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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Secret Inheritance  (Volume 2 of 3), by 
+B. L. (Benjamin Leopold) Farjeon
+
+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: A Secret Inheritance  (Volume 2 of 3)
+
+Author: B. L. (Benjamin Leopold) Farjeon
+
+Release Date: June 4, 2014 [EBook #45881]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SECRET INHERITANCE VOL 2 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen from page images provided by the
+Web Archive and Google Books.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+     1. Page scan source:
+        http://archive.org/details/secretinheritanc02farj
+        (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                         A SECRET INHERITANCE
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                                  A
+                          SECRET INHERITANCE
+
+
+
+
+                                  BY
+
+                            B. L. FARJEON,
+
+         AUTHOR OF "GREAT PORTER SQUARE," "IN A SILVER SEA,"
+                  "THE HOUSE OF WHITE SHADOWS," ETC.
+
+
+
+
+                          _IN THREE VOLUMES_
+                               VOL. II
+
+
+
+
+                               LONDON
+                           WARD AND DOWNEY
+                 12, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN, W.C.
+                                1887
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                        Richard Clay and Sons,
+                          LONDON AND BUNGAY.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                        A SECRET INHERITANCE.
+
+                             * * * * * *
+
+                    BOOK THE FIRST (_Continued_).
+
+                     THE RECORD OF GABRIEL CAREW.
+
+
+
+
+
+VOL. II.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+"I travelled for many months alone. I made acquaintances which never
+ripened into friendships, and seldom did twenty-four hours pass
+without my thoughts wandering to Silvain. Thinking it not unlikely
+that one or both of the brothers had returned to their home in
+Germany, I wrote several letters to them there, without receiving an
+answer. This portentous silence increased rather than diminished my
+interest in the man I loved as a brother. In speaking of him in these
+terms I am but giving faithful expression to the feelings I
+entertained for him; up to that time I had never met a human being,
+man or woman, who had so entirely won my affectionate regard.
+
+"Family circumstances rendered me more than ever my own master; I was
+free to go whithersoever my inclination led me, and certainly my
+inclination pointed clearly to that part of the world where I should
+be most likely to find my dear friend. But I had no clue to guide me;
+to turn east, west, north, or south, in search of him would have been
+a hap-hazard proceeding, and to hope for success in so unintelligent a
+search would have been the hope of a madman. My anxiety with respect
+to the fate of Silvain and Kristel never deserted me, but it was many
+years before I was enabled to take up the links in the chain.
+
+"During those years a great and happy change occurred in my own life.
+I interrupt the course of my narrative here to remark that it is
+singular I should be relating this history fully, for the first time,
+within a comparatively short distance of places in which the most
+pregnant--and indeed terrible--incidents in the career of the twin
+brothers were brought to my knowledge. My wife is acquainted with some
+portions of this history, but not with all. The lighthouse in which
+Avicia was born is within a hundred miles of this spot. Indirectly it
+led me to the acquaintance of the lady who became my wife, and to as
+great a happiness as any man can hope to enjoy.
+
+"Nerac is not my birthplace, and it was in passing through the lovely
+village on one of my visits to the village by the sea--visits made in
+the vain hope of obtaining intelligence of Silvain--that I was
+introduced to her. I pass over the records of a time which lives in my
+remembrance as a heavenly summer. Happy is the man who has enjoyed
+such a season. Happier is the man to whom such a season is the
+harbinger of such home joys as have fallen to my lot.
+
+"When I first made the acquaintance of my wife, and for some years
+afterwards, her parents were alive, and I saw that it would be cruel
+to ask her to leave them. I did not put her love to such a test. I
+settled in Nerac, and married there.
+
+"It is a solemnly strange reflection by what chance threads we are led
+to our destiny--a destiny which may be one of honour or shame, and
+which may bring a blessing or a curse into the lives of others whom,
+but for the most accidental circumstance, we should never have seen.
+The doctrine of responsibility is but little understood. Thus, had it
+not been for my chance meeting with Silvain in London, I should never
+have known my wife, and it seems to me impossible that I should have
+been a happy or a good man without her. Such women as she keep men
+pure.
+
+"Midway between Nerac and the village by the sea to which Kristel led
+his brother in his pursuit of the girl who was to bring them to their
+doom lies a forest of great extent, and it was in this forest, after a
+lapse of four years, that I came once more into association with
+Silvain and Avicia. I was called in that direction upon important
+business; at that period of my life I was an ardent pedestrian, and if
+the opportunity offered, was glad to make my way on foot, without
+respect to distance. I may confide to you that I was in the habit of
+taking a great deal of exercise because I was afraid of growing fat.
+
+"I was unacquainted with the locality, and I took a short cut, which
+proved a long one. When darkness fell I found myself entrapped in the
+forest amidst a wilderness of trees. Never shall I forget the night
+and the day that followed. It was such a night as that upon which you,
+my friend, were lying helpless in the woods near Nerac. Not relishing
+the idea of passing a number of lonely hours in such a place and under
+such circumstances, I made a vigorous effort to escape from the gloomy
+labyrinth. I did not succeed, and it was one o'clock in the morning by
+my watch before I made up my mind like a sensible person to rest till
+daylight. So I sat me down upon the trunk of a tree, and made the best
+of matters. Fatigued with my exertions I dozed for a few moments, then
+started up with a vague feeling of alarm, for which there was no
+cause, then dozed again and again, with repetitions of similar
+uneasiness; and finally I fell fast asleep.
+
+"It was full daylight when I awoke. I arose refreshed, and gazed
+around with smiles and a light heart, despite that I was hungry and
+that there was no water in sight. I had no doubt that I should soon
+find myself in some place where I could obtain food. Resolving upon my
+course I set forward in the direction of rising ground, from the
+summit of which I should be able to overlook the country. In one part
+of the forest I was traversing the trees were very thickly clustered,
+and it was here I chanced upon the forms of a man and a woman lying on
+the ground asleep. The circumstance was strange, and I leant over the
+sleeping persons to see their faces. I could scarcely repress a cry of
+astonishment at the discovery that the man was Silvain and the woman
+Avicia. It was from an impulsive desire not to disturb them that I
+uttered no sound, for truly their appearance was such as to excite my
+deep compassion.
+
+"Avicia's head was pillowed upon Silvain's right arm, and his left
+hand was clasped in hers. In complete ignorance of what had brought
+them to this miserable position, there was, to my mind, in this close
+clasping of his hand in hers, a kind of protection, as though she were
+making an instinctive effort to shield him from a hidden danger. The
+faces of both were wan with suffering, and their clothes were poor and
+ragged. I trembled to think that they might be in want of food.
+
+"As I gazed in pity and apprehension Silvain moved. A spasm of fear
+passed across his face, and he exclaimed in terror, 'Avicia! Avicia!
+He is coming nearer--nearer! We must fly!'
+
+"Before the words were uttered she was awake and on her feet. She saw
+me without recognising me, and she sank to the ground again, with a
+piercing scream which curdled through my veins, so much of fear and
+terror did it express. Dazed, and not yet fully awakened, Silvain
+threw himself before her in an attitude of protection.
+
+"'Silvain!' I cried; 'do you not know me?'
+
+"He looked up with a shudder, and passed his hand across his eyes. It
+was like the look of an intelligent animal who is being hunted to his
+death. But a softer expression came slowly into them as he gazed upon
+me and saw that it was a friend and not an enemy who stood before him.
+I spoke no further word at the moment, for the tears were running down
+his haggard face; his overcharged heart had found relief, and I turned
+from him.
+
+"Presently I felt his hand upon my arm.
+
+"'It is really you?' he said in a broken voice.
+
+"'No doubt of that, Silvain,' I said in a cheerful tone, purposely
+assumed to put him at his ease, 'unless life is a delusion.'
+
+"'Would it were!' he muttered, 'would it were!' And then,
+suspiciously, 'Did you come to seek me?'
+
+"'No, Silvain; it is pure accident, if there be such a thing as
+accident.'
+
+"'There is not,' he said; 'all is ordained.'
+
+"'One of our old arguments, Silvain,' I said, still with a cheerful
+air; I would not humour his gloomy mood.
+
+"'Do not mock me;' and he spread his hands, with upturned palms. 'Can
+you not see?'
+
+"'I can see that you are in bad trim, which can easily be set right.
+Silvain,' I said reproachfully, 'this is not as we used to meet. I
+come to you with open arms, and you receive me with doubt and
+suspicion. Are we not, as we always were and always shall be, friends
+staunch and true? You are the same Silvain; I am the same Louis;
+unchanged, as you will find me if you care to prove me.'
+
+"Avicia had risen and crept close to my side.
+
+"'Friends staunch and true,' she said, echoing my words. 'You are not
+mocking him?'
+
+"'Indeed, no.'
+
+"'Then give us food,' she said.
+
+"At this appeal I felt my pretended cheerfulness deserting me, but I
+caught the would-be runaway, and held it fast.
+
+"'Food!' I exclaimed, rattling some money in my pocket. 'Would that I
+knew where to obtain it! Here am I, starving, lost in the woods last
+night, and with not an idea now how to get out of them. Can you show
+me the way?'
+
+"'Yes,' she replied eagerly.
+
+"'Then I am fortunate, indeed, in lighting on you, and I bless the
+chance. Ah, Silvain, how I searched for you! To leave me, without ever
+a word--I would not have believed it of you. It was as though you
+doubted my friendship, which,' I added, 'is as sincere at this moment
+as ever it was in the years gone by.' Here there was a little choking
+in my throat because of the tears which again flowed from his eyes. 'I
+went to the village three times to get news of you, and had to come
+away unsatisfied. I wrote to your home in Germany, and received no
+reply. We have much to tell each other. But I am forgetting. You are
+faint and weary, and so am I. Can you take us to an inn where we can
+put some cheerful life into our bodies?'
+
+"I addressed this last question to Avicia, and she answered 'Yes,' and
+was about to lead the way when Silvain stopped her.
+
+"'Is it on our road?' he asked.
+
+"'Yes,' she answered, 'it is on our road.'
+
+"He motioned to her to proceed, and she stepped forward, Silvain and I
+walking side by side in the rear. This companionship was of my
+prompting, for had I not detained him he would have joined Avicia. I
+was burning with curiosity to learn what had befallen my friend during
+the last few years, but I restrained myself from asking questions
+which I felt he was not in the proper frame of mind at present to
+answer. Therefore as we walked onwards it was chiefly I who had to
+beguile the way. I told him all that had passed since we last met,
+narrated adventures which in former times would have interested him,
+and spoke freely of my settlement in life and of the happiness of my
+home. He acknowledged my efforts in monosyllables, but volunteered
+nothing of himself or Avicia. At the end of about an hour's walk we
+arrived at a village, in which there was one poor inn, and there we
+halted. Before we entered Silvain said,
+
+"'A word first. I have been seemingly churlish and ungrateful, but I
+am not so. My heart is overflowing with thankfulness; presently,
+perhaps, I may have courage to unbosom myself. You are as you were;
+life is fair and sweet to you.'
+
+"It was only because he paused here that I spoke: 'And will be to you,
+Silvain.'
+
+"'Never again,' he said. 'I am followed by a relentless spirit; I have
+been pursued for years by one who was heart of my heart, soul of my
+soul, but who now, from feelings of revenge, and as he believes of
+justice, is my bitter enemy.'
+
+"'Dare I mention his name, Silvain?'
+
+"'I will do so. My brother Kristel. It is of him I wish to say a word
+to you before I partake of your charity.'
+
+"'Silvain!' I cried, in remonstrance.
+
+"'Forgive me. I am tormented because of my condition, because of
+Avicia's misery. Answer me honestly. Is it really true that you came
+upon us by chance in the woods?'
+
+"'It is really true.'
+
+"'Kristel did not send you?'
+
+"'I have not seen Kristel since you and I last met.'
+
+"'Nor heard from him?'
+
+"'Nor heard from him.'
+
+"He took the hand I held out to him, and we followed Avicia into the
+inn, where, very soon, we were seated at a table with a modest meal
+before us. The food was poor enough, the wine was thin and common, but
+we could scarcely have enjoyed a grand banquet more. I speak not alone
+for myself, but for Silvain and Avicia; it was evident to me that they
+had not had many full meals lately. Avicia especially ate ravenously,
+and with a perfect sense of animal enjoyment, and it was only when she
+had finished that a certain terror, which I had observed in both her
+and Silvain, again asserted itself.
+
+"'Remain here a while, Avicia,' said Silvain, at the end of the meal;
+'I wish to speak to our friend alone.'
+
+"'Are we safe?' she asked.
+
+"'I think so; I hope so. Sleep; it will do you good.'
+
+"'Thank you, Silvain.'
+
+"She was seated on a hard bench, not conducive to repose; nevertheless
+she closed her eyes, and was almost immediately asleep.
+
+"'Poor girl!' said Silvain, with a sigh, 'she has suffered much--and
+in a few weeks will become a mother.'
+
+"We strolled up and down outside the inn and conversed.
+
+"'You have behaved to us with true friendship,' he said; 'and yet you
+can see we are beggars. Are you prospering?'
+
+"I am not rich,' I replied, 'but I can spare to a friend.'
+
+"'We are making our way to Avicia's home, to the lighthouse upon which
+I saw her for the first time otherwise than in my dreams. I doubt
+whether you can turn aside the finger of Fate as I behold it, pointing
+downwards to a grave, but you can perhaps help us to cheat it for a
+short time.'
+
+"'You speak strangely, Silvain; the ominous fears which oppress you
+may be bred by a disordered fancy.'
+
+"'In our former intercourse,' was his reply, 'was my fancy ever
+disordered? I advanced nothing that was not afterwards proved; I made
+no pretence of accounting for the warnings I received; I make none
+now. I shudder to think of the future, not so much for my own sake as
+for Avicia's. Helpless, penniless, without a friend----'
+
+"'You are forgetting me, Silvain?'
+
+"'Ah, yes, my friend, as you still declare yourself to be; I cannot
+but believe you. But Avicia----'
+
+"'I am her friend as well as yours.'
+
+"'For God's sake, do not speak lightly! You do not know to what a pass
+I am driven.'
+
+"'You shall enlighten me, and I maybe able to counsel you. Do not
+think I am speaking lightly, As I am your friend, so am I Avicia's. As
+I will stand by you, so will I stand by her.'
+
+"'In perfect faith, Louis?'
+
+"It was the first time he had uttered my name, and I held it as a sign
+that I had dispelled his distrust. I replied, 'In perfect faith,
+Silvain.'
+
+"'I accept it so. When I am gone, she will not be quite alone in the
+world. And now, will you give me a little money? I do not ask you to
+lend it to me, for I have no expectation of being able to repay you. I
+will briefly explain the necessity for it. We are bound for the
+lighthouse. It is our only refuge, and there our child will be born.
+May it prove a comfort to the mother! We have fifty miles to go, and
+Avicia is not strong enough to walk----'
+
+"'Say no more,' I interrupted, 'of the necessity for such a trifle; I
+can spare you more than sufficient for your purpose.'
+
+"I took from my purse what was requisite for my immediate needs, and
+pressed the purse with the coins that remained into his hand. He took
+it in silence, and his emaciated form shook with gratitude.
+
+"'You ask no questions about these,' he said, pointing to his rags.
+
+"'Why should I?' I asked in return. 'But there are one or two points
+upon which you might satisfy me.'
+
+"'I cannot go into my history, Louis. If you will give me your address
+I will send it to you before the week is out. Indeed, after your noble
+promise with respect to Avicia, it is yours by right. It will not only
+enlighten, it will guide you.'
+
+"'I will wait for it, and will make an opportunity of seeing you soon
+after I have read it. The points I wish to mention are these: While
+you and Avicia were sleeping in the forest, and I stood looking down
+upon you, you cried--not because of my presence, of which you were
+ignorant, but because of some disturbing dream--"He is coming
+nearer--nearer! We must fly!" To whom did you refer?'
+
+"'To my brother Kristel. He is pursuing us.'
+
+"'To your hurt?'
+
+"'To my destruction.'
+
+"'Then you have seen him?'
+
+"'I have not seen him. I know it through my dreams, as of old. You
+could not doubt their truth when we travelled together--ah, those
+happy days!--you cannot doubt it now.'
+
+"'Then, what was love between you has turned to hate?' The words
+escaped me unaware; I repented of them the moment they were spoken.
+
+"'Yes,' said Silvain, in a tone of deepest sadness, 'what was love
+between us is turned to hate. Ask me no more questions--in pity!'
+
+"'But one, Silvain. Have you any children?'
+
+"'None. The babe that Avicia will soon press to her breast will be our
+first-born.'
+
+"To matters upon which I saw he was then unwilling to converse, I made
+no further reference. He engaged a light cart and horse, and a man to
+drive them to the village by the sea. Then he woke Avicia, and I said
+farewell to them, and gazed after them till they were out of sight.
+
+"As he had promised, I received from him before the end of the week a
+statement of his adventures. It is now among my papers in Nerac, and I
+remember perfectly all the salient particulars necessary to my story,
+which is now drawing to a conclusion. I will narrate them in my own
+way, asking you to recall the day upon which the brothers were last
+seen in the village by the sea."
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+"Silvain, Kristel, and Avicia, accompanied by her father, rowed from
+the lighthouse to the shore. The villagers saw but little of them;
+they passed out of the village, and Avicia's father returned alone to
+the lighthouse. Kristel loved Avicia with all the passion of a hot,
+imperious, and intense nature. He looked upon her as his, and had he
+suspected that Silvain would have fallen in love with her, it can
+readily be understood that he would have been the last man to bring
+them into association with each other. But so it happened.
+
+"When Kristel and Avicia met in the Tyrol, Kristel was buoyed up with
+hopes that she reciprocated the love she had inspired in his breast.
+He had some reason for this hope, for at his request, when he asked
+her to become his wife and said that he could not marry without his
+father's consent, she had written home to _her_ father with respect to
+the young gentleman's proposal, thereby leading him to believe that
+she was ready to accept him. It appeared, however, that there was no
+real depth in her feelings for him; and, indeed, it may be pardoned
+her if she supposed that his fervid protestations were prompted by
+feelings as light and as little genuine as her own. Unsophisticated as
+she was in the ways of the world, the fact of his making the
+honourable accomplishment of his love for her dependent upon the fiat
+of another person could not but have lessened the value of his
+declarations--more especially when she had not truly given him her
+heart. It was given to Silvain upon the occasion of their first
+meeting, and it was not long before they found the opportunity to
+exchange vows of affection--a circumstance of which I and every person
+but themselves were entirely ignorant. But love is cunning.
+
+"It was because of Avicia's fear of her father that this love was kept
+secret; he held her completely in control, and--first favouring
+Kristel and then Silvain, playing them against each other, as it were,
+to his own advantage in the way of gifts--filled her with
+apprehension.
+
+"'Looking back,' Silvain said in his statement to me, 'upon the
+history of those days of happiness and torture, I can see now that I
+was wrong in not endeavouring to arrive at a frank understanding with
+my brother; but indeed I had but one thought--Avicia. As Kristel
+believed her to be his, so did I believe her to be mine, and the idea
+of losing her was sufficient to make my life a life of despair. And
+after all, it was for Avicia to decide. Absorbing as was my love for
+her, I should have had no choice but to retire and pass my days in
+misery had she decided in favour of Kristel.'
+
+"The base conduct of Avicia's father was to a great extent the cause
+of turning brotherly love to hate. Seeing their infatuation, he
+bargained with each secretly, saying, in effect, 'What will you give
+me if I give you my daughter's hand?--for she will not, and cannot,
+marry without my consent.'
+
+"And to the other, 'What will _you_ give me?'
+
+"He bound them to secrecy by a solemn oath, and bound his daughter
+also in like manner, promising that she should have the one she loved.
+Silvain was the more liberal of the two, and signed papers, pledging
+himself to pay to the avaricious father a large sum of money within a
+certain time after his union with Avicia. So cunningly did the keeper
+of the lighthouse conduct these base negotiations, that, even on that
+last day when they all rowed together to the village, neither of the
+brothers knew that matters were to be brought then and there to an
+irrevocable end.
+
+"The village by the sea lay behind them some six or eight miles. Then,
+upon a false pretext, Avicia's father got rid of Kristel, sending him
+on an errand for Avicia which would render necessary an absence of
+many hours. That done, he said to Silvain and Avicia, 'Everything is
+arranged. This day will see you man and wife. Come with me to the
+priest.'
+
+"'But where is Kristel?' asked Silvain, his heart throbbing with joy.
+'Does he not know?'
+
+"'Yes, he knows,' replied Avicia's father, 'but, as you are aware, he
+had a sneaking regard himself for my daughter, and he thought he would
+feel more comfortable, and you and Avicia too, if he were not present
+at the ceremony. He bade me give you his blessing.'
+
+"Satisfied with this--being, indeed, naturally only too willing to be
+satisfied--the marriage ceremony took place, and Silvain and Avicia
+became man and wife. They departed on their honeymoon, and instructed
+the keeper of the lighthouse to inform Kristel of their route, in
+order that he might be able to join them at any point he pleased.
+
+"Then came the interview between Avicia's father and Kristel, in which
+the young man was informed that he had lost Avicia. Kristel was
+dismayed and furious at what he believed to be the blackest treachery
+on the part of his brother. He swore to be revenged, and asked the
+road they had taken. Avicia's father sent him off in an entirely
+opposite direction, and he set out in pursuit. Needless to say that he
+soon found out how he had been tricked, and that it infuriated him the
+more. Not knowing where else to write to Silvain, he addressed a
+letter to him at their home in Germany; he himself did not proceed
+thither, judging that his best chance of meeting the married couple
+lay near the village by the sea, to which he felt convinced Silvain
+and Avicia would soon return. Therefore he lurked in the vicinity of
+the village, and watched by day and night the principal avenues by
+which it was to be approached. But his judgment was at fault; they did
+not return.
+
+"In the meantime the lovers were enjoying their honeymoon. In order to
+keep faith with Avicia's father in the bargain made between him and
+Silvain--which rendered necessary the payment of a substantial sum of
+money by a given time--it was imperative that Silvain should visit his
+boyhood's home, to obtain his share of the inheritance left to him and
+Kristel by their father. The happy couple dallied by the way, and it
+was not until three months after their marriage that they arrived at
+Silvain's birthplace.
+
+"'Perhaps we shall meet Kristel there,' said Silvain.
+
+"Instead of meeting his brother, Silvain received the letter which
+Kristel had written to him. It breathed the deepest hate, and Silvain
+had the unhappiness of reading the outpourings of a relentless,
+vindictive spirit, driven to despair by disappointed love.
+
+"'You have robbed me,' the letter said; 'hour by hour, day by day,
+have you set yourself deliberately to ensnare me and to fill my life
+with black despair. Had I suspected it at the time I would have
+strangled you. But your fate is only postponed; revenge is mine, and I
+hold it in my soul as a sacred trust which I shall fulfil. You shall
+die by my hands. Never in this world or in the next will I forgive
+you! My relentless hate shall haunt and pursue you, and you shall not
+escape it!'
+
+"And then the writer recorded an awful oath that, while life remained
+within him, his one sole aim should be to compass his revenge. It was
+a lengthy letter, and strong as is my description of it, it falls
+short of the intense malignity which pervaded every line. Kristel
+launched a curse so terrible against his brother that Silvain's hair
+rose up in horror and fear as he read it. These are Silvain's own
+words to me:
+
+"'After reading Kristel's letter,' he said, 'I felt that I was
+accursed, and that it was destined that he should kill me.'
+
+"How to escape the terrible doom--though he had scarcely a hope of
+averting it--how to prevent the crime of blood-guiltiness lying upon
+Kristel's soul: this was thereafter the object of Silvain's life. It
+afforded him no consolation to know that for the intense hate with
+which Kristel's heart was filled Avicia's father was partly
+responsible.
+
+"In its delineation of the trickery by which Kristel had been robbed
+of Avicia the letter was not truthful, for there had occurred between
+the brothers a conversation in which Silvain had revealed his love for
+her. Kristel's over-wrought feelings probably caused him to forget
+this--or it may have been a perversion of fact adopted to give
+sanction to hate.
+
+"Kristel's letter was not the only despairing greeting which awaited
+Silvain in the home of his boyhood. By some unhappy means the
+inheritance left by his father had melted away, and he found himself a
+beggar. Thus he was unable to carry out the terms of the bargain
+Avicia's father had made with him. This part of his misfortune did not
+greatly trouble him; it was but a just punishment to a grasping,
+avaricious man; but with beggary staring him in the face, and his
+brother's curse and awful design weighing upon him, his situation was
+most dreadful and pitiable.
+
+"It was his intention to keep Kristel's letter from the knowledge of
+Avicia, but she secretly obtained possession of it, and it filled her
+soul with an agonising fear. They decided that it was impossible to
+return to the village by sea.
+
+"'It is there my brother waits for us,' said Silvain.
+
+"So from that time they commenced a wandering life, with the one
+dominant desire to escape from Kristel.
+
+"I cannot enter now into a description of the years that followed.
+They crept from place to place, picking up a precarious existence, and
+enduring great privations. One morning Silvain awoke, trembling and
+afraid. 'I have seen Kristel,' he said.
+
+"She did not ask him how and under what circumstances he had seen his
+brother.
+
+"'He has discovered that we are here, and is in pursuit of us,'
+Silvain continued. 'We must fly without delay.'
+
+"This was an added grief to Avicia. The place in which Silvain's dream
+of his brother had been dreamt had afforded them shelter and security
+for many weeks, and she had begun to indulge in the hope that they
+were safe. Vain hope! They must commence their wanderings again. From
+that period, at various times, Silvain was visited by dreams in which
+he was made acquainted with Kristel's movements in so far as they
+affected him and Avicia and the mission of vengeance upon which
+Kristel was relentlessly bent. They made their way to foreign
+countries, and even there Kristel pursued them. And so through the
+days and years continued the pitiful flight and the merciless pursuit.
+In darkness they wandered often, the shadow of fate at their heels, in
+Avicia's imagination lurking in the solitudes through which they
+passed, amidst thickets of trees, in hollows and ravines, waiting,
+waiting, waiting to fall upon and destroy them! An appalling life, the
+full terrors of which the mind can scarcely grasp.
+
+"At length, when worldly circumstances pressed so heavily upon them
+that they hardly knew where to look for the next day's food, Avicia
+whispered to her husband that she expected to become a mother, and
+that she was possessed by an inexpressible longing that her child
+should be born where she herself first drew breath. After the lapse of
+so many years it appeared to Silvain that the lighthouse would be the
+likeliest place of safety, and, besides, it was Avicia's earnest wish.
+They were on the road thither when I chanced upon them in the forest."
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+"After reading Silvain's letter I lost as little time as possible in
+paying a visit to the village by the sea. I took with me some presents
+for the villagers, who were unaffectedly glad to see me, and not
+because of the gifts I brought for them. There I heard what news they
+could impart of the history of the lighthouse since I last visited
+them. The disappointment with respect to the money he expected from
+Silvain had rendered the keeper more savage and morose than ever. For
+years after the marriage of his daughter he lived alone on the
+lighthouse, but within the last twelve months he had sent for a young
+man who was related to him distantly, and who was now looking after
+the lights. This young man was deaf and dumb. What kind of comfort the
+companionship of a man so afflicted could be in such a home it is
+difficult to say, but the new arrival came in good time, for two
+months afterwards Avicia's father slipped over some rocks in the
+vicinity of the lighthouse, and so injured himself that he could not
+rise from his bed. Thus, when Silvain and Avicia presented themselves
+he could make no practical resistance to their taking up their abode
+with him. However it was, there they were upon my present visit, and I
+went at once to see them.
+
+"They received me with a genuine demonstration of feeling, and I was
+pleased to see that they were looking better. Regular food, and the
+secure shelter of a roof from which they were not likely to be turned
+away at a moment's notice, doubtless contributed to this improvement.
+The pressure of a dark terror was, however, still visible in their
+faces, and during my visit I observed Silvain go to the outer gallery
+at least three or four times, and scan the surrounding sea with
+anxious eyes. To confirm or dispel the impression I gathered from this
+anxious outlook I questioned Silvain.
+
+"'I am watching for Kristel,' he said.
+
+"It is scarcely likely he will come to you here,' I said.
+
+"'He is certain to come to me here,' said Silvain; 'he is now on the
+road.'
+
+"'You know this from your dreams?'
+
+"'Yes, my dreams assure me of it. What wonder that I dream of the
+spirit which has been hunting me for years in the person of Kristel. I
+think of nothing else. Waking or sleeping, he is ever before me.'
+
+"'Should he come, what will you do, Silvain?'
+
+"'I hardly know; but at all hazards he must, if possible, be prevented
+from effecting an entrance into the lighthouse. It would be the death
+of Avicia.'
+
+"He pronounced the words 'if possible' with so much emphasis that I
+said:
+
+"'Surely that can be prevented.'
+
+"'I cannot be on the alert by night as well as by day,' said Silvain.
+'My dread is that at a time when I am sleeping he will take me
+unaware. Hush! Avicia is coming up the stairs; do not let her hear us
+conversing upon a subject which has been the terror of her life. She
+does not know that I am constantly on the watch.'
+
+"In this belief he was labouring under a delusion, for Avicia spoke to
+me privately about it; she was aware of the anxiety which, she said,
+she was afraid was wearing him away; and indeed, as she made this
+allusion, and I glanced at Silvain, who was standing in another part
+of the lighthouse, I observed what had hitherto escaped me, that his
+features were thinner, and that there was a hectic flush upon them
+which, in the light of his tragic story, too surely told a tale of an
+inward fretting likely to prove fatal. She told me that often in the
+night when Silvain was sleeping she would rise softly and go to the
+gallery, in fear that Kristel was stealthily approaching them.
+
+"I saw her father. He gazed at me, and did not speak--not that he was
+unable, but because it was part of the cunning of his nature. Silvain
+informed me that Avicia expected her baby in three weeks from that
+day. I had not come empty-handed, and I left behind me welcome
+remembrances, promising to come again the following week.
+
+"I kept my promise. Upon seeing me, a woman of the village ran towards
+me, and whispered:
+
+"'Kristel is here.'
+
+"I followed the direction of her gaze, which was simply one of
+curiosity, and saw a man standing on the beach, facing the lighthouse.
+I walked straight up to him, and touched him with my hand. He turned,
+and I recognised Kristel.
+
+"I recognised him--yes; but not from any resemblance he bore to the
+Kristel of former days. Had I met him under ordinary circumstances I
+should not have known him. His thin face was covered with hair; his
+eyes were sunken and wild; his bony wrists, his long fingers, seemed
+to be fleshless. I spoke to him, and mentioned my name. He heard me,
+but did not reply. I begged him to speak, and he remained silent.
+After his first look at me he turned from me, and stood with his eyes
+in the direction of the lighthouse. I would not accept his reception
+of me; I continued to address him; I asked him upon what errand he had
+come, and why he kept his eyes so fixedly upon the lighthouse. I gave
+him information of myself, and said I should be pleased to see him in
+my home--with a vague and foolish hope that he would accept the
+invitation, and that I might be able to work upon his better nature.
+And still no word came from him. I did not dare to utter the name of
+either Silvain or Avicia, fearing that I should awake the demon that
+had taken possession of his soul.
+
+"By the time that I had exhausted what I thought it wise and good to
+say, I found myself falling into a kind of fascination, produced by
+his motionless attitude, and the fixed gaze in his unnaturally
+brilliant eyes. It was a bright day, and I knew that my imagination
+was playing me a trick, but I saw clearly with my mind's eye, the
+outer gallery of the lighthouse, and the figure of Avicia standing
+thereon, with her hair hanging loose, and a scarlet covering on her
+head. Was it a spiritual reflection of what this silent, motionless
+man was gazing upon? I shuddered, and passed my hand across my eyes;
+the vision was gone--but he gazed upon it still.
+
+"I was compelled at length to leave him standing there upon the beach,
+and he took no notice of my departure.
+
+"Others were observing him as well as I, and had watched me with
+curiosity during the time I stood by his side. When I was among them
+they asked if he had spoken to me.
+
+"'No,' I replied, 'I could get no word from him.'
+
+"'Neither has he spoken to us,' they said. 'Not a sound has passed his
+lips since his arrival.'
+
+"'When did he arrive?' I inquired.
+
+"'Yesterday,' they answered, 'and our first thought was that he would
+want a boat to row to the lighthouse, but he did not ask for it.
+Surely he must wish to see his brother! There is something strange
+about him, do you not think so? One of our women here insists that he
+is dumb.'
+
+"'He must be dumb,' said the woman; 'else why should he not speak?'
+
+"'There was a jealousy between him and his brother,' said an elderly
+woman, 'about Avicia.'
+
+"'What has that to do with it?' exclaimed the woman who pronounced him
+dumb. 'Jealousy, like love, does not last for ever. She is not the
+only woman in the world, and men have eyes. They must have made up
+their quarrel long ago. Besides, if he _was_ jealous still, which
+isn't in the least likely, that would not make him dumb! His tongue
+would be all the looser for it.'
+
+"'More terrible,' thought I, 'is the dread silence of that motionless
+man than all the storms of wrath his tongue could utter.'
+
+"From what the villagers said, I knew that they were in ignorance of
+the hatred which filled Kristel's heart, and I debated within myself
+what it was best to do. That the simple men of the village would not
+voluntarily make themselves parties to any scheme of blind vengeance
+on the part of one brother against another I was certain, but I was
+not satisfied that it would be right to give them my whole confidence,
+and tell them all I knew. At the same time it would not be right to
+allow them to remain in complete ignorance, for by so doing they might
+be made unwittingly to further Kristel's designs upon his brother's
+life. There was a priest in the village, and I went to him, and under
+the seal of secrecy revealed something, but not all, of the meaning of
+Kristel's appearance.
+
+"'Come with me,' he said.
+
+"I accompanied him, and once more stood by the side of Kristel. The
+priest addressed him, counselled him, exhorted him, and, like myself,
+could obtain no word from him. Kindlier speech I never heard, but it
+made no impression upon Kristel.
+
+"'He _must_ be dumb,' said the priest as we moved away.
+
+"'Not so,' I said earnestly; 'were he dumb, and unable to hear what is
+said to him, he would certainly indicate by some kind of sign that
+speech addressed to him was falling upon ears that were deaf. He is
+possessed by a demoniac obduracy, and his apparent indifference is but
+a part of a fell design to which I should be afraid to give a name.'
+
+"The priest was impressed by this view of the matter, which could not
+but appeal successfully to a man's calm reason.
+
+"'What can I do?' he asked. 'If a man is determined not to speak, I
+have no power to compel him.'
+
+"'It is in your power,' I said, 'to prevent bloodshed.'
+
+"'Bloodshed!' he echoed, in a startled tone.
+
+"'Nothing less, I fear,' I said. 'Lay an injunction upon the villagers
+not to lend that man a boat, and not, under any pretext, to row him to
+the lighthouse.'
+
+"'What dreadful thoughts do your words suggest!' exclaimed the priest.
+'They alarm and bewilder me.'
+
+"'I am not at liberty to say more at the present moment,' I said. 'I
+shall not leave the village to-day. I myself will see that man's
+brother, and will obtain permission from him to reveal all I know.
+Meanwhile give not that soul-tossed wretch the opportunity of carrying
+out a scheme of ruthless vengeance which he has harboured for years.'
+
+"'Tell me explicitly what you wish me to do.'
+
+"'I have already told you. That man, with the connivance or assistance
+of any person in this village, must not be enabled to get to the
+lighthouse.'
+
+"'He shall not,' said the priest.
+
+"And he mixed with the villagers, men and women, and laid upon them
+the injunction I desired. With my mind thus set at ease for at least a
+few hours, I engaged a couple of boatmen to row me to Silvain. I half
+expected that Kristel would come forward with a request, made if not
+in speech in dumb show, to be allowed to accompany me, and I had
+resolved what action to take; but he made no step towards me. He gave
+no indication even of a knowledge of what was taking place within a
+dozen yards of him, although it was not possible that the putting off
+of the boat from the shore could have escaped his observation.
+
+"'If he is not deaf and dumb,' said one of the rowers, 'he must have
+gone clean out of his senses.'
+
+"'Neither one nor the other,' thought I; 'he is nursing his vengeance,
+and has decided upon some plan of action.'
+
+"Silvain and Avicia were on the outer gallery, and when I joined them
+Silvain drew me aside.
+
+"'You have news of Kristel,' he said. I nodded, and he continued: 'I
+know without the telling. He is in the village.'
+
+"'Who informed you?' I asked.
+
+"'No human,' he replied, with a sad smile. 'I see him standing upon
+the beach, looking towards us.'
+
+"In truth that was a physical impossibility, but I needed no further
+proof of the mysterious insight with which Silvain was gifted. I
+related to him all that had passed between me and Kristel and the
+priest, and of the precautions taken to keep from Kristel the means of
+reaching the lighthouse.
+
+"'That will not prevent him from coming, said Silvain; 'he is a fine
+swimmer. I myself, were I desperately pushed to it, would undertake to
+swim to the village. You hold to your promise. You hold to your
+promise, Louis, with respect to Avicia?'
+
+"'It is binding upon me,' I replied; 'my word is given.'
+
+"'Faithful friend! Neither will my child be left without a counsellor.
+Louis, I shall never see the face of my child--I shall never feel his
+little hands about my neck!'
+
+"'Were it not for the tender sympathy I have for you,' I said in a
+tone of reproof, 'I should feel inclined to be angry. Did you not
+confess to me in former days that you could not see into the future?
+And here you are, raising up ghosts to make the present more bitter
+than it is. No, no, Silvain. Black as things appear, there are bright
+years yet in store for you.'
+
+"'I cannot help my forebodings, Louis. True, I cannot, nor can any
+man, see into the future, but what can I do to turn my brother's hate
+from me?' It was a cry of anguish wrung from his suffering heart. 'I
+think of the days of our childhood, when we strolled in the woods with
+our arms round each other's necks, I think of the dreams we mapped of
+the future. Running water by the side of which we sat, bending over to
+see our faces, and making our lips meet in a shadowed kiss, flowers we
+picked in field and meadow, errands of mercy we went upon together,
+twilight communings, the little sweethearts we had--all these innocent
+ways of childhood rise before me, and fill me with anguish. What can I
+do?--what can I do to bring him back to me in brotherly love? Louis, I
+have a fear that I have never whispered to living soul. It is that
+Avicia may have twin children, as Kristel and I are, and they should
+grow up to be as we are now! Would it not be better that they should
+be born dead, or die young, when their souls are not stained with
+hatred of each other and with evil thoughts that render existence a
+curse?'
+
+"We were alone when he gave expression to his agonised feelings;
+Avicia had left us to attend to domestic duties. I could say nothing
+to comfort him; to harp upon one string of intended consolation to a
+man who is in no mood to accept it becomes, after a time, an
+oppression. He paced up and down, twining his fingers convulsively,
+and presently said,
+
+"'It would be too much, Louis, to ask you to remain with me a little
+while?'
+
+"'No,' I replied, 'it would not. Indeed, it was partly in my mind to
+suggest it. The crisis you have dreaded for many years has come, and
+if you wish me to stop with you a day or two I will willingly do so.
+It may be--I do not know how--that I can be of service to you. The
+boatmen are waiting in the boat below. I will write a letter to my
+wife, and they shall post it, informing her that I shall be absent
+from home perhaps until the end of the week, by which time I hope the
+cloud will have passed away. No thanks, Silvain; friendship would be a
+poor and valueless thing if one shrank from a sacrifice so slight.'
+
+"I wrote my letter, and despatched it by the boatmen. Then we waited
+for events; it was all that it was in our power to do.
+
+"Avicia was very glad when she heard of my intention to remain with
+them a while.
+
+"'Your companionship will do him good,' she said. 'He has no one but
+me to talk to, and he speaks of but one subject. If this continues
+long he will lose his reason.'
+
+"The day passed, and night came on. There was but scanty living
+accommodation in the lighthouse, but a mattress was spread for me upon
+the floor of the tiny kitchen; and there I was to sleep. Avicia and
+Silvain wished me to occupy their bed, but I would not have it so.
+Before retiring to rest, Silvain and I passed two or three hours in
+converse; I purposely led the conversation into foreign channels, and
+when I wished him good-night I was rejoiced to perceive that I had
+succeeded for a brief space in diverting his mind from the fears which
+weighed so heavily upon him.
+
+"Nothing occurred during the night to disturb us; I awoke early, and
+lay waiting for sunrise; but no light came, and when, aroused by
+Silvain, I left my bed and went to the outer gallery, I was surprised
+to see that all surrounding space was wrapt in a thick mist.
+
+"'A great storm will soon be upon us,' said Silvain.
+
+"He was right; before noon the storm burst, and the sea was lashed
+into fury. It was a relief to see the play of lightning upon the angry
+waters, but it was terrible too, and I thought how awful and joyless a
+lone life must be when spent in such a home. This second day seemed as
+if it would never end, and it was only by my watch that I knew of the
+approach of night. With the sounds of the storm in my ears I lay down
+upon my mattress and fell asleep.
+
+"I know not at what time of the night I awoke, but with black darkness
+upon and around me, I found myself sitting up, listening to sounds
+without which did not proceed from the conflict of the elements. At
+first I could not decide whether they were real or but the refrain of
+a dream by which I had been disturbed; soon, however, I received
+indisputable evidence that they were not the creations of my fancy.
+
+"'Kristel! For God's sake, listen to me!'
+
+"The voice was Silvain's, and the words were uttered in outer space.
+When I retired to rest I had lain down in my clothes, removing only my
+coat, and using it as a covering. I quickly put it on, and lit a lamp,
+to which a chain was attached, by which means it could be held over
+the walls of the lighthouse. The lamp was scarcely lighted, when
+Avicia, but half dressed, rushed into the little room.
+
+"'Silvain!' she cried. 'Where is Silvain?'
+
+"Her eyes wandered round the room, seeking him. At that moment the
+voice from without pierced the air.
+
+"'Kristel! Oh, my brother, listen to me!'
+
+"I threw my arms round Avicia, and held her fast.
+
+"'Why do you hold me?' she screamed. 'Are you, too, leagued against
+us? Silvain! Silvain!'
+
+"It needed all my strength to restrain her from rushing out in her
+wild delirium, perhaps to her destruction. I whispered to her
+hurriedly that I intended to go to the outer gallery, and that she
+should accompany me; and also that if she truly wished to be of
+assistance to her husband she must be calm. She ceased instantly to
+struggle, and said in a tone of suppressed excitement,
+
+"'Come, then.'
+
+"I did not quit my hold of her, but I used now only one hand, which I
+clasped firmly round her wrist, my other being required for the
+lantern. The next moment we were standing upon the gallery, bending
+over. It was pitch dark, and we could see nothing; even the white
+spray of the waves, as they dashed against the stone walls, was not
+visible to us; but we heard Silvain's voice, at intervals, appealing
+in frenzied tones to Kristel, who, it needed not the evidence of sight
+to know, was holding on to the chains and struggling with his brother.
+How the two came into that awful position was never discovered, and I
+could only judge by inference that Kristel, in the dead of this deadly
+night, had made his way by some means to the lighthouse, and was
+endeavouring to effect an entrance, when Silvain, awakened by his
+attempts, had gone out to him, and was instantly seized and dragged
+down.
+
+"So fearful and confused were the minutes that immediately followed
+that I have but an indistinct impression of the occurrences of the
+time, which will live ever within me as the most awful in my life. I
+know that I never lost my grasp of Avicia, and that but for me she
+would have flung herself over the walls; I know that the brothers were
+engaged in a struggle for life and death, and that Silvain continued
+to make the most pathetic appeals to Kristel to listen to him, and not
+to stain his soul with blood; I know that in those appeals there were
+the tenderest references to their boyhood's days, to the love which
+had existed between them, each for the other, to trivial incidents in
+their childhood, to their mother who worshipped them and was now
+looking down upon them, to the hopes in which they had indulged of a
+life of harmony and affection; I know that it struck me then as most
+terrible that during the whole of the struggle no word issued from
+Kristel's lips; I know that there were heartrending appeals from
+Avicia to Kristel to spare her husband, and that there were tender
+cries from her to Silvain, and from Silvain to her; I know that,
+finding a loose chain on the gallery, I lowered it to the combatants,
+and called out to Silvain--foolishly enough, in so far as he could
+avail himself of it--to release himself from his brother's arms and
+seize it, and that I and Avicia would draw him up to safety; I know
+that in one vivid flash of lightning I saw the struggling forms and
+the beautiful white spray of the waves; I know that Silvain's voice
+grew fainter and fainter until it was heard no more; I know that there
+was the sound of a heavy body or bodies falling into the sea, that a
+shriek of woe and despair clove my heart like a knife, and that Avicia
+lay in my arms moaning and trembling. I bore her tenderly into her
+room, and laid her on her bed.
+
+"The storm ceased; no sound was heard without. The rising sun filled
+the eastern horizon with loveliest hues of saffron and crimson. The
+sea was calm; there was no trace of tempest and human agony. By that
+time Avicia was a mother, and lay with her babes pressed to her bosom.
+Silvain's fear was realised: he was the dead father of twin brothers.
+
+"The assistant whom Avicia's father had engaged rowed me to the
+village, and there I enlisted the services of a woman, who accompanied
+me back to the lighthouse, and attended to Avicia. The mother lived
+but two days after the birth of her babes. Until her last hour she was
+delirious, but then she recovered her senses and recognised me.
+
+"'My dear Silvain told me,' she said, in a weak, faint voice, 'that
+you would be a friend to our children. Bless the few moments remaining
+to me by assuring me that you will not desert them.'
+
+"I gave her the assurance for which she yearned, and she desired me to
+call them by the names of Eric and Emilius. It rejoiced me that she
+passed away in peace; strange as it may seem, it was an inexpressible
+relief to her bruised heart that the long agony was over. Her last
+words were,
+
+"'I trust you. God will reward you!'
+
+"And so, with her nerveless hand in mine, her spirit went out to her
+lover and husband.
+
+"We buried her in the village churchyard, and the day was observed as
+a day of mourning in that village by the sea.
+
+"I thought I could not do better than leave the twin babes for a time
+in the charge of the woman I had engaged, and it occurred to me that
+it might not be unprofitable to have some inquiries and investigation
+made with respect to the inheritance left by their grandfather to his
+sons Kristel and Silvain. I placed the matter in the hands of a shrewd
+lawyer, and he was enabled to recover a portion of what was due to
+their father. This was a great satisfaction to me, as it to some
+extent provided for the future of Eric and Emilius, and supplied the
+wherewithal for their education. It was my intention, when they
+arrived at a certain age, to bring them to my home in Nerac, and treat
+them as children of my own, but a difficulty cropped up for which I
+was not prepared and which I could not surmount. Avicia's father,
+learning that I had recovered a portion of Silvain's inheritance,
+demanded from me an account of it, and asserted his rights as the
+natural guardian of his grandchildren. There was no gainsaying the
+demand, and I was compelled reluctantly to leave Eric and Emilius in
+his charge. I succeeded, however, in prevailing upon him to allow them
+to pay me regular visits of long duration, so that a close intimacy of
+affectionate friendship has been established between them and the
+members of my family. Here ends my story--a strange and eventful one,
+you will admit. I often think of it in wonder, and this is the first
+time a full recital of it has passed my lips."
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+Such a story, which Doctor Louis truly described as strange and
+eventful, could not have failed to leave a deep impression upon me.
+During its recital I had, as it were, been charmed out of myself. My
+instinctive distrust of the twin brothers Eric and Emilius, the growth
+of a groundless jealousy, was for a while forgotten, and at the
+conclusion of the recital I was lost in the contemplation of the
+tragic pictures which had been presented to my mind's eye. Singularly
+enough, the most startling bit of colour in these pictures, that of
+the two brothers in their life and death struggle on the outer walls
+of the lighthouse, was not to me the dominant feature of the
+remarkable story. The awful, unnatural contest, Avicias agony,
+Silvain's soul-moving appeals, and the dread silence of Kristel--all
+this was as nought in comparison with the figure of a solitary man
+standing on the seashore, gazing in the direction of his lost
+happiness. I traced his life back through the years during which he
+was engaged in his relentless pursuit of the brother who had brought
+desolation into his life. In him, and in him alone, was centred the
+true pathos of the story; it was he who had been robbed, it was he who
+had been wronged. No deliberate act of treachery lay at his door; he
+loved, and had been deceived. Those in whom he placed his trust had
+deliberately betrayed him. The vengeance he sought and consummated was
+just.
+
+I did not make Doctor Louis acquainted with my views on the subject,
+knowing that he would not agree with me, and that all his sympathies
+were bestowed upon Silvain. There was something of cowardice in this
+concealment of my feelings, but although I experienced twinges of
+conscience for my want of courage, it was not difficult for me to
+justify myself in my own eyes. Doctor Louis was the father of the
+woman I loved, and in his hands lay my happiness. On no account must I
+instil doubt into his mind; he was a man of decided opinions,
+dogmatic, and strong-willed. No act or word of mine must cause him to
+have the least distrust of me. Therefore I played the cunning part,
+and was silent with respect to those threads in the story which
+possessed the firmest hold upon his affections.
+
+This enforced silence accentuated and strengthened my view. Silvain
+and Avicia were weak, feeble creatures. The man of great heart and
+resolute will, the man whose sufferings and wrongs made him a martyr,
+was Kristel. Faithful in love, faithful in hate. Trustful, heroic,
+unflinching. In a word, a man. But he and his brother, and the woman
+who had been the instrument of their fate, belonged to the past. They
+were dead and gone, and in the presence of Doctor Louis I put them
+aside a while. Time enough to think of them when I was alone.
+Meanwhile Eric and Emilius remained. They lived, and between their
+lives and mine there was a link. Of this I entertained no doubt, nor
+did I doubt that, in this connection, the future would not be
+colourless for us. To be prepared for the course which events might
+take: this was now my task and my duty. The thought was constantly in
+my mind. "As Kristel acted, so would I act, in love and hate."
+
+I observed Doctor Louis's eyes fixed earnestly upon my face.
+
+"You are agitated," he said.
+
+"Is not such a story," I said evasively, "enough to agitate one? Its
+movements are as the movements of a sublime tragedy."
+
+"True," mused Doctor Louis; "even in obscure lives may be found such
+elements."
+
+"You have told me little," I said, "of Eric and Emilius. Do they
+reside permanently in the lighthouse in which their mother died?"
+
+"They have a house in the village by the sea," replied Doctor Louis,
+"and they are in a certain sense fishermen on a large scale. The place
+has possessed for them a fascination, and it seemed as if they would
+never be able to tear themselves away from it. But their intimate
+association with it will soon be at an end."
+
+"In what way?"
+
+"They have sold their house and boats, and are coming to reside in
+Nerac for a time."
+
+I started and turned aside, for I did not wish Doctor Louis to see the
+cloud upon my face.
+
+"Only for a time?" I inquired.
+
+"It depends upon circumstances," said Doctor Louis. "If they are happy
+and contented in the present and in their prospects in the future,
+they will remain. Otherwise, they will seek a larger sphere."
+
+"Is this their idea?"
+
+"Not theirs alone. I am partly responsible. We have talked of it
+often, and I have urged them not to waste their lives in a village so
+small and primitive as that in which they were born."
+
+"Somewhat destructive of your own theories of happiness, doctor," I
+observed. "Yourself, for instance, wasting your life in a small place
+like Nerac, when by your gifts you are so well fitted to play your
+part in a large city."
+
+"I am selfish, I am afraid," he said with a deprecatory smile, "and am
+too much wrapped up in my own ease and comfort. At the same time you
+must bear in mind that mine is an exceptional case. It is a regretful
+thing to be compelled to say that the majority of lives and homes are
+less happy than my own. Often there is love, and poverty stands at the
+bright door which opens but on a scene of privation and ill-requited
+toil. Often there is wealth, in the use of which there has been an
+endeavour to purchase love, which, my friend, is not a marketable
+commodity. Often there are sorrow and sickness, and neither faith nor
+patience to lighten the load. It is my good fortune to have none of
+these ills. We have love and good health, and a sufficient share of
+worldly prosperity to provide for our days. Therefore I will leave
+myself out of the question. What!" he cried, interrupting himself in a
+tone at once light and earnest; "am I entirely useless in Nerac? Do I
+do no good whatever?"
+
+"You do much," I said, "and also do Eric and Emilius in their village.
+You have admitted that they are fishermen on a large scale, and
+possess boats. Consequently they employ labour, and the wages they pay
+support the homes of those who serve them."
+
+"With some young men," said Doctor Louis, with a good-humoured laugh,
+"there is no arguing. They are so keen in defence that they have a
+formidable parry for every thrust. To the point, then, without
+argument. Eric and Emilius have in them certain qualities which render
+me doubtful whether, as middle-aged men, they would be in their proper
+sphere in their village by the sea. The maidens there find no serious
+favour in their eyes."
+
+"Do they look," I asked, with a torturing pang of jealousy, "with a
+more appreciative eye upon the maidens in Nerac?"
+
+"Tush, tush," said Doctor Louis, in a kind tone, laying his hand upon
+my shoulder; "vex not yourself unnecessarily. Youth's hot blood is a
+torrent, restless by day and night, never satisfied, never content,
+for ever seeking cause to fret and fume. You have given evidence of
+wisdom, Gabriel--exercise it when it is most needed. You are still
+disturbed. Well, question me."
+
+"Of all the maidens in Nerac," I said, striving to speak with
+calmness, "Lauretta is the fairest and sweetest."
+
+"Go on, my friend. I, her father, will not gainsay you."
+
+"Is it because she is fairer and sweeter than any Eric and Emilius
+have seen in the village by the sea that they quit their home there,
+and come to live in Nerac?"
+
+"A plain question. Were I simply an ordinary friend of yours, and not
+Lauretta's father, I might feel inclined to play with you; but as
+it is, my happiness here is too largely at stake. Do not fall into
+error, Gabriel. Viewing with a selfish eye--a human failing, common
+enough--your own immediate affairs, forget not that I, Lauretta's
+father, am as deeply concerned in them as yourself. Never would I be
+guilty of the crime of forcing my child's affections. Do you think I
+love her less than you do? If it should be your happy fate to be a
+father, you will learn how much purer and higher is the love of a
+father than that which a young man, after an hour's acquaintance,
+bears for the maiden whom he would wed."
+
+"After an hour's acquaintance!" I exclaimed, somewhat hotly.
+
+"It cannot be said to be more," responded Doctor Louis gravely,
+"compared with my knowledge of my child."
+
+The retort was well-merited, and I murmured, "Forgive me!" The
+consistently sweet accents of Doctor Louis's voice produced in me, at
+this moment, a feeling of self-reproach, and a true sense of my
+petulance and imperiousness forced itself upon me.
+
+"There is little need to ask forgiveness," said Doctor Louis; "I can
+make full allowance for the impetuous passions of youth, and if I wish
+you to place a curb upon them it is for your welfare and that of my
+child. Indulgence in such extravagances leads to injustice. Gabriel, I
+will be entirely frank with you. Before your arrival in Nerac I had a
+slight suspicion that one of the brothers--towards both of whom I feel
+as a father--had an affection for Lauretta which might have ripened
+into love. It is in the nature of things that a beautiful girl should
+inspire a sentiment in the breasts of more than one man, but she can
+belong only to one, to him to whom her heart is drawn. What passed
+between us when you spoke to me as a lover of my daughter was honest
+and outspoken. The encouragement you received from me would have been
+withheld had it not been that I saw you occupied a place in Lauretta's
+heart, and that the one end and aim I have in view is her happiness."
+
+"Is it too much to ask," I said, "to which of the brothers you
+referred?"
+
+"Altogether too much," replied Doctor Louis. "It is an unrevealed
+secret, and the right is not mine to say more than I have said."
+
+I did not speak for a little while; I was the slave of conflicting
+passions. One moment I believed entirely in Doctor Louis; another
+moment I doubted him; and through all I was oppressed by a
+consciousness that I was doing him an injustice.
+
+"Anything more, Gabriel?" he asked. "Nothing special, sir," was my
+reply, "but in a general way."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Born under such singular circumstances, and of such a father as
+Silvain, it would not be unnatural to suppose that they might inherit
+some touch of his strangely sympathetic nature."
+
+"They have inherited it," said Doctor Louis; "there exists between
+them a sympathy as strange as that which existed in Silvain. I am at
+liberty to say nothing more."
+
+He spoke in a firm tone, and I did not question him further. As I
+accompanied him home we conversed upon general subjects, and I took
+pains to convey to him an assurance that there was nothing really
+serious in the ungracious temper I had displayed. He was relieved at
+this, and we fell into our old confidential manner with each other.
+
+I passed the evening, as usual, in the society of his wife and
+Lauretta. Peace descended upon me, and in the sweet presence of these
+pure women I was tranquil and happy. How lovely, how beautiful was
+this home of love and tender thought! The wild storms of life died
+away, and strains of soft, angelic music melted the heart, and made
+themselves heard even in the midst of the silences. Doctor Louis's
+gaiety returned to him; he smiled upon me, and indulged in many a
+harmless jest. I was charmed out of my moody humour, and contributed
+to the innocent enjoyment of the home circle. The hours passed till it
+was near bed-time, and then it was that a change came over me. Sitting
+by Lauretta's side, turning the pages of an illustrated book of
+travel, I heard the names of Eric and Emilius spoken by Doctor Louis.
+He was telling his wife of the impending change in their mode of life,
+and there was an affectionate note in his voice, and also in hers,
+which jarred upon me. I started to my feet, and they all turned to me
+in surprise. I recovered myself in a moment, and explained that I had
+suddenly thought of something which rendered it necessary that I
+should go at once to the house I had taken, and of which Martin Hartog
+was at present the sole custodian.
+
+"But you were not to leave us till the end of the week," expostulated
+Lauretta's mother. "Is it so very important?"
+
+"Indeed it is," I replied, "and should have been attended to earlier."
+
+"You will return?" she asked.
+
+"Not to-night. You need have no anxiety; everything is prepared, and I
+shall be quite comfortable."
+
+"My wife is thinking of the sheets," observed Doctor Louis jocosely;
+"whether they are properly aired."
+
+"I have seen to that," she said, "and there is a fire in every room."
+
+"Then we can safely let him go," rejoined Doctor Louis. "He is old
+enough to take care of himself, and, besides, he is now a householder,
+and has duties. We shall see you to-morrow, Gabriel?"
+
+"Yes, I shall be here in the morning."
+
+So I wished them good-night, and presently was out in the open,
+walking through dark shadows.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+In solitude I reviewed with amazement the occurrences of the last few
+moments. It seemed to me that I had been impelled to do what I had
+done by an occult agency outside myself. Not that I did not approve of
+it. It was in accordance with my intense wish and desire--which had
+lain dormant in the sweet society of Lauretta--to be alone, in order
+that I might, without interruption, think over the story I had heard
+from Doctor Louis's lips. And now that this wish and desire were
+gratified, the one figure which still rose vividly before me was the
+figure of Kristel. As I walked onward I followed the hapless man
+mentally in his just pursuit of the brother who had snatched the cup
+of happiness from his lips. Yes, it was just and right, and what he
+did I would have done under similar circumstances. Of all who had
+taken part in the tragic drama he, and he alone, commanded my
+sympathy.
+
+The distance from Doctor Louis's house to mine was under two miles,
+but I prolonged it by a _dètour_ which brought me, without
+premeditation, to the inn known as the Three Black Crows. I had no
+intention of going there or of entering the inn, and yet, finding
+myself at the door, I pushed it open, and walked into the room in
+which the customers took their wine. This room was furnished with
+rough tables and benches, and I seated myself, and in response to the
+landlord's inquiry, ordered a bottle of his best, and invited him to
+share it with me. He, nothing loth, accepted the invitation, and sat
+at the table, emptying his glass, which I continued to fill for him,
+while my own remained untasted. I had been inside the Three Black
+Crows on only one occasion, in the company of Doctor Louis, and the
+landlord now expressed his gratitude for the honour I did him by
+paying him another visit. It was only the sense of his words which
+reached my ears, my attention being almost entirely drawn to two men
+who were seated at a table at the end of the room, drinking bad wine
+and whispering to each other. Observing my eyes upon them, the
+landlord said in a low tone, "Strangers."
+
+"You do not know them?" I asked.
+
+"Never saw them before," he replied.
+
+Their backs were towards me, and I could not see their faces, but I
+noticed that one was humpbacked, and that, to judge from their attire,
+they were poor peasants.
+
+"I asked them," said the landlord, "whether they wanted a bed, and
+they answered no, that they were going further. If they had stopped
+here the night I should have kept watch on them!"
+
+"Why?"
+
+"I don't like their looks, and my wife's a timorous creature. Then
+there's the children--you've seen my little ones, I think, sir?"
+
+"Yes, I have seen them. Surely those men would do them no harm!"
+
+"Perhaps not, sir; but a man, loving those near to him, thinks of the
+possibilities of things. I've got a bit of money in the house, to pay
+my rent that's due to-morrow, and one or two other accounts. They may
+have got scent of it."
+
+"Do you think they have come to Nerac on a robbing expedition?"
+
+"There's no telling. Roguery has a plain face, and the signs are in
+theirs, or my name's not what it is. When they said they were going
+further on I asked them where, and they said it was no business of
+mine. They gave me the same answer when I asked them where they came
+from. They're up to no good, that's certain, and the sooner they're
+out of the village the better for all of us."
+
+The more the worthy landlord talked the more settled became his
+instinctive conviction that the strangers were rogues.
+
+"If robbery is their errand," I said thoughtfully, "there are houses
+in Nerac which would yield them a better harvest than yours."
+
+"Of course there is," was his response. "Doctor Louis's, for one. He
+has generally some money about him, and his silver plate would be a
+prize. Are you going back there to-night, sir?"
+
+"No; I am on my road to my own house, and I came out of the way a
+little for the sake of the walk."
+
+"That's my profit, sir," said the landlord cheerfully. "I would offer
+to keep you company if it were not that I don't like to leave my
+place."
+
+"There's nothing to fear," I said; "if they molest me I shall be a
+match for them."
+
+"Still," urged the landlord, "I should leave before they do. It's as
+well to avoid a difficulty when we have the opportunity."
+
+I took the hint, and paid my score. To all appearance there was no
+reason for alarm on my part; during the time the landlord and I were
+conversing the strangers had not turned in our direction, and as we
+spoke in low tones they could not have heard what we said. They
+remained in the same position, with their backs towards us, now
+drinking in silence, now speaking in whispers to each other.
+
+Outside the Three Black Crows I walked slowly on, but I had not gone
+fifty yards before I stopped. What was in my mind was the reference
+made by the landlord to Doctor Louis's house and to its being worth
+the plundering. The doctor's house contained what was dearer to me
+than life or fortune. Lauretta was there. Should I leave her at the
+mercy of these scoundrels who might possibly have planned a robbery of
+the doctor's money and plate? In that case Lauretta would be in
+danger. My mind was instantly made up. I would return to the Three
+Black Crows, and look through the window of the room in which I had
+left the men, to ascertain whether they were still there. If they
+were, I would wait for them till they left the inn, and then would set
+a watch upon their movements. If they were gone I would hasten to the
+doctor's house, to render assistance, should any be needed. I had no
+weapon, with the exception of a small knife; could I not provide
+myself with something more formidable? A few paces from where I stood
+were some trees with stout branches. I detached one of these branches,
+and with my small knife fashioned it into a weapon which would serve
+my purpose. It was about four feet in length, thick at the striking
+end and tapering towards the other, so that it could be held with ease
+and used to good purpose. I tried it on the air, swinging it round and
+bringing it down with sufficient force to kill a man, or with
+certainty to knock the senses out of him in one blow. Then I returned
+to the inn, and looked through the window. In the settlement of my
+proceedings I had remembered there was a red blind over the window
+which did not entirely cover it, and through the uncovered space I now
+saw the strangers sitting at the table as I had left them.
+
+Taking care to make no noise I stepped away from the window, and took
+up a position from which I could see the door of the inn, which was
+closed. I myself was in complete darkness, and there was no moon to
+betray me; all that was needed from me was caution.
+
+I watched fully half an hour before the door of the inn was opened. No
+person had entered during my watch, the inhabitants of Nerac being
+early folk for rest and work. The two strangers lingered for a moment
+upon the threshold, peering out into the night; behind them was the
+landlord, with a candle in his hand. I did not observe that any words
+passed between them and the landlord; they stepped into the road, and
+the door was closed upon them. Then came the sounds of locking and
+bolting doors and windows. Then, silence.
+
+I saw the faces of the men as they stood upon the threshold; they were
+evil-looking fellows enough, and their clothes were of the commonest.
+
+For two or three minutes they did not stir; there had been nothing in
+their manner to arouse suspicion, and the fact of their lingering on
+the roadway seemed to denote that they were uncertain of the route
+they should take. That they raised their faces to the sky was not
+against them; it was a natural seeking for light to guide them.
