moody reverie. At last I stirred, and he turned towards me. I
+noticed that his face was dirty and leaden, his eyes heavy and tired.
+
+"You sleep very well," said he.
+
+"Have you waited long?"
+
+"An hour. I was anxious to speak to you, so I came up to your room."
+
+"We can talk the matter over at breakfast," said I cheerfully, though,
+to tell the truth, I felt exceedingly uneasy at the strangeness of his
+manner. And I made a movement as though I would rise; but he budged
+not so much as an inch.
+
+"I don't fancy we shall breakfast together," said he, with a slow
+smile, and after a pause: "you sleep very well," he repeated,
+"considering that you have a crime upon your conscience."
+
+I started up in my bed.
+
+"Lie down!" he snarled, with a sudden fierceness, and with a queer
+sense of helplessness I obeyed him.
+
+"That's right," he continued, with a patronising smile. "Keep quiet
+and listen!"
+
+For the moment, however, there was nothing for me to listen to, since
+Marston sat silent, watching with evident enjoyment the concern which
+I betrayed. He had chosen the easiest way with me. The least hint of
+condescension in another's voice always made me conscious in the
+extreme of my own shortcomings, and I felt that I lay helpless in some
+new toils of his weaving.
+
+At last he spoke.
+
+"You killed Count Lukstein."
+
+I was prepared for the accusation by his previous words.
+
+"Well?" I asked, in as natural a tone as I could command.
+
+"Well," he returned, "I would not be too hard with you. What if you
+returned to Cumberland to-day, and stayed there? Your estates, I am
+sure, will thrive all the better for their master's supervision."
+
+"My estates," I replied, "have a steward to supervise them. Their
+master will return to them at no man's bidding."
+
+"It is a pity, a very great pity," said he thoughtfully, flicking his
+switch in the air. "For not only are you unwise in your own interests,
+but you drive me to a proceeding which I assure you is very repugnant
+and distasteful to my nature. Really, Mr. Buckler, you should have
+more consideration for others."
+
+The smooth irony of his voice began to make my anger rise.
+
+"And what is this proceeding?" I inquired.
+
+"It would be my duty," he began, and I interrupted him.
+
+"I can quite understand, then, that it is repugnant to your nature."
+
+He smiled indulgently.
+
+"It is a common fault of the very young to indulge in dialectics at
+inappropriate seasons. It would be my duty, unless you retired
+obediently to Cumberland, to share my knowledge with the lady you have
+widowed."
+
+"I shall save you that trouble," said I, much relieved, "for I am in
+the mind to inform the Countess of the fact myself. Indeed, I called
+at her lodging the other day with that very object."
+
+"But the Countess had left, and you didn't." He turned on me sharply;
+the words were more a question than a statement. I remained silent,
+and he smiled again. "As it is, I shall inform her. That will make all
+the difference."
+
+I needed no arguments to convince me of the truth of what he said. The
+confession must come from me, else was I utterly undone. I sat up and
+looked at him defiantly.
+
+"So be it, then! It is a race between us which shall reach her first."
+
+"Pardon me," he explained, in the same unruffled, condescending tone;
+"there will be no race, for I happen to know where the Countess is
+a-visiting, and you, I fancy, do not. I have the advantage of you in
+that respect."
+
+I glanced at him doubtfully. Did he seek to bluff me into yielding, I
+wondered? But he sat on the bedside, carelessly swinging a leg, with
+so easy a composure that I could not hesitate to credit his words.
+However, I feigned not to believe him, and telling him as much, fell
+back upon my pillow with a show of indifference, and turned my face
+from him to the wall, as though I would go to sleep.
+
+"You do believe me," he insisted suavely. "You do indeed. Besides, I
+can give you proof of my knowledge. I am so certain that I know the
+lady's whereabouts, and that you do not, that I will grant you four
+days' grace to think the matter over. As I say, I have no desire to
+press you hard, and to be frank with you, I am not quite satisfied as
+to how my information would be received." I turned back towards him,
+and noticing the movement, he continued: "Oh, make no mistake, Mr.
+Buckler! The disclosure will ruin your chance most surely. But will it
+benefit me? That is the point. However, I must take the risk, and
+will, if you persist in your unwisdom."
+
+I lay without answering him, turning over in my mind the only plan I
+could think of, which offered me a chance of outwitting him.
+
+"You might send word to me, four days from now, which alternative you
+prefer. To-day is Monday. On Thursday I shall expect to hear from
+you."
+
+He uncrossed his legs as he spoke, and the scabbard of his sword
+rattled against the frame of the bed. The sound, chiming appositely to
+my thoughts, urged me to embrace my plan, and I did embrace it, though
+reluctantly. After all, I thought, 'twas a dishonourable wooing that
+Marston was about. So I said, with a sneer:
+
+"Men have been called snivelling curs for better conduct than yours."
+
+"By pedantic schoolboys," he replied calmly. "But then the schoolboys
+have been whipped for their impertinence."
+
+With that he drew the bed-clothes from my chest, and raised his whip
+in the air. I clenched my fists, and did not stir a muscle. I could
+have asked for nothing that was more like to serve me. I made a
+mistake, however, in not feigning some slight resistance, and he
+suddenly flung back the clothes upon me.
+
+"The ruse was ingenious," he said, with a smile, "but I cannot gratify
+you to the extent you wish. In a week's time I shall have the greatest
+pleasure in crossing swords with you. But until then we must be
+patient."
+
+My patience was exhausted already, and raising myself upon my elbow, I
+loaded him with every vile epithet I could lay my tongue to. He
+listened with extraordinary composure and indifference, stripping off
+his gloves the while, until I stopped from sheer lack of breath.
+
+"It's all very true," he remarked quietly. "I have nothing to urge
+against the matter of your speech. Your voice is, I think,
+unnecessarily loud, but that is a small defect, and easily reformed."
+
+The utter failure of my endeavour to provoke him to an encounter,
+combined with the contemptuous insolence of his manner, lifted me to
+the highest pitch of fury.
+
+"You own your cowardice, then!" I cried, fairly beside myself with
+rage. "You have plotted against me from the outset like a common,
+rascally intriguer. No device was too mean for you to adopt. Why, the
+mere lie about the miniature----"
+
+I stopped abruptly, seeing that he turned on me a sudden questioning
+look.
+
+"Miniature?" he exclaimed. "What miniature?"
+
+I remembered the pledge which I had given to Ilga, and continued
+hurriedly, seeking to cover up my slip:
+
+"I could not have believed there was such underhand treachery in the
+world."
+
+"Then now," said he, "you are better informed," and on the instant his
+composure gave way. It seemed as though he could no longer endure the
+strain which his repression threw on him. Passion leaped into his
+face, and burned there like a flame; his voice vibrated and broke with
+the extremity of feeling; his very limbs trembled.
+
+"'Tis all old talk to me--ages old and hackneyed. You are only
+repeating my thoughts, the thoughts I have lived with through this
+damned night. But I have killed them. Understand that!" His voice
+shrilled to a wild laugh. "I have killed them. Do you think I don't
+know it's cowardly? But there's a prize to be won, and I tell you"--he
+raised his hands above his head, and spoke with a sort of devilish
+exaltation--"I tell you, were my mother alive, and did she stand
+between Ilga and me, I would trample her as surely as I mean to
+trample you."
+
+"Damn you!" I cried, wrought to a very hysteria by his manner. "Don't
+call her by that name!"
+
+"And you!" he said, and with an effort he recovered his self-control.
+"And you, are your hands quite clean, my little parson? You kill the
+husband secretly, and then woo the wife with all the innocence and
+timidity in the world. Is there no treachery in that?"
+
+I was completely staggered by his words and the contempt with which
+they were spoken. That any one should conceive my lack of assurance in
+paying my addresses to be a deliberate piece of deceit, had never so
+much as entered my head. I had always been too busy upbraiding myself
+upon that very score. Yet I could not but realise now how plausible
+the notion appeared. 'Twas plain that Marston believed I had been
+carefully playing a part; and I wondered: Would Ilga imagine that,
+too, when I told her my story? Would she believe that my deference and
+hesitation had been assumed to beguile her? I gazed at Marston,
+horror-stricken by the conjecture.
+
+"Ay!" said he, nodding an answer to my look, "we have found each other
+out. Come, let us be frank! We are just a couple of dishonest
+scoundrels, and preaching befits neither of us."
+
+He moved away from the bedside, and picked up his whip which he had
+dropped on to the floor. It lay close to the window, and as he raised
+himself again, he looked out across the garden.
+
+"You overlook the Park," he said in an altered tone. "It is very
+strange."
+
+At the time I was so overwhelmed by the construction which he had
+placed upon my behaviour, that I did not carefully consider what he
+meant. Thinking over the remark subsequently, however, I inferred from
+it, what indeed I had always suspected, that Marston had no knowledge
+his interviews and promenades with the Countess had taken place within
+sight of my windows.
+
+He took up his hat, and opened the door.
+
+"I told you fortune would give me my revenge," he said.
+
+"You are leaving your gloves," said I, awakened to the necessity of
+action by his leave-taking.
+
+The gloves were lying on the edge of the bed. Thanking me politely, he
+returned, and stooped forward to take them. I gathered them in my hand
+and tossed them into his face. His head went back as though I had
+struck him a blow; he flushed to a dark crimson, and I saw his fingers
+tighten about his whip. The next moment, however, he gave a little
+amused laugh.
+
+"There is much of the child lingering in you, Mr. Buckler," he said.
+"'Tis a very amiable quality, and I wonder not that it gets you
+friends. Indeed, I should have rejoiced to have been reckoned among
+them myself, had such a consummation been possible."
+
+He spoke the last sentence with something of sincerity; but it only
+served to increase my rage.
+
+"You cannot disregard the insult," I cried.
+
+"Why not? There are no witnesses."
+
+"There shall be witnesses and to spare on the next occasion," I
+replied, baffled by his coolness. He shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"You have four days to bring about that occasion. Afterwards I shall
+seek it myself."
+
+I had four days wherein to discover the whereabouts of Countess
+Lukstein, or to compel Marston to an encounter. The one alternative
+seemed impossible; the other, as I had evidence enough, little short
+of impossible. Four days! The words beat into my brain like dull
+strokes of a hammer. I could not think for their pressing repetition.
+I was, moreover, bitterly sensible that I had myself placed the weapon
+for my destruction into Marston's hand.
+
+For there was no doubting that he had obtained his knowledge from his
+sister. I had plumed myself somewhat upon my diplomacy in revealing my
+secret to her, and in using it as a means to force her to deny my
+acquaintance. Now, when it was all too late, I saw what a mistake my
+cleverness had been. For not only through Lady Tracy's swoon had I
+missed my particular aim, but I had presented to my antagonist a
+veritable Excalibur, and kept not so much as a poniard for my own
+defence. Even then, however, I did not realise the entirety of the
+mistake, and had no inkling of the price I was to pay for it.
+
+The first step which I took that morning was to make inquiries at the
+lodging of Countess Lukstein. The servants, however, whom she had left
+behind, knew--or rather pretended to know--nothing of their mistress'
+journey, beyond what they had previously told me.
+
+Since, then, it was impossible to search the length and breadth of
+England within four days, I was thrown back upon my last resource. It
+was discreditable enough even to my fevered mind; but I could see no
+other way out of the difficulty, and at all costs I was resolved that
+Marston should not relate his story to the Countess until I had
+related mine. For even if he was minded to speak the truth, it would
+make all the difference, as he justly said, which of us twain spoke
+the first. I felt certain, moreover, that he would not speak the
+truth. For, to begin with, he would ascribe my timidity to a
+carefully-laid plan, since that was his genuine conviction; and again,
+remembering the story which I believed him to have invented concerning
+the miniature, I had no doubt that he would so embroider his actual
+knowledge that I should figure on the pattern as a common assassin.
+How much of the real history of Count Lukstein's death he knew, of
+course I was not aware, nor did I trouble myself to consider.
+
+My conclusion, accordingly, was to fix upon him within the next four
+days an affront so public and precise that he must needs put the
+business without delay to the arbitrament of swords; in which case, I
+was determined, one or the other of us should find his account.
+
+To this end I spent the day amidst the favourite resorts of the town,
+passing from the Piazza to the Exchange in search of him; thence back
+to St. Paul's Church, thence to Hyde Park, from the Park across the
+water to the Spring Garden at Lambeth, and thence again to Barn Elms.
+By this time the afternoon was far advanced, and bethinking me that he
+might by chance be dining abroad, I sought out the taverns which he
+most frequented: Pontac's in Abchurch Lane, Locket's, and the
+"Rummer." But this pursuit was as fruitless as the former, and without
+waiting to bite a morsel myself, I hurried to make the round of the
+chocolate-houses. Marston, however, was not to be discovered in any of
+them, nor had word been heard of him that day. At the "Spread Eagle,"
+in Covent Garden, however, I fell across Lord Culverton, and framing
+an excuse persuaded him to bear me company; which he did with great
+good-nature, for he was engaged at ombre, a game to which he was much
+addicted. At the "Cocoa Tree" in Pall Mall, I secured Elmscott by a
+like pretext, and asked him if he knew of another who was minded for a
+frolic, and would make the fourth. He presented me immediately to a
+Mr. Aglionby, a country gentleman of the neighbouring county to my
+own, but newly come to town, and very boisterous and talkative. I
+thought him the very man for my purpose, since he would be like to
+spread the report of the quarrel, and joining him to my company I
+summoned a hackney coach, and we drove to the Lincoln's Inn Fields. A
+hundred yards from Marston's house I dismissed the coach and sent
+Elmscott and the rest of the party forward, myself following a little
+way behind. I had previously instructed Elmscott in the part which I
+desired him to play. Briefly, he was to inquire whether Marston was
+within; and if, as I suspected, that was the case, to seek admittance
+on the plea that he wished to introduce a friend from the country, in
+the person of Mr. Aglionby. Whereupon I was to join myself quietly to
+the party, and so secure an entrance into the house in company with
+sufficient witnesses to render a duel inevitable upon any insult.
+
+Marston, however, was prepared against all contingencies, for four
+servants appeared in answer to my cousin's knocking; and as they
+opened the door no further than would allow one person to enter at a
+time, it was impossible even to carry the entrance by a rush. My
+friends, however, had no thought of doing that, since one of the
+servants came forward into the street and gravely informed them that
+his master had fallen suddenly sick of an infectious fever, and lay
+abed in a frenzy of delirium. Even as the fellow spoke, a noise of
+shouts and wild laughter came through the open door. My companions
+shuddered at the sounds, and with a few hasty expressions of regret,
+hurried away from the neighbourhood. I ran after them, shouting out
+that it was all a lie; that Marston had not one-tenth of the fever
+which possessed me, and that his illness was a coward's dissimulation
+to avoid a just chastisement. However, I had better have spared my
+breath; for my words had no effect but to alienate their good-will,
+and they presently parted from me with every appearance of relief.
+
+I walked home falling from depth to depth of despondency. The summer
+evening, pleasant with delicate colours, came down upon the town; the
+air was charged and lucent with a cool dew; the sweet odours of the
+country--nowhere, I think, so haunting, so bewitching to the senses as
+when one catches them astray in the heart of a city--were fragrant in
+the nostrils, so that the passers-by walked with a new alertness in
+their limbs, and a renewed youth in their faces; and as I stood at the
+door of my lodging, a great home-sickness swept in upon my soul, a
+longing for the dark fields in the starshine and the silent hills
+about them. I was seized with a masterful impulse to saddle my horse
+and ride out northwards through the night, while the lights grew
+blurred and misty behind me, and the fresh wind blew out of the
+heavens on my face. I doubt not, however, that the desire would have
+passed ere I had got far, and that I should have felt much the same
+desolate home-sickness for the cobbles and dust of London as I felt
+now for Cumberland.
+
+However, I did not test the strength of my impulse; for while I stood
+upon the steps debating whether I should go or stay, I perceived one
+of Marston's servants coming towards me down the street. With a grave
+deference, under which, rightly or wrongly, I seemed to detect a
+certain irony, he gave me his master's compliments, and handed me a
+little stick of wood. There was a single notch cut deep into the
+stick. I understood it to signify that one day out of the four had
+passed, and--so strangely is a man constituted--this gibing menace
+determined me to stay. It turned my rage, with its fitful alternatives
+of passion and despair, into a steady hate, just as one may stir
+together the scattered, spurting embers of a fire into one glowing
+flame.
+
+Late that evening came Lord Elmscott to see me, and asked me with a
+concern which I little expected, after his curt desertion of a few
+hours agone, what dispute had arisen between Marston and myself. I
+told him as much as I could without revealing the ground of our
+quarrel; that Marston had certain knowledge concerning myself which he
+was minded to impart to Countess Lukstein; that I was fully sensible
+the Countess ought to be informed of the matter, but that I wished to
+carry the information myself; that I doubted Marston would not speak
+the truth, but would distort the story to suit his own ends. The rest
+of the events I related to him in the order in which they had
+occurred.
+
+"But it may be," he objected, "that Marston has really fallen sick."
+
+For reply, I handed him the stick of wood, and told him how it had
+been delivered.
+
+"The fellow's cunning," he observed, "for not only is he out of your
+reach, but he locks your mouth. You cannot urge that a man refuses to
+meet you when he lies abed with a fever, and you cannot prove that the
+sickness is feigned."
+
+For awhile he sat silent, drumming with his fingers on the table. Then
+he asked:
+
+"How comes it that Marston knows of this secret?"
+
+"His sister must have told him," I replied.
+
+"His sister!" he repeated. "Why, you never met her before this month."
+
+"I told her on the first occasion that I met her. She was in some
+measure concerned in it."
+
+He looked at me shrewdly.
+
+"She was engaged to Sir Julian Harnwood," said he.
+
+I nodded assent.
+
+He brought his fist down on the table with a bang.
+
+"The trouble springs from that cursed journey of yours to Bristol. I
+warned you harm would come of it. Had Lady Tracy any reason to fear
+you?"
+
+"None," I replied promptly.
+
+"Or any reason to fear Countess Lukstein?"
+
+"None," I replied again; but after a moment's thought I added: "But
+she did fear her. I am sure of it."
+
+He sprang to his feet.
+
+"Three days!" he cried. "Three days! We may yet outwit him."
+
+"How?" I asked, with the greatest eagerness.
+
+"I'll not tell you now. 'Tis no more than a fancy. Wait you here your
+three days. Keep a strict watch on Marston's house. 'Tis unlikely that
+he will move before the time, since he would rather you spared him the
+telling of the story; but there's no trusting him. On Thursday I will
+come to you here before midnight; so wait for me, unless, of course,
+Marston leaves before then. In that case, follow him, but send word
+here of your direction. You must be wary; the fellow's cunning, and
+may get free from his house in some disguise."
+
+With that he clapped his hat on his head, and rushed out into the
+street. For the next three days I saw no more of him. About Marston's
+house I kept strict watch as he enjoined. There were but two
+entrances: one in the façade of the building towards the Square, and
+the second in a little side-street which ran along a wall of the
+house. Few, however, either came in or out of these entrances, for the
+rumour of his sickness was spread abroad in the town, and even his
+tradesmen dreaded to catch the infection. I was, moreover, certain
+that he had not escaped, since each evening his servant came to my
+lodging and left a stick notched according to the number of days.
+
+On the morning of the Thursday, being the fourth day and my last of
+grace, I doubled the sentinels about the house, hiring for the purpose
+some fellows of whom my people had cognizance. At the entrances,
+however, I planted my own men, and bidding them mark carefully the
+faces of such as passed out, in whatever dress they might be clothed,
+I retired to a coign of vantage at some distance whence I could keep
+an eye upon the house, and yet not obtrude myself upon the notice of
+those within it. In a little alley hard by I had stationed a groom
+with the swiftest horse that I possessed, so that I might be prepared
+to set off in pursuit of my antagonist the moment word of his
+departure was brought to me.
+
+Thus, then, I waited, my heart throbbing faster and faster as the day
+wore on, and every nerve in my body a jerking pulse. At last my
+excitement mastered me; a clock in a neighbouring belfry chimed the
+hour of four, and I crept out of my corner and mingled with the
+gipsies and mountebanks who were encamped with their booths in the
+centre of the Square. Amongst this motley crowd I thought myself safe
+from detection, and moved, though still observing some caution,
+towards the front of Marston's house. It wore almost an air of
+desertion; over many of the windows the curtains were drawn, and never
+a face showed through the panes of the rest. I could see that my men
+were still stationed at their posts, and I began to think that we must
+needs prolong our vigil into the night. Shortly after six, however,
+the hall-door was opened, and the same servant who brought me the
+sticks of an evening came out on to the steps. He looked neither to
+the right nor to the left, but without a moment's hesitation stepped
+across the road, and threading the tents and booths, came directly
+towards me. It was evident that I had been remarked from some quarter
+of the house, and so I made no effort at further concealment, but
+rather went forward to meet him. With the same grave politeness which
+had always characterised him, he offered me a letter.
+
+"My master," said he, "bade me deliver this into your hand two hours
+after he had left."
+
+"Two hours after he had left!" I gasped, well-nigh stunned by his
+words.
+
+"Two hours," he replied. "But I have been a trifle remiss, I fear me,
+and for that I would crave your pardon. It is now two hours and a half
+since my master departed."
+
+He made a low bow and went back to the house, leaving me stupidly
+staring at the letter.
+
+
+"My fever," it ran, "is happily so abated that I am to be carried this
+instant into the country. There will be no danger, I am assured,
+providing _that I am well wrapped up_. Au revoir! Or is it
+adieu?--HUGH MARSTON."
+
+
+The sarcasm made my blood boil in my veins, and I ran to the sentinels
+I had posted before the entrances, rating them immeasurably for their
+negligence. They heard me with all the marks of surprise, and
+expostulated in some heat. No one, they maintained, who in any way
+resembled Mr. Marston had left the house; they had watched most
+faithfully the day long, without a bite of food to stay their
+stomachs. Somewhat relieved by their words, I took no heed of their
+forward demeanour, but gave them to understand that if their words
+were true, they should eat themselves into a stupor an they were so
+disposed. For I began to fancy that the letter was a ruse to induce me
+to withdraw my watchmen from the neighbourhood, and thus open a free
+passage for my rival's escape.
+
+With the view of confirming the suspicion, I ordered them to give me a
+strict and particular account of all persons who had come from the
+house that day. For those who had kept guard before the front-door the
+task was simple enough. A few gentlemen had called; but of them only
+one, whom they imagined to be the physician, had entered the hall. He
+had reappeared again within half an hour or so of his going in, and,
+with that exception, no person had departed by this way.
+
+The side-door, however, had been more frequently used. Now and again a
+servant had come out, or a tradesman had delivered his wares. At one
+time a cart had driven up, a bale of carpets had been carried into the
+house, and a second bale fetched out.
+
+"What!" I cried, interrupting the speaker. "A bale of carpets? At what
+time?"
+
+He knew not exactly, but 'twas between three and four, for he heard a
+clock chime the latter hour some while afterwards.
+
+"You dolt!" I cried. "He was in the carpets."
+
+"I know nought of that," he answered sullenly. "You only bade me note
+faces, and I noted them that carried the carpets. You said nothing
+about noting carpets."
+
+The fellow was justly indignant, I felt; for, indeed, I doubt whether
+I should have suspected the bale myself but for Marston's letter. So I
+dismissed the men from their work, and rode slowly back to my lodging.
+Marston had three hours' start of me already; by midnight he would
+have nine, even supposing that Elmscott arrived with trustworthy
+intelligence. What chance had I of catching, him?
+
+I walked about the room consumed with a fire of impatience. I seemed
+to hear the beat of hoofs as Marston rode upon the way; and the
+further he went into the distance, the louder and louder grew the
+sound, until I was forced to sit down and clasp my head between my
+hands in a mad fear lest it should burst with the racket. And then I
+saw him--saw him, as in a crystal, spurring along a white, winding
+road; and strangely enough the road was familiar to me, so that I knew
+each stretch that lay ahead of him, before it came in view and was
+mirrored in my imaginings. I followed him through village and wood;
+now a river would flash for a second beneath a bridge; now a hill lift
+in front, and I noticed the horse slacken speed and the rider lean
+forward in the saddle. Then for a moment he would stand outlined
+against the sky on the crest, then dip into a hollow, and out again
+across a heath. At last he came towards the gate of a town. How I
+prayed that the gate would be barred! We were too distant to ascertain
+that as yet. He drove his spurs deeper into the flanks of his horse.
+The gate was open! He dashed at full gallop down a street; turned into
+a broad lane at right angles; the beat of hoofs became louder and
+louder in my ears. Of a sudden he drew rein, and the sound stopped. He
+sprang from his horse, mounted a staircase, and burst into a room. I
+heard the door rattle as it was flung open. I knew the room. I
+recognised the clock in the corner. I gazed about me for the
+Countess--and Elmscott's hand fell upon my shoulder.
+
+"Why, lad, art all in the dark?"
+
+"I have just reached the light," I cried, springing up in a frenzy of
+excitement. "The Countess Lukstein lies at the 'Thatched House
+Tavern,' in Bristol town."
+
+"Damn!" said Elmscott. "I have just ridden thither and back to find
+that out."
+
+And he fell swearing and cursing in a chair, whilst I rang for candles
+to be brought.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XV.
+
+                      THE HALF-WAY HOUSE AGAIN.
+
+
+I had previously given orders that my horse should be kept ready
+saddled in the stable, and I now bade the servant bring it round to
+the door.
+
+"Nay, there's no need to hurry," said Elmscott comfortably, throwing
+his legs across a chair. "Marston will never start before the
+morning."
+
+"He has started," I replied. "He has seven hours to the good already.
+He started between three and four of the afternoon."
+
+"But you were to follow him," he exclaimed, starting up. "You knew the
+road he was going. You were to follow him."
+
+"He slipped through my fingers," said I, with some shame, for Elmscott
+was regarding me with the same doubtful look which I had noticed so
+frequently upon Jack Larke's face. "And as for knowing his road, 'twas
+a mere guess that flashed on me at the moment of your arrival."
+
+"Well, well," said Elmscott, with a shrug, "order some supper, and if
+you can lend me a horse we will follow in half an hour."
+
+Udal fetched a capon and a bottle of canary from the larder, and
+together we made short work of the meal. For, in truth, I was no less
+famished than Elmscott, though it needed his appetite to remind me of
+the fact. Meanwhile, I related in what manner Marston had escaped me,
+and handed him the letter which the servant had delivered to me in the
+Lincoln's Inn Fields.
+
+"In a bale of carpets!" cried Elmscott, with a fit of laughter which
+promised to choke him. "Gadsbud, but the fellow deserves to win! Well
+wrapped up! Morrice, Morrice, I fear me he'll trip up your heels!"
+
+Elmscott's hilarity, it may easily be understood, had little in it
+which could commend it to me, and I asked him abruptly by what means
+he had discovered that the Countess Lukstein was visiting in Bristol.
+
+"I'll tell you that as we go," said he, with a mouth full of capon.
+"At present I have but one object, to fill my stomach."
+
+After we had set forth, which we did a short while before
+midnight--for I heard a clock tell that hour as we rode through the
+village of Knightsbridge--he explained how the conjecture had grown up
+in his mind.
+
+"Marston came to you in the early morning, a week after the Countess
+had left London. He was muddied and soiled, as though he had ridden
+hard all night. In fact, he told you as much himself, and gave you the
+reason: that he had been fighting out his battle with himself. I
+reasoned, therefore, that he had only heard of this secret, whatever
+it may be, which put you at his mercy, the evening before. Now that
+information came from his sister. It concerned Countess Lukstein. Lady
+Tracy, you told me, for some reason feared the Countess. I argued then
+that it could only be this fear which made her write to her brother.
+But then she had been in England a month already. How was it that she
+had not revealed her anxiety before? And further, how was it that
+Marston knew what you and every one else was ignorant of--where
+Countess Lukstein was staying? Lady Tracy, I was aware, had gone down
+to the family estate near Bristol; and I inferred in consequence that
+she had seen the Countess in the neighbourhood, that her alarm had
+been increased by the sight, and that she had promptly communicated
+her fears to her brother; which fears Marston made use of as a weapon
+against you. The period of Countess Lukstein's departure jumped most
+aptly with my conjecture, and I thought it would be worth while to
+ride to Bristol and discover the truth."
+
+The notion seemed to me, upon his recounting it, so reasonable and
+clear that I wondered why it had never occurred to me, and expressed
+as much to Elmscott.
+
+He laughed in reply.
+
+"A man in love," said he, "is ever a damned fool. He smothers his mind
+in a petticoat."
+
+The night was very open, the moon being in the last quarter, and the
+road, from the dry summer, much harder than when I had travelled over
+it in the previous year; so that we made a good pace, and drew rein
+before the "Golden Crown" at Newbury about seven of the morning. There
+we discovered that two travellers had arrived at the inn a little
+after midnight with their horses very wearied; but, since Thursday was
+market-day, and the inn consequently full, they had remained but a
+little while to water their beasts, and had then pushed on towards
+Hungerford. Elmscott was for breakfasting at the "Golden Crown," but I
+bethought me that Hungerford was but nine miles distant, and that
+Marston was most like to have lain the night there. Consequently, if
+we pressed forward with all speed, there was a good chance that we
+might overtake my rival or ever he had started from the town; in which
+case Elmscott, at all events, would be able to take his meal at his
+leisure. To this view my companion assented, though with some
+reluctance, and we set off afresh across Wickham Heath. In a short
+time we came in view of the "Half-way House," and I related to
+Elmscott my adventure with the landlord. As we rode past it, however,
+I perceived the worthy man going towards the stable with a bucket of
+water in his hand, and I hastily reined up.
+
+"What is it?" asked Elmscott.
+
+"The fellow has no horses of his own," I replied. "It follows he must
+needs have guests."
+
+I dismounted as I spoke, and hailed the man.
+
+"Potatoe!" I cried to him.
+
+For a moment he looked at me in amazement, and then:
+
+"Dang it!" he shouted. "The play-actor!" And he dropped the bucket,
+and ran towards me doubling his fists.
+
+"I have a pass-word for you," I said, when he was near. "It lags a
+year behind the time, it's true--Wastwater. So you see the mare was
+meant for me no less than your slugs."
+
+He stopped, and answered doggedly:
+
+"Well, 'twas your fault, master. You should have passed the word. The
+mare was left with me in strict trust, and you were ready enough with
+your pistol to make an honest man believe you meant no good."
+
+Elmscott broke in impatiently upon his apology with a demand for
+breakfast. His wife, the landlord assured us, was preparing breakfast
+even now for two gentlemen who had come over-night, and we might join
+them if they had no objection to our company. I asked him at what hour
+these gentlemen had ridden up to the inn, and he answered about one of
+the morning. I could not repress an exclamation of joy. Elmscott gave
+me a warning look and dismounted; he bade the landlord see the horses
+groomed and fed, and joined me in the road.
+
+"Their faces will be a fine sight," said he, rubbing his hands, "when
+we take our seats at the table. A guinea-piece will be white in
+comparison." And he fell to devising plans by which our surprise might
+produce the most startling effect.
+
+Strangely enough, it occurred to neither of us at the time that the
+surest method of outwitting Marston was to leave him undisturbed to
+his breakfast and ride forward to Bristol. But during these last days
+the anxiety and tension of my mind had so fanned my hatred of the man,
+that I could think of nothing but crossing swords with him. We were
+both, in a word, absorbed in a single quest; from wishing to outstrip,
+we had come to wish merely to overtake.
+
+Elmscott gave orders to the innkeeper that he should inform us as soon
+as the two travellers were set down to their meal; and for the space
+of half an hour we strolled up and down, keeping the inn ever within
+our view. At the end of that time I perceived a cloud of dust at a
+bend of the road in the direction of Hungerford. It came rolling
+towards us, and we saw that it was raised by a berlin which was drawn
+at a great speed by six horses.
+
+"They travel early," said Elmscott carelessly. I looked at the coach
+again, but this time with more attention.
+
+"Quick!" I cried of a sudden, and drew Elmscott through an opening in
+the hedge into the field that bordered the road. The next moment the
+berlin dashed by.
+
+"Did you see?" I asked. "Otto Krax was on the box."
+
+"Ay!" he answered. "And Countess Lukstein within the carriage. What
+takes her back so fast, I wonder? She will be in London two days
+before her time."
+
+We came out again from behind the hedge, and watched the carriage
+dwindling to a speck along the road.
+
+"If you will, Morrice," said my cousin, with a great reluctance, "you
+can let Marston journey to Bristol, and yourself follow the Countess
+to town."
+
+"Nay!" said I shortly. "I have a mind to settle my accounts with
+Marston, and not later than this morning."
+
+He brightened wonderfully at the words.
+
+"'Twere indeed more than a pity to miss so promising an occasion. But
+as I am your Mentor for the nonce, I deemed it right to mention the
+alternative--though I should have thought the less of you had you
+taken my advice. Here comes the landlord to summon us to breakfast."
+
+We followed him along the passage towards the kitchen. The door stood
+half-opened, and peeping through the crack at the hinges, we could see
+Marston and his friend seated at a table.
+
+"Gentlemen," said Elmscott, stepping in with the politest bow, "will
+you allow two friends to join your repast?"
+
+Marston was in the act of raising a tankard to his lips; but save that
+his face turned a shade paler, and his hand trembled so that a few
+drops of the wine were spilled upon the cloth, he betrayed none of the
+disappointment which my cousin had fondly anticipated. He looked at us
+steadily for a second, and then drained the tankard. His companion--a
+Mr. Cuthbert Cliffe, with whom both Elmscott and myself were
+acquainted--rose from his seat and welcomed us heartily. It was
+evident that he was in the dark as to the object of our journey. We
+seated ourselves opposite them on the other side of the table.
+Elmscott was somewhat dashed by the prosaic nature of the reception,
+and seemed at a loss how to broach the subject of the duel, when
+Marston suddenly hissed at me:
+
+"How the devil came you here?"
+
+"On a magic carpet," replied Elmscott smoothly. "Like the Arabian, we
+came upon a magic carpet."
+
+Marston rose from the table and walked to the fireplace, where he
+stood kicking the logs with the toe of his boot, and laughing to
+himself in a short, affected way, as men are used who seek to cover up
+a mortification. Then he turned again to me.
+
+"Very well," he said, with a nod, "and the sooner the better. If Lord
+Elmscott and Mr. Cliffe will arrange the details, I am entirely at
+your service."
+
+With that he set his hat carelessly on his head, and sauntered out of
+the room. Mr. Cliffe looked at me in surprise.
+
+"It is an old-standing quarrel between Mr. Buckler and your friend,"
+Elmscott explained, "but certain matters, of which we need not speak,
+have brought it to a head. Your friend would fain have deferred the
+settlement for another week, but Mr. Buckler's engagements forbade the
+delay."
+
+So far he had got when a suspicion flashed into my head. Leaving
+Elmscott to arrange the encounter with Mr. Cliffe, I hurried down the
+passage and out on to the road. On neither side was Marston to be
+seen, but I perceived that the stable door stood open. I looked
+quickly to the priming of my pistol--for, knowing that the Great West
+Road was infested by footpads and highwaymen, we had armed ourselves
+with some care before leaving London--and took my station in the
+middle of the way. Another minute and I should have been too late; for
+Marston dashed out of the stable door, already mounted upon his horse.
+He drove his spurs into its flanks, and rode straight at me. I had
+just time to leap on one side. His riding-whip slashed across my face,
+I heard him laugh with a triumphant mockery, and then I fired. The
+horse bounded into the air with a scream of pain, sank on its
+haunches, and rolled over on its side.
+
+The noise of the shot brought our seconds to the door.
+
+"Your friend seems in need of assistance," said Elmscott. For Marston
+lay on the road struggling to free himself from the weight of the
+horse. Cliffe loosened the saddle and helped Marston to his feet. Then
+he drew aside and stood silent, looking at his companion with a
+questioning disdain. Marston returned the look with a proud
+indifference, which, in spite of myself, I could not but admire.
+
+"There was more courage than cowardice in the act," said I, "to those
+who understand it."
+
+"I can do without your approbation," said Marston, flushing, as he
+turned sharply upon me. Catching sight of my face, he smiled. "Did the
+whip sting?" he asked.
+
+I unsheathed my sword, and without another word we mounted the bank on
+the left side of the road and passed on to the heath.
+
+The seconds chose a spot about a hundred yards from the highway, where
+the turf was level and smooth, and set us facing north and south, so
+that neither might get advantage from the sun. The morning was very
+clear and bright, with just here and there a feather of white cloud in
+the blue of the sky; and our swords shone in the sunlight like darting
+tongues of flame.
+
+The encounter was of the shortest, since we were in no condition to
+plan or execute the combinations of a cool and subtle attack, but
+drove at each other with the utmost fury. Marston wounded me in the
+forearm before ever I touched him. But a few seconds after that he had
+pinked me, he laid his side open, and I passed my sword between his
+ribs. He staggered backwards, swayed for a moment to and fro in an
+effort to keep his feet; his knees gave under him, and he sank down
+upon the heath, his fingers clasping and unclasping convulsively about
+the pommel of his sword. Cliffe lifted him in his arms and strove to
+staunch the blood, which was reddening through his shirt, while
+Elmscott ran to the inn and hurried off to Hungerford for a surgeon.
+
+For awhile I stood on my ground, idly digging holes in the grass with
+the point of my rapier. Then Marston called me faintly, and I dropped
+the sword and went to his side. His face was white and sweaty, and the
+pupils of his eyes were contracted to pin-points.
+
+I knelt down and bent my head close to his.
+
+"So," he whispered, "luck sides with you after all. This time I
+thought that I had won the vole."
+
+He was silent for a minute or so, and then:
+
+"I want to speak with you alone."
+
+I took him from Cliffe's arms and supported his head upon my knee, he
+pressing both his hands tightly upon his side.
+
+"Betty is afraid," he continued, with a gasp between each word, as
+soon as Cliffe had left us. "Betty is afraid, and her husband's a
+fool."
+
+The implied request, even at that moment, struck me as wonderfully
+characteristic of the man. So long as his own desires were at stake he
+disregarded his sister's fears; but no sooner had all chance of
+gaining them failed, than his affection for her reasserted itself, and
+even drove him to the length of asking help from his chief enemy.
+
+"I will see that no harm comes to her."
+
+"Promise!"
+
+I promised, somehow touched by his trust in me.
+
+"I knew you would," he said gratefully; and then, with a smile: "I am
+sorry I hit you with my whip--Morrice. I could have loved you."
+
+Again he lay silent, plucking at the grass with the fingers of his
+left hand.
+
+"Lift me higher! There is something else."
+
+I raised his body as gently as I could; but nevertheless the rough
+bandage which Cliffe had fastened over the wound became displaced with
+the movement, and the blood burst out again, soaking through his
+shirt.
+
+"You spoke of a miniature----" he began, and then with a little
+gasping sob he turned over in my arms, and fell forward on the grass
+upon his face.
+
+I called to Cliffe, who stood with his back towards us a little
+distance off, and ran to where I had laid my coat and cravat before
+the duel commenced. For the cravat was of soft muslin, and might, I
+fancied, be of some use as lint. With this in my hand, I hurried back.
+Cliffe was lifting Marston from the ground.
+
+"Best let him lie there quietly," I said.
+
+He turned the body over upon its back.
+
+"Aye!" he answered, "under God's sky."
+
+I dropped on my knees beside the corpse, felt the pulse, laid my ear
+to the heart. The sun shone hot and bright upon his dead face. Cliffe
+took a handkerchief from his pocket, and gently placed it over
+Marston's eyes.
+
+"This means a year on the Continent for you, my friend," he said.
+
+
+When Elmscott and the surgeon arrived some half an hour later, they
+found me eating my breakfast in the kitchen.
+
+"Where is he?" they asked.
+
+"Who?" said I.
+
+I remember vaguely that the surgeon looked at me with a certain
+anxiety, and made a remark to Elmscott. Then they went out of the room
+again. How long it was before they returned I have no notion. Elmscott
+brought in my coat, hat, and sword, and I got up to put them on; but
+the doctor checked him, and setting me again in my chair, bound up my
+arm, not without some resistance from me, for I saw that his hands
+were dabbled with Marston's blood.
+
+"Now," said he to Elmscott, "if you will help, we will get him
+upstairs to bed."
+
+"No!" said I, suddenly recollecting all that had occurred. "I made
+Marston a promise. I must keep it! I must ride to town and keep it!"
+
+"It will be the best way, if he can," said Elmscott. "He will be taken
+here for a surety. I have sent a messenger to Bristol with the news."
+
+The surgeon eased my arm into the sleeve of my coat, and made a sling
+about my shoulders with my cravat. Elmscott buckled on my sword and
+led me to the stables, leaving me outside while he went in and saddled
+a horse.
+
+"This is Cliffe's horse," said he; "yours is too tired. I will explain
+to him."
+
+He held the horse while I climbed into the saddle.
+
+"Now, Morrice," he said, "you have no time to lose. You have got the
+start of the law; keep it. Marston's family is of some power and
+weight. As soon as his death is known, there will be a hue and cry
+after you; so fly the country. I would say leave the promise
+unfulfilled, but that it were waste of breath. Fly the country as soon
+as you may, unless you have a mind for twelve months in Newgate gaol.
+I will follow you to town with all speed, but for your own sake 'twere
+best I find you gone."
+
+He moved aside, and I galloped off towards Newberry. The misery of
+that ride I could not, if I would, describe. The pain of my wound, the
+utter weariness and dejection which came upon me as a reaction from
+the excitement of the last days, and the knowledge that I could no
+longer shirk my confession, so combined to weaken and distress me,
+that I had much ado to keep my seat in the saddle. 'Twas late in the
+evening when I rode up to Ilga's lodging. The door, by some chance,
+stood open, and without bethinking me to summon the servants, I walked
+straight up the staircase to the parlour, dragging myself from one
+step to the other by the help of the balustrade. The parlour door was
+shut, and I could not lay my fingers on the handle, but scratched
+blindly up and down the panels in an effort to find it. At last some
+one opened the door from within, and I staggered into the room. Mdlle.
+Durette--for it was she--set up a little scream, and then in the
+embrasure of the window I saw the Countess rise slowly to her feet.
+The last light of the day fell grey and wan across her face and hair.
+I saw her as through a mist, and she seemed to me more than ordinarily
+tall. I stumbled across the room, my limbs growing heavier every
+moment.
+
+"Countess," I began, "I have a promise to fulfil. Lady Tracy----"
+There I stopped. The room commenced to swim round me. "Lady Tracy----"
+I repeated.
+
+The Countess stood motionless as a statue, dumb as a statue. Yet in a
+strange way she appeared suddenly to come near and increase in
+stature--suddenly to dwindle and diminish.
+
+"Ilga," I cried, stretching out my hands to her. She made no movement.
+I felt my legs bend beneath me, as if the bones of them were dissolved
+to water, and I sank heavily upon my knees. "Ilga," I cried again, but
+very faintly. She stirred not so much as a muscle to help me, and I
+fell forward swooning, with my head upon her feet.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVI.
+
+             CONCERNING AN INVITATION AND A LOCKED DOOR.
+
+
+When consciousness returned to me, and I became sensible of where I
+lay, I perceived that Elmscott was in the room. He stood in the
+centre, slapping his boot continually with his riding-crop, and
+betraying every expression of impatience upon his face. But I gave
+little heed to him, for beside me knelt Ilga, a bottle of hartshorn
+salts in her hand. I was resting upon a couch, which stood before the
+spinet; the lamps were lighted, and the curtains drawn across the
+window, so that my swoon must have lasted some while.
+
+As I let my eyes rest upon the Countess, she slipped an arm under my
+head and raised it, taking at the same time a cup of cordial, which
+Clemence Durette held ready. 'Twas of a very potent description, and
+filled me with a great sense of comfort. Ilga moved her arm as though
+to withdraw it. "No," I murmured to her, and she smiled and let it
+remain.
+
+"Come, Morrice," said Elmscott. "You have but to walk downstairs. A
+carriage is waiting."
+
+He moved towards the couch. I tried to raise my arm to warn him off,
+but found that it had been bandaged afresh, and was fastened in a
+sling. For a moment I could not remember how I had come by the hurt;
+then the history of it came back to me, and with that the promise I
+had made to my dying antagonist. For while I believed that Lady Tracy
+could have no grounds for her apprehensions, seeing that the Countess
+must needs be ignorant of her relations with the Count, whatever they
+might have been, I felt that the circumstances under which the request
+was uttered gave to it a special authority, and laid upon me a strict
+compulsion to obey it to the letter. The request, moreover, fitted
+exactly with my own intention. Ilga believed now that I had never seen
+Lady Tracy until that morning when she fainted, and so by merely
+confessing that the death of Count Lukstein lay at my door, and at my
+door alone, I should divert all possibilities of suspicion from
+approaching Lady Tracy; so I whispered to Ilga:
+
+"Send every one away!"
+
+"Nay," she replied; "your cousin has told me."
+
+"It is not that," said I. "There is something else--something my
+cousin could not know."
+
+"Does it follow," she answered, lowering her eyes, "that I could not
+know it? Or do you think me blind?"
+
+The gentle, hesitating words nearly drove my purpose from my mind. It
+would have been so easy to say just, "I love you, and you know it." It
+became so difficult to say, "I killed your husband, and have deceived
+you." However, the confession pressed urgently for utterance, and I
+said again: "Send them away!"
+
+"No," she replied, "you have no time for that now. You must leave
+London to-night. Everything is ready; your cousin's carriage waits to
+take you to the coast. To-morrow you must cross to France. But if you
+still--still wish to unburden your mind----"
+
+"Heart," I could not refrain from whispering; and, indeed, my heart
+leaped as she faltered and blushed crimson.
+
+"Then," she continued, "come to Lukstein! You will be welcome," and
+with a quiet gravity she repeated the phrase: "You will be very
+welcome!"
+
+Every word she spoke made my task the harder. I trust that the
+weakness of my body, the pain of the wound, and my great fatigue, had
+something to do with the sapping of my resolution. But whatever the
+cause, an overwhelming desire to cease from effort, to let the whole
+world go, rushed in upon me. The one real thing for me was this woman
+who knelt beside the couch; the one real need was to tell her of my
+love. I felt as though, that once told, I could rest without
+compunction, without a scruple of regret, just rest like a tired
+child.
+
+"Come to Lukstein!" she repeated.
+
+"Hear me now!" I replied with a last struggle, and got to my feet. I
+was still so weak, however, that the violence of the movement made me
+sick and dizzy, and I tottered into Elmscott's arms.
+
+"Come, Morrice!" he urged. "A little courage; 'tis only a few steps to
+descend."
+
+I steadied myself against his shoulder. In a corner of the room, rigid
+and impassive, was the tall figure of Otto Krax. How could I speak
+before him?
+
+"I shall expect you, then," said the Countess, "and soon. I leave
+England to-morrow myself, and return straight home."
+
+"You leave England to-morrow?" I asked eagerly.
+
+"To-morrow!" she replied.
+
+I drew a deep breath of relief. All danger to Lady Tracy, all her
+fears of danger, would vanish with the departure of the Countess; and
+as for my confession--it could wait.
+
+"At Castle Lukstein, then," said I, and it seemed to me that she also
+drew a breath of relief.
+
+From Pall Mall we drove to my lodging, where I found my trunks packed,
+and Udal fully dressed to accompany me in my flight; for Elmscott, who
+had started from the "Half-way House" some two hours later than
+myself, had ridden straight thither. On learning that my people had no
+news of me, he had immediately guessed where I should be discovered,
+and, instructing them to prepare instantly for a journey, had himself
+hastened to the apartment of the Countess.
+
+My baggage was speedily placed in the boot, Udal mounted on the box, I
+directed my other servants to pay the bill and return to Cumberland,
+and we drove off quickly to the coast, just twenty-four hours after we
+had set out upon the great West Road on our desperate adventure.
+
+As we rolled peacefully through the moonlit gardens of Kent, I had
+time to think over and apportion the hurried events of the day, and I
+recalled the half-spoken sentence which was on Marston's lips at the
+moment of his death. I conjectured that he intended some expression of
+remorse for the use to which he had put the likeness of his sister,
+and I began again to wonder at the strange inconsistency of the man. I
+had been bewildered by it before in respect of this very miniature,
+when I first observed his genuine devotion to his sister. To-day he
+had afforded me a second and corroborating instance, for no sooner had
+he knowledge of his sister's fears, than he had used the knowledge
+straightway as a weapon against me, leaving it to his antagonist to
+secure her the safeguarding which she implored. And yet that his
+anxiety on her account was very real it was impossible for me to
+doubt, for I had looked upon his face when he bound me by a promise to
+protect her.
+
+At Dover we found a packet on the point of sailing for Calais.
+Elmscott bade me good-bye upon the quay, and declared that if I would
+keep him informed of my movements, he would send me word when the
+affair had blown over and I might safely return. Then he asked:
+
+"Morrice, did you tell Countess Lukstein of your duel?"
+
+"I had not the time," I replied. "But she said you told her."
+
+"Ay, I told the story, though I gave not the reason for the encounter.
+But did you say nothing to her, give her no hint by which she might
+guess it?"
+
+"Nay," said I; "I swooned or ever I got a word of it out. I spoke but
+two words to her: 'Lady Tracy.' She could have guessed little enough
+from that."
+
+"Strange!" said he, in a tone of some perplexity. "And yet, some way
+or another, she must needs have known. For when I came to seek you,
+Otto denied you were there. I was positive, however, and ran past him
+up the stairs. The parlour door was locked, and they only gave me
+entrance when I bawled my name through the keyhole and declared that I
+knew you were within, and for your own sake must have immediate speech
+with you. I fancied that the Countess was aware of the duel and meant
+to conceal you."
+
+I thought no more of his words at the time, and went presently aboard.
+A fair wind filled the sheets and hummed through the cordage of the
+rigging. The cliffs lessened and lessened until they shone in the
+sunlight like a silver rim about the bowl of the sea; the gulls
+swooped and circled in our wake; and thus I sailed out upon my strange
+pilgrimage, which was to last so many weary months and set me amid
+such perilous surroundings.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XVII.
+
+                            FATHER SPAUR.
+
+
+IT was on the sixth day of June that I arrived in London from
+Cumberland; it was on the sixteenth of July that I landed at Calais;
+and so much that was new and bewildering to me had happened within
+this brief interspace of time, that I cannot wonder how little I
+understood of all which it portended. For here was I, accustomed to
+solitude, with small knowledge of men and a veritable fear of women,
+plumped of a sudden amidst the gayest company of the town, where
+thought and wit were struck out of converse sharply as sparks from a
+flint not reached by my slow methods, which, to carry on my simile,
+more resembled the practice of the Indians who produce fire, so
+travellers tell, by the laborious attrition of stick upon stick.
+
+From Calais I journeyed to Paris, where I stayed until a bill of
+exchange upon some French merchants, which I had asked Elmscott to
+procure for me, came to hand. With it was enclosed a letter from my
+cousin and yet another from Jack Larke.
+
+"This letter," wrote Elmscott, "was brought to your lodging the day
+after you left London. L'affaire Marston has caused much astonishment.
+Your friends almost refused to credit you with the exploit. The
+family, however, is raised to a clamorous pitch of anger against you;
+it has influence at Court, and the King has no liking for duels."
+
+The letter from Larke recounted the homely details of the
+country-side, and dwelt in particular upon the plan of Sir J. Lowther
+of Stockbridge to appoint a new carrier between Kendal and Whitehaven,
+so that the shipment of Kendal cottons to Virginia might be
+facilitated. The obstacle to the scheme, he declared, was that the
+road ran over Hard Knott, which in winter and spring is frequently
+impassable for the snow. I wrote back to him that he should refund to
+Elmscott with all despatch the amount of the bill of exchange, and
+relating shortly the causes which kept me abroad, bade him, if he were
+so minded, join me towards the end of September at Venice. Of my visit
+to Lukstein I said never a word, the consequence of it was too
+doubtful. I shrank from setting out my hopes and fears openly upon
+paper. If I succeeded, I could better explain the matter to him in
+speech, and take him back with me again to the Castle. If I failed, I
+should avoid the need of making any explanation whatsoever.
+
+From Paris I travelled into Austria; and so one sunset, in the latter
+days of August, drove up to the door of "Der Goldener Adler" at
+Glurns. From this inn I sent Udal forward with a note to Countess
+Lukstein, announcing my arrival in the neighbourhood, and asking
+whether she would be willing to receive me. The next day he returned
+with Otto Krax, and brought me a message of very kindly welcome. Otto
+himself, for once, unbent from his grave demeanour, saying that it was
+long since the Castle had been brightened with a guest, and that for
+his part he trusted I would be in no great hurry to depart.
+
+I gathered no little comfort from his greeting, you may be sure, and I
+set off forthwith to the Castle. The valley which, when I last rode
+through it, showed stark and desolate in its snow drapery, now lay
+basking in the lusty summer, and seemed to smile upon my visit. The
+lime-trees were in leaf along the road, wild strawberries, red as the
+lips of my mistress, peeped from the grasses, on either side
+cornfields spread up the lower slopes to meet the serried pines, which
+were broken here and there by a green gap, where the winter snows had
+driven a track. Behind the ridge of the hills I could see mountains
+towering up with bastions of ice, which had a look peculiarly rich and
+soft, like white velvet. The air was fragrant with the scent of
+flowers, and musical with the voices of innumerable streams. Even
+Lukstein, which had worn so bare and menacing an aspect in the grey
+twilight of that November afternoon, now nestled warmly upon its tiny
+plateau, the red pointed roofs of its turrets glowing against the
+green background of firs.
+
+I was received at the Castle by a priest, who informed me that the
+Countess was indisposed, and wished him to express her regrets that
+she was unable to welcome me in person. I was much chapfallen and
+chilled by this vicarious greeting, since on the way from Glurns I had
+given free play to all sorts of foolish imaginings. The priest, who
+was a kinsman of the Countess, conducted me very politely to the rooms
+prepared for me.
+
+"Mr. Buckler," said he, "it is only your face that is strange to me;
+for I have heard so much of you from your hostess that I made your
+acquaintance some while ago." Whereat I recovered something of my
+spirits.
+
+He led me through the great hall, paved with roughish slabs of stone,
+and up a wide staircase to a gallery which ran round the four sides of
+the hall. From that he turned off into a corridor, which ran, as I
+guessed, through the smaller wing of the building towards the tower.
+At the extreme end he opened a door and bowed me into a large room lit
+by two windows opposite to one another. One of these commanded the
+little ravine which pierced backwards into the hills beside the
+Castle, and was called the Senner Thal; the other window looked out on
+to the garden. Moving towards this last, I perceived, on the left
+hand, the arbour of pinewood and the parapet on which I had lain
+concealed; the main wing of the Castle stretched out upon the right,
+and I realised, with an uneasy shiver, that I had been given the
+bedroom of Count Lukstein. The moment I realised this my eyes went
+straight to that corner, where I knew the little staircase to be. The
+door of it stood by the head of the bed, and was almost concealed in
+the hangings.
+
+"It leads," said the priest, interpreting my glance, "to a little room
+below; but the room gives only on to the garden, and the door has not
+been used this many a month."
+
+He went over to it as he spoke, and tried the handle. The door was
+locked, but the key remained in the lock. It creaked and grated when
+he turned it, as though it had rusted in the keyhole. Together we went
+down the little winding stairway and into the chamber at the bottom.
+What wonder that I hesitated on the last step with a failing heart,
+and needed the invitation of the priest to nerve me to cross the
+threshold! Not a single thing had been moved since I stood there last.
+But for the clouds of dust, which rose at each movement that we made,
+I could have believed this day was the morrow of our deadly encounter.
+The table still lay overturned upon the floor, the rugs and skins were
+heaped and disordered by the trampling of our feet, the curtain hung
+half-torn from the vallance, where I had cowered in it with clutching
+hands as the Countess passed through the window on to the snow.
+Nothing had been touched. Yes, one thing; for as I glanced about the
+room, I saw my pistol dangling from a nail upon the hood of the
+fireplace.
+
+"The room, you think, Mr. Buckler, does little credit to our
+housekeeping?" said the priest. "But 'tis unswept and uncleansed of a
+set purpose. As you see it now, so it was on the fifteenth night of
+last November, and the Countess our mistress wills that so it shall
+remain."
+
+"There is some story," I replied, with such indifference as I could
+assume, "some story connected with the room."
+
+"Ay, a story of midnight crime--of crime that struck at the roots of
+the Lukstein race, that breaks the line of a family which has ruled
+here for centuries, and must in a few years make its very name to
+perish off the earth. Count Lukstein was the last of his race, and in
+this room was he slain upon his bridal night."
+
+Sombre as were the words, the priest's voice seemed to have something
+of exultation in its tone, and unwarily I remarked on it.
+
+"God works out His purposes by ways we cannot understand," he
+explained, with a humility that struck me as exaggerated and
+insincere. "Unless Countess Lukstein marries again, the Castle and its
+demesne will pass into the holy keeping of the Church."
+
+He looked steadily at me while he spoke, and I wondered whether he
+meant his utterance to convey a menace and warning.
+
+"What if the Countess married a true son of the Church?" I hastened to
+answer. "Would he not second and further her intention?"
+
+"I think, Mr. Buckler, that you have more faith in mankind than
+knowledge of the world. But 'twas of the room that we were speaking.
+Until that crime is brought to light, the room may neither be swept
+nor cleansed."
+
+"You hope, then, to discover----" I began.
+
+"Nay, nay!" said he. "'Tis not with us that the discovery rests. Look
+you, sin is not a dead thing like these tables, to which each day adds
+a covering of dust; it is rather a plant that each day throws out
+fibres towards the sun, bury it deep as you will in the earth. Surely,
+surely it will make itself known--this very afternoon, maybe, or maybe
+in years to come; maybe not until the Day of Wrath. God chooses His
+own time."
+
+Very solemnly he crossed himself, and led the way back to the bedroom
+above.
+
+This conversation increased my anxiety to unburden myself to Ilga. For
+it was no crime that I had committed, but an act of common justice.
+But although the household, apart from the servants and retainers, who
+made indeed a veritable army, consisted only of the Countess, Mdlle.
+Durette, and Father Spaur, as the priest was named, I found it
+impossible to hit upon an occasion.
+
+In the first place, the Countess herself was, without doubt, ailing
+and indisposed. She would come down late in the morning with heavy
+eyes and a weariful face, as though she slept but little. 'Twas no
+better, moreover, when she joined us, for she treated me, though ever
+with courtesy as befitted a hostess, still with a certain distance;
+and at times, when she thought I was interested in some talk and had
+no eyes for her, I would catch a troubled look upon her face wherein
+anger and sorrow seemed equally mixed. Nor, indeed, could I ever come
+upon her alone, and such hints as I put forward to bring such a
+consummation about were purposely misunderstood. In truth, the priest
+stood between us. I set the changed manner of Countess Lukstein
+entirely to his account, believing that he was studiously poisoning
+her mind against me, and maybe persuading her that I did but pursue
+her wealth like any vulgar adventurer. I suggested as much to Mdlle.
+Durette, who showed me great kindness in this nadir of my fortunes.
+
+"I know not what to make of it," she replied, "for Ilga has shut me
+from her confidence of late. But there is something of the kind afoot,
+I fear, for Father Spaur is continually with her, and 'twas ever his
+fashion to ascribe a secret and underhand motive for all one's
+doings."
+
+The Father, indeed, was perpetually with either Ilga or myself. If he
+chanced not to be closeted with the Countess, he would dance
+indefatigable attendance upon me, devising excursions into the
+mountains or in pursuit of the chamois, which abounded in great
+numbers among the higher forests of the ravine.
+
+On these latter occasions he would depute Otto Krax, who was, as I
+soon learned, the chief huntsman of the Castle, to take his place with
+me, pleading his own age with needless effusion as an excuse for his
+absence. In the company of Otto, then, I gained much knowledge of the
+locality, and in particular of the great ice-clad mountain which
+blocked the head of the ravine. For the chase led us many a time high
+up the slopes above the trees to where the ice lay in great tongues
+all cracked and ridged across like waves frozen at the crest; and at
+times, growing yet more adventurous with the heat of our pursuit, we
+would ascend still higher, making long circuits and detours about the
+cliffs and gullies to get to windward of our quarry; so that I saw
+this mountain from many points of view, and gained a knowledge of its
+character and formation which was afterwards to stand me in good
+stead.
+
+The natives termed it the "Wildthurm," and approached it ever with the
+greatest reluctance and with much commending of their souls to God.
+For the spirits of the lost, they said, circled in agony about its
+summit, and might be heard at noonday no less often than at night
+piercing the air with a wail of lamentation. It may be even as they
+held; but I was spared the manifestation of their presence when I
+invaded their abode, and found no denizens of that solitary region
+more terrible than the eagles which built their nests upon the topmost
+cliffs. Towards the ravine the "Wildthurm" towered in a stupendous
+wall of rock of thousands of feet, but so sheer that even the chamois,
+however encompassed, never sought escape that way. From the apex of
+this wall a ridge of ice ran backwards in a narrow line and sloped
+outwards on either side, so that it looked like nothing so much as a
+gipsy's tent of white canvas.
+
+When we sought diversion upon lower ground, hawking or riding in the
+valley, Father Spaur himself would bear me company. In fact, I never
+seemed to journey a mile from the Castle without either Otto or the
+priest to keep me in surveillance.
+
+Father Spaur, though past his climacteric, was of a tall, massive
+build, and, I judged, of great muscular strength. His hair was
+perfectly white, and threw into relief his broad, tanned face, which
+wore as a rule an uninterested bovine expression, as of one whom
+neither trouble nor thought had ever touched. One afternoon, however,
+as we were riding up the hillside towards the Castle, I chanced to
+make mention of the persecution of the Protestants in France, whereof
+I had been a witness during my stay at Paris, and ventured, though a
+Catholic, to criticise the French King's action in abrogating the
+edict of Nantes.
+
+"Cruelty, Mr. Buckler!" he exclaimed, reining in his horse, with his
+eyes aglare, and his fleshy face of a sudden shining with animation.
+'Twas as though some one had lit a lamp behind a curtain. "Cruelty!
+'Tis the idlest name that was ever invented. Look you: a general
+throws a thousand troops upon certain death. Is not that cruelty? Yet
+if he faltered he would fail in his duty. If the men shrank, they in
+theirs. Cruelty is the law of life. Nay, more, for with that word the
+wicked stigmatise the law of God. Never a spring comes upon these
+hills but it buries numbers of our villagers beneath its slipping
+snowdrifts. You have seen the crosses on the slopes yourself. They
+perish, and through no foolhardiness of their own. Is not that what
+you term cruelty? Take a wider view. Is there not cruelty in the very
+making of man? We are born with minds curious after knowledge, and yet
+we only gain knowledge by much suffering and labour--an infinitesimal
+drop after years of thirst. Take it yet higher. The holy Church
+teaches us that God upon His throne is happy; yet He condemns the
+guilty to torment. With a smile, we must believe He condemns the
+guilty. Judge that by our poor weak understanding; is it not cruelty?
+What you term cruelty is a law of God--difficult, unintelligible, but
+a law of God, and therefore good."
+
+'Twas a strange discourse, delivered with a ringing voice of
+exaltation, and thereafter my thoughts did more justice to the
+subtlety of his intellect.
+
+Meanwhile the days slipped on and brought me no nearer to the
+fulfilment of my purpose. The time had come, moreover, when I must set
+off into Italy if I was to meet Larke at Venice as I had most
+faithfully promised. I resolved, then, to put an end to a visit which
+I saw brought no happiness to my mistress, and wasted me with
+impatience and despondency. I was minded to go down into Italy, and
+taking Jack with me to set sail for the Indies, and ease my heart, if
+so I might, with viewing of the many wonders of those parts. So
+choosing an occasion when we were all dining together in the great
+parlour on the first floor of the Castle, I thanked the Countess for
+the hospitality which she had shown me, and fixed my departure for the
+next day. For awhile there was silence, Ilga rising suddenly from the
+table and walking over to the wide-open windows, where she stood with
+her back turned, and looked out across the waving valley of the Adige.
+
+"It seems that we have been guilty of some discourtesy, Mr. Buckler,
+since you leave us so abruptly," said Father Spaur with a great
+perturbation.
+
+Upon that point I hastened to set him right; for indeed I had been so
+hedged in by attention and ceremony that I should have been well
+content with a little neglect.
+
+"Then," he continued with an easy laugh, "we shall make bold to keep
+you. If we bring guests so far to visit us, we cannot speed them away
+so soon. Doubtless the Castle is dull to you who come fresh from
+London and Paris----"
+
+"Nay," said I with some impatience, for I thought it unfair that he
+should attribute such motives to me. "Madame will bear me out that I
+have little liking for town pleasures." I turned towards her, but she
+made no sign or movement, and appeared not to have heard me. "I am
+pledged to meet a friend at Venice, and, as it is, I have overstayed
+my time."
+
+"Oh! you have a friend awaiting you," said the priest slowly. "You are
+very prudent, Mr. Buckler."
+
+The Countess turned swiftly about, her eyes wide open and staring like
+one dismayed.
+
+"Prudent?" I exclaimed in perplexity.
+
+"I mean," said the priest, flushing a dark red and dropping his voice,
+"I mean that if one fixes so precise a limit to one's visit, one
+guards against any inclination to prolong it." He spoke with a meaning
+glance in the direction of the Countess, who had turned away again.
+"The heart says 'stay,' prudence 'go.' Is it not the case?" he
+whispered, and he smiled with an awkward effort at archness, which,
+upon his heavy face, was little short of grotesque.
+
+Now his words and manner perplexed me greatly, for at the moment of my
+coming to Lukstein, he had seemed most plainly to warn me against
+encouraging any passion for Ilga, and his conduct since in disparting
+us had assured me that I had rightly guessed his intention. Yet here
+was he urging me to extend my stay, and sneering at my prudence for
+not giving free play to that passion.
+
+"Besides," he continued, raising his voice again, "if you go to-morrow
+you will miss the best entertainment that our poor domain provides. We
+are to have a great hunt, wherein some of our neighbours will join us,
+and Otto informs us that you have great partiality for the sport, and
+extraordinary skill and nimbleness upon mountains. In a week,
+moreover, the headsman of our village is to marry. 'Tis a great event
+in Lukstein, and, indeed, to a stranger well worth witnessing, for
+there are many quaint and curious customs to be observed which are not
+met with elsewhere."
+
+He added many other inducements, so that at last I felt some shame at
+persisting in my refusal. But, after all, the Countess was my hostess,
+and she had said never a word, but had turned back again to the window
+as though she would not meddle in the matter. At last, however, she
+broke in upon the priest, keeping, however, her face still set towards
+the landscape.
+
+"Could you not send forward your servant, Mr. Buckler, to meet your
+friend, and remain with us this week? As Father Spaur says, the
+marriage will be well worth seeing, and since you are so pressed, you
+may leave here that very night."
+
+There was, however, no heartiness in her invitation; the words dropped
+reluctantly from her lips, as if compelled by mere politeness towards
+her guest.
+
+"The most suitable plan!" cried the priest, starting up. "Send your
+man to Venice, and yourself follow afterwards."
+
+I explained that Udal was little accustomed to travelling in strange
+countries, and had no knowledge of either the German or Italian
+tongues; and to put a close to the discussion, I rose from my seat and
+walked away to the end of the apartment, where I busied myself over
+some weapons that hung upon the wall. In a minute or so I heard the
+door close softly, and facing about, I saw that the priest and Mdlle.
+Durette, who had taken no part in any of this talk, had departed out
+of the room. The Countess came towards me.
+
+"I sent them away," she said, with a wan smile, and a voice subdued to
+great gentleness. "I have no thought to--to part with you so soon.
+Stay out this week. You--you told me that you had something which you
+wished to say."
+
+"Madame," said I, snatching eagerly at her hand, "you also told me
+that you had guessed it."
+
+"Not now; not now." She slipped her hand from my grasp with an
+imploring cry, and held it outspread close before my face to check my
+words. "Not now. I could not bear it. Oh, I would that I had more
+strength to resist, or more weakness to succumb."
+
+Never have I heard such pain in a human voice: never have I seen
+features so wrung with suffering. The sight of her cut me to the
+heart.
+
+"Listen," she went on, controlling herself after a moment, though her
+voice still trembled with agitation, and now and again ran upwards
+into an odd laugh, the like of which I have never hearkened to before
+or since. 'Twas the most pitiful sound that ever jarred on a man's
+ears. "On the night of the marriage the villagers will come to the
+Castle to dance in the Great Hall. That night you shall speak to me,
+and a carriage shall be ready to take you away afterwards, if you
+will. Until that night be 'prudent.'"
+
+She gave me no time to answer her, but ran to the door, and so out of
+the room. I could hear her footsteps falling uncertainly along the
+gallery, as though she stumbled while she ran, and a great anger
+against the priest flamed up in my breast. "Strength to resist, or
+weakness to succumb." Doubtless the words would have bewildered me,
+like the oracles of old Greece, but for what I suspicioned in the
+priest Now, however, in the blindness of my thoughts, I construed them
+as the confirmation of my belief that he was practising all his arts
+upon Ilga to secure Lukstein for the Church. 'Twas Father Spaur, I
+imagined, whom she had neither the strength to resist nor the weakness
+to yield to, and I fancied that I was set upon a second contest for
+the winning of her, though this time with a more subtle and noteworthy
+antagonist.
+
+And yet for all my fears, for all Ilga's trouble, with such selfish
+pertinacity do a lover's reflections seek to enhearten his love, I
+could not but feel a throb of joy for that she had so plainly shown to
+me what the struggle cost her.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+                             AT LUKSTEIN.
+
+
+In accordance, then, with the suggestion of Ilga, I despatched Udal to
+Venice, bearing a letter wherein I requested Jack to bide there until
+such time as I arrived. To supply my servant's place Father Spaur
+offered me one, Michael Groder, whose assistance at the first sight I
+was strongly in a mind to decline; for he was more than common uncouth
+even for those parts, and with his scarred knees, tangled black hair,
+and gaunt, weather-roughened face, seemed more fitted for hewing wood
+upon the hillside than for the neater functions of a valet. The
+priest, however, pressed his services upon me with so importunate a
+courtesy that I thought it ungracious to persist in a refusal. Indeed,
+Michael Groder, though of a slight and wiry build, was the unhandiest
+man with his fingers that ever I had met with. There was not a servant
+in the Castle who could not have done the work better; and I came
+speedily to the conclusion that Father Spaur had selected him
+particularly out of some motive very different from a desire to oblige
+me; I mean, in order that he might keep a watch upon my actions, and
+see that I gained no secret advantage with the Countess.
+
+However, had I entertained any such design, the hunting expedition
+would have effectually prevented its fulfilment. It lasted the greater
+part of the week, and we did not return to Lukstein until the eve of
+my departure. By this time my anxiety as to the answer which Ilga
+would make to my suit when she knew all that I had to tell her, had
+well-nigh worked me into a fever. I was for ever rehearsing and
+picturing the scene, inventing all sorts of womanly objections for her
+to urge, and disproving them succinctly to her satisfaction by
+Barbara, Celarent and all the rules of logic.
+
+Under these speculations, bolster them up as I might, there lurked
+none the less a heavy and disheartening fear. 'Twas all vain labour to
+reckon up, as I did again and again, the few good qualities which I
+possessed, and to add to them those others which my friends attributed
+to me. I could not shut my eyes to the disparity between us; I could
+not believe but that she must be sensible of it herself. Such a woman,
+I conceived, should wed a warrior and hero; though, indeed, 'twas
+doubtful whether you could find even amongst them one whose deserts
+made him a fit mate for her. As for me, 'twas as though a clown should
+run a-wooing after a princess.
+
+'Twill be readily understood that I had in consequence no great
+inclination for the hearty fellowship of the neighbours who joined in
+the hunt; and since my anxiety grew with every hour, by the time we
+came back to Lukstein--for many of them returned thither instead of to
+their own homes, meaning to stay over until the following night--'twas
+as much as I could do to answer with attention any civil question that
+was addressed to me.
+
+The Countess, I found, was in an agitation no whit inferior to my own.
+I observed her that afternoon at dinner. At times she talked with a
+feverish excitement, at times she relapsed into long silences; but
+even during these pauses I noticed that her fingers were never still,
+but continually twitched and plucked at the cloth. I inferred from her
+manner that she had not yet decided on the course she would take, the
+more particularly because she sedulously avoided speech with me. If I
+spoke to her she replied politely enough, but at once drew those about
+her into the conversation, and herself withdrew from it; and if by
+accident our eyes met, she hastily turned her head away. I knew not
+what to make of these signs, and as soon as the company was risen from
+table I slipped away out of the Castle that I might con them over
+quietly and weigh whether they boded me good or ill.
+
+The Castle, as I have said, stood upon a headland at the mouth of the
+Senner Thal, and turning a corner of this bluff, I wandered by a rough
+track some way along the side of the ravine, and flung myself down on
+my back on the turf. The sun had already sunk below the crest of the
+mountains, and the glow was fast fading out of the sky. The pines on
+the hillside opposite grew black in the deepening twilight; a star
+peeped over the shoulder of the Wildthurm; and here and there a grey
+scarf of cloud lay trailed along the slopes. From a hut high above
+came clear and sweet the voice of a woman singing a Tyrolese melody,
+and so softly did the evening droop upon the mountains, shutting as it
+were the very peace of the heavens into the valleys, that the brooks
+seemed to laugh louder and louder as they raced among the stones. The
+air itself never stirred, save when some bat came flapping blindly
+about my face. I became the more curious, therefore, concerning a bush
+some twenty yards below me, which now and again shivered and bent as
+though with a gust of wind. I had been lying on the grass some ten
+minutes before I noticed this movement. The dwarf oaks and beeches
+which studded the slopes about me were as still and noiseless as
+though their leaves had been carved from metal; only this one bush
+rustled and shook. In a direct line with it, and within reach of my
+foot, a small boulder hung insecurely on the turf. I stretched out my
+foot and pushed it; the stone rocked a little on its base. I pushed
+again and harder; the stone tilted forwards and stuck. I brought my
+other foot to help, set them both flat against the stone, slid down on
+my back until my legs were doubled, and then kicked with all my
+strength. The boulder flew from the soles of my feet, rolled over and
+over, bounded into the air, dropped on to the slope about ten yards
+from the bush, and then sprang at it like a dog at the throat. I heard
+a startled cry; I saw the figure of a man leap up from the centre of
+the bush. The stone took him full in the pit of the stomach, and
+toppled him backwards like a ninepin. He fell on the far side of the
+shrub, and I heard the boulder go crash-crashing down the whole length
+of the incline. Who the man was I had not the time to perceive, and I
+made no effort to discover. The Countess had retired a few moments
+before I slipped away from the Hall, and I judged that he was no more
+than a spy sent by Father Spaur to ascertain whether I had some tryst
+with her. So deeming that he had got no more than his deserts, I left
+him lying where he fell and loitered back to the Castle.
+
+The company I found gathered about a huge fire of logs at the end of
+the Great Hall. Beyond the glow of the flames the Hall was lost in
+shadow, and now and again from some corner would come a soft scuffling
+sound, as a dog moved lazily across the flags. Thereupon with one
+movement the heads would huddle closer together, and for a moment the
+voices would sink to a whisper. They were speaking, as men will who
+are girt with more of God's handiwork than of man's, concerning the
+spirits that haunted the countryside, and told many stories of the
+warnings they had vouchsafed to unheeding ears. In particular, they
+dwelt much upon a bell, which they declared rang out from the
+Wildthurm when good or ill-fortune approached the House of Lukstein,
+tolling as the presage of disaster, pealing joyously in the forefront
+of prosperity. One, indeed--with frequent glances across his shoulder
+into the gloom--averred that he had heard it tolling on the eve of
+Count Lukstein's marriage, and from that beginning the talk slid to
+the manner of his death. 'Twas altogether an eerie experience, and one
+that I would not willingly repeat, to listen to them debating that
+question in hushed whispers, with the darkness closing in around us,
+and the firelight playing upon mature, weather-hardened faces grown
+timorous with the awe of children. For this I remarked with some
+wonder, that no one made mention either of the things which I had left
+behind me, or of the track which I had flogged in the snow about the
+rim of the precipice. 'Twas evident that these details of the story
+had been kept carefully secret, though with what object I could not
+understand.
+
+That evening I had no Michael Groder to assist me in my toilet, and so
+got me to bed with the saving of half an hour. I cannot say, however,
+that I gained half an hour's sleep thereby, for the thought of the
+morrow, and all that hung upon it, kept me tossing from side to side
+in a turmoil of unrest. It must have been near upon two hours that I
+lay thus uneasily cushioned upon disquiet, before a faint sound came
+to my ears, and made me start up in the darkness with my heart racing.
+
+'Twas the sound that a man can never forget or mistake when once he
+has heard it--the sound of a woman sobbing. It rose from the little
+sitting-room immediately beneath me. The staircase door was close to
+my bedside, and I reached out my hand and, turning the handle
+cautiously, opened it. The sound was louder now, but still muffled,
+and I knew that the door at the bottom of the staircase was closed.
+For a little I remained propped on my elbow, and straining my ears to
+listen. The mourner must be either Clemence Durette or Ilga, and I
+could not doubt which of them it was. Why she wept, I did not
+consider. 'Twas the noise of her weeping, made yet more lonesome and
+sad by the black dead of night, that occupied my senses and filled me
+with an unbearable pain.
+
+I got quietly out of my bed, and slipping on some clothes crept down
+the staircase in my stockings. 'Twas pitch dark in this passage, and I
+felt before me with my hands as I descended, fearing lest I might
+unawares stumble against the door. At the last step I paused and
+listened again. Then very gently I groped for the handle. I had good
+reason to know how noiselessly it turned, and I opened the door for
+the space of an inch. A feeble light flickered on the wall of the room
+at my side. I waited with my fingers on the handle, but there was no
+check in the sobbing. I pushed the door wider open; the light upon the
+wall wavered and shook, as though a draught took the flame of a
+candle. But that was all. So I stepped silently forward and looked
+into the room.
+
+The sight made my heart bleed. Ilga lay face downwards and prone upon
+the floor, her arms outstretched, her hair unbound and rippling about
+her shoulders. From head to foot she was robed in black. It broke upon
+me suddenly that I had never seen her so clad before, and I remembered
+a remark that Elmscott had passed in London upon that very score.
+
+The window was open, and from the garden a light wind brought the
+soughing of trees into the room. A single candle guttered on the
+mantelshelf and heightened its general aspect of neglect. Thus Ilga
+lay, abandoned to--what? Grief for her husband, or remorse at
+forgetting him? That black dress might well be the fitting symbol of
+either sentiment. 'Twas for neither of these reasons that she wept, as
+I learned long afterwards, but for another of which I had no suspicion
+then.
+
+I closed the door softly and sat me down in the darkness on the
+stairs, hearkening to that desolate sound of tears and praying for the
+morning to come and for the day to pass into night, that I might say
+my say and either bring her such rest and happiness as a man's love
+can bring to a woman, or slip out of her life and so trouble her no
+more.
+
+'Twas a long while before she ceased from her distress, and to me it
+seemed far longer than it was. As soon as I heard her move I got me
+back to my room. The dawn was just breaking when, from a corner of my
+window, I saw her walk out across the lawn, and the dew was white upon
+the grass like a hoar-frost. With a weary, dragging step, and a head
+adroop like a broken flower, she walked to the parapet of the terrace,
+and hung on it for a little, gazing down upon the roofs of her
+sleeping village. Then she turned and fixed her eyes upon my window. I
+was hidden in the curtains so that she could not see me. For some
+minutes she gazed at it, her face very tired and sad. 'Twas her bridal
+chamber, or rather, would have been but for me, and I wondered much
+whether she was thinking of the husband or the guest. She turned away
+again, looked out across the valley paved with a grey floor of mist,
+and so walked back to the main wing of the Castle.
+
+The light broadened out; starlings began to twitter in the trees, and
+far away a white peak blushed rosy at the kiss of the sun. The one day
+of my life had come. By this time to-morrow, I thought, the world
+would have changed its colours for me, one way or another; and tired
+out with my vigil, I tumbled into bed and slept dreamlessly until
+Michael Groder roused me.
+
+I asked him why he had failed me the night before.
+
+"I was unwell," he replied.
+
+"True!" said I, with great friendliness. "You got a heavier load upon
+your stomach than it would stand."
+
+The which was as unwise a remark as I could have made; for Groder's
+ill-will towards me needed no stimulus to provoke it.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIX.
+
+                     IN THE PAVILION. I EXPLAIN.
+
+
+The marriage, with its odd customs of the Ehrengang and Ehrentanz,
+might at another time have afforded me the entertainment which Father
+Spaur promised; but, to speak the truth, the whole ceremony wearied me
+beyond expression. My thoughts were set in a tide towards the evening,
+and I watched the sun loiter idly down the length of the valley in a
+burning fever of impatience.
+
+'Twas about seven of the clock when the villagers flocked up to the
+Castle and began their antic dances in the Hall and in the ball-room
+which fronted the terrace. They aimed at a display of agility rather
+than of elegance, leaping into the air and falling crack upon their
+knees, slapping their thighs and the soles of their feet, with many
+other barbaric gambols; and all the while they kept up such a noise of
+shouting, whistling, and singing, as fairly deafened one.
+
+Ilga, I observed with some heart-sinking, had once more robed herself
+in black, and very simply; but the colour so set off the brightness of
+her hair, which was coiled in a coronal upon her head, and the white
+beauty of her arms, that for all my fears I could not but think she
+had never looked so exquisitely fair. However, I had thought the same
+upon so many different occasions that I would not now assert it as an
+indisputable fact.
+
+As you may be certain, I had not copied Ilga's simplicity, but had
+rather dressed in the opposite extreme. 'Twas no part of my policy to
+show her the disrespect of plain apparel. I had so little to offer
+that I must needs trick that little out to the best of advantage;
+indeed, even at this distance of time, I fairly laugh when I recall
+the extraordinary pains I spent that evening upon my adornment. My
+Lord Culverton could never have bettered them. A coat of white
+brocaded velvet, ruffles that reached to the tips of my fingers, a
+cravat of the finest Mechlin, pink breeches, silk stockings rolled
+above the knees, with gold clocks and garters, white Spanish leather
+shoes with red heels and Elmscott's buckles, a new heavy black peruke;
+so I attired myself for this momentous interview.
+
+Father Spaur greeted me with a sour smile and a sneering compliment;
+but 'twas not his favour that I sought, and I cared little that he
+showed so plainly his resentment.
+
+"A carriage," he added, "will be in waiting for you at eleven, if you
+are still minded to leave us."
+
+I thanked him shortly, and passed on to Ilga, but for some while I
+could get no private speech with her. For though she took no part in
+the dancing, even when a quieter measure made a break in the
+boisterous revelry, she moved continually from one to the other of her
+villagers with a kindly smile and affable word for each in a spirit of
+so sweet a condescension, that I had no doubt that she had vaunted
+their loyalty most truthfully. 'Twould have been strange, indeed, if
+they had not greatly worshipped her.
+
+In the midst of the clatter, however, and near upon the hour of nine,
+a man burst wildly into the room, faltering out that the "Wildthurm"
+bell was even now ringing its message to Lukstein.
+
+On the instant the music was stopped; a great awe fell upon the noisy
+throng; women clung in fear to men, and men crossed themselves with a
+muttering of tremulous prayers; and then Ilga led the way through the
+Hall into the courtyard of the Castle.
+
+The ice-fields of the mountain glittered like silver in the moonlight,
+and we gazed upwards towards them with our ears strained to catch the
+sound. Many, I know, will scoff at and question what I relate. Many
+have already done so, attributing it to a delusion of the senses, a
+heated imagination, or any other of the causes which are held to
+absolve the spirits of the air from participation in men's affairs.
+
+Against such unholy disbelief it is not for me to argue or dispute,
+nor is this the fitting place and opportunity. But this I do attest,
+and to it I do solemnly put my name. 'Twas not I alone who heard the
+bell; every man and woman who danced that night at Lukstein Castle
+heard it. The sound was faint, but wonderfully pure and clear, the
+strokes of the hammer coming briskly one upon the other as though the
+bell was tossed from side to side by willing hands.
+
+"It speaks of happiness for Lukstein," said Father Spaur with an evil
+glance towards me.
+
+For my part I just looked at Ilga.
+
+"Come!" she said.
+
+And we walked back through the empty echoing Hall, and across the lawn
+to the terrace.
+
+A light wind was blowing from the south, but there were no clouds in
+the sky, and the valley lay beneath us with all its landmarks merged
+by the grey, tender light, so that it seemed to have widened to double
+its breadth.
+
+The terrace, however, was for the most part in shadow, since the moon,
+hanging behind a cluster of trees at the east corner of the wall, only
+sprinkled its radiance through a tracery of boughs, and drew a dancing
+pattern about our feet. As I leaned upon the parapet there came before
+my eyes, raised by I know not what chance suggestion, a vivid picture
+of my little far-away hamlet in the country of the English lakes.
+
+"You are thoughtful, Mr. Buckler!" said Ilga.
+
+"I was thinking of the valley of Wastdale," I replied, "and of a
+carrier's cart stuck in a snowdrift on Hard Knot."
+
+"Of your home? 'Twas of your home that you were thinking?" she asked
+curiously, and yet with something more than curiosity in her voice,
+with something of regret, something almost of pity.
+
+"Not so much of my home," I replied, "but rather from what distant
+points our two lives have drawn together." I was emboldened to the
+words by the tone in which she had spoken. "A few weeks ago you were
+here at Lukstein in the Tyrol, I was at the Hall in Cumberland, and we
+had never spoken to one another. How strange it all seems!"
+
+"Nay," she answered simply; "it was certain you and I should meet. Is
+not God in His heaven?"
+
+My heart gave a great leap. We had come now to the pavilion, which
+leaned against the Castle wall, and Ilga opened the door and entered
+it. I followed her, and closed the latch behind me.
+
+In the side of the room there was a square window with shutters, but
+no glass. The shutters were open, and through a gap of the trees the
+moonlight poured into the pavilion.
+
+We stood facing one another silently. The time had come for me to
+speak.
+
+"Well," said she, and her voice was very calm, "what is it, Mr.
+Buckler?"
+
+All my fine arguments and protestations flew out of my head like birds
+startled from a nest. I forgot even the confession I had to make to
+her, and
+
+"I love you!" I said humbly, looking down on the floor.
+
+She gave me no answer. My heart fainted within me; I feared that it
+would stop. But in a little I dared to raise my eyes to her face. She
+stood in the pillar of moonlight, her eyes glistening, but with no
+expression on her face which could give me a clue to her thoughts, and
+she softly opened and shut her fan, which hung on a girdle about her
+waist.
+
+"How I do love you!" I cried, and I made a step towards her. "But you
+know that."
+
+She nodded her head.
+
+"I took good care you should," she said.
+
+I did not stop to consider the strangeness of the speech. My desire
+construed it without seeking help from the dictionary of thought.
+
+"Then you wished it," I cried joyfully, and I threw myself down on my
+knee at her feet, and buried my face in my hands. "Ilga! Ilga!"
+
+She made no movement, but replied in a low voice:
+
+"With all my heart I wished it. How else could I have brought you to
+the Tyrol?"
+
+I felt the tears gathering into my eyes and my throat choking. I
+lifted my face to hers, and, taking courage from her words, clipped my
+arms about her waist.
+
+She gave a little trembling cry, and plucked at my fingers. I but
+tightened my clasp.
+
+"Ilga!" I murmured. 'Twas the only word which came to my lips, but it
+summed the whole world for me then--ay, and has done ever since.
+"Ilga!"
+
+Again she plucked at my fingers, and for all the calmness which she
+had shown, I could feel her hands burning through her gloves. Then a
+shadow darkened for an instant across the window, the moonlight faded,
+and her face was lost to me. 'Twas for no longer than an instant. I
+looked towards the window, but Ilga bent her head down between it and
+me.
+
+"Tis only the branches swinging in the wind," she said softly.
+
+I rose to my feet and drew her towards me. She set her palms against
+my chest as if to repulse me, but she said no word, and I saw the
+necklace about her throat flashing and sparkling with the heave of her
+bosom.
+
+It seemed to me that a light step sounded without the pavilion, and I
+turned my head aside to listen.
+
+"Tis only the leaves blowing along the terrace," she whispered, and I
+looked again at her and drew her closer.
+
+For a time she resisted; then I heard her sigh, and her hand stole
+across my shoulder. Her head drooped forward until her hair touched my
+lips. I could feel her heart beating on my breast. Gently I turned her
+face upwards, and then with a loud clap the shutters were flung to and
+the room was plunged in darkness.
+
+Ilga started away from me, drawing a deep breath as for some release.
+I groped my way to the window. The shutters opened outwards, and I
+pushed against them. They were held close and fast.
+
+A wooden settle stood against the wall just beneath the window, and I
+knelt on it and drove at the shutters with my shoulder. They gave a
+little at first, and I heard a whispered call for help. The pressure
+from without was redoubled; I was forced back; a bar fell across them
+outside and was fitted into a socket. Thrust as I might I could not
+break it; the window was securely barricadoed.
+
+Meanwhile Ilga had not spoken. "Ilga!" I called.
+
+She did not answer me, nor in the blackness of the pavilion could I
+discover where she stood.
+
+"Ilga!"
+
+The same empty silence. I could not even hear her breathing, and yet
+she was in the pavilion, within a few feet of me. There was something
+horrible in her quietude, and a great fear of I knew not what caught
+at my heart and turned my blood cold.
+
+"This is the priest's doing," I cried, and I drew my sword and made
+towards the door.
+
+A startled cry burst from the gloom behind me.
+
+"Stop! If you open it, you will be killed."
+
+I stopped as she bade me, body and brain numbed in a common inaction.
+I could hear her breathing now plainly enough.
+
+"This is not the priest's doing," she said, at length. "It is the
+wife's." Her voice steadied and became even as she spoke. "From the
+hour I found Count Lukstein dead I have lived only for this night."
+
+I let my sword slip from my grasp, and it clattered and rang on the
+floor.
+
+'Twas not surprise that I felt; ever since the shutters had been
+slammed I seemed to have known that she would speak those words. And
+'twas no longer fear. Nor did I as yet wonder how she came by her
+knowledge. Indeed, I had but one thought, one thought of overwhelming
+sadness, and I voiced it in utter despondency.
+
+"So all this time--in London, here, a minute ago, you were tricking
+me! Tricking me into loving you; then tricking my love for you!"
+
+"A minute ago!" she caught me up, and there was a quiver in her voice
+of some deep feeling. Then she broke off, and said, in a hard, clear
+tone: "I was a woman, and alone. I used a woman's weapons."
+
+Again she paused, but I made no answer. I had none to make. She
+resumed, with a flash of anger, as though my silence accused her:
+
+"And was there no trickery on your side, too?"
+
+They were almost the same words as those which Marston had levelled at
+me, and I imagined that they conveyed the same charge. However, it
+seemed of little use or profit to defend myself at length, and I
+answered:
+
+"I have played no part. It might have fared better with me if I had.
+What deceit I have practised may be set down to love's account. 'Twas
+my fear of losing you that locked my lips. Had I not loved you, what
+need to tell you my secret? 'Twas no crime that I committed. But since
+I loved you, I was bound in very truth to speak. I have known that
+from the first, and I pledged myself to speak at the moment that I
+told you of my love. I dared not disclose the matter before. There was
+so little chance that I should win your favour, even had every
+circumstance seconded my suit. But this very night I should have told
+you the truth."
+
+"No doubt! no doubt!" she answered, with the bitterest irony, and I
+understood what a fatal mistake I had made in pleading my passion
+before disclosing the story of the duel. I should have begun from the
+other end. "And no doubt you meant also to tell me, with the same open
+frankness, of the woman for whose sake you killed my--my husband?"
+
+"I fought for no woman, but for my friend."
+
+She laughed; surely the hardest, most biting laugh that ever man
+heard.
+
+"Tell me your fine story now."
+
+I sank down on the settle, feeling strangely helpless in the face of
+her contempt.
+
+"This is the priest's doing," I repeated, more to myself than to her.
+
+"It is my doing," she said again; "my doing from first to last"
+
+"Then what was it?" I asked, with a dull, involuntary curiosity. "What
+was it you had neither the weakness to yield to nor the strength to
+resist?"
+
+She did not answer me, but it seemed as though she suddenly put out a
+hand and steadied herself against the wall.
+
+"Tell me your story," she said briefly; and sitting there in the
+darkness, unable to see my mistress, I began the history of that
+November night.
+
+"It is true that I killed Count Lukstein; but I killed him in open
+encounter. I fought him fairly and honourably."
+
+"At midnight!" she interrupted. "Without witnesses, upon his
+wedding-day."
+
+"There was blood upon Count Lukstein's sword," I went on doggedly,
+"and that blood was mine. I fought him fairly and honourably. I own I
+compelled him to fight me."
+
+"You and your--companion."
+
+She stressed the word with an extraordinary contempt.
+
+"My companion!" I repeated in surprise. "What know you of my
+companion? My companion watched our horses in the valley."
+
+"You dare to tell me that?" she cried, ceasing from her contempt, and
+suddenly lifting her voice in an inexplicable passion.
+
+"It is the truth."
+
+"The truth! The truth!" she exclaimed, and then, with a stamp of her
+foot, and in a ringing tone of decision, "Otto!"
+
+The door was flung open. Otto Krax and Michael Groder blocked the
+opening, and behind them stood Father Spaur, holding a lighted torch
+above his head. The Tyrolese servants carried hangers in their hands.
+I can see their blades flashing in the red light now!
+
+Silently they filed into the pavilion. Father Spaur lifted his torch
+into a bracket, latched the door, and leaned his back against the
+panels. All three looked at the Countess, waiting her orders. 'Twas
+plain, from the priest's demeanour, that Ilga had spoken no more than
+truth. In this matter she was the mistress and the priest the
+servitor.
+
+I turned and gazed at her. She stood erect against the wall opposite
+to me, meeting my gaze, her face stern and set, as though carven out
+of white marble, her eyes dark and glittering with menace.
+
+For my part, I rose from the settle and stood with folded arms. I did
+not even stoop to pick up my rapier; it seemed to me not worth while.
+
+"The proper attitude of heroical endurance," sneered Father Spaur.
+"Perhaps a little more humility might become 'a true son of the
+Church.' Was not that the phrase?"
+
+The Countess nodded to Otto. He took Groder's sword and stood it with
+his own, by a low stool in the corner near the door.
+
+"'Tis your own fault," she said sternly. "Even now I would have spared
+you had you told me the truth. But you presume too much upon my
+folly."
+
+The next moment the two men sprang at me. The manner of their attack
+took me by surprise, and in a twinkling they had me down upon the
+bench. Then, however, a savage fury flamed up within me. 'Twas one
+thing to be run through at the command of Ilga, and so perish decently
+by the sword; 'twas quite another to be handled by her servants, and I
+fought against the indignity with all my strength. But the struggle
+was too unequal. I should have proved no match for Otto had he stood
+alone, and I before him, fairly planted on my legs. With the pair of
+them to master me I was well-nigh as powerless as a child. Moreover,
+they had already forced me down by the shoulders, so that the edge of
+the settle cut across my back just below the shoulder-blades, and I
+could get no more purchase or support than the soles of my feet on the
+rough flooring gave me.
+
+My single chance lay in regaining possession of my rapier. It lay just
+within my reach, and struggling violently with my left arm, in order
+to the better conceal my design, I stretched out the other cautiously
+towards it.
+
+My fingers were actually on the pommel, I was working it nearer to me
+so that I might grasp the blade short, before Groder perceived my
+intention. With an oath he kicked it behind him. Otto set a huge knee
+calmly upon my chest, and pressed his weight upon it until I thought
+my spine would snap. Then he seized my arms, jerked them upwards, and
+held them outstretched above my head, keeping his knee the while
+jammed down upon my ribs. Groder drew a cord from his pocket, and
+turning back my sleeves with an ironic deliberation, bound my wrists
+tightly together.
+
+"'Twas not for nothing Groder went a-valeting," laughed Father Spaur;
+and then, seeing that I was assisted in my struggle by the pressure
+which I got from the floor, "Twere wise to repeat the ceremony with
+his ankles."
+
+"You, Groder!" said Otto.
+
+"I have no more cord," growled Michael, as he tied the knots viciously
+about my wrists.
+
+Something rattled lightly on the ground. 'Twas the girdle of the
+Countess, with the fan attached to the end of it.
+
+Groder plucked the fan off, struck my heels from under me, and bound
+the girdle round and round my ankles until they jarred together and I
+felt the bones cracking.
+
+Otto took his knee from my chest, and the two men went back to their
+former stations by the door.
+
+Father Spaur came over to where I lay, rubbing his hands gently
+together.
+
+"Really, really!" said he in a silky voice, "so the cockatoo has been
+caged after all."
+
+The words, recalling that morning in London when first I allowed
+myself to take heart in my hopes, so stung me that, tied as I was, I
+struggled on to my feet, and so stood tottering. Father Spaur drew
+back a pace and glanced quickly about him.
+
+"Michael!" he called. But the next instant I fell heavily forward upon
+his breast. He burst into a loud laugh of relief, and flung me back
+upon the settle.
+
+I looked towards Ilga.
+
+"What have you not told him?" I asked.
+
+"Nothing!" she said coldly. "I, at all events, had nothing to
+conceal."
+
+She motioned Father Spaur to fall back. Otto and Groder picked up
+their swords. Father Spaur unlatched the door, rubbed out the torch
+upon the boards, and one after another they stepped from the pavilion.
+Ilga followed last, but she did not turn her head as she went out.
+Through the open doorway I could see the shadows dancing on the
+terrace, I could hear the music pouring from the Castle in a lilting
+measure. The door closed, the pavilion became black once more, and I
+heard their footsteps recede across the pavement and grow silent upon
+the grass.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XX.
+
+             IN THE PAVILION. COUNTESS LUKSTEIN EXPLAINS.
+
+
+Of the horror which the next two hours brought to me, I find it
+difficult to speak, even at this distance of time. 'Twas not the fear
+of what might be in store for me that oppressed my mind, though God
+knows I do not say this to make a boast of it; for doubtless some fear
+upon that score would have argued me a better man; but in truth I
+barely sent a thought that way. The savour of life had become brine
+upon my lips, and I cared little what became of me, so that the ending
+was quick.
+
+For the moment the door closed I was filled with an appalling sense of
+loneliness and isolation. Heart and brain it seized and possessed me.
+'Twas the closing of a door upon all the hopes which had chattered and
+laughed and nestled at my heart for so long; and into such a vacancy
+of mind did I fall, that I did not trouble to speculate upon the
+nature of the story which Countess Lukstein believed to be true. That
+she had been led by I knew not what suspicions into some strange error
+that she had got but a misshapen account of the duel between her
+husband and myself, was, of course, plain to me. But since her former
+kindliness and courtesy had been part of a deliberate and ordained
+plan for securing me within her power, since, in a word, she had
+cherished no favourable thoughts of me at any time, I deemed it idle
+to consider of the matter.
+
+Moreover, the remoteness of these parts made my helplessness yet more
+bitter and overpowering; though, indeed, I was not like to forget my
+helplessness in any case, for the cords about my ankles and wrists bit
+into my flesh like coils of hot wire. "A sequestered nook of the
+world," so I remembered, had Ilga called this corner of the Tyrol, and
+for a second time that night my thoughts went back to my own distant
+valley. I saw it pleasant with the domestic serenity which a man
+discovers nowhere but in his native landscape.
+
+And to crown, as it were, my loneliness, now and again a few stray
+notes of music or a noise of laughter would drift through the chinks
+into the pitch-dark hut, and tell of the lighted Hall and of Ilga,
+now, maybe, dancing among her guests.
+
+'Twas a little short of eleven when she returned to the pavilion. I am
+able to fix the time from an incident which occurred shortly
+afterwards. At first, the steps falling light as they approached, I
+bethought me my visitor was either Otto or Groder coming stealthily
+upon his toes to complete his work with me; for I never expected to
+look upon her face again.
+
+She carried no light with her, and paused on the sill of the door, her
+slight figure outlined against the twilight. She bent her head
+forward, peering into the gloom of the room, but she said no word;
+neither did I address her. So she stood for a little, and then,
+stepping again outside, she unbarred and opened the shutters of the
+window. Returning, she latched the door, locked it from within, and,
+fetching the stool from the corner, sat her down quietly before me.
+
+The moon, which had previously shone into the room almost in a level
+bar, now slanted its beams, so that the Countess was bathed in them
+from head to foot, while I, being nearer to the window, lay half in
+shadow, half on the edge of the light.
+
+She sat with her chin propped upon her hands, and her eyes steadily
+fixed upon mine, but she betrayed no resentment in her looks nor,
+indeed, feeling of any kind. Then, in a low, absent voice, she began
+to croon over to herself that odd, wailing elegy which I had once
+heard her sing in London. The tune had often haunted me since that day
+from its native melancholy, but now, as Ilga sang it in the moonlight,
+her eyes very big and dark, and fastened quietly upon mine, it gained
+a weird and eerie quality from her manner, and I felt my flesh begin
+to creep.
+
+I stirred uneasily upon the settle, and Ilga stopped. I must think she
+mistook the reason of my restlessness, for a slow smile came upon her
+face, and, reaching out a hand, she tried the knots wherewith I was
+bound.
+
+"It may well be," she suggested, "that you are better inclined to
+speak the truth, since now you know to what falsehood has brought
+you."
+
+"Madame," I replied wearily, "I know not what you believe nor what you
+would have me say. It matters little to me, nor can I see, since you
+have reached the end for which you worked, that it need greatly
+concern you. This only I know, that I have already told you the
+truth."
+
+"And the miniature you left behind you?" she asked, with an ironic
+smile. "Am I to understand it has no bearing on the duel?"
+
+"Nay, madame," said I; "'tis the key to the cause of our encounter."
+
+"Ah!" she interrupted, with a satisfaction which I did not comprehend.
+"You have drawn some profit from the reflection of these last hours."
+
+"For," I continued, "it contained the likeness of my friend, Sir
+Julian Harnwood, as, indeed, Otto must needs have told you. 'Twas in
+his cause that I came to Lukstein."
+
+"'Twas the likeness of a woman," she replied patiently.
+
+I stared at her in amazement.
+
+"Of a woman!" I exclaimed.
+
+She laughed with a quiet scorn.
+
+"Of a woman," she repeated. "I showed it you in my apartments at
+London."
+
+"The portrait of Lady Tracy? It is impossible!" I cried, starting up.
+"Why, Marston gave it you. You told me so."
+
+"Oh, is there no end to it?" She burst out into sudden passion,
+beating her hands together as though to enforce her words. "Is there
+no end to it? I never told you so. 'Twas you who pretended that. You
+pretended you believed it, and like a weak fool, I let your cunning
+deceive me. I was not sure then that you had killed the Count, and I
+believed you had never seen the likeness till that day. But now I
+know. You own you left the miniature behind you."
+
+"But the case was locked," I said, "and I had not the key."
+
+"I know not that."
+
+I could have informed her who had possessed the key, but refrained,
+bethinking me that the knowledge might only add to her distress and
+yet do no real service to me.
+
+"And so," I observed instead, "all your anxiety that I should not tax
+Marston with the giving of it was on your own account, and not at all
+on mine."
+
+She was taken aback by the unexpected rejoinder. But to me 'twas no
+more than a corollary of my original thought that the Countess had
+been playing me like a silly fish during the entire period of our
+acquaintance.
+
+"I showed you the portrait as a test," she said hurriedly. "I believed
+you guiltless, and I knew Mr. Marston and yourself had little liking
+for each other. Any pretext would have served you for a quarrel.
+Besides--besides----"
+
+"Besides," I took her up, "you allowed me to believe that Marston had
+given you the miniature, and had I spoken of the matter to him I
+should have discovered you were playing me false."
+
+"But you knew," she cried, whipping herself to anger, as it seemed to
+me, to make up for having given ground. "You knew how the miniature
+came into my hands. All the while you knew it, and you talk of my
+playing you false!"
+
+Suddenly she resumed her seat, and continued in a quieter voice:
+
+"But the brother found out the shameful secret. You could overreach
+me, but not the brother; and fresh from accounting to him for your
+conduct, you must needs stumble into my presence with Lady Tracy's
+name upon your lips, and doubtless some new explanation ready."
+
+"Madame, that is not so. I came that evening to tell you what I have
+told you to-night, but you would not hear me. You bade me come to
+Lukstein. I know now why, and 'twas doubtless for the same reason that
+you locked the door when I had swooned."
+
+She started as I mentioned that incident.
+
+"'Twas not on Lady Tracy's account, or because of any conduct of mine
+towards her, that I fought Marston. Against his will I compelled him
+to fight, as Lord Elmscott will bear out. He had learned by whose hand
+Count Lukstein died, and rode after you to Bristol that he might be
+the first to tell you; and I was minded to tell you the story myself."
+
+"Or, at all events, to prevent him telling it," she added, with a
+sneer. "But how came Mr. Marston to learn this fact?"
+
+I was silent. I could not but understand that the Countess presumed
+her husband, Lady Tracy, and myself to be bound together by some
+vulgar intrigue, and I saw how my answer must needs strengthen her
+suspicions.
+
+"How did he find out?" she repeated. "Tell me that!"
+
+"Lady Tracy informed him," I answered, in despair.
+
+"Then you admit that Lady Tracy knew?"
+
+"I told her of the duel myself, on the very morning that I first met
+her--on the morning that I introduced her into your house."
+
+"And why did she carry the news to her brother?"
+
+Again I was silent, and again she pressed the question.
+
+"She was afraid of you, and she sought her brother's protection,"
+Every word I uttered seemed to plead against me. "I understand now why
+she was afraid. I did not know her miniature was in that case, but
+doubtless she did, and she was afraid you should connect her with
+Count Lukstein's death."
+
+"Whereas," replied the Countess, "she had nothing to do with it?"
+
+I had made up my mind what answer I should make to this question when
+it was put. Since I had plainly lost Ilga beyond all hope, I was
+resolved to spare her the knowledge of her husband's treachery.
+'Twould not better my case--for in truth I cared little what became of
+me--to relate that disgraceful episode to her, and 'twould only add to
+her unhappiness. So I answered boldly:
+
+"She had nothing to do with it."
+
+The Countess sat looking at me without a word, and I was bethinking me
+of some excuse by which I might explain how it came about that Lady
+Tracy's portrait and not Julian's was in the box, when she bent
+forward, with her face quite close to mine, so that she might note
+every change in my expression.
+
+"And the footsteps in the snow; how do you account for them? The
+woman's footsteps that kept side by side with yours from the parapet
+to the window, and back again from the window to the parapet?"
+
+I uttered a cry, and setting my feet to the ground, raised myself up
+in the settle.
+
+"The footsteps in the snow? They were your own."
+
+The Countess stared at me vacantly, and then I saw the horror growing
+in her eyes, and I knew that at last she believed me.
+
+"They were your own," I went on. "I knew nothing of Count Lukstein's
+marriage. I had never set eyes on him at all. I knew not 'twas your
+wedding-day. I came hither hot-foot from Bristol to serve my friend
+Sir Julian Harnwood. He had quarrelled with the Count, and since he
+lay condemned to death as one of Monmouth's rebels, he charged me to
+take the quarrel up. In furtherance of that charge, I forced Count
+Lukstein to fight me. In the midst of the encounter you came down the
+little staircase into the room. I saw you across the Count's shoulder.
+The curtain by the window hangs now half-torn from the vallance. I
+tore it clutching its folds in my horror. We started asunder, and you
+passed between us. You walked out across the garden and to the Castle
+wall. Madame, as God is my witness, when once I had seen you, I wished
+for nothing so much as to leave the Count in peace. But--but----"
+
+"Well?" she asked breathlessly.
+
+"'Twas Count Lukstein's turn to compel me," I went on, recovering from
+a momentary hesitation. I had indeed nearly blurted out the truth
+about his final thrust. "And when you came back into the room, you
+passed within a foot of the dead body of your husband, and of myself,
+who was kneeling----"
+
+She flung herself back, interrupting me with a shuddering cry. She
+covered her face with her hands, and swayed to and fro upon the stool,
+as though she would fall.
+
+"Madame!" I exclaimed. "For God's sake! For if you swoon, alas! I
+cannot help you."
+
+She recovered herself in a moment, and taking her hands from before
+her face, looked at me with a strangely softened expression. She rose
+from her seat, and took a step or two thoughtfully towards the door.
+Then she stopped and turned to me.
+
+"Lady Tracy, you say, had nothing to do with this quarrel, and yet her
+likeness was in the miniature case."
+
+I had no doubt in my own mind as to how it came there. 'Twas the case
+which Lady Tracy had given to Count Lukstein, and doubtless she had
+substituted her portrait for that of Julian. But this I could not tell
+to the Countess.
+
+"'Twas a mistake of my friend," said I. "He gave me the case as a
+warrant and proof, which I might show to Count Lukstein, that I came
+on his part, telling me his portrait was within it. But 'twas on the
+night before he was executed, and his thoughts may well have gone
+astray."
+
+"But since the case was locked, and you had not the key, who was to
+open it?"
+
+"Count Lukstein," I replied, being thrown for a moment off my guard.
+
+"Count Lukstein?" she asked, coming back to me. "Then he possessed the
+key. You fought for your friend, Sir Julian Harnwood. Lady Tracy was
+betrothed to Sir Julian. The case was given to you as a warrant of the
+cause in which you came. It contained Lady Tracy's likeness, and Count
+Lukstein held the key."
+
+She spoke with great slowness and deliberation, adding sentence to
+sentence as links in a chain of testimony. I heard her with a great
+fear, perceiving how near she was to the truth. There was, however,
+one link missing to make the chain complete. She did not know that
+Lady Tracy had owned the case and had given it to Count Lukstein, and
+of that fact I was determined she should still remain ignorant.
+
+"My husband loved me," she said quickly, with a curious challenge in
+her voice.
+
+"I believe most sincerely that he did," I answered with vehemence. I
+was able to say so honestly, for I remembered how his face and tone
+had softened when he made mention of his wife.
+
+"Then tell me the cause of this quarrel that induced you to break into
+this house at midnight, and, on a friend's behalf, force a stranger to
+fight you without even a witness?"
+
+There was a return of suspicion in her tone, and she came back into
+the moonlight. The temptation to speak out grew upon me as I watched
+her. I longed to assure her that I was bound to no other woman, but
+pledged heart and soul to her, and the fear that if I kept silent she
+would once more set this duel down to some rivalry in intrigue, urged
+me well-nigh out of all restraint. Why should I be so careful of the
+reputation of Count Lukstein? 'Twas an unworthy thought, and one that
+promised to mislead me; for after all, 'twas not his good or ill
+repute that I had to consider, but rather whether Ilga held his memory
+in such esteem and respect that my disclosures would inflict great
+misery upon her and a lasting distress. This postulate I could hardly
+bring myself to question. Had I not, indeed, ample surety in the care
+and perseverance wherewith she had sought to avenge his death?
+However, being hard pressed by my inclinations, I determined to test
+that point conclusively if by any means I might.
+
+"Madame," I said, "last night, as I lay in my bed, bethinking me of
+the morrow, and wondering what it held in store for me, I heard the
+sound of a woman weeping. It rose from the little room beneath me;
+from the room wherein I fought Count Lukstein. 'Twas the most desolate
+sound that ever my ears have hearkened to--a woman weeping alone in
+the black of the night. I stole down the staircase and opened the
+door. I saw that the woman who wept was yourself."
+
+"'Twas for my husband," she interposed, very sharp and quick, and my
+heart sank.
+
+Yet her words seemed to quicken my desire to reveal the truth. They
+woke in me a strange and morbid jealousy of the man. I longed to cry
+out: "He was a coward; false to you, false to his friend, false to
+me."
+
+"And in London?" I asked, temporising again. "The morning I came to
+you unannounced. You were at the spinnet."
+
+"'Twas for my husband," she repeated, with a certain stubbornness.
+"But we will keep to the question we have in hand, if you please--the
+cause of your dispute with Count Lukstein."
+
+"I will not tell you it."
+
+I spoke with no great firmness, and on that account most like I helped
+to confirm her reawakened suspicions.
+
+"Will not?" says she, her voice cold and sneering. "They are brave
+words though unbravely spoken. You forget I have the advantage and can
+compel you."
+
+"Madame," I replied, "you overrate your powers. Your servants can bind
+me hand and foot, but they cannot compel me to speak what I will not."
+
+"Have you no lie ready? What? Does your invention fail?" and she
+suddenly rose from the stool in a whirlwind of passion. "God forgive
+me!" she cried. "For even now I believed you."
+
+She ceased abruptly and pushed her head forward, listening. The creak
+of wheels came faintly to our ears.
+
+"You hear that? It is Mr. Buckler's carriage, and Mr. Buckler rides
+within it. Do you understand? The carriage takes you to Meran; you
+will not be the first traveller who has disappeared on the borders of
+Italy. I am afraid your friend at Venice will wait for you in vain."
+
+The carriage rumbled down the hill, and we both listened until the
+sound died away.
+
+"For the future you shall labour as my peasant on the hillside among
+the woods, with my peasants for companionship, until your thoughts
+grow coarse with your body, and your soul dwindles to the soul of a
+peasant. So shall you live, and so shall you die, for the wrong which
+you have done to me." She towered above me in her outburst, her eyes
+flashing with anger. "And you dared to charge me with trickery! Why,
+what else has your life been? From the night you went clothed as a
+woman to Bristol Bridewell, what else has your life been? A woman! The
+part fitted you well; you have all the cunning. You need but the
+addition of a petticoat."
+
+The bitterness of her speech stung me into a fury, and, forgetful of
+the continence I owed to her:
+
+"Madame!" I said, "I proved the contrary to your husband."
+
+"Silence!" she cried, and with her open hand she struck me on the
+face. And then a strange thing happened. It seemed as though we
+changed places. For all my helplessness, I seemed to have won the
+mastery over her. A feeling of power and domination, such as I had
+never experienced before, grew stronger and stronger within me, and
+ran tingling through every vein. I forgot my bonds; I forgot the
+contempt which she had poured on me; I forgot the very diffidence with
+which she had always inspired me. I felt somehow that I was her
+master, and exulted in the feeling. Whatever happened to me in the
+future, whether or no I was to labour as her bondslave for all my
+days, for that one moment I was her master. She could never hold me in
+lower esteem, in greater scorn than she did at this hour, and yet I
+was her master. Something told me indeed that she would never hold me
+in contempt at all again. She stood before me, her face dark with
+shame, her attitude one of shrinking humiliation. Twice she strove to
+raise her eyes to mine; twice she let them fall to the ground. She
+began a sentence, and broke off at the second word. She pulled
+fretfully at the laces of her gloves. Then she turned and walked to
+the door. She walked slowly at first, constraining herself; she
+quickened her pace, fumbled with the key in her hurry to unlock the
+door, and once out of the pavilion, without pausing to latch or lock
+it, fled like one pursued towards the house. And from the bottom of my
+heart I pitied her.
+
+In a little while Father Spaur, with the two Tyrolese, returned, and
+they carried me quickly through the little parlour and up the
+staircase to my bedroom. There they flung me on the bed and locked the
+door and left me. Through the open window the dance-melodies rose to
+my ears. It seemed to me that I could distinguish particular tunes
+which I had heard when I crouched in the snow upon that November
+night.
+
+
+              Que toutes joies et toutes honneurs
+              Viennent d'armes et d'amours.
+
+
+Jack's refrain, which he had hummed so continually during our ride to
+Austria, came into my head, and set itself to the lilt of the music.
+Well, I had made essay of both arms and love, and I had got little joy
+and less honour therefrom, unless it be joy to burn with anxieties,
+and honour to labour as a peasant and be deemed a common trickster!
+
+The music ceased; the guests went homewards down the hill, laughing
+and singing as they went; the Castle gradually grew silent. The door
+of my room was unlocked and flung open, and Groder entered, bearing a
+candle in his hand. He set it down upon the table, and drew a long
+knife from a sheath which projected out of his pocket. This he held
+and flourished before my eyes, seeking like a child to terrify me with
+his antics, until Father Spaur, following in upon his heels, bade him
+desist from his buffoonery.
+
+Groder cut the girdle which bound my ankles.
+
+"March!" said he.
+
+But my legs were so numbed with the tightness of the cord that they
+refused their office. Father Spaur ordered him to chafe my limbs with
+his hands, which he did very unwillingly, and after a little I was
+able to walk, though with uncertain and wavering steps.
+
+"Should you suffer at all at Groder's hands," said the priest
+pleasantly, "I beg you to console yourself with certain reflections
+which I shared with you one afternoon that we rode together."
+
+We proceeded along the corridor and turned into the gallery which ran
+round the hall. But at the head of the great staircase I stopped and
+drew back. The priest's taunts and Groder's insolence I had endured in
+silence. What they had bidden me do, that I had done; for in the
+miscarriage of my fortunes I was minded to bear myself as a gentleman
+should, without pettish complaints or an unavailing resistance which
+could only entail upon me further indignities. But from this final
+humiliation I shrank.
+
+Below me the entire household of servants was ranged in the hall,
+leaving a lane open from the foot of the stairs to the door. Every
+face was turned towards me--except one. One face was held aside and
+hidden in a handkerchief, and since that hour I have ever felt a
+special friendliness and gratitude for the withered little
+Frenchwoman, Clemence Durette. Alone of all that company she showed
+some pity for my plight. None the less, however, my eyes went
+wandering for another sight. What with the uncertain glare of the
+torches, that sent waves of red light and shadow in succession
+sweeping across the throng of faces, 'twas some while or ever I could
+discover the Countess. That she was present I had no doubt, and at
+last I saw her, standing by the door apart from her servants, her face
+white, and her eyelids closed over her eyes.
+
+Groder pushed me roughly in the small of the back, and I stumbled down
+the topmost steps. There was no escape from the ordeal, and glancing
+neither to the right nor to the left, I walked between the silent rows
+of servants. I passed within a yard of Countess Lukstein, but she made
+no movement; she never even raised her eyes. A carriage stood in the
+courtyard, and I got into it, and was followed by Michael Groder and
+Otto. As we drove off a hubbub arose within the hall, and it seemed to
+me that a ring was formed about the doorway, as though some one had
+fallen. But before I had time to take much note of it, a cloth was
+bound over my eyes, and the carriage rolled down the hill.
+
+At the bottom, where the track from Lukstein debouches upon the main
+road, we turned eastwards in the direction of Meran, and thence again
+to the left, ascending an incline; so that I gathered we were entering
+a ravine parallel to the Senner Thal, but further east.
+
+In a while the carriage stopped, and Otto, opening the door, told me
+civilly enough to descend. Then he took me by the arm and led me
+across a threshold into a room. A woman's voice was raised in
+astonishment.
+
+"Wait till he's plucked of his feathers!" laughed Groder, and bade her
+close the shutters.
+
+The bandage was removed from my eyes, and by the grey morning light
+which pierced through the crevices of the window, I perceived that I
+was in some rough cottage. An old woman stood gaping open-mouthed
+before me. Groder sharply bade her go and prepare breakfast. Otto
+unbound my wrists, and pointed to a heap of clothes which lay in a
+corner, and so they left me to myself.
+
+I had some difficulty in putting on these clothes, since my wrists
+were swollen and well-nigh useless from their long confinement.
+Indeed, but for a threat which Groder shouted through the door, saying
+that he would come and assist me to make my toilet, I doubt whether I
+should have succeeded at all.
+
+For breakfast they brought me a pannikin full of a greasy steaming
+gruel, which I constrained myself to swallow. Then they bound my hands
+again. Groder wrapped up the clothes which I had taken off in a
+bundle, and slung it on his back. Otto replaced the bandage on my
+eyes, and we set out, mounting upwards by a rough mountain track,
+along which they guided me. About noon Otto called a halt, and none
+too soon, for I was ready to drop with fatigue and pain. There we made
+a meal of some dry coarse bread, and washed it down with spirit of a
+very bitter flavour. 'Twas new to me at the time, but I know now that
+it was distilled from the gentian flower. Groder lit a fire and burned
+the bundle of clothes which he had brought with him, the two men
+sharing my jewels between them.
+
+From that point we left the track and climbed up a grass slope,
+winding this way and that in the ascent. 'Twas as much as I could do
+to keep my feet, though Otto and Groder supported me upon either side.
+At the top we dipped down again for a little, crossed a level field of
+heather, but in what direction I know not, for by this I had lost all
+sense of our bearings, mounted again, descended again, and towards
+nightfall came to a hut. Groder thrust me inside, plucked the cloth
+from my face, and unbound my hands.
+
+"'Tis a long day's journey," said he; "but what matters that if you
+make it only once?"
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXI.
+
+                         IN CAPTIVITY HOLLOW.
+
+
+The hut wherein I passed the first month of my captivity was of a more
+solid construction than is customary at so great a height, and had
+been built by the order of Count Lukstein for a shelter when the chase
+brought him hitherwards. For the hillside was covered with a dense
+forest of fir-trees in which chamois abounded, and now and again,
+though 'twas never my lot to come across one, a bear might be
+discovered.
+
+The hut had a sort of vestibule paved with cobble-stones and roofed
+with pine-wood. From this hall a room led out upon either side, though
+only that upon the right hand was used by the wood-cutters who dwelt
+here. Of these there were two, and they lived and slept in the one
+room, cooking the gruel or porridge, which formed our chief food, in a
+great cauldron slung over a rough fireplace of stones in the centre of
+the floor. There was no chimney to carry off the smoke, not so much as
+a hole in the wall; but the smoke found its way out as best it might
+through the door. From the hall a ladder led up through a trap-door
+into a loft above, and as soon as we had supped, Groder bade me mount
+it, and followed me himself. The wood-cutters below removed the
+ladder, Groder closed the trap, and, spreading some branches of fir
+upon it, laid him down and went to sleep. I followed his example in
+the matter of making my bed, but, as you may believe, I got little
+sleep that night. For one thing my arms and legs were now become so
+swollen and painful that it tortured me even to move them, and it was
+full two days before I was sufficiently recovered to be able to
+descend from the loft. By that time Otto had got him back to the
+valley, and I was left under the authority of Groder, which he used
+without scruple or intermission. Each morning at daybreak the ladder
+was hoisted to the loft. We descended and despatched a hasty
+breakfast; thereupon I was given an axe, and the four of us proceeded
+into the forest, where we felled trees the day long. Through the gaps
+in the clearings I would look across the valley to the bleak rocks and
+naked snow-fields, and thoughts of English meadows knee-deep in grass,
+and of rooks cawing through a summer afternoon, would force themselves
+into my mind until I grew well-nigh daft with longing for a sight of
+them. At nightfall we returned to the hut and partook of a meal, and
+no words wasted. When the meal was finished I was straightway banished
+to my loft, where I lay in the dark, and heard through the floor the
+wood-cutters breaking into all sorts of rough jests and songs now that
+I was no longer present to check their merriment For towards me they
+consistently showed the greatest taciturnity and sullen reserve. 'Twas
+seldom that any one except Groder addressed a word to me, and in truth
+I would lief he had been as silent as the rest. For when he opened his
+mouth 'twas only to utter some command in a harsh, growling tone as
+though he spoke to a cur, and to couple thereto a coarse and unseemly
+oath.
+
+For a time I endured this servitude in an extraordinary barrenness of
+mind. Not even the thought of escape stirred me to activity. The
+sudden misfortune which had befallen me seemed to have numbed and
+dulled all but my bodily faculties. Moreover the long and arduous
+labour, to which I was set, wearied me in the extreme, and each
+evening I came back so broken with fatigue that I wished for nothing
+so much as to climb into my loft and stretch myself out upon my
+branches in the dark, though even then I was often too tired to sleep,
+and so would lie hour after hour counting the seconds by the pulsing
+of my sinews.
+
+After a couple of weeks had gone by, however, I began to take some
+notice of the place of my captivity, and to seek whether by any means
+I might compass my escape. For I recalled, with an apprehension which
+quickened speedily, as I dwelt upon it, into a panic of terror, the
+singular prophecy and sentence which the Countess had flung at me. I
+began to see myself already sinking into a dull apathy, performing my
+daily task, with no thought beyond my physical needs, until I became
+one with these coarse peasants in spirit and mind.
+
+What else, I reflected, could happen? Remote from all intercourse or
+companionship, with not so much as a single book to divert me,
+labouring with my hands from dawn to dusk, and guarded ever by
+ignorant boors who reckoned me not worth even their speech--what else
+could I become? 'Twould need far less than a lifetime to work the
+transformation!
+
+But, however carefully I watched, I could by no means come at the
+opportunity of an evasion. At night, as I have said, Groder shared the
+loft with me, and slept over the trap-door; nor was there any window
+or other opening through which I might drop to the ground, since the
+roof reached down to the flooring upon every side. This roof consisted
+of a thatch of boughs, and of large sheets of bark superimposed upon
+them, and weighted down by heavy stones. One night, indeed, when
+Groder lay snoring, I endeavoured to force an opening through the
+thatch; but I had no help beyond what my hands afforded me--for they
+took my axe from me every night as soon as we got back to the hut--and
+I was compelled, moreover, to work with the greatest caution and
+quietude lest I should awaken my companion; so that I got nothing for
+my pains but a few scratches and an additional fatigue to carry
+through the morrow.
+
+Nor, indeed, was my case any better in the day-time. We all worked in
+the same clearing, and at no single moment was I out of sight of my
+gaolers.
+
+But even had I succeeded in eluding them, I doubt whether at this time
+I should have been any nearer the fulfilment of my desire. For I knew
+not so much as the direction of Lukstein, and I should only have
+wandered helpless amongst these heights until either I was recaptured
+or perished miserably upon the desolate wastes of snow.
+
+The hut stood in the centre of a little hollow, on the brink of a
+torrent, and was girt about by a rim of hills. There was, indeed, but
+one outlet, and that a precipitous gully, through which the water
+rushed with a great roaring noise, and I gathered from this that it
+fell pretty sheer. I was the more inclined to this conjecture, since
+had the gully afforded a path it would have been the natural entrance
+into the hollow, and I knew that I had not been brought that way, else
+I must needs have remarked the roar of the stream sooner than I did.
+For that sound only came to my ears when I was but a short distance
+from the hut.
+
+If you stood with your back to the door of the hut, the noise came
+from directly behind you. On your right rose the pine-forest wherein
+we laboured, very steep and dense, to the crest of a hill; on your
+left a barren wilderness, encumbered by stones, sloped up to the foot
+of a great field of snow, which grew steeper and steeper towards its
+summit. Here and there great masses of ice bulged out from the
+incline, like nothing so much as the bosses of shields. I was rather
+apt to underrate the size and danger of these, until one day a
+fragment, which seemed in comparison no greater than a pea, broke away
+from one of these bosses and dropped on to the slope beneath,
+starting, as it were, a little rillet of snow down the hillside. On
+the instant the hollow was filled with a great thunder, as though a
+battery of cannon had been discharged; and I should hardly have
+believed this fragment could have produced so great a disturbance, had
+not the Tyrolese looked across the valley, and by their words to one
+another assured me it was so.
+
+In front of you, the head of this hollow was blocked up by a tongue of
+ice, which wound downwards like some huge dragon, and the stream of
+which I have spoken flowed from the tip of it, as though the dragon
+spewed the water from its mouth. It was then apparent to me from these
+observations that I had been carried into this prison by some track
+through the pine-forest, and I set myself to the discovery of it. But
+whether the wood-cutters kept aloof from it, or whether it was in
+reality indistinguishable, I could perceive no trace of it. At one
+point on the crest of the hill there was a marked depression, and I
+judged that there lay the true entrance; but through the gap I could
+see nothing but a sea of white, with dark peaks of rock tossed this
+way and that, and dreaded much adventuring myself that way.
+
+It soon came upon me, however, that in whichever way I determined to
+make my attempt, I must needs delay the actual enterprise until the
+spring; for we were now in the month of November, and the snow falling
+very thickly, so that for some while we worked knee-deep in snow. Then
+one morning Groder and his comrades once more bound my hands and
+bandaged my eyes, and we set off to pass the winter in one of the
+lower valleys. On this occasion I took such notice as I could of our
+direction, and from the diminishing sound of the waterfall, I
+understood that we marched for some distance towards the head of the
+valley, and then turned to the right through the pine-forest.
+Evidently we were making for the gap in the ridge of the hill, and I
+determined to pay particular heed to the course which we followed down
+the other side. Again, however, I was led in a continual zigzag, first
+to the right, then to the left, and with such irregular distances
+between each turn that it became impossible to keep a clear notion of
+our direction. At times, too, we would retrace our steps, at others we
+seemed to be describing the greater part of a circle; so that in the
+end, when we finally reached our quarters, I was little wiser than at
+the moment of setting out.
+
+There were some five or six cottages in the ravine whither we were
+come, and one of them most undeniably an inn; for though I was not
+suffered to go there myself--nor, indeed, had I any inclination that
+way--my guardians frequently brought back upon their tongues and in
+their faces evidence as convincing as a sign swinging above the door.
+In truth if the house was not an inn, it possessed the most hospitable
+master in the world.
+
+None the less strictly, however, on this account was the watch
+maintained upon me; for if Groder and his fellows chanced to be
+incapacitated for the time, there were ever some peasants from the
+neighbouring cottages ready to fill their place; though, indeed, there
+was but little necessity for their zeal, for the snow lay many feet
+deep upon the ground, and the only path along which one could travel
+at all led down to the more populous parts of the valley, through
+which, at this time of the year, it would be impossible to escape. One
+could journey no faster than at a snail's pace, and would leave,
+besides, an unmistakable trail for the pursuers.
+
+These winter months proved the most irksome of my captivity, my sole
+occupation being the plaiting of ropes from the flax which was grown
+about these parts. At this tedious and mechanic labour I toiled for
+many hours a day, in an exceeding great vacancy of spirit, until I hit
+upon a plan by which I might exercise my mind without hindering the
+work of my fingers. 'Twas my terror lest my wits should wither for
+lack of use that first set me on the device; since, indeed, it
+mattered little how or when Countess Ilga discovered that I had slain
+her husband. She _had_ discovered it; that was the kernel of the
+matter, and the searching out of the means whereby she gained the
+knowledge no more than an idle cracking of the shell into little
+fragments after the kernel has been removed.
+
+Many incidents, of course, became intelligible to me now that I knew
+whose portrait the miniature box contained. The sudden swoon of Lady
+Tracy in the hall at Pall Mall was now easily accounted for. The
+moment before I had been speaking of the miniature, and Lady Tracy
+knew--what I could not know--that Ilga held a proof of her
+acquaintanceship with the Count, and would be certain to attribute it
+as the cause of his death. It was doubtless, also, that piece of
+knowledge which drove her to such a pitch of fear that on seeing the
+Countess at Bristol she disclosed the story to her brother and
+besought his protection. I understood, moreover, the drift of the
+words which Marston was uttering when death took him. He meant to ask
+a question, not to make an explanation.
+
+Concerning those events, however, which more nearly concerned myself I
+was not so clear. I had no clue whereby I could ascertain how the
+Countess first came to fix her suspicions upon me, and in the absence
+of that, my speculations were the merest conjectures. Much of course
+was significant to me which I had disregarded, as, for instance, the
+journey of Countess Lukstein to Bristol, the diagram which she had
+drawn on the gravel under the piazza of Covent Garden, the perplexity
+with which she had regarded the diagram, and the sudden start she had
+given when I mentioned the date of my departure from Leyden. For I
+remembered that she had previously remarked the Horace when she came
+to visit me; and in that volume the date "September 14, 1685," was
+inscribed on the page opposite to Julian's outline of Lukstein.
+
+These details, now that I was aware she suspected me at that time,
+were full of significance, but they gave me no help towards the
+solving of that first question as to what directed her thoughts my
+way. It seemed to me, indeed, as I looked back upon the incidents of
+our acquaintance, that the Countess, almost from our first meeting,
+had begun to set her husband's death to my account.
+
+One thing, however, I did clearly recognise, and for that recognition
+I shall ever be most gratefully thankful. 'Twas of far more importance
+to me than any academic speculations, and I do but cite them here that
+I may show how I came by it. I perceived that 'twas not so much any
+investigation on the part of the Countess which had betrayed me to
+her, as my own wilful and independent actions. Of my own free choice I
+came from Cumberland to seek her; of my own free choice I brought her
+to my rooms, where she saw the Horace; of my own free choice I joined
+her in the box at the Duke's Theatre, and so led Marston to speak of
+my ride to Bristol; and again of my own free choice I had persuaded
+Lady Tracy to enter the house in Pall Mall and confront my mistress.
+Even in the matter of the diagram, 'twas my anxiety and insistence to
+prove that Lady Tracy and I were strangers which induced me to dwell
+upon the date of my leaving Holland, and so gave to the Countess the
+clue to resolve her perplexity. In short, my very efforts at
+concealment were the means by which suspicion was ratified and
+assured, and I could not but believe that Providence in its great
+wisdom had so willed it. 'Tis that belief and conviction for which I
+have ever been most grateful; for it enheartened me with patience to
+endure my present sufferings, and saved me, in particular, from
+cherishing a petty rancour and resentment against the lady who
+inflicted them.
+
+I had yet one other consolation during this winter. For at times Otto
+Krax would come up from the valley to inquire after the prisoner. At
+first he would but stay for the night and so get him back; but his
+visits gradually lengthened and grew more frequent, an odd friendship
+springing up between us. For one thing, I was attracted to him because
+he came from Lukstein, and, indeed, might have had speech with
+Countess Ilga upon the very day of his coming. But, besides that,
+there was a certain dignity about the man which set him apart from
+these rude peasants, and made his companionship very welcome. He
+showed his good-will towards me by recounting at great length all that
+happened at Lukstein, and on the eve of the Epiphany, which 'tis the
+fashion of this people to celebrate with much rejoicing, he brought me
+a pipe and a packet of tobacco. No present could have been more
+grateful, and it touched me to notice his pleasure when I manifested
+my delight. We went out of the cottage together, and sat smoking in
+the starlight upon a boulder, and I remember that he told me one might
+see upon this evening a woman in white clothing, with a train of
+little ragged children chattering and clattering behind her. 'Twas
+Procula, the wife of Pontius Pilate, he explained. 'Twas her penance
+to wander over the world until the last day attended by the souls of
+all children that died before they had been baptized, and at the
+season of the Epiphany she ever passed through the valleys of the
+Tyrol. However, we saw naught of her that night.
+
+Early in May Groder carried me back to the hollow, and I began
+seriously to consider in what way I should be most like to effect my
+escape. At any cost I was firmly resolved to venture the attempt, and
+during this summer too, dreading the thought of a second winter of
+such unendurable monotony as that through which I had passed.
+
+We were now set to drag from the hillside to the brink of the torrent
+the wood which we had felled in the autumn, so that as the stream
+swelled with the melting of the snows we might send the timber
+floating down to the valley. 'Twas a task of great labour, and since
+we had to saw many of the trunks into logs before we could move them,
+one that occupied no inconsiderable time. Indeed we had not the wood
+fairly stacked upon the bank until we were well into the first days of
+June. Meanwhile I had turned over many projects in my mind, but not
+one that seemed to offer me a possibility of success. I realised
+especially that if I sought to escape by the way we had come, I
+should, even though I were so lucky as to hit upon the right path,
+nevertheless, have to pass through the most inhabited portion of the
+district. And did I succeed so far, I should then find myself in the
+valley, close by Castle Lukstein, with not so much as a penny piece in
+my pocket to help me further on my way. Besides, by that route would
+Groder be certain to pursue me the moment he discovered my escape, and
+being familiar with the windings of the ravines, he would most surely
+overtake me. Yet in no other direction could I discover the hint of an
+outlet. I was in truth like a fly with wetted wings in the hollow of a
+cup.
+
+It was our custom to launch the trunks endwise into the torrent, but
+one of them, which was larger than the rest, being caught in a swirl,
+turned broadside to the stream, and floating down thus, stuck in the
+narrow defile, through which the water plunged out of the hollow. The
+barrier thus begun was strengthened by each succeeding log, so that in
+a very short time a solid dam was raised, the water running away
+underneath. To remedy this, Groder bade the peasants and myself take
+our axes to the spot and cut the wood free.
+
+Now this defile was no more than a deep channel bored by the torrent,
+and on one side of it the cliff rose precipitously to the height of a
+hundred feet. On the other, however, a steep slope of grass and
+bushes, with here and there a dwarf-pine clinging to it, ran down to a
+rough platform of rock, only twenty feet or so above the surface of
+the current. To one of these trees we bound a couple of stout ropes,
+and two men were lowered on to the block of timber, while the third
+remained upon the platform to see that the ropes did not slip, and to
+haul the others up. So we worked all the day, taking turn and turn
+about on the platform.
+
+To this lower end of the dale I had never come before, and when the
+time arrived for me to rest, I naturally commenced to look about me
+and consider whether or no I might escape that way. Beneath me the
+torrent leaped and foamed in a mist of spray, here sweeping along the
+cliff with a breaking crest like a wave, there circling in a whirlpool
+about a boulder, and all with such a prodigious roar that I could not
+hear my companions speak, though they shouted trumpet-wise through
+their hands. 'Twas indeed no less than I had expected; the stream
+filled the outlet from side to side.
+
+Then I looked across to the great snow-slope opposite, and in an
+instant I understood the position of Captivity Hollow, as, for want of
+a better name, I termed the place of my confinement. The slope
+finished abruptly just over against me, as though it had been shorn by
+a knife, and I could see that the end face of it was a gigantic wall
+of rock. I saw this wall in profile, as one may say, and for that very
+reason I recognised it the more surely. 'Twas singularly flat, and
+unbroken by buttresses; not a patch of snow was to be discovered
+anywhere upon its face, and, moreover, the shape of its apex, which
+was like the cupola upon a church belfry, made any mistake impossible.
+In a word, the mountain was the Wildthurm; the wall of cliff blocked
+the head of the Senner Thal, and the slope on which I gazed was the
+eastern side, which I had likened to one of the canvas sides of a
+tent.
+
+If I could but cross it, I thought! No one would look for me in that
+direction. I could strike into one of the many ravines that led into
+the Vintschgau Thal to the west of Lukstein, and thence make my way to
+Innspruck. If only I could cross it! But I gazed at the slope, and my
+heart died within me. It rose before my eyes vast and steep, flashing
+menace from a thousand glittering points. Besides, the early summer
+was upon us, and the sun hot in the sky, so that never an hour passed
+in the forenoon but blocks of ice would split off and thunder down the
+incline.
+
+The notion, however, still worked in my head throughout the day, and
+as we returned to the hut I eagerly scanned the upper end of our
+ravine, for at that point the slope of the Wildthurm declined very
+greatly in height. Whilst the Tyrolese went in to prepare supper I
+stayed by the door.