+
+To the left lay the little nest of buildings amongst which were Father
+Daniel's chapel and modest house, and the more pretentious dwelling of
+Doctor Louis; to the right were the woods, at the entrance of which my
+own house was situated. Which road would the strangers take? The left,
+and it was part evidence of a guilty design. The right, and it would
+be part proof that the landlord's suspicions were baseless.
+
+They exchanged a few words which did not reach my ears. Then they
+moved onwards to the left. I grasped my weapon, and crept after them.
+
+But they walked only a dozen steps, and paused. I, also. In my mind
+was the thought, "Continue the route you have commenced, and you are
+dead men. Turn from it, and you are safe."
+
+The direction of the village was the more tempting to men who
+had no roof to shelter them, for the reason that in Father Daniel's
+chapel--which, built on an eminence, overlooked the village--lights
+were visible from the spot upon which I and they were standing. There
+was the chance of a straw bed and charity's helping hand, never
+withheld by the good priest from the poor and wretched. On their right
+was dense darkness; not a glimmer of light.
+
+Nevertheless, after the exchange of a few more words which, like the
+others, were unheard by me, they seemed to resolve to seek the
+gloomier way. They turned from the village, and facing me, walked past
+me in the direction of the woods.
+
+I breathed more freely, and fell into a curious mental consideration
+of the relief I experienced. Was it because, walking as they were from
+the village in which Lauretta was sleeping, I was spared the taking of
+these men's lives? No. It was because of the indication they afforded
+me that Lauretta was not in peril. In her defence I could have
+justified the taking of a hundred lives. No feeling of guilt would
+have haunted me; there would have been not only no remorse but no pity
+in my soul. The violation of the most sacred of human laws would be
+justified where Lauretta was concerned. She was mine, to cherish, to
+protect, to love--mine, inalienably. She belonged to no other man, and
+none should step between her and me--neither he whose ruffianly design
+threatened her with possible harm, nor he, in a higher and more
+polished grade, who strove to win her affections and wrest them from
+me. In an equal way both were equally my enemies, and I should be
+justified in acting by them as Kristel had acted to Silvain.
+
+Ah, but he had left it too late. Not so would I. Let but the faintest
+breath of certainty wait upon suspicion, and I would scotch it
+effectually for once and all. Had Kristel possessed the strange power
+in his hours of dreaming which Silvain possessed, he would not have
+been robbed of the happiness which was his by right. He would have
+been forewarned, and Avicia would have been his wife. In every step in
+life he took there would have been the fragrance of flowers around
+him, and a heavenly light. Thus, with me, and for me.
+
+Did I, then, admit that there was any resemblance in the characters of
+Avicia and Lauretta? No; one was a weed, the other a rose. Here
+coarseness, there refinement. Here low desire and cunning; there
+angelic purity and goodness. But immeasurably beneath Lauretta as
+Avicia was, Kristel's love for the girl would have made her radiant
+and spotless.
+
+All this time I was stealthily following the strangers to the woods.
+Once I tripped. The sound arrested them; they clutched each other in
+fear.
+
+"What was that?" one said hoarsely. "Are we being followed?"
+
+I stood motionless, and they stood without movement for many moments.
+Then they simultaneously emitted a deep-drawn sigh.
+
+"It was the wind," said the man who had already spoken.
+
+I smiled in contempt; not a breath of wind was stirring; there was not
+the flutter of a leaf, not the waving of the lightest branch. All was
+still and quiet.
+
+They resumed their course, and I crept after them noiselessly. They
+entered the wood; the trees grew more thickly clustered.
+
+"This will do," I heard one say; and upon the words they threw
+themselves to the ground, and fell into slumber.
+
+Sleep came to them instantaneously. I bent over them and was
+satisfied. The landlord of the Three Black Crows was mistaken. I moved
+softly away, and when I was at a safe distance from them I lit a match
+and looked at my watch; it was twenty minutes to eleven, and before
+the minute-hand had passed the hour I arrived at my house. The door
+was fast, but I saw a light in the lower room of the gardener's
+cottage, which I had given to Martin Hartog as a residence for him and
+his daughter.
+
+"Hartog is awake," I thought; "expecting me perhaps."
+
+I knocked at the door of the cottage, and received no answer; I
+knocked again with the same result.
+
+"Hartog! Hartog!" I called; and still no answer came.
+
+The door had fastenings of lock and latch. I put my hand to the latch,
+and finding that the key had not been turned in the lock, opened the
+door and entered. Martin Hartog was not there.
+
+The room, however, was not without an occupant. At the table sat a
+young girl, the gardener's daughter, asleep. She lay back in her
+chair, and the light shone upon her face. I had seen her when she was
+awake, and knew that she was beautiful, but as I gazed now upon her
+sleeping form I was surprised to discover that she was even fairer
+than I had supposed. She had hair of dark brown, which curled most
+gracefully about her brow and head; her face, in its repose, was sweet
+to look upon; she was not dressed as the daughter of a labouring man,
+but with a certain daintiness and taste which deepened my surprise;
+there was lace at her sleeves and around her white neck. Had I not
+known her station I should have taken her for a lady. She was young,
+not more than eighteen or nineteen I judged, and life's springtime lay
+sweetly upon her. There was a smile of wistful tenderness on her lips.
+
+Her left arm was extended over the table, and her hand rested upon the
+portrait of a man, almost concealing the features. Her right hand,
+which was on her lap, enfolded a letter, and that and the
+portrait--which, without curious prying, I saw was not that of her
+father--doubtless were the motive of a pleasant dream.
+
+I took in all this in a momentary glance, and quickly left the room,
+closing the door behind me. Then I knocked loudly and roughly, and
+heard the hurried movements of a sudden awaking. She came to the door
+and cried softly, "Is that you, father? The door is unlocked."
+
+"It is I," I said. "Is your father not at home then?"
+
+She opened the door, and fell back a step in confusion.
+
+"I should have let your father know," I said, "that I intended to
+sleep here to-night--but indeed it was a hasty decision. I hope I have
+not alarmed you."
+
+"Oh, no, sir," she said. "We did not expect you. Father is away on
+business; I expected him home earlier, and waiting for him I fell
+asleep. The servants are not coming till to-morrow morning."
+
+"I know. Have you the keys?"
+
+She gave them to me, and asked if she could do anything for me. I
+answered no, that there was nothing required. As I wished her
+good-night a man's firm steps were heard, and Martin Hartog appeared.
+He cast swift glances at his daughter and me, and it struck me that
+they were not devoid of suspicion. I explained matters, and he
+appeared contented with my explanation; then bidding his daughter go
+indoors he accompanied me to the house.
+
+There was a fire in my bedroom, almost burnt out, and the handiwork of
+an affectionate and capable housewife was everywhere apparent. Martin
+Hartog showed an inclination then and there to enter into particulars
+of the work he had done in the grounds during my absence, but I told
+him I was tired, and dismissed him. I listened to his retreating
+footsteps, and when I heard the front door closed I blew out the
+candle and sat before the dying embers in the grate. Darkness was best
+suited to my mood, and I sat and mused upon the events of the last
+forty-eight hours. Gradually my thoughts became fixed upon the figures
+of the two strangers I had left sleeping in the woods, in connection
+with the suspicion of their designs which the landlord had imparted to
+me. So concentrated was my attention that I re-enacted all the
+incidents of which they were the inspirers--the fashioning of the
+branch into a weapon, the watch I had set upon them, their issuing
+from the inn, the landlord standing behind with the candle in his
+hand, their lingering in the road, the first steps they took towards
+the village, their turning back, and my stealthy pursuit after
+them--not the smallest detail was omitted. I do not remember
+undressing and going to bed. Encompassed by silence and darkness I was
+only spiritually awake.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+I was aroused at about eight o'clock in the morning by the arrival of
+the servants of the household whom Lauretta's mother had engaged for
+me, They comprised a housekeeper, who was to cook and generally
+superintend, and two stout wenches to do the rougher work. In such a
+village as Nerac these, in addition to Martin Hartog, constituted an
+establishment of importance.
+
+They had been so well schooled by Lauretta's mother before commencing
+the active duties of their service, that when I rose I found the
+breakfast-table spread, and the housekeeper in attendance to receive
+my orders. This augured well, and I experienced a feeling of
+satisfaction at the prospect of the happy life before me. Like mother,
+like daughter. Lauretta would be not only a sweet and loving
+companion, but the same order and regularity would reign in our home
+as in the home of her childhood. I blessed the chance, if chance it
+was, which had led me to Nerac, and as I paced the room and thought of
+Lauretta, I said audibly, "Thank God!"
+
+Breakfast over, I strolled into the grounds, and made a careful
+inspection of the work which Martin Hartog had performed. The
+conspicuous conscientiousness of his labours added to my satisfaction,
+and I gave expression to it. He received my approval in manly fashion,
+and said he would be glad if I always spoke my mind, "as I always
+speak mine," he added. It pleased me that he was not subservient; in
+all conditions of life a man owes it to himself to maintain, within
+proper bounds, a spirit of independence. While he was pointing out to
+me this and that, and urging me to make any suggestions which occurred
+to me, his daughter came up to us and said that a man wished to speak
+to me. I asked who the man was, and she replied, "The landlord of the
+Three Black Crows." Curious as to his purpose in making so early a
+call, and settling it with myself that his errand was on business, in
+connection, perhaps, with some wine he wished to dispose of, I told
+the young woman to send him to me, and presently he appeared. There
+was an expression of awkwardness, I thought, in his face as he stood
+before me, cap in hand.
+
+"Well, landlord," I said smiling; "you wish to see me?"
+
+"Yes, sir." And there he stopped.
+
+"Go on," I said, wondering somewhat at his hesitation.
+
+"Can I speak to you alone, sir?"
+
+"Certainly. Hartog, I will see you again presently."
+
+Martin Hartog took the hint, and left us together.
+
+"Now, landlord," I said.
+
+"It's about those two men, sir, you saw in my place last night."
+
+"Those two men?" I said, pondering, and then a light broke upon me,
+and I thought it singular--as indeed it was--that no recollection,
+either of the men or the incidents in association with them should
+have occurred to me since my awaking. "Yes?"
+
+"_You_ are quite safe, sir," said the landlord, "I am glad to find."
+
+"Quite safe, landlord; but why should you be so specially glad?"
+
+"Nothing's happened here then, sir?"
+
+"Nothing."
+
+"That's what brought me round so early this morning, for one thing; I
+was afraid something _might_ have happened."
+
+"Kindly explain yourself," I said, not at all impatient, but amused
+rather. "What _might_ have happened?"
+
+"Well, sir, they might have found out, somehow or other, that you were
+sleeping in the house alone last night"--and here he broke off and
+asked, "You _did_ sleep here alone last night?"
+
+"Certainly I did, and a capital night's rest I had."
+
+"Glad to hear that, sir. As I was saying, if they had found out that
+you were sleeping here alone, they might have taken it into their
+heads to trouble you."
+
+"They might, landlord, but facts are stubborn things. They did not,
+evidently."
+
+"I understand that now, sir, but I had my fears, and that's what
+brought me round for one thing."
+
+"An expression you have used once before, landlord. 'For one thing.' I
+infer there must be another thing in your mind."
+
+"There is, sir. You haven't heard then?"
+
+"As yet I have heard nothing but a number of very enigmatical
+observations from you with respect to those men. Ah, yes, I remember;
+you had your doubts of them when I visited you on my road home?"
+
+"I had sir; I told you I didn't like the looks of them, and that I was
+not easy in my mind about my own family, and the bit of money I had in
+my place to pay my rent with, and one or two other accounts."
+
+"That is so; you are bringing the whole affair back to me. I saw the
+men after I left the Three Black Crows."
+
+"You did, sir! When? Where?"
+
+"To tell you would be to interrupt what you have come here to say. No
+more roundabouts, landlord. Say what you have to say right on."
+
+"Well, sir, this is the way of it. I suspected them from the first,
+and you will bear witness of it before the magistrate. They were
+strangers in Nerac, but that is no reason why I should have refused to
+sell them a bottle of red wine when they asked for it. It's my trade
+to supply customers, and the wine was the worst I had, consequently
+the cheapest. I had no right to ask their business, and if they chose
+to answer me uncivilly, it was their affair. I wouldn't tell everybody
+mine on the asking. They paid for the wine, and there was an end of
+it. They called for another bottle, and when I brought it I did not
+draw the cork till I had the money for it, and as they wouldn't pay
+the price--not having it about 'em--the cork wasn't drawn, and the
+bottle went back. I had trouble to get rid of them, but they stumbled
+out at last, and I saw no more of them. Now, sir, you will remember
+that when we were speaking of them Doctor Louis's house was mentioned
+as a likely house for rogues to break into and rob."
+
+"A moment," I interrupted in agitation. "Doctor Louis is safe?"
+
+"Quite safe, sir."
+
+"And his wife and daughter?"
+
+"Quite safe, sir."
+
+"Go on."
+
+"The villains couldn't hear what we said, no more than we could hear
+what they were whispering about. But they had laid their plans, and
+tried to hatch them--worse luck for one, if not for both the
+scoundrels; but the other will be caught and made to pay for it. What
+they did between the time they left the Three Black Crows and the time
+they made an attempt to break into Doctor Louis's is at present a
+mystery. Don't be alarmed, sir; I see that my news has stirred you,
+but they have only done harm to themselves. No one else is a bit the
+worse for their roguery. Doctor Louis and his good wife and daughter
+slept through the night undisturbed; nothing occurred to rouse or
+alarm them. They got up as usual, the doctor being the first--he is
+known as an early riser. As it happened, it was fortunate that he was
+outside his house before his lady, for although we in Nerac have an
+idea that she is as brave as she is good, a woman, after all, is only
+a woman, and the sight of blood is what few of them can stand."
+
+"The sight of blood!" I exclaimed. But that I was assured that
+Lauretta was safe and well, I should not have wasted a moment on the
+landlord, eager as I was to learn what he had come to tell. My mind,
+however, was quite at ease with respect to my dear girl, and the next
+few minutes were not so precious that I could not spare them to hear
+the landlord's strange story.
+
+"That," he resumed, "is what the doctor saw when he went to the back
+of his house. Blood on the ground--and what is more, what would have
+given the ladies a greater shock, there before him was the body of a
+man--dead."
+
+"What man?" I asked.
+
+"That I can't for a certainty say, sir, because I haven't seen him as
+yet. I'm telling the story second-hand, as it was told to me a while
+ago by one who had come straight from the doctor's house. There was
+the blood, and there the man; and from the description I should say it
+was one of the men who were drinking in my place last night. It is not
+ascertained at what time of the night he and his mate tried to break
+into the doctor's house, but the attempt was made. There is the
+evidence of it. They commenced to bore a hole in one of the shutters
+at the back; the hole made, it would have been easy to enlargen it,
+and so to draw the fastenings. However, they did not get so far as
+that. They could scarcely have been at their scoundrelly work a minute
+or two before it came to an end."
+
+"How and by whom were they interrupted, landlord? That, of course, is
+known?"
+
+"It is not known, sir, and it's just at this point that the mystery
+commences. There they are at their work, and likely to be successful.
+A dark night, and not a watchman in the village. Never a need for one,
+sir. Plenty of time before them, and desperate men they. Only one man
+in the house, the good doctor; all the others women, easily dealt
+with. Robbery first--if interfered with, murder afterwards. They
+wouldn't have stuck at it, not they! But there it was, sir, as God
+willed. Not a minute at work, and something occurs. The question is,
+what? The man lies dead on the ground, with a gimlet in his hand, and
+Doctor Louis, in full sunlight, stands looking down on the strange
+sight."
+
+"The man lies dead on the ground," I said, repeating the landlord's
+words; "but there were two."
+
+"No sign of the other, sir; he's a vanished body. People are out
+searching for him."
+
+"He will be found," I said----
+
+"It's to be hoped," interrupted the landlord.
+
+"And then what you call a mystery will be solved."
+
+"It's beyond me, sir," said the landlord, with a puzzled air.
+
+"It is easy enough. These two scoundrels, would-be murderers, plan a
+robbery, and proceed to execute it. They are ill-conditioned
+creatures, no better than savages, swayed by their passions, in which
+there is no show of reason. They quarrel, perhaps, about the share of
+the spoil which each shall take, and are not wise enough to put aside
+their quarrel till they are in possession of the booty. They continue
+their dispute, and in such savages their brutal passions once roused,
+swell and grow to a fitting climax of violence. So with these.
+Probably the disagreement commenced on their way to the house, and had
+reached an angry point when one began to bore a hole in the shutter.
+This one it was who was found dead. The proof was in his hand--the
+gimlet with which he was working."
+
+"Well conceived, sir," said the landlord, following with approval my
+speculative explanation.
+
+"This man's face," I continued, "would be turned toward the shutter,
+his back to his comrade. Into this comrade's mind darts, like a
+lightning flash, the idea of committing the robbery alone, and so
+becoming the sole possessor of the treasure."
+
+"Good, sir, good," said the landlord, rubbing his hands.
+
+"No sooner conceived than executed. Out comes his knife, or perhaps he
+has it ready in his hand, opened."
+
+"Why opened, sir? Would it not be a fixed blade?"
+
+"No; such men carry clasp-knives. They are safest, and never attract
+notice."
+
+"You miss nothing, sir," said the landlord admiringly. "What a
+magistrate you would have made!"
+
+"He plunges it into his fellow-scoundrel's back, who falls dead, with
+the gimlet in his hand. The murder is explained."
+
+The landlord nodded excitedly, and continued to rub his hands; then
+suddenly stood quite still, with an incredulous expression on his
+face.
+
+"But the robbery is not committed," he exclaimed; "the house is not
+broken into, and the scoundrel gets nothing for his pains."
+
+With superior wisdom I laid a patronising hand upon his shoulder.
+
+"The deed done," I said, "the murderer, gazing upon his dead comrade,
+is overcome with fear. He has been rash--he may be caught red-handed;
+the execution of the robbery will take time. He is not familiar with
+the habits of the village, and does not know it has no guardians of
+the night. One may stroll that way and make discovery. Fool that he
+was! He has not only committed murder, he has robbed himself. Better
+to have waited till they had possession of the treasure; but this kind
+of logic always comes afterwards to ill-regulated minds. Under the
+influence of his newly-born fears he recognises that every moment is
+precious; he dare not linger; he dare not carry out the scheme.
+Shuddering, he flies from the spot, with rage and despair in his
+heart. Unhappy wretch! The curse of Cain is upon him."
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XX.
+
+
+The landlord, who was profuse in the expressions of his admiration at
+the light I had thrown upon the case, so far as it was known to us,
+accompanied me to the house of Doctor Louis. It was natural that I
+should find Lauretta and her mother in a state of agitation, and it
+was sweet to me to learn that it was partly caused by their anxieties
+for my safety. Doctor Louis was not at home, but had sent a messenger
+to my house to inquire after me, and to give me some brief account of
+the occurrences of the night. We did not meet this messenger on our
+way to the doctor's; he must have taken a different route from ours.
+
+"You did wrong to leave us last night," said Lauretta's mother
+chidingly.
+
+I shook my head, and answered that it was but anticipating the date of
+my removal by a few days, and that my presence in her house would not
+have altered matters.
+
+"Everything was right at home," I said. Home! What inexpressible
+sweetness there was in the word! "Martin Hartog showed me to my room,
+and the servants you engaged came early this morning, and attended to
+me as though they had known my ways and tastes for years."
+
+"You slept well?" she asked.
+
+"A dreamless night," I replied; "but had I suspected what was going on
+here, I should not have been able to rest."
+
+"I am glad you had no suspicion, Gabriel; you would have been in
+danger. Dreadful as it all is, it is a comfort to know that the
+misguided men do not belong to our village."
+
+Her merciful heart could find no harsher term than this to apply to
+the monsters, and it pained her to hear me say, "One has met his
+deserved fate; it is a pity the other has escaped." But I could not
+keep back the words.
+
+Doctor Louis had left a message for me to follow him to the office of
+the village magistrate, where the affair was being investigated, but
+previous to going thither, I went to the back of the premises to make
+an inspection. The village boasted of one constable, and he was now on
+duty, in a state of stupefaction. His orders were to allow nothing to
+be disturbed, but his bewilderment was such that it would have been
+easy for an interested person to do as he pleased in the way of
+alteration. A stupid lout, with as much intelligence as a vegetable.
+However, I saw at once that nothing had been disturbed. The shutter in
+which a hole had been bored was closed; there were blood stains on the
+stones, and I was surprised that they were so few; the gate by which
+the villains had effected an entrance into the garden was open; I
+observed some particles of sawdust on the window-ledge just below
+where the hole had been bored. All that had been removed was the body
+of the man who had been murdered by his comrade.
+
+I put two or three questions to the constable, and he managed to
+answer in monosyllables, yes and no, at random. "A valuable
+assistant," I thought, "in unravelling a mysterious case!" And then I
+reproached myself for the sneer. Happy was a village like Nerac in
+which crime was so rare, and in which an official so stupid was
+sufficient for the execution of the law.
+
+The first few stains of blood I noticed were close to the window, and
+the stones thereabout had been disturbed, as though by the falling of
+a heavy body.
+
+"Was the man's body," I inquired of the constable, "lifted from this
+spot?"
+
+He looked down vacantly and said, "Yes."
+
+"You are sure?" I asked.
+
+"Sure," he said after a pause, but whether the word was spoken in
+reply to my question, or as a question he put to himself, I could not
+determine.
+
+I continued my examination of the grounds. From the open gate to the
+window was a distance of forty-eight yards; I stepped exactly a yard,
+and I counted my steps. The path from gate to window was shaped like
+the letter S, and was for the most part defined by tall shrubs on
+either side, of a height varying from six to nine feet. Through this
+path the villains had made their way to the window; through this path
+the murderer, leaving his comrade dead, had made his escape. Their
+operations, for their own safety's sake, must undoubtedly have been
+conducted while the night was still dark. Reasonable also to conclude
+that, being strangers in the village (although by some means they must
+have known beforehand that Doctor Louis's house was worth the
+plundering), they could not have been acquainted with the devious
+turns in the path from the gate to the window. Therefore they must
+have felt their way through, touching the shrubs with their hands,
+most likely breaking some of the slender stalks, until they arrived at
+the open space at the back of the building.
+
+These reflections impelled me to make a careful inspection of the
+shrubs, and I was very soon startled by a discovery. Here and there
+some stalks were broken and torn away, and here and there were
+indisputable evidences that the shrubs had been grasped by human
+hands. It was not this that startled me, for it was in accordance with
+my own train of reasoning, but it was that there were stains of blood
+on the broken stalks, especially upon those which had been roughly
+torn from the parent tree. I seemed to see a man, with blood about
+him, staggering blindly through the path, snatching at the shrubs both
+for support and guidance, and the loose stalks falling from his hands
+as he went. Two men entered the grounds, only one left--that one, the
+murderer. The blood stains indicated a struggle. Between whom? Between
+the victim and the perpetrator of the deed? In that case, what became
+of the theory of action I had so elaborately described to the landlord
+of the Three Black Crows? I had imagined an instantaneous impulse of
+crime and its instantaneous execution. I had imagined a death as
+sudden as it was violent, a deed from which the murderer had escaped
+without the least injury to himself; and here, on both sides of me,
+were the clearest proofs that the man who had fled must have been
+grievously wounded. My ingenuity was at fault in the endeavour to
+bring these signs into harmony with the course of events I had
+invented in my interview with the landlord.
+
+I went straight to the office of the magistrate, a small building of
+four rooms on the ground floor, the two in front being used as the
+magistrate's private room and court, the two in the rear as cells, not
+at all uncomfortable, for aggressors of the law. It was but rarely
+that they were occupied. At the door of the court I encountered Father
+Daniel. He was pale, and much shaken. During his lifetime no such
+crime had been perpetrated in the village, and his only comfort was
+that the actors in it were strangers. But that did not lessen his
+horror of the deed, and his large heart overflowed with pity both for
+the guilty man and the victim.
+
+"So sudden a death!" he said, in a voice broken by tears. "No time for
+repentance! Thrust before the Eternal Presence weighed down by sin! I
+have been praying by his side for mercy, and for mercy upon his
+murderer. Poor sinners! poor sinners!"
+
+I could not sympathise with his sentiments, and I told him so sternly.
+He made no attempt to convert me to his views, but simply said, "All
+men should pray that they may never be tempted."
+
+And so he left me, and turned in the direction of his little chapel to
+offer up prayers for the dead and the living sinners.
+
+Doctor Louis was with the magistrate; they had been discussing
+theories, and had heard from the landlord of the Three Black Crows my
+own ideas of the movements of the strangers on the previous night.
+
+"In certain respects you may be right in your speculations," the
+magistrate said; "but on one important point you are in error."
+
+"I have already discovered," I said, "that my theory is wrong, and not
+in accordance with fact; but we will speak of that presently. What is
+the point you refer to?"
+
+"As to the weapon with which the murder was done," replied the
+magistrate, a shrewd man, whose judicial perceptions fitted him for a
+larger sphere of duties than he was called upon to perform in Nerac.
+"No knife was used."
+
+"What, then, was the weapon?" I asked.
+
+"A club of some sort," said the magistrate, "with which the dead man
+was suddenly attacked from behind."
+
+"Has it been found?"
+
+"No, but a search is being made for it and also for the murderer."
+
+"On that point we are agreed. There is no shadow of doubt that the
+missing man is guilty."
+
+"There can be none," said the magistrate.
+
+"And yet," urged Doctor Louis, in a gentle tone, "to condemn a man
+unheard is repugnant to justice."
+
+"There are circumstances," said the magistrate, "which point so surely
+to guilt that it would be inimical to justice to dispute them. By the
+way," he continued, addressing me, "did not the landlord of the Three
+Black Crows mention something to the effect that you were at his inn
+last night after you left Dr. Louis's house, and that you and he had a
+conversation respecting the strangers, who were at that time in the
+same room as yourselves?"
+
+"If he did," I said, "he stated what is correct. I was there, and saw
+the strangers, of whom the landlord entertained suspicions which have
+been proved to be well founded."
+
+"Then you will be able to identify the body, already," added the
+magistrate, "identified by the landlord. Confirmatory evidence
+strengthens a case."
+
+"I shall be able to identify it," I said.
+
+We went to the inner room, and I saw at a glance that it was one of
+the strangers who had spent the evening at the Three Black Crows, and
+whom I had afterwards watched and followed.
+
+"The man who has escaped," I observed, "was hump backed."
+
+"That tallies with the landlord's statement," said the magistrate.
+
+"I have something to relate," I said, upon our return to the court,
+"of my own movements last night after I quitted the inn."
+
+I then gave the magistrate and Doctor Louis a circumstantial account
+of my movements, without, however, entering into a description of my
+thoughts, only in so far as they affected my determination to protect
+the doctor and his family from evil designs.
+
+They listened with great interest, and Doctor Louis pressed my hand.
+He understood and approved of the solicitude I had experienced for the
+safety of his household; it was a guarantee that I would watch over
+his daughter with love and firmness and protect her from harm.
+
+"But you ran a great risk, Gabriel," he said affectionately.
+
+"I did not consider that," I said.
+
+The magistrate looked on and smiled; a father himself, he divined the
+undivulged ties by which I and Doctor Louis were bound.
+
+"At what time," he asked, "do you say you left the rogues asleep in
+the woods?"
+
+"It was twenty minutes to eleven," I replied, "and at eleven o'clock I
+reached my house, and was received by Martin Hartog's daughter. Hartog
+was absent, on business his daughter said, and while we were talking,
+and I was taking the keys from her hands, Hartog came home, and
+accompanied me to my bedroom."
+
+"Were you at all disturbed in your mind for the safety of your friends
+in consequence of what had passed?"
+
+"Not in the least. The men I left slumbering in the woods appeared to
+me to be but ordinary tramps, without any special evil intent, and I
+was satisfied and relieved. I could not have slept else; it is seldom
+that I have enjoyed a better night."
+
+"Cunning rascals! May not their slumbers have been feigned?"
+
+"I think not. They were in a profound sleep; I made sure of that. No,
+I could not have been mistaken."
+
+"It is strange," mused Doctor Louis, "how guilt can sleep, and can
+forget the present and the future!"
+
+I then entered into an account of the inspection I had made of the
+path from the gate to the window; it was the magistrate's opinion,
+from the position in which the body was found, that there had been no
+struggle between the two men, and here he and I were in agreement.
+What I now narrated materially weakened his opinion, as it had
+materially weakened mine, and he was greatly perplexed. He was annoyed
+also that the signs I had discovered, which confirmed the notion that
+a struggle must have taken place, had escaped the attention of his
+assistants. He himself had made but a cursory examination of the
+grounds, his presence being necessary in the court to take the
+evidence of witnesses, to receive reports, and to issue instructions.
+
+"There are so many things to be considered," said Doctor Louis, "in a
+case like this, resting as it does at present entirely upon
+circumstantial evidence, that it is scarcely possible some should not
+be lost sight of. Often those that are omitted are of greater weight
+than those which are argued out laboriously and with infinite
+patience. Justice is blind, but the law must be Argus-eyed. You
+believe, Gabriel, that there must have been a struggle in my garden?"
+
+"Such is now my belief," I replied.
+
+"Such signs as you have brought before our notice," continued the
+doctor, "are to you an indication that the man who escaped must have
+met with severe treatment?"
+
+"Undoubtedly."
+
+"Therefore, that the struggle was a violent one?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And prolonged?"
+
+"That is the feasible conclusion."
+
+"Such a struggle could not have taken place without considerable
+disarrangement about the spot in which it occurred. On an even
+pavement you would not look for any displacement of the stones; the
+utmost you could hope to discover would be the scratches made by iron
+heels. But the path from the gate of my house to the back garden, and
+all the walking spaces in the garden itself, are formed of loose
+stones and gravel. No such struggle could take place there without
+conspicuous displacement of the materials of which the ground is
+composed. If it took place amongst the flowers, the beds would bear
+evidence. I observed no disorder in the flower beds. Did you?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then did you observe such a disarrangement of the stones and gravel
+as I consider would be necessary evidence of the struggle in which you
+suppose these men to have been engaged?"
+
+I was compelled to admit--but I admitted it grudgingly and
+reluctantly--that such a disarrangement had not come within my
+observation.
+
+"That is partially destructive of your theory," pursued the doctor.
+"There is still something further of moment which I consider it my duty
+to say. You are a sound sleeper ordinarily, and last night you slept
+more soundly than usual. I, unfortunately, am a light sleeper, and it
+is really a fact that last night I slept more lightly than usual. I
+think, Gabriel, you were to some extent the cause of this. I am
+affected by changes in my domestic arrangements; during many pleasant
+weeks you have resided in our house, and last night was the first, for
+a long time past, that you slept away from us. It had an influence
+upon me; then, apart from your absence, I was thinking a great deal of
+you." (Here I observed the magistrate smile again, a fatherly
+benignant smile.) "As a rule I am awakened by the least noise--the
+dripping of water, the fall of an inconsiderable object, the mewing of
+a cat, the barking of a dog. Now, last night I was not disturbed,
+unusually wakeful as I was. The wonder is that I was not aroused by
+the boring of the hole in the shutter; the unfortunate wretch must
+have used his gimlet very softly and warily, and under any
+circumstances the sound produced by such a tool is of a light nature.
+But had any desperate struggle taken place in the garden it would have
+aroused me to a certainty, and I should have hastened down to
+ascertain the cause. Gabriel, no such struggle occurred."
+
+"Then," said the magistrate, "how do you account for the injuries the
+man who escaped must have undoubtedly received?"
+
+The words were barely uttered when we all started to our feet. There
+was a great scuffling outside, and cries and loud voices. The door was
+pushed open and half-a-dozen men rushed into the room, guarding one
+whose arms were bound by ropes. He was in a dreadful condition, and so
+weak that, without support, he could not have kept his feet. I
+recognised him instantly; he was the hump backed man I had seen in the
+Three Black Crows.
+
+He lifted his eyes and they fell on the magistrate; from him they
+wandered to Doctor Louis; from him they wandered to me. I was gazing
+steadfastly and sternly upon him, and as his eyes met mine his head
+drooped to his breast and hung there, while a strong shuddering ran
+through him.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXI.
+
+
+The examination of the prisoner by the magistrate lasted but a very
+short time, for the reason that no replies of any kind could be
+obtained to the questions put to him. He maintained a dogged silence,
+and although the magistrate impressed upon him that this silence was
+in itself a strong proof of his guilt, and that if he had anything to
+say in his defence it would be to his advantage to say it at once, not
+a word could be extracted from him, and he was taken to his cell,
+instructions being given that he should not be unbound and that a
+strict watch should be kept over him. While the unsuccessful
+examination was proceeding I observed the man two or three times raise
+his eyes furtively to mine, or rather endeavour to raise them, for he
+could not, for the hundredth part of a second, meet my stern gaze, and
+each time he made the attempt it ended in his drooping his head with a
+shudder. On other occasions I observed his eyes wandering round the
+room in a wild, disordered way, and these proceedings, which to my
+mind were the result of a low, premeditated cunning, led me to the
+conclusion that he wished to convey the impression that he was not in
+his right senses, and therefore not entirely responsible for his
+crime. When the monster was taken away I spoke of this, and the
+magistrate fell in with my views, and said that the assumption of
+pretended insanity was not an uncommon trick on the part of criminals.
+I then asked him and Doctor Louis whether they would accompany me in a
+search for the weapon with which the dreadful deed was committed (for
+none had been found on the prisoner), and in a further examination of
+the ground the man had traversed after he had killed his comrade in
+guilt. Doctor Louis expressed his willingness, but the magistrate said
+he had certain duties to attend to which would occupy him half an hour
+or so, and that he would join us later on. So Doctor Louis and I
+departed alone to continue the investigation I had already commenced.
+
+We began at the window at the back of the doctor's house, and I again
+propounded to Doctor Louis my theory of the course of events, to which
+he listened attentively, but was no more convinced than he had been
+before that a struggle had taken place.
+
+"But," he said, "whether a struggle for life did or did not take place
+there is not the slightest doubt of the man's guilt, I have always
+viewed circumstantial evidence with the greatest suspicion, but in
+this instance I should have no hesitation, were I the monster's judge,
+to mete out to him the punishment for his crime."
+
+Shortly afterwards we were joined by the magistrate who had news to
+communicate to us.
+
+"I have had," he said, "another interview with the prisoner, and have
+succeeded in unlocking his tongue. I went to his cell, unaccompanied,
+and again questioned him. To my surprise he asked me if I was alone. I
+moved back a pace or two, having the idea that he had managed to
+loosen the ropes by which he was bound, and that he wished to know if
+I was alone for the purpose of attacking me. In a moment, however, the
+fear was dispelled, for I saw that his arms were tightly and closely
+bound to his side, and that it was out of his power to injure me. He
+repeated his question, and I answered that I was quite alone, and that
+his question was a foolish one, for he had the evidence of his senses
+to convince him. He shook his head at this, and said in a strange
+voice that the evidence of his senses was sufficient in the case of
+men and women, but not in the case of spirits and demons. I smiled
+inwardly at this--for it does not do for a magistrate to allow a
+prisoner from whom he wishes to extract evidence to detect any signs
+of levity in his judge--and I thought of the view you had presented to
+me that the man wished to convey an impression that he was a madman,
+in order to escape to some extent the consequences of the crime he had
+committed. 'Put spirits and demons,' I said to him, 'out of the
+question. If you have anything to say or confess, speak at once; and
+if you wish to convince yourself that there are no witnesses either in
+this cell--though that is plainly evident--or outside, here is the
+proof.' I threw open the door, and showed him that no one was
+listening to our speech. 'I cannot put spirits or demons out of the
+question,' he said, 'because I am haunted by one, who has brought me
+to this.' He looked down at his ropes and imprisoned limbs. 'Are you
+guilty or not guilty?' I asked. 'I am not guilty,' he replied; 'I did
+not kill him.' 'But he is murdered,' I said. 'Yes,' he replied, 'he is
+murdered.' 'If you did not kill him,' I continued, 'who did?' What do
+you think he answered? 'A demon killed him,' he said, 'and would have
+killed me, if I had not fled and played him a trick.' I gazed at him
+in thought, wondering whether he had the slightest hope that he was
+imposing upon me by his lame attempt at being out of his senses. 'A
+demon?' I said questioningly. 'Yes, a demon,' he replied. 'But,' I
+said, and I admit that my tone was somewhat bantering, 'demons are
+more powerful than mortals.' 'That is where it is,' he said; 'that is
+why I am here.' 'You are a clumsy scoundrel,' I said, 'and I will
+prove it to you; then you may be induced to speak the truth--in
+which,' I added, 'lies your only hope of a mitigation of punishment.
+Not that I hold out to you any such hope; but if you can establish,
+when you are ready to confess, that what you did was done in
+self-defence, it will be a point in your favour.' 'I cannot confess,'
+he said, 'to a crime which I did not commit. I am a clumsy scoundrel
+perhaps, but not in the way you mean. Prove it to me if you can.' 'You
+say,' I began, 'that a demon killed your comrade.' 'He did,' persisted
+the prisoner. 'And,' I continued, 'that he would have killed you if
+you had not fled from him.' 'He would,' said the prisoner. 'But,' I
+said, 'demons are more powerful than men. Of what avail would have
+been your flight? Men can only walk or run; demons can fly. The demon
+you have invented could have easily overtaken you and finished you as
+you say he finished the man you murdered.' He was a little staggered
+at this, and I saw him pondering over it. 'It isn't for me,' he said
+presently, 'to pretend to know why he did not suspect the trick I
+played him; he could have killed me if he wanted. I have spoken the
+truth. I heard him pursuing me.' 'There again,' I said, wondering that
+there should be in the world men with such a low order of
+intelligence, 'you heard him pursuing you. Demons glide noiselessly
+along. It is impossible you could have heard this one. You will have
+to invent another story.' 'I have invented none,' he persisted
+doggedly, and repeated, 'I have spoken the truth.' As I could get
+nothing further out of him than a determined adherence to his
+ridiculous defence, I left him."
+
+"Do you think," asked Doctor Louis, "that he has any, even the
+remotest belief in the story? Men sometimes delude themselves."
+
+"I cannot believe it," replied the magistrate, "and yet I confess to
+being slightly puzzled. There was an air of sincerity about him which
+might be to his advantage had he to deal with judges who were ignorant
+of the cunning of criminals."
+
+"Which means," said Doctor Louis, "that it is really not impossible
+that the man's mind is diseased."
+
+"No," said the magistrate, in a positive tone, "I cannot for a moment
+admit it. A tale in which a spirit or a demon is the principal actor!
+In this age it is too absurd!"
+
+At that moment I made a discovery; I drew from the midst of a bush a
+stick, one end of which was stained with blood. From its position it
+seemed as if it had been thrown hastily away; there had certainly been
+no attempt at concealment.
+
+"Here is the weapon," I cried, "with which the deed was done!"
+
+The magistrate took it immediately from my hand, and examined it.
+
+"Here," I said, pointing downwards, "is the direct line of flight
+taken by the prisoner, and he must have flung the stick away in terror
+as he ran."
+
+"It is an improvised weapon," said the magistrate, "cut but lately
+from a tree, and fashioned so as to fit the hand and be used with
+effect."
+
+I, in my turn, then examined the weapon, and was struck by its
+resemblance to the branch I had myself cut the previous night during
+the watch I kept upon the ruffians. I spoke of the resemblance, and
+said that it looked to me as if it were the self-same stick I had
+shaped with my knife.
+
+"Do you remember," asked the magistrate, "what you did with it after
+your suspicions were allayed?"
+
+"No," I replied, "I have not the slightest remembrance what I did with
+it. I could not have carried it home with me, or I should have seen it
+this morning before I left my house. I have no doubt that, after my
+mind was at ease as to the intentions of the ruffians, I flung it
+aside into the woods, having no further use for it. When the men set
+out to perpetrate the robbery they must have stumbled upon the branch,
+and, appreciating the pains I had bestowed upon it, took it with them.
+There appears to be no other solution to their possession of it."
+
+"It is the only solution," said the magistrate.
+
+"So that," I said with a sudden thrill of horror, "I am indirectly
+responsible for the direction of the tragedy, and should have been
+responsible had they used the weapon against those I love! It is
+terrible to think of."
+
+Doctor Louis pressed my hand. "We have all happily been spared,
+Gabriel," he said. "It is only the guilty who have suffered."
+
+We continued our search for some time, without meeting with any
+further evidence, and I spent the evening with Doctor Louis's family,
+and was deeply grateful that Providence had frustrated the villainous
+schemes of the wretches who had conspired against them. On this
+evening Lauretta and I seemed to be drawn closer to each other, and
+once, when I held her hand in mine for a moment or two (it was done
+unconsciously), and her father's eyes were upon us, I was satisfied
+that he did not deem it a breach of the obligation into which we had
+entered with respect to my love for his daughter. Indeed it was not
+possible that all manifestations of a love so profound and absorbing
+as mine should be successfully kept out of sight; it would have been
+contrary to nature.
+
+I slept that night in Doctor Louis's house, and the next morning
+Lauretta and Lauretta's mother said that they had experienced a
+feeling of security because of my presence.
+
+At noon I was on my way to the magistrate's office.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XXII.
+
+
+My purpose was to obtain, by the magistrate's permission, an interview
+with the prisoner. His account of the man's sincere or pretended
+belief in spirits and demons had deeply interested me, and I wished to
+have some conversation with him respecting this particular adventure
+which had ended in murder. I obtained without difficulty the
+permission I sought. I asked if the prisoner had made any further
+admissions or confession, and the magistrate answered no, and that the
+man persisted in a sullen adherence to the tale he had invented in his
+own defence.
+
+"I saw him this morning," the magistrate said, "and interrogated him
+with severity, to no effect. He continues to declare himself to be
+innocent, and reiterates his fable of the demon."
+
+"Have you asked him," I inquired, "to give you an account of all that
+transpired within his knowledge from the moment he entered Nerac until
+the moment he was arrested?"
+
+"No," said the magistrate, "it did not occur to me to demand of him so
+close a description of his movements; and I doubt whether I should
+have been able to drag it from him. The truth he will not tell, and
+his invention is not strong enough to go into minute details. He is
+conscious of this, conscious that I should trip him up again and again
+on minor points which would be fatal to him, and his cunning nature
+warns him not to thrust his head into the trap. He belongs to the
+lowest order of criminals."
+
+My idea was to obtain from the prisoner just such a circumstantial
+account of his movements as I thought it likely the magistrate would
+have extracted from him; and I felt that I had the power to succeed
+where the magistrate had failed. This power I determined to use.
+
+I was taken into the man's cell, and left there without a word. He was
+still bound; his brute face was even more brute and haggard than
+before, his hair was matted, his eyes had a look in them of mingled
+terror and ferocity. He spoke no word, but he raised his head and
+lowered it again when the door of the cell was closed behind me.
+
+"What is your name?" I asked. But I had to repeat the question twice
+before he answered me.
+
+"Pierre," he said.
+
+"Why did you not reply to me at once?" But to this question, although
+I repeated it also twice, he made no response.
+
+"It is useless," I said sternly, "to attempt evasion with me, or to
+think that I will be content with silence. I have come here to obtain
+a confession from you--a true confession, Pierre--and I will force it
+from you, if you do not give it willingly. Do you understand me? I
+will force it from you."
+
+"I understand you," he said, keeping his face averted from me, "but I
+will not speak."
+
+"Why?" I demanded.
+
+"Because you know all; because you are only playing with me; because
+you have a design against me."
+
+His words astonished me, and made me more determined to carry out my
+intention. He had made it clear to me that there was something hidden
+in his mind, and I was resolved to get at it.
+
+"What design can I have against you," I said, "of which you need be
+afraid? You are in sufficient peril already, and there is no hope for
+you. Your life is forfeit. What worse danger can befall you? Soon you
+will be as dead as the man you murdered."
+
+"I did not murder him," was the strange reply, "and you know it."
+
+"Fool!" I exclaimed. "You are playing the same trick upon me that you
+played upon your judge. It was unsuccessful with him; it will be as
+unsuccessful with me. Answer me. What further danger can threaten you
+than the danger, the certain, positive danger, in which you now stand?
+You are doomed, Pierre."
+
+"My body is, perhaps," he muttered, "but not my soul."
+
+"Oh," I said, in a tone of contempt, "you believe in a soul."
+
+"Yes," he replied, "do not you?"
+
+"I? Yes. With reason, with intelligence. Not out of my fears, but out
+of my hopes."
+
+"I have no hopes and no fears," he said. "I have done wrong, but not
+the wrong with which I am charged."
+
+"Look at me, Pierre."
+
+His response to this was to hide his head closer on his breast, to
+make an even stronger endeavour to avoid my glance.
+
+"When I next command you," I said, "you will obey. About your soul?
+Believing that you possess one, what worse peril can threaten it than
+the pass to which you have brought it by your crime."
+
+And still he doggedly repeated, "I have committed no crime."
+
+"You fear me?" I asked.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because you are here to tempt me, to ensnare me. I will not look at
+you."
+
+I strode to his side, and with my strong hand on his shoulder, forced
+him to raise his head, forced him to look me straight in the face. His
+eyes wavered for a few moments, shifted as though they would escape my
+compelling power, and finally became fixed on mine. He had no power to
+resist me. The will in me was strong, and produced its effects on the
+weaker mind. Gradually what brilliancy there was in his eyes became
+dimmed, and drew but a reflected, shadowy light from mine. Thus we
+remained face to face for four or five minutes, and then I spoke.
+
+"Relate to me," I said, "all that you know from the time you and the
+man who is dead conceived the idea of coming to Nerac up to the
+present moment. Conceal nothing. The truth, the bare, naked truth!"
+
+"We were poor, both of us," Pierre commenced, "and had been poor all
+our lives. That would not have mattered had we been able to obtain
+meat and wine. But we could not. We were neither of us honest, and had
+been in prison more than once for theft. We were never innocent when
+we were convicted, although we swore we were. I got tired of it;
+starvation is a poor game. I would have been contented with a little,
+and so would he, but we could not make sure of that little. Nothing
+else was left to us but to take what we wanted. The wild beasts do;
+why should not we? But we were too well known in our village, some
+sixty miles from Nerac, so, talking it over, we said we would come
+here and try our luck. We had heard of Doctor Louis, and that he was a
+rich man. He can spare what we want, we said; we will go and take. We
+had no idea of blood; we only wanted money, to buy meat and wine with.
+So we started, with nothing in our pockets. On the first day we had a
+slice of luck. We met a man and waylaid him, and took from him all the
+money he had in his pockets. It was not much, but enough to carry us
+to Nerac. No more; but we were satisfied. We did not hurt the man; a
+knock on the head did not take his senses from him, but brought him to
+them; so, being convinced, he gave us what he had, and we departed on
+our way. We were not fast walkers, and, besides, we did not know the
+straightest road to Nerac, so we were four days on the journey. When
+we entered the inn of the Three Black Crows we had just enough money
+left to pay for a bottle of red wine. We called for it, and sat
+drinking. While we were there a spirit entered in the shape of a man.
+This spirit, whom I did not then know to be a demon, sat talking with
+the landlord of the Three Black Crows. He looked towards the place
+where we were sitting, and I wondered whether he and the landlord were
+talking of us; I could not tell, because what they said did not reach
+my ears. He went away, and we went away, too, some time afterwards. We
+wanted another bottle of red wine, but the landlord would not give it
+to us without our paying for it, and we had no money; our pockets were
+bare. So out we went into the night. It was very dark. We had settled
+our plan. Before we entered the Three Black Crows we had found out
+Doctor Louis's house, and knew exactly how it was situated; there
+would be no difficulty in finding it later on, despite the darkness.
+We had decided not to make the attempt until at least two hours past
+midnight, but, for all that, when we left the inn we walked in the
+direction of the doctor's house. I do not know if we should have
+continued our way, because, although I saw nothing and heard nothing,
+I had a fancy that we were being followed; I couldn't say by what, but
+the idea was in my mind. So, talking quietly together, he and I
+determined to turn back to some woods on the outskirts of Nerac which
+we had passed through before we reached the village, and there to
+sleep an hour or two till the time arrived to put our plan into
+execution. Back we turned, and as we went there came a sign to me. I
+don't know how; it was through the senses, for I don't remember
+hearing anything that I could not put down to the wind. My mate heard
+it too, and we stopped in fear. 'What was that?' my mate said. 'Are we
+being followed?' I said nothing. We stood quiet a long while, and
+heard nothing. Then my mate said, 'It was the wind;' and we went on
+till we came to the woods, which we entered. Down upon the ground we
+threw ourselves, and in a minute my mate was asleep. Not so I; but I
+pretended to be. Then came a Shadow that bent over us. I did not move;
+I even breathed regularly to put it off the scent. Presently it
+departed, and I opened my eyes; nothing was near us. Then, being tired
+with the long day's walk, and knowing that there was work before us
+which would be better done after a little rest, I fell asleep myself.
+We both slept, I can't say how long, but from the appearance of the
+night I judged till about the time we had resolved to do our work. I
+woke first, and awoke my mate, and off we set to the doctor's house.
+We reached it in less than an hour, and nothing disturbed us on the
+way. That made me think that I had been deceived, and that my senses
+had been playing tricks with me. I told my mate of my fears, and he
+laughed at me, and I laughed, too, glad to be relieved. We walked
+round the doctor's house, to decide where we should commence. The
+front of it faces the road, and we thought that too dangerous, so we
+made our way to the back, and, talking in whispers, settled to bore a
+hole through the shutters there. We were very quiet; no fear of our
+being heard. The hole being bored, it was easy to cut away wood enough
+to enable us to open the window and make our way into the house. We
+did not intend violence, that is, not more than was necessary for our
+safety. We had talked it over, and had decided that no blood was to be
+shed. Robbers we were, but not murderers. Our plan was to gag and tie
+up any one who interfered with us. My mate and I had had no quarrel;
+we were faithful partners; and I had no other thought than to remain
+true to him as he had no other thought than to remain true to me.
+Share and share alike--that was what we both intended. So he worked
+away at the shutter, while I looked on. Suddenly, crack! A blow came,
+from the air it seemed, and down fell my mate, struck dead! He did not
+move; he did not speak; he died, unshriven. I looked down, dazed, when
+I heard a swishing sound in the air behind me, as though a great club
+was making a circle and about to fall upon my head. It was all in a
+minute, and I turned and saw the demon. Dark as it was, I saw him. I
+slanted my body aside, and the club, instead of falling upon my head,
+fell upon my shoulder. I ran for my life, and down came another blow,
+on my head this time, but it did not kill me. I raced like a madman,
+tearing at the bushes, and the demon after me. I was struck again and
+again, but not killed. Wounded and bleeding, I continued my flight,
+till flat I fell like a log. Not because all my strength was gone; no,
+there was still a little left; but I showed myself more cunning than
+the demon, for down I went as if I was dead, and he left me, thinking
+me so. Then, when he was gone, I opened my eyes, and managed to drag
+myself away to the place where I was found yesterday more dead than
+alive. I did not kill my mate; I never raised my hand against him.
+What I have said is the truth, as I hope for mercy in the next world,
+if I don't get it in this!"
+
+This was the incredible story related to me by the villain who had
+threatened the life of the woman I loved; for he did not deceive me;
+murder was in his heart, and his low cunning only served to show him
+in a blacker light. However, I did not leave him immediately. I
+released him from the spell I had cast upon him, and he stood before
+me, shaking and trembling, with a look in his eyes as though he had
+just been awakened from sleep.
+
+"What have I said?" he muttered.
+
+"You have confessed all," I said, meeting cunning with cunning.
+
+"All!" he muttered. "What do you mean?"
+
+Then I told him that he had made a full confession of his crime, and
+in the telling expounded my own theory, as if it had come from his
+lips, of the thoughts which led to it, and of its final committal--my
+hope being that he would even now admit that he was the murderer. But
+he vehemently defended himself.
+
+"If I have said as much," he said, "it is you who have driven me to
+it, and it is you who have come here to set a snare for my
+destruction. But it is not possible, because what you have told me is
+false from beginning to end."
+
+So I left him, amazed at his dogged, determined obstinacy, which I
+knew would not avail him. He was doomed, and justly doomed.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+
+I have been reading over the record I have written of my life, which
+has been made with care and a strict adherence to the truth. I am at
+the present hour sitting alone in the house I have taken and
+furnished, and to which I hope shortly to bring my beloved Lauretta as
+my wife. The writing of this record from time to time has grown into a
+kind of habit with me, and there are occasions in which I have been
+greatly interested in it myself. Never until this night have I read
+the record from beginning to end, and I have come to a resolution to
+discontinue it. My reason is a sufficient one, and as it concerns no
+man else, no man can dispute my right to make it.
+
+My resolution is, after to-morrow, to allow my new life, soon to
+commence, to flow on uninterruptedly without burdening myself with the
+labour of putting into writing the happy experiences awaiting me. I
+shall be no longer alone; Lauretta will be by my side; I should
+begrudge the hours which deprived me of her society.
+
+Another thing. I must have no secrets from her; and much that here is
+recorded should properly be read by no eye than mine. Lauretta's
+nature is so gentle, her soul so pure, that it would distress her to
+read these pages. This shall not be. I recognise a certain morbid vein
+in myself which the continuing of this record might magnify into a
+disease. It presents itself to me in the light of guarding myself
+against myself, by adopting wise measures to foster cheerfulness. That
+my nature is more melancholy than cheerful is doubtless to be ascribed
+to the circumstances of my child-life, which was entirely devoid of
+light and gaiety. This must not be in the future; I have a battle to
+fight, and I shall conquer because Lauretta's happiness is on the
+issue.
+
+It will, however, be as well to make the record complete in a certain
+sense, and I shall therefore take note of certain things which have
+occurred since my conversation with Pierre in his cell. That done, I
+shall put these papers aside in a secret place, and shall endeavour to
+forget them. My first thought was to destroy the record, but I was
+influenced in the contrary direction by the fact that my first meeting
+with Lauretta and the growth of my love for her are described in it.
+First impressions jotted down at the time of their occurrence have a
+freshness about them which can never be imparted by the aid of memory,
+and it may afford me pleasure in the future to live over again,
+through these pages, the sweet days of my early intimacy with my
+beloved girl. Then there is the strange story of Kristel and Silvain,
+which undoubtedly is worth preserving.
+
+First, to get rid of the miserable affair of the attempt to rob Doctor
+Louis's house. Pierre was tried and convicted, and has paid the
+penalty of his crime. His belief in the possession of a soul could
+not, after all, have had in it the spirit of sincerity; it must have
+been vaunted merely in pursuance of his cunning endeavours to escape
+his just punishment; otherwise he would have confessed before he died.
+Father Daniel, the good priest, did all he could to bring the man to
+repentance, but to the last he insisted that he was innocent. It was
+strange to me to hear Father Daniel express himself sympathetically
+towards the criminal.
+
+"He laboured, up to the supreme moment," said the good priest, in a
+compassionate tone, "under the singular hallucination that he was
+going before his Maker guiltless of the shedding of blood. So fervent
+and apparently sincere were his protestations that I could not help
+being shaken in my belief that he was guilty."
+
+"Then you believe in demons?" I remarked, amazed at this weakness.
+
+"Not in the sense," said Father Daniel, "that the unhappy man would
+have had me believe. Reason rejects his story as something altogether
+too incredulous; and yet I pity him."
+
+I did not prolong the discussion with the good priest; it would have
+been useless, and, to Father Daniel, painful. We looked at the matter
+from widely different standpoints. Intolerance warps the judgment; no
+less does such a life as Father Daniel has lived, for ever seeking to
+find excuses for error and crime, for ever seeking to palliate a man's
+misdeeds. Sweetness of disposition, carried to extremes, may
+degenerate into positive mental feebleness; to my mind this is the
+case with Father Daniel. He is not the kind who, in serious matters,
+can be depended upon for a just estimate of human affairs.
+
+Eric and Emilius, after a longer delay than Doctor Louis anticipated,
+have taken up their residence in Nerac. They paid two short visits to
+the village, and I was in hopes each time upon their departure that
+they had relinquished their intention of living in Nerac. I did not
+give expression to my wish, for I knew it was not shared by any member
+of Doctor Louis's family.
+
+It is useless to disguise that I dislike them, and that there exists
+between us a certain antipathy. To be just, this appears to be more on
+my side than on theirs, and it is not in my disfavour that the
+feelings I entertain are nearer the surface. Doctor Louis and the
+ladies entertain a high opinion of them; I do not; and I have already
+some reason for looking upon them with a suspicious eye. This reason I
+will presently explain.
+
+When we were first introduced it was natural that I should regard them
+with interest, an interest which sprang from the story of their
+father's fateful life. They bear a wonderful resemblance to each other
+they are both fair, with tawny beards, which it appears to me they
+take a pride in shaping and trimming alike; their eyes are blue, and
+they are of exactly the same height. Undoubtedly handsome men, having
+in that respect the advantage of me, who, in point of attractive
+looks, cannot compare with them. They seem to be devotedly attached to
+each other, but this may or may not be. So were Silvain and Kristel
+until a woman stepped between them and changed their love to hate.
+Before I came into personal relationship with Eric and Emilius I made
+up my mind to distrust appearances and to seek for evidence upon which
+to form an independent judgment. Some such evidence has already come
+to me, and I shall secretly follow it up.
+
+They are on terms of the most affectionate intimacy with Doctor Louis
+and his family, and both Lauretta and Lauretta's mother take pleasure
+in their society; Doctor Louis, also, in a lesser degree. Women are
+always more effusive than men.
+
+They are not aware of the relations which bind me to the village. That
+they may have some suspicion of my feelings for Lauretta is more than
+probable, for I have seen them look from her to me and then at each
+other, and I have interpreted these looks. It is as if they said, "Why
+is this stranger here? He is usurping our place." I have begged Doctor
+Louis to allow me to speak openly to Lauretta, and he has consented to
+shorten the period of silence to which I was pledged. I have his
+permission to declare my love to his daughter to-morrow. There are no
+doubts in my mind that she will accept me; but there _are_ doubts that
+if I left it too late there would be danger that her love for me would
+be weakened. Yes, although it is torture to me to admit it I cannot
+rid myself of this impression. How would this be effected and by whom?
+By these brothers, Eric and Emilius, and by means of misrepresentations
+to my injury. I have no positive data to go upon, but I am convinced
+that they have an aversion towards me, and that they are in their hearts
+jealous of me. The doctor is blind to their true character; he believes
+them to be generous and noble-minded, men of rectitude and high
+principle. They are not so. I have the evidence of my senses in proof
+of it.
+
+So much have I been disturbed and unhinged by my feelings towards
+these brothers--feelings which I have but imperfectly expressed--that
+latterly I have frequently been unable to sleep. Impossible to lie
+abed and toss about for hours in an agony of unrest; therefore I chose
+the lesser evil, and resumed the nocturnal wanderings which was my
+habit in Rosemullion before the death of my parents. These nightly
+rambles have been taken in secret, as in the days of my boyhood, and I
+mused and spoke aloud as was my custom during that period of my life.
+But I had new objects to occupy me now--the home in which I hoped to
+enjoy a heaven of happiness, with Lauretta its guiding star, and all
+the bright anticipations of the future. I strove to confine myself to
+these dreams, which filled my soul with joy, but there came to me
+always the figures of Eric and Emilius, dark shadows to threaten my
+promised happiness.
+
+Last week it was, on a night in which I felt that sleep would not be
+mine if I sought my couch; therefore, earlier than usual--it was
+barely eleven o'clock--I left the house, and went into the woods.
+Martin Hartog and his fair daughter were in the habit of retiring
+early and rising with the sun, and I stole quietly away unobserved. At
+twelve o'clock I turned homewards, and when I was about a hundred
+yards from my house I was surprised to hear a low murmur of voices
+within a short distance of me. Since the night on which I visited the
+Three Black Crows and saw the two strangers there who had come to
+Nerac with evil intent, I had become very watchful, and now these
+voices speaking at such an untimely hour thoroughly aroused me. I
+stepped quietly in their direction, so quietly that I knew I could not
+be heard, and presently I saw standing at a distance of ten or twelve
+yards the figures of a man and a woman. The man was Emilius, the woman
+Martin Hartog's daughter.
+
+Although I had heard their voices before I reached the spot upon which
+I stood when I recognised their forms, I could not even now determine
+what they said, they spoke in such low tones. So I stood still and
+watched them and kept myself from their sight. I may say honestly that
+I should not have been guilty of the meanness had it not been that I
+entertain an unconquerable aversion against Eric and Emilius. I was
+sorry to see Martin Hartog's daughter holding a secret interview with
+a man at midnight, for the girl had inspired me with a respect of
+which I now knew she was unworthy; but I cannot aver that I was sorry
+to see Emilius in such a position, for it was an index to his
+character and a justification of the unfavourable opinion I had formed
+of him and Eric. Alike as they were in physical presentment, I had no
+doubt that their moral natures bore the same kind of resemblance.
+Libertines both of them, ready for any low intrigue, and holding in
+light regard a woman's good name and fame. Truly the picture before me
+showed clearly the stuff of which these brothers are made. If they
+hold one woman's good name so lightly, they hold all women so. Fit
+associates, indeed, for a family so pure and stainless as Doctor
+Louis's!
+
+This was no chance meeting--how was that possible at such an hour? It
+was premeditated. Theirs was no new acquaintanceship; it must have
+lasted already some time. The very secrecy of the interview was in
+itself a condemnation.
+
+Should I make Doctor Louis acquainted with the true character of the
+brothers who held so high a place in his esteem? This was the question
+that occurred to me as I gazed upon Emilius and Martin Hartog's
+daughter, and I soon answered it in the negative. Doctor Louis was a
+man of settled convictions, hard to convince, hard to turn. His first
+impulse, upon which he would act, would be to go straight to Emilius,
+and enlighten him upon the discovery I had made. And then? Why, then,
+Emilius would invent some tale which it would not be hard to believe,
+and make light of a matter I deemed so serious. I should be placed in
+the position of an eavesdropper, as a man setting sly watches upon
+others to whom, from causeless grounds, I had taken a dislike. I
+should be at a disadvantage. Whatever the result one thing was
+certain--that I was a person capable not only of unreasonable
+antipathies but of small meannesses to which a gentleman would not
+descend. The love which Doctor Louis bore to Silvain, and which he had
+transferred to Silvain's children, was not to be easily turned; and at
+the best I should be introducing doubts into his mind which would
+reflect upon myself because of the part of spy I had played. No; I
+decided for the present at least, to keep  the knowledge to myself.
+
+As to Martin Hartog, though I could not help feeling pity for him, it
+was for him, not me, to look after his daughter. From a general point
+of view these affairs were common enough.
+
+I seemed to see now in a clearer light the kind of man Silvain
+was--one who would set himself deliberately to deceive where most he
+was trusted. Honour, fair dealing, brotherly love, were as nought in
+his eyes where a woman was concerned, and he had transmitted these
+qualities to Eric and Emilius. My sympathy for Kristel was deepened by
+what I was gazing on; more than ever was I convinced of the justice of
+the revenge he took upon the brother who had betrayed him.
+
+These were the thoughts which passed through my mind while Emilius and
+Martin Hartog's daughter stood conversing. Presently they strolled
+towards me, and I shrank back in fear of being discovered. This
+involuntary action on my part, being an accentuation of the meanness
+of which I was guilty, confirmed me in the resolution at which I had
+arrived to say nothing of my discovery to Doctor Louis.
+
+They passed me in silence, walking in the direction of my house. I did
+not follow them, and did not return home for another hour.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+
+How shall I describe the occurrences of this day, the most memorable
+and eventful in my life? A new life is opening for me. I am
+overwhelmed at the happiness which is within my grasp. As I walked
+home from Doctor Louis's house through the darkness a spirit walked by
+my side, illumining the gloom and filling my heart with gladness.
+
+At one o'clock I presented myself at Doctor Louis's house. He met me
+at the door, expecting me, and asked me to come with him to a little
+room he uses as a study. I followed him in silence. His face was
+grave, and but for its kindly expression I should have feared it was
+his intention to revoke the permission he had given me to speak to his
+daughter on this day of the deep, the inextinguishable love I bear for
+her. He motioned me to a chair, and I seated myself and waited for him
+to speak.
+
+"This hour," he said, "is to me most solemn."
+
+"And to me, sir," I responded.
+
+"It should be," he said, "to you perhaps, more than to me; but we are
+inclined ever to take the selfish view. I have been awake very nearly
+the whole of the night, and so has my wife. Our conversation--well,
+you can guess the object of it."
+
+"Lauretta, sir."
+
+"Yes, Lauretta, our only child, whom you are about to take from us." I
+trembled with joy, his words betokening a certainty that Lauretta
+loved me, an assurance I had yet to receive from her own sweet lips.
+"My wife and I," he continued, "have been living over again the life
+of our dear one, and the perfect happiness we have drawn from her. I
+am not ashamed to say that we have committed some weaknesses during
+these last few hours, weaknesses springing from our affection for our
+Home Rose. In the future some such experience may be yours, and then
+you will know--which now is hidden from you--what parents feel who are
+asked to give their one ewe lamb into the care of a stranger." I
+started. "There is no reason for alarm, Gabriel," he said, "because I
+have used a true word. Until a few short months ago you were really a
+stranger to us."
+
+"That has not been against me, sir," I said, "and is not, I trust."
+
+"There is no such thought in my mind, Gabriel. There is nothing
+against you except--except," he repeated, with a little pitiful smile,
+"that you are about to take from us our most precious possession.
+Until to-day our dear child was wholly and solely ours; and not only
+herself, but her past was ours, her past, which has been to us a
+garden of joy. Henceforth her heart will be divided, and you will have
+the larger share. That is a great deal to think of, and we have
+thought of it, my wife and I, and talked of it nearly all the night.
+Certain treasures," he said, and again the pitiful smile came on his
+lips, "which in the eyes of other men and women are valueless, still
+are ours." He opened a drawer, and gazed with loving eyes upon its
+contents. "Such as a little pair of shoes, a flower or two, a lock of
+her bright hair."
+
+"May I see it, sir?" I asked, profoundly touched by the loving accents
+of his voice.
+
+"Surely," he replied, and he passed over to me a lock of golden hair,
+which I pressed to my lips. "The little head was once covered with
+these golden curls, and to us, her parents, they were as holy as they
+would have been on the head of an angel. She was all that to us,
+Gabriel. It is within the scope of human love to lift one's thoughts
+to heaven and God; it is within its scope to make one truly fit for
+the life to come. All things are not of the world worldly; it is a
+grievous error to think so, and only sceptics can so believe. In the
+kiss of baby lips, in the touch of little hands, in the myriad sweet
+ways of childhood, lie the breath of a pure religion which God
+receives because of its power to sanctify the lowest as well as the
+highest of human lives. It is good to think of that, and to feel that,
+in the holiest forms of humanity, the poor stand as high as the rich."
+He paused a while before he continued. "Gabriel, it is an idle phrase
+for a father holding the position towards you which I do at the
+present moment, to say he has no fears for the happiness of his only
+child."
+
+"If you have any, sir," I said, "question me, and let me endeavour to
+set your mind at ease. In one respect I can do so with solemn
+earnestness. If it be my happy lot to win your daughter, her welfare,
+her honour, her peace of mind, shall be the care of my life. These
+assured, happiness should follow. I love Lauretta with a pure heart;
+no other woman has ever possessed my love; to no other woman have I
+been drawn; nor is it possible that I could be. She is to me part of
+my spiritual life. I am not as other men, in the ordinary acceptation.
+In my childhood's life there was but little joy, and the common
+pleasures of childhood were not mine. From almost my earliest
+remembrances there was but little light in my parents' house, and in
+looking back upon it I can scarcely call it a home. The fault was not
+mine, as you will admit. May I claim some small merit--not of my own
+purposed earning, but because it was in me, for which I may have
+reason to be grateful--from the fact that the circumstances of my
+early life did not corrupt me, did not drive me to a searching for low
+pleasures, and did not debase me? It seemed to me, sir, that I was
+ever seeking for something in the heights and not in the depths. Books
+and study were my comforters, and I derived real pleasures from them.
+They served to satisfy a want, and, although I contracted a melancholy
+mood, I was not unhappy. I know that this mood is in me, but when I
+think of Lauretta it is dispelled. I seem to hear the singing of
+birds, to see flowers around me, to bathe in sunshine. Perhaps it
+springs from the fervour of my love for her; but a kind of belief is
+mine that I have been drawn hither to her, that my way of life was
+measured to her heart. What more can I say, sir?"
+
+"You have said much," said Doctor Louis, "to comfort and assure me,
+and have, without being asked, answered questions which were in my
+mind. Do you remember a conversation you had with my wife in the first
+days of your convalescence, commenced I think by you in saying that
+the happiest dream of your life was drawing to a close?"
+
+"I was thinking of Lauretta. Even in those early days I felt that I
+loved her."
+
+"I understand that now," said Doctor Louis. "My wife replied that life
+must not be dreamt away, that it has duties."
+
+"I remember the conversation well, sir."
+
+"My wife said that one's ease and pleasures are rewards, only
+enjoyable when they have been worthily earned; and when you asked,
+'Earned in what way?' she answered, 'In accomplishing one's work in
+the world.'"
+
+"Yes, sir, her words come back to me."
+
+"There is something more," said Doctor Louis, with sad sweetness,
+"which I should not recall did I not hold duty before me as my chief
+beacon. Inclination and selfish desire must often be sacrificed for
+it. You will understand how sadly significant this is to me when I
+recall what followed. Though, to be sure," he added, in a slightly
+gayer tone, "we could visit you and our daughter, wherever your abode
+happened to be. Continuing your conversation with my wife, you said,
+'How to discover what one's work really is, and where it should be
+properly performed?' My wife answered, 'In one's native land.'"
+
+"Those were the words we spoke to one another, sir."
+
+"It was my wife who recalled them to me, and I wish you--in the event
+of your hopes being realised--to bear them in mind. It would be
+painful to me to see you lead an idle life, and it would be injurious
+to you. This quiet village opens out no opportunities to you; it is
+too narrow, too confined. I have found my place here as an active
+worker, but I doubt if you would do so."
+
+"There is time to think of it, sir."
+
+"Plenty of time. And now, if you like, we will join my wife and
+daughter."
+
+"Have you said anything to Lauretta, sir?"
+
+"No. I thought it best, and so did her mother, that her heart should
+be left to speak for itself."
+
+Lauretta's mother received me with tender, wistful solicitude, and I
+observed nothing in Lauretta to denote that she had been prepared for
+the declaration I had come to make. After lunch I proposed to Lauretta
+to go out into the garden, and she turned to her mother and asked if
+she would accompany us.
+
+"No, my child," said the mother, "I have things in the house to attend
+to."
+
+So Lauretta and I went out alone.
+
+It was a lovely day, and Lauretta had thrown a light lace scarf over
+her head. She was in gay spirits, not boisterous, for she is ever
+gentle, and she endeavoured to entertain me with innocent prattle, to
+which I found it difficult to respond. In a little while this forced
+itself upon her observation, and she asked me if I was not well.
+
+"I am quite well, Lauretta," I replied.
+
+"Then something has annoyed you," she said.
+
+No, I answered, nothing had annoyed me.
+
+"But there _is_ something," she said.
+
+"Yes," I said, "there _is_ something."
+
+"Tell me," she said.
+
+We were standing by a rosebush, and I plucked one absently, and
+absently plucked the leaves. She looked at me in silence for a moment
+or two and said, "This is the first time I have ever seen you destroy
+a flower."
+
+"I was not thinking of it," I said; and was about to throw it away
+when an impulse, born purely of love for what was graceful and sweet,
+restrained me, and I put it into my pocket. In this the most
+impressive epoch in my life no sentiment but that of tenderness could
+hold a place in my heart and mind.
+
+"Well?" she said, still not suspecting. "Tell me."
+
+"Lauretta," I said, taking her hand, which she left willingly in mine,
+"will you listen to the story of my life?"
+
+"You have already told me much," she said.
+
+"You have heard only a part," I said, and I gently urged her to a
+seat. "I wish you to know all; I wish you to know me as I really am."
+
+"I know you as you really are," she said, and then a faint colour came
+to her cheeks, and she trembled slightly, seeing a new meaning in my
+earnest glances.
+
+"May I tell you? May I sit beside you?"
+
+"Yes," she said, and gently withdrew her hand from mine.
+
+I told her all, withholding only from her those mysterious promptings
+of my lonely hours which I knew would distress her, and to which I was
+convinced, with her as my companion through life, there would be for
+ever an end. Of even those promptings I gave her some insight, but so
+toned down--for her sweet sake, not for mine--as to excite only her
+sympathy. Apart from this, I was at sincere pains that she should see
+my life as it had really been, a life stripped of the joys of
+childhood; a life stripped of the light of home; a life dependent upon
+itself for comfort and support. Then, unconsciously, and out of the
+suffering of my soul--for as I spoke it seemed to me that a cruel
+wrong had been perpetrated upon me in the past--I contrasted the young
+life I had been condemned to live with that of a child who was blessed
+with parents whose hearts were animated by a love the evidences of
+which would endure all through his after life as a sweet and purifying
+influence. The tears ran down her cheeks as I dwelt upon this part of
+my story. Then I spoke of the happy chance which had conducted me to
+her home, and of the happiness I had experienced in my association
+with her and hers.
+
+"Whatever fate may be mine," I said, "I shall never reflect upon these
+experiences, I shall never think of your dear parents, without
+gratitude and affection. Lauretta, it is with their permission I am
+here now by your side. It is with their permission that I am opening
+my heart to you. They know we are here together. I love you, Lauretta,
+and if you will bless me with your love, and place your hand in mine,
+all my life shall be devoted to your happiness. You can bring a
+blessing into my days; I will strive to bring a blessing into yours."
+
+My arm stole round her waist; her head drooped to my shoulder, so that
+her face was hidden from my ardent gaze; the hand I clasped was not
+withdrawn.
+
+"Lauretta," I whispered, "say 'I love you, Gabriel.'"
+
+"I love you, Gabriel," she whispered; and heaven itself opened out to
+me.
+
+Half an hour later we went in to her mother, and the noble woman held
+out her arms to her daughter. As the maiden nestled to her breast, she
+said, holding out a hand to me, which I reverently kissed, "God in His
+mercy keep guard over you! His blessing be upon you both!"
+
+                           *   *   *   *   *
+
+These are my last written words in the record I have kept. From this
+day I commence a new life.
+
+
+
+
+
+                           BOOK THE SECOND.
+
+IN WHICH THE SECRET OF THE INHERITANCE TRANSMITTED TO GABRIEL CAREW IS
+REVEALED IN A SERIES OF LETTERS FROM ABRAHAM SANDIVAL, ESQ., ENGLAND,
+TO HIS FRIEND, MAXIMILIAN GALLENGA, ESQ., CONTRA COSTA CO.,
+CALIFORNIA.
+
+
+
+
+                                  I.
+
+
+My Dear Max,--For many months past you have complained that I have
+been extremely reticent upon domestic matters, and that I have said
+little or nothing concerning my son Reginald, who, since you quitted
+the centres of European civilisation to bury yourself in a sparsely
+populated Paradise, has grown from childhood to manhood. A ripe
+manhood, my dear Max, such as I, his father, approve of, and to the
+future development of which, now that a grave and strange crisis in
+his life has come to a happy ending, I look forward with loving
+interest. It is, I know, your affection for Reginald that causes you
+to be anxious for news of him. Well do I remember when you informed me
+of your fixed resolution to seek not only new scenes but new modes of
+life, how earnestly you strove to prevail upon me to allow him to
+accompany you.
+
+"He is young and plastic," you said, "and I can train him to
+happiness. The fewer the wants, the more contented the lot of man."
+
+You wished to educate Reginald according to the primitive views to
+which you had become so strongly wedded, and you did your best to
+convert me to them, saying, I remember, that I should doubtless suffer
+in parting with Reginald, but that it was a father's duty to make
+sacrifices for his children. You did not succeed. My belief was, and
+is, that man is born to progress, and that to go back into
+primitiveness, to commence again, as it were, the history of the world
+and mankind, as though we had been living in error through all the
+centuries, is a folly. I did not apply this criticism to you; I
+regarded your new departure not as a folly, but as a mistake. I doubt
+even now whether it has made you happier than you were, and I fancy
+I detect here and there in your letters a touch of sadness and
+regret--of which perhaps you are unconscious--that you should have cut
+yourself away from the busy life of multitudes of people. However, it
+is not my purpose now to enlarge upon this theme. The history I am
+about to relate is personal to myself and to Reginald, whose destiny
+it has been to come into close contact with a family, the head of
+which, Gabriel Carew, affords a psychological study as strange
+probably as was ever presented to the judgment of mankind.
+
+There are various reasons for my undertaking a task which will occupy
+a great deal of time and entail considerable labour. The labour will
+be interesting to me, and its products no less interesting to you, who
+were always fond of the mystical. I have leisure to apply myself to
+it. Reginald is not at present with me; he has left me for a few weeks
+upon a mission of sunshine. This will sound enigmatical to you, but
+you must content yourself with the gradual and intelligible unfolding
+of the wonderful story I am about to narrate. Like a skilful narrator
+I shall not weaken the interest by giving information and presenting
+pictures to you in the wrong places. The history is one which it is my
+opinion should not be lost to the world; its phases are so remarkable
+that it will open up a field of inquiry which may not be without
+profitable results to those who study psychological mysteries. A few
+years hence I should not be able to recall events in their logical
+order; I therefore do so while I possess the power and while my memory
+is clear with respect to them.
+
+You will soon discover that neither I nor Reginald is the principal
+character in this drama of life. That position is occupied by Mr.
+Gabriel Carew, the owner of an estate in the county of Kent, known as
+Rosemullion.
+
+My labours will be thrown away unless you are prepared to read what I
+shall write with unquestioning faith. I shall set down nothing but the
+truth, and you must accept it without a thought of casting doubt upon
+it. That you will wonder and be amazed is certain; it would, indeed,
+be strange otherwise; for in all your varied experiences (you led a
+busy and eventful life before you left us) you met with none so
+singular and weird as the events which I am about to bring to your
+knowledge. You must accept also--as the best and most suitable form
+through which you will be made familiar not only with the personality
+of Gabriel Carew, but with the mysterious incidents of his life--the
+methods I shall adopt in the unfolding of my narrative. They are such
+as are frequently adopted with success by writers of fiction, and as
+my material is fact, I am justified in pressing it into my service. I
+am aware that objection may be taken to it on the ground that I shall
+be presenting you with conversations between persons of which I was
+not a witness, but I do not see in what other way I could offer you an
+intelligent and intelligible account of the circumstances of the
+story. All that I can therefore do is to promise that I will keep a
+strict curb upon my imagination and will not allow it to encroach upon
+the domains of truth. With this necessary prelude I devote myself to
+my task.
+
+
+
+
+                                 II.
+
+
+Before, however, myself commencing the work there is something
+essential for you to do. Accompanying my own manuscript is a packet,
+carefully sealed and secured, on the outer sheet of which is written,
+"Not to be disturbed or opened until instructions to do so are given
+by Abraham Sandival to his friend Maximilian Gallenofa." The
+precaution is sufficient to whet any man's curiosity, but is not taken
+to that end. It is simply in pursuance of the plan I have designed, by
+which you will become possessed of all the details and particulars for
+the proper understanding of what I shall impart to you. The packet, my
+dear Max, is neither more nor less than a life record made by Gabriel
+Carew himself up to within a few months of his marriage, which took
+place twenty years ago in the village of Nerac. The lady Gabriel Carew
+married was the daughter of Doctor Louis, a gentleman of rare
+acquirements, and distinguished both for his learning and benevolence.
+There is no evidence in the record as to whether its recital was
+spread over a number of years, or was begun and finished within a few
+months; but that matters little. It bears the impress of absolute
+truth and candour, and apart from its startling revelations you will
+recognise in it a picturesqueness of description hardly to be expected
+from one who had not made a study of literature. Its perusal will
+perplexedly stir your mind, and in the feelings it will excite towards
+Gabriel Carew there will most likely be an element of pity, the reason
+for which you will find it difficult to explain. "Season your
+admiration for a while;" before I am at the end of my task the riddle
+will be solved.
+
+As I pen these words I can realise your perplexity during your perusal
+of the record as to the manner in which my son Reginald came be
+associated with so strange a man as the writer. But this is a world of
+mystery, and we can never hope to find a key to its spiritual
+workings. With respect to this particular mystery nothing shall be
+hidden from you. You will learn how I came to be mixed up in it; you
+will learn how vitally interwoven it threatened to be in Reginald's
+life; you will learn how Gabriel Carew's manuscript fell into my
+hands; and the mystery of his life will be revealed to you.
+
+Now, my dear Max, you can unfasten the packet, and read the record.
+
+
+
+
+                                 III.
+
+
+I assume that you are now familiar with the story of Gabriel Carew's
+life up to the point, or within a few months, of his marriage with
+Lauretta, and that you have formed some opinion of the different
+persons with whom he came in contact in Nerac. Outside Nerac there was
+only one person who can be said to have been interested in his fate;
+this was his mother's nurse, Mrs. Fortress, and you must be deeply
+impressed by the part she played in the youthful life of Gabriel
+Carew. Of her I shall have to speak in due course.
+
+I transport you in fancy to Nerac, my dear Max, where I have been not
+very long ago, and where I conversed with old people who to this day
+remember Gabriel Carew and his sweet wife Lauretta, whom he brought
+with him to England some little time after their marriage. It is not
+likely that the incidents in connection with Gabriel Carew and his
+wife will be forgotten during this generation or the next in that
+loveliest of villages.
+
+When you laid aside Carew's manuscript he had received the sanction of
+Lauretta's mother to his engagement with the sweet maid, and the good
+woman had given her children her blessing. Thereafter Gabriel Carew
+wrote: "These are my last written words in the record I have kept.
+From this day I commence a new life." He kept his word with respect to
+his resolve not to add another word to the record. He sealed it up and
+deposited it in his desk; and it is my belief that from that day he
+never read a line of its contents.
+
+We are, then, my dear Max, in Nerac, you and I in spirit, in the
+holiday time of the open courtship of Gabriel Carew and Lauretta.
+Carew is occupying the house of which it was his intention to make
+Lauretta the mistress, and there are residing in it, besides the
+ordinary servants, Martin Hartog, the gardener, and his daughter, with
+whom, from Carew's record, Emilius was supposed to be carrying on an
+intrigue of a secret and discreditable nature. It is evident, from the
+manner in which Carew referred to it, that he considered it
+dishonourable. The name of this girl was Patricia.
+
+There remain to be mentioned, as characters in the drama then being
+played, Doctor Louis, Eric, and Father Daniel.
+
+The crimes of the two ruffians who had attempted to enter Doctor
+Louis's house remained for long fresh in the memories of the
+villagers. They were both dead, one murdered, the other executed for a
+deed of which only one person in Nerac had an uneasy sense of his
+innocence--Father Daniel. The good priest, having received from the
+unfortunate man a full account of his life from childhood, journeyed
+shortly afterwards to the village in which he had been born and was
+best known, for the purpose of making inquiries into its truth. He
+found it verified in every particular, and he learnt, moreover, that
+although the hunchback had been frequently in trouble, it was rather
+from sheer wretchedness and poverty than from any natural brutality of
+disposition that he had drifted into crime. It stood to his credit
+that Father Daniel could trace to him no acts of cruel violence;
+indeed, the priest succeeded in bringing to light two or three
+circumstances in the hunchback's career which spoke well for his
+humanity, one of them being that he was kind to his bedridden mother.
+Father Daniel returned to Nerac much shaken by the reflection that in
+this man's case justice had been in error. But if this were so, if the
+hunchback were innocent, upon whom to fix the guilt? A sadness weighed
+upon the good priest's heart as he went about his daily duties, and
+gazed upon his flock with an awful suspicion in his mind that there
+was a murderer among them, for whose crime an innocent man had been
+executed.
+
+Gabriel Carew was happy. The gloom of his early life, which threatened
+to cast dark shadows over all his days, seemed banished for ever. He
+was liked and respected in the village in which he had found his
+happiness; his charities caused men and women to hold him in something
+like affectionate regard; he was Father Daniel's friend, and no case
+of suffering or poverty was mentioned to him which he was not ready to
+relieve; in Doctor Louis's home he held an honoured place; and he was
+loved by a good and pure woman, who had consented to link her fate
+with his. Surely in this prospect there was nothing that could be
+productive of aught but good.
+
+The sweetness and harmony of the time, however, were soon to be
+disturbed. After a few weeks of happiness, Gabriel Carew began to be
+troubled. In his heart he had no love for the twin brothers, Eric and
+Emilius; he believed them to be light-minded and unscrupulous, nay,
+more, he believed them to be treacherous in their dealings with both
+men and women. These evil qualities, he had decided with himself, they
+had inherited from their father, Silvain, whose conduct towards his
+unhappy brother Kristel had excited Gabriel Carew's strong abhorrence.
+As is shown in the comments he makes in his record, all his sympathy
+was with Kristel, and he had contracted a passionate antipathy against
+Silvain, whom he believed to be guilty of the blackest treachery in
+his dealings with Avicia. This antipathy he now transferred to
+Silvain's sons, Eric and Emilius, and they needed to be angels, not
+men, to overcome it.
+
+Not that they tried to win Carew's good opinion. Although his feelings
+for them were not openly expressed, they made themselves felt in the
+consciousness of these twin brothers, who instinctively recognised
+that Gabriel Carew was their enemy. Therefore they held off from him,
+and repaid him quietly in kind. But this was a matter solely and
+entirely between themselves and known only to themselves. The three
+men knew what deep pain and grief it would cause not only Doctor Louis
+and his wife, but the gentle Lauretta, to learn that they were in
+enmity with each other, and one and all were animated by the same
+desire to keep this antagonism from the knowledge of the family. This
+was, indeed, a tacit understanding between them, and it was so
+thoroughly carried out that no member of Doctor Louis's family
+suspected it; and neither was it suspected in the village. To all
+outward appearance Gabriel Carew and Eric and Emilius were friends.
+
+It was not the brothers but Carew who, in the first instance, was to
+blame. He was the originator and the creator of the trouble, for it is
+scarcely to be doubted that had he held out the hand of a frank
+friendship to them, they would have accepted it, even though their
+acceptance needed some sacrifice on their parts. The reason for this
+qualification will be apparent to you later on in the story, and you
+will then also understand why I do not reveal certain circumstances
+respecting the affection of Eric and Emilius for Martin Hartog's
+daughter, Patricia, and for the female members of the family of Doctor
+Louis. It would be anticipating events. I am relating the story in the
+order in which it progressed, and, so far as my knowledge of it goes,
+according to the sequence of time.
+
+Certainly the dominant cause of Gabriel Carew's hatred for the
+brothers sprang from his jealousy of them with respect to Lauretta.
+They and she had been friends from childhood, and they were regarded
+by Doctor Louis and his wife as members of their family. This in
+itself was sufficient to inflame so exacting a lover as Carew. He
+interpreted every innocent little familiarity to their disadvantage,
+and magnified trifles inordinately. They saw his sufferings and were,
+perhaps, somewhat scornful of them. He had already shown them how deep
+was his hatred of them, and they not unnaturally resented it. After
+all, he was a stranger in Nerac, a come-by-chance visitor, who had
+usurped the place which might have been occupied by one of them had
+the winds been fair. Instead of being overbearing and arrogant he
+should have been gracious and conciliating. It was undoubtedly his
+duty to be courteous and mannerly from the first day of their
+acquaintance; instead of which he had, before he saw them, contracted
+a dislike for them which he had allowed to swell to monstrous and
+unjustifiable proportions.
+
+Gabriel Carew, however, justified himself to himself, and it may be
+at once conceded that he had grounds for his feelings which were to
+him--and would likely have been to some other men--sufficient. These
+may now be set forth.
+
+When a lover's suspicious and jealous nature is aroused it does not
+from that moment sleep. There is no rest, no repose for it. If it
+require opportunities for confirmation or for the infliction of
+self-suffering, it is never difficult to find them. Imagination steps
+in and supplies the place of fact. Every hour is a torture; every
+innocent look and smile is brooded over in secret. A most prolific,
+unreasonable, and cruel breeder of shadows is jealousy, and the evil
+of it is that it breeds in secret.
+
+Gabriel Carew set himself to watch, and from the keen observance of a
+nature so thorough and intense as his nothing could escape. He was an
+unseen witness of other interviews between Patricia Hartog and
+Emilius; and not only of interviews between her and Emilius but
+between her and Eric. He formed his conclusions. The brothers were
+playing false to each other, and the girl was playing false with both.
+This was of little account; he had no more than a passing interest in
+Patricia, and although at one time he had some kind of intention of
+informing Martin Hartog of these secret interviews, and placing the
+father on his guard--for the gardener seemed to be quite unaware that
+an intrigue was going on--he relinquished the intention, saying that
+it was no affair of his. But it confirmed the impressions he had
+formed of the character of Eric and Emilius, and it strengthened him
+in his determination to allow no intercourse between them and the
+woman he loved.
+
+An additional torture was in store for him, and it fell upon him like
+a thunderbolt. One day he saw Emilius and Lauretta walking in the
+woods, talking earnestly and confidentially together. His blood
+boiled; his heart beat so violently that he could scarcely distinguish
+surrounding objects. So violent was his agitation that it was many
+minutes before he recovered himself, and then Lauretta and Emilius had
+passed out of sight. He went home in a wild fury of despair.
+
+He had not been near enough to hear one word of the conversation, but
+their attitude was to him confirmation of his jealous suspicion that
+the young man was endeavouring to supplant him in Lauretta's
+affections. In the evening he saw Lauretta in her home, and she
+noticed a change in him.
+
+"Are you ill, Gabriel?" she asked.
+
+"No," he replied, "I am quite well. What should make me otherwise?"
+
+The bitterness in his voice surprised her, and she insisted that he
+should seek repose. "To get me out of the way," he thought; and then,
+gazing into her solicitous and innocent eyes, he mutely reproached
+himself for doubting her. No, it was not she who was to blame; she was
+still his, she was still true to him; but how easy was it for a friend
+so close to her as Emilius to instil into her trustful heart evil
+reports against himself! "That is the first step," he thought. "What
+must follow is simple. These men, these villains, are capable of any
+treachery. Honour is a stranger to their scheming natures. How shall I
+act? To meet them openly, to accuse them openly, may be my ruin.
+They are too firmly fixed in the affections of Doctor Louis and his
+wife--they are too firmly fixed in the affections of even Lauretta
+herself--for me to hope to expose them upon evidence so slender. Not
+slender to me, but to them. These treacherous brothers are conspiring
+secretly against me. I will meet them with their own weapons. Secrecy
+for secrecy. I will wait and watch till I have the strongest proof
+against them, and then I will expose their true characters to Doctor
+Louis and Lauretta."
+
+Having thus resolved, he was not the man to swerve from the plan he
+laid down. The nightly vigils he had kept in his young life served him
+now, and it seemed as if he could do without sleep. The stealthy
+meetings between Patricia and the brothers continued, and before long
+he saw Eric and Lauretta in the woods together. In his espionage he
+was always careful not to approach near enough to bring discovery upon
+himself.
+
+In an indirect manner, as though it was a matter which he deemed of
+slight importance, he questioned Lauretta as to her walks in the woods
+with Eric and Emilius.
+
+"Yes," she said artlessly, "we sometimes meet there."
+
+"By accident?" asked Gabriel Carew.
+
+"Not always by accident," replied Lauretta. "Remember, Gabriel, Eric
+and Emilius are as my brothers, and if they have a secret----" And
+then she blushed, grew confused, and paused.
+
+These signs were poisoned food indeed to Carew, but he did not betray
+himself.
+
+"Have they a secret?" he asked, with assumed carelessness.
+
+"It was wrong of me to speak," said Lauretta, "after my promise to say
+nothing to a single soul in the village."
+
+"And most especially," said Carew, hitting the mark, "to me."
+
+She grew more confused. "Do not press me, Gabriel."
+
+"Only," he continued, with slight persistence, "that it must be a
+heart secret."
+
+She was silent, and he dropped the subject.
+
+From the interchange of these few words he extracted the most
+exquisite torture. There was, then, between Lauretta and the brothers
+a secret of the heart, known only to themselves, to be revealed to
+none, and to him, Gabriel Carew, to whom the young girl was affianced,
+least of all. It must be well understood, in this explanation of what
+was occurring in the lives of these young people at that momentous
+period, that Gabriel Carew never once suspected that Lauretta was
+false to him. His great fear was that Eric and Emilius were working
+warily against him, and were cunningly fabricating some kind of
+evidence in his disfavour which would rob him of Lauretta's love. They
+were conspiring to this end, to the destruction of his happiness, and
+they were waiting for the hour to strike the fatal blow. Well, it was
+for him to strike first. His love for Lauretta was so all-absorbing
+that all other considerations--however serious the direct or indirect
+consequences of them--sank into utter insignificance by the side of
+it. He did not allow it to weigh against Lauretta that she appeared to
+be in collusion with Eric and Emilius, and to be favouring their
+schemes. Her nature was so guileless and unsuspecting that she could
+be easily led and deceived by friends in whom she placed a trust. It
+was this that strengthened Carew in his resolve not to rudely make the
+attempt to open her eyes to the perfidy of Eric and Emilius. She would
+have been incredulous, and the arguments he should use against his
+enemies might be turned against himself. Therefore he adhered to the
+line of action he had marked out. He waited, and watched, and
+suffered. Meanwhile, the day appointed for his union with Lauretta was
+approaching.
+
+
+
+
+                                 IV.
+
+
+Within a fortnight of that day Gabriel Carew's passions were roused to
+an almost uncontrollable pitch.
+
+It was evening, and he saw Eric and Emilius in the woods. They were
+conversing with more than ordinary animation, and appeared to be
+discussing some question upon which they did not agree. Carew saw
+signs which he could not interpret--appeals, implorings, evidences of
+strong feeling on one side and of humbleness on the other, despair
+from one, sorrow from the other; and then suddenly a phase which
+startled the watcher and filled him with a savage joy. Eric, in a
+paroxysm, laid hands furiously upon his brother, and it seemed for a
+moment as if a violent struggle were about to take place.
+
+It was to the restraint and moderation of Emilius that this
+unbrotherly conflict was avoided. He did not meet violence with
+violence; after a pause he gently lifted Eric's hands from his
+shoulders, and with a sad look turned away, Eric gazing at his
+retreating figure in a kind of bewilderment. Presently Emilius was
+gone, and only Eric remained.
+
+He was not long alone. From an opposite direction to that taken by
+Emilius the watcher saw approaching the form of the woman he loved,
+and to whom he was shortly to be wed. That her coming was not
+accidental, but in fulfilment of a promise was clear to Gabriel Carew.
+Eric expected her, and welcomed her without surprise. Then the two
+began to converse.
+
+Carew's heart beat tumultuously; he would have given worlds to hear
+what was being said, but he was at too great a distance for a word to
+reach his ears. For a time Eric was the principal speaker, Lauretta,
+for the most part, listening, and uttering now and then merely a word
+or two. In her quiet way she appeared to be as deeply agitated as the
+young man who was addressing her in an attitude of despairing appeal.
+Again and again it seemed as if he had finished what he had to say,
+and again and again he resumed, without abatement of the excitement
+under which he was labouring. At length he ceased, and then Lauretta
+became the principal actor in the scene. She spoke long and forcibly,
+but always with that gentleness of manner which was one of her
+sweetest characteristics. In her turn she seemed to be appealing to
+the young man, and to be endeavouring to impress upon him a sad and
+bitter truth which he was unwilling, and not in the mood, to
+recognise. For a long time she was unsuccessful; the young man walked
+impatiently a few steps from her, then returned, contrite and humble,
+but still with all the signs of great suffering upon him. At length
+her words had upon him the effect she desired; he wavered, he held out
+his hands helplessly, and presently covered his face with them and
+sank to the ground. Then, after a silence, during which Lauretta gazed
+compassionately upon his convulsed form, she stooped and placed her
+hand upon his shoulder. He lifted his eyes, from which the tears were
+flowing, and raised himself from the earth. He stood before her with
+bowed head, and she continued to speak. The pitiful sweetness of her
+face almost drove Carew mad; it could not be mistaken that her heart
+was beating with sympathy for Eric's sufferings. A few minutes more
+passed, and then it seemed as if she had prevailed. Eric accepted the
+hand she held out to him, and pressed his lips upon it. Had he at that
+moment been within Gabriel Carew's reach, it would have fared ill with
+both these men, but Heaven alone knows whether it would have averted
+what was to follow before the setting of another sun, to the
+consternation and grief of the entire village. After pressing his lips
+to Lauretta's hand, the pair separated, each going a different way,
+and Gabriel Carew ground his teeth as he observed that there were
+tears in Lauretta's eyes as well as in Eric's. A darkness fell upon
+him as he walked homewards.
+
+
+
+
+                                  V.
+
+
+The following morning Nerac and the neighbourhood around were agitated
+by news of a tragedy more thrilling and terrible than that in which
+the hunchback and his companion in crime were concerned. In attendance
+upon this tragedy, and preceding its discovery, was a circumstance
+stirring enough in its way in the usually quiet life of the simple
+villagers, but which, in the light of the mysterious tragedy, would
+have paled into insignificance had it not been that it appeared to
+have a direct bearing upon it. Martin Hartog's daughter, Patricia, had
+fled from her home, and was nowhere to be discovered.
+
+This flight was made known to the villagers early in the morning by
+the appearance among them of Martin Hartog, demanding in which house
+his daughter had taken refuge. The man was distracted; his wild words
+and actions excited great alarm, and when he found that he could
+obtain no satisfaction from them, and that every man and woman in
+Nerac professed ignorance of his daughter's movements, he called down
+heaven's vengeance upon the man who had betrayed her, and left them to
+search the woods for Patricia.
+
+The words he had uttered in his imprecations when he called upon a
+higher power for vengeance on a villain opened the villagers' eyes.
+Patricia had been betrayed. By whom? Who was the monster who had
+worked this evil?
+
+While they were talking excitedly together they saw Gabriel Carew
+hurrying to the house of Father Daniel. He was admitted, and in the
+course of a few minutes emerged from it in the company of the good
+priest, whose troubled face denoted that he had heard the sad news of
+Patricia's flight from her father's home. The villagers held aloof
+from Father Daniel and Gabriel Carew, seeing that they were in earnest
+converse. Carew was imparting to the priest his suspicions of Eric and
+Emilius in connection with this event; he did not mention Lauretta's
+name, but related how on several occasions he had been an accidental
+witness of meetings between Patricia and one or other of the brothers.
+
+"It was not for me to place a construction upon these meetings," said
+Carew, "nor did it appear to me that I was called upon to mention it
+to any one. It would have been natural for me to suppose that Martin
+Hartog was fully acquainted with his daughter's movements, and that,
+being of an independent nature, he would have resented any
+interference from me. He is Patricia's father, and it was believed by
+all that he guarded her well. Had he been my equal I might have
+incidentally asked whether there was anything serious between his
+daughter and these brothers, but I am his master, and therefore was
+precluded from inviting a confidence which can only exist between men
+occupying the same social condition. There is, besides, another reason
+for my silence which, if you care to hear, I will impart to you."
+
+"Nothing should be concealed from me," said Father Daniel.
+
+"Although," said Gabriel Carew, "I have been a resident here now for
+some time, I felt, and feel, that a larger knowledge of me is
+necessary to give due and just weight to the unfavourable opinion I
+have formed of two men with whom you have been acquainted from
+childhood, and who hold a place in your heart of which they are
+utterly unworthy. Not alone in your heart, but in the hearts of my
+dearest friends, Doctor Louis and his family.
+
+"You refer to Eric and Emilius," said the priest.
+
+"Yes, I refer to them."
+
+"What you have already said concerning them has deeply pained me. I do
+not share your suspicions. Their meetings with Hartog's daughter were,
+I am convinced, innocent. They are incapable of an act of baseness;
+they are of noble natures, and it is impossible that they should ever
+have harboured a thought of treachery to a young maiden."
+
+"I am more than justified," said Gabriel Carew, "by the expression of
+your opinion, in the course I took. You would have listened with
+impatience to me, and what I should have said would have recoiled on
+myself. Yet now I regret that I did not interfere; this calamity might
+have been avoided, and a woman's honour saved. Let us seek Martin
+Hartog; he may be in possession of information to guide us."
+
+From the villagers they learnt that Hartog had gone to the woods, and
+they were about to proceed in that direction when another, who had
+just arrived, informed them that he had seen Hartog going to Gabriel
+Carew's house. Thither they proceeded, and found Hartog in his
+cottage. He was on his knees, when they entered, before a box in which
+his daughter kept her clothes. This he had forced open, and was
+searching. He looked wildly at Father Daniel and Carew, and
+immediately resumed his task, throwing the girl's clothes upon the
+floor after examining the pockets. In his haste and agitation he did
+not observe a portrait which he had cast aside, Carew picked it up and
+handed it to Father Daniel. It was the portrait of Emilius.
+
+"Does this look like innocence?" inquired Carew. "Who is the more
+likely to be right in our estimate of these brothers, you or I?"
+
+Father Daniel, overwhelmed by the evidence, did not reply. By this
+time Martin Hartog had found a letter which he was eagerly perusing.
+
+"This is the villain," he cried. "If there is justice in heaven he has
+met with his deserts. If he still lives he shall die by my hands!"
+
+"Hush, hush!" murmured Father Daniel. "Vengeance is not yours to deal
+out. Pray for comfort--pray for mercy."
+
+"Pray for mercy!" cried Hartog with a bitter laugh. "I pray for
+vengeance! If the monster be not already smitten, Lord, give him into
+my hands! I will tear him limb from limb! But who, who is he? The
+cunning villain has not even signed his name!"
+
+Father Daniel took the letter from his unresisting hand, and as his
+eyes fell upon the writing he started and trembled.
+
+"Emilius's?" asked Gabriel Carew.
+
+"Alas!" sighed the priest.
+
+It was indeed the writing of Emilius. Martin Hartog had heard Carew's
+inquiry and the priest's reply.
+
+"What!" he cried. "That viper!" And without another word he rushed
+from the cottage. Carew and the priest hastily followed him, but he
+outstripped them, and was soon out of sight.
+
+"There will be a deed of violence done," said Father Daniel, "if the
+men meet. I must go immediately to the house of these unhappy brothers
+and warn them."
+
+Carew accompanied him, but when they arrived at the house they were
+informed that nothing had been seen of Eric and Emilius since the
+previous night. Neither of them had been home nor slept in his bed.
+This seemed to complicate the mystery in Father Daniel's eyes,
+although it was no mystery to Carew, who was convinced that where
+Patricia was there would Emilius be found. Father Daniel's grief and
+horror were clearly depicted. He looked upon the inhabitants of Nerac
+as one family, and he regarded the dishonour of Martin Hartog's
+daughter as dishonour to all. Carew, being anxious to see Lauretta,
+left him to his inquiries. Dr. Louis and his family were already
+acquainted with the agitating news.
+
+"Dark clouds hang over this once happy village," said Doctor Louis to
+Carew.
+
+He was greatly shocked, but he had no hesitation in declaring that,
+although circumstances looked black against the twin brothers, his
+faith in them was undisturbed. Lauretta shared his belief, and
+Lauretta's mother also. Gabriel Carew did not combat with them; he
+held quietly to his views, convinced that in a short time they would
+think as he did. Lauretta was very pale, and out of consideration for
+her Gabriel Carew endeavoured to avoid the all-engrossing subject.
+That, however, was impossible. Nothing else could be thought or spoken
+of. Again and again it was indirectly referred to. Once Carew remarked
+to Lauretta, "You said that Eric and Emilius had a secret, and you
+gave me to understand that you were not ignorant of it. Has it any
+connection with what has occurred?"
+
+"I must not answer you, Gabriel," she replied; "when we see Emilius
+again all will be explained."
+
+Little did she suspect the awful import of those simple words. In
+Carew's mind the remembrance of the story of Kristel and Silvain was
+very vivid.
+
+"Were Eric and Emilius true friends?" he asked.
+
+Lauretta looked at him piteously; her lips quivered. "They are
+brothers," she said.
+
+"You trust me, Lauretta?" he said.
+
+"Indeed I do," she replied. "Thoroughly."
+
+"You love me, Lauretta?"
+
+"With my whole heart, Gabriel."
+
+She gazed at him in tender surprise; for weeks past he had not been so
+happy. The trouble by which he had been haunted took flight.
+
+"And yet," he could not help saying, "you have a secret, and you keep
+it from me!"
+
+His voice was almost gay; there was no touch of reproach in it.
+
+"The secret is not mine, Gabriel," she said, and she allowed him to
+pass his arm around her; her head sank upon his breast. "When you know
+all, you will approve," she murmured. "As I trust you, so must you
+trust me."
+
+Their lips met; perfect confidence and faith were established between
+them, although on Lauretta's side there had been no shadow on the love
+she gave him.
+
+It was late in the afternoon when Carew was informed that Father
+Daniel wished to speak to him privately. He kissed Lauretta and went
+out to the priest, in whose face he saw a new horror.
+
+"I should be the first to tell them," said Father Daniel in a husky
+voice, "but I am not yet strong enough. They will learn soon enough
+without me. It is known only to a few."
+
+"What is known?" asked Carew. "Is Emilius found?"
+
+"No," replied the priest, "but Eric is. I would not have him removed
+until the magistrate, who is absent and has been sent for, arrives.
+Come with me."
+
+In a state of wonder Carew accompanied Father Daniel out of Doctor
+Louis's house, and the priest led the way to the woods.
+
+"Why in this direction?" inquired Gabriel Carew. "We have passed the
+house in which the brothers live."
+
+"Wait," said Father Daniel solemnly. "They live there no longer."
+
+The sun was setting, and the light was quivering on the tops of the
+distant trees. Father Daniel and Gabriel Carew plunged into the woods.
+There were scouts on the outskirts, to whom the priest said, "Has the
+magistrate arrived?"
+
+"No, father," was the answer, "we expect him every moment."
+
+Father Daniel nodded and passed on.
+
+"What does all this mean?" asked Gabriel Carew.
+
+And again the priest replied, "Wait."
+
+From that moment until they arrived at the spot to which Father Daniel
+led him, Carew was silent. What had passed between him and Lauretta
+had so filled his soul with happiness that he bestowed but little
+thought upon a vulgar intrigue between a peasant girl and men whom he
+had long since condemned. They no longer troubled him; they had passed
+for ever out of his life, and his heart was at rest. Father Daniel and
+he walked some distance into the shadows of the forest and the night.
+Before him he saw lights in the hands of two villagers who had
+evidently been stationed there to keep guard.
+
+"Father Daniel?" they cried in fearsome voices.
+
+"Yes," he replied, "it is I."
+
+He conducted Gabriel Carew to a spot, and pointed downwards with his
+finger; and there, prone and still upon the fallen leaves, lay the
+body of Eric stone dead, stabbed to the heart!
+
+"Martin Hartog," said the priest, "is in custody on suspicion of this
+ruthless murder."
+
+"Why?" asked Gabriel Carew. "What evidence is there to incriminate
+him?"
+
+"When the body was first discovered," said the priest, "your gardener
+was standing by its side. Upon being questioned his answer was, 'If
+judgment has not fallen upon the monster, it has overtaken his
+brother. The brood should be wiped off the face of the earth.' He
+spoke no further word."
+
+
+
+
+                                 VI.
+
+
+Gabriel Carew was overwhelmed by the horror of this discovery. The
+meeting between the brothers, of which he had been a secret witness on
+the previous evening, and during which Eric had laid violent hands on
+Emilius, recurred to him. He had not spoken of it, nor did he mention
+it now. There was time enough. If Martin Hartog confessed his guilt
+the matter was settled; if he did not, the criminal must be sought
+elsewhere, and it would be his duty to supply evidence which would
+tend to fix the crime upon Emilius. He did not believe Martin Hartog
+to be guilty; he had already decided within himself that Emilius had
+murdered Eric, and that the tragedy of Kristel and Silvain had been
+repeated in the lives of Silvain's sons. There was a kind of
+retribution in this which struck Gabriel Carew with singular force.
+"Useless," he thought, "to fly from a fate which is preordained. When
+he recovered from the horror which had fallen on him upon beholding
+the body of Eric, he asked Father Daniel at what hour of the day the
+unhappy man had been killed.
+
+"That," said Father Daniel, "has yet to be determined. No doctor has
+seen the body, but the presumption is that when Martin Hartog,
+animated by his burning craving for vengeance, of which we were both a
+witness, rushed from his cottage, he made his way to the woods, and
+that he here unhappily met the brother of the man whom he believed to
+be the betrayer of his daughter. What followed may be easily
+imagined."
+
+The arrival of the magistrate put a stop to the conversation. He
+listened to what Father Daniel had to relate, and some portions of the
+priest's explanations were corroborated by Gabriel Carew. The
+magistrate then gave directions that the body of Eric should be
+conveyed to the courthouse; and he and the priest and Carew walked
+back to the village together.
+
+"The village will become notorious," he remarked. "Is there an
+epidemic of murder amongst us that this one should follow so closely
+upon the heels of the other?" Then, after a pause, he asked Father
+Daniel whether he believed Martin Hartog to be guilty.
+
+"I believe no man to be guilty," said the priest, "until he is proved
+so incontrovertibly. Human justice frequently errs."
+
+"I bear in remembrance," said the magistrate, "that you would not
+subscribe to the general belief in the hunchback's guilt."
+
+"Nor do I now," said Father Daniel.
+
+"And you," said the magistrate, turning to Gabriel Carew, "do you
+believe Hartog to be guilty?"
+
+"I do not," replied Carew.
+
+"Do your suspicions point elsewhere?" asked the magistrate.
+
+"This is not the time or place," said Carew, "for me to give
+expression to any suspicion I may entertain. The first thing to be
+settled is Hartog's complicity in this murder."
+
+"True," said the magistrate.
+
+"Father Daniel believes," continued Carew, "that Eric was murdered
+to-day, within the last hour or two. That is not my belief."
+
+"The doctors will decide that," said the magistrate. "If the deed was
+not, in your opinion, perpetrated within the last few hours, when do
+you suppose it was done?"
+
+"Last night," Carew replied.
+
+"Have you any distinct grounds for the belief?"
+
+"None. You have asked me a question which I have answered. There is no
+matter of absolute knowledge involved in it; if there were I should be
+able to speak more definitely. Until the doctors pronounce there is
+nothing more to be said. But I may say this: if Hartog is proved to be
+innocent, I may have something to reveal in the interests of justice."
+
+The magistrate nodded and said, "By the way, where is Emilius, and
+what has he to say about it?"
+
+"Neither Eric nor Emilius," replied Father Daniel, "slept at home last
+night, and since yesterday evening Emilius has not been seen."
+
+The magistrate looked grave. "Is it known where he is? He should be
+instantly summoned."
+
+"Nothing is known of him," said Father Daniel. "Inquiries have been
+made, but nothing satisfactory has been elicited."
+
+The magistrate glanced at Carew, and for a little while was silent.
+Shortly after they reached the court-house the doctors presented their
+report. In their opinion Eric had been dead at least fourteen or
+fifteen hours, certainly for longer than twelve. This disposed of the
+theory that he had been killed in the afternoon. Their belief was that
+the crime was committed shortly after midnight. In that case Martin
+Hartog must be incontestably innocent. He was able to account for
+every hour of the previous day and night. He was out until near
+midnight; he was accompanied home, and a friend sat up with him till
+late, both keeping very quiet for fear of disturbing Patricia, who was
+supposed to be asleep in her room, but who before that time had most
+likely fled from her home. Moreover, it was proved that Martin Hartog
+rose in the morning at a certain time, and that it was only then that
+he became acquainted with the disappearance of his daughter. Father
+Daniel and Gabriel Carew were present when the magistrate questioned
+Hartog. The man seemed indifferent as to his fate, but he answered
+quite clearly the questions put to him. He had not left his cottage
+after going to bed on the previous night; he believed his daughter to
+be in her room, and only this morning discovered his mistake. After
+his interview with Father Daniel and Gabriel Carew he rushed from the
+cottage in the hope of meeting with Emilius, whom he intended to kill;
+he came upon the dead body of Eric in the woods, and his only regret
+was that it was Eric and not Emilius.
+
+"If the villain who has dishonoured me were here at this moment," said
+Martin Hartog, "I would strangle him. No power should save him from my
+just revenge!"
+
+The magistrate ordered him to be set at liberty, and he wandered out
+of the court-house a hopeless and despairing man. Then the magistrate
+turned to Carew, and asked him, now that Hartog was proved to be
+innocent, what he had to reveal that might throw light upon the crime.
+Carew, after some hesitation, related what he had seen the night
+before when Emilius and Eric were together in the forest.
+
+"But," said the magistrate, "the brothers were known to be on the most
+loving terms."
+
+"So," said Carew, "were their father, Silvain, and his brother Kristel
+until a woman stepped between them. Upon this matter, however, it is
+not for me to speak. Perhaps Doctor Louis can enlighten you."
+
+"I have heard something of the story of these hapless brothers," said
+the magistrate, pondering, "but am not acquainted with all the
+particulars. I will send for Doctor Louis."
+
+Carew then asked that he should be allowed to go for Doctor Louis, his
+object being to explain to the doctor, on their way to the magistrate,
+how it was that reference had been made to the story of Silvain and
+Kristel which he had heard from the doctor's lips. He also desired to
+hint to Doctor Louis that Lauretta might be in possession of
+information respecting Eric and Emilius which might be useful in
+clearing up the mystery.
+
+"You have acted right," said Doctor Louis sadly to Gabriel Carew; "at
+all risks justice must be done. Ah! how the past comes back to me! And
+is this to be the end of that fated family? I cannot believe that
+Emilius can be guilty of a crime so horrible!"
+
+His distress was so keen that Carew himself, now that he was freed
+from the jealousy by which he had been tortured with respect to
+Lauretta, hoped also that Emilius would be able to clear himself of
+the charge hanging over him. But when they arrived at the magistrate's
+court they were confronted by additional evidence which seemed to tell
+heavily against the absent brother. A witness had come forward who
+deposed that, being out on the previous night very late, and taking a
+short cut through the woods to his cottage, he heard voices of two men
+which he recognised as the voices of Emilius and Eric. They were
+raised in anger, and one--the witness could not say which--cried out,
+
+"Well, kill me, for I do not wish to live!"
+
+Upon being asked why he did not interpose, his answer was that he did
+not care to mix himself up with a desperate quarrel; and that as he
+had a family he thought the best thing he could do was to hasten home
+as quickly as possible. Having told all he knew he was dismissed, and
+bade to hold himself in readiness to repeat his evidence on a future
+occasion.
+
+Then the magistrate heard what Doctor Louis had to say, and summed up
+the whole matter thus:
+
+"The reasonable presumption is, that the brothers quarrelled over some
+love affair with a person at present unknown; for although Martin
+Hartog's daughter has disappeared, there is nothing as yet to connect
+her directly with the affair. Whether premeditatedly, or in a fit of
+ungovernable passion, Emilius killed his brother and fled. If he does
+not present himself to-morrow morning in the village he must be sought
+for. Nothing more can be done to-night."
+
+It was a melancholy night for all, to Carew in a lesser degree than to
+the others, for the crime which had thrown gloom over the whole
+village had brought ease to his heart. He saw now how unreasonable had
+been his jealousy of the brothers, and he was disposed to judge them
+more leniently.
+
+On that night Doctor Louis held a private conference with Lauretta,
+and received from her an account of the unhappy difference between the
+brothers. As Silvain and Kristel had both loved one woman, so had Eric
+and Emilius, but in the case of the sons there had been no supplanting
+of the affections. Emilius and Patricia had long loved each other, and
+had kept their love a secret, Eric himself not knowing it. When
+Emilius discovered that his brother loved Patricia his distress of
+mind was very great, and it was increased by the knowledge that was
+forced upon him that there was in Eric's passion for the girl
+something of the fierce quality which had distinguished Kristel's
+passion for Avicia. In his distress he had sought advice from
+Lauretta, and she had undertaken to act as an intermediary, and to
+endeavour to bring Eric to reason. On two or three occasions she
+thought she had succeeded, but her influence over Eric lasted only as
+long as he was in her presence. He made promises which he found it
+impossible to keep, and he continued to hope against hope. Lauretta
+did not know what had passed between the brothers on the previous
+evening, in the interview of which I was a witness, but earlier in the
+day she had seen Emilius, who had confided a secret to her keeping
+which placed Eric's love for Patricia beyond the pale of hope. He was
+secretly married to Patricia, and had been so for some time. When
+Gabriel Carew heard this he recognised how unjust he had been towards
+Emilius and Patricia in the construction he had placed upon their
+secret interviews. Lauretta advised Emilius to make known his marriage
+to Eric, and offered to reveal the fact to the despairing lover, but
+Emilius would not consent to this being immediately done. He
+stipulated that a week should pass before the revelation was made;
+then, he said, it might be as well that all the world should know
+it--a fatal stipulation, against which Lauretta argued in vain. Thus
+it was that in the last interview between Eric and Lauretta, Eric was
+still in ignorance of the insurmountable bar to his hopes. As it
+subsequently transpired, Emilius had made preparations to remove
+Patricia from Nerac that very night. Up to that point, and at that
+time nothing more was known; but when Emilius was tried for the murder
+Lauretta's evidence did not help to clear him, because it established
+beyond doubt the fact of the existence of an animosity between the
+brothers.
+
+On the day following the discovery of the murder, Emilius did not make
+his appearance in the village, and officers were sent in search of
+him. There was no clue as to the direction which he and Patricia had
+taken, and the officers, being slow-witted, were many days before they
+succeeded in finding him. Their statement, upon their return to Nerac
+with their prisoner, was, that upon informing him of the charge
+against him, he became violently agitated and endeavoured to escape.
+He denied that he made such an attempt, asserting that he was
+naturally agitated by the awful news, and that for a few minutes he
+scarcely knew what he was doing, but, being innocent, there was no
+reason why he should make a fruitless endeavour to avoid an inevitable
+inquiry into the circumstances of a most dreadful crime.
+
+He was much broken down by his position. No brother, he declared, had
+ever been more fondly loved than Eric was by him, and he would have
+suffered a voluntary death rather than be guilty of an act of violence
+towards one for whom he entertained so profound an affection. In the
+preliminary investigations he gave the following explanation of all
+within his knowledge. What Lauretta had stated was true in every
+particular; neither did he deny Carew's evidence nor the evidence of
+the villager who had deposed that, late on the night of the murder,
+high words had passed between him and Eric.
+
+"The words," said Emilius, "'Well, kill me, for I do not wish to
+live!' were uttered by my poor brother when I told him that Patricia
+was my wife. For although I had not intended that this should be known
+until a few days after my departure, my poor brother was so worked up
+by his love for my wife, that I felt I dared not, in justice to him
+and myself, leave him any longer in ignorance. For that reason, and
+thus impelled, pitying him most deeply, I revealed to him the truth.
+Had the witness whose evidence, true as it is, seems to bear fatally
+against me, waited and listened, he would have been able to testify in
+my favour. My poor brother for a time was overwhelmed by the
+revelation. His love for my wife perhaps did not die immediately away;
+but, high-minded and honourable as he was, he recognised that to
+persevere in it would be a guilty act. The force of his passion became
+less; he was no longer violent--he was mournful. He even, in a
+despairing way, begged my forgiveness, and I, reproachful that I had
+not earlier confided in him, begged _his_ forgiveness for the
+unconscious wrong I had done him. Then, after a while, we fell
+into our old ways of love; tender words were exchanged; we clasped
+each other's hand; we embraced. Truly you who hear me can scarcely
+realise what Eric and I had always been to each other. More than
+brothers--more like lovers. Heartbroken as he was at the conviction
+that the woman he adored was lost to him, I was scarcely less
+heartbroken that I had won her. And so, after an hour's loving
+converse, I left him; and when we parted, with a promise to meet again
+when his wound was healed, we kissed each other as we had done in the
+days of our childhood."
+
+
+
+                           END OF VOL. II.
+
+
+
+              RICHARD CLAY AND SONS, LONDON AND BUNGAY.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Secret Inheritance  (Volume 2 of 3), by 
+B. L. (Benjamin Leopold) Farjeon
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+  <head>
+    <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" />
+    <title>The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Secret Inheritance Vol. II, by B. L.
+	Farjeon</title>
+    <meta name='DC.Title' content='A Secret Inheritance, Vol. II' />
+    <meta name='DC.Creator' content='B. L. Farjeon' />
+    <meta name='DC.Publisher' content='Ward and Downey' />
+    <meta name='DC.Created' content='1887' />
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Secret Inheritance  (Volume 2 of 3), by 
+B. L. (Benjamin Leopold) Farjeon
+
+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: A Secret Inheritance  (Volume 2 of 3)
+
+Author: B. L. (Benjamin Leopold) Farjeon
+
+Release Date: June 4, 2014 [EBook #45881]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SECRET INHERITANCE VOL 2 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen from page images provided by the
+Web Archive and Google Books.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+<div style="margin-top:6em; margin-bottom:6em">
+
+<p style="margin-left:4em; text-indent:-4em">Transcriber&#39;s Notes:<br />
+1. Page scan source:<br />
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;http://archive.org/details/secretinheritanc02farj<br/>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)<br/>
+2. Table of contents added by transcriber.</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<div style="margin-top:6em; margin-bottom:6em">
+<h2>A SECRET INHERITANCE</h2>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+<div style="margin-top: 6em">
+<h3>A</h3>
+<h1>SECRET INHERITANCE</h1>
+
+
+
+
+<div style="margin-top: 6em; margin-bottom: 4em">
+<h4>BY</h4>
+<h2>B. L. FARJEON,</h2>
+<h4>AUTHOR OF &quot;GREAT PORTER SQUARE,&quot; &quot;IN A SILVER SEA,&quot;<br/>
+&quot;THE HOUSE OF WHITE SHADOWS,&quot; ETC.</h4>
+</div>
+</div>
+
+
+<div style="margin-top: 4em; margin-bottom: 4em">
+<h3><i>IN THREE VOLUMES</i><br/>
+VOL. II</h3>
+<br/>
+<br/>
+<br/>
+<br/>
+<h4>LONDON</h4>
+<h3>WARD AND DOWNEY</h3>
+<h4>12, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN, W.C.</h4>
+<h5>1887</h5>
+</div>
+
+<div style="margin-top:6em; margin-bottom:6em">
+<h4>Richard Clay and Sons,<br/>
+LONDON AND BUNGAY.</h4>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<div style="margin-top:6em; margin-bottom:18em">
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+<h2><a href="#book1" name="bk01">BOOK I (<i>Continued</i>)</a></h2>
+
+<p class="center">CHAPTER</p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#chapter14" name="ch14">XIV.</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#chapter15" name="ch15">XV.</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#chapter16" name="ch16">XVI.</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#chapter17" name="ch17">VII.</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#chapter18" name="ch18">XVIII.</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#chapter19" name="ch19">XIX.</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#chapter20" name="ch20">XX.</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#chapter21" name="ch21">XXI.</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#chapter22" name="ch22">XXII.</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#chapter23" name="ch23">XXIII.</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#chapter24" name="ch24">XXIV.</a></p>
+
+<h2><a href="#book2.0" name="bk2.0">BOOK II</a></h2>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#chapter2.1" name="ch2.1">I.</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#chapter2.2" name="ch2.2">II.</a></p>
+<p class="center"><a href="#chapter2.3" name="ch2.3">III.</a></p>
+<p class="center"><a href="#chapter2.4" name="ch2.4">IV.</a></p>
+<p class="center"><a href="#chapter2.5" name="ch2.5">V.</a></p>
+
+<p class="center"><a href="#chapter2.6" name="ch2.6">VI.</a></p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<div style="margin-top:6em; margin-bottom:6em">
+<h2>A SECRET INHERITANCE.</h2>
+
+<hr class="w10" />
+
+<h3><a name="book1" href="#bk01">BOOK THE FIRST (<i>Continued</i>).</a></h3>
+
+<h4>THE RECORD OF GABRIEL CAREW.</h4>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<p style="text-indent:0">VOL. II.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2 style="margin-top:4em"><a name="chapter14" href="#ch14">CHAPTER XIV.</a></h2>
+
+<p class="p2">&quot;I travelled for many months alone. I made acquaintances which never
+ripened into friendships, and seldom did twenty-four hours pass
+without my thoughts wandering to Silvain. Thinking it not unlikely
+that one or both of the brothers had returned to their home in
+Germany, I wrote several letters to them there, without receiving an
+answer. This portentous silence increased rather than diminished my
+interest in the man I loved as a brother. In speaking of him in these
+terms I am but giving faithful expression to the feelings I
+entertained for him; up to that time I had never met a human being,
+man or woman, who had so entirely won my affectionate regard.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Family circumstances rendered me more than ever my own master; I was
+free to go whithersoever my inclination led me, and certainly my
+inclination pointed clearly to that part of the world where I should
+be most likely to find my dear friend. But I had no clue to guide me;
+to turn east, west, north, or south, in search of him would have been
+a hap-hazard proceeding, and to hope for success in so unintelligent a
+search would have been the hope of a madman. My anxiety with respect
+to the fate of Silvain and Kristel never deserted me, but it was many
+years before I was enabled to take up the links in the chain.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;During those years a great and happy change occurred in my own life.
+I interrupt the course of my narrative here to remark that it is
+singular I should be relating this history fully, for the first time,
+within a comparatively short distance of places in which the most
+pregnant--and indeed terrible--incidents in the career of the twin
+brothers were brought to my knowledge. My wife is acquainted with some
+portions of this history, but not with all. The lighthouse in which
+Avicia was born is within a hundred miles of this spot. Indirectly it
+led me to the acquaintance of the lady who became my wife, and to as
+great a happiness as any man can hope to enjoy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nerac is not my birthplace, and it was in passing through the lovely
+village on one of my visits to the village by the sea--visits made in
+the vain hope of obtaining intelligence of Silvain--that I was
+introduced to her. I pass over the records of a time which lives in my
+remembrance as a heavenly summer. Happy is the man who has enjoyed
+such a season. Happier is the man to whom such a season is the
+harbinger of such home joys as have fallen to my lot.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When I first made the acquaintance of my wife, and for some years
+afterwards, her parents were alive, and I saw that it would be cruel
+to ask her to leave them. I did not put her love to such a test. I
+settled in Nerac, and married there.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is a solemnly strange reflection by what chance threads we are led
+to our destiny--a destiny which may be one of honour or shame, and
+which may bring a blessing or a curse into the lives of others whom,
+but for the most accidental circumstance, we should never have seen.
+The doctrine of responsibility is but little understood. Thus, had it
+not been for my chance meeting with Silvain in London, I should never
+have known my wife, and it seems to me impossible that I should have
+been a happy or a good man without her. Such women as she keep men
+pure.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Midway between Nerac and the village by the sea to which Kristel led
+his brother in his pursuit of the girl who was to bring them to their
+doom lies a forest of great extent, and it was in this forest, after a
+lapse of four years, that I came once more into association with
+Silvain and Avicia. I was called in that direction upon important
+business; at that period of my life I was an ardent pedestrian, and if
+the opportunity offered, was glad to make my way on foot, without
+respect to distance. I may confide to you that I was in the habit of
+taking a great deal of exercise because I was afraid of growing fat.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was unacquainted with the locality, and I took a short cut, which
+proved a long one. When darkness fell I found myself entrapped in the
+forest amidst a wilderness of trees. Never shall I forget the night
+and the day that followed. It was such a night as that upon which you,
+my friend, were lying helpless in the woods near Nerac. Not relishing
+the idea of passing a number of lonely hours in such a place and under
+such circumstances, I made a vigorous effort to escape from the gloomy
+labyrinth. I did not succeed, and it was one o&#39;clock in the morning by
+my watch before I made up my mind like a sensible person to rest till
+daylight. So I sat me down upon the trunk of a tree, and made the best
+of matters. Fatigued with my exertions I dozed for a few moments, then
+started up with a vague feeling of alarm, for which there was no
+cause, then dozed again and again, with repetitions of similar
+uneasiness; and finally I fell fast asleep.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was full daylight when I awoke. I arose refreshed, and gazed
+around with smiles and a light heart, despite that I was hungry and
+that there was no water in sight. I had no doubt that I should soon
+find myself in some place where I could obtain food. Resolving upon my
+course I set forward in the direction of rising ground, from the
+summit of which I should be able to overlook the country. In one part
+of the forest I was traversing the trees were very thickly clustered,
+and it was here I chanced upon the forms of a man and a woman lying on
+the ground asleep. The circumstance was strange, and I leant over the
+sleeping persons to see their faces. I could scarcely repress a cry of
+astonishment at the discovery that the man was Silvain and the woman
+Avicia. It was from an impulsive desire not to disturb them that I
+uttered no sound, for truly their appearance was such as to excite my
+deep compassion.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Avicia&#39;s head was pillowed upon Silvain&#39;s right arm, and his left
+hand was clasped in hers. In complete ignorance of what had brought
+them to this miserable position, there was, to my mind, in this close
+clasping of his hand in hers, a kind of protection, as though she were
+making an instinctive effort to shield him from a hidden danger. The
+faces of both were wan with suffering, and their clothes were poor and
+ragged. I trembled to think that they might be in want of food.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As I gazed in pity and apprehension Silvain moved. A spasm of fear
+passed across his face, and he exclaimed in terror, &#39;Avicia! Avicia!
+He is coming nearer--nearer! We must fly!&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Before the words were uttered she was awake and on her feet. She saw
+me without recognising me, and she sank to the ground again, with a
+piercing scream which curdled through my veins, so much of fear and
+terror did it express. Dazed, and not yet fully awakened, Silvain
+threw himself before her in an attitude of protection.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Silvain!&#39; I cried; &#39;do you not know me?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He looked up with a shudder, and passed his hand across his eyes. It
+was like the look of an intelligent animal who is being hunted to his
+death. But a softer expression came slowly into them as he gazed upon
+me and saw that it was a friend and not an enemy who stood before him.