+
+"Come!" shouted one of them at length--it was not Groder. "Come,
+unless you prefer to sleep fasting."
+
+And I turned to go in, with my mind made up; for I had perceived,
+running upwards beside the tongue of ice which I have described, a
+long, narrow ridge. 'Twas neither of ice nor snow, and in colour a
+reddish brown, so that I imagined it to be a mound of earth, thrown up
+in some way by the pressure of the snow. Along that it seemed to me
+that I might find a path.
+
+Groder was crouched up close to the fire, shivering by fits and
+starts, like a man with an ague. He glanced evilly at me as I entered
+the room, but said no word either to me or to his comrades, and kept
+muttering to himself concerning "the Cold Torment." I knew not what
+the man meant, but 'twas plain that he was shaken with a great fear;
+and even during the night I heard him more than once start from his
+sleep with a cry, and those same words upon his lips, "the Cold
+Torment."
+
+The next morning, hearing that the barrier was well-nigh cut through,
+he ordered only one of the peasants to take me with him and complete
+the work. I was lowered on to the dam first, and laboured at it with
+saw and axe for the greater part of the morning. About noon, however,
+I took my turn upon the platform, and after I had been standing some
+little while, bent over the torrent, with my hand ready upon the rope,
+since at any moment the logs might give way, I suddenly raised myself
+to ease my back, and turned about.
+
+Just above me on the slope I saw Groder's face peering over the edge
+of a boulder. 'Twas so contorted with malignancy and hatred that it
+had no human quality except its shape. 'Twas the face of a devil. For
+one moment I saw it; the next it dropped behind the stone. I pretended
+to have noticed nothing, and so stood looking everywhere except in his
+direction. The expression upon his face left me no doubt as to his
+intention. He was minded to take a leaf from my book, and precipitate
+the boulder upon me when my back was turned, in which case I should
+not come off so cheaply as he had done, for I should inevitably be
+swept into the torrent. The boulder, I observed, was in a line with
+the spot where I must stand in order to handle the rope.
+
+What to do I could not determine. I dared not show him openly that I
+had detected his design, for I should most likely in that event
+provoke an open conflict, and I doubted not that the other peasant was
+within call to help him to an issue if help were needed; and even if I
+succeeded in avoiding a conflict, I should only put him upon his guard
+and make him use more precautions when next he attempted my life.
+
+I turned me again to the torrent and took the rope in my hand, with my
+ears open for any sound behind me. I stooped slowly forwards, as if to
+watch my companion, thinking that Groder would launch the stone as
+soon as he deemed it impossible for me to recover in time to elude it.
+And so it proved. I heard a dull thud as the boulder fell forward upon
+the turf. I sprang quickly to one side, and not a moment too soon, for
+the boulder whizzed past me on a level with my shoulder, leaped across
+the stream, and was shattered into a thousand fragments against the
+opposite cliff. The man below, who had been almost startled from his
+footing, began to curse me roundly for my carelessness, and I answered
+him without casting a glance to my rear, deeming it prudent to give
+Groder the opportunity to crawl away into cover.
+
+In that, however, I made a mistake, and one that went near to costing
+me my life, for when I did turn, after explaining that the boulder had
+slipped of its own weight and momentum, Groder was within ten feet of
+me. He had crept noiselessly down the bank, and now stood with one
+foot planted against it, the other upon the platform, his body all
+gathered together for a leap. His teeth were bared, his eyes very
+bright, and in his hand he held a long knife. I ran for my hatchet,
+which lay some yards distant, but he was upon me before I could stoop
+to pick it up. The knife flashed above my head; I caught at Groder's
+wrist as it descended and grappled him close, for I knew enough of
+their ways of fighting to feel assured that if I did but give his arms
+free play, my eyes would soon be lying on my cheeks.
+
+Backwards and forwards we swayed upon the narrow platform with never a
+word spoken. Then from the torrent came a great crack and a shout. I
+knew well enough what was happening. The barrier was giving, the water
+was bursting the timber, and the peasant would of a surety be crushed
+and ground to death between the loosened logs. But I dared not relax
+my grip. Groder's breath was hot upon my face, his knife ever
+quivering towards my throat. I heard a few quick sounds as of the
+snapping of twigs, and once, I think, again the cry of a man in
+distress; but the roaring of the waters was in my ears and I could not
+be sure.
+
+The labours of my captivity had hardened my limbs and sinews, else had
+Groder mastered me more easily; but as it was, I felt my strength
+ebbing, and twice the knife pricked into my shoulder as he pressed it
+down. The din of the torrent died away. I was sensible of a deathly
+stillness of the elements. It seemed as though Nature held its breath.
+Suddenly a look of terror sprang into Groder's face. He redoubled his
+efforts, and I felt my back give. Involuntarily I closed my eyes, and
+then his fingers loosened their hold. He plucked himself free with a
+jerk, and stood sullenly looking up the slope. I followed the
+direction of his gaze, and saw Otto Krax standing above me. Gradually
+the torrent became audible to me again; there was a rustling of leaves
+in the wind, and in a little I understood that some one was speaking.
+Groder advanced slowly across the grass and reached out the hand which
+held the knife. Very calmly Otto grasped it by the wrist, twisted the
+arm, and snapped it across his knee. What he said I could not hear,
+but Groder went up the slope holding his broken arm, and I saw his
+face no more.
+
+Otto came down to me.
+
+"You have never been nearer your death but once," he said.
+
+I made no reply, but pointed to the rope at my feet. 'Twas dragging to
+and fro upon the platform, and the thought of what dangled and tossed
+in the water at the tag of it turned me sick. Otto walked to the edge
+and looked over. Then he drew his knife and cut the rope.
+
+"I saw only the end of the struggle," said he. "How did it begin?"
+
+I told him briefly what had occurred.
+
+"'Twas you taught him the trick," he said, with a laugh; "and he bore
+you no good-will for the lesson."
+
+"But what brought you so pat?" I asked.
+
+"I was sent," he replied. "'Twas thought best I should follow."
+
+"Follow? Follow whom?" said I.
+
+He made no answer to my question, and continued hurriedly.
+
+"I asked the fellow at the hut where you were, and he directed me
+here--not a minute too soon either. Were you working at the timber
+yesterday?"
+
+"All day."
+
+"Did Groder help?"
+
+"No! He remained behind."
+
+Otto gave a grunt.
+
+"Alone?" he asked.
+
+"Quite," I replied. "The others were with me."
+
+We walked back to the hut together, and as on the evening before, I
+stopped in the doorway to examine the ridge on which my hopes were
+set. But I watched it to-day with a beating heart, and, let me own it,
+with a shrinking apprehension too, for within the last hour the
+possibility of my attempt had grown immeasurably real. Groder, I was
+certain, I should see no more. 'Twas equally certain that Otto would
+not remain to fill his place, and one of the peasants had been
+battered to death in the breaking of the dam. 'Twas doubtless an
+unworthy feeling, but, much as the nature of the man's end had
+horrified me at the time, I could not now find it in my heart to
+greatly regret it. I was too conscious of the fact that only a couple
+of gaolers were left to guard me.
+
+Otto coming from the kitchen to join me, I deemed it prudent not to be
+particular in my gaze, and so taking my eyes off the ridge, which was
+become to me what Mahomet's bridge is to the Turk, I let them roam
+idly this way and that as we strolled forward over the turf. Hence it
+chanced that about twenty yards from the door I saw something bright
+winking in the verdure. I went towards it and picked it up. 'Twas a
+little gold cross, and, moreover, clean and unrusted. A sudden thought
+breaking in upon me, I turned to Otto and said:
+
+"Otto, have you ever heard of the Cold Torment?"
+
+Otto fell to crossing himself devoutly.
+
+"The Cold Torment?" he asked, in awed tones. "What know you of it?" He
+turned towards the gap in the hillside upon our right. "Look!" said
+he. "You see the peak that stands apart like a silver wedge. On its
+summit is buried an inexhaustible treasure, and night and day through
+the ages seven guilty souls keep ward about it in the cold. Never may
+one be freed until another is condemned in its stead. The Virgin save
+us from the Cold Torment!"
+
+"Ah!" said I, remarking the fervour of his prayer. "'Tis the text for
+a persuasive homily, and Father Spaur, I fancy, preached from it
+yesterday."
+
+Otto started, and glanced about him with some fear, as though he half
+expected to see the priest start out of the earth.
+
+"You know not what you say," he exclaimed.
+
+"Who sent you to follow him?"
+
+"Nay," he protested; "I came not to spy upon Father Spaur. We know not
+that he has been here. 'Twere wise not to know it."
+
+I handed him the gold cross, and asked again:
+
+"Who sent you after him?"
+
+"I was not sent after him. I was bidden to come hither by my
+mistress."
+
+"Ah! she sent you!" I cried. "Give the cross back to Father Spaur, and
+with it my most grateful thanks. He has done me better service than
+ever did my dearest friend."
+
+I reasoned it out in this way. Father Spaur was bent on appropriating
+Lukstein and its broad lands to the Church. To that end, the Countess
+must, at all costs, be hindered from a second marriage. What motive
+could he have in prompting Groder to make an end of me, unless--unless
+Ilga now and again let her thoughts stray my way? And to confirm my
+conjecture, to rid it of presumption, I had this certain knowledge
+that she had sent Otto to see that I came to no harm at his hands. I
+should add that my speculations during the winter months had in some
+measure prepared me to entertain this notion. From constantly
+analysing and pondering all that she had said to me in the pavilion,
+and bringing my recollections of her change in manner to illumine her
+words, I had come, though hesitatingly, to a conclusion very different
+from that which I had originally formed. I could not but perceive that
+it made a great difference whether or no I had been alone upon my
+first coming to the Castle. Besides, I realised that there was a
+pregnant meaning which might be placed to the sentence which had so
+perplexed me: "Would that I had the strength to resist, or the
+weakness to yield!" And going yet further back, I had good grounds
+from what she had let slip to believe that there was something more
+than a regard for herself in the entreaty which she had addressed to
+me in London, that I should not tax Marston with treachery in the
+matter of the miniature.
+
+Otto gave me back the cross.
+
+"It is a mistake," said he. "Father Spaur has gone from Lukstein on a
+visit."
+
+"Then," said I, "present it to your mistress. She has more claim to it
+than I."
+
+That night Otto slept in the loft in Groder's place.
+
+"You are sure," he asked, "that no one remained behind with Groder
+yesterday afternoon?"
+
+"Quite," said I.
+
+"None the less, I should sleep on the trap if I were you, and 'twere
+wise to carry your hatchet to bed for company."
+
+"But they take it from me each night," I replied eagerly. "You must
+tell them."
+
+"I will. But there's no cause for fear."
+
+'Twas not at all fear which prompted my eagerness; but I bethought me
+if I had the loft to myself, and the axe ready to my hand, 'twould be
+a strange thing if I could not find a way out by the morning.
+Thereupon we fell to talking again of Groder's attempt upon my life,
+and he repeated the words which he had used at the time.
+
+"You were never nearer your death but once."
+
+"And when was that once?" I asked drowsily.
+
+He laughed softly to himself for a little, and then he replied; and
+with his first sentence my drowsiness left me, just as a mist clears
+in a moment off the hills.
+
+"Do you remember one night in London that your garden door kept
+slamming in the wind?"
+
+"Well?" said I, starting up.
+
+"You came downstairs in the dark, took the key from the mantelshelf,
+and went out into the garden and locked it. That occasion was the
+once."
+
+"You were in the room!" I exclaimed. "I remember. The door was open
+again in the morning. I had a locksmith to it. There was nothing amiss
+with the lock, and I wondered how it happened."
+
+Otto laughed again quietly.
+
+"Right. I was in the room, and I was not alone either."
+
+"The Countess was with you. Why?"
+
+"There was a book in your rooms which she wished to see--a poetry
+book, eh?--with a date on one page, and a plan of Castle Lukstein on
+the page opposite. My mistress was at your lodging with some company
+that afternoon."
+
+"True," said I, interrupting him. "She proposed the party herself."
+
+"Well, it seems that she got no chance of examining the book then. But
+she unlocked the garden door. You had told her where you kept the
+key."
+
+I recollected that I had done so on the occasion of her first visit.
+
+"And so Countess Lukstein and yourself were in the room when I passed
+through that night."
+
+Otto began to chuckle again.
+
+"'Twas lucky you came down in the dark, and didn't stumble over us.
+Lord! I thought that I should have burst with holding my breath."
+
+"Otto," I said, "tell me the whole story; how your suspicions set
+towards me, and what confirmed them."
+
+"Very well," said he, after a pause, "I will; for my mistress
+consulted me throughout. But you will get no sleep."
+
+"I shall get less if you don't tell me."
+
+"Wait a moment!"
+
+He filled his tobacco-pipe and lighted it. I followed his example, and
+between the puffs he related the history of those far-away days in
+London. To me, lying back upon the boughs which formed my bed in the
+dark loft, it seemed like the weaving of a fairy tale. The house in
+Pall Mall--St. James's Park--the piazza, of Covent Garden! How strange
+it all sounded, and how unreal!
+
+The odour of pine-wood was in my nostrils, and I had but to raise my
+arm to touch the sloping thatch above my head.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXII.
+
+               A TALK WITH OTTO. I ESCAPE TO INNSPRUCK.
+
+
+"Of what happened at Bristol," he began, "you know well-nigh as much
+as I do, in a sense, maybe more; for I have never learnt to this day
+why my master, the late Count, left me behind there to keep an eye
+upon the old attorney and Sir Julian Harnwood's visitors. There's only
+one thing I need tell you. The night you came from the Bridewell,
+after--well, after----" He hesitated, seeming at a loss for a word. I
+understood what it was that he stuck at, and realising that my turn
+had come to chuckle, I said, with a laugh:
+
+"The blow was a good one, Otto."
+
+"'Twas not so good as you thought," he replied rather hotly, "not by a
+great deal; and for all that you ran away so fast," he repeated the
+phrase with considerable emphasis, "for all that you ran away so fast,
+I found out where you lodged. I passed the lawyer man as he was coming
+back alone, and remembering that I had traced him into Limekiln Lane
+in the afternoon, I returned there the next morning. The 'Thatched
+House' was the only tavern in the street, and I inquired whether a
+woman had stayed there overnight. They told me no; they had only put
+up one traveller, and he had left already. I thought no more of this
+at the time, believing my suspicions to be wrong, and so got me back
+to Lukstein. After the wedding-night I told the Countess all that I
+knew."
+
+"Wait!" I said, interrupting him.
+
+There was a point I had long been anxious to resolve, and I thought I
+should never get so likely an opportunity for the question again.
+
+"Was Count Lukstein betrothed at the time that he came to the
+Hotwells?"
+
+"Most assuredly," he replied, and I wondered greatly at the strange
+madness which should lead a man astray to chase a pretty face, when
+all the while he loved another, and was plighted to her.
+
+Otto resumed his story.
+
+"I told all that I knew: my master's anxiety concerning Sir Julian,
+his relief when I brought him the news hither that only a woman had
+visited the captive on the night before his execution, and his
+apparent fear of peril. My mistress broke open the gold case which you
+had left behind, and asked whether the likeness was the likeness of
+Sir Julian's visitor. I assured her it was not, but she was convinced
+that this Bristol pother was at the bottom of the trouble. We could
+find no trace of you beyond your footsteps in the snow, and the
+footsteps of the woman who was with you. I have often wondered how she
+climbed the Lukstein rock."
+
+He paused as though expecting an answer. But I had no inclination to
+argue my innocence in that respect with one of Ilga's servants, and
+presently he continued:
+
+"Well, a quiet tongue is wisdom where women are concerned. No one in
+the valley had seen you come; no one had seen you go. But my lady was
+set upon discovering the truth and punishing the assailant herself. So
+she said as little as she could to the neighbours, and the following
+spring took me with her to London."
+
+"Where I promptly jumped into the trap," said I.
+
+"You did that and more. You set the trap yourself before you jumped
+into it."
+
+'Twas my own thought that he uttered, and I asked him how he came by
+it.
+
+"I mean this. 'Twas my lady's hope to discover the original of the
+miniature, and so get at the man who was with her. But we had not to
+wait for that. You left something else behind you besides the
+miniature."
+
+"I did," I replied. "I left a pair of spurs and a pistol, but I see
+not how they could serve you."
+
+"The spurs were of little profit in our search. You have worn them
+since, it is true, but one pair of spurs is like another. For the
+pistol, however--that was another matter. It had the gunmaker's name
+upon the barrel, and also the name of the town where it was made."
+
+"Leyden?" I exclaimed.
+
+"That was the name--Leyden."
+
+At last I understood. I recalled that evening when Elmscott presented
+me to Ilga, and how frankly I had spoken to her of my life.
+
+"We journeyed to Leyden first of all," he resumed, "and sought out the
+gunmaker. But he did not remember selling the pistol, or, perhaps,
+would not--at all events, we got no help from him, and went on to
+London. In the beginning I believe Countess Lukstein was inclined to
+suspect Mr. Marston. You see he came from Bristol, and so completely
+did this search possess her that everything which concerned that city
+seemed to her to have some bearing upon her disaster. But she soon
+abandoned that idea, and--and--well, I know not why, but Mr. Marston
+left London for a time. Then you were brought to the house, and on
+your first visit you told her that your home was in Cumberland, where
+Sir Julian Harnwood lived; that you had been till recently a student
+at Leyden, and that there were few other English students there
+besides yourself. At first I think she did not seriously accuse you of
+Count Lukstein's death. It seemed little likely; you had not the look
+of it. I did not recognise you at all, and, further, my mistress
+herself inquired much of you concerning your actions, and you let slip
+no hint that could convict you."
+
+I remembered what interest the Countess had seemed to take in my
+uneventful history, and how her questions had delighted me, flattering
+my vanity and lifting me to the topmasts of hope; and the irony of my
+recollections made me laugh aloud.
+
+"Howbeit," he went on, paying no heed to my interruption--there
+was no great merriment in my laughter, and it may be that he
+understood--"Howbeit, her suspicions were alert, and then Mr. Marston
+came back to London. She learnt from him that you had passed through
+London in a great hurry one night, and from Lord Culverton that the
+night was in September and that your destination was Bristol. I wanted
+to ride there and see what I could discover, but my mistress would not
+allow me. I don't know, but at that time I almost fancied she
+regretted her resolve, and would fain have let the matter lie."
+
+'Twas at that time also, I remembered, that the Countess treated me so
+waywardly, and I coupled Otto's remark and my remembrance together,
+and set them aside as food for future pondering.
+
+"Then she showed you the miniature. You faced it out and denied all
+knowledge of it So far so good. But that same morning you brought Lady
+Tracy into the house, and that was the ruin of you. Oh, I know," he
+went on as I sought to interrupt him, "I know! You faced that matter
+out too. You brought Lady Tracy to bear witness that you and she were
+never acquainted. 'Twas a cunning device and it deceived my mistress;
+but you did not take me into account. I opened the door to you, and I
+recognised Lady Tracy as the original of the miniature. Well, I looked
+at her carefully, wondering whether I could have made a mistake,
+whether it was she whom I had seen at the Bristol prison after all. I
+felt certain it was not, but all the same I kept thinking about it as
+I went upstairs to announce you. Lady Tracy was dark; the other woman,
+I remembered, fair and over-tall for a woman. So I went on comparing
+them, setting the two faces side by side in my mind. Well, when I came
+back again there were you and Lady Tracy standing side by side--the
+two faces that were side by side in my thoughts. The sunlight was full
+upon you both. Lord! I was cluttered out of my senses. I knew you at
+once. Height, face, everything fitted. I told my mistress immediately
+after you had gone. She would not believe it at first; but soon after
+she informed me that Lady Tracy had been betrothed to Sir Julian
+Harnwood. That night we visited your rooms, as I have told you."
+
+"Ay," said I, "Marston told her of his sister's betrothal in Covent
+Garden."
+
+'Twas indeed at the very time that the Countess was tracing that
+diagram in the gravel.
+
+"The visit to your rooms convinced Countess Lukstein."
+
+"No doubt," said I, and I explained to him how she had traced the
+diagram, and my mention of the date which had given her the clue to my
+Horace.
+
+"But that's not all," he laughed. "'Tis true that my mistress knew
+that she had seen that same plan somewhere. 'Tis true your mention of
+the date told her where. But the plan which my lady drew on the gravel
+was different from yours in one respect. It lacked the line which
+showed your way of ascent, the line which stood for the rib of rock."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Well, you added that line yourself while you were talking."
+
+"I did!" I exclaimed.
+
+I could not credit it; but then I recollected how Ilga had suddenly
+stooped forward and obliterated the diagram with a sweep of her stick.
+
+"Ay, Otto!" I said. "You spoke truth indeed. I set the traps myself."
+
+"The next morning we started for Bristol. We drove to the 'Thatched
+House Tavern,' and with the help of a few coins wormed the truth from
+the chambermaid. She had told me before that a man had stayed at the
+inn on that particular night and I had no doubt who was the man. We
+knew the story; we merely needed her to confirm it."
+
+With that he laid his pipe aside, and was for settling to sleep. But I
+had one more question to ask him.
+
+"When Lord Elmscott came to find me at Countess Lukstein's apartments,
+he was informed I was not there, and the door of the room in which I
+lay was locked."
+
+"We intended to convey you out of the country ourselves," he laughed,
+"and that very night. 'Twould indeed have saved much trouble had Lord
+Elmscott been delayed an hour or so upon the road. A boat was in
+waiting for us on the river."
+
+'Twas long before I could follow Otto's example and compose myself to
+sleep. Using his narrative as a commentary, I read over and over again
+my memories of those weeks in London, and each time I felt yet more
+convinced that this deed had been brought home to me through no
+cunning of the Countess, through no great folly of mine, but simply
+because Providence had so willed it. As Otto said, I had set the traps
+myself, and bethinking me of this, I recalled a phrase which I had
+spoken to Count Lukstein. "I can fight you," I had said, "but I can't
+fight your wife." In what a strange way had the remark come true!
+
+The next morning Otto departed from the hollow, and fearing lest he
+might presently despatch two other of Countess Lukstein's servants to
+fill up the complement of my guards, I determined to make my effort at
+enlargement that very night. I took my axe boldly from the corner of
+the room when the time came for me to mount to the loft. The peasants
+scowled but said nothing, and 'twas with a very great relief that I
+understood Otto had been as good as his word. It had been my habit of
+late to secrete about me at each meal some fragment of my portion of
+bread, so that I had now a good number of such morsels hidden away
+among the leaves of my bed. These I gathered together, and fastened
+inside my shirt, and then sat me down, with such patience as I might,
+to wait until the peasants beneath me were sound asleep. The delay
+would have been more endurable had there been some window or opening
+in the loft. But to sit there in the darkness, never knowing but what
+the sky was clouding over and a storm gathering upon the heights,
+'twas the quintessence of suspense, and it wrought in me like a fever.
+I allowed two hours, as near as I could guess, to elapse, and then,
+working quietly with my axe, I cut a hole through the thatch at the
+corner most distant from the room of my gaolers, and dropped some
+twelve feet on to the ground. There was no moon to light me but the
+sparkle of innumerable stars, and the night was black in the valley
+and purple about the cheerless hills. Cautiously I made my way over
+the grass towards the ridge, taking the air into my lungs with an
+exquisite enjoyment like one that has long been cooped in a sick-room.
+
+Whimsically enough, I thought not at all of the dangers which were
+like to beset me, but rather of Ilga in her Castle of Lukstein; and
+walking forwards in the lonely quiet, I wondered whether at that
+moment she was asleep.
+
+The ridge, as I had hoped, was entirely compacted of earth and stones.
+'Twas thrown up to a considerable height above the ice, and resembled
+a great earthwork raised for defence, such as I have seen since about
+the walls of Londonderry. I was able to walk along the crest for some
+way with no more peril than was occasioned by the darkness and the
+narrow limits of my path, and taking to some rocks which jutted out
+from the snow, about two hours after daybreak, I reached the top of
+the hill at noon. To my great delight I perceived that I stood, as it
+were, upon a neck of the mountain. To my left the Wildthurm rose in a
+sweeping line of ice, ever higher and higher towards the peak; to my
+right it terminated in a ridge of rocks which again rose upwards, and
+circled about the head of the ravine. I had nothing to do but to
+descend; so I lay down to rest myself for a while, and take my last
+look at Captivity Hollow and the hut wherein I had been imprisoned.
+The descent, however, was not so easy a matter as I believed it would
+be. For some distance, it is true, I could walk without much
+difficulty, kicking a sort of staircase in the snow with my feet; but
+after a while the incline became steeper, and, moreover, was inlaid
+with strips of ice, wherein I had to cut holes with my hatchet before
+I could secure a footing. Indeed, I doubt whether I should have come
+safe off from this adventure but for the many crags and rocks which
+studded the slope. By keeping close to these, however, I was able to
+get solid hold for my hands, the while I stepped upon the treacherous
+ice. Towards the foot of the mountain, moreover, the ice was split
+with great gashes and chasms, so deep that I could see no bottom to
+them, but only an azure haze; and I was often compelled to make long
+circuits before I could discover a passage. Once or twice, besides,
+when the ground seemed perfectly firm, I slipped a leg through the
+crust and felt it touch nothing; and taking warning from these
+accidents, I proceeded henceforth more cautiously, tapping the snow in
+front of me with the hatchet at each step.
+
+These hindrances did so delay me that I was still upon the mountain
+when night fell, and not daring to continue this perilous journey in
+the dark, I crept under the shelter of a rock, and so lay shivering
+until the morning. However, I bethought me of my loft and its
+thatch-roof, and contrasting it with the open sky, passed the night
+pleasantly enough. I had still enough of my bread left over to serve
+me for breakfast in the morning, and since there was no water to be
+got, I made shift to moisten my throat by sucking lumps of ice. Late
+that afternoon I came down into a desolate valley, and felt the green
+turf once more spring beneath my feet. 'Twas closing in very dark and
+black. In front of me I could see the rain stretched across the hills
+like a diaphanous veil, shot here and there by a stray thread of
+sunlight; while behind, the heights of the Wildthurm were hidden by a
+white crawling mist. Looking at this mist, I could not but be sensible
+of the dangers from which I had escaped, and with a heart full of
+gratitude I knelt down and thanked God for that He had reached out His
+hand above me to save my life.
+
+For many days I journeyed among these upland valleys, passing from hut
+to hut and from ravine to ravine, moving ever westwards from Lukstein,
+and descended finally into the high-road close to the village of
+Nauders. Thence I proceeded along the Inn Thal to Innspruck, earning
+my food each day by cutting wood into logs at the various taverns, or
+by some such service; and as for lodging, 'twas no great hardship to
+sleep in the fields at this season of the year. At Innspruck, however,
+whither I came in the first days of July, I was sore put to it to find
+employment, which should keep me from starving until such time as I
+could receive letters of credit from England. My first thought was to
+obtain the position of usher or master in one of the many schools and
+colleges of the town. But wherever I applied they only laughed in my
+face, and unceremoniously closed the door upon my entreaties. Nor,
+indeed, could I wonder at their behaviour, for what with my torn
+peasant's clothes, my bare, scarred knees, and my face, which was
+burnt to the colour of a ripe apple, I looked the most unlikely tutor
+that ever ruined a boy's education. At one school--'twas the last at
+which I sought employment--the master informed me that he "did his own
+whipping," and wandering thence in a great despondency of spirit, I
+came into the Neustadt, which is the principal street of the town.
+There I chanced to espy the sign of a fencing-master, and realising
+what little profit I was like to make of such rusty book-learning as I
+still retained, I crossed the road and proffered him the assistance of
+my services. At the onset he was inclined to treat my offer with no
+less hilarity than the schoolmasters had shown; but being now at my
+wits' end, I persisted, and perhaps vaunted my skill more than
+befitted a gentleman. 'Twas, I think, chiefly to disprove my words,
+and so rid himself of me, that he bade me take a foil and stand on
+guard. In the first bout, however, I was lucky enough to secure the
+advantage, as also in the second. In a fluster of anger he insisted
+that I should engage upon a third, and thereupon I deemed it prudent
+to allow him to get the better of me, though not by so much as would
+give him the right to accuse me of a lack of skill. The ruse was
+entirely successful; for he was so delighted with his success that he
+hired me straightway as his lieutenant, and was pleased to compliment
+me upon my mastery of the weapon; not but what he declared I had many
+faults in the matter of style, which I might correct under his
+tuition.
+
+In this occupation I remained for some three months. I wrote a letter
+immediately to Jack Larke, but received no answer whatsoever. Each
+week, however, I put by a certain sum out of my wages until I had
+accumulated sufficient to carry me, if I practised economy, to
+England. In the beginning of September, then, I gave up my position; a
+pupil, on hearing of my purposed journey, most generously presented me
+with a horse, which I accepted as a loan, and one fine morning I
+mounted on to the animal's back and rode out towards the gates of the
+town.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+                              THE LAST.
+
+
+Now the road which I chose led past the Hofgarten, a great open space
+of lawns and shrubberies which had been enclosed and presented to the
+town by Leopold, the late Archduke of Styria. Opposite to the gates of
+this garden stood the "Black Stag," at that time the principal inn,
+and I noticed ahead of me four or five mounted men waiting at the
+door. Drawing nearer I perceived that these men wore the livery of
+Countess Lukstein.
+
+My first impulse was to turn my horse's head and ride off with all
+speed in the contrary direction; but bethinking me that they would
+never dare to make an attempt upon my liberty in the streets of an
+orderly city, I resolved to continue on my way, and pay no heed to
+them as I passed. And this I began to do, walking my horse slowly, so
+that they might not think I had any fear of them. Otto was stationed
+at the head of the troop, a few paces in advance of the rest, and I
+was well-nigh abreast of him before any of the servants perceived who
+passed them. Even then 'twas myself who invited their attention. For
+turning my head I saw the Countess just within the gates of the
+garden. She was habited in a riding-dress, and was taking leave of a
+gentleman who was with her.
+
+On the instant I stopped my horse.
+
+"Here, Otto!" I cried, and flinging the reins to him, I jumped to the
+ground.
+
+I heard him give a startled exclamation, but I stayed not to cast a
+glance at him, and walked instantly forwards to where Ilga stood. I
+was within two paces of her before she turned and saw me. She reached
+out a hand to the gate, and so steadying herself looked at me for a
+little without a word. I bowed low, and took another step towards her,
+whereupon she turned again to her companion and began to speak very
+volubly, the colour going and coming quickly upon her face. For my
+part I made no effort to interrupt her. I had schooled myself to think
+of her as one whom I should never see again, and here we were face to
+face. I remained contentedly waiting with my hat in my hand.
+
+"You have been long in Innspruck?" she asked of me at length, and
+added, with some hesitation, "Mr. Buckler?"
+
+"Three months, madame," I replied.
+
+"But you are leaving?"
+
+She looked across to my horse, which Otto was holding. A small
+valise, containing the few necessaries I possessed, was slung to the
+saddle-bow.
+
+"I return to England," said I.
+
+She presented me to the gentleman who talked with her, but I did not
+catch his name any more than the conversation they resumed. 'Twas
+enough for me to hear the sweet sound of her voice; as, when a singer
+sings, one is charmed by the music of his tones, and recks little of
+the words of his song. At last, however, her companion made his bow.
+Ilga stretched out her hand to him and said:
+
+"You will come, then, to Lukstein?" and detaining him, as it seemed to
+me, she added, "I would ask Mr. Buckler to come, too, only I fear that
+he has no great opinion of our hospitality."
+
+"Madame," I replied simply, "if you ask me, I will come."
+
+She stood for the space of some twenty seconds with her eyes bent upon
+the ground. Then, raising her face with a look which was wonderfully
+timid and shy, she said:
+
+"You are a brave man, Mr. Buckler"; and after another pause, "I do ask
+you."
+
+With that she crossed the road and mounted upon her horse. I did the
+same, and the little cavalcade rode out from Innspruck along the
+highway to Landeck. The Countess pressed on ahead, and thinking that
+she had no wish to speak with me, I rode some paces behind her. Behind
+me came Otto and the servants. Otto, I should say, had resumed his old
+impenetrable air. He was once more the servant, and seemed to have
+completely forgotten our companionship in Captivity Hollow. Thus we
+travelled until we came near to the village of Silz.
+
+Now all this morning one regretful thought had been buzzing in my
+head. 'Twas an old thought, one that I had lived with many a month.
+Yet never had it become familiar to me; the pain which it brought was
+always fresh and sharp. But now, since I saw Countess Lukstein again,
+since she rode in front of me, since each moment my eyes beheld her,
+this regret grew and grew until it was lost in a great longing to
+speak out my mind, and, if so I might, ease myself of my burden.
+Consequently I spurred my horse lightly, and as we entered Silz I drew
+level with the Countess.
+
+"Madame," I said, "I see plainly enough that you have no heart for my
+company, neither do I intend any idle intrusion. I would but say two
+words to you. They have been on my lips ever since I caught sight of
+you on the Hofgarten; they have been in my heart for the weariest span
+of days. When I told you that I entered Castle Lukstein alone, God is
+my witness that I spoke the truth. No woman was with me. I championed
+no woman; by no ties was I bound to any woman in this world. This I
+would have you believe; for it is the truth. I could not lie to you if
+I would; it is the truth."
+
+She made me no answer, but bowed her head down on her horse's mane, so
+that I could see nothing of her face, and thinking sadly that she
+would not credit me, I tightened my reins that I might fall back
+behind her. It may be that she noticed the movement of my hands. I
+know not, nor, indeed, shall I be at any pains to speculate upon her
+motive. 'Twas her action which occupied my thoughts then and for hours
+afterwards. She suddenly lifted her face towards me, all rosy with
+blushes and wearing that sweet look which I had once and once only
+remarked before. I mean when she pledged me in her apartments in Pall
+Mall.
+
+"Then," says she, "we will travel no further afield to-day," and she
+drew rein before the first inn we came to.
+
+I was greatly perplexed by this precipitate action, also by the word
+she used, inasmuch as we were not travelling afield at all, but on the
+contrary directly towards her home. Besides, 'twas still early in the
+afternoon. Howbeit, there we stayed, and the Countess retiring
+privately to her room, I saw no more of her until the night was come.
+'Twas about eleven of the clock when I heard a light tap upon my door,
+and opening it, I perceived that she was my visitor. She laid a finger
+upon her lip and slipped quietly into the room. In her hand she held
+her hat and whip, and these she laid upon the table.
+
+"You have not inquired," she began, "why I asked you to return with me
+to Lukstein, what end I had in view."
+
+"In truth, madame," I replied, "I gave no thought to it;
+only--only----"
+
+"Only I asked you, and you came," she said in a voice that broke and
+faltered. "Even after all you had suffered at my hands, even in spite
+of what you still might suffer, I asked you, and you came."
+
+She spoke in a low wondering tone, and with a queer feeling of shame I
+hastened to reply:
+
+"Madame, if you were in my place, you would understand that there is
+little strange in that."
+
+"Let me finish!" she said. "Lord Elmscott and your friend, Mr. Larke,
+are awaiting you at Lukstein. When your friend returned to England
+without you, he could hear no word of you. He had no acquaintance with
+Lord Elmscott, and did not know of him at all. He met Lord Elmscott in
+London this spring for the first time. It appears that your cousin
+suspected something of the trouble that stood between you and me, but
+until he met Mr. Larke he believed you were travelling in Italy. Mr.
+Larke gave him the account of your first journey into the Tyrol. They
+found out Sir Julian's attorney at Bristol, and learned the cause of
+it from him. They came to Lukstein two months ago, and told me what
+you would not. I went up to the hills myself to bring you home; you
+had escaped, and your--the men had concealed your flight in fear of my
+anger. Lord Elmscott went to Meran, I came to Innspruck; and we
+arranged to return after we had searched a month. The month is gone.
+They will be at Lukstein now."
+
+So much she said, though with many a pause and with so keen a
+self-reproach in her tone that I could hardly bear to hear her, when I
+interrupted:
+
+"And you have been a month searching for me in Innspruck?"
+
+She took no heed of my interruption.
+
+"So, you see," she continued, "I know the whole truth. I know, too,
+that you hid the truth out of kindness to me, and--and----"
+
+She was wearing the gold cross which I had sent to her by Otto's hand.
+It hung on a long chain about her neck, and I took it gently into my
+palm.
+
+"And is there nothing more you know?" I asked.
+
+"I know that you love me," she whispered, "that you love me still. Oh!
+how is it possible?" And then she raised her eyes to mine and laid two
+trembling hands upon my shoulders. "But it is true. You told me so
+this afternoon."
+
+"I told you?" I asked in some surprise.
+
+"Ay, and more surely than if you had spoken it out. That is why I
+stopped our horses in the village. It is why I am with you now."
+
+She glanced towards her hat and whip, and I understood. I realised
+what it would cost her to carry me back as her guest to Lukstein after
+all that had passed there.
+
+I opened the door and stepped out on to the landing. A panel of
+moonlight was marked out upon the floor. 'Twas the only light in the
+passage, and the house was still as an empty cave. When I came back
+into the room Ilga was standing with her hat upon her head.
+
+"And what of Lukstein?"
+
+"A sop to Father Spaur," she said with a happy laugh, and reaching out
+a hand to me she blew out the candle. I guided her to the landing, and
+there stopped and kissed her.
+
+"I have hungered for that," said I, "for a year and more."
+
+"And I too," she whispered, "dear heart, and I too," and I felt her
+arms tighten about my neck. "Oh, how you must have hated me!" she
+said.
+
+"I called you no harder name than 'la belle dame sans merci,'" said I.
+
+We crept down the stairs a true couple of runaways. The door was
+secured by a wooden bar. I removed the bar, and we went out into the
+road. The stables lay to the right of the inn, and leaving Ilga where
+she stood, I crossed over to them and rapped quietly at the window.
+The ostler let me in, and we saddled quickly Ilga's horse and mine. I
+gave the fellow all of my three months' savings, and bidding him go
+back to his bed, brought the horses into the road.
+
+I lifted Ilga into the saddle.
+
+"So," she said, bending over me, and her heart looked through her
+eyes, "the lath was steel after all, and I only found it out when the
+steel cut me."
+
+And that night we rode hand in hand to Innspruck. Once she trilled out
+a snatch of song, and I knew indeed that Jack Larke was waiting for me
+at Lukstein. For the words she sang were from an old ballad of
+Froissart:
+
+
+              Que toutes joies et toutes honneurs
+              Viennent d'armes et d'amours.
+
+
+
+
+                               THE END.
+
+
+
+                          *   *   *   *   *
+     F. M. EVANS AND CO., LIMITED, PRINTERS, CRYSTAL PALACE, S.E.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Courtship of Morrice Buckler, by 
+A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley) Mason
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+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Courtship of Morrice Buckler, by 
+A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley) Mason
+
+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 Courtship of Morrice Buckler
+       A Romance
+
+Author: A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley) Mason
+
+Release Date: January 25, 2012 [EBook #38665]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COURTSHIP OF MORRICE BUCKLER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen from page scans provided by the Web Archive
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<p class="hang1">Transcriber's Notes:<br>
+
+1. Page scan source:<br>
+http://www.archive.org/details/courtshipofmorri00masouoft</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>THE COURTSHIP</h2>
+
+<h5>OF</h5>
+
+<h2>MORRICE BUCKLER</h2>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>THE COURTSHIP</h2>
+
+<h5>OF</h5>
+
+<h1>MORRICE BUCKLER</h1>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h4>A Romance</h4>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<p class="center"><i>Being a Record of the Growth of an English Gentleman<br>
+during the years 1685-1687, under strange and difficult circumstances<br>
+written some while afterwards in his own hand, and now edited by</i></p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>A. E. W. MASON</h2>
+<h5>AUTHOR OF &quot;A ROMANCE OF WASTDALE&quot;</h5>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3><b>London</b><br>
+MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD.<br>
+<span class="sc2">NEW YORK: MACMILLAN &amp; CO</span>.<br>
+1896</h3>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h5><i>First Edition, February</i>, 1896.<br>
+<i>Second Edition, May</i>, 1896.<br>
+<i>Third Edition, June</i>, 1896.</h5>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>CHAPTER I.</h3>
+
+<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_01" href="#div1_01">TELLS OF AN INTERRUPTED MESSAGE.</a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER II.</h3>
+
+<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_02" href="#div1_02">I REACH LONDON, AND THERE MAKE AN ACQUAINTANCE</a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER III.</h3>
+
+<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_03" href="#div1_03">TELLS HOW I REACH BRISTOL, AND IN WHAT STRANGE GUISE I GO TO MEET MY
+FRIEND</a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER IV.</h3>
+
+<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_04" href="#div1_04">SIR JULIAN HARNWOOD</a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER V.</h3>
+
+<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_05" href="#div1_05">I JOURNEY TO THE TYROL, AND HAVE SOME DISCOURSE WITH COUNT LUKSTEIN</a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER VI.</h3>
+
+<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_06" href="#div1_06">SWORDS TAKE UP THE DISCOURSE</a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER VII.</h3>
+
+<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_07" href="#div1_07">I RETURN HOME AND HEAR NEWS OF COUNTESS LUKSTEIN</a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER VIII.</h3>
+
+<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_08" href="#div1_08">I MAKE A BOW TO COUNTESS LUKSTEIN</a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER IX.</h3>
+
+<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_09" href="#div1_09">I RENEW AN ACQUAINTANCESHIP</a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER X.</h3>
+
+<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_10" href="#div1_10">DOUBTS, PERPLEXITIES, AND A COMPROMISE</a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XI.</h3>
+
+<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_11" href="#div1_11">THE COUNTESS EXPLAINS, AND SHOWS ME A PICTURE</a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XII.</h3>
+
+<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_12" href="#div1_12">LADY TRACY</a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XIII.</h3>
+
+<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_13" href="#div1_13">COUNTESS LUKSTEIN IS CONVINCED</a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XIV.</h3>
+
+<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_14" href="#div1_14">A GAME OF HIDE-AND-SEEK</a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XV.</h3>
+
+<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_15" href="#div1_15">THE HALF-WAY HOUSE AGAIN</a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XVI.</h3>
+
+<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_16" href="#div1_16">CONCERNING AN INVITATION AND A LOCKED DOOR</a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XVII.</h3>
+
+<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_17" href="#div1_17">FATHER SPAUR</a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XVIII.</h3>
+
+<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_18" href="#div1_18">AT LUKSTEIN</a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XIX.</h3>
+
+<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_19" href="#div1_19">IN THE PAVILION. I EXPLAIN</a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XX.</h3>
+
+<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_20" href="#div1_20">IN THE PAVILION. COUNTESS LUKSTEIN EXPLAINS</a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XXI.</h3>
+
+<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_21" href="#div1_21">IN CAPTIVITY HOLLOW</a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XXII.</h3>
+
+<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_22" href="#div1_22">A TALK WITH OTTO. I ESCAPE TO INNSPRUCK</a></p>
+<br>
+
+<h3>CHAPTER XXIII.</h3>
+
+<p class="continue"><a name="div1Ref_23" href="#div1_23">THE LAST.</a></p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h4>THE</h4>
+<h1>COURTSHIP OF MORRICE BUCKLER</h1>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_01" href="#div1Ref_01">TELLS OF AN INTERRUPTED MESSAGE.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">It chanced that as I was shifting the volumes in my library this
+morning, more from sheer fatigue of idleness than with any set
+intention--for, alas! this long time since I have lost the savour of
+books--a little Elzevir copy of Horace fell from the back of a shelf
+between my hands. It lay in my palm, soiled and faded with the dust of
+twenty years; and as I swept clean its cover and the edges of the
+leaves, the look and feel of it unlocked my mind to such an inrush of
+glistening memories that I seemed to be sweeping those years and the
+overlay of their experience from off my consciousness. I lived again
+in that brief but eventful period which laid upon the unaccustomed
+shoulders of a bookish student a heavy burden of deeds, but gave him
+in compensation wherewith to reckon the burden light.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The book fell open of its own accord at the Palinodia at Tyndaridem.
+On the stained and fingered leaf facing the ode I could still decipher
+the plan of Lukstein Castle, and as I gazed, that blurred outline
+filled until it became a picture. I looked into the book as into a
+magician's crystal. The great angle of the building, the level row of
+windows, the red roofs of the turrets, the terrace, and the little
+pinewood pavilion, all were clearly limned before my eyes, and were
+overswept by changing waves of colour. I saw the Castle as on the
+first occasion of my coming, hung disconsolately on a hillside in a
+far-away corner of the Tyrol, a black stain upon a sloping wilderness
+of snow; I saw it again under a waning moon in the stern silence of a
+frosty night, as each window grew angry with a tossing glare of links;
+but chiefly I saw it as when I rode thither on my last memorable
+visit, sleeping peacefully above the cornfields in the droning sabbath
+of a summer afternoon. I turned my eyes to the ode. The score of my
+pencil was visible against the last verse:</p>
+<div class="poem2">
+<p class="t9">Nunc ego mitibus</p>
+<p class="t0">Mutare quæro tristia dum mihi<br>
+Fias recantatis amica<br>
+Opprobriis animumque reddas.<br>
+</div>
+
+<p class="normal">On the margin beside the first line was the date, Sept. 14, 1685, and
+beneath the verse yet another date, Sept. 12, 1687. And as I looked,
+it came upon me that I would set down with what clearness I might the
+record of those two years, in the hope that my memories might warm and
+cheer these later days of loneliness, much as the afterglow lingers
+purple on yonder summit rocks when the sun has already sunk behind the
+Cumberland fells. For indeed that short interspace of time shines out
+in my remembrance like a thick thread of gold in a woof of homespun. I
+would not, however, be understood to therefore deprecate the quiet
+years of happiness which followed. The two years of which I speak in
+their actual passage occasioned me more anxiety and suffering than
+happiness. But they have a history of their own. They mark out a
+portion of my life whereof the two dates in my Horace were the
+beginning and the end, and the verse between the dates, strangely
+enough, its best epitome.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was, then, the fourteenth day of September, 1685, and the time a
+few minutes past noon. Jack Larke, my fellow-student at the University
+of Leyden, and myself had but just returned to our lodging in that
+street of the town which they call the Pape-Graft. We were both fairly
+wearied, for the weather was drowsy and hot, and one had little
+stomach for the Magnificus Professor, the more particularly when he
+discoursed concerning the natural philosophy of Pliny.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Tis all lies, every jot of it!&quot; cried Larke. &quot;If I wrote such
+nonsense I should be whipped for a heretic. And yet I must sit there
+and listen and take notes until my brain reels.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You sit there but seldom, Jack,&quot; said I, &quot;and never played yourself
+so false as to listen; while as for the notes----!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I took up his book which he had flung upon the table. It contained
+naught but pictures of the Professor in divers humiliating attitudes,
+with John Larke ever towering above him, his honest features twisted
+into so heroical an expression of scorn as set me laughing till my
+sides ached.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He snatched the book from my hand, and flung it into a corner.
+&quot;There!&quot; said he. &quot;It may go to the dust-hole and Pliny with it, to
+rot in company.&quot; And the Latin volume followed the note-book.
+Whereupon, with a sigh of relief, he lifted a brace of pistols from a
+shelf, and began industriously to scour and polish them, though indeed
+their locks and barrels shone like silver as it was. For my part, I
+plumped myself down before this very ode of Horace; and so for a
+while, each in his own way, we worked silently. Ever and again,
+however, he would look up and towards me, and then, with an impatient
+shrug, settle to his task again. At last he could contain no longer.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Lord!&quot; he burst out, &quot;what a sick world it is! Here am I, fitted for
+a roving life under open skies, and plucked out of God's design by the
+want of a few pence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You may yet sit on the bench,&quot; said I, to console him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ay, lad,&quot; he answered, &quot;I might if I had sufficient roguery to supply
+my lack of wits.&quot; Then he suddenly turned on me. &quot;And here are you,&quot;
+he said, &quot;who could journey east and west, and never sleep twice
+beneath the same roof, breaking your back mewed up over a copy of
+Horace!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At that moment I was indeed stretched full-length upon a sofa, but I
+had no mind to set him right. The tirade was passing old to me, and
+replies were but fresh fuel to keep it flickering. However, he had not
+yet done.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I believe,&quot; he continued, &quot;you would sooner solve a knot in Aristotle
+than lead out the finest lady in Europe to dance a pavan with you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is true,&quot; I replied. &quot;I should be no less afraid of her than you
+of Aristotle.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Morrice,&quot; said he solemnly, &quot;I do verily believe you have naught but
+fish-blood in your veins.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Whereat I laughed, and he, coming over to me:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why, man,&quot; he cried, &quot;had I your fortune on my back----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You would soon find it a ragged cloak,&quot; I interposed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And your sword at my side----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You would still lack my skill in using it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Larke stopped short in his speech, and his face darkened. I had
+touched him in the tenderest part of his pride. Proficiency in manly
+exercises was the single quality on which he plumed himself, and so he
+had made it his daily habit to repair to the fencing-rooms of a noted
+French master, who dwelt in Noort-Eynde by the Witte Poort. Thither
+also, by dint of much pertinacity, for which I had grave reason to
+thank him afterwards, he had haled me for instruction in the art. Once
+I got there, however, the play fascinated me. The delicate intricacy
+of the movements so absorbed brain and muscle in a common service as
+to produce in me an inward sense of completeness, very sweet and
+strange to one of my halting diffidence. In consequence I applied
+myself with considerable enthusiasm, and in the end acquired some
+nimbleness with the rapier, or, to speak more truly, the foil. For as
+yet my skill had never been put to the test of a serious encounter.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Now, on the previous day Larke and I had fenced together throughout
+the afternoon, and fortune had sided with me in every bout; and it
+was, I think, the recollection of this which rankled within him.
+However, the fit soon passed--'twas not in his nature to be silent
+long--and he broke out again, seating himself in a chair by the table.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Dost never dream of adventures, Morrice?&quot; he asked. &quot;A life brimful
+of them, and a quick death at the end?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I had as lief die in my bed,&quot; said I.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To be sure, to be sure,&quot; he replied with a sneer. &quot;Men ever wish to
+die in the place they are most fond of;&quot; and then he leant forward
+upon the table and said, with a curious wonder: &quot;Hast never a regret
+that thy sword rusted in June?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay,&quot; I answered him quickly. &quot;Monmouth was broken and captured
+before we had even heard he had raised his flag. And, besides, the
+King had stouter swords than mine, and yet no use for them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But none the less I turned my face to the wall, for I felt my cheeks
+blazing. My words were indeed the truth. The same packet which brought
+to us the news of Monmouth's rising in the west, brought to us also
+the news of his defeat at Sedgemoor. But I might easily have divined
+his project some while ago. For early in the spring I had received a
+visit from one Ferguson, a Scot, who, after uttering many fantastical
+lies concerning the &quot;Duke of York,&quot; as he impudently styled the King,
+had warned me that such as failed to assist the true monarch out of
+the funds they possessed might well find themselves sorely burdened in
+the near future. At the time I had merely laughed at the menace, and
+slipped it from my thoughts. Afterwards, however, the remembrance of
+his visit came back to me, and with it a feeling of shame that I had
+lain thus sluggishly at Leyden while this monstrous web of rebellion
+was a-weaving about me in the neighbouring towns of Holland.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Art more of a woman than a man, Morrice, I fear me,&quot; said Jack.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I had heard some foolish talk of this kind more than once before, and
+it ever angered me. I rose quickly from the couch; but Jack skipped
+round the table, and jeered yet the more.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Wilt never win a wife by fair means, lad,&quot; says he. &quot;The Muses are
+women, and women have no liking for them. 'Must buy a wife when the
+time comes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Perceiving that his aim was but to provoke my anger, I refrained from
+answering him and got me back to my ode. The day was in truth too hot
+for quarrelling. Larke, however, was not so easily put off. He
+returned to his chair, which was close to my couch.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Horace!&quot; he said gravely, wagging his head at me. &quot;Horace! There are
+wise sayings in his book.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What know you of them?&quot; I laughed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know one,&quot; he answered. &quot;I learnt it yesternight for thy special
+delectation. It begins in this way:</p>
+<div class="poem2">
+<p class="t0">
+&quot;Quem si puellarum chore inseres.&quot;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="normal">He got no further in his quotation. For he tilted his chair at this
+moment, and I thrusting at it with my foot, he tumbled over backwards
+and sprawled on the ground, swearing at great length.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Wilt never win a wife by fair means for all that,&quot; he sputtered.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then 'tis no more than prudence in me to wed my books.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">So I spake, and hot on the heels of my saying came the message which
+divorced me from them for good and all. For as Larke still lay upon
+the floor, a clatter of horse's hoofs came to us through the open
+window. The sound stopped at our door. Larke rose hastily, and leaned
+out across the sill.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is an Englishman,&quot; he cried. &quot;He comes to us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The next moment a noise of altercation filled the air. I could hear
+the shrill speech of our worthy landlady, and above it a man's voice
+in the English dialect, growing ever louder and louder as though the
+violence of his tone would translate his meaning. I followed Larke to
+the window. The quiet street was alive with peeping faces, and just
+beneath us stood the reason of the brawl, a short, thick-set man,
+whose face was hidden by a large flapping hat. His horse stood in the
+roadway in a lather of spume. For some reason, doubtless the
+excitement of his manner, our hostess would not let him pass into the
+house. She stood solidly filling the doorway, and for a little it
+amused us to watch the man's vehement gesticulations; so little
+thought had we of the many strange events which were to follow from
+his visit. In a minute, however, he turned his face towards us, and I
+recognised him as Nicholas Swasfield, the body-servant of my good
+friend, Sir Julian Harnwood.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let him up!&quot; I cried. &quot;Let him up!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, woman, let him up!&quot; repeated Larke, and turning to me: &quot;He hath
+many choice and wonderful oaths, and I fain would add them to my
+store.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thereupon the woman drew reluctantly aside, and Swasfield bounded past
+her into the passage. We heard him tumble heavily up the dark
+stairway, cursing the country and its natives, and then with a great
+bump of his body he burst open the door and lurched into the room. At
+the sight of me he brake into a glad cry:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Sir Julian, my master,&quot; he gasped, and stopped dead.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, what of him?&quot; I asked eagerly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But he answered never a word; he stood mopping his brows with a great
+blue handkerchief, which hid his face from us. 'Tis strange how
+clearly I remember that handkerchief. It was embroidered at the
+corners with anchors in white cotton, and it recurred to me with a
+quaint irrelevancy that the man had been a sailor in his youth.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, what of him?&quot; I asked again with some sharpness. &quot;Speak, man!
+You had words and to spare below.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He lies in Bristol gaol,&quot; at last he said, heaving great breaths
+between his words, &quot;and none but you can serve his turn.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With that he tore at his shirt above his heart, and made a little
+tripping run to the table. He clutched at its edge and swayed forward
+above it, his head loosely swinging between his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hurry!&quot; he said in a thick, strangled voice.
+&quot;Assizes--twenty-first--Jeffries.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And with a sudden convulsion he straightened himself, stood for a
+second on the tips of his toes, with the veins ridged on his livid
+face like purple weals, and then fell in a huddled lump upon the
+floor. I sprang to the stair-head and shouted for some one to run for
+a doctor. Jack was already loosening the man's shirt.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is a fit,&quot; he said, clasping a hand to his heart.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Luckily my bedroom gave onto the parlour, and between us we carried
+him within and laid him gently on my bed. His eyelids were open and
+his eyes fixed, but turned inwards, so that one saw but the whites of
+them, while a light froth oozed through his locked teeth.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He will die,&quot; I cried.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A ewer of water stood by the bedside, and this I emptied over his head
+and shoulders, drowning the sheets, but to no other purpose. Our
+landlady fetched up a bottle of Dutch schnapps, which was the only
+spirit the house contained, but his jaws were too fast closed for us
+to open them. So we stood all three watching him helplessly, while
+those last words of his drummed at my heart. Jeffries! I knew enough
+of the bloody work he had taken in hand that summer to assure me there
+would be short shrift for Julian had he meddled in Monmouth's affairs.
+On the other hand, I reflected, if such indeed was my friend's case,
+wherein could I prove of effectual help? &quot;None but you can serve his
+turn,&quot; the fellow had said. Could Julian have fallen under another
+charge? I was the more inclined to this conjecture, for that Julian
+had been always staunchly loyal to the King, and, moreover, a constant
+figure at the Court.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">However, 'twas all idle guess-work, and there before my eyes was
+stretched the one man, who could have disclosed the truth, struck down
+in the very telling of his story! I began to fear that he would die
+before the surgeon came. For he breathed heavily with a horrid sound
+like a dog snoring.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">All at once a thought flashed into my mind. He might have brought a
+letter from Julian's hand. I searched his pockets on the instant; they
+held nothing but a few English coins and some metal charms, such as
+the ignorant are wont to carry on their persons to preserve them from
+misadventure.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">While I was thus engaged, the doctor was ushered into the room, very
+deliberate in manner, and magnificent in his dress. Erudition was
+marked in the very cock of his wig. I sprang towards him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Make him speak, Mynheer!&quot; I implored. &quot;He hath a message to deliver,
+and it cannot wait.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But he put me aside with a wave of his hand and advanced towards the
+bed, pursing his lips and frowning as one sunk in a profundity of
+thought.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Can you make him speak?&quot; I asked again with some impatience. But
+again he merely waved his hand, and taking a gilt box from his pocket,
+inhaled a large pinch of snuff. Then he turned to Larke, who stood
+holding the bottle of schnapps.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tell me, young gentleman,&quot; he said severely, &quot;what time the fit took
+him, and the manner of his seizure!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Larke informed him hastily of what had passed, and he listened with
+much sage bobbing of his head. Then to our hostess:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My assistant is below, and hath my instruments. Send him up!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He turned to us.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will bleed him,&quot; he said. &quot;For what saith the learned Hippocrates?&quot;
+Whereupon he mouthed out a rigmarole of Latin phrases, wherein I could
+detect neither cohesion nor significance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Leave him to me, gentlemen!&quot; he continued with a third flourish of
+his wrist. &quot;Leave him to me and Hippocrates!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Which we do,&quot; I replied, &quot;with the more confidence in that
+Hippocrates had so much foreknowledge of the Latin tongue.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And so we got us back to the parlour. How the minutes dragged! Through
+the door I could still hear the noise of the man's breathing; and now
+and again the light clink of instruments and a trickling sound as of
+blood dripping into a bason. I paced impatiently about the room, while
+Jack sat him down at the table and began loading his pistols.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The twenty-first!&quot; I exclaimed, &quot;and this day is the fourteenth.
+Seven days, Jack! I have but seven days to win from here to Bristol.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I went to the window and leaned out. Swasfield's horse was standing
+quietly in the road, tethered by the bridle to a tree.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Canst do it, Morrice, if the wind holds fair,&quot; replied Jack. &quot;Heaven
+send a wind!&quot; and he rose from the table and joined me. Together we
+stretched out to catch the least hint of a breeze. But not a breath
+came to us; not a tree shimmered, not a shadow stirred. The world
+slumbered in a hot stupor. It seemed you might have felt the air
+vibrate with the passage of a single bird.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Of a sudden Larke cried out:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Art sure 'tis the fourteenth to-day?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With that we scrambled back into the room and searched for a calendar.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ay, lad!&quot; he said ruefully as he discovered it; &quot;'tis the fourteenth,
+not a doubt of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I flung myself dejectedly on the couch. The volume of Horace lay open
+by my hand, and I took it up, and quite idly, with no thought of what
+I was doing, I wrote this date and the name of the month and the date
+of the year on the margin of the page.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Lord!&quot; exclaimed Jack, flinging up his hands. &quot;At the books again?
+Hast no boots and spurs?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I slipped the book into my pocket, and sprang to my feet. In the heat
+of my anxiety I had forgotten everything but this half-spoken message.
+But, or ever I could make a step, the door of the bedroom opened and
+the surgeon stepped into the room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Can he speak now?&quot; I asked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The fit has not passed,&quot; says he.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then in God's name, what ails the man?&quot; cries Larke.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is a visitation,&quot; says the doctor, with an upward cast of his
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is a canting ass of a doctor,&quot; I yelled in a fury, and I clapped
+my hat on my head.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Your boots?&quot; cried Larke.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I'll e'en go in my shoes,&quot; I shouted back.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I snatched up one of Jack's pistols, rammed it into my pocket, and so
+clattered downstairs and into the street. I untied Swasfield's horse
+and sprang on to its back.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Morrice!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I looked up. Jack was leaning out from the window.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Morrice,&quot; he said whimsically, and with a very winning smile, &quot;'art
+not so much of a woman after all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I dug my heels into the horse's flanks and so rode out at a gallop
+beneath the lime-trees to Rotterdam.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_02" href="#div1Ref_02">I REACH LONDON, AND THERE MAKE AN
+ACQUAINTANCE.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">At Rotterdam I was fortunate enough to light upon a Dutch skipper
+whose ship was anchored in the Texel, and who purposed sailing that
+very night for the Port of London. For a while, indeed, he scrupled to
+set me over, my lack of equipment--for I had not so much with me as a
+clean shirt--and my great haste to be quit of the country firing his
+suspicions. However, I sold Swasfield's horse to the keeper of a
+tavern by the waterside, and adding the money I got thereby to what I
+held in my pockets, I presently persuaded him; and a light wind
+springing up about midnight, we weighed anchor and stood out for the
+sea.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">That my purse was now empty occasioned me no great concern, since my
+cousin, Lord Elmscott, lived at London, in a fine house in Monmouth
+Square, and I doubted not but what I could instantly procure from him
+the means to enable me to continue my journey. I was, in truth,
+infinitely more distressed by the tardiness of our voyage, for towards
+sunrise the wind died utterly away, and during the next two days we
+lay becalmed, rocking lazily upon the swell. On the afternoon of the
+third, being the seventeenth day of the month, a breeze filled our
+sheets, and we made some progress, although our vessel, which was a
+ketch and heavily loaded, was a slow sailer at the best. But during
+the night the breeze quickened into a storm, and, blowing for twelve
+hours without intermission or abatement, drove us clean from our
+course, so that on the morning of the eighteenth we were scurrying
+northwards before it along the coast of Essex.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This last misadventure cast me into the very bottom of despair. I knew
+that if I were to prove of timely help in Julian's deliverance, I must
+needs reach Bristol before his trial commenced, the which seemed now
+plainly impossible; and, atop of this piece of knowledge, my ignorance
+of the nature of his calamity, and of the service he desired of me,
+worked in my blood like a fever.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For Julian and myself were linked together in a very sweet and
+intimate love. I could not, and I tried, point to its beginning. It
+seemed to have been native within us from our births. We took it from
+our fathers before us, and when they died we counted it no small part
+of our inheritance. Our estates, you should know, lay in contiguous
+valleys of the remote county of Cumberland, and thus we lived out our
+boyhood in a secluded comradeship. Seldom a day passed but we found a
+way to meet. Mostly Julian would come swinging across the fells, his
+otter-dogs yapping at his heels, and all the fresh morning in his
+voice. Together we would ramble over the slopes, bathe in the tarns
+and kelds, hunt, climb, argue, ay, and fight too, when we were
+gravelled for lack of arguments; so that even now, each time that I
+turn my feet homewards after a period of absence, and catch the first
+glimpse of these brown hillsides, they become bright and populous with
+the rich pageantry of our boyish fancies.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But my clearest recollections of those days centre about Scafell, and
+a certain rock upon the Pillar Mountain in Ennerdale. A common share
+of peril is surely the stoutest bond of comradeship. You may find
+exemplars in the story of well-nigh every battle. But to hang half-way
+up a sheer cliff in the chill eerie silence, where a slip of the heel,
+a falter of the numbed fingers, would hurl both your companion and
+yourself upon the stones a hundred yards below--ah, that turns the
+friend into something closer than even a <i>frère d'armes</i>. At least, so
+it was with Julian and me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I think, too, that the very difference between us helped to fortify
+our love. Each felt the other the complement of his nature. And in
+later times, when Julian would come down from the Court to Oxford,
+tricked out in some new French fashion, and with all sorts of
+fantastical conceits upon his tongue, my rooms seemed to glow as with
+a sudden shaft of sunlight; and after that he had gone I was ever in
+two minds whether to send for a tailor, and follow him to Whitehall.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But to return to my journey. On the nineteenth we changed our course,
+and tacked back to the mouth of the Thames. But it was not until the
+evening of the twentieth that we cast anchor by London Bridge. From
+the ship I hurried straight to the house of my cousin, Lord Elmscott,
+who resided in Monmouth Square, to the north of the town, being minded
+to borrow a horse of him and some money, and ride forthwith to
+Bristol. The windows, however, were dark, not a light glimmered
+anywhere; and knock with what noise I might, for a while I could get
+no answer to my summons.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At last, just as I was turning away in no little distress of mind--for
+the town was all strange to me, and I knew no one else to whom I could
+apply at that late hour--a feeble shuffling step sounded in the
+passage. I knocked again, and as loudly as I could; the steps drew
+nearer, the bolts were slowly drawn from their sockets, and the door
+opened. I was faced by an old man in a faded livery, who held a
+lighted candle in his hand. Behind him the hall showed black and
+solitary.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am Mr. Morrice Buckler,&quot; said I, &quot;and I would have a word with my
+cousin, Lord Elmscott.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The old man shook his head dolefully.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay, sir,&quot; he replied in a thin, quavering voice, &quot;you do ill to seek
+him here. At White's perchance you may light on him, or at Wood's, in
+Pall Mall--I know not. But never in his own house while there is a
+pack of cards abroad.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I waited not to hear the rest of his complaint, but dashed down the
+steps and set off westwards at a run. I crossed a lonely and noisome
+plain which I have since heard is named the pest-field, for that many
+of the sufferers in the late plague are buried there, and came out at
+the top of St. James' Street. There a stranger pointed out to me
+White's coffeehouse.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Is Lord Elmscott within?&quot; I asked of an attendant as I entered.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For reply he looked me over coolly from head to foot.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And what may be your business with Lord Elmscott?&quot; he asked, with a
+sneer.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In truth I must have cut but a sorry figure in his eyes, for I was all
+dusty and begrimed with my five days' travel. But I thought not of
+that at the time.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tell him,&quot; said I, &quot;that his cousin, Morrice Buckler, is here, and
+must needs speak with him.&quot; Whereupon the man's look changed to one of
+pure astonishment. &quot;Be quick, fellow,&quot; I cried, stamping my foot; and
+with a humble &quot;I crave your pardon,&quot; he hurried off upon the message.
+A door stood at the far end of the room, and through this he entered,
+leaving it ajar. In a moment I heard my cousin's voice, loud and
+boisterous:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Show him in! 'Od's wounds, he may change my luck.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With that I followed him. 'Twas a strange sight to me. The room was
+small, and the floor so thickly littered with cards that it needed the
+feel of your foot to assure you it was carpeted. A number of gallants
+in a great disorder of dress stood about a little table whereat were
+seated a youth barely, I should guess, out of his teens, his face
+pale, but very indifferent and composed, and over against him my
+cousin. Elmscott's black peruke was all awry, his cheeks flushed, and
+his eyes bloodshot and staring.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Morrice,&quot; he cried, &quot;what brings you here in this plight? I believe
+the fellow took you for a bailiff, and, on my life,&quot; he added,
+surveying me, &quot;I have not the impudence to blame him.&quot; Thereupon he
+addressed himself to the company. &quot;This, gentlemen,&quot; says he, &quot;is my
+cousin, Mr. Morrice Buckler, a very worthy--bookworm.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">They all laughed as though there was some wit in the ill-mannered
+sally; but I had no time to spare for taking heed of their
+foolishness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You can do me a service,&quot; I said eagerly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You give me news,&quot; Elmscott laughed. &quot;'Tis a strange service that I
+can render. Well, what may it be?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I need money for one thing, and----&quot; A roar of laughter broke in upon
+my words.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Money!&quot; cries Elmscott. &quot;Lord, that any one should come to me for
+money!&quot; and he leaned back in his chair laughing as heartily as the
+best of them. &quot;Why, Morrice, it's all gone--all gone into the devil's
+whirlpool. Howbeit,&quot; he went on, growing suddenly serious, &quot;I will
+make a bargain with you. Stand by my side here. I have it in my mind
+that you will bring me luck. Stand by my side, and in return, if I
+win, I will lend you what help I may.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay, cousin,&quot; said I, &quot;my business will not wait.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nor mine,&quot; he replied, &quot;nor mine. Stand by me! I shall not be long.
+My last stake's on the table.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He seized hold of my arm as he spoke with something of prayer in his
+eyes, and reluctantly I consented. In truth, I knew not what else to
+do. 'Twas plain he was in no mood to hearken to my request, even if he
+had the means to grant it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That's right, lad!&quot; he bawled, and then to the servant: &quot;Brandy!
+Brandy, d'ye hear! And a great deal of it! Now, gentlemen, you will
+see. Mr. Buckler is a student of Leyden. 'Tis full time that some good
+luck should come to us from Holland.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he turned him again to the table. His pleasantry was received with
+an uproarious merriment, which methought it hardly merited. But I have
+noted since that round a gaming-table, so tense is the spirit which it
+engenders, the poorest jest takes the currency of wit.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I was at first perplexed by the difference of the stakes. Before my
+cousin lay a pair of diamond buckles, but no gold, not so much as a
+single guinea-piece. All that there was of that metal lay in scattered
+heaps beside his opponent.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Lord Elmscott dealt the hands--the game was écarté--and the other
+nodded his request for cards. Looking over my cousin's shoulder I
+could see that he held but one trump, the ten, and a tierce to the
+king in another suit. For a little he remained without answering,
+glancing indecisively from his cards to the face of his player. At
+last, with a touch of defiance in his voice:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No!&quot; he said. &quot;Tis no hand to play on, but I'll trust to chance.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As you will,&quot; nodded the other, and he led directly into Elmscott's
+suit. Every one leaned eagerly forward, but each trick fell to my
+cousin, and he obtained the vole.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There! I told you,&quot; he cries.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">His opponent said never a word, but carelessly pushed a tinkling pile
+of coins across the table. And so the play went on; at the finish of
+each game a stream of gold drifted over to Lord Elmscott. It seemed
+that he could not lose. If he played the eight, his companion would
+follow with the seven.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He hath the devil at his back now,&quot; said one of the bystanders.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pardon me!&quot; replied my cousin very politely. &quot;You insult Mr. Buckler.
+I am merely fortified with the learning of Leyden;&quot; and he straightway
+marked the king. After a time the room fell to utter silence, even
+Elmscott stopped his outbursts. A strange fascination caught and
+enmeshed us all; we strained forward, holding our breaths as we
+watched the hands, though each man, I think, was certain what the end
+would be. For myself, I honestly struggled against this devilish
+enchantment, but to little purpose. The flutter of the cards made my
+heart leap. I sought to picture to myself the long dark road I had to
+traverse, and Julian in his prison at the end of it. I saw nothing but
+the faces of the players, Elmscott's flushed and purple, his
+opponent's growing paler and paler, while his eyes seemed to retreat
+into his head and the pupils of them to burn like points of fire. I
+loaded myself with reproaches and abuse, but the words ran through my
+head in a meaningless sequence, and were tuned to a clink of gold.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And then an odd fancy came over me. In the midst of the yellow heap,
+ever increasing, on our side of the table, lay the pair of diamond
+buckles. I could see rays of an infinite variety of colours spirting
+out like little jets of flame, as the light caught the stones, and I
+felt a queer conviction that Elmscott's luck was in some way bound up
+with them. So strongly did the whim possess me that I lifted them from
+the table to test my thought. For so long as took the players to play
+two games, I held the buckles in my hands; and both games my cousin
+lost. I replaced them on the table, and he began to win once more with
+the old regularity, the heaps dwindling there and growing here, until
+at length all the money lay silted at my cousin's hand. You might have
+believed that a spell had been suddenly lifted from the company. Faces
+relaxed and softened, eyes lost their keen light, feet shuffled in a
+new freedom, and the heavy silence was torn by a Babel of voices.
+Strangely enough, all joined with Elmscott in attributing his change
+of fortune to my presence. Snuff-boxes were opened and their contents
+pressed upon me, and I think that I might have dined at no cost of
+myself for a full twelve months had I accepted the invitations I
+received. But the cessation of the play had waked me to my own
+necessities, and I turned to my cousin.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now,&quot; said I, but I got no further, for he exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not yet, Morrice! There's my house in Monmouth Square.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Your house?&quot; I repeated.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There's the manor of Silverdale.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have not lost that?&quot; I cried.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Every brick of it,&quot; says he.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then,&quot; says I in a quick passion, &quot;you must win them back as best you
+may. I'll bide no longer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay, lad!&quot; he entreated, laying hold of my sleeve. &quot;You cannot mean
+that. See, when you came in, I had but these poor buckles left. They
+were all my fortune. Stay but for a little. For if you go you take all
+my luck with you. 'Am deadly sure of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have stayed too long as it is&quot; I replied, and wrenched myself free
+from his grasp.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, take what money you need! But you are no more than a stone,&quot; he
+whimpered.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The philosopher's stone, then,&quot; said I, and I caught up a couple of
+handsfull of gold and turned on my heel. But with a sudden cry I
+stopped. For as I turned, I glanced across the table to his opponent,
+and I saw his face change all in a moment to a strangely grey and
+livid colour. And to make the sight yet more ghastly, he still sat
+bolt upright in his chair, without a gesture, without a motion, a
+figure of marble, save that his eyes still burned steadily beneath his
+brows.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Great God!&quot; I cried. &quot;He is dying.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is the morning,&quot; he said in a quiet voice, which had yet a very
+thrilling resonance, and it flashed across me with a singular
+uneasiness that this was the first time that he had spoken during all
+those hours.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I turned towards the window, which was behind my cousin's chair.
+Through a chink of the curtains a pale beam of twilight streamed full
+on to the youth's face. So long as I had stood by Elmscott's side, my
+back had intercepted it; but as I moved away I had uncovered the
+window, and it was the grey light streaming from it which had given to
+him a complexion of so deathly and ashen a colour. I flung the
+curtains apart, and the chill morning flooded the room. One shiver ran
+through the company like a breeze through a group of aspens, and it
+seemed to me that on the instant every one had grown old. The heavy
+gildings, the yellow glare of the candles, the gaudy hangings about
+the walls, seen in that pitiless light, appeared inexpressibly
+pretentious and vulgar; and the gentlemen with their leaden cheeks,
+their disordered perukes, and the soiled finery of their laces and
+ruffles, no more than the room's fitting complement. A sickening qualm
+of disgust shot through me; the very air seemed to have grown acrid
+and stale; and yet, in spite of all I stayed--to my shame be it said,
+I stayed. However, I paid for the fault--ay, ten times over, in the
+years that were to come. For as I halted at the door to make my
+bow--my fingers were on the very handle--I perceived Lord Elmscott
+with one foot upon his chair, and the buckles in his hand. My
+presentiment came back to me with the conviction of a creed. I knew--I
+knew that if he failed to add those jewels to his stake, he would
+leave the coffeehouse as empty a beggar as when I entered it. I strode
+back across the room, took them from his hand, and laid them on the
+table. For a moment Elmscott stared at me in astonishment. Then I must
+think he read my superstition in my looks, for he said, clapping me on
+the back:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You will make a gambler yet, Morrice,&quot; and he sat him down on his
+chair. I took my former stand beside him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You will stay, Mr. Buckler?&quot; asked his opponent.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes,&quot; I replied.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then,&quot; he continued, in the same even voice, &quot;I have a plan in my
+head which I fancy will best suit the purposes of the three of us.
+Lord Elmscott is naturally anxious to follow his luck; you, Mr.
+Buckler, have overstayed your time; and as for me--well, it is now
+Wednesday morning, and a damned dirty morning, too, if I may judge
+from the countenances of my friends. We have sat playing here since
+six by the clock on Monday night, and I am weary. My bed calls for me.
+I propose then that we settle the bout with two casts of the dice. On
+the first throw I will stake your house in Monmouth Square against the
+money you have before you. If I win there's an end. If you win, I will
+set the manor of Silverdale against your London house and your
+previous stake.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A complete silence followed upon his words. Even Lord Elmscott was
+taken aback by the magnitude of the stakes. The youth's proposal
+gained, moreover, on the mind by contrast with his tone of tired
+indifference. He seemed the least occupied of all that company.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I trust you will accept,&quot; he continued, speaking to my cousin with
+courteous gentleness. &quot;As I have said, I am very tired. Luck is on
+your side, and, if I may be permitted to add, the advantage of the
+stakes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Elmscott glanced at me, paused for a second, and then, with a forced
+laugh:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Very well; so be it,&quot; he said. The dice were brought; he rattled them
+vigorously, and flung them down.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Four!&quot; cried one of the gentlemen.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Damn!&quot; said my cousin, and he mopped his forehead with his
+handkerchief. His antagonist picked up the dice with inimitable
+nonchalance, barely shook them in the cup, and let them roll idly out
+on to the table.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Three!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Elmscott heaved a sigh of relief. The other stretched his arms above
+his head and yawned.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Tis a noble house, your house in Monmouth Square,&quot; he remarked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the second throw, Elmscott discovered a most nervous anxiety. He
+held the cup so long in his hand that I feared he would lose the
+courage to complete the game. I felt, in truth, a personal shame at
+his indecision, and I gazed around with the full expectation of seeing
+a like feeling expressed upon the features of those who watched. But
+they wore one common look of strained expectancy. At last Elmscott
+threw.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nine!&quot; cried one, and a low murmur of voices buzzed for an instant
+and suddenly ceased as the other took up the dice.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Two!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Both players rose as with one motion. Elmscott tossed down his throat
+the brandy in his tumbler--it had stood by his side untasted since the
+early part of the night--and then turned to me with an almost
+hysterical outburst.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;One moment.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was the youth who spoke, and his voice rang loud and strong. His
+weariness had slipped from him like a mask. He bent across the table
+and stretched out his arm, with his forefinger pointing at my cousin.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will play you one more bout, Lord Elmscott. Against all that you
+have won back from me to-night--the money, your house, your estate--I
+will pit my docks in the city of Bristol. But I claim one condition,&quot;
+and he glanced at me and paused.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If it affects my cousin's presence----&quot; Elmscott began.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It does not,&quot; the other interrupted. &quot;'Tis a trivial condition--a
+whim of mine, a mere whim.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is it, then?&quot; I asked, for in some unaccountable way I was much
+disquieted by his change of manner, and dreaded the event of his
+proposal.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That while your cousin throws you hold his buckles in your hands.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It were impossible to describe the effect which this extraordinary
+request produced. At any other time it would have seemed no more than
+laughable. But after these long hours of play we were all tinder to a
+spark of superstition. Nothing seemed too whimsical for belief. Luck
+had proved so tricksy a sprite that the most trivial object might well
+take its fancy and overset the balance of its favours. The fierce
+vehemence of the speaker, besides, breaking thus unexpectedly through
+a crust of equanimity, carried conviction past the porches of the
+ears. So each man hung upon Elmscott's answer as upon the arbitrament
+of his own fortune.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For myself, I took a quick step towards my cousin; but the youth shot
+a glance of such imperious menace at me that I stopped shamefaced like
+a faulty schoolboy. However, Elmscott caught my movement and, I think,
+the look which arrested me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not to-day,&quot; he said, &quot;if you will pardon me. I am over-tired myself,
+and would fain keep to our bargain.&quot; Thereupon he came over to me.
+&quot;Now, Morrice,&quot; he exclaimed, &quot;it is your turn. You have the money.
+What else d'ye lack? What else d'ye lack?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I need the swiftest horse in your stables,&quot; I replied.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Elmscott burst into a laugh.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You shall have it--the swiftest horse in my stables. You shall e'en
+take it as a gift. Only I fear 'twill leave your desires unsatisfied.&quot;
+And he chuckled again.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then,&quot; I replied, with some severity, for in truth his merriment
+struck me as ill-conditioned, &quot;then I shall take the liberty of
+leaving it behind at the first post on the Bristol Road.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Bristol Road?&quot; interposed the youth. &quot;You journey to Bristol?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I merely bowed assent, for I was in no mood to disclose my purpose to
+that company, and caught up my hat; but he gently took my arm and drew
+me into the window.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Mr. Buckler,&quot; he said, gazing at me the while with quiet eyes,
+&quot;Fortune has brought us into an odd conjunction this night. I have so
+much of the gambler within me as to believe that she will repeat the
+trick, and I hope for my revenge.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He held out his hand courteously. I could not but take it. For a
+moment we stood with clasped hands, and I felt mine tremble within
+his.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah!&quot; he said, smiling curiously, &quot;you believe so, too.&quot; And he made
+me a bow and turned back into the room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I remained where he left me, gazing blindly out of the window; for the
+shadow of a great trouble had fallen across my spirit. His words and
+the concise certainty of his tone had been the perfect voicing of my
+own forebodings. I did indeed believe that Fortune would some day pit
+us in a fresh antagonism; that somewhere in the future she had already
+set up the lists, and that clasp of the hands I felt to be our bond
+and surety that we would keep faith with her and answer to our names.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Morrice,&quot; said Elmscott at my elbow, and I started like one waked
+from his sleep, &quot;we'll go saddle your horse.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he laughed to himself again as though savouring a jest. He slipped
+an arm through mine and walked to the door.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good morning, gentlemen,&quot; he said. &quot;Marston, <i>au revoir!</i>&quot; And with a
+twirl of his hat, he stepped into the outer room. His servant was
+sleeping upon a bench, and he woke him up and bade him fetch the money
+and follow home.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The morning was cold, and we set off at a brisk pace towards Monmouth
+Square, Elmscott chatting loudly the while, with ever and again, I
+thought, a covert laugh at me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I only pressed on the harder. It was not merely that I was vexed by
+his quizzing demeanour; but the moment I was free from that tawdry
+hell, and began to breathe fresh air in place of the heavy reek of
+perfumes and wine, the fulness of my disloyalty rolled in upon my
+conscience, so that Elmscott's idle talk made me sicken with
+repulsion; for he babbled ever about cards and dice and the feminine
+caprice of luck.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What ails you, Morrice?&quot; at length he inquired, seeing that I had no
+stomach for his mirth. &quot;You look as spiritless as a Quaker.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I was thinking,&quot; I replied, in some irritation, for he clapped me on
+the back as he spoke, &quot;that it must be sorely humiliating for a man of
+your age either to win money or lose it when you have a mere stripling
+to oppose you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A man of my age, indeed!&quot; he exclaimed. &quot;And what age do you take to
+be mine, Mr. Buckler?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He turned his face angrily towards me, and I scanned it with great
+deliberation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It would not be fair,&quot; I answered, with a shake of the head. &quot;It
+would not be fair for me to hazard a guess. Two nights at play may
+well stamp middle-age upon youth, and decrepitude upon middle-age.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At this he knew not whether to be mollified or yet more indignant, and
+so did the very thing I had been aiming at--he held his tongue. Thus
+we proceeded in a moody silence until we were hard by Soho. Then he
+asked suddenly:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What drags you in such a scurry to Bristol?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I would give much to know myself,&quot; I answered. &quot;I journey thither at
+the instance of a friend who lies in dire peril. But that is the whole
+sum of my knowledge. I have not so much as a hint of the purport of my
+service.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A friend! What friend?&quot; he inquired with something of a start, and
+looked at me earnestly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Sir Julian Harnwood,&quot; said I, and he stopped abruptly in his walk.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah!&quot; he said; then he looked on the ground, and swore a little to
+himself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You know what threatens him?&quot; said I; but he made me no answer and
+resumed his walk, quickening his pace. &quot;Tell me!&quot; I entreated. &quot;His
+servant came to me at Leyden six days ago, but was seized by a
+fit or ever he could out with his message. So I learnt no more than
+this--that Julian lies in Bristol gaol and hath need of me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But the assizes begin to-day,&quot; he interrupted, with an air of
+triumph. &quot;You are over-late to help him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, no!&quot; I pleaded. &quot;I may yet reach there in time. Julian may haply
+be amongst the last to come to trial?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Twere most unlikely,&quot; returned he, with a snap of his teeth. &quot;My
+Lord Jeffries wastes no time in weighing evidence. Why, at Taunton,
+but a fortnight ago, one hundred and forty-five prisoners were
+disposed of within three days. The man does not try; he executes.
+There's but one outlook for your friend, and that's through the noose
+of a rope. Jeffries holds a strict mandate from the King, I tell you,
+for the King's heart is full of anger against the rebels.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But Julian was no rebel,&quot; I exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tut, tut, lad!&quot; he replied. &quot;If he was no rebel himself, he harboured
+rebels. If he didn't flesh his sword at Sedgemoor, he gave shelter to
+those that did. And 'tis all one crime, I tell you. Hair-splitting is
+held in little favour at the Western Assizes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But are you sure of this?&quot; I asked. &quot;Or is it pure town gossip?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay,&quot; said he, &quot;I have the news hot from Marston. He should know,
+eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Marston?&quot; said I.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes! The&quot;--and he paused for a second, and smiled at me--&quot;the <i>man</i>
+who played with me. 'Tis his sister that's betrothed to Harnwood.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal"><i>His</i> sister! The blood chilled in my veins. I had been aware, of
+course, that Julian was affianced to a certain Miss Marston of the
+county of Gloucestershire. But I had never set eyes upon her person
+and knew little of her history, beyond that she had been one of the
+ladies in attendance upon the Queen prior to her accession to the
+throne; I mean when she was still the Duchess of York. Miss Marston
+was, in fact, a mere name to me; and since consequently she held no
+place in my thoughts, it had not occurred to me to connect her in any
+way with this chance acquaintance of the gaming-table. Now, however,
+the relationship struck me with a peculiar and even menacing
+significance. It recalled to me the few words Marston had spoken in
+the window; and, lo! not half an hour after their utterance, here was,
+as it were, a guarantee of their fulfilment. Between Marston and
+myself there already existed, then, a certain faint accidental
+connection. I felt that I had caught a glimpse of the cord which was
+to draw us together.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Elmscott's voice broke in upon my imaginings.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So, Morrice, I have sure knowledge to back my words. No good can come
+of your journey, though harm may, and it will fall on you. 'Twere best
+to stay quietly in London. You may think your hair grey, but you will
+never save Julian Harnwood from the gallows.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">My cheeks burned as I heard him, for my thoughts had been humming
+busily about my own affairs, and not at all about Julian's; and with a
+bitter shame, &quot;God!&quot; I cried, &quot;that I should fail him so! Surely never
+was a man so misused as my poor friend! He is the very sport and
+shuttlecock of disaster. First his messenger must needs fall sick;
+then my boat must take five days to cross to England. And to cap it
+all, I must waste yet another night in a tavern or ever I can borrow a
+horse to help me on my way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">By this time we had got to Elmscott's house. He drew a key from his
+pocket and mounted the steps thoughtfully, and I after him. On the
+last step, however, he turned, and laying a hand upon my shoulder, as
+I stood below him, said, with a very solemn gravity: &quot;There is God's
+hand in all this. He doth not intend you should go. In His great
+wisdom He doth not intend it. He would punish the guilty, and He would
+spare you who are innocent.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But what harm can come to me?&quot; I cried, with a laugh; though, indeed,
+the laugh was hollow as the echo of an empty house.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That lies in the dark,&quot; said he. &quot;But 'tis no common aid Julian
+Harnwood asks from you. He has friends enough in England. Why should
+he send to Holland when his time's so short?&quot; And then he added with
+more insistent earnestness: &quot;Don't go, lad! If any one could avail,
+'twould be Marston. He has power in Bristol. And you see, he bides
+quietly in London.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But methinks he was never well-disposed to Julian,&quot; said I,
+remembering certain half-forgotten phrases of my friend. &quot;He looked
+but sourly on the marriage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Very well,&quot; said he, with a shrug of the shoulders. &quot;Must make your
+own bed;&quot; and he opened the door, and led me through the hall and into
+a garden at the back. At the far end of this the stables were built,
+and we crossed to them. &quot;The rascals are still asleep,&quot; he remarked,
+and proceeded to waken them with much clanging of the bell and shouts
+of abuse. In a while we heard a heavy step stumbling down the stair.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I had meant to have a fine laugh at you over this,&quot; said Elmscott,
+with a rueful smile. &quot;But I have no heart for it now that I know your
+errand.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">An ostler, still blinking and drowsy, opened the door. He rubbed his
+eyes at the sight of his master.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Don't stand gaping, you fish!&quot; cried my cousin. &quot;Whom else did you
+expect to see? Show us to the stables.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The fellow led us silently into the stables. A long row of boxes stood
+against the wall, all neatly littered with straw, but to my
+astonishment and dismay, so far as I could see, not one of them held a
+horse.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She's at the end, sir,&quot; said the groom; and we walked down the length
+of the boxes, and halted before the last.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Get up, lass!&quot; and after a few pokes the animal rose stiffly from its
+bed. For a moment I well-nigh cried from sheer mortification. Never in
+all my comings and goings since have I seen such a parody of Nature,
+not even in the booths of a country fair. 'Twas of a piebald colour,
+and stood very high, with long thin legs. Its knees were, moreover,
+broken. It had a neck of extraordinary length, and a huge, absurd head
+which swung pendulous at the end of it, and seemed by its weight to
+have dragged the beast out of shape, for the line of its back slanted
+downwards from its buttocks to its shoulders.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This is no fair treatment,&quot; I exclaimed hotly. &quot;Elmscott, I deserve
+better at your hands. 'Tis an untimely jest, and you might well have
+spared yourself the pleasure of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And the name of her's Ph&#339;be,&quot; he replied musingly. &quot;'Tis her one
+good point.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He spoke with so droll a melancholy that I had some ado to refrain
+from laughing, in spite of my vexation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But,&quot; said I, &quot;surely this is not all your equipage?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay,&quot; returned he proudly, &quot;I have its saddle and bridle. But for the
+rest of my horses, I lost them all playing basset with Lord Culverton.
+He took them away only yesterday morning, but left me the mare, saying
+that he had no cart for her conveyance.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well,&quot; said I, &quot;I must e'en make shift with her. She may carry me one
+stage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And I walked out of the stables and back into the hall. Elmscott bade
+his groom saddle the mare and followed me, but I was too angry to
+speak with him, and seated myself sullenly at a table. However, he
+fetched a pie from the pantry and a bottle of wine, and set them
+before me. I had eaten nothing since I had disembarked the night
+before, and knowing, besides, that I had a weary day in store, I fell
+to with a good appetite. Elmscott opened the door. The sun had just
+risen, and a warm flood of light poured into the hall and brightened
+the dark panels of the walls. With that entered the sound of birds
+singing, the rustle of trees, and all the pleasant garden-smells of a
+fresh September morning. And at once a great hope sprang up in my
+heart that I might yet be in time to prove the minister of Julian's
+need. I heard the sound of hoofs on the road outside.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Lend me a whip!&quot; I cried.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are still set on going?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Lend me a whip!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He offered me an oak cudgel.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ph&#339;be has passed her climacteric, and her perceptions are dull,&quot;
+he said; and then with a sudden change of manner he laid his hand on
+my shoulder. &quot;'Twere best not to go,&quot; he declared earnestly. &quot;Those
+who bring luck to others seldom find great store of it themselves.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But in the sweet clearness of the morning such thoughts seemed to me
+no more than night vapours, and I sprang down the steps with a laugh.
+The mare shivered as I mounted, and swung her head around as though
+she would ask me what in the devil's name I was doing on her back. But
+I thwacked her flanks with the cudgel, and she ambled heavily through
+the square. I turned to look behind me. Elmscott was still standing on
+the steps.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Morrice,&quot; he called out, &quot;be kind to her! She is an heirloom.&quot;</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_03" href="#div1Ref_03">TELLS HOW I REACH BRISTOL, AND IN WHAT
+STRANGE GUISE I GO TO MEET MY FRIEND.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">At length, then, I was fairly started on my way to Bristol. For my
+direction over this first stage of my journey I had made inquiries of
+Elmscott, and I rode westwards towards the village of Knightsbridge,
+thanking Providence most heartily for that the city still slept. For
+what with my disordered dress, my oak cudgel, and the weedy screw
+which I bestrode--I scruple to dignify her with the name of mare, for
+I have owned mares since which I loved, and would not willingly
+affront them--I could not hope to pass unnoticed were any one abroad,
+and, indeed, should esteem myself well-used to be counted no worse
+than a mountebank. Thus I crossed Hounslow Heath and reached Brentford
+without misadventure. There I joyfully parted with my Rosinante, and
+hiring a horse, rode post. The way, however, was ill-suited for speedy
+travelling, and my hope of seeing Julian that night dwindled with my
+shadow as the sun rose higher and higher behind my shoulders. Ruts
+deep and broad as new furrows trenched the road, and here and there
+some slough would make a wide miry gap, wherein my horse sank over the
+fetlocks. Some blame, moreover, must attach to me, for I chose a false
+turn at the hamlet of Colnbrook, and journeyed ten miles clean from my
+path to Datchet; so that in the end night found me blundering on the
+edge of Wickham Heath, some sixty-one miles from London. I had changed
+horses at Newbury, and I determined to press on at least so far as
+Hungerford. But I had not counted with myself. I was indeed
+overwrought with want of sleep, and the last few stages I had ridden
+with dulled senses in a lethargy of fatigue. At what point exactly I
+wandered from the road I could not tell. But the darkness had closed
+in before I began to notice a welcome ease and restfulness in the
+motion of the gallop. I was wondering idly at the change, when of a
+sudden my horse pops his foot into a hole. The reins were hanging
+loose on his neck; I myself was rocking in the saddle, so that I shot
+clean over his shoulder, turned a somersault in mid-air, and came down
+flat on my back in the centre of the Heath. For a while I lay there
+without an effort or desire to move. I felt as if Mother Earth had
+taken pity on my weariness, and had thus unceremoniously put me to
+bed. The trample of hoofs, however, somewhat too close to my legs,
+roused me to wakefulness, and I started up and prepared to remount. To
+my dismay I found that my horse was badly lamed; he could barely set
+his foreleg to the ground. The accident was the climax of my
+misfortunes. I looked eagerly about me. The night was moonless, but
+very clear and soft with the light of the stars. I could see the
+common stretching away on every side empty and desolate; here a
+cluster of trees, there a patch of bushes, but never a house, never
+the kindly twinkle of a lamp, never a sign of a living thing. What it
+behoved me to do, I could not come at, think as hard as I might. But
+whatever that might have been, what I did, alas! was far different.
+For I plumped myself down on the grass and cried like a child. It
+seemed to me that God's hand was indeed turned against my friend and
+his deliverance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But somehow into the midst of my lament there slipped a remembrance of
+Jack Larke. On the instant his face took shape and life before me,
+shining out as it were from a frame of darkness. I saw an honest scorn
+kindle in his eyes, and his lips shot &quot;woman&quot; at me. The visionary
+picture of him braced me like the cut of a whip. At all events, I
+thought, I would make a pretence of manhood, and I ceased from my
+blubbering, and laying hold of the horse by the bridle, led him
+forward over the Heath.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I kept a sharp watch about me as I walked, but it must have been a
+full two hours afterwards when I caught a glimpse of a light far away
+on my left hand, glimmering in a little thicket upon a swell of the
+turf. At first I was minded to reckon it a star, for the Heath at that
+point was ridged up against the sky. But it shone with a beam too warm
+and homely to match the silver radiance of the planets. I turned
+joyfully in its direction, and quickening my pace, came at length to
+the back of a house. The light shone from a window on the ground floor
+facing me. I looked into it over a little paling, and saw that it was
+furnished as a kitchen. Plates and pewter-pots gleamed orderly upon
+the shelves, and a row of noble hams hung from the rafters.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I hurried round the side of the house and found myself, to my great
+satisfaction, on a bank which overlooked the road. I scrambled down
+the side of it and knocked loudly at the door. It was opened by an
+elderly man, who stared at me in some surprise.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You travel late, young sir,&quot; said he, holding the door ajar.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have need to,&quot; I replied. &quot;I should have been in Bristol long ere
+this.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Tis strange,&quot; he went on, eyeing me a thought suspiciously. &quot;I
+caught no sound of your horse's hoofs upon the road.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Twould have been stranger if you had,&quot; said I. &quot;For I missed my way
+soon after sundown, and have been wandering since on the Heath. I saw
+the light of your house some half an hour agone over yonder,&quot; and I
+pointed in the direction whence I had come.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then you are main lucky, sir,&quot; he returned, but in a more civil tone.
+&quot;This is the 'Half-way House,' and it has no neighbours. In another
+hour we should have gone to bed--for we have no guests to-night--and
+you might have wandered until dawn.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With that he set the door back against the wall, and stood aside for
+me to pass.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You must pardon my surliness,&quot; he said. &quot;But few honest travellers
+cross Wickham Heath by dark, and at first I mistook you. I have never
+held truck with the gentry of the road, though, indeed, my pockets
+suffer for the ease of my conscience. However, if you will step
+within, my wife will get you supper while I lead your horse to the
+stables.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The beast is lame,&quot; said I, &quot;and I would fain continue my way
+to-night. Have you a horse for hire?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay, sir,&quot; said he, shaking his head. &quot;I have but one horse here
+besides your own, and that is not mine.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I need it only for a day,&quot; I urged eagerly; &quot;for less than a day. I
+could reach Bristol in the morning, and would send it you back
+forthwith.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I plunged my hand into my fob, and pulled out a handful of money as I
+spoke.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is no use,&quot; he declared. &quot;The horse is not mine. 'Twas left here
+for a purpose, and I may not part with it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It would be with you again to-morrow,&quot; I repeated.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It may be needed in the meanwhile,&quot; said he. &quot;It may be needed in an
+hour. I know not.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I let the coins run from my right hand into the palm of my left, so
+that they fell clinking one on the top of the other. For a second he
+stood undecided; then he spoke in a low voice like a man arguing with
+himself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will not do it. The horse was left with me in trust--in trust.
+Moreover, I was well paid for the trust.&quot; And he turned to me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Put up your money, sir,&quot; said he stubbornly. &quot;You should think shame
+to tempt poor folk. You will get no horse 'twixt here and Hungerford.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I slipped the money back into my pocket while he moved away with the
+horse. It limped worse than ever, and he stopped and picked up its
+foreleg.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is no more than a strain, I think,&quot; he called out. &quot;The wife shall
+make a poultice for it to-night, and you can start betimes in the
+morning.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was a poor consolation, but the only one. So I made the best of it,
+and, taking my supper in the kitchen, went forthwith to bed. I was
+indeed so spent and tired that I fell asleep in the corner by the fire
+while my ham was being fried, and after it, was almost carried
+upstairs in the arms of my landlord. I had not lain in a bed since I
+left Leyden, and few sights, I think, have ever affected me with
+so pleasant a sense of rest and comfort as that of the little
+inn-chamber, with its white dimity curtains and lavender-scented
+sheets. I have, in truth, always loved the scent of lavender since.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The next morning I was early afoot, and, despatching a hasty
+breakfast, made my way to the stables. The innkeeper had preceded me
+in order to have all ready for my start; but he stood in the yard with
+the horse unsaddled.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Tis no use, sir,&quot; he said. &quot;You must e'en walk to Hungerford.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I had but to see the horse take one step to realise the truth of his
+words, for it limped yet worse than the evening before. The foot,
+moreover, was exceeding hot and inflamed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Take it back,&quot; said I. &quot;The poor beast must bide here till I return.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I followed him into the stable, and inquired of the road.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You go straight,&quot; he said, &quot;till you come to Barton Court, opposite
+the village of Kintbury--&quot; when of a sudden I stopped him. There were
+but two stalls in the building, and I had just caught a glimpse of the
+horse which was tied up in the second. It was of a light chestnut in
+colour, with white stockings, and a fleck of white in its coat at the
+joint of the hip. The patch was like a star in shape, and very
+unusual.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why, this is Sir Julian Harnwood's horse,&quot; I cried, leaping towards
+it--&quot;his favourite horse!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes,&quot; he said, looking at me with some surprise, &quot;that was the
+name--Sir Julian Harnwood. 'Tis the horse I told you of last night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And in a flash the truth came upon me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It waits for me,&quot; I said. &quot;Quick, man, saddle it! Sir Julian's life
+hangs upon your speed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But he planted himself sturdily before me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not so fast, young master,&quot; he said. &quot;That trick will not serve your
+turn. 'Tis Sir Julian's horse, sure enough, and it waits its rider,
+sure enough; but that you are he, I must have some better warrant than
+your word.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My name may prove it,&quot; I replied. &quot;It is Buckler--Morrice Buckler.
+Sir Julian's servant came to me in Holland.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Buckler!&quot; the man repeated, as though he heard it for the first time.
+&quot;Morrice Buckler! Yes, sir, that may be your name. I have nothing
+against it beyond that it is unfamiliar in these parts. But a strange
+name is a poor thing to persuade a man to forego his trust.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I looked at the man. Though elderly and somewhat bent, he was of a
+large frame, and the sinews stood out in knots upon his bared arms.
+Plainly I was no match for him if it came to a struggle; and a
+sickening feeling of impotence and futility surged up within me. At
+every turn of the road destiny had built up its barrier. I understood
+that the clue to the matter lay hidden in that untold message which
+had been vainly conveyed to Leyden; that Swasfield had some pass-word,
+some token to impart whereby I might make myself known along the road.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The horse waits for me,&quot; I cried, my voice rising as I beseeched him.
+&quot;In very truth it waits for me. Doubtless I should have some proof of
+that. But the man that bid me come fell in a swoon or ever he could
+hand it me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The innkeeper smiled, and sat him down on a corn-bin. Indeed, the
+explanation sounded weak enough to me, who was witness of its truth. I
+should hardly have credited it from another's lips.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, can't you see,&quot; I entreated, in an extremity of despair, &quot;can't
+you feel that I am telling you God's truth?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, master,&quot; he answered slowly, shaking his head, &quot;I feel nought of
+that sort.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">His words and stolid bumpkin air threw me into a frenzy of rage.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then,&quot; cried I, &quot;may the devil's curse light on you and yours! That
+horse was left with you in trust. You have dinned the word into my
+ears; there's no gainsaying it. And I claim the fulfilment of your
+trust. Understand, fellow!&quot; I went on, shaking my hand at him, for I
+saw his mouth open and his whole face broaden out into a laugh. &quot;It's
+not a horse you are stealing; it is a life--a man's innocent life!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thereupon he broke in upon my passion with a great gust of mirth that
+shook him from head to foot.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Lord, master!&quot; said he, &quot;that be mighty fine play-acting. I don't
+know that I ever saw better in Newberry Market&quot;--and he slapped a
+great fist upon his thigh. &quot;No, I'll be danged if I did. Go on! go on!
+Lord, I could sit here and laugh till dinner.&quot; And he thrust his feet
+forward, plunged his hands in his breeches pockets, and rolled back
+against the wall. I watched him in an utter vacancy of mind. For his
+stupid laughter had quenched me like a pailful of cold water. I
+searched for some device by which I might outwit his stubbornness. Not
+the smallest seed of a plan could I discover. I sent my thoughts back
+to the morning of the fourteenth, and cudgelled my memory in the hope
+that Swasfield might have dropped some hint which had passed
+unnoticed. But he had said so little, and I remembered his every word.
+Then in a twinkling I recollected the charms which I had found upon
+his person. Perchance one of them was the needed token. No idea was
+too extravagant for me to grasp at it. What had I done with them? I
+thought. I clapped my hand into the pocket of my coat, and my fingers
+closed, not on the charms, but on the barrel of the pistol which Larke
+had handed to me at the moment of my setting out. In an instant my
+mind was made up. I must have that horse, cost what it might. 'Twas
+useless to argue with my landlord. Money I had made trial of the night
+before. And here were the minutes running by, and each one of them, it
+might be, a drop of Julian's blood!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I walked quickly to the door, at once to disengage the pistol secretly
+and to hide any change in my countenance. But the cock must needs
+catch in the flap of my pocket as I drew the weapon out. I heard a
+startled cry behind me, a rattle of the corn-bin, and a clatter of
+heavy shoes on the ground. I took one spring out of the stable,
+turned, and levelled the barrel through the doorway. For a moment we
+stood watching one another, he crouched for a leap, I covering his
+eyes with the pistol.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Saddle that horse,&quot; I commanded, &quot;and bring it out into the road!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was his turn now to argue and entreat, but I had no taste at the
+moment for &quot;play-acting.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Be quick, man!&quot; I said. &quot;You have wasted time enough. Be quick, else
+I'll splatter your head against the wall!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The fellow rose erect and did as I bid, while I stood in the doorway
+and railed at him. For, alas! I was never over-generous by nature.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hurry, you potatoe!&quot; I exclaimed. Why that word above all other and
+more definite terms of abuse should have pained him I know not. But so
+it was; &quot;Potatoe&quot; grieved him immeasurably, and noting that, I
+repeated it more often, I fear me, than fitted my dignity. At length
+the horse was saddled.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Lead it out!&quot; I said, and walked backwards to the road with my pistol
+still levelled.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He followed me with the horse, and I bade him go back into the stable
+and close the door. Then I put up my pistol, sprang into the saddle,
+and started at a gallop past the inn. I had ridden little more than a
+hundred yards when I chanced to look back. My host was standing in the
+centre of the way, his legs firmly apart, and a huge blunderbuss at
+his shoulder. I flung my body forward on the neck of the horse, and a
+shower of slugs whistled through the air above my head. I felt for my
+pistol to return the compliment, but 'twould have been mere waste of
+the shot; I should never have hit him. So I just curved my hand about
+my mouth and bawled &quot;Potatoe&quot; at the top of my voice. It could have
+done no less hurt than his slugs.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The horse, fresh from its long confinement, answered gladly to my call
+upon its speed, and settled into a steady gallop. But for all that,
+though I pressed on quickly through Marlborough and Chippenham, the
+nearer I came to Bristol the more lively did my anxieties become. I
+began to ponder with an increasing apprehension on the business which
+Julian might have in store for me. The urgency of his need had been
+proved yet more clearly that morning. The horse which I bestrode was a
+fresh and convincing evidence; and I could not but believe that
+similar relays were waiting behind me the whole length of the road
+from London.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the same time, as Elmscott had urged, I could bring him no solace
+of help in the matter of his trial. It would need greater authority
+than mine to rescue him from Jeffries' clutches. I realised that there
+must be some secret trouble at the back, and the more earnestly I
+groped after a hint of its nature, the more dark and awesome the
+riddle grew.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For, to my lasting shame I own it, Elmscott's forebodings recurred to
+me with the mystical force of a prophecy:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is God's hand in all this. He doth not mean you should go.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The warning seemed traced in black letters on the air before me; fear
+whispered it at my heart, and the very hoofs of the horse beat it out
+in a ringing menace from the ground.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At last, when I was well-nigh in the grips of a panic, over the brow
+of a hill I saw a cluster of church-spires traced like needles against
+the sun, and in a sudden impulse to outstrip my cowardice I drove my
+heels into my horse's flanks, and an hour later rode through Lawford's
+Gate into Bristol town. I inquired of the first person I met where the
+Court was sitting. At the Guildhall, he told me, and pointed out the
+way. A clock struck four as he spoke, and I hurriedly thanked him and
+hastened on.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">About the Guildhall a great rabble of people swung and pressed, and I
+reined up on the farther side of the street, but as nearly opposite to
+the entrance as I could force my way. In front of the building stood a
+carriage very magnificently equipped, with four horses, and footmen in
+powdered wigs and glistening liveries.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">From such converse as went on about me, I sought to learn what
+prisoners had been tried that day. But so great was the confusion of
+voices, curses, lamentations, and rejoicings being mixed and blended
+in a common uproar, that I could gather no knowledge that was
+particular to my purpose. Then from the shadow of the vestibule shot a
+gleam of scarlet and white, and at once a deep hush fell upon the
+crowd. Preceded by his officers, my lord Jeffries stepped out to his
+carriage, a man of a royal mien, with wonderfully dark and piercing
+eyes, though the beauty of his face was much marred by spots and
+blotches, and an evil smile that played incessantly about his lips. He
+seemed in truth in high good-humour, and laughed boisterously with
+those that attended him; and bethinking me of his savage cruelty, and
+the unholy lustfulness wherewith he was wont to indulge it, my heart
+sank in fear for Julian.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The departure of his carriage seemed to lift a weight from every
+tongue, and the clamour recommenced. I cast about for some one to
+approach, when I beheld a little man with a face as wrinkled and
+withered as a dry pippin, pressing through the throng in my direction.
+I thought at first that he intended speech with me, for he looked me
+over with some care. But he came straight on to the horse's head, and
+without pausing walked briskly along its side to my right hand and
+disappeared behind me. A minute after I heard the noise of a dispute
+on my left. There was my little friend again. He had turned on his
+steps, and moving in the contrary direction had come up with me once
+more. In the hurry of his movements he had knocked up against a
+passer-by, and the pair straightway fell loudly to argument, each one
+accusing the other of clumsiness. I turned in my saddle to watch the
+quarrel, and immediately the little man, with profuse apologies, took
+the blame upon himself and continued his way. I followed him with my
+eyes. He had proceeded but ten yards when his pace began to slacken,
+then he dropped into a saunter, and finally stood still in a musing
+attitude with his eyes on the ground, as though he was debating some
+newly-remembered question. Of a sudden he raised his head, shot one
+quick glance towards me, and resumed his walk. The street was thinning
+rapidly, and I was able to pursue him without difficulty. For half a
+mile we went on, keeping the same distance between us, when he sharply
+turned a corner and dived into a narrow side-street. I checked my
+horse, thinking that I had mistaken his look; for he had never so much
+as turned round since. But the next minute he reappeared, and stood
+loitering in his former attitude of reflection. There could be no
+doubt of the man's intention, and I gathered up the reins again and
+followed him. This side-street was narrow and exceeding dark, for the
+storeys of the houses on each side projected one above the other until
+the gables nearly met at the top. The little man was waiting for me
+about twenty yards from the entrance, in an angle of the wall.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is Mr. Buckler?&quot; he asked shortly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes,&quot; I answered. &quot;What news of Julian?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have but just arrived?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The clock struck four as I rode through Law-ford's Gate. What news of
+Julian?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He gave a sharp, sneering laugh.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ay, ay,&quot; he said. &quot;No one so flustered as your loiterer.&quot; And he
+stepped out from the shadow of the house. &quot;Sir Julian?&quot; he cried
+hastily. &quot;Sir Julian will be hanged at noon to-morrow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I swayed in the saddle; the houses spun round me. I felt the man's arm
+catch at and steady me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is my fault?&quot; I whispered.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, lad!&quot; he returned, with a new touch of kindliness in his tone.
+&quot;Nothing could have saved him. I should know; I am his attorney. Maybe
+I spoke too harshly, but this last week he has been eating his heart
+out for the sight of you, and your tardiness plagued me. There, there!
+Lay hold of your pluck! It is a man your friend needs, not a weak
+girl.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There was a pitying contempt in the tone of these last words which
+stung me inexpressibly. I sat up erect, and said, with such firmness
+as I could force into my voice:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Where does Sir Julian lie?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In the Bridewell to-night. But you must not go there in this plight,&quot;
+he added quickly, for I was already turning the horse. &quot;You would ruin
+all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He glanced sharply up and down the lane, and went on:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We have been together over-long as it is.&quot; Then he tapped with his
+foot for a moment on the pavement. &quot;I have it,&quot; said he. &quot;Go to the
+'Thatched House Tavern,' in Lime Kiln Lane. I will seek you there.
+Wait for me; and, mind this, let no one else have talk with you! Tell
+the people of the house I sent you--Mr. Joseph Vincott. It will
+commend you to their care.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With that he turned on his heel, ran up to the opening of the street,
+and after a cautious look this side and that, strolled carelessly
+away. I gave him a few moments' grace, and then hurried with all
+despatch to the tavern, asking my direction as I went. There I ordered
+a private room, and planting myself at the window, waited impatiently
+for Vincott's coming.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It must have been an hour afterwards that I saw him turn into the lane
+from a passage almost opposite to where I stood. I expected him to
+cross the road, but he cast not so much as a glance towards the inn,
+and walked slowly past on the further side. I flung up the window,
+thinking that he had forgotten his errand, and leaned out to call him.
+But or ever I could speak he banged his stick angrily on the ground,
+raised it with a quick jerk and pointed twice over his shoulder behind
+him. The movement was full of significance, and I drew back into the
+shadow of the curtain. Mr. Vincott mounted the steps of a house,
+knocked at the door, and was admitted. No sooner had he entered than a
+man stepped out from the passage. He was of a large, heavy build, and
+yet, as I surmised from the litheness of his walk, very close-knit.
+His face was swarthy and bronzed, and he wore ear-rings in his ears. I
+should have taken him for an English sailor but that there was a
+singular compactness in his bearing, and his gait was that of a man
+perfectly balanced. For awhile he stood loitering at the entrance to
+the passage, and then noticing the inn, crossed quickly over and
+passed through the door beneath me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">My senses were now strained into activity, and I watched with a
+quivering eagerness for the end of this strange game of hide-and-seek.
+I had not long to wait. The little lawyer came down the steps, stopped
+at the bottom, took a pinch of snuff with great deliberation, and
+blowing his nose with unnecessary noise and vehemence, walked down the
+street. He had nearly reached the end of it before his pursuer lounged
+out of the inn and strolled in the same direction. The moment Vincott
+turned the corner, however, he lengthened his stride; I saw him pause
+at the last house and peep round the angle, draw back for a few
+seconds, and then follow stealthily on the trail.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The incident reawakened all my perplexed conjectures as to the
+business on which I was engaged. Why should the fact of my arrival in
+the town be so studiously concealed? Or again, what reason could there
+be for any one to suspect or fear it? The questions circled through my
+mind in an endless repetition. There was but one man who could answer
+them, and he lay helpless in his cell, adding to the torture of his
+last hours the belief that his friend had played him false. The
+thought stung me like Ino's gadfly. I paced up and down the room with
+my eyes ever on the street for Vincott's return. My heart rose on each
+sound of a nearing step, only to sink giddily with its dying
+reverberation. The daylight fell, a fog rolled up from the river in
+billows of white smoke, and still Vincott did not come. The very clock
+by the chimney seemed to tick off the seconds faster and faster until
+I began to fancy that the sounds would catch one another and run by in
+one continuous note. At last I heard a quick pattering noise of feet
+on the pavement below, and Vincott dashed up the stairs and burst into
+the room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have shaken the rascal off,&quot; he gasped, falling into a chair; &quot;but
+curse me if it's lawyer's work. We live too sedentary a life to go
+dragging herrings across a scent with any profit to our bodies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then we can go,&quot; said I, taking my hat. But he struck it from my
+hands with his cane.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And you!&quot; he blazed out at me. &quot;You must poke your stupid yellow head
+out of the window as if you wanted all Bristol to notice it! Sit
+down!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Mr. Vincott!&quot; I exclaimed angrily.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Mr. Buckler!&quot; he returned, mimicking my tone, and pulling a grimace.
+There was indeed no dignity about the man. &quot;It may not have escaped
+your perceptions that I have some desire to conceal your visit to this
+town. Would it be too much to ask you to believe that there are
+reasons for that desire?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He spoke with a mocking politeness, and waited for me to answer him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I suppose there are,&quot; I replied; &quot;but I am in the dark as to their
+nature.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The chief of them,&quot; said he, &quot;is your own security.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will risk that,&quot; said I, stooping for my hat. &quot;'Tis not worth the
+suffering which it costs Julian.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Dear, dear!&quot; he gibed. &quot;Tis strange that so much heart should tarry
+so long. Let me see! It must be full eight days since Swasfield came
+to you at Leyden.&quot; And he struck my hat once more out of my grasp.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Mr. Vincott,&quot; said I--and my voice trembled as I spoke--&quot;if you have
+a mind to quarrel with me, I will endeavour to gratify you at a more
+seasonable time. But I cannot wrangle over the body of my friend. I
+came hither with all the speed that God vouchsafed me.&quot; And I informed
+him of my journey, and the hindrances which had beset my path.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, well,&quot; he said, when I had done, &quot;I perceive that my thoughts
+have done you some injustice. And, after all, I am not sure but what
+your late coming is for the best. It has caused your friend no small
+anxiety, I admit. But against that we may set a gain of greater
+secrecy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He picked up my hat from the floor, and placed it on the table.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So,&quot; he continued, &quot;you will pardon my roughness, but I have formed
+some affection for Sir Julian. 'Tis an unbusinesslike quality, and I
+trust to be well ashamed of it in a week's time. At the present,
+however, it angered me against you.&quot; He held out his hand with a
+genuine cordiality, and we made our peace.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now,&quot; said he, &quot;the gist of the matter is this. It is all-essential
+that you be not observed and marked as a visitor to Sir Julian.
+Therefore 'twere best to wait until it is quite dark; and meanwhile we
+must think of some disguise.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A disguise?&quot; I exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes,&quot; said he. &quot;You must have noticed from that window that there are
+others awake beside ourselves.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I stood silent for a moment, reluctantly considering a plan which
+had just flashed into my head. Vincott drew a flint and steel from
+his pocket, and lighted the candles--for the dusk was filling the
+room--and drew the curtains close. All at once the dizzy faintness
+which had come over me in the side-street near the Guildhall returned,
+and set the room spinning about me. I clutched at a chair to save
+myself from falling. Vincott snatched up a candle, and looked shrewdly
+into my face.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;When did you dine?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At breakfast-time,&quot; said I.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He opened the door, and rang a bell which stood on a side-table.
+&quot;Lucy!&quot; he bawled over the bannisters.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A great buxom wench with a cheery face answered the summons, and he
+bade her cook what meats they had with all celerity.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Meantime,&quot; said he, &quot;we will while away the interval over a posset of
+Bristol milk. You have never tasted that, Mr. Buckler? I would that I
+could say the same. I envy you the pleasure of your first acquaintance
+with its merit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The &quot;milk,&quot; as he termed it, was a strong brewage of Spanish wine,
+singularly luxurious and palatable. Mr. Vincott held up his glass to
+the light, and the liquid sparkled like a clear ruby.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Tis a generous drink,&quot; he said. &quot;It gives nimbleness to the body,
+wealth to the blood, and lightness to the heart. The true Promethean
+fire!&quot; And he drained the glass, and smacked his lips.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is a fine strapping wench,&quot; said I. &quot;She must be of my height,
+or thereabouts.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The lawyer cocked his head at me. &quot;Ah!&quot; said he drily, &quot;a wonderful
+thing is Bristol milk.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But I was thinking of something totally different.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The girl fetched in a stew of beef, steaming hot, and we sat down to
+it, though indeed I had little inclination for the meal.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now, Mr. Vincott,&quot; said I, &quot;I will pray you, while we are eating, to
+help me to the history of Julian's calamities.&quot; I think that my voice
+broke somewhat on the word, for he laid his hand gently upon my arm.
+&quot;I know nothing of it myself beyond what you have told me, and a
+rumour that came to me in London.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The lawyer sat silent for a time, drumming with his fingers on the
+table.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Your story,&quot; I urged, &quot;will save much valuable time when I visit
+Julian.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I was thinking,&quot; he replied, &quot;how much I should tell you. You see,
+merely the facts are known to me. Of what lies underneath them--I mean
+the motives and passions which have ordered their sequence--I may have
+surmised something&quot; (here his eyes twinkled cunningly), &quot;but I have no
+certitude. That part of the business concerns you, not me. 'Twere
+best, then, that I show you no more than the plain face of the
+matter.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He pushed away his plate, leaned both arms upon the table, and, with a
+certain wariness in his manner, told me the following tale:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In the spring of the year, Miss Enid Marston fell sick at Court. The
+air of St. James's is hardly the best tonic for invalids, and she came
+with her uncle and guardian to the family house at Bristol to recruit.
+Sir Julian Harnwood must, of course, follow her; and, in order that he
+may enjoy her company without encroaching upon her hospitality, he
+hires him a house in the suburbs, upon Brandon Hill. One night, during
+the second week of August, came two fugitives from Sedgemoor to his
+door. Sir Julian had some knowledge of the men, and the story of their
+sufferings so worked upon his pity that he promised to shelter them
+until such time as he could discover means of conveying them out of
+the country. To that end he hid them in one of his cellars, brought
+their food with his own hands, and generally used such precautions as
+he thought must avert suspicion. But on the morning of the 10th
+September he was arrested, his house searched, and the rebels
+discovered. The rest you know. Sir Julian was tried this afternoon
+with the two fugitives, and pays the penalty to-morrow. 'Tis the only
+result that could have been looked for. His best friends despaired
+from the outset--even Miss Marston.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I had not thought of her,&quot; I broke in. &quot;Poor girl!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Poor girl!&quot; he repeated, gazing intently at the ceiling. &quot;She was
+indeed so put back in her health, that her physician advised her
+instant removal to a less afflicting neighbourhood.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As he ended, he glanced sideways at me from under half-closed lids;
+but I chanced to be watching him, and our eyes crossed. It seemed to
+me that he coloured slightly, and sent his gaze travelling idly about
+the room, anywhere, in short, but in my direction, the while he hummed
+the refrain of a song.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You mean she has deserted Julian?&quot; I exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have no recollection that I suggested that, or indeed anything
+whatsoever,&quot; he returned blandly. &quot;As I mentioned to you before, I
+merely relate the facts.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is one fact,&quot; said I, after a moment's thought, &quot;on which you
+have not touched.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There are two,&quot; he replied; &quot;but specify if you please. I will
+satisfy you to the limit of my powers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The part which I shall play in this business.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He wagged his head sorrowfully at me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I perceive,&quot; says he, &quot;with great regret that they teach you no logic
+at the University of Leyden. You are speaking, not of a fact, but of
+an hypothesis. The part which you will play, indeed! You ask me to
+read the future, and I am not qualified for the task.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It became plain to me that I should win no profit out of my
+questioning; there could be but one result to a quibbling match with
+an attorney; so I bade him roughly tell me what he would.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There are two facts,&quot; he resumed, &quot;which are perhaps of interest. But
+I would premise that they are in no way connected. I would have you
+bear that in mind, Mr. Buckler. The first is this: it has never been
+disclosed whence the information came which led to the discovery of
+the fugitives. Sir Julian, as I told you, used great precautions. His
+loyalty, moreover, had never been suspected up till then.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;From his servants, most like,&quot; I interposed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Most like!&quot; he sneered. &quot;The remark does scanty credit to your
+perspicacity, and hardly flatters me. I examined them with some care,
+and satisfied myself on the score of their devotion to their master.
+'Tis doubtful even whether they were aware of Sir Julian's folly. 'Tis
+most certain that they never betrayed him. Besides, my lord Jeffries
+rated them all most unmercifully this afternoon. He would not have
+done that had they helped the prosecution. No, the secret must have
+leaked out if the information had come from them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And you could gather no clue?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Say, rather, that I did gather no clue. For my client forbad me to
+pursue my inquiries. 'Tis strange that, eh? 'Tis passing strange. It
+points, I think, beyond the servants.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then Julian himself must know,&quot; I cried.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tis a simple thought,&quot; said he. &quot;If you will pardon the hint, you
+discover what is obvious with a singular freshness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I understood that I had brought the rejoinder upon myself by my
+interruption, and so digested it in silence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The second point,&quot; he continued, &quot;is interesting as a----&quot; he made
+the slightest possible pause--&quot;a coincidence. Sir Julian Harnwood was
+arrested at six o'clock in the morning, not in his house, but
+something like a mile away, on the King's down. 'Tis a quaint fancy
+for a gentleman to take it into his head to stroll about the King's
+down in the rain at six o'clock of the morning; almost as quaint as
+for an officer to go thither at that hour to search for him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">An idea sprang through my mind, and was up to the tip of my tongue.
+But I remembered the fate of my previous suggestions, and checked it
+on the verge of utterance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You were about to proffer a remark,&quot; said Mr. Vincott very politely.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No!&quot; said I, in a tone of indifference, and he smiled.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Then his manner changed, and he began to speak quickly, rapping with
+his fist upon the table as though to drive home his words.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The truth of the matter is, Mr. Buckler, Sir Julian went out that
+morning to fight a duel, and his antagonist was Count Lukstein, who
+came over to England six months ago in the train of the Emperor
+Leopold's ambassador. Ah! you know him!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No!&quot; I replied. &quot;I know of him from Julian.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;They were friends, it appears.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Julian made the Count's acquaintance some while ago in Paris, and
+has, I believe, visited his home in the Tyrol.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;However that may be, they quarrelled in Bristol. Count Lukstein came
+down from London to take the waters at the Hotwell, by St. Vincent's
+rock, and has resided there for the last three months. 'Twas a
+trumpery dispute, but nought would content Sir Julian but that they
+must settle it with swords. He was on the way to the trysting-place
+when he was taken.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And with a final rap on the table, Mr. Vincott leaned back in his
+chair, and froze again to a cold deliberation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That,&quot; said he, &quot;is the second fact I have to bring to your notice.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And the first,&quot; I cried, pressing the point on him, &quot;the first is
+that no one knows who gave the information!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I observed, I believe,&quot; he replied, returning my gaze with a mild
+rebuke, &quot;that between those two facts there is no connection.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the time it seemed to me that he was bent on fobbing me off. But I
+have since thought that he was answering after his fashion the
+innuendo which my words wrapped up. He took out his snuff-box as he
+spoke, and inhaled a great pinch. The action suddenly recalled to me
+the man&#339;uvres which I had watched from the window.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It was a foreigner,&quot; I said, starting up in my excitement, &quot;it was a
+foreigner who dogged your steps this afternoon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I like the ornaments of the ceiling,&quot; says he (for thither had his
+eyes returned); and, as though he were continuing the sentence: &quot;I may
+tell you, Mr. Buckler, that Count Lukstein left Bristol eleven days
+ago.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Did he take his servants with him?&quot; I asked; and then, a new thought
+striking me: &quot;Eleven days ago! That is, Mr. Vincott, the day after
+Julian's arrest.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Mr. Buckler,&quot; says he, &quot;you appear to me to lack discretion.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I only re-state your facts,&quot; I answered, with some heat.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The facts themselves are perhaps a trifle indiscreet,&quot; he admitted.
+&quot;I shall certainly have that ceiling copied in my own house.&quot; And with
+that he rose from his chair. &quot;'Tis close on eight by the clock, and we
+must hit upon some disguise. But, Lord! how it is to be contrived with
+that canary poll of yours I know not, unless you shave your head and
+wear my peruke.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have a better device than that,&quot; said I.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, man, out with it!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For I spoke with hesitation, fearing his irony.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You can trust the people of the inn?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He nodded his head.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Else I should not have sent you hither. They are bound to me in
+gratitude. I saved them last year from some pother with the Excise.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And Lucy--what of her?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She is the landlord's daughter.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus assured, I delivered to him my plan--that I would mask my person
+beneath one of Lucy's gowns.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Vincott leapt at the notion, &quot;'Od rabbit me!&quot; he cried, &quot;I misliked
+your face at first, but I begin to love it dearly now. For I see 'twas
+given you for some purpose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Once more he summoned Lucy, invented some story of a jest to be
+played, and bound her to the straitest secrecy. She gained no inkling
+from him, you may be sure, of the business which we had in hand. I
+stripped off my coat, and with much lacing and compressing, much
+exercise of vigour on Vincott's part, much panting on mine, and more
+roguish giggling upon Lucy's, I was at last squeezed into the girl's
+Sunday frock. It had a yellow bodice bedecked with red ribbons, and a
+red canvas skirt.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But, la!&quot; she exclaimed, &quot;your feet! Sure you must have a long cloak
+to hide them.&quot; And she whipped out of the room and fetched one. My
+feet did indeed but poorly match the dress, which descended no lower
+than my ankles.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">By good fortune the cloak had a hood attached, which could be drawn
+well forward, and blurred my features in its shadow.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So!&quot; said I. &quot;I am ready.&quot; And I strode quickly to the door. For
+Lucy's glee and my masquerading weighed with equal heaviness upon me.
+I was full-charged with sorrow for the coming interview. The old days
+in Cumberland lived and beat within my heart; the old dreams of a
+linked future voiced themselves again with a very bitter irony. 'Twas
+the last time my eyes were to be gladdened with the sight of my loved
+friend and playmate. I looked upon this visit as the sacred visit to a
+death-bed; nay, as something yet more sad than that, for Julian lay
+a-dying in the very bloom of health and youth, and the grotesque guise
+in which I went forth to him seemed to mock and flout the solemnity of
+the occasion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Stop, lad!&quot; said Vincott. &quot;You must never walk like that. Your first
+step would betray you. Watch me!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With a peacock air, which at another time would have appeared to me
+inimitably ludicrous, the little attorney minced across the room on
+the tips of his toes. Lucy leaned against the wall holding her sides,
+and fairly screamed with delight.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What ails you, lass?&quot; said he very sternly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;La, Mr. Vincott,&quot; she gulped out between bubbles of laughter, &quot;I
+think you have but few honest women among your clients.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Mr. Vincott rebuked her at some length for her sauciness, and would
+have prolonged his lecture yet further, but that my impatience
+mastered me and I haled him from the room. The girl let us out by a
+small door which gave on to an alley at the back of the house. The
+night was pitch-dark, and the streets deserted; not even a lamp swung
+from a porch.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Stay here for a moment,&quot; whispered Vincott. &quot;I will move ahead and
+reconnoitre.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">His feet echoed on the cobbles with a strange lonely sound. In a
+minute or so a low whistle reached my ears, and I followed him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;All's clear,&quot; he said. &quot;I little thought the time would ever come
+when I should bless his late Majesty King Charles for forbidding the
+citizens of Bristol to light their streets.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We stepped quickly forward, threading the quiet roads as noiselessly
+as we could, until Vincott stopped before a large building. Lights
+streamed from the windows, piercing the mirk of the night with
+brownish rays, and a dull muffled clamour rang through the gateway.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Bridewell,&quot; whispered Vincott. &quot;Keep your face well shrouded, and
+for God's sake hide your feet!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He drew a long breath. I did the same, and we crossed the road and
+passed beneath the arch.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_04" href="#div1Ref_04">SIR JULIAN HARNWOOD.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">Mr. Vincott knocked at the great door within the arch, and we were
+presently admitted and handed over to the guidance of a gaoler.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The fellow led us across a courtyard and into a long room clouded and
+heavy with the smoke of tobacco.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Keep the hood close!&quot; whispered my companion a second time.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I muffled my face and bent my head towards the ground. For a noisy
+clamour of drunken songs and coarse merriment, and, mingled with that,
+a ceaseless rattle of drinking-cans, rose about me on all sides. It
+seemed that the Bridewell kept open house that night.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We traversed the room, picking out a path among the captives, for even
+the floor was littered with men in all imaginable attitudes, some
+playing cards, some asleep, and most of them drunk. My presence served
+to redouble the uproar, and each moment I feared that my disguise
+would be detected. I felt that every eye in the room was centred upon
+my hood. One fellow, indeed, that sat talking to himself upon a bench,
+got unsteadily to his feet and reeled towards us. But or ever he came
+near, the gaoler cut him across the shoulders with his stick and sent
+him back howling and cursing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Back to your kennel!&quot; he shouted. &quot;'Tis an uncommon wench that would
+visit the lousy likes o' you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the far end of the room he unlocked a door which opened on to a
+narrow flight of stairs. On the landing above he halted before a
+second door of a more solid make, the panels being strengthened by
+cross-beams, and secured with iron bars and a massive lock. The gaoler
+unfastened it and threw it open.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have half an hour, mistress,&quot; he said, civilly enough. A startled
+cry of pain broke from the inside, I heard a sharp clink of fetters,
+and Julian confronted me through the doorway, his eyes ablaze with
+passion, and every limb strained and quivering.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What more? What more, madam?&quot; he asked, in a hoarse, trembling voice.
+&quot;Are you not satisfied?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He stopped suddenly with a gasping intake of the breath, and let his
+head roll forward on his breast like a fainting man. Vincott pushed me
+gently within the room, and I heard the door clang behind me. For a
+moment I could not speak. The tears rose in my throat and drowned the
+words. Julian was the first to recover his composure.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I crave your pardon,&quot; he said, and his voice sounded in my ears with
+a sad familiarity like the echo of our boyhood. &quot;I mistook you for
+another.&quot; And he sat down on a bench and covered his face with his
+hands.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Julian!&quot; I said, finding at length my voice, and I held out my hands
+to him. He uncovered his face and stared at me in sheer incredulity.
+Then with a cry of joy he sprang forwards, stumbling pitifully from
+the hindrance of his fetters.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Morrice at last!&quot; He lifted his hands and clapped them down into
+mine, and the quick movement jerked the chain between his handlocks so
+that it fell cold across my wrists. So we stood silent, memory
+speeding to and fro between our eyes and telling the same wistful tale
+within the heart of each of us. But in that brumous cell, lit only by
+a smoky lamp which served rather to deepen the shadows of the space
+which it left obscure than to illumine the circle immediately about
+it, such thoughts could not beguile one long; and a strange,
+unaccountable fear began to creep up in my mind like a mist. It seemed
+to me that the chain pressed ever tighter and tighter about my wrists,
+and grew cold like a ring of ice. The chill of it slipped into the
+marrow of my bones. I came almost to believe that I myself was
+manacled, and with that I felt once again that premonition of evil
+drawing near, which had numbed my spirit in the grey dawn at London.
+Now, however, the warning came to me with a clearer and more
+particular message. I had a penetrating conviction that this cell
+prefigured some scene in the years to come wherein I should fill the
+place of Julian; and, seeing him, I saw a dim image of myself as when
+a man looks into a clouded mirror. So thoroughly, indeed, did the
+fancy master me that I too became, as it were, the shadow and reflex
+of another, a mere counter and symbol representing one as yet unknown
+to me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I thought you would never come,&quot; said my friend, and I woke out of my
+trance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I started at once from Leyden,&quot; I replied; but Julian cut short my
+explanation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am sure of it. I never doubted you. We have but half an hour, and I
+have much to tell.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He turned away and flung himself down on the bench, which was broad
+and had a rail at the back, such as you may see outside a village
+alehouse.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Vincott has told you the history of my arrest?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes!&quot; said I. The lamp stood upon a stool beside the bench, and I
+lifted it up and placed it on a rough bracket which was fixed to the
+wall above. The light fell full upon his face, which had grown
+extraordinary thin, with the skin very bloodless and tight about his
+jaws, so that the bones looked to have sharpened. Only around his eyes
+was there any colour, and that of a heavy purple. I sat down upon the
+stool, and Julian gave something like a sigh of content.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am glad you have come, Morrice,&quot; he said. &quot;It has tired me so,
+waiting for you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He closed his eyes wearily, and appeared to be falling asleep. I
+touched him on the shoulder, and he sprang to his feet like one dazed,
+brushing against the bracket and making the flame of the lamp spirt up
+with a sudden flare. Once or twice he walked to and fro in the room,
+as though ordering his speech.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Here is the kernel of the matter,&quot; said he at last, coming back to
+the bench. &quot;I was arrested to serve no ends of justice, but the vilest
+treachery and cowardice that man ever heard of. The tale, in truth,
+seems well-nigh inconceivable. Even I, who have sounding evidence of
+its truth,&quot; and he kicked one of his feet, so that the links of the
+fetters rattled on the floor, &quot;even I find it hard to believe that
+'tis more than a monstrous fable. The man called himself my friend.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It was Count Lukstein, then?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How did you find out that? Vincott could not have told you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He did not tell me, but yet he gave me to know it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes, it was Count Lukstein. He laid the information to spare himself
+a duel and to get rid of--well, of an obstacle. I meant to kill him. I
+should have killed him, and he knew it. The duel was arranged secretly
+on the afternoon of Saturday, the ninth; the spot chosen--a dip in the
+hill, solitary and unfrequented even at midday, for the descent is
+steep--and the time six o'clock on the Sunday morning. And yet
+there I was taken, on the very ground, at six o'clock on a Sunday
+morning--raining, too!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There seems little doubt.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is no doubt. 'Twas his life or mine. The dispute was the mere
+pretext and occasion of the duel.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So I understood.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I was beginning to understand, besides, that the facts which Mr.
+Vincott had intended to impart to me were somewhat more numerous than
+he thought fit to admit.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The cause--but I can't speak of that. In any case, 'twas his life or
+mine, and he knew it, so deemed it prudent to take mine, since he had
+the power, without risking his own.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But,&quot; I objected, &quot;could you trust your seconds? They knew the time,
+the place----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But they did not know I was sheltering Monmouth's fugitives. Lukstein
+knew it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You told him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He stopped abruptly, and his eyes fell from my face to the ground. And
+then he said, in a very sad and quiet voice:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But I have none the less sure proof he knew.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He sat silent with bowed head, labouring his breath, and his hands
+lying clasped together upon his knees. I noticed that the tips of his
+fingers were pressed tight into the backs of his palms, so that the
+flesh about them looked dead.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I leaned forward and took him gently by the arm.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You must deliver me that proof, Julian,&quot; said I. For I began to have
+a pretty sure inkling of the service he had it in his mind to require
+of me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He shifted his eyes to my face and then back again to the floor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know, I know,&quot; he replied unsteadily. &quot;I disclosed my secret to but
+one person in the world.&quot; And as I held my peace wondering, he flashed
+on me a tortured face. &quot;Don't force me to give the name!&quot; he cried.
+&quot;Think! Think, Morrice! Who should I have told? Who should I have
+told?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The words seemed wrung from his soul. I understood what that first
+outburst meant when the gaoler had bidden me enter, and my gorge rose
+against this woman who could make such foul sport of her lover's
+trust. He read my thought in my face, and though he might upbraid his
+mistress himself, he would not suffer me to do the same.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You must not blame her,&quot; he said earnestly, laying a hand upon my
+knee. &quot;Blame me! Blame us who wantoned the days away at Whitehall, and
+cloyed the very air with our flatteries. You chose the right part,
+Morrice, a man's part--work. As for us,&quot; he resumed his restless walk
+about the chamber, beating one clenched fist into the palm of the
+other, &quot;as for us, a new fashion, a new dance, were our studies,
+cajoling women our work. The divine laws were sneered at, trampled
+down. They were meet for the ragged who had nought but hope in the
+next world to comfort them for their humiliation in this. But we--we
+who had silk to wear and money to spend, we needed a different creed.