+I spoke no further word at the moment, for the tears were running down
+his haggard face; his overcharged heart had found relief, and I turned
+from him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Presently I felt his hand upon my arm.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;It is really you?&#39; he said in a broken voice.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;No doubt of that, Silvain,&#39; I said in a cheerful tone, purposely
+assumed to put him at his ease, &#39;unless life is a delusion.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Would it were!&#39; he muttered, &#39;would it were!&#39; And then,
+suspiciously, &#39;Did you come to seek me?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;No, Silvain; it is pure accident, if there be such a thing as
+accident.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;There is not,&#39; he said; &#39;all is ordained.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;One of our old arguments, Silvain,&#39; I said, still with a cheerful
+air; I would not humour his gloomy mood.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Do not mock me;&#39; and he spread his hands, with upturned palms. &#39;Can
+you not see?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;I can see that you are in bad trim, which can easily be set right.
+Silvain,&#39; I said reproachfully, &#39;this is not as we used to meet. I
+come to you with open arms, and you receive me with doubt and
+suspicion. Are we not, as we always were and always shall be, friends
+staunch and true? You are the same Silvain; I am the same Louis;
+unchanged, as you will find me if you care to prove me.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Avicia had risen and crept close to my side.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Friends staunch and true,&#39; she said, echoing my words. &#39;You are not
+mocking him?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Indeed, no.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Then give us food,&#39; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;At this appeal I felt my pretended cheerfulness deserting me, but I
+caught the would-be runaway, and held it fast.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Food!&#39; I exclaimed, rattling some money in my pocket. &#39;Would that I
+knew where to obtain it! Here am I, starving, lost in the woods last
+night, and with not an idea now how to get out of them. Can you show
+me the way?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Yes,&#39; she replied eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Then I am fortunate, indeed, in lighting on you, and I bless the
+chance. Ah, Silvain, how I searched for you! To leave me, without ever
+a word--I would not have believed it of you. It was as though you
+doubted my friendship, which,&#39; I added, &#39;is as sincere at this moment
+as ever it was in the years gone by.&#39; Here there was a little choking
+in my throat because of the tears which again flowed from his eyes. &#39;I
+went to the village three times to get news of you, and had to come
+away unsatisfied. I wrote to your home in Germany, and received no
+reply. We have much to tell each other. But I am forgetting. You are
+faint and weary, and so am I. Can you take us to an inn where we can
+put some cheerful life into our bodies?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I addressed this last question to Avicia, and she answered &#39;Yes,&#39; and
+was about to lead the way when Silvain stopped her.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Is it on our road?&#39; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Yes,&#39; she answered, &#39;it is on our road.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He motioned to her to proceed, and she stepped forward, Silvain and I
+walking side by side in the rear. This companionship was of my
+prompting, for had I not detained him he would have joined Avicia. I
+was burning with curiosity to learn what had befallen my friend during
+the last few years, but I restrained myself from asking questions
+which I felt he was not in the proper frame of mind at present to
+answer. Therefore as we walked onwards it was chiefly I who had to
+beguile the way. I told him all that had passed since we last met,
+narrated adventures which in former times would have interested him,
+and spoke freely of my settlement in life and of the happiness of my
+home. He acknowledged my efforts in monosyllables, but volunteered
+nothing of himself or Avicia. At the end of about an hour&#39;s walk we
+arrived at a village, in which there was one poor inn, and there we
+halted. Before we entered Silvain said,</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;A word first. I have been seemingly churlish and ungrateful, but I
+am not so. My heart is overflowing with thankfulness; presently,
+perhaps, I may have courage to unbosom myself. You are as you were;
+life is fair and sweet to you.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was only because he paused here that I spoke: &#39;And will be to you,
+Silvain.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Never again,&#39; he said. &#39;I am followed by a relentless spirit; I have
+been pursued for years by one who was heart of my heart, soul of my
+soul, but who now, from feelings of revenge, and as he believes of
+justice, is my bitter enemy.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Dare I mention his name, Silvain?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;I will do so. My brother Kristel. It is of him I wish to say a word
+to you before I partake of your charity.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Silvain!&#39; I cried, in remonstrance.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Forgive me. I am tormented because of my condition, because of
+Avicia&#39;s misery. Answer me honestly. Is it really true that you came
+upon us by chance in the woods?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;It is really true.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Kristel did not send you?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;I have not seen Kristel since you and I last met.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Nor heard from him?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Nor heard from him.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He took the hand I held out to him, and we followed Avicia into the
+inn, where, very soon, we were seated at a table with a modest meal
+before us. The food was poor enough, the wine was thin and common, but
+we could scarcely have enjoyed a grand banquet more. I speak not alone
+for myself, but for Silvain and Avicia; it was evident to me that they
+had not had many full meals lately. Avicia especially ate ravenously,
+and with a perfect sense of animal enjoyment, and it was only when she
+had finished that a certain terror, which I had observed in both her
+and Silvain, again asserted itself.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Remain here a while, Avicia,&#39; said Silvain, at the end of the meal;
+&#39;I wish to speak to our friend alone.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Are we safe?&#39; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;I think so; I hope so. Sleep; it will do you good.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Thank you, Silvain.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She was seated on a hard bench, not conducive to repose; nevertheless
+she closed her eyes, and was almost immediately asleep.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Poor girl!&#39; said Silvain, with a sigh, &#39;she has suffered much--and
+in a few weeks will become a mother.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We strolled up and down outside the inn and conversed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;You have behaved to us with true friendship,&#39; he said; &#39;and yet you
+can see we are beggars. Are you prospering?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am not rich,&#39; I replied, &#39;but I can spare to a friend.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;We are making our way to Avicia&#39;s home, to the lighthouse upon which
+I saw her for the first time otherwise than in my dreams. I doubt
+whether you can turn aside the finger of Fate as I behold it, pointing
+downwards to a grave, but you can perhaps help us to cheat it for a
+short time.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;You speak strangely, Silvain; the ominous fears which oppress you
+may be bred by a disordered fancy.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;In our former intercourse,&#39; was his reply, &#39;was my fancy ever
+disordered? I advanced nothing that was not afterwards proved; I made
+no pretence of accounting for the warnings I received; I make none
+now. I shudder to think of the future, not so much for my own sake as
+for Avicia&#39;s. Helpless, penniless, without a friend----&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;You are forgetting me, Silvain?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Ah, yes, my friend, as you still declare yourself to be; I cannot
+but believe you. But Avicia----&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;I am her friend as well as yours.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;For God&#39;s sake, do not speak lightly! You do not know to what a pass
+I am driven.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;You shall enlighten me, and I maybe able to counsel you. Do not
+think I am speaking lightly, As I am your friend, so am I Avicia&#39;s. As
+I will stand by you, so will I stand by her.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;In perfect faith, Louis?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was the first time he had uttered my name, and I held it as a sign
+that I had dispelled his distrust. I replied, &#39;In perfect faith,
+Silvain.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;I accept it so. When I am gone, she will not be quite alone in the
+world. And now, will you give me a little money? I do not ask you to
+lend it to me, for I have no expectation of being able to repay you. I
+will briefly explain the necessity for it. We are bound for the
+lighthouse. It is our only refuge, and there our child will be born.
+May it prove a comfort to the mother! We have fifty miles to go, and
+Avicia is not strong enough to walk----&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Say no more,&#39; I interrupted, &#39;of the necessity for such a trifle; I
+can spare you more than sufficient for your purpose.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I took from my purse what was requisite for my immediate needs, and
+pressed the purse with the coins that remained into his hand. He took
+it in silence, and his emaciated form shook with gratitude.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;You ask no questions about these,&#39; he said, pointing to his rags.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Why should I?&#39; I asked in return. &#39;But there are one or two points
+upon which you might satisfy me.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;I cannot go into my history, Louis. If you will give me your address
+I will send it to you before the week is out. Indeed, after your noble
+promise with respect to Avicia, it is yours by right. It will not only
+enlighten, it will guide you.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;I will wait for it, and will make an opportunity of seeing you soon
+after I have read it. The points I wish to mention are these: While
+you and Avicia were sleeping in the forest, and I stood looking down
+upon you, you cried--not because of my presence, of which you were
+ignorant, but because of some disturbing dream--&quot;He is coming
+nearer--nearer! We must fly!&quot; To whom did you refer?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;To my brother Kristel. He is pursuing us.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;To your hurt?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;To my destruction.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Then you have seen him?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;I have not seen him. I know it through my dreams, as of old. You
+could not doubt their truth when we travelled together--ah, those
+happy days!--you cannot doubt it now.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Then, what was love between you has turned to hate?&#39; The words
+escaped me unaware; I repented of them the moment they were spoken.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Yes,&#39; said Silvain, in a tone of deepest sadness, &#39;what was love
+between us is turned to hate. Ask me no more questions--in pity!&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;But one, Silvain. Have you any children?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;None. The babe that Avicia will soon press to her breast will be our
+first-born.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;To matters upon which I saw he was then unwilling to converse, I made
+no further reference. He engaged a light cart and horse, and a man to
+drive them to the village by the sea. Then he woke Avicia, and I said
+farewell to them, and gazed after them till they were out of sight.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As he had promised, I received from him before the end of the week a
+statement of his adventures. It is now among my papers in Nerac, and I
+remember perfectly all the salient particulars necessary to my story,
+which is now drawing to a conclusion. I will narrate them in my own
+way, asking you to recall the day upon which the brothers were last
+seen in the village by the sea.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2 style="margin-top:4em"><a name="chapter15" href="#ch15">XV.</a></h2>
+
+<p class="p2">&quot;Silvain, Kristel, and Avicia, accompanied by her father, rowed from
+the lighthouse to the shore. The villagers saw but little of them;
+they passed out of the village, and Avicia&#39;s father returned alone to
+the lighthouse. Kristel loved Avicia with all the passion of a hot,
+imperious, and intense nature. He looked upon her as his, and had he
+suspected that Silvain would have fallen in love with her, it can
+readily be understood that he would have been the last man to bring
+them into association with each other. But so it happened.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When Kristel and Avicia met in the Tyrol, Kristel was buoyed up with
+hopes that she reciprocated the love she had inspired in his breast.
+He had some reason for this hope, for at his request, when he asked
+her to become his wife and said that he could not marry without his
+father&#39;s consent, she had written home to <i>her</i> father with respect to
+the young gentleman&#39;s proposal, thereby leading him to believe that
+she was ready to accept him. It appeared, however, that there was no
+real depth in her feelings for him; and, indeed, it may be pardoned
+her if she supposed that his fervid protestations were prompted by
+feelings as light and as little genuine as her own. Unsophisticated as
+she was in the ways of the world, the fact of his making the
+honourable accomplishment of his love for her dependent upon the fiat
+of another person could not but have lessened the value of his
+declarations--more especially when she had not truly given him her
+heart. It was given to Silvain upon the occasion of their first
+meeting, and it was not long before they found the opportunity to
+exchange vows of affection--a circumstance of which I and every person
+but themselves were entirely ignorant. But love is cunning.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was because of Avicia&#39;s fear of her father that this love was kept
+secret; he held her completely in control, and--first favouring
+Kristel and then Silvain, playing them against each other, as it were,
+to his own advantage in the way of gifts--filled her with
+apprehension.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Looking back,&#39; Silvain said in his statement to me, &#39;upon the
+history of those days of happiness and torture, I can see now that I
+was wrong in not endeavouring to arrive at a frank understanding with
+my brother; but indeed I had but one thought--Avicia. As Kristel
+believed her to be his, so did I believe her to be mine, and the idea
+of losing her was sufficient to make my life a life of despair. And
+after all, it was for Avicia to decide. Absorbing as was my love for
+her, I should have had no choice but to retire and pass my days in
+misery had she decided in favour of Kristel.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The base conduct of Avicia&#39;s father was to a great extent the cause
+of turning brotherly love to hate. Seeing their infatuation, he
+bargained with each secretly, saying, in effect, &#39;What will you give
+me if I give you my daughter&#39;s hand?--for she will not, and cannot,
+marry without my consent.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And to the other, &#39;What will <i>you</i> give me?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He bound them to secrecy by a solemn oath, and bound his daughter
+also in like manner, promising that she should have the one she loved.
+Silvain was the more liberal of the two, and signed papers, pledging
+himself to pay to the avaricious father a large sum of money within a
+certain time after his union with Avicia. So cunningly did the keeper
+of the lighthouse conduct these base negotiations, that, even on that
+last day when they all rowed together to the village, neither of the
+brothers knew that matters were to be brought then and there to an
+irrevocable end.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The village by the sea lay behind them some six or eight miles. Then,
+upon a false pretext, Avicia&#39;s father got rid of Kristel, sending him
+on an errand for Avicia which would render necessary an absence of
+many hours. That done, he said to Silvain and Avicia, &#39;Everything is
+arranged. This day will see you man and wife. Come with me to the
+priest.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;But where is Kristel?&#39; asked Silvain, his heart throbbing with joy.
+&#39;Does he not know?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Yes, he knows,&#39; replied Avicia&#39;s father, &#39;but, as you are aware, he
+had a sneaking regard himself for my daughter, and he thought he would
+feel more comfortable, and you and Avicia too, if he were not present
+at the ceremony. He bade me give you his blessing.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Satisfied with this--being, indeed, naturally only too willing to be
+satisfied--the marriage ceremony took place, and Silvain and Avicia
+became man and wife. They departed on their honeymoon, and instructed
+the keeper of the lighthouse to inform Kristel of their route, in
+order that he might be able to join them at any point he pleased.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then came the interview between Avicia&#39;s father and Kristel, in which
+the young man was informed that he had lost Avicia. Kristel was
+dismayed and furious at what he believed to be the blackest treachery
+on the part of his brother. He swore to be revenged, and asked the
+road they had taken. Avicia&#39;s father sent him off in an entirely
+opposite direction, and he set out in pursuit. Needless to say that he
+soon found out how he had been tricked, and that it infuriated him the
+more. Not knowing where else to write to Silvain, he addressed a
+letter to him at their home in Germany; he himself did not proceed
+thither, judging that his best chance of meeting the married couple
+lay near the village by the sea, to which he felt convinced Silvain
+and Avicia would soon return. Therefore he lurked in the vicinity of
+the village, and watched by day and night the principal avenues by
+which it was to be approached. But his judgment was at fault; they did
+not return.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In the meantime the lovers were enjoying their honeymoon. In order to
+keep faith with Avicia&#39;s father in the bargain made between him and
+Silvain--which rendered necessary the payment of a substantial sum of
+money by a given time--it was imperative that Silvain should visit his
+boyhood&#39;s home, to obtain his share of the inheritance left to him and
+Kristel by their father. The happy couple dallied by the way, and it
+was not until three months after their marriage that they arrived at
+Silvain&#39;s birthplace.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Perhaps we shall meet Kristel there,&#39; said Silvain.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Instead of meeting his brother, Silvain received the letter which
+Kristel had written to him. It breathed the deepest hate, and Silvain
+had the unhappiness of reading the outpourings of a relentless,
+vindictive spirit, driven to despair by disappointed love.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;You have robbed me,&#39; the letter said; &#39;hour by hour, day by day,
+have you set yourself deliberately to ensnare me and to fill my life
+with black despair. Had I suspected it at the time I would have
+strangled you. But your fate is only postponed; revenge is mine, and I
+hold it in my soul as a sacred trust which I shall fulfil. You shall
+die by my hands. Never in this world or in the next will I forgive
+you! My relentless hate shall haunt and pursue you, and you shall not
+escape it!&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And then the writer recorded an awful oath that, while life remained
+within him, his one sole aim should be to compass his revenge. It was
+a lengthy letter, and strong as is my description of it, it falls
+short of the intense malignity which pervaded every line. Kristel
+launched a curse so terrible against his brother that Silvain&#39;s hair
+rose up in horror and fear as he read it. These are Silvain&#39;s own
+words to me:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;After reading Kristel&#39;s letter,&#39; he said, &#39;I felt that I was
+accursed, and that it was destined that he should kill me.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How to escape the terrible doom--though he had scarcely a hope of
+averting it--how to prevent the crime of blood-guiltiness lying upon
+Kristel&#39;s soul: this was thereafter the object of Silvain&#39;s life. It
+afforded him no consolation to know that for the intense hate with
+which Kristel&#39;s heart was filled Avicia&#39;s father was partly
+responsible.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In its delineation of the trickery by which Kristel had been robbed
+of Avicia the letter was not truthful, for there had occurred between
+the brothers a conversation in which Silvain had revealed his love for
+her. Kristel&#39;s over-wrought feelings probably caused him to forget
+this--or it may have been a perversion of fact adopted to give
+sanction to hate.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Kristel&#39;s letter was not the only despairing greeting which awaited
+Silvain in the home of his boyhood. By some unhappy means the
+inheritance left by his father had melted away, and he found himself a
+beggar. Thus he was unable to carry out the terms of the bargain
+Avicia&#39;s father had made with him. This part of his misfortune did not
+greatly trouble him; it was but a just punishment to a grasping,
+avaricious man; but with beggary staring him in the face, and his
+brother&#39;s curse and awful design weighing upon him, his situation was
+most dreadful and pitiable.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was his intention to keep Kristel&#39;s letter from the knowledge of
+Avicia, but she secretly obtained possession of it, and it filled her
+soul with an agonising fear. They decided that it was impossible to
+return to the village by sea.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;It is there my brother waits for us,&#39; said Silvain.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So from that time they commenced a wandering life, with the one
+dominant desire to escape from Kristel.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I cannot enter now into a description of the years that followed.
+They crept from place to place, picking up a precarious existence, and
+enduring great privations. One morning Silvain awoke, trembling and
+afraid. &#39;I have seen Kristel,&#39; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;She did not ask him how and under what circumstances he had seen his
+brother.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;He has discovered that we are here, and is in pursuit of us,&#39;
+Silvain continued. &#39;We must fly without delay.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This was an added grief to Avicia. The place in which Silvain&#39;s dream
+of his brother had been dreamt had afforded them shelter and security
+for many weeks, and she had begun to indulge in the hope that they
+were safe. Vain hope! They must commence their wanderings again. From
+that period, at various times, Silvain was visited by dreams in which
+he was made acquainted with Kristel&#39;s movements in so far as they
+affected him and Avicia and the mission of vengeance upon which
+Kristel was relentlessly bent. They made their way to foreign
+countries, and even there Kristel pursued them. And so through the
+days and years continued the pitiful flight and the merciless pursuit.
+In darkness they wandered often, the shadow of fate at their heels, in
+Avicia&#39;s imagination lurking in the solitudes through which they
+passed, amidst thickets of trees, in hollows and ravines, waiting,
+waiting, waiting to fall upon and destroy them! An appalling life, the
+full terrors of which the mind can scarcely grasp.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;At length, when worldly circumstances pressed so heavily upon them
+that they hardly knew where to look for the next day&#39;s food, Avicia
+whispered to her husband that she expected to become a mother, and
+that she was possessed by an inexpressible longing that her child
+should be born where she herself first drew breath. After the lapse of
+so many years it appeared to Silvain that the lighthouse would be the
+likeliest place of safety, and, besides, it was Avicia&#39;s earnest wish.
+They were on the road thither when I chanced upon them in the forest.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2 style="margin-top:4em"><a name="chapter16" href="#ch16">XVI.</a></h2>
+
+<p class="p2">&quot;After reading Silvain&#39;s letter I lost as little time as possible in
+paying a visit to the village by the sea. I took with me some presents
+for the villagers, who were unaffectedly glad to see me, and not
+because of the gifts I brought for them. There I heard what news they
+could impart of the history of the lighthouse since I last visited
+them. The disappointment with respect to the money he expected from
+Silvain had rendered the keeper more savage and morose than ever. For
+years after the marriage of his daughter he lived alone on the
+lighthouse, but within the last twelve months he had sent for a young
+man who was related to him distantly, and who was now looking after
+the lights. This young man was deaf and dumb. What kind of comfort the
+companionship of a man so afflicted could be in such a home it is
+difficult to say, but the new arrival came in good time, for two
+months afterwards Avicia&#39;s father slipped over some rocks in the
+vicinity of the lighthouse, and so injured himself that he could not
+rise from his bed. Thus, when Silvain and Avicia presented themselves
+he could make no practical resistance to their taking up their abode
+with him. However it was, there they were upon my present visit, and I
+went at once to see them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They received me with a genuine demonstration of feeling, and I was
+pleased to see that they were looking better. Regular food, and the
+secure shelter of a roof from which they were not likely to be turned
+away at a moment&#39;s notice, doubtless contributed to this improvement.
+The pressure of a dark terror was, however, still visible in their
+faces, and during my visit I observed Silvain go to the outer gallery
+at least three or four times, and scan the surrounding sea with
+anxious eyes. To confirm or dispel the impression I gathered from this
+anxious outlook I questioned Silvain.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;I am watching for Kristel,&#39; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is scarcely likely he will come to you here,&#39; I said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;He is certain to come to me here,&#39; said Silvain; &#39;he is now on the
+road.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;You know this from your dreams?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Yes, my dreams assure me of it. What wonder that I dream of the
+spirit which has been hunting me for years in the person of Kristel. I
+think of nothing else. Waking or sleeping, he is ever before me.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Should he come, what will you do, Silvain?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;I hardly know; but at all hazards he must, if possible, be prevented
+from effecting an entrance into the lighthouse. It would be the death
+of Avicia.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He pronounced the words &#39;if possible&#39; with so much emphasis that I
+said:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Surely that can be prevented.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;I cannot be on the alert by night as well as by day,&#39; said Silvain.
+&#39;My dread is that at a time when I am sleeping he will take me
+unaware. Hush! Avicia is coming up the stairs; do not let her hear us
+conversing upon a subject which has been the terror of her life. She
+does not know that I am constantly on the watch.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In this belief he was labouring under a delusion, for Avicia spoke to
+me privately about it; she was aware of the anxiety which, she said,
+she was afraid was wearing him away; and indeed, as she made this
+allusion, and I glanced at Silvain, who was standing in another part
+of the lighthouse, I observed what had hitherto escaped me, that his
+features were thinner, and that there was a hectic flush upon them
+which, in the light of his tragic story, too surely told a tale of an
+inward fretting likely to prove fatal. She told me that often in the
+night when Silvain was sleeping she would rise softly and go to the
+gallery, in fear that Kristel was stealthily approaching them.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I saw her father. He gazed at me, and did not speak--not that he was
+unable, but because it was part of the cunning of his nature. Silvain
+informed me that Avicia expected her baby in three weeks from that
+day. I had not come empty-handed, and I left behind me welcome
+remembrances, promising to come again the following week.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I kept my promise. Upon seeing me, a woman of the village ran towards
+me, and whispered:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Kristel is here.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I followed the direction of her gaze, which was simply one of
+curiosity, and saw a man standing on the beach, facing the lighthouse.
+I walked straight up to him, and touched him with my hand. He turned,
+and I recognised Kristel.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I recognised him--yes; but not from any resemblance he bore to the
+Kristel of former days. Had I met him under ordinary circumstances I
+should not have known him. His thin face was covered with hair; his
+eyes were sunken and wild; his bony wrists, his long fingers, seemed
+to be fleshless. I spoke to him, and mentioned my name. He heard me,
+but did not reply. I begged him to speak, and he remained silent.
+After his first look at me he turned from me, and stood with his eyes
+in the direction of the lighthouse. I would not accept his reception
+of me; I continued to address him; I asked him upon what errand he had
+come, and why he kept his eyes so fixedly upon the lighthouse. I gave
+him information of myself, and said I should be pleased to see him in
+my home--with a vague and foolish hope that he would accept the
+invitation, and that I might be able to work upon his better nature.
+And still no word came from him. I did not dare to utter the name of
+either Silvain or Avicia, fearing that I should awake the demon that
+had taken possession of his soul.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By the time that I had exhausted what I thought it wise and good to
+say, I found myself falling into a kind of fascination, produced by
+his motionless attitude, and the fixed gaze in his unnaturally
+brilliant eyes. It was a bright day, and I knew that my imagination
+was playing me a trick, but I saw clearly with my mind&#39;s eye, the
+outer gallery of the lighthouse, and the figure of Avicia standing
+thereon, with her hair hanging loose, and a scarlet covering on her
+head. Was it a spiritual reflection of what this silent, motionless
+man was gazing upon? I shuddered, and passed my hand across my eyes;
+the vision was gone--but he gazed upon it still.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was compelled at length to leave him standing there upon the beach,
+and he took no notice of my departure.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Others were observing him as well as I, and had watched me with
+curiosity during the time I stood by his side. When I was among them
+they asked if he had spoken to me.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;No,&#39; I replied, &#39;I could get no word from him.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Neither has he spoken to us,&#39; they said. &#39;Not a sound has passed his
+lips since his arrival.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;When did he arrive?&#39; I inquired.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Yesterday,&#39; they answered, &#39;and our first thought was that he would
+want a boat to row to the lighthouse, but he did not ask for it.
+Surely he must wish to see his brother! There is something strange
+about him, do you not think so? One of our women here insists that he
+is dumb.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;He must be dumb,&#39; said the woman; &#39;else why should he not speak?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;There was a jealousy between him and his brother,&#39; said an elderly
+woman, &#39;about Avicia.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;What has that to do with it?&#39; exclaimed the woman who pronounced him
+dumb. &#39;Jealousy, like love, does not last for ever. She is not the
+only woman in the world, and men have eyes. They must have made up
+their quarrel long ago. Besides, if he <i>was</i> jealous still, which
+isn&#39;t in the least likely, that would not make him dumb! His tongue
+would be all the looser for it.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;More terrible,&#39; thought I, &#39;is the dread silence of that motionless
+man than all the storms of wrath his tongue could utter.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;From what the villagers said, I knew that they were in ignorance of
+the hatred which filled Kristel&#39;s heart, and I debated within myself
+what it was best to do. That the simple men of the village would not
+voluntarily make themselves parties to any scheme of blind vengeance
+on the part of one brother against another I was certain, but I was
+not satisfied that it would be right to give them my whole confidence,
+and tell them all I knew. At the same time it would not be right to
+allow them to remain in complete ignorance, for by so doing they might
+be made unwittingly to further Kristel&#39;s designs upon his brother&#39;s
+life. There was a priest in the village, and I went to him, and under
+the seal of secrecy revealed something, but not all, of the meaning of
+Kristel&#39;s appearance.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Come with me,&#39; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I accompanied him, and once more stood by the side of Kristel. The
+priest addressed him, counselled him, exhorted him, and, like myself,
+could obtain no word from him. Kindlier speech I never heard, but it
+made no impression upon Kristel.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;He <i>must</i> be dumb,&#39; said the priest as we moved away.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Not so,&#39; I said earnestly; &#39;were he dumb, and unable to hear what is
+said to him, he would certainly indicate by some kind of sign that
+speech addressed to him was falling upon ears that were deaf. He is
+possessed by a demoniac obduracy, and his apparent indifference is but
+a part of a fell design to which I should be afraid to give a name.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The priest was impressed by this view of the matter, which could not
+but appeal successfully to a man&#39;s calm reason.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;What can I do?&#39; he asked. &#39;If a man is determined not to speak, I
+have no power to compel him.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;It is in your power,&#39; I said, &#39;to prevent bloodshed.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Bloodshed!&#39; he echoed, in a startled tone.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Nothing less, I fear,&#39; I said. &#39;Lay an injunction upon the villagers
+not to lend that man a boat, and not, under any pretext, to row him to
+the lighthouse.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;What dreadful thoughts do your words suggest!&#39; exclaimed the priest.
+&#39;They alarm and bewilder me.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;I am not at liberty to say more at the present moment,&#39; I said. &#39;I
+shall not leave the village to-day. I myself will see that man&#39;s
+brother, and will obtain permission from him to reveal all I know.
+Meanwhile give not that soul-tossed wretch the opportunity of carrying
+out a scheme of ruthless vengeance which he has harboured for years.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Tell me explicitly what you wish me to do.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;I have already told you. That man, with the connivance or assistance
+of any person in this village, must not be enabled to get to the
+lighthouse.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;He shall not,&#39; said the priest.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And he mixed with the villagers, men and women, and laid upon them
+the injunction I desired. With my mind thus set at ease for at least a
+few hours, I engaged a couple of boatmen to row me to Silvain. I half
+expected that Kristel would come forward with a request, made if not
+in speech in dumb show, to be allowed to accompany me, and I had
+resolved what action to take; but he made no step towards me. He gave
+no indication even of a knowledge of what was taking place within a
+dozen yards of him, although it was not possible that the putting off
+of the boat from the shore could have escaped his observation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;If he is not deaf and dumb,&#39; said one of the rowers, &#39;he must have
+gone clean out of his senses.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Neither one nor the other,&#39; thought I; &#39;he is nursing his vengeance,
+and has decided upon some plan of action.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Silvain and Avicia were on the outer gallery, and when I joined them
+Silvain drew me aside.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;You have news of Kristel,&#39; he said. I nodded, and he continued: &#39;I
+know without the telling. He is in the village.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Who informed you?&#39; I asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;No human,&#39; he replied, with a sad smile. &#39;I see him standing upon
+the beach, looking towards us.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In truth that was a physical impossibility, but I needed no further
+proof of the mysterious insight with which Silvain was gifted. I
+related to him all that had passed between me and Kristel and the
+priest, and of the precautions taken to keep from Kristel the means of
+reaching the lighthouse.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;That will not prevent him from coming, said Silvain; &#39;he is a fine
+swimmer. I myself, were I desperately pushed to it, would undertake to
+swim to the village. You hold to your promise. You hold to your
+promise, Louis, with respect to Avicia?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;It is binding upon me,&#39; I replied; &#39;my word is given.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Faithful friend! Neither will my child be left without a counsellor.
+Louis, I shall never see the face of my child--I shall never feel his
+little hands about my neck!&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Were it not for the tender sympathy I have for you,&#39; I said in a
+tone of reproof, &#39;I should feel inclined to be angry. Did you not
+confess to me in former days that you could not see into the future?
+And here you are, raising up ghosts to make the present more bitter
+than it is. No, no, Silvain. Black as things appear, there are bright
+years yet in store for you.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;I cannot help my forebodings, Louis. True, I cannot, nor can any
+man, see into the future, but what can I do to turn my brother&#39;s hate
+from me?&#39; It was a cry of anguish wrung from his suffering heart. &#39;I
+think of the days of our childhood, when we strolled in the woods with
+our arms round each other&#39;s necks, I think of the dreams we mapped of
+the future. Running water by the side of which we sat, bending over to
+see our faces, and making our lips meet in a shadowed kiss, flowers we
+picked in field and meadow, errands of mercy we went upon together,
+twilight communings, the little sweethearts we had--all these innocent
+ways of childhood rise before me, and fill me with anguish. What can I
+do?--what can I do to bring him back to me in brotherly love? Louis, I
+have a fear that I have never whispered to living soul. It is that
+Avicia may have twin children, as Kristel and I are, and they should
+grow up to be as we are now! Would it not be better that they should
+be born dead, or die young, when their souls are not stained with
+hatred of each other and with evil thoughts that render existence a
+curse?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We were alone when he gave expression to his agonised feelings;
+Avicia had left us to attend to domestic duties. I could say nothing
+to comfort him; to harp upon one string of intended consolation to a
+man who is in no mood to accept it becomes, after a time, an
+oppression. He paced up and down, twining his fingers convulsively,
+and presently said,</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;It would be too much, Louis, to ask you to remain with me a little
+while?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;No,&#39; I replied, &#39;it would not. Indeed, it was partly in my mind to
+suggest it. The crisis you have dreaded for many years has come, and
+if you wish me to stop with you a day or two I will willingly do so.
+It may be--I do not know how--that I can be of service to you. The
+boatmen are waiting in the boat below. I will write a letter to my
+wife, and they shall post it, informing her that I shall be absent
+from home perhaps until the end of the week, by which time I hope the
+cloud will have passed away. No thanks, Silvain; friendship would be a
+poor and valueless thing if one shrank from a sacrifice so slight.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I wrote my letter, and despatched it by the boatmen. Then we waited
+for events; it was all that it was in our power to do.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Avicia was very glad when she heard of my intention to remain with
+them a while.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Your companionship will do him good,&#39; she said. &#39;He has no one but
+me to talk to, and he speaks of but one subject. If this continues
+long he will lose his reason.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The day passed, and night came on. There was but scanty living
+accommodation in the lighthouse, but a mattress was spread for me upon
+the floor of the tiny kitchen; and there I was to sleep. Avicia and
+Silvain wished me to occupy their bed, but I would not have it so.
+Before retiring to rest, Silvain and I passed two or three hours in
+converse; I purposely led the conversation into foreign channels, and
+when I wished him good-night I was rejoiced to perceive that I had
+succeeded for a brief space in diverting his mind from the fears which
+weighed so heavily upon him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nothing occurred during the night to disturb us; I awoke early, and
+lay waiting for sunrise; but no light came, and when, aroused by
+Silvain, I left my bed and went to the outer gallery, I was surprised
+to see that all surrounding space was wrapt in a thick mist.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;A great storm will soon be upon us,&#39; said Silvain.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He was right; before noon the storm burst, and the sea was lashed
+into fury. It was a relief to see the play of lightning upon the angry
+waters, but it was terrible too, and I thought how awful and joyless a
+lone life must be when spent in such a home. This second day seemed as
+if it would never end, and it was only by my watch that I knew of the
+approach of night. With the sounds of the storm in my ears I lay down
+upon my mattress and fell asleep.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know not at what time of the night I awoke, but with black darkness
+upon and around me, I found myself sitting up, listening to sounds
+without which did not proceed from the conflict of the elements. At
+first I could not decide whether they were real or but the refrain of
+a dream by which I had been disturbed; soon, however, I received
+indisputable evidence that they were not the creations of my fancy.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Kristel! For God&#39;s sake, listen to me!&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The voice was Silvain&#39;s, and the words were uttered in outer space.
+When I retired to rest I had lain down in my clothes, removing only my
+coat, and using it as a covering. I quickly put it on, and lit a lamp,
+to which a chain was attached, by which means it could be held over
+the walls of the lighthouse. The lamp was scarcely lighted, when
+Avicia, but half dressed, rushed into the little room.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Silvain!&#39; she cried. &#39;Where is Silvain?&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Her eyes wandered round the room, seeking him. At that moment the
+voice from without pierced the air.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Kristel! Oh, my brother, listen to me!&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I threw my arms round Avicia, and held her fast.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Why do you hold me?&#39; she screamed. &#39;Are you, too, leagued against
+us? Silvain! Silvain!&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It needed all my strength to restrain her from rushing out in her
+wild delirium, perhaps to her destruction. I whispered to her
+hurriedly that I intended to go to the outer gallery, and that she
+should accompany me; and also that if she truly wished to be of
+assistance to her husband she must be calm. She ceased instantly to
+struggle, and said in a tone of suppressed excitement,</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;Come, then.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I did not quit my hold of her, but I used now only one hand, which I
+clasped firmly round her wrist, my other being required for the
+lantern. The next moment we were standing upon the gallery, bending
+over. It was pitch dark, and we could see nothing; even the white
+spray of the waves, as they dashed against the stone walls, was not
+visible to us; but we heard Silvain&#39;s voice, at intervals, appealing
+in frenzied tones to Kristel, who, it needed not the evidence of sight
+to know, was holding on to the chains and struggling with his brother.
+How the two came into that awful position was never discovered, and I
+could only judge by inference that Kristel, in the dead of this deadly
+night, had made his way by some means to the lighthouse, and was
+endeavouring to effect an entrance, when Silvain, awakened by his
+attempts, had gone out to him, and was instantly seized and dragged
+down.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So fearful and confused were the minutes that immediately followed
+that I have but an indistinct impression of the occurrences of the
+time, which will live ever within me as the most awful in my life. I
+know that I never lost my grasp of Avicia, and that but for me she
+would have flung herself over the walls; I know that the brothers were
+engaged in a struggle for life and death, and that Silvain continued
+to make the most pathetic appeals to Kristel to listen to him, and not
+to stain his soul with blood; I know that in those appeals there were
+the tenderest references to their boyhood&#39;s days, to the love which
+had existed between them, each for the other, to trivial incidents in
+their childhood, to their mother who worshipped them and was now
+looking down upon them, to the hopes in which they had indulged of a
+life of harmony and affection; I know that it struck me then as most
+terrible that during the whole of the struggle no word issued from
+Kristel&#39;s lips; I know that there were heartrending appeals from
+Avicia to Kristel to spare her husband, and that there were tender
+cries from her to Silvain, and from Silvain to her; I know that,
+finding a loose chain on the gallery, I lowered it to the combatants,
+and called out to Silvain--foolishly enough, in so far as he could
+avail himself of it--to release himself from his brother&#39;s arms and
+seize it, and that I and Avicia would draw him up to safety; I know
+that in one vivid flash of lightning I saw the struggling forms and
+the beautiful white spray of the waves; I know that Silvain&#39;s voice
+grew fainter and fainter until it was heard no more; I know that there
+was the sound of a heavy body or bodies falling into the sea, that a
+shriek of woe and despair clove my heart like a knife, and that Avicia
+lay in my arms moaning and trembling. I bore her tenderly into her
+room, and laid her on her bed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The storm ceased; no sound was heard without. The rising sun filled
+the eastern horizon with loveliest hues of saffron and crimson. The
+sea was calm; there was no trace of tempest and human agony. By that
+time Avicia was a mother, and lay with her babes pressed to her bosom.
+Silvain&#39;s fear was realised: he was the dead father of twin brothers.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The assistant whom Avicia&#39;s father had engaged rowed me to the
+village, and there I enlisted the services of a woman, who accompanied
+me back to the lighthouse, and attended to Avicia. The mother lived
+but two days after the birth of her babes. Until her last hour she was
+delirious, but then she recovered her senses and recognised me.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;My dear Silvain told me,&#39; she said, in a weak, faint voice, &#39;that
+you would be a friend to our children. Bless the few moments remaining
+to me by assuring me that you will not desert them.&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I gave her the assurance for which she yearned, and she desired me to
+call them by the names of Eric and Emilius. It rejoiced me that she
+passed away in peace; strange as it may seem, it was an inexpressible
+relief to her bruised heart that the long agony was over. Her last
+words were,</p>
+
+<p>&quot;&#39;I trust you. God will reward you!&#39;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And so, with her nerveless hand in mine, her spirit went out to her
+lover and husband.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We buried her in the village churchyard, and the day was observed as
+a day of mourning in that village by the sea.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I thought I could not do better than leave the twin babes for a time
+in the charge of the woman I had engaged, and it occurred to me that
+it might not be unprofitable to have some inquiries and investigation
+made with respect to the inheritance left by their grandfather to his
+sons Kristel and Silvain. I placed the matter in the hands of a shrewd
+lawyer, and he was enabled to recover a portion of what was due to
+their father. This was a great satisfaction to me, as it to some
+extent provided for the future of Eric and Emilius, and supplied the
+wherewithal for their education. It was my intention, when they
+arrived at a certain age, to bring them to my home in Nerac, and treat
+them as children of my own, but a difficulty cropped up for which I
+was not prepared and which I could not surmount. Avicia&#39;s father,
+learning that I had recovered a portion of Silvain&#39;s inheritance,
+demanded from me an account of it, and asserted his rights as the
+natural guardian of his grandchildren. There was no gainsaying the
+demand, and I was compelled reluctantly to leave Eric and Emilius in
+his charge. I succeeded, however, in prevailing upon him to allow them
+to pay me regular visits of long duration, so that a close intimacy of
+affectionate friendship has been established between them and the
+members of my family. Here ends my story--a strange and eventful one,
+you will admit. I often think of it in wonder, and this is the first
+time a full recital of it has passed my lips.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2 style="margin-top:4em"><a name="chapter17" href="#ch17">XVII.</a></h2>
+
+<p class="p2">Such a story, which Doctor Louis truly described as strange and
+eventful, could not have failed to leave a deep impression upon me.
+During its recital I had, as it were, been charmed out of myself. My
+instinctive distrust of the twin brothers Eric and Emilius, the growth
+of a groundless jealousy, was for a while forgotten, and at the
+conclusion of the recital I was lost in the contemplation of the
+tragic pictures which had been presented to my mind&#39;s eye. Singularly
+enough, the most startling bit of colour in these pictures, that of
+the two brothers in their life and death struggle on the outer walls
+of the lighthouse, was not to me the dominant feature of the
+remarkable story. The awful, unnatural contest, Avicias agony,
+Silvain&#39;s soul-moving appeals, and the dread silence of Kristel--all
+this was as nought in comparison with the figure of a solitary man
+standing on the seashore, gazing in the direction of his lost
+happiness. I traced his life back through the years during which he
+was engaged in his relentless pursuit of the brother who had brought
+desolation into his life. In him, and in him alone, was centred the
+true pathos of the story; it was he who had been robbed, it was he who
+had been wronged. No deliberate act of treachery lay at his door; he
+loved, and had been deceived. Those in whom he placed his trust had
+deliberately betrayed him. The vengeance he sought and consummated was
+just.</p>
+
+<p>I did not make Doctor Louis acquainted with my views on the subject,
+knowing that he would not agree with me, and that all his sympathies
+were bestowed upon Silvain. There was something of cowardice in this
+concealment of my feelings, but although I experienced twinges of
+conscience for my want of courage, it was not difficult for me to
+justify myself in my own eyes. Doctor Louis was the father of the
+woman I loved, and in his hands lay my happiness. On no account must I
+instil doubt into his mind; he was a man of decided opinions,
+dogmatic, and strong-willed. No act or word of mine must cause him to
+have the least distrust of me. Therefore I played the cunning part,
+and was silent with respect to those threads in the story which
+possessed the firmest hold upon his affections.</p>
+
+<p>This enforced silence accentuated and strengthened my view. Silvain
+and Avicia were weak, feeble creatures. The man of great heart and
+resolute will, the man whose sufferings and wrongs made him a martyr,
+was Kristel. Faithful in love, faithful in hate. Trustful, heroic,
+unflinching. In a word, a man. But he and his brother, and the woman
+who had been the instrument of their fate, belonged to the past. They
+were dead and gone, and in the presence of Doctor Louis I put them
+aside a while. Time enough to think of them when I was alone.
+Meanwhile Eric and Emilius remained. They lived, and between their
+lives and mine there was a link. Of this I entertained no doubt, nor
+did I doubt that, in this connection, the future would not be
+colourless for us. To be prepared for the course which events might
+take: this was now my task and my duty. The thought was constantly in
+my mind. &quot;As Kristel acted, so would I act, in love and hate.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>I observed Doctor Louis&#39;s eyes fixed earnestly upon my face.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are agitated,&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is not such a story,&quot; I said evasively, &quot;enough to agitate one? Its
+movements are as the movements of a sublime tragedy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;True,&quot; mused Doctor Louis; &quot;even in obscure lives may be found such
+elements.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You have told me little,&quot; I said, &quot;of Eric and Emilius. Do they
+reside permanently in the lighthouse in which their mother died?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They have a house in the village by the sea,&quot; replied Doctor Louis,
+&quot;and they are in a certain sense fishermen on a large scale. The place
+has possessed for them a fascination, and it seemed as if they would
+never be able to tear themselves away from it. But their intimate
+association with it will soon be at an end.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In what way?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They have sold their house and boats, and are coming to reside in
+Nerac for a time.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>I started and turned aside, for I did not wish Doctor Louis to see the
+cloud upon my face.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Only for a time?&quot; I inquired.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It depends upon circumstances,&quot; said Doctor Louis. &quot;If they are happy
+and contented in the present and in their prospects in the future,
+they will remain. Otherwise, they will seek a larger sphere.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is this their idea?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not theirs alone. I am partly responsible. We have talked of it
+often, and I have urged them not to waste their lives in a village so
+small and primitive as that in which they were born.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Somewhat destructive of your own theories of happiness, doctor,&quot; I
+observed. &quot;Yourself, for instance, wasting your life in a small place
+like Nerac, when by your gifts you are so well fitted to play your
+part in a large city.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am selfish, I am afraid,&quot; he said with a deprecatory smile, &quot;and am
+too much wrapped up in my own ease and comfort. At the same time you
+must bear in mind that mine is an exceptional case. It is a regretful
+thing to be compelled to say that the majority of lives and homes are
+less happy than my own. Often there is love, and poverty stands at the
+bright door which opens but on a scene of privation and ill-requited
+toil. Often there is wealth, in the use of which there has been an
+endeavour to purchase love, which, my friend, is not a marketable
+commodity. Often there are sorrow and sickness, and neither faith nor
+patience to lighten the load. It is my good fortune to have none of
+these ills. We have love and good health, and a sufficient share of
+worldly prosperity to provide for our days. Therefore I will leave
+myself out of the question. What!&quot; he cried, interrupting himself in a
+tone at once light and earnest; &quot;am I entirely useless in Nerac? Do I
+do no good whatever?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You do much,&quot; I said, &quot;and also do Eric and Emilius in their village.
+You have admitted that they are fishermen on a large scale, and
+possess boats. Consequently they employ labour, and the wages they pay
+support the homes of those who serve them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;With some young men,&quot; said Doctor Louis, with a good-humoured laugh,
+&quot;there is no arguing. They are so keen in defence that they have a
+formidable parry for every thrust. To the point, then, without
+argument. Eric and Emilius have in them certain qualities which render
+me doubtful whether, as middle-aged men, they would be in their proper
+sphere in their village by the sea. The maidens there find no serious
+favour in their eyes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do they look,&quot; I asked, with a torturing pang of jealousy, &quot;with a
+more appreciative eye upon the maidens in Nerac?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Tush, tush,&quot; said Doctor Louis, in a kind tone, laying his hand upon
+my shoulder; &quot;vex not yourself unnecessarily. Youth&#39;s hot blood is a
+torrent, restless by day and night, never satisfied, never content,
+for ever seeking cause to fret and fume. You have given evidence of
+wisdom, Gabriel--exercise it when it is most needed. You are still
+disturbed. Well, question me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of all the maidens in Nerac,&quot; I said, striving to speak with
+calmness, &quot;Lauretta is the fairest and sweetest.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go on, my friend. I, her father, will not gainsay you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is it because she is fairer and sweeter than any Eric and Emilius
+have seen in the village by the sea that they quit their home there,
+and come to live in Nerac?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A plain question. Were I simply an ordinary friend of yours, and not
+Lauretta&#39;s father, I might feel inclined to play with you; but as
+it is, my happiness here is too largely at stake. Do not fall into
+error, Gabriel. Viewing with a selfish eye--a human failing, common
+enough--your own immediate affairs, forget not that I, Lauretta&#39;s
+father, am as deeply concerned in them as yourself. Never would I be
+guilty of the crime of forcing my child&#39;s affections. Do you think I
+love her less than you do? If it should be your happy fate to be a
+father, you will learn how much purer and higher is the love of a
+father than that which a young man, after an hour&#39;s acquaintance,
+bears for the maiden whom he would wed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;After an hour&#39;s acquaintance!&quot; I exclaimed, somewhat hotly.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It cannot be said to be more,&quot; responded Doctor Louis gravely,
+&quot;compared with my knowledge of my child.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The retort was well-merited, and I murmured, &quot;Forgive me!&quot; The
+consistently sweet accents of Doctor Louis&#39;s voice produced in me, at
+this moment, a feeling of self-reproach, and a true sense of my
+petulance and imperiousness forced itself upon me.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is little need to ask forgiveness,&quot; said Doctor Louis; &quot;I can
+make full allowance for the impetuous passions of youth, and if I wish
+you to place a curb upon them it is for your welfare and that of my
+child. Indulgence in such extravagances leads to injustice. Gabriel, I
+will be entirely frank with you. Before your arrival in Nerac I had a
+slight suspicion that one of the brothers--towards both of whom I feel
+as a father--had an affection for Lauretta which might have ripened
+into love. It is in the nature of things that a beautiful girl should
+inspire a sentiment in the breasts of more than one man, but she can
+belong only to one, to him to whom her heart is drawn. What passed
+between us when you spoke to me as a lover of my daughter was honest
+and outspoken. The encouragement you received from me would have been
+withheld had it not been that I saw you occupied a place in Lauretta&#39;s
+heart, and that the one end and aim I have in view is her happiness.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Is it too much to ask,&quot; I said, &quot;to which of the brothers you
+referred?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Altogether too much,&quot; replied Doctor Louis. &quot;It is an unrevealed
+secret, and the right is not mine to say more than I have said.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>I did not speak for a little while; I was the slave of conflicting
+passions. One moment I believed entirely in Doctor Louis; another
+moment I doubted him; and through all I was oppressed by a
+consciousness that I was doing him an injustice.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Anything more, Gabriel?&quot; he asked. &quot;Nothing special, sir,&quot; was my
+reply, &quot;but in a general way.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Born under such singular circumstances, and of such a father as
+Silvain, it would not be unnatural to suppose that they might inherit
+some touch of his strangely sympathetic nature.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They have inherited it,&quot; said Doctor Louis; &quot;there exists between
+them a sympathy as strange as that which existed in Silvain. I am at
+liberty to say nothing more.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He spoke in a firm tone, and I did not question him further. As I
+accompanied him home we conversed upon general subjects, and I took
+pains to convey to him an assurance that there was nothing really
+serious in the ungracious temper I had displayed. He was relieved at
+this, and we fell into our old confidential manner with each other.</p>
+
+<p>I passed the evening, as usual, in the society of his wife and
+Lauretta. Peace descended upon me, and in the sweet presence of these
+pure women I was tranquil and happy. How lovely, how beautiful was
+this home of love and tender thought! The wild storms of life died
+away, and strains of soft, angelic music melted the heart, and made
+themselves heard even in the midst of the silences. Doctor Louis&#39;s
+gaiety returned to him; he smiled upon me, and indulged in many a
+harmless jest. I was charmed out of my moody humour, and contributed
+to the innocent enjoyment of the home circle. The hours passed till it
+was near bed-time, and then it was that a change came over me. Sitting
+by Lauretta&#39;s side, turning the pages of an illustrated book of
+travel, I heard the names of Eric and Emilius spoken by Doctor Louis.
+He was telling his wife of the impending change in their mode of life,
+and there was an affectionate note in his voice, and also in hers,
+which jarred upon me. I started to my feet, and they all turned to me
+in surprise. I recovered myself in a moment, and explained that I had
+suddenly thought of something which rendered it necessary that I
+should go at once to the house I had taken, and of which Martin Hartog
+was at present the sole custodian.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But you were not to leave us till the end of the week,&quot; expostulated
+Lauretta&#39;s mother. &quot;Is it so very important?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Indeed it is,&quot; I replied, &quot;and should have been attended to earlier.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You will return?&quot; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not to-night. You need have no anxiety; everything is prepared, and I
+shall be quite comfortable.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My wife is thinking of the sheets,&quot; observed Doctor Louis jocosely;
+&quot;whether they are properly aired.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have seen to that,&quot; she said, &quot;and there is a fire in every room.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then we can safely let him go,&quot; rejoined Doctor Louis. &quot;He is old
+enough to take care of himself, and, besides, he is now a householder,
+and has duties. We shall see you to-morrow, Gabriel?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, I shall be here in the morning.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So I wished them good-night, and presently was out in the open,
+walking through dark shadows.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2 style="margin-top:4em"><a name="chapter18" href="#ch18">XVIII.</a></h2>
+
+<p class="p2">In solitude I reviewed with amazement the occurrences of the last few
+moments. It seemed to me that I had been impelled to do what I had
+done by an occult agency outside myself. Not that I did not approve of
+it. It was in accordance with my intense wish and desire--which had
+lain dormant in the sweet society of Lauretta--to be alone, in order
+that I might, without interruption, think over the story I had heard
+from Doctor Louis&#39;s lips. And now that this wish and desire were
+gratified, the one figure which still rose vividly before me was the
+figure of Kristel. As I walked onward I followed the hapless man
+mentally in his just pursuit of the brother who had snatched the cup
+of happiness from his lips. Yes, it was just and right, and what he
+did I would have done under similar circumstances. Of all who had
+taken part in the tragic drama he, and he alone, commanded my
+sympathy.</p>
+
+<p>The distance from Doctor Louis&#39;s house to mine was under two miles,
+but I prolonged it by a <i>dètour</i> which brought me, without
+premeditation, to the inn known as the Three Black Crows. I had no
+intention of going there or of entering the inn, and yet, finding
+myself at the door, I pushed it open, and walked into the room in
+which the customers took their wine. This room was furnished with
+rough tables and benches, and I seated myself, and in response to the
+landlord&#39;s inquiry, ordered a bottle of his best, and invited him to
+share it with me. He, nothing loth, accepted the invitation, and sat
+at the table, emptying his glass, which I continued to fill for him,
+while my own remained untasted. I had been inside the Three Black
+Crows on only one occasion, in the company of Doctor Louis, and the
+landlord now expressed his gratitude for the honour I did him by
+paying him another visit. It was only the sense of his words which
+reached my ears, my attention being almost entirely drawn to two men
+who were seated at a table at the end of the room, drinking bad wine
+and whispering to each other. Observing my eyes upon them, the
+landlord said in a low tone, &quot;Strangers.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You do not know them?&quot; I asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Never saw them before,&quot; he replied.</p>
+
+<p>Their backs were towards me, and I could not see their faces, but I
+noticed that one was humpbacked, and that, to judge from their attire,
+they were poor peasants.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I asked them,&quot; said the landlord, &quot;whether they wanted a bed, and
+they answered no, that they were going further. If they had stopped
+here the night I should have kept watch on them!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I don&#39;t like their looks, and my wife&#39;s a timorous creature. Then
+there&#39;s the children--you&#39;ve seen my little ones, I think, sir?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, I have seen them. Surely those men would do them no harm!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Perhaps not, sir; but a man, loving those near to him, thinks of the
+possibilities of things. I&#39;ve got a bit of money in the house, to pay
+my rent that&#39;s due to-morrow, and one or two other accounts. They may
+have got scent of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you think they have come to Nerac on a robbing expedition?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There&#39;s no telling. Roguery has a plain face, and the signs are in
+theirs, or my name&#39;s not what it is. When they said they were going
+further on I asked them where, and they said it was no business of
+mine. They gave me the same answer when I asked them where they came
+from. They&#39;re up to no good, that&#39;s certain, and the sooner they&#39;re
+out of the village the better for all of us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The more the worthy landlord talked the more settled became his
+instinctive conviction that the strangers were rogues.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If robbery is their errand,&quot; I said thoughtfully, &quot;there are houses
+in Nerac which would yield them a better harvest than yours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Of course there is,&quot; was his response. &quot;Doctor Louis&#39;s, for one. He
+has generally some money about him, and his silver plate would be a
+prize. Are you going back there to-night, sir?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No; I am on my road to my own house, and I came out of the way a
+little for the sake of the walk.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That&#39;s my profit, sir,&quot; said the landlord cheerfully. &quot;I would offer
+to keep you company if it were not that I don&#39;t like to leave my
+place.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There&#39;s nothing to fear,&quot; I said; &quot;if they molest me I shall be a
+match for them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Still,&quot; urged the landlord, &quot;I should leave before they do. It&#39;s as
+well to avoid a difficulty when we have the opportunity.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>I took the hint, and paid my score. To all appearance there was no
+reason for alarm on my part; during the time the landlord and I were
+conversing the strangers had not turned in our direction, and as we
+spoke in low tones they could not have heard what we said. They
+remained in the same position, with their backs towards us, now
+drinking in silence, now speaking in whispers to each other.</p>
+
+<p>Outside the Three Black Crows I walked slowly on, but I had not gone
+fifty yards before I stopped. What was in my mind was the reference
+made by the landlord to Doctor Louis&#39;s house and to its being worth
+the plundering. The doctor&#39;s house contained what was dearer to me
+than life or fortune. Lauretta was there. Should I leave her at the
+mercy of these scoundrels who might possibly have planned a robbery of
+the doctor&#39;s money and plate? In that case Lauretta would be in
+danger. My mind was instantly made up. I would return to the Three
+Black Crows, and look through the window of the room in which I had
+left the men, to ascertain whether they were still there. If they
+were, I would wait for them till they left the inn, and then would set
+a watch upon their movements. If they were gone I would hasten to the
+doctor&#39;s house, to render assistance, should any be needed. I had no
+weapon, with the exception of a small knife; could I not provide
+myself with something more formidable? A few paces from where I stood
+were some trees with stout branches. I detached one of these branches,
+and with my small knife fashioned it into a weapon which would serve
+my purpose. It was about four feet in length, thick at the striking
+end and tapering towards the other, so that it could be held with ease
+and used to good purpose. I tried it on the air, swinging it round and
+bringing it down with sufficient force to kill a man, or with
+certainty to knock the senses out of him in one blow. Then I returned
+to the inn, and looked through the window. In the settlement of my
+proceedings I had remembered there was a red blind over the window
+which did not entirely cover it, and through the uncovered space I now
+saw the strangers sitting at the table as I had left them.</p>
+
+<p>Taking care to make no noise I stepped away from the window, and took
+up a position from which I could see the door of the inn, which was
+closed. I myself was in complete darkness, and there was no moon to
+betray me; all that was needed from me was caution.</p>
+
+<p>I watched fully half an hour before the door of the inn was opened. No
+person had entered during my watch, the inhabitants of Nerac being
+early folk for rest and work. The two strangers lingered for a moment
+upon the threshold, peering out into the night; behind them was the
+landlord, with a candle in his hand. I did not observe that any words
+passed between them and the landlord; they stepped into the road, and
+the door was closed upon them. Then came the sounds of locking and
+bolting doors and windows. Then, silence.</p>
+
+<p>I saw the faces of the men as they stood upon the threshold; they were
+evil-looking fellows enough, and their clothes were of the commonest.</p>
+
+<p>For two or three minutes they did not stir; there had been nothing in
+their manner to arouse suspicion, and the fact of their lingering on
+the roadway seemed to denote that they were uncertain of the route
+they should take. That they raised their faces to the sky was not
+against them; it was a natural seeking for light to guide them.</p>
+
+<p>To the left lay the little nest of buildings amongst which were Father
+Daniel&#39;s chapel and modest house, and the more pretentious dwelling of
+Doctor Louis; to the right were the woods, at the entrance of which my
+own house was situated. Which road would the strangers take? The left,
+and it was part evidence of a guilty design. The right, and it would
+be part proof that the landlord&#39;s suspicions were baseless.</p>
+
+<p>They exchanged a few words which did not reach my ears. Then they
+moved onwards to the left. I grasped my weapon, and crept after them.</p>
+
+<p>But they walked only a dozen steps, and paused. I, also. In my mind
+was the thought, &quot;Continue the route you have commenced, and you are
+dead men. Turn from it, and you are safe.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The direction of the village was the more tempting to men who
+had no roof to shelter them, for the reason that in Father Daniel&#39;s
+chapel--which, built on an eminence, overlooked the village--lights
+were visible from the spot upon which I and they were standing. There
+was the chance of a straw bed and charity&#39;s helping hand, never
+withheld by the good priest from the poor and wretched. On their right
+was dense darkness; not a glimmer of light.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, after the exchange of a few more words which, like the
+others, were unheard by me, they seemed to resolve to seek the
+gloomier way. They turned from the village, and facing me, walked past
+me in the direction of the woods.</p>
+
+<p>I breathed more freely, and fell into a curious mental consideration
+of the relief I experienced. Was it because, walking as they were from
+the village in which Lauretta was sleeping, I was spared the taking of
+these men&#39;s lives? No. It was because of the indication they afforded
+me that Lauretta was not in peril. In her defence I could have
+justified the taking of a hundred lives. No feeling of guilt would
+have haunted me; there would have been not only no remorse but no pity
+in my soul. The violation of the most sacred of human laws would be
+justified where Lauretta was concerned. She was mine, to cherish, to
+protect, to love--mine, inalienably. She belonged to no other man, and
+none should step between her and me--neither he whose ruffianly design
+threatened her with possible harm, nor he, in a higher and more
+polished grade, who strove to win her affections and wrest them from
+me. In an equal way both were equally my enemies, and I should be
+justified in acting by them as Kristel had acted to Silvain.</p>
+
+<p>Ah, but he had left it too late. Not so would I. Let but the faintest
+breath of certainty wait upon suspicion, and I would scotch it
+effectually for once and all. Had Kristel possessed the strange power
+in his hours of dreaming which Silvain possessed, he would not have
+been robbed of the happiness which was his by right. He would have
+been forewarned, and Avicia would have been his wife. In every step in
+life he took there would have been the fragrance of flowers around
+him, and a heavenly light. Thus, with me, and for me.</p>
+
+<p>Did I, then, admit that there was any resemblance in the characters of
+Avicia and Lauretta? No; one was a weed, the other a rose. Here
+coarseness, there refinement. Here low desire and cunning; there
+angelic purity and goodness. But immeasurably beneath Lauretta as
+Avicia was, Kristel&#39;s love for the girl would have made her radiant
+and spotless.</p>
+
+<p>All this time I was stealthily following the strangers to the woods.
+Once I tripped. The sound arrested them; they clutched each other in
+fear.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What was that?&quot; one said hoarsely. &quot;Are we being followed?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>I stood motionless, and they stood without movement for many moments.
+Then they simultaneously emitted a deep-drawn sigh.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was the wind,&quot; said the man who had already spoken.</p>
+
+<p>I smiled in contempt; not a breath of wind was stirring; there was not
+the flutter of a leaf, not the waving of the lightest branch. All was
+still and quiet.</p>
+
+<p>They resumed their course, and I crept after them noiselessly. They
+entered the wood; the trees grew more thickly clustered.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This will do,&quot; I heard one say; and upon the words they threw
+themselves to the ground, and fell into slumber.</p>
+
+<p>Sleep came to them instantaneously. I bent over them and was
+satisfied. The landlord of the Three Black Crows was mistaken. I moved
+softly away, and when I was at a safe distance from them I lit a match
+and looked at my watch; it was twenty minutes to eleven, and before
+the minute-hand had passed the hour I arrived at my house. The door
+was fast, but I saw a light in the lower room of the gardener&#39;s
+cottage, which I had given to Martin Hartog as a residence for him and
+his daughter.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hartog is awake,&quot; I thought; &quot;expecting me perhaps.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>I knocked at the door of the cottage, and received no answer; I
+knocked again with the same result.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hartog! Hartog!&quot; I called; and still no answer came.</p>
+
+<p>The door had fastenings of lock and latch. I put my hand to the latch,
+and finding that the key had not been turned in the lock, opened the
+door and entered. Martin Hartog was not there.</p>
+
+<p>The room, however, was not without an occupant. At the table sat a
+young girl, the gardener&#39;s daughter, asleep. She lay back in her
+chair, and the light shone upon her face. I had seen her when she was
+awake, and knew that she was beautiful, but as I gazed now upon her
+sleeping form I was surprised to discover that she was even fairer
+than I had supposed. She had hair of dark brown, which curled most
+gracefully about her brow and head; her face, in its repose, was sweet
+to look upon; she was not dressed as the daughter of a labouring man,
+but with a certain daintiness and taste which deepened my surprise;
+there was lace at her sleeves and around her white neck. Had I not
+known her station I should have taken her for a lady. She was young,
+not more than eighteen or nineteen I judged, and life&#39;s springtime lay
+sweetly upon her. There was a smile of wistful tenderness on her lips.</p>
+
+<p>Her left arm was extended over the table, and her hand rested upon the
+portrait of a man, almost concealing the features. Her right hand,
+which was on her lap, enfolded a letter, and that and the
+portrait--which, without curious prying, I saw was not that of her
+father--doubtless were the motive of a pleasant dream.</p>
+
+<p>I took in all this in a momentary glance, and quickly left the room,
+closing the door behind me. Then I knocked loudly and roughly, and
+heard the hurried movements of a sudden awaking. She came to the door
+and cried softly, &quot;Is that you, father? The door is unlocked.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is I,&quot; I said. &quot;Is your father not at home then?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She opened the door, and fell back a step in confusion.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I should have let your father know,&quot; I said, &quot;that I intended to
+sleep here to-night--but indeed it was a hasty decision. I hope I have
+not alarmed you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh, no, sir,&quot; she said. &quot;We did not expect you. Father is away on
+business; I expected him home earlier, and waiting for him I fell
+asleep. The servants are not coming till to-morrow morning.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know. Have you the keys?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She gave them to me, and asked if she could do anything for me. I
+answered no, that there was nothing required. As I wished her
+good-night a man&#39;s firm steps were heard, and Martin Hartog appeared.
+He cast swift glances at his daughter and me, and it struck me that
+they were not devoid of suspicion. I explained matters, and he
+appeared contented with my explanation; then bidding his daughter go
+indoors he accompanied me to the house.</p>
+
+<p>There was a fire in my bedroom, almost burnt out, and the handiwork of
+an affectionate and capable housewife was everywhere apparent. Martin
+Hartog showed an inclination then and there to enter into particulars
+of the work he had done in the grounds during my absence, but I told
+him I was tired, and dismissed him. I listened to his retreating
+footsteps, and when I heard the front door closed I blew out the
+candle and sat before the dying embers in the grate. Darkness was best
+suited to my mood, and I sat and mused upon the events of the last
+forty-eight hours. Gradually my thoughts became fixed upon the figures
+of the two strangers I had left sleeping in the woods, in connection
+with the suspicion of their designs which the landlord had imparted to
+me. So concentrated was my attention that I re-enacted all the
+incidents of which they were the inspirers--the fashioning of the
+branch into a weapon, the watch I had set upon them, their issuing
+from the inn, the landlord standing behind with the candle in his
+hand, their lingering in the road, the first steps they took towards
+the village, their turning back, and my stealthy pursuit after
+them--not the smallest detail was omitted. I do not remember
+undressing and going to bed. Encompassed by silence and darkness I was
+only spiritually awake.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2 style="margin-top:4em"><a name="chapter19" href="#ch19">XIX.</a></h2>
+
+<p class="p2">I was aroused at about eight o&#39;clock in the morning by the arrival of
+the servants of the household whom Lauretta&#39;s mother had engaged for
+me, They comprised a housekeeper, who was to cook and generally
+superintend, and two stout wenches to do the rougher work. In such a
+village as Nerac these, in addition to Martin Hartog, constituted an
+establishment of importance.</p>
+
+<p>They had been so well schooled by Lauretta&#39;s mother before commencing
+the active duties of their service, that when I rose I found the
+breakfast-table spread, and the housekeeper in attendance to receive
+my orders. This augured well, and I experienced a feeling of
+satisfaction at the prospect of the happy life before me. Like mother,
+like daughter. Lauretta would be not only a sweet and loving
+companion, but the same order and regularity would reign in our home
+as in the home of her childhood. I blessed the chance, if chance it
+was, which had led me to Nerac, and as I paced the room and thought of
+Lauretta, I said audibly, &quot;Thank God!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Breakfast over, I strolled into the grounds, and made a careful
+inspection of the work which Martin Hartog had performed. The
+conspicuous conscientiousness of his labours added to my satisfaction,
+and I gave expression to it. He received my approval in manly fashion,
+and said he would be glad if I always spoke my mind, &quot;as I always
+speak mine,&quot; he added. It pleased me that he was not subservient; in
+all conditions of life a man owes it to himself to maintain, within
+proper bounds, a spirit of independence. While he was pointing out to
+me this and that, and urging me to make any suggestions which occurred
+to me, his daughter came up to us and said that a man wished to speak
+to me. I asked who the man was, and she replied, &quot;The landlord of the
+Three Black Crows.&quot; Curious as to his purpose in making so early a
+call, and settling it with myself that his errand was on business, in
+connection, perhaps, with some wine he wished to dispose of, I told
+the young woman to send him to me, and presently he appeared. There
+was an expression of awkwardness, I thought, in his face as he stood
+before me, cap in hand.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, landlord,&quot; I said smiling; &quot;you wish to see me?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, sir.&quot; And there he stopped.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go on,&quot; I said, wondering somewhat at his hesitation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Can I speak to you alone, sir?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Certainly. Hartog, I will see you again presently.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Martin Hartog took the hint, and left us together.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Now, landlord,&quot; I said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It&#39;s about those two men, sir, you saw in my place last night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Those two men?&quot; I said, pondering, and then a light broke upon me,
+and I thought it singular--as indeed it was--that no recollection,
+either of the men or the incidents in association with them should
+have occurred to me since my awaking. &quot;Yes?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;<i>You</i> are quite safe, sir,&quot; said the landlord, &quot;I am glad to find.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Quite safe, landlord; but why should you be so specially glad?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nothing&#39;s happened here then, sir?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nothing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That&#39;s what brought me round so early this morning, for one thing; I
+was afraid something <i>might</i> have happened.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Kindly explain yourself,&quot; I said, not at all impatient, but amused
+rather. &quot;What <i>might</i> have happened?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, sir, they might have found out, somehow or other, that you were
+sleeping in the house alone last night&quot;--and here he broke off and
+asked, &quot;You <i>did</i> sleep here alone last night?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Certainly I did, and a capital night&#39;s rest I had.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Glad to hear that, sir. As I was saying, if they had found out that
+you were sleeping here alone, they might have taken it into their
+heads to trouble you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;They might, landlord, but facts are stubborn things. They did not,
+evidently.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I understand that now, sir, but I had my fears, and that&#39;s what
+brought me round for one thing.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;An expression you have used once before, landlord. &#39;For one thing.&#39; I
+infer there must be another thing in your mind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is, sir. You haven&#39;t heard then?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As yet I have heard nothing but a number of very enigmatical
+observations from you with respect to those men. Ah, yes, I remember;
+you had your doubts of them when I visited you on my road home?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I had sir; I told you I didn&#39;t like the looks of them, and that I was
+not easy in my mind about my own family, and the bit of money I had in
+my place to pay my rent with, and one or two other accounts.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is so; you are bringing the whole affair back to me. I saw the
+men after I left the Three Black Crows.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You did, sir! When? Where?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;To tell you would be to interrupt what you have come here to say. No
+more roundabouts, landlord. Say what you have to say right on.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, sir, this is the way of it. I suspected them from the first,
+and you will bear witness of it before the magistrate. They were
+strangers in Nerac, but that is no reason why I should have refused to
+sell them a bottle of red wine when they asked for it. It&#39;s my trade
+to supply customers, and the wine was the worst I had, consequently
+the cheapest. I had no right to ask their business, and if they chose
+to answer me uncivilly, it was their affair. I wouldn&#39;t tell everybody
+mine on the asking. They paid for the wine, and there was an end of
+it. They called for another bottle, and when I brought it I did not
+draw the cork till I had the money for it, and as they wouldn&#39;t pay
+the price--not having it about &#39;em--the cork wasn&#39;t drawn, and the
+bottle went back. I had trouble to get rid of them, but they stumbled
+out at last, and I saw no more of them. Now, sir, you will remember
+that when we were speaking of them Doctor Louis&#39;s house was mentioned
+as a likely house for rogues to break into and rob.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A moment,&quot; I interrupted in agitation. &quot;Doctor Louis is safe?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Quite safe, sir.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And his wife and daughter?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Quite safe, sir.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Go on.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The villains couldn&#39;t hear what we said, no more than we could hear
+what they were whispering about. But they had laid their plans, and
+tried to hatch them--worse luck for one, if not for both the
+scoundrels; but the other will be caught and made to pay for it. What
+they did between the time they left the Three Black Crows and the time
+they made an attempt to break into Doctor Louis&#39;s is at present a
+mystery. Don&#39;t be alarmed, sir; I see that my news has stirred you,
+but they have only done harm to themselves. No one else is a bit the
+worse for their roguery. Doctor Louis and his good wife and daughter
+slept through the night undisturbed; nothing occurred to rouse or
+alarm them. They got up as usual, the doctor being the first--he is
+known as an early riser. As it happened, it was fortunate that he was
+outside his house before his lady, for although we in Nerac have an
+idea that she is as brave as she is good, a woman, after all, is only
+a woman, and the sight of blood is what few of them can stand.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The sight of blood!&quot; I exclaimed. But that I was assured that
+Lauretta was safe and well, I should not have wasted a moment on the
+landlord, eager as I was to learn what he had come to tell. My mind,
+however, was quite at ease with respect to my dear girl, and the next
+few minutes were not so precious that I could not spare them to hear
+the landlord&#39;s strange story.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That,&quot; he resumed, &quot;is what the doctor saw when he went to the back
+of his house. Blood on the ground--and what is more, what would have
+given the ladies a greater shock, there before him was the body of a
+man--dead.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What man?&quot; I asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That I can&#39;t for a certainty say, sir, because I haven&#39;t seen him as
+yet. I&#39;m telling the story second-hand, as it was told to me a while
+ago by one who had come straight from the doctor&#39;s house. There was
+the blood, and there the man; and from the description I should say it
+was one of the men who were drinking in my place last night. It is not
+ascertained at what time of the night he and his mate tried to break
+into the doctor&#39;s house, but the attempt was made. There is the
+evidence of it. They commenced to bore a hole in one of the shutters
+at the back; the hole made, it would have been easy to enlargen it,
+and so to draw the fastenings. However, they did not get so far as
+that. They could scarcely have been at their scoundrelly work a minute
+or two before it came to an end.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;How and by whom were they interrupted, landlord? That, of course, is
+known?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is not known, sir, and it&#39;s just at this point that the mystery
+commences. There they are at their work, and likely to be successful.
+A dark night, and not a watchman in the village. Never a need for one,
+sir. Plenty of time before them, and desperate men they. Only one man
+in the house, the good doctor; all the others women, easily dealt
+with. Robbery first--if interfered with, murder afterwards. They
+wouldn&#39;t have stuck at it, not they! But there it was, sir, as God
+willed. Not a minute at work, and something occurs. The question is,
+what? The man lies dead on the ground, with a gimlet in his hand, and
+Doctor Louis, in full sunlight, stands looking down on the strange
+sight.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The man lies dead on the ground,&quot; I said, repeating the landlord&#39;s
+words; &quot;but there were two.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No sign of the other, sir; he&#39;s a vanished body. People are out
+searching for him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He will be found,&quot; I said----</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It&#39;s to be hoped,&quot; interrupted the landlord.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And then what you call a mystery will be solved.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It&#39;s beyond me, sir,&quot; said the landlord, with a puzzled air.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is easy enough. These two scoundrels, would-be murderers, plan a
+robbery, and proceed to execute it. They are ill-conditioned
+creatures, no better than savages, swayed by their passions, in which
+there is no show of reason. They quarrel, perhaps, about the share of
+the spoil which each shall take, and are not wise enough to put aside
+their quarrel till they are in possession of the booty. They continue
+their dispute, and in such savages their brutal passions once roused,
+swell and grow to a fitting climax of violence. So with these.
+Probably the disagreement commenced on their way to the house, and had
+reached an angry point when one began to bore a hole in the shutter.
+This one it was who was found dead. The proof was in his hand--the
+gimlet with which he was working.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well conceived, sir,&quot; said the landlord, following with approval my
+speculative explanation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This man&#39;s face,&quot; I continued, &quot;would be turned toward the shutter,
+his back to his comrade. Into this comrade&#39;s mind darts, like a
+lightning flash, the idea of committing the robbery alone, and so
+becoming the sole possessor of the treasure.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Good, sir, good,&quot; said the landlord, rubbing his hands.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No sooner conceived than executed. Out comes his knife, or perhaps he
+has it ready in his hand, opened.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why opened, sir? Would it not be a fixed blade?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No; such men carry clasp-knives. They are safest, and never attract
+notice.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You miss nothing, sir,&quot; said the landlord admiringly. &quot;What a
+magistrate you would have made!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He plunges it into his fellow-scoundrel&#39;s back, who falls dead, with
+the gimlet in his hand. The murder is explained.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The landlord nodded excitedly, and continued to rub his hands; then
+suddenly stood quite still, with an incredulous expression on his
+face.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But the robbery is not committed,&quot; he exclaimed; &quot;the house is not
+broken into, and the scoundrel gets nothing for his pains.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>With superior wisdom I laid a patronising hand upon his shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The deed done,&quot; I said, &quot;the murderer, gazing upon his dead comrade,
+is overcome with fear. He has been rash--he may be caught red-handed;
+the execution of the robbery will take time. He is not familiar with
+the habits of the village, and does not know it has no guardians of
+the night. One may stroll that way and make discovery. Fool that he
+was! He has not only committed murder, he has robbed himself. Better
+to have waited till they had possession of the treasure; but this kind
+of logic always comes afterwards to ill-regulated minds. Under the
+influence of his newly-born fears he recognises that every moment is
+precious; he dare not linger; he dare not carry out the scheme.
+Shuddering, he flies from the spot, with rage and despair in his
+heart. Unhappy wretch! The curse of Cain is upon him.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2 style="margin-top:4em"><a name="chapter20" href="#ch20">XX.</a></h2>
+
+<p class="p2">The landlord, who was profuse in the expressions of his admiration at
+the light I had thrown upon the case, so far as it was known to us,
+accompanied me to the house of Doctor Louis. It was natural that I
+should find Lauretta and her mother in a state of agitation, and it
+was sweet to me to learn that it was partly caused by their anxieties
+for my safety. Doctor Louis was not at home, but had sent a messenger
+to my house to inquire after me, and to give me some brief account of
+the occurrences of the night. We did not meet this messenger on our
+way to the doctor&#39;s; he must have taken a different route from ours.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You did wrong to leave us last night,&quot; said Lauretta&#39;s mother
+chidingly.</p>
+
+<p>I shook my head, and answered that it was but anticipating the date of
+my removal by a few days, and that my presence in her house would not
+have altered matters.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Everything was right at home,&quot; I said. Home! What inexpressible
+sweetness there was in the word! &quot;Martin Hartog showed me to my room,
+and the servants you engaged came early this morning, and attended to
+me as though they had known my ways and tastes for years.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You slept well?&quot; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A dreamless night,&quot; I replied; &quot;but had I suspected what was going on
+here, I should not have been able to rest.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am glad you had no suspicion, Gabriel; you would have been in
+danger. Dreadful as it all is, it is a comfort to know that the
+misguided men do not belong to our village.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Her merciful heart could find no harsher term than this to apply to
+the monsters, and it pained her to hear me say, &quot;One has met his
+deserved fate; it is a pity the other has escaped.&quot; But I could not
+keep back the words.</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Louis had left a message for me to follow him to the office of
+the village magistrate, where the affair was being investigated, but
+previous to going thither, I went to the back of the premises to make
+an inspection. The village boasted of one constable, and he was now on
+duty, in a state of stupefaction. His orders were to allow nothing to
+be disturbed, but his bewilderment was such that it would have been
+easy for an interested person to do as he pleased in the way of
+alteration. A stupid lout, with as much intelligence as a vegetable.
+However, I saw at once that nothing had been disturbed. The shutter in
+which a hole had been bored was closed; there were blood stains on the
+stones, and I was surprised that they were so few; the gate by which
+the villains had effected an entrance into the garden was open; I
+observed some particles of sawdust on the window-ledge just below
+where the hole had been bored. All that had been removed was the body
+of the man who had been murdered by his comrade.</p>
+
+<p>I put two or three questions to the constable, and he managed to
+answer in monosyllables, yes and no, at random. &quot;A valuable
+assistant,&quot; I thought, &quot;in unravelling a mysterious case!&quot; And then I
+reproached myself for the sneer. Happy was a village like Nerac in
+which crime was so rare, and in which an official so stupid was
+sufficient for the execution of the law.</p>
+
+<p>The first few stains of blood I noticed were close to the window, and
+the stones thereabout had been disturbed, as though by the falling of
+a heavy body.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Was the man&#39;s body,&quot; I inquired of the constable, &quot;lifted from this
+spot?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He looked down vacantly and said, &quot;Yes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You are sure?&quot; I asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Sure,&quot; he said after a pause, but whether the word was spoken in
+reply to my question, or as a question he put to himself, I could not
+determine.</p>
+
+<p>I continued my examination of the grounds. From the open gate to the
+window was a distance of forty-eight yards; I stepped exactly a yard,
+and I counted my steps. The path from gate to window was shaped like
+the letter S, and was for the most part defined by tall shrubs on
+either side, of a height varying from six to nine feet. Through this
+path the villains had made their way to the window; through this path
+the murderer, leaving his comrade dead, had made his escape. Their
+operations, for their own safety&#39;s sake, must undoubtedly have been
+conducted while the night was still dark. Reasonable also to conclude
+that, being strangers in the village (although by some means they must
+have known beforehand that Doctor Louis&#39;s house was worth the
+plundering), they could not have been acquainted with the devious
+turns in the path from the gate to the window. Therefore they must
+have felt their way through, touching the shrubs with their hands,
+most likely breaking some of the slender stalks, until they arrived at
+the open space at the back of the building.</p>
+
+<p>These reflections impelled me to make a careful inspection of the
+shrubs, and I was very soon startled by a discovery. Here and there
+some stalks were broken and torn away, and here and there were
+indisputable evidences that the shrubs had been grasped by human
+hands. It was not this that startled me, for it was in accordance with
+my own train of reasoning, but it was that there were stains of blood
+on the broken stalks, especially upon those which had been roughly
+torn from the parent tree. I seemed to see a man, with blood about
+him, staggering blindly through the path, snatching at the shrubs both
+for support and guidance, and the loose stalks falling from his hands
+as he went. Two men entered the grounds, only one left--that one, the
+murderer. The blood stains indicated a struggle. Between whom? Between
+the victim and the perpetrator of the deed? In that case, what became
+of the theory of action I had so elaborately described to the landlord
+of the Three Black Crows? I had imagined an instantaneous impulse of
+crime and its instantaneous execution. I had imagined a death as
+sudden as it was violent, a deed from which the murderer had escaped
+without the least injury to himself; and here, on both sides of me,
+were the clearest proofs that the man who had fled must have been
+grievously wounded. My ingenuity was at fault in the endeavour to
+bring these signs into harmony with the course of events I had
+invented in my interview with the landlord.</p>
+
+<p>I went straight to the office of the magistrate, a small building of
+four rooms on the ground floor, the two in front being used as the
+magistrate&#39;s private room and court, the two in the rear as cells, not
+at all uncomfortable, for aggressors of the law. It was but rarely
+that they were occupied. At the door of the court I encountered Father
+Daniel. He was pale, and much shaken. During his lifetime no such
+crime had been perpetrated in the village, and his only comfort was
+that the actors in it were strangers. But that did not lessen his
+horror of the deed, and his large heart overflowed with pity both for
+the guilty man and the victim.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So sudden a death!&quot; he said, in a voice broken by tears. &quot;No time for
+repentance! Thrust before the Eternal Presence weighed down by sin! I
+have been praying by his side for mercy, and for mercy upon his
+murderer. Poor sinners! poor sinners!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>I could not sympathise with his sentiments, and I told him so sternly.
+He made no attempt to convert me to his views, but simply said, &quot;All
+men should pray that they may never be tempted.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>And so he left me, and turned in the direction of his little chapel to
+offer up prayers for the dead and the living sinners.</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Louis was with the magistrate; they had been discussing
+theories, and had heard from the landlord of the Three Black Crows my
+own ideas of the movements of the strangers on the previous night.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;In certain respects you may be right in your speculations,&quot; the
+magistrate said; &quot;but on one important point you are in error.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have already discovered,&quot; I said, &quot;that my theory is wrong, and not
+in accordance with fact; but we will speak of that presently. What is
+the point you refer to?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;As to the weapon with which the murder was done,&quot; replied the
+magistrate, a shrewd man, whose judicial perceptions fitted him for a
+larger sphere of duties than he was called upon to perform in Nerac.
+&quot;No knife was used.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What, then, was the weapon?&quot; I asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;A club of some sort,&quot; said the magistrate, &quot;with which the dead man
+was suddenly attacked from behind.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Has it been found?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, but a search is being made for it and also for the murderer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;On that point we are agreed. There is no shadow of doubt that the
+missing man is guilty.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There can be none,&quot; said the magistrate.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And yet,&quot; urged Doctor Louis, in a gentle tone, &quot;to condemn a man
+unheard is repugnant to justice.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There are circumstances,&quot; said the magistrate, &quot;which point so surely
+to guilt that it would be inimical to justice to dispute them. By the
+way,&quot; he continued, addressing me, &quot;did not the landlord of the Three
+Black Crows mention something to the effect that you were at his inn
+last night after you left Dr. Louis&#39;s house, and that you and he had a
+conversation respecting the strangers, who were at that time in the
+same room as yourselves?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If he did,&quot; I said, &quot;he stated what is correct. I was there, and saw
+the strangers, of whom the landlord entertained suspicions which have
+been proved to be well founded.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then you will be able to identify the body, already,&quot; added the
+magistrate, &quot;identified by the landlord. Confirmatory evidence
+strengthens a case.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I shall be able to identify it,&quot; I said.</p>
+
+<p>We went to the inner room, and I saw at a glance that it was one of
+the strangers who had spent the evening at the Three Black Crows, and
+whom I had afterwards watched and followed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The man who has escaped,&quot; I observed, &quot;was hump backed.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That tallies with the landlord&#39;s statement,&quot; said the magistrate.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have something to relate,&quot; I said, upon our return to the court,
+&quot;of my own movements last night after I quitted the inn.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>I then gave the magistrate and Doctor Louis a circumstantial account
+of my movements, without, however, entering into a description of my
+thoughts, only in so far as they affected my determination to protect
+the doctor and his family from evil designs.</p>
+
+<p>They listened with great interest, and Doctor Louis pressed my hand.
+He understood and approved of the solicitude I had experienced for the
+safety of his household; it was a guarantee that I would watch over
+his daughter with love and firmness and protect her from harm.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But you ran a great risk, Gabriel,&quot; he said affectionately.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I did not consider that,&quot; I said.</p>
+
+<p>The magistrate looked on and smiled; a father himself, he divined the
+undivulged ties by which I and Doctor Louis were bound.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;At what time,&quot; he asked, &quot;do you say you left the rogues asleep in
+the woods?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was twenty minutes to eleven,&quot; I replied, &quot;and at eleven o&#39;clock I
+reached my house, and was received by Martin Hartog&#39;s daughter. Hartog
+was absent, on business his daughter said, and while we were talking,
+and I was taking the keys from her hands, Hartog came home, and
+accompanied me to my bedroom.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Were you at all disturbed in your mind for the safety of your friends
+in consequence of what had passed?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not in the least. The men I left slumbering in the woods appeared to
+me to be but ordinary tramps, without any special evil intent, and I
+was satisfied and relieved. I could not have slept else; it is seldom
+that I have enjoyed a better night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Cunning rascals! May not their slumbers have been feigned?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I think not. They were in a profound sleep; I made sure of that. No,
+I could not have been mistaken.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is strange,&quot; mused Doctor Louis, &quot;how guilt can sleep, and can
+forget the present and the future!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>I then entered into an account of the inspection I had made of the
+path from the gate to the window; it was the magistrate&#39;s opinion,
+from the position in which the body was found, that there had been no
+struggle between the two men, and here he and I were in agreement.
+What I now narrated materially weakened his opinion, as it had
+materially weakened mine, and he was greatly perplexed. He was annoyed
+also that the signs I had discovered, which confirmed the notion that
+a struggle must have taken place, had escaped the attention of his
+assistants. He himself had made but a cursory examination of the
+grounds, his presence being necessary in the court to take the
+evidence of witnesses, to receive reports, and to issue instructions.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There are so many things to be considered,&quot; said Doctor Louis, &quot;in a
+case like this, resting as it does at present entirely upon
+circumstantial evidence, that it is scarcely possible some should not
+be lost sight of. Often those that are omitted are of greater weight
+than those which are argued out laboriously and with infinite
+patience. Justice is blind, but the law must be Argus-eyed. You
+believe, Gabriel, that there must have been a struggle in my garden?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Such is now my belief,&quot; I replied.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Such signs as you have brought before our notice,&quot; continued the
+doctor, &quot;are to you an indication that the man who escaped must have
+met with severe treatment?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Undoubtedly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Therefore, that the struggle was a violent one?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And prolonged?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is the feasible conclusion.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Such a struggle could not have taken place without considerable
+disarrangement about the spot in which it occurred. On an even
+pavement you would not look for any displacement of the stones; the
+utmost you could hope to discover would be the scratches made by iron
+heels. But the path from the gate of my house to the back garden, and
+all the walking spaces in the garden itself, are formed of loose
+stones and gravel. No such struggle could take place there without
+conspicuous displacement of the materials of which the ground is
+composed. If it took place amongst the flowers, the beds would bear
+evidence. I observed no disorder in the flower beds. Did you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then did you observe such a disarrangement of the stones and gravel
+as I consider would be necessary evidence of the struggle in which you
+suppose these men to have been engaged?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>I was compelled to admit--but I admitted it grudgingly and
+reluctantly--that such a disarrangement had not come within my
+observation.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That is partially destructive of your theory,&quot; pursued the doctor.
+&quot;There is still something further of moment which I consider it my duty
+to say. You are a sound sleeper ordinarily, and last night you slept
+more soundly than usual. I, unfortunately, am a light sleeper, and it
+is really a fact that last night I slept more lightly than usual. I
+think, Gabriel, you were to some extent the cause of this. I am
+affected by changes in my domestic arrangements; during many pleasant
+weeks you have resided in our house, and last night was the first, for
+a long time past, that you slept away from us. It had an influence
+upon me; then, apart from your absence, I was thinking a great deal of
+you.&quot; (Here I observed the magistrate smile again, a fatherly
+benignant smile.) &quot;As a rule I am awakened by the least noise--the
+dripping of water, the fall of an inconsiderable object, the mewing of
+a cat, the barking of a dog. Now, last night I was not disturbed,
+unusually wakeful as I was. The wonder is that I was not aroused by
+the boring of the hole in the shutter; the unfortunate wretch must
+have used his gimlet very softly and warily, and under any
+circumstances the sound produced by such a tool is of a light nature.
+But had any desperate struggle taken place in the garden it would have
+aroused me to a certainty, and I should have hastened down to
+ascertain the cause. Gabriel, no such struggle occurred.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then,&quot; said the magistrate, &quot;how do you account for the injuries the
+man who escaped must have undoubtedly received?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The words were barely uttered when we all started to our feet. There
+was a great scuffling outside, and cries and loud voices. The door was
+pushed open and half-a-dozen men rushed into the room, guarding one
+whose arms were bound by ropes. He was in a dreadful condition, and so
+weak that, without support, he could not have kept his feet. I
+recognised him instantly; he was the hump backed man I had seen in the
+Three Black Crows.</p>
+
+<p>He lifted his eyes and they fell on the magistrate; from him they
+wandered to Doctor Louis; from him they wandered to me. I was gazing
+steadfastly and sternly upon him, and as his eyes met mine his head
+drooped to his breast and hung there, while a strong shuddering ran
+through him.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2 style="margin-top:4em"><a name="chapter21" href="#ch21">XXI.</a></h2>
+
+<p class="p2">The examination of the prisoner by the magistrate lasted but a very
+short time, for the reason that no replies of any kind could be
+obtained to the questions put to him. He maintained a dogged silence,
+and although the magistrate impressed upon him that this silence was
+in itself a strong proof of his guilt, and that if he had anything to
+say in his defence it would be to his advantage to say it at once, not
+a word could be extracted from him, and he was taken to his cell,
+instructions being given that he should not be unbound and that a
+strict watch should be kept over him. While the unsuccessful
+examination was proceeding I observed the man two or three times raise
+his eyes furtively to mine, or rather endeavour to raise them, for he
+could not, for the hundredth part of a second, meet my stern gaze, and
+each time he made the attempt it ended in his drooping his head with a
+shudder. On other occasions I observed his eyes wandering round the
+room in a wild, disordered way, and these proceedings, which to my
+mind were the result of a low, premeditated cunning, led me to the
+conclusion that he wished to convey the impression that he was not in
+his right senses, and therefore not entirely responsible for his
+crime. When the monster was taken away I spoke of this, and the
+magistrate fell in with my views, and said that the assumption of
+pretended insanity was not an uncommon trick on the part of criminals.
+I then asked him and Doctor Louis whether they would accompany me in a
+search for the weapon with which the dreadful deed was committed (for
+none had been found on the prisoner), and in a further examination of
+the ground the man had traversed after he had killed his comrade in
+guilt. Doctor Louis expressed his willingness, but the magistrate said
+he had certain duties to attend to which would occupy him half an hour
+or so, and that he would join us later on. So Doctor Louis and I
+departed alone to continue the investigation I had already commenced.</p>
+
+<p>We began at the window at the back of the doctor&#39;s house, and I again
+propounded to Doctor Louis my theory of the course of events, to which
+he listened attentively, but was no more convinced than he had been
+before that a struggle had taken place.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But,&quot; he said, &quot;whether a struggle for life did or did not take place
+there is not the slightest doubt of the man&#39;s guilt, I have always
+viewed circumstantial evidence with the greatest suspicion, but in
+this instance I should have no hesitation, were I the monster&#39;s judge,
+to mete out to him the punishment for his crime.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Shortly afterwards we were joined by the magistrate who had news to
+communicate to us.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have had,&quot; he said, &quot;another interview with the prisoner, and have
+succeeded in unlocking his tongue. I went to his cell, unaccompanied,
+and again questioned him. To my surprise he asked me if I was alone. I
+moved back a pace or two, having the idea that he had managed to
+loosen the ropes by which he was bound, and that he wished to know if
+I was alone for the purpose of attacking me. In a moment, however, the
+fear was dispelled, for I saw that his arms were tightly and closely
+bound to his side, and that it was out of his power to injure me. He
+repeated his question, and I answered that I was quite alone, and that
+his question was a foolish one, for he had the evidence of his senses
+to convince him. He shook his head at this, and said in a strange
+voice that the evidence of his senses was sufficient in the case of
+men and women, but not in the case of spirits and demons. I smiled
+inwardly at this--for it does not do for a magistrate to allow a
+prisoner from whom he wishes to extract evidence to detect any signs
+of levity in his judge--and I thought of the view you had presented to
+me that the man wished to convey an impression that he was a madman,
+in order to escape to some extent the consequences of the crime he had
+committed. &#39;Put spirits and demons,&#39; I said to him, &#39;out of the
+question. If you have anything to say or confess, speak at once; and
+if you wish to convince yourself that there are no witnesses either in
+this cell--though that is plainly evident--or outside, here is the
+proof.&#39; I threw open the door, and showed him that no one was
+listening to our speech. &#39;I cannot put spirits or demons out of the
+question,&#39; he said, &#39;because I am haunted by one, who has brought me
+to this.&#39; He looked down at his ropes and imprisoned limbs. &#39;Are you
+guilty or not guilty?&#39; I asked. &#39;I am not guilty,&#39; he replied; &#39;I did
+not kill him.&#39; &#39;But he is murdered,&#39; I said. &#39;Yes,&#39; he replied, &#39;he is
+murdered.&#39; &#39;If you did not kill him,&#39; I continued, &#39;who did?&#39; What do
+you think he answered? &#39;A demon killed him,&#39; he said, &#39;and would have
+killed me, if I had not fled and played him a trick.&#39; I gazed at him
+in thought, wondering whether he had the slightest hope that he was
+imposing upon me by his lame attempt at being out of his senses. &#39;A
+demon?&#39; I said questioningly. &#39;Yes, a demon,&#39; he replied. &#39;But,&#39; I
+said, and I admit that my tone was somewhat bantering, &#39;demons are
+more powerful than mortals.&#39; &#39;That is where it is,&#39; he said; &#39;that is
+why I am here.&#39; &#39;You are a clumsy scoundrel,&#39; I said, &#39;and I will
+prove it to you; then you may be induced to speak the truth--in
+which,&#39; I added, &#39;lies your only hope of a mitigation of punishment.
+Not that I hold out to you any such hope; but if you can establish,
+when you are ready to confess, that what you did was done in
+self-defence, it will be a point in your favour.&#39; &#39;I cannot confess,&#39;
+he said, &#39;to a crime which I did not commit. I am a clumsy scoundrel
+perhaps, but not in the way you mean. Prove it to me if you can.&#39; &#39;You
+say,&#39; I began, &#39;that a demon killed your comrade.&#39; &#39;He did,&#39; persisted
+the prisoner. &#39;And,&#39; I continued, &#39;that he would have killed you if
+you had not fled from him.&#39; &#39;He would,&#39; said the prisoner. &#39;But,&#39; I
+said, &#39;demons are more powerful than men. Of what avail would have
+been your flight? Men can only walk or run; demons can fly. The demon
+you have invented could have easily overtaken you and finished you as
+you say he finished the man you murdered.&#39; He was a little staggered
+at this, and I saw him pondering over it. &#39;It isn&#39;t for me,&#39; he said
+presently, &#39;to pretend to know why he did not suspect the trick I
+played him; he could have killed me if he wanted. I have spoken the
+truth. I heard him pursuing me.&#39; &#39;There again,&#39; I said, wondering that
+there should be in the world men with such a low order of
+intelligence, &#39;you heard him pursuing you. Demons glide noiselessly
+along. It is impossible you could have heard this one. You will have
+to invent another story.&#39; &#39;I have invented none,&#39; he persisted
+doggedly, and repeated, &#39;I have spoken the truth.&#39; As I could get
+nothing further out of him than a determined adherence to his
+ridiculous defence, I left him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you think,&quot; asked Doctor Louis, &quot;that he has any, even the
+remotest belief in the story? Men sometimes delude themselves.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I cannot believe it,&quot; replied the magistrate, &quot;and yet I confess to
+being slightly puzzled. There was an air of sincerity about him which
+might be to his advantage had he to deal with judges who were ignorant
+of the cunning of criminals.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Which means,&quot; said Doctor Louis, &quot;that it is really not impossible
+that the man&#39;s mind is diseased.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said the magistrate, in a positive tone, &quot;I cannot for a moment
+admit it. A tale in which a spirit or a demon is the principal actor!
+In this age it is too absurd!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>At that moment I made a discovery; I drew from the midst of a bush a
+stick, one end of which was stained with blood. From its position it
+seemed as if it had been thrown hastily away; there had certainly been
+no attempt at concealment.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here is the weapon,&quot; I cried, &quot;with which the deed was done!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The magistrate took it immediately from my hand, and examined it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Here,&quot; I said, pointing downwards, &quot;is the direct line of flight
+taken by the prisoner, and he must have flung the stick away in terror
+as he ran.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is an improvised weapon,&quot; said the magistrate, &quot;cut but lately
+from a tree, and fashioned so as to fit the hand and be used with
+effect.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>I, in my turn, then examined the weapon, and was struck by its
+resemblance to the branch I had myself cut the previous night during
+the watch I kept upon the ruffians. I spoke of the resemblance, and
+said that it looked to me as if it were the self-same stick I had
+shaped with my knife.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do you remember,&quot; asked the magistrate, &quot;what you did with it after
+your suspicions were allayed?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; I replied, &quot;I have not the slightest remembrance what I did with
+it. I could not have carried it home with me, or I should have seen it
+this morning before I left my house. I have no doubt that, after my
+mind was at ease as to the intentions of the ruffians, I flung it
+aside into the woods, having no further use for it. When the men set
+out to perpetrate the robbery they must have stumbled upon the branch,
+and, appreciating the pains I had bestowed upon it, took it with them.
+There appears to be no other solution to their possession of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is the only solution,&quot; said the magistrate.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So that,&quot; I said with a sudden thrill of horror, &quot;I am indirectly
+responsible for the direction of the tragedy, and should have been
+responsible had they used the weapon against those I love! It is
+terrible to think of.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Louis pressed my hand. &quot;We have all happily been spared,
+Gabriel,&quot; he said. &quot;It is only the guilty who have suffered.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>We continued our search for some time, without meeting with any
+further evidence, and I spent the evening with Doctor Louis&#39;s family,
+and was deeply grateful that Providence had frustrated the villainous
+schemes of the wretches who had conspired against them. On this
+evening Lauretta and I seemed to be drawn closer to each other, and
+once, when I held her hand in mine for a moment or two (it was done
+unconsciously), and her father&#39;s eyes were upon us, I was satisfied
+that he did not deem it a breach of the obligation into which we had
+entered with respect to my love for his daughter. Indeed it was not
+possible that all manifestations of a love so profound and absorbing
+as mine should be successfully kept out of sight; it would have been
+contrary to nature.</p>
+
+<p>I slept that night in Doctor Louis&#39;s house, and the next morning
+Lauretta and Lauretta&#39;s mother said that they had experienced a
+feeling of security because of my presence.</p>
+
+<p>At noon I was on my way to the magistrate&#39;s office.</p>
+
+
+<h2 style="margin-top:4em"><a name="chapter22" href="#ch22">XXII.</a></h2>
+
+<p class="p2">My purpose was to obtain, by the magistrate&#39;s permission, an interview
+with the prisoner. His account of the man&#39;s sincere or pretended
+belief in spirits and demons had deeply interested me, and I wished to
+have some conversation with him respecting this particular adventure
+which had ended in murder. I obtained without difficulty the
+permission I sought. I asked if the prisoner had made any further
+admissions or confession, and the magistrate answered no, and that the
+man persisted in a sullen adherence to the tale he had invented in his
+own defence.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I saw him this morning,&quot; the magistrate said, &quot;and interrogated him
+with severity, to no effect. He continues to declare himself to be
+innocent, and reiterates his fable of the demon.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Have you asked him,&quot; I inquired, &quot;to give you an account of all that
+transpired within his knowledge from the moment he entered Nerac until
+the moment he was arrested?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; said the magistrate, &quot;it did not occur to me to demand of him so
+close a description of his movements; and I doubt whether I should
+have been able to drag it from him. The truth he will not tell, and
+his invention is not strong enough to go into minute details. He is
+conscious of this, conscious that I should trip him up again and again
+on minor points which would be fatal to him, and his cunning nature
+warns him not to thrust his head into the trap. He belongs to the
+lowest order of criminals.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>My idea was to obtain from the prisoner just such a circumstantial
+account of his movements as I thought it likely the magistrate would
+have extracted from him; and I felt that I had the power to succeed
+where the magistrate had failed. This power I determined to use.</p>
+
+<p>I was taken into the man&#39;s cell, and left there without a word. He was
+still bound; his brute face was even more brute and haggard than
+before, his hair was matted, his eyes had a look in them of mingled
+terror and ferocity. He spoke no word, but he raised his head and
+lowered it again when the door of the cell was closed behind me.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is your name?&quot; I asked. But I had to repeat the question twice
+before he answered me.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Pierre,&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why did you not reply to me at once?&quot; But to this question, although
+I repeated it also twice, he made no response.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It is useless,&quot; I said sternly, &quot;to attempt evasion with me, or to
+think that I will be content with silence. I have come here to obtain
+a confession from you--a true confession, Pierre--and I will force it
+from you, if you do not give it willingly. Do you understand me? I
+will force it from you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I understand you,&quot; he said, keeping his face averted from me, &quot;but I
+will not speak.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why?&quot; I demanded.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Because you know all; because you are only playing with me; because
+you have a design against me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>His words astonished me, and made me more determined to carry out my
+intention. He had made it clear to me that there was something hidden
+in his mind, and I was resolved to get at it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What design can I have against you,&quot; I said, &quot;of which you need be
+afraid? You are in sufficient peril already, and there is no hope for
+you. Your life is forfeit. What worse danger can befall you? Soon you
+will be as dead as the man you murdered.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I did not murder him,&quot; was the strange reply, &quot;and you know it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Fool!&quot; I exclaimed. &quot;You are playing the same trick upon me that you
+played upon your judge. It was unsuccessful with him; it will be as
+unsuccessful with me. Answer me. What further danger can threaten you
+than the danger, the certain, positive danger, in which you now stand?
+You are doomed, Pierre.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My body is, perhaps,&quot; he muttered, &quot;but not my soul.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Oh,&quot; I said, in a tone of contempt, &quot;you believe in a soul.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; he replied, &quot;do not you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I? Yes. With reason, with intelligence. Not out of my fears, but out
+of my hopes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have no hopes and no fears,&quot; he said. &quot;I have done wrong, but not
+the wrong with which I am charged.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Look at me, Pierre.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>His response to this was to hide his head closer on his breast, to
+make an even stronger endeavour to avoid my glance.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When I next command you,&quot; I said, &quot;you will obey. About your soul?
+Believing that you possess one, what worse peril can threaten it than
+the pass to which you have brought it by your crime.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>And still he doggedly repeated, &quot;I have committed no crime.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You fear me?&quot; I asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Because you are here to tempt me, to ensnare me. I will not look at
+you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>I strode to his side, and with my strong hand on his shoulder, forced
+him to raise his head, forced him to look me straight in the face. His
+eyes wavered for a few moments, shifted as though they would escape my
+compelling power, and finally became fixed on mine. He had no power to
+resist me. The will in me was strong, and produced its effects on the
+weaker mind. Gradually what brilliancy there was in his eyes became
+dimmed, and drew but a reflected, shadowy light from mine. Thus we
+remained face to face for four or five minutes, and then I spoke.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Relate to me,&quot; I said, &quot;all that you know from the time you and the
+man who is dead conceived the idea of coming to Nerac up to the
+present moment. Conceal nothing. The truth, the bare, naked truth!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;We were poor, both of us,&quot; Pierre commenced, &quot;and had been poor all
+our lives. That would not have mattered had we been able to obtain
+meat and wine. But we could not. We were neither of us honest, and had
+been in prison more than once for theft. We were never innocent when
+we were convicted, although we swore we were. I got tired of it;
+starvation is a poor game. I would have been contented with a little,
+and so would he, but we could not make sure of that little. Nothing
+else was left to us but to take what we wanted. The wild beasts do;
+why should not we? But we were too well known in our village, some
+sixty miles from Nerac, so, talking it over, we said we would come
+here and try our luck. We had heard of Doctor Louis, and that he was a
+rich man. He can spare what we want, we said; we will go and take. We
+had no idea of blood; we only wanted money, to buy meat and wine with.
+So we started, with nothing in our pockets. On the first day we had a
+slice of luck. We met a man and waylaid him, and took from him all the
+money he had in his pockets. It was not much, but enough to carry us
+to Nerac. No more; but we were satisfied. We did not hurt the man; a
+knock on the head did not take his senses from him, but brought him to
+them; so, being convinced, he gave us what he had, and we departed on
+our way. We were not fast walkers, and, besides, we did not know the
+straightest road to Nerac, so we were four days on the journey. When
+we entered the inn of the Three Black Crows we had just enough money
+left to pay for a bottle of red wine. We called for it, and sat
+drinking. While we were there a spirit entered in the shape of a man.
+This spirit, whom I did not then know to be a demon, sat talking with
+the landlord of the Three Black Crows. He looked towards the place
+where we were sitting, and I wondered whether he and the landlord were
+talking of us; I could not tell, because what they said did not reach
+my ears. He went away, and we went away, too, some time afterwards. We
+wanted another bottle of red wine, but the landlord would not give it
+to us without our paying for it, and we had no money; our pockets were
+bare. So out we went into the night. It was very dark. We had settled
+our plan. Before we entered the Three Black Crows we had found out
+Doctor Louis&#39;s house, and knew exactly how it was situated; there
+would be no difficulty in finding it later on, despite the darkness.
+We had decided not to make the attempt until at least two hours past
+midnight, but, for all that, when we left the inn we walked in the
+direction of the doctor&#39;s house. I do not know if we should have
+continued our way, because, although I saw nothing and heard nothing,
+I had a fancy that we were being followed; I couldn&#39;t say by what, but
+the idea was in my mind. So, talking quietly together, he and I
+determined to turn back to some woods on the outskirts of Nerac which
+we had passed through before we reached the village, and there to
+sleep an hour or two till the time arrived to put our plan into
+execution. Back we turned, and as we went there came a sign to me. I
+don&#39;t know how; it was through the senses, for I don&#39;t remember
+hearing anything that I could not put down to the wind. My mate heard
+it too, and we stopped in fear. &#39;What was that?&#39; my mate said. &#39;Are we
+being followed?&#39; I said nothing. We stood quiet a long while, and
+heard nothing. Then my mate said, &#39;It was the wind;&#39; and we went on
+till we came to the woods, which we entered. Down upon the ground we
+threw ourselves, and in a minute my mate was asleep. Not so I; but I
+pretended to be. Then came a Shadow that bent over us. I did not move;
+I even breathed regularly to put it off the scent. Presently it
+departed, and I opened my eyes; nothing was near us. Then, being tired
+with the long day&#39;s walk, and knowing that there was work before us
+which would be better done after a little rest, I fell asleep myself.
+We both slept, I can&#39;t say how long, but from the appearance of the
+night I judged till about the time we had resolved to do our work. I
+woke first, and awoke my mate, and off we set to the doctor&#39;s house.
+We reached it in less than an hour, and nothing disturbed us on the
+way. That made me think that I had been deceived, and that my senses
+had been playing tricks with me. I told my mate of my fears, and he
+laughed at me, and I laughed, too, glad to be relieved. We walked
+round the doctor&#39;s house, to decide where we should commence. The
+front of it faces the road, and we thought that too dangerous, so we
+made our way to the back, and, talking in whispers, settled to bore a
+hole through the shutters there. We were very quiet; no fear of our
+being heard. The hole being bored, it was easy to cut away wood enough
+to enable us to open the window and make our way into the house. We
+did not intend violence, that is, not more than was necessary for our
+safety. We had talked it over, and had decided that no blood was to be
+shed. Robbers we were, but not murderers. Our plan was to gag and tie
+up any one who interfered with us. My mate and I had had no quarrel;
+we were faithful partners; and I had no other thought than to remain
+true to him as he had no other thought than to remain true to me.
+Share and share alike--that was what we both intended. So he worked
+away at the shutter, while I looked on. Suddenly, crack! A blow came,
+from the air it seemed, and down fell my mate, struck dead! He did not
+move; he did not speak; he died, unshriven. I looked down, dazed, when
+I heard a swishing sound in the air behind me, as though a great club
+was making a circle and about to fall upon my head. It was all in a
+minute, and I turned and saw the demon. Dark as it was, I saw him. I
+slanted my body aside, and the club, instead of falling upon my head,
+fell upon my shoulder. I ran for my life, and down came another blow,
+on my head this time, but it did not kill me. I raced like a madman,
+tearing at the bushes, and the demon after me. I was struck again and
+again, but not killed. Wounded and bleeding, I continued my flight,
+till flat I fell like a log. Not because all my strength was gone; no,
+there was still a little left; but I showed myself more cunning than
+the demon, for down I went as if I was dead, and he left me, thinking
+me so. Then, when he was gone, I opened my eyes, and managed to drag
+myself away to the place where I was found yesterday more dead than
+alive. I did not kill my mate; I never raised my hand against him.
+What I have said is the truth, as I hope for mercy in the next world,
+if I don&#39;t get it in this!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>This was the incredible story related to me by the villain who had
+threatened the life of the woman I loved; for he did not deceive me;
+murder was in his heart, and his low cunning only served to show him
+in a blacker light. However, I did not leave him immediately. I
+released him from the spell I had cast upon him, and he stood before
+me, shaking and trembling, with a look in his eyes as though he had
+just been awakened from sleep.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What have I said?&quot; he muttered.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You have confessed all,&quot; I said, meeting cunning with cunning.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;All!&quot; he muttered. &quot;What do you mean?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Then I told him that he had made a full confession of his crime, and
+in the telling expounded my own theory, as if it had come from his
+lips, of the thoughts which led to it, and of its final committal--my
+hope being that he would even now admit that he was the murderer. But
+he vehemently defended himself.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If I have said as much,&quot; he said, &quot;it is you who have driven me to
+it, and it is you who have come here to set a snare for my
+destruction. But it is not possible, because what you have told me is
+false from beginning to end.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So I left him, amazed at his dogged, determined obstinacy, which I
+knew would not avail him. He was doomed, and justly doomed.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2 style="margin-top:4em"><a name="chapter23" href="#ch23">CHAPTER XXIII.</a></h2>
+
+<p class="p2">I have been reading over the record I have written of my life, which
+has been made with care and a strict adherence to the truth. I am at
+the present hour sitting alone in the house I have taken and
+furnished, and to which I hope shortly to bring my beloved Lauretta as
+my wife. The writing of this record from time to time has grown into a
+kind of habit with me, and there are occasions in which I have been
+greatly interested in it myself. Never until this night have I read
+the record from beginning to end, and I have come to a resolution to
+discontinue it. My reason is a sufficient one, and as it concerns no
+man else, no man can dispute my right to make it.</p>
+
+<p>My resolution is, after to-morrow, to allow my new life, soon to
+commence, to flow on uninterruptedly without burdening myself with the
+labour of putting into writing the happy experiences awaiting me. I
+shall be no longer alone; Lauretta will be by my side; I should
+begrudge the hours which deprived me of her society.</p>
+
+<p>Another thing. I must have no secrets from her; and much that here is
+recorded should properly be read by no eye than mine. Lauretta&#39;s
+nature is so gentle, her soul so pure, that it would distress her to
+read these pages. This shall not be. I recognise a certain morbid vein
+in myself which the continuing of this record might magnify into a
+disease. It presents itself to me in the light of guarding myself
+against myself, by adopting wise measures to foster cheerfulness. That
+my nature is more melancholy than cheerful is doubtless to be ascribed
+to the circumstances of my child-life, which was entirely devoid of
+light and gaiety. This must not be in the future; I have a battle to
+fight, and I shall conquer because Lauretta&#39;s happiness is on the
+issue.</p>
+
+<p>It will, however, be as well to make the record complete in a certain
+sense, and I shall therefore take note of certain things which have
+occurred since my conversation with Pierre in his cell. That done, I
+shall put these papers aside in a secret place, and shall endeavour to
+forget them. My first thought was to destroy the record, but I was
+influenced in the contrary direction by the fact that my first meeting
+with Lauretta and the growth of my love for her are described in it.
+First impressions jotted down at the time of their occurrence have a
+freshness about them which can never be imparted by the aid of memory,
+and it may afford me pleasure in the future to live over again,
+through these pages, the sweet days of my early intimacy with my
+beloved girl. Then there is the strange story of Kristel and Silvain,
+which undoubtedly is worth preserving.</p>
+
+<p>First, to get rid of the miserable affair of the attempt to rob Doctor
+Louis&#39;s house. Pierre was tried and convicted, and has paid the
+penalty of his crime. His belief in the possession of a soul could
+not, after all, have had in it the spirit of sincerity; it must have
+been vaunted merely in pursuance of his cunning endeavours to escape
+his just punishment; otherwise he would have confessed before he died.
+Father Daniel, the good priest, did all he could to bring the man to
+repentance, but to the last he insisted that he was innocent. It was
+strange to me to hear Father Daniel express himself sympathetically
+towards the criminal.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He laboured, up to the supreme moment,&quot; said the good priest, in a
+compassionate tone, &quot;under the singular hallucination that he was
+going before his Maker guiltless of the shedding of blood. So fervent
+and apparently sincere were his protestations that I could not help
+being shaken in my belief that he was guilty.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then you believe in demons?&quot; I remarked, amazed at this weakness.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not in the sense,&quot; said Father Daniel, &quot;that the unhappy man would
+have had me believe. Reason rejects his story as something altogether
+too incredulous; and yet I pity him.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>I did not prolong the discussion with the good priest; it would have
+been useless, and, to Father Daniel, painful. We looked at the matter
+from widely different standpoints. Intolerance warps the judgment; no
+less does such a life as Father Daniel has lived, for ever seeking to
+find excuses for error and crime, for ever seeking to palliate a man&#39;s
+misdeeds. Sweetness of disposition, carried to extremes, may
+degenerate into positive mental feebleness; to my mind this is the
+case with Father Daniel. He is not the kind who, in serious matters,
+can be depended upon for a just estimate of human affairs.</p>
+
+<p>Eric and Emilius, after a longer delay than Doctor Louis anticipated,
+have taken up their residence in Nerac. They paid two short visits to
+the village, and I was in hopes each time upon their departure that
+they had relinquished their intention of living in Nerac. I did not
+give expression to my wish, for I knew it was not shared by any member
+of Doctor Louis&#39;s family.</p>
+
+<p>It is useless to disguise that I dislike them, and that there exists
+between us a certain antipathy. To be just, this appears to be more on
+my side than on theirs, and it is not in my disfavour that the
+feelings I entertain are nearer the surface. Doctor Louis and the
+ladies entertain a high opinion of them; I do not; and I have already
+some reason for looking upon them with a suspicious eye. This reason I
+will presently explain.</p>
+
+<p>When we were first introduced it was natural that I should regard them
+with interest, an interest which sprang from the story of their
+father&#39;s fateful life. They bear a wonderful resemblance to each other
+they are both fair, with tawny beards, which it appears to me they
+take a pride in shaping and trimming alike; their eyes are blue, and
+they are of exactly the same height. Undoubtedly handsome men, having
+in that respect the advantage of me, who, in point of attractive
+looks, cannot compare with them. They seem to be devotedly attached to
+each other, but this may or may not be. So were Silvain and Kristel
+until a woman stepped between them and changed their love to hate.
+Before I came into personal relationship with Eric and Emilius I made
+up my mind to distrust appearances and to seek for evidence upon which
+to form an independent judgment. Some such evidence has already come
+to me, and I shall secretly follow it up.</p>
+
+<p>They are on terms of the most affectionate intimacy with Doctor Louis
+and his family, and both Lauretta and Lauretta&#39;s mother take pleasure
+in their society; Doctor Louis, also, in a lesser degree. Women are
+always more effusive than men.</p>
+
+<p>They are not aware of the relations which bind me to the village. That
+they may have some suspicion of my feelings for Lauretta is more than
+probable, for I have seen them look from her to me and then at each
+other, and I have interpreted these looks. It is as if they said, &quot;Why
+is this stranger here? He is usurping our place.&quot; I have begged Doctor
+Louis to allow me to speak openly to Lauretta, and he has consented to
+shorten the period of silence to which I was pledged. I have his
+permission to declare my love to his daughter to-morrow. There are no
+doubts in my mind that she will accept me; but there <i>are</i> doubts that
+if I left it too late there would be danger that her love for me would
+be weakened. Yes, although it is torture to me to admit it I cannot
+rid myself of this impression. How would this be effected and by whom?
+By these brothers, Eric and Emilius, and by means of misrepresentations
+to my injury. I have no positive data to go upon, but I am convinced
+that they have an aversion towards me, and that they are in their hearts
+jealous of me. The doctor is blind to their true character; he believes
+them to be generous and noble-minded, men of rectitude and high
+principle. They are not so. I have the evidence of my senses in proof
+of it.</p>
+
+<p>So much have I been disturbed and unhinged by my feelings towards
+these brothers--feelings which I have but imperfectly expressed--that
+latterly I have frequently been unable to sleep. Impossible to lie
+abed and toss about for hours in an agony of unrest; therefore I chose
+the lesser evil, and resumed the nocturnal wanderings which was my
+habit in Rosemullion before the death of my parents. These nightly
+rambles have been taken in secret, as in the days of my boyhood, and I
+mused and spoke aloud as was my custom during that period of my life.
+But I had new objects to occupy me now--the home in which I hoped to
+enjoy a heaven of happiness, with Lauretta its guiding star, and all
+the bright anticipations of the future. I strove to confine myself to
+these dreams, which filled my soul with joy, but there came to me
+always the figures of Eric and Emilius, dark shadows to threaten my
+promised happiness.</p>
+
+<p>Last week it was, on a night in which I felt that sleep would not be
+mine if I sought my couch; therefore, earlier than usual--it was
+barely eleven o&#39;clock--I left the house, and went into the woods.
+Martin Hartog and his fair daughter were in the habit of retiring
+early and rising with the sun, and I stole quietly away unobserved. At
+twelve o&#39;clock I turned homewards, and when I was about a hundred
+yards from my house I was surprised to hear a low murmur of voices
+within a short distance of me. Since the night on which I visited the
+Three Black Crows and saw the two strangers there who had come to
+Nerac with evil intent, I had become very watchful, and now these
+voices speaking at such an untimely hour thoroughly aroused me. I
+stepped quietly in their direction, so quietly that I knew I could not
+be heard, and presently I saw standing at a distance of ten or twelve
+yards the figures of a man and a woman. The man was Emilius, the woman
+Martin Hartog&#39;s daughter.</p>
+
+<p>Although I had heard their voices before I reached the spot upon which
+I stood when I recognised their forms, I could not even now determine
+what they said, they spoke in such low tones. So I stood still and
+watched them and kept myself from their sight. I may say honestly that
+I should not have been guilty of the meanness had it not been that I
+entertain an unconquerable aversion against Eric and Emilius. I was
+sorry to see Martin Hartog&#39;s daughter holding a secret interview with
+a man at midnight, for the girl had inspired me with a respect of
+which I now knew she was unworthy; but I cannot aver that I was sorry
+to see Emilius in such a position, for it was an index to his
+character and a justification of the unfavourable opinion I had formed
+of him and Eric. Alike as they were in physical presentment, I had no
+doubt that their moral natures bore the same kind of resemblance.
+Libertines both of them, ready for any low intrigue, and holding in
+light regard a woman&#39;s good name and fame. Truly the picture before me
+showed clearly the stuff of which these brothers are made. If they
+hold one woman&#39;s good name so lightly, they hold all women so. Fit
+associates, indeed, for a family so pure and stainless as Doctor
+Louis&#39;s!</p>
+
+<p>This was no chance meeting--how was that possible at such an hour? It
+was premeditated. Theirs was no new acquaintanceship; it must have
+lasted already some time. The very secrecy of the interview was in
+itself a condemnation.</p>
+
+<p>Should I make Doctor Louis acquainted with the true character of the
+brothers who held so high a place in his esteem? This was the question
+that occurred to me as I gazed upon Emilius and Martin Hartog&#39;s
+daughter, and I soon answered it in the negative. Doctor Louis was a
+man of settled convictions, hard to convince, hard to turn. His first
+impulse, upon which he would act, would be to go straight to Emilius,
+and enlighten him upon the discovery I had made. And then? Why, then,
+Emilius would invent some tale which it would not be hard to believe,
+and make light of a matter I deemed so serious. I should be placed in
+the position of an eavesdropper, as a man setting sly watches upon
+others to whom, from causeless grounds, I had taken a dislike. I
+should be at a disadvantage. Whatever the result one thing was
+certain--that I was a person capable not only of unreasonable
+antipathies but of small meannesses to which a gentleman would not
+descend. The love which Doctor Louis bore to Silvain, and which he had
+transferred to Silvain&#39;s children, was not to be easily turned; and at
+the best I should be introducing doubts into his mind which would
+reflect upon myself because of the part of spy I had played. No; I
+decided for the present at least, to keep the knowledge to myself.</p>
+
+<p>As to Martin Hartog, though I could not help feeling pity for him, it
+was for him, not me, to look after his daughter. From a general point
+of view these affairs were common enough.</p>
+
+<p>I seemed to see now in a clearer light the kind of man Silvain
+was--one who would set himself deliberately to deceive where most he
+was trusted. Honour, fair dealing, brotherly love, were as nought in
+his eyes where a woman was concerned, and he had transmitted these
+qualities to Eric and Emilius. My sympathy for Kristel was deepened by
+what I was gazing on; more than ever was I convinced of the justice of
+the revenge he took upon the brother who had betrayed him.</p>
+
+<p>These were the thoughts which passed through my mind while Emilius and
+Martin Hartog&#39;s daughter stood conversing. Presently they strolled
+towards me, and I shrank back in fear of being discovered. This
+involuntary action on my part, being an accentuation of the meanness
+of which I was guilty, confirmed me in the resolution at which I had
+arrived to say nothing of my discovery to Doctor Louis.</p>
+
+<p>They passed me in silence, walking in the direction of my house. I did
+not follow them, and did not return home for another hour.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2 style="margin-top:4em"><a name="chapter24" href="#ch24">CHAPTER XXIV.</a></h2>
+
+<p class="p2">How shall I describe the occurrences of this day, the most memorable
+and eventful in my life? A new life is opening for me. I am
+overwhelmed at the happiness which is within my grasp. As I walked
+home from Doctor Louis&#39;s house through the darkness a spirit walked by
+my side, illumining the gloom and filling my heart with gladness.</p>
+
+<p>At one o&#39;clock I presented myself at Doctor Louis&#39;s house. He met me
+at the door, expecting me, and asked me to come with him to a little
+room he uses as a study. I followed him in silence. His face was
+grave, and but for its kindly expression I should have feared it was
+his intention to revoke the permission he had given me to speak to his
+daughter on this day of the deep, the inextinguishable love I bear for
+her. He motioned me to a chair, and I seated myself and waited for him
+to speak.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This hour,&quot; he said, &quot;is to me most solemn.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And to me, sir,&quot; I responded.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It should be,&quot; he said, &quot;to you perhaps, more than to me; but we are
+inclined ever to take the selfish view. I have been awake very nearly
+the whole of the night, and so has my wife. Our conversation--well,
+you can guess the object of it.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Lauretta, sir.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, Lauretta, our only child, whom you are about to take from us.&quot; I
+trembled with joy, his words betokening a certainty that Lauretta
+loved me, an assurance I had yet to receive from her own sweet lips.
+&quot;My wife and I,&quot; he continued, &quot;have been living over again the life
+of our dear one, and the perfect happiness we have drawn from her. I
+am not ashamed to say that we have committed some weaknesses during
+these last few hours, weaknesses springing from our affection for our
+Home Rose. In the future some such experience may be yours, and then
+you will know--which now is hidden from you--what parents feel who are
+asked to give their one ewe lamb into the care of a stranger.&quot; I
+started. &quot;There is no reason for alarm, Gabriel,&quot; he said, &quot;because I
+have used a true word. Until a few short months ago you were really a
+stranger to us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That has not been against me, sir,&quot; I said, &quot;and is not, I trust.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is no such thought in my mind, Gabriel. There is nothing
+against you except--except,&quot; he repeated, with a little pitiful smile,
+&quot;that you are about to take from us our most precious possession.
+Until to-day our dear child was wholly and solely ours; and not only
+herself, but her past was ours, her past, which has been to us a
+garden of joy. Henceforth her heart will be divided, and you will have
+the larger share. That is a great deal to think of, and we have
+thought of it, my wife and I, and talked of it nearly all the night.
+Certain treasures,&quot; he said, and again the pitiful smile came on his
+lips, &quot;which in the eyes of other men and women are valueless, still
+are ours.&quot; He opened a drawer, and gazed with loving eyes upon its
+contents. &quot;Such as a little pair of shoes, a flower or two, a lock of
+her bright hair.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;May I see it, sir?&quot; I asked, profoundly touched by the loving accents
+of his voice.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Surely,&quot; he replied, and he passed over to me a lock of golden hair,
+which I pressed to my lips. &quot;The little head was once covered with
+these golden curls, and to us, her parents, they were as holy as they
+would have been on the head of an angel. She was all that to us,
+Gabriel. It is within the scope of human love to lift one&#39;s thoughts
+to heaven and God; it is within its scope to make one truly fit for
+the life to come. All things are not of the world worldly; it is a
+grievous error to think so, and only sceptics can so believe. In the
+kiss of baby lips, in the touch of little hands, in the myriad sweet
+ways of childhood, lie the breath of a pure religion which God
+receives because of its power to sanctify the lowest as well as the
+highest of human lives. It is good to think of that, and to feel that,
+in the holiest forms of humanity, the poor stand as high as the rich.&quot;
+He paused a while before he continued. &quot;Gabriel, it is an idle phrase
+for a father holding the position towards you which I do at the
+present moment, to say he has no fears for the happiness of his only
+child.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If you have any, sir,&quot; I said, &quot;question me, and let me endeavour to
+set your mind at ease. In one respect I can do so with solemn
+earnestness. If it be my happy lot to win your daughter, her welfare,
+her honour, her peace of mind, shall be the care of my life. These
+assured, happiness should follow. I love Lauretta with a pure heart;
+no other woman has ever possessed my love; to no other woman have I
+been drawn; nor is it possible that I could be. She is to me part of
+my spiritual life. I am not as other men, in the ordinary acceptation.
+In my childhood&#39;s life there was but little joy, and the common
+pleasures of childhood were not mine. From almost my earliest
+remembrances there was but little light in my parents&#39; house, and in
+looking back upon it I can scarcely call it a home. The fault was not
+mine, as you will admit. May I claim some small merit--not of my own
+purposed earning, but because it was in me, for which I may have
+reason to be grateful--from the fact that the circumstances of my
+early life did not corrupt me, did not drive me to a searching for low
+pleasures, and did not debase me? It seemed to me, sir, that I was
+ever seeking for something in the heights and not in the depths. Books
+and study were my comforters, and I derived real pleasures from them.