+Sin was our God, and we worshipped and honoured it openly. When I
+think of it I, a Catholic, can find it in my heart to wish that
+Monmouth's cause had won. No, Morrice, you must not blame her. The
+fault is ours, and I am rightly punished for my share in it. Constancy
+was a burgess virtue, fit for a tradesman. We despised it in
+ourselves; what right had we to expect it in the women we surrounded?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He checked his vehement flow abruptly, and came and stood over me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And yet, Morrice,&quot; he said, with a smile that was infinitely tender
+and sad, &quot;and yet I loved her, with a sweet purity in the love, and a
+humble thankfulness for the knowledge of it, loved her as any country
+bumpkin might love the girl who rakes a furrow at his side.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And in return,&quot; I said bitterly, &quot;she betrayed you to Count
+Lukstein?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He nodded &quot;yes,&quot; and sat down again on his bench.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Long before the duel. She had no suspicion of the consequences of her
+words,&quot; he said hastily. &quot;She had no hand in this plot.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why?&quot; I repeated.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He looked at me, imploring mercy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I understand,&quot; said I.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, no!&quot; he said quickly; &quot;your suspicions outstrip the truth. I
+think so,&quot; and again with a curiously pleading voice, &quot;I think so. The
+man purred more softly than the rest, and so she----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He broke off in the middle of the sentence and began anew.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I must lay the whole truth bare, I see that. Only the shame of it
+cuts into me like a knife.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He paused, and great beads of sweat broke out upon his forehead.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have told you that my dispute with Lukstein was no more than the
+pretext of our quarrel. She was the cause. How long their acquaintance
+had lasted I know not, or to what length of intimacy it had gone.
+Lukstein was as secret as a cat, and he taught her his duplicity.
+'Twas I, myself, presented him to her formally when he came first to
+the Hotwell, but I think now the pair had met before in London. 'Twere
+too long to describe how my fears were aroused--an exchange of glances
+noted here, a letter in his hand dropped from a sachet there, a
+certain guarded hesitation she evinced when Lukstein and I were both
+with her, a word carelessly dropped showing knowledge of his
+movements; all trifles in themselves, but summed together a very
+weighty argument. So on the morning of the ninth, worn out with
+disquiet, I resolved to bring the matter to an issue, and I rode over
+to St. Vincent's rock. Lukstein was seated at an escritoire as I
+entered the room. I saw his face blanch and his hand fly to an open
+drawer, close, and lock it. He rose to greet me, and drew me to the
+window, which pleased me the more for that a bell stood upon the
+escritoire. I got between him and the bell and taxed him with his
+treachery. He denied it, larding me with friendly protestations. I
+backed to the escritoire and repeated the charge. He laughed at me for
+my unmanly lack of faith. With a sudden wrench I tore open the locked
+drawer. He bounded towards the bell; my sword was at his breast, and
+we stood watching one another while I rummaged with my left hand in
+the drawer.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'You shall pay for this,' says he, very softly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'One of us will pay,' says I.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Yes, you! You!' and he smiled, with his lips drawn back so that I
+saw the gums of his teeth on both jaws. If only I had known what he
+meant! I had him there at my sword's point. I had but to lean forward
+on my arm!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Get back to the window!' I ordered, and he obeyed me with an
+affected jauntiness. Out of the drawer I drew a small gold box of an
+oval shape. I had given it but a fortnight agone to--to----you will
+understand; and it contained my miniature. The box fastened with a lock,
+and I forgot to ask him for the key. He has it still. There were letters
+besides in the drawer, and I made him burn them before my eyes. Then I
+took my leave, and sent my seconds.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Are you sure the box was the same?&quot; I asked, when he had done. He
+slipped his hand into his pocket, and brought it out and placed it in
+my hand. His coat of arms was emblazoned on the cover.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Keep it!&quot; he said. I tried the lid, but the box was locked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Until I recover the key,&quot; I answered, and we clasped hands.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Thank you!&quot; he said simply. &quot;Thank you!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The smell of the Cumberland gorse was in my nostrils, my friend lay
+before me traitorously fettered, and this poor, belated adjustment of
+his wrong seemed the very right and fitting function of the love I
+bore for him. There was, however, still one point on which I still
+felt need to be assured.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For I knew the timidity of my nature, and I was minded to leave no
+fissure in this wall of evidence through which after-doubts might leak
+to sap my resolution.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And the proof?&quot; I asked. &quot;The proof that she informed Count
+Lukstein.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She confessed that to me herself. She came to me here on the evening
+of the day that I was taken.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I placed the gold box in the fob of my waistcoat, and as I did so I
+felt a book. I drew it out, wondering what it might be. 'Twas the
+small copy of Horace which I had thrust there unwittingly when I
+waited for the doctor's report at Leyden. I held it in my hands and
+turned over the pages idly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Count Lukstein has left Bristol,&quot; I said.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ay; he got little good out of his treachery beyond the saving of
+his carcase. But he left his servant here--Otto Krax. That is why I
+bade you come disguised. He knew I could not make the matter public
+for--for her sake. But I suppose that he feared I might reveal it to
+some friend if the trial went against me, entrust to him the just work
+I am forced to leave undone. Perchance he had some hint of Swasfield's
+departure; I know not. This only I know: Krax has been at Vincott's
+heels, keeping close watch on all who passed in with him to me; and
+should he find out that you had come from Holland in this great haste,
+it might prove an ill day's work for you, and, in any case, Lukstein
+would be forewarned.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He lives in the Tyrol?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At Schloss Lukstein, six miles to the east of Glurns, in the valley
+of the Adige. But, Morrice, he is master there. The spot is remote,
+there's no one to gainsay him. You must needs be careful. He hath no
+love for honest dealing, and you had best take him privately.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He spoke with so sombre a warning in his tone that the shadows
+appeared to darken about the room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He is cunning,&quot; Julian went on; &quot;you must match him in cunning. Nay,
+over-match him, for he has power as well.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have visited this castle?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes. 'Tis built in two wings which run from east to west, and north
+to south, and form a right angle at the north-east corner. At the
+extreme end of the latter wing there is a tower; a window opens on to
+the terrace from a small room in this tower. There are but two doors
+in the room; that on the left gives on to a passage which leads to the
+main hall. The servants sleep on the far side of the hall. The other
+door opens on to a narrow stairway which mounts to the Count's
+bedroom. 'Tis his habit of a night to sit in this small room.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I understand. And the entrance to this terrace?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is the danger, for the place is built upon a rock sheer and
+precipitous. However, there is one spot where the ascent may be
+contrived. I discovered the way by chance. The climb is hazardous, yet
+not more so than some that we attacked out of mere sport on Scafell
+crags. Ah, me! Morrice, those were the best days of my life. I wonder
+whether 'twill be the same with you!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Something like a shiver ran through me, but before I could answer him
+the key grated in the lock and the door was flung open. I turned, and
+saw in the shadow of the entrance the sombre figure of a priest. He
+was tall, and the cassock which robed him in black from head to foot
+made him show yet taller. In his hand he held a gleaming crucifix. He
+raised it above his head as he crossed the threshold, and in the
+twilight of the room it shone like a silver flame.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Julian sprang from his bench; his shoulder caught the bracket, the
+lamp rocked once or twice, and then crashed to the ground. In the
+darkness no one spoke; the rustle of our breathing was marked like the
+ticking of a clock.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After a while the gaoler fetched in a taper. Julian looked at me in
+some embarrassment The priest waited patiently by the door, and it was
+impossible for us to renew our discourse. In rising, however, I had
+let fall the Horace on to the floor, and the book lay open at my feet.
+Julian caught sight of it, and a plan occurred to him. He fumbled in
+his pocket for a pencil, picked the volume up, and drew a rapid sketch
+upon the open page.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That will make all clear,&quot; he remarked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I took the book from him, and we clasped hands for the last time.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At this hour to-morrow?&quot; he said, with a little catch in his voice. I
+was still holding his hand. I could feel the blood beating in his
+fingers. At this hour to-morrow! It seemed incredible. &quot;Morrice!&quot; he
+cried, clinging to me, and his voice was the voice of a child crying
+out in the black of the night. In a moment he recovered his calm, and
+dropped my hand. I made my reverence to the priest, and the door
+clanged to between us.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Vincott was waiting for me at the foot of the stairs, and we hurried
+silently to the gates. The porter came forward to let us out, but I
+noticed that he fumbled with his keys which he carried upon an iron
+ring. He tried first one and then another in the lock, as though he
+knew not which fitted it. His ignorance struck me as strange until
+Vincott pulled me by the sleeve.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Turn your back to the hutch,&quot; he whispered suddenly. Instinct made me
+face it instead, and I perceived, gazing curiously into my face, the
+very man who had tracked Vincott in the afternoon: Otto Krax, as I now
+knew him to be, Count Lukstein's servant. So startled was I by the
+unexpected sight of him that I let the volume of Horace fall from my
+fingers to the ground. On the instant he ran forward and picked it up.
+I snatched it from his hand before he could do more than glance at its
+cover, whereupon he made me a polite bow and returned to the
+embrasure. At last the porter succeeded in opening the door, and we
+got us into the street. Vincott was for upbraiding me at first in that
+I followed not his directions, but I cut him short roughly, and bade
+him hold his peace. For the world seemed very strange and empty, and I
+had no heart for talking. So we walked in silence back towards the
+inn.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Of a sudden, however, Vincott stopped.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Listen!&quot; he whispered.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I strained my ears until they ached. Behind us, in the quiet of the
+night, I could hear footsteps creeping and stealthy, not very far
+away. Vincott drew me into an angle of the wall, and we waited there
+holding our breaths. The footsteps slid nearer and nearer. Never since
+have I heard a sound which so filled me with terror. The haunting
+secrecy of their approach had something in it which chilled the
+blood--the sound of a man on the trail. He passed no more than six
+feet from where we stood. It was Otto Krax; and we remained until we
+could hear him no more. Vincott wiped his forehead.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If he had stopped in front of us,&quot; I said, &quot;I should have cried out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And by the Lord,&quot; said he, &quot;I should have done no less.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A hundred yards further on, Vincott stopped again.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He has found out his mistake,&quot; he exclaimed in a low, quavering
+voice.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We listened again; the footsteps were returning swiftly, but with the
+same quiet stealth.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Quick!&quot; said Vincott, &quot;against the wall!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No,&quot; said I, &quot;he is tracking along the side of it. Let us face and
+pass him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We walked on at a good pace, and made no effort at concealment. The
+man stopped as soon as we had gone by, turned, and came after us. My
+heart raced in my breast. He quickened his pace and drew level.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tis a strange time for women to run these streets.&quot; He spoke with a
+guttural accent, and his face leered over my shoulder. In a passion of
+fear I swung my arm free from the cloak, and hit at the face with all
+my strength. The dress I was wearing ripped at the shoulder as though
+you had torn a sheet of brown paper. My blow by good fortune caught
+him in the neck at the point where the jaw curves up into the cheek,
+and he fell heavily to the ground, his head striking full upon a
+rounded cobble. I waited to see no more, but tucked up my skirts and
+ran as though the fiend were at my heels, with Vincott panting behind
+me. We never halted until we had reached the alley which led to the
+back-door of the inn.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I invited Vincott to come in with me and recruit his energies with a
+second dose of Bristol milk.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No! no!&quot; he returned. &quot;'Tis late already, and you have to start
+betimes in the morning.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is the ceiling,&quot; I suggested.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He laughed softly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Mr. Buckler, I exaggerated its beauties,&quot; he said, &quot;and I fear me if
+I went in with you I should be forced to repeat my error. It is just
+that which I wish to avoid.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There are other and indifferent topics,&quot; I replied, &quot;on which we
+might speak frankly.&quot; For a change had come over my spirit, and I
+dreaded to be left alone. Vincott shook his head.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We should not find our tongues would talk of them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">However, he made no motion of departure, but stood scraping a toe
+between the stones. Then I heard him chuckle to himself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That was a good blow, my friend,&quot; he said; &quot;a good, clean blow, pat
+on the angle of the jaw. I would never have credited you with the
+strength for it. The man has been a plaguy nuisance to me, and the
+blow was a very soothing compensation. Only conduct your undertaking
+with the like energy throughout, and I do believe----&quot; He pulled
+himself up suddenly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What do you believe?&quot; I asked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I believe,&quot; he replied sententiously, &quot;that Lucy will need a new
+Sunday gown;&quot; and he turned on his heel and marched out of the alley.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The next morning came a foreigner to the inn, and made inquiry
+concerning a woman who had stayed there over-night. Lucy, faithful to
+her promise, stoutly declared that no woman had rested in the house
+for so little as an hour, and, not content with that asseveration, she
+must needs go on to enforce her point by assuring him that the inn had
+given shelter to but one traveller, and that traveller a man. But the
+traveller by this time was well upon his way to London, and so learnt
+nothing of the inquiry until long afterwards.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_05" href="#div1Ref_05">I JOURNEY TO THE TYROL AND HAVE SOME
+DISCOURSE WITH COUNT LUKSTEIN.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">Dew jewelling the grasses in the fields, the chatter of birds among
+the trees, a sparkling freshness in the air, and before me the road,
+running white into the gold of the rising sun. But behind! On the top
+of St. Michael's hill, outlined black against the pearly western sky,
+rose the gaunt cross-trees of the gallows. 'Twas the last glimpse I
+had of Bristol, and I lingered as one horribly fascinated until the
+picture was embedded in my heart.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In London I tarried but so long as sufficed for me to repair the
+deficiencies of my dress, since my very linen was now become unsightly
+and foul, and, riding to Gravesend, took ship for Rotterdam.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I had determined to join Larke with me in my undertaking, for I
+bethought me of his craving for strange paths and adventures, and
+hoped to discover in him a readiness of wit which would counteract my
+own scrupulous hesitancy. For this I implicitly believed: that it was
+not so much the wariness that Julian bespoke which would procure
+success, as the instinct of opportunity, the power, I mean, at once to
+grasp the fitting occasion when it presented, and to predispose one's
+movements in the way best calculated to bring about its presentment.
+In this quality I knew myself to be deficient. 'Twas ever my
+misfortune to confuse the by-ways with the high-road. I would waste
+the vital moment in deliberation as to which was shortest, and alas!
+the path I chose in the end more often than not turned out to be a
+<i>cul-de-sac</i>.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the particular business in which I was engaged such overweening
+prudence would be like to nullify my purpose, and further, destroy
+both Jack and myself. For beyond a description of Count Lukstein's
+person which I had from Julian some while ago, I knew nothing but what
+he had told me in the prison; and that knowledge was too scanty to
+serve as the foundation for even the flimsiest plan. The region, the
+Castle, the aggregate of servants, and their manner of life--it
+behoved me to have certain information on all these particulars were I
+to prearrange a mode of attack. As things were, I must needs lie in
+ambush for chance, and seize it with all speed when it passed our way.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At Leyden I found Jack, very glum and melancholy, poring over a folio
+of Shakespeare. 'Twas the single author whom he favoured, and he read
+his works with perpetual interest and delight. &quot;This is the book of
+deeds,&quot; he would say, smacking a fist upon the cover. &quot;There is but
+one bad play in it, and that is the tragedy of <i>Hamlet</i>. The good
+Prince is too speculative a personage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You reached Bristol in time?&quot; he asked, springing up as I entered the
+room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In time; but not a moment too soon,&quot; I replied, and sat mum.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then Sir Julian Harnwood is safe?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No! There was never a hope of that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The old smile, half amusement, half contempt, flashed upon his lips;
+the old envy looked out from his eyes. I, of course, had bungled where
+a man of vigour might have accomplished.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It was not for that end that he sent for me,&quot; I hastened to add, and
+then I stuck. I had determined to relate to Jack forthwith the story
+of my mission, and to engage his assistance, but the actual sight of
+him overturned my intentions. I felt tongue-tied; I dared not tell him
+lest my resolution should trickle away in the telling; for I read upon
+his face his poor estimation of my powers, and I dreaded the ridicule
+of his comments upon my unfitness for the task to which I had set my
+hand. I had sufficient doubts of my own upon that score. Indeed, since
+I had entered the room, they had buzzed about me importunate as a
+cloud of gnats; for Larke had never been sparing of his homilies upon
+my incapacity. I think every article I possessed, at one time or
+another, had been twisted into a text for them; and now they all came
+flocking back to me, as my eyes ranged over the familiar objects they
+had been based upon. They seemed, in truth, to saturate the very air.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Hence, I confided to Larke no more than the fact of our journey into
+the Tyrol; its reason and purpose I kept secret to myself. And to this
+self-distrust, trivial matter though it was, I owed my subsequent
+misfortunes. It was the first link in the chain of disaster, and I
+forged it myself unwittingly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Jack,&quot; said I, &quot;you were ever fond of adventures. One lies at your
+door.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of what kind?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A journey into the Tyrol.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For what purpose?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I cannot tell you. You must trust me if you come.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He looked at me doubtfully.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Your life will be risked,&quot; I urged; &quot;I can gratify you so far.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He closed the Shakespeare with a bang.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;When do we start?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As soon as ever we are prepared. To-morrow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Twere a pity to waste a day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I assured him that so far from wasting it, we should have much ado to
+get off even the next morning. For there were a couple of stout horses
+to be purchased, besides numberless other arrangements to be made. The
+horses we bought of a dealer in the Rapenburg, and then, enlisting the
+fencing-master to aid us, we sought the shop of an armourer in the
+Hout-Straat. From him we bought a long sword and a brace of pistols
+each, whereupon Larke declared that we were equipped cap-à-pie, and
+loudly protested against further hindrance. I insisted, however, in
+adding a pair of long cloaks of a heavier cloth than any we possessed,
+and divers other warm garments. For we were now in the last days of
+September, and I knew that winter comes apace in upland countries like
+the Tyrol. Then there were maps to be procured, and a route to be
+pricked out, so that it was late in the evening before we had
+completed our preparations.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Meanwhile I inquired of Larke how it had fared with Swasfield. It
+appeared that it was not until some hours after I had ridden off that
+the man regained his senses, and then he was still too weak to amplify
+his tidings; in fact, he had only recovered sufficiently to depart
+from Leyden two days before I returned. Doubtless to some extent his
+convalescence was retarded by grief for that he had not fulfilled his
+errand. For he was ever lamenting the omission of his message, and
+more particularly of that portion which referred to the road between
+Bristol and London. For swift horses had been stabled at intervals of
+fifteen miles along the whole stretch, and in order to make sure that
+no one but myself should have the profit of them, as Swasfield said,
+or rather, as I think, in order that my name might not transpire if
+Count Lukstein's spies were watching the road and became suspicious at
+this posting of relays, it was arranged that they should be delivered
+only to the man who passed the word &quot;Wastwater,&quot; that being the name
+of the lake in Cumberland on which my lands abutted.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Of our journey into the Tyrol I have but faint recollections. We set
+off the next morning with no more impediments than we could carry in
+valises fixed upon our saddles. Even Udal, my body-servant, I left
+behind, for he had neither liking nor aptitude for foreign tongues, a
+few scraps of French and a meagre knowledge of Dutch forced on him by
+his residence in the country, being all that he possessed. He would,
+therefore, have only hindered our progress, and, besides, I had no
+great faith in his discretion. I was minded, accordingly, to secure
+some foreigner in Strasbourg who would think we were engaged upon a
+tour of pleasure; which I did, and dismissed him at Innspruck.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For the rest I rode with little attention or regard for the provinces
+through which we passed. The very cities wherein we slept seemed the
+cities of a dream, so that now I am like one who strives to piece
+together memories of a journey taken in early childhood. An alley of
+trees recurs to me, the shine of stars in a midnight sky, or, again,
+the comfortable figure of a Boniface; but the images are confused and
+void of suggestion, for I rode eyes shut and hands clenched, as a
+coward rides in the press of battle.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At times, indeed, when we halted, I would turn industriously to my
+Horace. The book had fallen open at the Palinodia when I dropped it in
+the prison, so that Julian's sketch was on the page opposite to the
+date September 14. I append here the diagram which was to enable me to
+find an entrance into the Castle, and it will be seen that I had much
+excuse for studying it. In truth, I could make neither head nor tail
+of its signification.</p>
+
+<p class="center"><img src="images/pg90.png" alt="Outline of Lukstein Castle grounds"></p>
+
+
+<p class="normal">'Twas ever this outline of Lukstein Castle that I pondered, though
+Jack knew it not, and when he beheld the book in my hands would gaze
+at me with a troubled look of distrust. On the instant I would fall
+miserably to taking count of myself. &quot;Here are you,&quot; I would object to
+myself, &quot;a bookish student of a mean stature and a dilatory mind. You
+have faced no weapon more deadly than a buttoned foil, and you would
+compel a man of great strength and indubitable cunning to a mortal
+encounter in the privacy of his own house, that is, supposing you are
+not previously done to death by his serfs, which is most like to
+happen.&quot; Then would my courage, a very ricketty bantling, make weak
+protest: &quot;You faced a blunderbuss and a volley of slugs, and you were
+not afraid.&quot; &quot;But,&quot; I would answer hotly, &quot;you did not face them, you
+were running away. Besides, you had called your assailant a potatoe,
+and therefore had already a contempt for him. This time it is you who
+will be the potatoe, as you will most surely discover when Count
+Lukstein spits you on his skewer;&quot; and so I would get me wretchedly to
+bed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There were, indeed, but two thoughts which served to console me. In
+the first place, I was sensible that I had acquired some dexterity
+with the foils, and if I could but imagine a button on the point of
+the Count's sword I might hope to hold my own. In the second, I
+remembered very clearly a remark of Julian's. &quot;The man's a coward,&quot; he
+had said, and I hugged the sentence to my breast. I repeated the
+words, indeed, until they fell into the cadence of a rhythm and lost
+all meaning and comfort for me, sounding hollow, like the tapping of
+an empty nut.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Of what Larke suffered during that period I had no suspicion, but from
+subsequent hints I gather that his distress, though based upon far
+other grounds, was no whit inferior to my own. His behaviour, indeed,
+when I came to consider it, revealed to me new and amiable aspects of
+his character; for while he firmly disbelieved in my ability to
+captain an expedition, he never once pestered me for an explanation. I
+had entrusted the purse to his care, and at each town he made the
+arrangements for our stay, looked after the welfare of our horses, and
+in short, took modestly upon himself the troublesome conduct of our
+travels. Knowing nothing of my purpose but its danger, and distrustful
+of its achievement, he yet rode patiently forward, humming ever a
+French song, of which the refrain ran, I remember:</p>
+<div class="poem2">
+<p class="t0">
+Que toutes joies et toutes honneurs<br>
+Viennent d'armes et d'amours.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="continue">For he possessed that delicate gift of sympathy which keeps the friend
+silent when the acquaintance multiplies his questions.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus we journeyed for over a month. It was, I fancy, on the 12th
+November that we reached the town of Innspruck, the weather very
+shrewd and bitter, for snow had fallen in great quantities, and a
+cutting wind blew from the hills. That night I told my companion of
+our destination, but disclosed no more of the business than that I had
+a private message for Count Lukstein's ear, which must needs be
+delivered secretly if we were to save our lives. We stayed here for
+two days that we might rest our horses, and early on the 14th set off
+for Glurns, which lay some eighty miles away in a broad valley they
+called the Vintschgau. The snow, however, was massed very deep, and
+though the road was sound, for it was the highway into Italy, we did
+not come up with the village until two o'clock on the third afternoon.
+Beyond Glurns the road traversed the valley in a diagonal line through
+a dreary avenue of stunted limes, which in their naked leaflessness
+looked in the distance like a palisade. Into this avenue we passed,
+and were well-nigh across the dale and under its northern barrier of
+mountains, when Larke suddenly reined up.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Childe Roland to the dark tower came,'&quot; he sang out. &quot;Heaven send
+there be no one to complete the quotation!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I followed the direction of his gaze. Right ahead of us the Castle,
+the rock whereon it was pinnacled, and the village, huddled on a
+little plateau at its base, stood out from the hillside like a black
+stain upon the snow. A carriage-way, diverging from our road a hundred
+yards farther on, ran up towards it in long zigzags, and to this point
+we advanced.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Look!&quot; suddenly cried Larke. &quot;We are not the first to visit the
+worthy Count to-day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">From both directions carriages or sledges had turned into this track,
+so that the snow at its entrance was trampled by the hoofs of horses,
+and cut by intersecting curves.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Tis not certain,&quot; I said, &quot;that the marks were made to-day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is,&quot; he replied, &quot;else would the ruts have frozen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The thought that the Count had company doubled my disquiet. For there
+was the less chance of finding him alone, and I was anxious to have
+done with the matter.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The first angle made by the zigzags was thickly covered with a boskage
+of pines. Into this we led our horses, and fastening them in the heart
+of it where the trees were most dense, we crept towards the west
+corner. At this point the track bent back upon itself and mounted
+eastwards to the border of the village, turned again, threading the
+houses at the bottom of the cliff, struck up thence at a right angle
+in a clear, open stretch beneath the west face of the rock, and
+finally curved round at the back to the gates. For the entrance to the
+Castle fronted the hillside and not the valley.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I took my Horace from my pocket, and in an instant the diagram became
+intelligible to me. The long curving line represented the road, and
+the way of ascent, marked by the cross, was to be found on the western
+wall of rock, and above the open stretch of road. Of this we now
+commanded an unimpeded view, for the corner of the road at which we
+stood was situate to the west of the Castle.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I see it!&quot; I exclaimed, and I handed the book to Larke.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So this is the secret of the poet's fascination,&quot; he answered. &quot;But I
+see no path. The cliff is as smooth as an egg-shell, save for that one
+projecting rib.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That is the path,&quot; I replied.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A shoulder of rock with a ribbon of snow upon its ridge jutted out
+from the summit of the cliff, and descended in an unbroken line to the
+road.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Tis impossible to ascend that,&quot; said he. &quot;We should break our necks
+for a surety or ever we were half-way up.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It shows steeper than it is,&quot; I answered. &quot;We are not well-placed for
+judging of its incline; for that we should see it in profile. But
+where snow lies, there a man may climb.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Jack raised no further objection; but ever and again I noticed him
+gazing at me with a puzzled expression upon his face. We crouched down
+in the undergrowth until such time as the night should fall, blowing
+on our fingers and pressing close against each other for warmth's
+sake. But 'twas of little use; my body tingled with cold, and I began
+to think my muscles would be frozen stiff, before the darkness gave us
+leave to move. The valley, moreover, looked singularly mournful and
+desolate in its shroud of white. As far as the eye could travel not a
+living thing could be seen, nor could the ear detect a sound. The
+region brooded in a sinister silence. I verily believe that I should
+have loosed my horse and fled but for the presence of my companion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Jack, however, was in no higher spirits than myself, and from the
+continual glances of his eyes I think that he was infected with a
+wholesome fear of the rib of rock. At last the dusk fell; the lights
+began to twinkle in the village and in the upper windows of the
+Castle. For a wall, broken here and there by round turrets, circled
+about the edge of the cliff and hid the lower storey from our sight.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We looked to the priming of our pistols, buckled our swords tighter
+about the waist, shook the snow from our cloaks, and cautiously
+stepped out on to the path. At the edge of the village we stopped.
+'Twas but one street; but that very narrow and busy. Not a moment
+passed but a door opened, and a panel of orange light was thrown
+across the gloom, and the figures of men and women were seen passing
+and repassing. The village was astir and humming like a hive. But
+there was no other way. For on our right rose the tooth of rock in a
+sheer scarp; on our left the ground broke steeply away at the backs of
+the houses.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We must make a dash for it,&quot; said Larke. We waited until the street
+cleared for a moment, and then ran between the houses as fast as our
+legs would carry us. The snow deadened the sound of our feet, and we
+were well-nigh through the village when Larke tripped over a hillock
+and stumbled forward on his face with a curse. The next instant I
+dropped down beside him, and covering his mouth with my hand, forced
+him prone to the ground. For barely twenty feet ahead a door had
+suddenly opened, and a man dressed in the jacket and short breeches of
+the Tyroler came out on to the path. He stood with his back towards us
+and exchanged some jest with the inmates of the house, and I
+recognised his voice. I had heard it no more than once, it is true,
+but the occasion had fixed the sound of it for ever in my memories. It
+was the voice of the spy who had tracked us in the streets of Bristol.
+He turned towards the door, so that the light streamed full upon his
+face, shouted a &quot;God be with you,&quot; and strode off in the direction of
+the Castle. The sight of him left me no room for doubt. That he had
+outstripped us caused me, indeed, little surprise, for we had
+travelled by a devious way, and had, moreover, delayed here and there
+upon the road.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Larke commenced to sputter and cough.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Quiet!&quot; I whispered, for the man was yet within hearing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Loose your hand, then!&quot; he returned. &quot;Tis easy enough to say quiet,
+but 'tis not so easy to choke quietly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In my fluster I was holding his head tightly pressed into the snow, so
+that he could only have caught the barest glimpse of the man.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who was it?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;One of Lukstein's servants.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You know him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have seen him, and he has seen me. Maybe he would know me again.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We got safely quit of the houses and turned into the upward stretch of
+road, towards the buttress of rock. It jutted out across our path, and
+was plainly distinguishable, for the night was pure and clean, and
+appeared to be tinctured with a vague light from the snow-fields. I
+noticed, too, that on the far side of the valley a pale radiance was
+welling over the brim of the hills with promise of the moon. 'Twas a
+very sweet sight to me, since climbing an unknown rock-ridge in the
+dark hath little to commend it, unless it be necessity.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the foot of the rib we halted and prepared to ascend. But nowhere
+could I find a cranny for my fingers or a knob for my boot. The
+surface was indeed, as Jack had said, as smooth as an egg-shell. I
+stepped back to the outer edge of the road and examined it as
+thoroughly as was possible.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For the first twelve feet it was absolutely perpendicular; above that
+point it began to slope. It was as though the lowest portion of the
+rib had been cut purposely away.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And then I remembered! Julian had spoken only of a descent. Now a man
+may drop twelve feet and come to no harm, but once at the bottom he
+must bide there. There was but one way out of the difficulty, and
+luckily Larke's shoulders were broad.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You must lend me your back,&quot; I said. &quot;I will haul you up after me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He planted himself firmly against the rock, with his legs apart, and I
+climbed up his back on to his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You teach me mercy to my horse,&quot; he said quietly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why? What have I done?&quot; I asked. &quot;Jabbed your spurs into my thighs
+and stood on them,&quot; he replied in a matter-of-fact voice. &quot;But 'tis
+all one. Blood was meant to be spilled.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Being now more than five feet from the ground, I was able to worm my
+fingers into a crack at the point where the ridge began to incline,
+and so hoist myself on to an insecure footing. But it was utterly
+beyond my power to drag Larke after me, for the snow was thin and
+shallow, and underneath it the rock loose and shattered. I should most
+surely have been pulled over had I made the attempt. I ascended the
+ridge in the hope of discovering a more stable position, whence I
+could lower my cloak to my companion. But 'twas all slabs at a pretty
+steep slope, with here and there little breaks and ledges. I could
+just crawl up on my belly, but I could do no more. There was never a
+yard of level where you could secure a solid grip of the feet. So I
+climbed back again and leaned over the edge.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Jack,&quot; I said, &quot;I can't give you a helping hand. It would mean a
+certain fall.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I shall need little help, Morrice--very little,&quot; he answered, in a
+tone of entreaty.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I can't even give you that. The ridge is too insecure.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah! Don't say that!&quot; he burst out &quot;You have not come all these miles
+to be turned back by a foot or two of rock. It is absurd! It is worse
+than absurd. It is cowardly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hush!&quot; I whispered gently. For I could gauge his disappointment, and
+gauging it, could pardon his railing, &quot;I have no thought of turning
+back.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then what will you do? Morrice, this is no time for dreaming! What
+will you do?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Jack,&quot; I said, &quot;you and I must part company. I must win through this
+trouble by myself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I heard something like a sob; it was the only answer he made.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Wait for me by the horses in the wood! Give me till dawn, but not a
+moment longer! If I am not with you then--well, 'tis the long good-bye
+betwixt you and me, Jack, and you had best ride for your life.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Again he made no answer. For a moment I fancied that he had stolen
+away in a fury, and I craned my head over the rock, so that I could
+look down into the road. He was standing motionless with bent
+shoulders just beneath me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Jack!&quot; I called. For it might well be the last time I should speak to
+him. We had been good friends, and I would not have him part from me
+in anger. &quot;There is no other way. It can't be helped.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He turned up his face towards me, but it was too dark for me to read
+its expression.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Very well, Morrice,&quot; he said, and there was no resentment in his
+tone. &quot;I will wait for your coming, and God send you come!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And with a dull, heavy step he walked back along the path.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I turned and set my face to the cliff. After a while the ridge widened
+out, and the snow overlaid it more firmly, insomuch that a surefoot
+might have walked along by day. In the uncertain light, however--for
+the moon as yet hung low in a gap of the hills--I dared not venture
+it, and crept up on my hands and knees, testing carefully each tooth
+of rock or ever I trusted my weight to its stability. Towards the
+summit the rib thinned again to a sharp edge, and I was forced to
+straddle up it as best I could, with a leg dangling on either side.
+Altogether, what with the obstacles which the climb presented, and the
+numbing of my fingers, since the snow quickly soaked through my
+gloves, I made my way but slowly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the top I found myself face to face with the Castle wall, which was
+some ten feet in height, and quite solid and uncrumbled. Between it
+and the rim of the crag, however, was a strip of level ground about
+half a yard broad, and I determined to follow it round until I should
+reach some angle at which it would be possible to climb the wall. On
+this strip the snow was heavily piled, and for security's sake I got
+me again to my hands and knees, flogging a path before me with the
+scabbard of my sword. I began to fear that I might be foiled in my
+endeavour for want of a companion; for again I bethought me, Julian
+only descended, and a man might drop from any portion of the wall,
+whereas the scaling of it was a different matter. I proceeded in the
+opposite direction to the Castle gates, and so came out above the
+south face of the precipice. Below me the houses of Lukstein village
+glimmered like a cluster of glow-worms; I had merely to roll over to
+fall dump among the roof-tops. I could even hear a faint murmur of
+brawling voices, and once I caught a plaintive snatch of song. For in
+that still, windless air sounds rose like bubbles in a clear pool of
+water.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The wall on my left curved and twisted with the indents of the cliff,
+and a little more than halfway across the face I came to a spot where
+it ran in and out at a sharp angle. Moreover, one of the turrets which
+I had remarked from the wood bulged out from the line, and made of
+this angle a sort of crevice. Into the corner I thrust my back, and
+working my elbows and knees, with some help from the roughness of the
+stones, I managed to mount on to the parapet. The Castle lay stretched
+before me. In front stood the main body of the building; to my right a
+shorter wing, ending in a tower, jutted off towards the wall on which
+I lay. A broad terrace, enclosing in the centre a patch of lawn,
+separated me from the building.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I fixed my eyes upon the tower. The window of the lower room was dark,
+and, strangely enough, 'twas the only window dark in the house. From
+the upper room there shone a faint gleam as of a lamp ill-trimmed. But
+all the other windows in the chief façade and the more distant part of
+this wing blazed out into the night. I could see passing figures
+shadowed upon the curtains, and music floated forth on a ripple of
+laughter, gavotte being linked to minuet and pavane in an endless
+melody.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Every now and then some couple dainty with ribbons and jewels would
+step out from the porch, and with low voices and pensive steps pace
+the terrace until the cold froze the sweetness from their talk. They
+were plain to me, for the moon was riding high, and revealed even the
+nooks of the garden. Indeed, the only obscure corner was that in which
+I lay concealed. For a little pavilion leaned against the wall hard by
+me, and cast a deep shadow over the coping.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But I hardly needed even that protection to screen me from these
+truants. I might have stood visible in the lawn's centre, and yet been
+asked no question. For such as braved the frost came not out to spy
+for strangers; their eyes sought each other with too intimate an
+insistance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I had indeed timed my visit ill. The revels of the village were being
+repeated in the Castle.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The sharp contrast of my particular purpose forced its reality grimly
+upon me, and made this vigil one long agony. I had planned to tell
+Larke the true object of my coming during the hour or so we should
+have to wait, and to draw some solace from his companionship. Now,
+however, I was planted there alone with a message of death for my foe
+or for myself, and the glamour of life in my eyes, and it seemed to me
+that all the tedium of my journey had been held over for these hours
+of waiting.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To cap my discomfort I found occasion to prove to myself that I was a
+most indisputable prig. I had often discoursed to Larke concerning the
+consolations to be drawn from the classics in moments of distress. Now
+I sought to practise the precept, and to that end lowered a bucket
+into the well of my memories. But alas! I hauled up naught but tags
+about Cerberus and Charon, and passages from the sixth book of Vergil.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To tell the honest truth, I was dismally afraid. The very stars in the
+sky flashed sword-points at my breast, and the ice upon the hills
+glittered like breastplates of steel. Moreover, my hands were swollen
+and clumsy with the cold, and I dreaded lest I might lose the nervous
+flexibility of their muscles, and so the nice command of my sword. I
+stripped off my gloves which were freezing on my fingers, and thrust
+my hands inside my shirt to keep them warm against my skin.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Somehow or another, however, the night wore through. The stars and the
+moon shifted across the mountains, the music began to falter into
+breaks, and the murmurs grew louder from the village. I heard sledges
+descend the road with a jingle of bells, first one, then another, then
+several in quick succession. Iron gates clanked on the far side of the
+Castle, the windows darkened, and finally a light sprang up in the
+lower of the chambers which I watched.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I turned over on my face and dropped on to the snow. But my spurs
+rattled and clinked as I touched the ground, and I stooped down and
+loosed them from my feet. I cast a hurried glance around me. Not a
+shadow moved; the world seemed frozen to an eternal immobility. I
+crept across the lawn, up the terrace steps to the sill of the window,
+and peered into the room. It was small and luxuriously furnished, the
+roof, panels, and floor, being all of a polished and mellow pine-wood.
+Warm-coloured rugs and the skins of chamois were scattered on the
+floor, and four candles in heavy sconces blazed on the mantel. Sunning
+himself before the log-fire sat Count Lukstein. I knew him at once
+from Julian's account: a big, heavy-featured man with a loose dropping
+mouth. He was elaborately dressed in a suit of grey satin richly laced
+with silver, which seemed somewhat too airy and fanciful to befit the
+massive girth of his limbs. These he displayed to their full
+proportions, and the sight did little to enhearten me. For he sat with
+his legs stretched out and his arms clasped behind his head, the
+firelight playing gaily upon a sparkle of diamonds in his cravat.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I noted the two doors of which Julian had spoken--that on my right
+leading to the bedroom, that on my left to the hall--and in particular
+a small writing-table which stood against the wall facing me. For a
+silver bell upon it caught the light of the candles and reflected it
+into my eyes. And I remembered Julian's story of his visit to the
+Hotwell.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Whether it was that I rattled the frame of the window, or that chance
+turned the Count's looks my way, I know not; but he suddenly turned
+full towards me, My face was pressed flat to the glass. I drew back
+hastily into the shadow of the wall. One minute passed, two, three;
+the window darkened, and the Count, lifting his hands to his temples
+to shut out the light at his back, laid his forehead to the pane.
+Instinctively I clapped my hand to the pistol in my pocket and cocked
+it. The click of the hammer sounded loud in my ears as though I had
+exploded the charge. Count Lukstein flung open the window and set one
+foot outside.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who is it?&quot; he cried; and yet again, &quot;who is it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I drew a deep breath, stepped quickly past him into the room, and
+turned about. The two doors and the writing-table were now behind me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He staggered back from the window, and his hand dived at the hilt of
+his sword. But before he could draw it he raised his eyes to my face;
+he let go of his sword and stared in sheer bewilderment.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And in the devil's name,&quot; he asked, &quot;who are you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">'Twas a humiliating moment for me. He spoke as a master might to an
+impudent schoolboy, and it was with a quavering schoolboy's treble
+that I answered him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am Morrice Buckler.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;An Englishman?&quot; he questioned, bending his brows suddenly; for we
+were speaking in German.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of the county of Cumberland,&quot; I replied meekly. I felt as if I was
+repeating my catechism.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then, Mr. Morrice Buckler, of the county of Cumberland,&quot; he began,
+with an exaggerated politeness. But I broke in upon him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have some knowledge of the county of Bristol, too,&quot; I said, with as
+much bravado as I could muster. But 'twas no great matter. The display
+would have disgraced a tavern bully.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The words, however, served their turn. Just for a second, just long
+enough for me to perceive it, a startled look of fear flashed into his
+eyes, and his body seemed to shrink in bulk. Then he asked suddenly:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How came you here?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;By a path Sir Julian Harnwood told me of,&quot; says I.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He stretched a finger towards the window.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Go!&quot; he cried in a low voice. &quot;Go!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I stood my ground, for I noted with a lively satisfaction that the
+quaver had passed from my voice into his.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Have a care, Master Buckler!&quot; he continued. &quot;You are no longer in
+England. You would do well to remember that. There are reasons why I
+would have no disturbance here to-night. There are reasons. But on my
+life, if you refuse to obey me, I will have you whipped from here by
+my servants.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah!&quot; says I, &quot;this is not the first time, Count Lukstein, that some
+one has stood between you and the bell.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He cast a glance over my shoulder. I saw that he was going to shout,
+and I whipped out the pistol from my pocket.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If you shout,&quot; I said, &quot;the crack of this will add little to the
+noise.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It would go ill with you if you fired it,&quot; he blustered.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It would go yet worse with you,&quot; I answered.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And there we stood over against one another, the finest brace of
+cowards in Christendom, each seeking to overcome the other by a wordy
+braggadocio. Indeed, my forefinger so trembled on the trigger that I
+wonder the pistol did not go off and settle our quarrel out of hand.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What does it mean?&quot; he burst out, screwing himself to a note of
+passion. &quot;What does it mean? You skulk into my house like a thief.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The manner of my visit does in truth leave much to be desired,&quot; I
+conceded. &quot;But for that you must thank your reputation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It does, in truth,&quot; he returned, ignoring my last words. &quot;It leaves
+much--very much. You see that yourself, Mr. Buckler. So, to-morrow!
+Return by the way you came, and come to me again tomorrow. We can talk
+at leisure. It is over-late to-night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay, my lord,&quot; said I, drawing some solid comfort from the wheedling
+tone in which he spake. &quot;Your servants will be abroad in the house
+tomorrow, and, as you were careful to remind me, I am not in England.
+I have waited for some six hours upon the parapet of your terrace, and
+I have no mind to let the matter drag to another day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">His eyes shifted uneasily about the room; but ever they returned to
+the shining barrel of my pistol.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, well,&quot; said he at length, with a shrug of the shoulders, and a
+laugh that rang flat as a cracked guinea, &quot;one must needs listen when
+the speaker holds a pistol at your head. Say your say and get it
+done.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He flung himself into a chair which stood in the corner by the window.
+I sat me in the one from which he had risen, drawing it closer to the
+fire. A little table stood within arm's reach, and I pulled it up
+between us and laid my pistol on the edge.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have come,&quot; said I, &quot;upon Sir Julian Harnwood's part.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pardon me!&quot; he interrupted. &quot;You will oblige me by speaking English,
+and by speaking it low.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The request seemed strange, but 'twas all one to me what language we
+spoke so long as he understood.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Certainly,&quot; I answered. &quot;I am here to undertake his share in the
+quarrel which he had with you, and to complete the engagement which
+was interrupted on the Kingsdown.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But, Mr. Buckler,&quot; he said, with some show of perplexity, &quot;the
+quarrel was a private one. Wherein lies your right to meddle with the
+matter?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I was Sir Julian's friend,&quot; I replied. &quot;He knew the love I bore him,
+and laid this errand as his last charge upon it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Really, really,&quot; said he, &quot;both you and your friend seem strangely
+ill-versed in the conduct of gentlemen. You say Sir Julian laid this
+errand upon you. But I have your bare word for that. It is not enough.
+And even granting it to be true, my quarrel was with Sir Julian, not
+with you. One does not fight duels by proxy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He had recovered his composure, and spoke with an easy
+superciliousness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My lord,&quot; I answered, stung by his manner, &quot;I must ask you to get the
+better of that scruple, as I have of one far more serious, for, after
+all, one does not as a rule fight duels with murderers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He started forward in his chair as though he had been struck. I seized
+the butt of my pistol, for I fancied he was about to throw himself
+upon me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know more than you think,&quot; said I, nodding at him, &quot;and this will
+prove it to you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I drew the oval gold box from my fob and tossed it on to his knees.
+His hands darted at it, and he turned it over and over in his palms,
+staring at the cover with white cheeks.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How got you this?&quot; he asked hoarsely, and then remembering himself,
+&quot;I know nothing of it. I know nothing of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Sir Julian gave it into my hands,&quot; said I. &quot;I visited him in his
+prison on the evening of the 22nd September.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He stared at me for a while, repeating &quot;the 22nd September&quot; like one
+busy over a sum.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The 22nd September,&quot; said I, &quot;the 22nd September. It was the day of
+his trial.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the words his face cleared wonderfully. He rose with an
+indescribable air of relief, flung the box carelessly on the table,
+and said with a contemptuous smile:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, Mr. Buckler! Mr. Buckler! You would have saved much time had you
+mentioned the date earlier. How much?&quot; and he shook some imaginary
+coins in the cup of his hand.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Count Lukstein!&quot; I exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I had not the faintest notion of what he was driving at, and the
+surprise which his change of manner occasioned me obscured the insult.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tut, tut, man!&quot; he resumed, with a wave of the hand. &quot;How much?
+Surely the farce drags.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The farce,&quot; I replied hotly, &quot;is one of those which are best played
+seriously. Remember that, Count Lukstein!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, well,&quot; he said indulgently, &quot;have your own way. But, believe
+me, you are making a mistake. I have no wish to cheapen your wares.
+That you have picked up some fragments of the truth I am ready to
+agree; and I am equally ready to buy your silence. You have but to
+name your price.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have named it,&quot; I muttered, locking my teeth, for I was fast losing
+my temper, and feared lest I might raise my voice sufficiently to be
+heard beyond the room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let me prove to you that you are wasting time,&quot; said he with insolent
+patience. &quot;You have been ill-primed for your work. You say that you
+visited Sir Julian on the night of the 22nd. You say that you were Sir
+Julian's friend. I would not hurt your feelings, Mr. Buckler, but both
+those statements are, to put it coarsely, lies. You were never Sir
+Julian's friend, or you would have known better than to have fixed
+that date. But two people visited him on the 22nd, a priest and a
+woman, the most edifying company possible for a dying man.&quot; He ended
+with a smooth scorn. I looked up at him and laughed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah!&quot; said he, &quot;we are beginning to understand each other.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I laughed a second time.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She was over-tall for a woman, my lord,&quot; said I, &quot;though of no great
+stature for a man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I rose as I spoke the words and confronted him. We were standing on
+opposite sides of the little table. The smile died off his face; he
+leaned his hands upon the table and bent slowly over it, searching my
+looks with horror-stricken eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What do you mean?&quot; he asked in a hoarse whisper.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I was the woman. How else should I have got that box?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You, you!&quot; He spoke in a queer matter-of-fact tone of assent. All his
+feeling and passion seemed to have gathered in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">So we stood waging a battle of looks. And then of a sudden I noticed a
+crafty, indefinable change in his expression, and from the tail of my
+eye I saw his fingers working stealthily across the table. I dropped
+my hand on to the butt of my pistol. With a ready cunning he picked up
+the gold box and began to examine it with so natural an air of
+abstraction that I almost wondered whether I had not mistaken his
+design.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And so,&quot; says he at length, &quot;you would fight with me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If it please you, yes,&quot; says I.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Miss Marston, it seems, has more admirers than I knew of,&quot; he
+returned, with a cunning leer which made my stomach rise at him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He seemed incapable of conceiving a plain open purpose in any man. Yet
+for all that I could not but admire the nimbleness of his wits. Not
+merely had he recovered his easy demeanour, but he was already, as I
+could see, working out another issue from the impasse. I clung fast to
+the facts.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have never seen Miss Marston,&quot; said I. &quot;I fight for my friend.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For your friend? For your dead, useless friend?&quot; He dropped the words
+slowly, one by one, with a smiling disbelief. &quot;Come, come, Mr.
+Buckler! Not for your friend! We are both men of the world. Be frank
+with me! Is it sensible that two gentlemen should spill honest blood
+for the sake of a feather-headed wanton?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If the name fits her, my lord,&quot; I replied, &quot;who is to blame for that?
+And as for the honest blood, I have more hope of spilling it than
+faith in its honesty.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Count's face grew purple, and the veins swelled out upon his ample
+throat. I snatched up the pistol, and we both stood trembling with
+passion. The next moment, I think, must have decided the quarrel, but
+for a light sound which became distinctly audible in the silence. It
+descended from the room above. We both looked up to the ceiling, the
+Count with a sudden softness on his face, and I understood, or rather
+I thought I understood, why he had not raised the alarm before I
+produced my pistol, and why he bade me subsequently speak in English.
+For the sound was a tapping, such as a woman's heels may make upon a
+polished floor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I waited, straining my ears to hear the little stairway creak behind
+the door at my back, and cudgelling my brains to think what I should
+do. If she came down into the room, it was all over with my project
+and, most likely, with my life, too, unless I was prepared to shoot my
+opponent in cold blood and make a bolt for it. After a while, however,
+the sound ceased altogether, to my indescribable relief. The Count was
+the first to break the silence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Very well, Mr. Buckler,&quot; said he; &quot;send your friends to me in the
+morning. Let them come like men to the door and give me assurance that
+I may meet you without loss of self-respect, and you shall have your
+way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You force me to repeat,&quot; said I, &quot;that the matter must be disposed of
+to-night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To-night!&quot; he said, and stared at me incredulously. &quot;Mr. Buckler, you
+must be mad.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To-night,&quot; I repeated stubbornly. For, apart from all considerations
+of safety, I felt that such courage as I possessed was but the froth
+of my anger, and would soon vanish if it were left to stand. The Count
+began to pace the room between the writing-table and the window. I set
+my chair against the wall and leaned against the chimney, and I noted
+that at each turn in his walk he drew, as though unconsciously, nearer
+and nearer to the bell.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Mr. Buckler,&quot; he said, &quot;what you propose is quite out of the
+question. I can but attribute it to your youth. You take too little
+thought of my side of the case. To fight with one whom I have never so
+much as set eyes on before, who forces his way into my house in the
+dead of night--you must see for yourself that it fits not my dignity.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are too close to the bell, Count Lukstein, and you raise your
+voice,&quot; I broke in sharply. &quot;That fits not my safety.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He stood still in the middle of the room and raised a clenched fist to
+his shoulder, glaring at me. In a moment, however, he resumed his
+former manner.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Besides,&quot; he went on, &quot;there is a particular reason why I would have
+no disturbance here tonight. You got some inkling of it a moment ago.&quot;
+He nodded to the ceiling.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I blush with shame now when I remember what I answered him. I took a
+leaf from his book, as the saying is, and could conceive no worthy
+strain in him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The good lady,&quot; I said, &quot;whom you honour with your attentions now
+must wait until the affairs of her predecessor are arranged.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Count came sliding over the floor with a sinuous movement of his
+body and a very dangerous light in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You insult my wife,&quot; he said softly, and as I reeled against the hood
+of the fireplace, struck out of my wits by his words, he of a sudden
+gave a low bellowing cry, plucked his sword from his sheath, and
+lunged at my body. I saw the steel flash in a line of light and sprang
+on one side. The sword quivered in the wood level with my left elbow.
+My leap upset the table, the pistol clattered on the floor. I whipped
+out my sword, Count Lukstein wrenched his free, and in a twinkling we
+were set to it. I think all fear vanished from both of us, for Count
+Lukstein's face was ablaze with passion, and I felt the blood in my
+veins running like strong wine.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_06" href="#div1Ref_06">SWORDS TAKE UP THE DISCOURSE.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">By these movements we had completely reversed our positions, so that
+now I stood with my back to the window, while the Count held that end
+of the room in which the doors were set. Not that I took any thought
+of this alteration at the time, for the Count attacked me with
+extraordinary fury, and I needed all my wits to defend myself from his
+violence. He was, as I had dreaded, a skilled swordsman, and he
+pressed his skill to the service of his anger. Now the point of his
+rapier twirled and spun like a spark of fire; now the blade coiled
+about mine with a sharp hiss like some lithe, glittering serpent.
+Every moment I expected it to bite into my flesh. I gave ground until
+my hindmost foot was stopped against the framework of the window; and
+there I stayed parrying his thrusts until he slackened from the ardour
+of his assault. Then in my turn I began to attack; slowly and
+persistently I drove him back towards the centre of the room, when
+suddenly, glancing across his shoulder, I saw something that turned my
+blood cold. The door leading to the staircase was ajar. I had heard no
+click of the handle; it must have been open before, I argued to
+myself, but I knew the argument was false. The door had been shut; I
+noted that from the garden, and it could not have opened so silently
+of itself. I renewed my attack upon the Count, pressing him harder and
+harder in a veritable panic. I snatched a second glance across his
+shoulder. The door was not only ajar; 'twas opening--very slowly, very
+silently, and a yellow light streamed through onto the wall beside the
+door. The sight arrested me at the moment of lunging--held me
+petrified with horror. A savage snarl of joy from Lukstein's lips
+warned me; his sword darted at my heart, I parried it clumsily, and
+the next moment the point leapt into my left shoulder. The wound
+quickened my senses, and I settled to the combat again, giving thrust
+for thrust. Each second I expected a scream of terror, a rush of feet.
+But not a sound came to me. I dared not look from the Count's face any
+more; the hit which he had made seemed to have doubled his energies. I
+strained my ears to catch the fall of a foot, the rustle of a dress.
+But our own hard breathing, a light rattle of steel as swords lunged
+and parried, a muffled stamp as one or the other stepped forward upon
+the rugs--these were the only noises in the room, and for me they only
+served to deepen and mark the silence. Yet all the while I felt that
+the door was opening--opening; I knew that some one must be standing
+in the doorway quietly watching us, and that some one a woman, and
+Count Lukstein's wife. There was something horrible, unnatural in the
+silence, and I felt fear run down my back like ice, unstringing my
+muscles, sucking my heart. I summoned all my strength, compressed all
+my intelligence into a despairing effort, and flung myself at
+Lukstein. He drew back out of reach, and behind him I saw a flutter of
+white. Through the doorway, holding a lighted candle above her head,
+Countess Lukstein advanced noiselessly into the room. Her eyes, dark
+and dilated, were fixed upon mine; still she spoke never a word. She
+seemed not to perceive her husband; she seemed not even to see me,
+into whose face she gazed. 'Twas as though she was looking through me,
+at something that stood in the window behind my head.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Count, recovering from my assault, rushed at me again. I made a
+few passes, thinking that my brain would crack. I could feel her eyes
+burning into mine. I was certain that some one was behind me, and I
+experienced an almost irresistible desire to turn my head and discover
+who it might be. The strain had become intolerable. There was just
+room for me to leap backwards.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Look!&quot; I gasped, and I leaned back against the window-pane, clutching
+at the folds of the curtain for support.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Count Lukstein turned; the woman was close behind him. A couple of
+paces more, and she must have touched him. He dropped his sword-point
+and stepped quickly aside.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My God!&quot; he said in a hoarse whisper. &quot;She is asleep!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">My whole body was dripping with sweat. It seemed to me that a full
+hour must have passed since I had seen her first, and yet so brief had
+been the interval that she was not half-way across the room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Had she come straight towards me I could not have moved from her path.
+But she walked betwixt Count Lukstein and myself direct to the open
+window. She wore a loose white gown, gathered in a white girdle at the
+waist, and white slippers on her naked feet. Her face even then showed
+to me as incomparably beautiful, and her head was crowned with masses
+of waving hair, in colour like red corn. She passed between us without
+check or falter; her gown brushed against the Count. Through the open
+window she walked across the snowy terrace towards the pavilion by the
+Castle wall. The night was very still, and the flame of the candle
+burnt pure and steady.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I looked at the Count. For a moment we gazed at one another in
+silence, and then without a word we stepped side by side to follow
+her. Our dispute appeared to have been swallowed up in this
+overmastering event, and I experienced almost a revulsion of
+friendliness for my opponent.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Tis not the first time this has happened, I am told,&quot; said he, and
+as I looked at him inquiringly, he added, very softly: &quot;We were only
+married to-day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Only to-day,&quot; I exclaimed, and not noticing where I trod, I stumbled
+over a wolf-skin that lay on the floor with the head attached. My foot
+slipped on the polished boards beside it, and I fell upon my left
+knee. The Count stopped and faced me, an ugly smile suddenly flashing
+about his mouth. I saw him draw back his arm as I was rising. I
+dropped again upon hand and knee, and his sword whizzed an inch above
+my shoulder. I was still holding my own sword in my right hand, and or
+ever he could recover I lunged upwards at his breast with all my
+force, springing from the ground as I lunged, to drive the thrust
+home. The blade pierced through his body until the hilt rang against
+the buttons of his coat. He fell backwards heavily, and I let go of my
+sword. The point stuck in the floor behind him as he fell, and he slid
+down the blade on to the ground. Something dropped from his hand and
+rolled away into a corner, where it lay shining. I gave no thought to
+that, however, but glanced through the window. To my horror I saw that
+Countess Lukstein was already returning across the lawn. The Count had
+fallen across the window, blocking it. I plucked my sword free, and
+lugged the body into the curtains at the side, cowering down myself
+behind it. I had just time to gather up his legs and so leave the
+entrance clear, when she stepped over the sill. A little stream of
+blood was running towards her, and I was seized with a mad terror lest
+it should reach her feet. She moved so slowly and the stream ran so
+quickly. Every moment I expected to see the white of her slippers grow
+red with the stain of it. But she passed beyond the line of its
+channel just a second before it reached so far. With the same even and
+steady gait she recrossed the room and turned into the little
+stairway, latching the door behind her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For a while I remained kneeling by the body of the Count in a numbed
+stupor, All was so quiet and peaceful that I could not credit what had
+happened in this last hour, not though I held the Count within my
+arms. Then from the floor of the room above there came once more the
+light tapping sound of a woman's heels. I looked about me. The table
+lay overturned, the rugs were heaped and scattered, and the barrel of
+my pistol winked in the sputtering light of the fire. I rose, snatched
+up my sword, and fled out on to the snow.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The moon was setting and the moonlight grey upon the garden, with the
+snow under foot very crisp and dry.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I sheathed my sword and clambered on to the coping. I turned to look
+at the Castle--how quietly it slept, and how brightly burned the
+lights in those two rooms!--and then dropped to the ledge upon the
+further side of the wall.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I had reached the top of the ridge of rock, when a cry rang out into
+the night--a cry, shrill and lonesome, in a woman's voice--a cry
+followed by a great silence. I halted in an agony. 'Twas not fear that
+I felt; 'twas not even pity. The cry spoke of suffering too great for
+pity, and I stood aghast at the sound of it, aghast at the thought
+that my handiwork had begotten it. 'Twas not repeated, however, and I
+tore down the ridge in a frenzy of haste, taking little care where I
+set my hands or my feet. How it was that I did not break my neck I
+have never been able to think.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The village, I remember, was dark and lifeless save just at one house,
+whence came a murmur of voices, and a red beam of light slipped
+through a chink in the shutter and lay like a rillet of blood across
+the snow.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Once clear of the houses. I ran at full speed down the track. At the
+corner of the wood, I stopped and looked upwards before I plunged
+among the trees. The moon had set behind the mountains while I was
+descending the ridge, and the Castle loomed vaguely above me as though
+at that spot the night was denser than elsewhere. 'Twas plain that no
+alarm had been taken, that the cry had not been heard. I understood
+the reason of this afterwards. The two rooms in the tower were
+separated by a great interval from the other bedrooms. But what of the
+Countess, I thought? I pictured her in a swoon upon the corpse of her
+husband.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Within the coppice 'twas so black that I could not see my hand when I
+raised it before me, and I went groping my way by guesswork towards
+the trees to which we had tethered our horses. I dared not call out to
+Larke; I feared even the sound of my footsteps. Every rustle of the
+bushes seemed to betray a spy. In the end I began to fancy that I
+should wander about the coppice until dawn, when close to my elbow
+there rose a low crooning song:</p>
+<div class="poem2">
+<p class="t0">
+Que toutes joies et toutes honneurs<br>
+Viennent d'armes et d'amours.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Jack!&quot; I whispered.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The undergrowth crackled as he crushed it beneath his feet.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Morrice, is that you? Where are you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A groping hand knocked against my arm and tightened on it. I gave a
+groan.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Are you hurt, Morrice? Oh, my God! I thought you would never come!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have heard nothing?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nothing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not a sound? Not--not a cry?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nothing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Quick, then!&quot; said I. &quot;We must be miles away by morning.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He led me to where our horses stood, and we untied them and threaded
+through the trees to the road.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Help me to mount, Jack!&quot; said I.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He pulled a flask from his pocket and held it to my lips. 'Twas neat
+brandy, but I gulped a draught of it as though it were so much water.
+Then he helped me into the saddle and settled my feet in the stirrups.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why, Morrice,&quot; he asked, &quot;what have you done with your spurs?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I left them on the terrace,&quot; said I, remembering. &quot;I left my spurs,
+my pistol, and--and something else. But quick, Jack, quick!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">'Twould have saved me much trouble had I brought that &quot;something else&quot;
+with me, or at least examined it more closely before I left it there.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He swung himself on to the back of his horse, and we set off at a
+canter. But we had not gone twenty yards when I cried, &quot;Stop!&quot; 'Twas
+as though the windows of the Castle sprang at us suddenly out of the
+darkness, each one alive with a tossing glare of links. It seemed to
+me that a hundred angry eyes were searching for me. I drove my heels
+into my horse's flanks and galloped madly down the road in the
+direction of Italy. A quarter of a mile further, and a bend of the
+valley hid the Castle from our sight; but I knew that I should never
+get the face of Countess Lukstein from before my eyes, or the sound of
+her cry out of my ears.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_07" href="#div1Ref_07">I RETURN HOME AND HEAR NEWS OF
+COUNTESS LUKSTEIN.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">From Lukstein we rode hot-foot down the Vintschgau Thal to Meran, and
+thence by easy stages to Verona, in Italy. I had no great fear of
+pursuit or detection after the first day, since the road was much
+frequented by travellers, and neither my spurs, nor my pistol, nor the
+miniature of Julian bore any marks by which Jack or myself could be
+singled out. At Verona an inflammation set up in my wounded shoulder,
+very violent and severe, so that I lay in that town for some weeks
+delirious and at death's door. Indeed, but for Jack's assiduous care
+in nursing me, I must infallibly have lost my life.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At length, however, being somewhat recovered, I was carried southwards
+to Naples, and thence we wandered from town to town through the
+provinces of Italy until, in the year 1686, the fulness of the spring
+renewed my blood and set my fancies in a tide towards home. Jack
+accompanied me to England and took up his abode in my house in
+Cumberland, being persuaded without much difficulty to abandon his
+pretence of studying the law, and to throw in his lot with me for good
+and all.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My estates need a steward,&quot; said I, &quot;and I--God knows I need a
+friend.&quot; And with little more talk the bargain was struck.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">During all this time, however, I had not so much as breathed a word to
+him concerning the doings of that night in Castle Lukstein. At first
+the matter was too hot in my thoughts, and even afterwards, when the
+horror of my memories had dimmed, I could not bring myself to the
+point of speech. Had it not been for the appearance and intervention
+of the Countess, doubtless I should have blurted out the tale long
+before. But with her face ever fixed within my view, I could not
+speak; I could only picture it desolate with grief, and washed with a
+pitiful rain of tears. Moreover, I knew that Jack would account my
+story as the story of a worthy exploit, and I shrank from his praise
+as from a burning iron.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">'Twould have, nevertheless, been strange had not my ravings in my
+delirium disclosed some portion of the night's incidents, and that
+they did so I understood from a certain speech Jack once made me.
+'Twas when I was yet lying sick at Verona. One morning, when I was
+come to my senses after a feverish night, he walked over to my bedside
+from the chair where he had been watching.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have been a common fool,&quot; says he, and repeats the remark, shifting
+a foot to and fro on the floor; and then he claps his hand upon mine.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;God send me such a friend as you, Morrice, if ever trouble comes to
+me!&quot; says he, and so gets him quickly from the room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Often did I wonder how much I had betrayed, but I had reason
+subsequently to believe that 'twas very little; just enough to assure
+him that I had not flinched from the conflict, with probably some
+revelation of the fear in which I engaged upon it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">'Twas in the last days of March that I saw once more the rolling
+slopes of Yewbarrow, streaked here and there with a ribbon of snow,
+and my house at the base of it, its grey tiles shining in the sunset
+like glass; and a homely restfulness settled upon my spirit, and
+looking back upon the last months of purposeless wandering, I resolved
+to pass my days henceforward in a placid ordering of my estate.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This feeling of peace, however, stayed with me no great while, the
+very monotony of a quiet life casting me back upon my troubled
+recollections. As a relief, I sought diversion with Jack's ready
+assistance in the pleasures of the field. Hawking, hunting,
+and climbing--for which somehow my companion never acquired a
+taste--filled out the hours of daylight We chased the fox on foot
+along ridges of the hills; we hunted the red deer in the forests
+about Styhead; we walked miles across fell and valley to watch a
+wrestling-match or attend a fair. In a word, we lived a clean,
+open-air life of wholesome activity.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But alas! 'Twas of little profit to me. I would get me tired to bed
+only to plunge into a whirlpool of unrestful dreams, and toss there
+until the morning. Sometimes it would be the door of the little
+staircase to the Count's bedroom. I would see it opening and opening
+perpetually, and yet never wide open; or again, it would grow gigantic
+in size, and swing back across the world as though it was hinged
+betwixt the poles. Most often, however, it would be Count Lukstein's
+wife. I beheld her now, tall and stately, with her glorious aureole of
+hair and her dark, unseeing eyes eating through me like a slow fire as
+she advanced across the room; now I followed her as she moved through
+the moonlit garden with the taper burning clear and steady in her
+hand. But, however the dream began, 'twould always end the same way.
+The fiery windows of Castle Lukstein would leap upon me out of the
+darkness, and I would wake in a cold sweat, my body a-quiver, and her
+lone cry knelling in my ears.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A strange feature of these nightmare fancies, and a feature that
+greatly perplexed me, was that the Count himself played no part in
+them. Were my dreams the test and touchstone of the truth, I could
+never so much as have set eyes upon him. The encounter, the
+conversation which preceded it, the last cowardly thrust, and the dead
+form huddled up in my arms among the curtains--of these things I had
+not even a hint. They became erased from my memory the moment that I
+fell asleep. Then 'twas always the woman who was pictured to me; in no
+single instance the man. I wondered at this omission the more,
+inasmuch as I frequently thought of Count Lukstein during the
+day-time, remembering with an odd sense of envy the softness of his
+voice when he spoke concerning his wife.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Spent with the double fatigue of the day's exertions and the night's
+phantasmal horrors, I betook myself at length to my library, seeking
+rest, if not forgetfulness, among my old companions. But the delight
+and joy of books had gone out from me, and nowise could I recover it.
+Once the very covers had seemed to me to answer the pressure of my
+fingers with a friendly welcome; now I applied myself straightway to
+the text as to a laborious and uncongenial task. I had looked so
+deeply into a tragic reality that these printed images of life
+appeared false and distorted, like reflections thrown from a convex
+mirror; and I understood how it is that those who act are but seldom
+their own historians, and when they are, content themselves with a
+simple register of deeds. However, I persevered in this course for a
+while, hoping that some time my former zest and liking would return to
+me, and I should taste again the fine flavour of a nicely-ordered
+sentence or of a discriminate sequence of thoughts.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But one May morning, coming into the study shortly after sunrise, I
+sat me down, with my limbs unrefreshed and aching, before the &quot;Religio
+Medici&quot; of the Norwich doctor, and I fell immediately across this
+passage:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have heard some with deep sighs lament the lost lines of Cicero;
+others with as many groans deplore the combustion of the library of
+Alexandria. For my own part, I think there be too many in the world,
+and could with patience behold the urn and ashes of the Vatican, could
+I, with a few others, recover the perished leaves of Solomon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The words chimed so appositely with my thoughts that I resolved there
+and then to put the theory into practice, and closing the book, I made
+a beginning with Sir Thomas Browne. Outside the window the birds piped
+happily from vernal branches; the shadows played hide-and-seek upon
+the grass, and the beck babbled and laughed as it raced down behind
+the house. I locked the door of the library, and taking the key in my
+hand, walked to the side of the beck. At this point the stream spouted
+in a fountain from a cleft of rock, and fell some twelve feet into a
+deep bason. A group of larches overhung the pool, and the sunlight,
+sprinkling between the leaves, dappled the clear green surface with an
+ever-shifting pattern. Into this bason I dropped the key, and watched
+it sink with a sparkling tail of bubbles to the bottom. 'Twas of a
+bright metal, so that I could still see it distinctly as it rested on
+the rock-bed. A large stone lay upon the bank beside me, and with a
+sudden, uncontrollable impulse I stripped off my clothes, picked up
+the stone, and diving into the cool water, set it carefully atop of
+the key. Many months passed before I came again to the pool, and found
+the key still hidden safe beneath the stone; and during those months
+so much that was strange occurred to me, and I wandered along such new
+and devious paths, that when I held it again, all rusty and corroded,
+in my hand, I felt as though it could not have been myself who had
+dropped it there, but some one whose memories had been transmitted to
+me and incorporated in my being by a mysterious alchemy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was on that very afternoon that the letter was brought to me. Jack
+and I were sitting at dinner in the big oak dining-room about four of
+the clock; the great windows were open, and the sunny air streamed in
+laden with fresh perfumes. I can see Jim Ritson now as he rode up the
+drive--'twas part of his duty to meet the mail at the post-town of
+Cockermouth--I can almost hear his voice as he gave in the letter at
+the hall-door. &quot;There's a letter for t' maister,&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Jim is grown to middle age by this time, and owns a comfortable fat
+face and a brood of children. But whenever I pass him in the lanes and
+fields I ever experience a lively awe and respect for him as for the
+accredited messenger of fate.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The letter came from Lord Elmscott and urged me to visit him in town.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Come!&quot; he wrote. &quot;To the dust of Leyden you are superadding the mould
+of Cumberland. Come and brush yourself clean with the contact of wits!
+There is much afoot that should interest you. What with Romish priests
+and English bishops, the town is in ferment. Moreover, a new beauty
+hath come to Court. There is nothing very strange in that. But she is
+a foreigner, and her rivals have as yet discovered no scandal to
+smirch her with. There is something very strange in that. Such a
+miracle is well worth a man's beholding. She hails from the Tyrol and
+is the widow of one Count Lukstein, who was in London last year. She
+wears no mourning for her husband, and hath many suitors. I have of
+late won much money at cards, and so readily forgive you for that you
+were the death of Ph&#339;be.&quot;</p>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">The letter ran on to some considerable length, but I read no more of
+it. Indeed, I understood little of what I had read. The face of
+Countess Lukstein seemed stamped upon the page to the obscuring of the
+inscription. I passed it across to Jack without a word, and he perused
+it silently and tossed it back. All that evening I sat smoking my pipe
+and pondering the proposal. An overmastering desire to see her
+features alive with the changing lights of expression, began to
+possess me. The more I thought, the more ardently I longed to behold
+her. If only I could see her eyes alert and glancing, if only I could
+hear her voice, I might free myself from the picture of the blank,
+impassive mask which she wore in my dreams. That way, I fancied, and
+that way alone, should I find peace.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I shall go,&quot; I said at last, knocking the ashes from my pipe. &quot;I
+shall go to-morrow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You shan't!&quot; cried Jack vehemently, springing up and facing me. &quot;She
+knows you. She has seen you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She has never seen me,&quot; I replied steadily, and he gazed into my face
+with a look of bewilderment which gradually changed into fear.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Are you mad, Morrice?&quot; he asked, in a broken whisper, and took a step
+or two backwards, keeping his eyes fixed upon mine.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay, Jack,&quot; said I; &quot;but unless God helps me, I soon shall be. He may
+be helping me now. I trust so, for this visit alone can save me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She has never seen you?&quot; he repeated. &quot;Swear it! Morrice! Swear it!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I did as he bade me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What brings her to England?&quot; he mused.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What kept us wandering about Italy?&quot; I answered. &quot;The fear to return
+home.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Twill not serve,&quot; said he. &quot;She wears no mourning for her husband.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I wondered at this myself, but could come at no solution, and so got
+me to bed. That night, for the first time since I left Austria, I
+slept dreamlessly. In the morning I was yet more determined to go. I
+felt, indeed, as though I had no power to stay, and, hurrying on my
+servants, I prepared to set out at two of the afternoon. Udal and two
+other of my men I took with me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Morrice,&quot; said Jack, as he stood upon the steps of the porch, &quot;don't
+stay with your cousin! Hire a lodging of your own!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why?&quot; I asked, in surprise.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You talk overmuch in your sleep. Only two nights ago I heard you
+making such an outcry that I feared you would wake the house. I rushed
+into your room. You were crouched up among the bed-curtains at the
+head of the bed and gibbering: 'It will touch her. It flows so fast.
+Oh, my God! My God!'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I made no answer to his words, and he asked again very earnestly:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Countess has never seen you? You are sure?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Quite!&quot; said I firmly, and I shook him by the hand, and so started
+for London.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_08" href="#div1Ref_08">I MAKE A BOW TO COUNTESS LUKSTEIN.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">In London I engaged a commodious lodging on the south side of St.
+James' Park, and with little delay, you may be sure, sought out my
+cousin in Monmouth, or rather Soho, Square--for the name had been
+altered since the execution of the Duke. 'Twas some half an hour after
+noon, and my cousin, but newly out of bed, was breakfasting upon a
+bottle of Burgundy in his nightcap and dressing-gown.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So you have come, Morrice,&quot; said Elmscott languidly. &quot;How do ye? Lord
+Culverton, this is my cousin of whom I have spoken.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He turned towards a little popinjay man who was fluttering about the
+room in a laced coat, and powdered periwig which hung so full about
+his face that it was difficult to distinguish any feature beyond a
+thin, prominent nose.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You should know one another. For if you remember, Morrice, it was
+Culverton you robbed of Ph&#339;be.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ph&#339;be?&quot; simpered Lord Culverton. &quot;I remember no Ph&#339;be. But in
+truth the pretty creatures pester one so impertinently that burn me if
+I don't jumble up their names. What was she like, Mr. Buckler?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She was piebald,&quot; said I gravely, &quot;and needed cudgelling before she
+would walk.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And Morrice killed her,&quot; added Elmscott, with a laugh.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then he did very well to kill her, strike me speechless! But there
+must be some mistake. I have met many women who needed cudgelling
+before they would walk, but never one that was piebald.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Elmscott explained the matter to him, and then, with some timidity, I
+began to inquire concerning the Countess Lukstein.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What! bitten already?&quot; cried my cousin. &quot;Faith, I knew not I had so
+smart a hand for description.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The most rapturous female, pink me!&quot; broke in Lord Culverton. &quot;She is
+but newly come to London, and hath the town at her feet already. Egad!
+I'm half-soused in love myself, split my windpipe!&quot; and he flicked a
+speck of powder from his velvet coat, and carefully arranged the curls
+of his periwig. &quot;The most provoking creature!&quot; he went on. &quot;A widow
+without a widow's on-coming disposition.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ay, but she hath discarded the weeds,&quot; said Elmscott</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She is a widow none the less. And yet breathe but one word of tender
+adoration in her ear, and she strikes you dumb, O Lard! with the most
+supercilious eyebrow. However, time may do much with the obstinate
+dear--time, a tolerable phrase, and a <i>je ne sçay quoi</i> in one's
+person and conversation.&quot; He pointed a skinny leg before the mirror,
+and languished with a ludicrous extravagance at his own reflection.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I had much ado to restrain myself from laughing, the more especially
+when Elmscott cried, with a wink at me:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, if you have entered the lists, the rest of us may creep out with
+as little ignominy as we can. They say that every pretty woman has a
+devil at her elbow, and 'tis most true, so long as Culverton lives.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You flatter me! A devil, indeed! You flatter me,&quot; replied the fop,
+skipping with delight. &quot;You positively flatter me. The ladies use
+me--no more. I am only their humble servant in general, and the
+Countess Lukstein's in particular.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The remark had more truth in it than Culverton would have cared for us
+to believe. For the Countess did in very truth use this gossipy
+tittle-tattler, and with no more consideration than she showed to the
+humblest of her servants. However, he was born for naught else but to
+fetch and carry, and since he delighted in the work, 'twas common
+kindness to employ him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then we'll drink a health to your success,&quot; says Elmscott, pouring
+out three glasses of his Burgundy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I never drink in the morning,&quot; objected Culverton. &quot;'Tis a most
+villainous habit, and ruins the complexion irretrievably, stap my
+vitals!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">However, I was less squeamish on the subject of mine, and draining the
+glass, I asked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Is she come to London alone?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She hath a companion, a very faded, nauseous person: a Frenchwoman,
+Mademoiselle Durette. She serves as a foil;&quot; and Culverton launched
+forth into an affected estimation of Countess Lukstein's charms. Her
+eyes dethroned the planets, the brightness of her hair shamed the
+sunlight; for her mouth, 'twas a Cupid's bow that shot a deadly arrow
+with every word. When she danced, her foot was a snow-flake upon the
+floor, and the glint of the buckle on her instep, a flame threatening
+to melt it; when she played upon the harp, her fingers were the ivory
+plectrums of the ancients.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You make me curious,&quot; I interrupted him, &quot;to become acquainted with
+the lady.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then let me present you!&quot; said he eagerly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You see, Morrice,&quot; said Elmscott, &quot;he has such solid grounds for
+confidence that he has no fear of rivals.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay, the truth is, she has a passion for fresh faces.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Indeed!&quot; said I.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, most extraordinary! A veritable passion, and no one so graciously
+received as he who brings a stranger to her side. For that reason,&quot; he
+added naïvely, &quot;I would fain present you;&quot; and then he suddenly
+stopped and surveyed me, shaking his head doubtfully the while.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But Lard! Mr. Buckler,&quot; he said, &quot;you must first get some new
+clothes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The clothes are good enough,&quot; I laughed, for I was dressed in my best
+suit, and though 'twas something more modest than my Lord Culverton's
+attire, I was none the less pleased with it on that account.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Rabbit me, but I daren't!&quot; he said. &quot;I daren't introduce you in that
+suit. I daren't, indeed! My character would never survive the
+imputation, strike me purple if it would! 'Tis a very yeoman's habit,
+and reeks of the country. I can smell onions and all sorts of horrible
+things, burn me!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will run the risk, Morrice,&quot; interposed Elmscott. &quot;Dine with me
+to-day at Lockett's, and I will take you to the Countess' lodging in
+Pall Mall afterwards. But Culverton's right. You do look like a
+Quaker, and that's the truth.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">However, I paid little attention to what they said or thought
+concerning my appearance. The knowledge that I was to meet Countess
+Lukstein and have speech with her no later than that very evening,
+engendered within me an indescribable excitement. I got free from my
+companions as speedily as I could, and passed the hours till
+dinnertime in a vague expectancy; though what it was that I expected,
+I could not have told even to myself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">About seven of the clock we repaired to her apartments. The rooms were
+already filled with a gay crowd of ladies and gentlemen dressed in the
+extreme of fashion, and at first I could get no glimpse of the
+Countess. But I looked towards the spot where the throng was thickest,
+and the tripping noise of pleasantries most loud, and then I saw her.
+Elmscott advanced; I followed close upon his heels, the circle opened,
+magically it seemed to me, and I stood face to face with her at last.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Yet for all that I was prepared for it, now that I beheld her but six
+steps from me, now that I looked straight into her eyes, a strange
+sense of unreality stole over me, dimming my brain like a mist; so
+incredible did it appear to me that we who had met before in such a
+tragic conjunction in that far-away nook of the Tyrol, should now be
+presented each to the other like the merest strangers, amidst the
+brightness and gaiety of London town. I almost expected the candles to
+go out, and the company to dissolve into air. I almost began to dread
+that I should wake up in a moment to find myself in the dark, crouched
+up upon my bed in Cumberland. So powerfully did this fear possess me
+that I was on the point of crying aloud, &quot;Speak! speak!&quot; when Elmscott
+took me by the arm.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame,&quot; said he, &quot;I have taken the liberty of bringing hither my
+cousin, Mr. Morrice Buckler, who is anxious--as who is not?--for the
+honour of your acquaintance.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is no liberty,&quot; she replied graciously, in a voice that was
+exquisitely sweet, and she let her eyes fall upon my face with a quick
+and watchful scrutiny.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The next instant, however, the alertness died out of them.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Mr. Buckler is very welcome,&quot; she said quietly, and it struck me that
+there was some hint of disappointment in her tone, and maybe a touch
+of weariness. If, indeed, what Culverton had said was true, and she
+had a passion for fresh faces, 'twas evident that mine was to be
+exempted from the rule.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It might have been the expression of her indifference, or perchance
+the mere sound of her voice broke the spell upon me, but all at once I
+became sensible to the full of my sober, sad-coloured clothes. I
+looked about me. Coats and dresses brilliant with gold and brocade
+mingled their colours in a flashing rainbow, jewels sparkled and
+winked as they caught the light, and I felt that every eye in this
+circle of elegant courtiers was fixed disdainfully upon the awkward
+intruder.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I faltered through a compliment, conscious the while that I had done
+better to have held my tongue. I heard a titter behind me, and here
+and there some fine lady or gentleman held a quizzing-glass to the
+eye, as though I was some strange natural from over-seas. All the
+blood in my body seemed to run tingling into my face. I half turned to
+flee away and take to my heels, but a second glance at the sneering
+countenances around me stung my pride into wakefulness, and resolving
+to put the best face on the matter I could, I attempted a sweeping
+bow. Whether my foot slipped, whether some one tripped me purposely
+with a sword, I know not--I was too flustered to think at the time or
+to remember afterwards--but whatever the cause, I found myself plumped
+down upon my knees before her, with the titter changed into an open
+laugh.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hush!&quot; lisped one of the bystanders, &quot;don't disturb the gentleman; he
+is saying his prayers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I rose to my feet in the greatest confusion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame,&quot; I stammered, &quot;I come to my knees no earlier than the rest of
+your acquaintance. Only being country-bred, I do it with the less
+discretion.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She laughed with a charming friendliness which lifted me somewhat out
+of my humiliation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The adroitness of the recovery, Mr. Buckler,&quot; she said, &quot;more than
+atones for the maladresse of the attack.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay,&quot; I protested, with what may well have appeared excessive
+earnestness, &quot;the simile does me some injustice, for it hints of an
+antagonism betwixt you and me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She glanced at me with some surprise and more amusement in her eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Are not all men a woman's antagonists?&quot; she said lightly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But to me it seemed an ill-omened beginning. There was something too
+apposite in her chance phrase. I remembered, besides, that I had
+stumbled to the ground in much the same way before her husband, and I
+bethought me what had come of the slip.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">'Twas but for a little, however, that these gloomy forebodings
+possessed me, and I retired to the outer edge of the throng, whence I
+could observe her motions and gestures undisturbed. And with a growing
+contentment I perceived that ever and again her eyes would stray
+towards me, and she would drop some question into Elmscott's ear.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Countess wore, I remember, a gown of purple velvet fronted with
+yellow satin, which to my eyes hung a trifle heavily upon her young
+figure and so emphasized its slenderness, imparting even to her neck
+and head a certain graceful fragility. The rich colour of her hair was
+hidden beneath a mask of powder after the fashion, and below it her
+face shone pale, pale indeed as when I saw her last, but with a
+wonderful clarity and pureness of complexion, so that as she spoke the
+blood came and went very prettily about her cheeks and temples. The
+two attributes, however, which I noted with the greatest admiration
+were her eyes and voice. For it seemed to me well-nigh beyond belief
+that the eyes which I now saw flashing with so lively a fire were the
+same which had stared vacantly into mine at Lukstein Castle, and that
+the voice which I now heard musical with all the notes of laughter was
+that which had sent the shrill, awful scream tearing the night.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After a while the company sat down to basset and quadrille, and I was
+left standing disconsolately by myself. I looked around for Elmscott,
+being minded to depart, when her voice sounded at my elbow, and I
+forgot all but the sweetness of it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Mr. Buckler,&quot; she asked, &quot;you do not play?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No,&quot; I replied. &quot;I have seen but little of either cards or dice, and
+that little has given me no liking for them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then I will make bold to claim your services, for the room is hot,
+and my ears, perchance, a little tired.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">'Twas with no small pride, you may be sure, that I gave my arm to the
+Countess; only I could have wished that she had laid her hand less
+delicately upon my sleeve. Indeed, I should hardly have known that it
+rested there at all had I not felt its touch more surely on the
+strings of my heart.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We went into a smaller apartment at the end of the room, which was
+dimly lit, and very cool and peaceful. The window stood open and
+showed a little balcony with a couch. The Countess seated herself upon
+it with a sigh of relief, and leaning forward, plucked a sprig of
+flowers which grew in a pot at her side.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I love these flowers,&quot; said she, holding the spray towards me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">'Twas the blue flower of the aconite plant, and I answered:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;They remind you of your home.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then you know the Tyrol, and have travelled there.&quot; She turned to me
+with a lively interest.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I learnt that much of botany at school.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There should be a fellow-feeling between us, Mr. Buckler,&quot; she said
+after a pause; &quot;for we are both strangers to London, waifs thrown
+together for an hour.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But there is a world of difference, for you might have lived amongst
+these gallants all your days, while I, alas! have no skill even to
+hide my awkwardness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay, no excuses, for I like you the better for the lack of that
+skill.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame,&quot; I began, &quot;such words from you----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She turned to me with a whimsical entreaty.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Prithee, no! To tell the honest truth, I am surfeited with
+compliments, and 'twould give me a great pleasure if during these few
+minutes we are together you would style me neither nymph, divinity,
+nor angel, but would treat me as just a woman. The fashion, indeed, is
+not worth copying, the more especially when, to quote your own phrase,
+one copies it without discretion.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She laughed pleasantly as she spake, and the words conveyed not so
+much a rebuke as the amiable raillery of an intimate.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Tis true,&quot; I replied, &quot;I do envy these townsmen. I envy them their
+grace of bearing and the nimbleness of their wits, which ever reminds
+me of the sparkle in a bottle of Rhenish wine.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She shook her head, and made room for me by her side.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The bottle has stood open for me these two months since, and I begin
+to find the wine is very flat.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She dropped her voice at the end of the sentence, and leaned wearily
+back upon the cushions.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You see, Mr. Buckler,&quot; she explained, &quot;I live amongst the hills,&quot; and
+there was a certain wistfulness in her tone as of one home-sick.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then there is a second bond between us, for I live amongst the hills
+as well.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is that,&quot; said she, &quot;which makes us friends,&quot; and just for a
+second she laid a hand upon my sleeve. It seemed to me that no man
+ever heard sweeter words or more sweetly spoken from the lips of
+woman.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But since you are here,&quot; I questioned eagerly, &quot;you will stay--you
+will stay for a little?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know not,&quot; she replied, smiling at my urgency; and then with a
+certain sadness, &quot;some day I shall go back, I hope, but when, I know
+not. It might be in a week, it might be in a year, it might be never.&quot;
+Of a sudden she gave a low cry of pain. &quot;I daren't go home,&quot; she
+cried, &quot;I daren't until--until----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Until you have forgotten.&quot; The words were on the tip of my tongue,
+but I caught them back in time, and for a while we sat silent. The
+Countess appeared to grow all unconscious of my presence, and gazed
+steadily down the quiet street as though it stretched beyond and
+beyond in an avenue of leagues, and she could see waving at the end of
+it the cedars and pine-trees of her Tyrol.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Nor was I in any hurry to arouse her. A noisy rattle of voices
+streamed out on a flood of yellow light from the further windows on my
+left, and here she and I were alone in the starlit dusk of a summer
+night. Her very silence was sweet to me with the subtlest of
+flatteries. For I looked upon it as the recognition of a tie of
+sympathy which raised me from the general throng of her courtiers into
+the narrow circle of her friends.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">So I sat and watched her. The pure profile of her face was outlined
+against the night, the perfume of her hair stole into my nostrils, and
+every now and then her warm breath played upon my cheek. A fold of her
+train had fallen across my ankle, and the soft touch of the velvet
+thrilled me like a caress; I dared not move a muscle for fear lest I
+should displace it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At length she spoke again--'twas almost in a whisper.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have told you more about myself than I have told to any one since I
+came to England. It is your turn now. Tell me where lies your home!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In the north. In Cumberland.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In--in Cumberland,&quot; she repeated, with a little catch of her breath.
+&quot;You have lived there long?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Twas the home of my fathers, and I spent my boyhood there. But
+between that time and this year's spring I have been a stranger to the
+countryside. For I was first for some years at Oxford, and thence I
+went to Leyden.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She rose abruptly from the couch, drawing her train clear of me with
+her hand, and leaned over the balcony, resting her elbow on its
+baluster, and propping her chin upon the palm of her hand.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Leyden!&quot; she said carelessly. &quot;'Tis a town of great beauty, they tell
+me, and much visited by English students.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There were but few English students there during the months of my
+residence,&quot; said I. &quot;I could have wished there had been more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A second period of silence interrupted our talk, and I sat wondering
+over that catch in her breath and the tremor of her voice when she
+repeated &quot;Cumberland.&quot; Was it possible, I asked myself, that she could
+have learnt of Sir Julian Harnwood and of his quarrel with her
+husband? If she did know, and if she attributed the duel in which her
+husband fell to a result of it, why, then--Cumberland was Julian's
+county, and the name might well strike with some pain upon her
+hearing. But who could have informed her? Not the Count, surely; 'twas
+hardly a matter of which a man could boast to his wife. I remembered,
+besides, that he had asked me to speak English, and to speak it low.
+There could have been but one motive for the request--a desire to keep
+the subject of our conversation a secret from the Countess.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I glanced towards her. Without changing her attitude she had turned
+her head sideways upon her palm, and was quietly looking me over from
+head to foot. Then she rose erect, and with a frank and winning smile,
+she said, as if in explanation:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I was seeking to discover, Mr. Buckler, what it was in you that had
+beguiled me to forget the rest of my guests. However, if I have shown
+them but scant courtesy, I shall bid them reproach you, not me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Prithee, madame, no! Have some pity on me! The statement would get me
+a thousand deadly enemies.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hush!&quot; said she, with a playful menace. &quot;You go perilous near to a
+compliment;&quot; and we went back into the glare and noise of the
+drawing-room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, Ilga! I have missed you this half-hour.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">'Twas a little woman of, I should say, forty years who bustled up to
+us on our entrance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You see?&quot; said the Countess, turning to me with a whimsical reproach.
+&quot;You must blame Mr. Buckler, Clemence, and I will make you acquainted
+that you may have the occasion.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She presented me thus to Mademoiselle Durette, and left us together.
+But I fear the good woman must have found me the poorest company, for
+I paid little heed to what she said, and carried away no recollection
+beyond that her chatter wearied me intolerably, and that once or twice
+I caught the word &quot;convenances,&quot; whence I gather she was reading me a
+lecture.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I got rid of her as soon as I decently could, and took my leave of the
+Countess. She gave me her hand, and I bent over and kissed it. 'Twas
+only the glove I kissed, but the hand was within the glove, as I had
+reason to know, for I felt it tremble within my fingers and then tug
+quickly away.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;One compliment I will allow you to pay me,&quot; she said, &quot;and that is a
+renewal of your visit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame permits,&quot; I exclaimed joyfully.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame will be much beholden to you,&quot; says she, and drops me a
+mocking curtsey.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I walked down the staircase in a prodigious elation. Six steps from
+the floor of the hall it made a curve, and as I turned at the angle I
+stopped dead of a sudden with my heart leaping within my breast. For
+at the foot of the stairs, and looking at me now straight in the face,
+as he had looked at me in the archway of Bristol Bridewell, I saw Otto
+Krax, the servant of Count Lukstein. The unexpected sight of his
+massive figure came upon me like a blow. I had forgotten him
+completely. I staggered back into the angle of the wall. He must know
+me, I thought. He <i>must</i> know me. But he gazed with no more than the
+stolid attention of a lackey. There was not a trace of recognition in
+his face, not a start of his muscles; and then I remembered the
+difference in my garb. 'Twould have been strange indeed if he had
+known me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I recovered my composure, drew a long breath of relief, and was about
+to step down to him when I happened to glance up the stairway.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Countess herself was leaning over the rail at its head, with the
+light from the hall-lamp below streaming up into her face. I had not
+heard her come out on the landing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I knew not whether Otto Krax was there to let you out&quot; She smiled at
+me. &quot;Good night!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Good night,&quot; said I, and looking at Otto, I understood whence she
+might have got some knowledge of Sir Julian Harnwood.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Once outside, I stood for a while loitering in front of the house, and
+wondering how much 'twould cost to buy it up. For I believed that it
+would be a degradation should any other woman lodge in those same
+rooms afterwards.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In a few minutes Elmscott came out to me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have seen the Countess Lukstein before?&quot; he asked, and the words
+fairly startled me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What in Heaven's name makes you think that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I fancied I read it in your looks. Your eyes went straight to her
+before ever I presented you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That proves no more than the merit of your description.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, did I exaggerate? What think you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I drew a long breath. 'Twas the only description I could give. There
+were no words in the language equal to my thoughts.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That will suffice,&quot; said Elmscott, and he turned away.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;One moment,&quot; I cried. &quot;I need a service of you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He burst out into a laugh.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A thousand pounds to a guinea I know the service. 'Tis the address of
+my tailor you need. I saw you looking down at your clothes as though
+the wearing of them sullied you. Very well, one of my servants shall
+be with you in the morning with a complete list of my tradesmen.&quot; And
+he swung off in the direction of Piccadilly, laughing as he went,
+while I, filled with all sorts of romantical notions, walked back to
+my lodging. Though, indeed, to say that I walked, falls somewhat short
+of the truth; to speak by the book, I fairly scampered, and arrived
+breathless at my doorstep.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">My servants had unpacked my baggage, and with a momentary pang of
+misgiving, I observed, lying on the table, my ill-omened copy of
+Horace.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How comes this here?&quot; I inquired sharply of Udal, taking the book in
+my hands.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It opened at once at the diagram, and the date upon the leaf opposite.
+So often had this outline been scanned and examined that the merest
+fingering of the cover served to make the book fall open at this
+particular page. I doubt, indeed, whether it had been possible to lift
+or move the volume at all without noticing the diagram.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Udal told me that Jack himself had placed the book in my trunk. He
+intended it as a hint for my conduct, I made certain, and, newly come
+as I was from the presence of Countess Lukstein, I felt no gratitude
+for his interference. I tossed the book on to a side-table by the
+chimney, where it lay henceforward forgotten, and proceeded to light
+my pipe.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">'Twas late when I mounted to my bedroom. The moon was in its last
+quarter, and the park which my window overlooked lay very fair and
+quiet in the soft light. What nonsense does a man con over and ponder
+at such times! Yet 'tis very pleasant nonsense, and though it keeps
+him out of bed o' nights, he may yet draw good from it--ay, and more
+good than from quartos of philosophy.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_09" href="#div1Ref_09">I RENEW AN ACQUAINTANCESHIP.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">The next morning, and while I was still in bed drinking a cup of
+chocolate, came Elmscott's servant to me, and under his guidance I set
+forth to purchase such apparel as would enable me to cut a more
+passable figure in the eyes of Countess Lukstein. Seldom, I think, had
+the shopkeepers a customer so nice and difficult to please. Here the
+wares were too plain and insignificant; there too gaudy and
+pretentious, for while I was resolved to go no longer dressed like a
+Quaker, I was in no way minded to ape the extravagance of my lord
+Culverton. At last I determined upon a dozen suits, rich but of a
+sober colour, and being measured for them, went from the tailor's to
+the hosier's, shoemaker's, lace-merchant's, and I know not what other
+tradesmen. Muslin jabots, Holland shirts, ruffles of Mechlin and point
+de Venise, silk stockings, shoes with high red heels, which I needed
+particularly, for I was of no great stature, laced gloves--I bought
+enough, in truth, to make fine gentlemen of a company of soldiers.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Needless to say, when once my purchases were delivered at my lodging,
+I let no long time slip by before I repeated my visit to the house in
+Pall Mall. The Countess welcomed me with the same kindliness, so that
+I returned again and again. She distinguished me besides by displaying
+an especial interest not merely in my present comings and goings, but
+in the past history of my uneventful days. Surely there is no flattery
+in the world so potent and bewitching as the questions which a woman
+puts to a man concerning those years of his life which were spent
+before their paths had crossed. And if the history be dull as mine
+was, a trivial, homely record of common acts and thoughts, why, then
+the flattery is doubled. I know that it intoxicated me like a heady
+wine, and I almost dared to hope that she grudged the time during
+which we had been strangers.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Her bearing, indeed, towards me struck me as little short of
+wonderful, for I observed that she evinced to the rest of her
+courtiers and friends a certain pride and stateliness which, while it
+sat gracefully upon her, tempered her courtesy with an unmistakable
+reserve.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The summer was now at its height, and the Countess--or Ilga, as I had
+come to style her in my thoughts--would be ever planning some new
+excursion. One day it would be a water-party to view the orangery and
+myrtelum of Sir Henry Capel at Kew; on another we would visit the new
+camp at Hounslow, which in truth, with its mountebanks and booths,
+resembled more nearly a country fair than a garrison of armed men; or
+again on a third we would attend a coursing match in the fields behind
+Montague House. In short, seldom a day passed but I saw her and had
+talk with her; and if it was but for five minutes, well, the remaining
+hours went by to the lilt of her voice like songs to the sweet
+accompaniment of a viol.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">One afternoon Elmscott walked down to my lodging, and carried me with
+him to see a famous comedy by Mr. Farquhar which was that day repeated
+by the Duke's players. The second act was begun by the time we got to
+the theatre, and the house, in spite of the heat, very crowded. For
+awhile I watched with some interest the packed company in the pit, the
+orange-girls hawking their baskets amongst them, the masked women in
+the upper boxes and the crowd of bloods upon the stage, who were
+continually shifting their positions, bowing to ladies in the
+side-boxes, ogling the actresses, and airing their persons and dress
+to the great detriment of the spectacle. Amongst these latter
+gentlemen I observed Lord Culverton combing the curls of his periwig
+with a little ivory comb so that a white cloud of powder hung about
+his head, and I was wondering how long his neighbours would put up
+with his impertinence when Elmscott, who was standing beside me, gave
+a start.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So he has come back,&quot; said he. I followed the direction of his gaze,
+and looked across the theatre. The Countess Lukstein and Mademoiselle
+Durette had just entered one of the lower boxes; behind them in the
+shadow was the figure of a man.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who is it?&quot; I asked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;An acquaintance of yours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The man came forward as Elmscott spoke to the front of the box, and
+seated himself by the side of Ilga. He was young, with a white face
+and very deep-set eyes, and though his appearance was in some measure
+familiar to me, I could neither remember his name nor the occasion of
+our meeting.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have forgotten that night at the H. P.?&quot; asked Elmscott.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In a flash I recollected.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is Marston,&quot; I said, and then after a pause: &quot;And he knows the
+Countess!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As well as you do; maybe better.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then how comes it I have never seen him with her before?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He left London conveniently before you came hither. We all thought
+that he had received his dismissal. It rather looks as if we were out
+of our reckoning, eh?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marston and the Countess were engaged in some absorbing talk with
+their heads very close together, and a sharp pang of jealousy shot
+through me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Tis strange that she has never mentioned his name,&quot; I stammered.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not so strange now that Hugh Marston has returned. Had he been no
+more than the discarded suitor we imagined him, then yes--you might
+expect her to boast to you of his devotion. 'Tis a way women have. But
+it seems rather that you are rivals.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Rivals! The word was like a white light flashed upon my memories. I
+recalled Marston's half-forgotten prophecy. Was this the contest, I
+wondered, which he had foretold in the chill dawn at the tavern? Were
+we to come to grips with Ilga for the victor's prize? On the heels of
+the thought a swift fear slipped through my veins like ice. He had
+foretold more than the struggle; he had forecast its outcome and
+result.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was, I think, at this moment that I first understood all that the
+Countess Lukstein meant to me. I leaned forward over the edge of the
+box, and set my eyes upon her face. I noted little of its young
+beauty, little of its wonderful purity of outline; but I seemed to see
+more clearly than ever before the woman that lurked behind it, and I
+felt a new strength, a new courage, a new life, flow out from her to
+me, and lift my heart. My very sinews braced and tightened about my
+limbs. If Marston and I were to fight for Ilga, it should be hand to
+hand, and foot to foot, in the deadliest determination.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Meanwhile she still spoke earnestly with her companion. Of a sudden,
+however, she raised her eyes from him, and glanced across towards us.
+I was still leaning forward, a conspicuous mark, and I saw her face
+change. She gave an abrupt start of surprise; there appeared to me
+something of uneasiness in the movement She looked apprehensively at
+Marston, and back again at me; then she turned away from him, and sat
+with downcast head plucking with nervous fingers at the fan which lay
+on the ledge before her, and shooting furtive glances in our
+direction.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Elmscott, for some reason, began to chuckle.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let us make our compliments to the Countess!&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We walked round the circle of the theatre. At the door of the box I
+stopped him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Marston heard nothing from you of my journey to Sir Julian Harnwood?&quot;
+I asked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not a word! He knows you were travelling to Bristol; so much you said
+yourself. But for my part, I have never breathed a word of the matter
+to a living soul.&quot; And we went in. The Countess held out her hand to
+me with a conscious timidity.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are not angered?&quot; she said, in a low voice.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The mere thought that she should take such heed of what I might feel,
+made my pulses leap with joy. She seemed to recognise, as I should
+never have dared to do myself, that I had a right to be jealous, and
+her words almost granted me a claim upon her conduct. For answer I
+bent over her hand and kissed it, and behind me again I heard Elmscott
+chuckling.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Hugh Marston had risen from his chair as we entered, and stood looking
+at me curiously.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have not met Mr. Marston,&quot; she said. &quot;I must make my two best
+friends acquainted.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I would that she had omitted that word &quot;best,&quot; the more especially
+since she laid some emphasis upon it. It undid some portion of her
+previous work, and set us both upon a level in her estimation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We have met before,&quot; said Marston, and he bowed coldly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Indeed? I had not heard of that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marston recounted to her the story of the gambling-match, but she
+listened with no apparent attention, fixing her eyes upon the stage.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I fancied, Mr. Buckler, you had no taste for cards or dice,&quot; she said
+carelessly, when he had done.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Mr. Buckler in truth only stayed there on compulsion,&quot; replied
+Marston. &quot;He came from Leyden in a great fluster without any money in
+his pockets, and so must needs wait upon his cousin's pleasure before
+he could borrow a horse to help him on his way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I threw a glance of appeal towards Elmscott, and he broke in quickly:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Twas Lord Culverton lent him the horse, after all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But the next moment the Countess herself, to my great relief, brought
+the conversation to an end.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Gentlemen, gentlemen!&quot; she said abruptly, with a show of impatience.
+&quot;I fear me I am as yet so far out of the fashion as to feel some
+slight interest in the unravelling of the play, and I find it
+difficult to catch what the players say.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After that there was no more to be said, and we sat watching the stage
+with what amusement we might, or conversing in the discreetest of
+whispers. For my part I remembered that Ilga had shown no great
+interest in the comedy while she was alone with Marston, and I began
+to wonder whether our intrusion had angered her. It was impossible for
+me to see her face, since she held up a hand on the side next to me
+and so screened her cheek.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Suddenly, however, she cried:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, there's Lord Culverton!&quot; and she bowed to him with marked
+affability.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Now Culverton had ranged himself in full view with an eye ever turned
+upon our box, so that it seemed somewhat strange she had not observed
+him till now. He swept the boards with his hat, and looking about the
+theatre, his face one gratified smirk, as who should say, &quot;'Tis an
+every-day affair with me,&quot; immediately left his station, and
+disappearing behind the scenery, made his way into the box. The
+Countess received him graciously, and kept him behind her chair,
+asking many questions concerning the players, and laughing heartily at
+the pleasantries and innuendos with which he described them. It seemed
+to me, however, that there was more scandal than wit in his anecdotes,
+and, marvelling that she should take delight in them, I turned away
+and let my eyes wander idly about the boxes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When I glanced again at my companions I perceived that though
+Culverton was still chattering in Countess Lukstein's ear, her gaze
+was bent upon me with the same scrutiny which I had noticed on the
+evening that we sat together in her balcony. It was as though she was
+taking curious stock of my person and weighing me in some balance of
+her thoughts. I fancied that she was contrasting me with Marston, and
+gained some confirmation of the fancy in that she coloured slightly,
+and said hastily, with a nod at the stage:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What think you of the sentiment, Mr. Buckler?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame,&quot; I replied, &quot;for once I am in the fashion, for I gave no heed
+to it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I had been, in truth, thinking of her lucky intervention in Marston's
+narrative, for by her impatience she had prevented him from telling
+either the date of the gambling-match or the name of the town which I
+was in such great hurry to reach. Not that I had any solid reason to
+fear she would discover me on that account, for many a man might have
+ridden from London to Bristol at the time of the assizes and had
+naught to do with Sir Julian Harnwood. But I had so begun to dread the
+possibility of her aversion and hatred, that my imagination found a
+motive to suspicion lurking in the simplest of remarks.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Twas that a man would venture more for his friend than for his
+mistress,&quot; she explained. &quot;What think you of it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why, that the worthy author has never been in love.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You believe that?&quot; she laughed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Twixt friend and friend a man's first thought is of himself. Shame
+on us that it should be so; but, alas! my own experience has proved
+it. It needs, I fear me, a woman's fingers to tune him to the true
+note of sacrifice.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And has your own experience proved that too?&quot; she asked with some
+hesitation, looking down on the ground, and twisting a foot to and fro
+upon its heel.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not so,&quot; I answered in a meaning whisper. &quot;I wait for the woman's
+fingers and the occasion of the sacrifice.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She shot a shy glance sideways at me, and, as though by accident, her
+hand fell lightly upon mine. I believed, indeed, that 'twas no more
+than an accident until she said quietly: &quot;The occasion may come, too.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She rose from her chair.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The play begins to weary me,&quot; she continued aloud. &quot;Besides, Mr.
+Buckler convinces me the playwright has never been in love, and 'tis
+an unpardonable fault in an author.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marston and myself started forward to escort her to her carriage. The
+Countess looked from one to the other of us as though in doubt, and we
+stood glaring across her. Elmscott commenced to chuckle again in a way
+that was indescribably irritating and silly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If Lord Culverton will honour me,&quot; suggested the Countess.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The little man was overwhelmed with the favour accorded to him, and
+with a peacock air of triumph led her from the box.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tis a monkey, a damned monkey!&quot; said Marston, looking after him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The phrase seemed to me a very accurate description of the fop, and I
+assented to it with great cordiality. For a little Marston sat
+sullenly watching the play, and then picking up his hat and cloak,
+departed without a word. His precipitate retreat only made my cousin
+laugh the more heartily; but I chose to make no remark upon this
+merriment, believing that Elmscott indulged it chiefly to provoke me
+to question him. I knew full well the sort of gibe that was burning on
+his tongue, and presently imitating Marston's example, I left him to
+amuse himself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the portico of the theatre Marston was waiting. A thick fog had
+fallen with the evening, and snatching a torch from one of the
+link-boys who stood gathered within the light of the entrance, he
+beckoned to me to follow him, and stepped quickly across the square
+into a deserted alley. There he waited for me to come up with him,
+holding the torch above his head so that the brown glare of the flame
+was reflected in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So,&quot; he said, &quot;luck sets us on opposite sides of the table again, Mr.
+Buckler. But the game has not begun. You have still time to draw
+back.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For the moment his words and vehement manner fairly staggered me. I
+had not expected from him so frank an avowal of rivalry.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The stakes are high,&quot; he went on, pressing his advantage, &quot;and call
+for a player of more experience than you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;None the less,&quot; said I, meeting his gaze squarely, &quot;I play my hand.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Instantly his manner changed. He looked at me silently for a second,
+and then with a calmness which intimidated me far more than his
+passion:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Are you wise? Are you wise?&quot; he asked slowly. &quot;Think! What will the
+loser keep?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What will the winner gain?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We stood measuring each other for the space of a minute in the flare
+of the torch. Then he dropped it on the ground, and stamped out the
+sparks with his heel. 'Twas too dark for me to see his face, but I
+heard his voice at my elbow very smooth and soft, and I knew that he
+was stooping by my side.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You will find this the very worst day's work,&quot; he said, &quot;to which
+ever you set your hand;&quot; and I heard his footsteps ring hollow down
+the street. He had certainly won the first trick in the game, for he
+left me to pay the link-boy.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_10" href="#div1Ref_10">DOUBTS, PERPLEXITIES, AND A COMPROMISE.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">Two days later the Countess paid her first visit to my lodging. I had
+looked forward to the moment with a great longing, deeming that her
+presence would in a measure consecrate the rooms, and that the memory
+of what she did and said would linger about them afterwards like a
+soft and tender light.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We had journeyed that morning in a party to view the Italian
+Glass-house at Greenwich, and dining at a hostelry in the
+neighbourhood, had returned by water. We disembarked at Westminster
+steps, and I induced the company to favour me with their presence and
+drink a dish of bohea in my apartment.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Now the sitting-rooms which I occupied were two in number and opened
+upon each other, the first, which was the larger, lying along the
+front of the house, and the second, an inner chamber, giving upon a
+little garden at the back. Ilga, I noticed, wandered from one room to
+the other, examining my possessions with an indefatigable curiosity.
+For, said she:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is only by such means that one discovers the true nature of one's
+friends. Conversation is but the pretty scabbard that hides the sword.
+The blade may be lath for all that we can tell.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You distrust your friends so much?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Have I no reason to?&quot; she exclaimed, suddenly bending her eyes upon
+me, and she paused in expectation of an answer. &quot;But I forgot; you
+know nothing of my history.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I turned away, for I felt the blood rushing to my face.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I would fain hear you tell it me,&quot; I managed to stammer out.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Some time I will,&quot; she replied quietly, &quot;but not to-day; the time is
+inopportune. For it is brimful of sorrow, and the telling of it will,
+I trust, sadden you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The strangeness of the words, and a passionate tension in her voice,
+filled me with uneasiness, and I wheeled sharply round.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For I take you for my friend,&quot; she explained softly, &quot;and so count on
+your sympathy. Yet, after all, can I count on it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I protested with some confusion that she could count on far more than
+my sympathies.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It may be,&quot; she replied. &quot;But I believe, Mr. Buckler, the whole story
+of woman might be written in one phrase. 'Tis the continual mistaking
+of lath for steel.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And never steel for lath?&quot; I asked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At times, no doubt,&quot; she answered, recovering herself with an easy
+laugh. &quot;But we only find that error out when the steel cuts us. So
+either way are we unfortunate. Therefore, I will e'en pursue my
+inquiries,&quot; and she stepped off into the inner room, whither presently
+I went to join her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, what have you discovered?&quot; I asked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nothing,&quot; she replied, with a plaintive shake of the head. &quot;You
+disappoint me sorely, Mr. Buckler. A student from the University of
+Leyden should line his walls with volumes and folios, and I have found
+but one book of Latin poems in that room, and not so much as a
+pamphlet in this.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I started. The book of poems could be no other than my copy of Horace,
+and it contained the plan of Lukstein Castle. I reflected, however,
+that the plan was a mere diagram of lines, without even a letter to
+explain it, and with only a cross at the point of ascent. The
+Countess, moreover, had spoken in all levity; her tone betrayed no
+hint of an afterthought.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A small package fastened with string lay on the table before her, and
+beside of it a letter in Elmscott's handwriting. She picked up the
+package.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And what new purchase is this?&quot; she asked, with a smile.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know nothing of it. It is no purchase, and I gather from the
+inscription of the letter it comes from my cousin.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I shall open it,&quot; said she, &quot;and you must blame my sex for its
+inquisitiveness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame,&quot; I replied, &quot;the inquisitiveness implies an interest in the
+object of it, and so pays me a compliment.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tis the sweetest way of condoning a fault that ever I met with,&quot; she
+laughed, and dropped me a sweeping curtsey.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I broke the seal of Elmscott's letter while she untied the parcel.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Marston's conversation at the theatre,&quot; he wrote, &quot;reminded me of
+these buckles. They belong of right to you, and since it seems your
+turn has come to need luck's services, I send them gladly in the hope
+that they may repeat their office on your behalf.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The parcel contained a shagreen case which Ilga unfastened. The
+diamond buckles from it flashed with a thousand rays, and she tipped
+them to and fro so that the stones might catch the light.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Your cousin must have a great liking for you,&quot; she said. &quot;For in
+truth they are very beautiful.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Elmscott is a gambler,&quot; I laughed, &quot;with all a gambler's
+superstitions,&quot; and I handed her the letter.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She read it through. &quot;These buckles were your cousin's last stake, Mr.
+Marston related,&quot; she said. &quot;Do you believe that they will bring you
+luck?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To believe would be presumption. I have no more courage than suffices
+me to copy Elmscott's example, and hope.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She returned me no answer, giving, so it seemed, all her attention to
+the brilliant jewels in her hands. But I saw the colour mounting in
+her cheeks.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Meanwhile,&quot; she said, after a pause, with a little nervous laugh,
+&quot;you are copying my bad example, and leaving your guests to divert
+themselves.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Not knowing surely whether I had offended her or not, I deemed it best
+to add nothing further or more precise to my hints, and got me back
+into the larger room. Ilga remained standing where I left her, and
+through the doorway I could see her still flashing the buckles
+backwards and forwards. Her evident admiration raised an idea in my
+mind. My guests were amusing themselves without any need of help from
+me. Some new scandal concerning the King and the Countess of
+Dorchester was being discussed for the tenth time that day with an
+enthusiasm which expanded as the story grew, so that I was presently
+able to slip back unnoticed. The inner room, however, was empty; but
+the glass door which gave on to the garden stood open, and picking up
+the shagreen case, I stepped out on to the lawn. Ilga was seated in a
+low chair about the centre of the grass-plot, and the sun, which hung
+low and red just above the ivied wall, burnished her hair, and was
+rosy on her face.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame,&quot; said I, advancing towards her, &quot;I have discovered how best
+to dispose of the buckles so that they may bring me luck.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Indeed?&quot; she asked indifferently. &quot;And which way is it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;They are too fine for a plain gentleman's wearing,&quot; said I. &quot;Sweet
+looks and precious jewels go best together.&quot; With that, and awkwardly
+enough, I dare say, for I always stumbled at a compliment, I opened
+the case and offered it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She looked at me for a space as though she had not understood, and
+then:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, no,&quot; she cried, with extraordinary vehemence, repulsing my gift
+so that the case flew out of my grasp, and the buckles sparkled
+through the air in two divergent arcs, and dropped some few feet away
+into the grass. She rose from her seat and drew herself up to her full
+height, her eyes flashing and her bosom heaving. &quot;How dare you?&quot; she
+exclaimed, and yet again, &quot;How dare you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Conscious of no intention but to please her by a gift which she
+plainly admired, I stared dumbfounded at the outburst.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame!&quot; I faltered out at last; and with a great effort she
+recovered a part of her self-control.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Mr. Buckler,&quot; she said, speaking with difficulty, while the blood
+swirled in and out of her cheeks, &quot;the present hurts me sorely, even
+though--nay, all the more <i>because</i>, it comes from you. It is the
+fashion, I know well, to believe that a few gems will bribe the good
+will of any woman. But I hardly thought that--that you held me in such
+poor esteem.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I protested that nothing could have been further from my designs than
+the notion which she attributed to me, and went so far as to hint that
+there was something extravagant and unreasonable in her anger. For,
+said I, the gift was no bribe but a tribute, and, I continued, with
+greater confidence as her pride diminished, if either of us had a
+right to feel hurt, it was myself, whom she insulted by the imputation
+of so mean a spirit.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then I am to humbly beg your pardon, I suppose,&quot; she cried, with
+another flash of anger.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, there's no arguing with you,&quot; I burst out in a heat no less
+violent than her own. &quot;Who bids you beg my pardon? What makes you
+suppose I need you should, unless it be your own proper and fitting
+compunction? There's no moderation in your thoughts. You jump from one
+extreme to the other as nimbly as--as----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I was turning away with the sentence unfinished, when:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I could supply the simile you want,&quot; she said, with a whimsical
+demureness as sudden and inexplicable as her wrath, &quot;only 'tis
+something indelicate,&quot; and she broke into a ringing laugh.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To a man of my slow disposition, whose very passions have a certain
+&#339;conomy which delays their growth, the rapid transitions of a
+woman's humours have ever been confusing, and now I stood stockish and
+dumb, gazing at the Countess open-mouthed, and vainly endeavouring,
+like a fool, to reduce the various emotions she had expressed into a
+logical continuity.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And there!&quot; she continued, &quot;now I have shocked you by lack of
+breeding!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And once more she commenced to laugh with a mirth so natural and
+infectious that presently it gained on me, and for no definite reason
+that I could name I found myself laughing to her tune and with equal
+heartiness. 'Twas none the less a wiser action than any deliberation
+could have prompted me to, for here was our quarrel ended decisively,
+and no words said.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For a while we strolled up and down the lawn, Ilga interspacing her
+talk with little spirts of laughter, as now and again she looked at my
+face, until we stopped at the end of the garden, just before a small
+postern-door in the wall.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It leads into the Park?&quot; she asked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Yes! Shall we slip out?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She looked back at the house.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The host can hardly run away from his guests.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is no one in the room to notice us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But the room above? 'Twould look strange, whoever saw us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay, there can be no one there, for it is my dressing-room.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She took hold of the handle doubtfully and tried it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is locked.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But the key is on the mantelshelf. I will get it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In this little room?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, 'tis in the larger room, but----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay,&quot; she interrupted, &quot;our absence will be enough remarked as it is.
+Clemence will read me a lecture on the proprieties all the way home.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Consequently we returned to the house, and the Countess took her leave
+shortly with the rest of the company; but as I conducted her to the
+door, she said a strange thing to me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Mr. Buckler,&quot; she said, &quot;you should be angry more often,&quot; and so with
+another laugh she walked away.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">That night, as I sat smoking a pipe upon the lawn, I saw something
+flash and sparkle in the rays of the moon, and I remembered that
+Elmscott's buckles still lay where they had fallen. Picking them up, I
+returned to my seat and fell straightway into a very bitter train of
+thought. 'Twas the recollection of the Countess' indignation that set
+me on it, for since the mere gift could provoke so stormy and sincere
+an outburst, how would it have been, I reflected, had she really known
+who the giver was? The thought pressed in upon me all the more heavily
+for the reason which she had offered to account for her anger. She set
+a value upon my esteem, and no small value either; so much she had
+told me plainly. Now it had been my lot hitherto to meet with a
+half-contemptuous tolerance rather than esteem; so that this unwonted
+appreciation shown by the one person from whom I most desired it
+filled me with a deep gratitude, and obliged me in her service. Yet
+here was I requiting her with a calculating and continuous deception.
+'Twas no longer of any use to argue that Count Lukstein had received
+no greater punishment than his treachery merited; that but for his
+last coward thrust he would have escaped even that; that the advantage
+of the encounter had been on his side from first to last, since I was
+chilled to the bone with my long vigil upon the terrace parapet. Such
+excuses were the merest thistledown, and it needed but a breath from
+her to blow them into air. The solid stalk of my thoughts was: &quot;I was
+deceiving her.&quot; And it was not merely the knowledge of my concealments
+which tortured me, but an anticipation of the disdain and contempt
+into which her kindliness would turn, should she ever discover the
+truth.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For so closely had the idea and notion of her become inwoven in my
+being that I ever estimated my actions and purposes by imagining the
+judgment which she would be like to pass on them, and, indeed, saw no
+true image of myself at all save that which was reflected from the
+mirror of her thoughts.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I came then to consider what path I should follow. There were three
+ways open to my choice. I might go on as heretofore, practising my
+duplicity; or, again, I might pack my trunks and scurry ignominiously
+back to my estate; or I might take my courage between my two hands and
+tell the truth of the matter to the Countess, be the consequences what
+they might.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Doubtless the last was the only honest course, and if I did not bring
+myself to adopt it--well, I paid dearly enough for the fault. At the
+time, however, the objections appeared to me insurmountable. In the
+first place, my natural timidity cried out against this hazard of all
+my happiness upon a single throw. Then, again, how could I tell her
+the truth? For it was not merely myself that the story accused, nor
+indeed in the main, but her husband. His treachery towards me in the
+actual righting of the duel I might conceal, but not his treachery to
+Julian, and I shrank from inflicting such shame upon her pride as the
+disclosure must inevitably bring.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I deem it right to set out here the questions which so troubled me,
+with a view to the proper understanding of this story. For on the very
+next day, while I was still debating the matter in great abasement and
+despondency, an incident occurred which determined me upon a
+compromise.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It happened in this way. I had ridden out into the country early in
+the morning, hoping that a vigorous gallop might help me to some
+solution of my perplexities, and returning home in the evening,
+chanced to be in my dressing-room shortly after seven of the clock.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">My valet announced that Lord Culverton and my cousin were below, and I
+sent word down that I would be with them in the space of a few
+minutes. Elmscott, however, followed the servant up the stairs, and
+coming into the room entertained me with the latest gossip, walking
+about the while that he talked. In the middle of a sentence he stopped
+before the window which, as I have said, overlooked the Park, and
+broke off his speech with a sudden exclamation. I crossed to where he
+stood, wishing to see what had brought him so abruptly to a stop. The
+walks, however, were empty and deserted, it being the fashion among
+the gentry of the town rather to favour Hyde Park at this hour. A
+chair, certainly, stood at no great distance, but the porters were
+smoking their pipes as they leaned against the poles, and I inferred
+from that that it had no occupant.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Wait,&quot; said Elmscott; &quot;the wall of your garden hides them for the
+moment.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As he spoke, two figures emerged from its shelter and walked into the
+open. I gave a start as I saw them, and gripped Elmscott by the arm.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Lord!&quot; said he, &quot;are you in so deep as that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The woman I knew at the first glance. The easy carriage of her head,
+the light grace of her walk, were qualities which I had noted and
+admired too often to make the ghost of a doubt possible. The man, who
+was gaily dressed in a scarlet coat, an instinct of jealousy told me
+was Hugh Marston. Their backs were towards the house, and I waited for
+them to turn, which they did after they had walked some hundred paces.
+Sure enough my suspicions were correct. The Countess was escorted by
+Marston, her hand was upon his arm, and the pair sauntered slowly,
+stopping here and there in their walk as though greatly concerned with
+one another.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Damn him!&quot; I cried. &quot;Damn him!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Elmscott burst into a laugh.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The pretty Countess,&quot; said he, &quot;would be more discreet did she but
+know you overlooked her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But she does know,&quot; I returned. &quot;She knows that I lodge in the house;
+she knows also that this room is mine.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh!&quot; he exclaimed, in a tone of comprehension, &quot;she knows that!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ay; and 'twas no further back than yesterday that she discovered it.
+I told her myself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Elmscott remained silent for a while, watching their promenade. Again
+they disappeared within the shelter of the wall; again they emerged
+from it, and again they promenaded some hundred paces and turned.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I thought so,&quot; he muttered; &quot;'tis all of a piece.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I asked what his words meant.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You remember the evening at the Duke's Theatre, when she caught sight
+of you across the pit? One might have imagined she would not have had
+you see her on such close terms with our friend; that she feared you
+might mistake her courtesy for proof of some deeper feeling.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well?&quot; I asked, remembering how he had chuckled through the evening.
+For such in truth had been my thought, and I had drawn no small
+comfort from it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, she saw you long ere that; she saw you the moment she entered
+the box, before I pointed her out to you. For she looked straight in
+your direction and spoke to the Frenchwoman, nodding towards you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, it is impossible!&quot; I replied. I recollected how her hand had
+fallen upon mine, and the musical sound of her words--&quot;the occasion
+may come, too.&quot; &quot;There is no trace of the coquette about her. This
+must be a mistake.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is you who are making it. Add her behaviour now,&quot; he waved his
+hand to the window, &quot;to what I have told you! See how the incidents
+fit together. Yesterday she finds out your room commands the Park,
+to-day she walks in Marston's company underneath the window, and
+backwards and forwards, mark that! never moving out of range. 'Tis all
+part of one purpose.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But what purpose?&quot; I cried passionately. &quot;What purpose could she
+serve?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The devil knows!&quot; he replied, with a shrug of his shoulders. &quot;It is
+of a woman we are speaking--you forget that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I flung open the window noisily, in a desire to attract their
+attention and observe how the Countess would take our discovery of her
+interview. But she paid not the slightest heed to the sound. Elmscott
+made a sudden dash to the door.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Culverton!&quot; he cried over the baluster.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I tried to check him, for I had no wish that Culverton's meddlesome
+fingers should pry into the matter. I was too late, however; he
+entered the room, and Elmscott drew him to the open window.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Burn me, but 'tis the oddest thing!&quot; he smirked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For a minute or so we stood watching the couple in silence. Then the
+Countess dropped her fan, and as Marston stooped to pick it up she
+shot one quick glance towards us. Her companion handed her the fan,
+and they resumed the promenade. But they took no more than half a turn
+before the Countess signalled to the porters, and getting into the
+chair, was carried off. Marston waited until she was out of sight,
+with his hat in his hand, and then cocking it jauntily on his head,
+marched off in the opposite direction. The satisfaction of his manner
+made my blood boil with rage.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The conceited ass!&quot; I cried, stamping my feet.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She heard the window open after all,&quot; said Elmscott.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As for Culverton, he tittered the more.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The oddest thing!&quot; he repeated. &quot;The very oddest thing! Strike me
+purple if I know what to make of the delightful creature!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Tis as plain as my hand,&quot; replied Elmscott roughly. &quot;No sooner did
+she perceive that you were watching her than she gave Marston his
+congé. He had done his work, and she had no further use for him. She
+is a woman--there's the top and bottom of it. A couple of men to frown
+at each other and grimace prettily to her! Her vanity demands no less.
+She is like one of our Indian planters who value their wealth by the
+number of their slaves; so she her beauty.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay,&quot; interposed the fop. &quot;If that were the whole business, one would
+hear less concerning Mr. Buckler from her rapturous lips. But rat me
+if she ever talks about any one else.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do you mean that?&quot; I asked eagerly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, most inquisitive, on my honour! In truth, your name is growing
+plaguy wearisome to me. Why, but the other night, when she selected me
+to lead her to her carriage at the theatre, 'twas but to question me
+concerning you, and whether you gambled, and the horse of mine you
+rode, and what not. And there was I with a thousand tender nothings to
+whisper in her ear, and pink me if I could get one of 'em out!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then I give the riddle up,&quot; rejoined Elmscott, though I would fain
+have heard more of this strain from Culverton. &quot;I make neither head
+nor tail of the business, unless, Morrice, she would bring you on by a
+little wholesome jealousy.&quot; He looked at me shrewdly, and continued:
+&quot;You are a timid wooer, I fancy. Why not go to her boldly? Tell her
+you are going away, and have had enough of her tricks! 'Twould bring
+your suit to a climax.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;One way or another,&quot; said I doubtfully.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If Mr. Buckler would take the advice of one who has had some small
+experience of ladies' whims,&quot; interposed Culverton, &quot;and some
+participation in their favours, he would buy some new clothes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;These are new,&quot; I said. &quot;I followed your advice before, and bought
+enough to stock a shop.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But of such a desperate colour,&quot; he replied. &quot;Lard, Mr. Buckler, you
+go dressed like a mute at a funeral! The ladies loathe it; stap me,
+but they loathe it! A scarlet coat, like our friend wears, a full
+periwig, an embroidered stocking, makes deeper inroads into their
+affections than a year's tedious love-making. The dear creatures'
+hearts, Mr. Buckler, are in their eyes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With that the subject of Countess Lukstein dropped. For Culverton,
+once started upon his favourite topic, launched forth into a complete
+philosophy of clothes. The colour of each garment, according to him,
+had a particular effect upon the sex; the adjustment of each ribbon
+conveyed a particular meaning. He had, indeed, ingeniously classified
+the various coats, hats, breeches, vests, periwigs, ruffles, cravats
+and the other appurtenances of a gentleman's wardrobe, with the modes
+of wearing them, as expressions of feeling and emotion. The larger and
+more dominant emotions were voiced in the clothes, the delicate and
+subtler shades of feeling in the disposition of ornaments. In short,
+'twould be a very profitable philosophy for a race which had neither
+tongues to speak nor faces and limbs to act their meaning.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This incident, as I have said, determined me upon a compromise, for it
+set my heart aflame with jealousy. I had not taken Marston into my
+calculations before; now I reflected that if I retired to the North, I
+should be leaving a free field for him, and that I was obstinately
+minded I would not do. On the other hand, however, this promenade in
+front of my windows, whether undertaken of set purpose or from sheer
+carelessness, seemed to show that after all I had no stable footing in
+Ilga's esteem, and I feared that if I disclosed to her the deception
+which I had used towards her, there could be but one result and
+consequence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I determined then to forward my suit with what ardour and haste I
+might, and to unbosom myself of my fault in the very hour that I
+pleaded my love.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Countess, however, gave me no heart or occasion for the work. Her
+manner towards me changed completely of a sudden, and where I had
+previously met with smiles and kindly words, I got now disdainful
+looks and biting speeches. She would ridicule my conversation, my
+person, and my bearing, and that, too, before a room full of people,
+so that I was filled with the deepest shame; or again, she would
+shrink from me with all the appearances of aversion. Mademoiselle
+Durette, it is true, sought to lighten my suffering. &quot;It is ever
+Love's way to blow hot and cold,&quot; she would whisper in my ear. But I
+thought that she spoke only out of compassion. For 'twas the cold wind
+which continually blew on me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At times, indeed, though very rarely, she would resume her old
+familiarity, but there was a note of effort in her voice as though she
+subdued herself to a distasteful practice, and something hysterical in
+her merriment; and as like as not, she would break off in the middle
+of a kindly sentence and load me with the extremity of scorn.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Moreover, Marston was perpetually at her side, and in his company she
+made more than one return to the Park; so that at last, being fallen
+into a most tormenting despair, I made shift to follow Elmscott's
+advice, and called at her lodging one morning to inform her that I
+intended setting my face homewards that very afternoon.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_11" href="#div1Ref_11">THE COUNTESS EXPLAINS, AND SHOWS ME
+A PICTURE.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">It was a full week since I had last waited on my cruel mistress, and I
+hoped, though with no great confidence, that this intermission of my
+visits might temper and moderate her scorn. I had besides taken to
+heart Culverton's advice as well as that of my cousin. For I was in
+great trepidation lest she should take me at my word, and carelessly
+bid me adieu, and so caught eagerly at any hint that seemed likely to
+help me, however trivial it might be, and from whatever source it
+came.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Consequently I had had my own hair cropped, and had purchased a
+cumbersome full-bottomed peruke of the latest mode. With that on my
+head, and habited in a fine new brocaded coat of green velvet and
+lemon-coloured silk breeches and stockings, I went timidly to confront
+my destiny. How many times did I walk up and down before her house, or
+ever I could summon courage to knock! How many phrases and dignified
+reproaches did I con over and rehearse, yet never one that seemed
+other than offensive and ridiculous! What in truth emboldened me in
+the end to enter was a cloud of dust which a passing carriage caused
+to settle on my coat. If I hesitated much longer, I reflected, all my
+bravery would be wasted, and dusting myself carefully with my
+handkerchief, I mounted the steps. Otto Krax opened the door, and
+preceded me up the staircase.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But while we were still ascending the steps, Mademoiselle Durette came
+from the parlour which gave on to the landing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Very well, Otto,&quot; she said, &quot;I will announce Mr. Buckler.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She waited until the man had descended the stairs, and then turned to
+me with a meaning smile.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She is alone. Take her by surprise!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With that she softly turned the handle of the door, and opened it just
+so far as would enable me to slip through. I heard the voice of Ilga
+singing sweetly in a low key, and my heart trembled and jumped within
+me, so that I hesitated on the threshold.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have no patience with you,&quot; said Mademoiselle Durette, in an
+exasperated whisper. &quot;Cowards don't win when they go a-wooing. Haven't
+you learnt that? Ridicule her, if you like, as she does you--abuse
+her, do anything but gape like a stock-fish, with a white face as
+though all your blood had run down into the heels of your shoes!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She pushed me as she spoke into the room, and noiselessly closed the
+door. The Countess was seated at a spinnet in the far corner of the
+room, and sang in her native tongue. The song, I gathered, was a
+plaint, and had a strange and outlandish melancholy, the voice now
+lifting into a wild, keening note, now sinking abruptly to a dreary
+monotone. It oppressed me with a peculiar sadness, making the singer
+seem very lonely and far-away; and I leaned silently against the wall,
+not daring to interrupt her. At last the notes began to quaver, the
+voice broke once and twice; she gave a little sob, and her head fell
+forward on her hands.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">An inrush of pity swept all my diffidence away. I stepped hastily
+forward with outstretched hands. At the sound she sprang to her feet
+and faced me, the colour flaming in her cheeks.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame,&quot; cried I, &quot;if my intrusion lacks ceremony, believe me----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But I got no further in my protestations. For with a sneer upon her
+lips and a biting accent of irony,</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So,&quot; she broke in, looking me over, &quot;the crow has turned into a
+cockatoo.&quot; And she rang a bell which stood upon the spinnet. I stopped
+in confusion, and not knowing what to say or do, remained foolishly
+shifting from one foot to the other, the while Ilga watched me with a
+malicious pleasure. In a minute Otto Krax came to the door. &quot;How comes
+it,&quot; she asked sternly, &quot;that Mr. Buckler enters unannounced? Have I
+no servants?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The fellow explained that Mademoiselle Durette had taken the duty to
+herself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Send Mademoiselle Durette to me!&quot; said the Countess.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I was ready to sink through the floor with humiliation, and busied my
+wits in a search for a plausible excuse. I had not found one when the
+Frenchwoman appeared.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Countess Lukstein repeated her question.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Mademoiselle Burette was no readier than myself, and glanced with a
+frightened air from me to her mistress, and back again from her
+mistress to me. Remembering what she had said on the landing about my
+irresolution, I felt my shame doubled.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame,&quot; I stammered out, &quot;the fault is in no wise your companion's.
+The blame of it should fall on me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh!&quot; said she, &quot;really?&quot; And turning to Mademoiselle Durette, she
+began to clap her hands. &quot;I believe,&quot; she exclaimed in a mock
+excitement, &quot;that Mr. Buckler is going to make me a present of a
+superb cockatoo. Clemence, you must buy a cage and a chain for its
+leg!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Clemence stared in amazement, as well she might, and I, stung to a
+passion,</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay,&quot; I cried, and for once my voice rang firmly. &quot;By the Lord, you
+count too readily upon Mr. Buckler's gift. Mr. Buckler has come to
+offer you no present, but to take his leave for good and all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I made her a dignified bow and stepped towards the door.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What do you mean?&quot; she asked sharply.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That I ride homewards this afternoon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She shot a glance at Mademoiselle Durette, who slipped obediently out
+of the room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And why?&quot; she asked, with an innocent assumption of surprise, coming
+towards me. &quot;Why?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What, madame!&quot; I replied, looking her straight in the face. &quot;Surely
+your ingenuity can find a reason.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My ingenuity?&quot; She spoke in the same accent of wonderment. &quot;My
+ingenuity? Mr. Buckler, you take a tone----&quot; She came some paces
+nearer to me and asked very gently: &quot;Am I to blame?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The humility of the question, and a certain trembling of the lips that
+uttered it, well-nigh disarmed me; but I felt that did I answer her,
+did I venture the mildest reproach, I should give her my present
+advantage.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No, no,&quot; I replied, with a show of indifference; &quot;my own people need
+me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She took another step, and spoke with lowered eyes. &quot;Are there no
+people who need you here?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I forgot my part.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You mean----&quot; I exclaimed impulsively, when a movement which she made
+brought me to a stop. For she drew back a step, and picking up her fan
+from a little table, began to pluck nervously at the feathers. Her
+action recalled to my mind her behaviour at the Duke's Theatre and
+Elmscott's commentary thereon.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;None that I know of,&quot; I resumed, &quot;for even those whom I counted my
+friends find me undeserving of even common civility.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Civility! Civility!&quot; she cried out in scorn. &quot;'Tis the very proof and
+attribute of indifference--the crust one tosses carelessly to the
+first-comer because it costs nothing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But I go fasting even for that crust.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not always,&quot; she replied softly, shooting a glance at me. &quot;Not
+always, Mr. Buckler; and have you not found at times some butter on
+the bread?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She smiled as she spoke, but I hardened my heart against her and
+vouchsafed no answer. For a little while she stood with her eyes upon
+the ground, and then:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, very well, very well!&quot; she said petulantly, and turning away from
+me, flung the fan on to the table. The table was of polished mahogany,
+and the fan slid across its surface and dropped to the floor. I
+stepped forward, and knelt down to pick it up.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What, Mr. Buckler!&quot; she said bitterly, turning again to me, &quot;you
+condescend to kneel. Surely it is not you; it must be some one else.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I thought that I had never heard sarcasm so unjust, for in truth
+kneeling to her had been my chief occupation this many a day, and I
+replied hotly, bethinking me of Marston and the episode which I had
+witnessed in the Park.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Indeed, madame, and you may well think it strange, for have I not
+seen you drop your fan in order to deceive the man who picks it up?&quot;
+With that I got to my feet and laid the fan on the table.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She flushed very red, and exclaimed hurriedly:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;All that can be explained.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No doubt! no doubt!&quot; I replied. &quot;I have never doubted the subtlety of
+madame's invention.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She drew herself up with great pride, and bowed to me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I walked to the door. As I opened it, I turned to take one last look
+at the face which I had so worshipped. It was very white; even the
+lips were bloodless, and oddly enough I noticed that she wore a loose
+white gown as on the occasion of our first meeting.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Adieu,&quot; I said, and stepped behind the door.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">From the other side of it her voice came to me quietly:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Does this prove the sword to be lath or steel?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I shut the door, and went slowly down the stairs, slowly and yet more
+slowly. For her last question drummed at my heart.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Lath or steel?&quot; Was I playing a man's part, or was I the mere
+bond-slave of a petty pride? &quot;That can be explained,&quot; she had said.