+They served to satisfy a want, and, although I contracted a melancholy
+mood, I was not unhappy. I know that this mood is in me, but when I
+think of Lauretta it is dispelled. I seem to hear the singing of
+birds, to see flowers around me, to bathe in sunshine. Perhaps it
+springs from the fervour of my love for her; but a kind of belief is
+mine that I have been drawn hither to her, that my way of life was
+measured to her heart. What more can I say, sir?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You have said much,&quot; said Doctor Louis, &quot;to comfort and assure me,
+and have, without being asked, answered questions which were in my
+mind. Do you remember a conversation you had with my wife in the first
+days of your convalescence, commenced I think by you in saying that
+the happiest dream of your life was drawing to a close?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was thinking of Lauretta. Even in those early days I felt that I
+loved her.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I understand that now,&quot; said Doctor Louis. &quot;My wife replied that life
+must not be dreamt away, that it has duties.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I remember the conversation well, sir.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;My wife said that one&#39;s ease and pleasures are rewards, only
+enjoyable when they have been worthily earned; and when you asked,
+&#39;Earned in what way?&#39; she answered, &#39;In accomplishing one&#39;s work in
+the world.&#39;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, sir, her words come back to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is something more,&quot; said Doctor Louis, with sad sweetness,
+&quot;which I should not recall did I not hold duty before me as my chief
+beacon. Inclination and selfish desire must often be sacrificed for
+it. You will understand how sadly significant this is to me when I
+recall what followed. Though, to be sure,&quot; he added, in a slightly
+gayer tone, &quot;we could visit you and our daughter, wherever your abode
+happened to be. Continuing your conversation with my wife, you said,
+&#39;How to discover what one&#39;s work really is, and where it should be
+properly performed?&#39; My wife answered, &#39;In one&#39;s native land.&#39;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Those were the words we spoke to one another, sir.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was my wife who recalled them to me, and I wish you--in the event
+of your hopes being realised--to bear them in mind. It would be
+painful to me to see you lead an idle life, and it would be injurious
+to you. This quiet village opens out no opportunities to you; it is
+too narrow, too confined. I have found my place here as an active
+worker, but I doubt if you would do so.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There is time to think of it, sir.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Plenty of time. And now, if you like, we will join my wife and
+daughter.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Have you said anything to Lauretta, sir?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No. I thought it best, and so did her mother, that her heart should
+be left to speak for itself.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Lauretta&#39;s mother received me with tender, wistful solicitude, and I
+observed nothing in Lauretta to denote that she had been prepared for
+the declaration I had come to make. After lunch I proposed to Lauretta
+to go out into the garden, and she turned to her mother and asked if
+she would accompany us.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, my child,&quot; said the mother, &quot;I have things in the house to attend
+to.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>So Lauretta and I went out alone.</p>
+
+<p>It was a lovely day, and Lauretta had thrown a light lace scarf over
+her head. She was in gay spirits, not boisterous, for she is ever
+gentle, and she endeavoured to entertain me with innocent prattle, to
+which I found it difficult to respond. In a little while this forced
+itself upon her observation, and she asked me if I was not well.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am quite well, Lauretta,&quot; I replied.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Then something has annoyed you,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>No, I answered, nothing had annoyed me.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But there <i>is</i> something,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; I said, &quot;there <i>is</i> something.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Tell me,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>We were standing by a rosebush, and I plucked one absently, and
+absently plucked the leaves. She looked at me in silence for a moment
+or two and said, &quot;This is the first time I have ever seen you destroy
+a flower.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I was not thinking of it,&quot; I said; and was about to throw it away
+when an impulse, born purely of love for what was graceful and sweet,
+restrained me, and I put it into my pocket. In this the most
+impressive epoch in my life no sentiment but that of tenderness could
+hold a place in my heart and mind.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well?&quot; she said, still not suspecting. &quot;Tell me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Lauretta,&quot; I said, taking her hand, which she left willingly in mine,
+&quot;will you listen to the story of my life?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You have already told me much,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You have heard only a part,&quot; I said, and I gently urged her to a
+seat. &quot;I wish you to know all; I wish you to know me as I really am.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I know you as you really are,&quot; she said, and then a faint colour came
+to her cheeks, and she trembled slightly, seeing a new meaning in my
+earnest glances.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;May I tell you? May I sit beside you?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; she said, and gently withdrew her hand from mine.</p>
+
+<p>I told her all, withholding only from her those mysterious promptings
+of my lonely hours which I knew would distress her, and to which I was
+convinced, with her as my companion through life, there would be for
+ever an end. Of even those promptings I gave her some insight, but so
+toned down--for her sweet sake, not for mine--as to excite only her
+sympathy. Apart from this, I was at sincere pains that she should see
+my life as it had really been, a life stripped of the joys of
+childhood; a life stripped of the light of home; a life dependent upon
+itself for comfort and support. Then, unconsciously, and out of the
+suffering of my soul--for as I spoke it seemed to me that a cruel
+wrong had been perpetrated upon me in the past--I contrasted the young
+life I had been condemned to live with that of a child who was blessed
+with parents whose hearts were animated by a love the evidences of
+which would endure all through his after life as a sweet and purifying
+influence. The tears ran down her cheeks as I dwelt upon this part of
+my story. Then I spoke of the happy chance which had conducted me to
+her home, and of the happiness I had experienced in my association
+with her and hers.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Whatever fate may be mine,&quot; I said, &quot;I shall never reflect upon these
+experiences, I shall never think of your dear parents, without
+gratitude and affection. Lauretta, it is with their permission I am
+here now by your side. It is with their permission that I am opening
+my heart to you. They know we are here together. I love you, Lauretta,
+and if you will bless me with your love, and place your hand in mine,
+all my life shall be devoted to your happiness. You can bring a
+blessing into my days; I will strive to bring a blessing into yours.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>My arm stole round her waist; her head drooped to my shoulder, so that
+her face was hidden from my ardent gaze; the hand I clasped was not
+withdrawn.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Lauretta,&quot; I whispered, &quot;say &#39;I love you, Gabriel.&#39;&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I love you, Gabriel,&quot; she whispered; and heaven itself opened out to
+me.</p>
+
+<p>Half an hour later we went in to her mother, and the noble woman held
+out her arms to her daughter. As the maiden nestled to her breast, she
+said, holding out a hand to me, which I reverently kissed, &quot;God in His
+mercy keep guard over you! His blessing be upon you both!&quot;</p>
+
+<p class="center" style="letter-spacing:1em">* * * * *</p>
+
+<p class="p2">These are my last written words in the record I have kept. From this
+day I commence a new life.</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+<h3 style="margin-top:5em"><a name="book2.0" href="#bk2.0">BOOK THE SECOND.</a></h3>
+
+<p style="margin-left:4em; text-indent:-4em">IN WHICH THE SECRET OF THE INHERITANCE TRANSMITTED TO GABRIEL CAREW IS
+REVEALED IN A SERIES OF LETTERS FROM ABRAHAM SANDIVAL, ESQ., ENGLAND,
+TO HIS FRIEND, MAXIMILIAN GALLENGA, ESQ., CONTRA COSTA CO.,
+CALIFORNIA.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2 style="margin-top:4em"><a name="chapter2.1" href="#ch2.1">I.</a></h2>
+
+
+<p class="p2">My Dear Max,--For many months past you have complained that I have
+been extremely reticent upon domestic matters, and that I have said
+little or nothing concerning my son Reginald, who, since you quitted
+the centres of European civilisation to bury yourself in a sparsely
+populated Paradise, has grown from childhood to manhood. A ripe
+manhood, my dear Max, such as I, his father, approve of, and to the
+future development of which, now that a grave and strange crisis in
+his life has come to a happy ending, I look forward with loving
+interest. It is, I know, your affection for Reginald that causes you
+to be anxious for news of him. Well do I remember when you informed me
+of your fixed resolution to seek not only new scenes but new modes of
+life, how earnestly you strove to prevail upon me to allow him to
+accompany you.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;He is young and plastic,&quot; you said, &quot;and I can train him to
+happiness. The fewer the wants, the more contented the lot of man.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>You wished to educate Reginald according to the primitive views to
+which you had become so strongly wedded, and you did your best to
+convert me to them, saying, I remember, that I should doubtless suffer
+in parting with Reginald, but that it was a father&#39;s duty to make
+sacrifices for his children. You did not succeed. My belief was, and
+is, that man is born to progress, and that to go back into
+primitiveness, to commence again, as it were, the history of the world
+and mankind, as though we had been living in error through all the
+centuries, is a folly. I did not apply this criticism to you; I
+regarded your new departure not as a folly, but as a mistake. I doubt
+even now whether it has made you happier than you were, and I fancy
+I detect here and there in your letters a touch of sadness and
+regret--of which perhaps you are unconscious--that you should have cut
+yourself away from the busy life of multitudes of people. However, it
+is not my purpose now to enlarge upon this theme. The history I am
+about to relate is personal to myself and to Reginald, whose destiny
+it has been to come into close contact with a family, the head of
+which, Gabriel Carew, affords a psychological study as strange
+probably as was ever presented to the judgment of mankind.</p>
+
+<p>There are various reasons for my undertaking a task which will occupy
+a great deal of time and entail considerable labour. The labour will
+be interesting to me, and its products no less interesting to you, who
+were always fond of the mystical. I have leisure to apply myself to
+it. Reginald is not at present with me; he has left me for a few weeks
+upon a mission of sunshine. This will sound enigmatical to you, but
+you must content yourself with the gradual and intelligible unfolding
+of the wonderful story I am about to narrate. Like a skilful narrator
+I shall not weaken the interest by giving information and presenting
+pictures to you in the wrong places. The history is one which it is my
+opinion should not be lost to the world; its phases are so remarkable
+that it will open up a field of inquiry which may not be without
+profitable results to those who study psychological mysteries. A few
+years hence I should not be able to recall events in their logical
+order; I therefore do so while I possess the power and while my memory
+is clear with respect to them.</p>
+
+<p>You will soon discover that neither I nor Reginald is the principal
+character in this drama of life. That position is occupied by Mr.
+Gabriel Carew, the owner of an estate in the county of Kent, known as
+Rosemullion.</p>
+
+<p>My labours will be thrown away unless you are prepared to read what I
+shall write with unquestioning faith. I shall set down nothing but the
+truth, and you must accept it without a thought of casting doubt upon
+it. That you will wonder and be amazed is certain; it would, indeed,
+be strange otherwise; for in all your varied experiences (you led a
+busy and eventful life before you left us) you met with none so
+singular and weird as the events which I am about to bring to your
+knowledge. You must accept also--as the best and most suitable form
+through which you will be made familiar not only with the personality
+of Gabriel Carew, but with the mysterious incidents of his life--the
+methods I shall adopt in the unfolding of my narrative. They are such
+as are frequently adopted with success by writers of fiction, and as
+my material is fact, I am justified in pressing it into my service. I
+am aware that objection may be taken to it on the ground that I shall
+be presenting you with conversations between persons of which I was
+not a witness, but I do not see in what other way I could offer you an
+intelligent and intelligible account of the circumstances of the
+story. All that I can therefore do is to promise that I will keep a
+strict curb upon my imagination and will not allow it to encroach upon
+the domains of truth. With this necessary prelude I devote myself to
+my task.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2 style="margin-top:4em"><a name="chapter2.2" href="#ch2.2">II.</a></h2>
+
+
+<p class="p2">Before, however, myself commencing the work there is something
+essential for you to do. Accompanying my own manuscript is a packet,
+carefully sealed and secured, on the outer sheet of which is written,
+&quot;Not to be disturbed or opened until instructions to do so are given
+by Abraham Sandival to his friend Maximilian Gallenofa.&quot; The
+precaution is sufficient to whet any man&#39;s curiosity, but is not taken
+to that end. It is simply in pursuance of the plan I have designed, by
+which you will become possessed of all the details and particulars for
+the proper understanding of what I shall impart to you. The packet, my
+dear Max, is neither more nor less than a life record made by Gabriel
+Carew himself up to within a few months of his marriage, which took
+place twenty years ago in the village of Nerac. The lady Gabriel Carew
+married was the daughter of Doctor Louis, a gentleman of rare
+acquirements, and distinguished both for his learning and benevolence.
+There is no evidence in the record as to whether its recital was
+spread over a number of years, or was begun and finished within a few
+months; but that matters little. It bears the impress of absolute
+truth and candour, and apart from its startling revelations you will
+recognise in it a picturesqueness of description hardly to be expected
+from one who had not made a study of literature. Its perusal will
+perplexedly stir your mind, and in the feelings it will excite towards
+Gabriel Carew there will most likely be an element of pity, the reason
+for which you will find it difficult to explain. &quot;Season your
+admiration for a while;&quot; before I am at the end of my task the riddle
+will be solved.</p>
+
+<p>As I pen these words I can realise your perplexity during your perusal
+of the record as to the manner in which my son Reginald came be
+associated with so strange a man as the writer. But this is a world of
+mystery, and we can never hope to find a key to its spiritual
+workings. With respect to this particular mystery nothing shall be
+hidden from you. You will learn how I came to be mixed up in it; you
+will learn how vitally interwoven it threatened to be in Reginald&#39;s
+life; you will learn how Gabriel Carew&#39;s manuscript fell into my
+hands; and the mystery of his life will be revealed to you.</p>
+
+<p>Now, my dear Max, you can unfasten the packet, and read the record.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2 style="margin-top:4em"><a name="chapter2.3" href="#ch2.3">III.</a></h2>
+
+
+<p class="p2">I assume that you are now familiar with the story of Gabriel Carew&#39;s
+life up to the point, or within a few months, of his marriage with
+Lauretta, and that you have formed some opinion of the different
+persons with whom he came in contact in Nerac. Outside Nerac there was
+only one person who can be said to have been interested in his fate;
+this was his mother&#39;s nurse, Mrs. Fortress, and you must be deeply
+impressed by the part she played in the youthful life of Gabriel
+Carew. Of her I shall have to speak in due course.</p>
+
+<p>I transport you in fancy to Nerac, my dear Max, where I have been not
+very long ago, and where I conversed with old people who to this day
+remember Gabriel Carew and his sweet wife Lauretta, whom he brought
+with him to England some little time after their marriage. It is not
+likely that the incidents in connection with Gabriel Carew and his
+wife will be forgotten during this generation or the next in that
+loveliest of villages.</p>
+
+<p>When you laid aside Carew&#39;s manuscript he had received the sanction of
+Lauretta&#39;s mother to his engagement with the sweet maid, and the good
+woman had given her children her blessing. Thereafter Gabriel Carew
+wrote: &quot;These are my last written words in the record I have kept.
+From this day I commence a new life.&quot; He kept his word with respect to
+his resolve not to add another word to the record. He sealed it up and
+deposited it in his desk; and it is my belief that from that day he
+never read a line of its contents.</p>
+
+<p>We are, then, my dear Max, in Nerac, you and I in spirit, in the
+holiday time of the open courtship of Gabriel Carew and Lauretta.
+Carew is occupying the house of which it was his intention to make
+Lauretta the mistress, and there are residing in it, besides the
+ordinary servants, Martin Hartog, the gardener, and his daughter, with
+whom, from Carew&#39;s record, Emilius was supposed to be carrying on an
+intrigue of a secret and discreditable nature. It is evident, from the
+manner in which Carew referred to it, that he considered it
+dishonourable. The name of this girl was Patricia.</p>
+
+<p>There remain to be mentioned, as characters in the drama then being
+played, Doctor Louis, Eric, and Father Daniel.</p>
+
+<p>The crimes of the two ruffians who had attempted to enter Doctor
+Louis&#39;s house remained for long fresh in the memories of the
+villagers. They were both dead, one murdered, the other executed for a
+deed of which only one person in Nerac had an uneasy sense of his
+innocence--Father Daniel. The good priest, having received from the
+unfortunate man a full account of his life from childhood, journeyed
+shortly afterwards to the village in which he had been born and was
+best known, for the purpose of making inquiries into its truth. He
+found it verified in every particular, and he learnt, moreover, that
+although the hunchback had been frequently in trouble, it was rather
+from sheer wretchedness and poverty than from any natural brutality of
+disposition that he had drifted into crime. It stood to his credit
+that Father Daniel could trace to him no acts of cruel violence;
+indeed, the priest succeeded in bringing to light two or three
+circumstances in the hunchback&#39;s career which spoke well for his
+humanity, one of them being that he was kind to his bedridden mother.
+Father Daniel returned to Nerac much shaken by the reflection that in
+this man&#39;s case justice had been in error. But if this were so, if the
+hunchback were innocent, upon whom to fix the guilt? A sadness weighed
+upon the good priest&#39;s heart as he went about his daily duties, and
+gazed upon his flock with an awful suspicion in his mind that there
+was a murderer among them, for whose crime an innocent man had been
+executed.</p>
+
+<p>Gabriel Carew was happy. The gloom of his early life, which threatened
+to cast dark shadows over all his days, seemed banished for ever. He
+was liked and respected in the village in which he had found his
+happiness; his charities caused men and women to hold him in something
+like affectionate regard; he was Father Daniel&#39;s friend, and no case
+of suffering or poverty was mentioned to him which he was not ready to
+relieve; in Doctor Louis&#39;s home he held an honoured place; and he was
+loved by a good and pure woman, who had consented to link her fate
+with his. Surely in this prospect there was nothing that could be
+productive of aught but good.</p>
+
+<p>The sweetness and harmony of the time, however, were soon to be
+disturbed. After a few weeks of happiness, Gabriel Carew began to be
+troubled. In his heart he had no love for the twin brothers, Eric and
+Emilius; he believed them to be light-minded and unscrupulous, nay,
+more, he believed them to be treacherous in their dealings with both
+men and women. These evil qualities, he had decided with himself, they
+had inherited from their father, Silvain, whose conduct towards his
+unhappy brother Kristel had excited Gabriel Carew&#39;s strong abhorrence.
+As is shown in the comments he makes in his record, all his sympathy
+was with Kristel, and he had contracted a passionate antipathy against
+Silvain, whom he believed to be guilty of the blackest treachery in
+his dealings with Avicia. This antipathy he now transferred to
+Silvain&#39;s sons, Eric and Emilius, and they needed to be angels, not
+men, to overcome it.</p>
+
+<p>Not that they tried to win Carew&#39;s good opinion. Although his feelings
+for them were not openly expressed, they made themselves felt in the
+consciousness of these twin brothers, who instinctively recognised
+that Gabriel Carew was their enemy. Therefore they held off from him,
+and repaid him quietly in kind. But this was a matter solely and
+entirely between themselves and known only to themselves. The three
+men knew what deep pain and grief it would cause not only Doctor Louis
+and his wife, but the gentle Lauretta, to learn that they were in
+enmity with each other, and one and all were animated by the same
+desire to keep this antagonism from the knowledge of the family. This
+was, indeed, a tacit understanding between them, and it was so
+thoroughly carried out that no member of Doctor Louis&#39;s family
+suspected it; and neither was it suspected in the village. To all
+outward appearance Gabriel Carew and Eric and Emilius were friends.</p>
+
+<p>It was not the brothers but Carew who, in the first instance, was to
+blame. He was the originator and the creator of the trouble, for it is
+scarcely to be doubted that had he held out the hand of a frank
+friendship to them, they would have accepted it, even though their
+acceptance needed some sacrifice on their parts. The reason for this
+qualification will be apparent to you later on in the story, and you
+will then also understand why I do not reveal certain circumstances
+respecting the affection of Eric and Emilius for Martin Hartog&#39;s
+daughter, Patricia, and for the female members of the family of Doctor
+Louis. It would be anticipating events. I am relating the story in the
+order in which it progressed, and, so far as my knowledge of it goes,
+according to the sequence of time.</p>
+
+<p>Certainly the dominant cause of Gabriel Carew&#39;s hatred for the
+brothers sprang from his jealousy of them with respect to Lauretta.
+They and she had been friends from childhood, and they were regarded
+by Doctor Louis and his wife as members of their family. This in
+itself was sufficient to inflame so exacting a lover as Carew. He
+interpreted every innocent little familiarity to their disadvantage,
+and magnified trifles inordinately. They saw his sufferings and were,
+perhaps, somewhat scornful of them. He had already shown them how deep
+was his hatred of them, and they not unnaturally resented it. After
+all, he was a stranger in Nerac, a come-by-chance visitor, who had
+usurped the place which might have been occupied by one of them had
+the winds been fair. Instead of being overbearing and arrogant he
+should have been gracious and conciliating. It was undoubtedly his
+duty to be courteous and mannerly from the first day of their
+acquaintance; instead of which he had, before he saw them, contracted
+a dislike for them which he had allowed to swell to monstrous and
+unjustifiable proportions.</p>
+
+<p>Gabriel Carew, however, justified himself to himself, and it may be
+at once conceded that he had grounds for his feelings which were to
+him--and would likely have been to some other men--sufficient. These
+may now be set forth.</p>
+
+<p>When a lover&#39;s suspicious and jealous nature is aroused it does not
+from that moment sleep. There is no rest, no repose for it. If it
+require opportunities for confirmation or for the infliction of
+self-suffering, it is never difficult to find them. Imagination steps
+in and supplies the place of fact. Every hour is a torture; every
+innocent look and smile is brooded over in secret. A most prolific,
+unreasonable, and cruel breeder of shadows is jealousy, and the evil
+of it is that it breeds in secret.</p>
+
+<p>Gabriel Carew set himself to watch, and from the keen observance of a
+nature so thorough and intense as his nothing could escape. He was an
+unseen witness of other interviews between Patricia Hartog and
+Emilius; and not only of interviews between her and Emilius but
+between her and Eric. He formed his conclusions. The brothers were
+playing false to each other, and the girl was playing false with both.
+This was of little account; he had no more than a passing interest in
+Patricia, and although at one time he had some kind of intention of
+informing Martin Hartog of these secret interviews, and placing the
+father on his guard--for the gardener seemed to be quite unaware that
+an intrigue was going on--he relinquished the intention, saying that
+it was no affair of his. But it confirmed the impressions he had
+formed of the character of Eric and Emilius, and it strengthened him
+in his determination to allow no intercourse between them and the
+woman he loved.</p>
+
+<p>An additional torture was in store for him, and it fell upon him like
+a thunderbolt. One day he saw Emilius and Lauretta walking in the
+woods, talking earnestly and confidentially together. His blood
+boiled; his heart beat so violently that he could scarcely distinguish
+surrounding objects. So violent was his agitation that it was many
+minutes before he recovered himself, and then Lauretta and Emilius had
+passed out of sight. He went home in a wild fury of despair.</p>
+
+<p>He had not been near enough to hear one word of the conversation, but
+their attitude was to him confirmation of his jealous suspicion that
+the young man was endeavouring to supplant him in Lauretta&#39;s
+affections. In the evening he saw Lauretta in her home, and she
+noticed a change in him.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Are you ill, Gabriel?&quot; she asked.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; he replied, &quot;I am quite well. What should make me otherwise?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The bitterness in his voice surprised her, and she insisted that he
+should seek repose. &quot;To get me out of the way,&quot; he thought; and then,
+gazing into her solicitous and innocent eyes, he mutely reproached
+himself for doubting her. No, it was not she who was to blame; she was
+still his, she was still true to him; but how easy was it for a friend
+so close to her as Emilius to instil into her trustful heart evil
+reports against himself! &quot;That is the first step,&quot; he thought. &quot;What
+must follow is simple. These men, these villains, are capable of any
+treachery. Honour is a stranger to their scheming natures. How shall I
+act? To meet them openly, to accuse them openly, may be my ruin.
+They are too firmly fixed in the affections of Doctor Louis and his
+wife--they are too firmly fixed in the affections of even Lauretta
+herself--for me to hope to expose them upon evidence so slender. Not
+slender to me, but to them. These treacherous brothers are conspiring
+secretly against me. I will meet them with their own weapons. Secrecy
+for secrecy. I will wait and watch till I have the strongest proof
+against them, and then I will expose their true characters to Doctor
+Louis and Lauretta.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Having thus resolved, he was not the man to swerve from the plan he
+laid down. The nightly vigils he had kept in his young life served him
+now, and it seemed as if he could do without sleep. The stealthy
+meetings between Patricia and the brothers continued, and before long
+he saw Eric and Lauretta in the woods together. In his espionage he
+was always careful not to approach near enough to bring discovery upon
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>In an indirect manner, as though it was a matter which he deemed of
+slight importance, he questioned Lauretta as to her walks in the woods
+with Eric and Emilius.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; she said artlessly, &quot;we sometimes meet there.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;By accident?&quot; asked Gabriel Carew.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Not always by accident,&quot; replied Lauretta. &quot;Remember, Gabriel, Eric
+and Emilius are as my brothers, and if they have a secret----&quot; And
+then she blushed, grew confused, and paused.</p>
+
+<p>These signs were poisoned food indeed to Carew, but he did not betray
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Have they a secret?&quot; he asked, with assumed carelessness.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was wrong of me to speak,&quot; said Lauretta, &quot;after my promise to say
+nothing to a single soul in the village.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And most especially,&quot; said Carew, hitting the mark, &quot;to me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She grew more confused. &quot;Do not press me, Gabriel.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Only,&quot; he continued, with slight persistence, &quot;that it must be a
+heart secret.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She was silent, and he dropped the subject.</p>
+
+<p>From the interchange of these few words he extracted the most
+exquisite torture. There was, then, between Lauretta and the brothers
+a secret of the heart, known only to themselves, to be revealed to
+none, and to him, Gabriel Carew, to whom the young girl was affianced,
+least of all. It must be well understood, in this explanation of what
+was occurring in the lives of these young people at that momentous
+period, that Gabriel Carew never once suspected that Lauretta was
+false to him. His great fear was that Eric and Emilius were working
+warily against him, and were cunningly fabricating some kind of
+evidence in his disfavour which would rob him of Lauretta&#39;s love. They
+were conspiring to this end, to the destruction of his happiness, and
+they were waiting for the hour to strike the fatal blow. Well, it was
+for him to strike first. His love for Lauretta was so all-absorbing
+that all other considerations--however serious the direct or indirect
+consequences of them--sank into utter insignificance by the side of
+it. He did not allow it to weigh against Lauretta that she appeared to
+be in collusion with Eric and Emilius, and to be favouring their
+schemes. Her nature was so guileless and unsuspecting that she could
+be easily led and deceived by friends in whom she placed a trust. It
+was this that strengthened Carew in his resolve not to rudely make the
+attempt to open her eyes to the perfidy of Eric and Emilius. She would
+have been incredulous, and the arguments he should use against his
+enemies might be turned against himself. Therefore he adhered to the
+line of action he had marked out. He waited, and watched, and
+suffered. Meanwhile, the day appointed for his union with Lauretta was
+approaching.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2 style="margin-top:4em"><a name="chapter2.4" href="#ch2.4">IV.</a></h2>
+
+
+<p class="p2">Within a fortnight of that day Gabriel Carew&#39;s passions were roused to
+an almost uncontrollable pitch.</p>
+
+<p>It was evening, and he saw Eric and Emilius in the woods. They were
+conversing with more than ordinary animation, and appeared to be
+discussing some question upon which they did not agree. Carew saw
+signs which he could not interpret--appeals, implorings, evidences of
+strong feeling on one side and of humbleness on the other, despair
+from one, sorrow from the other; and then suddenly a phase which
+startled the watcher and filled him with a savage joy. Eric, in a
+paroxysm, laid hands furiously upon his brother, and it seemed for a
+moment as if a violent struggle were about to take place.</p>
+
+<p>It was to the restraint and moderation of Emilius that this
+unbrotherly conflict was avoided. He did not meet violence with
+violence; after a pause he gently lifted Eric&#39;s hands from his
+shoulders, and with a sad look turned away, Eric gazing at his
+retreating figure in a kind of bewilderment. Presently Emilius was
+gone, and only Eric remained.</p>
+
+<p>He was not long alone. From an opposite direction to that taken by
+Emilius the watcher saw approaching the form of the woman he loved,
+and to whom he was shortly to be wed. That her coming was not
+accidental, but in fulfilment of a promise was clear to Gabriel Carew.
+Eric expected her, and welcomed her without surprise. Then the two
+began to converse.</p>
+
+<p>Carew&#39;s heart beat tumultuously; he would have given worlds to hear
+what was being said, but he was at too great a distance for a word to
+reach his ears. For a time Eric was the principal speaker, Lauretta,
+for the most part, listening, and uttering now and then merely a word
+or two. In her quiet way she appeared to be as deeply agitated as the
+young man who was addressing her in an attitude of despairing appeal.
+Again and again it seemed as if he had finished what he had to say,
+and again and again he resumed, without abatement of the excitement
+under which he was labouring. At length he ceased, and then Lauretta
+became the principal actor in the scene. She spoke long and forcibly,
+but always with that gentleness of manner which was one of her
+sweetest characteristics. In her turn she seemed to be appealing to
+the young man, and to be endeavouring to impress upon him a sad and
+bitter truth which he was unwilling, and not in the mood, to
+recognise. For a long time she was unsuccessful; the young man walked
+impatiently a few steps from her, then returned, contrite and humble,
+but still with all the signs of great suffering upon him. At length
+her words had upon him the effect she desired; he wavered, he held out
+his hands helplessly, and presently covered his face with them and
+sank to the ground. Then, after a silence, during which Lauretta gazed
+compassionately upon his convulsed form, she stooped and placed her
+hand upon his shoulder. He lifted his eyes, from which the tears were
+flowing, and raised himself from the earth. He stood before her with
+bowed head, and she continued to speak. The pitiful sweetness of her
+face almost drove Carew mad; it could not be mistaken that her heart
+was beating with sympathy for Eric&#39;s sufferings. A few minutes more
+passed, and then it seemed as if she had prevailed. Eric accepted the
+hand she held out to him, and pressed his lips upon it. Had he at that
+moment been within Gabriel Carew&#39;s reach, it would have fared ill with
+both these men, but Heaven alone knows whether it would have averted
+what was to follow before the setting of another sun, to the
+consternation and grief of the entire village. After pressing his lips
+to Lauretta&#39;s hand, the pair separated, each going a different way,
+and Gabriel Carew ground his teeth as he observed that there were
+tears in Lauretta&#39;s eyes as well as in Eric&#39;s. A darkness fell upon
+him as he walked homewards.</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2 style="margin-top:4em"><a name="chapter2.5" href="#ch2.5">V.</a></h2>
+
+
+<p class="p2">The following morning Nerac and the neighbourhood around were agitated
+by news of a tragedy more thrilling and terrible than that in which
+the hunchback and his companion in crime were concerned. In attendance
+upon this tragedy, and preceding its discovery, was a circumstance
+stirring enough in its way in the usually quiet life of the simple
+villagers, but which, in the light of the mysterious tragedy, would
+have paled into insignificance had it not been that it appeared to
+have a direct bearing upon it. Martin Hartog&#39;s daughter, Patricia, had
+fled from her home, and was nowhere to be discovered.</p>
+
+<p>This flight was made known to the villagers early in the morning by
+the appearance among them of Martin Hartog, demanding in which house
+his daughter had taken refuge. The man was distracted; his wild words
+and actions excited great alarm, and when he found that he could
+obtain no satisfaction from them, and that every man and woman in
+Nerac professed ignorance of his daughter&#39;s movements, he called down
+heaven&#39;s vengeance upon the man who had betrayed her, and left them to
+search the woods for Patricia.</p>
+
+<p>The words he had uttered in his imprecations when he called upon a
+higher power for vengeance on a villain opened the villagers&#39; eyes.
+Patricia had been betrayed. By whom? Who was the monster who had
+worked this evil?</p>
+
+<p>While they were talking excitedly together they saw Gabriel Carew
+hurrying to the house of Father Daniel. He was admitted, and in the
+course of a few minutes emerged from it in the company of the good
+priest, whose troubled face denoted that he had heard the sad news of
+Patricia&#39;s flight from her father&#39;s home. The villagers held aloof
+from Father Daniel and Gabriel Carew, seeing that they were in earnest
+converse. Carew was imparting to the priest his suspicions of Eric and
+Emilius in connection with this event; he did not mention Lauretta&#39;s
+name, but related how on several occasions he had been an accidental
+witness of meetings between Patricia and one or other of the brothers.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;It was not for me to place a construction upon these meetings,&quot; said
+Carew, &quot;nor did it appear to me that I was called upon to mention it
+to any one. It would have been natural for me to suppose that Martin
+Hartog was fully acquainted with his daughter&#39;s movements, and that,
+being of an independent nature, he would have resented any
+interference from me. He is Patricia&#39;s father, and it was believed by
+all that he guarded her well. Had he been my equal I might have
+incidentally asked whether there was anything serious between his
+daughter and these brothers, but I am his master, and therefore was
+precluded from inviting a confidence which can only exist between men
+occupying the same social condition. There is, besides, another reason
+for my silence which, if you care to hear, I will impart to you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nothing should be concealed from me,&quot; said Father Daniel.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Although,&quot; said Gabriel Carew, &quot;I have been a resident here now for
+some time, I felt, and feel, that a larger knowledge of me is
+necessary to give due and just weight to the unfavourable opinion I
+have formed of two men with whom you have been acquainted from
+childhood, and who hold a place in your heart of which they are
+utterly unworthy. Not alone in your heart, but in the hearts of my
+dearest friends, Doctor Louis and his family.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You refer to Eric and Emilius,&quot; said the priest.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes, I refer to them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What you have already said concerning them has deeply pained me. I do
+not share your suspicions. Their meetings with Hartog&#39;s daughter were,
+I am convinced, innocent. They are incapable of an act of baseness;
+they are of noble natures, and it is impossible that they should ever
+have harboured a thought of treachery to a young maiden.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I am more than justified,&quot; said Gabriel Carew, &quot;by the expression of
+your opinion, in the course I took. You would have listened with
+impatience to me, and what I should have said would have recoiled on
+myself. Yet now I regret that I did not interfere; this calamity might
+have been avoided, and a woman&#39;s honour saved. Let us seek Martin
+Hartog; he may be in possession of information to guide us.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>From the villagers they learnt that Hartog had gone to the woods, and
+they were about to proceed in that direction when another, who had
+just arrived, informed them that he had seen Hartog going to Gabriel
+Carew&#39;s house. Thither they proceeded, and found Hartog in his
+cottage. He was on his knees, when they entered, before a box in which
+his daughter kept her clothes. This he had forced open, and was
+searching. He looked wildly at Father Daniel and Carew, and
+immediately resumed his task, throwing the girl&#39;s clothes upon the
+floor after examining the pockets. In his haste and agitation he did
+not observe a portrait which he had cast aside, Carew picked it up and
+handed it to Father Daniel. It was the portrait of Emilius.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Does this look like innocence?&quot; inquired Carew. &quot;Who is the more
+likely to be right in our estimate of these brothers, you or I?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Father Daniel, overwhelmed by the evidence, did not reply. By this
+time Martin Hartog had found a letter which he was eagerly perusing.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is the villain,&quot; he cried. &quot;If there is justice in heaven he has
+met with his deserts. If he still lives he shall die by my hands!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Hush, hush!&quot; murmured Father Daniel. &quot;Vengeance is not yours to deal
+out. Pray for comfort--pray for mercy.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Pray for mercy!&quot; cried Hartog with a bitter laugh. &quot;I pray for
+vengeance! If the monster be not already smitten, Lord, give him into
+my hands! I will tear him limb from limb! But who, who is he? The
+cunning villain has not even signed his name!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Father Daniel took the letter from his unresisting hand, and as his
+eyes fell upon the writing he started and trembled.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Emilius&#39;s?&quot; asked Gabriel Carew.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Alas!&quot; sighed the priest.</p>
+
+<p>It was indeed the writing of Emilius. Martin Hartog had heard Carew&#39;s
+inquiry and the priest&#39;s reply.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What!&quot; he cried. &quot;That viper!&quot; And without another word he rushed
+from the cottage. Carew and the priest hastily followed him, but he
+outstripped them, and was soon out of sight.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;There will be a deed of violence done,&quot; said Father Daniel, &quot;if the
+men meet. I must go immediately to the house of these unhappy brothers
+and warn them.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Carew accompanied him, but when they arrived at the house they were
+informed that nothing had been seen of Eric and Emilius since the
+previous night. Neither of them had been home nor slept in his bed.
+This seemed to complicate the mystery in Father Daniel&#39;s eyes,
+although it was no mystery to Carew, who was convinced that where
+Patricia was there would Emilius be found. Father Daniel&#39;s grief and
+horror were clearly depicted. He looked upon the inhabitants of Nerac
+as one family, and he regarded the dishonour of Martin Hartog&#39;s
+daughter as dishonour to all. Carew, being anxious to see Lauretta,
+left him to his inquiries. Dr. Louis and his family were already
+acquainted with the agitating news.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Dark clouds hang over this once happy village,&quot; said Doctor Louis to
+Carew.</p>
+
+<p>He was greatly shocked, but he had no hesitation in declaring that,
+although circumstances looked black against the twin brothers, his
+faith in them was undisturbed. Lauretta shared his belief, and
+Lauretta&#39;s mother also. Gabriel Carew did not combat with them; he
+held quietly to his views, convinced that in a short time they would
+think as he did. Lauretta was very pale, and out of consideration for
+her Gabriel Carew endeavoured to avoid the all-engrossing subject.
+That, however, was impossible. Nothing else could be thought or spoken
+of. Again and again it was indirectly referred to. Once Carew remarked
+to Lauretta, &quot;You said that Eric and Emilius had a secret, and you
+gave me to understand that you were not ignorant of it. Has it any
+connection with what has occurred?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I must not answer you, Gabriel,&quot; she replied; &quot;when we see Emilius
+again all will be explained.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Little did she suspect the awful import of those simple words. In
+Carew&#39;s mind the remembrance of the story of Kristel and Silvain was
+very vivid.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Were Eric and Emilius true friends?&quot; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>Lauretta looked at him piteously; her lips quivered. &quot;They are
+brothers,&quot; she said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You trust me, Lauretta?&quot; he said.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Indeed I do,&quot; she replied. &quot;Thoroughly.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You love me, Lauretta?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;With my whole heart, Gabriel.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>She gazed at him in tender surprise; for weeks past he had not been so
+happy. The trouble by which he had been haunted took flight.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And yet,&quot; he could not help saying, &quot;you have a secret, and you keep
+it from me!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>His voice was almost gay; there was no touch of reproach in it.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The secret is not mine, Gabriel,&quot; she said, and she allowed him to
+pass his arm around her; her head sank upon his breast. &quot;When you know
+all, you will approve,&quot; she murmured. &quot;As I trust you, so must you
+trust me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Their lips met; perfect confidence and faith were established between
+them, although on Lauretta&#39;s side there had been no shadow on the love
+she gave him.</p>
+
+<p>It was late in the afternoon when Carew was informed that Father
+Daniel wished to speak to him privately. He kissed Lauretta and went
+out to the priest, in whose face he saw a new horror.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I should be the first to tell them,&quot; said Father Daniel in a husky
+voice, &quot;but I am not yet strong enough. They will learn soon enough
+without me. It is known only to a few.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What is known?&quot; asked Carew. &quot;Is Emilius found?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No,&quot; replied the priest, &quot;but Eric is. I would not have him removed
+until the magistrate, who is absent and has been sent for, arrives.
+Come with me.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>In a state of wonder Carew accompanied Father Daniel out of Doctor
+Louis&#39;s house, and the priest led the way to the woods.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why in this direction?&quot; inquired Gabriel Carew. &quot;We have passed the
+house in which the brothers live.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Wait,&quot; said Father Daniel solemnly. &quot;They live there no longer.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The sun was setting, and the light was quivering on the tops of the
+distant trees. Father Daniel and Gabriel Carew plunged into the woods.
+There were scouts on the outskirts, to whom the priest said, &quot;Has the
+magistrate arrived?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;No, father,&quot; was the answer, &quot;we expect him every moment.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Father Daniel nodded and passed on.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;What does all this mean?&quot; asked Gabriel Carew.</p>
+
+<p>And again the priest replied, &quot;Wait.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>From that moment until they arrived at the spot to which Father Daniel
+led him, Carew was silent. What had passed between him and Lauretta
+had so filled his soul with happiness that he bestowed but little
+thought upon a vulgar intrigue between a peasant girl and men whom he
+had long since condemned. They no longer troubled him; they had passed
+for ever out of his life, and his heart was at rest. Father Daniel and
+he walked some distance into the shadows of the forest and the night.
+Before him he saw lights in the hands of two villagers who had
+evidently been stationed there to keep guard.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Father Daniel?&quot; they cried in fearsome voices.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Yes,&quot; he replied, &quot;it is I.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>He conducted Gabriel Carew to a spot, and pointed downwards with his
+finger; and there, prone and still upon the fallen leaves, lay the
+body of Eric stone dead, stabbed to the heart!</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Martin Hartog,&quot; said the priest, &quot;is in custody on suspicion of this
+ruthless murder.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Why?&quot; asked Gabriel Carew. &quot;What evidence is there to incriminate
+him?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;When the body was first discovered,&quot; said the priest, &quot;your gardener
+was standing by its side. Upon being questioned his answer was, &#39;If
+judgment has not fallen upon the monster, it has overtaken his
+brother. The brood should be wiped off the face of the earth.&#39; He
+spoke no further word.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+
+<h2 style="margin-top:4em"><a name="chapter2.6" href="#ch2.6">VI.</a></h2>
+
+
+<p class="p2">Gabriel Carew was overwhelmed by the horror of this discovery. The
+meeting between the brothers, of which he had been a secret witness on
+the previous evening, and during which Eric had laid violent hands on
+Emilius, recurred to him. He had not spoken of it, nor did he mention
+it now. There was time enough. If Martin Hartog confessed his guilt
+the matter was settled; if he did not, the criminal must be sought
+elsewhere, and it would be his duty to supply evidence which would
+tend to fix the crime upon Emilius. He did not believe Martin Hartog
+to be guilty; he had already decided within himself that Emilius had
+murdered Eric, and that the tragedy of Kristel and Silvain had been
+repeated in the lives of Silvain&#39;s sons. There was a kind of
+retribution in this which struck Gabriel Carew with singular force.
+&quot;Useless,&quot; he thought, &quot;to fly from a fate which is preordained. When
+he recovered from the horror which had fallen on him upon beholding
+the body of Eric, he asked Father Daniel at what hour of the day the
+unhappy man had been killed.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;That,&quot; said Father Daniel, &quot;has yet to be determined. No doctor has
+seen the body, but the presumption is that when Martin Hartog,
+animated by his burning craving for vengeance, of which we were both a
+witness, rushed from his cottage, he made his way to the woods, and
+that he here unhappily met the brother of the man whom he believed to
+be the betrayer of his daughter. What followed may be easily
+imagined.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The arrival of the magistrate put a stop to the conversation. He
+listened to what Father Daniel had to relate, and some portions of the
+priest&#39;s explanations were corroborated by Gabriel Carew. The
+magistrate then gave directions that the body of Eric should be
+conveyed to the courthouse; and he and the priest and Carew walked
+back to the village together.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The village will become notorious,&quot; he remarked. &quot;Is there an
+epidemic of murder amongst us that this one should follow so closely
+upon the heels of the other?&quot; Then, after a pause, he asked Father
+Daniel whether he believed Martin Hartog to be guilty.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I believe no man to be guilty,&quot; said the priest, &quot;until he is proved
+so incontrovertibly. Human justice frequently errs.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I bear in remembrance,&quot; said the magistrate, &quot;that you would not
+subscribe to the general belief in the hunchback&#39;s guilt.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nor do I now,&quot; said Father Daniel.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;And you,&quot; said the magistrate, turning to Gabriel Carew, &quot;do you
+believe Hartog to be guilty?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I do not,&quot; replied Carew.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Do your suspicions point elsewhere?&quot; asked the magistrate.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;This is not the time or place,&quot; said Carew, &quot;for me to give
+expression to any suspicion I may entertain. The first thing to be
+settled is Hartog&#39;s complicity in this murder.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;True,&quot; said the magistrate.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Father Daniel believes,&quot; continued Carew, &quot;that Eric was murdered
+to-day, within the last hour or two. That is not my belief.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The doctors will decide that,&quot; said the magistrate. &quot;If the deed was
+not, in your opinion, perpetrated within the last few hours, when do
+you suppose it was done?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Last night,&quot; Carew replied.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Have you any distinct grounds for the belief?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;None. You have asked me a question which I have answered. There is no
+matter of absolute knowledge involved in it; if there were I should be
+able to speak more definitely. Until the doctors pronounce there is
+nothing more to be said. But I may say this: if Hartog is proved to be
+innocent, I may have something to reveal in the interests of justice.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The magistrate nodded and said, &quot;By the way, where is Emilius, and
+what has he to say about it?&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Neither Eric nor Emilius,&quot; replied Father Daniel, &quot;slept at home last
+night, and since yesterday evening Emilius has not been seen.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The magistrate looked grave. &quot;Is it known where he is? He should be
+instantly summoned.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Nothing is known of him,&quot; said Father Daniel. &quot;Inquiries have been
+made, but nothing satisfactory has been elicited.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The magistrate glanced at Carew, and for a little while was silent.
+Shortly after they reached the court-house the doctors presented their
+report. In their opinion Eric had been dead at least fourteen or
+fifteen hours, certainly for longer than twelve. This disposed of the
+theory that he had been killed in the afternoon. Their belief was that
+the crime was committed shortly after midnight. In that case Martin
+Hartog must be incontestably innocent. He was able to account for
+every hour of the previous day and night. He was out until near
+midnight; he was accompanied home, and a friend sat up with him till
+late, both keeping very quiet for fear of disturbing Patricia, who was
+supposed to be asleep in her room, but who before that time had most
+likely fled from her home. Moreover, it was proved that Martin Hartog
+rose in the morning at a certain time, and that it was only then that
+he became acquainted with the disappearance of his daughter. Father
+Daniel and Gabriel Carew were present when the magistrate questioned
+Hartog. The man seemed indifferent as to his fate, but he answered
+quite clearly the questions put to him. He had not left his cottage
+after going to bed on the previous night; he believed his daughter to
+be in her room, and only this morning discovered his mistake. After
+his interview with Father Daniel and Gabriel Carew he rushed from the
+cottage in the hope of meeting with Emilius, whom he intended to kill;
+he came upon the dead body of Eric in the woods, and his only regret
+was that it was Eric and not Emilius.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;If the villain who has dishonoured me were here at this moment,&quot; said
+Martin Hartog, &quot;I would strangle him. No power should save him from my
+just revenge!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>The magistrate ordered him to be set at liberty, and he wandered out
+of the court-house a hopeless and despairing man. Then the magistrate
+turned to Carew, and asked him, now that Hartog was proved to be
+innocent, what he had to reveal that might throw light upon the crime.
+Carew, after some hesitation, related what he had seen the night
+before when Emilius and Eric were together in the forest.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;But,&quot; said the magistrate, &quot;the brothers were known to be on the most
+loving terms.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;So,&quot; said Carew, &quot;were their father, Silvain, and his brother Kristel
+until a woman stepped between them. Upon this matter, however, it is
+not for me to speak. Perhaps Doctor Louis can enlighten you.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>&quot;I have heard something of the story of these hapless brothers,&quot; said
+the magistrate, pondering, &quot;but am not acquainted with all the
+particulars. I will send for Doctor Louis.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Carew then asked that he should be allowed to go for Doctor Louis, his
+object being to explain to the doctor, on their way to the magistrate,
+how it was that reference had been made to the story of Silvain and
+Kristel which he had heard from the doctor&#39;s lips. He also desired to
+hint to Doctor Louis that Lauretta might be in possession of
+information respecting Eric and Emilius which might be useful in
+clearing up the mystery.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;You have acted right,&quot; said Doctor Louis sadly to Gabriel Carew; &quot;at
+all risks justice must be done. Ah! how the past comes back to me! And
+is this to be the end of that fated family? I cannot believe that
+Emilius can be guilty of a crime so horrible!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>His distress was so keen that Carew himself, now that he was freed
+from the jealousy by which he had been tortured with respect to
+Lauretta, hoped also that Emilius would be able to clear himself of
+the charge hanging over him. But when they arrived at the magistrate&#39;s
+court they were confronted by additional evidence which seemed to tell
+heavily against the absent brother. A witness had come forward who
+deposed that, being out on the previous night very late, and taking a
+short cut through the woods to his cottage, he heard voices of two men
+which he recognised as the voices of Emilius and Eric. They were
+raised in anger, and one--the witness could not say which--cried out,</p>
+
+<p>&quot;Well, kill me, for I do not wish to live!&quot;</p>
+
+<p>Upon being asked why he did not interpose, his answer was that he did
+not care to mix himself up with a desperate quarrel; and that as he
+had a family he thought the best thing he could do was to hasten home
+as quickly as possible. Having told all he knew he was dismissed, and
+bade to hold himself in readiness to repeat his evidence on a future
+occasion.</p>
+
+<p>Then the magistrate heard what Doctor Louis had to say, and summed up
+the whole matter thus:</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The reasonable presumption is, that the brothers quarrelled over some
+love affair with a person at present unknown; for although Martin
+Hartog&#39;s daughter has disappeared, there is nothing as yet to connect
+her directly with the affair. Whether premeditatedly, or in a fit of
+ungovernable passion, Emilius killed his brother and fled. If he does
+not present himself to-morrow morning in the village he must be sought
+for. Nothing more can be done to-night.&quot;</p>
+
+<p>It was a melancholy night for all, to Carew in a lesser degree than to
+the others, for the crime which had thrown gloom over the whole
+village had brought ease to his heart. He saw now how unreasonable had
+been his jealousy of the brothers, and he was disposed to judge them
+more leniently.</p>
+
+<p>On that night Doctor Louis held a private conference with Lauretta,
+and received from her an account of the unhappy difference between the
+brothers. As Silvain and Kristel had both loved one woman, so had Eric
+and Emilius, but in the case of the sons there had been no supplanting
+of the affections. Emilius and Patricia had long loved each other, and
+had kept their love a secret, Eric himself not knowing it. When
+Emilius discovered that his brother loved Patricia his distress of
+mind was very great, and it was increased by the knowledge that was
+forced upon him that there was in Eric&#39;s passion for the girl
+something of the fierce quality which had distinguished Kristel&#39;s
+passion for Avicia. In his distress he had sought advice from
+Lauretta, and she had undertaken to act as an intermediary, and to
+endeavour to bring Eric to reason. On two or three occasions she
+thought she had succeeded, but her influence over Eric lasted only as
+long as he was in her presence. He made promises which he found it
+impossible to keep, and he continued to hope against hope. Lauretta
+did not know what had passed between the brothers on the previous
+evening, in the interview of which I was a witness, but earlier in the
+day she had seen Emilius, who had confided a secret to her keeping
+which placed Eric&#39;s love for Patricia beyond the pale of hope. He was
+secretly married to Patricia, and had been so for some time. When
+Gabriel Carew heard this he recognised how unjust he had been towards
+Emilius and Patricia in the construction he had placed upon their
+secret interviews. Lauretta advised Emilius to make known his marriage
+to Eric, and offered to reveal the fact to the despairing lover, but
+Emilius would not consent to this being immediately done. He
+stipulated that a week should pass before the revelation was made;
+then, he said, it might be as well that all the world should know
+it--a fatal stipulation, against which Lauretta argued in vain. Thus
+it was that in the last interview between Eric and Lauretta, Eric was
+still in ignorance of the insurmountable bar to his hopes. As it
+subsequently transpired, Emilius had made preparations to remove
+Patricia from Nerac that very night. Up to that point, and at that
+time nothing more was known; but when Emilius was tried for the murder
+Lauretta&#39;s evidence did not help to clear him, because it established
+beyond doubt the fact of the existence of an animosity between the
+brothers.</p>
+
+<p>On the day following the discovery of the murder, Emilius did not make
+his appearance in the village, and officers were sent in search of
+him. There was no clue as to the direction which he and Patricia had
+taken, and the officers, being slow-witted, were many days before they
+succeeded in finding him. Their statement, upon their return to Nerac
+with their prisoner, was, that upon informing him of the charge
+against him, he became violently agitated and endeavoured to escape.
+He denied that he made such an attempt, asserting that he was
+naturally agitated by the awful news, and that for a few minutes he
+scarcely knew what he was doing, but, being innocent, there was no
+reason why he should make a fruitless endeavour to avoid an inevitable
+inquiry into the circumstances of a most dreadful crime.</p>
+
+<p>He was much broken down by his position. No brother, he declared, had
+ever been more fondly loved than Eric was by him, and he would have
+suffered a voluntary death rather than be guilty of an act of violence
+towards one for whom he entertained so profound an affection. In the
+preliminary investigations he gave the following explanation of all
+within his knowledge. What Lauretta had stated was true in every
+particular; neither did he deny Carew&#39;s evidence nor the evidence of
+the villager who had deposed that, late on the night of the murder,
+high words had passed between him and Eric.</p>
+
+<p>&quot;The words,&quot; said Emilius, &quot;&#39;Well, kill me, for I do not wish to
+live!&#39; were uttered by my poor brother when I told him that Patricia
+was my wife. For although I had not intended that this should be known
+until a few days after my departure, my poor brother was so worked up
+by his love for my wife, that I felt I dared not, in justice to him
+and myself, leave him any longer in ignorance. For that reason, and
+thus impelled, pitying him most deeply, I revealed to him the truth.
+Had the witness whose evidence, true as it is, seems to bear fatally
+against me, waited and listened, he would have been able to testify in
+my favour. My poor brother for a time was overwhelmed by the
+revelation. His love for my wife perhaps did not die immediately away;
+but, high-minded and honourable as he was, he recognised that to
+persevere in it would be a guilty act. The force of his passion became
+less; he was no longer violent--he was mournful. He even, in a
+despairing way, begged my forgiveness, and I, reproachful that I had
+not earlier confided in him, begged <i>his</i> forgiveness for the
+unconscious wrong I had done him. Then, after a while, we fell
+into our old ways of love; tender words were exchanged; we clasped
+each other&#39;s hand; we embraced. Truly you who hear me can scarcely
+realise what Eric and I had always been to each other. More than
+brothers--more like lovers. Heartbroken as he was at the conviction
+that the woman he adored was lost to him, I was scarcely less
+heartbroken that I had won her. And so, after an hour&#39;s loving
+converse, I left him; and when we parted, with a promise to meet again
+when his wound was healed, we kissed each other as we had done in the
+days of our childhood.&quot;</p>
+
+
+
+<div style="margin-top:3em; margin-bottom:3em">
+<h3>END OF VOL. II.</h3>
+<br/>
+<br/>
+<br/>
+<h3>RICHARD CLAY AND SONS, LONDON AND BUNGAY.</h3>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
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+</body>
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+
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+++ b/old/45881.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4705 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Secret Inheritance  (Volume 2 of 3), by
+B. L. (Benjamin Leopold) Farjeon
+
+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: A Secret Inheritance  (Volume 2 of 3)
+
+Author: B. L. (Benjamin Leopold) Farjeon
+
+Release Date: June 4, 2014 [EBook #45881]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SECRET INHERITANCE VOL 2 ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Charles Bowen from page images provided by the
+Web Archive and Google Books.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+     1. Page scan source:
+        http://archive.org/details/secretinheritanc02farj
+        (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                         A SECRET INHERITANCE
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                                  A
+                          SECRET INHERITANCE
+
+
+
+
+                                  BY
+
+                            B. L. FARJEON,
+
+         AUTHOR OF "GREAT PORTER SQUARE," "IN A SILVER SEA,"
+                  "THE HOUSE OF WHITE SHADOWS," ETC.
+
+
+
+
+                          _IN THREE VOLUMES_
+                               VOL. II
+
+
+
+
+                               LONDON
+                           WARD AND DOWNEY
+                 12, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN, W.C.
+                                1887
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                        Richard Clay and Sons,
+                          LONDON AND BUNGAY.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                        A SECRET INHERITANCE.
+
+                             * * * * * *
+
+                    BOOK THE FIRST (_Continued_).
+
+                     THE RECORD OF GABRIEL CAREW.
+
+
+
+
+
+VOL. II.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIV.
+
+
+"I travelled for many months alone. I made acquaintances which never
+ripened into friendships, and seldom did twenty-four hours pass
+without my thoughts wandering to Silvain. Thinking it not unlikely
+that one or both of the brothers had returned to their home in
+Germany, I wrote several letters to them there, without receiving an
+answer. This portentous silence increased rather than diminished my
+interest in the man I loved as a brother. In speaking of him in these
+terms I am but giving faithful expression to the feelings I
+entertained for him; up to that time I had never met a human being,
+man or woman, who had so entirely won my affectionate regard.
+
+"Family circumstances rendered me more than ever my own master; I was
+free to go whithersoever my inclination led me, and certainly my
+inclination pointed clearly to that part of the world where I should
+be most likely to find my dear friend. But I had no clue to guide me;
+to turn east, west, north, or south, in search of him would have been
+a hap-hazard proceeding, and to hope for success in so unintelligent a
+search would have been the hope of a madman. My anxiety with respect
+to the fate of Silvain and Kristel never deserted me, but it was many
+years before I was enabled to take up the links in the chain.
+
+"During those years a great and happy change occurred in my own life.
+I interrupt the course of my narrative here to remark that it is
+singular I should be relating this history fully, for the first time,
+within a comparatively short distance of places in which the most
+pregnant--and indeed terrible--incidents in the career of the twin
+brothers were brought to my knowledge. My wife is acquainted with some
+portions of this history, but not with all. The lighthouse in which
+Avicia was born is within a hundred miles of this spot. Indirectly it
+led me to the acquaintance of the lady who became my wife, and to as
+great a happiness as any man can hope to enjoy.
+
+"Nerac is not my birthplace, and it was in passing through the lovely
+village on one of my visits to the village by the sea--visits made in
+the vain hope of obtaining intelligence of Silvain--that I was
+introduced to her. I pass over the records of a time which lives in my
+remembrance as a heavenly summer. Happy is the man who has enjoyed
+such a season. Happier is the man to whom such a season is the
+harbinger of such home joys as have fallen to my lot.
+
+"When I first made the acquaintance of my wife, and for some years
+afterwards, her parents were alive, and I saw that it would be cruel
+to ask her to leave them. I did not put her love to such a test. I
+settled in Nerac, and married there.
+
+"It is a solemnly strange reflection by what chance threads we are led
+to our destiny--a destiny which may be one of honour or shame, and
+which may bring a blessing or a curse into the lives of others whom,
+but for the most accidental circumstance, we should never have seen.
+The doctrine of responsibility is but little understood. Thus, had it
+not been for my chance meeting with Silvain in London, I should never
+have known my wife, and it seems to me impossible that I should have
+been a happy or a good man without her. Such women as she keep men
+pure.
+
+"Midway between Nerac and the village by the sea to which Kristel led
+his brother in his pursuit of the girl who was to bring them to their
+doom lies a forest of great extent, and it was in this forest, after a
+lapse of four years, that I came once more into association with
+Silvain and Avicia. I was called in that direction upon important
+business; at that period of my life I was an ardent pedestrian, and if
+the opportunity offered, was glad to make my way on foot, without
+respect to distance. I may confide to you that I was in the habit of
+taking a great deal of exercise because I was afraid of growing fat.
+
+"I was unacquainted with the locality, and I took a short cut, which
+proved a long one. When darkness fell I found myself entrapped in the
+forest amidst a wilderness of trees. Never shall I forget the night
+and the day that followed. It was such a night as that upon which you,
+my friend, were lying helpless in the woods near Nerac. Not relishing
+the idea of passing a number of lonely hours in such a place and under
+such circumstances, I made a vigorous effort to escape from the gloomy
+labyrinth. I did not succeed, and it was one o'clock in the morning by
+my watch before I made up my mind like a sensible person to rest till
+daylight. So I sat me down upon the trunk of a tree, and made the best
+of matters. Fatigued with my exertions I dozed for a few moments, then
+started up with a vague feeling of alarm, for which there was no
+cause, then dozed again and again, with repetitions of similar
+uneasiness; and finally I fell fast asleep.
+
+"It was full daylight when I awoke. I arose refreshed, and gazed
+around with smiles and a light heart, despite that I was hungry and
+that there was no water in sight. I had no doubt that I should soon
+find myself in some place where I could obtain food. Resolving upon my
+course I set forward in the direction of rising ground, from the
+summit of which I should be able to overlook the country. In one part
+of the forest I was traversing the trees were very thickly clustered,
+and it was here I chanced upon the forms of a man and a woman lying on
+the ground asleep. The circumstance was strange, and I leant over the
+sleeping persons to see their faces. I could scarcely repress a cry of
+astonishment at the discovery that the man was Silvain and the woman
+Avicia. It was from an impulsive desire not to disturb them that I
+uttered no sound, for truly their appearance was such as to excite my
+deep compassion.
+
+"Avicia's head was pillowed upon Silvain's right arm, and his left
+hand was clasped in hers. In complete ignorance of what had brought
+them to this miserable position, there was, to my mind, in this close
+clasping of his hand in hers, a kind of protection, as though she were
+making an instinctive effort to shield him from a hidden danger. The
+faces of both were wan with suffering, and their clothes were poor and
+ragged. I trembled to think that they might be in want of food.
+
+"As I gazed in pity and apprehension Silvain moved. A spasm of fear
+passed across his face, and he exclaimed in terror, 'Avicia! Avicia!
+He is coming nearer--nearer! We must fly!'
+
+"Before the words were uttered she was awake and on her feet. She saw
+me without recognising me, and she sank to the ground again, with a
+piercing scream which curdled through my veins, so much of fear and
+terror did it express. Dazed, and not yet fully awakened, Silvain
+threw himself before her in an attitude of protection.
+
+"'Silvain!' I cried; 'do you not know me?'
+
+"He looked up with a shudder, and passed his hand across his eyes. It
+was like the look of an intelligent animal who is being hunted to his
+death. But a softer expression came slowly into them as he gazed upon
+me and saw that it was a friend and not an enemy who stood before him.
+I spoke no further word at the moment, for the tears were running down
+his haggard face; his overcharged heart had found relief, and I turned
+from him.
+
+"Presently I felt his hand upon my arm.
+
+"'It is really you?' he said in a broken voice.
+
+"'No doubt of that, Silvain,' I said in a cheerful tone, purposely
+assumed to put him at his ease, 'unless life is a delusion.'
+
+"'Would it were!' he muttered, 'would it were!' And then,
+suspiciously, 'Did you come to seek me?'
+
+"'No, Silvain; it is pure accident, if there be such a thing as
+accident.'
+
+"'There is not,' he said; 'all is ordained.'
+
+"'One of our old arguments, Silvain,' I said, still with a cheerful
+air; I would not humour his gloomy mood.
+
+"'Do not mock me;' and he spread his hands, with upturned palms. 'Can
+you not see?'
+
+"'I can see that you are in bad trim, which can easily be set right.
+Silvain,' I said reproachfully, 'this is not as we used to meet. I
+come to you with open arms, and you receive me with doubt and
+suspicion. Are we not, as we always were and always shall be, friends
+staunch and true? You are the same Silvain; I am the same Louis;
+unchanged, as you will find me if you care to prove me.'
+
+"Avicia had risen and crept close to my side.
+
+"'Friends staunch and true,' she said, echoing my words. 'You are not
+mocking him?'
+
+"'Indeed, no.'
+
+"'Then give us food,' she said.
+
+"At this appeal I felt my pretended cheerfulness deserting me, but I
+caught the would-be runaway, and held it fast.
+
+"'Food!' I exclaimed, rattling some money in my pocket. 'Would that I
+knew where to obtain it! Here am I, starving, lost in the woods last
+night, and with not an idea now how to get out of them. Can you show
+me the way?'
+
+"'Yes,' she replied eagerly.
+
+"'Then I am fortunate, indeed, in lighting on you, and I bless the
+chance. Ah, Silvain, how I searched for you! To leave me, without ever
+a word--I would not have believed it of you. It was as though you
+doubted my friendship, which,' I added, 'is as sincere at this moment
+as ever it was in the years gone by.' Here there was a little choking
+in my throat because of the tears which again flowed from his eyes. 'I
+went to the village three times to get news of you, and had to come
+away unsatisfied. I wrote to your home in Germany, and received no
+reply. We have much to tell each other. But I am forgetting. You are
+faint and weary, and so am I. Can you take us to an inn where we can
+put some cheerful life into our bodies?'
+
+"I addressed this last question to Avicia, and she answered 'Yes,' and
+was about to lead the way when Silvain stopped her.
+
+"'Is it on our road?' he asked.
+
+"'Yes,' she answered, 'it is on our road.'
+
+"He motioned to her to proceed, and she stepped forward, Silvain and I
+walking side by side in the rear. This companionship was of my
+prompting, for had I not detained him he would have joined Avicia. I
+was burning with curiosity to learn what had befallen my friend during
+the last few years, but I restrained myself from asking questions
+which I felt he was not in the proper frame of mind at present to
+answer. Therefore as we walked onwards it was chiefly I who had to
+beguile the way. I told him all that had passed since we last met,
+narrated adventures which in former times would have interested him,
+and spoke freely of my settlement in life and of the happiness of my
+home. He acknowledged my efforts in monosyllables, but volunteered
+nothing of himself or Avicia. At the end of about an hour's walk we
+arrived at a village, in which there was one poor inn, and there we
+halted. Before we entered Silvain said,
+
+"'A word first. I have been seemingly churlish and ungrateful, but I
+am not so. My heart is overflowing with thankfulness; presently,
+perhaps, I may have courage to unbosom myself. You are as you were;
+life is fair and sweet to you.'
+
+"It was only because he paused here that I spoke: 'And will be to you,
+Silvain.'
+
+"'Never again,' he said. 'I am followed by a relentless spirit; I have
+been pursued for years by one who was heart of my heart, soul of my
+soul, but who now, from feelings of revenge, and as he believes of
+justice, is my bitter enemy.'
+
+"'Dare I mention his name, Silvain?'
+
+"'I will do so. My brother Kristel. It is of him I wish to say a word
+to you before I partake of your charity.'
+
+"'Silvain!' I cried, in remonstrance.
+
+"'Forgive me. I am tormented because of my condition, because of
+Avicia's misery. Answer me honestly. Is it really true that you came
+upon us by chance in the woods?'
+
+"'It is really true.'
+
+"'Kristel did not send you?'
+
+"'I have not seen Kristel since you and I last met.'
+
+"'Nor heard from him?'
+
+"'Nor heard from him.'
+
+"He took the hand I held out to him, and we followed Avicia into the
+inn, where, very soon, we were seated at a table with a modest meal
+before us. The food was poor enough, the wine was thin and common, but
+we could scarcely have enjoyed a grand banquet more. I speak not alone
+for myself, but for Silvain and Avicia; it was evident to me that they
+had not had many full meals lately. Avicia especially ate ravenously,
+and with a perfect sense of animal enjoyment, and it was only when she
+had finished that a certain terror, which I had observed in both her
+and Silvain, again asserted itself.
+
+"'Remain here a while, Avicia,' said Silvain, at the end of the meal;
+'I wish to speak to our friend alone.'
+
+"'Are we safe?' she asked.
+
+"'I think so; I hope so. Sleep; it will do you good.'
+
+"'Thank you, Silvain.'
+
+"She was seated on a hard bench, not conducive to repose; nevertheless
+she closed her eyes, and was almost immediately asleep.
+
+"'Poor girl!' said Silvain, with a sigh, 'she has suffered much--and
+in a few weeks will become a mother.'
+
+"We strolled up and down outside the inn and conversed.
+
+"'You have behaved to us with true friendship,' he said; 'and yet you
+can see we are beggars. Are you prospering?'
+
+"I am not rich,' I replied, 'but I can spare to a friend.'
+
+"'We are making our way to Avicia's home, to the lighthouse upon which
+I saw her for the first time otherwise than in my dreams. I doubt
+whether you can turn aside the finger of Fate as I behold it, pointing
+downwards to a grave, but you can perhaps help us to cheat it for a
+short time.'
+
+"'You speak strangely, Silvain; the ominous fears which oppress you
+may be bred by a disordered fancy.'
+
+"'In our former intercourse,' was his reply, 'was my fancy ever
+disordered? I advanced nothing that was not afterwards proved; I made
+no pretence of accounting for the warnings I received; I make none
+now. I shudder to think of the future, not so much for my own sake as
+for Avicia's. Helpless, penniless, without a friend----'
+
+"'You are forgetting me, Silvain?'
+
+"'Ah, yes, my friend, as you still declare yourself to be; I cannot
+but believe you. But Avicia----'
+
+"'I am her friend as well as yours.'
+
+"'For God's sake, do not speak lightly! You do not know to what a pass
+I am driven.'
+
+"'You shall enlighten me, and I maybe able to counsel you. Do not
+think I am speaking lightly, As I am your friend, so am I Avicia's. As
+I will stand by you, so will I stand by her.'
+
+"'In perfect faith, Louis?'
+
+"It was the first time he had uttered my name, and I held it as a sign
+that I had dispelled his distrust. I replied, 'In perfect faith,
+Silvain.'
+
+"'I accept it so. When I am gone, she will not be quite alone in the
+world. And now, will you give me a little money? I do not ask you to
+lend it to me, for I have no expectation of being able to repay you. I
+will briefly explain the necessity for it. We are bound for the
+lighthouse. It is our only refuge, and there our child will be born.
+May it prove a comfort to the mother! We have fifty miles to go, and
+Avicia is not strong enough to walk----'
+
+"'Say no more,' I interrupted, 'of the necessity for such a trifle; I
+can spare you more than sufficient for your purpose.'
+
+"I took from my purse what was requisite for my immediate needs, and
+pressed the purse with the coins that remained into his hand. He took
+it in silence, and his emaciated form shook with gratitude.
+
+"'You ask no questions about these,' he said, pointing to his rags.
+
+"'Why should I?' I asked in return. 'But there are one or two points
+upon which you might satisfy me.'
+
+"'I cannot go into my history, Louis. If you will give me your address
+I will send it to you before the week is out. Indeed, after your noble
+promise with respect to Avicia, it is yours by right. It will not only
+enlighten, it will guide you.'
+
+"'I will wait for it, and will make an opportunity of seeing you soon
+after I have read it. The points I wish to mention are these: While
+you and Avicia were sleeping in the forest, and I stood looking down
+upon you, you cried--not because of my presence, of which you were
+ignorant, but because of some disturbing dream--"He is coming
+nearer--nearer! We must fly!" To whom did you refer?'
+
+"'To my brother Kristel. He is pursuing us.'
+
+"'To your hurt?'
+
+"'To my destruction.'
+
+"'Then you have seen him?'
+
+"'I have not seen him. I know it through my dreams, as of old. You
+could not doubt their truth when we travelled together--ah, those
+happy days!--you cannot doubt it now.'
+
+"'Then, what was love between you has turned to hate?' The words
+escaped me unaware; I repented of them the moment they were spoken.
+
+"'Yes,' said Silvain, in a tone of deepest sadness, 'what was love
+between us is turned to hate. Ask me no more questions--in pity!'
+
+"'But one, Silvain. Have you any children?'
+
+"'None. The babe that Avicia will soon press to her breast will be our
+first-born.'
+
+"To matters upon which I saw he was then unwilling to converse, I made
+no further reference. He engaged a light cart and horse, and a man to
+drive them to the village by the sea. Then he woke Avicia, and I said
+farewell to them, and gazed after them till they were out of sight.
+
+"As he had promised, I received from him before the end of the week a
+statement of his adventures. It is now among my papers in Nerac, and I
+remember perfectly all the salient particulars necessary to my story,
+which is now drawing to a conclusion. I will narrate them in my own
+way, asking you to recall the day upon which the brothers were last
+seen in the village by the sea."
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XV.
+
+
+"Silvain, Kristel, and Avicia, accompanied by her father, rowed from
+the lighthouse to the shore. The villagers saw but little of them;
+they passed out of the village, and Avicia's father returned alone to
+the lighthouse. Kristel loved Avicia with all the passion of a hot,
+imperious, and intense nature. He looked upon her as his, and had he
+suspected that Silvain would have fallen in love with her, it can
+readily be understood that he would have been the last man to bring
+them into association with each other. But so it happened.
+
+"When Kristel and Avicia met in the Tyrol, Kristel was buoyed up with
+hopes that she reciprocated the love she had inspired in his breast.
+He had some reason for this hope, for at his request, when he asked
+her to become his wife and said that he could not marry without his
+father's consent, she had written home to _her_ father with respect to
+the young gentleman's proposal, thereby leading him to believe that
+she was ready to accept him. It appeared, however, that there was no
+real depth in her feelings for him; and, indeed, it may be pardoned
+her if she supposed that his fervid protestations were prompted by
+feelings as light and as little genuine as her own. Unsophisticated as
+she was in the ways of the world, the fact of his making the
+honourable accomplishment of his love for her dependent upon the fiat
+of another person could not but have lessened the value of his
+declarations--more especially when she had not truly given him her
+heart. It was given to Silvain upon the occasion of their first
+meeting, and it was not long before they found the opportunity to
+exchange vows of affection--a circumstance of which I and every person
+but themselves were entirely ignorant. But love is cunning.
+
+"It was because of Avicia's fear of her father that this love was kept
+secret; he held her completely in control, and--first favouring
+Kristel and then Silvain, playing them against each other, as it were,
+to his own advantage in the way of gifts--filled her with
+apprehension.
+
+"'Looking back,' Silvain said in his statement to me, 'upon the
+history of those days of happiness and torture, I can see now that I
+was wrong in not endeavouring to arrive at a frank understanding with
+my brother; but indeed I had but one thought--Avicia. As Kristel
+believed her to be his, so did I believe her to be mine, and the idea
+of losing her was sufficient to make my life a life of despair. And
+after all, it was for Avicia to decide. Absorbing as was my love for
+her, I should have had no choice but to retire and pass my days in
+misery had she decided in favour of Kristel.'
+
+"The base conduct of Avicia's father was to a great extent the cause
+of turning brotherly love to hate. Seeing their infatuation, he
+bargained with each secretly, saying, in effect, 'What will you give
+me if I give you my daughter's hand?--for she will not, and cannot,
+marry without my consent.'
+
+"And to the other, 'What will _you_ give me?'
+
+"He bound them to secrecy by a solemn oath, and bound his daughter
+also in like manner, promising that she should have the one she loved.
+Silvain was the more liberal of the two, and signed papers, pledging
+himself to pay to the avaricious father a large sum of money within a
+certain time after his union with Avicia. So cunningly did the keeper
+of the lighthouse conduct these base negotiations, that, even on that
+last day when they all rowed together to the village, neither of the
+brothers knew that matters were to be brought then and there to an
+irrevocable end.
+
+"The village by the sea lay behind them some six or eight miles. Then,
+upon a false pretext, Avicia's father got rid of Kristel, sending him
+on an errand for Avicia which would render necessary an absence of
+many hours. That done, he said to Silvain and Avicia, 'Everything is
+arranged. This day will see you man and wife. Come with me to the
+priest.'
+
+"'But where is Kristel?' asked Silvain, his heart throbbing with joy.
+'Does he not know?'
+
+"'Yes, he knows,' replied Avicia's father, 'but, as you are aware, he
+had a sneaking regard himself for my daughter, and he thought he would
+feel more comfortable, and you and Avicia too, if he were not present
+at the ceremony. He bade me give you his blessing.'
+
+"Satisfied with this--being, indeed, naturally only too willing to be
+satisfied--the marriage ceremony took place, and Silvain and Avicia
+became man and wife. They departed on their honeymoon, and instructed
+the keeper of the lighthouse to inform Kristel of their route, in
+order that he might be able to join them at any point he pleased.
+
+"Then came the interview between Avicia's father and Kristel, in which
+the young man was informed that he had lost Avicia. Kristel was
+dismayed and furious at what he believed to be the blackest treachery
+on the part of his brother. He swore to be revenged, and asked the
+road they had taken. Avicia's father sent him off in an entirely
+opposite direction, and he set out in pursuit. Needless to say that he
+soon found out how he had been tricked, and that it infuriated him the
+more. Not knowing where else to write to Silvain, he addressed a
+letter to him at their home in Germany; he himself did not proceed
+thither, judging that his best chance of meeting the married couple
+lay near the village by the sea, to which he felt convinced Silvain
+and Avicia would soon return. Therefore he lurked in the vicinity of
+the village, and watched by day and night the principal avenues by
+which it was to be approached. But his judgment was at fault; they did
+not return.
+
+"In the meantime the lovers were enjoying their honeymoon. In order to
+keep faith with Avicia's father in the bargain made between him and
+Silvain--which rendered necessary the payment of a substantial sum of
+money by a given time--it was imperative that Silvain should visit his
+boyhood's home, to obtain his share of the inheritance left to him and
+Kristel by their father. The happy couple dallied by the way, and it
+was not until three months after their marriage that they arrived at
+Silvain's birthplace.
+
+"'Perhaps we shall meet Kristel there,' said Silvain.
+
+"Instead of meeting his brother, Silvain received the letter which
+Kristel had written to him. It breathed the deepest hate, and Silvain
+had the unhappiness of reading the outpourings of a relentless,
+vindictive spirit, driven to despair by disappointed love.
+
+"'You have robbed me,' the letter said; 'hour by hour, day by day,
+have you set yourself deliberately to ensnare me and to fill my life
+with black despair. Had I suspected it at the time I would have
+strangled you. But your fate is only postponed; revenge is mine, and I
+hold it in my soul as a sacred trust which I shall fulfil. You shall
+die by my hands. Never in this world or in the next will I forgive
+you! My relentless hate shall haunt and pursue you, and you shall not
+escape it!'
+
+"And then the writer recorded an awful oath that, while life remained
+within him, his one sole aim should be to compass his revenge. It was
+a lengthy letter, and strong as is my description of it, it falls
+short of the intense malignity which pervaded every line. Kristel
+launched a curse so terrible against his brother that Silvain's hair
+rose up in horror and fear as he read it. These are Silvain's own
+words to me:
+
+"'After reading Kristel's letter,' he said, 'I felt that I was
+accursed, and that it was destined that he should kill me.'
+
+"How to escape the terrible doom--though he had scarcely a hope of
+averting it--how to prevent the crime of blood-guiltiness lying upon
+Kristel's soul: this was thereafter the object of Silvain's life. It
+afforded him no consolation to know that for the intense hate with
+which Kristel's heart was filled Avicia's father was partly
+responsible.
+
+"In its delineation of the trickery by which Kristel had been robbed
+of Avicia the letter was not truthful, for there had occurred between
+the brothers a conversation in which Silvain had revealed his love for
+her. Kristel's over-wrought feelings probably caused him to forget
+this--or it may have been a perversion of fact adopted to give
+sanction to hate.
+
+"Kristel's letter was not the only despairing greeting which awaited
+Silvain in the home of his boyhood. By some unhappy means the
+inheritance left by his father had melted away, and he found himself a
+beggar. Thus he was unable to carry out the terms of the bargain
+Avicia's father had made with him. This part of his misfortune did not
+greatly trouble him; it was but a just punishment to a grasping,
+avaricious man; but with beggary staring him in the face, and his
+brother's curse and awful design weighing upon him, his situation was
+most dreadful and pitiable.
+
+"It was his intention to keep Kristel's letter from the knowledge of
+Avicia, but she secretly obtained possession of it, and it filled her
+soul with an agonising fear. They decided that it was impossible to
+return to the village by sea.
+
+"'It is there my brother waits for us,' said Silvain.
+
+"So from that time they commenced a wandering life, with the one
+dominant desire to escape from Kristel.
+
+"I cannot enter now into a description of the years that followed.
+They crept from place to place, picking up a precarious existence, and
+enduring great privations. One morning Silvain awoke, trembling and
+afraid. 'I have seen Kristel,' he said.
+
+"She did not ask him how and under what circumstances he had seen his
+brother.
+
+"'He has discovered that we are here, and is in pursuit of us,'
+Silvain continued. 'We must fly without delay.'
+
+"This was an added grief to Avicia. The place in which Silvain's dream
+of his brother had been dreamt had afforded them shelter and security
+for many weeks, and she had begun to indulge in the hope that they
+were safe. Vain hope! They must commence their wanderings again. From
+that period, at various times, Silvain was visited by dreams in which
+he was made acquainted with Kristel's movements in so far as they
+affected him and Avicia and the mission of vengeance upon which
+Kristel was relentlessly bent. They made their way to foreign
+countries, and even there Kristel pursued them. And so through the
+days and years continued the pitiful flight and the merciless pursuit.
+In darkness they wandered often, the shadow of fate at their heels, in
+Avicia's imagination lurking in the solitudes through which they
+passed, amidst thickets of trees, in hollows and ravines, waiting,
+waiting, waiting to fall upon and destroy them! An appalling life, the
+full terrors of which the mind can scarcely grasp.
+
+"At length, when worldly circumstances pressed so heavily upon them
+that they hardly knew where to look for the next day's food, Avicia
+whispered to her husband that she expected to become a mother, and
+that she was possessed by an inexpressible longing that her child
+should be born where she herself first drew breath. After the lapse of
+so many years it appeared to Silvain that the lighthouse would be the
+likeliest place of safety, and, besides, it was Avicia's earnest wish.
+They were on the road thither when I chanced upon them in the forest."
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XVI.
+
+
+"After reading Silvain's letter I lost as little time as possible in
+paying a visit to the village by the sea. I took with me some presents
+for the villagers, who were unaffectedly glad to see me, and not
+because of the gifts I brought for them. There I heard what news they
+could impart of the history of the lighthouse since I last visited
+them. The disappointment with respect to the money he expected from
+Silvain had rendered the keeper more savage and morose than ever. For
+years after the marriage of his daughter he lived alone on the
+lighthouse, but within the last twelve months he had sent for a young
+man who was related to him distantly, and who was now looking after
+the lights. This young man was deaf and dumb. What kind of comfort the
+companionship of a man so afflicted could be in such a home it is
+difficult to say, but the new arrival came in good time, for two
+months afterwards Avicia's father slipped over some rocks in the
+vicinity of the lighthouse, and so injured himself that he could not
+rise from his bed. Thus, when Silvain and Avicia presented themselves
+he could make no practical resistance to their taking up their abode
+with him. However it was, there they were upon my present visit, and I
+went at once to see them.
+
+"They received me with a genuine demonstration of feeling, and I was
+pleased to see that they were looking better. Regular food, and the
+secure shelter of a roof from which they were not likely to be turned
+away at a moment's notice, doubtless contributed to this improvement.
+The pressure of a dark terror was, however, still visible in their
+faces, and during my visit I observed Silvain go to the outer gallery
+at least three or four times, and scan the surrounding sea with
+anxious eyes. To confirm or dispel the impression I gathered from this
+anxious outlook I questioned Silvain.
+
+"'I am watching for Kristel,' he said.
+
+"It is scarcely likely he will come to you here,' I said.
+
+"'He is certain to come to me here,' said Silvain; 'he is now on the
+road.'
+
+"'You know this from your dreams?'
+
+"'Yes, my dreams assure me of it. What wonder that I dream of the
+spirit which has been hunting me for years in the person of Kristel. I
+think of nothing else. Waking or sleeping, he is ever before me.'
+
+"'Should he come, what will you do, Silvain?'
+
+"'I hardly know; but at all hazards he must, if possible, be prevented
+from effecting an entrance into the lighthouse. It would be the death
+of Avicia.'
+
+"He pronounced the words 'if possible' with so much emphasis that I
+said:
+
+"'Surely that can be prevented.'
+
+"'I cannot be on the alert by night as well as by day,' said Silvain.
+'My dread is that at a time when I am sleeping he will take me
+unaware. Hush! Avicia is coming up the stairs; do not let her hear us
+conversing upon a subject which has been the terror of her life. She
+does not know that I am constantly on the watch.'
+
+"In this belief he was labouring under a delusion, for Avicia spoke to
+me privately about it; she was aware of the anxiety which, she said,
+she was afraid was wearing him away; and indeed, as she made this
+allusion, and I glanced at Silvain, who was standing in another part
+of the lighthouse, I observed what had hitherto escaped me, that his
+features were thinner, and that there was a hectic flush upon them
+which, in the light of his tragic story, too surely told a tale of an
+inward fretting likely to prove fatal. She told me that often in the
+night when Silvain was sleeping she would rise softly and go to the
+gallery, in fear that Kristel was stealthily approaching them.
+
+"I saw her father. He gazed at me, and did not speak--not that he was
+unable, but because it was part of the cunning of his nature. Silvain
+informed me that Avicia expected her baby in three weeks from that
+day. I had not come empty-handed, and I left behind me welcome
+remembrances, promising to come again the following week.
+
+"I kept my promise. Upon seeing me, a woman of the village ran towards
+me, and whispered:
+
+"'Kristel is here.'
+
+"I followed the direction of her gaze, which was simply one of
+curiosity, and saw a man standing on the beach, facing the lighthouse.
+I walked straight up to him, and touched him with my hand. He turned,
+and I recognised Kristel.
+
+"I recognised him--yes; but not from any resemblance he bore to the
+Kristel of former days. Had I met him under ordinary circumstances I
+should not have known him. His thin face was covered with hair; his
+eyes were sunken and wild; his bony wrists, his long fingers, seemed
+to be fleshless. I spoke to him, and mentioned my name. He heard me,
+but did not reply. I begged him to speak, and he remained silent.
+After his first look at me he turned from me, and stood with his eyes
+in the direction of the lighthouse. I would not accept his reception
+of me; I continued to address him; I asked him upon what errand he had
+come, and why he kept his eyes so fixedly upon the lighthouse. I gave
+him information of myself, and said I should be pleased to see him in
+my home--with a vague and foolish hope that he would accept the
+invitation, and that I might be able to work upon his better nature.
+And still no word came from him. I did not dare to utter the name of
+either Silvain or Avicia, fearing that I should awake the demon that
+had taken possession of his soul.
+
+"By the time that I had exhausted what I thought it wise and good to
+say, I found myself falling into a kind of fascination, produced by
+his motionless attitude, and the fixed gaze in his unnaturally
+brilliant eyes. It was a bright day, and I knew that my imagination
+was playing me a trick, but I saw clearly with my mind's eye, the
+outer gallery of the lighthouse, and the figure of Avicia standing
+thereon, with her hair hanging loose, and a scarlet covering on her
+head. Was it a spiritual reflection of what this silent, motionless
+man was gazing upon? I shuddered, and passed my hand across my eyes;
+the vision was gone--but he gazed upon it still.
+
+"I was compelled at length to leave him standing there upon the beach,
+and he took no notice of my departure.
+
+"Others were observing him as well as I, and had watched me with
+curiosity during the time I stood by his side. When I was among them
+they asked if he had spoken to me.
+
+"'No,' I replied, 'I could get no word from him.'
+
+"'Neither has he spoken to us,' they said. 'Not a sound has passed his
+lips since his arrival.'
+
+"'When did he arrive?' I inquired.
+
+"'Yesterday,' they answered, 'and our first thought was that he would
+want a boat to row to the lighthouse, but he did not ask for it.
+Surely he must wish to see his brother! There is something strange
+about him, do you not think so? One of our women here insists that he
+is dumb.'
+
+"'He must be dumb,' said the woman; 'else why should he not speak?'
+
+"'There was a jealousy between him and his brother,' said an elderly
+woman, 'about Avicia.'
+
+"'What has that to do with it?' exclaimed the woman who pronounced him
+dumb. 'Jealousy, like love, does not last for ever. She is not the
+only woman in the world, and men have eyes. They must have made up
+their quarrel long ago. Besides, if he _was_ jealous still, which
+isn't in the least likely, that would not make him dumb! His tongue
+would be all the looser for it.'
+
+"'More terrible,' thought I, 'is the dread silence of that motionless
+man than all the storms of wrath his tongue could utter.'
+
+"From what the villagers said, I knew that they were in ignorance of
+the hatred which filled Kristel's heart, and I debated within myself
+what it was best to do. That the simple men of the village would not
+voluntarily make themselves parties to any scheme of blind vengeance
+on the part of one brother against another I was certain, but I was
+not satisfied that it would be right to give them my whole confidence,
+and tell them all I knew. At the same time it would not be right to
+allow them to remain in complete ignorance, for by so doing they might
+be made unwittingly to further Kristel's designs upon his brother's
+life. There was a priest in the village, and I went to him, and under
+the seal of secrecy revealed something, but not all, of the meaning of
+Kristel's appearance.
+
+"'Come with me,' he said.
+
+"I accompanied him, and once more stood by the side of Kristel. The
+priest addressed him, counselled him, exhorted him, and, like myself,
+could obtain no word from him. Kindlier speech I never heard, but it
+made no impression upon Kristel.
+
+"'He _must_ be dumb,' said the priest as we moved away.
+
+"'Not so,' I said earnestly; 'were he dumb, and unable to hear what is
+said to him, he would certainly indicate by some kind of sign that
+speech addressed to him was falling upon ears that were deaf. He is
+possessed by a demoniac obduracy, and his apparent indifference is but
+a part of a fell design to which I should be afraid to give a name.'
+
+"The priest was impressed by this view of the matter, which could not
+but appeal successfully to a man's calm reason.
+
+"'What can I do?' he asked. 'If a man is determined not to speak, I
+have no power to compel him.'
+
+"'It is in your power,' I said, 'to prevent bloodshed.'
+
+"'Bloodshed!' he echoed, in a startled tone.
+
+"'Nothing less, I fear,' I said. 'Lay an injunction upon the villagers
+not to lend that man a boat, and not, under any pretext, to row him to
+the lighthouse.'
+
+"'What dreadful thoughts do your words suggest!' exclaimed the priest.
+'They alarm and bewilder me.'
+
+"'I am not at liberty to say more at the present moment,' I said. 'I
+shall not leave the village to-day. I myself will see that man's
+brother, and will obtain permission from him to reveal all I know.
+Meanwhile give not that soul-tossed wretch the opportunity of carrying
+out a scheme of ruthless vengeance which he has harboured for years.'
+
+"'Tell me explicitly what you wish me to do.'
+
+"'I have already told you. That man, with the connivance or assistance
+of any person in this village, must not be enabled to get to the
+lighthouse.'
+
+"'He shall not,' said the priest.
+
+"And he mixed with the villagers, men and women, and laid upon them
+the injunction I desired. With my mind thus set at ease for at least a
+few hours, I engaged a couple of boatmen to row me to Silvain. I half
+expected that Kristel would come forward with a request, made if not
+in speech in dumb show, to be allowed to accompany me, and I had
+resolved what action to take; but he made no step towards me. He gave
+no indication even of a knowledge of what was taking place within a
+dozen yards of him, although it was not possible that the putting off
+of the boat from the shore could have escaped his observation.
+
+"'If he is not deaf and dumb,' said one of the rowers, 'he must have
+gone clean out of his senses.'
+
+"'Neither one nor the other,' thought I; 'he is nursing his vengeance,
+and has decided upon some plan of action.'
+
+"Silvain and Avicia were on the outer gallery, and when I joined them
+Silvain drew me aside.
+
+"'You have news of Kristel,' he said. I nodded, and he continued: 'I
+know without the telling. He is in the village.'
+
+"'Who informed you?' I asked.
+
+"'No human,' he replied, with a sad smile. 'I see him standing upon
+the beach, looking towards us.'
+
+"In truth that was a physical impossibility, but I needed no further
+proof of the mysterious insight with which Silvain was gifted. I
+related to him all that had passed between me and Kristel and the
+priest, and of the precautions taken to keep from Kristel the means of
+reaching the lighthouse.
+
+"'That will not prevent him from coming, said Silvain; 'he is a fine
+swimmer. I myself, were I desperately pushed to it, would undertake to
+swim to the village. You hold to your promise. You hold to your
+promise, Louis, with respect to Avicia?'
+
+"'It is binding upon me,' I replied; 'my word is given.'
+
+"'Faithful friend! Neither will my child be left without a counsellor.
+Louis, I shall never see the face of my child--I shall never feel his
+little hands about my neck!'
+
+"'Were it not for the tender sympathy I have for you,' I said in a
+tone of reproof, 'I should feel inclined to be angry. Did you not
+confess to me in former days that you could not see into the future?
+And here you are, raising up ghosts to make the present more bitter
+than it is. No, no, Silvain. Black as things appear, there are bright
+years yet in store for you.'
+
+"'I cannot help my forebodings, Louis. True, I cannot, nor can any
+man, see into the future, but what can I do to turn my brother's hate
+from me?' It was a cry of anguish wrung from his suffering heart. 'I
+think of the days of our childhood, when we strolled in the woods with
+our arms round each other's necks, I think of the dreams we mapped of
+the future. Running water by the side of which we sat, bending over to
+see our faces, and making our lips meet in a shadowed kiss, flowers we
+picked in field and meadow, errands of mercy we went upon together,
+twilight communings, the little sweethearts we had--all these innocent
+ways of childhood rise before me, and fill me with anguish. What can I
+do?--what can I do to bring him back to me in brotherly love? Louis, I
+have a fear that I have never whispered to living soul. It is that
+Avicia may have twin children, as Kristel and I are, and they should
+grow up to be as we are now! Would it not be better that they should
+be born dead, or die young, when their souls are not stained with
+hatred of each other and with evil thoughts that render existence a
+curse?'
+
+"We were alone when he gave expression to his agonised feelings;
+Avicia had left us to attend to domestic duties. I could say nothing
+to comfort him; to harp upon one string of intended consolation to a
+man who is in no mood to accept it becomes, after a time, an
+oppression. He paced up and down, twining his fingers convulsively,
+and presently said,
+
+"'It would be too much, Louis, to ask you to remain with me a little
+while?'
+
+"'No,' I replied, 'it would not. Indeed, it was partly in my mind to
+suggest it. The crisis you have dreaded for many years has come, and
+if you wish me to stop with you a day or two I will willingly do so.
+It may be--I do not know how--that I can be of service to you. The
+boatmen are waiting in the boat below. I will write a letter to my
+wife, and they shall post it, informing her that I shall be absent
+from home perhaps until the end of the week, by which time I hope the
+cloud will have passed away. No thanks, Silvain; friendship would be a
+poor and valueless thing if one shrank from a sacrifice so slight.'
+
+"I wrote my letter, and despatched it by the boatmen. Then we waited
+for events; it was all that it was in our power to do.
+
+"Avicia was very glad when she heard of my intention to remain with
+them a while.
+
+"'Your companionship will do him good,' she said. 'He has no one but
+me to talk to, and he speaks of but one subject. If this continues
+long he will lose his reason.'
+
+"The day passed, and night came on. There was but scanty living
+accommodation in the lighthouse, but a mattress was spread for me upon
+the floor of the tiny kitchen; and there I was to sleep. Avicia and
+Silvain wished me to occupy their bed, but I would not have it so.
+Before retiring to rest, Silvain and I passed two or three hours in
+converse; I purposely led the conversation into foreign channels, and
+when I wished him good-night I was rejoiced to perceive that I had
+succeeded for a brief space in diverting his mind from the fears which
+weighed so heavily upon him.
+
+"Nothing occurred during the night to disturb us; I awoke early, and
+lay waiting for sunrise; but no light came, and when, aroused by
+Silvain, I left my bed and went to the outer gallery, I was surprised
+to see that all surrounding space was wrapt in a thick mist.
+
+"'A great storm will soon be upon us,' said Silvain.
+
+"He was right; before noon the storm burst, and the sea was lashed
+into fury. It was a relief to see the play of lightning upon the angry
+waters, but it was terrible too, and I thought how awful and joyless a
+lone life must be when spent in such a home. This second day seemed as
+if it would never end, and it was only by my watch that I knew of the
+approach of night. With the sounds of the storm in my ears I lay down
+upon my mattress and fell asleep.
+
+"I know not at what time of the night I awoke, but with black darkness
+upon and around me, I found myself sitting up, listening to sounds
+without which did not proceed from the conflict of the elements. At
+first I could not decide whether they were real or but the refrain of
+a dream by which I had been disturbed; soon, however, I received
+indisputable evidence that they were not the creations of my fancy.
+
+"'Kristel! For God's sake, listen to me!'
+
+"The voice was Silvain's, and the words were uttered in outer space.
+When I retired to rest I had lain down in my clothes, removing only my
+coat, and using it as a covering. I quickly put it on, and lit a lamp,
+to which a chain was attached, by which means it could be held over
+the walls of the lighthouse. The lamp was scarcely lighted, when
+Avicia, but half dressed, rushed into the little room.
+
+"'Silvain!' she cried. 'Where is Silvain?'
+
+"Her eyes wandered round the room, seeking him. At that moment the
+voice from without pierced the air.
+
+"'Kristel! Oh, my brother, listen to me!'
+
+"I threw my arms round Avicia, and held her fast.
+
+"'Why do you hold me?' she screamed. 'Are you, too, leagued against
+us? Silvain! Silvain!'
+
+"It needed all my strength to restrain her from rushing out in her
+wild delirium, perhaps to her destruction. I whispered to her
+hurriedly that I intended to go to the outer gallery, and that she
+should accompany me; and also that if she truly wished to be of
+assistance to her husband she must be calm. She ceased instantly to
+struggle, and said in a tone of suppressed excitement,
+
+"'Come, then.'
+
+"I did not quit my hold of her, but I used now only one hand, which I
+clasped firmly round her wrist, my other being required for the
+lantern. The next moment we were standing upon the gallery, bending
+over. It was pitch dark, and we could see nothing; even the white
+spray of the waves, as they dashed against the stone walls, was not
+visible to us; but we heard Silvain's voice, at intervals, appealing
+in frenzied tones to Kristel, who, it needed not the evidence of sight
+to know, was holding on to the chains and struggling with his brother.
+How the two came into that awful position was never discovered, and I
+could only judge by inference that Kristel, in the dead of this deadly
+night, had made his way by some means to the lighthouse, and was
+endeavouring to effect an entrance, when Silvain, awakened by his
+attempts, had gone out to him, and was instantly seized and dragged
+down.
+
+"So fearful and confused were the minutes that immediately followed
+that I have but an indistinct impression of the occurrences of the
+time, which will live ever within me as the most awful in my life. I
+know that I never lost my grasp of Avicia, and that but for me she
+would have flung herself over the walls; I know that the brothers were
+engaged in a struggle for life and death, and that Silvain continued
+to make the most pathetic appeals to Kristel to listen to him, and not
+to stain his soul with blood; I know that in those appeals there were
+the tenderest references to their boyhood's days, to the love which
+had existed between them, each for the other, to trivial incidents in
+their childhood, to their mother who worshipped them and was now
+looking down upon them, to the hopes in which they had indulged of a
+life of harmony and affection; I know that it struck me then as most
+terrible that during the whole of the struggle no word issued from
+Kristel's lips; I know that there were heartrending appeals from
+Avicia to Kristel to spare her husband, and that there were tender
+cries from her to Silvain, and from Silvain to her; I know that,
+finding a loose chain on the gallery, I lowered it to the combatants,
+and called out to Silvain--foolishly enough, in so far as he could
+avail himself of it--to release himself from his brother's arms and
+seize it, and that I and Avicia would draw him up to safety; I know
+that in one vivid flash of lightning I saw the struggling forms and
+the beautiful white spray of the waves; I know that Silvain's voice
+grew fainter and fainter until it was heard no more; I know that there
+was the sound of a heavy body or bodies falling into the sea, that a
+shriek of woe and despair clove my heart like a knife, and that Avicia
+lay in my arms moaning and trembling. I bore her tenderly into her
+room, and laid her on her bed.
+
+"The storm ceased; no sound was heard without. The rising sun filled
+the eastern horizon with loveliest hues of saffron and crimson. The
+sea was calm; there was no trace of tempest and human agony. By that
+time Avicia was a mother, and lay with her babes pressed to her bosom.
+Silvain's fear was realised: he was the dead father of twin brothers.
+
+"The assistant whom Avicia's father had engaged rowed me to the
+village, and there I enlisted the services of a woman, who accompanied
+me back to the lighthouse, and attended to Avicia. The mother lived
+but two days after the birth of her babes. Until her last hour she was
+delirious, but then she recovered her senses and recognised me.
+
+"'My dear Silvain told me,' she said, in a weak, faint voice, 'that
+you would be a friend to our children. Bless the few moments remaining
+to me by assuring me that you will not desert them.'
+
+"I gave her the assurance for which she yearned, and she desired me to
+call them by the names of Eric and Emilius. It rejoiced me that she
+passed away in peace; strange as it may seem, it was an inexpressible
+relief to her bruised heart that the long agony was over. Her last
+words were,
+
+"'I trust you. God will reward you!'
+
+"And so, with her nerveless hand in mine, her spirit went out to her
+lover and husband.
+
+"We buried her in the village churchyard, and the day was observed as
+a day of mourning in that village by the sea.
+
+"I thought I could not do better than leave the twin babes for a time
+in the charge of the woman I had engaged, and it occurred to me that
+it might not be unprofitable to have some inquiries and investigation
+made with respect to the inheritance left by their grandfather to his
+sons Kristel and Silvain. I placed the matter in the hands of a shrewd
+lawyer, and he was enabled to recover a portion of what was due to
+their father. This was a great satisfaction to me, as it to some
+extent provided for the future of Eric and Emilius, and supplied the
+wherewithal for their education. It was my intention, when they
+arrived at a certain age, to bring them to my home in Nerac, and treat
+them as children of my own, but a difficulty cropped up for which I
+was not prepared and which I could not surmount. Avicia's father,
+learning that I had recovered a portion of Silvain's inheritance,
+demanded from me an account of it, and asserted his rights as the
+natural guardian of his grandchildren. There was no gainsaying the
+demand, and I was compelled reluctantly to leave Eric and Emilius in
+his charge. I succeeded, however, in prevailing upon him to allow them
+to pay me regular visits of long duration, so that a close intimacy of
+affectionate friendship has been established between them and the
+members of my family. Here ends my story--a strange and eventful one,
+you will admit. I often think of it in wonder, and this is the first
+time a full recital of it has passed my lips."
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XVII.
+
+
+Such a story, which Doctor Louis truly described as strange and
+eventful, could not have failed to leave a deep impression upon me.
+During its recital I had, as it were, been charmed out of myself. My
+instinctive distrust of the twin brothers Eric and Emilius, the growth
+of a groundless jealousy, was for a while forgotten, and at the
+conclusion of the recital I was lost in the contemplation of the
+tragic pictures which had been presented to my mind's eye. Singularly
+enough, the most startling bit of colour in these pictures, that of
+the two brothers in their life and death struggle on the outer walls
+of the lighthouse, was not to me the dominant feature of the
+remarkable story. The awful, unnatural contest, Avicias agony,
+Silvain's soul-moving appeals, and the dread silence of Kristel--all
+this was as nought in comparison with the figure of a solitary man
+standing on the seashore, gazing in the direction of his lost
+happiness. I traced his life back through the years during which he
+was engaged in his relentless pursuit of the brother who had brought
+desolation into his life. In him, and in him alone, was centred the
+true pathos of the story; it was he who had been robbed, it was he who
+had been wronged. No deliberate act of treachery lay at his door; he
+loved, and had been deceived. Those in whom he placed his trust had
+deliberately betrayed him. The vengeance he sought and consummated was
+just.
+
+I did not make Doctor Louis acquainted with my views on the subject,
+knowing that he would not agree with me, and that all his sympathies
+were bestowed upon Silvain. There was something of cowardice in this
+concealment of my feelings, but although I experienced twinges of
+conscience for my want of courage, it was not difficult for me to
+justify myself in my own eyes. Doctor Louis was the father of the
+woman I loved, and in his hands lay my happiness. On no account must I
+instil doubt into his mind; he was a man of decided opinions,
+dogmatic, and strong-willed. No act or word of mine must cause him to
+have the least distrust of me. Therefore I played the cunning part,
+and was silent with respect to those threads in the story which
+possessed the firmest hold upon his affections.
+
+This enforced silence accentuated and strengthened my view. Silvain
+and Avicia were weak, feeble creatures. The man of great heart and
+resolute will, the man whose sufferings and wrongs made him a martyr,
+was Kristel. Faithful in love, faithful in hate. Trustful, heroic,
+unflinching. In a word, a man. But he and his brother, and the woman
+who had been the instrument of their fate, belonged to the past. They
+were dead and gone, and in the presence of Doctor Louis I put them
+aside a while. Time enough to think of them when I was alone.
+Meanwhile Eric and Emilius remained. They lived, and between their
+lives and mine there was a link. Of this I entertained no doubt, nor
+did I doubt that, in this connection, the future would not be
+colourless for us. To be prepared for the course which events might
+take: this was now my task and my duty. The thought was constantly in
+my mind. "As Kristel acted, so would I act, in love and hate."
+
+I observed Doctor Louis's eyes fixed earnestly upon my face.
+
+"You are agitated," he said.
+
+"Is not such a story," I said evasively, "enough to agitate one? Its
+movements are as the movements of a sublime tragedy."
+
+"True," mused Doctor Louis; "even in obscure lives may be found such
+elements."
+
+"You have told me little," I said, "of Eric and Emilius. Do they
+reside permanently in the lighthouse in which their mother died?"
+
+"They have a house in the village by the sea," replied Doctor Louis,
+"and they are in a certain sense fishermen on a large scale. The place
+has possessed for them a fascination, and it seemed as if they would
+never be able to tear themselves away from it. But their intimate
+association with it will soon be at an end."
+
+"In what way?"
+
+"They have sold their house and boats, and are coming to reside in
+Nerac for a time."
+
+I started and turned aside, for I did not wish Doctor Louis to see the
+cloud upon my face.
+
+"Only for a time?" I inquired.
+
+"It depends upon circumstances," said Doctor Louis. "If they are happy
+and contented in the present and in their prospects in the future,
+they will remain. Otherwise, they will seek a larger sphere."
+
+"Is this their idea?"
+
+"Not theirs alone. I am partly responsible. We have talked of it
+often, and I have urged them not to waste their lives in a village so
+small and primitive as that in which they were born."
+
+"Somewhat destructive of your own theories of happiness, doctor," I
+observed. "Yourself, for instance, wasting your life in a small place
+like Nerac, when by your gifts you are so well fitted to play your
+part in a large city."
+
+"I am selfish, I am afraid," he said with a deprecatory smile, "and am
+too much wrapped up in my own ease and comfort. At the same time you
+must bear in mind that mine is an exceptional case. It is a regretful
+thing to be compelled to say that the majority of lives and homes are
+less happy than my own. Often there is love, and poverty stands at the
+bright door which opens but on a scene of privation and ill-requited
+toil. Often there is wealth, in the use of which there has been an
+endeavour to purchase love, which, my friend, is not a marketable
+commodity. Often there are sorrow and sickness, and neither faith nor
+patience to lighten the load. It is my good fortune to have none of
+these ills. We have love and good health, and a sufficient share of
+worldly prosperity to provide for our days. Therefore I will leave
+myself out of the question. What!" he cried, interrupting himself in a
+tone at once light and earnest; "am I entirely useless in Nerac? Do I
+do no good whatever?"
+
+"You do much," I said, "and also do Eric and Emilius in their village.
+You have admitted that they are fishermen on a large scale, and
+possess boats. Consequently they employ labour, and the wages they pay
+support the homes of those who serve them."
+
+"With some young men," said Doctor Louis, with a good-humoured laugh,
+"there is no arguing. They are so keen in defence that they have a
+formidable parry for every thrust. To the point, then, without
+argument. Eric and Emilius have in them certain qualities which render
+me doubtful whether, as middle-aged men, they would be in their proper
+sphere in their village by the sea. The maidens there find no serious
+favour in their eyes."
+
+"Do they look," I asked, with a torturing pang of jealousy, "with a
+more appreciative eye upon the maidens in Nerac?"
+
+"Tush, tush," said Doctor Louis, in a kind tone, laying his hand upon
+my shoulder; "vex not yourself unnecessarily. Youth's hot blood is a
+torrent, restless by day and night, never satisfied, never content,
+for ever seeking cause to fret and fume. You have given evidence of
+wisdom, Gabriel--exercise it when it is most needed. You are still
+disturbed. Well, question me."
+
+"Of all the maidens in Nerac," I said, striving to speak with
+calmness, "Lauretta is the fairest and sweetest."
+
+"Go on, my friend. I, her father, will not gainsay you."
+
+"Is it because she is fairer and sweeter than any Eric and Emilius
+have seen in the village by the sea that they quit their home there,
+and come to live in Nerac?"
+
+"A plain question. Were I simply an ordinary friend of yours, and not
+Lauretta's father, I might feel inclined to play with you; but as
+it is, my happiness here is too largely at stake. Do not fall into
+error, Gabriel. Viewing with a selfish eye--a human failing, common
+enough--your own immediate affairs, forget not that I, Lauretta's
+father, am as deeply concerned in them as yourself. Never would I be
+guilty of the crime of forcing my child's affections. Do you think I
+love her less than you do? If it should be your happy fate to be a
+father, you will learn how much purer and higher is the love of a
+father than that which a young man, after an hour's acquaintance,
+bears for the maiden whom he would wed."
+
+"After an hour's acquaintance!" I exclaimed, somewhat hotly.
+
+"It cannot be said to be more," responded Doctor Louis gravely,
+"compared with my knowledge of my child."
+
+The retort was well-merited, and I murmured, "Forgive me!" The
+consistently sweet accents of Doctor Louis's voice produced in me, at
+this moment, a feeling of self-reproach, and a true sense of my
+petulance and imperiousness forced itself upon me.
+
+"There is little need to ask forgiveness," said Doctor Louis; "I can
+make full allowance for the impetuous passions of youth, and if I wish
+you to place a curb upon them it is for your welfare and that of my
+child. Indulgence in such extravagances leads to injustice. Gabriel, I
+will be entirely frank with you. Before your arrival in Nerac I had a
+slight suspicion that one of the brothers--towards both of whom I feel
+as a father--had an affection for Lauretta which might have ripened
+into love. It is in the nature of things that a beautiful girl should
+inspire a sentiment in the breasts of more than one man, but she can
+belong only to one, to him to whom her heart is drawn. What passed
+between us when you spoke to me as a lover of my daughter was honest
+and outspoken. The encouragement you received from me would have been
+withheld had it not been that I saw you occupied a place in Lauretta's
+heart, and that the one end and aim I have in view is her happiness."
+
+"Is it too much to ask," I said, "to which of the brothers you
+referred?"
+
+"Altogether too much," replied Doctor Louis. "It is an unrevealed
+secret, and the right is not mine to say more than I have said."
+
+I did not speak for a little while; I was the slave of conflicting
+passions. One moment I believed entirely in Doctor Louis; another
+moment I doubted him; and through all I was oppressed by a
+consciousness that I was doing him an injustice.
+
+"Anything more, Gabriel?" he asked. "Nothing special, sir," was my
+reply, "but in a general way."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Born under such singular circumstances, and of such a father as
+Silvain, it would not be unnatural to suppose that they might inherit
+some touch of his strangely sympathetic nature."
+
+"They have inherited it," said Doctor Louis; "there exists between
+them a sympathy as strange as that which existed in Silvain. I am at
+liberty to say nothing more."
+
+He spoke in a firm tone, and I did not question him further. As I
+accompanied him home we conversed upon general subjects, and I took
+pains to convey to him an assurance that there was nothing really
+serious in the ungracious temper I had displayed. He was relieved at
+this, and we fell into our old confidential manner with each other.
+
+I passed the evening, as usual, in the society of his wife and
+Lauretta. Peace descended upon me, and in the sweet presence of these
+pure women I was tranquil and happy. How lovely, how beautiful was
+this home of love and tender thought! The wild storms of life died
+away, and strains of soft, angelic music melted the heart, and made
+themselves heard even in the midst of the silences. Doctor Louis's
+gaiety returned to him; he smiled upon me, and indulged in many a
+harmless jest. I was charmed out of my moody humour, and contributed
+to the innocent enjoyment of the home circle. The hours passed till it
+was near bed-time, and then it was that a change came over me. Sitting
+by Lauretta's side, turning the pages of an illustrated book of
+travel, I heard the names of Eric and Emilius spoken by Doctor Louis.
+He was telling his wife of the impending change in their mode of life,
+and there was an affectionate note in his voice, and also in hers,
+which jarred upon me. I started to my feet, and they all turned to me
+in surprise. I recovered myself in a moment, and explained that I had
+suddenly thought of something which rendered it necessary that I
+should go at once to the house I had taken, and of which Martin Hartog
+was at present the sole custodian.
+
+"But you were not to leave us till the end of the week," expostulated
+Lauretta's mother. "Is it so very important?"
+
+"Indeed it is," I replied, "and should have been attended to earlier."
+
+"You will return?" she asked.
+
+"Not to-night. You need have no anxiety; everything is prepared, and I
+shall be quite comfortable."
+
+"My wife is thinking of the sheets," observed Doctor Louis jocosely;
+"whether they are properly aired."
+
+"I have seen to that," she said, "and there is a fire in every room."
+
+"Then we can safely let him go," rejoined Doctor Louis. "He is old
+enough to take care of himself, and, besides, he is now a householder,
+and has duties. We shall see you to-morrow, Gabriel?"
+
+"Yes, I shall be here in the morning."
+
+So I wished them good-night, and presently was out in the open,
+walking through dark shadows.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+
+In solitude I reviewed with amazement the occurrences of the last few
+moments. It seemed to me that I had been impelled to do what I had
+done by an occult agency outside myself. Not that I did not approve of
+it. It was in accordance with my intense wish and desire--which had
+lain dormant in the sweet society of Lauretta--to be alone, in order
+that I might, without interruption, think over the story I had heard
+from Doctor Louis's lips. And now that this wish and desire were
+gratified, the one figure which still rose vividly before me was the
+figure of Kristel. As I walked onward I followed the hapless man
+mentally in his just pursuit of the brother who had snatched the cup
+of happiness from his lips. Yes, it was just and right, and what he
+did I would have done under similar circumstances. Of all who had
+taken part in the tragic drama he, and he alone, commanded my
+sympathy.
+
+The distance from Doctor Louis's house to mine was under two miles,
+but I prolonged it by a _detour_ which brought me, without
+premeditation, to the inn known as the Three Black Crows. I had no
+intention of going there or of entering the inn, and yet, finding
+myself at the door, I pushed it open, and walked into the room in
+which the customers took their wine. This room was furnished with
+rough tables and benches, and I seated myself, and in response to the
+landlord's inquiry, ordered a bottle of his best, and invited him to
+share it with me. He, nothing loth, accepted the invitation, and sat
+at the table, emptying his glass, which I continued to fill for him,
+while my own remained untasted. I had been inside the Three Black
+Crows on only one occasion, in the company of Doctor Louis, and the
+landlord now expressed his gratitude for the honour I did him by
+paying him another visit. It was only the sense of his words which
+reached my ears, my attention being almost entirely drawn to two men
+who were seated at a table at the end of the room, drinking bad wine
+and whispering to each other. Observing my eyes upon them, the
+landlord said in a low tone, "Strangers."
+
+"You do not know them?" I asked.
+
+"Never saw them before," he replied.
+
+Their backs were towards me, and I could not see their faces, but I
+noticed that one was humpbacked, and that, to judge from their attire,
+they were poor peasants.
+
+"I asked them," said the landlord, "whether they wanted a bed, and
+they answered no, that they were going further. If they had stopped
+here the night I should have kept watch on them!"
+
+"Why?"
+
+"I don't like their looks, and my wife's a timorous creature. Then
+there's the children--you've seen my little ones, I think, sir?"
+
+"Yes, I have seen them. Surely those men would do them no harm!"
+
+"Perhaps not, sir; but a man, loving those near to him, thinks of the
+possibilities of things. I've got a bit of money in the house, to pay
+my rent that's due to-morrow, and one or two other accounts. They may
+have got scent of it."
+
+"Do you think they have come to Nerac on a robbing expedition?"
+
+"There's no telling. Roguery has a plain face, and the signs are in
+theirs, or my name's not what it is. When they said they were going
+further on I asked them where, and they said it was no business of
+mine. They gave me the same answer when I asked them where they came
+from. They're up to no good, that's certain, and the sooner they're
+out of the village the better for all of us."
+
+The more the worthy landlord talked the more settled became his
+instinctive conviction that the strangers were rogues.
+
+"If robbery is their errand," I said thoughtfully, "there are houses
+in Nerac which would yield them a better harvest than yours."
+
+"Of course there is," was his response. "Doctor Louis's, for one. He
+has generally some money about him, and his silver plate would be a
+prize. Are you going back there to-night, sir?"
+
+"No; I am on my road to my own house, and I came out of the way a
+little for the sake of the walk."
+
+"That's my profit, sir," said the landlord cheerfully. "I would offer
+to keep you company if it were not that I don't like to leave my
+place."
+
+"There's nothing to fear," I said; "if they molest me I shall be a
+match for them."
+
+"Still," urged the landlord, "I should leave before they do. It's as
+well to avoid a difficulty when we have the opportunity."
+
+I took the hint, and paid my score. To all appearance there was no
+reason for alarm on my part; during the time the landlord and I were
+conversing the strangers had not turned in our direction, and as we
+spoke in low tones they could not have heard what we said. They
+remained in the same position, with their backs towards us, now
+drinking in silence, now speaking in whispers to each other.
+
+Outside the Three Black Crows I walked slowly on, but I had not gone
+fifty yards before I stopped. What was in my mind was the reference
+made by the landlord to Doctor Louis's house and to its being worth
+the plundering. The doctor's house contained what was dearer to me
+than life or fortune. Lauretta was there. Should I leave her at the
+mercy of these scoundrels who might possibly have planned a robbery of
+the doctor's money and plate? In that case Lauretta would be in
+danger. My mind was instantly made up. I would return to the Three
+Black Crows, and look through the window of the room in which I had
+left the men, to ascertain whether they were still there. If they
+were, I would wait for them till they left the inn, and then would set
+a watch upon their movements. If they were gone I would hasten to the
+doctor's house, to render assistance, should any be needed. I had no
+weapon, with the exception of a small knife; could I not provide
+myself with something more formidable? A few paces from where I stood
+were some trees with stout branches. I detached one of these branches,
+and with my small knife fashioned it into a weapon which would serve
+my purpose. It was about four feet in length, thick at the striking
+end and tapering towards the other, so that it could be held with ease
+and used to good purpose. I tried it on the air, swinging it round and
+bringing it down with sufficient force to kill a man, or with
+certainty to knock the senses out of him in one blow. Then I returned
+to the inn, and looked through the window. In the settlement of my
+proceedings I had remembered there was a red blind over the window
+which did not entirely cover it, and through the uncovered space I now
+saw the strangers sitting at the table as I had left them.
+
+Taking care to make no noise I stepped away from the window, and took
+up a position from which I could see the door of the inn, which was
+closed. I myself was in complete darkness, and there was no moon to
+betray me; all that was needed from me was caution.
+
+I watched fully half an hour before the door of the inn was opened. No
+person had entered during my watch, the inhabitants of Nerac being
+early folk for rest and work. The two strangers lingered for a moment
+upon the threshold, peering out into the night; behind them was the
+landlord, with a candle in his hand. I did not observe that any words
+passed between them and the landlord; they stepped into the road, and
+the door was closed upon them. Then came the sounds of locking and
+bolting doors and windows. Then, silence.
+
+I saw the faces of the men as they stood upon the threshold; they were
+evil-looking fellows enough, and their clothes were of the commonest.
+
+For two or three minutes they did not stir; there had been nothing in
+their manner to arouse suspicion, and the fact of their lingering on
+the roadway seemed to denote that they were uncertain of the route
+they should take. That they raised their faces to the sky was not
+against them; it was a natural seeking for light to guide them.
+
+To the left lay the little nest of buildings amongst which were Father
+Daniel's chapel and modest house, and the more pretentious dwelling of
+Doctor Louis; to the right were the woods, at the entrance of which my
+own house was situated. Which road would the strangers take? The left,
+and it was part evidence of a guilty design. The right, and it would
+be part proof that the landlord's suspicions were baseless.
+
+They exchanged a few words which did not reach my ears. Then they
+moved onwards to the left. I grasped my weapon, and crept after them.
+
+But they walked only a dozen steps, and paused. I, also. In my mind
+was the thought, "Continue the route you have commenced, and you are
+dead men. Turn from it, and you are safe."
+
+The direction of the village was the more tempting to men who
+had no roof to shelter them, for the reason that in Father Daniel's
+chapel--which, built on an eminence, overlooked the village--lights
+were visible from the spot upon which I and they were standing. There
+was the chance of a straw bed and charity's helping hand, never
+withheld by the good priest from the poor and wretched. On their right
+was dense darkness; not a glimmer of light.
+
+Nevertheless, after the exchange of a few more words which, like the
+others, were unheard by me, they seemed to resolve to seek the
+gloomier way. They turned from the village, and facing me, walked past
+me in the direction of the woods.
+
+I breathed more freely, and fell into a curious mental consideration
+of the relief I experienced. Was it because, walking as they were from
+the village in which Lauretta was sleeping, I was spared the taking of
+these men's lives? No. It was because of the indication they afforded
+me that Lauretta was not in peril. In her defence I could have
+justified the taking of a hundred lives. No feeling of guilt would
+have haunted me; there would have been not only no remorse but no pity
+in my soul. The violation of the most sacred of human laws would be
+justified where Lauretta was concerned. She was mine, to cherish, to
+protect, to love--mine, inalienably. She belonged to no other man, and
+none should step between her and me--neither he whose ruffianly design
+threatened her with possible harm, nor he, in a higher and more
+polished grade, who strove to win her affections and wrest them from
+me. In an equal way both were equally my enemies, and I should be
+justified in acting by them as Kristel had acted to Silvain.
+
+Ah, but he had left it too late. Not so would I. Let but the faintest
+breath of certainty wait upon suspicion, and I would scotch it
+effectually for once and all. Had Kristel possessed the strange power
+in his hours of dreaming which Silvain possessed, he would not have
+been robbed of the happiness which was his by right. He would have
+been forewarned, and Avicia would have been his wife. In every step in
+life he took there would have been the fragrance of flowers around
+him, and a heavenly light. Thus, with me, and for me.
+
+Did I, then, admit that there was any resemblance in the characters of
+Avicia and Lauretta? No; one was a weed, the other a rose. Here
+coarseness, there refinement. Here low desire and cunning; there
+angelic purity and goodness. But immeasurably beneath Lauretta as
+Avicia was, Kristel's love for the girl would have made her radiant
+and spotless.
+
+All this time I was stealthily following the strangers to the woods.
+Once I tripped. The sound arrested them; they clutched each other in
+fear.
+
+"What was that?" one said hoarsely. "Are we being followed?"
+
+I stood motionless, and they stood without movement for many moments.
+Then they simultaneously emitted a deep-drawn sigh.
+
+"It was the wind," said the man who had already spoken.
+
+I smiled in contempt; not a breath of wind was stirring; there was not
+the flutter of a leaf, not the waving of the lightest branch. All was
+still and quiet.
+
+They resumed their course, and I crept after them noiselessly. They
+entered the wood; the trees grew more thickly clustered.
+
+"This will do," I heard one say; and upon the words they threw
+themselves to the ground, and fell into slumber.
+
+Sleep came to them instantaneously. I bent over them and was
+satisfied. The landlord of the Three Black Crows was mistaken. I moved
+softly away, and when I was at a safe distance from them I lit a match
+and looked at my watch; it was twenty minutes to eleven, and before
+the minute-hand had passed the hour I arrived at my house. The door
+was fast, but I saw a light in the lower room of the gardener's
+cottage, which I had given to Martin Hartog as a residence for him and
+his daughter.
+
+"Hartog is awake," I thought; "expecting me perhaps."
+
+I knocked at the door of the cottage, and received no answer; I
+knocked again with the same result.
+
+"Hartog! Hartog!" I called; and still no answer came.
+
+The door had fastenings of lock and latch. I put my hand to the latch,
+and finding that the key had not been turned in the lock, opened the
+door and entered. Martin Hartog was not there.
+
+The room, however, was not without an occupant. At the table sat a
+young girl, the gardener's daughter, asleep. She lay back in her
+chair, and the light shone upon her face. I had seen her when she was
+awake, and knew that she was beautiful, but as I gazed now upon her
+sleeping form I was surprised to discover that she was even fairer
+than I had supposed. She had hair of dark brown, which curled most
+gracefully about her brow and head; her face, in its repose, was sweet
+to look upon; she was not dressed as the daughter of a labouring man,
+but with a certain daintiness and taste which deepened my surprise;
+there was lace at her sleeves and around her white neck. Had I not
+known her station I should have taken her for a lady. She was young,
+not more than eighteen or nineteen I judged, and life's springtime lay
+sweetly upon her. There was a smile of wistful tenderness on her lips.
+
+Her left arm was extended over the table, and her hand rested upon the
+portrait of a man, almost concealing the features. Her right hand,
+which was on her lap, enfolded a letter, and that and the
+portrait--which, without curious prying, I saw was not that of her
+father--doubtless were the motive of a pleasant dream.
+
+I took in all this in a momentary glance, and quickly left the room,
+closing the door behind me. Then I knocked loudly and roughly, and
+heard the hurried movements of a sudden awaking. She came to the door
+and cried softly, "Is that you, father? The door is unlocked."
+
+"It is I," I said. "Is your father not at home then?"
+
+She opened the door, and fell back a step in confusion.
+
+"I should have let your father know," I said, "that I intended to
+sleep here to-night--but indeed it was a hasty decision. I hope I have
+not alarmed you."
+
+"Oh, no, sir," she said. "We did not expect you. Father is away on
+business; I expected him home earlier, and waiting for him I fell
+asleep. The servants are not coming till to-morrow morning."
+
+"I know. Have you the keys?"
+
+She gave them to me, and asked if she could do anything for me. I
+answered no, that there was nothing required. As I wished her
+good-night a man's firm steps were heard, and Martin Hartog appeared.
+He cast swift glances at his daughter and me, and it struck me that
+they were not devoid of suspicion. I explained matters, and he
+appeared contented with my explanation; then bidding his daughter go
+indoors he accompanied me to the house.
+
+There was a fire in my bedroom, almost burnt out, and the handiwork of
+an affectionate and capable housewife was everywhere apparent. Martin
+Hartog showed an inclination then and there to enter into particulars
+of the work he had done in the grounds during my absence, but I told
+him I was tired, and dismissed him. I listened to his retreating
+footsteps, and when I heard the front door closed I blew out the
+candle and sat before the dying embers in the grate. Darkness was best
+suited to my mood, and I sat and mused upon the events of the last
+forty-eight hours. Gradually my thoughts became fixed upon the figures
+of the two strangers I had left sleeping in the woods, in connection
+with the suspicion of their designs which the landlord had imparted to
+me. So concentrated was my attention that I re-enacted all the
+incidents of which they were the inspirers--the fashioning of the
+branch into a weapon, the watch I had set upon them, their issuing
+from the inn, the landlord standing behind with the candle in his
+hand, their lingering in the road, the first steps they took towards
+the village, their turning back, and my stealthy pursuit after
+them--not the smallest detail was omitted. I do not remember
+undressing and going to bed. Encompassed by silence and darkness I was
+only spiritually awake.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XIX.
+
+
+I was aroused at about eight o'clock in the morning by the arrival of
+the servants of the household whom Lauretta's mother had engaged for
+me, They comprised a housekeeper, who was to cook and generally
+superintend, and two stout wenches to do the rougher work. In such a
+village as Nerac these, in addition to Martin Hartog, constituted an
+establishment of importance.
+
+They had been so well schooled by Lauretta's mother before commencing
+the active duties of their service, that when I rose I found the
+breakfast-table spread, and the housekeeper in attendance to receive
+my orders. This augured well, and I experienced a feeling of
+satisfaction at the prospect of the happy life before me. Like mother,
+like daughter. Lauretta would be not only a sweet and loving
+companion, but the same order and regularity would reign in our home
+as in the home of her childhood. I blessed the chance, if chance it
+was, which had led me to Nerac, and as I paced the room and thought of
+Lauretta, I said audibly, "Thank God!"
+
+Breakfast over, I strolled into the grounds, and made a careful
+inspection of the work which Martin Hartog had performed. The
+conspicuous conscientiousness of his labours added to my satisfaction,
+and I gave expression to it. He received my approval in manly fashion,
+and said he would be glad if I always spoke my mind, "as I always
+speak mine," he added. It pleased me that he was not subservient; in
+all conditions of life a man owes it to himself to maintain, within
+proper bounds, a spirit of independence. While he was pointing out to
+me this and that, and urging me to make any suggestions which occurred
+to me, his daughter came up to us and said that a man wished to speak
+to me. I asked who the man was, and she replied, "The landlord of the
+Three Black Crows." Curious as to his purpose in making so early a
+call, and settling it with myself that his errand was on business, in
+connection, perhaps, with some wine he wished to dispose of, I told
+the young woman to send him to me, and presently he appeared. There
+was an expression of awkwardness, I thought, in his face as he stood
+before me, cap in hand.
+
+"Well, landlord," I said smiling; "you wish to see me?"
+
+"Yes, sir." And there he stopped.
+
+"Go on," I said, wondering somewhat at his hesitation.
+
+"Can I speak to you alone, sir?"
+
+"Certainly. Hartog, I will see you again presently."
+
+Martin Hartog took the hint, and left us together.
+
+"Now, landlord," I said.
+
+"It's about those two men, sir, you saw in my place last night."
+
+"Those two men?" I said, pondering, and then a light broke upon me,
+and I thought it singular--as indeed it was--that no recollection,
+either of the men or the incidents in association with them should
+have occurred to me since my awaking. "Yes?"
+
+"_You_ are quite safe, sir," said the landlord, "I am glad to find."
+
+"Quite safe, landlord; but why should you be so specially glad?"
+
+"Nothing's happened here then, sir?"
+
+"Nothing."
+
+"That's what brought me round so early this morning, for one thing; I
+was afraid something _might_ have happened."
+
+"Kindly explain yourself," I said, not at all impatient, but amused
+rather. "What _might_ have happened?"
+
+"Well, sir, they might have found out, somehow or other, that you were
+sleeping in the house alone last night"--and here he broke off and
+asked, "You _did_ sleep here alone last night?"
+
+"Certainly I did, and a capital night's rest I had."
+
+"Glad to hear that, sir. As I was saying, if they had found out that
+you were sleeping here alone, they might have taken it into their
+heads to trouble you."
+
+"They might, landlord, but facts are stubborn things. They did not,
+evidently."
+
+"I understand that now, sir, but I had my fears, and that's what
+brought me round for one thing."
+
+"An expression you have used once before, landlord. 'For one thing.' I
+infer there must be another thing in your mind."
+
+"There is, sir. You haven't heard then?"
+
+"As yet I have heard nothing but a number of very enigmatical
+observations from you with respect to those men. Ah, yes, I remember;
+you had your doubts of them when I visited you on my road home?"
+
+"I had sir; I told you I didn't like the looks of them, and that I was
+not easy in my mind about my own family, and the bit of money I had in
+my place to pay my rent with, and one or two other accounts."
+
+"That is so; you are bringing the whole affair back to me. I saw the
+men after I left the Three Black Crows."
+
+"You did, sir! When? Where?"
+
+"To tell you would be to interrupt what you have come here to say. No
+more roundabouts, landlord. Say what you have to say right on."