+What if it could? Then the sword would be proved lath indeed! Just to
+salve my vanity I should have wasted my life--and only <i>my</i> life? I
+saw her lips trembling as the thought shot through me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">What if those walks with my rival beneath my window had been devised
+in some strange way for a test--a woman's test and touchstone to essay
+the metal of the sword, a test perhaps intelligible to a woman, though
+an enigma to me? If only I knew a woman whom I could consult!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">My feet lagged more and more, but I reached the bottom of the stairs
+in the end. The hall was empty. I looked up towards the landing with a
+wild hope that she would come out and lean over the balustrade, as on
+the evening when Elmscott first brought me to the house. But there was
+no stir or movement from garret to cellar. I might have stood in the
+hall of the Sleeping Palace. From a high window the sunlight slanted
+athwart the cool gloom in a golden pillar, and a fly buzzed against
+the pane. I crossed the hall, and let myself out into the noonday. The
+door clanged behind me with a hollow rattle; it sounded to my hearing
+like the closing of the gates of a tomb, and I felt it was myself that
+lay dead behind it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As I passed beneath the window, something hard dropped upon the crown
+of my hat, and bounced thence to the ground at my feet. I picked it
+up. It was a crust of bread. For a space I stood looking at it before
+I understood. Then I rushed back to the entrance. The door stood open,
+but the hall was empty and silent as when I left it. I sprang up the
+stairs, and in my haste missed my footing about halfway up, and rolled
+down some half-a-dozen steps. The crash of my fall echoed up the well
+of the staircase, and from behind the parlour door I heard some one
+laugh. I got on to my legs, and burst into the room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ilga was seated before a frame of embroidery very demure and busy. She
+paid no heed to me, keeping her head bent over her work until I had
+approached close to the frame. Then she looked up with her eyes
+sparkling.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How dare you?&quot; she asked, in a mock accent of injury.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I don't know,&quot; I replied meekly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She bent once more over her embroidery.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Humours are the prerogative of my sex,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I set you apart from it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Is that why you cannot trust me even a little?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The gentle reproach made me hot with shame. I had no words to answer
+it. Then she laughed again, bending closer over her frame, in a low
+joyous note that gradually rose and trilled out sweet as music from a
+thrush.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And so,&quot; she said, &quot;you came all trim and spruce in your fine new
+clothes to show me what my discourtesy had lost me! What a child you
+are! And yet,&quot; she rose suddenly, her whole face changing, &quot;and yet,
+are you a child? Would God I knew!&quot; She ended with a passionate cry,
+clasping her hands together upon her breast; but before I could make
+head or tail of her meaning she was half-way through another mood.
+&quot;Ah!&quot; she cried, &quot;you have brought my courtesy back with you.&quot; I had
+not noticed until then that I still held the crust in my hand. &quot;You
+shall swallow it as a penance.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame!&quot; I laughed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hush! you shall eat it. Yes, yes!&quot; with a pretty imperious stamp of
+the foot. &quot;Now! Before you speak a word!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I obeyed her, but with some difficulty, for the crust was very dry.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You see,&quot; she said, &quot;courtesy is not always so tasteful a morsel. It
+sticks in the throat at times;&quot; and crossing to a sideboard, she
+filled a goblet from a decanter of canary and brought it to me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You will pledge me first,&quot; I entreated.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Her face grew serious, and she balanced the cup doubtfully in her
+hand.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of a truth,&quot; she said, &quot;of a truth I will.&quot; She raised it slowly to
+her lips; but at that moment the door opened.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh!&quot; cried Mademoiselle Durette, with a start of surprise, &quot;I fancied
+that Mr. Buckler had gone,&quot; and she was for whipping out of the room
+again, but Ilga called to her. The astonishment of the Frenchwoman
+made one point clear to me concerning which I felt some curiosity. I
+mean that 'twas not she who had set the hall-door open for my return.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Clemence!&quot; said the Countess, setting down the wine untasted, as I
+noticed with regret, &quot;will you bid Otto come to me? I ransacked Mr.
+Buckler's rooms, and it is only fair that I should show him my poor
+treasures in return.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She handed a key to Otto, and bade him unlock a Japan cabinet which
+stood in a corner. He drew out a tray heaped up with curiosities,
+medals and trinkets, and bringing it over, laid it on a table in the
+window.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have bought them all since I came to London. You shall tell me
+whether I have been robbed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You come to the worst appraiser in the world,&quot; said I, &quot;for these
+ornaments tell me nothing of their value though much of your
+industry.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have a great love for these trifles,&quot; said she, though her action
+seemed to belie her words, for she tossed and rattled them hither and
+thither upon the tray with rapid jerks of her fingers which would have
+made a virtuoso shiver. &quot;They hint so much of bygone times, and tell
+so provokingly little.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Their example, at all events, affords a lesson in discretion,&quot; I
+laughed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Which our poor sex is too trustful to learn, and yours too
+distrustful to forget.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There was a certain accent of appeal in her voice, very tender and
+sweet, as though she knew my story and was ready to forgive it. Had we
+been alone I believe that I should have blurted the whole truth out;
+only Otto Krax stood before me on the opposite side of the table,
+Mademoiselle Durette was seated in the room behind.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ilga had ceased to sort the articles, and now began to point out
+particular trinkets, describing their purposes and antiquity and the
+shops where she had discovered them. But I paid small heed to her
+words; that question--did she know?--pressed too urgently upon my
+thoughts. A glance at the stolid indifference of Otto Krax served to
+reassure me. Through him alone could suspicion have come, and I felt
+certain that he had as yet not recognised me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Besides, I reflected, had she known, it was hardly in nature that she
+should have spoken so gently. I dismissed the suspicion from my mind,
+and turned me again to the inspection of the tray.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Just below my eyes lay a miniature of a girl, painted very delicately
+upon a thin oval slip of ivory. The face was dark in complexion, with
+black hair, the nose a trifle tip-tilted, and the lips full and red,
+but altogether a face very alluring and handsome. I was most struck,
+however, with the freshness of the colours; amongst those old curios
+the portrait shone like a gem. I took it up, and as I did so, Otto
+Krax leaned forward.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Otto!&quot; said Ilga sharply, &quot;you stand between Mr. Buckler and the
+light.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The servant moved obediently from the window.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This,&quot; said I, &quot;hath less appearance of antiquity than the rest of
+your purchases.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It was given to me,&quot; she replied. &quot;The face is beautiful?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Now it had been my custom of late to consider a face beautiful or not
+in proportion to its resemblance to that of Countess Lukstein. So I
+looked carefully at the miniature, and thence to Ilga. She was gazing
+closely at me with parted lips, and an odd intentness in her
+expression. I noticed this the more particularly, for that her eyes,
+which were violet in their natural hue, had a trick of growing dark
+when she was excited or absorbed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why!&quot; I exclaimed, in surprise. &quot;One might think you fancy me
+acquainted with the lady.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well,&quot; she replied, laying a hand upon her heart, &quot;what if I
+did--fancy that?&quot; She stressed the word &quot;fancy&quot; with something of a
+sneer.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay,&quot; said I, &quot;the face is strange to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Are you sure?&quot; she asked. &quot;Look again! Look again, Mr. Buckler!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Disturbed by this recurrence of her irony, I fixed my eyes, as she
+bade me, upon the picture, and strangely enough, upon a closer
+scrutiny I began gradually to recognise it; but in so vague and dim a
+fashion, that whether the familiarity lay in the contour of the
+lineaments or merely in the expression, I could by no effort of memory
+determine.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well?&quot; she asked, with a smile which had nothing amiable or pleasant
+in it. &quot;What say you now?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame,&quot; I returned, completely at a loss, &quot;in truth I know not what
+to say. It may be that I have seen the original. Indeed, I must think
+that is the case----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah!&quot; she cried, interrupting me as one who convicts an opponent after
+much debate, and then, in a hurried correction: &quot;so at least I was
+informed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then tell me who informed you!&quot; I said earnestly, for I commenced to
+consider this miniature as the cause of her recent resentment and
+scorn. &quot;For I have only seen this face--somewhere--for a moment. Of
+one thing I am sure. I have never had speech with it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Never?&quot; she asked, in the same ironical tone. &quot;Look yet a third time,
+Mr. Buckler! For your memory improves with each inspection.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She suddenly broke off, and &quot;Otto!&quot; she cried sternly--it was almost a
+shout.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The fellow was standing just behind my shoulder, and I swung round and
+eyed him. He came a step forward, questioning his mistress with a
+look.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Replace the tray in the cabinet!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I kept the miniature in my hand, glancing ever from it to the Countess
+and back again in pure wonder and conjecture.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame,&quot; I said firmly, &quot;I have never had speech with the lady of
+this picture.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She looked into my eyes as though she would read my soul.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is God's truth!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She signed a dismissal to Otto. Clemence Durette rose and followed the
+servant, and I thought that I had never fallen in with any one who
+showed such tact and discretion in the matter of leaving a room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Countess remained stock-still, facing me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And yet I have been told,&quot; she said, nodding her head with each word,
+&quot;that she was very dear to you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then,&quot; I replied hotly, &quot;you were told a lie, a miserable calumny. I
+understand! 'Tis that that has poisoned your kind thoughts of me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She turned away with a slight shrug of the shoulders.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, believe that!&quot; I exclaimed, falling upon a knee and holding her
+by the hem of her dress. &quot;You must believe it! I have told you what my
+life has been. Look at the picture yourself!&quot; and I forced it into her
+hands. &quot;What do you read there? Vanity and the love of conquest. Gaze
+into the eyes! What do they bespeak? Boldness that comes from the
+habit of conquest. Is it likely that such a woman would busy her head
+about an awkward, retiring student?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am not so sure,&quot; she replied thoughtfully, though she seemed to
+relent a little at my vehemence; &quot;women are capricious. You yourself
+have been complaining this morning of their caprice. And it might be
+that--I can imagine it--and for that very reason.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, compare us!&quot; I cried. &quot;Compare the painted figure there with me!
+You must see it is impossible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She laid a hand upon each of my shoulders as I knelt, and bent over
+me, staring into my eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have been told,&quot; said she, &quot;that the lady was so dear to you that
+for her sake you fought and killed your rival in love.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have been told that?&quot; I answered, in sheer incredulity; and then
+a flame of rage against my traducer kindling in my heart, I sprang to
+my feet.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who told you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I may not disclose his name.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But you shall,&quot; said I, stepping in front of her. &quot;You shall tell me!
+He has lied to you foully, and you owe him therefore no consideration
+or respect. He has lied concerning me. I have a clear right to know
+his name, that I may convince you of the lie, and reckon with him for
+his slander. Confront us both, and yourself be present as the judge!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Of a sudden she held out her hand to me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Your sincerity convinces me. I need no other proof, and I crave your
+pardon for my suspicion.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I looked into her face, amazed at the sudden change. But there was no
+mistaking her conviction or the joy which it occasioned her. I saw a
+light in her eyes, dancing and sparkling, which I had never envisaged
+before, and which filled me with exquisite happiness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Still,&quot; I said, as I took her hand, &quot;I would fain prove my words to
+you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Can you not trust me at all?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She had a wonderful knack of putting me in the wrong when I was on the
+side of the right, and before I could find a suitable reply she
+slipped out of my grasp, and crossing the room, took in her hand the
+cup of wine.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now,&quot; said she, &quot;I will pledge you, Mr. Buckler;&quot; which she did very
+prettily, and handed the cup to me. As I raised it to my lips,
+however, an idea occurred to me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is you who refuse to pledge me,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay, nay,&quot; said I, and I drained the cup. &quot;But I have just guessed
+who my traducer is.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She looked perplexed for a moment.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have guessed who----&quot; she began, in an accent of wonder.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who gave you the picture,&quot; I explained.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She stared at me in pure astonishment.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You can hardly have guessed accurately, then,&quot; she remarked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Surely,&quot; said I, &quot;it needs no magician to discover the giver. I know
+but one man in London who can hope to gain aught by slandering me to
+you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ilga gave a start of alarm. It seemed almost as though I were telling
+her news, as though she did not know herself who gave her the picture;
+and for the rest of my visit she appeared absent and anxious. This was
+particularly mortifying to me, since I thought the occasion too apt to
+be lost, and I was minded to open my heart to her. Indeed, I began the
+preface of a love-speech in spite of her preoccupation, but sticking
+for lack of encouragement after half-a-dozen words or so, I perceived
+that she was not even listening to what I said. Consequently I took my
+leave with some irritation, marvelling at the flighty waywardness of a
+woman's thoughts, and rather inclined to believe that the properest
+age for a man to marry was his ninetieth year, for then he might
+perchance have sufficient experience to understand some portion of his
+wife's behaviour and whimsies.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">My mortification was not of a lasting kind, for Ilga came out on to
+the landing while I was still descending the stairs.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You do not know who gave me the picture,&quot; she said, entreating me;
+and she came down two of the steps.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It would be exceeding strange if I did not,&quot; said I, stopping.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You would seek him out and----&quot; she began.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I had that in my mind,&quot; said I, mounting two of the steps.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then you do not know him. Say you do not! There could be but one
+result, and I fear it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A knock on the outer door rang through the hall; this time we took two
+steps up and down simultaneously.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Swords!&quot; she continued, &quot;for you would fight?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I nodded.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh!&quot; she exclaimed, &quot;swords are no true ordeal. Skill--it is skill,
+not justice, which directs the thrust.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I fancied that I comprehended the cause of her fear, and I laughed
+cheerfully.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have few good qualities,&quot; said I, &quot;but amongst those few you may
+reckon some proficiency with the sword.&quot; I ascended two steps.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So,&quot; she replied, with an indefinable change of tone, &quot;you are
+skilled in the exercise?&quot; But she stood where she was.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Otto Krax came from the inner part of the house and crossed to the
+door.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is my one qualification for a courtier.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Since Ilga had omitted to take the two steps down, I deemed it right
+to take four steps up.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She resumed her tone of entreaty.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But chance may outwit skill; does--often.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We heard the chain rattle on the door as Krax unfastened it. Ilga bent
+forward hurriedly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You do not know the man!&quot; and in a whisper she added: &quot;For my
+sake--you do not!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There were only four steps between us. I took them all in one spring.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For your sake, is it?&quot; and I caught her hand.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hush!&quot; she said, disengaging herself. Marston's voice sounded in the
+entrance. &quot;You do not know! Oh, you do not!&quot; she beseeched in shaking
+tones. Then she drew back quickly, and leaned against the balustrade.
+I looked downwards. Otto was ushering in Marston, and the pair stood
+at the foot of the staircase. I glanced back at the Countess. There
+were tears in her eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame!&quot; said I, &quot;I have forgotten his name.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With a bow, I walked down the steps as Marston mounted them.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Tis a fine day,&quot; says I, coming to a halt when we were level.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Is it?&quot; says he, continuing the ascent.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It seems to me wonderfully bright and clear,&quot; said the Countess from
+the head of the stairs.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_12" href="#div1Ref_12">LADY TRACY.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">Outside the house I came face to face with the original of the
+miniature. So startled and surprised was I by her unexpected
+appearance that I could not repress an exclamation, and she turned her
+eyes full upon me. She was seated upon a horse, while a mounted groom
+behind her held the bridle of a third horse, saddled, but riderless.
+'Twas evident that she had come to the house in Marston's company, and
+now waited his return. My conviction that Marston had handed the
+miniature to Ilga was, I thought, confirmed beyond possibility of
+doubt, and I scanned her face with more eagerness than courtesy,
+hoping to discover by those means a clue to her identity. For a moment
+or so she returned my stare without giving a sign of recognition, and
+then she turned her head away. It was clear, at all events, that she
+had no knowledge or remembrance of me, and though her lips curved with
+a gratified smile, and she glanced occasionally in my direction from
+the tail of her eye, I could not doubt that she considered my
+exclamation as merely a stranger's spontaneous tribute to her looks.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Indeed, the more closely I regarded her, the less certain did I myself
+become that I had ever set eyes on her before. I was sensible of a
+vague familiarity in her appearance, but I was not certain but what I
+ought to attribute it to my long examination of her likeness. However,
+since Providence had brought us thus opportunely together, I was
+minded to use the occasion in order to resolve my perplexities, and
+advancing towards her:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madam,&quot; I said, &quot;you will, I trust, pardon my lack of ceremony when I
+assure you that it is no small matter which leads me to address you. I
+only ask of you the answer to a simple question. Have we met before
+to-day?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The excuse is not very adroit,&quot; she replied, with a coquettish laugh,
+&quot;for it implies that you are more like to live in my memory than I in
+yours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Believe me!&quot; said I eagerly, &quot;the question is no excuse, but one of
+some moment to me. I should not have had the courage to thrust myself
+wantonly upon your attention, even had I felt----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I broke off suddenly and stopped, since I saw a frown overspread her
+face, and feared to miss the answer to my question.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well! Even had you felt the wish. That is your meaning, is it not?
+Why not frankly complete the sentence? I hear the sentiment so seldom,
+that of a truth I relish it for its rarity.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She gave an indignant toss of her head, and looked away from me,
+running her fingers through the mane of her horse. I understood that
+flattery alone would serve my turn with her, and I answered boldly:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are right, madam. You supply the words my tongue checked at, but
+not the reason which prompted them. In the old days, when a poor
+mortal intruded upon a goddess, he paid for his presumption with all
+the pangs of despair, and I feared that the experience might not be
+obsolete.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She appeared a trifle mollified by my adulation, and replied archly,
+making play with her eyebrows:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Tis a pretty interpretation to put upon the words, but the words
+came first, I fear, and suggested the explanation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You should not blame me for the words, but rather yourself. An
+awkward speech, madam, implies startled senses, and so should be
+reckoned a more genuine compliment than the most nicely-ordered
+eulogy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That makes your peace,&quot; said she, much to my relief, for this work of
+gallantry was ever discomforting to me, my flatteries being of the
+heaviest and causing me no small labour in the making. &quot;That makes
+your peace. I accept the explanation.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And will answer the question?&quot; said I, returning to the charge.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You deserve no less,&quot; she assented. &quot;But indeed, I have no
+recollection of your face, and so can speak with no greater certainty
+than yourself. Perchance your name might jog my memory.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am called Morrice Buckler,&quot; said I.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At that she started in her saddle and gathered up the reins as though
+intending to ride off.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then I can assure you on the point,&quot; she said hurriedly. &quot;You and I
+have never met.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I was greatly astonished by this sudden action which she made. 'Twas
+as though she was frightened; and I knew no reason why any one should
+fear me, least of all a stranger. But what she did next astonished me
+far more; for she dropped the reins and looked me over curiously,
+saying with a little laugh:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So you are Morrice Buckler. I gave you credit for horn-spectacles at
+the very least.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Something about her--was it her manner or her voice?--struck me as
+singularly familiar to me, and I exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Surely, surely, madam, it is true. Somewhere we have met.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nowhere,&quot; she answered, enjoying my mystification. &quot;Have you ever
+been presented to Lady Tracy, wife of Sir William Tracy?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not that I remember,&quot; said I, still more puzzled, &quot;nor have I ever
+heard the name.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then you should be satisfied, for I am Lady Tracy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But you spoke of horn-spectacles. How comes it that you know so much
+concerning me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay,&quot; she laughed. &quot;You go too fast, Mr. Buckler. I know nothing
+concerning you save that some injustice has been done you. I was told
+of a homespun student, glum and musty as an old book, and I find
+instead a town-gallant point-de-vice, who will barter me compliments
+with the best of them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You got your knowledge, doubtless, from Hugh Marston,&quot; I replied,
+with a glance at the door; &quot;and I only wonder the description was not
+more unflattering.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I did not mean him,&quot; she said slowly. &quot;For I did not even know that
+you were acquainted with&quot;--she paused, and looked me straight in the
+face--&quot;with my brother.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Your brother!&quot; I exclaimed. &quot;Hugh Marston is your brother?&quot; And I
+took a step towards her. Again I saw a passing look of apprehension in
+her face, but I did not stop to wonder at it then. I understood that
+the indefinable familiarity in her looks was due to the likeness which
+she bore her brother--a likeness consisting not so much of a distinct
+stamp of features as of an occasional and fleeting similarity of
+expression.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I understand,&quot; said I, more to myself than to her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She flushed very red in a way which was unaccountable, and broke in
+abruptly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So you see we have never seen one another before to-day. For the last
+year I have been travelling abroad with my husband, and only came to
+London unexpectedly this morning.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Her words revealed the whole plot to me, or so I thought. Secured from
+discovery by the pledge of secrecy which he had exacted from Ilga,
+Marston had shown this miniature of his absent sister, and invented a
+story which there was no one to disprove. Looking back upon the
+incident with the cooler reflection which a lapse of years induces, I
+marvel at the conviction with which I drew the inference. But although
+now I see clearly how incredible it was that a man of Marston's
+breeding and family should so villainously misuse the fair fame of one
+thus near to hand, at the time I measured his jealousy by the violence
+of my own, and was ready to believe that he would check at no barriers
+of pride and honour which stood between him and his intention. Events,
+moreover, seemed to jump most aptly with my conclusion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">So, full of my discovery of his plot, I said a second time, &quot;I.
+understand;&quot; and a second time she flushed unaccountably. I spoke the
+words with some bitterness and contempt, and she took them to refer to
+herself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You blame me,&quot; she began nervously, &quot;for marrying so soon after
+Julian died. But it is unfair to judge quickly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The speech was little short of a revelation to me. So busy had my
+thoughts been with my own affairs, that I had not realised this was in
+truth the woman who had been betrothed to Julian, and who had betrayed
+him to his shameful death. I looked at her for a moment, stunned by
+the knowledge. She was, as her portrait showed her to be, very pretty,
+with something of the petted child about her; of a trim and supple
+figure, and with wonderfully small hands. I remarked her hands
+especially, because her fingers were playing restlessly with the
+jewelled butt of her riding-whip; and I did not wonder at her power
+over men's hearts. A small, trembling hand laid in a man's great palm!
+In truth, it coaxes him out of very pity for its size. For my part,
+however, conscious of the evil which her treachery had done to Julian,
+ay, and to myself, too, I felt nothing but aversion for her, and,
+taking off my hat, I bowed to her silently. Just as I was turning
+away, an idea occurred to me. She knew nothing of her brother's plot
+to ruin me in Ilga's estimation. Why should I not use her to confound
+his designs?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Lady Tracy,&quot; said I, returning to her side, &quot;it is in your power to
+do me a service.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Indeed?&quot; she asked, her face clearing, and her manner changing to its
+former flippancy. &quot;Is it the new fashion for ladies to render services
+to gentlemen? It used to be the other way about.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;As you have sure warrant for knowing,&quot; I added.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The look of fear which I had previously noticed sprang again into her
+eyes; now I appreciated the cause. She was afraid that I knew
+something of her share in Julian's death.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It has been my great good fortune,&quot; she replied uneasily, &quot;when I
+needed any small services, to meet with gentlemen who rendered them
+with readiness and forbearance.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She laid a little stress upon the last word, and I took a step closer
+to her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You cannot be aware, I think, who lodges in this house.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am not,&quot; she replied. &quot;Why? Who lodges here?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Countess Lukstein.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She gave a little faltering cry, and turned white to the lips.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You need have no fear,&quot; I continued. &quot;I said Countess Lukstein, the
+wife, or rather, the widow. For a widow she has been this many a
+month.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A widow!&quot; she repeated. &quot;A widow!&quot; And she drew a long breath of
+relief, the colour returning to her cheeks. Then she turned defiantly
+on me. &quot;And what, pray, is this Countess Lukstein to me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;God forbid that I should inquire into that!&quot; said I sternly, and her
+eyes fell from my face. &quot;Now, madam,&quot; I went on, &quot;will you do me the
+favour I ask of you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You ask it with such humility,&quot; she answered bitterly, &quot;that I cannot
+find it in my heart to refuse you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I expected no less,&quot; I returned. &quot;Let me assist you to dismount.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She drew quickly away.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For what purpose? You would not take me to--to his wife.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Even so!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah, not that! Not that! Mr. Buckler, I beseech you,&quot; she implored
+piteously, laying a trembling hand upon my shoulder. &quot;I have not the
+courage.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is nothing to fear,&quot; I said, reassuring her. &quot;Nothing
+whatsoever. Your brother is there. That guarantees no harm can come to
+you. But, besides, Countess Lukstein knows nothing of the affair. No
+one knows of it but you and I.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She still sat unconvinced upon her saddle.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How is it you know, Mr. Buckler?&quot; she asked, in a low tone.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Julian told me,&quot; I answered, perceiving that I must needs go further
+than I intended if I meant to get my way. &quot;Cannot you guess why? I
+said the Count was dead. I did not tell you how he died. He was killed
+in a duel.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She looked at me for a moment with a great wonder in her eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You!&quot; she whispered. &quot;You killed Count Lukstein?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is the truth,&quot; I answered. &quot;And the Countess knows so little of
+the affair that she is even ignorant of that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Are you sure?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Should I come here a-visiting, think you, if she knew?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The words seemed somewhat to relieve her of apprehension, and she
+asked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To what end would you have me speak to her? What am I to say?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Simply that you and I have met by chance, for the first time this
+morning.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then she couples your name with mine,&quot; she exclaimed, in a fresh
+alarm. &quot;Without ground or reason! Your name--for you killed him--with
+mine. Don't you see? She must suspect!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay,&quot; I answered. &quot;It is the strangest accident which has led her to
+link us together in her thoughts. She can have no suspicion.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then how comes it that she couples us who are strangers?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I saw no object in relating to her the device of her brother, or in
+disclosing my own passion for the Countess. Moreover, I bethought me
+that at any moment Marston might take his leave, and I was resolved
+that Lady Tracy should speak in his presence, since by that means he
+would be compelled to confirm her words. So I broke in abruptly upon
+her questioning.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Lady Tracy, we are wasting time. You must be content with my
+assurances. 'Tis but a little service that I claim of you, and one
+that may haply repair in some slight measure the fatal consequences of
+your disloyalty.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She slipped her foot from the stirrup, and, without touching the hand
+I held out to assist her, sprang lightly to the ground. It may be that
+I spoke with more earnestness than I intended.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What mean cowards love makes of men!&quot; she said, looking at me
+scornfully.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The remark stung me sharply because I was fully sensible that I played
+but a despicable part in forcing her thus to bear testimony for me
+against her will, and I answered angrily:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Surely your memory provides you with one instance to the contrary;&quot;
+and I mounted the steps and knocked at the door.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Otto Krax answered my summons, and for once in his life he betrayed
+surprise. At the sight of Lady Tracy, he leaped backwards into the
+hall, and stared from her to me. Lady Tracy laid a hand within my arm,
+and the fingers tightened convulsively upon my sleeve; it seemed as
+though she were on the point of fainting. I bade the fellow, roughly,
+to wait upon his mistress, and inquire whether she would receive me,
+and a friend whom I was most anxious to present to her. With a
+curiosity very unusual, he asked of me my companion's name, that he
+might announce it. But since my design was to surprise Hugh Marston, I
+ordered him to deliver the message in the precise terms which I had
+used.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">So changed indeed was the man from his ordinary polite impassivity,
+that he abruptly left us standing in the hall, and departed on his
+errand with no more ceremony than a minister's servant shows to the
+needy place-seekers at his master's levée. We stood, I remember
+particularly, in a line with the high window of which I have already
+spoken, and the full light of the noontide sun fell athwart our faces.
+I set the circumstance down here inasmuch as it helped to bring about
+a very strange result.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who is the man?&quot; whispered Lady Tracy, in an agitated voice. &quot;Does he
+know me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay,&quot; said I, reassuring her. &quot;It may be that he has seen you before,
+at Bristol, for he was Count Lukstein's servant. But it is hardly
+probable that the Count shared his secret with him. And the matter was
+a secret kept most studiously.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But his manner? How account for that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Simply enough,&quot; said I. &quot;The person who slandered us to the Countess,
+gave her, as a warrant and proof, a miniature of you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A miniature!&quot; she exclaimed, clinging to me in terror. &quot;Oh, no! no!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Gott im Himmel!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The guttural cry rang hoarsely from the top of the stairs. I looked
+up; Otto was leaning against the wall, his mouth open, his face
+working with excitement, and his eyes protruding from their sockets. I
+had just sufficient time to notice that, strangely enough, his gaze
+was directed at me, and not at the woman by my side, when I felt the
+hand slacken on my arm, and with a little weak sigh, Lady Tracy
+slipped to the floor in a swoon.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I stooped down, and lifting her with some difficulty, carried, or
+rather dragged her to a couch.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Quick, booby!&quot; I shouted to Otto. &quot;Fetch one of the women and some
+water!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">My outcry brought Ilga onto the landing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What has befallen?&quot; she asked, leaning over the rail.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Tis but a swoon,&quot; I replied; &quot;nothing more. There is no cause for
+alarm.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Poor creature!&quot; she said tenderly, and came running down the stairs.
+&quot;Let me look, Mr. Buckler. Ailments, you know, are a woman's
+province.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I was kneeling by the couch, supporting Lady Tracy's head upon my arm,
+and I drew aside, but without removing my arm. Ilga caught sight of
+her face, and stopped.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh!&quot; she cried, with a gasping intake of the breath; then she turned
+on me, her countenance flashing with a savage fury, and her voice so
+bitter and harsh that, had I closed my eyes, I could not have believed
+that it was she who spoke.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So you lied! You lied to me! You tell me one hour that you have never
+had speech with her, the next I find her in your arms.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame,&quot; I replied, withdrawing my arm hastily, &quot;I told you the
+truth.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The head fell heavily forward upon my breast, and I sought to arrange
+the body full-length upon the couch.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay,&quot; said the Countess. &quot;Let the head rest there. It knows its
+proper place.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I told you the truth; believe it or not as you please!&quot; I repeated,
+exasperated by her cruel indifference to Lady Tracy. &quot;I never so much
+as set eyes upon this lady before to-day. I know that now. For the
+first time in my life, I saw her when I left you but a few minutes
+ago. She was waiting on horseback at your steps, and I persuaded her
+to dismount and bear me out with you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A very likely plausible story,&quot; sneered Ilga. &quot;And whom did your
+friend await at my steps?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Her brother,&quot; I replied shortly. &quot;Hugh Marston.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Her brother!&quot; she exclaimed. &quot;We'll even test the truth of that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She ran quickly to the foot of the stairs, as though she would ascend
+them. But seeing Otto still posted agape half-way up, she stopped and
+called to him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tell Mr. Marston that his sister lies in the hall in a dead faint!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Otto recovered his wits, and went slowly up to the parlour, while the
+Countess eyed me triumphantly. But in a moment Marston came flying
+down the stairs; he flung himself on his knees beside his sister.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Betty!&quot; he cried aloud, and again, whispering it into her ear with a
+caressing reproach, &quot;Betty!&quot; He shook her gently by the shoulders,
+like one that wakes a child from sleep. &quot;Is there no help, no doctor
+near?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">One of the Countess's women came forward and loosed the bodice of Lady
+Tracy's riding-habit at the throat, while another fetched a bottle of
+salts.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is the heat,&quot; they said. &quot;She will soon recover.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marston turned to me with a momentary friendliness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It was you who helped my sister. Thank you!&quot; He spoke simply and with
+so genuine cordiality that I could not doubt his affection for Lady
+Tracy; and I wondered yet the more at the selfish use to which he had
+put her reputation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After a while the remedies had their effect, and Lady Tracy opened her
+eyes. Ilga was standing in front of her a few paces off, her face set
+and cold, and I noticed that Lady Tracy shivered as their glances met.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Send for a chair, Hugh!&quot; she whispered, rising unsteadily to her
+feet.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Twere wiser for you to rest a little before you leave,&quot; said the
+Countess, but there was no kindliness in her voice to second the
+invitation, and she did not move a step towards her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I would not appear discourteous, madame,&quot; faltered Lady Tracy, &quot;but I
+shall recover best at home.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will fetch a chair, Betty,&quot; said Marston, and made as though to go;
+but with a terrified &quot;No, no!&quot; Lady Tracy caught him by the coat and
+drew his arm about her waist, clasping her hand upon it to keep it
+there. 'Twas the frankest confession of fear that ever I chanced upon,
+and I marvelled not that Ilga smiled at it. However, she despatched
+Otto upon the errand, and presently Marston accompanied his sister to
+her home.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ilga and myself were thus left standing in the hall, looking each at
+the other. I was determined not to speak, being greatly angered for
+that she had not believed me when I informed her Lady Tracy was
+Marston's sister, and I took up my hat and cane and marched with my
+nose in the air to the door. But she came softly behind me, and said
+in the gentlest tone of contrition:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I seem to spend half my life in giving you offence and the other half
+in begging your pardon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And contrasting her sweet patience with me against the cold dislike
+which she had evinced to Lady Tracy, I, poor fool, carried home with
+me the fancy yet more firmly rooted than before, that her antagonism
+to the original of the miniature was no more than the outcome of a
+woman's jealousy.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_13" href="#div1Ref_13">COUNTESS LUKSTEIN IS CONVINCED.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">One detail of this mischancy episode occasioned me considerable
+perplexity. Conjecture as I might, I could hit upon no cause or
+explanation of it that seemed in any degree feasible. The astonishment
+of Otto Krax I attributed, and as I afterwards discovered rightly
+attributed, to the appearance of Lady Tracy so pat upon the discussion
+of her picture, and to my expressed desire to present her to the
+Countess within a few minutes of strenuously denying her acquaintance;
+and I deemed it not extravagant. That he recognised her as the object
+of his master's capricious fancy at Bristol, I considered most
+improbable. For I remembered how successfully the intrigue had been
+concealed; so that even Julian himself came over-late to the knowledge
+of it. His second exclamation on the stairs I set down to the
+probability that he had perceived Lady Tracy was on the point of
+swooning.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was indeed the fact of the lady's swoon which troubled me. Her
+natural repugnance to meeting the Countess was not motive enough. Nor
+did I believe her sufficiently sensible to shame for that feeling to
+work on her to such purpose. It seemed of a piece with the terror
+which she had subsequently shown on her recovery. The miniature, I
+conjectured, had something, if not everything to do with it. Resolving
+wisely that I had best ascertain the top and bottom of the matter, I
+called upon Marston at his house in Lincoln's Inn Fields, close to the
+new college of Franciscans, and asked where his sister stayed, on the
+plea that I would fain pay my respects to her, and assure myself of
+her convalescence.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I can satisfy you on the latter point,&quot; he returned cordially, &quot;but
+at the cost of denying you the pleasure of a visit. For my sister left
+London on the next day, and has gone down into the country.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So soon?&quot; I asked in some surprise. For Lady Tracy hardly impressed
+me as likely to find much enjoyment in the felicities of a rural life.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Her illness left her weak, and she thought the country air would give
+her health.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For a moment I was in two minds whether to inquire more precisely of
+her whereabouts and follow her; but I reflected that I might encounter
+some difficulty in compassing an interview, for it was evident that
+she had fled from London in order to avoid further trouble and concern
+in the matter. And even if I succeeded so far, I saw no means of
+eliciting the explanation I needed, without revealing to her the
+unscrupulous use which her brother had made of her miniature; and that
+I had not the heart to do. The business seemed of insufficient
+importance to warrant it. There was besides a final and convincing
+argument which decided me to remain in London. If I journeyed into the
+West, I should leave an open field for my rival, and no ally with the
+Countess to guard against his insinuations; and I reflected further
+that there were few possible insinuations from which he would refrain.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On this point of his conduct, however, I was minded to teach him a
+lesson, which would make him more discreet in the future, and at the
+same time effect the purpose I had in view when Lady Tracy
+inopportunely swooned. For when I came to think over the events of
+that morning, I recollected that after all Lady Tracy had not spoken
+as I asked her, and though the last words Ilga had said to me as I
+left the house seemed to show me that she no longer believed the
+calumny, I was none the less anxious to compel Marston to disavow it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Now it was the fashion at the time of which I write for the fine
+ladies and gentlemen of the town to take the air of a morning in the
+Piazza, of Covent Garden; and choosing an occasion when Marston was
+lounging there in the company of the Countess and her attendant,
+Mdlle. Durette, I inquired of him pointedly concerning his sister's
+health, meaning to lead him from that starting-point to an admission
+that Lady Tracy was until that chance meeting a complete stranger to
+me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But or ever he could reply, Ilga broke in with an air of flurry, and
+calling to Lord Culverton, who was approaching, engaged him in a rapid
+conversation. She was afraid, I supposed, that I meant to break the
+promise which I had given her upon the stairs, and tax Marston with
+his treachery; and I was confirmed in the supposition when I repeated
+the question. For she shot at me a look of reproach, and said quickly:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I was telling your friend when you joined us,&quot; she said, &quot;of my home
+in the Tyrol.&quot; She laid some stress upon the word &quot;friend.&quot; &quot;'Twere
+hard, I think, at any season to find a spot more beautiful.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Twere impossible,&quot; rejoined Culverton, with his most elegant bow.
+&quot;For no spot can be more beautiful than that which owns Beauty for its
+queen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The compliment,&quot; replied Ilga, with a bow, &quot;is worthy of the
+playhouse.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay, nay,&quot; smirked my lord, mightily gratified; &quot;the truth, madame,
+the truth extorted from me, let me die! And yet it hath some wit. I
+cannot help it, wit will out, the more certainly when it is truth as
+well.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Lady Tracy, then----&quot; I began to Marston.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But at this time of the year,&quot; interrupted the Countess immediately,
+&quot;Lukstein has no rival. Cornfields redden below it, beeches are
+marshalled green up the hillside behind it, gentian picks out a mosaic
+on the grass, and night and day waterfalls tumble their music through
+the air. Yet even in winter, when the ice binds it and gags its
+voices, it has a quiet charm of silence whereof the memory makes one
+homesick.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As she proceeded the anxiety died out of her face, and she grew
+absorbed in the picture which her memories painted.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame,&quot; said Marston, &quot;I should appreciate the description better if
+it spoke less of a longing to return.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is my kingdom, you see,&quot; she replied. &quot;Barbarous no doubt, with a
+turbulent populace, but still it is my kingdom, and very loyal to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Culverton paid her the obvious flattery, but she took no heed of it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The tiniest, compactest kingdom,&quot; she went on in a musing tone,
+&quot;sequestered in a nook of the world.&quot; She seated herself on a chair
+which stood at the edge of the Piazza. &quot;Indeed, I shall return there,
+and that, I fancy, soon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Countess!&quot; replied Culverton. &quot;That were too heartless. 'Twould
+decimate London, let me perish! For never a gallant but would drink
+himself to death. Oh, fie!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marston joined eagerly in the other's protestations. For my part,
+however, I remained silent, well content with what she had said. For I
+recollected the evening when I first had talk with her, and the
+construction which I had placed upon her words; how she would never
+return to Lukstein until she was eased of the pain which her husband's
+disaster had caused her. The notion that her memories had lost their
+sting thrilled me to the heart, and woke my vanity to conjecture of a
+cause.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then,&quot; said the Countess, &quot;would my friends be proved heartless. For
+it is their turn to visit me, and I would not be baulked of requiting
+them for their kindness to me here. 'Tis not so tedious a journey
+after all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I can warrant the truth of that,&quot; said Culverton. &quot;For I have been as
+far as Innspruck myself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Indeed?&quot; said the Countess. She looked hard at him for a second, and
+then laughed to herself. &quot;When was that?&quot; she asked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Some six years ago. I was on the grand tour with a tutor--a most
+obnoxious person, who was ever poring over statues and cold marble
+figures, but as for a fine woman, rabbit me if he ever knew one when
+he saw her. He dragged me with him from Italy to Innspruck to view
+some figures in the Cathedral.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then you must needs have passed beneath Lukstein,&quot; said the Countess,
+&quot;for it hangs just above the high-road from Italy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Culverton would not admit the statement. Some instinct, some angelic
+warning, he declared, would surely have bidden him stop and climb to
+the Castle as to a holy shrine. The Countess laughingly assured him
+that nevertheless he had passed her home, and with a fond minuteness
+she described to him its aspect and position.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Then the strangest thing occurred. She leaned forward in her chair,
+and with the tip of the stick she carried, drew a line on the gravel
+at the edge of the pavement.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That represents the road from Meran,&quot; she explained. &quot;The stone
+yonder is the Lukstein rock, on which the Castle stands.&quot; She briefly
+described the character of the village, and marked out the windings of
+the road from the gates at the back of the Castle down the hillside,
+until she had well-nigh completed a diagram in all essentials similar
+to that which Julian had sketched for me in my Horace.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;From the village,&quot; she said, &quot;the road runs in a zigzag to join the
+highway.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She traced two long, distinct lines, but stopped of a sudden at the
+apex of the second angle, where the coppice runs to a point, with her
+face puckered up in a great perplexity. Culverton asked her what
+troubled her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I was forgetting,&quot; she said. &quot;I was forgetting how often the road
+twisted,&quot; and very slowly she drew the final line to join with that
+which she had marked to represent the highway in the bed of the
+valley.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It struck me as peculiar for the moment, that with her great affection
+for Lukstein, she should forget so simple and prominent a detail as
+the number of angles which the road made in its descent. But I gave
+little thought to the matter, being rather engrossed in the strange
+coincidence of the diagram. It brought home to me with greater
+poignancy than ever before the deceit which I was practising upon my
+mistress. For I compared the use to which I had put my plan of the
+Castle with the motive which had led her unconsciously to reproduce
+it, I mean her desire that her friends should appreciate the home in
+which she took such manifest delight.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But while I was thus uneasily reproaching myself I perceived Marston
+separate from the group, and being obstinately determined that he
+should admit before Ilga the tenuity of my acquaintance with his
+sister, I called him back and asked him at what period Lady Tracy
+might be expected again in town.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This time the Countess made no effort to divert me. Indeed, she seemed
+barely to notice that I had put the question, but sat with her chin
+propped on the palms of her hands gazing with a thoughtful frown at
+the outline which she had drawn; and I believed her to be engrossed in
+the picture which it evoked in her imagination.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It appears that you feel great interest in my sister, Mr. Buckler,&quot;
+said Marston curiously. Doubtless my question was a clumsy one, for I
+was never an adept at finesse; but this was the last answer which I
+desired to hear. &quot;Nay, nay,&quot; I said hurriedly, and stopped at a loss,
+idly adding with my cane a line here and there to Countess Lukstein's
+diagram.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To my surprise, however, Ilga herself came to my rescue, and in a
+careless tone brought the matter to an issue.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Perhaps Mr. Buckler,&quot; she remarked, &quot;is an old friend of Lady
+Tracy's.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I raised my eyes from the Countess, fixing them upon Marston to note
+how he took the thrust, and with a quick sweep of her stick she
+smoothed the gravel, obliterating the lines. That I expected to see
+Marston disconcerted and in a pother to evade the question, I need not
+say, and 'twas with an amazement which fell little short of
+stupefaction that I heard him answer forthwith in a brusque, curt
+tone.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That can hardly be. For my sister has been abroad all this year, and
+Mr. Buckler in the same case until this year.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I turned to Ilga. But she seemed more interested in Lady Tracy than in
+the fact of the admission.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah! Lady Tracy was abroad,&quot; she said. &quot;When did she leave England?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In September.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The very month that I returned,&quot; I exclaimed triumphantly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Countess turned quickly towards me. &quot;I fancied you only returned
+this spring.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I was in England for a short while in September,&quot; said I, regretting
+the haste with which I had spoken.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;September of last year?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of last year.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Anno Domini 1685,&quot; laughed Culverton. &quot;There seems to be some doubt
+about the date.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;September, 1685,&quot; repeated the Countess with a curious insistency.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is no doubt,&quot; returned Marston hotly. &quot;I could wish for Betty's
+sake we had not such cause to remember it. She was betrothed to one of
+Monmouth's rebels, curse him! and Betty was so distressed by his
+capture that her health gave way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I was upon tenterhooks lest Ilga should inquire the name of the rebel.
+But she merely remarked in an absent way, as though she attached no
+significance to his words:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Tis a sad story.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In truth it is, and the only consolation we got from it was that the
+rebel swung for his treachery. Betty was ordered forthwith abroad, and
+she left England on the fourteenth of September. I remember the day
+particularly since it was her birthday.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;September the fourteenth!&quot; said the Countess; and I, thinking to make
+out my case beyond dispute, cried triumphantly:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The very day whereon I bade good-bye to Leyden.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The words were barely off my lips when Ilga rose to her feet. She
+stood for a moment with her eyes very wide and her bosom heaving.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I am convinced,&quot; she whispered to me with an odd smile. &quot;I ought not
+to have needed the proof. I am convinced.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With that she turned a little on one side, and Marston resumed:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That proves how little Mr. Buckler is acquainted with Lady Tracy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He spoke as though I had been endeavouring to persuade the company
+that I was intimate with his sister; he almost challenged me to
+contradict him. I could not but admire the effrontery of the man in
+carrying off the exposure of his falsity with so high a head, and I
+surmised that he had some new contrivance in his mind whereby he might
+subsequently set himself right with Ilga. One thing, however, was
+apparent to me: that he had no suspicion of his sister's acquaintance
+with Count Lukstein.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It was on the fourteenth that Betty set out for France,&quot; he once more
+declared, and so walked away.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Where she married most happily three months later,&quot; sniggered
+Culverton. &quot;As you say, madame, it is a very sad story.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Countess laughed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She was not over-constant to her rebel.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In the matter of the affections,&quot; replied Culverton, &quot;Lady Tracy was
+ever my Lady Bountiful.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It seemed to me that the Countess turned a shade paler, but any
+inference which I might have drawn adverse to myself from that was
+prevented by a proposal which she presently mooted. For some other of
+our friends joining us about this time, she proposed for a frolic that
+the party should take chairs and immediately invade my lodgings.
+Needless to say, I most heartily seconded the proposition, apologising
+at the same time for the poor hospitality which the suddenness of the
+invitation compelled me to offer.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Since by chance I had the key in my pocket, we entered from the Park
+by the little door in the wall of the garden. I mention this because I
+was waked up about the middle of the night by the sound of this door
+banging to and fro against the jambs, and I believed that I must have
+failed to lock it after I had let my friends into the garden, the door
+having neither latch nor bolt, but was secured only by the lock. For
+awhile I lay in bed striving to shut my ears to the sound. But the
+wind was high, and, moreover, blew straight into the room through the
+open window, so that I could not but listen, and in the end grew very
+wakeful. The sounds were irregularly spaced according to the lulls of
+the wind. Now the door would flap to three or four times in quick
+succession, short and sharp as the crack of a pistol; now it would
+stand noiseless for a time while I waited and waited for it to slam.
+At last I could endure the worry of it no longer, and hastily donning
+some clothes, I clattered downstairs.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The moon was shining fitfully through a scurrying rack of clouds, but
+as I always placed the key of the door upon the mantel-shelf of the
+larger parlour, and thus knew exactly where to lay my hand on it, I
+did not trouble to strike a light, to which omission I owed my life,
+and, indeed, more than my life. I stumbled past the furniture, crossed
+the garden, locked the door, and got me back to bed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In a few moments I fell asleep, but by a chance association of
+ideas--for I think that the banging of the postern must have set my
+thoughts that way--I began, for the first time since I came to London,
+to dream once more of the door in Lukstein Castle, and to see it open,
+and open noiselessly across the world. For the first time in the
+history of my nightmare fancies, that door swung back against the
+wall. It swung heavily, and the sound of the collision shook me to the
+centre. I woke trembling in every limb. It was early morning, the sun
+being risen, and, to my amazement, through the open window I heard the
+postern bang against the jamb.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_14" href="#div1Ref_14">A GAME OF HIDE-AND-SEEK.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">Outside the boughs tossed blithely in the golden air; the wind piped
+among the leaves, and the birds called cheerily. But for me the
+morning was empty of comfort. For the recurrence of this dream filled
+me with an uncontrollable terror; I felt like one who gets him to bed
+of a night in the pride of strength, and wakes in the morning to see
+the stains of an old disease upon his skin. I looked back upon those
+first months of agony in Italy; I remembered how I had dreaded the
+coming of night and the quiet shadows of evening; how each day, from
+the moment I rose from bed, appeared to me as no more than night's
+forerunner. Into such desperate straits did I fall that I was seized
+with a wild foreboding that this period of torture was destined to
+return upon me again and again in some inevitable cycle of fate.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There seemed indeed but one chance for me: to secure the pardon of
+Ilga! It was only on her account that I felt remorse. I had realised
+that from the beginning. And I determined to seek her out that very
+day, unbosom myself of my passion, and confess the injury which I had
+done her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It may be remembered that I was on the brink of the confession when
+Marston ascended the stairs at the apartment of the Countess, and
+interrupted me. Since then, though I had enjoyed opportunities enough,
+I had kept silence; for it was always my habit, due, I fancy, to a
+certain retiring timidity which I had not as yet thoroughly mastered,
+to wait somewhat slavishly upon circumstances, rather than to direct
+my wits to disposing the circumstances in the conjunction best suited
+to my end. Before I spoke or acted, I needed ever &quot;the confederate
+season,&quot; as Shakespeare has it. Now, however, I determined to take the
+matter into my own hands, and tarry no longer for the opportune
+accident. So, leaving orders with my servants that they should procure
+a locksmith and have the lock of the garden door repaired, I set out
+and walked to Pall Mall.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To my grief, I discovered that I had tarried too long. Countess
+Lukstein, the servant told me--he was not Otto--had left London early
+that morning on a visit into the country. A letter, however, had been
+written to me. It was handed to me at the door, since the messenger
+had not yet started to deliver it. With the handwriting I was
+unfamiliar, and I turned at once to the signature. It was only
+natural, I assured myself, that Mademoiselle Durette should write;
+Ilga would no doubt be busy over the arrangements for her departure.
+But none the less I experienced a lively disappointment that she had
+not spared a moment to pen the missive herself. Mademoiselle Durette
+informed me that news had arrived from Lukstein which compelled them
+to return shortly to the Tyrol, and that consequently they had
+journeyed that morning into the country, in order to pay a visit which
+they had already put off too long. The Countess would be absent for
+the space of a fortnight, but would return to London without fail to
+take fitting leave of her friends.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The first three days of her absence lagged by with a most tedious
+monotony. It seems to me now that I spent them entirely in marching
+backwards and forwards on the pavement of Pall Mall. Only one thing,
+indeed, afforded me any interest--the door in my garden wall. For
+there was nothing whatever amiss with the lock, and on no subsequent
+night did it fly open. I closely examined my servants to ascertain
+whether any one of them had made use of it for egress, but they all
+strenuously denied that they had left the house that night, and I was
+driven to the conclusion that I had turned the key before closing the
+door, so that the lock had missed its socket in the post.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On the fourth day, however, an incident occurred which made the next
+week fly like a single hour, and brought me to long most ardently, not
+merely that the Countess might lengthen her visit, but that she would
+depart from England without so much as passing through London on her
+way. For as I waked that morning at a somewhat late hour, I perceived
+Marston sitting patiently on the edge of my bed. He was in
+riding-dress, with his boots and breeches much stained with mud, and
+he carried a switch in his hand. For a while I lay staring at him in
+silent surprise. He did not notice that I was awake, and sat absorbed
+in a moody reverie. At last I stirred, and he turned towards me. I
+noticed that his face was dirty and leaden, his eyes heavy and tired.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You sleep very well,&quot; said he.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Have you waited long?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;An hour. I was anxious to speak to you, so I came up to your room.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We can talk the matter over at breakfast,&quot; said I cheerfully, though,
+to tell the truth, I felt exceedingly uneasy at the strangeness of his
+manner. And I made a movement as though I would rise; but he budged
+not so much as an inch.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I don't fancy we shall breakfast together,&quot; said he, with a slow
+smile, and after a pause: &quot;you sleep very well,&quot; he repeated,
+&quot;considering that you have a crime upon your conscience.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I started up in my bed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Lie down!&quot; he snarled, with a sudden fierceness, and with a queer
+sense of helplessness I obeyed him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That's right,&quot; he continued, with a patronising smile. &quot;Keep quiet
+and listen!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For the moment, however, there was nothing for me to listen to, since
+Marston sat silent, watching with evident enjoyment the concern which
+I betrayed. He had chosen the easiest way with me. The least hint of
+condescension in another's voice always made me conscious in the
+extreme of my own shortcomings, and I felt that I lay helpless in some
+new toils of his weaving.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At last he spoke.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You killed Count Lukstein.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I was prepared for the accusation by his previous words.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well?&quot; I asked, in as natural a tone as I could command.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well,&quot; he returned, &quot;I would not be too hard with you. What if you
+returned to Cumberland to-day, and stayed there? Your estates, I am
+sure, will thrive all the better for their master's supervision.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My estates,&quot; I replied, &quot;have a steward to supervise them. Their
+master will return to them at no man's bidding.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is a pity, a very great pity,&quot; said he thoughtfully, flicking his
+switch in the air. &quot;For not only are you unwise in your own interests,
+but you drive me to a proceeding which I assure you is very repugnant
+and distasteful to my nature. Really, Mr. Buckler, you should have
+more consideration for others.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The smooth irony of his voice began to make my anger rise.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And what is this proceeding?&quot; I inquired.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It would be my duty,&quot; he began, and I interrupted him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I can quite understand, then, that it is repugnant to your nature.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He smiled indulgently.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is a common fault of the very young to indulge in dialectics at
+inappropriate seasons. It would be my duty, unless you retired
+obediently to Cumberland, to share my knowledge with the lady you have
+widowed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I shall save you that trouble,&quot; said I, much relieved, &quot;for I am in
+the mind to inform the Countess of the fact myself. Indeed, I called
+at her lodging the other day with that very object.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But the Countess had left, and you didn't.&quot; He turned on me sharply;
+the words were more a question than a statement. I remained silent,
+and he smiled again. &quot;As it is, I shall inform her. That will make all
+the difference.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I needed no arguments to convince me of the truth of what he said. The
+confession must come from me, else was I utterly undone. I sat up and
+looked at him defiantly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So be it, then! It is a race between us which shall reach her first.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Pardon me,&quot; he explained, in the same unruffled, condescending tone;
+&quot;there will be no race, for I happen to know where the Countess is
+a-visiting, and you, I fancy, do not. I have the advantage of you in
+that respect.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I glanced at him doubtfully. Did he seek to bluff me into yielding, I
+wondered? But he sat on the bedside, carelessly swinging a leg, with
+so easy a composure that I could not hesitate to credit his words.
+However, I feigned not to believe him, and telling him as much, fell
+back upon my pillow with a show of indifference, and turned my face
+from him to the wall, as though I would go to sleep.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You do believe me,&quot; he insisted suavely. &quot;You do indeed. Besides, I
+can give you proof of my knowledge. I am so certain that I know the
+lady's whereabouts, and that you do not, that I will grant you four
+days' grace to think the matter over. As I say, I have no desire to
+press you hard, and to be frank with you, I am not quite satisfied as
+to how my information would be received.&quot; I turned back towards him,
+and noticing the movement, he continued: &quot;Oh, make no mistake, Mr.
+Buckler! The disclosure will ruin your chance most surely. But will it
+benefit me? That is the point. However, I must take the risk, and
+will, if you persist in your unwisdom.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I lay without answering him, turning over in my mind the only plan I
+could think of, which offered me a chance of outwitting him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You might send word to me, four days from now, which alternative you
+prefer. To-day is Monday. On Thursday I shall expect to hear from
+you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He uncrossed his legs as he spoke, and the scabbard of his sword
+rattled against the frame of the bed. The sound, chiming appositely to
+my thoughts, urged me to embrace my plan, and I did embrace it, though
+reluctantly. After all, I thought, 'twas a dishonourable wooing that
+Marston was about. So I said, with a sneer:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Men have been called snivelling curs for better conduct than yours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;By pedantic schoolboys,&quot; he replied calmly. &quot;But then the schoolboys
+have been whipped for their impertinence.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With that he drew the bed-clothes from my chest, and raised his whip
+in the air. I clenched my fists, and did not stir a muscle. I could
+have asked for nothing that was more like to serve me. I made a
+mistake, however, in not feigning some slight resistance, and he
+suddenly flung back the clothes upon me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The ruse was ingenious,&quot; he said, with a smile, &quot;but I cannot gratify
+you to the extent you wish. In a week's time I shall have the greatest
+pleasure in crossing swords with you. But until then we must be
+patient.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">My patience was exhausted already, and raising myself upon my elbow, I
+loaded him with every vile epithet I could lay my tongue to. He
+listened with extraordinary composure and indifference, stripping off
+his gloves the while, until I stopped from sheer lack of breath.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It's all very true,&quot; he remarked quietly. &quot;I have nothing to urge
+against the matter of your speech. Your voice is, I think,
+unnecessarily loud, but that is a small defect, and easily reformed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The utter failure of my endeavour to provoke him to an encounter,
+combined with the contemptuous insolence of his manner, lifted me to
+the highest pitch of fury.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You own your cowardice, then!&quot; I cried, fairly beside myself with
+rage. &quot;You have plotted against me from the outset like a common,
+rascally intriguer. No device was too mean for you to adopt. Why, the
+mere lie about the miniature----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I stopped abruptly, seeing that he turned on me a sudden questioning
+look.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Miniature?&quot; he exclaimed. &quot;What miniature?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I remembered the pledge which I had given to Ilga, and continued
+hurriedly, seeking to cover up my slip:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I could not have believed there was such underhand treachery in the
+world.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then now,&quot; said he, &quot;you are better informed,&quot; and on the instant his
+composure gave way. It seemed as though he could no longer endure the
+strain which his repression threw on him. Passion leaped into his
+face, and burned there like a flame; his voice vibrated and broke with
+the extremity of feeling; his very limbs trembled.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Tis all old talk to me--ages old and hackneyed. You are only
+repeating my thoughts, the thoughts I have lived with through this
+damned night. But I have killed them. Understand that!&quot; His voice
+shrilled to a wild laugh. &quot;I have killed them. Do you think I don't
+know it's cowardly? But there's a prize to be won, and I tell you&quot;--he
+raised his hands above his head, and spoke with a sort of devilish
+exaltation--&quot;I tell you, were my mother alive, and did she stand
+between Ilga and me, I would trample her as surely as I mean to
+trample you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Damn you!&quot; I cried, wrought to a very hysteria by his manner. &quot;Don't
+call her by that name!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And you!&quot; he said, and with an effort he recovered his self-control.
+&quot;And you, are your hands quite clean, my little parson? You kill the
+husband secretly, and then woo the wife with all the innocence and
+timidity in the world. Is there no treachery in that?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I was completely staggered by his words and the contempt with which
+they were spoken. That any one should conceive my lack of assurance in
+paying my addresses to be a deliberate piece of deceit, had never so
+much as entered my head. I had always been too busy upbraiding myself
+upon that very score. Yet I could not but realise now how plausible
+the notion appeared. 'Twas plain that Marston believed I had been
+carefully playing a part; and I wondered: Would Ilga imagine that,
+too, when I told her my story? Would she believe that my deference and
+hesitation had been assumed to beguile her? I gazed at Marston,
+horror-stricken by the conjecture.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ay!&quot; said he, nodding an answer to my look, &quot;we have found each other
+out. Come, let us be frank! We are just a couple of dishonest
+scoundrels, and preaching befits neither of us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He moved away from the bedside, and picked up his whip which he had
+dropped on to the floor. It lay close to the window, and as he raised
+himself again, he looked out across the garden.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You overlook the Park,&quot; he said in an altered tone. &quot;It is very
+strange.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the time I was so overwhelmed by the construction which he had
+placed upon my behaviour, that I did not carefully consider what he
+meant. Thinking over the remark subsequently, however, I inferred from
+it, what indeed I had always suspected, that Marston had no knowledge
+his interviews and promenades with the Countess had taken place within
+sight of my windows.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He took up his hat, and opened the door.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I told you fortune would give me my revenge,&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are leaving your gloves,&quot; said I, awakened to the necessity of
+action by his leave-taking.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The gloves were lying on the edge of the bed. Thanking me politely, he
+returned, and stooped forward to take them. I gathered them in my hand
+and tossed them into his face. His head went back as though I had
+struck him a blow; he flushed to a dark crimson, and I saw his fingers
+tighten about his whip. The next moment, however, he gave a little
+amused laugh.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is much of the child lingering in you, Mr. Buckler,&quot; he said.
+&quot;'Tis a very amiable quality, and I wonder not that it gets you
+friends. Indeed, I should have rejoiced to have been reckoned among
+them myself, had such a consummation been possible.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He spoke the last sentence with something of sincerity; but it only
+served to increase my rage.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You cannot disregard the insult,&quot; I cried.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why not? There are no witnesses.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There shall be witnesses and to spare on the next occasion,&quot; I
+replied, baffled by his coolness. He shrugged his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have four days to bring about that occasion. Afterwards I shall
+seek it myself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I had four days wherein to discover the whereabouts of Countess
+Lukstein, or to compel Marston to an encounter. The one alternative
+seemed impossible; the other, as I had evidence enough, little short
+of impossible. Four days! The words beat into my brain like dull
+strokes of a hammer. I could not think for their pressing repetition.
+I was, moreover, bitterly sensible that I had myself placed the weapon
+for my destruction into Marston's hand.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For there was no doubting that he had obtained his knowledge from his
+sister. I had plumed myself somewhat upon my diplomacy in revealing my
+secret to her, and in using it as a means to force her to deny my
+acquaintance. Now, when it was all too late, I saw what a mistake my
+cleverness had been. For not only through Lady Tracy's swoon had I
+missed my particular aim, but I had presented to my antagonist a
+veritable Excalibur, and kept not so much as a poniard for my own
+defence. Even then, however, I did not realise the entirety of the
+mistake, and had no inkling of the price I was to pay for it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The first step which I took that morning was to make inquiries at the
+lodging of Countess Lukstein. The servants, however, whom she had left
+behind, knew--or rather pretended to know--nothing of their mistress'
+journey, beyond what they had previously told me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Since, then, it was impossible to search the length and breadth of
+England within four days, I was thrown back upon my last resource. It
+was discreditable enough even to my fevered mind; but I could see no
+other way out of the difficulty, and at all costs I was resolved that
+Marston should not relate his story to the Countess until I had
+related mine. For even if he was minded to speak the truth, it would
+make all the difference, as he justly said, which of us twain spoke
+the first. I felt certain, moreover, that he would not speak the
+truth. For, to begin with, he would ascribe my timidity to a
+carefully-laid plan, since that was his genuine conviction; and again,
+remembering the story which I believed him to have invented concerning
+the miniature, I had no doubt that he would so embroider his actual
+knowledge that I should figure on the pattern as a common assassin.
+How much of the real history of Count Lukstein's death he knew, of
+course I was not aware, nor did I trouble myself to consider.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">My conclusion, accordingly, was to fix upon him within the next four
+days an affront so public and precise that he must needs put the
+business without delay to the arbitrament of swords; in which case, I
+was determined, one or the other of us should find his account.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To this end I spent the day amidst the favourite resorts of the town,
+passing from the Piazza to the Exchange in search of him; thence back
+to St. Paul's Church, thence to Hyde Park, from the Park across the
+water to the Spring Garden at Lambeth, and thence again to Barn Elms.
+By this time the afternoon was far advanced, and bethinking me that he
+might by chance be dining abroad, I sought out the taverns which he
+most frequented: Pontac's in Abchurch Lane, Locket's, and the
+&quot;Rummer.&quot; But this pursuit was as fruitless as the former, and without
+waiting to bite a morsel myself, I hurried to make the round of the
+chocolate-houses. Marston, however, was not to be discovered in any of
+them, nor had word been heard of him that day. At the &quot;Spread Eagle,&quot;
+in Covent Garden, however, I fell across Lord Culverton, and framing
+an excuse persuaded him to bear me company; which he did with great
+good-nature, for he was engaged at ombre, a game to which he was much
+addicted. At the &quot;Cocoa Tree&quot; in Pall Mall, I secured Elmscott by a
+like pretext, and asked him if he knew of another who was minded for a
+frolic, and would make the fourth. He presented me immediately to a
+Mr. Aglionby, a country gentleman of the neighbouring county to my
+own, but newly come to town, and very boisterous and talkative. I
+thought him the very man for my purpose, since he would be like to
+spread the report of the quarrel, and joining him to my company I
+summoned a hackney coach, and we drove to the Lincoln's Inn Fields. A
+hundred yards from Marston's house I dismissed the coach and sent
+Elmscott and the rest of the party forward, myself following a little
+way behind. I had previously instructed Elmscott in the part which I
+desired him to play. Briefly, he was to inquire whether Marston was
+within; and if, as I suspected, that was the case, to seek admittance
+on the plea that he wished to introduce a friend from the country, in
+the person of Mr. Aglionby. Whereupon I was to join myself quietly to
+the party, and so secure an entrance into the house in company with
+sufficient witnesses to render a duel inevitable upon any insult.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marston, however, was prepared against all contingencies, for four
+servants appeared in answer to my cousin's knocking; and as they
+opened the door no further than would allow one person to enter at a
+time, it was impossible even to carry the entrance by a rush. My
+friends, however, had no thought of doing that, since one of the
+servants came forward into the street and gravely informed them that
+his master had fallen suddenly sick of an infectious fever, and lay
+abed in a frenzy of delirium. Even as the fellow spoke, a noise of
+shouts and wild laughter came through the open door. My companions
+shuddered at the sounds, and with a few hasty expressions of regret,
+hurried away from the neighbourhood. I ran after them, shouting out
+that it was all a lie; that Marston had not one-tenth of the fever
+which possessed me, and that his illness was a coward's dissimulation
+to avoid a just chastisement. However, I had better have spared my
+breath; for my words had no effect but to alienate their good-will,
+and they presently parted from me with every appearance of relief.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I walked home falling from depth to depth of despondency. The summer
+evening, pleasant with delicate colours, came down upon the town; the
+air was charged and lucent with a cool dew; the sweet odours of the
+country--nowhere, I think, so haunting, so bewitching to the senses as
+when one catches them astray in the heart of a city--were fragrant in
+the nostrils, so that the passers-by walked with a new alertness in
+their limbs, and a renewed youth in their faces; and as I stood at the
+door of my lodging, a great home-sickness swept in upon my soul, a
+longing for the dark fields in the starshine and the silent hills
+about them. I was seized with a masterful impulse to saddle my horse
+and ride out northwards through the night, while the lights grew
+blurred and misty behind me, and the fresh wind blew out of the
+heavens on my face. I doubt not, however, that the desire would have
+passed ere I had got far, and that I should have felt much the same
+desolate home-sickness for the cobbles and dust of London as I felt
+now for Cumberland.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">However, I did not test the strength of my impulse; for while I stood
+upon the steps debating whether I should go or stay, I perceived one
+of Marston's servants coming towards me down the street. With a grave
+deference, under which, rightly or wrongly, I seemed to detect a
+certain irony, he gave me his master's compliments, and handed me a
+little stick of wood. There was a single notch cut deep into the
+stick. I understood it to signify that one day out of the four had
+passed, and--so strangely is a man constituted--this gibing menace
+determined me to stay. It turned my rage, with its fitful alternatives
+of passion and despair, into a steady hate, just as one may stir
+together the scattered, spurting embers of a fire into one glowing
+flame.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Late that evening came Lord Elmscott to see me, and asked me with a
+concern which I little expected, after his curt desertion of a few
+hours agone, what dispute had arisen between Marston and myself. I
+told him as much as I could without revealing the ground of our
+quarrel; that Marston had certain knowledge concerning myself which he
+was minded to impart to Countess Lukstein; that I was fully sensible
+the Countess ought to be informed of the matter, but that I wished to
+carry the information myself; that I doubted Marston would not speak
+the truth, but would distort the story to suit his own ends. The rest
+of the events I related to him in the order in which they had
+occurred.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But it may be,&quot; he objected, &quot;that Marston has really fallen sick.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For reply, I handed him the stick of wood, and told him how it had
+been delivered.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The fellow's cunning,&quot; he observed, &quot;for not only is he out of your
+reach, but he locks your mouth. You cannot urge that a man refuses to
+meet you when he lies abed with a fever, and you cannot prove that the
+sickness is feigned.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For awhile he sat silent, drumming with his fingers on the table. Then
+he asked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How comes it that Marston knows of this secret?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;His sister must have told him,&quot; I replied.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;His sister!&quot; he repeated. &quot;Why, you never met her before this month.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I told her on the first occasion that I met her. She was in some
+measure concerned in it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He looked at me shrewdly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She was engaged to Sir Julian Harnwood,&quot; said he.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I nodded assent.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He brought his fist down on the table with a bang.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The trouble springs from that cursed journey of yours to Bristol. I
+warned you harm would come of it. Had Lady Tracy any reason to fear
+you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;None,&quot; I replied promptly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Or any reason to fear Countess Lukstein?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;None,&quot; I replied again; but after a moment's thought I added: &quot;But
+she did fear her. I am sure of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He sprang to his feet.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Three days!&quot; he cried. &quot;Three days! We may yet outwit him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How?&quot; I asked, with the greatest eagerness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I'll not tell you now. 'Tis no more than a fancy. Wait you here your
+three days. Keep a strict watch on Marston's house. 'Tis unlikely that
+he will move before the time, since he would rather you spared him the
+telling of the story; but there's no trusting him. On Thursday I will
+come to you here before midnight; so wait for me, unless, of course,
+Marston leaves before then. In that case, follow him, but send word
+here of your direction. You must be wary; the fellow's cunning, and
+may get free from his house in some disguise.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With that he clapped his hat on his head, and rushed out into the
+street. For the next three days I saw no more of him. About Marston's
+house I kept strict watch as he enjoined. There were but two
+entrances: one in the façade of the building towards the Square, and
+the second in a little side-street which ran along a wall of the
+house. Few, however, either came in or out of these entrances, for the
+rumour of his sickness was spread abroad in the town, and even his
+tradesmen dreaded to catch the infection. I was, moreover, certain
+that he had not escaped, since each evening his servant came to my
+lodging and left a stick notched according to the number of days.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On the morning of the Thursday, being the fourth day and my last of
+grace, I doubled the sentinels about the house, hiring for the purpose
+some fellows of whom my people had cognizance. At the entrances,
+however, I planted my own men, and bidding them mark carefully the
+faces of such as passed out, in whatever dress they might be clothed,
+I retired to a coign of vantage at some distance whence I could keep
+an eye upon the house, and yet not obtrude myself upon the notice of
+those within it. In a little alley hard by I had stationed a groom
+with the swiftest horse that I possessed, so that I might be prepared
+to set off in pursuit of my antagonist the moment word of his
+departure was brought to me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Thus, then, I waited, my heart throbbing faster and faster as the day
+wore on, and every nerve in my body a jerking pulse. At last my
+excitement mastered me; a clock in a neighbouring belfry chimed the
+hour of four, and I crept out of my corner and mingled with the
+gipsies and mountebanks who were encamped with their booths in the
+centre of the Square. Amongst this motley crowd I thought myself safe
+from detection, and moved, though still observing some caution,
+towards the front of Marston's house. It wore almost an air of
+desertion; over many of the windows the curtains were drawn, and never
+a face showed through the panes of the rest. I could see that my men
+were still stationed at their posts, and I began to think that we must
+needs prolong our vigil into the night. Shortly after six, however,
+the hall-door was opened, and the same servant who brought me the
+sticks of an evening came out on to the steps. He looked neither to
+the right nor to the left, but without a moment's hesitation stepped
+across the road, and threading the tents and booths, came directly
+towards me. It was evident that I had been remarked from some quarter
+of the house, and so I made no effort at further concealment, but
+rather went forward to meet him. With the same grave politeness which
+had always characterised him, he offered me a letter.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My master,&quot; said he, &quot;bade me deliver this into your hand two hours
+after he had left.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Two hours after he had left!&quot; I gasped, well-nigh stunned by his
+words.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Two hours,&quot; he replied. &quot;But I have been a trifle remiss, I fear me,
+and for that I would crave your pardon. It is now two hours and a half
+since my master departed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He made a low bow and went back to the house, leaving me stupidly
+staring at the letter.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My fever,&quot; it ran, &quot;is happily so abated that I am to be carried this
+instant into the country. There will be no danger, I am assured,
+providing <i>that I am well wrapped up</i>. Au revoir! Or is it
+adieu?--HUGH MARSTON.&quot;</p>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">The sarcasm made my blood boil in my veins, and I ran to the sentinels
+I had posted before the entrances, rating them immeasurably for their
+negligence. They heard me with all the marks of surprise, and
+expostulated in some heat. No one, they maintained, who in any way
+resembled Mr. Marston had left the house; they had watched most
+faithfully the day long, without a bite of food to stay their
+stomachs. Somewhat relieved by their words, I took no heed of their
+forward demeanour, but gave them to understand that if their words
+were true, they should eat themselves into a stupor an they were so
+disposed. For I began to fancy that the letter was a ruse to induce me
+to withdraw my watchmen from the neighbourhood, and thus open a free
+passage for my rival's escape.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With the view of confirming the suspicion, I ordered them to give me a
+strict and particular account of all persons who had come from the
+house that day. For those who had kept guard before the front-door the
+task was simple enough. A few gentlemen had called; but of them only
+one, whom they imagined to be the physician, had entered the hall. He
+had reappeared again within half an hour or so of his going in, and,
+with that exception, no person had departed by this way.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The side-door, however, had been more frequently used. Now and again a
+servant had come out, or a tradesman had delivered his wares. At one
+time a cart had driven up, a bale of carpets had been carried into the
+house, and a second bale fetched out.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What!&quot; I cried, interrupting the speaker. &quot;A bale of carpets? At what
+time?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He knew not exactly, but 'twas between three and four, for he heard a
+clock chime the latter hour some while afterwards.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You dolt!&quot; I cried. &quot;He was in the carpets.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know nought of that,&quot; he answered sullenly. &quot;You only bade me note
+faces, and I noted them that carried the carpets. You said nothing
+about noting carpets.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The fellow was justly indignant, I felt; for, indeed, I doubt whether
+I should have suspected the bale myself but for Marston's letter. So I
+dismissed the men from their work, and rode slowly back to my lodging.
+Marston had three hours' start of me already; by midnight he would
+have nine, even supposing that Elmscott arrived with trustworthy
+intelligence. What chance had I of catching, him?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I walked about the room consumed with a fire of impatience. I seemed
+to hear the beat of hoofs as Marston rode upon the way; and the
+further he went into the distance, the louder and louder grew the
+sound, until I was forced to sit down and clasp my head between my
+hands in a mad fear lest it should burst with the racket. And then I
+saw him--saw him, as in a crystal, spurring along a white, winding
+road; and strangely enough the road was familiar to me, so that I knew
+each stretch that lay ahead of him, before it came in view and was
+mirrored in my imaginings. I followed him through village and wood;
+now a river would flash for a second beneath a bridge; now a hill lift
+in front, and I noticed the horse slacken speed and the rider lean
+forward in the saddle. Then for a moment he would stand outlined
+against the sky on the crest, then dip into a hollow, and out again
+across a heath. At last he came towards the gate of a town. How I
+prayed that the gate would be barred! We were too distant to ascertain
+that as yet. He drove his spurs deeper into the flanks of his horse.
+The gate was open! He dashed at full gallop down a street; turned into
+a broad lane at right angles; the beat of hoofs became louder and
+louder in my ears. Of a sudden he drew rein, and the sound stopped. He
+sprang from his horse, mounted a staircase, and burst into a room. I
+heard the door rattle as it was flung open. I knew the room. I
+recognised the clock in the corner. I gazed about me for the
+Countess--and Elmscott's hand fell upon my shoulder.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Why, lad, art all in the dark?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have just reached the light,&quot; I cried, springing up in a frenzy of
+excitement. &quot;The Countess Lukstein lies at the 'Thatched House
+Tavern,' in Bristol town.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Damn!&quot; said Elmscott. &quot;I have just ridden thither and back to find
+that out.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And he fell swearing and cursing in a chair, whilst I rang for candles
+to be brought.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_15" href="#div1Ref_15">THE HALF-WAY HOUSE AGAIN.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">I had previously given orders that my horse should be kept ready
+saddled in the stable, and I now bade the servant bring it round to
+the door.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay, there's no need to hurry,&quot; said Elmscott comfortably, throwing
+his legs across a chair. &quot;Marston will never start before the
+morning.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He has started,&quot; I replied. &quot;He has seven hours to the good already.
+He started between three and four of the afternoon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But you were to follow him,&quot; he exclaimed, starting up. &quot;You knew the
+road he was going. You were to follow him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;He slipped through my fingers,&quot; said I, with some shame, for Elmscott
+was regarding me with the same doubtful look which I had noticed so
+frequently upon Jack Larke's face. &quot;And as for knowing his road, 'twas
+a mere guess that flashed on me at the moment of your arrival.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, well,&quot; said Elmscott, with a shrug, &quot;order some supper, and if
+you can lend me a horse we will follow in half an hour.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Udal fetched a capon and a bottle of canary from the larder, and
+together we made short work of the meal. For, in truth, I was no less
+famished than Elmscott, though it needed his appetite to remind me of
+the fact. Meanwhile, I related in what manner Marston had escaped me,
+and handed him the letter which the servant had delivered to me in the
+Lincoln's Inn Fields.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In a bale of carpets!&quot; cried Elmscott, with a fit of laughter which
+promised to choke him. &quot;Gadsbud, but the fellow deserves to win! Well
+wrapped up! Morrice, Morrice, I fear me he'll trip up your heels!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Elmscott's hilarity, it may easily be understood, had little in it
+which could commend it to me, and I asked him abruptly by what means
+he had discovered that the Countess Lukstein was visiting in Bristol.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I'll tell you that as we go,&quot; said he, with a mouth full of capon.
+&quot;At present I have but one object, to fill my stomach.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After we had set forth, which we did a short while before
+midnight--for I heard a clock tell that hour as we rode through the
+village of Knightsbridge--he explained how the conjecture had grown up
+in his mind.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Marston came to you in the early morning, a week after the Countess
+had left London. He was muddied and soiled, as though he had ridden
+hard all night. In fact, he told you as much himself, and gave you the
+reason: that he had been fighting out his battle with himself. I
+reasoned, therefore, that he had only heard of this secret, whatever
+it may be, which put you at his mercy, the evening before. Now that
+information came from his sister. It concerned Countess Lukstein. Lady
+Tracy, you told me, for some reason feared the Countess. I argued then
+that it could only be this fear which made her write to her brother.
+But then she had been in England a month already. How was it that she
+had not revealed her anxiety before? And further, how was it that
+Marston knew what you and every one else was ignorant of--where
+Countess Lukstein was staying? Lady Tracy, I was aware, had gone down
+to the family estate near Bristol; and I inferred in consequence that
+she had seen the Countess in the neighbourhood, that her alarm had
+been increased by the sight, and that she had promptly communicated
+her fears to her brother; which fears Marston made use of as a weapon
+against you. The period of Countess Lukstein's departure jumped most
+aptly with my conjecture, and I thought it would be worth while to
+ride to Bristol and discover the truth.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The notion seemed to me, upon his recounting it, so reasonable and
+clear that I wondered why it had never occurred to me, and expressed
+as much to Elmscott.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He laughed in reply.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A man in love,&quot; said he, &quot;is ever a damned fool. He smothers his mind
+in a petticoat.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The night was very open, the moon being in the last quarter, and the
+road, from the dry summer, much harder than when I had travelled over
+it in the previous year; so that we made a good pace, and drew rein
+before the &quot;Golden Crown&quot; at Newbury about seven of the morning. There
+we discovered that two travellers had arrived at the inn a little
+after midnight with their horses very wearied; but, since Thursday was
+market-day, and the inn consequently full, they had remained but a
+little while to water their beasts, and had then pushed on towards
+Hungerford. Elmscott was for breakfasting at the &quot;Golden Crown,&quot; but I
+bethought me that Hungerford was but nine miles distant, and that
+Marston was most like to have lain the night there. Consequently, if
+we pressed forward with all speed, there was a good chance that we
+might overtake my rival or ever he had started from the town; in which
+case Elmscott, at all events, would be able to take his meal at his
+leisure. To this view my companion assented, though with some
+reluctance, and we set off afresh across Wickham Heath. In a short
+time we came in view of the &quot;Half-way House,&quot; and I related to
+Elmscott my adventure with the landlord. As we rode past it, however,
+I perceived the worthy man going towards the stable with a bucket of
+water in his hand, and I hastily reined up.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What is it?&quot; asked Elmscott.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The fellow has no horses of his own,&quot; I replied. &quot;It follows he must
+needs have guests.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I dismounted as I spoke, and hailed the man.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Potatoe!&quot; I cried to him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For a moment he looked at me in amazement, and then:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Dang it!&quot; he shouted. &quot;The play-actor!&quot; And he dropped the bucket,
+and ran towards me doubling his fists.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have a pass-word for you,&quot; I said, when he was near. &quot;It lags a
+year behind the time, it's true--Wastwater. So you see the mare was
+meant for me no less than your slugs.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He stopped, and answered doggedly:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, 'twas your fault, master. You should have passed the word. The
+mare was left with me in strict trust, and you were ready enough with
+your pistol to make an honest man believe you meant no good.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Elmscott broke in impatiently upon his apology with a demand for
+breakfast. His wife, the landlord assured us, was preparing breakfast
+even now for two gentlemen who had come over-night, and we might join
+them if they had no objection to our company. I asked him at what hour
+these gentlemen had ridden up to the inn, and he answered about one of
+the morning. I could not repress an exclamation of joy. Elmscott gave
+me a warning look and dismounted; he bade the landlord see the horses
+groomed and fed, and joined me in the road.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Their faces will be a fine sight,&quot; said he, rubbing his hands, &quot;when
+we take our seats at the table. A guinea-piece will be white in
+comparison.&quot; And he fell to devising plans by which our surprise might
+produce the most startling effect.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Strangely enough, it occurred to neither of us at the time that the
+surest method of outwitting Marston was to leave him undisturbed to
+his breakfast and ride forward to Bristol. But during these last days
+the anxiety and tension of my mind had so fanned my hatred of the man,
+that I could think of nothing but crossing swords with him. We were
+both, in a word, absorbed in a single quest; from wishing to outstrip,
+we had come to wish merely to overtake.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Elmscott gave orders to the innkeeper that he should inform us as soon
+as the two travellers were set down to their meal; and for the space
+of half an hour we strolled up and down, keeping the inn ever within
+our view. At the end of that time I perceived a cloud of dust at a
+bend of the road in the direction of Hungerford. It came rolling
+towards us, and we saw that it was raised by a berlin which was drawn
+at a great speed by six horses.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;They travel early,&quot; said Elmscott carelessly. I looked at the coach
+again, but this time with more attention.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Quick!&quot; I cried of a sudden, and drew Elmscott through an opening in
+the hedge into the field that bordered the road. The next moment the
+berlin dashed by.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Did you see?&quot; I asked. &quot;Otto Krax was on the box.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ay!&quot; he answered. &quot;And Countess Lukstein within the carriage. What
+takes her back so fast, I wonder? She will be in London two days
+before her time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We came out again from behind the hedge, and watched the carriage
+dwindling to a speck along the road.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;If you will, Morrice,&quot; said my cousin, with a great reluctance, &quot;you
+can let Marston journey to Bristol, and yourself follow the Countess
+to town.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay!&quot; said I shortly. &quot;I have a mind to settle my accounts with
+Marston, and not later than this morning.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He brightened wonderfully at the words.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Twere indeed more than a pity to miss so promising an occasion. But
+as I am your Mentor for the nonce, I deemed it right to mention the
+alternative--though I should have thought the less of you had you
+taken my advice. Here comes the landlord to summon us to breakfast.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We followed him along the passage towards the kitchen. The door stood
+half-opened, and peeping through the crack at the hinges, we could see
+Marston and his friend seated at a table.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Gentlemen,&quot; said Elmscott, stepping in with the politest bow, &quot;will
+you allow two friends to join your repast?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marston was in the act of raising a tankard to his lips; but save that
+his face turned a shade paler, and his hand trembled so that a few
+drops of the wine were spilled upon the cloth, he betrayed none of the
+disappointment which my cousin had fondly anticipated. He looked at us
+steadily for a second, and then drained the tankard. His companion--a
+Mr. Cuthbert Cliffe, with whom both Elmscott and myself were
+acquainted--rose from his seat and welcomed us heartily. It was
+evident that he was in the dark as to the object of our journey. We
+seated ourselves opposite them on the other side of the table.
+Elmscott was somewhat dashed by the prosaic nature of the reception,
+and seemed at a loss how to broach the subject of the duel, when
+Marston suddenly hissed at me:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How the devil came you here?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;On a magic carpet,&quot; replied Elmscott smoothly. &quot;Like the Arabian, we
+came upon a magic carpet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Marston rose from the table and walked to the fireplace, where he
+stood kicking the logs with the toe of his boot, and laughing to
+himself in a short, affected way, as men are used who seek to cover up
+a mortification. Then he turned again to me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Very well,&quot; he said, with a nod, &quot;and the sooner the better. If Lord
+Elmscott and Mr. Cliffe will arrange the details, I am entirely at
+your service.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With that he set his hat carelessly on his head, and sauntered out of
+the room. Mr. Cliffe looked at me in surprise.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is an old-standing quarrel between Mr. Buckler and your friend,&quot;
+Elmscott explained, &quot;but certain matters, of which we need not speak,
+have brought it to a head. Your friend would fain have deferred the
+settlement for another week, but Mr. Buckler's engagements forbade the
+delay.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">So far he had got when a suspicion flashed into my head. Leaving
+Elmscott to arrange the encounter with Mr. Cliffe, I hurried down the
+passage and out on to the road. On neither side was Marston to be
+seen, but I perceived that the stable door stood open. I looked
+quickly to the priming of my pistol--for, knowing that the Great West
+Road was infested by footpads and highwaymen, we had armed ourselves
+with some care before leaving London--and took my station in the
+middle of the way. Another minute and I should have been too late; for
+Marston dashed out of the stable door, already mounted upon his horse.
+He drove his spurs into its flanks, and rode straight at me. I had
+just time to leap on one side. His riding-whip slashed across my face,
+I heard him laugh with a triumphant mockery, and then I fired. The
+horse bounded into the air with a scream of pain, sank on its
+haunches, and rolled over on its side.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The noise of the shot brought our seconds to the door.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Your friend seems in need of assistance,&quot; said Elmscott. For Marston
+lay on the road struggling to free himself from the weight of the
+horse. Cliffe loosened the saddle and helped Marston to his feet. Then
+he drew aside and stood silent, looking at his companion with a
+questioning disdain. Marston returned the look with a proud
+indifference, which, in spite of myself, I could not but admire.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There was more courage than cowardice in the act,&quot; said I, &quot;to those
+who understand it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I can do without your approbation,&quot; said Marston, flushing, as he
+turned sharply upon me. Catching sight of my face, he smiled. &quot;Did the
+whip sting?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I unsheathed my sword, and without another word we mounted the bank on
+the left side of the road and passed on to the heath.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The seconds chose a spot about a hundred yards from the highway, where
+the turf was level and smooth, and set us facing north and south, so
+that neither might get advantage from the sun. The morning was very
+clear and bright, with just here and there a feather of white cloud in
+the blue of the sky; and our swords shone in the sunlight like darting
+tongues of flame.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The encounter was of the shortest, since we were in no condition to
+plan or execute the combinations of a cool and subtle attack, but
+drove at each other with the utmost fury. Marston wounded me in the
+forearm before ever I touched him. But a few seconds after that he had
+pinked me, he laid his side open, and I passed my sword between his
+ribs. He staggered backwards, swayed for a moment to and fro in an
+effort to keep his feet; his knees gave under him, and he sank down
+upon the heath, his fingers clasping and unclasping convulsively about
+the pommel of his sword. Cliffe lifted him in his arms and strove to
+staunch the blood, which was reddening through his shirt, while
+Elmscott ran to the inn and hurried off to Hungerford for a surgeon.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For awhile I stood on my ground, idly digging holes in the grass with
+the point of my rapier. Then Marston called me faintly, and I dropped
+the sword and went to his side. His face was white and sweaty, and the
+pupils of his eyes were contracted to pin-points.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I knelt down and bent my head close to his.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So,&quot; he whispered, &quot;luck sides with you after all. This time I
+thought that I had won the vole.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He was silent for a minute or so, and then:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I want to speak with you alone.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I took him from Cliffe's arms and supported his head upon my knee, he
+pressing both his hands tightly upon his side.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Betty is afraid,&quot; he continued, with a gasp between each word, as
+soon as Cliffe had left us. &quot;Betty is afraid, and her husband's a
+fool.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The implied request, even at that moment, struck me as wonderfully
+characteristic of the man. So long as his own desires were at stake he
+disregarded his sister's fears; but no sooner had all chance of
+gaining them failed, than his affection for her reasserted itself, and
+even drove him to the length of asking help from his chief enemy.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will see that no harm comes to her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Promise!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I promised, somehow touched by his trust in me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I knew you would,&quot; he said gratefully; and then, with a smile: &quot;I am
+sorry I hit you with my whip--Morrice. I could have loved you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Again he lay silent, plucking at the grass with the fingers of his
+left hand.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Lift me higher! There is something else.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I raised his body as gently as I could; but nevertheless the rough
+bandage which Cliffe had fastened over the wound became displaced with
+the movement, and the blood burst out again, soaking through his
+shirt.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You spoke of a miniature----&quot; he began, and then with a little
+gasping sob he turned over in my arms, and fell forward on the grass
+upon his face.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I called to Cliffe, who stood with his back towards us a little
+distance off, and ran to where I had laid my coat and cravat before
+the duel commenced. For the cravat was of soft muslin, and might, I
+fancied, be of some use as lint. With this in my hand, I hurried back.
+Cliffe was lifting Marston from the ground.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Best let him lie there quietly,&quot; I said.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He turned the body over upon its back.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Aye!&quot; he answered, &quot;under God's sky.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I dropped on my knees beside the corpse, felt the pulse, laid my ear
+to the heart. The sun shone hot and bright upon his dead face. Cliffe
+took a handkerchief from his pocket, and gently placed it over
+Marston's eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This means a year on the Continent for you, my friend,&quot; he said.</p>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">When Elmscott and the surgeon arrived some half an hour later, they
+found me eating my breakfast in the kitchen.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Where is he?&quot; they asked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who?&quot; said I.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I remember vaguely that the surgeon looked at me with a certain
+anxiety, and made a remark to Elmscott. Then they went out of the room
+again. How long it was before they returned I have no notion. Elmscott
+brought in my coat, hat, and sword, and I got up to put them on; but
+the doctor checked him, and setting me again in my chair, bound up my
+arm, not without some resistance from me, for I saw that his hands
+were dabbled with Marston's blood.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now,&quot; said he to Elmscott, &quot;if you will help, we will get him
+upstairs to bed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No!&quot; said I, suddenly recollecting all that had occurred. &quot;I made
+Marston a promise. I must keep it! I must ride to town and keep it!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It will be the best way, if he can,&quot; said Elmscott. &quot;He will be taken
+here for a surety. I have sent a messenger to Bristol with the news.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The surgeon eased my arm into the sleeve of my coat, and made a sling
+about my shoulders with my cravat. Elmscott buckled on my sword and
+led me to the stables, leaving me outside while he went in and saddled
+a horse.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This is Cliffe's horse,&quot; said he; &quot;yours is too tired. I will explain
+to him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He held the horse while I climbed into the saddle.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Now, Morrice,&quot; he said, &quot;you have no time to lose. You have got the
+start of the law; keep it. Marston's family is of some power and
+weight. As soon as his death is known, there will be a hue and cry
+after you; so fly the country. I would say leave the promise
+unfulfilled, but that it were waste of breath. Fly the country as soon
+as you may, unless you have a mind for twelve months in Newgate gaol.
+I will follow you to town with all speed, but for your own sake 'twere
+best I find you gone.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He moved aside, and I galloped off towards Newberry. The misery of
+that ride I could not, if I would, describe. The pain of my wound, the
+utter weariness and dejection which came upon me as a reaction from
+the excitement of the last days, and the knowledge that I could no
+longer shirk my confession, so combined to weaken and distress me,
+that I had much ado to keep my seat in the saddle. 'Twas late in the
+evening when I rode up to Ilga's lodging. The door, by some chance,
+stood open, and without bethinking me to summon the servants, I walked
+straight up the staircase to the parlour, dragging myself from one
+step to the other by the help of the balustrade. The parlour door was
+shut, and I could not lay my fingers on the handle, but scratched
+blindly up and down the panels in an effort to find it. At last some
+one opened the door from within, and I staggered into the room. Mdlle.
+Durette--for it was she--set up a little scream, and then in the
+embrasure of the window I saw the Countess rise slowly to her feet.
+The last light of the day fell grey and wan across her face and hair.
+I saw her as through a mist, and she seemed to me more than ordinarily
+tall. I stumbled across the room, my limbs growing heavier every
+moment.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Countess,&quot; I began, &quot;I have a promise to fulfil. Lady Tracy----&quot;
+There I stopped. The room commenced to swim round me. &quot;Lady Tracy----&quot;
+I repeated.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Countess stood motionless as a statue, dumb as a statue. Yet in a
+strange way she appeared suddenly to come near and increase in
+stature--suddenly to dwindle and diminish.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ilga,&quot; I cried, stretching out my hands to her. She made no movement.
+I felt my legs bend beneath me, as if the bones of them were dissolved
+to water, and I sank heavily upon my knees. &quot;Ilga,&quot; I cried again, but
+very faintly. She stirred not so much as a muscle to help me, and I
+fell forward swooning, with my head upon her feet.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_16" href="#div1Ref_16">CONCERNING AN INVITATION AND A LOCKED DOOR.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">When consciousness returned to me, and I became sensible of where I
+lay, I perceived that Elmscott was in the room. He stood in the
+centre, slapping his boot continually with his riding-crop, and
+betraying every expression of impatience upon his face. But I gave
+little heed to him, for beside me knelt Ilga, a bottle of hartshorn
+salts in her hand. I was resting upon a couch, which stood before the
+spinet; the lamps were lighted, and the curtains drawn across the
+window, so that my swoon must have lasted some while.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As I let my eyes rest upon the Countess, she slipped an arm under my
+head and raised it, taking at the same time a cup of cordial, which
+Clemence Durette held ready. 'Twas of a very potent description, and
+filled me with a great sense of comfort. Ilga moved her arm as though
+to withdraw it. &quot;No,&quot; I murmured to her, and she smiled and let it
+remain.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Come, Morrice,&quot; said Elmscott. &quot;You have but to walk downstairs. A
+carriage is waiting.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He moved towards the couch. I tried to raise my arm to warn him off,
+but found that it had been bandaged afresh, and was fastened in a
+sling. For a moment I could not remember how I had come by the hurt;
+then the history of it came back to me, and with that the promise I
+had made to my dying antagonist. For while I believed that Lady Tracy
+could have no grounds for her apprehensions, seeing that the Countess
+must needs be ignorant of her relations with the Count, whatever they
+might have been, I felt that the circumstances under which the request
+was uttered gave to it a special authority, and laid upon me a strict
+compulsion to obey it to the letter. The request, moreover, fitted
+exactly with my own intention. Ilga believed now that I had never seen
+Lady Tracy until that morning when she fainted, and so by merely
+confessing that the death of Count Lukstein lay at my door, and at my
+door alone, I should divert all possibilities of suspicion from
+approaching Lady Tracy; so I whispered to Ilga:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Send every one away!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay,&quot; she replied; &quot;your cousin has told me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is not that,&quot; said I. &quot;There is something else--something my
+cousin could not know.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Does it follow,&quot; she answered, lowering her eyes, &quot;that I could not
+know it? Or do you think me blind?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The gentle, hesitating words nearly drove my purpose from my mind. It
+would have been so easy to say just, &quot;I love you, and you know it.&quot; It
+became so difficult to say, &quot;I killed your husband, and have deceived
+you.&quot; However, the confession pressed urgently for utterance, and I
+said again: &quot;Send them away!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No,&quot; she replied, &quot;you have no time for that now. You must leave
+London to-night. Everything is ready; your cousin's carriage waits to
+take you to the coast. To-morrow you must cross to France. But if you
+still--still wish to unburden your mind----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Heart,&quot; I could not refrain from whispering; and, indeed, my heart
+leaped as she faltered and blushed crimson.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then,&quot; she continued, &quot;come to Lukstein! You will be welcome,&quot; and
+with a quiet gravity she repeated the phrase: &quot;You will be very
+welcome!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Every word she spoke made my task the harder. I trust that the
+weakness of my body, the pain of the wound, and my great fatigue, had
+something to do with the sapping of my resolution. But whatever the
+cause, an overwhelming desire to cease from effort, to let the whole
+world go, rushed in upon me. The one real thing for me was this woman
+who knelt beside the couch; the one real need was to tell her of my
+love. I felt as though, that once told, I could rest without
+compunction, without a scruple of regret, just rest like a tired
+child.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Come to Lukstein!&quot; she repeated.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Hear me now!&quot; I replied with a last struggle, and got to my feet. I
+was still so weak, however, that the violence of the movement made me
+sick and dizzy, and I tottered into Elmscott's arms.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Come, Morrice!&quot; he urged. &quot;A little courage; 'tis only a few steps to
+descend.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I steadied myself against his shoulder. In a corner of the room, rigid
+and impassive, was the tall figure of Otto Krax. How could I speak
+before him?</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I shall expect you, then,&quot; said the Countess, &quot;and soon. I leave
+England to-morrow myself, and return straight home.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You leave England to-morrow?&quot; I asked eagerly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;To-morrow!&quot; she replied.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I drew a deep breath of relief. All danger to Lady Tracy, all her
+fears of danger, would vanish with the departure of the Countess; and
+as for my confession--it could wait.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At Castle Lukstein, then,&quot; said I, and it seemed to me that she also
+drew a breath of relief.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">From Pall Mall we drove to my lodging, where I found my trunks packed,
+and Udal fully dressed to accompany me in my flight; for Elmscott, who
+had started from the &quot;Half-way House&quot; some two hours later than
+myself, had ridden straight thither. On learning that my people had no
+news of me, he had immediately guessed where I should be discovered,
+and, instructing them to prepare instantly for a journey, had himself
+hastened to the apartment of the Countess.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">My baggage was speedily placed in the boot, Udal mounted on the box, I
+directed my other servants to pay the bill and return to Cumberland,
+and we drove off quickly to the coast, just twenty-four hours after we
+had set out upon the great West Road on our desperate adventure.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As we rolled peacefully through the moonlit gardens of Kent, I had
+time to think over and apportion the hurried events of the day, and I
+recalled the half-spoken sentence which was on Marston's lips at the
+moment of his death. I conjectured that he intended some expression of
+remorse for the use to which he had put the likeness of his sister,
+and I began again to wonder at the strange inconsistency of the man. I
+had been bewildered by it before in respect of this very miniature,
+when I first observed his genuine devotion to his sister. To-day he
+had afforded me a second and corroborating instance, for no sooner had
+he knowledge of his sister's fears, than he had used the knowledge
+straightway as a weapon against me, leaving it to his antagonist to
+secure her the safeguarding which she implored. And yet that his
+anxiety on her account was very real it was impossible for me to
+doubt, for I had looked upon his face when he bound me by a promise to
+protect her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At Dover we found a packet on the point of sailing for Calais.
+Elmscott bade me good-bye upon the quay, and declared that if I would
+keep him informed of my movements, he would send me word when the
+affair had blown over and I might safely return. Then he asked:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Morrice, did you tell Countess Lukstein of your duel?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I had not the time,&quot; I replied. &quot;But she said you told her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ay, I told the story, though I gave not the reason for the encounter.
+But did you say nothing to her, give her no hint by which she might
+guess it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay,&quot; said I; &quot;I swooned or ever I got a word of it out. I spoke but
+two words to her: 'Lady Tracy.' She could have guessed little enough
+from that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Strange!&quot; said he, in a tone of some perplexity. &quot;And yet, some way
+or another, she must needs have known. For when I came to seek you,
+Otto denied you were there. I was positive, however, and ran past him
+up the stairs. The parlour door was locked, and they only gave me
+entrance when I bawled my name through the keyhole and declared that I
+knew you were within, and for your own sake must have immediate speech
+with you. I fancied that the Countess was aware of the duel and meant
+to conceal you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I thought no more of his words at the time, and went presently aboard.
+A fair wind filled the sheets and hummed through the cordage of the
+rigging. The cliffs lessened and lessened until they shone in the
+sunlight like a silver rim about the bowl of the sea; the gulls
+swooped and circled in our wake; and thus I sailed out upon my strange
+pilgrimage, which was to last so many weary months and set me amid
+such perilous surroundings.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_17" href="#div1Ref_17">FATHER SPAUR.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">IT was on the sixth day of June that I arrived in London from
+Cumberland; it was on the sixteenth of July that I landed at Calais;
+and so much that was new and bewildering to me had happened within
+this brief interspace of time, that I cannot wonder how little I
+understood of all which it portended. For here was I, accustomed to
+solitude, with small knowledge of men and a veritable fear of women,
+plumped of a sudden amidst the gayest company of the town, where
+thought and wit were struck out of converse sharply as sparks from a
+flint not reached by my slow methods, which, to carry on my simile,
+more resembled the practice of the Indians who produce fire, so
+travellers tell, by the laborious attrition of stick upon stick.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">From Calais I journeyed to Paris, where I stayed until a bill of
+exchange upon some French merchants, which I had asked Elmscott to
+procure for me, came to hand. With it was enclosed a letter from my
+cousin and yet another from Jack Larke.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This letter,&quot; wrote Elmscott, &quot;was brought to your lodging the day
+after you left London. L'affaire Marston has caused much astonishment.
+Your friends almost refused to credit you with the exploit. The
+family, however, is raised to a clamorous pitch of anger against you;
+it has influence at Court, and the King has no liking for duels.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The letter from Larke recounted the homely details of the
+country-side, and dwelt in particular upon the plan of Sir J. Lowther
+of Stockbridge to appoint a new carrier between Kendal and Whitehaven,
+so that the shipment of Kendal cottons to Virginia might be
+facilitated. The obstacle to the scheme, he declared, was that the
+road ran over Hard Knott, which in winter and spring is frequently
+impassable for the snow. I wrote back to him that he should refund to
+Elmscott with all despatch the amount of the bill of exchange, and
+relating shortly the causes which kept me abroad, bade him, if he were
+so minded, join me towards the end of September at Venice. Of my visit
+to Lukstein I said never a word, the consequence of it was too
+doubtful. I shrank from setting out my hopes and fears openly upon
+paper. If I succeeded, I could better explain the matter to him in
+speech, and take him back with me again to the Castle. If I failed, I
+should avoid the need of making any explanation whatsoever.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">From Paris I travelled into Austria; and so one sunset, in the latter
+days of August, drove up to the door of &quot;Der Goldener Adler&quot; at
+Glurns. From this inn I sent Udal forward with a note to Countess
+Lukstein, announcing my arrival in the neighbourhood, and asking
+whether she would be willing to receive me. The next day he returned
+with Otto Krax, and brought me a message of very kindly welcome. Otto
+himself, for once, unbent from his grave demeanour, saying that it was
+long since the Castle had been brightened with a guest, and that for
+his part he trusted I would be in no great hurry to depart.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I gathered no little comfort from his greeting, you may be sure, and I
+set off forthwith to the Castle. The valley which, when I last rode
+through it, showed stark and desolate in its snow drapery, now lay
+basking in the lusty summer, and seemed to smile upon my visit. The
+lime-trees were in leaf along the road, wild strawberries, red as the
+lips of my mistress, peeped from the grasses, on either side
+cornfields spread up the lower slopes to meet the serried pines, which
+were broken here and there by a green gap, where the winter snows had
+driven a track. Behind the ridge of the hills I could see mountains
+towering up with bastions of ice, which had a look peculiarly rich and
+soft, like white velvet. The air was fragrant with the scent of
+flowers, and musical with the voices of innumerable streams. Even
+Lukstein, which had worn so bare and menacing an aspect in the grey
+twilight of that November afternoon, now nestled warmly upon its tiny
+plateau, the red pointed roofs of its turrets glowing against the
+green background of firs.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I was received at the Castle by a priest, who informed me that the
+Countess was indisposed, and wished him to express her regrets that
+she was unable to welcome me in person. I was much chapfallen and
+chilled by this vicarious greeting, since on the way from Glurns I had
+given free play to all sorts of foolish imaginings. The priest, who
+was a kinsman of the Countess, conducted me very politely to the rooms
+prepared for me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Mr. Buckler,&quot; said he, &quot;it is only your face that is strange to me;
+for I have heard so much of you from your hostess that I made your
+acquaintance some while ago.&quot; Whereat I recovered something of my
+spirits.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He led me through the great hall, paved with roughish slabs of stone,
+and up a wide staircase to a gallery which ran round the four sides of
+the hall. From that he turned off into a corridor, which ran, as I
+guessed, through the smaller wing of the building towards the tower.
+At the extreme end he opened a door and bowed me into a large room lit
+by two windows opposite to one another. One of these commanded the
+little ravine which pierced backwards into the hills beside the
+Castle, and was called the Senner Thal; the other window looked out on
+to the garden. Moving towards this last, I perceived, on the left
+hand, the arbour of pinewood and the parapet on which I had lain
+concealed; the main wing of the Castle stretched out upon the right,
+and I realised, with an uneasy shiver, that I had been given the
+bedroom of Count Lukstein. The moment I realised this my eyes went
+straight to that corner, where I knew the little staircase to be. The
+door of it stood by the head of the bed, and was almost concealed in
+the hangings.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It leads,&quot; said the priest, interpreting my glance, &quot;to a little room
+below; but the room gives only on to the garden, and the door has not
+been used this many a month.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He went over to it as he spoke, and tried the handle. The door was
+locked, but the key remained in the lock. It creaked and grated when
+he turned it, as though it had rusted in the keyhole. Together we went
+down the little winding stairway and into the chamber at the bottom.
+What wonder that I hesitated on the last step with a failing heart,
+and needed the invitation of the priest to nerve me to cross the
+threshold! Not a single thing had been moved since I stood there last.
+But for the clouds of dust, which rose at each movement that we made,
+I could have believed this day was the morrow of our deadly encounter.
+The table still lay overturned upon the floor, the rugs and skins were
+heaped and disordered by the trampling of our feet, the curtain hung
+half-torn from the vallance, where I had cowered in it with clutching
+hands as the Countess passed through the window on to the snow.
+Nothing had been touched. Yes, one thing; for as I glanced about the
+room, I saw my pistol dangling from a nail upon the hood of the
+fireplace.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The room, you think, Mr. Buckler, does little credit to our
+housekeeping?&quot; said the priest. &quot;But 'tis unswept and uncleansed of a
+set purpose. As you see it now, so it was on the fifteenth night of
+last November, and the Countess our mistress wills that so it shall
+remain.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There is some story,&quot; I replied, with such indifference as I could
+assume, &quot;some story connected with the room.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ay, a story of midnight crime--of crime that struck at the roots of
+the Lukstein race, that breaks the line of a family which has ruled
+here for centuries, and must in a few years make its very name to
+perish off the earth. Count Lukstein was the last of his race, and in
+this room was he slain upon his bridal night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Sombre as were the words, the priest's voice seemed to have something
+of exultation in its tone, and unwarily I remarked on it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;God works out His purposes by ways we cannot understand,&quot; he
+explained, with a humility that struck me as exaggerated and
+insincere. &quot;Unless Countess Lukstein marries again, the Castle and its
+demesne will pass into the holy keeping of the Church.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He looked steadily at me while he spoke, and I wondered whether he
+meant his utterance to convey a menace and warning.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What if the Countess married a true son of the Church?&quot; I hastened to
+answer. &quot;Would he not second and further her intention?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I think, Mr. Buckler, that you have more faith in mankind than
+knowledge of the world. But 'twas of the room that we were speaking.
+Until that crime is brought to light, the room may neither be swept
+nor cleansed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You hope, then, to discover----&quot; I began.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay, nay!&quot; said he. &quot;'Tis not with us that the discovery rests. Look
+you, sin is not a dead thing like these tables, to which each day adds
+a covering of dust; it is rather a plant that each day throws out
+fibres towards the sun, bury it deep as you will in the earth. Surely,
+surely it will make itself known--this very afternoon, maybe, or maybe
+in years to come; maybe not until the Day of Wrath. God chooses His
+own time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Very solemnly he crossed himself, and led the way back to the bedroom
+above.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">This conversation increased my anxiety to unburden myself to Ilga. For
+it was no crime that I had committed, but an act of common justice.
+But although the household, apart from the servants and retainers, who
+made indeed a veritable army, consisted only of the Countess, Mdlle.
+Durette, and Father Spaur, as the priest was named, I found it
+impossible to hit upon an occasion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the first place, the Countess herself was, without doubt, ailing
+and indisposed. She would come down late in the morning with heavy
+eyes and a weariful face, as though she slept but little. 'Twas no
+better, moreover, when she joined us, for she treated me, though ever
+with courtesy as befitted a hostess, still with a certain distance;
+and at times, when she thought I was interested in some talk and had
+no eyes for her, I would catch a troubled look upon her face wherein
+anger and sorrow seemed equally mixed. Nor, indeed, could I ever come
+upon her alone, and such hints as I put forward to bring such a
+consummation about were purposely misunderstood. In truth, the priest
+stood between us. I set the changed manner of Countess Lukstein
+entirely to his account, believing that he was studiously poisoning
+her mind against me, and maybe persuading her that I did but pursue
+her wealth like any vulgar adventurer. I suggested as much to Mdlle.
+Durette, who showed me great kindness in this nadir of my fortunes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know not what to make of it,&quot; she replied, &quot;for Ilga has shut me
+from her confidence of late. But there is something of the kind afoot,
+I fear, for Father Spaur is continually with her, and 'twas ever his
+fashion to ascribe a secret and underhand motive for all one's
+doings.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Father, indeed, was perpetually with either Ilga or myself. If he
+chanced not to be closeted with the Countess, he would dance
+indefatigable attendance upon me, devising excursions into the
+mountains or in pursuit of the chamois, which abounded in great
+numbers among the higher forests of the ravine.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On these latter occasions he would depute Otto Krax, who was, as I
+soon learned, the chief huntsman of the Castle, to take his place with
+me, pleading his own age with needless effusion as an excuse for his
+absence. In the company of Otto, then, I gained much knowledge of the
+locality, and in particular of the great ice-clad mountain which
+blocked the head of the ravine. For the chase led us many a time high
+up the slopes above the trees to where the ice lay in great tongues
+all cracked and ridged across like waves frozen at the crest; and at
+times, growing yet more adventurous with the heat of our pursuit, we
+would ascend still higher, making long circuits and detours about the
+cliffs and gullies to get to windward of our quarry; so that I saw
+this mountain from many points of view, and gained a knowledge of its
+character and formation which was afterwards to stand me in good
+stead.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The natives termed it the &quot;Wildthurm,&quot; and approached it ever with the
+greatest reluctance and with much commending of their souls to God.
+For the spirits of the lost, they said, circled in agony about its
+summit, and might be heard at noonday no less often than at night
+piercing the air with a wail of lamentation. It may be even as they
+held; but I was spared the manifestation of their presence when I
+invaded their abode, and found no denizens of that solitary region
+more terrible than the eagles which built their nests upon the topmost
+cliffs. Towards the ravine the &quot;Wildthurm&quot; towered in a stupendous
+wall of rock of thousands of feet, but so sheer that even the chamois,
+however encompassed, never sought escape that way. From the apex of
+this wall a ridge of ice ran backwards in a narrow line and sloped
+outwards on either side, so that it looked like nothing so much as a
+gipsy's tent of white canvas.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">When we sought diversion upon lower ground, hawking or riding in the
+valley, Father Spaur himself would bear me company. In fact, I never
+seemed to journey a mile from the Castle without either Otto or the
+priest to keep me in surveillance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Father Spaur, though past his climacteric, was of a tall, massive
+build, and, I judged, of great muscular strength. His hair was
+perfectly white, and threw into relief his broad, tanned face, which
+wore as a rule an uninterested bovine expression, as of one whom
+neither trouble nor thought had ever touched. One afternoon, however,
+as we were riding up the hillside towards the Castle, I chanced to
+make mention of the persecution of the Protestants in France, whereof
+I had been a witness during my stay at Paris, and ventured, though a
+Catholic, to criticise the French King's action in abrogating the
+edict of Nantes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Cruelty, Mr. Buckler!&quot; he exclaimed, reining in his horse, with his
+eyes aglare, and his fleshy face of a sudden shining with animation.
+'Twas as though some one had lit a lamp behind a curtain. &quot;Cruelty!
+'Tis the idlest name that was ever invented. Look you: a general
+throws a thousand troops upon certain death. Is not that cruelty? Yet
+if he faltered he would fail in his duty. If the men shrank, they in
+theirs. Cruelty is the law of life. Nay, more, for with that word the
+wicked stigmatise the law of God. Never a spring comes upon these
+hills but it buries numbers of our villagers beneath its slipping
+snowdrifts. You have seen the crosses on the slopes yourself. They
+perish, and through no foolhardiness of their own. Is not that what
+you term cruelty? Take a wider view. Is there not cruelty in the very
+making of man? We are born with minds curious after knowledge, and yet
+we only gain knowledge by much suffering and labour--an infinitesimal
+drop after years of thirst. Take it yet higher. The holy Church
+teaches us that God upon His throne is happy; yet He condemns the
+guilty to torment. With a smile, we must believe He condemns the
+guilty. Judge that by our poor weak understanding; is it not cruelty?
+What you term cruelty is a law of God--difficult, unintelligible, but
+a law of God, and therefore good.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">'Twas a strange discourse, delivered with a ringing voice of
+exaltation, and thereafter my thoughts did more justice to the
+subtlety of his intellect.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Meanwhile the days slipped on and brought me no nearer to the
+fulfilment of my purpose. The time had come, moreover, when I must set
+off into Italy if I was to meet Larke at Venice as I had most
+faithfully promised. I resolved, then, to put an end to a visit which
+I saw brought no happiness to my mistress, and wasted me with
+impatience and despondency. I was minded to go down into Italy, and
+taking Jack with me to set sail for the Indies, and ease my heart, if
+so I might, with viewing of the many wonders of those parts. So
+choosing an occasion when we were all dining together in the great
+parlour on the first floor of the Castle, I thanked the Countess for
+the hospitality which she had shown me, and fixed my departure for the
+next day. For awhile there was silence, Ilga rising suddenly from the
+table and walking over to the wide-open windows, where she stood with
+her back turned, and looked out across the waving valley of the Adige.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It seems that we have been guilty of some discourtesy, Mr. Buckler,
+since you leave us so abruptly,&quot; said Father Spaur with a great
+perturbation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Upon that point I hastened to set him right; for indeed I had been so
+hedged in by attention and ceremony that I should have been well
+content with a little neglect.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then,&quot; he continued with an easy laugh, &quot;we shall make bold to keep
+you. If we bring guests so far to visit us, we cannot speed them away
+so soon. Doubtless the Castle is dull to you who come fresh from
+London and Paris----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay,&quot; said I with some impatience, for I thought it unfair that he
+should attribute such motives to me. &quot;Madame will bear me out that I
+have little liking for town pleasures.&quot; I turned towards her, but she
+made no sign or movement, and appeared not to have heard me. &quot;I am
+pledged to meet a friend at Venice, and, as it is, I have overstayed
+my time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh! you have a friend awaiting you,&quot; said the priest slowly. &quot;You are
+very prudent, Mr. Buckler.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Countess turned swiftly about, her eyes wide open and staring like
+one dismayed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Prudent?&quot; I exclaimed in perplexity.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I mean,&quot; said the priest, flushing a dark red and dropping his voice,
+&quot;I mean that if one fixes so precise a limit to one's visit, one
+guards against any inclination to prolong it.&quot; He spoke with a meaning
+glance in the direction of the Countess, who had turned away again.
+&quot;The heart says 'stay,' prudence 'go.' Is it not the case?&quot; he
+whispered, and he smiled with an awkward effort at archness, which,
+upon his heavy face, was little short of grotesque.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Now his words and manner perplexed me greatly, for at the moment of my
+coming to Lukstein, he had seemed most plainly to warn me against
+encouraging any passion for Ilga, and his conduct since in disparting
+us had assured me that I had rightly guessed his intention. Yet here
+was he urging me to extend my stay, and sneering at my prudence for
+not giving free play to that passion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Besides,&quot; he continued, raising his voice again, &quot;if you go to-morrow
+you will miss the best entertainment that our poor domain provides. We
+are to have a great hunt, wherein some of our neighbours will join us,
+and Otto informs us that you have great partiality for the sport, and
+extraordinary skill and nimbleness upon mountains. In a week,
+moreover, the headsman of our village is to marry. 'Tis a great event
+in Lukstein, and, indeed, to a stranger well worth witnessing, for
+there are many quaint and curious customs to be observed which are not
+met with elsewhere.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He added many other inducements, so that at last I felt some shame at
+persisting in my refusal. But, after all, the Countess was my hostess,
+and she had said never a word, but had turned back again to the window
+as though she would not meddle in the matter. At last, however, she
+broke in upon the priest, keeping, however, her face still set towards
+the landscape.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Could you not send forward your servant, Mr. Buckler, to meet your
+friend, and remain with us this week? As Father Spaur says, the
+marriage will be well worth seeing, and since you are so pressed, you
+may leave here that very night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There was, however, no heartiness in her invitation; the words dropped
+reluctantly from her lips, as if compelled by mere politeness towards
+her guest.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The most suitable plan!&quot; cried the priest, starting up. &quot;Send your
+man to Venice, and yourself follow afterwards.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I explained that Udal was little accustomed to travelling in strange
+countries, and had no knowledge of either the German or Italian
+tongues; and to put a close to the discussion, I rose from my seat and
+walked away to the end of the apartment, where I busied myself over
+some weapons that hung upon the wall. In a minute or so I heard the
+door close softly, and facing about, I saw that the priest and Mdlle.
+Durette, who had taken no part in any of this talk, had departed out
+of the room. The Countess came towards me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I sent them away,&quot; she said, with a wan smile, and a voice subdued to
+great gentleness. &quot;I have no thought to--to part with you so soon.
+Stay out this week. You--you told me that you had something which you
+wished to say.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame,&quot; said I, snatching eagerly at her hand, &quot;you also told me
+that you had guessed it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not now; not now.&quot; She slipped her hand from my grasp with an
+imploring cry, and held it outspread close before my face to check my
+words. &quot;Not now. I could not bear it. Oh, I would that I had more
+strength to resist, or more weakness to succumb.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Never have I heard such pain in a human voice: never have I seen
+features so wrung with suffering. The sight of her cut me to the
+heart.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Listen,&quot; she went on, controlling herself after a moment, though her
+voice still trembled with agitation, and now and again ran upwards
+into an odd laugh, the like of which I have never hearkened to before
+or since. 'Twas the most pitiful sound that ever jarred on a man's
+ears. &quot;On the night of the marriage the villagers will come to the
+Castle to dance in the Great Hall. That night you shall speak to me,
+and a carriage shall be ready to take you away afterwards, if you
+will. Until that night be 'prudent.'&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She gave me no time to answer her, but ran to the door, and so out of
+the room. I could hear her footsteps falling uncertainly along the
+gallery, as though she stumbled while she ran, and a great anger
+against the priest flamed up in my breast. &quot;Strength to resist, or
+weakness to succumb.&quot; Doubtless the words would have bewildered me,
+like the oracles of old Greece, but for what I suspicioned in the
+priest Now, however, in the blindness of my thoughts, I construed them
+as the confirmation of my belief that he was practising all his arts
+upon Ilga to secure Lukstein for the Church. 'Twas Father Spaur, I
+imagined, whom she had neither the strength to resist nor the weakness
+to yield to, and I fancied that I was set upon a second contest for
+the winning of her, though this time with a more subtle and noteworthy
+antagonist.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And yet for all my fears, for all Ilga's trouble, with such selfish
+pertinacity do a lover's reflections seek to enhearten his love, I
+could not but feel a throb of joy for that she had so plainly shown to
+me what the struggle cost her.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_18" href="#div1Ref_18">AT LUKSTEIN.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">In accordance, then, with the suggestion of Ilga, I despatched Udal to
+Venice, bearing a letter wherein I requested Jack to bide there until
+such time as I arrived. To supply my servant's place Father Spaur
+offered me one, Michael Groder, whose assistance at the first sight I
+was strongly in a mind to decline; for he was more than common uncouth
+even for those parts, and with his scarred knees, tangled black hair,
+and gaunt, weather-roughened face, seemed more fitted for hewing wood
+upon the hillside than for the neater functions of a valet. The
+priest, however, pressed his services upon me with so importunate a
+courtesy that I thought it ungracious to persist in a refusal. Indeed,
+Michael Groder, though of a slight and wiry build, was the unhandiest
+man with his fingers that ever I had met with. There was not a servant
+in the Castle who could not have done the work better; and I came
+speedily to the conclusion that Father Spaur had selected him
+particularly out of some motive very different from a desire to oblige
+me; I mean, in order that he might keep a watch upon my actions, and
+see that I gained no secret advantage with the Countess.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">However, had I entertained any such design, the hunting expedition
+would have effectually prevented its fulfilment. It lasted the greater
+part of the week, and we did not return to Lukstein until the eve of
+my departure. By this time my anxiety as to the answer which Ilga
+would make to my suit when she knew all that I had to tell her, had
+well-nigh worked me into a fever. I was for ever rehearsing and
+picturing the scene, inventing all sorts of womanly objections for her
+to urge, and disproving them succinctly to her satisfaction by
+Barbara, Celarent and all the rules of logic.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Under these speculations, bolster them up as I might, there lurked
+none the less a heavy and disheartening fear. 'Twas all vain labour to
+reckon up, as I did again and again, the few good qualities which I
+possessed, and to add to them those others which my friends attributed
+to me. I could not shut my eyes to the disparity between us; I could
+not believe but that she must be sensible of it herself. Such a woman,
+I conceived, should wed a warrior and hero; though, indeed, 'twas
+doubtful whether you could find even amongst them one whose deserts
+made him a fit mate for her. As for me, 'twas as though a clown should
+run a-wooing after a princess.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">'Twill be readily understood that I had in consequence no great
+inclination for the hearty fellowship of the neighbours who joined in
+the hunt; and since my anxiety grew with every hour, by the time we
+came back to Lukstein--for many of them returned thither instead of to
+their own homes, meaning to stay over until the following night--'twas
+as much as I could do to answer with attention any civil question that
+was addressed to me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Countess, I found, was in an agitation no whit inferior to my own.
+I observed her that afternoon at dinner. At times she talked with a
+feverish excitement, at times she relapsed into long silences; but
+even during these pauses I noticed that her fingers were never still,
+but continually twitched and plucked at the cloth. I inferred from her
+manner that she had not yet decided on the course she would take, the
+more particularly because she sedulously avoided speech with me. If I
+spoke to her she replied politely enough, but at once drew those about
+her into the conversation, and herself withdrew from it; and if by
+accident our eyes met, she hastily turned her head away. I knew not
+what to make of these signs, and as soon as the company was risen from
+table I slipped away out of the Castle that I might con them over
+quietly and weigh whether they boded me good or ill.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Castle, as I have said, stood upon a headland at the mouth of the
+Senner Thal, and turning a corner of this bluff, I wandered by a rough
+track some way along the side of the ravine, and flung myself down on
+my back on the turf. The sun had already sunk below the crest of the
+mountains, and the glow was fast fading out of the sky. The pines on
+the hillside opposite grew black in the deepening twilight; a star
+peeped over the shoulder of the Wildthurm; and here and there a grey
+scarf of cloud lay trailed along the slopes. From a hut high above
+came clear and sweet the voice of a woman singing a Tyrolese melody,
+and so softly did the evening droop upon the mountains, shutting as it
+were the very peace of the heavens into the valleys, that the brooks
+seemed to laugh louder and louder as they raced among the stones. The
+air itself never stirred, save when some bat came flapping blindly
+about my face. I became the more curious, therefore, concerning a bush
+some twenty yards below me, which now and again shivered and bent as
+though with a gust of wind. I had been lying on the grass some ten
+minutes before I noticed this movement. The dwarf oaks and beeches
+which studded the slopes about me were as still and noiseless as
+though their leaves had been carved from metal; only this one bush
+rustled and shook. In a direct line with it, and within reach of my
+foot, a small boulder hung insecurely on the turf. I stretched out my
+foot and pushed it; the stone rocked a little on its base. I pushed
+again and harder; the stone tilted forwards and stuck. I brought my
+other foot to help, set them both flat against the stone, slid down on
+my back until my legs were doubled, and then kicked with all my
+strength. The boulder flew from the soles of my feet, rolled over and
+over, bounded into the air, dropped on to the slope about ten yards
+from the bush, and then sprang at it like a dog at the throat. I heard
+a startled cry; I saw the figure of a man leap up from the centre of
+the bush. The stone took him full in the pit of the stomach, and
+toppled him backwards like a ninepin. He fell on the far side of the
+shrub, and I heard the boulder go crash-crashing down the whole length
+of the incline. Who the man was I had not the time to perceive, and I
+made no effort to discover. The Countess had retired a few moments
+before I slipped away from the Hall, and I judged that he was no more
+than a spy sent by Father Spaur to ascertain whether I had some tryst
+with her. So deeming that he had got no more than his deserts, I left
+him lying where he fell and loitered back to the Castle.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The company I found gathered about a huge fire of logs at the end of
+the Great Hall. Beyond the glow of the flames the Hall was lost in
+shadow, and now and again from some corner would come a soft scuffling
+sound, as a dog moved lazily across the flags. Thereupon with one
+movement the heads would huddle closer together, and for a moment the
+voices would sink to a whisper. They were speaking, as men will who
+are girt with more of God's handiwork than of man's, concerning the
+spirits that haunted the countryside, and told many stories of the
+warnings they had vouchsafed to unheeding ears. In particular, they
+dwelt much upon a bell, which they declared rang out from the
+Wildthurm when good or ill-fortune approached the House of Lukstein,
+tolling as the presage of disaster, pealing joyously in the forefront
+of prosperity. One, indeed--with frequent glances across his shoulder
+into the gloom--averred that he had heard it tolling on the eve of
+Count Lukstein's marriage, and from that beginning the talk slid to
+the manner of his death. 'Twas altogether an eerie experience, and one
+that I would not willingly repeat, to listen to them debating that
+question in hushed whispers, with the darkness closing in around us,
+and the firelight playing upon mature, weather-hardened faces grown
+timorous with the awe of children. For this I remarked with some
+wonder, that no one made mention either of the things which I had left
+behind me, or of the track which I had flogged in the snow about the
+rim of the precipice. 'Twas evident that these details of the story
+had been kept carefully secret, though with what object I could not
+understand.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">That evening I had no Michael Groder to assist me in my toilet, and so
+got me to bed with the saving of half an hour. I cannot say, however,
+that I gained half an hour's sleep thereby, for the thought of the
+morrow, and all that hung upon it, kept me tossing from side to side
+in a turmoil of unrest. It must have been near upon two hours that I
+lay thus uneasily cushioned upon disquiet, before a faint sound came
+to my ears, and made me start up in the darkness with my heart racing.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">'Twas the sound that a man can never forget or mistake when once he
+has heard it--the sound of a woman sobbing. It rose from the little
+sitting-room immediately beneath me. The staircase door was close to
+my bedside, and I reached out my hand and, turning the handle
+cautiously, opened it. The sound was louder now, but still muffled,
+and I knew that the door at the bottom of the staircase was closed.
+For a little I remained propped on my elbow, and straining my ears to
+listen. The mourner must be either Clemence Durette or Ilga, and I
+could not doubt which of them it was. Why she wept, I did not
+consider. 'Twas the noise of her weeping, made yet more lonesome and
+sad by the black dead of night, that occupied my senses and filled me
+with an unbearable pain.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I got quietly out of my bed, and slipping on some clothes crept down
+the staircase in my stockings. 'Twas pitch dark in this passage, and I
+felt before me with my hands as I descended, fearing lest I might
+unawares stumble against the door. At the last step I paused and
+listened again. Then very gently I groped for the handle. I had good
+reason to know how noiselessly it turned, and I opened the door for
+the space of an inch. A feeble light flickered on the wall of the room
+at my side. I waited with my fingers on the handle, but there was no
+check in the sobbing. I pushed the door wider open; the light upon the
+wall wavered and shook, as though a draught took the flame of a
+candle. But that was all. So I stepped silently forward and looked
+into the room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The sight made my heart bleed. Ilga lay face downwards and prone upon
+the floor, her arms outstretched, her hair unbound and rippling about
+her shoulders. From head to foot she was robed in black. It broke upon
+me suddenly that I had never seen her so clad before, and I remembered
+a remark that Elmscott had passed in London upon that very score.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The window was open, and from the garden a light wind brought the
+soughing of trees into the room. A single candle guttered on the
+mantelshelf and heightened its general aspect of neglect. Thus Ilga
+lay, abandoned to--what? Grief for her husband, or remorse at
+forgetting him? That black dress might well be the fitting symbol of
+either sentiment. 'Twas for neither of these reasons that she wept, as
+I learned long afterwards, but for another of which I had no suspicion
+then.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I closed the door softly and sat me down in the darkness on the
+stairs, hearkening to that desolate sound of tears and praying for the
+morning to come and for the day to pass into night, that I might say
+my say and either bring her such rest and happiness as a man's love
+can bring to a woman, or slip out of her life and so trouble her no
+more.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">'Twas a long while before she ceased from her distress, and to me it
+seemed far longer than it was. As soon as I heard her move I got me
+back to my room. The dawn was just breaking when, from a corner of my
+window, I saw her walk out across the lawn, and the dew was white upon
+the grass like a hoar-frost. With a weary, dragging step, and a head
+adroop like a broken flower, she walked to the parapet of the terrace,
+and hung on it for a little, gazing down upon the roofs of her
+sleeping village. Then she turned and fixed her eyes upon my window. I
+was hidden in the curtains so that she could not see me. For some
+minutes she gazed at it, her face very tired and sad. 'Twas her bridal
+chamber, or rather, would have been but for me, and I wondered much
+whether she was thinking of the husband or the guest. She turned away
+again, looked out across the valley paved with a grey floor of mist,
+and so walked back to the main wing of the Castle.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The light broadened out; starlings began to twitter in the trees, and
+far away a white peak blushed rosy at the kiss of the sun. The one day
+of my life had come. By this time to-morrow, I thought, the world
+would have changed its colours for me, one way or another; and tired
+out with my vigil, I tumbled into bed and slept dreamlessly until
+Michael Groder roused me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I asked him why he had failed me the night before.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I was unwell,&quot; he replied.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;True!&quot; said I, with great friendliness. &quot;You got a heavier load upon
+your stomach than it would stand.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The which was as unwise a remark as I could have made; for Groder's
+ill-will towards me needed no stimulus to provoke it.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIX.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_19" href="#div1Ref_19">IN THE PAVILION. I EXPLAIN.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">The marriage, with its odd customs of the Ehrengang and Ehrentanz,
+might at another time have afforded me the entertainment which Father
+Spaur promised; but, to speak the truth, the whole ceremony wearied me
+beyond expression. My thoughts were set in a tide towards the evening,
+and I watched the sun loiter idly down the length of the valley in a
+burning fever of impatience.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">'Twas about seven of the clock when the villagers flocked up to the
+Castle and began their antic dances in the Hall and in the ball-room
+which fronted the terrace. They aimed at a display of agility rather
+than of elegance, leaping into the air and falling crack upon their
+knees, slapping their thighs and the soles of their feet, with many
+other barbaric gambols; and all the while they kept up such a noise of
+shouting, whistling, and singing, as fairly deafened one.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ilga, I observed with some heart-sinking, had once more robed herself
+in black, and very simply; but the colour so set off the brightness of
+her hair, which was coiled in a coronal upon her head, and the white
+beauty of her arms, that for all my fears I could not but think she
+had never looked so exquisitely fair. However, I had thought the same
+upon so many different occasions that I would not now assert it as an
+indisputable fact.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">As you may be certain, I had not copied Ilga's simplicity, but had
+rather dressed in the opposite extreme. 'Twas no part of my policy to
+show her the disrespect of plain apparel. I had so little to offer
+that I must needs trick that little out to the best of advantage;
+indeed, even at this distance of time, I fairly laugh when I recall
+the extraordinary pains I spent that evening upon my adornment. My
+Lord Culverton could never have bettered them. A coat of white
+brocaded velvet, ruffles that reached to the tips of my fingers, a
+cravat of the finest Mechlin, pink breeches, silk stockings rolled
+above the knees, with gold clocks and garters, white Spanish leather
+shoes with red heels and Elmscott's buckles, a new heavy black peruke;
+so I attired myself for this momentous interview.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Father Spaur greeted me with a sour smile and a sneering compliment;
+but 'twas not his favour that I sought, and I cared little that he
+showed so plainly his resentment.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A carriage,&quot; he added, &quot;will be in waiting for you at eleven, if you
+are still minded to leave us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I thanked him shortly, and passed on to Ilga, but for some while I
+could get no private speech with her. For though she took no part in
+the dancing, even when a quieter measure made a break in the
+boisterous revelry, she moved continually from one to the other of her
+villagers with a kindly smile and affable word for each in a spirit of
+so sweet a condescension, that I had no doubt that she had vaunted
+their loyalty most truthfully. 'Twould have been strange, indeed, if
+they had not greatly worshipped her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the midst of the clatter, however, and near upon the hour of nine,
+a man burst wildly into the room, faltering out that the &quot;Wildthurm&quot;
+bell was even now ringing its message to Lukstein.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On the instant the music was stopped; a great awe fell upon the noisy
+throng; women clung in fear to men, and men crossed themselves with a
+muttering of tremulous prayers; and then Ilga led the way through the
+Hall into the courtyard of the Castle.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The ice-fields of the mountain glittered like silver in the moonlight,
+and we gazed upwards towards them with our ears strained to catch the
+sound. Many, I know, will scoff at and question what I relate. Many
+have already done so, attributing it to a delusion of the senses, a
+heated imagination, or any other of the causes which are held to
+absolve the spirits of the air from participation in men's affairs.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Against such unholy disbelief it is not for me to argue or dispute,
+nor is this the fitting place and opportunity. But this I do attest,
+and to it I do solemnly put my name. 'Twas not I alone who heard the
+bell; every man and woman who danced that night at Lukstein Castle
+heard it. The sound was faint, but wonderfully pure and clear, the
+strokes of the hammer coming briskly one upon the other as though the
+bell was tossed from side to side by willing hands.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It speaks of happiness for Lukstein,&quot; said Father Spaur with an evil
+glance towards me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For my part I just looked at Ilga.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Come!&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And we walked back through the empty echoing Hall, and across the lawn
+to the terrace.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A light wind was blowing from the south, but there were no clouds in
+the sky, and the valley lay beneath us with all its landmarks merged
+by the grey, tender light, so that it seemed to have widened to double
+its breadth.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The terrace, however, was for the most part in shadow, since the moon,
+hanging behind a cluster of trees at the east corner of the wall, only
+sprinkled its radiance through a tracery of boughs, and drew a dancing
+pattern about our feet. As I leaned upon the parapet there came before
+my eyes, raised by I know not what chance suggestion, a vivid picture
+of my little far-away hamlet in the country of the English lakes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are thoughtful, Mr. Buckler!&quot; said Ilga.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I was thinking of the valley of Wastdale,&quot; I replied, &quot;and of a
+carrier's cart stuck in a snowdrift on Hard Knot.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of your home? 'Twas of your home that you were thinking?&quot; she asked
+curiously, and yet with something more than curiosity in her voice,
+with something of regret, something almost of pity.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Not so much of my home,&quot; I replied, &quot;but rather from what distant
+points our two lives have drawn together.&quot; I was emboldened to the
+words by the tone in which she had spoken. &quot;A few weeks ago you were
+here at Lukstein in the Tyrol, I was at the Hall in Cumberland, and we
+had never spoken to one another. How strange it all seems!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay,&quot; she answered simply; &quot;it was certain you and I should meet. Is
+not God in His heaven?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">My heart gave a great leap. We had come now to the pavilion, which
+leaned against the Castle wall, and Ilga opened the door and entered
+it. I followed her, and closed the latch behind me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In the side of the room there was a square window with shutters, but
+no glass. The shutters were open, and through a gap of the trees the
+moonlight poured into the pavilion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We stood facing one another silently. The time had come for me to
+speak.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well,&quot; said she, and her voice was very calm, &quot;what is it, Mr.
+Buckler?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">All my fine arguments and protestations flew out of my head like birds
+startled from a nest. I forgot even the confession I had to make to
+her, and</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I love you!&quot; I said humbly, looking down on the floor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She gave me no answer. My heart fainted within me; I feared that it
+would stop. But in a little I dared to raise my eyes to her face. She
+stood in the pillar of moonlight, her eyes glistening, but with no
+expression on her face which could give me a clue to her thoughts, and
+she softly opened and shut her fan, which hung on a girdle about her
+waist.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How I do love you!&quot; I cried, and I made a step towards her. &quot;But you
+know that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She nodded her head.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I took good care you should,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I did not stop to consider the strangeness of the speech. My desire
+construed it without seeking help from the dictionary of thought.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then you wished it,&quot; I cried joyfully, and I threw myself down on my
+knee at her feet, and buried my face in my hands. &quot;Ilga! Ilga!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She made no movement, but replied in a low voice:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;With all my heart I wished it. How else could I have brought you to
+the Tyrol?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I felt the tears gathering into my eyes and my throat choking. I
+lifted my face to hers, and, taking courage from her words, clipped my
+arms about her waist.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She gave a little trembling cry, and plucked at my fingers. I but
+tightened my clasp.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ilga!&quot; I murmured. 'Twas the only word which came to my lips, but it
+summed the whole world for me then--ay, and has done ever since.
+&quot;Ilga!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Again she plucked at my fingers, and for all the calmness which she
+had shown, I could feel her hands burning through her gloves. Then a
+shadow darkened for an instant across the window, the moonlight faded,
+and her face was lost to me. 'Twas for no longer than an instant. I
+looked towards the window, but Ilga bent her head down between it and
+me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tis only the branches swinging in the wind,&quot; she said softly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I rose to my feet and drew her towards me. She set her palms against
+my chest as if to repulse me, but she said no word, and I saw the
+necklace about her throat flashing and sparkling with the heave of her
+bosom.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It seemed to me that a light step sounded without the pavilion, and I
+turned my head aside to listen.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tis only the leaves blowing along the terrace,&quot; she whispered, and I
+looked again at her and drew her closer.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For a time she resisted; then I heard her sigh, and her hand stole
+across my shoulder. Her head drooped forward until her hair touched my
+lips. I could feel her heart beating on my breast. Gently I turned her
+face upwards, and then with a loud clap the shutters were flung to and
+the room was plunged in darkness.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Ilga started away from me, drawing a deep breath as for some release.
+I groped my way to the window. The shutters opened outwards, and I
+pushed against them. They were held close and fast.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A wooden settle stood against the wall just beneath the window, and I
+knelt on it and drove at the shutters with my shoulder. They gave a
+little at first, and I heard a whispered call for help. The pressure
+from without was redoubled; I was forced back; a bar fell across them
+outside and was fitted into a socket. Thrust as I might I could not
+break it; the window was securely barricadoed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Meanwhile Ilga had not spoken. &quot;Ilga!&quot; I called.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She did not answer me, nor in the blackness of the pavilion could I
+discover where she stood.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ilga!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The same empty silence. I could not even hear her breathing, and yet
+she was in the pavilion, within a few feet of me. There was something
+horrible in her quietude, and a great fear of I knew not what caught
+at my heart and turned my blood cold.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This is the priest's doing,&quot; I cried, and I drew my sword and made
+towards the door.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">A startled cry burst from the gloom behind me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Stop! If you open it, you will be killed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I stopped as she bade me, body and brain numbed in a common inaction.
+I could hear her breathing now plainly enough.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This is not the priest's doing,&quot; she said, at length. &quot;It is the
+wife's.&quot; Her voice steadied and became even as she spoke. &quot;From the
+hour I found Count Lukstein dead I have lived only for this night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I let my sword slip from my grasp, and it clattered and rang on the
+floor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">'Twas not surprise that I felt; ever since the shutters had been
+slammed I seemed to have known that she would speak those words. And
+'twas no longer fear. Nor did I as yet wonder how she came by her
+knowledge. Indeed, I had but one thought, one thought of overwhelming
+sadness, and I voiced it in utter despondency.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So all this time--in London, here, a minute ago, you were tricking
+me! Tricking me into loving you; then tricking my love for you!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A minute ago!&quot; she caught me up, and there was a quiver in her voice
+of some deep feeling. Then she broke off, and said, in a hard, clear
+tone: &quot;I was a woman, and alone. I used a woman's weapons.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Again she paused, but I made no answer. I had none to make. She
+resumed, with a flash of anger, as though my silence accused her:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And was there no trickery on your side, too?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">They were almost the same words as those which Marston had levelled at
+me, and I imagined that they conveyed the same charge. However, it
+seemed of little use or profit to defend myself at length, and I
+answered:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have played no part. It might have fared better with me if I had.
+What deceit I have practised may be set down to love's account. 'Twas
+my fear of losing you that locked my lips. Had I not loved you, what
+need to tell you my secret? 'Twas no crime that I committed. But since
+I loved you, I was bound in very truth to speak. I have known that
+from the first, and I pledged myself to speak at the moment that I
+told you of my love. I dared not disclose the matter before. There was
+so little chance that I should win your favour, even had every
+circumstance seconded my suit. But this very night I should have told
+you the truth.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No doubt! no doubt!&quot; she answered, with the bitterest irony, and I
+understood what a fatal mistake I had made in pleading my passion
+before disclosing the story of the duel. I should have begun from the
+other end. &quot;And no doubt you meant also to tell me, with the same open
+frankness, of the woman for whose sake you killed my--my husband?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I fought for no woman, but for my friend.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She laughed; surely the hardest, most biting laugh that ever man
+heard.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tell me your fine story now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I sank down on the settle, feeling strangely helpless in the face of
+her contempt.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;This is the priest's doing,&quot; I repeated, more to myself than to her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is my doing,&quot; she said again; &quot;my doing from first to last&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then what was it?&quot; I asked, with a dull, involuntary curiosity. &quot;What
+was it you had neither the weakness to yield to nor the strength to
+resist?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She did not answer me, but it seemed as though she suddenly put out a
+hand and steadied herself against the wall.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Tell me your story,&quot; she said briefly; and sitting there in the
+darkness, unable to see my mistress, I began the history of that
+November night.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is true that I killed Count Lukstein; but I killed him in open
+encounter. I fought him fairly and honourably.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;At midnight!&quot; she interrupted. &quot;Without witnesses, upon his
+wedding-day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There was blood upon Count Lukstein's sword,&quot; I went on doggedly,
+&quot;and that blood was mine. I fought him fairly and honourably. I own I
+compelled him to fight me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You and your--companion.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She stressed the word with an extraordinary contempt.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My companion!&quot; I repeated in surprise. &quot;What know you of my
+companion? My companion watched our horses in the valley.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You dare to tell me that?&quot; she cried, ceasing from her contempt, and
+suddenly lifting her voice in an inexplicable passion.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is the truth.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The truth! The truth!&quot; she exclaimed, and then, with a stamp of her
+foot, and in a ringing tone of decision, &quot;Otto!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The door was flung open. Otto Krax and Michael Groder blocked the
+opening, and behind them stood Father Spaur, holding a lighted torch
+above his head. The Tyrolese servants carried hangers in their hands.
+I can see their blades flashing in the red light now!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Silently they filed into the pavilion. Father Spaur lifted his torch
+into a bracket, latched the door, and leaned his back against the
+panels. All three looked at the Countess, waiting her orders. 'Twas
+plain, from the priest's demeanour, that Ilga had spoken no more than
+truth. In this matter she was the mistress and the priest the
+servitor.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I turned and gazed at her. She stood erect against the wall opposite
+to me, meeting my gaze, her face stern and set, as though carven out
+of white marble, her eyes dark and glittering with menace.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For my part, I rose from the settle and stood with folded arms. I did
+not even stoop to pick up my rapier; it seemed to me not worth while.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The proper attitude of heroical endurance,&quot; sneered Father Spaur.
+&quot;Perhaps a little more humility might become 'a true son of the
+Church.' Was not that the phrase?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Countess nodded to Otto. He took Groder's sword and stood it with
+his own, by a low stool in the corner near the door.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Tis your own fault,&quot; she said sternly. &quot;Even now I would have spared
+you had you told me the truth. But you presume too much upon my
+folly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The next moment the two men sprang at me. The manner of their attack
+took me by surprise, and in a twinkling they had me down upon the
+bench. Then, however, a savage fury flamed up within me. 'Twas one
+thing to be run through at the command of Ilga, and so perish decently
+by the sword; 'twas quite another to be handled by her servants, and I
+fought against the indignity with all my strength. But the struggle
+was too unequal. I should have proved no match for Otto had he stood
+alone, and I before him, fairly planted on my legs. With the pair of
+them to master me I was well-nigh as powerless as a child. Moreover,
+they had already forced me down by the shoulders, so that the edge of
+the settle cut across my back just below the shoulder-blades, and I
+could get no more purchase or support than the soles of my feet on the
+rough flooring gave me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">My single chance lay in regaining possession of my rapier. It lay just
+within my reach, and struggling violently with my left arm, in order
+to the better conceal my design, I stretched out the other cautiously
+towards it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">My fingers were actually on the pommel, I was working it nearer to me
+so that I might grasp the blade short, before Groder perceived my
+intention. With an oath he kicked it behind him. Otto set a huge knee
+calmly upon my chest, and pressed his weight upon it until I thought
+my spine would snap. Then he seized my arms, jerked them upwards, and
+held them outstretched above my head, keeping his knee the while
+jammed down upon my ribs. Groder drew a cord from his pocket, and
+turning back my sleeves with an ironic deliberation, bound my wrists
+tightly together.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Twas not for nothing Groder went a-valeting,&quot; laughed Father Spaur;
+and then, seeing that I was assisted in my struggle by the pressure
+which I got from the floor, &quot;Twere wise to repeat the ceremony with
+his ankles.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You, Groder!&quot; said Otto.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have no more cord,&quot; growled Michael, as he tied the knots viciously
+about my wrists.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Something rattled lightly on the ground. 'Twas the girdle of the
+Countess, with the fan attached to the end of it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Groder plucked the fan off, struck my heels from under me, and bound
+the girdle round and round my ankles until they jarred together and I
+felt the bones cracking.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Otto took his knee from my chest, and the two men went back to their
+former stations by the door.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Father Spaur came over to where I lay, rubbing his hands gently
+together.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Really, really!&quot; said he in a silky voice, &quot;so the cockatoo has been
+caged after all.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The words, recalling that morning in London when first I allowed
+myself to take heart in my hopes, so stung me that, tied as I was, I
+struggled on to my feet, and so stood tottering. Father Spaur drew
+back a pace and glanced quickly about him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Michael!&quot; he called. But the next instant I fell heavily forward upon
+his breast. He burst into a loud laugh of relief, and flung me back
+upon the settle.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I looked towards Ilga.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;What have you not told him?&quot; I asked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nothing!&quot; she said coldly. &quot;I, at all events, had nothing to
+conceal.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She motioned Father Spaur to fall back. Otto and Groder picked up
+their swords. Father Spaur unlatched the door, rubbed out the torch
+upon the boards, and one after another they stepped from the pavilion.
+Ilga followed last, but she did not turn her head as she went out.
+Through the open doorway I could see the shadows dancing on the
+terrace, I could hear the music pouring from the Castle in a lilting
+measure. The door closed, the pavilion became black once more, and I
+heard their footsteps recede across the pavement and grow silent upon
+the grass.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER XX.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_20" href="#div1Ref_20">IN THE PAVILION. COUNTESS LUKSTEIN EXPLAINS.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">Of the horror which the next two hours brought to me, I find it
+difficult to speak, even at this distance of time. 'Twas not the fear
+of what might be in store for me that oppressed my mind, though God
+knows I do not say this to make a boast of it; for doubtless some fear
+upon that score would have argued me a better man; but in truth I
+barely sent a thought that way. The savour of life had become brine
+upon my lips, and I cared little what became of me, so that the ending
+was quick.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For the moment the door closed I was filled with an appalling sense of
+loneliness and isolation. Heart and brain it seized and possessed me.
+'Twas the closing of a door upon all the hopes which had chattered and
+laughed and nestled at my heart for so long; and into such a vacancy
+of mind did I fall, that I did not trouble to speculate upon the
+nature of the story which Countess Lukstein believed to be true. That
+she had been led by I knew not what suspicions into some strange error
+that she had got but a misshapen account of the duel between her
+husband and myself, was, of course, plain to me. But since her former
+kindliness and courtesy had been part of a deliberate and ordained
+plan for securing me within her power, since, in a word, she had
+cherished no favourable thoughts of me at any time, I deemed it idle
+to consider of the matter.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Moreover, the remoteness of these parts made my helplessness yet more
+bitter and overpowering; though, indeed, I was not like to forget my
+helplessness in any case, for the cords about my ankles and wrists bit
+into my flesh like coils of hot wire. &quot;A sequestered nook of the
+world,&quot; so I remembered, had Ilga called this corner of the Tyrol, and
+for a second time that night my thoughts went back to my own distant
+valley. I saw it pleasant with the domestic serenity which a man
+discovers nowhere but in his native landscape.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And to crown, as it were, my loneliness, now and again a few stray
+notes of music or a noise of laughter would drift through the chinks
+into the pitch-dark hut, and tell of the lighted Hall and of Ilga,
+now, maybe, dancing among her guests.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">'Twas a little short of eleven when she returned to the pavilion. I am
+able to fix the time from an incident which occurred shortly
+afterwards. At first, the steps falling light as they approached, I
+bethought me my visitor was either Otto or Groder coming stealthily
+upon his toes to complete his work with me; for I never expected to
+look upon her face again.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She carried no light with her, and paused on the sill of the door, her
+slight figure outlined against the twilight. She bent her head
+forward, peering into the gloom of the room, but she said no word;
+neither did I address her. So she stood for a little, and then,
+stepping again outside, she unbarred and opened the shutters of the
+window. Returning, she latched the door, locked it from within, and,
+fetching the stool from the corner, sat her down quietly before me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The moon, which had previously shone into the room almost in a level
+bar, now slanted its beams, so that the Countess was bathed in them
+from head to foot, while I, being nearer to the window, lay half in
+shadow, half on the edge of the light.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She sat with her chin propped upon her hands, and her eyes steadily
+fixed upon mine, but she betrayed no resentment in her looks nor,
+indeed, feeling of any kind. Then, in a low, absent voice, she began
+to croon over to herself that odd, wailing elegy which I had once
+heard her sing in London. The tune had often haunted me since that day
+from its native melancholy, but now, as Ilga sang it in the moonlight,
+her eyes very big and dark, and fastened quietly upon mine, it gained
+a weird and eerie quality from her manner, and I felt my flesh begin
+to creep.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I stirred uneasily upon the settle, and Ilga stopped. I must think she
+mistook the reason of my restlessness, for a slow smile came upon her
+face, and, reaching out a hand, she tried the knots wherewith I was
+bound.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It may well be,&quot; she suggested, &quot;that you are better inclined to
+speak the truth, since now you know to what falsehood has brought
+you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame,&quot; I replied wearily, &quot;I know not what you believe nor what you
+would have me say. It matters little to me, nor can I see, since you
+have reached the end for which you worked, that it need greatly
+concern you. This only I know, that I have already told you the
+truth.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And the miniature you left behind you?&quot; she asked, with an ironic
+smile. &quot;Am I to understand it has no bearing on the duel?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay, madame,&quot; said I; &quot;'tis the key to the cause of our encounter.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah!&quot; she interrupted, with a satisfaction which I did not comprehend.
+&quot;You have drawn some profit from the reflection of these last hours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For,&quot; I continued, &quot;it contained the likeness of my friend, Sir
+Julian Harnwood, as, indeed, Otto must needs have told you. 'Twas in
+his cause that I came to Lukstein.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Twas the likeness of a woman,&quot; she replied patiently.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I stared at her in amazement.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of a woman!&quot; I exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She laughed with a quiet scorn.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of a woman,&quot; she repeated. &quot;I showed it you in my apartments at
+London.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The portrait of Lady Tracy? It is impossible!&quot; I cried, starting up.
+&quot;Why, Marston gave it you. You told me so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Oh, is there no end to it?&quot; She burst out into sudden passion,
+beating her hands together as though to enforce her words. &quot;Is there
+no end to it? I never told you so. 'Twas you who pretended that. You
+pretended you believed it, and like a weak fool, I let your cunning
+deceive me. I was not sure then that you had killed the Count, and I
+believed you had never seen the likeness till that day. But now I
+know. You own you left the miniature behind you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But the case was locked,&quot; I said, &quot;and I had not the key.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know not that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I could have informed her who had possessed the key, but refrained,
+bethinking me that the knowledge might only add to her distress and
+yet do no real service to me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And so,&quot; I observed instead, &quot;all your anxiety that I should not tax
+Marston with the giving of it was on your own account, and not at all
+on mine.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She was taken aback by the unexpected rejoinder. But to me 'twas no
+more than a corollary of my original thought that the Countess had
+been playing me like a silly fish during the entire period of our
+acquaintance.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I showed you the portrait as a test,&quot; she said hurriedly. &quot;I believed
+you guiltless, and I knew Mr. Marston and yourself had little liking
+for each other. Any pretext would have served you for a quarrel.
+Besides--besides----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Besides,&quot; I took her up, &quot;you allowed me to believe that Marston had
+given you the miniature, and had I spoken of the matter to him I
+should have discovered you were playing me false.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But you knew,&quot; she cried, whipping herself to anger, as it seemed to
+me, to make up for having given ground. &quot;You knew how the miniature
+came into my hands. All the while you knew it, and you talk of my
+playing you false!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Suddenly she resumed her seat, and continued in a quieter voice:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But the brother found out the shameful secret. You could overreach
+me, but not the brother; and fresh from accounting to him for your
+conduct, you must needs stumble into my presence with Lady Tracy's
+name upon your lips, and doubtless some new explanation ready.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame, that is not so. I came that evening to tell you what I have
+told you to-night, but you would not hear me. You bade me come to
+Lukstein. I know now why, and 'twas doubtless for the same reason that
+you locked the door when I had swooned.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She started as I mentioned that incident.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Twas not on Lady Tracy's account, or because of any conduct of mine
+towards her, that I fought Marston. Against his will I compelled him
+to fight, as Lord Elmscott will bear out. He had learned by whose hand
+Count Lukstein died, and rode after you to Bristol that he might be
+the first to tell you; and I was minded to tell you the story myself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Or, at all events, to prevent him telling it,&quot; she added, with a
+sneer. &quot;But how came Mr. Marston to learn this fact?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I was silent. I could not but understand that the Countess presumed
+her husband, Lady Tracy, and myself to be bound together by some
+vulgar intrigue, and I saw how my answer must needs strengthen her
+suspicions.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;How did he find out?&quot; she repeated. &quot;Tell me that!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Lady Tracy informed him,&quot; I answered, in despair.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then you admit that Lady Tracy knew?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I told her of the duel myself, on the very morning that I first met
+her--on the morning that I introduced her into your house.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And why did she carry the news to her brother?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Again I was silent, and again she pressed the question.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She was afraid of you, and she sought her brother's protection,&quot;
+Every word I uttered seemed to plead against me. &quot;I understand now why
+she was afraid. I did not know her miniature was in that case, but
+doubtless she did, and she was afraid you should connect her with
+Count Lukstein's death.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Whereas,&quot; replied the Countess, &quot;she had nothing to do with it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I had made up my mind what answer I should make to this question when
+it was put. Since I had plainly lost Ilga beyond all hope, I was
+resolved to spare her the knowledge of her husband's treachery.
+'Twould not better my case--for in truth I cared little what became of
+me--to relate that disgraceful episode to her, and 'twould only add to
+her unhappiness. So I answered boldly:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;She had nothing to do with it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Countess sat looking at me without a word, and I was bethinking me
+of some excuse by which I might explain how it came about that Lady
+Tracy's portrait and not Julian's was in the box, when she bent
+forward, with her face quite close to mine, so that she might note
+every change in my expression.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And the footsteps in the snow; how do you account for them? The
+woman's footsteps that kept side by side with yours from the parapet
+to the window, and back again from the window to the parapet?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I uttered a cry, and setting my feet to the ground, raised myself up
+in the settle.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The footsteps in the snow? They were your own.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The Countess stared at me vacantly, and then I saw the horror growing
+in her eyes, and I knew that at last she believed me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;They were your own,&quot; I went on. &quot;I knew nothing of Count Lukstein's
+marriage. I had never set eyes on him at all. I knew not 'twas your
+wedding-day. I came hither hot-foot from Bristol to serve my friend
+Sir Julian Harnwood. He had quarrelled with the Count, and since he
+lay condemned to death as one of Monmouth's rebels, he charged me to
+take the quarrel up. In furtherance of that charge, I forced Count
+Lukstein to fight me. In the midst of the encounter you came down the
+little staircase into the room. I saw you across the Count's shoulder.
+The curtain by the window hangs now half-torn from the vallance. I
+tore it clutching its folds in my horror. We started asunder, and you
+passed between us. You walked out across the garden and to the Castle
+wall. Madame, as God is my witness, when once I had seen you, I wished
+for nothing so much as to leave the Count in peace. But--but----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well?&quot; she asked breathlessly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Twas Count Lukstein's turn to compel me,&quot; I went on, recovering from
+a momentary hesitation. I had indeed nearly blurted out the truth
+about his final thrust. &quot;And when you came back into the room, you
+passed within a foot of the dead body of your husband, and of myself,
+who was kneeling----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She flung herself back, interrupting me with a shuddering cry. She
+covered her face with her hands, and swayed to and fro upon the stool,
+as though she would fall.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame!&quot; I exclaimed. &quot;For God's sake! For if you swoon, alas! I
+cannot help you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She recovered herself in a moment, and taking her hands from before
+her face, looked at me with a strangely softened expression. She rose
+from her seat, and took a step or two thoughtfully towards the door.
+Then she stopped and turned to me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Lady Tracy, you say, had nothing to do with this quarrel, and yet her
+likeness was in the miniature case.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I had no doubt in my own mind as to how it came there. 'Twas the case
+which Lady Tracy had given to Count Lukstein, and doubtless she had
+substituted her portrait for that of Julian. But this I could not tell
+to the Countess.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Twas a mistake of my friend,&quot; said I. &quot;He gave me the case as a
+warrant and proof, which I might show to Count Lukstein, that I came
+on his part, telling me his portrait was within it. But 'twas on the
+night before he was executed, and his thoughts may well have gone
+astray.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But since the case was locked, and you had not the key, who was to
+open it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Count Lukstein,&quot; I replied, being thrown for a moment off my guard.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Count Lukstein?&quot; she asked, coming back to me. &quot;Then he possessed the
+key. You fought for your friend, Sir Julian Harnwood. Lady Tracy was
+betrothed to Sir Julian. The case was given to you as a warrant of the
+cause in which you came. It contained Lady Tracy's likeness, and Count
+Lukstein held the key.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She spoke with great slowness and deliberation, adding sentence to
+sentence as links in a chain of testimony. I heard her with a great
+fear, perceiving how near she was to the truth. There was, however,
+one link missing to make the chain complete. She did not know that
+Lady Tracy had owned the case and had given it to Count Lukstein, and
+of that fact I was determined she should still remain ignorant.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;My husband loved me,&quot; she said quickly, with a curious challenge in
+her voice.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I believe most sincerely that he did,&quot; I answered with vehemence. I
+was able to say so honestly, for I remembered how his face and tone
+had softened when he made mention of his wife.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then tell me the cause of this quarrel that induced you to break into
+this house at midnight, and, on a friend's behalf, force a stranger to
+fight you without even a witness?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There was a return of suspicion in her tone, and she came back into
+the moonlight. The temptation to speak out grew upon me as I watched
+her. I longed to assure her that I was bound to no other woman, but
+pledged heart and soul to her, and the fear that if I kept silent she
+would once more set this duel down to some rivalry in intrigue, urged
+me well-nigh out of all restraint. Why should I be so careful of the
+reputation of Count Lukstein? 'Twas an unworthy thought, and one that
+promised to mislead me; for after all, 'twas not his good or ill
+repute that I had to consider, but rather whether Ilga held his memory
+in such esteem and respect that my disclosures would inflict great
+misery upon her and a lasting distress. This postulate I could hardly
+bring myself to question. Had I not, indeed, ample surety in the care
+and perseverance wherewith she had sought to avenge his death?
+However, being hard pressed by my inclinations, I determined to test
+that point conclusively if by any means I might.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame,&quot; I said, &quot;last night, as I lay in my bed, bethinking me of
+the morrow, and wondering what it held in store for me, I heard the
+sound of a woman weeping. It rose from the little room beneath me;
+from the room wherein I fought Count Lukstein. 'Twas the most desolate
+sound that ever my ears have hearkened to--a woman weeping alone in
+the black of the night. I stole down the staircase and opened the
+door. I saw that the woman who wept was yourself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Twas for my husband,&quot; she interposed, very sharp and quick, and my
+heart sank.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Yet her words seemed to quicken my desire to reveal the truth. They
+woke in me a strange and morbid jealousy of the man. I longed to cry
+out: &quot;He was a coward; false to you, false to his friend, false to
+me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And in London?&quot; I asked, temporising again. &quot;The morning I came to
+you unannounced. You were at the spinnet.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Twas for my husband,&quot; she repeated, with a certain stubbornness.
+&quot;But we will keep to the question we have in hand, if you please--the
+cause of your dispute with Count Lukstein.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will not tell you it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I spoke with no great firmness, and on that account most like I helped
+to confirm her reawakened suspicions.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Will not?&quot; says she, her voice cold and sneering. &quot;They are brave
+words though unbravely spoken. You forget I have the advantage and can
+compel you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame,&quot; I replied, &quot;you overrate your powers. Your servants can bind
+me hand and foot, but they cannot compel me to speak what I will not.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Have you no lie ready? What? Does your invention fail?&quot; and she
+suddenly rose from the stool in a whirlwind of passion. &quot;God forgive
+me!&quot; she cried. &quot;For even now I believed you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She ceased abruptly and pushed her head forward, listening. The creak
+of wheels came faintly to our ears.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You hear that? It is Mr. Buckler's carriage, and Mr. Buckler rides
+within it. Do you understand? The carriage takes you to Meran; you
+will not be the first traveller who has disappeared on the borders of
+Italy. I am afraid your friend at Venice will wait for you in vain.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The carriage rumbled down the hill, and we both listened until the
+sound died away.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;For the future you shall labour as my peasant on the hillside among
+the woods, with my peasants for companionship, until your thoughts
+grow coarse with your body, and your soul dwindles to the soul of a
+peasant. So shall you live, and so shall you die, for the wrong which
+you have done to me.&quot; She towered above me in her outburst, her eyes
+flashing with anger. &quot;And you dared to charge me with trickery! Why,
+what else has your life been? From the night you went clothed as a
+woman to Bristol Bridewell, what else has your life been? A woman! The
+part fitted you well; you have all the cunning. You need but the
+addition of a petticoat.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The bitterness of her speech stung me into a fury, and, forgetful of
+the continence I owed to her:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame!&quot; I said, &quot;I proved the contrary to your husband.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Silence!&quot; she cried, and with her open hand she struck me on the
+face. And then a strange thing happened. It seemed as though we
+changed places. For all my helplessness, I seemed to have won the
+mastery over her. A feeling of power and domination, such as I had
+never experienced before, grew stronger and stronger within me, and
+ran tingling through every vein. I forgot my bonds; I forgot the
+contempt which she had poured on me; I forgot the very diffidence with
+which she had always inspired me. I felt somehow that I was her
+master, and exulted in the feeling. Whatever happened to me in the
+future, whether or no I was to labour as her bondslave for all my
+days, for that one moment I was her master. She could never hold me in
+lower esteem, in greater scorn than she did at this hour, and yet I
+was her master. Something told me indeed that she would never hold me
+in contempt at all again. She stood before me, her face dark with
+shame, her attitude one of shrinking humiliation. Twice she strove to
+raise her eyes to mine; twice she let them fall to the ground. She
+began a sentence, and broke off at the second word. She pulled
+fretfully at the laces of her gloves. Then she turned and walked to
+the door. She walked slowly at first, constraining herself; she
+quickened her pace, fumbled with the key in her hurry to unlock the
+door, and once out of the pavilion, without pausing to latch or lock
+it, fled like one pursued towards the house. And from the bottom of my
+heart I pitied her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In a little while Father Spaur, with the two Tyrolese, returned, and
+they carried me quickly through the little parlour and up the
+staircase to my bedroom. There they flung me on the bed and locked the
+door and left me. Through the open window the dance-melodies rose to
+my ears. It seemed to me that I could distinguish particular tunes
+which I had heard when I crouched in the snow upon that November
+night.</p>
+<div class="poem2">
+<p class="t0">
+Que toutes joies et toutes honneurs<br>
+Viennent d'armes et d'amours.</p>
+</div>
+
+<p class="normal">Jack's refrain, which he had hummed so continually during our ride to
+Austria, came into my head, and set itself to the lilt of the music.
+Well, I had made essay of both arms and love, and I had got little joy
+and less honour therefrom, unless it be joy to burn with anxieties,
+and honour to labour as a peasant and be deemed a common trickster!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The music ceased; the guests went homewards down the hill, laughing
+and singing as they went; the Castle gradually grew silent. The door
+of my room was unlocked and flung open, and Groder entered, bearing a
+candle in his hand. He set it down upon the table, and drew a long
+knife from a sheath which projected out of his pocket. This he held
+and flourished before my eyes, seeking like a child to terrify me with
+his antics, until Father Spaur, following in upon his heels, bade him
+desist from his buffoonery.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Groder cut the girdle which bound my ankles.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;March!&quot; said he.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But my legs were so numbed with the tightness of the cord that they
+refused their office. Father Spaur ordered him to chafe my limbs with
+his hands, which he did very unwillingly, and after a little I was
+able to walk, though with uncertain and wavering steps.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Should you suffer at all at Groder's hands,&quot; said the priest
+pleasantly, &quot;I beg you to console yourself with certain reflections
+which I shared with you one afternoon that we rode together.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We proceeded along the corridor and turned into the gallery which ran
+round the hall. But at the head of the great staircase I stopped and
+drew back. The priest's taunts and Groder's insolence I had endured in
+silence. What they had bidden me do, that I had done; for in the
+miscarriage of my fortunes I was minded to bear myself as a gentleman
+should, without pettish complaints or an unavailing resistance which
+could only entail upon me further indignities. But from this final
+humiliation I shrank.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Below me the entire household of servants was ranged in the hall,
+leaving a lane open from the foot of the stairs to the door. Every
+face was turned towards me--except one. One face was held aside and
+hidden in a handkerchief, and since that hour I have ever felt a
+special friendliness and gratitude for the withered little
+Frenchwoman, Clemence Durette. Alone of all that company she showed
+some pity for my plight. None the less, however, my eyes went
+wandering for another sight. What with the uncertain glare of the
+torches, that sent waves of red light and shadow in succession
+sweeping across the throng of faces, 'twas some while or ever I could
+discover the Countess. That she was present I had no doubt, and at
+last I saw her, standing by the door apart from her servants, her face
+white, and her eyelids closed over her eyes.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Groder pushed me roughly in the small of the back, and I stumbled down
+the topmost steps. There was no escape from the ordeal, and glancing
+neither to the right nor to the left, I walked between the silent rows
+of servants. I passed within a yard of Countess Lukstein, but she made
+no movement; she never even raised her eyes. A carriage stood in the
+courtyard, and I got into it, and was followed by Michael Groder and
+Otto. As we drove off a hubbub arose within the hall, and it seemed to
+me that a ring was formed about the doorway, as though some one had
+fallen. But before I had time to take much note of it, a cloth was
+bound over my eyes, and the carriage rolled down the hill.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At the bottom, where the track from Lukstein debouches upon the main
+road, we turned eastwards in the direction of Meran, and thence again
+to the left, ascending an incline; so that I gathered we were entering
+a ravine parallel to the Senner Thal, but further east.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In a while the carriage stopped, and Otto, opening the door, told me
+civilly enough to descend. Then he took me by the arm and led me
+across a threshold into a room. A woman's voice was raised in
+astonishment.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Wait till he's plucked of his feathers!&quot; laughed Groder, and bade her
+close the shutters.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The bandage was removed from my eyes, and by the grey morning light
+which pierced through the crevices of the window, I perceived that I
+was in some rough cottage. An old woman stood gaping open-mouthed
+before me. Groder sharply bade her go and prepare breakfast. Otto
+unbound my wrists, and pointed to a heap of clothes which lay in a
+corner, and so they left me to myself.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I had some difficulty in putting on these clothes, since my wrists
+were swollen and well-nigh useless from their long confinement.
+Indeed, but for a threat which Groder shouted through the door, saying
+that he would come and assist me to make my toilet, I doubt whether I
+should have succeeded at all.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For breakfast they brought me a pannikin full of a greasy steaming
+gruel, which I constrained myself to swallow. Then they bound my hands
+again. Groder wrapped up the clothes which I had taken off in a
+bundle, and slung it on his back. Otto replaced the bandage on my
+eyes, and we set out, mounting upwards by a rough mountain track,
+along which they guided me. About noon Otto called a halt, and none
+too soon, for I was ready to drop with fatigue and pain. There we made
+a meal of some dry coarse bread, and washed it down with spirit of a
+very bitter flavour. 'Twas new to me at the time, but I know now that
+it was distilled from the gentian flower. Groder lit a fire and burned
+the bundle of clothes which he had brought with him, the two men
+sharing my jewels between them.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">From that point we left the track and climbed up a grass slope,
+winding this way and that in the ascent. 'Twas as much as I could do
+to keep my feet, though Otto and Groder supported me upon either side.
+At the top we dipped down again for a little, crossed a level field of
+heather, but in what direction I know not, for by this I had lost all
+sense of our bearings, mounted again, descended again, and towards
+nightfall came to a hut. Groder thrust me inside, plucked the cloth
+from my face, and unbound my hands.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Tis a long day's journey,&quot; said he; &quot;but what matters that if you
+make it only once?&quot;</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXI.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_21" href="#div1Ref_21">IN CAPTIVITY HOLLOW.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">The hut wherein I passed the first month of my captivity was of a more
+solid construction than is customary at so great a height, and had
+been built by the order of Count Lukstein for a shelter when the chase
+brought him hitherwards. For the hillside was covered with a dense
+forest of fir-trees in which chamois abounded, and now and again,
+though 'twas never my lot to come across one, a bear might be
+discovered.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The hut had a sort of vestibule paved with cobble-stones and roofed
+with pine-wood. From this hall a room led out upon either side, though
+only that upon the right hand was used by the wood-cutters who dwelt
+here. Of these there were two, and they lived and slept in the one
+room, cooking the gruel or porridge, which formed our chief food, in a
+great cauldron slung over a rough fireplace of stones in the centre of
+the floor. There was no chimney to carry off the smoke, not so much as
+a hole in the wall; but the smoke found its way out as best it might
+through the door. From the hall a ladder led up through a trap-door
+into a loft above, and as soon as we had supped, Groder bade me mount
+it, and followed me himself. The wood-cutters below removed the
+ladder, Groder closed the trap, and, spreading some branches of fir
+upon it, laid him down and went to sleep. I followed his example in
+the matter of making my bed, but, as you may believe, I got little
+sleep that night. For one thing my arms and legs were now become so
+swollen and painful that it tortured me even to move them, and it was
+full two days before I was sufficiently recovered to be able to
+descend from the loft. By that time Otto had got him back to the
+valley, and I was left under the authority of Groder, which he used
+without scruple or intermission. Each morning at daybreak the ladder
+was hoisted to the loft. We descended and despatched a hasty
+breakfast; thereupon I was given an axe, and the four of us proceeded
+into the forest, where we felled trees the day long. Through the gaps
+in the clearings I would look across the valley to the bleak rocks and
+naked snow-fields, and thoughts of English meadows knee-deep in grass,
+and of rooks cawing through a summer afternoon, would force themselves
+into my mind until I grew well-nigh daft with longing for a sight of
+them. At nightfall we returned to the hut and partook of a meal, and
+no words wasted. When the meal was finished I was straightway banished
+to my loft, where I lay in the dark, and heard through the floor the
+wood-cutters breaking into all sorts of rough jests and songs now that
+I was no longer present to check their merriment For towards me they
+consistently showed the greatest taciturnity and sullen reserve. 'Twas
+seldom that any one except Groder addressed a word to me, and in truth
+I would lief he had been as silent as the rest. For when he opened his
+mouth 'twas only to utter some command in a harsh, growling tone as
+though he spoke to a cur, and to couple thereto a coarse and unseemly
+oath.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For a time I endured this servitude in an extraordinary barrenness of
+mind. Not even the thought of escape stirred me to activity. The
+sudden misfortune which had befallen me seemed to have numbed and
+dulled all but my bodily faculties. Moreover the long and arduous
+labour, to which I was set, wearied me in the extreme, and each
+evening I came back so broken with fatigue that I wished for nothing
+so much as to climb into my loft and stretch myself out upon my
+branches in the dark, though even then I was often too tired to sleep,
+and so would lie hour after hour counting the seconds by the pulsing
+of my sinews.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">After a couple of weeks had gone by, however, I began to take some
+notice of the place of my captivity, and to seek whether by any means
+I might compass my escape. For I recalled, with an apprehension which
+quickened speedily, as I dwelt upon it, into a panic of terror, the
+singular prophecy and sentence which the Countess had flung at me. I
+began to see myself already sinking into a dull apathy, performing my
+daily task, with no thought beyond my physical needs, until I became
+one with these coarse peasants in spirit and mind.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">What else, I reflected, could happen? Remote from all intercourse or
+companionship, with not so much as a single book to divert me,
+labouring with my hands from dawn to dusk, and guarded ever by
+ignorant boors who reckoned me not worth even their speech--what else
+could I become? 'Twould need far less than a lifetime to work the
+transformation!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But, however carefully I watched, I could by no means come at the
+opportunity of an evasion. At night, as I have said, Groder shared the
+loft with me, and slept over the trap-door; nor was there any window
+or other opening through which I might drop to the ground, since the
+roof reached down to the flooring upon every side. This roof consisted
+of a thatch of boughs, and of large sheets of bark superimposed upon
+them, and weighted down by heavy stones. One night, indeed, when
+Groder lay snoring, I endeavoured to force an opening through the
+thatch; but I had no help beyond what my hands afforded me--for they
+took my axe from me every night as soon as we got back to the hut--and
+I was compelled, moreover, to work with the greatest caution and
+quietude lest I should awaken my companion; so that I got nothing for
+my pains but a few scratches and an additional fatigue to carry
+through the morrow.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Nor, indeed, was my case any better in the day-time. We all worked in
+the same clearing, and at no single moment was I out of sight of my
+gaolers.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">But even had I succeeded in eluding them, I doubt whether at this time
+I should have been any nearer the fulfilment of my desire. For I knew
+not so much as the direction of Lukstein, and I should only have
+wandered helpless amongst these heights until either I was recaptured
+or perished miserably upon the desolate wastes of snow.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The hut stood in the centre of a little hollow, on the brink of a
+torrent, and was girt about by a rim of hills. There was, indeed, but
+one outlet, and that a precipitous gully, through which the water
+rushed with a great roaring noise, and I gathered from this that it
+fell pretty sheer. I was the more inclined to this conjecture, since
+had the gully afforded a path it would have been the natural entrance
+into the hollow, and I knew that I had not been brought that way, else
+I must needs have remarked the roar of the stream sooner than I did.
+For that sound only came to my ears when I was but a short distance
+from the hut.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">If you stood with your back to the door of the hut, the noise came
+from directly behind you. On your right rose the pine-forest wherein
+we laboured, very steep and dense, to the crest of a hill; on your
+left a barren wilderness, encumbered by stones, sloped up to the foot
+of a great field of snow, which grew steeper and steeper towards its
+summit. Here and there great masses of ice bulged out from the
+incline, like nothing so much as the bosses of shields. I was rather
+apt to underrate the size and danger of these, until one day a
+fragment, which seemed in comparison no greater than a pea, broke away
+from one of these bosses and dropped on to the slope beneath,
+starting, as it were, a little rillet of snow down the hillside. On
+the instant the hollow was filled with a great thunder, as though a
+battery of cannon had been discharged; and I should hardly have
+believed this fragment could have produced so great a disturbance, had
+not the Tyrolese looked across the valley, and by their words to one
+another assured me it was so.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In front of you, the head of this hollow was blocked up by a tongue of
+ice, which wound downwards like some huge dragon, and the stream of
+which I have spoken flowed from the tip of it, as though the dragon
+spewed the water from its mouth. It was then apparent to me from these
+observations that I had been carried into this prison by some track
+through the pine-forest, and I set myself to the discovery of it. But
+whether the wood-cutters kept aloof from it, or whether it was in
+reality indistinguishable, I could perceive no trace of it. At one
+point on the crest of the hill there was a marked depression, and I
+judged that there lay the true entrance; but through the gap I could
+see nothing but a sea of white, with dark peaks of rock tossed this
+way and that, and dreaded much adventuring myself that way.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It soon came upon me, however, that in whichever way I determined to
+make my attempt, I must needs delay the actual enterprise until the
+spring; for we were now in the month of November, and the snow falling
+very thickly, so that for some while we worked knee-deep in snow. Then
+one morning Groder and his comrades once more bound my hands and
+bandaged my eyes, and we set off to pass the winter in one of the
+lower valleys. On this occasion I took such notice as I could of our
+direction, and from the diminishing sound of the waterfall, I
+understood that we marched for some distance towards the head of the
+valley, and then turned to the right through the pine-forest.
+Evidently we were making for the gap in the ridge of the hill, and I
+determined to pay particular heed to the course which we followed down
+the other side. Again, however, I was led in a continual zigzag, first
+to the right, then to the left, and with such irregular distances
+between each turn that it became impossible to keep a clear notion of
+our direction. At times, too, we would retrace our steps, at others we
+seemed to be describing the greater part of a circle; so that in the
+end, when we finally reached our quarters, I was little wiser than at
+the moment of setting out.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There were some five or six cottages in the ravine whither we were
+come, and one of them most undeniably an inn; for though I was not
+suffered to go there myself--nor, indeed, had I any inclination that
+way--my guardians frequently brought back upon their tongues and in
+their faces evidence as convincing as a sign swinging above the door.
+In truth if the house was not an inn, it possessed the most hospitable
+master in the world.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">None the less strictly, however, on this account was the watch
+maintained upon me; for if Groder and his fellows chanced to be
+incapacitated for the time, there were ever some peasants from the
+neighbouring cottages ready to fill their place; though, indeed, there
+was but little necessity for their zeal, for the snow lay many feet
+deep upon the ground, and the only path along which one could travel
+at all led down to the more populous parts of the valley, through
+which, at this time of the year, it would be impossible to escape. One
+could journey no faster than at a snail's pace, and would leave,
+besides, an unmistakable trail for the pursuers.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">These winter months proved the most irksome of my captivity, my sole
+occupation being the plaiting of ropes from the flax which was grown
+about these parts. At this tedious and mechanic labour I toiled for
+many hours a day, in an exceeding great vacancy of spirit, until I hit
+upon a plan by which I might exercise my mind without hindering the
+work of my fingers. 'Twas my terror lest my wits should wither for
+lack of use that first set me on the device; since, indeed, it
+mattered little how or when Countess Ilga discovered that I had slain
+her husband. She <i>had</i> discovered it; that was the kernel of the
+matter, and the searching out of the means whereby she gained the
+knowledge no more than an idle cracking of the shell into little
+fragments after the kernel has been removed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Many incidents, of course, became intelligible to me now that I knew
+whose portrait the miniature box contained. The sudden swoon of Lady
+Tracy in the hall at Pall Mall was now easily accounted for. The
+moment before I had been speaking of the miniature, and Lady Tracy
+knew--what I could not know--that Ilga held a proof of her
+acquaintanceship with the Count, and would be certain to attribute it
+as the cause of his death. It was doubtless, also, that piece of
+knowledge which drove her to such a pitch of fear that on seeing the
+Countess at Bristol she disclosed the story to her brother and
+besought his protection. I understood, moreover, the drift of the
+words which Marston was uttering when death took him. He meant to ask
+a question, not to make an explanation.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Concerning those events, however, which more nearly concerned myself I
+was not so clear. I had no clue whereby I could ascertain how the
+Countess first came to fix her suspicions upon me, and in the absence
+of that, my speculations were the merest conjectures. Much of course
+was significant to me which I had disregarded, as, for instance, the
+journey of Countess Lukstein to Bristol, the diagram which she had
+drawn on the gravel under the piazza of Covent Garden, the perplexity
+with which she had regarded the diagram, and the sudden start she had
+given when I mentioned the date of my departure from Leyden. For I
+remembered that she had previously remarked the Horace when she came
+to visit me; and in that volume the date &quot;September 14, 1685,&quot; was
+inscribed on the page opposite to Julian's outline of Lukstein.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">These details, now that I was aware she suspected me at that time,
+were full of significance, but they gave me no help towards the
+solving of that first question as to what directed her thoughts my
+way. It seemed to me, indeed, as I looked back upon the incidents of
+our acquaintance, that the Countess, almost from our first meeting,
+had begun to set her husband's death to my account.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">One thing, however, I did clearly recognise, and for that recognition
+I shall ever be most gratefully thankful. 'Twas of far more importance
+to me than any academic speculations, and I do but cite them here that
+I may show how I came by it. I perceived that 'twas not so much any
+investigation on the part of the Countess which had betrayed me to
+her, as my own wilful and independent actions. Of my own free choice I
+came from Cumberland to seek her; of my own free choice I brought her
+to my rooms, where she saw the Horace; of my own free choice I joined
+her in the box at the Duke's Theatre, and so led Marston to speak of
+my ride to Bristol; and again of my own free choice I had persuaded
+Lady Tracy to enter the house in Pall Mall and confront my mistress.
+Even in the matter of the diagram, 'twas my anxiety and insistence to
+prove that Lady Tracy and I were strangers which induced me to dwell
+upon the date of my leaving Holland, and so gave to the Countess the
+clue to resolve her perplexity. In short, my very efforts at
+concealment were the means by which suspicion was ratified and
+assured, and I could not but believe that Providence in its great
+wisdom had so willed it. 'Tis that belief and conviction for which I
+have ever been most grateful; for it enheartened me with patience to
+endure my present sufferings, and saved me, in particular, from
+cherishing a petty rancour and resentment against the lady who
+inflicted them.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I had yet one other consolation during this winter. For at times Otto
+Krax would come up from the valley to inquire after the prisoner. At
+first he would but stay for the night and so get him back; but his
+visits gradually lengthened and grew more frequent, an odd friendship
+springing up between us. For one thing, I was attracted to him because
+he came from Lukstein, and, indeed, might have had speech with
+Countess Ilga upon the very day of his coming. But, besides that,
+there was a certain dignity about the man which set him apart from
+these rude peasants, and made his companionship very welcome. He
+showed his good-will towards me by recounting at great length all that
+happened at Lukstein, and on the eve of the Epiphany, which 'tis the
+fashion of this people to celebrate with much rejoicing, he brought me
+a pipe and a packet of tobacco. No present could have been more
+grateful, and it touched me to notice his pleasure when I manifested
+my delight. We went out of the cottage together, and sat smoking in
+the starlight upon a boulder, and I remember that he told me one might
+see upon this evening a woman in white clothing, with a train of
+little ragged children chattering and clattering behind her. 'Twas
+Procula, the wife of Pontius Pilate, he explained. 'Twas her penance
+to wander over the world until the last day attended by the souls of
+all children that died before they had been baptized, and at the
+season of the Epiphany she ever passed through the valleys of the
+Tyrol. However, we saw naught of her that night.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Early in May Groder carried me back to the hollow, and I began
+seriously to consider in what way I should be most like to effect my
+escape. At any cost I was firmly resolved to venture the attempt, and
+during this summer too, dreading the thought of a second winter of
+such unendurable monotony as that through which I had passed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We were now set to drag from the hillside to the brink of the torrent
+the wood which we had felled in the autumn, so that as the stream
+swelled with the melting of the snows we might send the timber
+floating down to the valley. 'Twas a task of great labour, and since
+we had to saw many of the trunks into logs before we could move them,
+one that occupied no inconsiderable time. Indeed we had not the wood
+fairly stacked upon the bank until we were well into the first days of
+June. Meanwhile I had turned over many projects in my mind, but not
+one that seemed to offer me a possibility of success. I realised
+especially that if I sought to escape by the way we had come, I
+should, even though I were so lucky as to hit upon the right path,
+nevertheless, have to pass through the most inhabited portion of the
+district. And did I succeed so far, I should then find myself in the
+valley, close by Castle Lukstein, with not so much as a penny piece in
+my pocket to help me further on my way. Besides, by that route would
+Groder be certain to pursue me the moment he discovered my escape, and
+being familiar with the windings of the ravines, he would most surely
+overtake me. Yet in no other direction could I discover the hint of an
+outlet. I was in truth like a fly with wetted wings in the hollow of a
+cup.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">It was our custom to launch the trunks endwise into the torrent, but
+one of them, which was larger than the rest, being caught in a swirl,
+turned broadside to the stream, and floating down thus, stuck in the
+narrow defile, through which the water plunged out of the hollow. The
+barrier thus begun was strengthened by each succeeding log, so that in
+a very short time a solid dam was raised, the water running away
+underneath. To remedy this, Groder bade the peasants and myself take
+our axes to the spot and cut the wood free.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Now this defile was no more than a deep channel bored by the torrent,
+and on one side of it the cliff rose precipitously to the height of a
+hundred feet. On the other, however, a steep slope of grass and
+bushes, with here and there a dwarf-pine clinging to it, ran down to a
+rough platform of rock, only twenty feet or so above the surface of
+the current. To one of these trees we bound a couple of stout ropes,
+and two men were lowered on to the block of timber, while the third
+remained upon the platform to see that the ropes did not slip, and to
+haul the others up. So we worked all the day, taking turn and turn
+about on the platform.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">To this lower end of the dale I had never come before, and when the
+time arrived for me to rest, I naturally commenced to look about me
+and consider whether or no I might escape that way. Beneath me the
+torrent leaped and foamed in a mist of spray, here sweeping along the
+cliff with a breaking crest like a wave, there circling in a whirlpool
+about a boulder, and all with such a prodigious roar that I could not
+hear my companions speak, though they shouted trumpet-wise through
+their hands. 'Twas indeed no less than I had expected; the stream
+filled the outlet from side to side.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Then I looked across to the great snow-slope opposite, and in an
+instant I understood the position of Captivity Hollow, as, for want of
+a better name, I termed the place of my confinement. The slope
+finished abruptly just over against me, as though it had been shorn by
+a knife, and I could see that the end face of it was a gigantic wall
+of rock. I saw this wall in profile, as one may say, and for that very
+reason I recognised it the more surely. 'Twas singularly flat, and
+unbroken by buttresses; not a patch of snow was to be discovered
+anywhere upon its face, and, moreover, the shape of its apex, which
+was like the cupola upon a church belfry, made any mistake impossible.
+In a word, the mountain was the Wildthurm; the wall of cliff blocked
+the head of the Senner Thal, and the slope on which I gazed was the
+eastern side, which I had likened to one of the canvas sides of a
+tent.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">If I could but cross it, I thought! No one would look for me in that
+direction. I could strike into one of the many ravines that led into
+the Vintschgau Thal to the west of Lukstein, and thence make my way to
+Innspruck. If only I could cross it! But I gazed at the slope, and my
+heart died within me. It rose before my eyes vast and steep, flashing
+menace from a thousand glittering points. Besides, the early summer
+was upon us, and the sun hot in the sky, so that never an hour passed
+in the forenoon but blocks of ice would split off and thunder down the
+incline.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The notion, however, still worked in my head throughout the day, and
+as we returned to the hut I eagerly scanned the upper end of our
+ravine, for at that point the slope of the Wildthurm declined very
+greatly in height. Whilst the Tyrolese went in to prepare supper I
+stayed by the door.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Come!&quot; shouted one of them at length--it was not Groder. &quot;Come,
+unless you prefer to sleep fasting.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And I turned to go in, with my mind made up; for I had perceived,
+running upwards beside the tongue of ice which I have described, a
+long, narrow ridge. 'Twas neither of ice nor snow, and in colour a
+reddish brown, so that I imagined it to be a mound of earth, thrown up
+in some way by the pressure of the snow. Along that it seemed to me
+that I might find a path.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Groder was crouched up close to the fire, shivering by fits and
+starts, like a man with an ague. He glanced evilly at me as I entered
+the room, but said no word either to me or to his comrades, and kept
+muttering to himself concerning &quot;the Cold Torment.&quot; I knew not what
+the man meant, but 'twas plain that he was shaken with a great fear;
+and even during the night I heard him more than once start from his
+sleep with a cry, and those same words upon his lips, &quot;the Cold
+Torment.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The next morning, hearing that the barrier was well-nigh cut through,
+he ordered only one of the peasants to take me with him and complete
+the work. I was lowered on to the dam first, and laboured at it with
+saw and axe for the greater part of the morning. About noon, however,
+I took my turn upon the platform, and after I had been standing some
+little while, bent over the torrent, with my hand ready upon the rope,
+since at any moment the logs might give way, I suddenly raised myself
+to ease my back, and turned about.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Just above me on the slope I saw Groder's face peering over the edge
+of a boulder. 'Twas so contorted with malignancy and hatred that it
+had no human quality except its shape. 'Twas the face of a devil. For
+one moment I saw it; the next it dropped behind the stone. I pretended
+to have noticed nothing, and so stood looking everywhere except in his
+direction. The expression upon his face left me no doubt as to his
+intention. He was minded to take a leaf from my book, and precipitate
+the boulder upon me when my back was turned, in which case I should
+not come off so cheaply as he had done, for I should inevitably be
+swept into the torrent. The boulder, I observed, was in a line with
+the spot where I must stand in order to handle the rope.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">What to do I could not determine. I dared not show him openly that I
+had detected his design, for I should most likely in that event
+provoke an open conflict, and I doubted not that the other peasant was
+within call to help him to an issue if help were needed; and even if I
+succeeded in avoiding a conflict, I should only put him upon his guard
+and make him use more precautions when next he attempted my life.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I turned me again to the torrent and took the rope in my hand, with my
+ears open for any sound behind me. I stooped slowly forwards, as if to
+watch my companion, thinking that Groder would launch the stone as
+soon as he deemed it impossible for me to recover in time to elude it.
+And so it proved. I heard a dull thud as the boulder fell forward upon
+the turf. I sprang quickly to one side, and not a moment too soon, for
+the boulder whizzed past me on a level with my shoulder, leaped across
+the stream, and was shattered into a thousand fragments against the
+opposite cliff. The man below, who had been almost startled from his
+footing, began to curse me roundly for my carelessness, and I answered
+him without casting a glance to my rear, deeming it prudent to give
+Groder the opportunity to crawl away into cover.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In that, however, I made a mistake, and one that went near to costing
+me my life, for when I did turn, after explaining that the boulder had
+slipped of its own weight and momentum, Groder was within ten feet of
+me. He had crept noiselessly down the bank, and now stood with one
+foot planted against it, the other upon the platform, his body all
+gathered together for a leap. His teeth were bared, his eyes very
+bright, and in his hand he held a long knife. I ran for my hatchet,
+which lay some yards distant, but he was upon me before I could stoop
+to pick it up. The knife flashed above my head; I caught at Groder's
+wrist as it descended and grappled him close, for I knew enough of
+their ways of fighting to feel assured that if I did but give his arms
+free play, my eyes would soon be lying on my cheeks.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Backwards and forwards we swayed upon the narrow platform with never a
+word spoken. Then from the torrent came a great crack and a shout. I
+knew well enough what was happening. The barrier was giving, the water
+was bursting the timber, and the peasant would of a surety be crushed
+and ground to death between the loosened logs. But I dared not relax
+my grip. Groder's breath was hot upon my face, his knife ever
+quivering towards my throat. I heard a few quick sounds as of the
+snapping of twigs, and once, I think, again the cry of a man in
+distress; but the roaring of the waters was in my ears and I could not
+be sure.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The labours of my captivity had hardened my limbs and sinews, else had
+Groder mastered me more easily; but as it was, I felt my strength
+ebbing, and twice the knife pricked into my shoulder as he pressed it
+down. The din of the torrent died away. I was sensible of a deathly
+stillness of the elements. It seemed as though Nature held its breath.
+Suddenly a look of terror sprang into Groder's face. He redoubled his
+efforts, and I felt my back give. Involuntarily I closed my eyes, and
+then his fingers loosened their hold. He plucked himself free with a
+jerk, and stood sullenly looking up the slope. I followed the
+direction of his gaze, and saw Otto Krax standing above me. Gradually
+the torrent became audible to me again; there was a rustling of leaves
+in the wind, and in a little I understood that some one was speaking.
+Groder advanced slowly across the grass and reached out the hand which
+held the knife. Very calmly Otto grasped it by the wrist, twisted the
+arm, and snapped it across his knee. What he said I could not hear,
+but Groder went up the slope holding his broken arm, and I saw his
+face no more.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Otto came down to me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have never been nearer your death but once,&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I made no reply, but pointed to the rope at my feet. 'Twas dragging to
+and fro upon the platform, and the thought of what dangled and tossed
+in the water at the tag of it turned me sick. Otto walked to the edge
+and looked over. Then he drew his knife and cut the rope.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I saw only the end of the struggle,&quot; said he. &quot;How did it begin?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I told him briefly what had occurred.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Twas you taught him the trick,&quot; he said, with a laugh; &quot;and he bore
+you no good-will for the lesson.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But what brought you so pat?&quot; I asked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I was sent,&quot; he replied. &quot;'Twas thought best I should follow.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Follow? Follow whom?&quot; said I.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He made no answer to my question, and continued hurriedly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I asked the fellow at the hut where you were, and he directed me
+here--not a minute too soon either. Were you working at the timber
+yesterday?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;All day.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Did Groder help?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No! He remained behind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Otto gave a grunt.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Alone?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Quite,&quot; I replied. &quot;The others were with me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We walked back to the hut together, and as on the evening before, I
+stopped in the doorway to examine the ridge on which my hopes were
+set. But I watched it to-day with a beating heart, and, let me own it,
+with a shrinking apprehension too, for within the last hour the
+possibility of my attempt had grown immeasurably real. Groder, I was
+certain, I should see no more. 'Twas equally certain that Otto would
+not remain to fill his place, and one of the peasants had been
+battered to death in the breaking of the dam. 'Twas doubtless an
+unworthy feeling, but, much as the nature of the man's end had
+horrified me at the time, I could not now find it in my heart to
+greatly regret it. I was too conscious of the fact that only a couple
+of gaolers were left to guard me.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Otto coming from the kitchen to join me, I deemed it prudent not to be
+particular in my gaze, and so taking my eyes off the ridge, which was
+become to me what Mahomet's bridge is to the Turk, I let them roam
+idly this way and that as we strolled forward over the turf. Hence it
+chanced that about twenty yards from the door I saw something bright
+winking in the verdure. I went towards it and picked it up. 'Twas a
+little gold cross, and, moreover, clean and unrusted. A sudden thought
+breaking in upon me, I turned to Otto and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Otto, have you ever heard of the Cold Torment?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Otto fell to crossing himself devoutly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Cold Torment?&quot; he asked, in awed tones. &quot;What know you of it?&quot; He
+turned towards the gap in the hillside upon our right. &quot;Look!&quot; said
+he. &quot;You see the peak that stands apart like a silver wedge. On its
+summit is buried an inexhaustible treasure, and night and day through
+the ages seven guilty souls keep ward about it in the cold. Never may
+one be freed until another is condemned in its stead. The Virgin save
+us from the Cold Torment!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah!&quot; said I, remarking the fervour of his prayer. &quot;'Tis the text for
+a persuasive homily, and Father Spaur, I fancy, preached from it
+yesterday.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Otto started, and glanced about him with some fear, as though he half
+expected to see the priest start out of the earth.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You know not what you say,&quot; he exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who sent you to follow him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Nay,&quot; he protested; &quot;I came not to spy upon Father Spaur. We know not
+that he has been here. 'Twere wise not to know it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I handed him the gold cross, and asked again:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Who sent you after him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I was not sent after him. I was bidden to come hither by my
+mistress.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ah! she sent you!&quot; I cried. &quot;Give the cross back to Father Spaur, and
+with it my most grateful thanks. He has done me better service than
+ever did my dearest friend.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I reasoned it out in this way. Father Spaur was bent on appropriating
+Lukstein and its broad lands to the Church. To that end, the Countess
+must, at all costs, be hindered from a second marriage. What motive
+could he have in prompting Groder to make an end of me, unless--unless
+Ilga now and again let her thoughts stray my way? And to confirm my
+conjecture, to rid it of presumption, I had this certain knowledge
+that she had sent Otto to see that I came to no harm at his hands. I
+should add that my speculations during the winter months had in some
+measure prepared me to entertain this notion. From constantly
+analysing and pondering all that she had said to me in the pavilion,
+and bringing my recollections of her change in manner to illumine her
+words, I had come, though hesitatingly, to a conclusion very different
+from that which I had originally formed. I could not but perceive that
+it made a great difference whether or no I had been alone upon my
+first coming to the Castle. Besides, I realised that there was a
+pregnant meaning which might be placed to the sentence which had so
+perplexed me: &quot;Would that I had the strength to resist, or the
+weakness to yield!&quot; And going yet further back, I had good grounds
+from what she had let slip to believe that there was something more
+than a regard for herself in the entreaty which she had addressed to
+me in London, that I should not tax Marston with treachery in the
+matter of the miniature.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Otto gave me back the cross.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;It is a mistake,&quot; said he. &quot;Father Spaur has gone from Lukstein on a
+visit.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then,&quot; said I, &quot;present it to your mistress. She has more claim to it
+than I.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">That night Otto slept in the loft in Groder's place.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are sure,&quot; he asked, &quot;that no one remained behind with Groder
+yesterday afternoon?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Quite,&quot; said I.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;None the less, I should sleep on the trap if I were you, and 'twere
+wise to carry your hatchet to bed for company.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But they take it from me each night,&quot; I replied eagerly. &quot;You must
+tell them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I will. But there's no cause for fear.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">'Twas not at all fear which prompted my eagerness; but I bethought me
+if I had the loft to myself, and the axe ready to my hand, 'twould be
+a strange thing if I could not find a way out by the morning.
+Thereupon we fell to talking again of Groder's attempt upon my life,
+and he repeated the words which he had used at the time.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You were never nearer your death but once.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And when was that once?&quot; I asked drowsily.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He laughed softly to himself for a little, and then he replied; and
+with his first sentence my drowsiness left me, just as a mist clears
+in a moment off the hills.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Do you remember one night in London that your garden door kept
+slamming in the wind?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well?&quot; said I, starting up.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You came downstairs in the dark, took the key from the mantelshelf,
+and went out into the garden and locked it. That occasion was the
+once.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You were in the room!&quot; I exclaimed. &quot;I remember. The door was open
+again in the morning. I had a locksmith to it. There was nothing amiss
+with the lock, and I wondered how it happened.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Otto laughed again quietly.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Right. I was in the room, and I was not alone either.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The Countess was with you. Why?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;There was a book in your rooms which she wished to see--a poetry
+book, eh?--with a date on one page, and a plan of Castle Lukstein on
+the page opposite. My mistress was at your lodging with some company
+that afternoon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;True,&quot; said I, interrupting him. &quot;She proposed the party herself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, it seems that she got no chance of examining the book then. But
+she unlocked the garden door. You had told her where you kept the
+key.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I recollected that I had done so on the occasion of her first visit.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And so Countess Lukstein and yourself were in the room when I passed
+through that night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Otto began to chuckle again.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Twas lucky you came down in the dark, and didn't stumble over us.
+Lord! I thought that I should have burst with holding my breath.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Otto,&quot; I said, &quot;tell me the whole story; how your suspicions set
+towards me, and what confirmed them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Very well,&quot; said he, after a pause, &quot;I will; for my mistress
+consulted me throughout. But you will get no sleep.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I shall get less if you don't tell me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Wait a moment!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He filled his tobacco-pipe and lighted it. I followed his example, and
+between the puffs he related the history of those far-away days in
+London. To me, lying back upon the boughs which formed my bed in the
+dark loft, it seemed like the weaving of a fairy tale. The house in
+Pall Mall--St. James's Park--the piazza, of Covent Garden! How strange
+it all sounded, and how unreal!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The odour of pine-wood was in my nostrils, and I had but to raise my
+arm to touch the sloping thatch above my head.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXII</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_22" href="#div1Ref_22">A TALK WITH OTTO. I ESCAPE TO INNSPRUCK.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Of what happened at Bristol,&quot; he began, &quot;you know well-nigh as much
+as I do, in a sense, maybe more; for I have never learnt to this day
+why my master, the late Count, left me behind there to keep an eye
+upon the old attorney and Sir Julian Harnwood's visitors. There's only
+one thing I need tell you. The night you came from the Bridewell,
+after--well, after----&quot; He hesitated, seeming at a loss for a word. I
+understood what it was that he stuck at, and realising that my turn
+had come to chuckle, I said, with a laugh:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The blow was a good one, Otto.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;'Twas not so good as you thought,&quot; he replied rather hotly, &quot;not by a
+great deal; and for all that you ran away so fast,&quot; he repeated the
+phrase with considerable emphasis, &quot;for all that you ran away so fast,
+I found out where you lodged. I passed the lawyer man as he was coming
+back alone, and remembering that I had traced him into Limekiln Lane
+in the afternoon, I returned there the next morning. The 'Thatched
+House' was the only tavern in the street, and I inquired whether a
+woman had stayed there overnight. They told me no; they had only put
+up one traveller, and he had left already. I thought no more of this
+at the time, believing my suspicions to be wrong, and so got me back
+to Lukstein. After the wedding-night I told the Countess all that I
+knew.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Wait!&quot; I said, interrupting him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">There was a point I had long been anxious to resolve, and I thought I
+should never get so likely an opportunity for the question again.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Was Count Lukstein betrothed at the time that he came to the
+Hotwells?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Most assuredly,&quot; he replied, and I wondered greatly at the strange
+madness which should lead a man astray to chase a pretty face, when
+all the while he loved another, and was plighted to her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Otto resumed his story.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I told all that I knew: my master's anxiety concerning Sir Julian,
+his relief when I brought him the news hither that only a woman had
+visited the captive on the night before his execution, and his
+apparent fear of peril. My mistress broke open the gold case which you
+had left behind, and asked whether the likeness was the likeness of
+Sir Julian's visitor. I assured her it was not, but she was convinced
+that this Bristol pother was at the bottom of the trouble. We could
+find no trace of you beyond your footsteps in the snow, and the
+footsteps of the woman who was with you. I have often wondered how she
+climbed the Lukstein rock.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">He paused as though expecting an answer. But I had no inclination to
+argue my innocence in that respect with one of Ilga's servants, and
+presently he continued:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, a quiet tongue is wisdom where women are concerned. No one in
+the valley had seen you come; no one had seen you go. But my lady was
+set upon discovering the truth and punishing the assailant herself. So
+she said as little as she could to the neighbours, and the following
+spring took me with her to London.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Where I promptly jumped into the trap,&quot; said I.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You did that and more. You set the trap yourself before you jumped
+into it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">'Twas my own thought that he uttered, and I asked him how he came by
+it.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I mean this. 'Twas my lady's hope to discover the original of the
+miniature, and so get at the man who was with her. But we had not to
+wait for that. You left something else behind you besides the
+miniature.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I did,&quot; I replied. &quot;I left a pair of spurs and a pistol, but I see
+not how they could serve you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The spurs were of little profit in our search. You have worn them
+since, it is true, but one pair of spurs is like another. For the
+pistol, however--that was another matter. It had the gunmaker's name
+upon the barrel, and also the name of the town where it was made.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Leyden?&quot; I exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;That was the name--Leyden.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">At last I understood. I recalled that evening when Elmscott presented
+me to Ilga, and how frankly I had spoken to her of my life.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We journeyed to Leyden first of all,&quot; he resumed, &quot;and sought out the
+gunmaker. But he did not remember selling the pistol, or, perhaps,
+would not--at all events, we got no help from him, and went on to
+London. In the beginning I believe Countess Lukstein was inclined to
+suspect Mr. Marston. You see he came from Bristol, and so completely
+did this search possess her that everything which concerned that city
+seemed to her to have some bearing upon her disaster. But she soon
+abandoned that idea, and--and--well, I know not why, but Mr. Marston
+left London for a time. Then you were brought to the house, and on
+your first visit you told her that your home was in Cumberland, where
+Sir Julian Harnwood lived; that you had been till recently a student
+at Leyden, and that there were few other English students there
+besides yourself. At first I think she did not seriously accuse you of
+Count Lukstein's death. It seemed little likely; you had not the look
+of it. I did not recognise you at all, and, further, my mistress
+herself inquired much of you concerning your actions, and you let slip
+no hint that could convict you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I remembered what interest the Countess had seemed to take in my
+uneventful history, and how her questions had delighted me, flattering
+my vanity and lifting me to the topmasts of hope; and the irony of my
+recollections made me laugh aloud.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Howbeit,&quot; he went on, paying no heed to my interruption--there
+was no great merriment in my laughter, and it may be that he
+understood--&quot;Howbeit, her suspicions were alert, and then Mr. Marston
+came back to London. She learnt from him that you had passed through
+London in a great hurry one night, and from Lord Culverton that the
+night was in September and that your destination was Bristol. I wanted
+to ride there and see what I could discover, but my mistress would not
+allow me. I don't know, but at that time I almost fancied she
+regretted her resolve, and would fain have let the matter lie.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">'Twas at that time also, I remembered, that the Countess treated me so
+waywardly, and I coupled Otto's remark and my remembrance together,
+and set them aside as food for future pondering.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then she showed you the miniature. You faced it out and denied all
+knowledge of it So far so good. But that same morning you brought Lady
+Tracy into the house, and that was the ruin of you. Oh, I know,&quot; he
+went on as I sought to interrupt him, &quot;I know! You faced that matter
+out too. You brought Lady Tracy to bear witness that you and she were
+never acquainted. 'Twas a cunning device and it deceived my mistress;
+but you did not take me into account. I opened the door to you, and I
+recognised Lady Tracy as the original of the miniature. Well, I looked
+at her carefully, wondering whether I could have made a mistake,
+whether it was she whom I had seen at the Bristol prison after all. I
+felt certain it was not, but all the same I kept thinking about it as
+I went upstairs to announce you. Lady Tracy was dark; the other woman,
+I remembered, fair and over-tall for a woman. So I went on comparing
+them, setting the two faces side by side in my mind. Well, when I came
+back again there were you and Lady Tracy standing side by side--the
+two faces that were side by side in my thoughts. The sunlight was full
+upon you both. Lord! I was cluttered out of my senses. I knew you at
+once. Height, face, everything fitted. I told my mistress immediately
+after you had gone. She would not believe it at first; but soon after
+she informed me that Lady Tracy had been betrothed to Sir Julian
+Harnwood. That night we visited your rooms, as I have told you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ay,&quot; said I, &quot;Marston told her of his sister's betrothal in Covent
+Garden.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">'Twas indeed at the very time that the Countess was tracing that
+diagram in the gravel.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The visit to your rooms convinced Countess Lukstein.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;No doubt,&quot; said I, and I explained to him how she had traced the
+diagram, and my mention of the date which had given her the clue to my
+Horace.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But that's not all,&quot; he laughed. &quot;'Tis true that my mistress knew
+that she had seen that same plan somewhere. 'Tis true your mention of
+the date told her where. But the plan which my lady drew on the gravel
+was different from yours in one respect. It lacked the line which
+showed your way of ascent, the line which stood for the rib of rock.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Well, you added that line yourself while you were talking.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I did!&quot; I exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I could not credit it; but then I recollected how Ilga had suddenly
+stooped forward and obliterated the diagram with a sweep of her stick.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ay, Otto!&quot; I said. &quot;You spoke truth indeed. I set the traps myself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;The next morning we started for Bristol. We drove to the 'Thatched
+House Tavern,' and with the help of a few coins wormed the truth from
+the chambermaid. She had told me before that a man had stayed at the
+inn on that particular night and I had no doubt who was the man. We
+knew the story; we merely needed her to confirm it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With that he laid his pipe aside, and was for settling to sleep. But I
+had one more question to ask him.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;When Lord Elmscott came to find me at Countess Lukstein's apartments,
+he was informed I was not there, and the door of the room in which I
+lay was locked.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;We intended to convey you out of the country ourselves,&quot; he laughed,
+&quot;and that very night. 'Twould indeed have saved much trouble had Lord
+Elmscott been delayed an hour or so upon the road. A boat was in
+waiting for us on the river.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">'Twas long before I could follow Otto's example and compose myself to
+sleep. Using his narrative as a commentary, I read over and over again
+my memories of those weeks in London, and each time I felt yet more
+convinced that this deed had been brought home to me through no
+cunning of the Countess, through no great folly of mine, but simply
+because Providence had so willed it. As Otto said, I had set the traps
+myself, and bethinking me of this, I recalled a phrase which I had
+spoken to Count Lukstein. &quot;I can fight you,&quot; I had said, &quot;but I can't
+fight your wife.&quot; In what a strange way had the remark come true!</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The next morning Otto departed from the hollow, and fearing lest he
+might presently despatch two other of Countess Lukstein's servants to
+fill up the complement of my guards, I determined to make my effort at
+enlargement that very night. I took my axe boldly from the corner of
+the room when the time came for me to mount to the loft. The peasants
+scowled but said nothing, and 'twas with a very great relief that I
+understood Otto had been as good as his word. It had been my habit of
+late to secrete about me at each meal some fragment of my portion of
+bread, so that I had now a good number of such morsels hidden away
+among the leaves of my bed. These I gathered together, and fastened
+inside my shirt, and then sat me down, with such patience as I might,
+to wait until the peasants beneath me were sound asleep. The delay
+would have been more endurable had there been some window or opening
+in the loft. But to sit there in the darkness, never knowing but what
+the sky was clouding over and a storm gathering upon the heights,
+'twas the quintessence of suspense, and it wrought in me like a fever.
+I allowed two hours, as near as I could guess, to elapse, and then,
+working quietly with my axe, I cut a hole through the thatch at the
+corner most distant from the room of my gaolers, and dropped some
+twelve feet on to the ground. There was no moon to light me but the
+sparkle of innumerable stars, and the night was black in the valley
+and purple about the cheerless hills. Cautiously I made my way over
+the grass towards the ridge, taking the air into my lungs with an
+exquisite enjoyment like one that has long been cooped in a sick-room.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Whimsically enough, I thought not at all of the dangers which were
+like to beset me, but rather of Ilga in her Castle of Lukstein; and
+walking forwards in the lonely quiet, I wondered whether at that
+moment she was asleep.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">The ridge, as I had hoped, was entirely compacted of earth and stones.
+'Twas thrown up to a considerable height above the ice, and resembled
+a great earthwork raised for defence, such as I have seen since about
+the walls of Londonderry. I was able to walk along the crest for some
+way with no more peril than was occasioned by the darkness and the
+narrow limits of my path, and taking to some rocks which jutted out
+from the snow, about two hours after daybreak, I reached the top of
+the hill at noon. To my great delight I perceived that I stood, as it
+were, upon a neck of the mountain. To my left the Wildthurm rose in a
+sweeping line of ice, ever higher and higher towards the peak; to my
+right it terminated in a ridge of rocks which again rose upwards, and
+circled about the head of the ravine. I had nothing to do but to
+descend; so I lay down to rest myself for a while, and take my last
+look at Captivity Hollow and the hut wherein I had been imprisoned.
+The descent, however, was not so easy a matter as I believed it would
+be. For some distance, it is true, I could walk without much
+difficulty, kicking a sort of staircase in the snow with my feet; but
+after a while the incline became steeper, and, moreover, was inlaid
+with strips of ice, wherein I had to cut holes with my hatchet before
+I could secure a footing. Indeed, I doubt whether I should have come
+safe off from this adventure but for the many crags and rocks which
+studded the slope. By keeping close to these, however, I was able to
+get solid hold for my hands, the while I stepped upon the treacherous
+ice. Towards the foot of the mountain, moreover, the ice was split
+with great gashes and chasms, so deep that I could see no bottom to
+them, but only an azure haze; and I was often compelled to make long
+circuits before I could discover a passage. Once or twice, besides,
+when the ground seemed perfectly firm, I slipped a leg through the
+crust and felt it touch nothing; and taking warning from these
+accidents, I proceeded henceforth more cautiously, tapping the snow in
+front of me with the hatchet at each step.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">These hindrances did so delay me that I was still upon the mountain
+when night fell, and not daring to continue this perilous journey in
+the dark, I crept under the shelter of a rock, and so lay shivering
+until the morning. However, I bethought me of my loft and its
+thatch-roof, and contrasting it with the open sky, passed the night
+pleasantly enough. I had still enough of my bread left over to serve
+me for breakfast in the morning, and since there was no water to be
+got, I made shift to moisten my throat by sucking lumps of ice. Late
+that afternoon I came down into a desolate valley, and felt the green
+turf once more spring beneath my feet. 'Twas closing in very dark and
+black. In front of me I could see the rain stretched across the hills
+like a diaphanous veil, shot here and there by a stray thread of
+sunlight; while behind, the heights of the Wildthurm were hidden by a
+white crawling mist. Looking at this mist, I could not but be sensible
+of the dangers from which I had escaped, and with a heart full of
+gratitude I knelt down and thanked God for that He had reached out His
+hand above me to save my life.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">For many days I journeyed among these upland valleys, passing from hut
+to hut and from ravine to ravine, moving ever westwards from Lukstein,
+and descended finally into the high-road close to the village of
+Nauders. Thence I proceeded along the Inn Thal to Innspruck, earning
+my food each day by cutting wood into logs at the various taverns, or
+by some such service; and as for lodging, 'twas no great hardship to
+sleep in the fields at this season of the year. At Innspruck, however,
+whither I came in the first days of July, I was sore put to it to find
+employment, which should keep me from starving until such time as I
+could receive letters of credit from England. My first thought was to
+obtain the position of usher or master in one of the many schools and
+colleges of the town. But wherever I applied they only laughed in my
+face, and unceremoniously closed the door upon my entreaties. Nor,
+indeed, could I wonder at their behaviour, for what with my torn
+peasant's clothes, my bare, scarred knees, and my face, which was
+burnt to the colour of a ripe apple, I looked the most unlikely tutor
+that ever ruined a boy's education. At one school--'twas the last at
+which I sought employment--the master informed me that he &quot;did his own
+whipping,&quot; and wandering thence in a great despondency of spirit, I
+came into the Neustadt, which is the principal street of the town.
+There I chanced to espy the sign of a fencing-master, and realising
+what little profit I was like to make of such rusty book-learning as I
+still retained, I crossed the road and proffered him the assistance of
+my services. At the onset he was inclined to treat my offer with no
+less hilarity than the schoolmasters had shown; but being now at my
+wits' end, I persisted, and perhaps vaunted my skill more than
+befitted a gentleman. 'Twas, I think, chiefly to disprove my words,
+and so rid himself of me, that he bade me take a foil and stand on
+guard. In the first bout, however, I was lucky enough to secure the
+advantage, as also in the second. In a fluster of anger he insisted
+that I should engage upon a third, and thereupon I deemed it prudent
+to allow him to get the better of me, though not by so much as would
+give him the right to accuse me of a lack of skill. The ruse was
+entirely successful; for he was so delighted with his success that he
+hired me straightway as his lieutenant, and was pleased to compliment
+me upon my mastery of the weapon; not but what he declared I had many
+faults in the matter of style, which I might correct under his
+tuition.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">In this occupation I remained for some three months. I wrote a letter
+immediately to Jack Larke, but received no answer whatsoever. Each
+week, however, I put by a certain sum out of my wages until I had
+accumulated sufficient to carry me, if I practised economy, to
+England. In the beginning of September, then, I gave up my position; a
+pupil, on hearing of my purposed journey, most generously presented me
+with a horse, which I accepted as a loan, and one fine morning I
+mounted on to the animal's back and rode out towards the gates of the
+town.</p>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h2>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2>
+
+<h3><a name="div1_23" href="#div1Ref_23">THE LAST.</a></h3>
+<br>
+
+<p class="normal">Now the road which I chose led past the Hofgarten, a great open space
+of lawns and shrubberies which had been enclosed and presented to the
+town by Leopold, the late Archduke of Styria. Opposite to the gates of
+this garden stood the &quot;Black Stag,&quot; at that time the principal inn,
+and I noticed ahead of me four or five mounted men waiting at the
+door. Drawing nearer I perceived that these men wore the livery of
+Countess Lukstein.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">My first impulse was to turn my horse's head and ride off with all
+speed in the contrary direction; but bethinking me that they would
+never dare to make an attempt upon my liberty in the streets of an
+orderly city, I resolved to continue on my way, and pay no heed to
+them as I passed. And this I began to do, walking my horse slowly, so
+that they might not think I had any fear of them. Otto was stationed
+at the head of the troop, a few paces in advance of the rest, and I
+was well-nigh abreast of him before any of the servants perceived who
+passed them. Even then 'twas myself who invited their attention. For
+turning my head I saw the Countess just within the gates of the
+garden. She was habited in a riding-dress, and was taking leave of a
+gentleman who was with her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">On the instant I stopped my horse.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Here, Otto!&quot; I cried, and flinging the reins to him, I jumped to the
+ground.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I heard him give a startled exclamation, but I stayed not to cast a
+glance at him, and walked instantly forwards to where Ilga stood. I
+was within two paces of her before she turned and saw me. She reached
+out a hand to the gate, and so steadying herself looked at me for a
+little without a word. I bowed low, and took another step towards her,
+whereupon she turned again to her companion and began to speak very
+volubly, the colour going and coming quickly upon her face. For my
+part I made no effort to interrupt her. I had schooled myself to think
+of her as one whom I should never see again, and here we were face to
+face. I remained contentedly waiting with my hat in my hand.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have been long in Innspruck?&quot; she asked of me at length, and
+added, with some hesitation, &quot;Mr. Buckler?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Three months, madame,&quot; I replied.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;But you are leaving?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She looked across to my horse, which Otto was holding. A small
+valise, containing the few necessaries I possessed, was slung to the
+saddle-bow.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I return to England,&quot; said I.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She presented me to the gentleman who talked with her, but I did not
+catch his name any more than the conversation they resumed. 'Twas
+enough for me to hear the sweet sound of her voice; as, when a singer
+sings, one is charmed by the music of his tones, and recks little of
+the words of his song. At last, however, her companion made his bow.
+Ilga stretched out her hand to him and said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You will come, then, to Lukstein?&quot; and detaining him, as it seemed to
+me, she added, &quot;I would ask Mr. Buckler to come, too, only I fear that
+he has no great opinion of our hospitality.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame,&quot; I replied simply, &quot;if you ask me, I will come.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She stood for the space of some twenty seconds with her eyes bent upon
+the ground. Then, raising her face with a look which was wonderfully
+timid and shy, she said:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You are a brave man, Mr. Buckler&quot;; and after another pause, &quot;I do ask
+you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">With that she crossed the road and mounted upon her horse. I did the
+same, and the little cavalcade rode out from Innspruck along the
+highway to Landeck. The Countess pressed on ahead, and thinking that
+she had no wish to speak with me, I rode some paces behind her. Behind
+me came Otto and the servants. Otto, I should say, had resumed his old
+impenetrable air. He was once more the servant, and seemed to have
+completely forgotten our companionship in Captivity Hollow. Thus we
+travelled until we came near to the village of Silz.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">Now all this morning one regretful thought had been buzzing in my
+head. 'Twas an old thought, one that I had lived with many a month.
+Yet never had it become familiar to me; the pain which it brought was
+always fresh and sharp. But now, since I saw Countess Lukstein again,
+since she rode in front of me, since each moment my eyes beheld her,
+this regret grew and grew until it was lost in a great longing to
+speak out my mind, and, if so I might, ease myself of my burden.
+Consequently I spurred my horse lightly, and as we entered Silz I drew
+level with the Countess.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame,&quot; I said, &quot;I see plainly enough that you have no heart for my
+company, neither do I intend any idle intrusion. I would but say two
+words to you. They have been on my lips ever since I caught sight of
+you on the Hofgarten; they have been in my heart for the weariest span
+of days. When I told you that I entered Castle Lukstein alone, God is
+my witness that I spoke the truth. No woman was with me. I championed
+no woman; by no ties was I bound to any woman in this world. This I
+would have you believe; for it is the truth. I could not lie to you if
+I would; it is the truth.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She made me no answer, but bowed her head down on her horse's mane, so
+that I could see nothing of her face, and thinking sadly that she
+would not credit me, I tightened my reins that I might fall back
+behind her. It may be that she noticed the movement of my hands. I
+know not, nor, indeed, shall I be at any pains to speculate upon her
+motive. 'Twas her action which occupied my thoughts then and for hours
+afterwards. She suddenly lifted her face towards me, all rosy with
+blushes and wearing that sweet look which I had once and once only
+remarked before. I mean when she pledged me in her apartments in Pall
+Mall.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Then,&quot; says she, &quot;we will travel no further afield to-day,&quot; and she
+drew rein before the first inn we came to.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I was greatly perplexed by this precipitate action, also by the word
+she used, inasmuch as we were not travelling afield at all, but on the
+contrary directly towards her home. Besides, 'twas still early in the
+afternoon. Howbeit, there we stayed, and the Countess retiring
+privately to her room, I saw no more of her until the night was come.
+'Twas about eleven of the clock when I heard a light tap upon my door,
+and opening it, I perceived that she was my visitor. She laid a finger
+upon her lip and slipped quietly into the room. In her hand she held
+her hat and whip, and these she laid upon the table.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;You have not inquired,&quot; she began, &quot;why I asked you to return with me
+to Lukstein, what end I had in view.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;In truth, madame,&quot; I replied, &quot;I gave no thought to it;
+only--only----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Only I asked you, and you came,&quot; she said in a voice that broke and
+faltered. &quot;Even after all you had suffered at my hands, even in spite
+of what you still might suffer, I asked you, and you came.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She spoke in a low wondering tone, and with a queer feeling of shame I
+hastened to reply:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Madame, if you were in my place, you would understand that there is
+little strange in that.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Let me finish!&quot; she said. &quot;Lord Elmscott and your friend, Mr. Larke,
+are awaiting you at Lukstein. When your friend returned to England
+without you, he could hear no word of you. He had no acquaintance with
+Lord Elmscott, and did not know of him at all. He met Lord Elmscott in
+London this spring for the first time. It appears that your cousin
+suspected something of the trouble that stood between you and me, but
+until he met Mr. Larke he believed you were travelling in Italy. Mr.
+Larke gave him the account of your first journey into the Tyrol. They
+found out Sir Julian's attorney at Bristol, and learned the cause of
+it from him. They came to Lukstein two months ago, and told me what
+you would not. I went up to the hills myself to bring you home; you
+had escaped, and your--the men had concealed your flight in fear of my
+anger. Lord Elmscott went to Meran, I came to Innspruck; and we
+arranged to return after we had searched a month. The month is gone.
+They will be at Lukstein now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">So much she said, though with many a pause and with so keen a
+self-reproach in her tone that I could hardly bear to hear her, when I
+interrupted:</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And you have been a month searching for me in Innspruck?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She took no heed of my interruption.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So, you see,&quot; she continued, &quot;I know the whole truth. I know, too,
+that you hid the truth out of kindness to me, and--and----&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She was wearing the gold cross which I had sent to her by Otto's hand.
+It hung on a long chain about her neck, and I took it gently into my
+palm.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And is there nothing more you know?&quot; I asked.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I know that you love me,&quot; she whispered, &quot;that you love me still. Oh!
+how is it possible?&quot; And then she raised her eyes to mine and laid two
+trembling hands upon my shoulders. &quot;But it is true. You told me so
+this afternoon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I told you?&quot; I asked in some surprise.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;Ay, and more surely than if you had spoken it out. That is why I
+stopped our horses in the village. It is why I am with you now.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">She glanced towards her hat and whip, and I understood. I realised
+what it would cost her to carry me back as her guest to Lukstein after
+all that had passed there.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I opened the door and stepped out on to the landing. A panel of
+moonlight was marked out upon the floor. 'Twas the only light in the
+passage, and the house was still as an empty cave. When I came back
+into the room Ilga was standing with her hat upon her head.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And what of Lukstein?&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;A sop to Father Spaur,&quot; she said with a happy laugh, and reaching out
+a hand to me she blew out the candle. I guided her to the landing, and
+there stopped and kissed her.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I have hungered for that,&quot; said I, &quot;for a year and more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;And I too,&quot; she whispered, &quot;dear heart, and I too,&quot; and I felt her
+arms tighten about my neck. &quot;Oh, how you must have hated me!&quot; she
+said.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;I called you no harder name than 'la belle dame sans merci,'&quot; said I.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">We crept down the stairs a true couple of runaways. The door was
+secured by a wooden bar. I removed the bar, and we went out into the
+road. The stables lay to the right of the inn, and leaving Ilga where
+she stood, I crossed over to them and rapped quietly at the window.
+The ostler let me in, and we saddled quickly Ilga's horse and mine. I
+gave the fellow all of my three months' savings, and bidding him go
+back to his bed, brought the horses into the road.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">I lifted Ilga into the saddle.</p>
+
+<p class="normal">&quot;So,&quot; she said, bending over me, and her heart looked through her
+eyes, &quot;the lath was steel after all, and I only found it out when the
+steel cut me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="normal">And that night we rode hand in hand to Innspruck. Once she trilled out
+a snatch of song, and I knew indeed that Jack Larke was waiting for me
+at Lukstein. For the words she sang were from an old ballad of
+Froissart:</p>
+<div class="poem2">
+<p class="t0">Que toutes joies et toutes honneurs<br>
+Viennent d'armes et d'amours.</p>
+</div>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<h3>THE END.</h3>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<hr class="W90">
+<h5>F. M. EVANS AND CO., LIMITED, PRINTERS, CRYSTAL PALACE, S.E.</h5>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Courtship of Morrice Buckler, by 
+A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley) Mason
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+</pre>
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+</body>
+</html>
+
+
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Courtship of Morrice Buckler, by
+A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley) Mason
+
+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 Courtship of Morrice Buckler
+       A Romance
+
+Author: A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley) Mason
+
+Release Date: January 25, 2012 [EBook #38665]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COURTSHIP OF MORRICE BUCKLER ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen from page scans provided by the Web Archive
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+   1. Page scan source:
+      http://www.archive.org/details/courtshipofmorri00masouoft
+
+   2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe].
+
+
+
+                            THE COURTSHIP
+
+                                  OF
+
+                           MORRICE BUCKLER
+
+
+
+
+                            THE COURTSHIP
+
+                                  OF
+
+                           MORRICE BUCKLER
+
+                              A Romance
+
+
+
+        _Being a Record of the Growth of an English Gentleman
+ during the years 1685-1687, under strange and difficult circumstances
+   written some while afterwards in his own hand, and now edited by_
+
+
+                            A. E. W. MASON
+                  AUTHOR OF "A ROMANCE OF WASTDALE"
+
+
+
+                                London
+                       MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD.
+                      NEW YORK: MACMILLAN & CO.
+                                 1896
+
+
+
+
+                   _First Edition, February_, 1896.
+                     _Second Edition, May_, 1896.
+                     _Third Edition, June_, 1896.
+
+
+
+
+                              CONTENTS.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER I.
+
+TELLS OF AN INTERRUPTED MESSAGE.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER II.
+
+I REACH LONDON, AND THERE MAKE AN ACQUAINTANCE.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER III.
+
+TELLS HOW I REACH BRISTOL, AND IN WHAT STRANGE GUISE I GO TO MEET MY
+FRIEND.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER IV.
+
+SIR JULIAN HARNWOOD.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER V.
+
+I JOURNEY TO THE TYROL, AND HAVE SOME DISCOURSE WITH COUNT LUKSTEIN.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VI.
+
+SWORDS TAKE UP THE DISCOURSE.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VII.
+
+I RETURN HOME AND HEAR NEWS OF COUNTESS LUKSTEIN.
+
+
+                            CHAPTER VIII.
+
+I MAKE A BOW TO COUNTESS LUKSTEIN.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER IX.
+
+I RENEW AN ACQUAINTANCESHIP.
+
+
+                              CHAPTER X.
+
+DOUBTS, PERPLEXITIES, AND A COMPROMISE.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE COUNTESS EXPLAINS, AND SHOWS ME A PICTURE.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XII.
+
+LADY TRACY.
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XIII.
+
+COUNTESS LUKSTEIN IS CONVINCED.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIV.
+
+A GAME OF HIDE-AND-SEEK.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE HALF-WAY HOUSE AGAIN.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVI.
+
+CONCERNING AN INVITATION AND A LOCKED DOOR.
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XVII.
+
+FATHER SPAUR.
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+AT LUKSTEIN.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIX.
+
+IN THE PAVILION. I EXPLAIN.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XX.
+
+IN THE PAVILION. COUNTESS LUKSTEIN EXPLAINS.
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXI.
+
+IN CAPTIVITY HOLLOW.
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XXII.
+
+A TALK WITH OTTO. I ESCAPE TO INNSPRUCK.
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+THE LAST.
+
+
+
+
+                                 THE
+                     COURTSHIP OF MORRICE BUCKLER
+
+
+                              CHAPTER I.
+
+                   TELLS OF AN INTERRUPTED MESSAGE.
+
+
+It chanced that as I was shifting the volumes in my library this
+morning, more from sheer fatigue of idleness than with any set
+intention--for, alas! this long time since I have lost the savour of
+books--a little Elzevir copy of Horace fell from the back of a shelf
+between my hands. It lay in my palm, soiled and faded with the dust of
+twenty years; and as I swept clean its cover and the edges of the
+leaves, the look and feel of it unlocked my mind to such an inrush of
+glistening memories that I seemed to be sweeping those years and the
+overlay of their experience from off my consciousness. I lived again
+in that brief but eventful period which laid upon the unaccustomed
+shoulders of a bookish student a heavy burden of deeds, but gave him
+in compensation wherewith to reckon the burden light.
+
+The book fell open of its own accord at the Palinodia at Tyndaridem.
+On the stained and fingered leaf facing the ode I could still decipher
+the plan of Lukstein Castle, and as I gazed, that blurred outline
+filled until it became a picture. I looked into the book as into a
+magician's crystal. The great angle of the building, the level row of
+windows, the red roofs of the turrets, the terrace, and the little
+pinewood pavilion, all were clearly limned before my eyes, and were
+overswept by changing waves of colour. I saw the Castle as on the
+first occasion of my coming, hung disconsolately on a hillside in a
+far-away corner of the Tyrol, a black stain upon a sloping wilderness
+of snow; I saw it again under a waning moon in the stern silence of a
+frosty night, as each window grew angry with a tossing glare of links;
+but chiefly I saw it as when I rode thither on my last memorable
+visit, sleeping peacefully above the cornfields in the droning sabbath
+of a summer afternoon. I turned my eyes to the ode. The score of my
+pencil was visible against the last verse:
+
+
+                        Nunc ego mitibus
+              Mutare quaero tristia dum mihi
+              Fias recantatis amica
+              Opprobriis animumque reddas.
+
+
+On the margin beside the first line was the date, Sept. 14, 1685, and
+beneath the verse yet another date, Sept. 12, 1687. And as I looked,
+it came upon me that I would set down with what clearness I might the
+record of those two years, in the hope that my memories might warm and
+cheer these later days of loneliness, much as the afterglow lingers
+purple on yonder summit rocks when the sun has already sunk behind the
+Cumberland fells. For indeed that short interspace of time shines out
+in my remembrance like a thick thread of gold in a woof of homespun. I
+would not, however, be understood to therefore deprecate the quiet
+years of happiness which followed. The two years of which I speak in
+their actual passage occasioned me more anxiety and suffering than
+happiness. But they have a history of their own. They mark out a
+portion of my life whereof the two dates in my Horace were the
+beginning and the end, and the verse between the dates, strangely
+enough, its best epitome.
+
+It was, then, the fourteenth day of September, 1685, and the time a
+few minutes past noon. Jack Larke, my fellow-student at the University
+of Leyden, and myself had but just returned to our lodging in that
+street of the town which they call the Pape-Graft. We were both fairly
+wearied, for the weather was drowsy and hot, and one had little
+stomach for the Magnificus Professor, the more particularly when he
+discoursed concerning the natural philosophy of Pliny.
+
+"'Tis all lies, every jot of it!" cried Larke. "If I wrote such
+nonsense I should be whipped for a heretic. And yet I must sit there
+and listen and take notes until my brain reels."
+
+"You sit there but seldom, Jack," said I, "and never played yourself
+so false as to listen; while as for the notes----!"
+
+I took up his book which he had flung upon the table. It contained
+naught but pictures of the Professor in divers humiliating attitudes,
+with John Larke ever towering above him, his honest features twisted
+into so heroical an expression of scorn as set me laughing till my
+sides ached.
+
+He snatched the book from my hand, and flung it into a corner.
+"There!" said he. "It may go to the dust-hole and Pliny with it, to
+rot in company." And the Latin volume followed the note-book.
+Whereupon, with a sigh of relief, he lifted a brace of pistols from a
+shelf, and began industriously to scour and polish them, though indeed
+their locks and barrels shone like silver as it was. For my part, I
+plumped myself down before this very ode of Horace; and so for a
+while, each in his own way, we worked silently. Ever and again,
+however, he would look up and towards me, and then, with an impatient
+shrug, settle to his task again. At last he could contain no longer.
+
+"Lord!" he burst out, "what a sick world it is! Here am I, fitted for
+a roving life under open skies, and plucked out of God's design by the
+want of a few pence."
+
+"You may yet sit on the bench," said I, to console him.
+
+"Ay, lad," he answered, "I might if I had sufficient roguery to supply
+my lack of wits." Then he suddenly turned on me. "And here are you,"
+he said, "who could journey east and west, and never sleep twice
+beneath the same roof, breaking your back mewed up over a copy of
+Horace!"
+
+At that moment I was indeed stretched full-length upon a sofa, but I
+had no mind to set him right. The tirade was passing old to me, and
+replies were but fresh fuel to keep it flickering. However, he had not
+yet done.
+
+"I believe," he continued, "you would sooner solve a knot in Aristotle
+than lead out the finest lady in Europe to dance a pavan with you."
+
+"That is true," I replied. "I should be no less afraid of her than you
+of Aristotle."
+
+"Morrice," said he solemnly, "I do verily believe you have naught but
+fish-blood in your veins."
+
+Whereat I laughed, and he, coming over to me:
+
+"Why, man," he cried, "had I your fortune on my back----"
+
+"You would soon find it a ragged cloak," I interposed.
+
+"And your sword at my side----"
+
+"You would still lack my skill in using it."
+
+Larke stopped short in his speech, and his face darkened. I had
+touched him in the tenderest part of his pride. Proficiency in manly
+exercises was the single quality on which he plumed himself, and so he
+had made it his daily habit to repair to the fencing-rooms of a noted
+French master, who dwelt in Noort-Eynde by the Witte Poort. Thither
+also, by dint of much pertinacity, for which I had grave reason to
+thank him afterwards, he had haled me for instruction in the art. Once
+I got there, however, the play fascinated me. The delicate intricacy
+of the movements so absorbed brain and muscle in a common service as
+to produce in me an inward sense of completeness, very sweet and
+strange to one of my halting diffidence. In consequence I applied
+myself with considerable enthusiasm, and in the end acquired some
+nimbleness with the rapier, or, to speak more truly, the foil. For as
+yet my skill had never been put to the test of a serious encounter.
+
+Now, on the previous day Larke and I had fenced together throughout
+the afternoon, and fortune had sided with me in every bout; and it
+was, I think, the recollection of this which rankled within him.
+However, the fit soon passed--'twas not in his nature to be silent
+long--and he broke out again, seating himself in a chair by the table.
+
+"Dost never dream of adventures, Morrice?" he asked. "A life brimful
+of them, and a quick death at the end?"
+
+"I had as lief die in my bed," said I.
+
+"To be sure, to be sure," he replied with a sneer. "Men ever wish to
+die in the place they are most fond of;" and then he leant forward
+upon the table and said, with a curious wonder: "Hast never a regret
+that thy sword rusted in June?"
+
+"Nay," I answered him quickly. "Monmouth was broken and captured
+before we had even heard he had raised his flag. And, besides, the
+King had stouter swords than mine, and yet no use for them."
+
+But none the less I turned my face to the wall, for I felt my cheeks
+blazing. My words were indeed the truth. The same packet which brought
+to us the news of Monmouth's rising in the west, brought to us also
+the news of his defeat at Sedgemoor. But I might easily have divined
+his project some while ago. For early in the spring I had received a
+visit from one Ferguson, a Scot, who, after uttering many fantastical
+lies concerning the "Duke of York," as he impudently styled the King,
+had warned me that such as failed to assist the true monarch out of
+the funds they possessed might well find themselves sorely burdened in
+the near future. At the time I had merely laughed at the menace, and
+slipped it from my thoughts. Afterwards, however, the remembrance of
+his visit came back to me, and with it a feeling of shame that I had
+lain thus sluggishly at Leyden while this monstrous web of rebellion
+was a-weaving about me in the neighbouring towns of Holland.
+
+"'Art more of a woman than a man, Morrice, I fear me," said Jack.
+
+I had heard some foolish talk of this kind more than once before, and
+it ever angered me. I rose quickly from the couch; but Jack skipped
+round the table, and jeered yet the more.
+
+"'Wilt never win a wife by fair means, lad," says he. "The Muses are
+women, and women have no liking for them. 'Must buy a wife when the
+time comes."
+
+Perceiving that his aim was but to provoke my anger, I refrained from
+answering him and got me back to my ode. The day was in truth too hot
+for quarrelling. Larke, however, was not so easily put off. He
+returned to his chair, which was close to my couch.
+
+"Horace!" he said gravely, wagging his head at me. "Horace! There are
+wise sayings in his book."
+
+"What know you of them?" I laughed.
+
+"I know one," he answered. "I learnt it yesternight for thy special
+delectation. It begins in this way:
+
+
+                  "Quem si puellarum chore inseres."
+
+
+He got no further in his quotation. For he tilted his chair at this
+moment, and I thrusting at it with my foot, he tumbled over backwards
+and sprawled on the ground, swearing at great length.
+
+"'Wilt never win a wife by fair means for all that," he sputtered.
+
+"Then 'tis no more than prudence in me to wed my books."
+
+So I spake, and hot on the heels of my saying came the message which
+divorced me from them for good and all. For as Larke still lay upon
+the floor, a clatter of horse's hoofs came to us through the open
+window. The sound stopped at our door. Larke rose hastily, and leaned
+out across the sill.
+
+"It is an Englishman," he cried. "He comes to us."
+
+The next moment a noise of altercation filled the air. I could hear
+the shrill speech of our worthy landlady, and above it a man's voice
+in the English dialect, growing ever louder and louder as though the
+violence of his tone would translate his meaning. I followed Larke to
+the window. The quiet street was alive with peeping faces, and just
+beneath us stood the reason of the brawl, a short, thick-set man,
+whose face was hidden by a large flapping hat. His horse stood in the
+roadway in a lather of spume. For some reason, doubtless the
+excitement of his manner, our hostess would not let him pass into the
+house. She stood solidly filling the doorway, and for a little it
+amused us to watch the man's vehement gesticulations; so little
+thought had we of the many strange events which were to follow from
+his visit. In a minute, however, he turned his face towards us, and I
+recognised him as Nicholas Swasfield, the body-servant of my good
+friend, Sir Julian Harnwood.
+
+"Let him up!" I cried. "Let him up!"
+
+"Yes, woman, let him up!" repeated Larke, and turning to me: "He hath
+many choice and wonderful oaths, and I fain would add them to my
+store."
+
+Thereupon the woman drew reluctantly aside, and Swasfield bounded past
+her into the passage. We heard him tumble heavily up the dark
+stairway, cursing the country and its natives, and then with a great
+bump of his body he burst open the door and lurched into the room. At
+the sight of me he brake into a glad cry:
+
+"Sir Julian, my master," he gasped, and stopped dead.
+
+"Well, what of him?" I asked eagerly.
+
+But he answered never a word; he stood mopping his brows with a great
+blue handkerchief, which hid his face from us. 'Tis strange how
+clearly I remember that handkerchief. It was embroidered at the
+corners with anchors in white cotton, and it recurred to me with a
+quaint irrelevancy that the man had been a sailor in his youth.
+
+"Well, what of him?" I asked again with some sharpness. "Speak, man!
+You had words and to spare below."
+
+"He lies in Bristol gaol," at last he said, heaving great breaths
+between his words, "and none but you can serve his turn."
+
+With that he tore at his shirt above his heart, and made a little
+tripping run to the table. He clutched at its edge and swayed forward
+above it, his head loosely swinging between his shoulders.
+
+"Hurry!" he said in a thick, strangled voice.
+"Assizes--twenty-first--Jeffries."
+
+And with a sudden convulsion he straightened himself, stood for a
+second on the tips of his toes, with the veins ridged on his livid
+face like purple weals, and then fell in a huddled lump upon the
+floor. I sprang to the stair-head and shouted for some one to run for
+a doctor. Jack was already loosening the man's shirt.
+
+"It is a fit," he said, clasping a hand to his heart.
+
+Luckily my bedroom gave onto the parlour, and between us we carried
+him within and laid him gently on my bed. His eyelids were open and
+his eyes fixed, but turned inwards, so that one saw but the whites of
+them, while a light froth oozed through his locked teeth.
+
+"He will die," I cried.
+
+A ewer of water stood by the bedside, and this I emptied over his head
+and shoulders, drowning the sheets, but to no other purpose. Our
+landlady fetched up a bottle of Dutch schnapps, which was the only
+spirit the house contained, but his jaws were too fast closed for us
+to open them. So we stood all three watching him helplessly, while
+those last words of his drummed at my heart. Jeffries! I knew enough
+of the bloody work he had taken in hand that summer to assure me there
+would be short shrift for Julian had he meddled in Monmouth's affairs.
+On the other hand, I reflected, if such indeed was my friend's case,
+wherein could I prove of effectual help? "None but you can serve his
+turn," the fellow had said. Could Julian have fallen under another
+charge? I was the more inclined to this conjecture, for that Julian
+had been always staunchly loyal to the King, and, moreover, a constant
+figure at the Court.
+
+However, 'twas all idle guess-work, and there before my eyes was
+stretched the one man, who could have disclosed the truth, struck down
+in the very telling of his story! I began to fear that he would die
+before the surgeon came. For he breathed heavily with a horrid sound
+like a dog snoring.
+
+All at once a thought flashed into my mind. He might have brought a
+letter from Julian's hand. I searched his pockets on the instant; they
+held nothing but a few English coins and some metal charms, such as
+the ignorant are wont to carry on their persons to preserve them from
+misadventure.
+
+While I was thus engaged, the doctor was ushered into the room, very
+deliberate in manner, and magnificent in his dress. Erudition was
+marked in the very cock of his wig. I sprang towards him.
+
+"Make him speak, Mynheer!" I implored. "He hath a message to deliver,
+and it cannot wait."
+
+But he put me aside with a wave of his hand and advanced towards the
+bed, pursing his lips and frowning as one sunk in a profundity of
+thought.
+
+"Can you make him speak?" I asked again with some impatience. But
+again he merely waved his hand, and taking a gilt box from his pocket,
+inhaled a large pinch of snuff. Then he turned to Larke, who stood
+holding the bottle of schnapps.
+
+"Tell me, young gentleman," he said severely, "what time the fit took
+him, and the manner of his seizure!"
+
+Larke informed him hastily of what had passed, and he listened with
+much sage bobbing of his head. Then to our hostess:
+
+"My assistant is below, and hath my instruments. Send him up!"
+
+He turned to us.
+
+"I will bleed him," he said. "For what saith the learned Hippocrates?"
+Whereupon he mouthed out a rigmarole of Latin phrases, wherein I could
+detect neither cohesion nor significance.
+
+"Leave him to me, gentlemen!" he continued with a third flourish of
+his wrist. "Leave him to me and Hippocrates!"
+
+"Which we do," I replied, "with the more confidence in that
+Hippocrates had so much foreknowledge of the Latin tongue."
+
+And so we got us back to the parlour. How the minutes dragged! Through
+the door I could still hear the noise of the man's breathing; and now
+and again the light clink of instruments and a trickling sound as of
+blood dripping into a bason. I paced impatiently about the room, while
+Jack sat him down at the table and began loading his pistols.
+
+"The twenty-first!" I exclaimed, "and this day is the fourteenth.
+Seven days, Jack! I have but seven days to win from here to Bristol."
+
+I went to the window and leaned out. Swasfield's horse was standing
+quietly in the road, tethered by the bridle to a tree.
+
+"'Canst do it, Morrice, if the wind holds fair," replied Jack. "Heaven
+send a wind!" and he rose from the table and joined me. Together we
+stretched out to catch the least hint of a breeze. But not a breath
+came to us; not a tree shimmered, not a shadow stirred. The world
+slumbered in a hot stupor. It seemed you might have felt the air
+vibrate with the passage of a single bird.
+
+Of a sudden Larke cried out:
+
+"Art sure 'tis the fourteenth to-day?"
+
+With that we scrambled back into the room and searched for a calendar.
+
+"Ay, lad!" he said ruefully as he discovered it; "'tis the fourteenth,
+not a doubt of it."
+
+I flung myself dejectedly on the couch. The volume of Horace lay open
+by my hand, and I took it up, and quite idly, with no thought of what
+I was doing, I wrote this date and the name of the month and the date
+of the year on the margin of the page.
+
+"Lord!" exclaimed Jack, flinging up his hands. "At the books again?
+Hast no boots and spurs?"
+
+I slipped the book into my pocket, and sprang to my feet. In the heat
+of my anxiety I had forgotten everything but this half-spoken message.
+But, or ever I could make a step, the door of the bedroom opened and
+the surgeon stepped into the room.
+
+"Can he speak now?" I asked.
+
+"The fit has not passed," says he.
+
+"Then in God's name, what ails the man?" cries Larke.
+
+"It is a visitation," says the doctor, with an upward cast of his
+eyes.
+
+"It is a canting ass of a doctor," I yelled in a fury, and I clapped
+my hat on my head.
+
+"Your boots?" cried Larke.
+
+"I'll e'en go in my shoes," I shouted back.
+
+I snatched up one of Jack's pistols, rammed it into my pocket, and so
+clattered downstairs and into the street. I untied Swasfield's horse
+and sprang on to its back.
+
+"Morrice!"
+
+I looked up. Jack was leaning out from the window.
+
+"Morrice," he said whimsically, and with a very winning smile, "'art
+not so much of a woman after all."
+
+I dug my heels into the horse's flanks and so rode out at a gallop
+beneath the lime-trees to Rotterdam.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER II.
+
+                  I REACH LONDON, AND THERE MAKE AN
+                            ACQUAINTANCE.
+
+
+At Rotterdam I was fortunate enough to light upon a Dutch skipper
+whose ship was anchored in the Texel, and who purposed sailing that
+very night for the Port of London. For a while, indeed, he scrupled to
+set me over, my lack of equipment--for I had not so much with me as a
+clean shirt--and my great haste to be quit of the country firing his
+suspicions. However, I sold Swasfield's horse to the keeper of a
+tavern by the waterside, and adding the money I got thereby to what I
+held in my pockets, I presently persuaded him; and a light wind
+springing up about midnight, we weighed anchor and stood out for the
+sea.
+
+That my purse was now empty occasioned me no great concern, since my
+cousin, Lord Elmscott, lived at London, in a fine house in Monmouth
+Square, and I doubted not but what I could instantly procure from him
+the means to enable me to continue my journey. I was, in truth,
+infinitely more distressed by the tardiness of our voyage, for towards
+sunrise the wind died utterly away, and during the next two days we
+lay becalmed, rocking lazily upon the swell. On the afternoon of the
+third, being the seventeenth day of the month, a breeze filled our
+sheets, and we made some progress, although our vessel, which was a
+ketch and heavily loaded, was a slow sailer at the best. But during
+the night the breeze quickened into a storm, and, blowing for twelve
+hours without intermission or abatement, drove us clean from our
+course, so that on the morning of the eighteenth we were scurrying
+northwards before it along the coast of Essex.
+
+This last misadventure cast me into the very bottom of despair. I knew
+that if I were to prove of timely help in Julian's deliverance, I must
+needs reach Bristol before his trial commenced, the which seemed now
+plainly impossible; and, atop of this piece of knowledge, my ignorance
+of the nature of his calamity, and of the service he desired of me,
+worked in my blood like a fever.
+
+For Julian and myself were linked together in a very sweet and
+intimate love. I could not, and I tried, point to its beginning. It
+seemed to have been native within us from our births. We took it from
+our fathers before us, and when they died we counted it no small part
+of our inheritance. Our estates, you should know, lay in contiguous
+valleys of the remote county of Cumberland, and thus we lived out our
+boyhood in a secluded comradeship. Seldom a day passed but we found a
+way to meet. Mostly Julian would come swinging across the fells, his
+otter-dogs yapping at his heels, and all the fresh morning in his
+voice. Together we would ramble over the slopes, bathe in the tarns
+and kelds, hunt, climb, argue, ay, and fight too, when we were
+gravelled for lack of arguments; so that even now, each time that I
+turn my feet homewards after a period of absence, and catch the first
+glimpse of these brown hillsides, they become bright and populous with
+the rich pageantry of our boyish fancies.
+
+But my clearest recollections of those days centre about Scafell, and
+a certain rock upon the Pillar Mountain in Ennerdale. A common share
+of peril is surely the stoutest bond of comradeship. You may find
+exemplars in the story of well-nigh every battle. But to hang half-way
+up a sheer cliff in the chill eerie silence, where a slip of the heel,
+a falter of the numbed fingers, would hurl both your companion and
+yourself upon the stones a hundred yards below--ah, that turns the
+friend into something closer than even a _frere d'armes_. At least, so
+it was with Julian and me.
+
+I think, too, that the very difference between us helped to fortify
+our love. Each felt the other the complement of his nature. And in
+later times, when Julian would come down from the Court to Oxford,
+tricked out in some new French fashion, and with all sorts of
+fantastical conceits upon his tongue, my rooms seemed to glow as with
+a sudden shaft of sunlight; and after that he had gone I was ever in
+two minds whether to send for a tailor, and follow him to Whitehall.
+
+But to return to my journey. On the nineteenth we changed our course,
+and tacked back to the mouth of the Thames. But it was not until the
+evening of the twentieth that we cast anchor by London Bridge. From
+the ship I hurried straight to the house of my cousin, Lord Elmscott,
+who resided in Monmouth Square, to the north of the town, being minded
+to borrow a horse of him and some money, and ride forthwith to
+Bristol. The windows, however, were dark, not a light glimmered
+anywhere; and knock with what noise I might, for a while I could get
+no answer to my summons.
+
+At last, just as I was turning away in no little distress of mind--for
+the town was all strange to me, and I knew no one else to whom I could
+apply at that late hour--a feeble shuffling step sounded in the
+passage. I knocked again, and as loudly as I could; the steps drew
+nearer, the bolts were slowly drawn from their sockets, and the door
+opened. I was faced by an old man in a faded livery, who held a
+lighted candle in his hand. Behind him the hall showed black and
+solitary.
+
+"I am Mr. Morrice Buckler," said I, "and I would have a word with my
+cousin, Lord Elmscott."
+
+The old man shook his head dolefully.
+
+"Nay, sir," he replied in a thin, quavering voice, "you do ill to seek
+him here. At White's perchance you may light on him, or at Wood's, in
+Pall Mall--I know not. But never in his own house while there is a
+pack of cards abroad."
+
+I waited not to hear the rest of his complaint, but dashed down the
+steps and set off westwards at a run. I crossed a lonely and noisome
+plain which I have since heard is named the pest-field, for that many
+of the sufferers in the late plague are buried there, and came out at
+the top of St. James' Street. There a stranger pointed out to me
+White's coffeehouse.
+
+"Is Lord Elmscott within?" I asked of an attendant as I entered.
+
+For reply he looked me over coolly from head to foot.
+
+"And what may be your business with Lord Elmscott?" he asked, with a
+sneer.
+
+In truth I must have cut but a sorry figure in his eyes, for I was all
+dusty and begrimed with my five days' travel. But I thought not of
+that at the time.
+
+"Tell him," said I, "that his cousin, Morrice Buckler, is here, and
+must needs speak with him." Whereupon the man's look changed to one of
+pure astonishment. "Be quick, fellow," I cried, stamping my foot; and
+with a humble "I crave your pardon," he hurried off upon the message.
+A door stood at the far end of the room, and through this he entered,
+leaving it ajar. In a moment I heard my cousin's voice, loud and
+boisterous:
+
+"Show him in! 'Od's wounds, he may change my luck."
+
+With that I followed him. 'Twas a strange sight to me. The room was
+small, and the floor so thickly littered with cards that it needed the
+feel of your foot to assure you it was carpeted. A number of gallants
+in a great disorder of dress stood about a little table whereat were
+seated a youth barely, I should guess, out of his teens, his face
+pale, but very indifferent and composed, and over against him my
+cousin. Elmscott's black peruke was all awry, his cheeks flushed, and
+his eyes bloodshot and staring.
+
+"Morrice," he cried, "what brings you here in this plight? I believe
+the fellow took you for a bailiff, and, on my life," he added,
+surveying me, "I have not the impudence to blame him." Thereupon he
+addressed himself to the company. "This, gentlemen," says he, "is my
+cousin, Mr. Morrice Buckler, a very worthy--bookworm."
+
+They all laughed as though there was some wit in the ill-mannered
+sally; but I had no time to spare for taking heed of their
+foolishness.
+
+"You can do me a service," I said eagerly.
+
+"You give me news," Elmscott laughed. "'Tis a strange service that I
+can render. Well, what may it be?"
+
+"I need money for one thing, and----" A roar of laughter broke in upon
+my words.
+
+"Money!" cries Elmscott. "Lord, that any one should come to me for
+money!" and he leaned back in his chair laughing as heartily as the
+best of them. "Why, Morrice, it's all gone--all gone into the devil's
+whirlpool. Howbeit," he went on, growing suddenly serious, "I will
+make a bargain with you. Stand by my side here. I have it in my mind
+that you will bring me luck. Stand by my side, and in return, if I
+win, I will lend you what help I may."
+
+"Nay, cousin," said I, "my business will not wait."
+
+"Nor mine," he replied, "nor mine. Stand by me! I shall not be long.
+My last stake's on the table."
+
+He seized hold of my arm as he spoke with something of prayer in his
+eyes, and reluctantly I consented. In truth, I knew not what else to
+do. 'Twas plain he was in no mood to hearken to my request, even if he
+had the means to grant it.
+
+"That's right, lad!" he bawled, and then to the servant: "Brandy!
+Brandy, d'ye hear! And a great deal of it! Now, gentlemen, you will
+see. Mr. Buckler is a student of Leyden. 'Tis full time that some good
+luck should come to us from Holland."
+
+And he turned him again to the table. His pleasantry was received with
+an uproarious merriment, which methought it hardly merited. But I have
+noted since that round a gaming-table, so tense is the spirit which it
+engenders, the poorest jest takes the currency of wit.
+
+I was at first perplexed by the difference of the stakes. Before my
+cousin lay a pair of diamond buckles, but no gold, not so much as a
+single guinea-piece. All that there was of that metal lay in scattered
+heaps beside his opponent.
+
+Lord Elmscott dealt the hands--the game was ecarte--and the other
+nodded his request for cards. Looking over my cousin's shoulder I
+could see that he held but one trump, the ten, and a tierce to the
+king in another suit. For a little he remained without answering,
+glancing indecisively from his cards to the face of his player. At
+last, with a touch of defiance in his voice:
+
+"No!" he said. "Tis no hand to play on, but I'll trust to chance."
+
+"As you will," nodded the other, and he led directly into Elmscott's
+suit. Every one leaned eagerly forward, but each trick fell to my
+cousin, and he obtained the vole.
+
+"There! I told you," he cries.
+
+His opponent said never a word, but carelessly pushed a tinkling pile
+of coins across the table. And so the play went on; at the finish of
+each game a stream of gold drifted over to Lord Elmscott. It seemed
+that he could not lose. If he played the eight, his companion would
+follow with the seven.
+
+"He hath the devil at his back now," said one of the bystanders.
+
+"Pardon me!" replied my cousin very politely. "You insult Mr. Buckler.
+I am merely fortified with the learning of Leyden;" and he straightway
+marked the king. After a time the room fell to utter silence, even
+Elmscott stopped his outbursts. A strange fascination caught and
+enmeshed us all; we strained forward, holding our breaths as we
+watched the hands, though each man, I think, was certain what the end
+would be. For myself, I honestly struggled against this devilish
+enchantment, but to little purpose. The flutter of the cards made my
+heart leap. I sought to picture to myself the long dark road I had to
+traverse, and Julian in his prison at the end of it. I saw nothing but
+the faces of the players, Elmscott's flushed and purple, his
+opponent's growing paler and paler, while his eyes seemed to retreat
+into his head and the pupils of them to burn like points of fire. I
+loaded myself with reproaches and abuse, but the words ran through my
+head in a meaningless sequence, and were tuned to a clink of gold.
+
+And then an odd fancy came over me. In the midst of the yellow heap,
+ever increasing, on our side of the table, lay the pair of diamond
+buckles. I could see rays of an infinite variety of colours spirting
+out like little jets of flame, as the light caught the stones, and I
+felt a queer conviction that Elmscott's luck was in some way bound up
+with them. So strongly did the whim possess me that I lifted them from
+the table to test my thought. For so long as took the players to play
+two games, I held the buckles in my hands; and both games my cousin
+lost. I replaced them on the table, and he began to win once more with
+the old regularity, the heaps dwindling there and growing here, until
+at length all the money lay silted at my cousin's hand. You might have
+believed that a spell had been suddenly lifted from the company. Faces
+relaxed and softened, eyes lost their keen light, feet shuffled in a
+new freedom, and the heavy silence was torn by a Babel of voices.
+Strangely enough, all joined with Elmscott in attributing his change
+of fortune to my presence. Snuff-boxes were opened and their contents
+pressed upon me, and I think that I might have dined at no cost of
+myself for a full twelve months had I accepted the invitations I
+received. But the cessation of the play had waked me to my own
+necessities, and I turned to my cousin.
+
+"Now," said I, but I got no further, for he exclaimed:
+
+"Not yet, Morrice! There's my house in Monmouth Square."
+
+"Your house?" I repeated.
+
+"There's the manor of Silverdale."
+
+"You have not lost that?" I cried.
+
+"Every brick of it," says he.
+
+"Then," says I in a quick passion, "you must win them back as best you
+may. I'll bide no longer."
+
+"Nay, lad!" he entreated, laying hold of my sleeve. "You cannot mean
+that. See, when you came in, I had but these poor buckles left. They
+were all my fortune. Stay but for a little. For if you go you take all
+my luck with you. 'Am deadly sure of it."
+
+"I have stayed too long as it is" I replied, and wrenched myself free
+from his grasp.
+
+"Well, take what money you need! But you are no more than a stone," he
+whimpered.
+
+"The philosopher's stone, then," said I, and I caught up a couple of
+handsfull of gold and turned on my heel. But with a sudden cry I
+stopped. For as I turned, I glanced across the table to his opponent,
+and I saw his face change all in a moment to a strangely grey and
+livid colour. And to make the sight yet more ghastly, he still sat
+bolt upright in his chair, without a gesture, without a motion, a
+figure of marble, save that his eyes still burned steadily beneath his
+brows.
+
+"Great God!" I cried. "He is dying."
+
+"It is the morning," he said in a quiet voice, which had yet a very
+thrilling resonance, and it flashed across me with a singular
+uneasiness that this was the first time that he had spoken during all
+those hours.
+
+I turned towards the window, which was behind my cousin's chair.
+Through a chink of the curtains a pale beam of twilight streamed full
+on to the youth's face. So long as I had stood by Elmscott's side, my
+back had intercepted it; but as I moved away I had uncovered the
+window, and it was the grey light streaming from it which had given to
+him a complexion of so deathly and ashen a colour. I flung the
+curtains apart, and the chill morning flooded the room. One shiver ran
+through the company like a breeze through a group of aspens, and it
+seemed to me that on the instant every one had grown old. The heavy
+gildings, the yellow glare of the candles, the gaudy hangings about
+the walls, seen in that pitiless light, appeared inexpressibly
+pretentious and vulgar; and the gentlemen with their leaden cheeks,
+their disordered perukes, and the soiled finery of their laces and
+ruffles, no more than the room's fitting complement. A sickening qualm
+of disgust shot through me; the very air seemed to have grown acrid
+and stale; and yet, in spite of all I stayed--to my shame be it said,
+I stayed. However, I paid for the fault--ay, ten times over, in the
+years that were to come. For as I halted at the door to make my
+bow--my fingers were on the very handle--I perceived Lord Elmscott
+with one foot upon his chair, and the buckles in his hand. My
+presentiment came back to me with the conviction of a creed. I knew--I
+knew that if he failed to add those jewels to his stake, he would
+leave the coffeehouse as empty a beggar as when I entered it. I strode
+back across the room, took them from his hand, and laid them on the
+table. For a moment Elmscott stared at me in astonishment. Then I must
+think he read my superstition in my looks, for he said, clapping me on
+the back:
+
+"You will make a gambler yet, Morrice," and he sat him down on his
+chair. I took my former stand beside him.
+
+"You will stay, Mr. Buckler?" asked his opponent.
+
+"Yes," I replied.
+
+"Then," he continued, in the same even voice, "I have a plan in my
+head which I fancy will best suit the purposes of the three of us.
+Lord Elmscott is naturally anxious to follow his luck; you, Mr.
+Buckler, have overstayed your time; and as for me--well, it is now
+Wednesday morning, and a damned dirty morning, too, if I may judge
+from the countenances of my friends. We have sat playing here since
+six by the clock on Monday night, and I am weary. My bed calls for me.
+I propose then that we settle the bout with two casts of the dice. On
+the first throw I will stake your house in Monmouth Square against the
+money you have before you. If I win there's an end. If you win, I will
+set the manor of Silverdale against your London house and your
+previous stake."
+
+A complete silence followed upon his words. Even Lord Elmscott was
+taken aback by the magnitude of the stakes. The youth's proposal
+gained, moreover, on the mind by contrast with his tone of tired
+indifference. He seemed the least occupied of all that company.
+
+"I trust you will accept," he continued, speaking to my cousin with
+courteous gentleness. "As I have said, I am very tired. Luck is on
+your side, and, if I may be permitted to add, the advantage of the
+stakes."
+
+Elmscott glanced at me, paused for a second, and then, with a forced
+laugh:
+
+"Very well; so be it," he said. The dice were brought; he rattled them
+vigorously, and flung them down.
+
+"Four!" cried one of the gentlemen.
+
+"Damn!" said my cousin, and he mopped his forehead with his
+handkerchief. His antagonist picked up the dice with inimitable
+nonchalance, barely shook them in the cup, and let them roll idly out
+on to the table.
+
+"Three!"
+
+Elmscott heaved a sigh of relief. The other stretched his arms above
+his head and yawned.
+
+"'Tis a noble house, your house in Monmouth Square," he remarked.
+
+At the second throw, Elmscott discovered a most nervous anxiety. He
+held the cup so long in his hand that I feared he would lose the
+courage to complete the game. I felt, in truth, a personal shame at
+his indecision, and I gazed around with the full expectation of seeing
+a like feeling expressed upon the features of those who watched. But
+they wore one common look of strained expectancy. At last Elmscott
+threw.
+
+"Nine!" cried one, and a low murmur of voices buzzed for an instant
+and suddenly ceased as the other took up the dice.
+
+"Two!"
+
+Both players rose as with one motion. Elmscott tossed down his throat
+the brandy in his tumbler--it had stood by his side untasted since the
+early part of the night--and then turned to me with an almost
+hysterical outburst.
+
+"One moment."
+
+It was the youth who spoke, and his voice rang loud and strong. His
+weariness had slipped from him like a mask. He bent across the table
+and stretched out his arm, with his forefinger pointing at my cousin.
+
+"I will play you one more bout, Lord Elmscott. Against all that you
+have won back from me to-night--the money, your house, your estate--I
+will pit my docks in the city of Bristol. But I claim one condition,"
+and he glanced at me and paused.
+
+"If it affects my cousin's presence----" Elmscott began.
+
+"It does not," the other interrupted. "'Tis a trivial condition--a
+whim of mine, a mere whim."
+
+"What is it, then?" I asked, for in some unaccountable way I was much
+disquieted by his change of manner, and dreaded the event of his
+proposal.
+
+"That while your cousin throws you hold his buckles in your hands."
+
+It were impossible to describe the effect which this extraordinary
+request produced. At any other time it would have seemed no more than
+laughable. But after these long hours of play we were all tinder to a
+spark of superstition. Nothing seemed too whimsical for belief. Luck
+had proved so tricksy a sprite that the most trivial object might well
+take its fancy and overset the balance of its favours. The fierce
+vehemence of the speaker, besides, breaking thus unexpectedly through
+a crust of equanimity, carried conviction past the porches of the
+ears. So each man hung upon Elmscott's answer as upon the arbitrament
+of his own fortune.
+
+For myself, I took a quick step towards my cousin; but the youth shot
+a glance of such imperious menace at me that I stopped shamefaced like
+a faulty schoolboy. However, Elmscott caught my movement and, I think,
+the look which arrested me.
+
+"Not to-day," he said, "if you will pardon me. I am over-tired myself,
+and would fain keep to our bargain." Thereupon he came over to me.
+"Now, Morrice," he exclaimed, "it is your turn. You have the money.
+What else d'ye lack? What else d'ye lack?"
+
+"I need the swiftest horse in your stables," I replied.
+
+Elmscott burst into a laugh.
+
+"You shall have it--the swiftest horse in my stables. You shall e'en
+take it as a gift. Only I fear 'twill leave your desires unsatisfied."
+And he chuckled again.
+
+"Then," I replied, with some severity, for in truth his merriment
+struck me as ill-conditioned, "then I shall take the liberty of
+leaving it behind at the first post on the Bristol Road."
+
+"The Bristol Road?" interposed the youth. "You journey to Bristol?"
+
+I merely bowed assent, for I was in no mood to disclose my purpose to
+that company, and caught up my hat; but he gently took my arm and drew
+me into the window.
+
+"Mr. Buckler," he said, gazing at me the while with quiet eyes,
+"Fortune has brought us into an odd conjunction this night. I have so
+much of the gambler within me as to believe that she will repeat the
+trick, and I hope for my revenge."
+
+He held out his hand courteously. I could not but take it. For a
+moment we stood with clasped hands, and I felt mine tremble within
+his.
+
+"Ah!" he said, smiling curiously, "you believe so, too." And he made
+me a bow and turned back into the room.
+
+I remained where he left me, gazing blindly out of the window; for the
+shadow of a great trouble had fallen across my spirit. His words and
+the concise certainty of his tone had been the perfect voicing of my
+own forebodings. I did indeed believe that Fortune would some day pit
+us in a fresh antagonism; that somewhere in the future she had already
+set up the lists, and that clasp of the hands I felt to be our bond
+and surety that we would keep faith with her and answer to our names.
+
+"Morrice," said Elmscott at my elbow, and I started like one waked
+from his sleep, "we'll go saddle your horse."
+
+And he laughed to himself again as though savouring a jest. He slipped
+an arm through mine and walked to the door.
+
+"Good morning, gentlemen," he said. "Marston, _au revoir!_" And with a
+twirl of his hat, he stepped into the outer room. His servant was
+sleeping upon a bench, and he woke him up and bade him fetch the money
+and follow home.
+
+The morning was cold, and we set off at a brisk pace towards Monmouth
+Square, Elmscott chatting loudly the while, with ever and again, I
+thought, a covert laugh at me.
+
+I only pressed on the harder. It was not merely that I was vexed by
+his quizzing demeanour; but the moment I was free from that tawdry
+hell, and began to breathe fresh air in place of the heavy reek of
+perfumes and wine, the fulness of my disloyalty rolled in upon my
+conscience, so that Elmscott's idle talk made me sicken with
+repulsion; for he babbled ever about cards and dice and the feminine
+caprice of luck.
+
+"What ails you, Morrice?" at length he inquired, seeing that I had no
+stomach for his mirth. "You look as spiritless as a Quaker."
+
+"I was thinking," I replied, in some irritation, for he clapped me on
+the back as he spoke, "that it must be sorely humiliating for a man of
+your age either to win money or lose it when you have a mere stripling
+to oppose you."
+
+"A man of my age, indeed!" he exclaimed. "And what age do you take to
+be mine, Mr. Buckler?"
+
+He turned his face angrily towards me, and I scanned it with great
+deliberation.
+
+"It would not be fair," I answered, with a shake of the head. "It
+would not be fair for me to hazard a guess. Two nights at play may
+well stamp middle-age upon youth, and decrepitude upon middle-age."
+
+At this he knew not whether to be mollified or yet more indignant, and
+so did the very thing I had been aiming at--he held his tongue. Thus
+we proceeded in a moody silence until we were hard by Soho. Then he
+asked suddenly:
+
+"What drags you in such a scurry to Bristol?"
+
+"I would give much to know myself," I answered. "I journey thither at
+the instance of a friend who lies in dire peril. But that is the whole
+sum of my knowledge. I have not so much as a hint of the purport of my
+service."
+
+"A friend! What friend?" he inquired with something of a start, and
+looked at me earnestly.
+
+"Sir Julian Harnwood," said I, and he stopped abruptly in his walk.
+
+"Ah!" he said; then he looked on the ground, and swore a little to
+himself.
+
+"You know what threatens him?" said I; but he made me no answer and
+resumed his walk, quickening his pace. "Tell me!" I entreated. "His
+servant came to me at Leyden six days ago, but was seized by a
+fit or ever he could out with his message. So I learnt no more than
+this--that Julian lies in Bristol gaol and hath need of me."
+
+"But the assizes begin to-day," he interrupted, with an air of
+triumph. "You are over-late to help him."
+
+"Ah, no!" I pleaded. "I may yet reach there in time. Julian may haply
+be amongst the last to come to trial?"
+
+"'Twere most unlikely," returned he, with a snap of his teeth. "My
+Lord Jeffries wastes no time in weighing evidence. Why, at Taunton,
+but a fortnight ago, one hundred and forty-five prisoners were
+disposed of within three days. The man does not try; he executes.
+There's but one outlook for your friend, and that's through the noose
+of a rope. Jeffries holds a strict mandate from the King, I tell you,
+for the King's heart is full of anger against the rebels."
+
+"But Julian was no rebel," I exclaimed.
+
+"Tut, tut, lad!" he replied. "If he was no rebel himself, he harboured
+rebels. If he didn't flesh his sword at Sedgemoor, he gave shelter to
+those that did. And 'tis all one crime, I tell you. Hair-splitting is
+held in little favour at the Western Assizes."
+
+"But are you sure of this?" I asked. "Or is it pure town gossip?"
+
+"Nay," said he, "I have the news hot from Marston. He should know,
+eh?"
+
+"Marston?" said I.
+
+"Yes! The"--and he paused for a second, and smiled at me--"the _man_
+who played with me. 'Tis his sister that's betrothed to Harnwood."
+
+_His_ sister! The blood chilled in my veins. I had been aware, of
+course, that Julian was affianced to a certain Miss Marston of the
+county of Gloucestershire. But I had never set eyes upon her person
+and knew little of her history, beyond that she had been one of the
+ladies in attendance upon the Queen prior to her accession to the
+throne; I mean when she was still the Duchess of York. Miss Marston
+was, in fact, a mere name to me; and since consequently she held no
+place in my thoughts, it had not occurred to me to connect her in any
+way with this chance acquaintance of the gaming-table. Now, however,
+the relationship struck me with a peculiar and even menacing
+significance. It recalled to me the few words Marston had spoken in
+the window; and, lo! not half an hour after their utterance, here was,
+as it were, a guarantee of their fulfilment. Between Marston and
+myself there already existed, then, a certain faint accidental
+connection. I felt that I had caught a glimpse of the cord which was
+to draw us together.
+
+Elmscott's voice broke in upon my imaginings.
+
+"So, Morrice, I have sure knowledge to back my words. No good can come
+of your journey, though harm may, and it will fall on you. 'Twere best
+to stay quietly in London. You may think your hair grey, but you will
+never save Julian Harnwood from the gallows."
+
+My cheeks burned as I heard him, for my thoughts had been humming
+busily about my own affairs, and not at all about Julian's; and with a
+bitter shame, "God!" I cried, "that I should fail him so! Surely never
+was a man so misused as my poor friend! He is the very sport and
+shuttlecock of disaster. First his messenger must needs fall sick;
+then my boat must take five days to cross to England. And to cap it
+all, I must waste yet another night in a tavern or ever I can borrow a
+horse to help me on my way."
+
+By this time we had got to Elmscott's house. He drew a key from his
+pocket and mounted the steps thoughtfully, and I after him. On the
+last step, however, he turned, and laying a hand upon my shoulder, as
+I stood below him, said, with a very solemn gravity: "There is God's
+hand in all this. He doth not intend you should go. In His great
+wisdom He doth not intend it. He would punish the guilty, and He would
+spare you who are innocent."
+
+"But what harm can come to me?" I cried, with a laugh; though, indeed,
+the laugh was hollow as the echo of an empty house.
+
+"That lies in the dark," said he. "But 'tis no common aid Julian
+Harnwood asks from you. He has friends enough in England. Why should
+he send to Holland when his time's so short?" And then he added with
+more insistent earnestness: "Don't go, lad! If any one could avail,
+'twould be Marston. He has power in Bristol. And you see, he bides
+quietly in London."
+
+"But methinks he was never well-disposed to Julian," said I,
+remembering certain half-forgotten phrases of my friend. "He looked
+but sourly on the marriage."
+
+"Very well," said he, with a shrug of the shoulders. "Must make your
+own bed;" and he opened the door, and led me through the hall and into
+a garden at the back. At the far end of this the stables were built,
+and we crossed to them. "The rascals are still asleep," he remarked,
+and proceeded to waken them with much clanging of the bell and shouts
+of abuse. In a while we heard a heavy step stumbling down the stair.
+
+"I had meant to have a fine laugh at you over this," said Elmscott,
+with a rueful smile. "But I have no heart for it now that I know your
+errand."
+
+An ostler, still blinking and drowsy, opened the door. He rubbed his
+eyes at the sight of his master.
+
+"Don't stand gaping, you fish!" cried my cousin. "Whom else did you
+expect to see? Show us to the stables."
+
+The fellow led us silently into the stables. A long row of boxes stood
+against the wall, all neatly littered with straw, but to my
+astonishment and dismay, so far as I could see, not one of them held a
+horse.
+
+"She's at the end, sir," said the groom; and we walked down the length
+of the boxes, and halted before the last.
+
+"Get up, lass!" and after a few pokes the animal rose stiffly from its
+bed. For a moment I well-nigh cried from sheer mortification. Never in
+all my comings and goings since have I seen such a parody of Nature,
+not even in the booths of a country fair. 'Twas of a piebald colour,
+and stood very high, with long thin legs. Its knees were, moreover,
+broken. It had a neck of extraordinary length, and a huge, absurd head
+which swung pendulous at the end of it, and seemed by its weight to
+have dragged the beast out of shape, for the line of its back slanted
+downwards from its buttocks to its shoulders.
+
+"This is no fair treatment," I exclaimed hotly. "Elmscott, I deserve
+better at your hands. 'Tis an untimely jest, and you might well have
+spared yourself the pleasure of it."
+
+"And the name of her's Ph[oe]be," he replied musingly. "'Tis her one
+good point."
+
+He spoke with so droll a melancholy that I had some ado to refrain
+from laughing, in spite of my vexation.
+
+"But," said I, "surely this is not all your equipage?"
+
+"Nay," returned he proudly, "I have its saddle and bridle. But for the
+rest of my horses, I lost them all playing basset with Lord Culverton.
+He took them away only yesterday morning, but left me the mare, saying
+that he had no cart for her conveyance."
+
+"Well," said I, "I must e'en make shift with her. She may carry me one
+stage."
+
+And I walked out of the stables and back into the hall. Elmscott bade
+his groom saddle the mare and followed me, but I was too angry to
+speak with him, and seated myself sullenly at a table. However, he
+fetched a pie from the pantry and a bottle of wine, and set them
+before me. I had eaten nothing since I had disembarked the night
+before, and knowing, besides, that I had a weary day in store, I fell
+to with a good appetite. Elmscott opened the door. The sun had just
+risen, and a warm flood of light poured into the hall and brightened
+the dark panels of the walls. With that entered the sound of birds
+singing, the rustle of trees, and all the pleasant garden-smells of a
+fresh September morning. And at once a great hope sprang up in my
+heart that I might yet be in time to prove the minister of Julian's
+need. I heard the sound of hoofs on the road outside.
+
+"Lend me a whip!" I cried.
+
+"You are still set on going?"
+
+"Lend me a whip!"
+
+He offered me an oak cudgel.
+
+"Ph[oe]be has passed her climacteric, and her perceptions are dull,"
+he said; and then with a sudden change of manner he laid his hand on
+my shoulder. "'Twere best not to go," he declared earnestly. "Those
+who bring luck to others seldom find great store of it themselves."
+
+But in the sweet clearness of the morning such thoughts seemed to me
+no more than night vapours, and I sprang down the steps with a laugh.
+The mare shivered as I mounted, and swung her head around as though
+she would ask me what in the devil's name I was doing on her back. But
+I thwacked her flanks with the cudgel, and she ambled heavily through
+the square. I turned to look behind me. Elmscott was still standing on
+the steps.
+
+"Morrice," he called out, "be kind to her! She is an heirloom."
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER III.
+
+                TELLS HOW I REACH BRISTOL, AND IN WHAT
+                STRANGE GUISE I GO TO MEET MY FRIEND.
+
+
+At length, then, I was fairly started on my way to Bristol. For my
+direction over this first stage of my journey I had made inquiries of
+Elmscott, and I rode westwards towards the village of Knightsbridge,
+thanking Providence most heartily for that the city still slept. For
+what with my disordered dress, my oak cudgel, and the weedy screw
+which I bestrode--I scruple to dignify her with the name of mare, for
+I have owned mares since which I loved, and would not willingly
+affront them--I could not hope to pass unnoticed were any one abroad,
+and, indeed, should esteem myself well-used to be counted no worse
+than a mountebank. Thus I crossed Hounslow Heath and reached Brentford
+without misadventure. There I joyfully parted with my Rosinante, and
+hiring a horse, rode post. The way, however, was ill-suited for speedy
+travelling, and my hope of seeing Julian that night dwindled with my
+shadow as the sun rose higher and higher behind my shoulders. Ruts
+deep and broad as new furrows trenched the road, and here and there
+some slough would make a wide miry gap, wherein my horse sank over the
+fetlocks. Some blame, moreover, must attach to me, for I chose a false
+turn at the hamlet of Colnbrook, and journeyed ten miles clean from my
+path to Datchet; so that in the end night found me blundering on the
+edge of Wickham Heath, some sixty-one miles from London. I had changed
+horses at Newbury, and I determined to press on at least so far as
+Hungerford. But I had not counted with myself. I was indeed
+overwrought with want of sleep, and the last few stages I had ridden
+with dulled senses in a lethargy of fatigue. At what point exactly I
+wandered from the road I could not tell. But the darkness had closed
+in before I began to notice a welcome ease and restfulness in the
+motion of the gallop. I was wondering idly at the change, when of a
+sudden my horse pops his foot into a hole. The reins were hanging
+loose on his neck; I myself was rocking in the saddle, so that I shot
+clean over his shoulder, turned a somersault in mid-air, and came down
+flat on my back in the centre of the Heath. For a while I lay there
+without an effort or desire to move. I felt as if Mother Earth had
+taken pity on my weariness, and had thus unceremoniously put me to
+bed. The trample of hoofs, however, somewhat too close to my legs,
+roused me to wakefulness, and I started up and prepared to remount. To
+my dismay I found that my horse was badly lamed; he could barely set
+his foreleg to the ground. The accident was the climax of my
+misfortunes. I looked eagerly about me. The night was moonless, but
+very clear and soft with the light of the stars. I could see the
+common stretching away on every side empty and desolate; here a
+cluster of trees, there a patch of bushes, but never a house, never
+the kindly twinkle of a lamp, never a sign of a living thing. What it
+behoved me to do, I could not come at, think as hard as I might. But
+whatever that might have been, what I did, alas! was far different.
+For I plumped myself down on the grass and cried like a child. It
+seemed to me that God's hand was indeed turned against my friend and
+his deliverance.
+
+But somehow into the midst of my lament there slipped a remembrance of
+Jack Larke. On the instant his face took shape and life before me,
+shining out as it were from a frame of darkness. I saw an honest scorn
+kindle in his eyes, and his lips shot "woman" at me. The visionary
+picture of him braced me like the cut of a whip. At all events, I
+thought, I would make a pretence of manhood, and I ceased from my
+blubbering, and laying hold of the horse by the bridle, led him
+forward over the Heath.
+
+I kept a sharp watch about me as I walked, but it must have been a
+full two hours afterwards when I caught a glimpse of a light far away
+on my left hand, glimmering in a little thicket upon a swell of the
+turf. At first I was minded to reckon it a star, for the Heath at that
+point was ridged up against the sky. But it shone with a beam too warm
+and homely to match the silver radiance of the planets. I turned
+joyfully in its direction, and quickening my pace, came at length to
+the back of a house. The light shone from a window on the ground floor
+facing me. I looked into it over a little paling, and saw that it was
+furnished as a kitchen. Plates and pewter-pots gleamed orderly upon
+the shelves, and a row of noble hams hung from the rafters.
+
+I hurried round the side of the house and found myself, to my great
+satisfaction, on a bank which overlooked the road. I scrambled down
+the side of it and knocked loudly at the door. It was opened by an
+elderly man, who stared at me in some surprise.
+
+"You travel late, young sir," said he, holding the door ajar.
+
+"I have need to," I replied. "I should have been in Bristol long ere
+this."
+
+"'Tis strange," he went on, eyeing me a thought suspiciously. "I
+caught no sound of your horse's hoofs upon the road."
+
+"'Twould have been stranger if you had," said I. "For I missed my way
+soon after sundown, and have been wandering since on the Heath. I saw
+the light of your house some half an hour agone over yonder," and I
+pointed in the direction whence I had come.
+
+"Then you are main lucky, sir," he returned, but in a more civil tone.
+"This is the 'Half-way House,' and it has no neighbours. In another
+hour we should have gone to bed--for we have no guests to-night--and
+you might have wandered until dawn."
+
+With that he set the door back against the wall, and stood aside for
+me to pass.
+
+"You must pardon my surliness," he said. "But few honest travellers
+cross Wickham Heath by dark, and at first I mistook you. I have never
+held truck with the gentry of the road, though, indeed, my pockets
+suffer for the ease of my conscience. However, if you will step
+within, my wife will get you supper while I lead your horse to the
+stables."
+
+"The beast is lame," said I, "and I would fain continue my way
+to-night. Have you a horse for hire?"
+
+"Nay, sir," said he, shaking his head. "I have but one horse here
+besides your own, and that is not mine."
+
+"I need it only for a day," I urged eagerly; "for less than a day. I
+could reach Bristol in the morning, and would send it you back
+forthwith."
+
+I plunged my hand into my fob, and pulled out a handful of money as I
+spoke.
+
+"It is no use," he declared. "The horse is not mine. 'Twas left here
+for a purpose, and I may not part with it."
+
+"It would be with you again to-morrow," I repeated.
+
+"It may be needed in the meanwhile," said he. "It may be needed in an
+hour. I know not."
+
+I let the coins run from my right hand into the palm of my left, so
+that they fell clinking one on the top of the other. For a second he
+stood undecided; then he spoke in a low voice like a man arguing with
+himself.
+
+"I will not do it. The horse was left with me in trust--in trust.
+Moreover, I was well paid for the trust." And he turned to me.
+
+"Put up your money, sir," said he stubbornly. "You should think shame
+to tempt poor folk. You will get no horse 'twixt here and Hungerford."
+
+I slipped the money back into my pocket while he moved away with the
+horse. It limped worse than ever, and he stopped and picked up its
+foreleg.
+
+"It is no more than a strain, I think," he called out. "The wife shall
+make a poultice for it to-night, and you can start betimes in the
+morning."
+
+It was a poor consolation, but the only one. So I made the best of it,
+and, taking my supper in the kitchen, went forthwith to bed. I was
+indeed so spent and tired that I fell asleep in the corner by the fire
+while my ham was being fried, and after it, was almost carried
+upstairs in the arms of my landlord. I had not lain in a bed since I
+left Leyden, and few sights, I think, have ever affected me with
+so pleasant a sense of rest and comfort as that of the little
+inn-chamber, with its white dimity curtains and lavender-scented
+sheets. I have, in truth, always loved the scent of lavender since.
+
+The next morning I was early afoot, and, despatching a hasty
+breakfast, made my way to the stables. The innkeeper had preceded me
+in order to have all ready for my start; but he stood in the yard with
+the horse unsaddled.
+
+"'Tis no use, sir," he said. "You must e'en walk to Hungerford."
+
+I had but to see the horse take one step to realise the truth of his
+words, for it limped yet worse than the evening before. The foot,
+moreover, was exceeding hot and inflamed.
+
+"Take it back," said I. "The poor beast must bide here till I return."
+
+I followed him into the stable, and inquired of the road.
+
+"You go straight," he said, "till you come to Barton Court, opposite
+the village of Kintbury--" when of a sudden I stopped him. There were
+but two stalls in the building, and I had just caught a glimpse of the
+horse which was tied up in the second. It was of a light chestnut in
+colour, with white stockings, and a fleck of white in its coat at the
+joint of the hip. The patch was like a star in shape, and very
+unusual.
+
+"Why, this is Sir Julian Harnwood's horse," I cried, leaping towards
+it--"his favourite horse!"
+
+"Yes," he said, looking at me with some surprise, "that was the
+name--Sir Julian Harnwood. 'Tis the horse I told you of last night."
+
+And in a flash the truth came upon me.
+
+"It waits for me," I said. "Quick, man, saddle it! Sir Julian's life
+hangs upon your speed."
+
+But he planted himself sturdily before me.
+
+"Not so fast, young master," he said. "That trick will not serve your
+turn. 'Tis Sir Julian's horse, sure enough, and it waits its rider,
+sure enough; but that you are he, I must have some better warrant than
+your word."
+
+"My name may prove it," I replied. "It is Buckler--Morrice Buckler.
+Sir Julian's servant came to me in Holland."
+
+"Buckler!" the man repeated, as though he heard it for the first time.
+"Morrice Buckler! Yes, sir, that may be your name. I have nothing
+against it beyond that it is unfamiliar in these parts. But a strange
+name is a poor thing to persuade a man to forego his trust."
+
+I looked at the man. Though elderly and somewhat bent, he was of a
+large frame, and the sinews stood out in knots upon his bared arms.
+Plainly I was no match for him if it came to a struggle; and a
+sickening feeling of impotence and futility surged up within me. At
+every turn of the road destiny had built up its barrier. I understood
+that the clue to the matter lay hidden in that untold message which
+had been vainly conveyed to Leyden; that Swasfield had some pass-word,
+some token to impart whereby I might make myself known along the road.
+
+"The horse waits for me," I cried, my voice rising as I beseeched him.
+"In very truth it waits for me. Doubtless I should have some proof of
+that. But the man that bid me come fell in a swoon or ever he could
+hand it me."
+
+The innkeeper smiled, and sat him down on a corn-bin. Indeed, the
+explanation sounded weak enough to me, who was witness of its truth. I
+should hardly have credited it from another's lips.
+
+"Oh, can't you see," I entreated, in an extremity of despair, "can't
+you feel that I am telling you God's truth?"
+
+"No, master," he answered slowly, shaking his head, "I feel nought of
+that sort."
+
+His words and stolid bumpkin air threw me into a frenzy of rage.
+
+"Then," cried I, "may the devil's curse light on you and yours! That
+horse was left with you in trust. You have dinned the word into my
+ears; there's no gainsaying it. And I claim the fulfilment of your
+trust. Understand, fellow!" I went on, shaking my hand at him, for I
+saw his mouth open and his whole face broaden out into a laugh. "It's
+not a horse you are stealing; it is a life--a man's innocent life!"
+
+Thereupon he broke in upon my passion with a great gust of mirth that
+shook him from head to foot.
+
+"Lord, master!" said he, "that be mighty fine play-acting. I don't
+know that I ever saw better in Newberry Market"--and he slapped a
+great fist upon his thigh. "No, I'll be danged if I did. Go on! go on!
+Lord, I could sit here and laugh till dinner." And he thrust his feet
+forward, plunged his hands in his breeches pockets, and rolled back
+against the wall. I watched him in an utter vacancy of mind. For his
+stupid laughter had quenched me like a pailful of cold water. I
+searched for some device by which I might outwit his stubbornness. Not
+the smallest seed of a plan could I discover. I sent my thoughts back
+to the morning of the fourteenth, and cudgelled my memory in the hope
+that Swasfield might have dropped some hint which had passed
+unnoticed. But he had said so little, and I remembered his every word.
+Then in a twinkling I recollected the charms which I had found upon
+his person. Perchance one of them was the needed token. No idea was
+too extravagant for me to grasp at it. What had I done with them? I
+thought. I clapped my hand into the pocket of my coat, and my fingers
+closed, not on the charms, but on the barrel of the pistol which Larke
+had handed to me at the moment of my setting out. In an instant my
+mind was made up. I must have that horse, cost what it might. 'Twas
+useless to argue with my landlord. Money I had made trial of the night
+before. And here were the minutes running by, and each one of them, it
+might be, a drop of Julian's blood!
+
+I walked quickly to the door, at once to disengage the pistol secretly
+and to hide any change in my countenance. But the cock must needs
+catch in the flap of my pocket as I drew the weapon out. I heard a
+startled cry behind me, a rattle of the corn-bin, and a clatter of
+heavy shoes on the ground. I took one spring out of the stable,
+turned, and levelled the barrel through the doorway. For a moment we
+stood watching one another, he crouched for a leap, I covering his
+eyes with the pistol.
+
+"Saddle that horse," I commanded, "and bring it out into the road!"
+
+It was his turn now to argue and entreat, but I had no taste at the
+moment for "play-acting."
+
+"Be quick, man!" I said. "You have wasted time enough. Be quick, else
+I'll splatter your head against the wall!"
+
+The fellow rose erect and did as I bid, while I stood in the doorway
+and railed at him. For, alas! I was never over-generous by nature.
+
+"Hurry, you potatoe!" I exclaimed. Why that word above all other and
+more definite terms of abuse should have pained him I know not. But so
+it was; "Potatoe" grieved him immeasurably, and noting that, I
+repeated it more often, I fear me, than fitted my dignity. At length
+the horse was saddled.
+
+"Lead it out!" I said, and walked backwards to the road with my pistol
+still levelled.
+
+He followed me with the horse, and I bade him go back into the stable
+and close the door. Then I put up my pistol, sprang into the saddle,
+and started at a gallop past the inn. I had ridden little more than a
+hundred yards when I chanced to look back. My host was standing in the
+centre of the way, his legs firmly apart, and a huge blunderbuss at
+his shoulder. I flung my body forward on the neck of the horse, and a
+shower of slugs whistled through the air above my head. I felt for my
+pistol to return the compliment, but 'twould have been mere waste of
+the shot; I should never have hit him. So I just curved my hand about
+my mouth and bawled "Potatoe" at the top of my voice. It could have
+done no less hurt than his slugs.
+
+The horse, fresh from its long confinement, answered gladly to my call
+upon its speed, and settled into a steady gallop. But for all that,
+though I pressed on quickly through Marlborough and Chippenham, the
+nearer I came to Bristol the more lively did my anxieties become. I
+began to ponder with an increasing apprehension on the business which
+Julian might have in store for me. The urgency of his need had been
+proved yet more clearly that morning. The horse which I bestrode was a
+fresh and convincing evidence; and I could not but believe that
+similar relays were waiting behind me the whole length of the road
+from London.
+
+At the same time, as Elmscott had urged, I could bring him no solace
+of help in the matter of his trial. It would need greater authority
+than mine to rescue him from Jeffries' clutches. I realised that there
+must be some secret trouble at the back, and the more earnestly I
+groped after a hint of its nature, the more dark and awesome the
+riddle grew.
+
+For, to my lasting shame I own it, Elmscott's forebodings recurred to
+me with the mystical force of a prophecy:
+
+"There is God's hand in all this. He doth not mean you should go."
+
+The warning seemed traced in black letters on the air before me; fear
+whispered it at my heart, and the very hoofs of the horse beat it out
+in a ringing menace from the ground.
+
+At last, when I was well-nigh in the grips of a panic, over the brow
+of a hill I saw a cluster of church-spires traced like needles against
+the sun, and in a sudden impulse to outstrip my cowardice I drove my
+heels into my horse's flanks, and an hour later rode through Lawford's
+Gate into Bristol town. I inquired of the first person I met where the
+Court was sitting. At the Guildhall, he told me, and pointed out the
+way. A clock struck four as he spoke, and I hurriedly thanked him and
+hastened on.
+
+About the Guildhall a great rabble of people swung and pressed, and I
+reined up on the farther side of the street, but as nearly opposite to
+the entrance as I could force my way. In front of the building stood a
+carriage very magnificently equipped, with four horses, and footmen in
+powdered wigs and glistening liveries.
+
+From such converse as went on about me, I sought to learn what
+prisoners had been tried that day. But so great was the confusion of
+voices, curses, lamentations, and rejoicings being mixed and blended
+in a common uproar, that I could gather no knowledge that was
+particular to my purpose. Then from the shadow of the vestibule shot a
+gleam of scarlet and white, and at once a deep hush fell upon the
+crowd. Preceded by his officers, my lord Jeffries stepped out to his
+carriage, a man of a royal mien, with wonderfully dark and piercing
+eyes, though the beauty of his face was much marred by spots and
+blotches, and an evil smile that played incessantly about his lips. He
+seemed in truth in high good-humour, and laughed boisterously with
+those that attended him; and bethinking me of his savage cruelty, and
+the unholy lustfulness wherewith he was wont to indulge it, my heart
+sank in fear for Julian.
+
+The departure of his carriage seemed to lift a weight from every
+tongue, and the clamour recommenced. I cast about for some one to
+approach, when I beheld a little man with a face as wrinkled and
+withered as a dry pippin, pressing through the throng in my direction.
+I thought at first that he intended speech with me, for he looked me
+over with some care. But he came straight on to the horse's head, and
+without pausing walked briskly along its side to my right hand and
+disappeared behind me. A minute after I heard the noise of a dispute
+on my left. There was my little friend again. He had turned on his
+steps, and moving in the contrary direction had come up with me once
+more. In the hurry of his movements he had knocked up against a
+passer-by, and the pair straightway fell loudly to argument, each one
+accusing the other of clumsiness. I turned in my saddle to watch the
+quarrel, and immediately the little man, with profuse apologies, took
+the blame upon himself and continued his way. I followed him with my
+eyes. He had proceeded but ten yards when his pace began to slacken,
+then he dropped into a saunter, and finally stood still in a musing
+attitude with his eyes on the ground, as though he was debating some
+newly-remembered question. Of a sudden he raised his head, shot one
+quick glance towards me, and resumed his walk. The street was thinning
+rapidly, and I was able to pursue him without difficulty. For half a
+mile we went on, keeping the same distance between us, when he sharply
+turned a corner and dived into a narrow side-street. I checked my
+horse, thinking that I had mistaken his look; for he had never so much
+as turned round since. But the next minute he reappeared, and stood
+loitering in his former attitude of reflection. There could be no
+doubt of the man's intention, and I gathered up the reins again and
+followed him. This side-street was narrow and exceeding dark, for the
+storeys of the houses on each side projected one above the other until
+the gables nearly met at the top. The little man was waiting for me
+about twenty yards from the entrance, in an angle of the wall.
+
+"It is Mr. Buckler?" he asked shortly.
+
+"Yes," I answered. "What news of Julian?"
+
+"You have but just arrived?"
+
+"The clock struck four as I rode through Law-ford's Gate. What news of
+Julian?"
+
+He gave a sharp, sneering laugh.
+
+"Ay, ay," he said. "No one so flustered as your loiterer." And he
+stepped out from the shadow of the house. "Sir Julian?" he cried
+hastily. "Sir Julian will be hanged at noon to-morrow."
+
+I swayed in the saddle; the houses spun round me. I felt the man's arm
+catch at and steady me.
+
+"It is my fault?" I whispered.
+
+"No, lad!" he returned, with a new touch of kindliness in his tone.
+"Nothing could have saved him. I should know; I am his attorney. Maybe
+I spoke too harshly, but this last week he has been eating his heart
+out for the sight of you, and your tardiness plagued me. There, there!
+Lay hold of your pluck! It is a man your friend needs, not a weak
+girl."
+
+There was a pitying contempt in the tone of these last words which
+stung me inexpressibly. I sat up erect, and said, with such firmness
+as I could force into my voice:
+
+"Where does Sir Julian lie?"
+
+"In the Bridewell to-night. But you must not go there in this plight,"
+he added quickly, for I was already turning the horse. "You would ruin
+all."
+
+He glanced sharply up and down the lane, and went on:
+
+"We have been together over-long as it is." Then he tapped with his
+foot for a moment on the pavement. "I have it," said he. "Go to the
+'Thatched House Tavern,' in Lime Kiln Lane. I will seek you there.
+Wait for me; and, mind this, let no one else have talk with you! Tell
+the people of the house I sent you--Mr. Joseph Vincott. It will
+commend you to their care."
+
+With that he turned on his heel, ran up to the opening of the street,
+and after a cautious look this side and that, strolled carelessly
+away. I gave him a few moments' grace, and then hurried with all
+despatch to the tavern, asking my direction as I went. There I ordered
+a private room, and planting myself at the window, waited impatiently
+for Vincott's coming.
+
+It must have been an hour afterwards that I saw him turn into the lane
+from a passage almost opposite to where I stood. I expected him to
+cross the road, but he cast not so much as a glance towards the inn,
+and walked slowly past on the further side. I flung up the window,
+thinking that he had forgotten his errand, and leaned out to call him.
+But or ever I could speak he banged his stick angrily on the ground,
+raised it with a quick jerk and pointed twice over his shoulder behind
+him. The movement was full of significance, and I drew back into the
+shadow of the curtain. Mr. Vincott mounted the steps of a house,
+knocked at the door, and was admitted. No sooner had he entered than a
+man stepped out from the passage. He was of a large, heavy build, and
+yet, as I surmised from the litheness of his walk, very close-knit.
+His face was swarthy and bronzed, and he wore ear-rings in his ears. I
+should have taken him for an English sailor but that there was a
+singular compactness in his bearing, and his gait was that of a man
+perfectly balanced. For awhile he stood loitering at the entrance to
+the passage, and then noticing the inn, crossed quickly over and
+passed through the door beneath me.
+
+My senses were now strained into activity, and I watched with a
+quivering eagerness for the end of this strange game of hide-and-seek.
+I had not long to wait. The little lawyer came down the steps, stopped
+at the bottom, took a pinch of snuff with great deliberation, and
+blowing his nose with unnecessary noise and vehemence, walked down the
+street. He had nearly reached the end of it before his pursuer lounged
+out of the inn and strolled in the same direction. The moment Vincott
+turned the corner, however, he lengthened his stride; I saw him pause
+at the last house and peep round the angle, draw back for a few
+seconds, and then follow stealthily on the trail.
+
+The incident reawakened all my perplexed conjectures as to the
+business on which I was engaged. Why should the fact of my arrival in
+the town be so studiously concealed? Or again, what reason could there
+be for any one to suspect or fear it? The questions circled through my
+mind in an endless repetition. There was but one man who could answer
+them, and he lay helpless in his cell, adding to the torture of his
+last hours the belief that his friend had played him false. The
+thought stung me like Ino's gadfly. I paced up and down the room with
+my eyes ever on the street for Vincott's return. My heart rose on each
+sound of a nearing step, only to sink giddily with its dying
+reverberation. The daylight fell, a fog rolled up from the river in
+billows of white smoke, and still Vincott did not come. The very clock
+by the chimney seemed to tick off the seconds faster and faster until
+I began to fancy that the sounds would catch one another and run by in
+one continuous note. At last I heard a quick pattering noise of feet
+on the pavement below, and Vincott dashed up the stairs and burst into
+the room.
+
+"I have shaken the rascal off," he gasped, falling into a chair; "but
+curse me if it's lawyer's work. We live too sedentary a life to go
+dragging herrings across a scent with any profit to our bodies."
+
+"Then we can go," said I, taking my hat. But he struck it from my
+hands with his cane.
+
+"And you!" he blazed out at me. "You must poke your stupid yellow head
+out of the window as if you wanted all Bristol to notice it! Sit
+down!"
+
+"Mr. Vincott!" I exclaimed angrily.
+
+"Mr. Buckler!" he returned, mimicking my tone, and pulling a grimace.
+There was indeed no dignity about the man. "It may not have escaped
+your perceptions that I have some desire to conceal your visit to this
+town. Would it be too much to ask you to believe that there are
+reasons for that desire?"
+
+He spoke with a mocking politeness, and waited for me to answer him.
+
+"I suppose there are," I replied; "but I am in the dark as to their
+nature."
+
+"The chief of them," said he, "is your own security."
+
+"I will risk that," said I, stooping for my hat. "'Tis not worth the
+suffering which it costs Julian."
+
+"Dear, dear!" he gibed. "Tis strange that so much heart should tarry
+so long. Let me see! It must be full eight days since Swasfield came
+to you at Leyden." And he struck my hat once more out of my grasp.
+
+"Mr. Vincott," said I--and my voice trembled as I spoke--"if you have
+a mind to quarrel with me, I will endeavour to gratify you at a more
+seasonable time. But I cannot wrangle over the body of my friend. I
+came hither with all the speed that God vouchsafed me." And I informed
+him of my journey, and the hindrances which had beset my path.
+
+"Well, well," he said, when I had done, "I perceive that my thoughts
+have done you some injustice. And, after all, I am not sure but what
+your late coming is for the best. It has caused your friend no small
+anxiety, I admit. But against that we may set a gain of greater
+secrecy."
+
+He picked up my hat from the floor, and placed it on the table.
+
+"So," he continued, "you will pardon my roughness, but I have formed
+some affection for Sir Julian. 'Tis an unbusinesslike quality, and I
+trust to be well ashamed of it in a week's time. At the present,
+however, it angered me against you." He held out his hand with a
+genuine cordiality, and we made our peace.
+
+"Now," said he, "the gist of the matter is this. It is all-essential
+that you be not observed and marked as a visitor to Sir Julian.
+Therefore 'twere best to wait until it is quite dark; and meanwhile we
+must think of some disguise."
+
+"A disguise?" I exclaimed.
+
+"Yes," said he. "You must have noticed from that window that there are
+others awake beside ourselves."
+
+I stood silent for a moment, reluctantly considering a plan which
+had just flashed into my head. Vincott drew a flint and steel from
+his pocket, and lighted the candles--for the dusk was filling the
+room--and drew the curtains close. All at once the dizzy faintness
+which had come over me in the side-street near the Guildhall returned,
+and set the room spinning about me. I clutched at a chair to save
+myself from falling. Vincott snatched up a candle, and looked shrewdly
+into my face.
+
+"When did you dine?" he asked.
+
+"At breakfast-time," said I.
+
+He opened the door, and rang a bell which stood on a side-table.
+"Lucy!" he bawled over the bannisters.
+
+A great buxom wench with a cheery face answered the summons, and he
+bade her cook what meats they had with all celerity.
+
+"Meantime," said he, "we will while away the interval over a posset of
+Bristol milk. You have never tasted that, Mr. Buckler? I would that I
+could say the same. I envy you the pleasure of your first acquaintance
+with its merit."
+
+The "milk," as he termed it, was a strong brewage of Spanish wine,
+singularly luxurious and palatable. Mr. Vincott held up his glass to
+the light, and the liquid sparkled like a clear ruby.
+
+"'Tis a generous drink," he said. "It gives nimbleness to the body,
+wealth to the blood, and lightness to the heart. The true Promethean
+fire!" And he drained the glass, and smacked his lips.
+
+"That is a fine strapping wench," said I. "She must be of my height,
+or thereabouts."
+
+The lawyer cocked his head at me. "Ah!" said he drily, "a wonderful
+thing is Bristol milk."
+
+But I was thinking of something totally different.
+
+The girl fetched in a stew of beef, steaming hot, and we sat down to
+it, though indeed I had little inclination for the meal.
+
+"Now, Mr. Vincott," said I, "I will pray you, while we are eating, to
+help me to the history of Julian's calamities." I think that my voice
+broke somewhat on the word, for he laid his hand gently upon my arm.
+"I know nothing of it myself beyond what you have told me, and a
+rumour that came to me in London."
+
+The lawyer sat silent for a time, drumming with his fingers on the
+table.
+
+"Your story," I urged, "will save much valuable time when I visit
+Julian."
+
+"I was thinking," he replied, "how much I should tell you. You see,
+merely the facts are known to me. Of what lies underneath them--I mean
+the motives and passions which have ordered their sequence--I may have
+surmised something" (here his eyes twinkled cunningly), "but I have no
+certitude. That part of the business concerns you, not me. 'Twere
+best, then, that I show you no more than the plain face of the
+matter."
+
+He pushed away his plate, leaned both arms upon the table, and, with a
+certain wariness in his manner, told me the following tale:
+
+"In the spring of the year, Miss Enid Marston fell sick at Court. The
+air of St. James's is hardly the best tonic for invalids, and she came
+with her uncle and guardian to the family house at Bristol to recruit.
+Sir Julian Harnwood must, of course, follow her; and, in order that he
+may enjoy her company without encroaching upon her hospitality, he
+hires him a house in the suburbs, upon Brandon Hill. One night, during
+the second week of August, came two fugitives from Sedgemoor to his
+door. Sir Julian had some knowledge of the men, and the story of their
+sufferings so worked upon his pity that he promised to shelter them
+until such time as he could discover means of conveying them out of
+the country. To that end he hid them in one of his cellars, brought
+their food with his own hands, and generally used such precautions as
+he thought must avert suspicion. But on the morning of the 10th
+September he was arrested, his house searched, and the rebels
+discovered. The rest you know. Sir Julian was tried this afternoon
+with the two fugitives, and pays the penalty to-morrow. 'Tis the only
+result that could have been looked for. His best friends despaired
+from the outset--even Miss Marston."
+
+"I had not thought of her," I broke in. "Poor girl!"
+
+"Poor girl!" he repeated, gazing intently at the ceiling. "She was
+indeed so put back in her health, that her physician advised her
+instant removal to a less afflicting neighbourhood."
+
+As he ended, he glanced sideways at me from under half-closed lids;
+but I chanced to be watching him, and our eyes crossed. It seemed to
+me that he coloured slightly, and sent his gaze travelling idly about
+the room, anywhere, in short, but in my direction, the while he hummed
+the refrain of a song.
+
+"You mean she has deserted Julian?" I exclaimed.
+
+"I have no recollection that I suggested that, or indeed anything
+whatsoever," he returned blandly. "As I mentioned to you before, I
+merely relate the facts."
+
+"There is one fact," said I, after a moment's thought, "on which you
+have not touched."
+
+"There are two," he replied; "but specify if you please. I will
+satisfy you to the limit of my powers."
+
+"The part which I shall play in this business."
+
+He wagged his head sorrowfully at me.
+
+"I perceive," says he, "with great regret that they teach you no logic
+at the University of Leyden. You are speaking, not of a fact, but of
+an hypothesis. The part which you will play, indeed! You ask me to
+read the future, and I am not qualified for the task."
+
+It became plain to me that I should win no profit out of my
+questioning; there could be but one result to a quibbling match with
+an attorney; so I bade him roughly tell me what he would.
+
+"There are two facts," he resumed, "which are perhaps of interest. But
+I would premise that they are in no way connected. I would have you
+bear that in mind, Mr. Buckler. The first is this: it has never been
+disclosed whence the information came which led to the discovery of
+the fugitives. Sir Julian, as I told you, used great precautions. His
+loyalty, moreover, had never been suspected up till then."
+
+"From his servants, most like," I interposed.
+
+"Most like!" he sneered. "The remark does scanty credit to your
+perspicacity, and hardly flatters me. I examined them with some care,
+and satisfied myself on the score of their devotion to their master.
+'Tis doubtful even whether they were aware of Sir Julian's folly. 'Tis
+most certain that they never betrayed him. Besides, my lord Jeffries
+rated them all most unmercifully this afternoon. He would not have
+done that had they helped the prosecution. No, the secret must have
+leaked out if the information had come from them."
+
+"And you could gather no clue?"
+
+"Say, rather, that I did gather no clue. For my client forbad me to
+pursue my inquiries. 'Tis strange that, eh? 'Tis passing strange. It
+points, I think, beyond the servants."
+
+"Then Julian himself must know," I cried.
+
+"Tis a simple thought," said he. "If you will pardon the hint, you
+discover what is obvious with a singular freshness."
+
+I understood that I had brought the rejoinder upon myself by my
+interruption, and so digested it in silence.
+
+"The second point," he continued, "is interesting as a----" he made
+the slightest possible pause--"a coincidence. Sir Julian Harnwood was
+arrested at six o'clock in the morning, not in his house, but
+something like a mile away, on the King's down. 'Tis a quaint fancy
+for a gentleman to take it into his head to stroll about the King's
+down in the rain at six o'clock of the morning; almost as quaint as
+for an officer to go thither at that hour to search for him."
+
+An idea sprang through my mind, and was up to the tip of my tongue.
+But I remembered the fate of my previous suggestions, and checked it
+on the verge of utterance.
+
+"You were about to proffer a remark," said Mr. Vincott very politely.
+
+"No!" said I, in a tone of indifference, and he smiled.
+
+Then his manner changed, and he began to speak quickly, rapping with
+his fist upon the table as though to drive home his words.
+
+"The truth of the matter is, Mr. Buckler, Sir Julian went out that
+morning to fight a duel, and his antagonist was Count Lukstein, who
+came over to England six months ago in the train of the Emperor
+Leopold's ambassador. Ah! you know him!"
+
+"No!" I replied. "I know of him from Julian."
+
+"They were friends, it appears."
+
+"Julian made the Count's acquaintance some while ago in Paris, and
+has, I believe, visited his home in the Tyrol."
+
+"However that may be, they quarrelled in Bristol. Count Lukstein came
+down from London to take the waters at the Hotwell, by St. Vincent's
+rock, and has resided there for the last three months. 'Twas a
+trumpery dispute, but nought would content Sir Julian but that they
+must settle it with swords. He was on the way to the trysting-place
+when he was taken."
+
+And with a final rap on the table, Mr. Vincott leaned back in his
+chair, and froze again to a cold deliberation.
+
+"That," said he, "is the second fact I have to bring to your notice."
+
+"And the first," I cried, pressing the point on him, "the first is
+that no one knows who gave the information!"
+
+"I observed, I believe," he replied, returning my gaze with a mild
+rebuke, "that between those two facts there is no connection."
+
+At the time it seemed to me that he was bent on fobbing me off. But I
+have since thought that he was answering after his fashion the
+innuendo which my words wrapped up. He took out his snuff-box as he
+spoke, and inhaled a great pinch. The action suddenly recalled to me
+the man[oe]uvres which I had watched from the window.
+
+"It was a foreigner," I said, starting up in my excitement, "it was a
+foreigner who dogged your steps this afternoon."
+
+"I like the ornaments of the ceiling," says he (for thither had his
+eyes returned); and, as though he were continuing the sentence: "I may
+tell you, Mr. Buckler, that Count Lukstein left Bristol eleven days
+ago."
+
+"Did he take his servants with him?" I asked; and then, a new thought
+striking me: "Eleven days ago! That is, Mr. Vincott, the day after
+Julian's arrest."
+
+"Mr. Buckler," says he, "you appear to me to lack discretion."
+
+"I only re-state your facts," I answered, with some heat.
+
+"The facts themselves are perhaps a trifle indiscreet," he admitted.
+"I shall certainly have that ceiling copied in my own house." And with
+that he rose from his chair. "'Tis close on eight by the clock, and we
+must hit upon some disguise. But, Lord! how it is to be contrived with
+that canary poll of yours I know not, unless you shave your head and
+wear my peruke."
+
+"I have a better device than that," said I.
+
+"Well, man, out with it!"
+
+For I spoke with hesitation, fearing his irony.
+
+"You can trust the people of the inn?"
+
+He nodded his head.
+
+"Else I should not have sent you hither. They are bound to me in
+gratitude. I saved them last year from some pother with the Excise."
+
+"And Lucy--what of her?"
+
+"She is the landlord's daughter."
+
+Thus assured, I delivered to him my plan--that I would mask my person
+beneath one of Lucy's gowns.
+
+Vincott leapt at the notion, "'Od rabbit me!" he cried, "I misliked
+your face at first, but I begin to love it dearly now. For I see 'twas
+given you for some purpose."
+
+Once more he summoned Lucy, invented some story of a jest to be
+played, and bound her to the straitest secrecy. She gained no inkling
+from him, you may be sure, of the business which we had in hand. I
+stripped off my coat, and with much lacing and compressing, much
+exercise of vigour on Vincott's part, much panting on mine, and more
+roguish giggling upon Lucy's, I was at last squeezed into the girl's
+Sunday frock. It had a yellow bodice bedecked with red ribbons, and a
+red canvas skirt.
+
+"But, la!" she exclaimed, "your feet! Sure you must have a long cloak
+to hide them." And she whipped out of the room and fetched one. My
+feet did indeed but poorly match the dress, which descended no lower
+than my ankles.
+
+By good fortune the cloak had a hood attached, which could be drawn
+well forward, and blurred my features in its shadow.
+
+"So!" said I. "I am ready." And I strode quickly to the door. For
+Lucy's glee and my masquerading weighed with equal heaviness upon me.
+I was full-charged with sorrow for the coming interview. The old days
+in Cumberland lived and beat within my heart; the old dreams of a
+linked future voiced themselves again with a very bitter irony. 'Twas
+the last time my eyes were to be gladdened with the sight of my loved
+friend and playmate. I looked upon this visit as the sacred visit to a
+death-bed; nay, as something yet more sad than that, for Julian lay
+a-dying in the very bloom of health and youth, and the grotesque guise
+in which I went forth to him seemed to mock and flout the solemnity of
+the occasion.
+
+"Stop, lad!" said Vincott. "You must never walk like that. Your first
+step would betray you. Watch me!"
+
+With a peacock air, which at another time would have appeared to me
+inimitably ludicrous, the little attorney minced across the room on
+the tips of his toes. Lucy leaned against the wall holding her sides,
+and fairly screamed with delight.
+
+"What ails you, lass?" said he very sternly.
+
+"La, Mr. Vincott," she gulped out between bubbles of laughter, "I
+think you have but few honest women among your clients."
+
+Mr. Vincott rebuked her at some length for her sauciness, and would
+have prolonged his lecture yet further, but that my impatience
+mastered me and I haled him from the room. The girl let us out by a
+small door which gave on to an alley at the back of the house. The
+night was pitch-dark, and the streets deserted; not even a lamp swung
+from a porch.
+
+"Stay here for a moment," whispered Vincott. "I will move ahead and
+reconnoitre."
+
+His feet echoed on the cobbles with a strange lonely sound. In a
+minute or so a low whistle reached my ears, and I followed him.
+
+"All's clear," he said. "I little thought the time would ever come
+when I should bless his late Majesty King Charles for forbidding the
+citizens of Bristol to light their streets."
+
+We stepped quickly forward, threading the quiet roads as noiselessly
+as we could, until Vincott stopped before a large building. Lights
+streamed from the windows, piercing the mirk of the night with
+brownish rays, and a dull muffled clamour rang through the gateway.
+
+"The Bridewell," whispered Vincott. "Keep your face well shrouded, and
+for God's sake hide your feet!"
+
+He drew a long breath. I did the same, and we crossed the road and
+passed beneath the arch.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER IV.
+
+                         SIR JULIAN HARNWOOD.
+
+
+Mr. Vincott knocked at the great door within the arch, and we were
+presently admitted and handed over to the guidance of a gaoler.
+
+The fellow led us across a courtyard and into a long room clouded and
+heavy with the smoke of tobacco.
+
+"Keep the hood close!" whispered my companion a second time.
+
+I muffled my face and bent my head towards the ground. For a noisy
+clamour of drunken songs and coarse merriment, and, mingled with that,
+a ceaseless rattle of drinking-cans, rose about me on all sides. It
+seemed that the Bridewell kept open house that night.
+
+We traversed the room, picking out a path among the captives, for even
+the floor was littered with men in all imaginable attitudes, some
+playing cards, some asleep, and most of them drunk. My presence served
+to redouble the uproar, and each moment I feared that my disguise
+would be detected. I felt that every eye in the room was centred upon
+my hood. One fellow, indeed, that sat talking to himself upon a bench,
+got unsteadily to his feet and reeled towards us. But or ever he came
+near, the gaoler cut him across the shoulders with his stick and sent
+him back howling and cursing.
+
+"Back to your kennel!" he shouted. "'Tis an uncommon wench that would
+visit the lousy likes o' you."
+
+At the far end of the room he unlocked a door which opened on to a
+narrow flight of stairs. On the landing above he halted before a
+second door of a more solid make, the panels being strengthened by
+cross-beams, and secured with iron bars and a massive lock. The gaoler
+unfastened it and threw it open.
+
+"You have half an hour, mistress," he said, civilly enough. A startled
+cry of pain broke from the inside, I heard a sharp clink of fetters,
+and Julian confronted me through the doorway, his eyes ablaze with
+passion, and every limb strained and quivering.
+
+"What more? What more, madam?" he asked, in a hoarse, trembling voice.
+"Are you not satisfied?"
+
+He stopped suddenly with a gasping intake of the breath, and let his
+head roll forward on his breast like a fainting man. Vincott pushed me
+gently within the room, and I heard the door clang behind me. For a
+moment I could not speak. The tears rose in my throat and drowned the
+words. Julian was the first to recover his composure.
+
+"I crave your pardon," he said, and his voice sounded in my ears with
+a sad familiarity like the echo of our boyhood. "I mistook you for
+another." And he sat down on a bench and covered his face with his
+hands.
+
+"Julian!" I said, finding at length my voice, and I held out my hands
+to him. He uncovered his face and stared at me in sheer incredulity.
+Then with a cry of joy he sprang forwards, stumbling pitifully from
+the hindrance of his fetters.
+
+"Morrice at last!" He lifted his hands and clapped them down into
+mine, and the quick movement jerked the chain between his handlocks so
+that it fell cold across my wrists. So we stood silent, memory
+speeding to and fro between our eyes and telling the same wistful tale
+within the heart of each of us. But in that brumous cell, lit only by
+a smoky lamp which served rather to deepen the shadows of the space
+which it left obscure than to illumine the circle immediately about
+it, such thoughts could not beguile one long; and a strange,
+unaccountable fear began to creep up in my mind like a mist. It seemed
+to me that the chain pressed ever tighter and tighter about my wrists,
+and grew cold like a ring of ice. The chill of it slipped into the
+marrow of my bones. I came almost to believe that I myself was
+manacled, and with that I felt once again that premonition of evil
+drawing near, which had numbed my spirit in the grey dawn at London.
+Now, however, the warning came to me with a clearer and more
+particular message. I had a penetrating conviction that this cell
+prefigured some scene in the years to come wherein I should fill the
+place of Julian; and, seeing him, I saw a dim image of myself as when
+a man looks into a clouded mirror. So thoroughly, indeed, did the
+fancy master me that I too became, as it were, the shadow and reflex
+of another, a mere counter and symbol representing one as yet unknown
+to me.
+
+"I thought you would never come," said my friend, and I woke out of my
+trance.
+
+"I started at once from Leyden," I replied; but Julian cut short my
+explanation.
+
+"I am sure of it. I never doubted you. We have but half an hour, and I
+have much to tell."
+
+He turned away and flung himself down on the bench, which was broad
+and had a rail at the back, such as you may see outside a village
+alehouse.
+
+"Vincott has told you the history of my arrest?"
+
+"Yes!" said I. The lamp stood upon a stool beside the bench, and I
+lifted it up and placed it on a rough bracket which was fixed to the
+wall above. The light fell full upon his face, which had grown
+extraordinary thin, with the skin very bloodless and tight about his
+jaws, so that the bones looked to have sharpened. Only around his eyes
+was there any colour, and that of a heavy purple. I sat down upon the
+stool, and Julian gave something like a sigh of content.
+
+"I am glad you have come, Morrice," he said. "It has tired me so,
+waiting for you."
+
+He closed his eyes wearily, and appeared to be falling asleep. I
+touched him on the shoulder, and he sprang to his feet like one dazed,
+brushing against the bracket and making the flame of the lamp spirt up
+with a sudden flare. Once or twice he walked to and fro in the room,
+as though ordering his speech.
+
+"Here is the kernel of the matter," said he at last, coming back to
+the bench. "I was arrested to serve no ends of justice, but the vilest
+treachery and cowardice that man ever heard of. The tale, in truth,
+seems well-nigh inconceivable. Even I, who have sounding evidence of
+its truth," and he kicked one of his feet, so that the links of the
+fetters rattled on the floor, "even I find it hard to believe that
+'tis more than a monstrous fable. The man called himself my friend."
+
+"It was Count Lukstein, then?"
+
+"How did you find out that? Vincott could not have told you."
+
+"He did not tell me, but yet he gave me to know it."
+
+"Yes, it was Count Lukstein. He laid the information to spare himself
+a duel and to get rid of--well, of an obstacle. I meant to kill him. I
+should have killed him, and he knew it. The duel was arranged secretly
+on the afternoon of Saturday, the ninth; the spot chosen--a dip in the
+hill, solitary and unfrequented even at midday, for the descent is
+steep--and the time six o'clock on the Sunday morning. And yet
+there I was taken, on the very ground, at six o'clock on a Sunday
+morning--raining, too!"
+
+"There seems little doubt."
+
+"There is no doubt. 'Twas his life or mine. The dispute was the mere
+pretext and occasion of the duel."
+
+"So I understood."
+
+I was beginning to understand, besides, that the facts which Mr.
+Vincott had intended to impart to me were somewhat more numerous than
+he thought fit to admit.
+
+"The cause--but I can't speak of that. In any case, 'twas his life or
+mine, and he knew it, so deemed it prudent to take mine, since he had
+the power, without risking his own."
+
+"But," I objected, "could you trust your seconds? They knew the time,
+the place----"
+
+"But they did not know I was sheltering Monmouth's fugitives. Lukstein
+knew it."
+
+"You told him?"
+
+"No!"
+
+He stopped abruptly, and his eyes fell from my face to the ground. And
+then he said, in a very sad and quiet voice:
+
+"But I have none the less sure proof he knew."
+
+He sat silent with bowed head, labouring his breath, and his hands
+lying clasped together upon his knees. I noticed that the tips of his
+fingers were pressed tight into the backs of his palms, so that the
+flesh about them looked dead.
+
+I leaned forward and took him gently by the arm.
+
+"You must deliver me that proof, Julian," said I. For I began to have
+a pretty sure inkling of the service he had it in his mind to require
+of me.
+
+He shifted his eyes to my face and then back again to the floor.
+
+"I know, I know," he replied unsteadily. "I disclosed my secret to but
+one person in the world." And as I held my peace wondering, he flashed
+on me a tortured face. "Don't force me to give the name!" he cried.
+"Think! Think, Morrice! Who should I have told? Who should I have
+told?"
+
+The words seemed wrung from his soul. I understood what that first
+outburst meant when the gaoler had bidden me enter, and my gorge rose
+against this woman who could make such foul sport of her lover's
+trust. He read my thought in my face, and though he might upbraid his
+mistress himself, he would not suffer me to do the same.
+
+"You must not blame her," he said earnestly, laying a hand upon my
+knee. "Blame me! Blame us who wantoned the days away at Whitehall, and
+cloyed the very air with our flatteries. You chose the right part,
+Morrice, a man's part--work. As for us," he resumed his restless walk
+about the chamber, beating one clenched fist into the palm of the
+other, "as for us, a new fashion, a new dance, were our studies,
+cajoling women our work. The divine laws were sneered at, trampled
+down. They were meet for the ragged who had nought but hope in the
+next world to comfort them for their humiliation in this. But we--we
+who had silk to wear and money to spend, we needed a different creed.
+Sin was our God, and we worshipped and honoured it openly. When I
+think of it I, a Catholic, can find it in my heart to wish that
+Monmouth's cause had won. No, Morrice, you must not blame her. The
+fault is ours, and I am rightly punished for my share in it. Constancy
+was a burgess virtue, fit for a tradesman. We despised it in
+ourselves; what right had we to expect it in the women we surrounded?"
+
+He checked his vehement flow abruptly, and came and stood over me.
+
+"And yet, Morrice," he said, with a smile that was infinitely tender
+and sad, "and yet I loved her, with a sweet purity in the love, and a
+humble thankfulness for the knowledge of it, loved her as any country
+bumpkin might love the girl who rakes a furrow at his side."
+
+"And in return," I said bitterly, "she betrayed you to Count
+Lukstein?"
+
+He nodded "yes," and sat down again on his bench.
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Long before the duel. She had no suspicion of the consequences of her
+words," he said hastily. "She had no hand in this plot."
+
+"Why?" I repeated.
+
+He looked at me, imploring mercy.
+
+"I understand," said I.
+
+"Ah, no!" he said quickly; "your suspicions outstrip the truth. I
+think so," and again with a curiously pleading voice, "I think so. The
+man purred more softly than the rest, and so she----"
+
+He broke off in the middle of the sentence and began anew.
+
+"I must lay the whole truth bare, I see that. Only the shame of it
+cuts into me like a knife."
+
+He paused, and great beads of sweat broke out upon his forehead.
+
+"I have told you that my dispute with Lukstein was no more than the
+pretext of our quarrel. She was the cause. How long their acquaintance
+had lasted I know not, or to what length of intimacy it had gone.
+Lukstein was as secret as a cat, and he taught her his duplicity.
+'Twas I, myself, presented him to her formally when he came first to
+the Hotwell, but I think now the pair had met before in London. 'Twere
+too long to describe how my fears were aroused--an exchange of glances
+noted here, a letter in his hand dropped from a sachet there, a
+certain guarded hesitation she evinced when Lukstein and I were both
+with her, a word carelessly dropped showing knowledge of his
+movements; all trifles in themselves, but summed together a very
+weighty argument. So on the morning of the ninth, worn out with
+disquiet, I resolved to bring the matter to an issue, and I rode over
+to St. Vincent's rock. Lukstein was seated at an escritoire as I
+entered the room. I saw his face blanch and his hand fly to an open
+drawer, close, and lock it. He rose to greet me, and drew me to the
+window, which pleased me the more for that a bell stood upon the
+escritoire. I got between him and the bell and taxed him with his
+treachery. He denied it, larding me with friendly protestations. I
+backed to the escritoire and repeated the charge. He laughed at me for
+my unmanly lack of faith. With a sudden wrench I tore open the locked
+drawer. He bounded towards the bell; my sword was at his breast, and
+we stood watching one another while I rummaged with my left hand in
+the drawer.
+
+"'You shall pay for this,' says he, very softly.
+
+"'One of us will pay,' says I.
+
+"'Yes, you! You!' and he smiled, with his lips drawn back so that I
+saw the gums of his teeth on both jaws. If only I had known what he
+meant! I had him there at my sword's point. I had but to lean forward
+on my arm!
+
+"'Get back to the window!' I ordered, and he obeyed me with an
+affected jauntiness. Out of the drawer I drew a small gold box of an
+oval shape. I had given it but a fortnight agone to--to----you will
+understand; and it contained my miniature. The box fastened with a lock,
+and I forgot to ask him for the key. He has it still. There were letters
+besides in the drawer, and I made him burn them before my eyes. Then I
+took my leave, and sent my seconds."
+
+"Are you sure the box was the same?" I asked, when he had done. He
+slipped his hand into his pocket, and brought it out and placed it in
+my hand. His coat of arms was emblazoned on the cover.
+
+"Keep it!" he said. I tried the lid, but the box was locked.
+
+"Until I recover the key," I answered, and we clasped hands.
+
+"Thank you!" he said simply. "Thank you!"
+
+The smell of the Cumberland gorse was in my nostrils, my friend lay
+before me traitorously fettered, and this poor, belated adjustment of
+his wrong seemed the very right and fitting function of the love I
+bore for him. There was, however, still one point on which I still
+felt need to be assured.
+
+For I knew the timidity of my nature, and I was minded to leave no
+fissure in this wall of evidence through which after-doubts might leak
+to sap my resolution.
+
+"And the proof?" I asked. "The proof that she informed Count
+Lukstein."
+
+"She confessed that to me herself. She came to me here on the evening
+of the day that I was taken."
+
+I placed the gold box in the fob of my waistcoat, and as I did so I
+felt a book. I drew it out, wondering what it might be. 'Twas the
+small copy of Horace which I had thrust there unwittingly when I
+waited for the doctor's report at Leyden. I held it in my hands and
+turned over the pages idly.
+
+"Count Lukstein has left Bristol," I said.
+
+"Ay; he got little good out of his treachery beyond the saving of
+his carcase. But he left his servant here--Otto Krax. That is why I
+bade you come disguised. He knew I could not make the matter public
+for--for her sake. But I suppose that he feared I might reveal it to
+some friend if the trial went against me, entrust to him the just work
+I am forced to leave undone. Perchance he had some hint of Swasfield's
+departure; I know not. This only I know: Krax has been at Vincott's
+heels, keeping close watch on all who passed in with him to me; and
+should he find out that you had come from Holland in this great haste,
+it might prove an ill day's work for you, and, in any case, Lukstein
+would be forewarned."
+
+"He lives in the Tyrol?"
+
+"At Schloss Lukstein, six miles to the east of Glurns, in the valley
+of the Adige. But, Morrice, he is master there. The spot is remote,
+there's no one to gainsay him. You must needs be careful. He hath no
+love for honest dealing, and you had best take him privately."
+
+He spoke with so sombre a warning in his tone that the shadows
+appeared to darken about the room.
+
+"He is cunning," Julian went on; "you must match him in cunning. Nay,
+over-match him, for he has power as well."
+
+"You have visited this castle?"
+
+"Yes. 'Tis built in two wings which run from east to west, and north
+to south, and form a right angle at the north-east corner. At the
+extreme end of the latter wing there is a tower; a window opens on to
+the terrace from a small room in this tower. There are but two doors
+in the room; that on the left gives on to a passage which leads to the
+main hall. The servants sleep on the far side of the hall. The other
+door opens on to a narrow stairway which mounts to the Count's
+bedroom. 'Tis his habit of a night to sit in this small room."
+
+"I understand. And the entrance to this terrace?"
+
+"That is the danger, for the place is built upon a rock sheer and
+precipitous. However, there is one spot where the ascent may be
+contrived. I discovered the way by chance. The climb is hazardous, yet
+not more so than some that we attacked out of mere sport on Scafell
+crags. Ah, me! Morrice, those were the best days of my life. I wonder
+whether 'twill be the same with you!"
+
+Something like a shiver ran through me, but before I could answer him
+the key grated in the lock and the door was flung open. I turned, and
+saw in the shadow of the entrance the sombre figure of a priest. He
+was tall, and the cassock which robed him in black from head to foot
+made him show yet taller. In his hand he held a gleaming crucifix. He
+raised it above his head as he crossed the threshold, and in the
+twilight of the room it shone like a silver flame.
+
+Julian sprang from his bench; his shoulder caught the bracket, the
+lamp rocked once or twice, and then crashed to the ground. In the
+darkness no one spoke; the rustle of our breathing was marked like the
+ticking of a clock.
+
+After a while the gaoler fetched in a taper. Julian looked at me in
+some embarrassment The priest waited patiently by the door, and it was
+impossible for us to renew our discourse. In rising, however, I had
+let fall the Horace on to the floor, and the book lay open at my feet.
+Julian caught sight of it, and a plan occurred to him. He fumbled in
+his pocket for a pencil, picked the volume up, and drew a rapid sketch
+upon the open page.
+
+"That will make all clear," he remarked.
+
+I took the book from him, and we clasped hands for the last time.
+
+"At this hour to-morrow?" he said, with a little catch in his voice. I
+was still holding his hand. I could feel the blood beating in his
+fingers. At this hour to-morrow! It seemed incredible. "Morrice!" he
+cried, clinging to me, and his voice was the voice of a child crying
+out in the black of the night. In a moment he recovered his calm, and
+dropped my hand. I made my reverence to the priest, and the door
+clanged to between us.
+
+Vincott was waiting for me at the foot of the stairs, and we hurried
+silently to the gates. The porter came forward to let us out, but I
+noticed that he fumbled with his keys which he carried upon an iron
+ring. He tried first one and then another in the lock, as though he
+knew not which fitted it. His ignorance struck me as strange until
+Vincott pulled me by the sleeve.
+
+"Turn your back to the hutch," he whispered suddenly. Instinct made me
+face it instead, and I perceived, gazing curiously into my face, the
+very man who had tracked Vincott in the afternoon: Otto Krax, as I now
+knew him to be, Count Lukstein's servant. So startled was I by the
+unexpected sight of him that I let the volume of Horace fall from my
+fingers to the ground. On the instant he ran forward and picked it up.
+I snatched it from his hand before he could do more than glance at its
+cover, whereupon he made me a polite bow and returned to the
+embrasure. At last the porter succeeded in opening the door, and we
+got us into the street. Vincott was for upbraiding me at first in that
+I followed not his directions, but I cut him short roughly, and bade
+him hold his peace. For the world seemed very strange and empty, and I
+had no heart for talking. So we walked in silence back towards the
+inn.
+
+Of a sudden, however, Vincott stopped.
+
+"Listen!" he whispered.
+
+I strained my ears until they ached. Behind us, in the quiet of the
+night, I could hear footsteps creeping and stealthy, not very far
+away. Vincott drew me into an angle of the wall, and we waited there
+holding our breaths. The footsteps slid nearer and nearer. Never since
+have I heard a sound which so filled me with terror. The haunting
+secrecy of their approach had something in it which chilled the
+blood--the sound of a man on the trail. He passed no more than six
+feet from where we stood. It was Otto Krax; and we remained until we
+could hear him no more. Vincott wiped his forehead.
+
+"If he had stopped in front of us," I said, "I should have cried out."
+
+"And by the Lord," said he, "I should have done no less."
+
+A hundred yards further on, Vincott stopped again.
+
+"He has found out his mistake," he exclaimed in a low, quavering
+voice.
+
+We listened again; the footsteps were returning swiftly, but with the
+same quiet stealth.
+
+"Quick!" said Vincott, "against the wall!"
+
+"No," said I, "he is tracking along the side of it. Let us face and
+pass him."
+
+We walked on at a good pace, and made no effort at concealment. The
+man stopped as soon as we had gone by, turned, and came after us. My
+heart raced in my breast. He quickened his pace and drew level.
+
+"Tis a strange time for women to run these streets." He spoke with a
+guttural accent, and his face leered over my shoulder. In a passion of
+fear I swung my arm free from the cloak, and hit at the face with all
+my strength. The dress I was wearing ripped at the shoulder as though
+you had torn a sheet of brown paper. My blow by good fortune caught
+him in the neck at the point where the jaw curves up into the cheek,
+and he fell heavily to the ground, his head striking full upon a
+rounded cobble. I waited to see no more, but tucked up my skirts and
+ran as though the fiend were at my heels, with Vincott panting behind
+me. We never halted until we had reached the alley which led to the
+back-door of the inn.
+
+I invited Vincott to come in with me and recruit his energies with a
+second dose of Bristol milk.
+
+"No! no!" he returned. "'Tis late already, and you have to start
+betimes in the morning."
+
+"There is the ceiling," I suggested.
+
+He laughed softly.
+
+"Mr. Buckler, I exaggerated its beauties," he said, "and I fear me if
+I went in with you I should be forced to repeat my error. It is just
+that which I wish to avoid."
+
+"There are other and indifferent topics," I replied, "on which we
+might speak frankly." For a change had come over my spirit, and I
+dreaded to be left alone. Vincott shook his head.
+
+"We should not find our tongues would talk of them."
+
+However, he made no motion of departure, but stood scraping a toe
+between the stones. Then I heard him chuckle to himself.
+
+"That was a good blow, my friend," he said; "a good, clean blow, pat
+on the angle of the jaw. I would never have credited you with the
+strength for it. The man has been a plaguy nuisance to me, and the
+blow was a very soothing compensation. Only conduct your undertaking
+with the like energy throughout, and I do believe----" He pulled
+himself up suddenly.
+
+"What do you believe?" I asked.
+
+"I believe," he replied sententiously, "that Lucy will need a new
+Sunday gown;" and he turned on his heel and marched out of the alley.
+
+The next morning came a foreigner to the inn, and made inquiry
+concerning a woman who had stayed there over-night. Lucy, faithful to
+her promise, stoutly declared that no woman had rested in the house
+for so little as an hour, and, not content with that asseveration, she
+must needs go on to enforce her point by assuring him that the inn had
+given shelter to but one traveller, and that traveller a man. But the
+traveller by this time was well upon his way to London, and so learnt
+nothing of the inquiry until long afterwards.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER V.
+
+                 I JOURNEY TO THE TYROL AND HAVE SOME
+                    DISCOURSE WITH COUNT LUKSTEIN.
+
+
+Dew jewelling the grasses in the fields, the chatter of birds among
+the trees, a sparkling freshness in the air, and before me the road,
+running white into the gold of the rising sun. But behind! On the top
+of St. Michael's hill, outlined black against the pearly western sky,
+rose the gaunt cross-trees of the gallows. 'Twas the last glimpse I
+had of Bristol, and I lingered as one horribly fascinated until the
+picture was embedded in my heart.
+
+In London I tarried but so long as sufficed for me to repair the
+deficiencies of my dress, since my very linen was now become unsightly
+and foul, and, riding to Gravesend, took ship for Rotterdam.
+
+I had determined to join Larke with me in my undertaking, for I
+bethought me of his craving for strange paths and adventures, and
+hoped to discover in him a readiness of wit which would counteract my
+own scrupulous hesitancy. For this I implicitly believed: that it was
+not so much the wariness that Julian bespoke which would procure
+success, as the instinct of opportunity, the power, I mean, at once to
+grasp the fitting occasion when it presented, and to predispose one's
+movements in the way best calculated to bring about its presentment.
+In this quality I knew myself to be deficient. 'Twas ever my
+misfortune to confuse the by-ways with the high-road. I would waste
+the vital moment in deliberation as to which was shortest, and alas!
+the path I chose in the end more often than not turned out to be a
+_cul-de-sac_.
+
+In the particular business in which I was engaged such overweening
+prudence would be like to nullify my purpose, and further, destroy
+both Jack and myself. For beyond a description of Count Lukstein's
+person which I had from Julian some while ago, I knew nothing but what
+he had told me in the prison; and that knowledge was too scanty to
+serve as the foundation for even the flimsiest plan. The region, the
+Castle, the aggregate of servants, and their manner of life--it
+behoved me to have certain information on all these particulars were I
+to prearrange a mode of attack. As things were, I must needs lie in
+ambush for chance, and seize it with all speed when it passed our way.
+
+At Leyden I found Jack, very glum and melancholy, poring over a folio
+of Shakespeare. 'Twas the single author whom he favoured, and he read
+his works with perpetual interest and delight. "This is the book of
+deeds," he would say, smacking a fist upon the cover. "There is but
+one bad play in it, and that is the tragedy of _Hamlet_. The good
+Prince is too speculative a personage."
+
+"You reached Bristol in time?" he asked, springing up as I entered the
+room.
+
+"In time; but not a moment too soon," I replied, and sat mum.
+
+"Then Sir Julian Harnwood is safe?"
+
+"No! There was never a hope of that."
+
+The old smile, half amusement, half contempt, flashed upon his lips;
+the old envy looked out from his eyes. I, of course, had bungled where
+a man of vigour might have accomplished.
+
+"It was not for that end that he sent for me," I hastened to add, and
+then I stuck. I had determined to relate to Jack forthwith the story
+of my mission, and to engage his assistance, but the actual sight of
+him overturned my intentions. I felt tongue-tied; I dared not tell him
+lest my resolution should trickle away in the telling; for I read upon
+his face his poor estimation of my powers, and I dreaded the ridicule
+of his comments upon my unfitness for the task to which I had set my
+hand. I had sufficient doubts of my own upon that score. Indeed, since
+I had entered the room, they had buzzed about me importunate as a
+cloud of gnats; for Larke had never been sparing of his homilies upon
+my incapacity. I think every article I possessed, at one time or
+another, had been twisted into a text for them; and now they all came
+flocking back to me, as my eyes ranged over the familiar objects they
+had been based upon. They seemed, in truth, to saturate the very air.
+
+Hence, I confided to Larke no more than the fact of our journey into
+the Tyrol; its reason and purpose I kept secret to myself. And to this
+self-distrust, trivial matter though it was, I owed my subsequent
+misfortunes. It was the first link in the chain of disaster, and I
+forged it myself unwittingly.
+
+"Jack," said I, "you were ever fond of adventures. One lies at your
+door."
+
+"Of what kind?" he asked.
+
+"A journey into the Tyrol."
+
+"For what purpose?"
+
+"I cannot tell you. You must trust me if you come."
+
+He looked at me doubtfully.
+
+"Your life will be risked," I urged; "I can gratify you so far."
+
+He closed the Shakespeare with a bang.
+
+"When do we start?"
+
+"As soon as ever we are prepared. To-morrow."
+
+"'Twere a pity to waste a day."
+
+I assured him that so far from wasting it, we should have much ado to
+get off even the next morning. For there were a couple of stout horses
+to be purchased, besides numberless other arrangements to be made. The
+horses we bought of a dealer in the Rapenburg, and then, enlisting the
+fencing-master to aid us, we sought the shop of an armourer in the
+Hout-Straat. From him we bought a long sword and a brace of pistols
+each, whereupon Larke declared that we were equipped cap-a-pie, and
+loudly protested against further hindrance. I insisted, however, in
+adding a pair of long cloaks of a heavier cloth than any we possessed,
+and divers other warm garments. For we were now in the last days of
+September, and I knew that winter comes apace in upland countries like
+the Tyrol. Then there were maps to be procured, and a route to be
+pricked out, so that it was late in the evening before we had
+completed our preparations.
+
+Meanwhile I inquired of Larke how it had fared with Swasfield. It
+appeared that it was not until some hours after I had ridden off that
+the man regained his senses, and then he was still too weak to amplify
+his tidings; in fact, he had only recovered sufficiently to depart
+from Leyden two days before I returned. Doubtless to some extent his
+convalescence was retarded by grief for that he had not fulfilled his
+errand. For he was ever lamenting the omission of his message, and
+more particularly of that portion which referred to the road between
+Bristol and London. For swift horses had been stabled at intervals of
+fifteen miles along the whole stretch, and in order to make sure that
+no one but myself should have the profit of them, as Swasfield said,
+or rather, as I think, in order that my name might not transpire if
+Count Lukstein's spies were watching the road and became suspicious at
+this posting of relays, it was arranged that they should be delivered
+only to the man who passed the word "Wastwater," that being the name
+of the lake in Cumberland on which my lands abutted.
+
+Of our journey into the Tyrol I have but faint recollections. We set
+off the next morning with no more impediments than we could carry in
+valises fixed upon our saddles. Even Udal, my body-servant, I left
+behind, for he had neither liking nor aptitude for foreign tongues, a
+few scraps of French and a meagre knowledge of Dutch forced on him by
+his residence in the country, being all that he possessed. He would,
+therefore, have only hindered our progress, and, besides, I had no
+great faith in his discretion. I was minded, accordingly, to secure
+some foreigner in Strasbourg who would think we were engaged upon a
+tour of pleasure; which I did, and dismissed him at Innspruck.
+
+For the rest I rode with little attention or regard for the provinces
+through which we passed. The very cities wherein we slept seemed the
+cities of a dream, so that now I am like one who strives to piece
+together memories of a journey taken in early childhood. An alley of
+trees recurs to me, the shine of stars in a midnight sky, or, again,
+the comfortable figure of a Boniface; but the images are confused and
+void of suggestion, for I rode eyes shut and hands clenched, as a
+coward rides in the press of battle.
+
+At times, indeed, when we halted, I would turn industriously to my
+Horace. The book had fallen open at the Palinodia when I dropped it in
+the prison, so that Julian's sketch was on the page opposite to the
+date September 14. I append here the diagram which was to enable me to
+find an entrance into the Castle, and it will be seen that I had much
+excuse for studying it. In truth, I could make neither head nor tail
+of its signification.
+
+[Illustration: Outline of Lukstein Castle]
+
+
+'Twas ever this outline of Lukstein Castle that I pondered, though
+Jack knew it not, and when he beheld the book in my hands would gaze
+at me with a troubled look of distrust. On the instant I would fall
+miserably to taking count of myself. "Here are you," I would object to
+myself, "a bookish student of a mean stature and a dilatory mind. You
+have faced no weapon more deadly than a buttoned foil, and you would
+compel a man of great strength and indubitable cunning to a mortal
+encounter in the privacy of his own house, that is, supposing you are
+not previously done to death by his serfs, which is most like to
+happen." Then would my courage, a very ricketty bantling, make weak
+protest: "You faced a blunderbuss and a volley of slugs, and you were
+not afraid." "But," I would answer hotly, "you did not face them, you
+were running away. Besides, you had called your assailant a potatoe,
+and therefore had already a contempt for him. This time it is you who
+will be the potatoe, as you will most surely discover when Count
+Lukstein spits you on his skewer;" and so I would get me wretchedly to
+bed.
+
+There were, indeed, but two thoughts which served to console me. In
+the first place, I was sensible that I had acquired some dexterity
+with the foils, and if I could but imagine a button on the point of
+the Count's sword I might hope to hold my own. In the second, I
+remembered very clearly a remark of Julian's. "The man's a coward," he
+had said, and I hugged the sentence to my breast. I repeated the
+words, indeed, until they fell into the cadence of a rhythm and lost
+all meaning and comfort for me, sounding hollow, like the tapping of
+an empty nut.
+
+Of what Larke suffered during that period I had no suspicion, but from
+subsequent hints I gather that his distress, though based upon far
+other grounds, was no whit inferior to my own. His behaviour, indeed,
+when I came to consider it, revealed to me new and amiable aspects of
+his character; for while he firmly disbelieved in my ability to
+captain an expedition, he never once pestered me for an explanation. I
+had entrusted the purse to his care, and at each town he made the
+arrangements for our stay, looked after the welfare of our horses, and
+in short, took modestly upon himself the troublesome conduct of our
+travels. Knowing nothing of my purpose but its danger, and distrustful
+of its achievement, he yet rode patiently forward, humming ever a
+French song, of which the refrain ran, I remember:
+
+
+              Que toutes joies et toutes honneurs
+              Viennent d'armes et d'amours.
+
+
+For he possessed that delicate gift of sympathy which keeps the friend
+silent when the acquaintance multiplies his questions.
+
+Thus we journeyed for over a month. It was, I fancy, on the 12th
+November that we reached the town of Innspruck, the weather very
+shrewd and bitter, for snow had fallen in great quantities, and a
+cutting wind blew from the hills. That night I told my companion of
+our destination, but disclosed no more of the business than that I had
+a private message for Count Lukstein's ear, which must needs be
+delivered secretly if we were to save our lives. We stayed here for
+two days that we might rest our horses, and early on the 14th set off
+for Glurns, which lay some eighty miles away in a broad valley they
+called the Vintschgau. The snow, however, was massed very deep, and
+though the road was sound, for it was the highway into Italy, we did
+not come up with the village until two o'clock on the third afternoon.
+Beyond Glurns the road traversed the valley in a diagonal line through
+a dreary avenue of stunted limes, which in their naked leaflessness
+looked in the distance like a palisade. Into this avenue we passed,
+and were well-nigh across the dale and under its northern barrier of
+mountains, when Larke suddenly reined up.
+
+"'Childe Roland to the dark tower came,'" he sang out. "Heaven send
+there be no one to complete the quotation!"
+
+I followed the direction of his gaze. Right ahead of us the Castle,
+the rock whereon it was pinnacled, and the village, huddled on a
+little plateau at its base, stood out from the hillside like a black
+stain upon the snow. A carriage-way, diverging from our road a hundred
+yards farther on, ran up towards it in long zigzags, and to this point
+we advanced.
+
+"Look!" suddenly cried Larke. "We are not the first to visit the
+worthy Count to-day."
+
+From both directions carriages or sledges had turned into this track,
+so that the snow at its entrance was trampled by the hoofs of horses,
+and cut by intersecting curves.
+
+"'Tis not certain," I said, "that the marks were made to-day."
+
+"It is," he replied, "else would the ruts have frozen."
+
+The thought that the Count had company doubled my disquiet. For there
+was the less chance of finding him alone, and I was anxious to have
+done with the matter.
+
+The first angle made by the zigzags was thickly covered with a boskage
+of pines. Into this we led our horses, and fastening them in the heart
+of it where the trees were most dense, we crept towards the west
+corner. At this point the track bent back upon itself and mounted
+eastwards to the border of the village, turned again, threading the
+houses at the bottom of the cliff, struck up thence at a right angle
+in a clear, open stretch beneath the west face of the rock, and
+finally curved round at the back to the gates. For the entrance to the
+Castle fronted the hillside and not the valley.
+
+I took my Horace from my pocket, and in an instant the diagram became
+intelligible to me. The long curving line represented the road, and
+the way of ascent, marked by the cross, was to be found on the western
+wall of rock, and above the open stretch of road. Of this we now
+commanded an unimpeded view, for the corner of the road at which we
+stood was situate to the west of the Castle.
+
+"I see it!" I exclaimed, and I handed the book to Larke.
+
+"So this is the secret of the poet's fascination," he answered. "But I
+see no path. The cliff is as smooth as an egg-shell, save for that one
+projecting rib."
+
+"That is the path," I replied.
+
+A shoulder of rock with a ribbon of snow upon its ridge jutted out
+from the summit of the cliff, and descended in an unbroken line to the
+road.
+
+"'Tis impossible to ascend that," said he. "We should break our necks
+for a surety or ever we were half-way up."
+
+"It shows steeper than it is," I answered. "We are not well-placed for
+judging of its incline; for that we should see it in profile. But
+where snow lies, there a man may climb."
+
+Jack raised no further objection; but ever and again I noticed him
+gazing at me with a puzzled expression upon his face. We crouched down
+in the undergrowth until such time as the night should fall, blowing
+on our fingers and pressing close against each other for warmth's
+sake. But 'twas of little use; my body tingled with cold, and I began
+to think my muscles would be frozen stiff, before the darkness gave us
+leave to move. The valley, moreover, looked singularly mournful and
+desolate in its shroud of white. As far as the eye could travel not a
+living thing could be seen, nor could the ear detect a sound. The
+region brooded in a sinister silence. I verily believe that I should
+have loosed my horse and fled but for the presence of my companion.
+
+Jack, however, was in no higher spirits than myself, and from the
+continual glances of his eyes I think that he was infected with a
+wholesome fear of the rib of rock. At last the dusk fell; the lights
+began to twinkle in the village and in the upper windows of the
+Castle. For a wall, broken here and there by round turrets, circled
+about the edge of the cliff and hid the lower storey from our sight.
+
+We looked to the priming of our pistols, buckled our swords tighter
+about the waist, shook the snow from our cloaks, and cautiously
+stepped out on to the path. At the edge of the village we stopped.
+'Twas but one street; but that very narrow and busy. Not a moment
+passed but a door opened, and a panel of orange light was thrown
+across the gloom, and the figures of men and women were seen passing
+and repassing. The village was astir and humming like a hive. But
+there was no other way. For on our right rose the tooth of rock in a
+sheer scarp; on our left the ground broke steeply away at the backs of
+the houses.
+
+"We must make a dash for it," said Larke. We waited until the street
+cleared for a moment, and then ran between the houses as fast as our
+legs would carry us. The snow deadened the sound of our feet, and we
+were well-nigh through the village when Larke tripped over a hillock
+and stumbled forward on his face with a curse. The next instant I
+dropped down beside him, and covering his mouth with my hand, forced
+him prone to the ground. For barely twenty feet ahead a door had
+suddenly opened, and a man dressed in the jacket and short breeches of
+the Tyroler came out on to the path. He stood with his back towards us
+and exchanged some jest with the inmates of the house, and I
+recognised his voice. I had heard it no more than once, it is true,
+but the occasion had fixed the sound of it for ever in my memories. It
+was the voice of the spy who had tracked us in the streets of Bristol.
+He turned towards the door, so that the light streamed full upon his
+face, shouted a "God be with you," and strode off in the direction of
+the Castle. The sight of him left me no room for doubt. That he had
+outstripped us caused me, indeed, little surprise, for we had
+travelled by a devious way, and had, moreover, delayed here and there
+upon the road.
+
+Larke commenced to sputter and cough.
+
+"Quiet!" I whispered, for the man was yet within hearing.
+
+"Loose your hand, then!" he returned. "Tis easy enough to say quiet,
+but 'tis not so easy to choke quietly."
+
+In my fluster I was holding his head tightly pressed into the snow, so
+that he could only have caught the barest glimpse of the man.
+
+"Who was it?" he asked.
+
+"One of Lukstein's servants."
+
+"You know him?"
+
+"I have seen him, and he has seen me. Maybe he would know me again."
+
+We got safely quit of the houses and turned into the upward stretch of
+road, towards the buttress of rock. It jutted out across our path, and
+was plainly distinguishable, for the night was pure and clean, and
+appeared to be tinctured with a vague light from the snow-fields. I
+noticed, too, that on the far side of the valley a pale radiance was
+welling over the brim of the hills with promise of the moon. 'Twas a
+very sweet sight to me, since climbing an unknown rock-ridge in the
+dark hath little to commend it, unless it be necessity.
+
+At the foot of the rib we halted and prepared to ascend. But nowhere
+could I find a cranny for my fingers or a knob for my boot. The
+surface was indeed, as Jack had said, as smooth as an egg-shell. I
+stepped back to the outer edge of the road and examined it as
+thoroughly as was possible.
+
+For the first twelve feet it was absolutely perpendicular; above that
+point it began to slope. It was as though the lowest portion of the
+rib had been cut purposely away.
+
+And then I remembered! Julian had spoken only of a descent. Now a man
+may drop twelve feet and come to no harm, but once at the bottom he
+must bide there. There was but one way out of the difficulty, and
+luckily Larke's shoulders were broad.
+
+"You must lend me your back," I said. "I will haul you up after me."
+
+He planted himself firmly against the rock, with his legs apart, and I
+climbed up his back on to his shoulders.
+
+"You teach me mercy to my horse," he said quietly.
+
+"Why? What have I done?" I asked. "Jabbed your spurs into my thighs
+and stood on them," he replied in a matter-of-fact voice. "But 'tis
+all one. Blood was meant to be spilled."
+
+Being now more than five feet from the ground, I was able to worm my
+fingers into a crack at the point where the ridge began to incline,
+and so hoist myself on to an insecure footing. But it was utterly
+beyond my power to drag Larke after me, for the snow was thin and
+shallow, and underneath it the rock loose and shattered. I should most
+surely have been pulled over had I made the attempt. I ascended the
+ridge in the hope of discovering a more stable position, whence I
+could lower my cloak to my companion. But 'twas all slabs at a pretty
+steep slope, with here and there little breaks and ledges. I could
+just crawl up on my belly, but I could do no more. There was never a
+yard of level where you could secure a solid grip of the feet. So I
+climbed back again and leaned over the edge.
+
+"Jack," I said, "I can't give you a helping hand. It would mean a
+certain fall."
+
+"I shall need little help, Morrice--very little," he answered, in a
+tone of entreaty.
+
+"I can't even give you that. The ridge is too insecure."
+
+"Ah! Don't say that!" he burst out "You have not come all these miles
+to be turned back by a foot or two of rock. It is absurd! It is worse
+than absurd. It is cowardly."
+
+"Hush!" I whispered gently. For I could gauge his disappointment, and
+gauging it, could pardon his railing, "I have no thought of turning
+back."
+
+"Then what will you do? Morrice, this is no time for dreaming! What
+will you do?"
+
+"Jack," I said, "you and I must part company. I must win through this
+trouble by myself."
+
+I heard something like a sob; it was the only answer he made.
+
+"Wait for me by the horses in the wood! Give me till dawn, but not a
+moment longer! If I am not with you then--well, 'tis the long good-bye
+betwixt you and me, Jack, and you had best ride for your life."
+
+Again he made no answer. For a moment I fancied that he had stolen
+away in a fury, and I craned my head over the rock, so that I could
+look down into the road. He was standing motionless with bent
+shoulders just beneath me.
+
+"Jack!" I called. For it might well be the last time I should speak to
+him. We had been good friends, and I would not have him part from me
+in anger. "There is no other way. It can't be helped."
+
+He turned up his face towards me, but it was too dark for me to read
+its expression.
+
+"Very well, Morrice," he said, and there was no resentment in his
+tone. "I will wait for your coming, and God send you come!"
+
+And with a dull, heavy step he walked back along the path.
+
+I turned and set my face to the cliff. After a while the ridge widened
+out, and the snow overlaid it more firmly, insomuch that a surefoot
+might have walked along by day. In the uncertain light, however--for
+the moon as yet hung low in a gap of the hills--I dared not venture
+it, and crept up on my hands and knees, testing carefully each tooth
+of rock or ever I trusted my weight to its stability. Towards the
+summit the rib thinned again to a sharp edge, and I was forced to
+straddle up it as best I could, with a leg dangling on either side.
+Altogether, what with the obstacles which the climb presented, and the
+numbing of my fingers, since the snow quickly soaked through my
+gloves, I made my way but slowly.
+
+At the top I found myself face to face with the Castle wall, which was
+some ten feet in height, and quite solid and uncrumbled. Between it
+and the rim of the crag, however, was a strip of level ground about
+half a yard broad, and I determined to follow it round until I should
+reach some angle at which it would be possible to climb the wall. On
+this strip the snow was heavily piled, and for security's sake I got
+me again to my hands and knees, flogging a path before me with the
+scabbard of my sword. I began to fear that I might be foiled in my
+endeavour for want of a companion; for again I bethought me, Julian
+only descended, and a man might drop from any portion of the wall,
+whereas the scaling of it was a different matter. I proceeded in the
+opposite direction to the Castle gates, and so came out above the
+south face of the precipice. Below me the houses of Lukstein village
+glimmered like a cluster of glow-worms; I had merely to roll over to
+fall dump among the roof-tops. I could even hear a faint murmur of
+brawling voices, and once I caught a plaintive snatch of song. For in
+that still, windless air sounds rose like bubbles in a clear pool of
+water.
+
+The wall on my left curved and twisted with the indents of the cliff,
+and a little more than halfway across the face I came to a spot where
+it ran in and out at a sharp angle. Moreover, one of the turrets which
+I had remarked from the wood bulged out from the line, and made of
+this angle a sort of crevice. Into the corner I thrust my back, and
+working my elbows and knees, with some help from the roughness of the
+stones, I managed to mount on to the parapet. The Castle lay stretched
+before me. In front stood the main body of the building; to my right a
+shorter wing, ending in a tower, jutted off towards the wall on which
+I lay. A broad terrace, enclosing in the centre a patch of lawn,
+separated me from the building.
+
+I fixed my eyes upon the tower. The window of the lower room was dark,
+and, strangely enough, 'twas the only window dark in the house. From
+the upper room there shone a faint gleam as of a lamp ill-trimmed. But
+all the other windows in the chief facade and the more distant part of
+this wing blazed out into the night. I could see passing figures
+shadowed upon the curtains, and music floated forth on a ripple of
+laughter, gavotte being linked to minuet and pavane in an endless
+melody.
+
+Every now and then some couple dainty with ribbons and jewels would
+step out from the porch, and with low voices and pensive steps pace
+the terrace until the cold froze the sweetness from their talk. They
+were plain to me, for the moon was riding high, and revealed even the
+nooks of the garden. Indeed, the only obscure corner was that in which
+I lay concealed. For a little pavilion leaned against the wall hard by
+me, and cast a deep shadow over the coping.
+
+But I hardly needed even that protection to screen me from these
+truants. I might have stood visible in the lawn's centre, and yet been
+asked no question. For such as braved the frost came not out to spy
+for strangers; their eyes sought each other with too intimate an
+insistance.
+
+I had indeed timed my visit ill. The revels of the village were being
+repeated in the Castle.
+
+The sharp contrast of my particular purpose forced its reality grimly
+upon me, and made this vigil one long agony. I had planned to tell
+Larke the true object of my coming during the hour or so we should
+have to wait, and to draw some solace from his companionship. Now,
+however, I was planted there alone with a message of death for my foe
+or for myself, and the glamour of life in my eyes, and it seemed to me
+that all the tedium of my journey had been held over for these hours
+of waiting.
+
+To cap my discomfort I found occasion to prove to myself that I was a
+most indisputable prig. I had often discoursed to Larke concerning the
+consolations to be drawn from the classics in moments of distress. Now
+I sought to practise the precept, and to that end lowered a bucket
+into the well of my memories. But alas! I hauled up naught but tags
+about Cerberus and Charon, and passages from the sixth book of Vergil.
+
+To tell the honest truth, I was dismally afraid. The very stars in the
+sky flashed sword-points at my breast, and the ice upon the hills
+glittered like breastplates of steel. Moreover, my hands were swollen
+and clumsy with the cold, and I dreaded lest I might lose the nervous
+flexibility of their muscles, and so the nice command of my sword. I
+stripped off my gloves which were freezing on my fingers, and thrust
+my hands inside my shirt to keep them warm against my skin.
+
+Somehow or another, however, the night wore through. The stars and the
+moon shifted across the mountains, the music began to falter into
+breaks, and the murmurs grew louder from the village. I heard sledges
+descend the road with a jingle of bells, first one, then another, then
+several in quick succession. Iron gates clanked on the far side of the
+Castle, the windows darkened, and finally a light sprang up in the
+lower of the chambers which I watched.
+
+I turned over on my face and dropped on to the snow. But my spurs
+rattled and clinked as I touched the ground, and I stooped down and
+loosed them from my feet. I cast a hurried glance around me. Not a
+shadow moved; the world seemed frozen to an eternal immobility. I
+crept across the lawn, up the terrace steps to the sill of the window,
+and peered into the room. It was small and luxuriously furnished, the
+roof, panels, and floor, being all of a polished and mellow pine-wood.
+Warm-coloured rugs and the skins of chamois were scattered on the
+floor, and four candles in heavy sconces blazed on the mantel. Sunning
+himself before the log-fire sat Count Lukstein. I knew him at once
+from Julian's account: a big, heavy-featured man with a loose dropping
+mouth. He was elaborately dressed in a suit of grey satin richly laced
+with silver, which seemed somewhat too airy and fanciful to befit the
+massive girth of his limbs. These he displayed to their full
+proportions, and the sight did little to enhearten me. For he sat with
+his legs stretched out and his arms clasped behind his head, the
+firelight playing gaily upon a sparkle of diamonds in his cravat.
+
+I noted the two doors of which Julian had spoken--that on my right
+leading to the bedroom, that on my left to the hall--and in particular
+a small writing-table which stood against the wall facing me. For a
+silver bell upon it caught the light of the candles and reflected it
+into my eyes. And I remembered Julian's story of his visit to the
+Hotwell.
+
+Whether it was that I rattled the frame of the window, or that chance
+turned the Count's looks my way, I know not; but he suddenly turned
+full towards me, My face was pressed flat to the glass. I drew back
+hastily into the shadow of the wall. One minute passed, two, three;
+the window darkened, and the Count, lifting his hands to his temples
+to shut out the light at his back, laid his forehead to the pane.
+Instinctively I clapped my hand to the pistol in my pocket and cocked
+it. The click of the hammer sounded loud in my ears as though I had
+exploded the charge. Count Lukstein flung open the window and set one
+foot outside.
+
+"Who is it?" he cried; and yet again, "who is it?"
+
+I drew a deep breath, stepped quickly past him into the room, and
+turned about. The two doors and the writing-table were now behind me.
+
+He staggered back from the window, and his hand dived at the hilt of
+his sword. But before he could draw it he raised his eyes to my face;
+he let go of his sword and stared in sheer bewilderment.
+
+"And in the devil's name," he asked, "who are you?"
+
+'Twas a humiliating moment for me. He spoke as a master might to an
+impudent schoolboy, and it was with a quavering schoolboy's treble
+that I answered him.
+
+"I am Morrice Buckler."
+
+"An Englishman?" he questioned, bending his brows suddenly; for we
+were speaking in German.
+
+"Of the county of Cumberland," I replied meekly. I felt as if I was
+repeating my catechism.
+
+"Then, Mr. Morrice Buckler, of the county of Cumberland," he began,
+with an exaggerated politeness. But I broke in upon him.
+
+"I have some knowledge of the county of Bristol, too," I said, with as
+much bravado as I could muster. But 'twas no great matter. The display
+would have disgraced a tavern bully.
+
+The words, however, served their turn. Just for a second, just long
+enough for me to perceive it, a startled look of fear flashed into his
+eyes, and his body seemed to shrink in bulk. Then he asked suddenly:
+
+"How came you here?"
+
+"By a path Sir Julian Harnwood told me of," says I.
+
+He stretched a finger towards the window.
+
+"Go!" he cried in a low voice. "Go!"
+
+I stood my ground, for I noted with a lively satisfaction that the
+quaver had passed from my voice into his.
+
+"Have a care, Master Buckler!" he continued. "You are no longer in
+England. You would do well to remember that. There are reasons why I
+would have no disturbance here to-night. There are reasons. But on my
+life, if you refuse to obey me, I will have you whipped from here by
+my servants."
+
+"Ah!" says I, "this is not the first time, Count Lukstein, that some
+one has stood between you and the bell."
+
+He cast a glance over my shoulder. I saw that he was going to shout,
+and I whipped out the pistol from my pocket.
+
+"If you shout," I said, "the crack of this will add little to the
+noise."
+
+"It would go ill with you if you fired it," he blustered.
+
+"It would go yet worse with you," I answered.
+
+And there we stood over against one another, the finest brace of
+cowards in Christendom, each seeking to overcome the other by a wordy
+braggadocio. Indeed, my forefinger so trembled on the trigger that I
+wonder the pistol did not go off and settle our quarrel out of hand.
+
+"What does it mean?" he burst out, screwing himself to a note of
+passion. "What does it mean? You skulk into my house like a thief."
+
+"The manner of my visit does in truth leave much to be desired," I
+conceded. "But for that you must thank your reputation."
+
+"It does, in truth," he returned, ignoring my last words. "It leaves
+much--very much. You see that yourself, Mr. Buckler. So, to-morrow!
+Return by the way you came, and come to me again tomorrow. We can talk
+at leisure. It is over-late to-night."
+
+"Nay, my lord," said I, drawing some solid comfort from the wheedling
+tone in which he spake. "Your servants will be abroad in the house
+tomorrow, and, as you were careful to remind me, I am not in England.
+I have waited for some six hours upon the parapet of your terrace, and
+I have no mind to let the matter drag to another day."
+
+His eyes shifted uneasily about the room; but ever they returned to
+the shining barrel of my pistol.
+
+"Well, well," said he at length, with a shrug of the shoulders, and a
+laugh that rang flat as a cracked guinea, "one must needs listen when
+the speaker holds a pistol at your head. Say your say and get it
+done."
+
+He flung himself into a chair which stood in the corner by the window.
+I sat me in the one from which he had risen, drawing it closer to the
+fire. A little table stood within arm's reach, and I pulled it up
+between us and laid my pistol on the edge.
+
+"I have come," said I, "upon Sir Julian Harnwood's part."
+
+"Pardon me!" he interrupted. "You will oblige me by speaking English,
+and by speaking it low."
+
+The request seemed strange, but 'twas all one to me what language we
+spoke so long as he understood.
+
+"Certainly," I answered. "I am here to undertake his share in the
+quarrel which he had with you, and to complete the engagement which
+was interrupted on the Kingsdown."
+
+"But, Mr. Buckler," he said, with some show of perplexity, "the
+quarrel was a private one. Wherein lies your right to meddle with the
+matter?"
+
+"I was Sir Julian's friend," I replied. "He knew the love I bore him,
+and laid this errand as his last charge upon it."
+
+"Really, really," said he, "both you and your friend seem strangely
+ill-versed in the conduct of gentlemen. You say Sir Julian laid this
+errand upon you. But I have your bare word for that. It is not enough.
+And even granting it to be true, my quarrel was with Sir Julian, not
+with you. One does not fight duels by proxy."
+
+He had recovered his composure, and spoke with an easy
+superciliousness.
+
+"My lord," I answered, stung by his manner, "I must ask you to get the
+better of that scruple, as I have of one far more serious, for, after
+all, one does not as a rule fight duels with murderers."
+
+He started forward in his chair as though he had been struck. I seized
+the butt of my pistol, for I fancied he was about to throw himself
+upon me.
+
+"I know more than you think," said I, nodding at him, "and this will
+prove it to you."
+
+I drew the oval gold box from my fob and tossed it on to his knees.
+His hands darted at it, and he turned it over and over in his palms,
+staring at the cover with white cheeks.
+
+"How got you this?" he asked hoarsely, and then remembering himself,
+"I know nothing of it. I know nothing of it."
+
+"Sir Julian gave it into my hands," said I. "I visited him in his
+prison on the evening of the 22nd September."
+
+He stared at me for a while, repeating "the 22nd September" like one
+busy over a sum.
+
+"The 22nd September," said I, "the 22nd September. It was the day of
+his trial."
+
+At the words his face cleared wonderfully. He rose with an
+indescribable air of relief, flung the box carelessly on the table,
+and said with a contemptuous smile:
+
+"Ah, Mr. Buckler! Mr. Buckler! You would have saved much time had you
+mentioned the date earlier. How much?" and he shook some imaginary
+coins in the cup of his hand.
+
+"Count Lukstein!" I exclaimed.
+
+I had not the faintest notion of what he was driving at, and the
+surprise which his change of manner occasioned me obscured the insult.
+
+"Tut, tut, man!" he resumed, with a wave of the hand. "How much?
+Surely the farce drags."
+
+"The farce," I replied hotly, "is one of those which are best played
+seriously. Remember that, Count Lukstein!"
+
+"Well, well," he said indulgently, "have your own way. But, believe
+me, you are making a mistake. I have no wish to cheapen your wares.
+That you have picked up some fragments of the truth I am ready to
+agree; and I am equally ready to buy your silence. You have but to
+name your price."
+
+"I have named it," I muttered, locking my teeth, for I was fast losing
+my temper, and feared lest I might raise my voice sufficiently to be
+heard beyond the room.
+
+"Let me prove to you that you are wasting time," said he with insolent
+patience. "You have been ill-primed for your work. You say that you
+visited Sir Julian on the night of the 22nd. You say that you were Sir
+Julian's friend. I would not hurt your feelings, Mr. Buckler, but both
+those statements are, to put it coarsely, lies. You were never Sir
+Julian's friend, or you would have known better than to have fixed
+that date. But two people visited him on the 22nd, a priest and a
+woman, the most edifying company possible for a dying man." He ended
+with a smooth scorn. I looked up at him and laughed.
+
+"Ah!" said he, "we are beginning to understand each other."
+
+I laughed a second time.
+
+"She was over-tall for a woman, my lord," said I, "though of no great
+stature for a man."
+
+I rose as I spoke the words and confronted him. We were standing on
+opposite sides of the little table. The smile died off his face; he
+leaned his hands upon the table and bent slowly over it, searching my
+looks with horror-stricken eyes.
+
+"What do you mean?" he asked in a hoarse whisper.
+
+"I was the woman. How else should I have got that box?"
+
+"You, you!" He spoke in a queer matter-of-fact tone of assent. All his
+feeling and passion seemed to have gathered in his eyes.
+
+So we stood waging a battle of looks. And then of a sudden I noticed a
+crafty, indefinable change in his expression, and from the tail of my
+eye I saw his fingers working stealthily across the table. I dropped
+my hand on to the butt of my pistol. With a ready cunning he picked up
+the gold box and began to examine it with so natural an air of
+abstraction that I almost wondered whether I had not mistaken his
+design.
+
+"And so," says he at length, "you would fight with me?"
+
+"If it please you, yes," says I.
+
+"Miss Marston, it seems, has more admirers than I knew of," he
+returned, with a cunning leer which made my stomach rise at him.
+
+He seemed incapable of conceiving a plain open purpose in any man. Yet
+for all that I could not but admire the nimbleness of his wits. Not
+merely had he recovered his easy demeanour, but he was already, as I
+could see, working out another issue from the impasse. I clung fast to
+the facts.
+
+"I have never seen Miss Marston," said I. "I fight for my friend."
+
+"For your friend? For your dead, useless friend?" He dropped the words
+slowly, one by one, with a smiling disbelief. "Come, come, Mr.
+Buckler! Not for your friend! We are both men of the world. Be frank
+with me! Is it sensible that two gentlemen should spill honest blood
+for the sake of a feather-headed wanton?"
+
+"If the name fits her, my lord," I replied, "who is to blame for that?
+And as for the honest blood, I have more hope of spilling it than
+faith in its honesty."
+
+The Count's face grew purple, and the veins swelled out upon his ample
+throat. I snatched up the pistol, and we both stood trembling with
+passion. The next moment, I think, must have decided the quarrel, but
+for a light sound which became distinctly audible in the silence. It
+descended from the room above. We both looked up to the ceiling, the
+Count with a sudden softness on his face, and I understood, or rather
+I thought I understood, why he had not raised the alarm before I
+produced my pistol, and why he bade me subsequently speak in English.
+For the sound was a tapping, such as a woman's heels may make upon a
+polished floor.
+
+I waited, straining my ears to hear the little stairway creak behind
+the door at my back, and cudgelling my brains to think what I should
+do. If she came down into the room, it was all over with my project
+and, most likely, with my life, too, unless I was prepared to shoot my
+opponent in cold blood and make a bolt for it. After a while, however,
+the sound ceased altogether, to my indescribable relief. The Count was
+the first to break the silence.
+
+"Very well, Mr. Buckler," said he; "send your friends to me in the
+morning. Let them come like men to the door and give me assurance that
+I may meet you without loss of self-respect, and you shall have your
+way."
+
+"You force me to repeat," said I, "that the matter must be disposed of
+to-night."
+
+"To-night!" he said, and stared at me incredulously. "Mr. Buckler, you
+must be mad."
+
+"To-night," I repeated stubbornly. For, apart from all considerations
+of safety, I felt that such courage as I possessed was but the froth
+of my anger, and would soon vanish if it were left to stand. The Count
+began to pace the room between the writing-table and the window. I set
+my chair against the wall and leaned against the chimney, and I noted
+that at each turn in his walk he drew, as though unconsciously, nearer
+and nearer to the bell.
+
+"Mr. Buckler," he said, "what you propose is quite out of the
+question. I can but attribute it to your youth. You take too little
+thought of my side of the case. To fight with one whom I have never so
+much as set eyes on before, who forces his way into my house in the
+dead of night--you must see for yourself that it fits not my dignity."
+
+"You are too close to the bell, Count Lukstein, and you raise your
+voice," I broke in sharply. "That fits not my safety."
+
+He stood still in the middle of the room and raised a clenched fist to
+his shoulder, glaring at me. In a moment, however, he resumed his
+former manner.
+
+"Besides," he went on, "there is a particular reason why I would have
+no disturbance here tonight. You got some inkling of it a moment ago."
+He nodded to the ceiling.
+
+I blush with shame now when I remember what I answered him. I took a
+leaf from his book, as the saying is, and could conceive no worthy
+strain in him.
+
+"The good lady," I said, "whom you honour with your attentions now
+must wait until the affairs of her predecessor are arranged."
+
+The Count came sliding over the floor with a sinuous movement of his
+body and a very dangerous light in his eyes.
+
+"You insult my wife," he said softly, and as I reeled against the hood
+of the fireplace, struck out of my wits by his words, he of a sudden
+gave a low bellowing cry, plucked his sword from his sheath, and
+lunged at my body. I saw the steel flash in a line of light and sprang
+on one side. The sword quivered in the wood level with my left elbow.
+My leap upset the table, the pistol clattered on the floor. I whipped
+out my sword, Count Lukstein wrenched his free, and in a twinkling we
+were set to it. I think all fear vanished from both of us, for Count
+Lukstein's face was ablaze with passion, and I felt the blood in my
+veins running like strong wine.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VI.
+
+                    SWORDS TAKE UP THE DISCOURSE.
+
+
+By these movements we had completely reversed our positions, so that
+now I stood with my back to the window, while the Count held that end
+of the room in which the doors were set. Not that I took any thought
+of this alteration at the time, for the Count attacked me with
+extraordinary fury, and I needed all my wits to defend myself from his
+violence. He was, as I had dreaded, a skilled swordsman, and he
+pressed his skill to the service of his anger. Now the point of his
+rapier twirled and spun like a spark of fire; now the blade coiled
+about mine with a sharp hiss like some lithe, glittering serpent.
+Every moment I expected it to bite into my flesh. I gave ground until
+my hindmost foot was stopped against the framework of the window; and
+there I stayed parrying his thrusts until he slackened from the ardour
+of his assault. Then in my turn I began to attack; slowly and
+persistently I drove him back towards the centre of the room, when
+suddenly, glancing across his shoulder, I saw something that turned my
+blood cold. The door leading to the staircase was ajar. I had heard no
+click of the handle; it must have been open before, I argued to
+myself, but I knew the argument was false. The door had been shut; I
+noted that from the garden, and it could not have opened so silently
+of itself. I renewed my attack upon the Count, pressing him harder and
+harder in a veritable panic. I snatched a second glance across his
+shoulder. The door was not only ajar; 'twas opening--very slowly, very
+silently, and a yellow light streamed through onto the wall beside the
+door. The sight arrested me at the moment of lunging--held me
+petrified with horror. A savage snarl of joy from Lukstein's lips
+warned me; his sword darted at my heart, I parried it clumsily, and
+the next moment the point leapt into my left shoulder. The wound
+quickened my senses, and I settled to the combat again, giving thrust
+for thrust. Each second I expected a scream of terror, a rush of feet.
+But not a sound came to me. I dared not look from the Count's face any
+more; the hit which he had made seemed to have doubled his energies. I
+strained my ears to catch the fall of a foot, the rustle of a dress.
+But our own hard breathing, a light rattle of steel as swords lunged
+and parried, a muffled stamp as one or the other stepped forward upon
+the rugs--these were the only noises in the room, and for me they only
+served to deepen and mark the silence. Yet all the while I felt that
+the door was opening--opening; I knew that some one must be standing
+in the doorway quietly watching us, and that some one a woman, and
+Count Lukstein's wife. There was something horrible, unnatural in the
+silence, and I felt fear run down my back like ice, unstringing my
+muscles, sucking my heart. I summoned all my strength, compressed all
+my intelligence into a despairing effort, and flung myself at
+Lukstein. He drew back out of reach, and behind him I saw a flutter of
+white. Through the doorway, holding a lighted candle above her head,
+Countess Lukstein advanced noiselessly into the room. Her eyes, dark
+and dilated, were fixed upon mine; still she spoke never a word. She
+seemed not to perceive her husband; she seemed not even to see me,
+into whose face she gazed. 'Twas as though she was looking through me,
+at something that stood in the window behind my head.
+
+The Count, recovering from my assault, rushed at me again. I made a
+few passes, thinking that my brain would crack. I could feel her eyes
+burning into mine. I was certain that some one was behind me, and I
+experienced an almost irresistible desire to turn my head and discover
+who it might be. The strain had become intolerable. There was just
+room for me to leap backwards.
+
+"Look!" I gasped, and I leaned back against the window-pane, clutching
+at the folds of the curtain for support.
+
+Count Lukstein turned; the woman was close behind him. A couple of
+paces more, and she must have touched him. He dropped his sword-point
+and stepped quickly aside.
+
+"My God!" he said in a hoarse whisper. "She is asleep!"
+
+My whole body was dripping with sweat. It seemed to me that a full
+hour must have passed since I had seen her first, and yet so brief had
+been the interval that she was not half-way across the room.
+
+Had she come straight towards me I could not have moved from her path.
+But she walked betwixt Count Lukstein and myself direct to the open
+window. She wore a loose white gown, gathered in a white girdle at the
+waist, and white slippers on her naked feet. Her face even then showed
+to me as incomparably beautiful, and her head was crowned with masses
+of waving hair, in colour like red corn. She passed between us without
+check or falter; her gown brushed against the Count. Through the open
+window she walked across the snowy terrace towards the pavilion by the
+Castle wall. The night was very still, and the flame of the candle
+burnt pure and steady.
+
+I looked at the Count. For a moment we gazed at one another in
+silence, and then without a word we stepped side by side to follow
+her. Our dispute appeared to have been swallowed up in this
+overmastering event, and I experienced almost a revulsion of
+friendliness for my opponent.
+
+"'Tis not the first time this has happened, I am told," said he, and
+as I looked at him inquiringly, he added, very softly: "We were only
+married to-day."
+
+"Only to-day," I exclaimed, and not noticing where I trod, I stumbled
+over a wolf-skin that lay on the floor with the head attached. My foot
+slipped on the polished boards beside it, and I fell upon my left
+knee. The Count stopped and faced me, an ugly smile suddenly flashing
+about his mouth. I saw him draw back his arm as I was rising. I
+dropped again upon hand and knee, and his sword whizzed an inch above
+my shoulder. I was still holding my own sword in my right hand, and or
+ever he could recover I lunged upwards at his breast with all my
+force, springing from the ground as I lunged, to drive the thrust
+home. The blade pierced through his body until the hilt rang against
+the buttons of his coat. He fell backwards heavily, and I let go of my
+sword. The point stuck in the floor behind him as he fell, and he slid
+down the blade on to the ground. Something dropped from his hand and
+rolled away into a corner, where it lay shining. I gave no thought to
+that, however, but glanced through the window. To my horror I saw that
+Countess Lukstein was already returning across the lawn. The Count had
+fallen across the window, blocking it. I plucked my sword free, and
+lugged the body into the curtains at the side, cowering down myself
+behind it. I had just time to gather up his legs and so leave the
+entrance clear, when she stepped over the sill. A little stream of
+blood was running towards her, and I was seized with a mad terror lest
+it should reach her feet. She moved so slowly and the stream ran so
+quickly. Every moment I expected to see the white of her slippers grow
+red with the stain of it. But she passed beyond the line of its
+channel just a second before it reached so far. With the same even and
+steady gait she recrossed the room and turned into the little
+stairway, latching the door behind her.
+
+For a while I remained kneeling by the body of the Count in a numbed
+stupor, All was so quiet and peaceful that I could not credit what had
+happened in this last hour, not though I held the Count within my
+arms. Then from the floor of the room above there came once more the
+light tapping sound of a woman's heels. I looked about me. The table
+lay overturned, the rugs were heaped and scattered, and the barrel of
+my pistol winked in the sputtering light of the fire. I rose, snatched
+up my sword, and fled out on to the snow.
+
+The moon was setting and the moonlight grey upon the garden, with the
+snow under foot very crisp and dry.
+
+I sheathed my sword and clambered on to the coping. I turned to look
+at the Castle--how quietly it slept, and how brightly burned the
+lights in those two rooms!--and then dropped to the ledge upon the
+further side of the wall.
+
+I had reached the top of the ridge of rock, when a cry rang out into
+the night--a cry, shrill and lonesome, in a woman's voice--a cry
+followed by a great silence. I halted in an agony. 'Twas not fear that
+I felt; 'twas not even pity. The cry spoke of suffering too great for
+pity, and I stood aghast at the sound of it, aghast at the thought
+that my handiwork had begotten it. 'Twas not repeated, however, and I
+tore down the ridge in a frenzy of haste, taking little care where I
+set my hands or my feet. How it was that I did not break my neck I
+have never been able to think.
+
+The village, I remember, was dark and lifeless save just at one house,
+whence came a murmur of voices, and a red beam of light slipped
+through a chink in the shutter and lay like a rillet of blood across
+the snow.
+
+Once clear of the houses. I ran at full speed down the track. At the
+corner of the wood, I stopped and looked upwards before I plunged
+among the trees. The moon had set behind the mountains while I was
+descending the ridge, and the Castle loomed vaguely above me as though
+at that spot the night was denser than elsewhere. 'Twas plain that no
+alarm had been taken, that the cry had not been heard. I understood
+the reason of this afterwards. The two rooms in the tower were
+separated by a great interval from the other bedrooms. But what of the
+Countess, I thought? I pictured her in a swoon upon the corpse of her
+husband.
+
+Within the coppice 'twas so black that I could not see my hand when I
+raised it before me, and I went groping my way by guesswork towards
+the trees to which we had tethered our horses. I dared not call out to
+Larke; I feared even the sound of my footsteps. Every rustle of the
+bushes seemed to betray a spy. In the end I began to fancy that I
+should wander about the coppice until dawn, when close to my elbow
+there rose a low crooning song:
+
+
+              Que toutes joies et toutes honneurs
+              Viennent d'armes et d'amours.
+
+
+"Jack!" I whispered.
+
+The undergrowth crackled as he crushed it beneath his feet.
+
+"Morrice, is that you? Where are you?"
+
+A groping hand knocked against my arm and tightened on it. I gave a
+groan.
+
+"Are you hurt, Morrice? Oh, my God! I thought you would never come!"
+
+"You have heard nothing?"
+
+"Nothing."
+
+"Not a sound? Not--not a cry?"
+
+"Nothing."
+
+"Quick, then!" said I. "We must be miles away by morning."
+
+He led me to where our horses stood, and we untied them and threaded
+through the trees to the road.
+
+"Help me to mount, Jack!" said I.
+
+He pulled a flask from his pocket and held it to my lips. 'Twas neat
+brandy, but I gulped a draught of it as though it were so much water.
+Then he helped me into the saddle and settled my feet in the stirrups.
+
+"Why, Morrice," he asked, "what have you done with your spurs?"
+
+"I left them on the terrace," said I, remembering. "I left my spurs,
+my pistol, and--and something else. But quick, Jack, quick!"
+
+'Twould have saved me much trouble had I brought that "something else"
+with me, or at least examined it more closely before I left it there.
+
+He swung himself on to the back of his horse, and we set off at a
+canter. But we had not gone twenty yards when I cried, "Stop!" 'Twas
+as though the windows of the Castle sprang at us suddenly out of the
+darkness, each one alive with a tossing glare of links. It seemed to
+me that a hundred angry eyes were searching for me. I drove my heels
+into my horse's flanks and galloped madly down the road in the
+direction of Italy. A quarter of a mile further, and a bend of the
+valley hid the Castle from our sight; but I knew that I should never
+get the face of Countess Lukstein from before my eyes, or the sound of
+her cry out of my ears.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER VII.
+
+                    I RETURN HOME AND HEAR NEWS OF
+                          COUNTESS LUKSTEIN.
+
+
+From Lukstein we rode hot-foot down the Vintschgau Thal to Meran, and
+thence by easy stages to Verona, in Italy. I had no great fear of
+pursuit or detection after the first day, since the road was much
+frequented by travellers, and neither my spurs, nor my pistol, nor the
+miniature of Julian bore any marks by which Jack or myself could be
+singled out. At Verona an inflammation set up in my wounded shoulder,
+very violent and severe, so that I lay in that town for some weeks
+delirious and at death's door. Indeed, but for Jack's assiduous care
+in nursing me, I must infallibly have lost my life.
+
+At length, however, being somewhat recovered, I was carried southwards
+to Naples, and thence we wandered from town to town through the
+provinces of Italy until, in the year 1686, the fulness of the spring
+renewed my blood and set my fancies in a tide towards home. Jack
+accompanied me to England and took up his abode in my house in
+Cumberland, being persuaded without much difficulty to abandon his
+pretence of studying the law, and to throw in his lot with me for good
+and all.
+
+"My estates need a steward," said I, "and I--God knows I need a
+friend." And with little more talk the bargain was struck.
+
+During all this time, however, I had not so much as breathed a word to
+him concerning the doings of that night in Castle Lukstein. At first
+the matter was too hot in my thoughts, and even afterwards, when the
+horror of my memories had dimmed, I could not bring myself to the
+point of speech. Had it not been for the appearance and intervention
+of the Countess, doubtless I should have blurted out the tale long
+before. But with her face ever fixed within my view, I could not
+speak; I could only picture it desolate with grief, and washed with a
+pitiful rain of tears. Moreover, I knew that Jack would account my
+story as the story of a worthy exploit, and I shrank from his praise
+as from a burning iron.
+
+'Twould have, nevertheless, been strange had not my ravings in my
+delirium disclosed some portion of the night's incidents, and that
+they did so I understood from a certain speech Jack once made me.
+'Twas when I was yet lying sick at Verona. One morning, when I was
+come to my senses after a feverish night, he walked over to my bedside
+from the chair where he had been watching.
+
+"I have been a common fool," says he, and repeats the remark, shifting
+a foot to and fro on the floor; and then he claps his hand upon mine.
+
+"God send me such a friend as you, Morrice, if ever trouble comes to
+me!" says he, and so gets him quickly from the room.
+
+Often did I wonder how much I had betrayed, but I had reason
+subsequently to believe that 'twas very little; just enough to assure
+him that I had not flinched from the conflict, with probably some
+revelation of the fear in which I engaged upon it.
+
+'Twas in the last days of March that I saw once more the rolling
+slopes of Yewbarrow, streaked here and there with a ribbon of snow,
+and my house at the base of it, its grey tiles shining in the sunset
+like glass; and a homely restfulness settled upon my spirit, and
+looking back upon the last months of purposeless wandering, I resolved
+to pass my days henceforward in a placid ordering of my estate.
+
+This feeling of peace, however, stayed with me no great while, the
+very monotony of a quiet life casting me back upon my troubled
+recollections. As a relief, I sought diversion with Jack's ready
+assistance in the pleasures of the field. Hawking, hunting,
+and climbing--for which somehow my companion never acquired a
+taste--filled out the hours of daylight We chased the fox on foot
+along ridges of the hills; we hunted the red deer in the forests
+about Styhead; we walked miles across fell and valley to watch a
+wrestling-match or attend a fair. In a word, we lived a clean,
+open-air life of wholesome activity.
+
+But alas! 'Twas of little profit to me. I would get me tired to bed
+only to plunge into a whirlpool of unrestful dreams, and toss there
+until the morning. Sometimes it would be the door of the little
+staircase to the Count's bedroom. I would see it opening and opening
+perpetually, and yet never wide open; or again, it would grow gigantic
+in size, and swing back across the world as though it was hinged
+betwixt the poles. Most often, however, it would be Count Lukstein's
+wife. I beheld her now, tall and stately, with her glorious aureole of
+hair and her dark, unseeing eyes eating through me like a slow fire as
+she advanced across the room; now I followed her as she moved through
+the moonlit garden with the taper burning clear and steady in her
+hand. But, however the dream began, 'twould always end the same way.
+The fiery windows of Castle Lukstein would leap upon me out of the
+darkness, and I would wake in a cold sweat, my body a-quiver, and her
+lone cry knelling in my ears.
+
+A strange feature of these nightmare fancies, and a feature that
+greatly perplexed me, was that the Count himself played no part in
+them. Were my dreams the test and touchstone of the truth, I could
+never so much as have set eyes upon him. The encounter, the
+conversation which preceded it, the last cowardly thrust, and the dead
+form huddled up in my arms among the curtains--of these things I had
+not even a hint. They became erased from my memory the moment that I
+fell asleep. Then 'twas always the woman who was pictured to me; in no
+single instance the man. I wondered at this omission the more,
+inasmuch as I frequently thought of Count Lukstein during the
+day-time, remembering with an odd sense of envy the softness of his
+voice when he spoke concerning his wife.
+
+Spent with the double fatigue of the day's exertions and the night's
+phantasmal horrors, I betook myself at length to my library, seeking
+rest, if not forgetfulness, among my old companions. But the delight
+and joy of books had gone out from me, and nowise could I recover it.
+Once the very covers had seemed to me to answer the pressure of my
+fingers with a friendly welcome; now I applied myself straightway to
+the text as to a laborious and uncongenial task. I had looked so
+deeply into a tragic reality that these printed images of life
+appeared false and distorted, like reflections thrown from a convex
+mirror; and I understood how it is that those who act are but seldom
+their own historians, and when they are, content themselves with a
+simple register of deeds. However, I persevered in this course for a
+while, hoping that some time my former zest and liking would return to
+me, and I should taste again the fine flavour of a nicely-ordered
+sentence or of a discriminate sequence of thoughts.
+
+But one May morning, coming into the study shortly after sunrise, I
+sat me down, with my limbs unrefreshed and aching, before the "Religio
+Medici" of the Norwich doctor, and I fell immediately across this
+passage:
+
+"I have heard some with deep sighs lament the lost lines of Cicero;
+others with as many groans deplore the combustion of the library of
+Alexandria. For my own part, I think there be too many in the world,
+and could with patience behold the urn and ashes of the Vatican, could
+I, with a few others, recover the perished leaves of Solomon."
+
+The words chimed so appositely with my thoughts that I resolved there
+and then to put the theory into practice, and closing the book, I made
+a beginning with Sir Thomas Browne. Outside the window the birds piped
+happily from vernal branches; the shadows played hide-and-seek upon
+the grass, and the beck babbled and laughed as it raced down behind
+the house. I locked the door of the library, and taking the key in my
+hand, walked to the side of the beck. At this point the stream spouted
+in a fountain from a cleft of rock, and fell some twelve feet into a
+deep bason. A group of larches overhung the pool, and the sunlight,
+sprinkling between the leaves, dappled the clear green surface with an
+ever-shifting pattern. Into this bason I dropped the key, and watched
+it sink with a sparkling tail of bubbles to the bottom. 'Twas of a
+bright metal, so that I could still see it distinctly as it rested on
+the rock-bed. A large stone lay upon the bank beside me, and with a
+sudden, uncontrollable impulse I stripped off my clothes, picked up
+the stone, and diving into the cool water, set it carefully atop of
+the key. Many months passed before I came again to the pool, and found
+the key still hidden safe beneath the stone; and during those months
+so much that was strange occurred to me, and I wandered along such new
+and devious paths, that when I held it again, all rusty and corroded,
+in my hand, I felt as though it could not have been myself who had
+dropped it there, but some one whose memories had been transmitted to
+me and incorporated in my being by a mysterious alchemy.
+
+It was on that very afternoon that the letter was brought to me. Jack
+and I were sitting at dinner in the big oak dining-room about four of
+the clock; the great windows were open, and the sunny air streamed in
+laden with fresh perfumes. I can see Jim Ritson now as he rode up the
+drive--'twas part of his duty to meet the mail at the post-town of
+Cockermouth--I can almost hear his voice as he gave in the letter at
+the hall-door. "There's a letter for t' maister," he said.
+
+Jim is grown to middle age by this time, and owns a comfortable fat
+face and a brood of children. But whenever I pass him in the lanes and
+fields I ever experience a lively awe and respect for him as for the
+accredited messenger of fate.
+
+The letter came from Lord Elmscott and urged me to visit him in town.
+
+
+"Come!" he wrote. "To the dust of Leyden you are superadding the mould
+of Cumberland. Come and brush yourself clean with the contact of wits!
+There is much afoot that should interest you. What with Romish priests
+and English bishops, the town is in ferment. Moreover, a new beauty
+hath come to Court. There is nothing very strange in that. But she is
+a foreigner, and her rivals have as yet discovered no scandal to
+smirch her with. There is something very strange in that. Such a
+miracle is well worth a man's beholding. She hails from the Tyrol and
+is the widow of one Count Lukstein, who was in London last year. She
+wears no mourning for her husband, and hath many suitors. I have of
+late won much money at cards, and so readily forgive you for that you
+were the death of Ph[oe]be."
+
+
+The letter ran on to some considerable length, but I read no more of
+it. Indeed, I understood little of what I had read. The face of
+Countess Lukstein seemed stamped upon the page to the obscuring of the
+inscription. I passed it across to Jack without a word, and he perused
+it silently and tossed it back. All that evening I sat smoking my pipe
+and pondering the proposal. An overmastering desire to see her
+features alive with the changing lights of expression, began to
+possess me. The more I thought, the more ardently I longed to behold
+her. If only I could see her eyes alert and glancing, if only I could
+hear her voice, I might free myself from the picture of the blank,
+impassive mask which she wore in my dreams. That way, I fancied, and
+that way alone, should I find peace.
+
+"I shall go," I said at last, knocking the ashes from my pipe. "I
+shall go to-morrow."
+
+"You shan't!" cried Jack vehemently, springing up and facing me. "She
+knows you. She has seen you."
+
+"She has never seen me," I replied steadily, and he gazed into my face
+with a look of bewilderment which gradually changed into fear.
+
+"Are you mad, Morrice?" he asked, in a broken whisper, and took a step
+or two backwards, keeping his eyes fixed upon mine.
+
+"Nay, Jack," said I; "but unless God helps me, I soon shall be. He may
+be helping me now. I trust so, for this visit alone can save me."
+
+"She has never seen you?" he repeated. "Swear it! Morrice! Swear it!"
+
+I did as he bade me.
+
+"What brings her to England?" he mused.
+
+"What kept us wandering about Italy?" I answered. "The fear to return
+home."
+
+"'Twill not serve," said he. "She wears no mourning for her husband."
+
+I wondered at this myself, but could come at no solution, and so got
+me to bed. That night, for the first time since I left Austria, I
+slept dreamlessly. In the morning I was yet more determined to go. I
+felt, indeed, as though I had no power to stay, and, hurrying on my
+servants, I prepared to set out at two of the afternoon. Udal and two
+other of my men I took with me.
+
+"Morrice," said Jack, as he stood upon the steps of the porch, "don't
+stay with your cousin! Hire a lodging of your own!"
+
+"Why?" I asked, in surprise.
+
+"You talk overmuch in your sleep. Only two nights ago I heard you
+making such an outcry that I feared you would wake the house. I rushed
+into your room. You were crouched up among the bed-curtains at the
+head of the bed and gibbering: 'It will touch her. It flows so fast.
+Oh, my God! My God!'"
+
+I made no answer to his words, and he asked again very earnestly:
+
+"The Countess has never seen you? You are sure?"
+
+"Quite!" said I firmly, and I shook him by the hand, and so started
+for London.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER VIII.
+
+                  I MAKE A BOW TO COUNTESS LUKSTEIN.
+
+
+In London I engaged a commodious lodging on the south side of St.
+James' Park, and with little delay, you may be sure, sought out my
+cousin in Monmouth, or rather Soho, Square--for the name had been
+altered since the execution of the Duke. 'Twas some half an hour after
+noon, and my cousin, but newly out of bed, was breakfasting upon a
+bottle of Burgundy in his nightcap and dressing-gown.
+
+"So you have come, Morrice," said Elmscott languidly. "How do ye? Lord
+Culverton, this is my cousin of whom I have spoken."
+
+He turned towards a little popinjay man who was fluttering about the
+room in a laced coat, and powdered periwig which hung so full about
+his face that it was difficult to distinguish any feature beyond a
+thin, prominent nose.
+
+"You should know one another. For if you remember, Morrice, it was
+Culverton you robbed of Ph[oe]be."
+
+"Ph[oe]be?" simpered Lord Culverton. "I remember no Ph[oe]be. But in
+truth the pretty creatures pester one so impertinently that burn me if
+I don't jumble up their names. What was she like, Mr. Buckler?"
+
+"She was piebald," said I gravely, "and needed cudgelling before she
+would walk."
+
+"And Morrice killed her," added Elmscott, with a laugh.
+
+"Then he did very well to kill her, strike me speechless! But there
+must be some mistake. I have met many women who needed cudgelling
+before they would walk, but never one that was piebald."
+
+Elmscott explained the matter to him, and then, with some timidity, I
+began to inquire concerning the Countess Lukstein.
+
+"What! bitten already?" cried my cousin. "Faith, I knew not I had so
+smart a hand for description."
+
+"The most rapturous female, pink me!" broke in Lord Culverton. "She is
+but newly come to London, and hath the town at her feet already. Egad!
+I'm half-soused in love myself, split my windpipe!" and he flicked a
+speck of powder from his velvet coat, and carefully arranged the curls
+of his periwig. "The most provoking creature!" he went on. "A widow
+without a widow's on-coming disposition."
+
+"Ay, but she hath discarded the weeds," said Elmscott
+
+"She is a widow none the less. And yet breathe but one word of tender
+adoration in her ear, and she strikes you dumb, O Lard! with the most
+supercilious eyebrow. However, time may do much with the obstinate
+dear--time, a tolerable phrase, and a _je ne scay quoi_ in one's
+person and conversation." He pointed a skinny leg before the mirror,
+and languished with a ludicrous extravagance at his own reflection.
+
+I had much ado to restrain myself from laughing, the more especially
+when Elmscott cried, with a wink at me:
+
+"Oh, if you have entered the lists, the rest of us may creep out with
+as little ignominy as we can. They say that every pretty woman has a
+devil at her elbow, and 'tis most true, so long as Culverton lives."
+
+"You flatter me! A devil, indeed! You flatter me," replied the fop,
+skipping with delight. "You positively flatter me. The ladies use
+me--no more. I am only their humble servant in general, and the
+Countess Lukstein's in particular."
+
+The remark had more truth in it than Culverton would have cared for us
+to believe. For the Countess did in very truth use this gossipy
+tittle-tattler, and with no more consideration than she showed to the
+humblest of her servants. However, he was born for naught else but to
+fetch and carry, and since he delighted in the work, 'twas common
+kindness to employ him.
+
+"Then we'll drink a health to your success," says Elmscott, pouring
+out three glasses of his Burgundy.
+
+"I never drink in the morning," objected Culverton. "'Tis a most
+villainous habit, and ruins the complexion irretrievably, stap my
+vitals!"
+
+However, I was less squeamish on the subject of mine, and draining the
+glass, I asked:
+
+"Is she come to London alone?"
+
+"She hath a companion, a very faded, nauseous person: a Frenchwoman,
+Mademoiselle Durette. She serves as a foil;" and Culverton launched
+forth into an affected estimation of Countess Lukstein's charms. Her
+eyes dethroned the planets, the brightness of her hair shamed the
+sunlight; for her mouth, 'twas a Cupid's bow that shot a deadly arrow
+with every word. When she danced, her foot was a snow-flake upon the
+floor, and the glint of the buckle on her instep, a flame threatening
+to melt it; when she played upon the harp, her fingers were the ivory
+plectrums of the ancients.
+
+"You make me curious," I interrupted him, "to become acquainted with
+the lady."
+
+"Then let me present you!" said he eagerly.
+
+"You see, Morrice," said Elmscott, "he has such solid grounds for
+confidence that he has no fear of rivals."
+
+"Nay, the truth is, she has a passion for fresh faces."
+
+"Indeed!" said I.
+
+"Oh, most extraordinary! A veritable passion, and no one so graciously
+received as he who brings a stranger to her side. For that reason," he
+added naively, "I would fain present you;" and then he suddenly
+stopped and surveyed me, shaking his head doubtfully the while.
+
+"But Lard! Mr. Buckler," he said, "you must first get some new
+clothes."
+
+"The clothes are good enough," I laughed, for I was dressed in my best
+suit, and though 'twas something more modest than my Lord Culverton's
+attire, I was none the less pleased with it on that account.
+
+"Rabbit me, but I daren't!" he said. "I daren't introduce you in that
+suit. I daren't, indeed! My character would never survive the
+imputation, strike me purple if it would! 'Tis a very yeoman's habit,
+and reeks of the country. I can smell onions and all sorts of horrible
+things, burn me!"
+
+"I will run the risk, Morrice," interposed Elmscott. "Dine with me
+to-day at Lockett's, and I will take you to the Countess' lodging in
+Pall Mall afterwards. But Culverton's right. You do look like a
+Quaker, and that's the truth."
+
+However, I paid little attention to what they said or thought
+concerning my appearance. The knowledge that I was to meet Countess
+Lukstein and have speech with her no later than that very evening,
+engendered within me an indescribable excitement. I got free from my
+companions as speedily as I could, and passed the hours till
+dinnertime in a vague expectancy; though what it was that I expected,
+I could not have told even to myself.
+
+About seven of the clock we repaired to her apartments. The rooms were
+already filled with a gay crowd of ladies and gentlemen dressed in the
+extreme of fashion, and at first I could get no glimpse of the
+Countess. But I looked towards the spot where the throng was thickest,
+and the tripping noise of pleasantries most loud, and then I saw her.
+Elmscott advanced; I followed close upon his heels, the circle opened,
+magically it seemed to me, and I stood face to face with her at last.
+
+Yet for all that I was prepared for it, now that I beheld her but six
+steps from me, now that I looked straight into her eyes, a strange
+sense of unreality stole over me, dimming my brain like a mist; so
+incredible did it appear to me that we who had met before in such a
+tragic conjunction in that far-away nook of the Tyrol, should now be
+presented each to the other like the merest strangers, amidst the
+brightness and gaiety of London town. I almost expected the candles to
+go out, and the company to dissolve into air. I almost began to dread
+that I should wake up in a moment to find myself in the dark, crouched
+up upon my bed in Cumberland. So powerfully did this fear possess me
+that I was on the point of crying aloud, "Speak! speak!" when Elmscott
+took me by the arm.
+
+"Madame," said he, "I have taken the liberty of bringing hither my
+cousin, Mr. Morrice Buckler, who is anxious--as who is not?--for the
+honour of your acquaintance."
+
+"It is no liberty," she replied graciously, in a voice that was
+exquisitely sweet, and she let her eyes fall upon my face with a quick
+and watchful scrutiny.
+
+The next instant, however, the alertness died out of them.
+
+"Mr. Buckler is very welcome," she said quietly, and it struck me that
+there was some hint of disappointment in her tone, and maybe a touch
+of weariness. If, indeed, what Culverton had said was true, and she
+had a passion for fresh faces, 'twas evident that mine was to be
+exempted from the rule.
+
+It might have been the expression of her indifference, or perchance
+the mere sound of her voice broke the spell upon me, but all at once I
+became sensible to the full of my sober, sad-coloured clothes. I
+looked about me. Coats and dresses brilliant with gold and brocade
+mingled their colours in a flashing rainbow, jewels sparkled and
+winked as they caught the light, and I felt that every eye in this
+circle of elegant courtiers was fixed disdainfully upon the awkward
+intruder.
+
+I faltered through a compliment, conscious the while that I had done
+better to have held my tongue. I heard a titter behind me, and here
+and there some fine lady or gentleman held a quizzing-glass to the
+eye, as though I was some strange natural from over-seas. All the
+blood in my body seemed to run tingling into my face. I half turned to
+flee away and take to my heels, but a second glance at the sneering
+countenances around me stung my pride into wakefulness, and resolving
+to put the best face on the matter I could, I attempted a sweeping
+bow. Whether my foot slipped, whether some one tripped me purposely
+with a sword, I know not--I was too flustered to think at the time or
+to remember afterwards--but whatever the cause, I found myself plumped
+down upon my knees before her, with the titter changed into an open
+laugh.
+
+"Hush!" lisped one of the bystanders, "don't disturb the gentleman; he
+is saying his prayers."
+
+I rose to my feet in the greatest confusion.
+
+"Madame," I stammered, "I come to my knees no earlier than the rest of
+your acquaintance. Only being country-bred, I do it with the less
+discretion."
+
+She laughed with a charming friendliness which lifted me somewhat out
+of my humiliation.
+
+"The adroitness of the recovery, Mr. Buckler," she said, "more than
+atones for the maladresse of the attack."
+
+"Nay," I protested, with what may well have appeared excessive
+earnestness, "the simile does me some injustice, for it hints of an
+antagonism betwixt you and me."
+
+She glanced at me with some surprise and more amusement in her eyes.
+
+"Are not all men a woman's antagonists?" she said lightly.
+
+But to me it seemed an ill-omened beginning. There was something too
+apposite in her chance phrase. I remembered, besides, that I had
+stumbled to the ground in much the same way before her husband, and I
+bethought me what had come of the slip.
+
+'Twas but for a little, however, that these gloomy forebodings
+possessed me, and I retired to the outer edge of the throng, whence I
+could observe her motions and gestures undisturbed. And with a growing
+contentment I perceived that ever and again her eyes would stray
+towards me, and she would drop some question into Elmscott's ear.
+
+The Countess wore, I remember, a gown of purple velvet fronted with
+yellow satin, which to my eyes hung a trifle heavily upon her young
+figure and so emphasized its slenderness, imparting even to her neck
+and head a certain graceful fragility. The rich colour of her hair was
+hidden beneath a mask of powder after the fashion, and below it her
+face shone pale, pale indeed as when I saw her last, but with a
+wonderful clarity and pureness of complexion, so that as she spoke the
+blood came and went very prettily about her cheeks and temples. The
+two attributes, however, which I noted with the greatest admiration
+were her eyes and voice. For it seemed to me well-nigh beyond belief
+that the eyes which I now saw flashing with so lively a fire were the
+same which had stared vacantly into mine at Lukstein Castle, and that
+the voice which I now heard musical with all the notes of laughter was
+that which had sent the shrill, awful scream tearing the night.
+
+After a while the company sat down to basset and quadrille, and I was
+left standing disconsolately by myself. I looked around for Elmscott,
+being minded to depart, when her voice sounded at my elbow, and I
+forgot all but the sweetness of it.
+
+"Mr. Buckler," she asked, "you do not play?"
+
+"No," I replied. "I have seen but little of either cards or dice, and
+that little has given me no liking for them."
+
+"Then I will make bold to claim your services, for the room is hot,
+and my ears, perchance, a little tired."
+
+'Twas with no small pride, you may be sure, that I gave my arm to the
+Countess; only I could have wished that she had laid her hand less
+delicately upon my sleeve. Indeed, I should hardly have known that it
+rested there at all had I not felt its touch more surely on the
+strings of my heart.
+
+We went into a smaller apartment at the end of the room, which was
+dimly lit, and very cool and peaceful. The window stood open and
+showed a little balcony with a couch. The Countess seated herself upon
+it with a sigh of relief, and leaning forward, plucked a sprig of
+flowers which grew in a pot at her side.
+
+"I love these flowers," said she, holding the spray towards me.
+
+'Twas the blue flower of the aconite plant, and I answered:
+
+"They remind you of your home."
+
+"Then you know the Tyrol, and have travelled there." She turned to me
+with a lively interest.
+
+"I learnt that much of botany at school."
+
+"There should be a fellow-feeling between us, Mr. Buckler," she said
+after a pause; "for we are both strangers to London, waifs thrown
+together for an hour."
+
+"But there is a world of difference, for you might have lived amongst
+these gallants all your days, while I, alas! have no skill even to
+hide my awkwardness."
+
+"Nay, no excuses, for I like you the better for the lack of that
+skill."
+
+"Madame," I began, "such words from you----"
+
+She turned to me with a whimsical entreaty.
+
+"Prithee, no! To tell the honest truth, I am surfeited with
+compliments, and 'twould give me a great pleasure if during these few
+minutes we are together you would style me neither nymph, divinity,
+nor angel, but would treat me as just a woman. The fashion, indeed, is
+not worth copying, the more especially when, to quote your own phrase,
+one copies it without discretion."
+
+She laughed pleasantly as she spake, and the words conveyed not so
+much a rebuke as the amiable raillery of an intimate.
+
+"'Tis true," I replied, "I do envy these townsmen. I envy them their
+grace of bearing and the nimbleness of their wits, which ever reminds
+me of the sparkle in a bottle of Rhenish wine."
+
+She shook her head, and made room for me by her side.
+
+"The bottle has stood open for me these two months since, and I begin
+to find the wine is very flat."
+
+She dropped her voice at the end of the sentence, and leaned wearily
+back upon the cushions.
+
+"You see, Mr. Buckler," she explained, "I live amongst the hills," and
+there was a certain wistfulness in her tone as of one home-sick.
+
+"Then there is a second bond between us, for I live amongst the hills
+as well."
+
+"It is that," said she, "which makes us friends," and just for a
+second she laid a hand upon my sleeve. It seemed to me that no man
+ever heard sweeter words or more sweetly spoken from the lips of
+woman.
+
+"But since you are here," I questioned eagerly, "you will stay--you
+will stay for a little?"
+
+"I know not," she replied, smiling at my urgency; and then with a
+certain sadness, "some day I shall go back, I hope, but when, I know
+not. It might be in a week, it might be in a year, it might be never."
+Of a sudden she gave a low cry of pain. "I daren't go home," she
+cried, "I daren't until--until----"
+
+"Until you have forgotten." The words were on the tip of my tongue,
+but I caught them back in time, and for a while we sat silent. The
+Countess appeared to grow all unconscious of my presence, and gazed
+steadily down the quiet street as though it stretched beyond and
+beyond in an avenue of leagues, and she could see waving at the end of
+it the cedars and pine-trees of her Tyrol.
+
+Nor was I in any hurry to arouse her. A noisy rattle of voices
+streamed out on a flood of yellow light from the further windows on my
+left, and here she and I were alone in the starlit dusk of a summer
+night. Her very silence was sweet to me with the subtlest of
+flatteries. For I looked upon it as the recognition of a tie of
+sympathy which raised me from the general throng of her courtiers into
+the narrow circle of her friends.
+
+So I sat and watched her. The pure profile of her face was outlined
+against the night, the perfume of her hair stole into my nostrils, and
+every now and then her warm breath played upon my cheek. A fold of her
+train had fallen across my ankle, and the soft touch of the velvet
+thrilled me like a caress; I dared not move a muscle for fear lest I
+should displace it.
+
+At length she spoke again--'twas almost in a whisper.
+
+"I have told you more about myself than I have told to any one since I
+came to England. It is your turn now. Tell me where lies your home!"
+
+"In the north. In Cumberland."
+
+"In--in Cumberland," she repeated, with a little catch of her breath.
+"You have lived there long?"
+
+"'Twas the home of my fathers, and I spent my boyhood there. But
+between that time and this year's spring I have been a stranger to the
+countryside. For I was first for some years at Oxford, and thence I
+went to Leyden."
+
+She rose abruptly from the couch, drawing her train clear of me with
+her hand, and leaned over the balcony, resting her elbow on its
+baluster, and propping her chin upon the palm of her hand.
+
+"Leyden!" she said carelessly. "'Tis a town of great beauty, they tell
+me, and much visited by English students."
+
+"There were but few English students there during the months of my
+residence," said I. "I could have wished there had been more."
+
+A second period of silence interrupted our talk, and I sat wondering
+over that catch in her breath and the tremor of her voice when she
+repeated "Cumberland." Was it possible, I asked myself, that she could
+have learnt of Sir Julian Harnwood and of his quarrel with her
+husband? If she did know, and if she attributed the duel in which her
+husband fell to a result of it, why, then--Cumberland was Julian's
+county, and the name might well strike with some pain upon her
+hearing. But who could have informed her? Not the Count, surely; 'twas
+hardly a matter of which a man could boast to his wife. I remembered,
+besides, that he had asked me to speak English, and to speak it low.
+There could have been but one motive for the request--a desire to keep
+the subject of our conversation a secret from the Countess.
+
+I glanced towards her. Without changing her attitude she had turned
+her head sideways upon her palm, and was quietly looking me over from
+head to foot. Then she rose erect, and with a frank and winning smile,
+she said, as if in explanation:
+
+"I was seeking to discover, Mr. Buckler, what it was in you that had
+beguiled me to forget the rest of my guests. However, if I have shown
+them but scant courtesy, I shall bid them reproach you, not me."
+
+"Prithee, madame, no! Have some pity on me! The statement would get me
+a thousand deadly enemies."
+
+"Hush!" said she, with a playful menace. "You go perilous near to a
+compliment;" and we went back into the glare and noise of the
+drawing-room.
+
+"Ah, Ilga! I have missed you this half-hour."
+
+'Twas a little woman of, I should say, forty years who bustled up to
+us on our entrance.
+
+"You see?" said the Countess, turning to me with a whimsical reproach.
+"You must blame Mr. Buckler, Clemence, and I will make you acquainted
+that you may have the occasion."
+
+She presented me thus to Mademoiselle Durette, and left us together.
+But I fear the good woman must have found me the poorest company, for
+I paid little heed to what she said, and carried away no recollection
+beyond that her chatter wearied me intolerably, and that once or twice
+I caught the word "convenances," whence I gather she was reading me a
+lecture.
+
+I got rid of her as soon as I decently could, and took my leave of the
+Countess. She gave me her hand, and I bent over and kissed it. 'Twas
+only the glove I kissed, but the hand was within the glove, as I had
+reason to know, for I felt it tremble within my fingers and then tug
+quickly away.
+
+"One compliment I will allow you to pay me," she said, "and that is a
+renewal of your visit."
+
+"Madame permits," I exclaimed joyfully.
+
+"Madame will be much beholden to you," says she, and drops me a
+mocking curtsey.
+
+I walked down the staircase in a prodigious elation. Six steps from
+the floor of the hall it made a curve, and as I turned at the angle I
+stopped dead of a sudden with my heart leaping within my breast. For
+at the foot of the stairs, and looking at me now straight in the face,
+as he had looked at me in the archway of Bristol Bridewell, I saw Otto
+Krax, the servant of Count Lukstein. The unexpected sight of his
+massive figure came upon me like a blow. I had forgotten him
+completely. I staggered back into the angle of the wall. He must know
+me, I thought. He _must_ know me. But he gazed with no more than the
+stolid attention of a lackey. There was not a trace of recognition in
+his face, not a start of his muscles; and then I remembered the
+difference in my garb. 'Twould have been strange indeed if he had
+known me.
+
+I recovered my composure, drew a long breath of relief, and was about
+to step down to him when I happened to glance up the stairway.
+
+The Countess herself was leaning over the rail at its head, with the
+light from the hall-lamp below streaming up into her face. I had not
+heard her come out on the landing.
+
+"I knew not whether Otto Krax was there to let you out" She smiled at
+me. "Good night!"
+
+"Good night," said I, and looking at Otto, I understood whence she
+might have got some knowledge of Sir Julian Harnwood.
+
+Once outside, I stood for a while loitering in front of the house, and
+wondering how much 'twould cost to buy it up. For I believed that it
+would be a degradation should any other woman lodge in those same
+rooms afterwards.
+
+In a few minutes Elmscott came out to me.
+
+"You have seen the Countess Lukstein before?" he asked, and the words
+fairly startled me.
+
+"What in Heaven's name makes you think that?"
+
+"I fancied I read it in your looks. Your eyes went straight to her
+before ever I presented you."
+
+"That proves no more than the merit of your description."
+
+"Well, did I exaggerate? What think you?"
+
+I drew a long breath. 'Twas the only description I could give. There
+were no words in the language equal to my thoughts.
+
+"That will suffice," said Elmscott, and he turned away.
+
+"One moment," I cried. "I need a service of you."
+
+He burst out into a laugh.
+
+"A thousand pounds to a guinea I know the service. 'Tis the address of
+my tailor you need. I saw you looking down at your clothes as though
+the wearing of them sullied you. Very well, one of my servants shall
+be with you in the morning with a complete list of my tradesmen." And
+he swung off in the direction of Piccadilly, laughing as he went,
+while I, filled with all sorts of romantical notions, walked back to
+my lodging. Though, indeed, to say that I walked, falls somewhat short
+of the truth; to speak by the book, I fairly scampered, and arrived
+breathless at my doorstep.
+
+My servants had unpacked my baggage, and with a momentary pang of
+misgiving, I observed, lying on the table, my ill-omened copy of
+Horace.
+
+"How comes this here?" I inquired sharply of Udal, taking the book in
+my hands.
+
+It opened at once at the diagram, and the date upon the leaf opposite.
+So often had this outline been scanned and examined that the merest
+fingering of the cover served to make the book fall open at this
+particular page. I doubt, indeed, whether it had been possible to lift
+or move the volume at all without noticing the diagram.
+
+Udal told me that Jack himself had placed the book in my trunk. He
+intended it as a hint for my conduct, I made certain, and, newly come
+as I was from the presence of Countess Lukstein, I felt no gratitude
+for his interference. I tossed the book on to a side-table by the
+chimney, where it lay henceforward forgotten, and proceeded to light
+my pipe.
+
+'Twas late when I mounted to my bedroom. The moon was in its last
+quarter, and the park which my window overlooked lay very fair and
+quiet in the soft light. What nonsense does a man con over and ponder
+at such times! Yet 'tis very pleasant nonsense, and though it keeps
+him out of bed o' nights, he may yet draw good from it--ay, and more
+good than from quartos of philosophy.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER IX.
+
+                     I RENEW AN ACQUAINTANCESHIP.
+
+
+The next morning, and while I was still in bed drinking a cup of
+chocolate, came Elmscott's servant to me, and under his guidance I set
+forth to purchase such apparel as would enable me to cut a more
+passable figure in the eyes of Countess Lukstein. Seldom, I think, had
+the shopkeepers a customer so nice and difficult to please. Here the
+wares were too plain and insignificant; there too gaudy and
+pretentious, for while I was resolved to go no longer dressed like a
+Quaker, I was in no way minded to ape the extravagance of my lord
+Culverton. At last I determined upon a dozen suits, rich but of a
+sober colour, and being measured for them, went from the tailor's to
+the hosier's, shoemaker's, lace-merchant's, and I know not what other
+tradesmen. Muslin jabots, Holland shirts, ruffles of Mechlin and point
+de Venise, silk stockings, shoes with high red heels, which I needed
+particularly, for I was of no great stature, laced gloves--I bought
+enough, in truth, to make fine gentlemen of a company of soldiers.
+
+Needless to say, when once my purchases were delivered at my lodging,
+I let no long time slip by before I repeated my visit to the house in
+Pall Mall. The Countess welcomed me with the same kindliness, so that
+I returned again and again. She distinguished me besides by displaying
+an especial interest not merely in my present comings and goings, but
+in the past history of my uneventful days. Surely there is no flattery
+in the world so potent and bewitching as the questions which a woman
+puts to a man concerning those years of his life which were spent
+before their paths had crossed. And if the history be dull as mine
+was, a trivial, homely record of common acts and thoughts, why, then
+the flattery is doubled. I know that it intoxicated me like a heady
+wine, and I almost dared to hope that she grudged the time during
+which we had been strangers.
+
+Her bearing, indeed, towards me struck me as little short of
+wonderful, for I observed that she evinced to the rest of her
+courtiers and friends a certain pride and stateliness which, while it
+sat gracefully upon her, tempered her courtesy with an unmistakable
+reserve.
+
+The summer was now at its height, and the Countess--or Ilga, as I had
+come to style her in my thoughts--would be ever planning some new
+excursion. One day it would be a water-party to view the orangery and
+myrtelum of Sir Henry Capel at Kew; on another we would visit the new
+camp at Hounslow, which in truth, with its mountebanks and booths,
+resembled more nearly a country fair than a garrison of armed men; or
+again on a third we would attend a coursing match in the fields behind
+Montague House. In short, seldom a day passed but I saw her and had
+talk with her; and if it was but for five minutes, well, the remaining
+hours went by to the lilt of her voice like songs to the sweet
+accompaniment of a viol.
+
+One afternoon Elmscott walked down to my lodging, and carried me with
+him to see a famous comedy by Mr. Farquhar which was that day repeated
+by the Duke's players. The second act was begun by the time we got to
+the theatre, and the house, in spite of the heat, very crowded. For
+awhile I watched with some interest the packed company in the pit, the
+orange-girls hawking their baskets amongst them, the masked women in
+the upper boxes and the crowd of bloods upon the stage, who were
+continually shifting their positions, bowing to ladies in the
+side-boxes, ogling the actresses, and airing their persons and dress
+to the great detriment of the spectacle. Amongst these latter
+gentlemen I observed Lord Culverton combing the curls of his periwig
+with a little ivory comb so that a white cloud of powder hung about
+his head, and I was wondering how long his neighbours would put up
+with his impertinence when Elmscott, who was standing beside me, gave
+a start.
+
+"So he has come back," said he. I followed the direction of his gaze,
+and looked across the theatre. The Countess Lukstein and Mademoiselle
+Durette had just entered one of the lower boxes; behind them in the
+shadow was the figure of a man.
+
+"Who is it?" I asked.
+
+"An acquaintance of yours."
+
+The man came forward as Elmscott spoke to the front of the box, and
+seated himself by the side of Ilga. He was young, with a white face
+and very deep-set eyes, and though his appearance was in some measure
+familiar to me, I could neither remember his name nor the occasion of
+our meeting.
+
+"You have forgotten that night at the H. P.?" asked Elmscott.
+
+In a flash I recollected.
+
+"It is Marston," I said, and then after a pause: "And he knows the
+Countess!"
+
+"As well as you do; maybe better."
+
+"Then how comes it I have never seen him with her before?"
+
+"He left London conveniently before you came hither. We all thought
+that he had received his dismissal. It rather looks as if we were out
+of our reckoning, eh?"
+
+Marston and the Countess were engaged in some absorbing talk with
+their heads very close together, and a sharp pang of jealousy shot
+through me.
+
+"'Tis strange that she has never mentioned his name," I stammered.
+
+"Not so strange now that Hugh Marston has returned. Had he been no
+more than the discarded suitor we imagined him, then yes--you might
+expect her to boast to you of his devotion. 'Tis a way women have. But
+it seems rather that you are rivals."
+
+Rivals! The word was like a white light flashed upon my memories. I
+recalled Marston's half-forgotten prophecy. Was this the contest, I
+wondered, which he had foretold in the chill dawn at the tavern? Were
+we to come to grips with Ilga for the victor's prize? On the heels of
+the thought a swift fear slipped through my veins like ice. He had
+foretold more than the struggle; he had forecast its outcome and
+result.
+
+It was, I think, at this moment that I first understood all that the
+Countess Lukstein meant to me. I leaned forward over the edge of the
+box, and set my eyes upon her face. I noted little of its young
+beauty, little of its wonderful purity of outline; but I seemed to see
+more clearly than ever before the woman that lurked behind it, and I
+felt a new strength, a new courage, a new life, flow out from her to
+me, and lift my heart. My very sinews braced and tightened about my
+limbs. If Marston and I were to fight for Ilga, it should be hand to
+hand, and foot to foot, in the deadliest determination.
+
+Meanwhile she still spoke earnestly with her companion. Of a sudden,
+however, she raised her eyes from him, and glanced across towards us.
+I was still leaning forward, a conspicuous mark, and I saw her face
+change. She gave an abrupt start of surprise; there appeared to me
+something of uneasiness in the movement She looked apprehensively at
+Marston, and back again at me; then she turned away from him, and sat
+with downcast head plucking with nervous fingers at the fan which lay
+on the ledge before her, and shooting furtive glances in our
+direction.
+
+Elmscott, for some reason, began to chuckle.
+
+"Let us make our compliments to the Countess!" he said.
+
+We walked round the circle of the theatre. At the door of the box I
+stopped him.
+
+"Marston heard nothing from you of my journey to Sir Julian Harnwood?"
+I asked.
+
+"Not a word! He knows you were travelling to Bristol; so much you said
+yourself. But for my part, I have never breathed a word of the matter
+to a living soul." And we went in. The Countess held out her hand to
+me with a conscious timidity.
+
+"You are not angered?" she said, in a low voice.
+
+The mere thought that she should take such heed of what I might feel,
+made my pulses leap with joy. She seemed to recognise, as I should
+never have dared to do myself, that I had a right to be jealous, and
+her words almost granted me a claim upon her conduct. For answer I
+bent over her hand and kissed it, and behind me again I heard Elmscott
+chuckling.
+
+Hugh Marston had risen from his chair as we entered, and stood looking
+at me curiously.
+
+"You have not met Mr. Marston," she said. "I must make my two best
+friends acquainted."
+
+I would that she had omitted that word "best," the more especially
+since she laid some emphasis upon it. It undid some portion of her
+previous work, and set us both upon a level in her estimation.
+
+"We have met before," said Marston, and he bowed coldly.
+
+"Indeed? I had not heard of that."
+
+Marston recounted to her the story of the gambling-match, but she
+listened with no apparent attention, fixing her eyes upon the stage.
+
+"I fancied, Mr. Buckler, you had no taste for cards or dice," she said
+carelessly, when he had done.
+
+"Mr. Buckler in truth only stayed there on compulsion," replied
+Marston. "He came from Leyden in a great fluster without any money in
+his pockets, and so must needs wait upon his cousin's pleasure before
+he could borrow a horse to help him on his way."
+
+I threw a glance of appeal towards Elmscott, and he broke in quickly:
+
+"'Twas Lord Culverton lent him the horse, after all."
+
+But the next moment the Countess herself, to my great relief, brought
+the conversation to an end.
+
+"Gentlemen, gentlemen!" she said abruptly, with a show of impatience.
+"I fear me I am as yet so far out of the fashion as to feel some
+slight interest in the unravelling of the play, and I find it
+difficult to catch what the players say."
+
+After that there was no more to be said, and we sat watching the stage
+with what amusement we might, or conversing in the discreetest of
+whispers. For my part I remembered that Ilga had shown no great
+interest in the comedy while she was alone with Marston, and I began
+to wonder whether our intrusion had angered her. It was impossible for
+me to see her face, since she held up a hand on the side next to me
+and so screened her cheek.
+
+Suddenly, however, she cried:
+
+"Oh, there's Lord Culverton!" and she bowed to him with marked
+affability.
+
+Now Culverton had ranged himself in full view with an eye ever turned
+upon our box, so that it seemed somewhat strange she had not observed
+him till now. He swept the boards with his hat, and looking about the
+theatre, his face one gratified smirk, as who should say, "'Tis an
+every-day affair with me," immediately left his station, and
+disappearing behind the scenery, made his way into the box. The
+Countess received him graciously, and kept him behind her chair,
+asking many questions concerning the players, and laughing heartily at
+the pleasantries and innuendos with which he described them. It seemed
+to me, however, that there was more scandal than wit in his anecdotes,
+and, marvelling that she should take delight in them, I turned away
+and let my eyes wander idly about the boxes.
+
+When I glanced again at my companions I perceived that though
+Culverton was still chattering in Countess Lukstein's ear, her gaze
+was bent upon me with the same scrutiny which I had noticed on the
+evening that we sat together in her balcony. It was as though she was
+taking curious stock of my person and weighing me in some balance of
+her thoughts. I fancied that she was contrasting me with Marston, and
+gained some confirmation of the fancy in that she coloured slightly,
+and said hastily, with a nod at the stage:
+
+"What think you of the sentiment, Mr. Buckler?"
+
+"Madame," I replied, "for once I am in the fashion, for I gave no heed
+to it."
+
+I had been, in truth, thinking of her lucky intervention in Marston's
+narrative, for by her impatience she had prevented him from telling
+either the date of the gambling-match or the name of the town which I
+was in such great hurry to reach. Not that I had any solid reason to
+fear she would discover me on that account, for many a man might have
+ridden from London to Bristol at the time of the assizes and had
+naught to do with Sir Julian Harnwood. But I had so begun to dread the
+possibility of her aversion and hatred, that my imagination found a
+motive to suspicion lurking in the simplest of remarks.
+
+"'Twas that a man would venture more for his friend than for his
+mistress," she explained. "What think you of it?"
+
+"Why, that the worthy author has never been in love."
+
+"You believe that?" she laughed.
+
+"'Twixt friend and friend a man's first thought is of himself. Shame
+on us that it should be so; but, alas! my own experience has proved
+it. It needs, I fear me, a woman's fingers to tune him to the true
+note of sacrifice."
+
+"And has your own experience proved that too?" she asked with some
+hesitation, looking down on the ground, and twisting a foot to and fro
+upon its heel.
+
+"Not so," I answered in a meaning whisper. "I wait for the woman's
+fingers and the occasion of the sacrifice."
+
+She shot a shy glance sideways at me, and, as though by accident, her
+hand fell lightly upon mine. I believed, indeed, that 'twas no more
+than an accident until she said quietly: "The occasion may come, too."
+
+She rose from her chair.
+
+"The play begins to weary me," she continued aloud. "Besides, Mr.
+Buckler convinces me the playwright has never been in love, and 'tis
+an unpardonable fault in an author."
+
+Marston and myself started forward to escort her to her carriage. The
+Countess looked from one to the other of us as though in doubt, and we
+stood glaring across her. Elmscott commenced to chuckle again in a way
+that was indescribably irritating and silly.
+
+"If Lord Culverton will honour me," suggested the Countess.
+
+The little man was overwhelmed with the favour accorded to him, and
+with a peacock air of triumph led her from the box.
+
+"Tis a monkey, a damned monkey!" said Marston, looking after him.
+
+The phrase seemed to me a very accurate description of the fop, and I
+assented to it with great cordiality. For a little Marston sat
+sullenly watching the play, and then picking up his hat and cloak,
+departed without a word. His precipitate retreat only made my cousin
+laugh the more heartily; but I chose to make no remark upon this
+merriment, believing that Elmscott indulged it chiefly to provoke me
+to question him. I knew full well the sort of gibe that was burning on
+his tongue, and presently imitating Marston's example, I left him to
+amuse himself.
+
+In the portico of the theatre Marston was waiting. A thick fog had
+fallen with the evening, and snatching a torch from one of the
+link-boys who stood gathered within the light of the entrance, he
+beckoned to me to follow him, and stepped quickly across the square
+into a deserted alley. There he waited for me to come up with him,
+holding the torch above his head so that the brown glare of the flame
+was reflected in his eyes.
+
+"So," he said, "luck sets us on opposite sides of the table again, Mr.
+Buckler. But the game has not begun. You have still time to draw
+back."
+
+For the moment his words and vehement manner fairly staggered me. I
+had not expected from him so frank an avowal of rivalry.
+
+"The stakes are high," he went on, pressing his advantage, "and call
+for a player of more experience than you."
+
+"None the less," said I, meeting his gaze squarely, "I play my hand."
+
+Instantly his manner changed. He looked at me silently for a second,
+and then with a calmness which intimidated me far more than his
+passion:
+
+"Are you wise? Are you wise?" he asked slowly. "Think! What will the
+loser keep?"
+
+"What will the winner gain?"
+
+We stood measuring each other for the space of a minute in the flare
+of the torch. Then he dropped it on the ground, and stamped out the
+sparks with his heel. 'Twas too dark for me to see his face, but I
+heard his voice at my elbow very smooth and soft, and I knew that he
+was stooping by my side.
+
+"You will find this the very worst day's work," he said, "to which
+ever you set your hand;" and I heard his footsteps ring hollow down
+the street. He had certainly won the first trick in the game, for he
+left me to pay the link-boy.
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER X.
+
+               DOUBTS, PERPLEXITIES, AND A COMPROMISE.
+
+
+Two days later the Countess paid her first visit to my lodging. I had
+looked forward to the moment with a great longing, deeming that her
+presence would in a measure consecrate the rooms, and that the memory
+of what she did and said would linger about them afterwards like a
+soft and tender light.
+
+We had journeyed that morning in a party to view the Italian
+Glass-house at Greenwich, and dining at a hostelry in the
+neighbourhood, had returned by water. We disembarked at Westminster
+steps, and I induced the company to favour me with their presence and
+drink a dish of bohea in my apartment.
+
+Now the sitting-rooms which I occupied were two in number and opened
+upon each other, the first, which was the larger, lying along the
+front of the house, and the second, an inner chamber, giving upon a
+little garden at the back. Ilga, I noticed, wandered from one room to
+the other, examining my possessions with an indefatigable curiosity.
+For, said she:
+
+"It is only by such means that one discovers the true nature of one's
+friends. Conversation is but the pretty scabbard that hides the sword.
+The blade may be lath for all that we can tell."
+
+"You distrust your friends so much?"
+
+"Have I no reason to?" she exclaimed, suddenly bending her eyes upon
+me, and she paused in expectation of an answer. "But I forgot; you
+know nothing of my history."
+
+I turned away, for I felt the blood rushing to my face.
+
+"I would fain hear you tell it me," I managed to stammer out.
+
+"Some time I will," she replied quietly, "but not to-day; the time is
+inopportune. For it is brimful of sorrow, and the telling of it will,
+I trust, sadden you."
+
+The strangeness of the words, and a passionate tension in her voice,
+filled me with uneasiness, and I wheeled sharply round.
+
+"For I take you for my friend," she explained softly, "and so count on
+your sympathy. Yet, after all, can I count on it?"
+
+I protested with some confusion that she could count on far more than
+my sympathies.
+
+"It may be," she replied. "But I believe, Mr. Buckler, the whole story
+of woman might be written in one phrase. 'Tis the continual mistaking
+of lath for steel."
+
+"And never steel for lath?" I asked.
+
+"At times, no doubt," she answered, recovering herself with an easy
+laugh. "But we only find that error out when the steel cuts us. So
+either way are we unfortunate. Therefore, I will e'en pursue my
+inquiries," and she stepped off into the inner room, whither presently
+I went to join her.
+
+"Well, what have you discovered?" I asked.
+
+"Nothing," she replied, with a plaintive shake of the head. "You
+disappoint me sorely, Mr. Buckler. A student from the University of
+Leyden should line his walls with volumes and folios, and I have found
+but one book of Latin poems in that room, and not so much as a
+pamphlet in this."
+
+I started. The book of poems could be no other than my copy of Horace,
+and it contained the plan of Lukstein Castle. I reflected, however,
+that the plan was a mere diagram of lines, without even a letter to
+explain it, and with only a cross at the point of ascent. The
+Countess, moreover, had spoken in all levity; her tone betrayed no
+hint of an afterthought.
+
+A small package fastened with string lay on the table before her, and
+beside of it a letter in Elmscott's handwriting. She picked up the
+package.
+
+"And what new purchase is this?" she asked, with a smile.
+
+"I know nothing of it. It is no purchase, and I gather from the
+inscription of the letter it comes from my cousin."
+
+"I shall open it," said she, "and you must blame my sex for its
+inquisitiveness."
+
+"Madame," I replied, "the inquisitiveness implies an interest in the
+object of it, and so pays me a compliment."
+
+"Tis the sweetest way of condoning a fault that ever I met with," she
+laughed, and dropped me a sweeping curtsey.
+
+I broke the seal of Elmscott's letter while she untied the parcel.
+
+"Marston's conversation at the theatre," he wrote, "reminded me of
+these buckles. They belong of right to you, and since it seems your
+turn has come to need luck's services, I send them gladly in the hope
+that they may repeat their office on your behalf."
+
+The parcel contained a shagreen case which Ilga unfastened. The
+diamond buckles from it flashed with a thousand rays, and she tipped
+them to and fro so that the stones might catch the light.
+
+"Your cousin must have a great liking for you," she said. "For in
+truth they are very beautiful."
+
+"Elmscott is a gambler," I laughed, "with all a gambler's
+superstitions," and I handed her the letter.
+
+She read it through. "These buckles were your cousin's last stake, Mr.
+Marston related," she said. "Do you believe that they will bring you
+luck?"
+
+"To believe would be presumption. I have no more courage than suffices
+me to copy Elmscott's example, and hope."
+
+She returned me no answer, giving, so it seemed, all her attention to
+the brilliant jewels in her hands. But I saw the colour mounting in
+her cheeks.
+
+"Meanwhile," she said, after a pause, with a little nervous laugh,
+"you are copying my bad example, and leaving your guests to divert
+themselves."
+
+Not knowing surely whether I had offended her or not, I deemed it best
+to add nothing further or more precise to my hints, and got me back
+into the larger room. Ilga remained standing where I left her, and
+through the doorway I could see her still flashing the buckles
+backwards and forwards. Her evident admiration raised an idea in my
+mind. My guests were amusing themselves without any need of help from
+me. Some new scandal concerning the King and the Countess of
+Dorchester was being discussed for the tenth time that day with an
+enthusiasm which expanded as the story grew, so that I was presently
+able to slip back unnoticed. The inner room, however, was empty; but
+the glass door which gave on to the garden stood open, and picking up
+the shagreen case, I stepped out on to the lawn. Ilga was seated in a
+low chair about the centre of the grass-plot, and the sun, which hung
+low and red just above the ivied wall, burnished her hair, and was
+rosy on her face.
+
+"Madame," said I, advancing towards her, "I have discovered how best
+to dispose of the buckles so that they may bring me luck."
+
+"Indeed?" she asked indifferently. "And which way is it?"
+
+"They are too fine for a plain gentleman's wearing," said I. "Sweet
+looks and precious jewels go best together." With that, and awkwardly
+enough, I dare say, for I always stumbled at a compliment, I opened
+the case and offered it.
+
+She looked at me for a space as though she had not understood, and
+then:
+
+"No, no," she cried, with extraordinary vehemence, repulsing my gift
+so that the case flew out of my grasp, and the buckles sparkled
+through the air in two divergent arcs, and dropped some few feet away
+into the grass. She rose from her seat and drew herself up to her full
+height, her eyes flashing and her bosom heaving. "How dare you?" she
+exclaimed, and yet again, "How dare you?"
+
+Conscious of no intention but to please her by a gift which she
+plainly admired, I stared dumbfounded at the outburst.
+
+"Madame!" I faltered out at last; and with a great effort she
+recovered a part of her self-control.
+
+"Mr. Buckler," she said, speaking with difficulty, while the blood
+swirled in and out of her cheeks, "the present hurts me sorely, even
+though--nay, all the more _because_, it comes from you. It is the
+fashion, I know well, to believe that a few gems will bribe the good
+will of any woman. But I hardly thought that--that you held me in such
+poor esteem."
+
+I protested that nothing could have been further from my designs than
+the notion which she attributed to me, and went so far as to hint that
+there was something extravagant and unreasonable in her anger. For,
+said I, the gift was no bribe but a tribute, and, I continued, with
+greater confidence as her pride diminished, if either of us had a
+right to feel hurt, it was myself, whom she insulted by the imputation
+of so mean a spirit.
+
+"Then I am to humbly beg your pardon, I suppose," she cried, with
+another flash of anger.
+
+"Oh, there's no arguing with you," I burst out in a heat no less
+violent than her own. "Who bids you beg my pardon? What makes you
+suppose I need you should, unless it be your own proper and fitting
+compunction? There's no moderation in your thoughts. You jump from one
+extreme to the other as nimbly as--as----"
+
+I was turning away with the sentence unfinished, when:
+
+"I could supply the simile you want," she said, with a whimsical
+demureness as sudden and inexplicable as her wrath, "only 'tis
+something indelicate," and she broke into a ringing laugh.
+
+To a man of my slow disposition, whose very passions have a certain
+[oe]conomy which delays their growth, the rapid transitions of a
+woman's humours have ever been confusing, and now I stood stockish and
+dumb, gazing at the Countess open-mouthed, and vainly endeavouring,
+like a fool, to reduce the various emotions she had expressed into a
+logical continuity.
+
+"And there!" she continued, "now I have shocked you by lack of
+breeding!"
+
+And once more she commenced to laugh with a mirth so natural and
+infectious that presently it gained on me, and for no definite reason
+that I could name I found myself laughing to her tune and with equal
+heartiness. 'Twas none the less a wiser action than any deliberation
+could have prompted me to, for here was our quarrel ended decisively,
+and no words said.
+
+For a while we strolled up and down the lawn, Ilga interspacing her
+talk with little spirts of laughter, as now and again she looked at my
+face, until we stopped at the end of the garden, just before a small
+postern-door in the wall.
+
+"It leads into the Park?" she asked.
+
+"Yes! Shall we slip out?"
+
+She looked back at the house.
+
+"The host can hardly run away from his guests."
+
+"There is no one in the room to notice us."
+
+"But the room above? 'Twould look strange, whoever saw us."
+
+"Nay, there can be no one there, for it is my dressing-room."
+
+She took hold of the handle doubtfully and tried it.
+
+"It is locked."
+
+"But the key is on the mantelshelf. I will get it."
+
+"In this little room?"
+
+"No, 'tis in the larger room, but----"
+
+"Nay," she interrupted, "our absence will be enough remarked as it is.
+Clemence will read me a lecture on the proprieties all the way home."
+
+Consequently we returned to the house, and the Countess took her leave
+shortly with the rest of the company; but as I conducted her to the
+door, she said a strange thing to me.
+
+"Mr. Buckler," she said, "you should be angry more often," and so with
+another laugh she walked away.
+
+That night, as I sat smoking a pipe upon the lawn, I saw something
+flash and sparkle in the rays of the moon, and I remembered that
+Elmscott's buckles still lay where they had fallen. Picking them up, I
+returned to my seat and fell straightway into a very bitter train of
+thought. 'Twas the recollection of the Countess' indignation that set
+me on it, for since the mere gift could provoke so stormy and sincere
+an outburst, how would it have been, I reflected, had she really known
+who the giver was? The thought pressed in upon me all the more heavily
+for the reason which she had offered to account for her anger. She set
+a value upon my esteem, and no small value either; so much she had
+told me plainly. Now it had been my lot hitherto to meet with a
+half-contemptuous tolerance rather than esteem; so that this unwonted
+appreciation shown by the one person from whom I most desired it
+filled me with a deep gratitude, and obliged me in her service. Yet
+here was I requiting her with a calculating and continuous deception.
+'Twas no longer of any use to argue that Count Lukstein had received
+no greater punishment than his treachery merited; that but for his
+last coward thrust he would have escaped even that; that the advantage
+of the encounter had been on his side from first to last, since I was
+chilled to the bone with my long vigil upon the terrace parapet. Such
+excuses were the merest thistledown, and it needed but a breath from
+her to blow them into air. The solid stalk of my thoughts was: "I was
+deceiving her." And it was not merely the knowledge of my concealments
+which tortured me, but an anticipation of the disdain and contempt
+into which her kindliness would turn, should she ever discover the
+truth.
+
+For so closely had the idea and notion of her become inwoven in my
+being that I ever estimated my actions and purposes by imagining the
+judgment which she would be like to pass on them, and, indeed, saw no
+true image of myself at all save that which was reflected from the
+mirror of her thoughts.
+
+I came then to consider what path I should follow. There were three
+ways open to my choice. I might go on as heretofore, practising my
+duplicity; or, again, I might pack my trunks and scurry ignominiously
+back to my estate; or I might take my courage between my two hands and
+tell the truth of the matter to the Countess, be the consequences what
+they might.
+
+Doubtless the last was the only honest course, and if I did not bring
+myself to adopt it--well, I paid dearly enough for the fault. At the
+time, however, the objections appeared to me insurmountable. In the
+first place, my natural timidity cried out against this hazard of all
+my happiness upon a single throw. Then, again, how could I tell her
+the truth? For it was not merely myself that the story accused, nor
+indeed in the main, but her husband. His treachery towards me in the
+actual righting of the duel I might conceal, but not his treachery to
+Julian, and I shrank from inflicting such shame upon her pride as the
+disclosure must inevitably bring.
+
+I deem it right to set out here the questions which so troubled me,
+with a view to the proper understanding of this story. For on the very
+next day, while I was still debating the matter in great abasement and
+despondency, an incident occurred which determined me upon a
+compromise.
+
+It happened in this way. I had ridden out into the country early in
+the morning, hoping that a vigorous gallop might help me to some
+solution of my perplexities, and returning home in the evening,
+chanced to be in my dressing-room shortly after seven of the clock.
+
+My valet announced that Lord Culverton and my cousin were below, and I
+sent word down that I would be with them in the space of a few
+minutes. Elmscott, however, followed the servant up the stairs, and
+coming into the room entertained me with the latest gossip, walking
+about the while that he talked. In the middle of a sentence he stopped
+before the window which, as I have said, overlooked the Park, and
+broke off his speech with a sudden exclamation. I crossed to where he
+stood, wishing to see what had brought him so abruptly to a stop. The
+walks, however, were empty and deserted, it being the fashion among
+the gentry of the town rather to favour Hyde Park at this hour. A
+chair, certainly, stood at no great distance, but the porters were
+smoking their pipes as they leaned against the poles, and I inferred
+from that that it had no occupant.
+
+"Wait," said Elmscott; "the wall of your garden hides them for the
+moment."
+
+As he spoke, two figures emerged from its shelter and walked into the
+open. I gave a start as I saw them, and gripped Elmscott by the arm.
+
+"Lord!" said he, "are you in so deep as that?"
+
+The woman I knew at the first glance. The easy carriage of her head,
+the light grace of her walk, were qualities which I had noted and
+admired too often to make the ghost of a doubt possible. The man, who
+was gaily dressed in a scarlet coat, an instinct of jealousy told me
+was Hugh Marston. Their backs were towards the house, and I waited for
+them to turn, which they did after they had walked some hundred paces.
+Sure enough my suspicions were correct. The Countess was escorted by
+Marston, her hand was upon his arm, and the pair sauntered slowly,
+stopping here and there in their walk as though greatly concerned with
+one another.
+
+"Damn him!" I cried. "Damn him!"
+
+Elmscott burst into a laugh.
+
+"The pretty Countess," said he, "would be more discreet did she but
+know you overlooked her."
+
+"But she does know," I returned. "She knows that I lodge in the house;
+she knows also that this room is mine."
+
+"Oh!" he exclaimed, in a tone of comprehension, "she knows that!"
+
+"Ay; and 'twas no further back than yesterday that she discovered it.
+I told her myself."
+
+Elmscott remained silent for a while, watching their promenade. Again
+they disappeared within the shelter of the wall; again they emerged
+from it, and again they promenaded some hundred paces and turned.
+
+"I thought so," he muttered; "'tis all of a piece."
+
+I asked what his words meant.
+
+"You remember the evening at the Duke's Theatre, when she caught sight
+of you across the pit? One might have imagined she would not have had
+you see her on such close terms with our friend; that she feared you
+might mistake her courtesy for proof of some deeper feeling."
+
+"Well?" I asked, remembering how he had chuckled through the evening.
+For such in truth had been my thought, and I had drawn no small
+comfort from it.
+
+"Well, she saw you long ere that; she saw you the moment she entered
+the box, before I pointed her out to you. For she looked straight in
+your direction and spoke to the Frenchwoman, nodding towards you."
+
+"No, it is impossible!" I replied. I recollected how her hand had
+fallen upon mine, and the musical sound of her words--"the occasion
+may come, too." "There is no trace of the coquette about her. This
+must be a mistake."
+
+"It is you who are making it. Add her behaviour now," he waved his
+hand to the window, "to what I have told you! See how the incidents
+fit together. Yesterday she finds out your room commands the Park,
+to-day she walks in Marston's company underneath the window, and
+backwards and forwards, mark that! never moving out of range. 'Tis all
+part of one purpose."
+
+"But what purpose?" I cried passionately. "What purpose could she
+serve?"
+
+"The devil knows!" he replied, with a shrug of his shoulders. "It is
+of a woman we are speaking--you forget that."
+
+I flung open the window noisily, in a desire to attract their
+attention and observe how the Countess would take our discovery of her
+interview. But she paid not the slightest heed to the sound. Elmscott
+made a sudden dash to the door.
+
+"Culverton!" he cried over the baluster.
+
+I tried to check him, for I had no wish that Culverton's meddlesome
+fingers should pry into the matter. I was too late, however; he
+entered the room, and Elmscott drew him to the open window.
+
+"Burn me, but 'tis the oddest thing!" he smirked.
+
+For a minute or so we stood watching the couple in silence. Then the
+Countess dropped her fan, and as Marston stooped to pick it up she
+shot one quick glance towards us. Her companion handed her the fan,
+and they resumed the promenade. But they took no more than half a turn
+before the Countess signalled to the porters, and getting into the
+chair, was carried off. Marston waited until she was out of sight,
+with his hat in his hand, and then cocking it jauntily on his head,
+marched off in the opposite direction. The satisfaction of his manner
+made my blood boil with rage.
+
+"The conceited ass!" I cried, stamping my feet.
+
+"She heard the window open after all," said Elmscott.
+
+As for Culverton, he tittered the more.
+
+"The oddest thing!" he repeated. "The very oddest thing! Strike me
+purple if I know what to make of the delightful creature!"
+
+"'Tis as plain as my hand," replied Elmscott roughly. "No sooner did
+she perceive that you were watching her than she gave Marston his
+conge. He had done his work, and she had no further use for him. She
+is a woman--there's the top and bottom of it. A couple of men to frown
+at each other and grimace prettily to her! Her vanity demands no less.
+She is like one of our Indian planters who value their wealth by the
+number of their slaves; so she her beauty."
+
+"Nay," interposed the fop. "If that were the whole business, one would
+hear less concerning Mr. Buckler from her rapturous lips. But rat me
+if she ever talks about any one else."
+
+"Do you mean that?" I asked eagerly.
+
+"Oh, most inquisitive, on my honour! In truth, your name is growing
+plaguy wearisome to me. Why, but the other night, when she selected me
+to lead her to her carriage at the theatre, 'twas but to question me
+concerning you, and whether you gambled, and the horse of mine you
+rode, and what not. And there was I with a thousand tender nothings to
+whisper in her ear, and pink me if I could get one of 'em out!"
+
+"Then I give the riddle up," rejoined Elmscott, though I would fain
+have heard more of this strain from Culverton. "I make neither head
+nor tail of the business, unless, Morrice, she would bring you on by a
+little wholesome jealousy." He looked at me shrewdly, and continued:
+"You are a timid wooer, I fancy. Why not go to her boldly? Tell her
+you are going away, and have had enough of her tricks! 'Twould bring
+your suit to a climax."
+
+"One way or another," said I doubtfully.
+
+"If Mr. Buckler would take the advice of one who has had some small
+experience of ladies' whims," interposed Culverton, "and some
+participation in their favours, he would buy some new clothes."
+
+"These are new," I said. "I followed your advice before, and bought
+enough to stock a shop."
+
+"But of such a desperate colour," he replied. "Lard, Mr. Buckler, you
+go dressed like a mute at a funeral! The ladies loathe it; stap me,
+but they loathe it! A scarlet coat, like our friend wears, a full
+periwig, an embroidered stocking, makes deeper inroads into their
+affections than a year's tedious love-making. The dear creatures'
+hearts, Mr. Buckler, are in their eyes."
+
+With that the subject of Countess Lukstein dropped. For Culverton,
+once started upon his favourite topic, launched forth into a complete
+philosophy of clothes. The colour of each garment, according to him,
+had a particular effect upon the sex; the adjustment of each ribbon
+conveyed a particular meaning. He had, indeed, ingeniously classified
+the various coats, hats, breeches, vests, periwigs, ruffles, cravats
+and the other appurtenances of a gentleman's wardrobe, with the modes
+of wearing them, as expressions of feeling and emotion. The larger and
+more dominant emotions were voiced in the clothes, the delicate and
+subtler shades of feeling in the disposition of ornaments. In short,
+'twould be a very profitable philosophy for a race which had neither
+tongues to speak nor faces and limbs to act their meaning.
+
+This incident, as I have said, determined me upon a compromise, for it
+set my heart aflame with jealousy. I had not taken Marston into my
+calculations before; now I reflected that if I retired to the North, I
+should be leaving a free field for him, and that I was obstinately
+minded I would not do. On the other hand, however, this promenade in
+front of my windows, whether undertaken of set purpose or from sheer
+carelessness, seemed to show that after all I had no stable footing in
+Ilga's esteem, and I feared that if I disclosed to her the deception
+which I had used towards her, there could be but one result and
+consequence.
+
+I determined then to forward my suit with what ardour and haste I
+might, and to unbosom myself of my fault in the very hour that I
+pleaded my love.
+
+The Countess, however, gave me no heart or occasion for the work. Her
+manner towards me changed completely of a sudden, and where I had
+previously met with smiles and kindly words, I got now disdainful
+looks and biting speeches. She would ridicule my conversation, my
+person, and my bearing, and that, too, before a room full of people,
+so that I was filled with the deepest shame; or again, she would
+shrink from me with all the appearances of aversion. Mademoiselle
+Durette, it is true, sought to lighten my suffering. "It is ever
+Love's way to blow hot and cold," she would whisper in my ear. But I
+thought that she spoke only out of compassion. For 'twas the cold wind
+which continually blew on me.
+
+At times, indeed, though very rarely, she would resume her old
+familiarity, but there was a note of effort in her voice as though she
+subdued herself to a distasteful practice, and something hysterical in
+her merriment; and as like as not, she would break off in the middle
+of a kindly sentence and load me with the extremity of scorn.
+
+Moreover, Marston was perpetually at her side, and in his company she
+made more than one return to the Park; so that at last, being fallen
+into a most tormenting despair, I made shift to follow Elmscott's
+advice, and called at her lodging one morning to inform her that I
+intended setting my face homewards that very afternoon.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XI.
+
+                 THE COUNTESS EXPLAINS, AND SHOWS ME
+                              A PICTURE.
+
+
+It was a full week since I had last waited on my cruel mistress, and I
+hoped, though with no great confidence, that this intermission of my
+visits might temper and moderate her scorn. I had besides taken to
+heart Culverton's advice as well as that of my cousin. For I was in
+great trepidation lest she should take me at my word, and carelessly
+bid me adieu, and so caught eagerly at any hint that seemed likely to
+help me, however trivial it might be, and from whatever source it
+came.
+
+Consequently I had had my own hair cropped, and had purchased a
+cumbersome full-bottomed peruke of the latest mode. With that on my
+head, and habited in a fine new brocaded coat of green velvet and
+lemon-coloured silk breeches and stockings, I went timidly to confront
+my destiny. How many times did I walk up and down before her house, or
+ever I could summon courage to knock! How many phrases and dignified
+reproaches did I con over and rehearse, yet never one that seemed
+other than offensive and ridiculous! What in truth emboldened me in
+the end to enter was a cloud of dust which a passing carriage caused
+to settle on my coat. If I hesitated much longer, I reflected, all my
+bravery would be wasted, and dusting myself carefully with my
+handkerchief, I mounted the steps. Otto Krax opened the door, and
+preceded me up the staircase.
+
+But while we were still ascending the steps, Mademoiselle Durette came
+from the parlour which gave on to the landing.
+
+"Very well, Otto," she said, "I will announce Mr. Buckler."
+
+She waited until the man had descended the stairs, and then turned to
+me with a meaning smile.
+
+"She is alone. Take her by surprise!"
+
+With that she softly turned the handle of the door, and opened it just
+so far as would enable me to slip through. I heard the voice of Ilga
+singing sweetly in a low key, and my heart trembled and jumped within
+me, so that I hesitated on the threshold.
+
+"I have no patience with you," said Mademoiselle Durette, in an
+exasperated whisper. "Cowards don't win when they go a-wooing. Haven't
+you learnt that? Ridicule her, if you like, as she does you--abuse
+her, do anything but gape like a stock-fish, with a white face as
+though all your blood had run down into the heels of your shoes!"
+
+She pushed me as she spoke into the room, and noiselessly closed the
+door. The Countess was seated at a spinnet in the far corner of the
+room, and sang in her native tongue. The song, I gathered, was a
+plaint, and had a strange and outlandish melancholy, the voice now
+lifting into a wild, keening note, now sinking abruptly to a dreary
+monotone. It oppressed me with a peculiar sadness, making the singer
+seem very lonely and far-away; and I leaned silently against the wall,
+not daring to interrupt her. At last the notes began to quaver, the
+voice broke once and twice; she gave a little sob, and her head fell
+forward on her hands.
+
+An inrush of pity swept all my diffidence away. I stepped hastily
+forward with outstretched hands. At the sound she sprang to her feet
+and faced me, the colour flaming in her cheeks.
+
+"Madame," cried I, "if my intrusion lacks ceremony, believe me----"
+
+But I got no further in my protestations. For with a sneer upon her
+lips and a biting accent of irony,
+
+"So," she broke in, looking me over, "the crow has turned into a
+cockatoo." And she rang a bell which stood upon the spinnet. I stopped
+in confusion, and not knowing what to say or do, remained foolishly
+shifting from one foot to the other, the while Ilga watched me with a
+malicious pleasure. In a minute Otto Krax came to the door. "How comes
+it," she asked sternly, "that Mr. Buckler enters unannounced? Have I
+no servants?"
+
+The fellow explained that Mademoiselle Durette had taken the duty to
+herself.
+
+"Send Mademoiselle Durette to me!" said the Countess.
+
+I was ready to sink through the floor with humiliation, and busied my
+wits in a search for a plausible excuse. I had not found one when the
+Frenchwoman appeared.
+
+Countess Lukstein repeated her question.
+
+Mademoiselle Burette was no readier than myself, and glanced with a
+frightened air from me to her mistress, and back again from her
+mistress to me. Remembering what she had said on the landing about my
+irresolution, I felt my shame doubled.
+
+"Madame," I stammered out, "the fault is in no wise your companion's.
+The blame of it should fall on me."
+
+"Oh!" said she, "really?" And turning to Mademoiselle Durette, she
+began to clap her hands. "I believe," she exclaimed in a mock
+excitement, "that Mr. Buckler is going to make me a present of a
+superb cockatoo. Clemence, you must buy a cage and a chain for its
+leg!"
+
+Clemence stared in amazement, as well she might, and I, stung to a
+passion,
+
+"Nay," I cried, and for once my voice rang firmly. "By the Lord, you
+count too readily upon Mr. Buckler's gift. Mr. Buckler has come to
+offer you no present, but to take his leave for good and all."
+
+I made her a dignified bow and stepped towards the door.
+
+"What do you mean?" she asked sharply.
+
+"That I ride homewards this afternoon."
+
+She shot a glance at Mademoiselle Durette, who slipped obediently out
+of the room.
+
+"And why?" she asked, with an innocent assumption of surprise, coming
+towards me. "Why?"
+
+"What, madame!" I replied, looking her straight in the face. "Surely
+your ingenuity can find a reason."
+
+"My ingenuity?" She spoke in the same accent of wonderment. "My
+ingenuity? Mr. Buckler, you take a tone----" She came some paces
+nearer to me and asked very gently: "Am I to blame?"
+
+The humility of the question, and a certain trembling of the lips that
+uttered it, well-nigh disarmed me; but I felt that did I answer her,
+did I venture the mildest reproach, I should give her my present
+advantage.
+
+"No, no," I replied, with a show of indifference; "my own people need
+me."
+
+She took another step, and spoke with lowered eyes. "Are there no
+people who need you here?"
+
+I forgot my part.
+
+"You mean----" I exclaimed impulsively, when a movement which she made
+brought me to a stop. For she drew back a step, and picking up her fan
+from a little table, began to pluck nervously at the feathers. Her
+action recalled to my mind her behaviour at the Duke's Theatre and
+Elmscott's commentary thereon.
+
+"None that I know of," I resumed, "for even those whom I counted my
+friends find me undeserving of even common civility."
+
+"Civility! Civility!" she cried out in scorn. "'Tis the very proof and
+attribute of indifference--the crust one tosses carelessly to the
+first-comer because it costs nothing."
+
+"But I go fasting even for that crust."
+
+"Not always," she replied softly, shooting a glance at me. "Not
+always, Mr. Buckler; and have you not found at times some butter on
+the bread?"
+
+She smiled as she spoke, but I hardened my heart against her and
+vouchsafed no answer. For a little while she stood with her eyes upon
+the ground, and then:
+
+"Oh, very well, very well!" she said petulantly, and turning away from
+me, flung the fan on to the table. The table was of polished mahogany,
+and the fan slid across its surface and dropped to the floor. I
+stepped forward, and knelt down to pick it up.
+
+"What, Mr. Buckler!" she said bitterly, turning again to me, "you
+condescend to kneel. Surely it is not you; it must be some one else."
+
+I thought that I had never heard sarcasm so unjust, for in truth
+kneeling to her had been my chief occupation this many a day, and I
+replied hotly, bethinking me of Marston and the episode which I had
+witnessed in the Park.
+
+"Indeed, madame, and you may well think it strange, for have I not
+seen you drop your fan in order to deceive the man who picks it up?"
+With that I got to my feet and laid the fan on the table.
+
+She flushed very red, and exclaimed hurriedly:
+
+"All that can be explained."
+
+"No doubt! no doubt!" I replied. "I have never doubted the subtlety of
+madame's invention."
+
+She drew herself up with great pride, and bowed to me.
+
+I walked to the door. As I opened it, I turned to take one last look
+at the face which I had so worshipped. It was very white; even the
+lips were bloodless, and oddly enough I noticed that she wore a loose
+white gown as on the occasion of our first meeting.
+
+"Adieu," I said, and stepped behind the door.
+
+From the other side of it her voice came to me quietly:
+
+"Does this prove the sword to be lath or steel?"
+
+I shut the door, and went slowly down the stairs, slowly and yet more
+slowly. For her last question drummed at my heart.
+
+"Lath or steel?" Was I playing a man's part, or was I the mere
+bond-slave of a petty pride? "That can be explained," she had said.
+What if it could? Then the sword would be proved lath indeed! Just to
+salve my vanity I should have wasted my life--and only _my_ life? I
+saw her lips trembling as the thought shot through me.
+
+What if those walks with my rival beneath my window had been devised
+in some strange way for a test--a woman's test and touchstone to essay
+the metal of the sword, a test perhaps intelligible to a woman, though
+an enigma to me? If only I knew a woman whom I could consult!
+
+My feet lagged more and more, but I reached the bottom of the stairs
+in the end. The hall was empty. I looked up towards the landing with a
+wild hope that she would come out and lean over the balustrade, as on
+the evening when Elmscott first brought me to the house. But there was
+no stir or movement from garret to cellar. I might have stood in the
+hall of the Sleeping Palace. From a high window the sunlight slanted
+athwart the cool gloom in a golden pillar, and a fly buzzed against
+the pane. I crossed the hall, and let myself out into the noonday. The
+door clanged behind me with a hollow rattle; it sounded to my hearing
+like the closing of the gates of a tomb, and I felt it was myself that
+lay dead behind it.
+
+As I passed beneath the window, something hard dropped upon the crown
+of my hat, and bounced thence to the ground at my feet. I picked it
+up. It was a crust of bread. For a space I stood looking at it before
+I understood. Then I rushed back to the entrance. The door stood open,
+but the hall was empty and silent as when I left it. I sprang up the
+stairs, and in my haste missed my footing about halfway up, and rolled
+down some half-a-dozen steps. The crash of my fall echoed up the well
+of the staircase, and from behind the parlour door I heard some one
+laugh. I got on to my legs, and burst into the room.
+
+Ilga was seated before a frame of embroidery very demure and busy. She
+paid no heed to me, keeping her head bent over her work until I had
+approached close to the frame. Then she looked up with her eyes
+sparkling.
+
+"How dare you?" she asked, in a mock accent of injury.
+
+"I don't know," I replied meekly.
+
+She bent once more over her embroidery.
+
+"Humours are the prerogative of my sex," she said.
+
+"I set you apart from it."
+
+"Is that why you cannot trust me even a little?"
+
+The gentle reproach made me hot with shame. I had no words to answer
+it. Then she laughed again, bending closer over her frame, in a low
+joyous note that gradually rose and trilled out sweet as music from a
+thrush.
+
+"And so," she said, "you came all trim and spruce in your fine new
+clothes to show me what my discourtesy had lost me! What a child you
+are! And yet," she rose suddenly, her whole face changing, "and yet,
+are you a child? Would God I knew!" She ended with a passionate cry,
+clasping her hands together upon her breast; but before I could make
+head or tail of her meaning she was half-way through another mood.
+"Ah!" she cried, "you have brought my courtesy back with you." I had
+not noticed until then that I still held the crust in my hand. "You
+shall swallow it as a penance."
+
+"Madame!" I laughed.
+
+"Hush! you shall eat it. Yes, yes!" with a pretty imperious stamp of
+the foot. "Now! Before you speak a word!"
+
+I obeyed her, but with some difficulty, for the crust was very dry.
+
+"You see," she said, "courtesy is not always so tasteful a morsel. It
+sticks in the throat at times;" and crossing to a sideboard, she
+filled a goblet from a decanter of canary and brought it to me.
+
+"You will pledge me first," I entreated.
+
+Her face grew serious, and she balanced the cup doubtfully in her
+hand.
+
+"Of a truth," she said, "of a truth I will." She raised it slowly to
+her lips; but at that moment the door opened.
+
+"Oh!" cried Mademoiselle Durette, with a start of surprise, "I fancied
+that Mr. Buckler had gone," and she was for whipping out of the room
+again, but Ilga called to her. The astonishment of the Frenchwoman
+made one point clear to me concerning which I felt some curiosity. I
+mean that 'twas not she who had set the hall-door open for my return.
+
+"Clemence!" said the Countess, setting down the wine untasted, as I
+noticed with regret, "will you bid Otto come to me? I ransacked Mr.
+Buckler's rooms, and it is only fair that I should show him my poor
+treasures in return."
+
+She handed a key to Otto, and bade him unlock a Japan cabinet which
+stood in a corner. He drew out a tray heaped up with curiosities,
+medals and trinkets, and bringing it over, laid it on a table in the
+window.
+
+"I have bought them all since I came to London. You shall tell me
+whether I have been robbed."
+
+"You come to the worst appraiser in the world," said I, "for these
+ornaments tell me nothing of their value though much of your
+industry."
+
+"I have a great love for these trifles," said she, though her action
+seemed to belie her words, for she tossed and rattled them hither and
+thither upon the tray with rapid jerks of her fingers which would have
+made a virtuoso shiver. "They hint so much of bygone times, and tell
+so provokingly little."
+
+"Their example, at all events, affords a lesson in discretion," I
+laughed.
+
+"Which our poor sex is too trustful to learn, and yours too
+distrustful to forget."
+
+There was a certain accent of appeal in her voice, very tender and
+sweet, as though she knew my story and was ready to forgive it. Had we
+been alone I believe that I should have blurted the whole truth out;
+only Otto Krax stood before me on the opposite side of the table,
+Mademoiselle Durette was seated in the room behind.
+
+Ilga had ceased to sort the articles, and now began to point out
+particular trinkets, describing their purposes and antiquity and the
+shops where she had discovered them. But I paid small heed to her
+words; that question--did she know?--pressed too urgently upon my
+thoughts. A glance at the stolid indifference of Otto Krax served to
+reassure me. Through him alone could suspicion have come, and I felt
+certain that he had as yet not recognised me.
+
+Besides, I reflected, had she known, it was hardly in nature that she
+should have spoken so gently. I dismissed the suspicion from my mind,
+and turned me again to the inspection of the tray.
+
+Just below my eyes lay a miniature of a girl, painted very delicately
+upon a thin oval slip of ivory. The face was dark in complexion, with
+black hair, the nose a trifle tip-tilted, and the lips full and red,
+but altogether a face very alluring and handsome. I was most struck,
+however, with the freshness of the colours; amongst those old curios
+the portrait shone like a gem. I took it up, and as I did so, Otto
+Krax leaned forward.
+
+"Otto!" said Ilga sharply, "you stand between Mr. Buckler and the
+light."
+
+The servant moved obediently from the window.
+
+"This," said I, "hath less appearance of antiquity than the rest of
+your purchases."
+
+"It was given to me," she replied. "The face is beautiful?"
+
+Now it had been my custom of late to consider a face beautiful or not
+in proportion to its resemblance to that of Countess Lukstein. So I
+looked carefully at the miniature, and thence to Ilga. She was gazing
+closely at me with parted lips, and an odd intentness in her
+expression. I noticed this the more particularly, for that her eyes,
+which were violet in their natural hue, had a trick of growing dark
+when she was excited or absorbed.
+
+"Why!" I exclaimed, in surprise. "One might think you fancy me
+acquainted with the lady."
+
+"Well," she replied, laying a hand upon her heart, "what if I
+did--fancy that?" She stressed the word "fancy" with something of a
+sneer.
+
+"Nay," said I, "the face is strange to me."
+
+"Are you sure?" she asked. "Look again! Look again, Mr. Buckler!"
+
+Disturbed by this recurrence of her irony, I fixed my eyes, as she
+bade me, upon the picture, and strangely enough, upon a closer
+scrutiny I began gradually to recognise it; but in so vague and dim a
+fashion, that whether the familiarity lay in the contour of the
+lineaments or merely in the expression, I could by no effort of memory
+determine.
+
+"Well?" she asked, with a smile which had nothing amiable or pleasant
+in it. "What say you now?"
+
+"Madame," I returned, completely at a loss, "in truth I know not what
+to say. It may be that I have seen the original. Indeed, I must think
+that is the case----"
+
+"Ah!" she cried, interrupting me as one who convicts an opponent after
+much debate, and then, in a hurried correction: "so at least I was
+informed."
+
+"Then tell me who informed you!" I said earnestly, for I commenced to
+consider this miniature as the cause of her recent resentment and
+scorn. "For I have only seen this face--somewhere--for a moment. Of
+one thing I am sure. I have never had speech with it."
+
+"Never?" she asked, in the same ironical tone. "Look yet a third time,
+Mr. Buckler! For your memory improves with each inspection."
+
+She suddenly broke off, and "Otto!" she cried sternly--it was almost a
+shout.
+
+The fellow was standing just behind my shoulder, and I swung round and
+eyed him. He came a step forward, questioning his mistress with a
+look.
+
+"Replace the tray in the cabinet!"
+
+I kept the miniature in my hand, glancing ever from it to the Countess
+and back again in pure wonder and conjecture.
+
+"Madame," I said firmly, "I have never had speech with the lady of
+this picture."
+
+She looked into my eyes as though she would read my soul.
+
+"It is God's truth!"
+
+She signed a dismissal to Otto. Clemence Durette rose and followed the
+servant, and I thought that I had never fallen in with any one who
+showed such tact and discretion in the matter of leaving a room.
+
+The Countess remained stock-still, facing me.
+
+"And yet I have been told," she said, nodding her head with each word,
+"that she was very dear to you."
+
+"Then," I replied hotly, "you were told a lie, a miserable calumny. I
+understand! 'Tis that that has poisoned your kind thoughts of me."
+
+She turned away with a slight shrug of the shoulders.
+
+"Oh, believe that!" I exclaimed, falling upon a knee and holding her
+by the hem of her dress. "You must believe it! I have told you what my
+life has been. Look at the picture yourself!" and I forced it into her
+hands. "What do you read there? Vanity and the love of conquest. Gaze
+into the eyes! What do they bespeak? Boldness that comes from the
+habit of conquest. Is it likely that such a woman would busy her head
+about an awkward, retiring student?"
+
+"I am not so sure," she replied thoughtfully, though she seemed to
+relent a little at my vehemence; "women are capricious. You yourself
+have been complaining this morning of their caprice. And it might be
+that--I can imagine it--and for that very reason."
+
+"Oh, compare us!" I cried. "Compare the painted figure there with me!
+You must see it is impossible."
+
+She laid a hand upon each of my shoulders as I knelt, and bent over
+me, staring into my eyes.
+
+"I have been told," said she, "that the lady was so dear to you that
+for her sake you fought and killed your rival in love."
+
+"You have been told that?" I answered, in sheer incredulity; and then
+a flame of rage against my traducer kindling in my heart, I sprang to
+my feet.
+
+"Who told you?"
+
+"I may not disclose his name."
+
+"But you shall," said I, stepping in front of her. "You shall tell me!
+He has lied to you foully, and you owe him therefore no consideration
+or respect. He has lied concerning me. I have a clear right to know
+his name, that I may convince you of the lie, and reckon with him for
+his slander. Confront us both, and yourself be present as the judge!"
+
+Of a sudden she held out her hand to me.
+
+"Your sincerity convinces me. I need no other proof, and I crave your
+pardon for my suspicion."
+
+I looked into her face, amazed at the sudden change. But there was no
+mistaking her conviction or the joy which it occasioned her. I saw a
+light in her eyes, dancing and sparkling, which I had never envisaged
+before, and which filled me with exquisite happiness.
+
+"Still," I said, as I took her hand, "I would fain prove my words to
+you."
+
+"Can you not trust me at all?"
+
+She had a wonderful knack of putting me in the wrong when I was on the
+side of the right, and before I could find a suitable reply she
+slipped out of my grasp, and crossing the room, took in her hand the
+cup of wine.
+
+"Now," said she, "I will pledge you, Mr. Buckler;" which she did very
+prettily, and handed the cup to me. As I raised it to my lips,
+however, an idea occurred to me.
+
+"It is you who refuse to pledge me," she said.
+
+"Nay, nay," said I, and I drained the cup. "But I have just guessed
+who my traducer is."
+
+She looked perplexed for a moment.
+
+"You have guessed who----" she began, in an accent of wonder.
+
+"Who gave you the picture," I explained.
+
+She stared at me in pure astonishment.
+
+"You can hardly have guessed accurately, then," she remarked.
+
+"Surely," said I, "it needs no magician to discover the giver. I know
+but one man in London who can hope to gain aught by slandering me to
+you."
+
+Ilga gave a start of alarm. It seemed almost as though I were telling
+her news, as though she did not know herself who gave her the picture;
+and for the rest of my visit she appeared absent and anxious. This was
+particularly mortifying to me, since I thought the occasion too apt to
+be lost, and I was minded to open my heart to her. Indeed, I began the
+preface of a love-speech in spite of her preoccupation, but sticking
+for lack of encouragement after half-a-dozen words or so, I perceived
+that she was not even listening to what I said. Consequently I took my
+leave with some irritation, marvelling at the flighty waywardness of a
+woman's thoughts, and rather inclined to believe that the properest
+age for a man to marry was his ninetieth year, for then he might
+perchance have sufficient experience to understand some portion of his
+wife's behaviour and whimsies.
+
+My mortification was not of a lasting kind, for Ilga came out on to
+the landing while I was still descending the stairs.
+
+"You do not know who gave me the picture," she said, entreating me;
+and she came down two of the steps.
+
+"It would be exceeding strange if I did not," said I, stopping.
+
+"You would seek him out and----" she began.
+
+"I had that in my mind," said I, mounting two of the steps.
+
+"Then you do not know him. Say you do not! There could be but one
+result, and I fear it."
+
+A knock on the outer door rang through the hall; this time we took two
+steps up and down simultaneously.
+
+"Swords!" she continued, "for you would fight?"
+
+I nodded.
+
+"Oh!" she exclaimed, "swords are no true ordeal. Skill--it is skill,
+not justice, which directs the thrust."
+
+I fancied that I comprehended the cause of her fear, and I laughed
+cheerfully.
+
+"I have few good qualities," said I, "but amongst those few you may
+reckon some proficiency with the sword." I ascended two steps.
+
+"So," she replied, with an indefinable change of tone, "you are
+skilled in the exercise?" But she stood where she was.
+
+Otto Krax came from the inner part of the house and crossed to the
+door.
+
+"It is my one qualification for a courtier."
+
+Since Ilga had omitted to take the two steps down, I deemed it right
+to take four steps up.
+
+She resumed her tone of entreaty.
+
+"But chance may outwit skill; does--often."
+
+We heard the chain rattle on the door as Krax unfastened it. Ilga bent
+forward hurriedly.
+
+"You do not know the man!" and in a whisper she added: "For my
+sake--you do not!"
+
+There were only four steps between us. I took them all in one spring.
+
+"For your sake, is it?" and I caught her hand.
+
+"Hush!" she said, disengaging herself. Marston's voice sounded in the
+entrance. "You do not know! Oh, you do not!" she beseeched in shaking
+tones. Then she drew back quickly, and leaned against the balustrade.
+I looked downwards. Otto was ushering in Marston, and the pair stood
+at the foot of the staircase. I glanced back at the Countess. There
+were tears in her eyes.
+
+"Madame!" said I, "I have forgotten his name."
+
+With a bow, I walked down the steps as Marston mounted them.
+
+"'Tis a fine day," says I, coming to a halt when we were level.
+
+"Is it?" says he, continuing the ascent.
+
+"It seems to me wonderfully bright and clear," said the Countess from
+the head of the stairs.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XII.
+
+                             LADY TRACY.
+
+
+Outside the house I came face to face with the original of the
+miniature. So startled and surprised was I by her unexpected
+appearance that I could not repress an exclamation, and she turned her
+eyes full upon me. She was seated upon a horse, while a mounted groom
+behind her held the bridle of a third horse, saddled, but riderless.
+'Twas evident that she had come to the house in Marston's company, and
+now waited his return. My conviction that Marston had handed the
+miniature to Ilga was, I thought, confirmed beyond possibility of
+doubt, and I scanned her face with more eagerness than courtesy,
+hoping to discover by those means a clue to her identity. For a moment
+or so she returned my stare without giving a sign of recognition, and
+then she turned her head away. It was clear, at all events, that she
+had no knowledge or remembrance of me, and though her lips curved with
+a gratified smile, and she glanced occasionally in my direction from
+the tail of her eye, I could not doubt that she considered my
+exclamation as merely a stranger's spontaneous tribute to her looks.
+
+Indeed, the more closely I regarded her, the less certain did I myself
+become that I had ever set eyes on her before. I was sensible of a
+vague familiarity in her appearance, but I was not certain but what I
+ought to attribute it to my long examination of her likeness. However,
+since Providence had brought us thus opportunely together, I was
+minded to use the occasion in order to resolve my perplexities, and
+advancing towards her:
+
+"Madam," I said, "you will, I trust, pardon my lack of ceremony when I
+assure you that it is no small matter which leads me to address you. I
+only ask of you the answer to a simple question. Have we met before
+to-day?"
+
+"The excuse is not very adroit," she replied, with a coquettish laugh,
+"for it implies that you are more like to live in my memory than I in
+yours."
+
+"Believe me!" said I eagerly, "the question is no excuse, but one of
+some moment to me. I should not have had the courage to thrust myself
+wantonly upon your attention, even had I felt----"
+
+I broke off suddenly and stopped, since I saw a frown overspread her
+face, and feared to miss the answer to my question.
+
+"Well! Even had you felt the wish. That is your meaning, is it not?
+Why not frankly complete the sentence? I hear the sentiment so seldom,
+that of a truth I relish it for its rarity."
+
+She gave an indignant toss of her head, and looked away from me,
+running her fingers through the mane of her horse. I understood that
+flattery alone would serve my turn with her, and I answered boldly:
+
+"You are right, madam. You supply the words my tongue checked at, but
+not the reason which prompted them. In the old days, when a poor
+mortal intruded upon a goddess, he paid for his presumption with all
+the pangs of despair, and I feared that the experience might not be
+obsolete."
+
+She appeared a trifle mollified by my adulation, and replied archly,
+making play with her eyebrows:
+
+"'Tis a pretty interpretation to put upon the words, but the words
+came first, I fear, and suggested the explanation."
+
+"You should not blame me for the words, but rather yourself. An
+awkward speech, madam, implies startled senses, and so should be
+reckoned a more genuine compliment than the most nicely-ordered
+eulogy."
+
+"That makes your peace," said she, much to my relief, for this work of
+gallantry was ever discomforting to me, my flatteries being of the
+heaviest and causing me no small labour in the making. "That makes
+your peace. I accept the explanation."
+
+"And will answer the question?" said I, returning to the charge.
+
+"You deserve no less," she assented. "But indeed, I have no
+recollection of your face, and so can speak with no greater certainty
+than yourself. Perchance your name might jog my memory."
+
+"I am called Morrice Buckler," said I.
+
+At that she started in her saddle and gathered up the reins as though
+intending to ride off.
+
+"Then I can assure you on the point," she said hurriedly. "You and I
+have never met."
+
+I was greatly astonished by this sudden action which she made. 'Twas
+as though she was frightened; and I knew no reason why any one should
+fear me, least of all a stranger. But what she did next astonished me
+far more; for she dropped the reins and looked me over curiously,
+saying with a little laugh:
+
+"So you are Morrice Buckler. I gave you credit for horn-spectacles at
+the very least."
+
+Something about her--was it her manner or her voice?--struck me as
+singularly familiar to me, and I exclaimed:
+
+"Surely, surely, madam, it is true. Somewhere we have met."
+
+"Nowhere," she answered, enjoying my mystification. "Have you ever
+been presented to Lady Tracy, wife of Sir William Tracy?"
+
+"Not that I remember," said I, still more puzzled, "nor have I ever
+heard the name."
+
+"Then you should be satisfied, for I am Lady Tracy."
+
+"But you spoke of horn-spectacles. How comes it that you know so much
+concerning me?"
+
+"Nay," she laughed. "You go too fast, Mr. Buckler. I know nothing
+concerning you save that some injustice has been done you. I was told
+of a homespun student, glum and musty as an old book, and I find
+instead a town-gallant point-de-vice, who will barter me compliments
+with the best of them."
+
+"You got your knowledge, doubtless, from Hugh Marston," I replied,
+with a glance at the door; "and I only wonder the description was not
+more unflattering."
+
+"I did not mean him," she said slowly. "For I did not even know that
+you were acquainted with"--she paused, and looked me straight in the
+face--"with my brother."
+
+"Your brother!" I exclaimed. "Hugh Marston is your brother?" And I
+took a step towards her. Again I saw a passing look of apprehension in
+her face, but I did not stop to wonder at it then. I understood that
+the indefinable familiarity in her looks was due to the likeness which
+she bore her brother--a likeness consisting not so much of a distinct
+stamp of features as of an occasional and fleeting similarity of
+expression.
+
+"I understand," said I, more to myself than to her.
+
+She flushed very red in a way which was unaccountable, and broke in
+abruptly.
+
+"So you see we have never seen one another before to-day. For the last
+year I have been travelling abroad with my husband, and only came to
+London unexpectedly this morning."
+
+Her words revealed the whole plot to me, or so I thought. Secured from
+discovery by the pledge of secrecy which he had exacted from Ilga,
+Marston had shown this miniature of his absent sister, and invented a
+story which there was no one to disprove. Looking back upon the
+incident with the cooler reflection which a lapse of years induces, I
+marvel at the conviction with which I drew the inference. But although
+now I see clearly how incredible it was that a man of Marston's
+breeding and family should so villainously misuse the fair fame of one
+thus near to hand, at the time I measured his jealousy by the violence
+of my own, and was ready to believe that he would check at no barriers
+of pride and honour which stood between him and his intention. Events,
+moreover, seemed to jump most aptly with my conclusion.
+
+So, full of my discovery of his plot, I said a second time, "I.
+understand;" and a second time she flushed unaccountably. I spoke the
+words with some bitterness and contempt, and she took them to refer to
+herself.
+
+"You blame me," she began nervously, "for marrying so soon after
+Julian died. But it is unfair to judge quickly."
+
+The speech was little short of a revelation to me. So busy had my
+thoughts been with my own affairs, that I had not realised this was in
+truth the woman who had been betrothed to Julian, and who had betrayed
+him to his shameful death. I looked at her for a moment, stunned by
+the knowledge. She was, as her portrait showed her to be, very pretty,
+with something of the petted child about her; of a trim and supple
+figure, and with wonderfully small hands. I remarked her hands
+especially, because her fingers were playing restlessly with the
+jewelled butt of her riding-whip; and I did not wonder at her power
+over men's hearts. A small, trembling hand laid in a man's great palm!
+In truth, it coaxes him out of very pity for its size. For my part,
+however, conscious of the evil which her treachery had done to Julian,
+ay, and to myself, too, I felt nothing but aversion for her, and,
+taking off my hat, I bowed to her silently. Just as I was turning
+away, an idea occurred to me. She knew nothing of her brother's plot
+to ruin me in Ilga's estimation. Why should I not use her to confound
+his designs?
+
+"Lady Tracy," said I, returning to her side, "it is in your power to
+do me a service."
+
+"Indeed?" she asked, her face clearing, and her manner changing to its
+former flippancy. "Is it the new fashion for ladies to render services
+to gentlemen? It used to be the other way about."
+
+"As you have sure warrant for knowing," I added.
+
+The look of fear which I had previously noticed sprang again into her
+eyes; now I appreciated the cause. She was afraid that I knew
+something of her share in Julian's death.
+
+"It has been my great good fortune," she replied uneasily, "when I
+needed any small services, to meet with gentlemen who rendered them
+with readiness and forbearance."
+
+She laid a little stress upon the last word, and I took a step closer
+to her.
+
+"You cannot be aware, I think, who lodges in this house."
+
+"I am not," she replied. "Why? Who lodges here?"
+
+"Countess Lukstein."
+
+She gave a little faltering cry, and turned white to the lips.
+
+"You need have no fear," I continued. "I said Countess Lukstein, the
+wife, or rather, the widow. For a widow she has been this many a
+month."
+
+"A widow!" she repeated. "A widow!" And she drew a long breath of
+relief, the colour returning to her cheeks. Then she turned defiantly
+on me. "And what, pray, is this Countess Lukstein to me?"
+
+"God forbid that I should inquire into that!" said I sternly, and her
+eyes fell from my face. "Now, madam," I went on, "will you do me the
+favour I ask of you?"
+
+"You ask it with such humility," she answered bitterly, "that I cannot
+find it in my heart to refuse you."
+
+"I expected no less," I returned. "Let me assist you to dismount."
+
+She drew quickly away.
+
+"For what purpose? You would not take me to--to his wife."
+
+"Even so!"
+
+"Ah, not that! Not that! Mr. Buckler, I beseech you," she implored
+piteously, laying a trembling hand upon my shoulder. "I have not the
+courage."
+
+"There is nothing to fear," I said, reassuring her. "Nothing
+whatsoever. Your brother is there. That guarantees no harm can come to
+you. But, besides, Countess Lukstein knows nothing of the affair. No
+one knows of it but you and I."
+
+She still sat unconvinced upon her saddle.
+
+"How is it you know, Mr. Buckler?" she asked, in a low tone.
+
+"Julian told me," I answered, perceiving that I must needs go further
+than I intended if I meant to get my way. "Cannot you guess why? I
+said the Count was dead. I did not tell you how he died. He was killed
+in a duel."
+
+She looked at me for a moment with a great wonder in her eyes.
+
+"You!" she whispered. "You killed Count Lukstein?"
+
+"It is the truth," I answered. "And the Countess knows so little of
+the affair that she is even ignorant of that."
+
+"Are you sure?"
+
+"Should I come here a-visiting, think you, if she knew?"
+
+The words seemed somewhat to relieve her of apprehension, and she
+asked:
+
+"To what end would you have me speak to her? What am I to say?"
+
+"Simply that you and I have met by chance, for the first time this
+morning."
+
+"Then she couples your name with mine," she exclaimed, in a fresh
+alarm. "Without ground or reason! Your name--for you killed him--with
+mine. Don't you see? She must suspect!"
+
+"Nay," I answered. "It is the strangest accident which has led her to
+link us together in her thoughts. She can have no suspicion."
+
+"Then how comes it that she couples us who are strangers?"
+
+I saw no object in relating to her the device of her brother, or in
+disclosing my own passion for the Countess. Moreover, I bethought me
+that at any moment Marston might take his leave, and I was resolved
+that Lady Tracy should speak in his presence, since by that means he
+would be compelled to confirm her words. So I broke in abruptly upon
+her questioning.
+
+"Lady Tracy, we are wasting time. You must be content with my
+assurances. 'Tis but a little service that I claim of you, and one
+that may haply repair in some slight measure the fatal consequences of
+your disloyalty."
+
+She slipped her foot from the stirrup, and, without touching the hand
+I held out to assist her, sprang lightly to the ground. It may be that
+I spoke with more earnestness than I intended.
+
+"What mean cowards love makes of men!" she said, looking at me
+scornfully.
+
+The remark stung me sharply because I was fully sensible that I played
+but a despicable part in forcing her thus to bear testimony for me
+against her will, and I answered angrily:
+
+"Surely your memory provides you with one instance to the contrary;"
+and I mounted the steps and knocked at the door.
+
+Otto Krax answered my summons, and for once in his life he betrayed
+surprise. At the sight of Lady Tracy, he leaped backwards into the
+hall, and stared from her to me. Lady Tracy laid a hand within my arm,
+and the fingers tightened convulsively upon my sleeve; it seemed as
+though she were on the point of fainting. I bade the fellow, roughly,
+to wait upon his mistress, and inquire whether she would receive me,
+and a friend whom I was most anxious to present to her. With a
+curiosity very unusual, he asked of me my companion's name, that he
+might announce it. But since my design was to surprise Hugh Marston, I
+ordered him to deliver the message in the precise terms which I had
+used.
+
+So changed indeed was the man from his ordinary polite impassivity,
+that he abruptly left us standing in the hall, and departed on his
+errand with no more ceremony than a minister's servant shows to the
+needy place-seekers at his master's levee. We stood, I remember
+particularly, in a line with the high window of which I have already
+spoken, and the full light of the noontide sun fell athwart our faces.
+I set the circumstance down here inasmuch as it helped to bring about
+a very strange result.
+
+"Who is the man?" whispered Lady Tracy, in an agitated voice. "Does he
+know me?"
+
+"Nay," said I, reassuring her. "It may be that he has seen you before,
+at Bristol, for he was Count Lukstein's servant. But it is hardly
+probable that the Count shared his secret with him. And the matter was
+a secret kept most studiously."
+
+"But his manner? How account for that?"
+
+"Simply enough," said I. "The person who slandered us to the Countess,
+gave her, as a warrant and proof, a miniature of you."
+
+"A miniature!" she exclaimed, clinging to me in terror. "Oh, no! no!"
+
+"Gott im Himmel!"
+
+The guttural cry rang hoarsely from the top of the stairs. I looked
+up; Otto was leaning against the wall, his mouth open, his face
+working with excitement, and his eyes protruding from their sockets. I
+had just sufficient time to notice that, strangely enough, his gaze
+was directed at me, and not at the woman by my side, when I felt the
+hand slacken on my arm, and with a little weak sigh, Lady Tracy
+slipped to the floor in a swoon.
+
+I stooped down, and lifting her with some difficulty, carried, or
+rather dragged her to a couch.
+
+"Quick, booby!" I shouted to Otto. "Fetch one of the women and some
+water!"
+
+My outcry brought Ilga onto the landing.
+
+"What has befallen?" she asked, leaning over the rail.
+
+"'Tis but a swoon," I replied; "nothing more. There is no cause for
+alarm."
+
+"Poor creature!" she said tenderly, and came running down the stairs.
+"Let me look, Mr. Buckler. Ailments, you know, are a woman's
+province."
+
+I was kneeling by the couch, supporting Lady Tracy's head upon my arm,
+and I drew aside, but without removing my arm. Ilga caught sight of
+her face, and stopped.
+
+"Oh!" she cried, with a gasping intake of the breath; then she turned
+on me, her countenance flashing with a savage fury, and her voice so
+bitter and harsh that, had I closed my eyes, I could not have believed
+that it was she who spoke.
+
+"So you lied! You lied to me! You tell me one hour that you have never
+had speech with her, the next I find her in your arms."
+
+"Madame," I replied, withdrawing my arm hastily, "I told you the
+truth."
+
+The head fell heavily forward upon my breast, and I sought to arrange
+the body full-length upon the couch.
+
+"Nay," said the Countess. "Let the head rest there. It knows its
+proper place."
+
+"I told you the truth; believe it or not as you please!" I repeated,
+exasperated by her cruel indifference to Lady Tracy. "I never so much
+as set eyes upon this lady before to-day. I know that now. For the
+first time in my life, I saw her when I left you but a few minutes
+ago. She was waiting on horseback at your steps, and I persuaded her
+to dismount and bear me out with you."
+
+"A very likely plausible story," sneered Ilga. "And whom did your
+friend await at my steps?"
+
+"Her brother," I replied shortly. "Hugh Marston."
+
+"Her brother!" she exclaimed. "We'll even test the truth of that."
+
+She ran quickly to the foot of the stairs, as though she would ascend
+them. But seeing Otto still posted agape half-way up, she stopped and
+called to him.
+
+"Tell Mr. Marston that his sister lies in the hall in a dead faint!"
+
+Otto recovered his wits, and went slowly up to the parlour, while the
+Countess eyed me triumphantly. But in a moment Marston came flying
+down the stairs; he flung himself on his knees beside his sister.
+
+"Betty!" he cried aloud, and again, whispering it into her ear with a
+caressing reproach, "Betty!" He shook her gently by the shoulders,
+like one that wakes a child from sleep. "Is there no help, no doctor
+near?"
+
+One of the Countess's women came forward and loosed the bodice of Lady
+Tracy's riding-habit at the throat, while another fetched a bottle of
+salts.
+
+"It is the heat," they said. "She will soon recover."
+
+Marston turned to me with a momentary friendliness.
+
+"It was you who helped my sister. Thank you!" He spoke simply and with
+so genuine cordiality that I could not doubt his affection for Lady
+Tracy; and I wondered yet the more at the selfish use to which he had
+put her reputation.
+
+After a while the remedies had their effect, and Lady Tracy opened her
+eyes. Ilga was standing in front of her a few paces off, her face set
+and cold, and I noticed that Lady Tracy shivered as their glances met.
+
+"Send for a chair, Hugh!" she whispered, rising unsteadily to her
+feet.
+
+"'Twere wiser for you to rest a little before you leave," said the
+Countess, but there was no kindliness in her voice to second the
+invitation, and she did not move a step towards her.
+
+"I would not appear discourteous, madame," faltered Lady Tracy, "but I
+shall recover best at home."
+
+"I will fetch a chair, Betty," said Marston, and made as though to go;
+but with a terrified "No, no!" Lady Tracy caught him by the coat and
+drew his arm about her waist, clasping her hand upon it to keep it
+there. 'Twas the frankest confession of fear that ever I chanced upon,
+and I marvelled not that Ilga smiled at it. However, she despatched
+Otto upon the errand, and presently Marston accompanied his sister to
+her home.
+
+Ilga and myself were thus left standing in the hall, looking each at
+the other. I was determined not to speak, being greatly angered for
+that she had not believed me when I informed her Lady Tracy was
+Marston's sister, and I took up my hat and cane and marched with my
+nose in the air to the door. But she came softly behind me, and said
+in the gentlest tone of contrition:
+
+"I seem to spend half my life in giving you offence and the other half
+in begging your pardon."
+
+And contrasting her sweet patience with me against the cold dislike
+which she had evinced to Lady Tracy, I, poor fool, carried home with
+me the fancy yet more firmly rooted than before, that her antagonism
+to the original of the miniature was no more than the outcome of a
+woman's jealousy.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XIII.
+
+                   COUNTESS LUKSTEIN IS CONVINCED.
+
+
+One detail of this mischancy episode occasioned me considerable
+perplexity. Conjecture as I might, I could hit upon no cause or
+explanation of it that seemed in any degree feasible. The astonishment
+of Otto Krax I attributed, and as I afterwards discovered rightly
+attributed, to the appearance of Lady Tracy so pat upon the discussion
+of her picture, and to my expressed desire to present her to the
+Countess within a few minutes of strenuously denying her acquaintance;
+and I deemed it not extravagant. That he recognised her as the object
+of his master's capricious fancy at Bristol, I considered most
+improbable. For I remembered how successfully the intrigue had been
+concealed; so that even Julian himself came over-late to the knowledge
+of it. His second exclamation on the stairs I set down to the
+probability that he had perceived Lady Tracy was on the point of
+swooning.
+
+It was indeed the fact of the lady's swoon which troubled me. Her
+natural repugnance to meeting the Countess was not motive enough. Nor
+did I believe her sufficiently sensible to shame for that feeling to
+work on her to such purpose. It seemed of a piece with the terror
+which she had subsequently shown on her recovery. The miniature, I
+conjectured, had something, if not everything to do with it. Resolving
+wisely that I had best ascertain the top and bottom of the matter, I
+called upon Marston at his house in Lincoln's Inn Fields, close to the
+new college of Franciscans, and asked where his sister stayed, on the
+plea that I would fain pay my respects to her, and assure myself of
+her convalescence.
+
+"I can satisfy you on the latter point," he returned cordially, "but
+at the cost of denying you the pleasure of a visit. For my sister left
+London on the next day, and has gone down into the country."
+
+"So soon?" I asked in some surprise. For Lady Tracy hardly impressed
+me as likely to find much enjoyment in the felicities of a rural life.
+
+"Her illness left her weak, and she thought the country air would give
+her health."
+
+For a moment I was in two minds whether to inquire more precisely of
+her whereabouts and follow her; but I reflected that I might encounter
+some difficulty in compassing an interview, for it was evident that
+she had fled from London in order to avoid further trouble and concern
+in the matter. And even if I succeeded so far, I saw no means of
+eliciting the explanation I needed, without revealing to her the
+unscrupulous use which her brother had made of her miniature; and that
+I had not the heart to do. The business seemed of insufficient
+importance to warrant it. There was besides a final and convincing
+argument which decided me to remain in London. If I journeyed into the
+West, I should leave an open field for my rival, and no ally with the
+Countess to guard against his insinuations; and I reflected further
+that there were few possible insinuations from which he would refrain.
+
+On this point of his conduct, however, I was minded to teach him a
+lesson, which would make him more discreet in the future, and at the
+same time effect the purpose I had in view when Lady Tracy
+inopportunely swooned. For when I came to think over the events of
+that morning, I recollected that after all Lady Tracy had not spoken
+as I asked her, and though the last words Ilga had said to me as I
+left the house seemed to show me that she no longer believed the
+calumny, I was none the less anxious to compel Marston to disavow it.
+
+Now it was the fashion at the time of which I write for the fine
+ladies and gentlemen of the town to take the air of a morning in the
+Piazza, of Covent Garden; and choosing an occasion when Marston was
+lounging there in the company of the Countess and her attendant,
+Mdlle. Durette, I inquired of him pointedly concerning his sister's
+health, meaning to lead him from that starting-point to an admission
+that Lady Tracy was until that chance meeting a complete stranger to
+me.
+
+But or ever he could reply, Ilga broke in with an air of flurry, and
+calling to Lord Culverton, who was approaching, engaged him in a rapid
+conversation. She was afraid, I supposed, that I meant to break the
+promise which I had given her upon the stairs, and tax Marston with
+his treachery; and I was confirmed in the supposition when I repeated
+the question. For she shot at me a look of reproach, and said quickly:
+
+"I was telling your friend when you joined us," she said, "of my home
+in the Tyrol." She laid some stress upon the word "friend." "'Twere
+hard, I think, at any season to find a spot more beautiful."
+
+"'Twere impossible," rejoined Culverton, with his most elegant bow.
+"For no spot can be more beautiful than that which owns Beauty for its
+queen."
+
+"The compliment," replied Ilga, with a bow, "is worthy of the
+playhouse."
+
+"Nay, nay," smirked my lord, mightily gratified; "the truth, madame,
+the truth extorted from me, let me die! And yet it hath some wit. I
+cannot help it, wit will out, the more certainly when it is truth as
+well."
+
+"Lady Tracy, then----" I began to Marston.
+
+"But at this time of the year," interrupted the Countess immediately,
+"Lukstein has no rival. Cornfields redden below it, beeches are
+marshalled green up the hillside behind it, gentian picks out a mosaic
+on the grass, and night and day waterfalls tumble their music through
+the air. Yet even in winter, when the ice binds it and gags its
+voices, it has a quiet charm of silence whereof the memory makes one
+homesick."
+
+As she proceeded the anxiety died out of her face, and she grew
+absorbed in the picture which her memories painted.
+
+"Madame," said Marston, "I should appreciate the description better if
+it spoke less of a longing to return."
+
+"It is my kingdom, you see," she replied. "Barbarous no doubt, with a
+turbulent populace, but still it is my kingdom, and very loyal to me."
+
+Culverton paid her the obvious flattery, but she took no heed of it.
+
+"The tiniest, compactest kingdom," she went on in a musing tone,
+"sequestered in a nook of the world." She seated herself on a chair
+which stood at the edge of the Piazza. "Indeed, I shall return there,
+and that, I fancy, soon."
+
+"Countess!" replied Culverton. "That were too heartless. 'Twould
+decimate London, let me perish! For never a gallant but would drink
+himself to death. Oh, fie!"
+
+Marston joined eagerly in the other's protestations. For my part,
+however, I remained silent, well content with what she had said. For I
+recollected the evening when I first had talk with her, and the
+construction which I had placed upon her words; how she would never
+return to Lukstein until she was eased of the pain which her husband's
+disaster had caused her. The notion that her memories had lost their
+sting thrilled me to the heart, and woke my vanity to conjecture of a
+cause.
+
+"Then," said the Countess, "would my friends be proved heartless. For
+it is their turn to visit me, and I would not be baulked of requiting
+them for their kindness to me here. 'Tis not so tedious a journey
+after all."
+
+"I can warrant the truth of that," said Culverton. "For I have been as
+far as Innspruck myself."
+
+"Indeed?" said the Countess. She looked hard at him for a second, and
+then laughed to herself. "When was that?" she asked.
+
+"Some six years ago. I was on the grand tour with a tutor--a most
+obnoxious person, who was ever poring over statues and cold marble
+figures, but as for a fine woman, rabbit me if he ever knew one when
+he saw her. He dragged me with him from Italy to Innspruck to view
+some figures in the Cathedral."
+
+"Then you must needs have passed beneath Lukstein," said the Countess,
+"for it hangs just above the high-road from Italy."
+
+Culverton would not admit the statement. Some instinct, some angelic
+warning, he declared, would surely have bidden him stop and climb to
+the Castle as to a holy shrine. The Countess laughingly assured him
+that nevertheless he had passed her home, and with a fond minuteness
+she described to him its aspect and position.
+
+Then the strangest thing occurred. She leaned forward in her chair,
+and with the tip of the stick she carried, drew a line on the gravel
+at the edge of the pavement.
+
+"That represents the road from Meran," she explained. "The stone
+yonder is the Lukstein rock, on which the Castle stands." She briefly
+described the character of the village, and marked out the windings of
+the road from the gates at the back of the Castle down the hillside,
+until she had well-nigh completed a diagram in all essentials similar
+to that which Julian had sketched for me in my Horace.
+
+"From the village," she said, "the road runs in a zigzag to join the
+highway."
+
+She traced two long, distinct lines, but stopped of a sudden at the
+apex of the second angle, where the coppice runs to a point, with her
+face puckered up in a great perplexity. Culverton asked her what
+troubled her.
+
+"I was forgetting," she said. "I was forgetting how often the road
+twisted," and very slowly she drew the final line to join with that
+which she had marked to represent the highway in the bed of the
+valley.
+
+It struck me as peculiar for the moment, that with her great affection
+for Lukstein, she should forget so simple and prominent a detail as
+the number of angles which the road made in its descent. But I gave
+little thought to the matter, being rather engrossed in the strange
+coincidence of the diagram. It brought home to me with greater
+poignancy than ever before the deceit which I was practising upon my
+mistress. For I compared the use to which I had put my plan of the
+Castle with the motive which had led her unconsciously to reproduce
+it, I mean her desire that her friends should appreciate the home in
+which she took such manifest delight.
+
+But while I was thus uneasily reproaching myself I perceived Marston
+separate from the group, and being obstinately determined that he
+should admit before Ilga the tenuity of my acquaintance with his
+sister, I called him back and asked him at what period Lady Tracy
+might be expected again in town.
+
+This time the Countess made no effort to divert me. Indeed, she seemed
+barely to notice that I had put the question, but sat with her chin
+propped on the palms of her hands gazing with a thoughtful frown at
+the outline which she had drawn; and I believed her to be engrossed in
+the picture which it evoked in her imagination.
+
+"It appears that you feel great interest in my sister, Mr. Buckler,"
+said Marston curiously. Doubtless my question was a clumsy one, for I
+was never an adept at finesse; but this was the last answer which I
+desired to hear. "Nay, nay," I said hurriedly, and stopped at a loss,
+idly adding with my cane a line here and there to Countess Lukstein's
+diagram.
+
+To my surprise, however, Ilga herself came to my rescue, and in a
+careless tone brought the matter to an issue.
+
+"Perhaps Mr. Buckler," she remarked, "is an old friend of Lady
+Tracy's."
+
+I raised my eyes from the Countess, fixing them upon Marston to note
+how he took the thrust, and with a quick sweep of her stick she
+smoothed the gravel, obliterating the lines. That I expected to see
+Marston disconcerted and in a pother to evade the question, I need not
+say, and 'twas with an amazement which fell little short of
+stupefaction that I heard him answer forthwith in a brusque, curt
+tone.
+
+"That can hardly be. For my sister has been abroad all this year, and
+Mr. Buckler in the same case until this year."
+
+I turned to Ilga. But she seemed more interested in Lady Tracy than in
+the fact of the admission.
+
+"Ah! Lady Tracy was abroad," she said. "When did she leave England?"
+
+"In September."
+
+"The very month that I returned," I exclaimed triumphantly.
+
+The Countess turned quickly towards me. "I fancied you only returned
+this spring."
+
+"I was in England for a short while in September," said I, regretting
+the haste with which I had spoken.
+
+"September of last year?"
+
+"Of last year."
+
+"Anno Domini 1685," laughed Culverton. "There seems to be some doubt
+about the date."
+
+"September, 1685," repeated the Countess with a curious insistency.
+
+"There is no doubt," returned Marston hotly. "I could wish for Betty's
+sake we had not such cause to remember it. She was betrothed to one of
+Monmouth's rebels, curse him! and Betty was so distressed by his
+capture that her health gave way."
+
+I was upon tenterhooks lest Ilga should inquire the name of the rebel.
+But she merely remarked in an absent way, as though she attached no
+significance to his words:
+
+"'Tis a sad story."
+
+"In truth it is, and the only consolation we got from it was that the
+rebel swung for his treachery. Betty was ordered forthwith abroad, and
+she left England on the fourteenth of September. I remember the day
+particularly since it was her birthday."
+
+"September the fourteenth!" said the Countess; and I, thinking to make
+out my case beyond dispute, cried triumphantly:
+
+"The very day whereon I bade good-bye to Leyden."
+
+The words were barely off my lips when Ilga rose to her feet. She
+stood for a moment with her eyes very wide and her bosom heaving.
+
+"I am convinced," she whispered to me with an odd smile. "I ought not
+to have needed the proof. I am convinced."
+
+With that she turned a little on one side, and Marston resumed:
+
+"That proves how little Mr. Buckler is acquainted with Lady Tracy."
+
+He spoke as though I had been endeavouring to persuade the company
+that I was intimate with his sister; he almost challenged me to
+contradict him. I could not but admire the effrontery of the man in
+carrying off the exposure of his falsity with so high a head, and I
+surmised that he had some new contrivance in his mind whereby he might
+subsequently set himself right with Ilga. One thing, however, was
+apparent to me: that he had no suspicion of his sister's acquaintance
+with Count Lukstein.
+
+"It was on the fourteenth that Betty set out for France," he once more
+declared, and so walked away.
+
+"Where she married most happily three months later," sniggered
+Culverton. "As you say, madame, it is a very sad story."
+
+The Countess laughed.
+
+"She was not over-constant to her rebel."
+
+"In the matter of the affections," replied Culverton, "Lady Tracy was
+ever my Lady Bountiful."
+
+It seemed to me that the Countess turned a shade paler, but any
+inference which I might have drawn adverse to myself from that was
+prevented by a proposal which she presently mooted. For some other of
+our friends joining us about this time, she proposed for a frolic that
+the party should take chairs and immediately invade my lodgings.
+Needless to say, I most heartily seconded the proposition, apologising
+at the same time for the poor hospitality which the suddenness of the
+invitation compelled me to offer.
+
+Since by chance I had the key in my pocket, we entered from the Park
+by the little door in the wall of the garden. I mention this because I
+was waked up about the middle of the night by the sound of this door
+banging to and fro against the jambs, and I believed that I must have
+failed to lock it after I had let my friends into the garden, the door
+having neither latch nor bolt, but was secured only by the lock. For
+awhile I lay in bed striving to shut my ears to the sound. But the
+wind was high, and, moreover, blew straight into the room through the
+open window, so that I could not but listen, and in the end grew very
+wakeful. The sounds were irregularly spaced according to the lulls of
+the wind. Now the door would flap to three or four times in quick
+succession, short and sharp as the crack of a pistol; now it would
+stand noiseless for a time while I waited and waited for it to slam.
+At last I could endure the worry of it no longer, and hastily donning
+some clothes, I clattered downstairs.
+
+The moon was shining fitfully through a scurrying rack of clouds, but
+as I always placed the key of the door upon the mantel-shelf of the
+larger parlour, and thus knew exactly where to lay my hand on it, I
+did not trouble to strike a light, to which omission I owed my life,
+and, indeed, more than my life. I stumbled past the furniture, crossed
+the garden, locked the door, and got me back to bed.
+
+In a few moments I fell asleep, but by a chance association of
+ideas--for I think that the banging of the postern must have set my
+thoughts that way--I began, for the first time since I came to London,
+to dream once more of the door in Lukstein Castle, and to see it open,
+and open noiselessly across the world. For the first time in the
+history of my nightmare fancies, that door swung back against the
+wall. It swung heavily, and the sound of the collision shook me to the
+centre. I woke trembling in every limb. It was early morning, the sun
+being risen, and, to my amazement, through the open window I heard the
+postern bang against the jamb.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIV.
+
+                       A GAME OF HIDE-AND-SEEK.
+
+
+Outside the boughs tossed blithely in the golden air; the wind piped
+among the leaves, and the birds called cheerily. But for me the
+morning was empty of comfort. For the recurrence of this dream filled
+me with an uncontrollable terror; I felt like one who gets him to bed
+of a night in the pride of strength, and wakes in the morning to see
+the stains of an old disease upon his skin. I looked back upon those
+first months of agony in Italy; I remembered how I had dreaded the
+coming of night and the quiet shadows of evening; how each day, from
+the moment I rose from bed, appeared to me as no more than night's
+forerunner. Into such desperate straits did I fall that I was seized
+with a wild foreboding that this period of torture was destined to
+return upon me again and again in some inevitable cycle of fate.
+
+There seemed indeed but one chance for me: to secure the pardon of
+Ilga! It was only on her account that I felt remorse. I had realised
+that from the beginning. And I determined to seek her out that very
+day, unbosom myself of my passion, and confess the injury which I had
+done her.
+
+It may be remembered that I was on the brink of the confession when
+Marston ascended the stairs at the apartment of the Countess, and
+interrupted me. Since then, though I had enjoyed opportunities enough,
+I had kept silence; for it was always my habit, due, I fancy, to a
+certain retiring timidity which I had not as yet thoroughly mastered,
+to wait somewhat slavishly upon circumstances, rather than to direct
+my wits to disposing the circumstances in the conjunction best suited
+to my end. Before I spoke or acted, I needed ever "the confederate
+season," as Shakespeare has it. Now, however, I determined to take the
+matter into my own hands, and tarry no longer for the opportune
+accident. So, leaving orders with my servants that they should procure
+a locksmith and have the lock of the garden door repaired, I set out
+and walked to Pall Mall.
+
+To my grief, I discovered that I had tarried too long. Countess
+Lukstein, the servant told me--he was not Otto--had left London early
+that morning on a visit into the country. A letter, however, had been
+written to me. It was handed to me at the door, since the messenger
+had not yet started to deliver it. With the handwriting I was
+unfamiliar, and I turned at once to the signature. It was only
+natural, I assured myself, that Mademoiselle Durette should write;
+Ilga would no doubt be busy over the arrangements for her departure.
+But none the less I experienced a lively disappointment that she had
+not spared a moment to pen the missive herself. Mademoiselle Durette
+informed me that news had arrived from Lukstein which compelled them
+to return shortly to the Tyrol, and that consequently they had
+journeyed that morning into the country, in order to pay a visit which
+they had already put off too long. The Countess would be absent for
+the space of a fortnight, but would return to London without fail to
+take fitting leave of her friends.
+
+The first three days of her absence lagged by with a most tedious
+monotony. It seems to me now that I spent them entirely in marching
+backwards and forwards on the pavement of Pall Mall. Only one thing,
+indeed, afforded me any interest--the door in my garden wall. For
+there was nothing whatever amiss with the lock, and on no subsequent
+night did it fly open. I closely examined my servants to ascertain
+whether any one of them had made use of it for egress, but they all
+strenuously denied that they had left the house that night, and I was
+driven to the conclusion that I had turned the key before closing the
+door, so that the lock had missed its socket in the post.
+
+On the fourth day, however, an incident occurred which made the next
+week fly like a single hour, and brought me to long most ardently, not
+merely that the Countess might lengthen her visit, but that she would
+depart from England without so much as passing through London on her
+way. For as I waked that morning at a somewhat late hour, I perceived
+Marston sitting patiently on the edge of my bed. He was in
+riding-dress, with his boots and breeches much stained with mud, and
+he carried a switch in his hand. For a while I lay staring at him in
+silent surprise. He did not notice that I was awake, and sat absorbed
+in a moody reverie. At last I stirred, and he turned towards me. I
+noticed that his face was dirty and leaden, his eyes heavy and tired.
+
+"You sleep very well," said he.
+
+"Have you waited long?"
+
+"An hour. I was anxious to speak to you, so I came up to your room."
+
+"We can talk the matter over at breakfast," said I cheerfully, though,
+to tell the truth, I felt exceedingly uneasy at the strangeness of his
+manner. And I made a movement as though I would rise; but he budged
+not so much as an inch.
+
+"I don't fancy we shall breakfast together," said he, with a slow
+smile, and after a pause: "you sleep very well," he repeated,
+"considering that you have a crime upon your conscience."
+
+I started up in my bed.
+
+"Lie down!" he snarled, with a sudden fierceness, and with a queer
+sense of helplessness I obeyed him.
+
+"That's right," he continued, with a patronising smile. "Keep quiet
+and listen!"
+
+For the moment, however, there was nothing for me to listen to, since
+Marston sat silent, watching with evident enjoyment the concern which
+I betrayed. He had chosen the easiest way with me. The least hint of
+condescension in another's voice always made me conscious in the
+extreme of my own shortcomings, and I felt that I lay helpless in some
+new toils of his weaving.
+
+At last he spoke.
+
+"You killed Count Lukstein."
+
+I was prepared for the accusation by his previous words.
+
+"Well?" I asked, in as natural a tone as I could command.
+
+"Well," he returned, "I would not be too hard with you. What if you
+returned to Cumberland to-day, and stayed there? Your estates, I am
+sure, will thrive all the better for their master's supervision."
+
+"My estates," I replied, "have a steward to supervise them. Their
+master will return to them at no man's bidding."
+
+"It is a pity, a very great pity," said he thoughtfully, flicking his
+switch in the air. "For not only are you unwise in your own interests,
+but you drive me to a proceeding which I assure you is very repugnant
+and distasteful to my nature. Really, Mr. Buckler, you should have
+more consideration for others."
+
+The smooth irony of his voice began to make my anger rise.
+
+"And what is this proceeding?" I inquired.
+
+"It would be my duty," he began, and I interrupted him.
+
+"I can quite understand, then, that it is repugnant to your nature."
+
+He smiled indulgently.
+
+"It is a common fault of the very young to indulge in dialectics at
+inappropriate seasons. It would be my duty, unless you retired
+obediently to Cumberland, to share my knowledge with the lady you have
+widowed."
+
+"I shall save you that trouble," said I, much relieved, "for I am in
+the mind to inform the Countess of the fact myself. Indeed, I called
+at her lodging the other day with that very object."
+
+"But the Countess had left, and you didn't." He turned on me sharply;
+the words were more a question than a statement. I remained silent,
+and he smiled again. "As it is, I shall inform her. That will make all
+the difference."
+
+I needed no arguments to convince me of the truth of what he said. The
+confession must come from me, else was I utterly undone. I sat up and
+looked at him defiantly.
+
+"So be it, then! It is a race between us which shall reach her first."
+
+"Pardon me," he explained, in the same unruffled, condescending tone;
+"there will be no race, for I happen to know where the Countess is
+a-visiting, and you, I fancy, do not. I have the advantage of you in
+that respect."
+
+I glanced at him doubtfully. Did he seek to bluff me into yielding, I
+wondered? But he sat on the bedside, carelessly swinging a leg, with
+so easy a composure that I could not hesitate to credit his words.
+However, I feigned not to believe him, and telling him as much, fell
+back upon my pillow with a show of indifference, and turned my face
+from him to the wall, as though I would go to sleep.
+
+"You do believe me," he insisted suavely. "You do indeed. Besides, I
+can give you proof of my knowledge. I am so certain that I know the
+lady's whereabouts, and that you do not, that I will grant you four
+days' grace to think the matter over. As I say, I have no desire to
+press you hard, and to be frank with you, I am not quite satisfied as
+to how my information would be received." I turned back towards him,
+and noticing the movement, he continued: "Oh, make no mistake, Mr.
+Buckler! The disclosure will ruin your chance most surely. But will it
+benefit me? That is the point. However, I must take the risk, and
+will, if you persist in your unwisdom."
+
+I lay without answering him, turning over in my mind the only plan I
+could think of, which offered me a chance of outwitting him.
+
+"You might send word to me, four days from now, which alternative you
+prefer. To-day is Monday. On Thursday I shall expect to hear from
+you."
+
+He uncrossed his legs as he spoke, and the scabbard of his sword
+rattled against the frame of the bed. The sound, chiming appositely to
+my thoughts, urged me to embrace my plan, and I did embrace it, though
+reluctantly. After all, I thought, 'twas a dishonourable wooing that
+Marston was about. So I said, with a sneer:
+
+"Men have been called snivelling curs for better conduct than yours."
+
+"By pedantic schoolboys," he replied calmly. "But then the schoolboys
+have been whipped for their impertinence."
+
+With that he drew the bed-clothes from my chest, and raised his whip
+in the air. I clenched my fists, and did not stir a muscle. I could
+have asked for nothing that was more like to serve me. I made a
+mistake, however, in not feigning some slight resistance, and he
+suddenly flung back the clothes upon me.
+
+"The ruse was ingenious," he said, with a smile, "but I cannot gratify
+you to the extent you wish. In a week's time I shall have the greatest
+pleasure in crossing swords with you. But until then we must be
+patient."
+
+My patience was exhausted already, and raising myself upon my elbow, I
+loaded him with every vile epithet I could lay my tongue to. He
+listened with extraordinary composure and indifference, stripping off
+his gloves the while, until I stopped from sheer lack of breath.
+
+"It's all very true," he remarked quietly. "I have nothing to urge
+against the matter of your speech. Your voice is, I think,
+unnecessarily loud, but that is a small defect, and easily reformed."
+
+The utter failure of my endeavour to provoke him to an encounter,
+combined with the contemptuous insolence of his manner, lifted me to
+the highest pitch of fury.
+
+"You own your cowardice, then!" I cried, fairly beside myself with
+rage. "You have plotted against me from the outset like a common,
+rascally intriguer. No device was too mean for you to adopt. Why, the
+mere lie about the miniature----"
+
+I stopped abruptly, seeing that he turned on me a sudden questioning
+look.
+
+"Miniature?" he exclaimed. "What miniature?"
+
+I remembered the pledge which I had given to Ilga, and continued
+hurriedly, seeking to cover up my slip:
+
+"I could not have believed there was such underhand treachery in the
+world."
+
+"Then now," said he, "you are better informed," and on the instant his
+composure gave way. It seemed as though he could no longer endure the
+strain which his repression threw on him. Passion leaped into his
+face, and burned there like a flame; his voice vibrated and broke with
+the extremity of feeling; his very limbs trembled.
+
+"'Tis all old talk to me--ages old and hackneyed. You are only
+repeating my thoughts, the thoughts I have lived with through this
+damned night. But I have killed them. Understand that!" His voice
+shrilled to a wild laugh. "I have killed them. Do you think I don't
+know it's cowardly? But there's a prize to be won, and I tell you"--he
+raised his hands above his head, and spoke with a sort of devilish
+exaltation--"I tell you, were my mother alive, and did she stand
+between Ilga and me, I would trample her as surely as I mean to
+trample you."
+
+"Damn you!" I cried, wrought to a very hysteria by his manner. "Don't
+call her by that name!"
+
+"And you!" he said, and with an effort he recovered his self-control.
+"And you, are your hands quite clean, my little parson? You kill the
+husband secretly, and then woo the wife with all the innocence and
+timidity in the world. Is there no treachery in that?"
+
+I was completely staggered by his words and the contempt with which
+they were spoken. That any one should conceive my lack of assurance in
+paying my addresses to be a deliberate piece of deceit, had never so
+much as entered my head. I had always been too busy upbraiding myself
+upon that very score. Yet I could not but realise now how plausible
+the notion appeared. 'Twas plain that Marston believed I had been
+carefully playing a part; and I wondered: Would Ilga imagine that,
+too, when I told her my story? Would she believe that my deference and
+hesitation had been assumed to beguile her? I gazed at Marston,
+horror-stricken by the conjecture.
+
+"Ay!" said he, nodding an answer to my look, "we have found each other
+out. Come, let us be frank! We are just a couple of dishonest
+scoundrels, and preaching befits neither of us."
+
+He moved away from the bedside, and picked up his whip which he had
+dropped on to the floor. It lay close to the window, and as he raised
+himself again, he looked out across the garden.
+
+"You overlook the Park," he said in an altered tone. "It is very
+strange."
+
+At the time I was so overwhelmed by the construction which he had
+placed upon my behaviour, that I did not carefully consider what he
+meant. Thinking over the remark subsequently, however, I inferred from
+it, what indeed I had always suspected, that Marston had no knowledge
+his interviews and promenades with the Countess had taken place within
+sight of my windows.
+
+He took up his hat, and opened the door.
+
+"I told you fortune would give me my revenge," he said.
+
+"You are leaving your gloves," said I, awakened to the necessity of
+action by his leave-taking.
+
+The gloves were lying on the edge of the bed. Thanking me politely, he
+returned, and stooped forward to take them. I gathered them in my hand
+and tossed them into his face. His head went back as though I had
+struck him a blow; he flushed to a dark crimson, and I saw his fingers
+tighten about his whip. The next moment, however, he gave a little
+amused laugh.
+
+"There is much of the child lingering in you, Mr. Buckler," he said.
+"'Tis a very amiable quality, and I wonder not that it gets you
+friends. Indeed, I should have rejoiced to have been reckoned among
+them myself, had such a consummation been possible."
+
+He spoke the last sentence with something of sincerity; but it only
+served to increase my rage.
+
+"You cannot disregard the insult," I cried.
+
+"Why not? There are no witnesses."
+
+"There shall be witnesses and to spare on the next occasion," I
+replied, baffled by his coolness. He shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"You have four days to bring about that occasion. Afterwards I shall
+seek it myself."
+
+I had four days wherein to discover the whereabouts of Countess
+Lukstein, or to compel Marston to an encounter. The one alternative
+seemed impossible; the other, as I had evidence enough, little short
+of impossible. Four days! The words beat into my brain like dull
+strokes of a hammer. I could not think for their pressing repetition.
+I was, moreover, bitterly sensible that I had myself placed the weapon
+for my destruction into Marston's hand.
+
+For there was no doubting that he had obtained his knowledge from his
+sister. I had plumed myself somewhat upon my diplomacy in revealing my
+secret to her, and in using it as a means to force her to deny my
+acquaintance. Now, when it was all too late, I saw what a mistake my
+cleverness had been. For not only through Lady Tracy's swoon had I
+missed my particular aim, but I had presented to my antagonist a
+veritable Excalibur, and kept not so much as a poniard for my own
+defence. Even then, however, I did not realise the entirety of the
+mistake, and had no inkling of the price I was to pay for it.
+
+The first step which I took that morning was to make inquiries at the
+lodging of Countess Lukstein. The servants, however, whom she had left
+behind, knew--or rather pretended to know--nothing of their mistress'
+journey, beyond what they had previously told me.
+
+Since, then, it was impossible to search the length and breadth of
+England within four days, I was thrown back upon my last resource. It
+was discreditable enough even to my fevered mind; but I could see no
+other way out of the difficulty, and at all costs I was resolved that
+Marston should not relate his story to the Countess until I had
+related mine. For even if he was minded to speak the truth, it would
+make all the difference, as he justly said, which of us twain spoke
+the first. I felt certain, moreover, that he would not speak the
+truth. For, to begin with, he would ascribe my timidity to a
+carefully-laid plan, since that was his genuine conviction; and again,
+remembering the story which I believed him to have invented concerning
+the miniature, I had no doubt that he would so embroider his actual
+knowledge that I should figure on the pattern as a common assassin.
+How much of the real history of Count Lukstein's death he knew, of
+course I was not aware, nor did I trouble myself to consider.
+
+My conclusion, accordingly, was to fix upon him within the next four
+days an affront so public and precise that he must needs put the
+business without delay to the arbitrament of swords; in which case, I
+was determined, one or the other of us should find his account.
+
+To this end I spent the day amidst the favourite resorts of the town,
+passing from the Piazza to the Exchange in search of him; thence back
+to St. Paul's Church, thence to Hyde Park, from the Park across the
+water to the Spring Garden at Lambeth, and thence again to Barn Elms.
+By this time the afternoon was far advanced, and bethinking me that he
+might by chance be dining abroad, I sought out the taverns which he
+most frequented: Pontac's in Abchurch Lane, Locket's, and the
+"Rummer." But this pursuit was as fruitless as the former, and without
+waiting to bite a morsel myself, I hurried to make the round of the
+chocolate-houses. Marston, however, was not to be discovered in any of
+them, nor had word been heard of him that day. At the "Spread Eagle,"
+in Covent Garden, however, I fell across Lord Culverton, and framing
+an excuse persuaded him to bear me company; which he did with great
+good-nature, for he was engaged at ombre, a game to which he was much
+addicted. At the "Cocoa Tree" in Pall Mall, I secured Elmscott by a
+like pretext, and asked him if he knew of another who was minded for a
+frolic, and would make the fourth. He presented me immediately to a
+Mr. Aglionby, a country gentleman of the neighbouring county to my
+own, but newly come to town, and very boisterous and talkative. I
+thought him the very man for my purpose, since he would be like to
+spread the report of the quarrel, and joining him to my company I
+summoned a hackney coach, and we drove to the Lincoln's Inn Fields. A
+hundred yards from Marston's house I dismissed the coach and sent
+Elmscott and the rest of the party forward, myself following a little
+way behind. I had previously instructed Elmscott in the part which I
+desired him to play. Briefly, he was to inquire whether Marston was
+within; and if, as I suspected, that was the case, to seek admittance
+on the plea that he wished to introduce a friend from the country, in
+the person of Mr. Aglionby. Whereupon I was to join myself quietly to
+the party, and so secure an entrance into the house in company with
+sufficient witnesses to render a duel inevitable upon any insult.
+
+Marston, however, was prepared against all contingencies, for four
+servants appeared in answer to my cousin's knocking; and as they
+opened the door no further than would allow one person to enter at a
+time, it was impossible even to carry the entrance by a rush. My
+friends, however, had no thought of doing that, since one of the
+servants came forward into the street and gravely informed them that
+his master had fallen suddenly sick of an infectious fever, and lay
+abed in a frenzy of delirium. Even as the fellow spoke, a noise of
+shouts and wild laughter came through the open door. My companions
+shuddered at the sounds, and with a few hasty expressions of regret,
+hurried away from the neighbourhood. I ran after them, shouting out
+that it was all a lie; that Marston had not one-tenth of the fever
+which possessed me, and that his illness was a coward's dissimulation
+to avoid a just chastisement. However, I had better have spared my
+breath; for my words had no effect but to alienate their good-will,
+and they presently parted from me with every appearance of relief.
+
+I walked home falling from depth to depth of despondency. The summer
+evening, pleasant with delicate colours, came down upon the town; the
+air was charged and lucent with a cool dew; the sweet odours of the
+country--nowhere, I think, so haunting, so bewitching to the senses as
+when one catches them astray in the heart of a city--were fragrant in
+the nostrils, so that the passers-by walked with a new alertness in
+their limbs, and a renewed youth in their faces; and as I stood at the
+door of my lodging, a great home-sickness swept in upon my soul, a
+longing for the dark fields in the starshine and the silent hills
+about them. I was seized with a masterful impulse to saddle my horse
+and ride out northwards through the night, while the lights grew
+blurred and misty behind me, and the fresh wind blew out of the
+heavens on my face. I doubt not, however, that the desire would have
+passed ere I had got far, and that I should have felt much the same
+desolate home-sickness for the cobbles and dust of London as I felt
+now for Cumberland.
+
+However, I did not test the strength of my impulse; for while I stood
+upon the steps debating whether I should go or stay, I perceived one
+of Marston's servants coming towards me down the street. With a grave
+deference, under which, rightly or wrongly, I seemed to detect a
+certain irony, he gave me his master's compliments, and handed me a
+little stick of wood. There was a single notch cut deep into the
+stick. I understood it to signify that one day out of the four had
+passed, and--so strangely is a man constituted--this gibing menace
+determined me to stay. It turned my rage, with its fitful alternatives
+of passion and despair, into a steady hate, just as one may stir
+together the scattered, spurting embers of a fire into one glowing
+flame.
+
+Late that evening came Lord Elmscott to see me, and asked me with a
+concern which I little expected, after his curt desertion of a few
+hours agone, what dispute had arisen between Marston and myself. I
+told him as much as I could without revealing the ground of our
+quarrel; that Marston had certain knowledge concerning myself which he
+was minded to impart to Countess Lukstein; that I was fully sensible
+the Countess ought to be informed of the matter, but that I wished to
+carry the information myself; that I doubted Marston would not speak
+the truth, but would distort the story to suit his own ends. The rest
+of the events I related to him in the order in which they had
+occurred.
+
+"But it may be," he objected, "that Marston has really fallen sick."
+
+For reply, I handed him the stick of wood, and told him how it had
+been delivered.
+
+"The fellow's cunning," he observed, "for not only is he out of your
+reach, but he locks your mouth. You cannot urge that a man refuses to
+meet you when he lies abed with a fever, and you cannot prove that the
+sickness is feigned."
+
+For awhile he sat silent, drumming with his fingers on the table. Then
+he asked:
+
+"How comes it that Marston knows of this secret?"
+
+"His sister must have told him," I replied.
+
+"His sister!" he repeated. "Why, you never met her before this month."
+
+"I told her on the first occasion that I met her. She was in some
+measure concerned in it."
+
+He looked at me shrewdly.
+
+"She was engaged to Sir Julian Harnwood," said he.
+
+I nodded assent.
+
+He brought his fist down on the table with a bang.
+
+"The trouble springs from that cursed journey of yours to Bristol. I
+warned you harm would come of it. Had Lady Tracy any reason to fear
+you?"
+
+"None," I replied promptly.
+
+"Or any reason to fear Countess Lukstein?"
+
+"None," I replied again; but after a moment's thought I added: "But
+she did fear her. I am sure of it."
+
+He sprang to his feet.
+
+"Three days!" he cried. "Three days! We may yet outwit him."
+
+"How?" I asked, with the greatest eagerness.
+
+"I'll not tell you now. 'Tis no more than a fancy. Wait you here your
+three days. Keep a strict watch on Marston's house. 'Tis unlikely that
+he will move before the time, since he would rather you spared him the
+telling of the story; but there's no trusting him. On Thursday I will
+come to you here before midnight; so wait for me, unless, of course,
+Marston leaves before then. In that case, follow him, but send word
+here of your direction. You must be wary; the fellow's cunning, and
+may get free from his house in some disguise."
+
+With that he clapped his hat on his head, and rushed out into the
+street. For the next three days I saw no more of him. About Marston's
+house I kept strict watch as he enjoined. There were but two
+entrances: one in the facade of the building towards the Square, and
+the second in a little side-street which ran along a wall of the
+house. Few, however, either came in or out of these entrances, for the
+rumour of his sickness was spread abroad in the town, and even his
+tradesmen dreaded to catch the infection. I was, moreover, certain
+that he had not escaped, since each evening his servant came to my
+lodging and left a stick notched according to the number of days.
+
+On the morning of the Thursday, being the fourth day and my last of
+grace, I doubled the sentinels about the house, hiring for the purpose
+some fellows of whom my people had cognizance. At the entrances,
+however, I planted my own men, and bidding them mark carefully the
+faces of such as passed out, in whatever dress they might be clothed,
+I retired to a coign of vantage at some distance whence I could keep
+an eye upon the house, and yet not obtrude myself upon the notice of
+those within it. In a little alley hard by I had stationed a groom
+with the swiftest horse that I possessed, so that I might be prepared
+to set off in pursuit of my antagonist the moment word of his
+departure was brought to me.
+
+Thus, then, I waited, my heart throbbing faster and faster as the day
+wore on, and every nerve in my body a jerking pulse. At last my
+excitement mastered me; a clock in a neighbouring belfry chimed the
+hour of four, and I crept out of my corner and mingled with the
+gipsies and mountebanks who were encamped with their booths in the
+centre of the Square. Amongst this motley crowd I thought myself safe
+from detection, and moved, though still observing some caution,
+towards the front of Marston's house. It wore almost an air of
+desertion; over many of the windows the curtains were drawn, and never
+a face showed through the panes of the rest. I could see that my men
+were still stationed at their posts, and I began to think that we must
+needs prolong our vigil into the night. Shortly after six, however,
+the hall-door was opened, and the same servant who brought me the
+sticks of an evening came out on to the steps. He looked neither to
+the right nor to the left, but without a moment's hesitation stepped
+across the road, and threading the tents and booths, came directly
+towards me. It was evident that I had been remarked from some quarter
+of the house, and so I made no effort at further concealment, but
+rather went forward to meet him. With the same grave politeness which
+had always characterised him, he offered me a letter.
+
+"My master," said he, "bade me deliver this into your hand two hours
+after he had left."
+
+"Two hours after he had left!" I gasped, well-nigh stunned by his
+words.
+
+"Two hours," he replied. "But I have been a trifle remiss, I fear me,
+and for that I would crave your pardon. It is now two hours and a half
+since my master departed."
+
+He made a low bow and went back to the house, leaving me stupidly
+staring at the letter.
+
+
+"My fever," it ran, "is happily so abated that I am to be carried this
+instant into the country. There will be no danger, I am assured,
+providing _that I am well wrapped up_. Au revoir! Or is it
+adieu?--HUGH MARSTON."
+
+
+The sarcasm made my blood boil in my veins, and I ran to the sentinels
+I had posted before the entrances, rating them immeasurably for their
+negligence. They heard me with all the marks of surprise, and
+expostulated in some heat. No one, they maintained, who in any way
+resembled Mr. Marston had left the house; they had watched most
+faithfully the day long, without a bite of food to stay their
+stomachs. Somewhat relieved by their words, I took no heed of their
+forward demeanour, but gave them to understand that if their words
+were true, they should eat themselves into a stupor an they were so
+disposed. For I began to fancy that the letter was a ruse to induce me
+to withdraw my watchmen from the neighbourhood, and thus open a free
+passage for my rival's escape.
+
+With the view of confirming the suspicion, I ordered them to give me a
+strict and particular account of all persons who had come from the
+house that day. For those who had kept guard before the front-door the
+task was simple enough. A few gentlemen had called; but of them only
+one, whom they imagined to be the physician, had entered the hall. He
+had reappeared again within half an hour or so of his going in, and,
+with that exception, no person had departed by this way.
+
+The side-door, however, had been more frequently used. Now and again a
+servant had come out, or a tradesman had delivered his wares. At one
+time a cart had driven up, a bale of carpets had been carried into the
+house, and a second bale fetched out.
+
+"What!" I cried, interrupting the speaker. "A bale of carpets? At what
+time?"
+
+He knew not exactly, but 'twas between three and four, for he heard a
+clock chime the latter hour some while afterwards.
+
+"You dolt!" I cried. "He was in the carpets."
+
+"I know nought of that," he answered sullenly. "You only bade me note
+faces, and I noted them that carried the carpets. You said nothing
+about noting carpets."
+
+The fellow was justly indignant, I felt; for, indeed, I doubt whether
+I should have suspected the bale myself but for Marston's letter. So I
+dismissed the men from their work, and rode slowly back to my lodging.
+Marston had three hours' start of me already; by midnight he would
+have nine, even supposing that Elmscott arrived with trustworthy
+intelligence. What chance had I of catching, him?
+
+I walked about the room consumed with a fire of impatience. I seemed
+to hear the beat of hoofs as Marston rode upon the way; and the
+further he went into the distance, the louder and louder grew the
+sound, until I was forced to sit down and clasp my head between my
+hands in a mad fear lest it should burst with the racket. And then I
+saw him--saw him, as in a crystal, spurring along a white, winding
+road; and strangely enough the road was familiar to me, so that I knew
+each stretch that lay ahead of him, before it came in view and was
+mirrored in my imaginings. I followed him through village and wood;
+now a river would flash for a second beneath a bridge; now a hill lift
+in front, and I noticed the horse slacken speed and the rider lean
+forward in the saddle. Then for a moment he would stand outlined
+against the sky on the crest, then dip into a hollow, and out again
+across a heath. At last he came towards the gate of a town. How I
+prayed that the gate would be barred! We were too distant to ascertain
+that as yet. He drove his spurs deeper into the flanks of his horse.
+The gate was open! He dashed at full gallop down a street; turned into
+a broad lane at right angles; the beat of hoofs became louder and
+louder in my ears. Of a sudden he drew rein, and the sound stopped. He
+sprang from his horse, mounted a staircase, and burst into a room. I
+heard the door rattle as it was flung open. I knew the room. I
+recognised the clock in the corner. I gazed about me for the
+Countess--and Elmscott's hand fell upon my shoulder.
+
+"Why, lad, art all in the dark?"
+
+"I have just reached the light," I cried, springing up in a frenzy of
+excitement. "The Countess Lukstein lies at the 'Thatched House
+Tavern,' in Bristol town."
+
+"Damn!" said Elmscott. "I have just ridden thither and back to find
+that out."
+
+And he fell swearing and cursing in a chair, whilst I rang for candles
+to be brought.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XV.
+
+                      THE HALF-WAY HOUSE AGAIN.
+
+
+I had previously given orders that my horse should be kept ready
+saddled in the stable, and I now bade the servant bring it round to
+the door.
+
+"Nay, there's no need to hurry," said Elmscott comfortably, throwing
+his legs across a chair. "Marston will never start before the
+morning."
+
+"He has started," I replied. "He has seven hours to the good already.
+He started between three and four of the afternoon."
+
+"But you were to follow him," he exclaimed, starting up. "You knew the
+road he was going. You were to follow him."
+
+"He slipped through my fingers," said I, with some shame, for Elmscott
+was regarding me with the same doubtful look which I had noticed so
+frequently upon Jack Larke's face. "And as for knowing his road, 'twas
+a mere guess that flashed on me at the moment of your arrival."
+
+"Well, well," said Elmscott, with a shrug, "order some supper, and if
+you can lend me a horse we will follow in half an hour."
+
+Udal fetched a capon and a bottle of canary from the larder, and
+together we made short work of the meal. For, in truth, I was no less
+famished than Elmscott, though it needed his appetite to remind me of
+the fact. Meanwhile, I related in what manner Marston had escaped me,
+and handed him the letter which the servant had delivered to me in the
+Lincoln's Inn Fields.
+
+"In a bale of carpets!" cried Elmscott, with a fit of laughter which
+promised to choke him. "Gadsbud, but the fellow deserves to win! Well
+wrapped up! Morrice, Morrice, I fear me he'll trip up your heels!"
+
+Elmscott's hilarity, it may easily be understood, had little in it
+which could commend it to me, and I asked him abruptly by what means
+he had discovered that the Countess Lukstein was visiting in Bristol.
+
+"I'll tell you that as we go," said he, with a mouth full of capon.
+"At present I have but one object, to fill my stomach."
+
+After we had set forth, which we did a short while before
+midnight--for I heard a clock tell that hour as we rode through the
+village of Knightsbridge--he explained how the conjecture had grown up
+in his mind.
+
+"Marston came to you in the early morning, a week after the Countess
+had left London. He was muddied and soiled, as though he had ridden
+hard all night. In fact, he told you as much himself, and gave you the
+reason: that he had been fighting out his battle with himself. I
+reasoned, therefore, that he had only heard of this secret, whatever
+it may be, which put you at his mercy, the evening before. Now that
+information came from his sister. It concerned Countess Lukstein. Lady
+Tracy, you told me, for some reason feared the Countess. I argued then
+that it could only be this fear which made her write to her brother.
+But then she had been in England a month already. How was it that she
+had not revealed her anxiety before? And further, how was it that
+Marston knew what you and every one else was ignorant of--where
+Countess Lukstein was staying? Lady Tracy, I was aware, had gone down
+to the family estate near Bristol; and I inferred in consequence that
+she had seen the Countess in the neighbourhood, that her alarm had
+been increased by the sight, and that she had promptly communicated
+her fears to her brother; which fears Marston made use of as a weapon
+against you. The period of Countess Lukstein's departure jumped most
+aptly with my conjecture, and I thought it would be worth while to
+ride to Bristol and discover the truth."
+
+The notion seemed to me, upon his recounting it, so reasonable and
+clear that I wondered why it had never occurred to me, and expressed
+as much to Elmscott.
+
+He laughed in reply.
+
+"A man in love," said he, "is ever a damned fool. He smothers his mind
+in a petticoat."
+
+The night was very open, the moon being in the last quarter, and the
+road, from the dry summer, much harder than when I had travelled over
+it in the previous year; so that we made a good pace, and drew rein
+before the "Golden Crown" at Newbury about seven of the morning. There
+we discovered that two travellers had arrived at the inn a little
+after midnight with their horses very wearied; but, since Thursday was
+market-day, and the inn consequently full, they had remained but a
+little while to water their beasts, and had then pushed on towards
+Hungerford. Elmscott was for breakfasting at the "Golden Crown," but I
+bethought me that Hungerford was but nine miles distant, and that
+Marston was most like to have lain the night there. Consequently, if
+we pressed forward with all speed, there was a good chance that we
+might overtake my rival or ever he had started from the town; in which
+case Elmscott, at all events, would be able to take his meal at his
+leisure. To this view my companion assented, though with some
+reluctance, and we set off afresh across Wickham Heath. In a short
+time we came in view of the "Half-way House," and I related to
+Elmscott my adventure with the landlord. As we rode past it, however,
+I perceived the worthy man going towards the stable with a bucket of
+water in his hand, and I hastily reined up.
+
+"What is it?" asked Elmscott.
+
+"The fellow has no horses of his own," I replied. "It follows he must
+needs have guests."
+
+I dismounted as I spoke, and hailed the man.
+
+"Potatoe!" I cried to him.
+
+For a moment he looked at me in amazement, and then:
+
+"Dang it!" he shouted. "The play-actor!" And he dropped the bucket,
+and ran towards me doubling his fists.
+
+"I have a pass-word for you," I said, when he was near. "It lags a
+year behind the time, it's true--Wastwater. So you see the mare was
+meant for me no less than your slugs."
+
+He stopped, and answered doggedly:
+
+"Well, 'twas your fault, master. You should have passed the word. The
+mare was left with me in strict trust, and you were ready enough with
+your pistol to make an honest man believe you meant no good."
+
+Elmscott broke in impatiently upon his apology with a demand for
+breakfast. His wife, the landlord assured us, was preparing breakfast
+even now for two gentlemen who had come over-night, and we might join
+them if they had no objection to our company. I asked him at what hour
+these gentlemen had ridden up to the inn, and he answered about one of
+the morning. I could not repress an exclamation of joy. Elmscott gave
+me a warning look and dismounted; he bade the landlord see the horses
+groomed and fed, and joined me in the road.
+
+"Their faces will be a fine sight," said he, rubbing his hands, "when
+we take our seats at the table. A guinea-piece will be white in
+comparison." And he fell to devising plans by which our surprise might
+produce the most startling effect.
+
+Strangely enough, it occurred to neither of us at the time that the
+surest method of outwitting Marston was to leave him undisturbed to
+his breakfast and ride forward to Bristol. But during these last days
+the anxiety and tension of my mind had so fanned my hatred of the man,
+that I could think of nothing but crossing swords with him. We were
+both, in a word, absorbed in a single quest; from wishing to outstrip,
+we had come to wish merely to overtake.
+
+Elmscott gave orders to the innkeeper that he should inform us as soon
+as the two travellers were set down to their meal; and for the space
+of half an hour we strolled up and down, keeping the inn ever within
+our view. At the end of that time I perceived a cloud of dust at a
+bend of the road in the direction of Hungerford. It came rolling
+towards us, and we saw that it was raised by a berlin which was drawn
+at a great speed by six horses.
+
+"They travel early," said Elmscott carelessly. I looked at the coach
+again, but this time with more attention.
+
+"Quick!" I cried of a sudden, and drew Elmscott through an opening in
+the hedge into the field that bordered the road. The next moment the
+berlin dashed by.
+
+"Did you see?" I asked. "Otto Krax was on the box."
+
+"Ay!" he answered. "And Countess Lukstein within the carriage. What
+takes her back so fast, I wonder? She will be in London two days
+before her time."
+
+We came out again from behind the hedge, and watched the carriage
+dwindling to a speck along the road.
+
+"If you will, Morrice," said my cousin, with a great reluctance, "you
+can let Marston journey to Bristol, and yourself follow the Countess
+to town."
+
+"Nay!" said I shortly. "I have a mind to settle my accounts with
+Marston, and not later than this morning."
+
+He brightened wonderfully at the words.
+
+"'Twere indeed more than a pity to miss so promising an occasion. But
+as I am your Mentor for the nonce, I deemed it right to mention the
+alternative--though I should have thought the less of you had you
+taken my advice. Here comes the landlord to summon us to breakfast."
+
+We followed him along the passage towards the kitchen. The door stood
+half-opened, and peeping through the crack at the hinges, we could see
+Marston and his friend seated at a table.
+
+"Gentlemen," said Elmscott, stepping in with the politest bow, "will
+you allow two friends to join your repast?"
+
+Marston was in the act of raising a tankard to his lips; but save that
+his face turned a shade paler, and his hand trembled so that a few
+drops of the wine were spilled upon the cloth, he betrayed none of the
+disappointment which my cousin had fondly anticipated. He looked at us
+steadily for a second, and then drained the tankard. His companion--a
+Mr. Cuthbert Cliffe, with whom both Elmscott and myself were
+acquainted--rose from his seat and welcomed us heartily. It was
+evident that he was in the dark as to the object of our journey. We
+seated ourselves opposite them on the other side of the table.
+Elmscott was somewhat dashed by the prosaic nature of the reception,
+and seemed at a loss how to broach the subject of the duel, when
+Marston suddenly hissed at me:
+
+"How the devil came you here?"
+
+"On a magic carpet," replied Elmscott smoothly. "Like the Arabian, we
+came upon a magic carpet."
+
+Marston rose from the table and walked to the fireplace, where he
+stood kicking the logs with the toe of his boot, and laughing to
+himself in a short, affected way, as men are used who seek to cover up
+a mortification. Then he turned again to me.
+
+"Very well," he said, with a nod, "and the sooner the better. If Lord
+Elmscott and Mr. Cliffe will arrange the details, I am entirely at
+your service."
+
+With that he set his hat carelessly on his head, and sauntered out of
+the room. Mr. Cliffe looked at me in surprise.
+
+"It is an old-standing quarrel between Mr. Buckler and your friend,"
+Elmscott explained, "but certain matters, of which we need not speak,
+have brought it to a head. Your friend would fain have deferred the
+settlement for another week, but Mr. Buckler's engagements forbade the
+delay."
+
+So far he had got when a suspicion flashed into my head. Leaving
+Elmscott to arrange the encounter with Mr. Cliffe, I hurried down the
+passage and out on to the road. On neither side was Marston to be
+seen, but I perceived that the stable door stood open. I looked
+quickly to the priming of my pistol--for, knowing that the Great West
+Road was infested by footpads and highwaymen, we had armed ourselves
+with some care before leaving London--and took my station in the
+middle of the way. Another minute and I should have been too late; for
+Marston dashed out of the stable door, already mounted upon his horse.
+He drove his spurs into its flanks, and rode straight at me. I had
+just time to leap on one side. His riding-whip slashed across my face,
+I heard him laugh with a triumphant mockery, and then I fired. The
+horse bounded into the air with a scream of pain, sank on its
+haunches, and rolled over on its side.
+
+The noise of the shot brought our seconds to the door.
+
+"Your friend seems in need of assistance," said Elmscott. For Marston
+lay on the road struggling to free himself from the weight of the
+horse. Cliffe loosened the saddle and helped Marston to his feet. Then
+he drew aside and stood silent, looking at his companion with a
+questioning disdain. Marston returned the look with a proud
+indifference, which, in spite of myself, I could not but admire.
+
+"There was more courage than cowardice in the act," said I, "to those
+who understand it."
+
+"I can do without your approbation," said Marston, flushing, as he
+turned sharply upon me. Catching sight of my face, he smiled. "Did the
+whip sting?" he asked.
+
+I unsheathed my sword, and without another word we mounted the bank on
+the left side of the road and passed on to the heath.
+
+The seconds chose a spot about a hundred yards from the highway, where
+the turf was level and smooth, and set us facing north and south, so
+that neither might get advantage from the sun. The morning was very
+clear and bright, with just here and there a feather of white cloud in
+the blue of the sky; and our swords shone in the sunlight like darting
+tongues of flame.
+
+The encounter was of the shortest, since we were in no condition to
+plan or execute the combinations of a cool and subtle attack, but
+drove at each other with the utmost fury. Marston wounded me in the
+forearm before ever I touched him. But a few seconds after that he had
+pinked me, he laid his side open, and I passed my sword between his
+ribs. He staggered backwards, swayed for a moment to and fro in an
+effort to keep his feet; his knees gave under him, and he sank down
+upon the heath, his fingers clasping and unclasping convulsively about
+the pommel of his sword. Cliffe lifted him in his arms and strove to
+staunch the blood, which was reddening through his shirt, while
+Elmscott ran to the inn and hurried off to Hungerford for a surgeon.
+
+For awhile I stood on my ground, idly digging holes in the grass with
+the point of my rapier. Then Marston called me faintly, and I dropped
+the sword and went to his side. His face was white and sweaty, and the
+pupils of his eyes were contracted to pin-points.
+
+I knelt down and bent my head close to his.
+
+"So," he whispered, "luck sides with you after all. This time I
+thought that I had won the vole."
+
+He was silent for a minute or so, and then:
+
+"I want to speak with you alone."
+
+I took him from Cliffe's arms and supported his head upon my knee, he
+pressing both his hands tightly upon his side.
+
+"Betty is afraid," he continued, with a gasp between each word, as
+soon as Cliffe had left us. "Betty is afraid, and her husband's a
+fool."
+
+The implied request, even at that moment, struck me as wonderfully
+characteristic of the man. So long as his own desires were at stake he
+disregarded his sister's fears; but no sooner had all chance of
+gaining them failed, than his affection for her reasserted itself, and
+even drove him to the length of asking help from his chief enemy.
+
+"I will see that no harm comes to her."
+
+"Promise!"
+
+I promised, somehow touched by his trust in me.
+
+"I knew you would," he said gratefully; and then, with a smile: "I am
+sorry I hit you with my whip--Morrice. I could have loved you."
+
+Again he lay silent, plucking at the grass with the fingers of his
+left hand.
+
+"Lift me higher! There is something else."
+
+I raised his body as gently as I could; but nevertheless the rough
+bandage which Cliffe had fastened over the wound became displaced with
+the movement, and the blood burst out again, soaking through his
+shirt.
+
+"You spoke of a miniature----" he began, and then with a little
+gasping sob he turned over in my arms, and fell forward on the grass
+upon his face.
+
+I called to Cliffe, who stood with his back towards us a little
+distance off, and ran to where I had laid my coat and cravat before
+the duel commenced. For the cravat was of soft muslin, and might, I
+fancied, be of some use as lint. With this in my hand, I hurried back.
+Cliffe was lifting Marston from the ground.
+
+"Best let him lie there quietly," I said.
+
+He turned the body over upon its back.
+
+"Aye!" he answered, "under God's sky."
+
+I dropped on my knees beside the corpse, felt the pulse, laid my ear
+to the heart. The sun shone hot and bright upon his dead face. Cliffe
+took a handkerchief from his pocket, and gently placed it over
+Marston's eyes.
+
+"This means a year on the Continent for you, my friend," he said.
+
+
+When Elmscott and the surgeon arrived some half an hour later, they
+found me eating my breakfast in the kitchen.
+
+"Where is he?" they asked.
+
+"Who?" said I.
+
+I remember vaguely that the surgeon looked at me with a certain
+anxiety, and made a remark to Elmscott. Then they went out of the room
+again. How long it was before they returned I have no notion. Elmscott
+brought in my coat, hat, and sword, and I got up to put them on; but
+the doctor checked him, and setting me again in my chair, bound up my
+arm, not without some resistance from me, for I saw that his hands
+were dabbled with Marston's blood.
+
+"Now," said he to Elmscott, "if you will help, we will get him
+upstairs to bed."
+
+"No!" said I, suddenly recollecting all that had occurred. "I made
+Marston a promise. I must keep it! I must ride to town and keep it!"
+
+"It will be the best way, if he can," said Elmscott. "He will be taken
+here for a surety. I have sent a messenger to Bristol with the news."
+
+The surgeon eased my arm into the sleeve of my coat, and made a sling
+about my shoulders with my cravat. Elmscott buckled on my sword and
+led me to the stables, leaving me outside while he went in and saddled
+a horse.
+
+"This is Cliffe's horse," said he; "yours is too tired. I will explain
+to him."
+
+He held the horse while I climbed into the saddle.
+
+"Now, Morrice," he said, "you have no time to lose. You have got the
+start of the law; keep it. Marston's family is of some power and
+weight. As soon as his death is known, there will be a hue and cry
+after you; so fly the country. I would say leave the promise
+unfulfilled, but that it were waste of breath. Fly the country as soon
+as you may, unless you have a mind for twelve months in Newgate gaol.
+I will follow you to town with all speed, but for your own sake 'twere
+best I find you gone."
+
+He moved aside, and I galloped off towards Newberry. The misery of
+that ride I could not, if I would, describe. The pain of my wound, the
+utter weariness and dejection which came upon me as a reaction from
+the excitement of the last days, and the knowledge that I could no
+longer shirk my confession, so combined to weaken and distress me,
+that I had much ado to keep my seat in the saddle. 'Twas late in the
+evening when I rode up to Ilga's lodging. The door, by some chance,
+stood open, and without bethinking me to summon the servants, I walked
+straight up the staircase to the parlour, dragging myself from one
+step to the other by the help of the balustrade. The parlour door was
+shut, and I could not lay my fingers on the handle, but scratched
+blindly up and down the panels in an effort to find it. At last some
+one opened the door from within, and I staggered into the room. Mdlle.
+Durette--for it was she--set up a little scream, and then in the
+embrasure of the window I saw the Countess rise slowly to her feet.
+The last light of the day fell grey and wan across her face and hair.
+I saw her as through a mist, and she seemed to me more than ordinarily
+tall. I stumbled across the room, my limbs growing heavier every
+moment.
+
+"Countess," I began, "I have a promise to fulfil. Lady Tracy----"
+There I stopped. The room commenced to swim round me. "Lady Tracy----"
+I repeated.
+
+The Countess stood motionless as a statue, dumb as a statue. Yet in a
+strange way she appeared suddenly to come near and increase in
+stature--suddenly to dwindle and diminish.
+
+"Ilga," I cried, stretching out my hands to her. She made no movement.
+I felt my legs bend beneath me, as if the bones of them were dissolved
+to water, and I sank heavily upon my knees. "Ilga," I cried again, but
+very faintly. She stirred not so much as a muscle to help me, and I
+fell forward swooning, with my head upon her feet.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVI.
+
+             CONCERNING AN INVITATION AND A LOCKED DOOR.
+
+
+When consciousness returned to me, and I became sensible of where I
+lay, I perceived that Elmscott was in the room. He stood in the
+centre, slapping his boot continually with his riding-crop, and
+betraying every expression of impatience upon his face. But I gave
+little heed to him, for beside me knelt Ilga, a bottle of hartshorn
+salts in her hand. I was resting upon a couch, which stood before the
+spinet; the lamps were lighted, and the curtains drawn across the
+window, so that my swoon must have lasted some while.
+
+As I let my eyes rest upon the Countess, she slipped an arm under my
+head and raised it, taking at the same time a cup of cordial, which
+Clemence Durette held ready. 'Twas of a very potent description, and
+filled me with a great sense of comfort. Ilga moved her arm as though
+to withdraw it. "No," I murmured to her, and she smiled and let it
+remain.
+
+"Come, Morrice," said Elmscott. "You have but to walk downstairs. A
+carriage is waiting."
+
+He moved towards the couch. I tried to raise my arm to warn him off,
+but found that it had been bandaged afresh, and was fastened in a
+sling. For a moment I could not remember how I had come by the hurt;
+then the history of it came back to me, and with that the promise I
+had made to my dying antagonist. For while I believed that Lady Tracy
+could have no grounds for her apprehensions, seeing that the Countess
+must needs be ignorant of her relations with the Count, whatever they
+might have been, I felt that the circumstances under which the request
+was uttered gave to it a special authority, and laid upon me a strict
+compulsion to obey it to the letter. The request, moreover, fitted
+exactly with my own intention. Ilga believed now that I had never seen
+Lady Tracy until that morning when she fainted, and so by merely
+confessing that the death of Count Lukstein lay at my door, and at my
+door alone, I should divert all possibilities of suspicion from
+approaching Lady Tracy; so I whispered to Ilga:
+
+"Send every one away!"
+
+"Nay," she replied; "your cousin has told me."
+
+"It is not that," said I. "There is something else--something my
+cousin could not know."
+
+"Does it follow," she answered, lowering her eyes, "that I could not
+know it? Or do you think me blind?"
+
+The gentle, hesitating words nearly drove my purpose from my mind. It
+would have been so easy to say just, "I love you, and you know it." It
+became so difficult to say, "I killed your husband, and have deceived
+you." However, the confession pressed urgently for utterance, and I
+said again: "Send them away!"
+
+"No," she replied, "you have no time for that now. You must leave
+London to-night. Everything is ready; your cousin's carriage waits to
+take you to the coast. To-morrow you must cross to France. But if you
+still--still wish to unburden your mind----"
+
+"Heart," I could not refrain from whispering; and, indeed, my heart
+leaped as she faltered and blushed crimson.
+
+"Then," she continued, "come to Lukstein! You will be welcome," and
+with a quiet gravity she repeated the phrase: "You will be very
+welcome!"
+
+Every word she spoke made my task the harder. I trust that the
+weakness of my body, the pain of the wound, and my great fatigue, had
+something to do with the sapping of my resolution. But whatever the
+cause, an overwhelming desire to cease from effort, to let the whole
+world go, rushed in upon me. The one real thing for me was this woman
+who knelt beside the couch; the one real need was to tell her of my
+love. I felt as though, that once told, I could rest without
+compunction, without a scruple of regret, just rest like a tired
+child.
+
+"Come to Lukstein!" she repeated.
+
+"Hear me now!" I replied with a last struggle, and got to my feet. I
+was still so weak, however, that the violence of the movement made me
+sick and dizzy, and I tottered into Elmscott's arms.
+
+"Come, Morrice!" he urged. "A little courage; 'tis only a few steps to
+descend."
+
+I steadied myself against his shoulder. In a corner of the room, rigid
+and impassive, was the tall figure of Otto Krax. How could I speak
+before him?
+
+"I shall expect you, then," said the Countess, "and soon. I leave
+England to-morrow myself, and return straight home."
+
+"You leave England to-morrow?" I asked eagerly.
+
+"To-morrow!" she replied.
+
+I drew a deep breath of relief. All danger to Lady Tracy, all her
+fears of danger, would vanish with the departure of the Countess; and
+as for my confession--it could wait.
+
+"At Castle Lukstein, then," said I, and it seemed to me that she also
+drew a breath of relief.
+
+From Pall Mall we drove to my lodging, where I found my trunks packed,
+and Udal fully dressed to accompany me in my flight; for Elmscott, who
+had started from the "Half-way House" some two hours later than
+myself, had ridden straight thither. On learning that my people had no
+news of me, he had immediately guessed where I should be discovered,
+and, instructing them to prepare instantly for a journey, had himself
+hastened to the apartment of the Countess.
+
+My baggage was speedily placed in the boot, Udal mounted on the box, I
+directed my other servants to pay the bill and return to Cumberland,
+and we drove off quickly to the coast, just twenty-four hours after we
+had set out upon the great West Road on our desperate adventure.
+
+As we rolled peacefully through the moonlit gardens of Kent, I had
+time to think over and apportion the hurried events of the day, and I
+recalled the half-spoken sentence which was on Marston's lips at the
+moment of his death. I conjectured that he intended some expression of
+remorse for the use to which he had put the likeness of his sister,
+and I began again to wonder at the strange inconsistency of the man. I
+had been bewildered by it before in respect of this very miniature,
+when I first observed his genuine devotion to his sister. To-day he
+had afforded me a second and corroborating instance, for no sooner had
+he knowledge of his sister's fears, than he had used the knowledge
+straightway as a weapon against me, leaving it to his antagonist to
+secure her the safeguarding which she implored. And yet that his
+anxiety on her account was very real it was impossible for me to
+doubt, for I had looked upon his face when he bound me by a promise to
+protect her.
+
+At Dover we found a packet on the point of sailing for Calais.
+Elmscott bade me good-bye upon the quay, and declared that if I would
+keep him informed of my movements, he would send me word when the
+affair had blown over and I might safely return. Then he asked:
+
+"Morrice, did you tell Countess Lukstein of your duel?"
+
+"I had not the time," I replied. "But she said you told her."
+
+"Ay, I told the story, though I gave not the reason for the encounter.
+But did you say nothing to her, give her no hint by which she might
+guess it?"
+
+"Nay," said I; "I swooned or ever I got a word of it out. I spoke but
+two words to her: 'Lady Tracy.' She could have guessed little enough
+from that."
+
+"Strange!" said he, in a tone of some perplexity. "And yet, some way
+or another, she must needs have known. For when I came to seek you,
+Otto denied you were there. I was positive, however, and ran past him
+up the stairs. The parlour door was locked, and they only gave me
+entrance when I bawled my name through the keyhole and declared that I
+knew you were within, and for your own sake must have immediate speech
+with you. I fancied that the Countess was aware of the duel and meant
+to conceal you."
+
+I thought no more of his words at the time, and went presently aboard.
+A fair wind filled the sheets and hummed through the cordage of the
+rigging. The cliffs lessened and lessened until they shone in the
+sunlight like a silver rim about the bowl of the sea; the gulls
+swooped and circled in our wake; and thus I sailed out upon my strange
+pilgrimage, which was to last so many weary months and set me amid
+such perilous surroundings.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XVII.
+
+                            FATHER SPAUR.
+
+
+IT was on the sixth day of June that I arrived in London from
+Cumberland; it was on the sixteenth of July that I landed at Calais;
+and so much that was new and bewildering to me had happened within
+this brief interspace of time, that I cannot wonder how little I
+understood of all which it portended. For here was I, accustomed to
+solitude, with small knowledge of men and a veritable fear of women,
+plumped of a sudden amidst the gayest company of the town, where
+thought and wit were struck out of converse sharply as sparks from a
+flint not reached by my slow methods, which, to carry on my simile,
+more resembled the practice of the Indians who produce fire, so
+travellers tell, by the laborious attrition of stick upon stick.
+
+From Calais I journeyed to Paris, where I stayed until a bill of
+exchange upon some French merchants, which I had asked Elmscott to
+procure for me, came to hand. With it was enclosed a letter from my
+cousin and yet another from Jack Larke.
+
+"This letter," wrote Elmscott, "was brought to your lodging the day
+after you left London. L'affaire Marston has caused much astonishment.
+Your friends almost refused to credit you with the exploit. The
+family, however, is raised to a clamorous pitch of anger against you;
+it has influence at Court, and the King has no liking for duels."
+
+The letter from Larke recounted the homely details of the
+country-side, and dwelt in particular upon the plan of Sir J. Lowther
+of Stockbridge to appoint a new carrier between Kendal and Whitehaven,
+so that the shipment of Kendal cottons to Virginia might be
+facilitated. The obstacle to the scheme, he declared, was that the
+road ran over Hard Knott, which in winter and spring is frequently
+impassable for the snow. I wrote back to him that he should refund to
+Elmscott with all despatch the amount of the bill of exchange, and
+relating shortly the causes which kept me abroad, bade him, if he were
+so minded, join me towards the end of September at Venice. Of my visit
+to Lukstein I said never a word, the consequence of it was too
+doubtful. I shrank from setting out my hopes and fears openly upon
+paper. If I succeeded, I could better explain the matter to him in
+speech, and take him back with me again to the Castle. If I failed, I
+should avoid the need of making any explanation whatsoever.
+
+From Paris I travelled into Austria; and so one sunset, in the latter
+days of August, drove up to the door of "Der Goldener Adler" at
+Glurns. From this inn I sent Udal forward with a note to Countess
+Lukstein, announcing my arrival in the neighbourhood, and asking
+whether she would be willing to receive me. The next day he returned
+with Otto Krax, and brought me a message of very kindly welcome. Otto
+himself, for once, unbent from his grave demeanour, saying that it was
+long since the Castle had been brightened with a guest, and that for
+his part he trusted I would be in no great hurry to depart.
+
+I gathered no little comfort from his greeting, you may be sure, and I
+set off forthwith to the Castle. The valley which, when I last rode
+through it, showed stark and desolate in its snow drapery, now lay
+basking in the lusty summer, and seemed to smile upon my visit. The
+lime-trees were in leaf along the road, wild strawberries, red as the
+lips of my mistress, peeped from the grasses, on either side
+cornfields spread up the lower slopes to meet the serried pines, which
+were broken here and there by a green gap, where the winter snows had
+driven a track. Behind the ridge of the hills I could see mountains
+towering up with bastions of ice, which had a look peculiarly rich and
+soft, like white velvet. The air was fragrant with the scent of
+flowers, and musical with the voices of innumerable streams. Even
+Lukstein, which had worn so bare and menacing an aspect in the grey
+twilight of that November afternoon, now nestled warmly upon its tiny
+plateau, the red pointed roofs of its turrets glowing against the
+green background of firs.
+
+I was received at the Castle by a priest, who informed me that the
+Countess was indisposed, and wished him to express her regrets that
+she was unable to welcome me in person. I was much chapfallen and
+chilled by this vicarious greeting, since on the way from Glurns I had
+given free play to all sorts of foolish imaginings. The priest, who
+was a kinsman of the Countess, conducted me very politely to the rooms
+prepared for me.
+
+"Mr. Buckler," said he, "it is only your face that is strange to me;
+for I have heard so much of you from your hostess that I made your
+acquaintance some while ago." Whereat I recovered something of my
+spirits.
+
+He led me through the great hall, paved with roughish slabs of stone,
+and up a wide staircase to a gallery which ran round the four sides of
+the hall. From that he turned off into a corridor, which ran, as I
+guessed, through the smaller wing of the building towards the tower.
+At the extreme end he opened a door and bowed me into a large room lit
+by two windows opposite to one another. One of these commanded the
+little ravine which pierced backwards into the hills beside the
+Castle, and was called the Senner Thal; the other window looked out on
+to the garden. Moving towards this last, I perceived, on the left
+hand, the arbour of pinewood and the parapet on which I had lain
+concealed; the main wing of the Castle stretched out upon the right,
+and I realised, with an uneasy shiver, that I had been given the
+bedroom of Count Lukstein. The moment I realised this my eyes went
+straight to that corner, where I knew the little staircase to be. The
+door of it stood by the head of the bed, and was almost concealed in
+the hangings.
+
+"It leads," said the priest, interpreting my glance, "to a little room
+below; but the room gives only on to the garden, and the door has not
+been used this many a month."
+
+He went over to it as he spoke, and tried the handle. The door was
+locked, but the key remained in the lock. It creaked and grated when
+he turned it, as though it had rusted in the keyhole. Together we went
+down the little winding stairway and into the chamber at the bottom.
+What wonder that I hesitated on the last step with a failing heart,
+and needed the invitation of the priest to nerve me to cross the
+threshold! Not a single thing had been moved since I stood there last.
+But for the clouds of dust, which rose at each movement that we made,
+I could have believed this day was the morrow of our deadly encounter.
+The table still lay overturned upon the floor, the rugs and skins were
+heaped and disordered by the trampling of our feet, the curtain hung
+half-torn from the vallance, where I had cowered in it with clutching
+hands as the Countess passed through the window on to the snow.
+Nothing had been touched. Yes, one thing; for as I glanced about the
+room, I saw my pistol dangling from a nail upon the hood of the
+fireplace.
+
+"The room, you think, Mr. Buckler, does little credit to our
+housekeeping?" said the priest. "But 'tis unswept and uncleansed of a
+set purpose. As you see it now, so it was on the fifteenth night of
+last November, and the Countess our mistress wills that so it shall
+remain."
+
+"There is some story," I replied, with such indifference as I could
+assume, "some story connected with the room."
+
+"Ay, a story of midnight crime--of crime that struck at the roots of
+the Lukstein race, that breaks the line of a family which has ruled
+here for centuries, and must in a few years make its very name to
+perish off the earth. Count Lukstein was the last of his race, and in
+this room was he slain upon his bridal night."
+
+Sombre as were the words, the priest's voice seemed to have something
+of exultation in its tone, and unwarily I remarked on it.
+
+"God works out His purposes by ways we cannot understand," he
+explained, with a humility that struck me as exaggerated and
+insincere. "Unless Countess Lukstein marries again, the Castle and its
+demesne will pass into the holy keeping of the Church."
+
+He looked steadily at me while he spoke, and I wondered whether he
+meant his utterance to convey a menace and warning.
+
+"What if the Countess married a true son of the Church?" I hastened to
+answer. "Would he not second and further her intention?"
+
+"I think, Mr. Buckler, that you have more faith in mankind than
+knowledge of the world. But 'twas of the room that we were speaking.
+Until that crime is brought to light, the room may neither be swept
+nor cleansed."
+
+"You hope, then, to discover----" I began.
+
+"Nay, nay!" said he. "'Tis not with us that the discovery rests. Look
+you, sin is not a dead thing like these tables, to which each day adds
+a covering of dust; it is rather a plant that each day throws out
+fibres towards the sun, bury it deep as you will in the earth. Surely,
+surely it will make itself known--this very afternoon, maybe, or maybe
+in years to come; maybe not until the Day of Wrath. God chooses His
+own time."
+
+Very solemnly he crossed himself, and led the way back to the bedroom
+above.
+
+This conversation increased my anxiety to unburden myself to Ilga. For
+it was no crime that I had committed, but an act of common justice.
+But although the household, apart from the servants and retainers, who
+made indeed a veritable army, consisted only of the Countess, Mdlle.
+Durette, and Father Spaur, as the priest was named, I found it
+impossible to hit upon an occasion.
+
+In the first place, the Countess herself was, without doubt, ailing
+and indisposed. She would come down late in the morning with heavy
+eyes and a weariful face, as though she slept but little. 'Twas no
+better, moreover, when she joined us, for she treated me, though ever
+with courtesy as befitted a hostess, still with a certain distance;
+and at times, when she thought I was interested in some talk and had
+no eyes for her, I would catch a troubled look upon her face wherein
+anger and sorrow seemed equally mixed. Nor, indeed, could I ever come
+upon her alone, and such hints as I put forward to bring such a
+consummation about were purposely misunderstood. In truth, the priest
+stood between us. I set the changed manner of Countess Lukstein
+entirely to his account, believing that he was studiously poisoning
+her mind against me, and maybe persuading her that I did but pursue
+her wealth like any vulgar adventurer. I suggested as much to Mdlle.
+Durette, who showed me great kindness in this nadir of my fortunes.
+
+"I know not what to make of it," she replied, "for Ilga has shut me
+from her confidence of late. But there is something of the kind afoot,
+I fear, for Father Spaur is continually with her, and 'twas ever his
+fashion to ascribe a secret and underhand motive for all one's
+doings."
+
+The Father, indeed, was perpetually with either Ilga or myself. If he
+chanced not to be closeted with the Countess, he would dance
+indefatigable attendance upon me, devising excursions into the
+mountains or in pursuit of the chamois, which abounded in great
+numbers among the higher forests of the ravine.
+
+On these latter occasions he would depute Otto Krax, who was, as I
+soon learned, the chief huntsman of the Castle, to take his place with
+me, pleading his own age with needless effusion as an excuse for his
+absence. In the company of Otto, then, I gained much knowledge of the
+locality, and in particular of the great ice-clad mountain which
+blocked the head of the ravine. For the chase led us many a time high
+up the slopes above the trees to where the ice lay in great tongues
+all cracked and ridged across like waves frozen at the crest; and at
+times, growing yet more adventurous with the heat of our pursuit, we
+would ascend still higher, making long circuits and detours about the
+cliffs and gullies to get to windward of our quarry; so that I saw
+this mountain from many points of view, and gained a knowledge of its
+character and formation which was afterwards to stand me in good
+stead.
+
+The natives termed it the "Wildthurm," and approached it ever with the
+greatest reluctance and with much commending of their souls to God.
+For the spirits of the lost, they said, circled in agony about its
+summit, and might be heard at noonday no less often than at night
+piercing the air with a wail of lamentation. It may be even as they
+held; but I was spared the manifestation of their presence when I
+invaded their abode, and found no denizens of that solitary region
+more terrible than the eagles which built their nests upon the topmost
+cliffs. Towards the ravine the "Wildthurm" towered in a stupendous
+wall of rock of thousands of feet, but so sheer that even the chamois,
+however encompassed, never sought escape that way. From the apex of
+this wall a ridge of ice ran backwards in a narrow line and sloped
+outwards on either side, so that it looked like nothing so much as a
+gipsy's tent of white canvas.
+
+When we sought diversion upon lower ground, hawking or riding in the
+valley, Father Spaur himself would bear me company. In fact, I never
+seemed to journey a mile from the Castle without either Otto or the
+priest to keep me in surveillance.
+
+Father Spaur, though past his climacteric, was of a tall, massive
+build, and, I judged, of great muscular strength. His hair was
+perfectly white, and threw into relief his broad, tanned face, which
+wore as a rule an uninterested bovine expression, as of one whom
+neither trouble nor thought had ever touched. One afternoon, however,
+as we were riding up the hillside towards the Castle, I chanced to
+make mention of the persecution of the Protestants in France, whereof
+I had been a witness during my stay at Paris, and ventured, though a
+Catholic, to criticise the French King's action in abrogating the
+edict of Nantes.
+
+"Cruelty, Mr. Buckler!" he exclaimed, reining in his horse, with his
+eyes aglare, and his fleshy face of a sudden shining with animation.
+'Twas as though some one had lit a lamp behind a curtain. "Cruelty!
+'Tis the idlest name that was ever invented. Look you: a general
+throws a thousand troops upon certain death. Is not that cruelty? Yet
+if he faltered he would fail in his duty. If the men shrank, they in
+theirs. Cruelty is the law of life. Nay, more, for with that word the
+wicked stigmatise the law of God. Never a spring comes upon these
+hills but it buries numbers of our villagers beneath its slipping
+snowdrifts. You have seen the crosses on the slopes yourself. They
+perish, and through no foolhardiness of their own. Is not that what
+you term cruelty? Take a wider view. Is there not cruelty in the very
+making of man? We are born with minds curious after knowledge, and yet
+we only gain knowledge by much suffering and labour--an infinitesimal
+drop after years of thirst. Take it yet higher. The holy Church
+teaches us that God upon His throne is happy; yet He condemns the
+guilty to torment. With a smile, we must believe He condemns the
+guilty. Judge that by our poor weak understanding; is it not cruelty?
+What you term cruelty is a law of God--difficult, unintelligible, but
+a law of God, and therefore good."
+
+'Twas a strange discourse, delivered with a ringing voice of
+exaltation, and thereafter my thoughts did more justice to the
+subtlety of his intellect.
+
+Meanwhile the days slipped on and brought me no nearer to the
+fulfilment of my purpose. The time had come, moreover, when I must set
+off into Italy if I was to meet Larke at Venice as I had most
+faithfully promised. I resolved, then, to put an end to a visit which
+I saw brought no happiness to my mistress, and wasted me with
+impatience and despondency. I was minded to go down into Italy, and
+taking Jack with me to set sail for the Indies, and ease my heart, if
+so I might, with viewing of the many wonders of those parts. So
+choosing an occasion when we were all dining together in the great
+parlour on the first floor of the Castle, I thanked the Countess for
+the hospitality which she had shown me, and fixed my departure for the
+next day. For awhile there was silence, Ilga rising suddenly from the
+table and walking over to the wide-open windows, where she stood with
+her back turned, and looked out across the waving valley of the Adige.
+
+"It seems that we have been guilty of some discourtesy, Mr. Buckler,
+since you leave us so abruptly," said Father Spaur with a great
+perturbation.
+
+Upon that point I hastened to set him right; for indeed I had been so
+hedged in by attention and ceremony that I should have been well
+content with a little neglect.
+
+"Then," he continued with an easy laugh, "we shall make bold to keep
+you. If we bring guests so far to visit us, we cannot speed them away
+so soon. Doubtless the Castle is dull to you who come fresh from
+London and Paris----"
+
+"Nay," said I with some impatience, for I thought it unfair that he
+should attribute such motives to me. "Madame will bear me out that I
+have little liking for town pleasures." I turned towards her, but she
+made no sign or movement, and appeared not to have heard me. "I am
+pledged to meet a friend at Venice, and, as it is, I have overstayed
+my time."
+
+"Oh! you have a friend awaiting you," said the priest slowly. "You are
+very prudent, Mr. Buckler."
+
+The Countess turned swiftly about, her eyes wide open and staring like
+one dismayed.
+
+"Prudent?" I exclaimed in perplexity.
+
+"I mean," said the priest, flushing a dark red and dropping his voice,
+"I mean that if one fixes so precise a limit to one's visit, one
+guards against any inclination to prolong it." He spoke with a meaning
+glance in the direction of the Countess, who had turned away again.
+"The heart says 'stay,' prudence 'go.' Is it not the case?" he
+whispered, and he smiled with an awkward effort at archness, which,
+upon his heavy face, was little short of grotesque.
+
+Now his words and manner perplexed me greatly, for at the moment of my
+coming to Lukstein, he had seemed most plainly to warn me against
+encouraging any passion for Ilga, and his conduct since in disparting
+us had assured me that I had rightly guessed his intention. Yet here
+was he urging me to extend my stay, and sneering at my prudence for
+not giving free play to that passion.
+
+"Besides," he continued, raising his voice again, "if you go to-morrow
+you will miss the best entertainment that our poor domain provides. We
+are to have a great hunt, wherein some of our neighbours will join us,
+and Otto informs us that you have great partiality for the sport, and
+extraordinary skill and nimbleness upon mountains. In a week,
+moreover, the headsman of our village is to marry. 'Tis a great event
+in Lukstein, and, indeed, to a stranger well worth witnessing, for
+there are many quaint and curious customs to be observed which are not
+met with elsewhere."
+
+He added many other inducements, so that at last I felt some shame at
+persisting in my refusal. But, after all, the Countess was my hostess,
+and she had said never a word, but had turned back again to the window
+as though she would not meddle in the matter. At last, however, she
+broke in upon the priest, keeping, however, her face still set towards
+the landscape.
+
+"Could you not send forward your servant, Mr. Buckler, to meet your
+friend, and remain with us this week? As Father Spaur says, the
+marriage will be well worth seeing, and since you are so pressed, you
+may leave here that very night."
+
+There was, however, no heartiness in her invitation; the words dropped
+reluctantly from her lips, as if compelled by mere politeness towards
+her guest.
+
+"The most suitable plan!" cried the priest, starting up. "Send your
+man to Venice, and yourself follow afterwards."
+
+I explained that Udal was little accustomed to travelling in strange
+countries, and had no knowledge of either the German or Italian
+tongues; and to put a close to the discussion, I rose from my seat and
+walked away to the end of the apartment, where I busied myself over
+some weapons that hung upon the wall. In a minute or so I heard the
+door close softly, and facing about, I saw that the priest and Mdlle.
+Durette, who had taken no part in any of this talk, had departed out
+of the room. The Countess came towards me.
+
+"I sent them away," she said, with a wan smile, and a voice subdued to
+great gentleness. "I have no thought to--to part with you so soon.
+Stay out this week. You--you told me that you had something which you
+wished to say."
+
+"Madame," said I, snatching eagerly at her hand, "you also told me
+that you had guessed it."
+
+"Not now; not now." She slipped her hand from my grasp with an
+imploring cry, and held it outspread close before my face to check my
+words. "Not now. I could not bear it. Oh, I would that I had more
+strength to resist, or more weakness to succumb."
+
+Never have I heard such pain in a human voice: never have I seen
+features so wrung with suffering. The sight of her cut me to the
+heart.
+
+"Listen," she went on, controlling herself after a moment, though her
+voice still trembled with agitation, and now and again ran upwards
+into an odd laugh, the like of which I have never hearkened to before
+or since. 'Twas the most pitiful sound that ever jarred on a man's
+ears. "On the night of the marriage the villagers will come to the
+Castle to dance in the Great Hall. That night you shall speak to me,
+and a carriage shall be ready to take you away afterwards, if you
+will. Until that night be 'prudent.'"
+
+She gave me no time to answer her, but ran to the door, and so out of
+the room. I could hear her footsteps falling uncertainly along the
+gallery, as though she stumbled while she ran, and a great anger
+against the priest flamed up in my breast. "Strength to resist, or
+weakness to succumb." Doubtless the words would have bewildered me,
+like the oracles of old Greece, but for what I suspicioned in the
+priest Now, however, in the blindness of my thoughts, I construed them
+as the confirmation of my belief that he was practising all his arts
+upon Ilga to secure Lukstein for the Church. 'Twas Father Spaur, I
+imagined, whom she had neither the strength to resist nor the weakness
+to yield to, and I fancied that I was set upon a second contest for
+the winning of her, though this time with a more subtle and noteworthy
+antagonist.
+
+And yet for all my fears, for all Ilga's trouble, with such selfish
+pertinacity do a lover's reflections seek to enhearten his love, I
+could not but feel a throb of joy for that she had so plainly shown to
+me what the struggle cost her.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+                             AT LUKSTEIN.
+
+
+In accordance, then, with the suggestion of Ilga, I despatched Udal to
+Venice, bearing a letter wherein I requested Jack to bide there until
+such time as I arrived. To supply my servant's place Father Spaur
+offered me one, Michael Groder, whose assistance at the first sight I
+was strongly in a mind to decline; for he was more than common uncouth
+even for those parts, and with his scarred knees, tangled black hair,
+and gaunt, weather-roughened face, seemed more fitted for hewing wood
+upon the hillside than for the neater functions of a valet. The
+priest, however, pressed his services upon me with so importunate a
+courtesy that I thought it ungracious to persist in a refusal. Indeed,
+Michael Groder, though of a slight and wiry build, was the unhandiest
+man with his fingers that ever I had met with. There was not a servant
+in the Castle who could not have done the work better; and I came
+speedily to the conclusion that Father Spaur had selected him
+particularly out of some motive very different from a desire to oblige
+me; I mean, in order that he might keep a watch upon my actions, and
+see that I gained no secret advantage with the Countess.
+
+However, had I entertained any such design, the hunting expedition
+would have effectually prevented its fulfilment. It lasted the greater
+part of the week, and we did not return to Lukstein until the eve of
+my departure. By this time my anxiety as to the answer which Ilga
+would make to my suit when she knew all that I had to tell her, had
+well-nigh worked me into a fever. I was for ever rehearsing and
+picturing the scene, inventing all sorts of womanly objections for her
+to urge, and disproving them succinctly to her satisfaction by
+Barbara, Celarent and all the rules of logic.
+
+Under these speculations, bolster them up as I might, there lurked
+none the less a heavy and disheartening fear. 'Twas all vain labour to
+reckon up, as I did again and again, the few good qualities which I
+possessed, and to add to them those others which my friends attributed
+to me. I could not shut my eyes to the disparity between us; I could
+not believe but that she must be sensible of it herself. Such a woman,
+I conceived, should wed a warrior and hero; though, indeed, 'twas
+doubtful whether you could find even amongst them one whose deserts
+made him a fit mate for her. As for me, 'twas as though a clown should
+run a-wooing after a princess.
+
+'Twill be readily understood that I had in consequence no great
+inclination for the hearty fellowship of the neighbours who joined in
+the hunt; and since my anxiety grew with every hour, by the time we
+came back to Lukstein--for many of them returned thither instead of to
+their own homes, meaning to stay over until the following night--'twas
+as much as I could do to answer with attention any civil question that
+was addressed to me.
+
+The Countess, I found, was in an agitation no whit inferior to my own.
+I observed her that afternoon at dinner. At times she talked with a
+feverish excitement, at times she relapsed into long silences; but
+even during these pauses I noticed that her fingers were never still,
+but continually twitched and plucked at the cloth. I inferred from her
+manner that she had not yet decided on the course she would take, the
+more particularly because she sedulously avoided speech with me. If I
+spoke to her she replied politely enough, but at once drew those about
+her into the conversation, and herself withdrew from it; and if by
+accident our eyes met, she hastily turned her head away. I knew not
+what to make of these signs, and as soon as the company was risen from
+table I slipped away out of the Castle that I might con them over
+quietly and weigh whether they boded me good or ill.
+
+The Castle, as I have said, stood upon a headland at the mouth of the
+Senner Thal, and turning a corner of this bluff, I wandered by a rough
+track some way along the side of the ravine, and flung myself down on
+my back on the turf. The sun had already sunk below the crest of the
+mountains, and the glow was fast fading out of the sky. The pines on
+the hillside opposite grew black in the deepening twilight; a star
+peeped over the shoulder of the Wildthurm; and here and there a grey
+scarf of cloud lay trailed along the slopes. From a hut high above
+came clear and sweet the voice of a woman singing a Tyrolese melody,
+and so softly did the evening droop upon the mountains, shutting as it
+were the very peace of the heavens into the valleys, that the brooks
+seemed to laugh louder and louder as they raced among the stones. The
+air itself never stirred, save when some bat came flapping blindly
+about my face. I became the more curious, therefore, concerning a bush
+some twenty yards below me, which now and again shivered and bent as
+though with a gust of wind. I had been lying on the grass some ten
+minutes before I noticed this movement. The dwarf oaks and beeches
+which studded the slopes about me were as still and noiseless as
+though their leaves had been carved from metal; only this one bush
+rustled and shook. In a direct line with it, and within reach of my
+foot, a small boulder hung insecurely on the turf. I stretched out my
+foot and pushed it; the stone rocked a little on its base. I pushed
+again and harder; the stone tilted forwards and stuck. I brought my
+other foot to help, set them both flat against the stone, slid down on
+my back until my legs were doubled, and then kicked with all my
+strength. The boulder flew from the soles of my feet, rolled over and
+over, bounded into the air, dropped on to the slope about ten yards
+from the bush, and then sprang at it like a dog at the throat. I heard
+a startled cry; I saw the figure of a man leap up from the centre of
+the bush. The stone took him full in the pit of the stomach, and
+toppled him backwards like a ninepin. He fell on the far side of the
+shrub, and I heard the boulder go crash-crashing down the whole length
+of the incline. Who the man was I had not the time to perceive, and I
+made no effort to discover. The Countess had retired a few moments
+before I slipped away from the Hall, and I judged that he was no more
+than a spy sent by Father Spaur to ascertain whether I had some tryst
+with her. So deeming that he had got no more than his deserts, I left
+him lying where he fell and loitered back to the Castle.
+
+The company I found gathered about a huge fire of logs at the end of
+the Great Hall. Beyond the glow of the flames the Hall was lost in
+shadow, and now and again from some corner would come a soft scuffling
+sound, as a dog moved lazily across the flags. Thereupon with one
+movement the heads would huddle closer together, and for a moment the
+voices would sink to a whisper. They were speaking, as men will who
+are girt with more of God's handiwork than of man's, concerning the
+spirits that haunted the countryside, and told many stories of the
+warnings they had vouchsafed to unheeding ears. In particular, they
+dwelt much upon a bell, which they declared rang out from the
+Wildthurm when good or ill-fortune approached the House of Lukstein,
+tolling as the presage of disaster, pealing joyously in the forefront
+of prosperity. One, indeed--with frequent glances across his shoulder
+into the gloom--averred that he had heard it tolling on the eve of
+Count Lukstein's marriage, and from that beginning the talk slid to
+the manner of his death. 'Twas altogether an eerie experience, and one
+that I would not willingly repeat, to listen to them debating that
+question in hushed whispers, with the darkness closing in around us,
+and the firelight playing upon mature, weather-hardened faces grown
+timorous with the awe of children. For this I remarked with some
+wonder, that no one made mention either of the things which I had left
+behind me, or of the track which I had flogged in the snow about the
+rim of the precipice. 'Twas evident that these details of the story
+had been kept carefully secret, though with what object I could not
+understand.
+
+That evening I had no Michael Groder to assist me in my toilet, and so
+got me to bed with the saving of half an hour. I cannot say, however,
+that I gained half an hour's sleep thereby, for the thought of the
+morrow, and all that hung upon it, kept me tossing from side to side
+in a turmoil of unrest. It must have been near upon two hours that I
+lay thus uneasily cushioned upon disquiet, before a faint sound came
+to my ears, and made me start up in the darkness with my heart racing.
+
+'Twas the sound that a man can never forget or mistake when once he
+has heard it--the sound of a woman sobbing. It rose from the little
+sitting-room immediately beneath me. The staircase door was close to
+my bedside, and I reached out my hand and, turning the handle
+cautiously, opened it. The sound was louder now, but still muffled,
+and I knew that the door at the bottom of the staircase was closed.
+For a little I remained propped on my elbow, and straining my ears to
+listen. The mourner must be either Clemence Durette or Ilga, and I
+could not doubt which of them it was. Why she wept, I did not
+consider. 'Twas the noise of her weeping, made yet more lonesome and
+sad by the black dead of night, that occupied my senses and filled me
+with an unbearable pain.
+
+I got quietly out of my bed, and slipping on some clothes crept down
+the staircase in my stockings. 'Twas pitch dark in this passage, and I
+felt before me with my hands as I descended, fearing lest I might
+unawares stumble against the door. At the last step I paused and
+listened again. Then very gently I groped for the handle. I had good
+reason to know how noiselessly it turned, and I opened the door for
+the space of an inch. A feeble light flickered on the wall of the room
+at my side. I waited with my fingers on the handle, but there was no
+check in the sobbing. I pushed the door wider open; the light upon the
+wall wavered and shook, as though a draught took the flame of a
+candle. But that was all. So I stepped silently forward and looked
+into the room.
+
+The sight made my heart bleed. Ilga lay face downwards and prone upon
+the floor, her arms outstretched, her hair unbound and rippling about
+her shoulders. From head to foot she was robed in black. It broke upon
+me suddenly that I had never seen her so clad before, and I remembered
+a remark that Elmscott had passed in London upon that very score.
+
+The window was open, and from the garden a light wind brought the
+soughing of trees into the room. A single candle guttered on the
+mantelshelf and heightened its general aspect of neglect. Thus Ilga
+lay, abandoned to--what? Grief for her husband, or remorse at
+forgetting him? That black dress might well be the fitting symbol of
+either sentiment. 'Twas for neither of these reasons that she wept, as
+I learned long afterwards, but for another of which I had no suspicion
+then.
+
+I closed the door softly and sat me down in the darkness on the
+stairs, hearkening to that desolate sound of tears and praying for the
+morning to come and for the day to pass into night, that I might say
+my say and either bring her such rest and happiness as a man's love
+can bring to a woman, or slip out of her life and so trouble her no
+more.
+
+'Twas a long while before she ceased from her distress, and to me it
+seemed far longer than it was. As soon as I heard her move I got me
+back to my room. The dawn was just breaking when, from a corner of my
+window, I saw her walk out across the lawn, and the dew was white upon
+the grass like a hoar-frost. With a weary, dragging step, and a head
+adroop like a broken flower, she walked to the parapet of the terrace,
+and hung on it for a little, gazing down upon the roofs of her
+sleeping village. Then she turned and fixed her eyes upon my window. I
+was hidden in the curtains so that she could not see me. For some
+minutes she gazed at it, her face very tired and sad. 'Twas her bridal
+chamber, or rather, would have been but for me, and I wondered much
+whether she was thinking of the husband or the guest. She turned away
+again, looked out across the valley paved with a grey floor of mist,
+and so walked back to the main wing of the Castle.
+
+The light broadened out; starlings began to twitter in the trees, and
+far away a white peak blushed rosy at the kiss of the sun. The one day
+of my life had come. By this time to-morrow, I thought, the world
+would have changed its colours for me, one way or another; and tired
+out with my vigil, I tumbled into bed and slept dreamlessly until
+Michael Groder roused me.
+
+I asked him why he had failed me the night before.
+
+"I was unwell," he replied.
+
+"True!" said I, with great friendliness. "You got a heavier load upon
+your stomach than it would stand."
+
+The which was as unwise a remark as I could have made; for Groder's
+ill-will towards me needed no stimulus to provoke it.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIX.
+
+                     IN THE PAVILION. I EXPLAIN.
+
+
+The marriage, with its odd customs of the Ehrengang and Ehrentanz,
+might at another time have afforded me the entertainment which Father
+Spaur promised; but, to speak the truth, the whole ceremony wearied me
+beyond expression. My thoughts were set in a tide towards the evening,
+and I watched the sun loiter idly down the length of the valley in a
+burning fever of impatience.
+
+'Twas about seven of the clock when the villagers flocked up to the
+Castle and began their antic dances in the Hall and in the ball-room
+which fronted the terrace. They aimed at a display of agility rather
+than of elegance, leaping into the air and falling crack upon their
+knees, slapping their thighs and the soles of their feet, with many
+other barbaric gambols; and all the while they kept up such a noise of
+shouting, whistling, and singing, as fairly deafened one.
+
+Ilga, I observed with some heart-sinking, had once more robed herself
+in black, and very simply; but the colour so set off the brightness of
+her hair, which was coiled in a coronal upon her head, and the white
+beauty of her arms, that for all my fears I could not but think she
+had never looked so exquisitely fair. However, I had thought the same
+upon so many different occasions that I would not now assert it as an
+indisputable fact.
+
+As you may be certain, I had not copied Ilga's simplicity, but had
+rather dressed in the opposite extreme. 'Twas no part of my policy to
+show her the disrespect of plain apparel. I had so little to offer
+that I must needs trick that little out to the best of advantage;
+indeed, even at this distance of time, I fairly laugh when I recall
+the extraordinary pains I spent that evening upon my adornment. My
+Lord Culverton could never have bettered them. A coat of white
+brocaded velvet, ruffles that reached to the tips of my fingers, a
+cravat of the finest Mechlin, pink breeches, silk stockings rolled
+above the knees, with gold clocks and garters, white Spanish leather
+shoes with red heels and Elmscott's buckles, a new heavy black peruke;
+so I attired myself for this momentous interview.
+
+Father Spaur greeted me with a sour smile and a sneering compliment;
+but 'twas not his favour that I sought, and I cared little that he
+showed so plainly his resentment.
+
+"A carriage," he added, "will be in waiting for you at eleven, if you
+are still minded to leave us."
+
+I thanked him shortly, and passed on to Ilga, but for some while I
+could get no private speech with her. For though she took no part in
+the dancing, even when a quieter measure made a break in the
+boisterous revelry, she moved continually from one to the other of her
+villagers with a kindly smile and affable word for each in a spirit of
+so sweet a condescension, that I had no doubt that she had vaunted
+their loyalty most truthfully. 'Twould have been strange, indeed, if
+they had not greatly worshipped her.
+
+In the midst of the clatter, however, and near upon the hour of nine,
+a man burst wildly into the room, faltering out that the "Wildthurm"
+bell was even now ringing its message to Lukstein.
+
+On the instant the music was stopped; a great awe fell upon the noisy
+throng; women clung in fear to men, and men crossed themselves with a
+muttering of tremulous prayers; and then Ilga led the way through the
+Hall into the courtyard of the Castle.
+
+The ice-fields of the mountain glittered like silver in the moonlight,
+and we gazed upwards towards them with our ears strained to catch the
+sound. Many, I know, will scoff at and question what I relate. Many
+have already done so, attributing it to a delusion of the senses, a
+heated imagination, or any other of the causes which are held to
+absolve the spirits of the air from participation in men's affairs.
+
+Against such unholy disbelief it is not for me to argue or dispute,
+nor is this the fitting place and opportunity. But this I do attest,
+and to it I do solemnly put my name. 'Twas not I alone who heard the
+bell; every man and woman who danced that night at Lukstein Castle
+heard it. The sound was faint, but wonderfully pure and clear, the
+strokes of the hammer coming briskly one upon the other as though the
+bell was tossed from side to side by willing hands.
+
+"It speaks of happiness for Lukstein," said Father Spaur with an evil
+glance towards me.
+
+For my part I just looked at Ilga.
+
+"Come!" she said.
+
+And we walked back through the empty echoing Hall, and across the lawn
+to the terrace.
+
+A light wind was blowing from the south, but there were no clouds in
+the sky, and the valley lay beneath us with all its landmarks merged
+by the grey, tender light, so that it seemed to have widened to double
+its breadth.
+
+The terrace, however, was for the most part in shadow, since the moon,
+hanging behind a cluster of trees at the east corner of the wall, only
+sprinkled its radiance through a tracery of boughs, and drew a dancing
+pattern about our feet. As I leaned upon the parapet there came before
+my eyes, raised by I know not what chance suggestion, a vivid picture
+of my little far-away hamlet in the country of the English lakes.
+
+"You are thoughtful, Mr. Buckler!" said Ilga.
+
+"I was thinking of the valley of Wastdale," I replied, "and of a
+carrier's cart stuck in a snowdrift on Hard Knot."
+
+"Of your home? 'Twas of your home that you were thinking?" she asked
+curiously, and yet with something more than curiosity in her voice,
+with something of regret, something almost of pity.
+
+"Not so much of my home," I replied, "but rather from what distant
+points our two lives have drawn together." I was emboldened to the
+words by the tone in which she had spoken. "A few weeks ago you were
+here at Lukstein in the Tyrol, I was at the Hall in Cumberland, and we
+had never spoken to one another. How strange it all seems!"
+
+"Nay," she answered simply; "it was certain you and I should meet. Is
+not God in His heaven?"
+
+My heart gave a great leap. We had come now to the pavilion, which
+leaned against the Castle wall, and Ilga opened the door and entered
+it. I followed her, and closed the latch behind me.
+
+In the side of the room there was a square window with shutters, but
+no glass. The shutters were open, and through a gap of the trees the
+moonlight poured into the pavilion.
+
+We stood facing one another silently. The time had come for me to
+speak.
+
+"Well," said she, and her voice was very calm, "what is it, Mr.
+Buckler?"
+
+All my fine arguments and protestations flew out of my head like birds
+startled from a nest. I forgot even the confession I had to make to
+her, and
+
+"I love you!" I said humbly, looking down on the floor.
+
+She gave me no answer. My heart fainted within me; I feared that it
+would stop. But in a little I dared to raise my eyes to her face. She
+stood in the pillar of moonlight, her eyes glistening, but with no
+expression on her face which could give me a clue to her thoughts, and
+she softly opened and shut her fan, which hung on a girdle about her
+waist.
+
+"How I do love you!" I cried, and I made a step towards her. "But you
+know that."
+
+She nodded her head.
+
+"I took good care you should," she said.
+
+I did not stop to consider the strangeness of the speech. My desire
+construed it without seeking help from the dictionary of thought.
+
+"Then you wished it," I cried joyfully, and I threw myself down on my
+knee at her feet, and buried my face in my hands. "Ilga! Ilga!"
+
+She made no movement, but replied in a low voice:
+
+"With all my heart I wished it. How else could I have brought you to
+the Tyrol?"
+
+I felt the tears gathering into my eyes and my throat choking. I
+lifted my face to hers, and, taking courage from her words, clipped my
+arms about her waist.
+
+She gave a little trembling cry, and plucked at my fingers. I but
+tightened my clasp.
+
+"Ilga!" I murmured. 'Twas the only word which came to my lips, but it
+summed the whole world for me then--ay, and has done ever since.
+"Ilga!"
+
+Again she plucked at my fingers, and for all the calmness which she
+had shown, I could feel her hands burning through her gloves. Then a
+shadow darkened for an instant across the window, the moonlight faded,
+and her face was lost to me. 'Twas for no longer than an instant. I
+looked towards the window, but Ilga bent her head down between it and
+me.
+
+"Tis only the branches swinging in the wind," she said softly.
+
+I rose to my feet and drew her towards me. She set her palms against
+my chest as if to repulse me, but she said no word, and I saw the
+necklace about her throat flashing and sparkling with the heave of her
+bosom.
+
+It seemed to me that a light step sounded without the pavilion, and I
+turned my head aside to listen.
+
+"Tis only the leaves blowing along the terrace," she whispered, and I
+looked again at her and drew her closer.
+
+For a time she resisted; then I heard her sigh, and her hand stole
+across my shoulder. Her head drooped forward until her hair touched my
+lips. I could feel her heart beating on my breast. Gently I turned her
+face upwards, and then with a loud clap the shutters were flung to and
+the room was plunged in darkness.
+
+Ilga started away from me, drawing a deep breath as for some release.
+I groped my way to the window. The shutters opened outwards, and I
+pushed against them. They were held close and fast.
+
+A wooden settle stood against the wall just beneath the window, and I
+knelt on it and drove at the shutters with my shoulder. They gave a
+little at first, and I heard a whispered call for help. The pressure
+from without was redoubled; I was forced back; a bar fell across them
+outside and was fitted into a socket. Thrust as I might I could not
+break it; the window was securely barricadoed.
+
+Meanwhile Ilga had not spoken. "Ilga!" I called.
+
+She did not answer me, nor in the blackness of the pavilion could I
+discover where she stood.
+
+"Ilga!"
+
+The same empty silence. I could not even hear her breathing, and yet
+she was in the pavilion, within a few feet of me. There was something
+horrible in her quietude, and a great fear of I knew not what caught
+at my heart and turned my blood cold.
+
+"This is the priest's doing," I cried, and I drew my sword and made
+towards the door.
+
+A startled cry burst from the gloom behind me.
+
+"Stop! If you open it, you will be killed."
+
+I stopped as she bade me, body and brain numbed in a common inaction.
+I could hear her breathing now plainly enough.
+
+"This is not the priest's doing," she said, at length. "It is the
+wife's." Her voice steadied and became even as she spoke. "From the
+hour I found Count Lukstein dead I have lived only for this night."
+
+I let my sword slip from my grasp, and it clattered and rang on the
+floor.
+
+'Twas not surprise that I felt; ever since the shutters had been
+slammed I seemed to have known that she would speak those words. And
+'twas no longer fear. Nor did I as yet wonder how she came by her
+knowledge. Indeed, I had but one thought, one thought of overwhelming
+sadness, and I voiced it in utter despondency.
+
+"So all this time--in London, here, a minute ago, you were tricking
+me! Tricking me into loving you; then tricking my love for you!"
+
+"A minute ago!" she caught me up, and there was a quiver in her voice
+of some deep feeling. Then she broke off, and said, in a hard, clear
+tone: "I was a woman, and alone. I used a woman's weapons."
+
+Again she paused, but I made no answer. I had none to make. She
+resumed, with a flash of anger, as though my silence accused her:
+
+"And was there no trickery on your side, too?"
+
+They were almost the same words as those which Marston had levelled at
+me, and I imagined that they conveyed the same charge. However, it
+seemed of little use or profit to defend myself at length, and I
+answered:
+
+"I have played no part. It might have fared better with me if I had.
+What deceit I have practised may be set down to love's account. 'Twas
+my fear of losing you that locked my lips. Had I not loved you, what
+need to tell you my secret? 'Twas no crime that I committed. But since
+I loved you, I was bound in very truth to speak. I have known that
+from the first, and I pledged myself to speak at the moment that I
+told you of my love. I dared not disclose the matter before. There was
+so little chance that I should win your favour, even had every
+circumstance seconded my suit. But this very night I should have told
+you the truth."
+
+"No doubt! no doubt!" she answered, with the bitterest irony, and I
+understood what a fatal mistake I had made in pleading my passion
+before disclosing the story of the duel. I should have begun from the
+other end. "And no doubt you meant also to tell me, with the same open
+frankness, of the woman for whose sake you killed my--my husband?"
+
+"I fought for no woman, but for my friend."
+
+She laughed; surely the hardest, most biting laugh that ever man
+heard.
+
+"Tell me your fine story now."
+
+I sank down on the settle, feeling strangely helpless in the face of
+her contempt.
+
+"This is the priest's doing," I repeated, more to myself than to her.
+
+"It is my doing," she said again; "my doing from first to last"
+
+"Then what was it?" I asked, with a dull, involuntary curiosity. "What
+was it you had neither the weakness to yield to nor the strength to
+resist?"
+
+She did not answer me, but it seemed as though she suddenly put out a
+hand and steadied herself against the wall.
+
+"Tell me your story," she said briefly; and sitting there in the
+darkness, unable to see my mistress, I began the history of that
+November night.
+
+"It is true that I killed Count Lukstein; but I killed him in open
+encounter. I fought him fairly and honourably."
+
+"At midnight!" she interrupted. "Without witnesses, upon his
+wedding-day."
+
+"There was blood upon Count Lukstein's sword," I went on doggedly,
+"and that blood was mine. I fought him fairly and honourably. I own I
+compelled him to fight me."
+
+"You and your--companion."
+
+She stressed the word with an extraordinary contempt.
+
+"My companion!" I repeated in surprise. "What know you of my
+companion? My companion watched our horses in the valley."
+
+"You dare to tell me that?" she cried, ceasing from her contempt, and
+suddenly lifting her voice in an inexplicable passion.
+
+"It is the truth."
+
+"The truth! The truth!" she exclaimed, and then, with a stamp of her
+foot, and in a ringing tone of decision, "Otto!"
+
+The door was flung open. Otto Krax and Michael Groder blocked the
+opening, and behind them stood Father Spaur, holding a lighted torch
+above his head. The Tyrolese servants carried hangers in their hands.
+I can see their blades flashing in the red light now!
+
+Silently they filed into the pavilion. Father Spaur lifted his torch
+into a bracket, latched the door, and leaned his back against the
+panels. All three looked at the Countess, waiting her orders. 'Twas
+plain, from the priest's demeanour, that Ilga had spoken no more than
+truth. In this matter she was the mistress and the priest the
+servitor.
+
+I turned and gazed at her. She stood erect against the wall opposite
+to me, meeting my gaze, her face stern and set, as though carven out
+of white marble, her eyes dark and glittering with menace.
+
+For my part, I rose from the settle and stood with folded arms. I did
+not even stoop to pick up my rapier; it seemed to me not worth while.
+
+"The proper attitude of heroical endurance," sneered Father Spaur.
+"Perhaps a little more humility might become 'a true son of the
+Church.' Was not that the phrase?"
+
+The Countess nodded to Otto. He took Groder's sword and stood it with
+his own, by a low stool in the corner near the door.
+
+"'Tis your own fault," she said sternly. "Even now I would have spared
+you had you told me the truth. But you presume too much upon my
+folly."
+
+The next moment the two men sprang at me. The manner of their attack
+took me by surprise, and in a twinkling they had me down upon the
+bench. Then, however, a savage fury flamed up within me. 'Twas one
+thing to be run through at the command of Ilga, and so perish decently
+by the sword; 'twas quite another to be handled by her servants, and I
+fought against the indignity with all my strength. But the struggle
+was too unequal. I should have proved no match for Otto had he stood
+alone, and I before him, fairly planted on my legs. With the pair of
+them to master me I was well-nigh as powerless as a child. Moreover,
+they had already forced me down by the shoulders, so that the edge of
+the settle cut across my back just below the shoulder-blades, and I
+could get no more purchase or support than the soles of my feet on the
+rough flooring gave me.
+
+My single chance lay in regaining possession of my rapier. It lay just
+within my reach, and struggling violently with my left arm, in order
+to the better conceal my design, I stretched out the other cautiously
+towards it.
+
+My fingers were actually on the pommel, I was working it nearer to me
+so that I might grasp the blade short, before Groder perceived my
+intention. With an oath he kicked it behind him. Otto set a huge knee
+calmly upon my chest, and pressed his weight upon it until I thought
+my spine would snap. Then he seized my arms, jerked them upwards, and
+held them outstretched above my head, keeping his knee the while
+jammed down upon my ribs. Groder drew a cord from his pocket, and
+turning back my sleeves with an ironic deliberation, bound my wrists
+tightly together.
+
+"'Twas not for nothing Groder went a-valeting," laughed Father Spaur;
+and then, seeing that I was assisted in my struggle by the pressure
+which I got from the floor, "Twere wise to repeat the ceremony with
+his ankles."
+
+"You, Groder!" said Otto.
+
+"I have no more cord," growled Michael, as he tied the knots viciously
+about my wrists.
+
+Something rattled lightly on the ground. 'Twas the girdle of the
+Countess, with the fan attached to the end of it.
+
+Groder plucked the fan off, struck my heels from under me, and bound
+the girdle round and round my ankles until they jarred together and I
+felt the bones cracking.
+
+Otto took his knee from my chest, and the two men went back to their
+former stations by the door.
+
+Father Spaur came over to where I lay, rubbing his hands gently
+together.
+
+"Really, really!" said he in a silky voice, "so the cockatoo has been
+caged after all."
+
+The words, recalling that morning in London when first I allowed
+myself to take heart in my hopes, so stung me that, tied as I was, I
+struggled on to my feet, and so stood tottering. Father Spaur drew
+back a pace and glanced quickly about him.
+
+"Michael!" he called. But the next instant I fell heavily forward upon
+his breast. He burst into a loud laugh of relief, and flung me back
+upon the settle.
+
+I looked towards Ilga.
+
+"What have you not told him?" I asked.
+
+"Nothing!" she said coldly. "I, at all events, had nothing to
+conceal."
+
+She motioned Father Spaur to fall back. Otto and Groder picked up
+their swords. Father Spaur unlatched the door, rubbed out the torch
+upon the boards, and one after another they stepped from the pavilion.
+Ilga followed last, but she did not turn her head as she went out.
+Through the open doorway I could see the shadows dancing on the
+terrace, I could hear the music pouring from the Castle in a lilting
+measure. The door closed, the pavilion became black once more, and I
+heard their footsteps recede across the pavement and grow silent upon
+the grass.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XX.
+
+             IN THE PAVILION. COUNTESS LUKSTEIN EXPLAINS.
+
+
+Of the horror which the next two hours brought to me, I find it
+difficult to speak, even at this distance of time. 'Twas not the fear
+of what might be in store for me that oppressed my mind, though God
+knows I do not say this to make a boast of it; for doubtless some fear
+upon that score would have argued me a better man; but in truth I
+barely sent a thought that way. The savour of life had become brine
+upon my lips, and I cared little what became of me, so that the ending
+was quick.
+
+For the moment the door closed I was filled with an appalling sense of
+loneliness and isolation. Heart and brain it seized and possessed me.
+'Twas the closing of a door upon all the hopes which had chattered and
+laughed and nestled at my heart for so long; and into such a vacancy
+of mind did I fall, that I did not trouble to speculate upon the
+nature of the story which Countess Lukstein believed to be true. That
+she had been led by I knew not what suspicions into some strange error
+that she had got but a misshapen account of the duel between her
+husband and myself, was, of course, plain to me. But since her former
+kindliness and courtesy had been part of a deliberate and ordained
+plan for securing me within her power, since, in a word, she had
+cherished no favourable thoughts of me at any time, I deemed it idle
+to consider of the matter.
+
+Moreover, the remoteness of these parts made my helplessness yet more
+bitter and overpowering; though, indeed, I was not like to forget my
+helplessness in any case, for the cords about my ankles and wrists bit
+into my flesh like coils of hot wire. "A sequestered nook of the
+world," so I remembered, had Ilga called this corner of the Tyrol, and
+for a second time that night my thoughts went back to my own distant
+valley. I saw it pleasant with the domestic serenity which a man
+discovers nowhere but in his native landscape.
+
+And to crown, as it were, my loneliness, now and again a few stray
+notes of music or a noise of laughter would drift through the chinks
+into the pitch-dark hut, and tell of the lighted Hall and of Ilga,
+now, maybe, dancing among her guests.
+
+'Twas a little short of eleven when she returned to the pavilion. I am
+able to fix the time from an incident which occurred shortly
+afterwards. At first, the steps falling light as they approached, I
+bethought me my visitor was either Otto or Groder coming stealthily
+upon his toes to complete his work with me; for I never expected to
+look upon her face again.
+
+She carried no light with her, and paused on the sill of the door, her
+slight figure outlined against the twilight. She bent her head
+forward, peering into the gloom of the room, but she said no word;
+neither did I address her. So she stood for a little, and then,
+stepping again outside, she unbarred and opened the shutters of the
+window. Returning, she latched the door, locked it from within, and,
+fetching the stool from the corner, sat her down quietly before me.
+
+The moon, which had previously shone into the room almost in a level
+bar, now slanted its beams, so that the Countess was bathed in them
+from head to foot, while I, being nearer to the window, lay half in
+shadow, half on the edge of the light.
+
+She sat with her chin propped upon her hands, and her eyes steadily
+fixed upon mine, but she betrayed no resentment in her looks nor,
+indeed, feeling of any kind. Then, in a low, absent voice, she began
+to croon over to herself that odd, wailing elegy which I had once
+heard her sing in London. The tune had often haunted me since that day
+from its native melancholy, but now, as Ilga sang it in the moonlight,
+her eyes very big and dark, and fastened quietly upon mine, it gained
+a weird and eerie quality from her manner, and I felt my flesh begin
+to creep.
+
+I stirred uneasily upon the settle, and Ilga stopped. I must think she
+mistook the reason of my restlessness, for a slow smile came upon her
+face, and, reaching out a hand, she tried the knots wherewith I was
+bound.
+
+"It may well be," she suggested, "that you are better inclined to
+speak the truth, since now you know to what falsehood has brought
+you."
+
+"Madame," I replied wearily, "I know not what you believe nor what you
+would have me say. It matters little to me, nor can I see, since you
+have reached the end for which you worked, that it need greatly
+concern you. This only I know, that I have already told you the
+truth."
+
+"And the miniature you left behind you?" she asked, with an ironic
+smile. "Am I to understand it has no bearing on the duel?"
+
+"Nay, madame," said I; "'tis the key to the cause of our encounter."
+
+"Ah!" she interrupted, with a satisfaction which I did not comprehend.
+"You have drawn some profit from the reflection of these last hours."
+
+"For," I continued, "it contained the likeness of my friend, Sir
+Julian Harnwood, as, indeed, Otto must needs have told you. 'Twas in
+his cause that I came to Lukstein."
+
+"'Twas the likeness of a woman," she replied patiently.
+
+I stared at her in amazement.
+
+"Of a woman!" I exclaimed.
+
+She laughed with a quiet scorn.
+
+"Of a woman," she repeated. "I showed it you in my apartments at
+London."
+
+"The portrait of Lady Tracy? It is impossible!" I cried, starting up.
+"Why, Marston gave it you. You told me so."
+
+"Oh, is there no end to it?" She burst out into sudden passion,
+beating her hands together as though to enforce her words. "Is there
+no end to it? I never told you so. 'Twas you who pretended that. You
+pretended you believed it, and like a weak fool, I let your cunning
+deceive me. I was not sure then that you had killed the Count, and I
+believed you had never seen the likeness till that day. But now I
+know. You own you left the miniature behind you."
+
+"But the case was locked," I said, "and I had not the key."
+
+"I know not that."
+
+I could have informed her who had possessed the key, but refrained,
+bethinking me that the knowledge might only add to her distress and
+yet do no real service to me.
+
+"And so," I observed instead, "all your anxiety that I should not tax
+Marston with the giving of it was on your own account, and not at all
+on mine."
+
+She was taken aback by the unexpected rejoinder. But to me 'twas no
+more than a corollary of my original thought that the Countess had
+been playing me like a silly fish during the entire period of our
+acquaintance.
+
+"I showed you the portrait as a test," she said hurriedly. "I believed
+you guiltless, and I knew Mr. Marston and yourself had little liking
+for each other. Any pretext would have served you for a quarrel.
+Besides--besides----"
+
+"Besides," I took her up, "you allowed me to believe that Marston had
+given you the miniature, and had I spoken of the matter to him I
+should have discovered you were playing me false."
+
+"But you knew," she cried, whipping herself to anger, as it seemed to
+me, to make up for having given ground. "You knew how the miniature
+came into my hands. All the while you knew it, and you talk of my
+playing you false!"
+
+Suddenly she resumed her seat, and continued in a quieter voice:
+
+"But the brother found out the shameful secret. You could overreach
+me, but not the brother; and fresh from accounting to him for your
+conduct, you must needs stumble into my presence with Lady Tracy's
+name upon your lips, and doubtless some new explanation ready."
+
+"Madame, that is not so. I came that evening to tell you what I have
+told you to-night, but you would not hear me. You bade me come to
+Lukstein. I know now why, and 'twas doubtless for the same reason that
+you locked the door when I had swooned."
+
+She started as I mentioned that incident.
+
+"'Twas not on Lady Tracy's account, or because of any conduct of mine
+towards her, that I fought Marston. Against his will I compelled him
+to fight, as Lord Elmscott will bear out. He had learned by whose hand
+Count Lukstein died, and rode after you to Bristol that he might be
+the first to tell you; and I was minded to tell you the story myself."
+
+"Or, at all events, to prevent him telling it," she added, with a
+sneer. "But how came Mr. Marston to learn this fact?"
+
+I was silent. I could not but understand that the Countess presumed
+her husband, Lady Tracy, and myself to be bound together by some
+vulgar intrigue, and I saw how my answer must needs strengthen her
+suspicions.
+
+"How did he find out?" she repeated. "Tell me that!"
+
+"Lady Tracy informed him," I answered, in despair.
+
+"Then you admit that Lady Tracy knew?"
+
+"I told her of the duel myself, on the very morning that I first met
+her--on the morning that I introduced her into your house."
+
+"And why did she carry the news to her brother?"
+
+Again I was silent, and again she pressed the question.
+
+"She was afraid of you, and she sought her brother's protection,"
+Every word I uttered seemed to plead against me. "I understand now why
+she was afraid. I did not know her miniature was in that case, but
+doubtless she did, and she was afraid you should connect her with
+Count Lukstein's death."
+
+"Whereas," replied the Countess, "she had nothing to do with it?"
+
+I had made up my mind what answer I should make to this question when
+it was put. Since I had plainly lost Ilga beyond all hope, I was
+resolved to spare her the knowledge of her husband's treachery.
+'Twould not better my case--for in truth I cared little what became of
+me--to relate that disgraceful episode to her, and 'twould only add to
+her unhappiness. So I answered boldly:
+
+"She had nothing to do with it."
+
+The Countess sat looking at me without a word, and I was bethinking me
+of some excuse by which I might explain how it came about that Lady
+Tracy's portrait and not Julian's was in the box, when she bent
+forward, with her face quite close to mine, so that she might note
+every change in my expression.
+
+"And the footsteps in the snow; how do you account for them? The
+woman's footsteps that kept side by side with yours from the parapet
+to the window, and back again from the window to the parapet?"
+
+I uttered a cry, and setting my feet to the ground, raised myself up
+in the settle.
+
+"The footsteps in the snow? They were your own."
+
+The Countess stared at me vacantly, and then I saw the horror growing
+in her eyes, and I knew that at last she believed me.
+
+"They were your own," I went on. "I knew nothing of Count Lukstein's
+marriage. I had never set eyes on him at all. I knew not 'twas your
+wedding-day. I came hither hot-foot from Bristol to serve my friend
+Sir Julian Harnwood. He had quarrelled with the Count, and since he
+lay condemned to death as one of Monmouth's rebels, he charged me to
+take the quarrel up. In furtherance of that charge, I forced Count
+Lukstein to fight me. In the midst of the encounter you came down the
+little staircase into the room. I saw you across the Count's shoulder.
+The curtain by the window hangs now half-torn from the vallance. I
+tore it clutching its folds in my horror. We started asunder, and you
+passed between us. You walked out across the garden and to the Castle
+wall. Madame, as God is my witness, when once I had seen you, I wished
+for nothing so much as to leave the Count in peace. But--but----"
+
+"Well?" she asked breathlessly.
+
+"'Twas Count Lukstein's turn to compel me," I went on, recovering from
+a momentary hesitation. I had indeed nearly blurted out the truth
+about his final thrust. "And when you came back into the room, you
+passed within a foot of the dead body of your husband, and of myself,
+who was kneeling----"
+
+She flung herself back, interrupting me with a shuddering cry. She
+covered her face with her hands, and swayed to and fro upon the stool,
+as though she would fall.
+
+"Madame!" I exclaimed. "For God's sake! For if you swoon, alas! I
+cannot help you."
+
+She recovered herself in a moment, and taking her hands from before
+her face, looked at me with a strangely softened expression. She rose
+from her seat, and took a step or two thoughtfully towards the door.
+Then she stopped and turned to me.
+
+"Lady Tracy, you say, had nothing to do with this quarrel, and yet her
+likeness was in the miniature case."
+
+I had no doubt in my own mind as to how it came there. 'Twas the case
+which Lady Tracy had given to Count Lukstein, and doubtless she had
+substituted her portrait for that of Julian. But this I could not tell
+to the Countess.
+
+"'Twas a mistake of my friend," said I. "He gave me the case as a
+warrant and proof, which I might show to Count Lukstein, that I came
+on his part, telling me his portrait was within it. But 'twas on the
+night before he was executed, and his thoughts may well have gone
+astray."
+
+"But since the case was locked, and you had not the key, who was to
+open it?"
+
+"Count Lukstein," I replied, being thrown for a moment off my guard.
+
+"Count Lukstein?" she asked, coming back to me. "Then he possessed the
+key. You fought for your friend, Sir Julian Harnwood. Lady Tracy was
+betrothed to Sir Julian. The case was given to you as a warrant of the
+cause in which you came. It contained Lady Tracy's likeness, and Count
+Lukstein held the key."
+
+She spoke with great slowness and deliberation, adding sentence to
+sentence as links in a chain of testimony. I heard her with a great
+fear, perceiving how near she was to the truth. There was, however,
+one link missing to make the chain complete. She did not know that
+Lady Tracy had owned the case and had given it to Count Lukstein, and
+of that fact I was determined she should still remain ignorant.
+
+"My husband loved me," she said quickly, with a curious challenge in
+her voice.
+
+"I believe most sincerely that he did," I answered with vehemence. I
+was able to say so honestly, for I remembered how his face and tone
+had softened when he made mention of his wife.
+
+"Then tell me the cause of this quarrel that induced you to break into
+this house at midnight, and, on a friend's behalf, force a stranger to
+fight you without even a witness?"
+
+There was a return of suspicion in her tone, and she came back into
+the moonlight. The temptation to speak out grew upon me as I watched
+her. I longed to assure her that I was bound to no other woman, but
+pledged heart and soul to her, and the fear that if I kept silent she
+would once more set this duel down to some rivalry in intrigue, urged
+me well-nigh out of all restraint. Why should I be so careful of the
+reputation of Count Lukstein? 'Twas an unworthy thought, and one that
+promised to mislead me; for after all, 'twas not his good or ill
+repute that I had to consider, but rather whether Ilga held his memory
+in such esteem and respect that my disclosures would inflict great
+misery upon her and a lasting distress. This postulate I could hardly
+bring myself to question. Had I not, indeed, ample surety in the care
+and perseverance wherewith she had sought to avenge his death?
+However, being hard pressed by my inclinations, I determined to test
+that point conclusively if by any means I might.
+
+"Madame," I said, "last night, as I lay in my bed, bethinking me of
+the morrow, and wondering what it held in store for me, I heard the
+sound of a woman weeping. It rose from the little room beneath me;
+from the room wherein I fought Count Lukstein. 'Twas the most desolate
+sound that ever my ears have hearkened to--a woman weeping alone in
+the black of the night. I stole down the staircase and opened the
+door. I saw that the woman who wept was yourself."
+
+"'Twas for my husband," she interposed, very sharp and quick, and my
+heart sank.
+
+Yet her words seemed to quicken my desire to reveal the truth. They
+woke in me a strange and morbid jealousy of the man. I longed to cry
+out: "He was a coward; false to you, false to his friend, false to
+me."
+
+"And in London?" I asked, temporising again. "The morning I came to
+you unannounced. You were at the spinnet."
+
+"'Twas for my husband," she repeated, with a certain stubbornness.
+"But we will keep to the question we have in hand, if you please--the
+cause of your dispute with Count Lukstein."
+
+"I will not tell you it."
+
+I spoke with no great firmness, and on that account most like I helped
+to confirm her reawakened suspicions.
+
+"Will not?" says she, her voice cold and sneering. "They are brave
+words though unbravely spoken. You forget I have the advantage and can
+compel you."
+
+"Madame," I replied, "you overrate your powers. Your servants can bind
+me hand and foot, but they cannot compel me to speak what I will not."
+
+"Have you no lie ready? What? Does your invention fail?" and she
+suddenly rose from the stool in a whirlwind of passion. "God forgive
+me!" she cried. "For even now I believed you."
+
+She ceased abruptly and pushed her head forward, listening. The creak
+of wheels came faintly to our ears.
+
+"You hear that? It is Mr. Buckler's carriage, and Mr. Buckler rides
+within it. Do you understand? The carriage takes you to Meran; you
+will not be the first traveller who has disappeared on the borders of
+Italy. I am afraid your friend at Venice will wait for you in vain."
+
+The carriage rumbled down the hill, and we both listened until the
+sound died away.
+
+"For the future you shall labour as my peasant on the hillside among
+the woods, with my peasants for companionship, until your thoughts
+grow coarse with your body, and your soul dwindles to the soul of a
+peasant. So shall you live, and so shall you die, for the wrong which
+you have done to me." She towered above me in her outburst, her eyes
+flashing with anger. "And you dared to charge me with trickery! Why,
+what else has your life been? From the night you went clothed as a
+woman to Bristol Bridewell, what else has your life been? A woman! The
+part fitted you well; you have all the cunning. You need but the
+addition of a petticoat."
+
+The bitterness of her speech stung me into a fury, and, forgetful of
+the continence I owed to her:
+
+"Madame!" I said, "I proved the contrary to your husband."
+
+"Silence!" she cried, and with her open hand she struck me on the
+face. And then a strange thing happened. It seemed as though we
+changed places. For all my helplessness, I seemed to have won the
+mastery over her. A feeling of power and domination, such as I had
+never experienced before, grew stronger and stronger within me, and
+ran tingling through every vein. I forgot my bonds; I forgot the
+contempt which she had poured on me; I forgot the very diffidence with
+which she had always inspired me. I felt somehow that I was her
+master, and exulted in the feeling. Whatever happened to me in the
+future, whether or no I was to labour as her bondslave for all my
+days, for that one moment I was her master. She could never hold me in
+lower esteem, in greater scorn than she did at this hour, and yet I
+was her master. Something told me indeed that she would never hold me
+in contempt at all again. She stood before me, her face dark with
+shame, her attitude one of shrinking humiliation. Twice she strove to
+raise her eyes to mine; twice she let them fall to the ground. She
+began a sentence, and broke off at the second word. She pulled
+fretfully at the laces of her gloves. Then she turned and walked to
+the door. She walked slowly at first, constraining herself; she
+quickened her pace, fumbled with the key in her hurry to unlock the
+door, and once out of the pavilion, without pausing to latch or lock
+it, fled like one pursued towards the house. And from the bottom of my
+heart I pitied her.
+
+In a little while Father Spaur, with the two Tyrolese, returned, and
+they carried me quickly through the little parlour and up the
+staircase to my bedroom. There they flung me on the bed and locked the
+door and left me. Through the open window the dance-melodies rose to
+my ears. It seemed to me that I could distinguish particular tunes
+which I had heard when I crouched in the snow upon that November
+night.
+
+
+              Que toutes joies et toutes honneurs
+              Viennent d'armes et d'amours.
+
+
+Jack's refrain, which he had hummed so continually during our ride to
+Austria, came into my head, and set itself to the lilt of the music.
+Well, I had made essay of both arms and love, and I had got little joy
+and less honour therefrom, unless it be joy to burn with anxieties,
+and honour to labour as a peasant and be deemed a common trickster!
+
+The music ceased; the guests went homewards down the hill, laughing
+and singing as they went; the Castle gradually grew silent. The door
+of my room was unlocked and flung open, and Groder entered, bearing a
+candle in his hand. He set it down upon the table, and drew a long
+knife from a sheath which projected out of his pocket. This he held
+and flourished before my eyes, seeking like a child to terrify me with
+his antics, until Father Spaur, following in upon his heels, bade him
+desist from his buffoonery.
+
+Groder cut the girdle which bound my ankles.
+
+"March!" said he.
+
+But my legs were so numbed with the tightness of the cord that they
+refused their office. Father Spaur ordered him to chafe my limbs with
+his hands, which he did very unwillingly, and after a little I was
+able to walk, though with uncertain and wavering steps.
+
+"Should you suffer at all at Groder's hands," said the priest
+pleasantly, "I beg you to console yourself with certain reflections
+which I shared with you one afternoon that we rode together."
+
+We proceeded along the corridor and turned into the gallery which ran
+round the hall. But at the head of the great staircase I stopped and
+drew back. The priest's taunts and Groder's insolence I had endured in
+silence. What they had bidden me do, that I had done; for in the
+miscarriage of my fortunes I was minded to bear myself as a gentleman
+should, without pettish complaints or an unavailing resistance which
+could only entail upon me further indignities. But from this final
+humiliation I shrank.
+
+Below me the entire household of servants was ranged in the hall,
+leaving a lane open from the foot of the stairs to the door. Every
+face was turned towards me--except one. One face was held aside and
+hidden in a handkerchief, and since that hour I have ever felt a
+special friendliness and gratitude for the withered little
+Frenchwoman, Clemence Durette. Alone of all that company she showed
+some pity for my plight. None the less, however, my eyes went
+wandering for another sight. What with the uncertain glare of the
+torches, that sent waves of red light and shadow in succession
+sweeping across the throng of faces, 'twas some while or ever I could
+discover the Countess. That she was present I had no doubt, and at
+last I saw her, standing by the door apart from her servants, her face
+white, and her eyelids closed over her eyes.
+
+Groder pushed me roughly in the small of the back, and I stumbled down
+the topmost steps. There was no escape from the ordeal, and glancing
+neither to the right nor to the left, I walked between the silent rows
+of servants. I passed within a yard of Countess Lukstein, but she made
+no movement; she never even raised her eyes. A carriage stood in the
+courtyard, and I got into it, and was followed by Michael Groder and
+Otto. As we drove off a hubbub arose within the hall, and it seemed to
+me that a ring was formed about the doorway, as though some one had
+fallen. But before I had time to take much note of it, a cloth was
+bound over my eyes, and the carriage rolled down the hill.
+
+At the bottom, where the track from Lukstein debouches upon the main
+road, we turned eastwards in the direction of Meran, and thence again
+to the left, ascending an incline; so that I gathered we were entering
+a ravine parallel to the Senner Thal, but further east.
+
+In a while the carriage stopped, and Otto, opening the door, told me
+civilly enough to descend. Then he took me by the arm and led me
+across a threshold into a room. A woman's voice was raised in
+astonishment.
+
+"Wait till he's plucked of his feathers!" laughed Groder, and bade her
+close the shutters.
+
+The bandage was removed from my eyes, and by the grey morning light
+which pierced through the crevices of the window, I perceived that I
+was in some rough cottage. An old woman stood gaping open-mouthed
+before me. Groder sharply bade her go and prepare breakfast. Otto
+unbound my wrists, and pointed to a heap of clothes which lay in a
+corner, and so they left me to myself.
+
+I had some difficulty in putting on these clothes, since my wrists
+were swollen and well-nigh useless from their long confinement.
+Indeed, but for a threat which Groder shouted through the door, saying
+that he would come and assist me to make my toilet, I doubt whether I
+should have succeeded at all.
+
+For breakfast they brought me a pannikin full of a greasy steaming
+gruel, which I constrained myself to swallow. Then they bound my hands
+again. Groder wrapped up the clothes which I had taken off in a
+bundle, and slung it on his back. Otto replaced the bandage on my
+eyes, and we set out, mounting upwards by a rough mountain track,
+along which they guided me. About noon Otto called a halt, and none
+too soon, for I was ready to drop with fatigue and pain. There we made
+a meal of some dry coarse bread, and washed it down with spirit of a
+very bitter flavour. 'Twas new to me at the time, but I know now that
+it was distilled from the gentian flower. Groder lit a fire and burned
+the bundle of clothes which he had brought with him, the two men
+sharing my jewels between them.
+
+From that point we left the track and climbed up a grass slope,
+winding this way and that in the ascent. 'Twas as much as I could do
+to keep my feet, though Otto and Groder supported me upon either side.
+At the top we dipped down again for a little, crossed a level field of
+heather, but in what direction I know not, for by this I had lost all
+sense of our bearings, mounted again, descended again, and towards
+nightfall came to a hut. Groder thrust me inside, plucked the cloth
+from my face, and unbound my hands.
+
+"'Tis a long day's journey," said he; "but what matters that if you
+make it only once?"
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXI.
+
+                         IN CAPTIVITY HOLLOW.
+
+
+The hut wherein I passed the first month of my captivity was of a more
+solid construction than is customary at so great a height, and had
+been built by the order of Count Lukstein for a shelter when the chase
+brought him hitherwards. For the hillside was covered with a dense
+forest of fir-trees in which chamois abounded, and now and again,
+though 'twas never my lot to come across one, a bear might be
+discovered.
+
+The hut had a sort of vestibule paved with cobble-stones and roofed
+with pine-wood. From this hall a room led out upon either side, though
+only that upon the right hand was used by the wood-cutters who dwelt
+here. Of these there were two, and they lived and slept in the one
+room, cooking the gruel or porridge, which formed our chief food, in a
+great cauldron slung over a rough fireplace of stones in the centre of
+the floor. There was no chimney to carry off the smoke, not so much as
+a hole in the wall; but the smoke found its way out as best it might
+through the door. From the hall a ladder led up through a trap-door
+into a loft above, and as soon as we had supped, Groder bade me mount
+it, and followed me himself. The wood-cutters below removed the
+ladder, Groder closed the trap, and, spreading some branches of fir
+upon it, laid him down and went to sleep. I followed his example in
+the matter of making my bed, but, as you may believe, I got little
+sleep that night. For one thing my arms and legs were now become so
+swollen and painful that it tortured me even to move them, and it was
+full two days before I was sufficiently recovered to be able to
+descend from the loft. By that time Otto had got him back to the
+valley, and I was left under the authority of Groder, which he used
+without scruple or intermission. Each morning at daybreak the ladder
+was hoisted to the loft. We descended and despatched a hasty
+breakfast; thereupon I was given an axe, and the four of us proceeded
+into the forest, where we felled trees the day long. Through the gaps
+in the clearings I would look across the valley to the bleak rocks and
+naked snow-fields, and thoughts of English meadows knee-deep in grass,
+and of rooks cawing through a summer afternoon, would force themselves
+into my mind until I grew well-nigh daft with longing for a sight of
+them. At nightfall we returned to the hut and partook of a meal, and
+no words wasted. When the meal was finished I was straightway banished
+to my loft, where I lay in the dark, and heard through the floor the
+wood-cutters breaking into all sorts of rough jests and songs now that
+I was no longer present to check their merriment For towards me they
+consistently showed the greatest taciturnity and sullen reserve. 'Twas
+seldom that any one except Groder addressed a word to me, and in truth
+I would lief he had been as silent as the rest. For when he opened his
+mouth 'twas only to utter some command in a harsh, growling tone as
+though he spoke to a cur, and to couple thereto a coarse and unseemly
+oath.
+
+For a time I endured this servitude in an extraordinary barrenness of
+mind. Not even the thought of escape stirred me to activity. The
+sudden misfortune which had befallen me seemed to have numbed and
+dulled all but my bodily faculties. Moreover the long and arduous
+labour, to which I was set, wearied me in the extreme, and each
+evening I came back so broken with fatigue that I wished for nothing
+so much as to climb into my loft and stretch myself out upon my
+branches in the dark, though even then I was often too tired to sleep,
+and so would lie hour after hour counting the seconds by the pulsing
+of my sinews.
+
+After a couple of weeks had gone by, however, I began to take some
+notice of the place of my captivity, and to seek whether by any means
+I might compass my escape. For I recalled, with an apprehension which
+quickened speedily, as I dwelt upon it, into a panic of terror, the
+singular prophecy and sentence which the Countess had flung at me. I
+began to see myself already sinking into a dull apathy, performing my
+daily task, with no thought beyond my physical needs, until I became
+one with these coarse peasants in spirit and mind.
+
+What else, I reflected, could happen? Remote from all intercourse or
+companionship, with not so much as a single book to divert me,
+labouring with my hands from dawn to dusk, and guarded ever by
+ignorant boors who reckoned me not worth even their speech--what else
+could I become? 'Twould need far less than a lifetime to work the
+transformation!
+
+But, however carefully I watched, I could by no means come at the
+opportunity of an evasion. At night, as I have said, Groder shared the
+loft with me, and slept over the trap-door; nor was there any window
+or other opening through which I might drop to the ground, since the
+roof reached down to the flooring upon every side. This roof consisted
+of a thatch of boughs, and of large sheets of bark superimposed upon
+them, and weighted down by heavy stones. One night, indeed, when
+Groder lay snoring, I endeavoured to force an opening through the
+thatch; but I had no help beyond what my hands afforded me--for they
+took my axe from me every night as soon as we got back to the hut--and
+I was compelled, moreover, to work with the greatest caution and
+quietude lest I should awaken my companion; so that I got nothing for
+my pains but a few scratches and an additional fatigue to carry
+through the morrow.
+
+Nor, indeed, was my case any better in the day-time. We all worked in
+the same clearing, and at no single moment was I out of sight of my
+gaolers.
+
+But even had I succeeded in eluding them, I doubt whether at this time
+I should have been any nearer the fulfilment of my desire. For I knew
+not so much as the direction of Lukstein, and I should only have
+wandered helpless amongst these heights until either I was recaptured
+or perished miserably upon the desolate wastes of snow.
+
+The hut stood in the centre of a little hollow, on the brink of a
+torrent, and was girt about by a rim of hills. There was, indeed, but
+one outlet, and that a precipitous gully, through which the water
+rushed with a great roaring noise, and I gathered from this that it
+fell pretty sheer. I was the more inclined to this conjecture, since
+had the gully afforded a path it would have been the natural entrance
+into the hollow, and I knew that I had not been brought that way, else
+I must needs have remarked the roar of the stream sooner than I did.
+For that sound only came to my ears when I was but a short distance
+from the hut.
+
+If you stood with your back to the door of the hut, the noise came
+from directly behind you. On your right rose the pine-forest wherein
+we laboured, very steep and dense, to the crest of a hill; on your
+left a barren wilderness, encumbered by stones, sloped up to the foot
+of a great field of snow, which grew steeper and steeper towards its
+summit. Here and there great masses of ice bulged out from the
+incline, like nothing so much as the bosses of shields. I was rather
+apt to underrate the size and danger of these, until one day a
+fragment, which seemed in comparison no greater than a pea, broke away
+from one of these bosses and dropped on to the slope beneath,
+starting, as it were, a little rillet of snow down the hillside. On
+the instant the hollow was filled with a great thunder, as though a
+battery of cannon had been discharged; and I should hardly have
+believed this fragment could have produced so great a disturbance, had
+not the Tyrolese looked across the valley, and by their words to one
+another assured me it was so.
+
+In front of you, the head of this hollow was blocked up by a tongue of
+ice, which wound downwards like some huge dragon, and the stream of
+which I have spoken flowed from the tip of it, as though the dragon
+spewed the water from its mouth. It was then apparent to me from these
+observations that I had been carried into this prison by some track
+through the pine-forest, and I set myself to the discovery of it. But
+whether the wood-cutters kept aloof from it, or whether it was in
+reality indistinguishable, I could perceive no trace of it. At one
+point on the crest of the hill there was a marked depression, and I
+judged that there lay the true entrance; but through the gap I could
+see nothing but a sea of white, with dark peaks of rock tossed this
+way and that, and dreaded much adventuring myself that way.
+
+It soon came upon me, however, that in whichever way I determined to
+make my attempt, I must needs delay the actual enterprise until the
+spring; for we were now in the month of November, and the snow falling
+very thickly, so that for some while we worked knee-deep in snow. Then
+one morning Groder and his comrades once more bound my hands and
+bandaged my eyes, and we set off to pass the winter in one of the
+lower valleys. On this occasion I took such notice as I could of our
+direction, and from the diminishing sound of the waterfall, I
+understood that we marched for some distance towards the head of the
+valley, and then turned to the right through the pine-forest.
+Evidently we were making for the gap in the ridge of the hill, and I
+determined to pay particular heed to the course which we followed down
+the other side. Again, however, I was led in a continual zigzag, first
+to the right, then to the left, and with such irregular distances
+between each turn that it became impossible to keep a clear notion of
+our direction. At times, too, we would retrace our steps, at others we
+seemed to be describing the greater part of a circle; so that in the
+end, when we finally reached our quarters, I was little wiser than at
+the moment of setting out.
+
+There were some five or six cottages in the ravine whither we were
+come, and one of them most undeniably an inn; for though I was not
+suffered to go there myself--nor, indeed, had I any inclination that
+way--my guardians frequently brought back upon their tongues and in
+their faces evidence as convincing as a sign swinging above the door.
+In truth if the house was not an inn, it possessed the most hospitable
+master in the world.
+
+None the less strictly, however, on this account was the watch
+maintained upon me; for if Groder and his fellows chanced to be
+incapacitated for the time, there were ever some peasants from the
+neighbouring cottages ready to fill their place; though, indeed, there
+was but little necessity for their zeal, for the snow lay many feet
+deep upon the ground, and the only path along which one could travel
+at all led down to the more populous parts of the valley, through
+which, at this time of the year, it would be impossible to escape. One
+could journey no faster than at a snail's pace, and would leave,
+besides, an unmistakable trail for the pursuers.
+
+These winter months proved the most irksome of my captivity, my sole
+occupation being the plaiting of ropes from the flax which was grown
+about these parts. At this tedious and mechanic labour I toiled for
+many hours a day, in an exceeding great vacancy of spirit, until I hit
+upon a plan by which I might exercise my mind without hindering the
+work of my fingers. 'Twas my terror lest my wits should wither for
+lack of use that first set me on the device; since, indeed, it
+mattered little how or when Countess Ilga discovered that I had slain
+her husband. She _had_ discovered it; that was the kernel of the
+matter, and the searching out of the means whereby she gained the
+knowledge no more than an idle cracking of the shell into little
+fragments after the kernel has been removed.
+
+Many incidents, of course, became intelligible to me now that I knew
+whose portrait the miniature box contained. The sudden swoon of Lady
+Tracy in the hall at Pall Mall was now easily accounted for. The
+moment before I had been speaking of the miniature, and Lady Tracy
+knew--what I could not know--that Ilga held a proof of her
+acquaintanceship with the Count, and would be certain to attribute it
+as the cause of his death. It was doubtless, also, that piece of
+knowledge which drove her to such a pitch of fear that on seeing the
+Countess at Bristol she disclosed the story to her brother and
+besought his protection. I understood, moreover, the drift of the
+words which Marston was uttering when death took him. He meant to ask
+a question, not to make an explanation.
+
+Concerning those events, however, which more nearly concerned myself I
+was not so clear. I had no clue whereby I could ascertain how the
+Countess first came to fix her suspicions upon me, and in the absence
+of that, my speculations were the merest conjectures. Much of course
+was significant to me which I had disregarded, as, for instance, the
+journey of Countess Lukstein to Bristol, the diagram which she had
+drawn on the gravel under the piazza of Covent Garden, the perplexity
+with which she had regarded the diagram, and the sudden start she had
+given when I mentioned the date of my departure from Leyden. For I
+remembered that she had previously remarked the Horace when she came
+to visit me; and in that volume the date "September 14, 1685," was
+inscribed on the page opposite to Julian's outline of Lukstein.
+
+These details, now that I was aware she suspected me at that time,
+were full of significance, but they gave me no help towards the
+solving of that first question as to what directed her thoughts my
+way. It seemed to me, indeed, as I looked back upon the incidents of
+our acquaintance, that the Countess, almost from our first meeting,
+had begun to set her husband's death to my account.
+
+One thing, however, I did clearly recognise, and for that recognition
+I shall ever be most gratefully thankful. 'Twas of far more importance
+to me than any academic speculations, and I do but cite them here that
+I may show how I came by it. I perceived that 'twas not so much any
+investigation on the part of the Countess which had betrayed me to
+her, as my own wilful and independent actions. Of my own free choice I
+came from Cumberland to seek her; of my own free choice I brought her
+to my rooms, where she saw the Horace; of my own free choice I joined
+her in the box at the Duke's Theatre, and so led Marston to speak of
+my ride to Bristol; and again of my own free choice I had persuaded
+Lady Tracy to enter the house in Pall Mall and confront my mistress.
+Even in the matter of the diagram, 'twas my anxiety and insistence to
+prove that Lady Tracy and I were strangers which induced me to dwell
+upon the date of my leaving Holland, and so gave to the Countess the
+clue to resolve her perplexity. In short, my very efforts at
+concealment were the means by which suspicion was ratified and
+assured, and I could not but believe that Providence in its great
+wisdom had so willed it. 'Tis that belief and conviction for which I
+have ever been most grateful; for it enheartened me with patience to
+endure my present sufferings, and saved me, in particular, from
+cherishing a petty rancour and resentment against the lady who
+inflicted them.
+
+I had yet one other consolation during this winter. For at times Otto
+Krax would come up from the valley to inquire after the prisoner. At
+first he would but stay for the night and so get him back; but his
+visits gradually lengthened and grew more frequent, an odd friendship
+springing up between us. For one thing, I was attracted to him because
+he came from Lukstein, and, indeed, might have had speech with
+Countess Ilga upon the very day of his coming. But, besides that,
+there was a certain dignity about the man which set him apart from
+these rude peasants, and made his companionship very welcome. He
+showed his good-will towards me by recounting at great length all that
+happened at Lukstein, and on the eve of the Epiphany, which 'tis the
+fashion of this people to celebrate with much rejoicing, he brought me
+a pipe and a packet of tobacco. No present could have been more
+grateful, and it touched me to notice his pleasure when I manifested
+my delight. We went out of the cottage together, and sat smoking in
+the starlight upon a boulder, and I remember that he told me one might
+see upon this evening a woman in white clothing, with a train of
+little ragged children chattering and clattering behind her. 'Twas
+Procula, the wife of Pontius Pilate, he explained. 'Twas her penance
+to wander over the world until the last day attended by the souls of
+all children that died before they had been baptized, and at the
+season of the Epiphany she ever passed through the valleys of the
+Tyrol. However, we saw naught of her that night.
+
+Early in May Groder carried me back to the hollow, and I began
+seriously to consider in what way I should be most like to effect my
+escape. At any cost I was firmly resolved to venture the attempt, and
+during this summer too, dreading the thought of a second winter of
+such unendurable monotony as that through which I had passed.
+
+We were now set to drag from the hillside to the brink of the torrent
+the wood which we had felled in the autumn, so that as the stream
+swelled with the melting of the snows we might send the timber
+floating down to the valley. 'Twas a task of great labour, and since
+we had to saw many of the trunks into logs before we could move them,
+one that occupied no inconsiderable time. Indeed we had not the wood
+fairly stacked upon the bank until we were well into the first days of
+June. Meanwhile I had turned over many projects in my mind, but not
+one that seemed to offer me a possibility of success. I realised
+especially that if I sought to escape by the way we had come, I
+should, even though I were so lucky as to hit upon the right path,
+nevertheless, have to pass through the most inhabited portion of the
+district. And did I succeed so far, I should then find myself in the
+valley, close by Castle Lukstein, with not so much as a penny piece in
+my pocket to help me further on my way. Besides, by that route would
+Groder be certain to pursue me the moment he discovered my escape, and
+being familiar with the windings of the ravines, he would most surely
+overtake me. Yet in no other direction could I discover the hint of an
+outlet. I was in truth like a fly with wetted wings in the hollow of a
+cup.
+
+It was our custom to launch the trunks endwise into the torrent, but
+one of them, which was larger than the rest, being caught in a swirl,
+turned broadside to the stream, and floating down thus, stuck in the
+narrow defile, through which the water plunged out of the hollow. The
+barrier thus begun was strengthened by each succeeding log, so that in
+a very short time a solid dam was raised, the water running away
+underneath. To remedy this, Groder bade the peasants and myself take
+our axes to the spot and cut the wood free.
+
+Now this defile was no more than a deep channel bored by the torrent,
+and on one side of it the cliff rose precipitously to the height of a
+hundred feet. On the other, however, a steep slope of grass and
+bushes, with here and there a dwarf-pine clinging to it, ran down to a
+rough platform of rock, only twenty feet or so above the surface of
+the current. To one of these trees we bound a couple of stout ropes,
+and two men were lowered on to the block of timber, while the third
+remained upon the platform to see that the ropes did not slip, and to
+haul the others up. So we worked all the day, taking turn and turn
+about on the platform.
+
+To this lower end of the dale I had never come before, and when the
+time arrived for me to rest, I naturally commenced to look about me
+and consider whether or no I might escape that way. Beneath me the
+torrent leaped and foamed in a mist of spray, here sweeping along the
+cliff with a breaking crest like a wave, there circling in a whirlpool
+about a boulder, and all with such a prodigious roar that I could not
+hear my companions speak, though they shouted trumpet-wise through
+their hands. 'Twas indeed no less than I had expected; the stream
+filled the outlet from side to side.
+
+Then I looked across to the great snow-slope opposite, and in an
+instant I understood the position of Captivity Hollow, as, for want of
+a better name, I termed the place of my confinement. The slope
+finished abruptly just over against me, as though it had been shorn by
+a knife, and I could see that the end face of it was a gigantic wall
+of rock. I saw this wall in profile, as one may say, and for that very
+reason I recognised it the more surely. 'Twas singularly flat, and
+unbroken by buttresses; not a patch of snow was to be discovered
+anywhere upon its face, and, moreover, the shape of its apex, which
+was like the cupola upon a church belfry, made any mistake impossible.
+In a word, the mountain was the Wildthurm; the wall of cliff blocked
+the head of the Senner Thal, and the slope on which I gazed was the
+eastern side, which I had likened to one of the canvas sides of a
+tent.
+
+If I could but cross it, I thought! No one would look for me in that
+direction. I could strike into one of the many ravines that led into
+the Vintschgau Thal to the west of Lukstein, and thence make my way to
+Innspruck. If only I could cross it! But I gazed at the slope, and my
+heart died within me. It rose before my eyes vast and steep, flashing
+menace from a thousand glittering points. Besides, the early summer
+was upon us, and the sun hot in the sky, so that never an hour passed
+in the forenoon but blocks of ice would split off and thunder down the
+incline.
+
+The notion, however, still worked in my head throughout the day, and
+as we returned to the hut I eagerly scanned the upper end of our
+ravine, for at that point the slope of the Wildthurm declined very
+greatly in height. Whilst the Tyrolese went in to prepare supper I
+stayed by the door.
+
+"Come!" shouted one of them at length--it was not Groder. "Come,
+unless you prefer to sleep fasting."
+
+And I turned to go in, with my mind made up; for I had perceived,
+running upwards beside the tongue of ice which I have described, a
+long, narrow ridge. 'Twas neither of ice nor snow, and in colour a
+reddish brown, so that I imagined it to be a mound of earth, thrown up
+in some way by the pressure of the snow. Along that it seemed to me
+that I might find a path.
+
+Groder was crouched up close to the fire, shivering by fits and
+starts, like a man with an ague. He glanced evilly at me as I entered
+the room, but said no word either to me or to his comrades, and kept
+muttering to himself concerning "the Cold Torment." I knew not what
+the man meant, but 'twas plain that he was shaken with a great fear;
+and even during the night I heard him more than once start from his
+sleep with a cry, and those same words upon his lips, "the Cold
+Torment."
+
+The next morning, hearing that the barrier was well-nigh cut through,
+he ordered only one of the peasants to take me with him and complete
+the work. I was lowered on to the dam first, and laboured at it with
+saw and axe for the greater part of the morning. About noon, however,
+I took my turn upon the platform, and after I had been standing some
+little while, bent over the torrent, with my hand ready upon the rope,
+since at any moment the logs might give way, I suddenly raised myself
+to ease my back, and turned about.
+
+Just above me on the slope I saw Groder's face peering over the edge
+of a boulder. 'Twas so contorted with malignancy and hatred that it
+had no human quality except its shape. 'Twas the face of a devil. For
+one moment I saw it; the next it dropped behind the stone. I pretended
+to have noticed nothing, and so stood looking everywhere except in his
+direction. The expression upon his face left me no doubt as to his
+intention. He was minded to take a leaf from my book, and precipitate
+the boulder upon me when my back was turned, in which case I should
+not come off so cheaply as he had done, for I should inevitably be
+swept into the torrent. The boulder, I observed, was in a line with
+the spot where I must stand in order to handle the rope.
+
+What to do I could not determine. I dared not show him openly that I
+had detected his design, for I should most likely in that event
+provoke an open conflict, and I doubted not that the other peasant was
+within call to help him to an issue if help were needed; and even if I
+succeeded in avoiding a conflict, I should only put him upon his guard
+and make him use more precautions when next he attempted my life.
+
+I turned me again to the torrent and took the rope in my hand, with my
+ears open for any sound behind me. I stooped slowly forwards, as if to
+watch my companion, thinking that Groder would launch the stone as
+soon as he deemed it impossible for me to recover in time to elude it.
+And so it proved. I heard a dull thud as the boulder fell forward upon
+the turf. I sprang quickly to one side, and not a moment too soon, for
+the boulder whizzed past me on a level with my shoulder, leaped across
+the stream, and was shattered into a thousand fragments against the
+opposite cliff. The man below, who had been almost startled from his
+footing, began to curse me roundly for my carelessness, and I answered
+him without casting a glance to my rear, deeming it prudent to give
+Groder the opportunity to crawl away into cover.
+
+In that, however, I made a mistake, and one that went near to costing
+me my life, for when I did turn, after explaining that the boulder had
+slipped of its own weight and momentum, Groder was within ten feet of
+me. He had crept noiselessly down the bank, and now stood with one
+foot planted against it, the other upon the platform, his body all
+gathered together for a leap. His teeth were bared, his eyes very
+bright, and in his hand he held a long knife. I ran for my hatchet,
+which lay some yards distant, but he was upon me before I could stoop
+to pick it up. The knife flashed above my head; I caught at Groder's
+wrist as it descended and grappled him close, for I knew enough of
+their ways of fighting to feel assured that if I did but give his arms
+free play, my eyes would soon be lying on my cheeks.
+
+Backwards and forwards we swayed upon the narrow platform with never a
+word spoken. Then from the torrent came a great crack and a shout. I
+knew well enough what was happening. The barrier was giving, the water
+was bursting the timber, and the peasant would of a surety be crushed
+and ground to death between the loosened logs. But I dared not relax
+my grip. Groder's breath was hot upon my face, his knife ever
+quivering towards my throat. I heard a few quick sounds as of the
+snapping of twigs, and once, I think, again the cry of a man in
+distress; but the roaring of the waters was in my ears and I could not
+be sure.
+
+The labours of my captivity had hardened my limbs and sinews, else had
+Groder mastered me more easily; but as it was, I felt my strength
+ebbing, and twice the knife pricked into my shoulder as he pressed it
+down. The din of the torrent died away. I was sensible of a deathly
+stillness of the elements. It seemed as though Nature held its breath.
+Suddenly a look of terror sprang into Groder's face. He redoubled his
+efforts, and I felt my back give. Involuntarily I closed my eyes, and
+then his fingers loosened their hold. He plucked himself free with a
+jerk, and stood sullenly looking up the slope. I followed the
+direction of his gaze, and saw Otto Krax standing above me. Gradually
+the torrent became audible to me again; there was a rustling of leaves
+in the wind, and in a little I understood that some one was speaking.
+Groder advanced slowly across the grass and reached out the hand which
+held the knife. Very calmly Otto grasped it by the wrist, twisted the
+arm, and snapped it across his knee. What he said I could not hear,
+but Groder went up the slope holding his broken arm, and I saw his
+face no more.
+
+Otto came down to me.
+
+"You have never been nearer your death but once," he said.
+
+I made no reply, but pointed to the rope at my feet. 'Twas dragging to
+and fro upon the platform, and the thought of what dangled and tossed
+in the water at the tag of it turned me sick. Otto walked to the edge
+and looked over. Then he drew his knife and cut the rope.
+
+"I saw only the end of the struggle," said he. "How did it begin?"
+
+I told him briefly what had occurred.
+
+"'Twas you taught him the trick," he said, with a laugh; "and he bore
+you no good-will for the lesson."
+
+"But what brought you so pat?" I asked.
+
+"I was sent," he replied. "'Twas thought best I should follow."
+
+"Follow? Follow whom?" said I.
+
+He made no answer to my question, and continued hurriedly.
+
+"I asked the fellow at the hut where you were, and he directed me
+here--not a minute too soon either. Were you working at the timber
+yesterday?"
+
+"All day."
+
+"Did Groder help?"
+
+"No! He remained behind."
+
+Otto gave a grunt.
+
+"Alone?" he asked.
+
+"Quite," I replied. "The others were with me."
+
+We walked back to the hut together, and as on the evening before, I
+stopped in the doorway to examine the ridge on which my hopes were
+set. But I watched it to-day with a beating heart, and, let me own it,
+with a shrinking apprehension too, for within the last hour the
+possibility of my attempt had grown immeasurably real. Groder, I was
+certain, I should see no more. 'Twas equally certain that Otto would
+not remain to fill his place, and one of the peasants had been
+battered to death in the breaking of the dam. 'Twas doubtless an
+unworthy feeling, but, much as the nature of the man's end had
+horrified me at the time, I could not now find it in my heart to
+greatly regret it. I was too conscious of the fact that only a couple
+of gaolers were left to guard me.
+
+Otto coming from the kitchen to join me, I deemed it prudent not to be
+particular in my gaze, and so taking my eyes off the ridge, which was
+become to me what Mahomet's bridge is to the Turk, I let them roam
+idly this way and that as we strolled forward over the turf. Hence it
+chanced that about twenty yards from the door I saw something bright
+winking in the verdure. I went towards it and picked it up. 'Twas a
+little gold cross, and, moreover, clean and unrusted. A sudden thought
+breaking in upon me, I turned to Otto and said:
+
+"Otto, have you ever heard of the Cold Torment?"
+
+Otto fell to crossing himself devoutly.
+
+"The Cold Torment?" he asked, in awed tones. "What know you of it?" He
+turned towards the gap in the hillside upon our right. "Look!" said
+he. "You see the peak that stands apart like a silver wedge. On its
+summit is buried an inexhaustible treasure, and night and day through
+the ages seven guilty souls keep ward about it in the cold. Never may
+one be freed until another is condemned in its stead. The Virgin save
+us from the Cold Torment!"
+
+"Ah!" said I, remarking the fervour of his prayer. "'Tis the text for
+a persuasive homily, and Father Spaur, I fancy, preached from it
+yesterday."
+
+Otto started, and glanced about him with some fear, as though he half
+expected to see the priest start out of the earth.
+
+"You know not what you say," he exclaimed.
+
+"Who sent you to follow him?"
+
+"Nay," he protested; "I came not to spy upon Father Spaur. We know not
+that he has been here. 'Twere wise not to know it."
+
+I handed him the gold cross, and asked again:
+
+"Who sent you after him?"
+
+"I was not sent after him. I was bidden to come hither by my
+mistress."
+
+"Ah! she sent you!" I cried. "Give the cross back to Father Spaur, and
+with it my most grateful thanks. He has done me better service than
+ever did my dearest friend."
+
+I reasoned it out in this way. Father Spaur was bent on appropriating
+Lukstein and its broad lands to the Church. To that end, the Countess
+must, at all costs, be hindered from a second marriage. What motive
+could he have in prompting Groder to make an end of me, unless--unless
+Ilga now and again let her thoughts stray my way? And to confirm my
+conjecture, to rid it of presumption, I had this certain knowledge
+that she had sent Otto to see that I came to no harm at his hands. I
+should add that my speculations during the winter months had in some
+measure prepared me to entertain this notion. From constantly
+analysing and pondering all that she had said to me in the pavilion,
+and bringing my recollections of her change in manner to illumine her
+words, I had come, though hesitatingly, to a conclusion very different
+from that which I had originally formed. I could not but perceive that
+it made a great difference whether or no I had been alone upon my
+first coming to the Castle. Besides, I realised that there was a
+pregnant meaning which might be placed to the sentence which had so
+perplexed me: "Would that I had the strength to resist, or the
+weakness to yield!" And going yet further back, I had good grounds
+from what she had let slip to believe that there was something more
+than a regard for herself in the entreaty which she had addressed to
+me in London, that I should not tax Marston with treachery in the
+matter of the miniature.
+
+Otto gave me back the cross.
+
+"It is a mistake," said he. "Father Spaur has gone from Lukstein on a
+visit."
+
+"Then," said I, "present it to your mistress. She has more claim to it
+than I."
+
+That night Otto slept in the loft in Groder's place.
+
+"You are sure," he asked, "that no one remained behind with Groder
+yesterday afternoon?"
+
+"Quite," said I.
+
+"None the less, I should sleep on the trap if I were you, and 'twere
+wise to carry your hatchet to bed for company."
+
+"But they take it from me each night," I replied eagerly. "You must
+tell them."
+
+"I will. But there's no cause for fear."
+
+'Twas not at all fear which prompted my eagerness; but I bethought me
+if I had the loft to myself, and the axe ready to my hand, 'twould be
+a strange thing if I could not find a way out by the morning.
+Thereupon we fell to talking again of Groder's attempt upon my life,
+and he repeated the words which he had used at the time.
+
+"You were never nearer your death but once."
+
+"And when was that once?" I asked drowsily.
+
+He laughed softly to himself for a little, and then he replied; and
+with his first sentence my drowsiness left me, just as a mist clears
+in a moment off the hills.
+
+"Do you remember one night in London that your garden door kept
+slamming in the wind?"
+
+"Well?" said I, starting up.
+
+"You came downstairs in the dark, took the key from the mantelshelf,
+and went out into the garden and locked it. That occasion was the
+once."
+
+"You were in the room!" I exclaimed. "I remember. The door was open
+again in the morning. I had a locksmith to it. There was nothing amiss
+with the lock, and I wondered how it happened."
+
+Otto laughed again quietly.
+
+"Right. I was in the room, and I was not alone either."
+
+"The Countess was with you. Why?"
+
+"There was a book in your rooms which she wished to see--a poetry
+book, eh?--with a date on one page, and a plan of Castle Lukstein on
+the page opposite. My mistress was at your lodging with some company
+that afternoon."
+
+"True," said I, interrupting him. "She proposed the party herself."
+
+"Well, it seems that she got no chance of examining the book then. But
+she unlocked the garden door. You had told her where you kept the
+key."
+
+I recollected that I had done so on the occasion of her first visit.
+
+"And so Countess Lukstein and yourself were in the room when I passed
+through that night."
+
+Otto began to chuckle again.
+
+"'Twas lucky you came down in the dark, and didn't stumble over us.
+Lord! I thought that I should have burst with holding my breath."
+
+"Otto," I said, "tell me the whole story; how your suspicions set
+towards me, and what confirmed them."
+
+"Very well," said he, after a pause, "I will; for my mistress
+consulted me throughout. But you will get no sleep."
+
+"I shall get less if you don't tell me."
+
+"Wait a moment!"
+
+He filled his tobacco-pipe and lighted it. I followed his example, and
+between the puffs he related the history of those far-away days in
+London. To me, lying back upon the boughs which formed my bed in the
+dark loft, it seemed like the weaving of a fairy tale. The house in
+Pall Mall--St. James's Park--the piazza, of Covent Garden! How strange
+it all sounded, and how unreal!
+
+The odour of pine-wood was in my nostrils, and I had but to raise my
+arm to touch the sloping thatch above my head.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXII.
+
+               A TALK WITH OTTO. I ESCAPE TO INNSPRUCK.
+
+
+"Of what happened at Bristol," he began, "you know well-nigh as much
+as I do, in a sense, maybe more; for I have never learnt to this day
+why my master, the late Count, left me behind there to keep an eye
+upon the old attorney and Sir Julian Harnwood's visitors. There's only
+one thing I need tell you. The night you came from the Bridewell,
+after--well, after----" He hesitated, seeming at a loss for a word. I
+understood what it was that he stuck at, and realising that my turn
+had come to chuckle, I said, with a laugh:
+
+"The blow was a good one, Otto."
+
+"'Twas not so good as you thought," he replied rather hotly, "not by a
+great deal; and for all that you ran away so fast," he repeated the
+phrase with considerable emphasis, "for all that you ran away so fast,
+I found out where you lodged. I passed the lawyer man as he was coming
+back alone, and remembering that I had traced him into Limekiln Lane
+in the afternoon, I returned there the next morning. The 'Thatched
+House' was the only tavern in the street, and I inquired whether a
+woman had stayed there overnight. They told me no; they had only put
+up one traveller, and he had left already. I thought no more of this
+at the time, believing my suspicions to be wrong, and so got me back
+to Lukstein. After the wedding-night I told the Countess all that I
+knew."
+
+"Wait!" I said, interrupting him.
+
+There was a point I had long been anxious to resolve, and I thought I
+should never get so likely an opportunity for the question again.
+
+"Was Count Lukstein betrothed at the time that he came to the
+Hotwells?"
+
+"Most assuredly," he replied, and I wondered greatly at the strange
+madness which should lead a man astray to chase a pretty face, when
+all the while he loved another, and was plighted to her.
+
+Otto resumed his story.
+
+"I told all that I knew: my master's anxiety concerning Sir Julian,
+his relief when I brought him the news hither that only a woman had
+visited the captive on the night before his execution, and his
+apparent fear of peril. My mistress broke open the gold case which you
+had left behind, and asked whether the likeness was the likeness of
+Sir Julian's visitor. I assured her it was not, but she was convinced
+that this Bristol pother was at the bottom of the trouble. We could
+find no trace of you beyond your footsteps in the snow, and the
+footsteps of the woman who was with you. I have often wondered how she
+climbed the Lukstein rock."
+
+He paused as though expecting an answer. But I had no inclination to
+argue my innocence in that respect with one of Ilga's servants, and
+presently he continued:
+
+"Well, a quiet tongue is wisdom where women are concerned. No one in
+the valley had seen you come; no one had seen you go. But my lady was
+set upon discovering the truth and punishing the assailant herself. So
+she said as little as she could to the neighbours, and the following
+spring took me with her to London."
+
+"Where I promptly jumped into the trap," said I.
+
+"You did that and more. You set the trap yourself before you jumped
+into it."
+
+'Twas my own thought that he uttered, and I asked him how he came by
+it.
+
+"I mean this. 'Twas my lady's hope to discover the original of the
+miniature, and so get at the man who was with her. But we had not to
+wait for that. You left something else behind you besides the
+miniature."
+
+"I did," I replied. "I left a pair of spurs and a pistol, but I see
+not how they could serve you."
+
+"The spurs were of little profit in our search. You have worn them
+since, it is true, but one pair of spurs is like another. For the
+pistol, however--that was another matter. It had the gunmaker's name
+upon the barrel, and also the name of the town where it was made."
+
+"Leyden?" I exclaimed.
+
+"That was the name--Leyden."
+
+At last I understood. I recalled that evening when Elmscott presented
+me to Ilga, and how frankly I had spoken to her of my life.
+
+"We journeyed to Leyden first of all," he resumed, "and sought out the
+gunmaker. But he did not remember selling the pistol, or, perhaps,
+would not--at all events, we got no help from him, and went on to
+London. In the beginning I believe Countess Lukstein was inclined to
+suspect Mr. Marston. You see he came from Bristol, and so completely
+did this search possess her that everything which concerned that city
+seemed to her to have some bearing upon her disaster. But she soon
+abandoned that idea, and--and--well, I know not why, but Mr. Marston
+left London for a time. Then you were brought to the house, and on
+your first visit you told her that your home was in Cumberland, where
+Sir Julian Harnwood lived; that you had been till recently a student
+at Leyden, and that there were few other English students there
+besides yourself. At first I think she did not seriously accuse you of
+Count Lukstein's death. It seemed little likely; you had not the look
+of it. I did not recognise you at all, and, further, my mistress
+herself inquired much of you concerning your actions, and you let slip
+no hint that could convict you."
+
+I remembered what interest the Countess had seemed to take in my
+uneventful history, and how her questions had delighted me, flattering
+my vanity and lifting me to the topmasts of hope; and the irony of my
+recollections made me laugh aloud.
+
+"Howbeit," he went on, paying no heed to my interruption--there
+was no great merriment in my laughter, and it may be that he
+understood--"Howbeit, her suspicions were alert, and then Mr. Marston
+came back to London. She learnt from him that you had passed through
+London in a great hurry one night, and from Lord Culverton that the
+night was in September and that your destination was Bristol. I wanted
+to ride there and see what I could discover, but my mistress would not
+allow me. I don't know, but at that time I almost fancied she
+regretted her resolve, and would fain have let the matter lie."
+
+'Twas at that time also, I remembered, that the Countess treated me so
+waywardly, and I coupled Otto's remark and my remembrance together,
+and set them aside as food for future pondering.
+
+"Then she showed you the miniature. You faced it out and denied all
+knowledge of it So far so good. But that same morning you brought Lady
+Tracy into the house, and that was the ruin of you. Oh, I know," he
+went on as I sought to interrupt him, "I know! You faced that matter
+out too. You brought Lady Tracy to bear witness that you and she were
+never acquainted. 'Twas a cunning device and it deceived my mistress;
+but you did not take me into account. I opened the door to you, and I
+recognised Lady Tracy as the original of the miniature. Well, I looked
+at her carefully, wondering whether I could have made a mistake,
+whether it was she whom I had seen at the Bristol prison after all. I
+felt certain it was not, but all the same I kept thinking about it as
+I went upstairs to announce you. Lady Tracy was dark; the other woman,
+I remembered, fair and over-tall for a woman. So I went on comparing
+them, setting the two faces side by side in my mind. Well, when I came
+back again there were you and Lady Tracy standing side by side--the
+two faces that were side by side in my thoughts. The sunlight was full
+upon you both. Lord! I was cluttered out of my senses. I knew you at
+once. Height, face, everything fitted. I told my mistress immediately
+after you had gone. She would not believe it at first; but soon after
+she informed me that Lady Tracy had been betrothed to Sir Julian
+Harnwood. That night we visited your rooms, as I have told you."
+
+"Ay," said I, "Marston told her of his sister's betrothal in Covent
+Garden."
+
+'Twas indeed at the very time that the Countess was tracing that
+diagram in the gravel.
+
+"The visit to your rooms convinced Countess Lukstein."
+
+"No doubt," said I, and I explained to him how she had traced the
+diagram, and my mention of the date which had given her the clue to my
+Horace.
+
+"But that's not all," he laughed. "'Tis true that my mistress knew
+that she had seen that same plan somewhere. 'Tis true your mention of
+the date told her where. But the plan which my lady drew on the gravel
+was different from yours in one respect. It lacked the line which
+showed your way of ascent, the line which stood for the rib of rock."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Well, you added that line yourself while you were talking."
+
+"I did!" I exclaimed.
+
+I could not credit it; but then I recollected how Ilga had suddenly
+stooped forward and obliterated the diagram with a sweep of her stick.
+
+"Ay, Otto!" I said. "You spoke truth indeed. I set the traps myself."
+
+"The next morning we started for Bristol. We drove to the 'Thatched
+House Tavern,' and with the help of a few coins wormed the truth from
+the chambermaid. She had told me before that a man had stayed at the
+inn on that particular night and I had no doubt who was the man. We
+knew the story; we merely needed her to confirm it."
+
+With that he laid his pipe aside, and was for settling to sleep. But I
+had one more question to ask him.
+
+"When Lord Elmscott came to find me at Countess Lukstein's apartments,
+he was informed I was not there, and the door of the room in which I
+lay was locked."
+
+"We intended to convey you out of the country ourselves," he laughed,
+"and that very night. 'Twould indeed have saved much trouble had Lord
+Elmscott been delayed an hour or so upon the road. A boat was in
+waiting for us on the river."
+
+'Twas long before I could follow Otto's example and compose myself to
+sleep. Using his narrative as a commentary, I read over and over again
+my memories of those weeks in London, and each time I felt yet more
+convinced that this deed had been brought home to me through no
+cunning of the Countess, through no great folly of mine, but simply
+because Providence had so willed it. As Otto said, I had set the traps
+myself, and bethinking me of this, I recalled a phrase which I had
+spoken to Count Lukstein. "I can fight you," I had said, "but I can't
+fight your wife." In what a strange way had the remark come true!
+
+The next morning Otto departed from the hollow, and fearing lest he
+might presently despatch two other of Countess Lukstein's servants to
+fill up the complement of my guards, I determined to make my effort at
+enlargement that very night. I took my axe boldly from the corner of
+the room when the time came for me to mount to the loft. The peasants
+scowled but said nothing, and 'twas with a very great relief that I
+understood Otto had been as good as his word. It had been my habit of
+late to secrete about me at each meal some fragment of my portion of
+bread, so that I had now a good number of such morsels hidden away
+among the leaves of my bed. These I gathered together, and fastened
+inside my shirt, and then sat me down, with such patience as I might,
+to wait until the peasants beneath me were sound asleep. The delay
+would have been more endurable had there been some window or opening
+in the loft. But to sit there in the darkness, never knowing but what
+the sky was clouding over and a storm gathering upon the heights,
+'twas the quintessence of suspense, and it wrought in me like a fever.
+I allowed two hours, as near as I could guess, to elapse, and then,
+working quietly with my axe, I cut a hole through the thatch at the
+corner most distant from the room of my gaolers, and dropped some
+twelve feet on to the ground. There was no moon to light me but the
+sparkle of innumerable stars, and the night was black in the valley
+and purple about the cheerless hills. Cautiously I made my way over
+the grass towards the ridge, taking the air into my lungs with an
+exquisite enjoyment like one that has long been cooped in a sick-room.
+
+Whimsically enough, I thought not at all of the dangers which were
+like to beset me, but rather of Ilga in her Castle of Lukstein; and
+walking forwards in the lonely quiet, I wondered whether at that
+moment she was asleep.
+
+The ridge, as I had hoped, was entirely compacted of earth and stones.
+'Twas thrown up to a considerable height above the ice, and resembled
+a great earthwork raised for defence, such as I have seen since about
+the walls of Londonderry. I was able to walk along the crest for some
+way with no more peril than was occasioned by the darkness and the
+narrow limits of my path, and taking to some rocks which jutted out
+from the snow, about two hours after daybreak, I reached the top of
+the hill at noon. To my great delight I perceived that I stood, as it
+were, upon a neck of the mountain. To my left the Wildthurm rose in a
+sweeping line of ice, ever higher and higher towards the peak; to my
+right it terminated in a ridge of rocks which again rose upwards, and
+circled about the head of the ravine. I had nothing to do but to
+descend; so I lay down to rest myself for a while, and take my last
+look at Captivity Hollow and the hut wherein I had been imprisoned.
+The descent, however, was not so easy a matter as I believed it would
+be. For some distance, it is true, I could walk without much
+difficulty, kicking a sort of staircase in the snow with my feet; but
+after a while the incline became steeper, and, moreover, was inlaid
+with strips of ice, wherein I had to cut holes with my hatchet before
+I could secure a footing. Indeed, I doubt whether I should have come
+safe off from this adventure but for the many crags and rocks which
+studded the slope. By keeping close to these, however, I was able to
+get solid hold for my hands, the while I stepped upon the treacherous
+ice. Towards the foot of the mountain, moreover, the ice was split
+with great gashes and chasms, so deep that I could see no bottom to
+them, but only an azure haze; and I was often compelled to make long
+circuits before I could discover a passage. Once or twice, besides,
+when the ground seemed perfectly firm, I slipped a leg through the
+crust and felt it touch nothing; and taking warning from these
+accidents, I proceeded henceforth more cautiously, tapping the snow in
+front of me with the hatchet at each step.
+
+These hindrances did so delay me that I was still upon the mountain
+when night fell, and not daring to continue this perilous journey in
+the dark, I crept under the shelter of a rock, and so lay shivering
+until the morning. However, I bethought me of my loft and its
+thatch-roof, and contrasting it with the open sky, passed the night
+pleasantly enough. I had still enough of my bread left over to serve
+me for breakfast in the morning, and since there was no water to be
+got, I made shift to moisten my throat by sucking lumps of ice. Late
+that afternoon I came down into a desolate valley, and felt the green
+turf once more spring beneath my feet. 'Twas closing in very dark and
+black. In front of me I could see the rain stretched across the hills
+like a diaphanous veil, shot here and there by a stray thread of
+sunlight; while behind, the heights of the Wildthurm were hidden by a
+white crawling mist. Looking at this mist, I could not but be sensible
+of the dangers from which I had escaped, and with a heart full of
+gratitude I knelt down and thanked God for that He had reached out His
+hand above me to save my life.
+
+For many days I journeyed among these upland valleys, passing from hut
+to hut and from ravine to ravine, moving ever westwards from Lukstein,
+and descended finally into the high-road close to the village of
+Nauders. Thence I proceeded along the Inn Thal to Innspruck, earning
+my food each day by cutting wood into logs at the various taverns, or
+by some such service; and as for lodging, 'twas no great hardship to
+sleep in the fields at this season of the year. At Innspruck, however,
+whither I came in the first days of July, I was sore put to it to find
+employment, which should keep me from starving until such time as I
+could receive letters of credit from England. My first thought was to
+obtain the position of usher or master in one of the many schools and
+colleges of the town. But wherever I applied they only laughed in my
+face, and unceremoniously closed the door upon my entreaties. Nor,
+indeed, could I wonder at their behaviour, for what with my torn
+peasant's clothes, my bare, scarred knees, and my face, which was
+burnt to the colour of a ripe apple, I looked the most unlikely tutor
+that ever ruined a boy's education. At one school--'twas the last at
+which I sought employment--the master informed me that he "did his own
+whipping," and wandering thence in a great despondency of spirit, I
+came into the Neustadt, which is the principal street of the town.
+There I chanced to espy the sign of a fencing-master, and realising
+what little profit I was like to make of such rusty book-learning as I
+still retained, I crossed the road and proffered him the assistance of
+my services. At the onset he was inclined to treat my offer with no
+less hilarity than the schoolmasters had shown; but being now at my
+wits' end, I persisted, and perhaps vaunted my skill more than
+befitted a gentleman. 'Twas, I think, chiefly to disprove my words,
+and so rid himself of me, that he bade me take a foil and stand on
+guard. In the first bout, however, I was lucky enough to secure the
+advantage, as also in the second. In a fluster of anger he insisted
+that I should engage upon a third, and thereupon I deemed it prudent
+to allow him to get the better of me, though not by so much as would
+give him the right to accuse me of a lack of skill. The ruse was
+entirely successful; for he was so delighted with his success that he
+hired me straightway as his lieutenant, and was pleased to compliment
+me upon my mastery of the weapon; not but what he declared I had many
+faults in the matter of style, which I might correct under his
+tuition.
+
+In this occupation I remained for some three months. I wrote a letter
+immediately to Jack Larke, but received no answer whatsoever. Each
+week, however, I put by a certain sum out of my wages until I had
+accumulated sufficient to carry me, if I practised economy, to
+England. In the beginning of September, then, I gave up my position; a
+pupil, on hearing of my purposed journey, most generously presented me
+with a horse, which I accepted as a loan, and one fine morning I
+mounted on to the animal's back and rode out towards the gates of the
+town.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+                              THE LAST.
+
+
+Now the road which I chose led past the Hofgarten, a great open space
+of lawns and shrubberies which had been enclosed and presented to the
+town by Leopold, the late Archduke of Styria. Opposite to the gates of
+this garden stood the "Black Stag," at that time the principal inn,
+and I noticed ahead of me four or five mounted men waiting at the
+door. Drawing nearer I perceived that these men wore the livery of
+Countess Lukstein.
+
+My first impulse was to turn my horse's head and ride off with all
+speed in the contrary direction; but bethinking me that they would
+never dare to make an attempt upon my liberty in the streets of an
+orderly city, I resolved to continue on my way, and pay no heed to
+them as I passed. And this I began to do, walking my horse slowly, so
+that they might not think I had any fear of them. Otto was stationed
+at the head of the troop, a few paces in advance of the rest, and I
+was well-nigh abreast of him before any of the servants perceived who
+passed them. Even then 'twas myself who invited their attention. For
+turning my head I saw the Countess just within the gates of the
+garden. She was habited in a riding-dress, and was taking leave of a
+gentleman who was with her.
+
+On the instant I stopped my horse.
+
+"Here, Otto!" I cried, and flinging the reins to him, I jumped to the
+ground.
+
+I heard him give a startled exclamation, but I stayed not to cast a
+glance at him, and walked instantly forwards to where Ilga stood. I
+was within two paces of her before she turned and saw me. She reached
+out a hand to the gate, and so steadying herself looked at me for a
+little without a word. I bowed low, and took another step towards her,
+whereupon she turned again to her companion and began to speak very
+volubly, the colour going and coming quickly upon her face. For my
+part I made no effort to interrupt her. I had schooled myself to think
+of her as one whom I should never see again, and here we were face to
+face. I remained contentedly waiting with my hat in my hand.
+
+"You have been long in Innspruck?" she asked of me at length, and
+added, with some hesitation, "Mr. Buckler?"
+
+"Three months, madame," I replied.
+
+"But you are leaving?"
+
+She looked across to my horse, which Otto was holding. A small
+valise, containing the few necessaries I possessed, was slung to the
+saddle-bow.
+
+"I return to England," said I.
+
+She presented me to the gentleman who talked with her, but I did not
+catch his name any more than the conversation they resumed. 'Twas
+enough for me to hear the sweet sound of her voice; as, when a singer
+sings, one is charmed by the music of his tones, and recks little of
+the words of his song. At last, however, her companion made his bow.
+Ilga stretched out her hand to him and said:
+
+"You will come, then, to Lukstein?" and detaining him, as it seemed to
+me, she added, "I would ask Mr. Buckler to come, too, only I fear that
+he has no great opinion of our hospitality."
+
+"Madame," I replied simply, "if you ask me, I will come."
+
+She stood for the space of some twenty seconds with her eyes bent upon
+the ground. Then, raising her face with a look which was wonderfully
+timid and shy, she said:
+
+"You are a brave man, Mr. Buckler"; and after another pause, "I do ask
+you."
+
+With that she crossed the road and mounted upon her horse. I did the
+same, and the little cavalcade rode out from Innspruck along the
+highway to Landeck. The Countess pressed on ahead, and thinking that
+she had no wish to speak with me, I rode some paces behind her. Behind
+me came Otto and the servants. Otto, I should say, had resumed his old
+impenetrable air. He was once more the servant, and seemed to have
+completely forgotten our companionship in Captivity Hollow. Thus we
+travelled until we came near to the village of Silz.
+
+Now all this morning one regretful thought had been buzzing in my
+head. 'Twas an old thought, one that I had lived with many a month.
+Yet never had it become familiar to me; the pain which it brought was
+always fresh and sharp. But now, since I saw Countess Lukstein again,
+since she rode in front of me, since each moment my eyes beheld her,
+this regret grew and grew until it was lost in a great longing to
+speak out my mind, and, if so I might, ease myself of my burden.
+Consequently I spurred my horse lightly, and as we entered Silz I drew
+level with the Countess.
+
+"Madame," I said, "I see plainly enough that you have no heart for my
+company, neither do I intend any idle intrusion. I would but say two
+words to you. They have been on my lips ever since I caught sight of
+you on the Hofgarten; they have been in my heart for the weariest span
+of days. When I told you that I entered Castle Lukstein alone, God is
+my witness that I spoke the truth. No woman was with me. I championed
+no woman; by no ties was I bound to any woman in this world. This I
+would have you believe; for it is the truth. I could not lie to you if
+I would; it is the truth."
+
+She made me no answer, but bowed her head down on her horse's mane, so
+that I could see nothing of her face, and thinking sadly that she
+would not credit me, I tightened my reins that I might fall back
+behind her. It may be that she noticed the movement of my hands. I
+know not, nor, indeed, shall I be at any pains to speculate upon her
+motive. 'Twas her action which occupied my thoughts then and for hours
+afterwards. She suddenly lifted her face towards me, all rosy with
+blushes and wearing that sweet look which I had once and once only
+remarked before. I mean when she pledged me in her apartments in Pall
+Mall.
+
+"Then," says she, "we will travel no further afield to-day," and she
+drew rein before the first inn we came to.
+
+I was greatly perplexed by this precipitate action, also by the word
+she used, inasmuch as we were not travelling afield at all, but on the
+contrary directly towards her home. Besides, 'twas still early in the
+afternoon. Howbeit, there we stayed, and the Countess retiring
+privately to her room, I saw no more of her until the night was come.
+'Twas about eleven of the clock when I heard a light tap upon my door,
+and opening it, I perceived that she was my visitor. She laid a finger
+upon her lip and slipped quietly into the room. In her hand she held
+her hat and whip, and these she laid upon the table.
+
+"You have not inquired," she began, "why I asked you to return with me
+to Lukstein, what end I had in view."
+
+"In truth, madame," I replied, "I gave no thought to it;
+only--only----"
+
+"Only I asked you, and you came," she said in a voice that broke and
+faltered. "Even after all you had suffered at my hands, even in spite
+of what you still might suffer, I asked you, and you came."
+
+She spoke in a low wondering tone, and with a queer feeling of shame I
+hastened to reply:
+
+"Madame, if you were in my place, you would understand that there is
+little strange in that."
+
+"Let me finish!" she said. "Lord Elmscott and your friend, Mr. Larke,
+are awaiting you at Lukstein. When your friend returned to England
+without you, he could hear no word of you. He had no acquaintance with
+Lord Elmscott, and did not know of him at all. He met Lord Elmscott in
+London this spring for the first time. It appears that your cousin
+suspected something of the trouble that stood between you and me, but
+until he met Mr. Larke he believed you were travelling in Italy. Mr.
+Larke gave him the account of your first journey into the Tyrol. They
+found out Sir Julian's attorney at Bristol, and learned the cause of
+it from him. They came to Lukstein two months ago, and told me what
+you would not. I went up to the hills myself to bring you home; you
+had escaped, and your--the men had concealed your flight in fear of my
+anger. Lord Elmscott went to Meran, I came to Innspruck; and we
+arranged to return after we had searched a month. The month is gone.
+They will be at Lukstein now."
+
+So much she said, though with many a pause and with so keen a
+self-reproach in her tone that I could hardly bear to hear her, when I
+interrupted:
+
+"And you have been a month searching for me in Innspruck?"
+
+She took no heed of my interruption.
+
+"So, you see," she continued, "I know the whole truth. I know, too,
+that you hid the truth out of kindness to me, and--and----"
+
+She was wearing the gold cross which I had sent to her by Otto's hand.
+It hung on a long chain about her neck, and I took it gently into my
+palm.
+
+"And is there nothing more you know?" I asked.
+
+"I know that you love me," she whispered, "that you love me still. Oh!
+how is it possible?" And then she raised her eyes to mine and laid two
+trembling hands upon my shoulders. "But it is true. You told me so
+this afternoon."
+
+"I told you?" I asked in some surprise.
+
+"Ay, and more surely than if you had spoken it out. That is why I
+stopped our horses in the village. It is why I am with you now."
+
+She glanced towards her hat and whip, and I understood. I realised
+what it would cost her to carry me back as her guest to Lukstein after
+all that had passed there.
+
+I opened the door and stepped out on to the landing. A panel of
+moonlight was marked out upon the floor. 'Twas the only light in the
+passage, and the house was still as an empty cave. When I came back
+into the room Ilga was standing with her hat upon her head.
+
+"And what of Lukstein?"
+
+"A sop to Father Spaur," she said with a happy laugh, and reaching out
+a hand to me she blew out the candle. I guided her to the landing, and
+there stopped and kissed her.
+
+"I have hungered for that," said I, "for a year and more."
+
+"And I too," she whispered, "dear heart, and I too," and I felt her
+arms tighten about my neck. "Oh, how you must have hated me!" she
+said.
+
+"I called you no harder name than 'la belle dame sans merci,'" said I.
+
+We crept down the stairs a true couple of runaways. The door was
+secured by a wooden bar. I removed the bar, and we went out into the
+road. The stables lay to the right of the inn, and leaving Ilga where
+she stood, I crossed over to them and rapped quietly at the window.
+The ostler let me in, and we saddled quickly Ilga's horse and mine. I
+gave the fellow all of my three months' savings, and bidding him go
+back to his bed, brought the horses into the road.
+
+I lifted Ilga into the saddle.
+
+"So," she said, bending over me, and her heart looked through her
+eyes, "the lath was steel after all, and I only found it out when the
+steel cut me."
+
+And that night we rode hand in hand to Innspruck. Once she trilled out
+a snatch of song, and I knew indeed that Jack Larke was waiting for me
+at Lukstein. For the words she sang were from an old ballad of
+Froissart:
+
+
+              Que toutes joies et toutes honneurs
+              Viennent d'armes et d'amours.
+
+
+
+
+                               THE END.
+
+
+
+                          *   *   *   *   *
+     F. M. EVANS AND CO., LIMITED, PRINTERS, CRYSTAL PALACE, S.E.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Courtship of Morrice Buckler, by
+A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley) Mason
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COURTSHIP OF MORRICE BUCKLER ***
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+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
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+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #38665 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/38665)