+
+"Well, sir, this is the way of it. I suspected them from the first,
+and you will bear witness of it before the magistrate. They were
+strangers in Nerac, but that is no reason why I should have refused to
+sell them a bottle of red wine when they asked for it. It's my trade
+to supply customers, and the wine was the worst I had, consequently
+the cheapest. I had no right to ask their business, and if they chose
+to answer me uncivilly, it was their affair. I wouldn't tell everybody
+mine on the asking. They paid for the wine, and there was an end of
+it. They called for another bottle, and when I brought it I did not
+draw the cork till I had the money for it, and as they wouldn't pay
+the price--not having it about 'em--the cork wasn't drawn, and the
+bottle went back. I had trouble to get rid of them, but they stumbled
+out at last, and I saw no more of them. Now, sir, you will remember
+that when we were speaking of them Doctor Louis's house was mentioned
+as a likely house for rogues to break into and rob."
+
+"A moment," I interrupted in agitation. "Doctor Louis is safe?"
+
+"Quite safe, sir."
+
+"And his wife and daughter?"
+
+"Quite safe, sir."
+
+"Go on."
+
+"The villains couldn't hear what we said, no more than we could hear
+what they were whispering about. But they had laid their plans, and
+tried to hatch them--worse luck for one, if not for both the
+scoundrels; but the other will be caught and made to pay for it. What
+they did between the time they left the Three Black Crows and the time
+they made an attempt to break into Doctor Louis's is at present a
+mystery. Don't be alarmed, sir; I see that my news has stirred you,
+but they have only done harm to themselves. No one else is a bit the
+worse for their roguery. Doctor Louis and his good wife and daughter
+slept through the night undisturbed; nothing occurred to rouse or
+alarm them. They got up as usual, the doctor being the first--he is
+known as an early riser. As it happened, it was fortunate that he was
+outside his house before his lady, for although we in Nerac have an
+idea that she is as brave as she is good, a woman, after all, is only
+a woman, and the sight of blood is what few of them can stand."
+
+"The sight of blood!" I exclaimed. But that I was assured that
+Lauretta was safe and well, I should not have wasted a moment on the
+landlord, eager as I was to learn what he had come to tell. My mind,
+however, was quite at ease with respect to my dear girl, and the next
+few minutes were not so precious that I could not spare them to hear
+the landlord's strange story.
+
+"That," he resumed, "is what the doctor saw when he went to the back
+of his house. Blood on the ground--and what is more, what would have
+given the ladies a greater shock, there before him was the body of a
+man--dead."
+
+"What man?" I asked.
+
+"That I can't for a certainty say, sir, because I haven't seen him as
+yet. I'm telling the story second-hand, as it was told to me a while
+ago by one who had come straight from the doctor's house. There was
+the blood, and there the man; and from the description I should say it
+was one of the men who were drinking in my place last night. It is not
+ascertained at what time of the night he and his mate tried to break
+into the doctor's house, but the attempt was made. There is the
+evidence of it. They commenced to bore a hole in one of the shutters
+at the back; the hole made, it would have been easy to enlargen it,
+and so to draw the fastenings. However, they did not get so far as
+that. They could scarcely have been at their scoundrelly work a minute
+or two before it came to an end."
+
+"How and by whom were they interrupted, landlord? That, of course, is
+known?"
+
+"It is not known, sir, and it's just at this point that the mystery
+commences. There they are at their work, and likely to be successful.
+A dark night, and not a watchman in the village. Never a need for one,
+sir. Plenty of time before them, and desperate men they. Only one man
+in the house, the good doctor; all the others women, easily dealt
+with. Robbery first--if interfered with, murder afterwards. They
+wouldn't have stuck at it, not they! But there it was, sir, as God
+willed. Not a minute at work, and something occurs. The question is,
+what? The man lies dead on the ground, with a gimlet in his hand, and
+Doctor Louis, in full sunlight, stands looking down on the strange
+sight."
+
+"The man lies dead on the ground," I said, repeating the landlord's
+words; "but there were two."
+
+"No sign of the other, sir; he's a vanished body. People are out
+searching for him."
+
+"He will be found," I said----
+
+"It's to be hoped," interrupted the landlord.
+
+"And then what you call a mystery will be solved."
+
+"It's beyond me, sir," said the landlord, with a puzzled air.
+
+"It is easy enough. These two scoundrels, would-be murderers, plan a
+robbery, and proceed to execute it. They are ill-conditioned
+creatures, no better than savages, swayed by their passions, in which
+there is no show of reason. They quarrel, perhaps, about the share of
+the spoil which each shall take, and are not wise enough to put aside
+their quarrel till they are in possession of the booty. They continue
+their dispute, and in such savages their brutal passions once roused,
+swell and grow to a fitting climax of violence. So with these.
+Probably the disagreement commenced on their way to the house, and had
+reached an angry point when one began to bore a hole in the shutter.
+This one it was who was found dead. The proof was in his hand--the
+gimlet with which he was working."
+
+"Well conceived, sir," said the landlord, following with approval my
+speculative explanation.
+
+"This man's face," I continued, "would be turned toward the shutter,
+his back to his comrade. Into this comrade's mind darts, like a
+lightning flash, the idea of committing the robbery alone, and so
+becoming the sole possessor of the treasure."
+
+"Good, sir, good," said the landlord, rubbing his hands.
+
+"No sooner conceived than executed. Out comes his knife, or perhaps he
+has it ready in his hand, opened."
+
+"Why opened, sir? Would it not be a fixed blade?"
+
+"No; such men carry clasp-knives. They are safest, and never attract
+notice."
+
+"You miss nothing, sir," said the landlord admiringly. "What a
+magistrate you would have made!"
+
+"He plunges it into his fellow-scoundrel's back, who falls dead, with
+the gimlet in his hand. The murder is explained."
+
+The landlord nodded excitedly, and continued to rub his hands; then
+suddenly stood quite still, with an incredulous expression on his
+face.
+
+"But the robbery is not committed," he exclaimed; "the house is not
+broken into, and the scoundrel gets nothing for his pains."
+
+With superior wisdom I laid a patronising hand upon his shoulder.
+
+"The deed done," I said, "the murderer, gazing upon his dead comrade,
+is overcome with fear. He has been rash--he may be caught red-handed;
+the execution of the robbery will take time. He is not familiar with
+the habits of the village, and does not know it has no guardians of
+the night. One may stroll that way and make discovery. Fool that he
+was! He has not only committed murder, he has robbed himself. Better
+to have waited till they had possession of the treasure; but this kind
+of logic always comes afterwards to ill-regulated minds. Under the
+influence of his newly-born fears he recognises that every moment is
+precious; he dare not linger; he dare not carry out the scheme.
+Shuddering, he flies from the spot, with rage and despair in his
+heart. Unhappy wretch! The curse of Cain is upon him."
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XX.
+
+
+The landlord, who was profuse in the expressions of his admiration at
+the light I had thrown upon the case, so far as it was known to us,
+accompanied me to the house of Doctor Louis. It was natural that I
+should find Lauretta and her mother in a state of agitation, and it
+was sweet to me to learn that it was partly caused by their anxieties
+for my safety. Doctor Louis was not at home, but had sent a messenger
+to my house to inquire after me, and to give me some brief account of
+the occurrences of the night. We did not meet this messenger on our
+way to the doctor's; he must have taken a different route from ours.
+
+"You did wrong to leave us last night," said Lauretta's mother
+chidingly.
+
+I shook my head, and answered that it was but anticipating the date of
+my removal by a few days, and that my presence in her house would not
+have altered matters.
+
+"Everything was right at home," I said. Home! What inexpressible
+sweetness there was in the word! "Martin Hartog showed me to my room,
+and the servants you engaged came early this morning, and attended to
+me as though they had known my ways and tastes for years."
+
+"You slept well?" she asked.
+
+"A dreamless night," I replied; "but had I suspected what was going on
+here, I should not have been able to rest."
+
+"I am glad you had no suspicion, Gabriel; you would have been in
+danger. Dreadful as it all is, it is a comfort to know that the
+misguided men do not belong to our village."
+
+Her merciful heart could find no harsher term than this to apply to
+the monsters, and it pained her to hear me say, "One has met his
+deserved fate; it is a pity the other has escaped." But I could not
+keep back the words.
+
+Doctor Louis had left a message for me to follow him to the office of
+the village magistrate, where the affair was being investigated, but
+previous to going thither, I went to the back of the premises to make
+an inspection. The village boasted of one constable, and he was now on
+duty, in a state of stupefaction. His orders were to allow nothing to
+be disturbed, but his bewilderment was such that it would have been
+easy for an interested person to do as he pleased in the way of
+alteration. A stupid lout, with as much intelligence as a vegetable.
+However, I saw at once that nothing had been disturbed. The shutter in
+which a hole had been bored was closed; there were blood stains on the
+stones, and I was surprised that they were so few; the gate by which
+the villains had effected an entrance into the garden was open; I
+observed some particles of sawdust on the window-ledge just below
+where the hole had been bored. All that had been removed was the body
+of the man who had been murdered by his comrade.
+
+I put two or three questions to the constable, and he managed to
+answer in monosyllables, yes and no, at random. "A valuable
+assistant," I thought, "in unravelling a mysterious case!" And then I
+reproached myself for the sneer. Happy was a village like Nerac in
+which crime was so rare, and in which an official so stupid was
+sufficient for the execution of the law.
+
+The first few stains of blood I noticed were close to the window, and
+the stones thereabout had been disturbed, as though by the falling of
+a heavy body.
+
+"Was the man's body," I inquired of the constable, "lifted from this
+spot?"
+
+He looked down vacantly and said, "Yes."
+
+"You are sure?" I asked.
+
+"Sure," he said after a pause, but whether the word was spoken in
+reply to my question, or as a question he put to himself, I could not
+determine.
+
+I continued my examination of the grounds. From the open gate to the
+window was a distance of forty-eight yards; I stepped exactly a yard,
+and I counted my steps. The path from gate to window was shaped like
+the letter S, and was for the most part defined by tall shrubs on
+either side, of a height varying from six to nine feet. Through this
+path the villains had made their way to the window; through this path
+the murderer, leaving his comrade dead, had made his escape. Their
+operations, for their own safety's sake, must undoubtedly have been
+conducted while the night was still dark. Reasonable also to conclude
+that, being strangers in the village (although by some means they must
+have known beforehand that Doctor Louis's house was worth the
+plundering), they could not have been acquainted with the devious
+turns in the path from the gate to the window. Therefore they must
+have felt their way through, touching the shrubs with their hands,
+most likely breaking some of the slender stalks, until they arrived at
+the open space at the back of the building.
+
+These reflections impelled me to make a careful inspection of the
+shrubs, and I was very soon startled by a discovery. Here and there
+some stalks were broken and torn away, and here and there were
+indisputable evidences that the shrubs had been grasped by human
+hands. It was not this that startled me, for it was in accordance with
+my own train of reasoning, but it was that there were stains of blood
+on the broken stalks, especially upon those which had been roughly
+torn from the parent tree. I seemed to see a man, with blood about
+him, staggering blindly through the path, snatching at the shrubs both
+for support and guidance, and the loose stalks falling from his hands
+as he went. Two men entered the grounds, only one left--that one, the
+murderer. The blood stains indicated a struggle. Between whom? Between
+the victim and the perpetrator of the deed? In that case, what became
+of the theory of action I had so elaborately described to the landlord
+of the Three Black Crows? I had imagined an instantaneous impulse of
+crime and its instantaneous execution. I had imagined a death as
+sudden as it was violent, a deed from which the murderer had escaped
+without the least injury to himself; and here, on both sides of me,
+were the clearest proofs that the man who had fled must have been
+grievously wounded. My ingenuity was at fault in the endeavour to
+bring these signs into harmony with the course of events I had
+invented in my interview with the landlord.
+
+I went straight to the office of the magistrate, a small building of
+four rooms on the ground floor, the two in front being used as the
+magistrate's private room and court, the two in the rear as cells, not
+at all uncomfortable, for aggressors of the law. It was but rarely
+that they were occupied. At the door of the court I encountered Father
+Daniel. He was pale, and much shaken. During his lifetime no such
+crime had been perpetrated in the village, and his only comfort was
+that the actors in it were strangers. But that did not lessen his
+horror of the deed, and his large heart overflowed with pity both for
+the guilty man and the victim.
+
+"So sudden a death!" he said, in a voice broken by tears. "No time for
+repentance! Thrust before the Eternal Presence weighed down by sin! I
+have been praying by his side for mercy, and for mercy upon his
+murderer. Poor sinners! poor sinners!"
+
+I could not sympathise with his sentiments, and I told him so sternly.
+He made no attempt to convert me to his views, but simply said, "All
+men should pray that they may never be tempted."
+
+And so he left me, and turned in the direction of his little chapel to
+offer up prayers for the dead and the living sinners.
+
+Doctor Louis was with the magistrate; they had been discussing
+theories, and had heard from the landlord of the Three Black Crows my
+own ideas of the movements of the strangers on the previous night.
+
+"In certain respects you may be right in your speculations," the
+magistrate said; "but on one important point you are in error."
+
+"I have already discovered," I said, "that my theory is wrong, and not
+in accordance with fact; but we will speak of that presently. What is
+the point you refer to?"
+
+"As to the weapon with which the murder was done," replied the
+magistrate, a shrewd man, whose judicial perceptions fitted him for a
+larger sphere of duties than he was called upon to perform in Nerac.
+"No knife was used."
+
+"What, then, was the weapon?" I asked.
+
+"A club of some sort," said the magistrate, "with which the dead man
+was suddenly attacked from behind."
+
+"Has it been found?"
+
+"No, but a search is being made for it and also for the murderer."
+
+"On that point we are agreed. There is no shadow of doubt that the
+missing man is guilty."
+
+"There can be none," said the magistrate.
+
+"And yet," urged Doctor Louis, in a gentle tone, "to condemn a man
+unheard is repugnant to justice."
+
+"There are circumstances," said the magistrate, "which point so surely
+to guilt that it would be inimical to justice to dispute them. By the
+way," he continued, addressing me, "did not the landlord of the Three
+Black Crows mention something to the effect that you were at his inn
+last night after you left Dr. Louis's house, and that you and he had a
+conversation respecting the strangers, who were at that time in the
+same room as yourselves?"
+
+"If he did," I said, "he stated what is correct. I was there, and saw
+the strangers, of whom the landlord entertained suspicions which have
+been proved to be well founded."
+
+"Then you will be able to identify the body, already," added the
+magistrate, "identified by the landlord. Confirmatory evidence
+strengthens a case."
+
+"I shall be able to identify it," I said.
+
+We went to the inner room, and I saw at a glance that it was one of
+the strangers who had spent the evening at the Three Black Crows, and
+whom I had afterwards watched and followed.
+
+"The man who has escaped," I observed, "was hump backed."
+
+"That tallies with the landlord's statement," said the magistrate.
+
+"I have something to relate," I said, upon our return to the court,
+"of my own movements last night after I quitted the inn."
+
+I then gave the magistrate and Doctor Louis a circumstantial account
+of my movements, without, however, entering into a description of my
+thoughts, only in so far as they affected my determination to protect
+the doctor and his family from evil designs.
+
+They listened with great interest, and Doctor Louis pressed my hand.
+He understood and approved of the solicitude I had experienced for the
+safety of his household; it was a guarantee that I would watch over
+his daughter with love and firmness and protect her from harm.
+
+"But you ran a great risk, Gabriel," he said affectionately.
+
+"I did not consider that," I said.
+
+The magistrate looked on and smiled; a father himself, he divined the
+undivulged ties by which I and Doctor Louis were bound.
+
+"At what time," he asked, "do you say you left the rogues asleep in
+the woods?"
+
+"It was twenty minutes to eleven," I replied, "and at eleven o'clock I
+reached my house, and was received by Martin Hartog's daughter. Hartog
+was absent, on business his daughter said, and while we were talking,
+and I was taking the keys from her hands, Hartog came home, and
+accompanied me to my bedroom."
+
+"Were you at all disturbed in your mind for the safety of your friends
+in consequence of what had passed?"
+
+"Not in the least. The men I left slumbering in the woods appeared to
+me to be but ordinary tramps, without any special evil intent, and I
+was satisfied and relieved. I could not have slept else; it is seldom
+that I have enjoyed a better night."
+
+"Cunning rascals! May not their slumbers have been feigned?"
+
+"I think not. They were in a profound sleep; I made sure of that. No,
+I could not have been mistaken."
+
+"It is strange," mused Doctor Louis, "how guilt can sleep, and can
+forget the present and the future!"
+
+I then entered into an account of the inspection I had made of the
+path from the gate to the window; it was the magistrate's opinion,
+from the position in which the body was found, that there had been no
+struggle between the two men, and here he and I were in agreement.
+What I now narrated materially weakened his opinion, as it had
+materially weakened mine, and he was greatly perplexed. He was annoyed
+also that the signs I had discovered, which confirmed the notion that
+a struggle must have taken place, had escaped the attention of his
+assistants. He himself had made but a cursory examination of the
+grounds, his presence being necessary in the court to take the
+evidence of witnesses, to receive reports, and to issue instructions.
+
+"There are so many things to be considered," said Doctor Louis, "in a
+case like this, resting as it does at present entirely upon
+circumstantial evidence, that it is scarcely possible some should not
+be lost sight of. Often those that are omitted are of greater weight
+than those which are argued out laboriously and with infinite
+patience. Justice is blind, but the law must be Argus-eyed. You
+believe, Gabriel, that there must have been a struggle in my garden?"
+
+"Such is now my belief," I replied.
+
+"Such signs as you have brought before our notice," continued the
+doctor, "are to you an indication that the man who escaped must have
+met with severe treatment?"
+
+"Undoubtedly."
+
+"Therefore, that the struggle was a violent one?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And prolonged?"
+
+"That is the feasible conclusion."
+
+"Such a struggle could not have taken place without considerable
+disarrangement about the spot in which it occurred. On an even
+pavement you would not look for any displacement of the stones; the
+utmost you could hope to discover would be the scratches made by iron
+heels. But the path from the gate of my house to the back garden, and
+all the walking spaces in the garden itself, are formed of loose
+stones and gravel. No such struggle could take place there without
+conspicuous displacement of the materials of which the ground is
+composed. If it took place amongst the flowers, the beds would bear
+evidence. I observed no disorder in the flower beds. Did you?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Then did you observe such a disarrangement of the stones and gravel
+as I consider would be necessary evidence of the struggle in which you
+suppose these men to have been engaged?"
+
+I was compelled to admit--but I admitted it grudgingly and
+reluctantly--that such a disarrangement had not come within my
+observation.
+
+"That is partially destructive of your theory," pursued the doctor.
+"There is still something further of moment which I consider it my duty
+to say. You are a sound sleeper ordinarily, and last night you slept
+more soundly than usual. I, unfortunately, am a light sleeper, and it
+is really a fact that last night I slept more lightly than usual. I
+think, Gabriel, you were to some extent the cause of this. I am
+affected by changes in my domestic arrangements; during many pleasant
+weeks you have resided in our house, and last night was the first, for
+a long time past, that you slept away from us. It had an influence
+upon me; then, apart from your absence, I was thinking a great deal of
+you." (Here I observed the magistrate smile again, a fatherly
+benignant smile.) "As a rule I am awakened by the least noise--the
+dripping of water, the fall of an inconsiderable object, the mewing of
+a cat, the barking of a dog. Now, last night I was not disturbed,
+unusually wakeful as I was. The wonder is that I was not aroused by
+the boring of the hole in the shutter; the unfortunate wretch must
+have used his gimlet very softly and warily, and under any
+circumstances the sound produced by such a tool is of a light nature.
+But had any desperate struggle taken place in the garden it would have
+aroused me to a certainty, and I should have hastened down to
+ascertain the cause. Gabriel, no such struggle occurred."
+
+"Then," said the magistrate, "how do you account for the injuries the
+man who escaped must have undoubtedly received?"
+
+The words were barely uttered when we all started to our feet. There
+was a great scuffling outside, and cries and loud voices. The door was
+pushed open and half-a-dozen men rushed into the room, guarding one
+whose arms were bound by ropes. He was in a dreadful condition, and so
+weak that, without support, he could not have kept his feet. I
+recognised him instantly; he was the hump backed man I had seen in the
+Three Black Crows.
+
+He lifted his eyes and they fell on the magistrate; from him they
+wandered to Doctor Louis; from him they wandered to me. I was gazing
+steadfastly and sternly upon him, and as his eyes met mine his head
+drooped to his breast and hung there, while a strong shuddering ran
+through him.
+
+
+
+
+                             CHAPTER XXI.
+
+
+The examination of the prisoner by the magistrate lasted but a very
+short time, for the reason that no replies of any kind could be
+obtained to the questions put to him. He maintained a dogged silence,
+and although the magistrate impressed upon him that this silence was
+in itself a strong proof of his guilt, and that if he had anything to
+say in his defence it would be to his advantage to say it at once, not
+a word could be extracted from him, and he was taken to his cell,
+instructions being given that he should not be unbound and that a
+strict watch should be kept over him. While the unsuccessful
+examination was proceeding I observed the man two or three times raise
+his eyes furtively to mine, or rather endeavour to raise them, for he
+could not, for the hundredth part of a second, meet my stern gaze, and
+each time he made the attempt it ended in his drooping his head with a
+shudder. On other occasions I observed his eyes wandering round the
+room in a wild, disordered way, and these proceedings, which to my
+mind were the result of a low, premeditated cunning, led me to the
+conclusion that he wished to convey the impression that he was not in
+his right senses, and therefore not entirely responsible for his
+crime. When the monster was taken away I spoke of this, and the
+magistrate fell in with my views, and said that the assumption of
+pretended insanity was not an uncommon trick on the part of criminals.
+I then asked him and Doctor Louis whether they would accompany me in a
+search for the weapon with which the dreadful deed was committed (for
+none had been found on the prisoner), and in a further examination of
+the ground the man had traversed after he had killed his comrade in
+guilt. Doctor Louis expressed his willingness, but the magistrate said
+he had certain duties to attend to which would occupy him half an hour
+or so, and that he would join us later on. So Doctor Louis and I
+departed alone to continue the investigation I had already commenced.
+
+We began at the window at the back of the doctor's house, and I again
+propounded to Doctor Louis my theory of the course of events, to which
+he listened attentively, but was no more convinced than he had been
+before that a struggle had taken place.
+
+"But," he said, "whether a struggle for life did or did not take place
+there is not the slightest doubt of the man's guilt, I have always
+viewed circumstantial evidence with the greatest suspicion, but in
+this instance I should have no hesitation, were I the monster's judge,
+to mete out to him the punishment for his crime."
+
+Shortly afterwards we were joined by the magistrate who had news to
+communicate to us.
+
+"I have had," he said, "another interview with the prisoner, and have
+succeeded in unlocking his tongue. I went to his cell, unaccompanied,
+and again questioned him. To my surprise he asked me if I was alone. I
+moved back a pace or two, having the idea that he had managed to
+loosen the ropes by which he was bound, and that he wished to know if
+I was alone for the purpose of attacking me. In a moment, however, the
+fear was dispelled, for I saw that his arms were tightly and closely
+bound to his side, and that it was out of his power to injure me. He
+repeated his question, and I answered that I was quite alone, and that
+his question was a foolish one, for he had the evidence of his senses
+to convince him. He shook his head at this, and said in a strange
+voice that the evidence of his senses was sufficient in the case of
+men and women, but not in the case of spirits and demons. I smiled
+inwardly at this--for it does not do for a magistrate to allow a
+prisoner from whom he wishes to extract evidence to detect any signs
+of levity in his judge--and I thought of the view you had presented to
+me that the man wished to convey an impression that he was a madman,
+in order to escape to some extent the consequences of the crime he had
+committed. 'Put spirits and demons,' I said to him, 'out of the
+question. If you have anything to say or confess, speak at once; and
+if you wish to convince yourself that there are no witnesses either in
+this cell--though that is plainly evident--or outside, here is the
+proof.' I threw open the door, and showed him that no one was
+listening to our speech. 'I cannot put spirits or demons out of the
+question,' he said, 'because I am haunted by one, who has brought me
+to this.' He looked down at his ropes and imprisoned limbs. 'Are you
+guilty or not guilty?' I asked. 'I am not guilty,' he replied; 'I did
+not kill him.' 'But he is murdered,' I said. 'Yes,' he replied, 'he is
+murdered.' 'If you did not kill him,' I continued, 'who did?' What do
+you think he answered? 'A demon killed him,' he said, 'and would have
+killed me, if I had not fled and played him a trick.' I gazed at him
+in thought, wondering whether he had the slightest hope that he was
+imposing upon me by his lame attempt at being out of his senses. 'A
+demon?' I said questioningly. 'Yes, a demon,' he replied. 'But,' I
+said, and I admit that my tone was somewhat bantering, 'demons are
+more powerful than mortals.' 'That is where it is,' he said; 'that is
+why I am here.' 'You are a clumsy scoundrel,' I said, 'and I will
+prove it to you; then you may be induced to speak the truth--in
+which,' I added, 'lies your only hope of a mitigation of punishment.
+Not that I hold out to you any such hope; but if you can establish,
+when you are ready to confess, that what you did was done in
+self-defence, it will be a point in your favour.' 'I cannot confess,'
+he said, 'to a crime which I did not commit. I am a clumsy scoundrel
+perhaps, but not in the way you mean. Prove it to me if you can.' 'You
+say,' I began, 'that a demon killed your comrade.' 'He did,' persisted
+the prisoner. 'And,' I continued, 'that he would have killed you if
+you had not fled from him.' 'He would,' said the prisoner. 'But,' I
+said, 'demons are more powerful than men. Of what avail would have
+been your flight? Men can only walk or run; demons can fly. The demon
+you have invented could have easily overtaken you and finished you as
+you say he finished the man you murdered.' He was a little staggered
+at this, and I saw him pondering over it. 'It isn't for me,' he said
+presently, 'to pretend to know why he did not suspect the trick I
+played him; he could have killed me if he wanted. I have spoken the
+truth. I heard him pursuing me.' 'There again,' I said, wondering that
+there should be in the world men with such a low order of
+intelligence, 'you heard him pursuing you. Demons glide noiselessly
+along. It is impossible you could have heard this one. You will have
+to invent another story.' 'I have invented none,' he persisted
+doggedly, and repeated, 'I have spoken the truth.' As I could get
+nothing further out of him than a determined adherence to his
+ridiculous defence, I left him."
+
+"Do you think," asked Doctor Louis, "that he has any, even the
+remotest belief in the story? Men sometimes delude themselves."
+
+"I cannot believe it," replied the magistrate, "and yet I confess to
+being slightly puzzled. There was an air of sincerity about him which
+might be to his advantage had he to deal with judges who were ignorant
+of the cunning of criminals."
+
+"Which means," said Doctor Louis, "that it is really not impossible
+that the man's mind is diseased."
+
+"No," said the magistrate, in a positive tone, "I cannot for a moment
+admit it. A tale in which a spirit or a demon is the principal actor!
+In this age it is too absurd!"
+
+At that moment I made a discovery; I drew from the midst of a bush a
+stick, one end of which was stained with blood. From its position it
+seemed as if it had been thrown hastily away; there had certainly been
+no attempt at concealment.
+
+"Here is the weapon," I cried, "with which the deed was done!"
+
+The magistrate took it immediately from my hand, and examined it.
+
+"Here," I said, pointing downwards, "is the direct line of flight
+taken by the prisoner, and he must have flung the stick away in terror
+as he ran."
+
+"It is an improvised weapon," said the magistrate, "cut but lately
+from a tree, and fashioned so as to fit the hand and be used with
+effect."
+
+I, in my turn, then examined the weapon, and was struck by its
+resemblance to the branch I had myself cut the previous night during
+the watch I kept upon the ruffians. I spoke of the resemblance, and
+said that it looked to me as if it were the self-same stick I had
+shaped with my knife.
+
+"Do you remember," asked the magistrate, "what you did with it after
+your suspicions were allayed?"
+
+"No," I replied, "I have not the slightest remembrance what I did with
+it. I could not have carried it home with me, or I should have seen it
+this morning before I left my house. I have no doubt that, after my
+mind was at ease as to the intentions of the ruffians, I flung it
+aside into the woods, having no further use for it. When the men set
+out to perpetrate the robbery they must have stumbled upon the branch,
+and, appreciating the pains I had bestowed upon it, took it with them.
+There appears to be no other solution to their possession of it."
+
+"It is the only solution," said the magistrate.
+
+"So that," I said with a sudden thrill of horror, "I am indirectly
+responsible for the direction of the tragedy, and should have been
+responsible had they used the weapon against those I love! It is
+terrible to think of."
+
+Doctor Louis pressed my hand. "We have all happily been spared,
+Gabriel," he said. "It is only the guilty who have suffered."
+
+We continued our search for some time, without meeting with any
+further evidence, and I spent the evening with Doctor Louis's family,
+and was deeply grateful that Providence had frustrated the villainous
+schemes of the wretches who had conspired against them. On this
+evening Lauretta and I seemed to be drawn closer to each other, and
+once, when I held her hand in mine for a moment or two (it was done
+unconsciously), and her father's eyes were upon us, I was satisfied
+that he did not deem it a breach of the obligation into which we had
+entered with respect to my love for his daughter. Indeed it was not
+possible that all manifestations of a love so profound and absorbing
+as mine should be successfully kept out of sight; it would have been
+contrary to nature.
+
+I slept that night in Doctor Louis's house, and the next morning
+Lauretta and Lauretta's mother said that they had experienced a
+feeling of security because of my presence.
+
+At noon I was on my way to the magistrate's office.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XXII.
+
+
+My purpose was to obtain, by the magistrate's permission, an interview
+with the prisoner. His account of the man's sincere or pretended
+belief in spirits and demons had deeply interested me, and I wished to
+have some conversation with him respecting this particular adventure
+which had ended in murder. I obtained without difficulty the
+permission I sought. I asked if the prisoner had made any further
+admissions or confession, and the magistrate answered no, and that the
+man persisted in a sullen adherence to the tale he had invented in his
+own defence.
+
+"I saw him this morning," the magistrate said, "and interrogated him
+with severity, to no effect. He continues to declare himself to be
+innocent, and reiterates his fable of the demon."
+
+"Have you asked him," I inquired, "to give you an account of all that
+transpired within his knowledge from the moment he entered Nerac until
+the moment he was arrested?"
+
+"No," said the magistrate, "it did not occur to me to demand of him so
+close a description of his movements; and I doubt whether I should
+have been able to drag it from him. The truth he will not tell, and
+his invention is not strong enough to go into minute details. He is
+conscious of this, conscious that I should trip him up again and again
+on minor points which would be fatal to him, and his cunning nature
+warns him not to thrust his head into the trap. He belongs to the
+lowest order of criminals."
+
+My idea was to obtain from the prisoner just such a circumstantial
+account of his movements as I thought it likely the magistrate would
+have extracted from him; and I felt that I had the power to succeed
+where the magistrate had failed. This power I determined to use.
+
+I was taken into the man's cell, and left there without a word. He was
+still bound; his brute face was even more brute and haggard than
+before, his hair was matted, his eyes had a look in them of mingled
+terror and ferocity. He spoke no word, but he raised his head and
+lowered it again when the door of the cell was closed behind me.
+
+"What is your name?" I asked. But I had to repeat the question twice
+before he answered me.
+
+"Pierre," he said.
+
+"Why did you not reply to me at once?" But to this question, although
+I repeated it also twice, he made no response.
+
+"It is useless," I said sternly, "to attempt evasion with me, or to
+think that I will be content with silence. I have come here to obtain
+a confession from you--a true confession, Pierre--and I will force it
+from you, if you do not give it willingly. Do you understand me? I
+will force it from you."
+
+"I understand you," he said, keeping his face averted from me, "but I
+will not speak."
+
+"Why?" I demanded.
+
+"Because you know all; because you are only playing with me; because
+you have a design against me."
+
+His words astonished me, and made me more determined to carry out my
+intention. He had made it clear to me that there was something hidden
+in his mind, and I was resolved to get at it.
+
+"What design can I have against you," I said, "of which you need be
+afraid? You are in sufficient peril already, and there is no hope for
+you. Your life is forfeit. What worse danger can befall you? Soon you
+will be as dead as the man you murdered."
+
+"I did not murder him," was the strange reply, "and you know it."
+
+"Fool!" I exclaimed. "You are playing the same trick upon me that you
+played upon your judge. It was unsuccessful with him; it will be as
+unsuccessful with me. Answer me. What further danger can threaten you
+than the danger, the certain, positive danger, in which you now stand?
+You are doomed, Pierre."
+
+"My body is, perhaps," he muttered, "but not my soul."
+
+"Oh," I said, in a tone of contempt, "you believe in a soul."
+
+"Yes," he replied, "do not you?"
+
+"I? Yes. With reason, with intelligence. Not out of my fears, but out
+of my hopes."
+
+"I have no hopes and no fears," he said. "I have done wrong, but not
+the wrong with which I am charged."
+
+"Look at me, Pierre."
+
+His response to this was to hide his head closer on his breast, to
+make an even stronger endeavour to avoid my glance.
+
+"When I next command you," I said, "you will obey. About your soul?
+Believing that you possess one, what worse peril can threaten it than
+the pass to which you have brought it by your crime."
+
+And still he doggedly repeated, "I have committed no crime."
+
+"You fear me?" I asked.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because you are here to tempt me, to ensnare me. I will not look at
+you."
+
+I strode to his side, and with my strong hand on his shoulder, forced
+him to raise his head, forced him to look me straight in the face. His
+eyes wavered for a few moments, shifted as though they would escape my
+compelling power, and finally became fixed on mine. He had no power to
+resist me. The will in me was strong, and produced its effects on the
+weaker mind. Gradually what brilliancy there was in his eyes became
+dimmed, and drew but a reflected, shadowy light from mine. Thus we
+remained face to face for four or five minutes, and then I spoke.
+
+"Relate to me," I said, "all that you know from the time you and the
+man who is dead conceived the idea of coming to Nerac up to the
+present moment. Conceal nothing. The truth, the bare, naked truth!"
+
+"We were poor, both of us," Pierre commenced, "and had been poor all
+our lives. That would not have mattered had we been able to obtain
+meat and wine. But we could not. We were neither of us honest, and had
+been in prison more than once for theft. We were never innocent when
+we were convicted, although we swore we were. I got tired of it;
+starvation is a poor game. I would have been contented with a little,
+and so would he, but we could not make sure of that little. Nothing
+else was left to us but to take what we wanted. The wild beasts do;
+why should not we? But we were too well known in our village, some
+sixty miles from Nerac, so, talking it over, we said we would come
+here and try our luck. We had heard of Doctor Louis, and that he was a
+rich man. He can spare what we want, we said; we will go and take. We
+had no idea of blood; we only wanted money, to buy meat and wine with.
+So we started, with nothing in our pockets. On the first day we had a
+slice of luck. We met a man and waylaid him, and took from him all the
+money he had in his pockets. It was not much, but enough to carry us
+to Nerac. No more; but we were satisfied. We did not hurt the man; a
+knock on the head did not take his senses from him, but brought him to
+them; so, being convinced, he gave us what he had, and we departed on
+our way. We were not fast walkers, and, besides, we did not know the
+straightest road to Nerac, so we were four days on the journey. When
+we entered the inn of the Three Black Crows we had just enough money
+left to pay for a bottle of red wine. We called for it, and sat
+drinking. While we were there a spirit entered in the shape of a man.
+This spirit, whom I did not then know to be a demon, sat talking with
+the landlord of the Three Black Crows. He looked towards the place
+where we were sitting, and I wondered whether he and the landlord were
+talking of us; I could not tell, because what they said did not reach
+my ears. He went away, and we went away, too, some time afterwards. We
+wanted another bottle of red wine, but the landlord would not give it
+to us without our paying for it, and we had no money; our pockets were
+bare. So out we went into the night. It was very dark. We had settled
+our plan. Before we entered the Three Black Crows we had found out
+Doctor Louis's house, and knew exactly how it was situated; there
+would be no difficulty in finding it later on, despite the darkness.
+We had decided not to make the attempt until at least two hours past
+midnight, but, for all that, when we left the inn we walked in the
+direction of the doctor's house. I do not know if we should have
+continued our way, because, although I saw nothing and heard nothing,
+I had a fancy that we were being followed; I couldn't say by what, but
+the idea was in my mind. So, talking quietly together, he and I
+determined to turn back to some woods on the outskirts of Nerac which
+we had passed through before we reached the village, and there to
+sleep an hour or two till the time arrived to put our plan into
+execution. Back we turned, and as we went there came a sign to me. I
+don't know how; it was through the senses, for I don't remember
+hearing anything that I could not put down to the wind. My mate heard
+it too, and we stopped in fear. 'What was that?' my mate said. 'Are we
+being followed?' I said nothing. We stood quiet a long while, and
+heard nothing. Then my mate said, 'It was the wind;' and we went on
+till we came to the woods, which we entered. Down upon the ground we
+threw ourselves, and in a minute my mate was asleep. Not so I; but I
+pretended to be. Then came a Shadow that bent over us. I did not move;
+I even breathed regularly to put it off the scent. Presently it
+departed, and I opened my eyes; nothing was near us. Then, being tired
+with the long day's walk, and knowing that there was work before us
+which would be better done after a little rest, I fell asleep myself.
+We both slept, I can't say how long, but from the appearance of the
+night I judged till about the time we had resolved to do our work. I
+woke first, and awoke my mate, and off we set to the doctor's house.
+We reached it in less than an hour, and nothing disturbed us on the
+way. That made me think that I had been deceived, and that my senses
+had been playing tricks with me. I told my mate of my fears, and he
+laughed at me, and I laughed, too, glad to be relieved. We walked
+round the doctor's house, to decide where we should commence. The
+front of it faces the road, and we thought that too dangerous, so we
+made our way to the back, and, talking in whispers, settled to bore a
+hole through the shutters there. We were very quiet; no fear of our
+being heard. The hole being bored, it was easy to cut away wood enough
+to enable us to open the window and make our way into the house. We
+did not intend violence, that is, not more than was necessary for our
+safety. We had talked it over, and had decided that no blood was to be
+shed. Robbers we were, but not murderers. Our plan was to gag and tie
+up any one who interfered with us. My mate and I had had no quarrel;
+we were faithful partners; and I had no other thought than to remain
+true to him as he had no other thought than to remain true to me.
+Share and share alike--that was what we both intended. So he worked
+away at the shutter, while I looked on. Suddenly, crack! A blow came,
+from the air it seemed, and down fell my mate, struck dead! He did not
+move; he did not speak; he died, unshriven. I looked down, dazed, when
+I heard a swishing sound in the air behind me, as though a great club
+was making a circle and about to fall upon my head. It was all in a
+minute, and I turned and saw the demon. Dark as it was, I saw him. I
+slanted my body aside, and the club, instead of falling upon my head,
+fell upon my shoulder. I ran for my life, and down came another blow,
+on my head this time, but it did not kill me. I raced like a madman,
+tearing at the bushes, and the demon after me. I was struck again and
+again, but not killed. Wounded and bleeding, I continued my flight,
+till flat I fell like a log. Not because all my strength was gone; no,
+there was still a little left; but I showed myself more cunning than
+the demon, for down I went as if I was dead, and he left me, thinking
+me so. Then, when he was gone, I opened my eyes, and managed to drag
+myself away to the place where I was found yesterday more dead than
+alive. I did not kill my mate; I never raised my hand against him.
+What I have said is the truth, as I hope for mercy in the next world,
+if I don't get it in this!"
+
+This was the incredible story related to me by the villain who had
+threatened the life of the woman I loved; for he did not deceive me;
+murder was in his heart, and his low cunning only served to show him
+in a blacker light. However, I did not leave him immediately. I
+released him from the spell I had cast upon him, and he stood before
+me, shaking and trembling, with a look in his eyes as though he had
+just been awakened from sleep.
+
+"What have I said?" he muttered.
+
+"You have confessed all," I said, meeting cunning with cunning.
+
+"All!" he muttered. "What do you mean?"
+
+Then I told him that he had made a full confession of his crime, and
+in the telling expounded my own theory, as if it had come from his
+lips, of the thoughts which led to it, and of its final committal--my
+hope being that he would even now admit that he was the murderer. But
+he vehemently defended himself.
+
+"If I have said as much," he said, "it is you who have driven me to
+it, and it is you who have come here to set a snare for my
+destruction. But it is not possible, because what you have told me is
+false from beginning to end."
+
+So I left him, amazed at his dogged, determined obstinacy, which I
+knew would not avail him. He was doomed, and justly doomed.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+
+I have been reading over the record I have written of my life, which
+has been made with care and a strict adherence to the truth. I am at
+the present hour sitting alone in the house I have taken and
+furnished, and to which I hope shortly to bring my beloved Lauretta as
+my wife. The writing of this record from time to time has grown into a
+kind of habit with me, and there are occasions in which I have been
+greatly interested in it myself. Never until this night have I read
+the record from beginning to end, and I have come to a resolution to
+discontinue it. My reason is a sufficient one, and as it concerns no
+man else, no man can dispute my right to make it.
+
+My resolution is, after to-morrow, to allow my new life, soon to
+commence, to flow on uninterruptedly without burdening myself with the
+labour of putting into writing the happy experiences awaiting me. I
+shall be no longer alone; Lauretta will be by my side; I should
+begrudge the hours which deprived me of her society.
+
+Another thing. I must have no secrets from her; and much that here is
+recorded should properly be read by no eye than mine. Lauretta's
+nature is so gentle, her soul so pure, that it would distress her to
+read these pages. This shall not be. I recognise a certain morbid vein
+in myself which the continuing of this record might magnify into a
+disease. It presents itself to me in the light of guarding myself
+against myself, by adopting wise measures to foster cheerfulness. That
+my nature is more melancholy than cheerful is doubtless to be ascribed
+to the circumstances of my child-life, which was entirely devoid of
+light and gaiety. This must not be in the future; I have a battle to
+fight, and I shall conquer because Lauretta's happiness is on the
+issue.
+
+It will, however, be as well to make the record complete in a certain
+sense, and I shall therefore take note of certain things which have
+occurred since my conversation with Pierre in his cell. That done, I
+shall put these papers aside in a secret place, and shall endeavour to
+forget them. My first thought was to destroy the record, but I was
+influenced in the contrary direction by the fact that my first meeting
+with Lauretta and the growth of my love for her are described in it.
+First impressions jotted down at the time of their occurrence have a
+freshness about them which can never be imparted by the aid of memory,
+and it may afford me pleasure in the future to live over again,
+through these pages, the sweet days of my early intimacy with my
+beloved girl. Then there is the strange story of Kristel and Silvain,
+which undoubtedly is worth preserving.
+
+First, to get rid of the miserable affair of the attempt to rob Doctor
+Louis's house. Pierre was tried and convicted, and has paid the
+penalty of his crime. His belief in the possession of a soul could
+not, after all, have had in it the spirit of sincerity; it must have
+been vaunted merely in pursuance of his cunning endeavours to escape
+his just punishment; otherwise he would have confessed before he died.
+Father Daniel, the good priest, did all he could to bring the man to
+repentance, but to the last he insisted that he was innocent. It was
+strange to me to hear Father Daniel express himself sympathetically
+towards the criminal.
+
+"He laboured, up to the supreme moment," said the good priest, in a
+compassionate tone, "under the singular hallucination that he was
+going before his Maker guiltless of the shedding of blood. So fervent
+and apparently sincere were his protestations that I could not help
+being shaken in my belief that he was guilty."
+
+"Then you believe in demons?" I remarked, amazed at this weakness.
+
+"Not in the sense," said Father Daniel, "that the unhappy man would
+have had me believe. Reason rejects his story as something altogether
+too incredulous; and yet I pity him."
+
+I did not prolong the discussion with the good priest; it would have
+been useless, and, to Father Daniel, painful. We looked at the matter
+from widely different standpoints. Intolerance warps the judgment; no
+less does such a life as Father Daniel has lived, for ever seeking to
+find excuses for error and crime, for ever seeking to palliate a man's
+misdeeds. Sweetness of disposition, carried to extremes, may
+degenerate into positive mental feebleness; to my mind this is the
+case with Father Daniel. He is not the kind who, in serious matters,
+can be depended upon for a just estimate of human affairs.
+
+Eric and Emilius, after a longer delay than Doctor Louis anticipated,
+have taken up their residence in Nerac. They paid two short visits to
+the village, and I was in hopes each time upon their departure that
+they had relinquished their intention of living in Nerac. I did not
+give expression to my wish, for I knew it was not shared by any member
+of Doctor Louis's family.
+
+It is useless to disguise that I dislike them, and that there exists
+between us a certain antipathy. To be just, this appears to be more on
+my side than on theirs, and it is not in my disfavour that the
+feelings I entertain are nearer the surface. Doctor Louis and the
+ladies entertain a high opinion of them; I do not; and I have already
+some reason for looking upon them with a suspicious eye. This reason I
+will presently explain.
+
+When we were first introduced it was natural that I should regard them
+with interest, an interest which sprang from the story of their
+father's fateful life. They bear a wonderful resemblance to each other
+they are both fair, with tawny beards, which it appears to me they
+take a pride in shaping and trimming alike; their eyes are blue, and
+they are of exactly the same height. Undoubtedly handsome men, having
+in that respect the advantage of me, who, in point of attractive
+looks, cannot compare with them. They seem to be devotedly attached to
+each other, but this may or may not be. So were Silvain and Kristel
+until a woman stepped between them and changed their love to hate.
+Before I came into personal relationship with Eric and Emilius I made
+up my mind to distrust appearances and to seek for evidence upon which
+to form an independent judgment. Some such evidence has already come
+to me, and I shall secretly follow it up.
+
+They are on terms of the most affectionate intimacy with Doctor Louis
+and his family, and both Lauretta and Lauretta's mother take pleasure
+in their society; Doctor Louis, also, in a lesser degree. Women are
+always more effusive than men.
+
+They are not aware of the relations which bind me to the village. That
+they may have some suspicion of my feelings for Lauretta is more than
+probable, for I have seen them look from her to me and then at each
+other, and I have interpreted these looks. It is as if they said, "Why
+is this stranger here? He is usurping our place." I have begged Doctor
+Louis to allow me to speak openly to Lauretta, and he has consented to
+shorten the period of silence to which I was pledged. I have his
+permission to declare my love to his daughter to-morrow. There are no
+doubts in my mind that she will accept me; but there _are_ doubts that
+if I left it too late there would be danger that her love for me would
+be weakened. Yes, although it is torture to me to admit it I cannot
+rid myself of this impression. How would this be effected and by whom?
+By these brothers, Eric and Emilius, and by means of misrepresentations
+to my injury. I have no positive data to go upon, but I am convinced
+that they have an aversion towards me, and that they are in their hearts
+jealous of me. The doctor is blind to their true character; he believes
+them to be generous and noble-minded, men of rectitude and high
+principle. They are not so. I have the evidence of my senses in proof
+of it.
+
+So much have I been disturbed and unhinged by my feelings towards
+these brothers--feelings which I have but imperfectly expressed--that
+latterly I have frequently been unable to sleep. Impossible to lie
+abed and toss about for hours in an agony of unrest; therefore I chose
+the lesser evil, and resumed the nocturnal wanderings which was my
+habit in Rosemullion before the death of my parents. These nightly
+rambles have been taken in secret, as in the days of my boyhood, and I
+mused and spoke aloud as was my custom during that period of my life.
+But I had new objects to occupy me now--the home in which I hoped to
+enjoy a heaven of happiness, with Lauretta its guiding star, and all
+the bright anticipations of the future. I strove to confine myself to
+these dreams, which filled my soul with joy, but there came to me
+always the figures of Eric and Emilius, dark shadows to threaten my
+promised happiness.
+
+Last week it was, on a night in which I felt that sleep would not be
+mine if I sought my couch; therefore, earlier than usual--it was
+barely eleven o'clock--I left the house, and went into the woods.
+Martin Hartog and his fair daughter were in the habit of retiring
+early and rising with the sun, and I stole quietly away unobserved. At
+twelve o'clock I turned homewards, and when I was about a hundred
+yards from my house I was surprised to hear a low murmur of voices
+within a short distance of me. Since the night on which I visited the
+Three Black Crows and saw the two strangers there who had come to
+Nerac with evil intent, I had become very watchful, and now these
+voices speaking at such an untimely hour thoroughly aroused me. I
+stepped quietly in their direction, so quietly that I knew I could not
+be heard, and presently I saw standing at a distance of ten or twelve
+yards the figures of a man and a woman. The man was Emilius, the woman
+Martin Hartog's daughter.
+
+Although I had heard their voices before I reached the spot upon which
+I stood when I recognised their forms, I could not even now determine
+what they said, they spoke in such low tones. So I stood still and
+watched them and kept myself from their sight. I may say honestly that
+I should not have been guilty of the meanness had it not been that I
+entertain an unconquerable aversion against Eric and Emilius. I was
+sorry to see Martin Hartog's daughter holding a secret interview with
+a man at midnight, for the girl had inspired me with a respect of
+which I now knew she was unworthy; but I cannot aver that I was sorry
+to see Emilius in such a position, for it was an index to his
+character and a justification of the unfavourable opinion I had formed
+of him and Eric. Alike as they were in physical presentment, I had no
+doubt that their moral natures bore the same kind of resemblance.
+Libertines both of them, ready for any low intrigue, and holding in
+light regard a woman's good name and fame. Truly the picture before me
+showed clearly the stuff of which these brothers are made. If they
+hold one woman's good name so lightly, they hold all women so. Fit
+associates, indeed, for a family so pure and stainless as Doctor
+Louis's!
+
+This was no chance meeting--how was that possible at such an hour? It
+was premeditated. Theirs was no new acquaintanceship; it must have
+lasted already some time. The very secrecy of the interview was in
+itself a condemnation.
+
+Should I make Doctor Louis acquainted with the true character of the
+brothers who held so high a place in his esteem? This was the question
+that occurred to me as I gazed upon Emilius and Martin Hartog's
+daughter, and I soon answered it in the negative. Doctor Louis was a
+man of settled convictions, hard to convince, hard to turn. His first
+impulse, upon which he would act, would be to go straight to Emilius,
+and enlighten him upon the discovery I had made. And then? Why, then,
+Emilius would invent some tale which it would not be hard to believe,
+and make light of a matter I deemed so serious. I should be placed in
+the position of an eavesdropper, as a man setting sly watches upon
+others to whom, from causeless grounds, I had taken a dislike. I
+should be at a disadvantage. Whatever the result one thing was
+certain--that I was a person capable not only of unreasonable
+antipathies but of small meannesses to which a gentleman would not
+descend. The love which Doctor Louis bore to Silvain, and which he had
+transferred to Silvain's children, was not to be easily turned; and at
+the best I should be introducing doubts into his mind which would
+reflect upon myself because of the part of spy I had played. No; I
+decided for the present at least, to keep  the knowledge to myself.
+
+As to Martin Hartog, though I could not help feeling pity for him, it
+was for him, not me, to look after his daughter. From a general point
+of view these affairs were common enough.
+
+I seemed to see now in a clearer light the kind of man Silvain
+was--one who would set himself deliberately to deceive where most he
+was trusted. Honour, fair dealing, brotherly love, were as nought in
+his eyes where a woman was concerned, and he had transmitted these
+qualities to Eric and Emilius. My sympathy for Kristel was deepened by
+what I was gazing on; more than ever was I convinced of the justice of
+the revenge he took upon the brother who had betrayed him.
+
+These were the thoughts which passed through my mind while Emilius and
+Martin Hartog's daughter stood conversing. Presently they strolled
+towards me, and I shrank back in fear of being discovered. This
+involuntary action on my part, being an accentuation of the meanness
+of which I was guilty, confirmed me in the resolution at which I had
+arrived to say nothing of my discovery to Doctor Louis.
+
+They passed me in silence, walking in the direction of my house. I did
+not follow them, and did not return home for another hour.
+
+
+
+
+                            CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+
+How shall I describe the occurrences of this day, the most memorable
+and eventful in my life? A new life is opening for me. I am
+overwhelmed at the happiness which is within my grasp. As I walked
+home from Doctor Louis's house through the darkness a spirit walked by
+my side, illumining the gloom and filling my heart with gladness.
+
+At one o'clock I presented myself at Doctor Louis's house. He met me
+at the door, expecting me, and asked me to come with him to a little
+room he uses as a study. I followed him in silence. His face was
+grave, and but for its kindly expression I should have feared it was
+his intention to revoke the permission he had given me to speak to his
+daughter on this day of the deep, the inextinguishable love I bear for
+her. He motioned me to a chair, and I seated myself and waited for him
+to speak.
+
+"This hour," he said, "is to me most solemn."
+
+"And to me, sir," I responded.
+
+"It should be," he said, "to you perhaps, more than to me; but we are
+inclined ever to take the selfish view. I have been awake very nearly
+the whole of the night, and so has my wife. Our conversation--well,
+you can guess the object of it."
+
+"Lauretta, sir."
+
+"Yes, Lauretta, our only child, whom you are about to take from us." I
+trembled with joy, his words betokening a certainty that Lauretta
+loved me, an assurance I had yet to receive from her own sweet lips.
+"My wife and I," he continued, "have been living over again the life
+of our dear one, and the perfect happiness we have drawn from her. I
+am not ashamed to say that we have committed some weaknesses during
+these last few hours, weaknesses springing from our affection for our
+Home Rose. In the future some such experience may be yours, and then
+you will know--which now is hidden from you--what parents feel who are
+asked to give their one ewe lamb into the care of a stranger." I
+started. "There is no reason for alarm, Gabriel," he said, "because I
+have used a true word. Until a few short months ago you were really a
+stranger to us."
+
+"That has not been against me, sir," I said, "and is not, I trust."
+
+"There is no such thought in my mind, Gabriel. There is nothing
+against you except--except," he repeated, with a little pitiful smile,
+"that you are about to take from us our most precious possession.
+Until to-day our dear child was wholly and solely ours; and not only
+herself, but her past was ours, her past, which has been to us a
+garden of joy. Henceforth her heart will be divided, and you will have
+the larger share. That is a great deal to think of, and we have
+thought of it, my wife and I, and talked of it nearly all the night.
+Certain treasures," he said, and again the pitiful smile came on his
+lips, "which in the eyes of other men and women are valueless, still
+are ours." He opened a drawer, and gazed with loving eyes upon its
+contents. "Such as a little pair of shoes, a flower or two, a lock of
+her bright hair."
+
+"May I see it, sir?" I asked, profoundly touched by the loving accents
+of his voice.
+
+"Surely," he replied, and he passed over to me a lock of golden hair,
+which I pressed to my lips. "The little head was once covered with
+these golden curls, and to us, her parents, they were as holy as they
+would have been on the head of an angel. She was all that to us,
+Gabriel. It is within the scope of human love to lift one's thoughts
+to heaven and God; it is within its scope to make one truly fit for
+the life to come. All things are not of the world worldly; it is a
+grievous error to think so, and only sceptics can so believe. In the
+kiss of baby lips, in the touch of little hands, in the myriad sweet
+ways of childhood, lie the breath of a pure religion which God
+receives because of its power to sanctify the lowest as well as the
+highest of human lives. It is good to think of that, and to feel that,
+in the holiest forms of humanity, the poor stand as high as the rich."
+He paused a while before he continued. "Gabriel, it is an idle phrase
+for a father holding the position towards you which I do at the
+present moment, to say he has no fears for the happiness of his only
+child."
+
+"If you have any, sir," I said, "question me, and let me endeavour to
+set your mind at ease. In one respect I can do so with solemn
+earnestness. If it be my happy lot to win your daughter, her welfare,
+her honour, her peace of mind, shall be the care of my life. These
+assured, happiness should follow. I love Lauretta with a pure heart;
+no other woman has ever possessed my love; to no other woman have I
+been drawn; nor is it possible that I could be. She is to me part of
+my spiritual life. I am not as other men, in the ordinary acceptation.
+In my childhood's life there was but little joy, and the common
+pleasures of childhood were not mine. From almost my earliest
+remembrances there was but little light in my parents' house, and in
+looking back upon it I can scarcely call it a home. The fault was not
+mine, as you will admit. May I claim some small merit--not of my own
+purposed earning, but because it was in me, for which I may have
+reason to be grateful--from the fact that the circumstances of my
+early life did not corrupt me, did not drive me to a searching for low
+pleasures, and did not debase me? It seemed to me, sir, that I was
+ever seeking for something in the heights and not in the depths. Books
+and study were my comforters, and I derived real pleasures from them.
+They served to satisfy a want, and, although I contracted a melancholy
+mood, I was not unhappy. I know that this mood is in me, but when I
+think of Lauretta it is dispelled. I seem to hear the singing of
+birds, to see flowers around me, to bathe in sunshine. Perhaps it
+springs from the fervour of my love for her; but a kind of belief is
+mine that I have been drawn hither to her, that my way of life was
+measured to her heart. What more can I say, sir?"
+
+"You have said much," said Doctor Louis, "to comfort and assure me,
+and have, without being asked, answered questions which were in my
+mind. Do you remember a conversation you had with my wife in the first
+days of your convalescence, commenced I think by you in saying that
+the happiest dream of your life was drawing to a close?"
+
+"I was thinking of Lauretta. Even in those early days I felt that I
+loved her."
+
+"I understand that now," said Doctor Louis. "My wife replied that life
+must not be dreamt away, that it has duties."
+
+"I remember the conversation well, sir."
+
+"My wife said that one's ease and pleasures are rewards, only
+enjoyable when they have been worthily earned; and when you asked,
+'Earned in what way?' she answered, 'In accomplishing one's work in
+the world.'"
+
+"Yes, sir, her words come back to me."
+
+"There is something more," said Doctor Louis, with sad sweetness,
+"which I should not recall did I not hold duty before me as my chief
+beacon. Inclination and selfish desire must often be sacrificed for
+it. You will understand how sadly significant this is to me when I
+recall what followed. Though, to be sure," he added, in a slightly
+gayer tone, "we could visit you and our daughter, wherever your abode
+happened to be. Continuing your conversation with my wife, you said,
+'How to discover what one's work really is, and where it should be
+properly performed?' My wife answered, 'In one's native land.'"
+
+"Those were the words we spoke to one another, sir."
+
+"It was my wife who recalled them to me, and I wish you--in the event
+of your hopes being realised--to bear them in mind. It would be
+painful to me to see you lead an idle life, and it would be injurious
+to you. This quiet village opens out no opportunities to you; it is
+too narrow, too confined. I have found my place here as an active
+worker, but I doubt if you would do so."
+
+"There is time to think of it, sir."
+
+"Plenty of time. And now, if you like, we will join my wife and
+daughter."
+
+"Have you said anything to Lauretta, sir?"
+
+"No. I thought it best, and so did her mother, that her heart should
+be left to speak for itself."
+
+Lauretta's mother received me with tender, wistful solicitude, and I
+observed nothing in Lauretta to denote that she had been prepared for
+the declaration I had come to make. After lunch I proposed to Lauretta
+to go out into the garden, and she turned to her mother and asked if
+she would accompany us.
+
+"No, my child," said the mother, "I have things in the house to attend
+to."
+
+So Lauretta and I went out alone.
+
+It was a lovely day, and Lauretta had thrown a light lace scarf over
+her head. She was in gay spirits, not boisterous, for she is ever
+gentle, and she endeavoured to entertain me with innocent prattle, to
+which I found it difficult to respond. In a little while this forced
+itself upon her observation, and she asked me if I was not well.
+
+"I am quite well, Lauretta," I replied.
+
+"Then something has annoyed you," she said.
+
+No, I answered, nothing had annoyed me.
+
+"But there _is_ something," she said.
+
+"Yes," I said, "there _is_ something."
+
+"Tell me," she said.
+
+We were standing by a rosebush, and I plucked one absently, and
+absently plucked the leaves. She looked at me in silence for a moment
+or two and said, "This is the first time I have ever seen you destroy
+a flower."
+
+"I was not thinking of it," I said; and was about to throw it away
+when an impulse, born purely of love for what was graceful and sweet,
+restrained me, and I put it into my pocket. In this the most
+impressive epoch in my life no sentiment but that of tenderness could
+hold a place in my heart and mind.
+
+"Well?" she said, still not suspecting. "Tell me."
+
+"Lauretta," I said, taking her hand, which she left willingly in mine,
+"will you listen to the story of my life?"
+
+"You have already told me much," she said.
+
+"You have heard only a part," I said, and I gently urged her to a
+seat. "I wish you to know all; I wish you to know me as I really am."
+
+"I know you as you really are," she said, and then a faint colour came
+to her cheeks, and she trembled slightly, seeing a new meaning in my
+earnest glances.
+
+"May I tell you? May I sit beside you?"
+
+"Yes," she said, and gently withdrew her hand from mine.
+
+I told her all, withholding only from her those mysterious promptings
+of my lonely hours which I knew would distress her, and to which I was
+convinced, with her as my companion through life, there would be for
+ever an end. Of even those promptings I gave her some insight, but so
+toned down--for her sweet sake, not for mine--as to excite only her
+sympathy. Apart from this, I was at sincere pains that she should see
+my life as it had really been, a life stripped of the joys of
+childhood; a life stripped of the light of home; a life dependent upon
+itself for comfort and support. Then, unconsciously, and out of the
+suffering of my soul--for as I spoke it seemed to me that a cruel
+wrong had been perpetrated upon me in the past--I contrasted the young
+life I had been condemned to live with that of a child who was blessed
+with parents whose hearts were animated by a love the evidences of
+which would endure all through his after life as a sweet and purifying
+influence. The tears ran down her cheeks as I dwelt upon this part of
+my story. Then I spoke of the happy chance which had conducted me to
+her home, and of the happiness I had experienced in my association
+with her and hers.
+
+"Whatever fate may be mine," I said, "I shall never reflect upon these
+experiences, I shall never think of your dear parents, without
+gratitude and affection. Lauretta, it is with their permission I am
+here now by your side. It is with their permission that I am opening
+my heart to you. They know we are here together. I love you, Lauretta,
+and if you will bless me with your love, and place your hand in mine,
+all my life shall be devoted to your happiness. You can bring a
+blessing into my days; I will strive to bring a blessing into yours."
+
+My arm stole round her waist; her head drooped to my shoulder, so that
+her face was hidden from my ardent gaze; the hand I clasped was not
+withdrawn.
+
+"Lauretta," I whispered, "say 'I love you, Gabriel.'"
+
+"I love you, Gabriel," she whispered; and heaven itself opened out to
+me.
+
+Half an hour later we went in to her mother, and the noble woman held
+out her arms to her daughter. As the maiden nestled to her breast, she
+said, holding out a hand to me, which I reverently kissed, "God in His
+mercy keep guard over you! His blessing be upon you both!"
+
+                           *   *   *   *   *
+
+These are my last written words in the record I have kept. From this
+day I commence a new life.
+
+
+
+
+
+                           BOOK THE SECOND.
+
+IN WHICH THE SECRET OF THE INHERITANCE TRANSMITTED TO GABRIEL CAREW IS
+REVEALED IN A SERIES OF LETTERS FROM ABRAHAM SANDIVAL, ESQ., ENGLAND,
+TO HIS FRIEND, MAXIMILIAN GALLENGA, ESQ., CONTRA COSTA CO.,
+CALIFORNIA.
+
+
+
+
+                                  I.
+
+
+My Dear Max,--For many months past you have complained that I have
+been extremely reticent upon domestic matters, and that I have said
+little or nothing concerning my son Reginald, who, since you quitted
+the centres of European civilisation to bury yourself in a sparsely
+populated Paradise, has grown from childhood to manhood. A ripe
+manhood, my dear Max, such as I, his father, approve of, and to the
+future development of which, now that a grave and strange crisis in
+his life has come to a happy ending, I look forward with loving
+interest. It is, I know, your affection for Reginald that causes you
+to be anxious for news of him. Well do I remember when you informed me
+of your fixed resolution to seek not only new scenes but new modes of
+life, how earnestly you strove to prevail upon me to allow him to
+accompany you.
+
+"He is young and plastic," you said, "and I can train him to
+happiness. The fewer the wants, the more contented the lot of man."
+
+You wished to educate Reginald according to the primitive views to
+which you had become so strongly wedded, and you did your best to
+convert me to them, saying, I remember, that I should doubtless suffer
+in parting with Reginald, but that it was a father's duty to make
+sacrifices for his children. You did not succeed. My belief was, and
+is, that man is born to progress, and that to go back into
+primitiveness, to commence again, as it were, the history of the world
+and mankind, as though we had been living in error through all the
+centuries, is a folly. I did not apply this criticism to you; I
+regarded your new departure not as a folly, but as a mistake. I doubt
+even now whether it has made you happier than you were, and I fancy
+I detect here and there in your letters a touch of sadness and
+regret--of which perhaps you are unconscious--that you should have cut
+yourself away from the busy life of multitudes of people. However, it
+is not my purpose now to enlarge upon this theme. The history I am
+about to relate is personal to myself and to Reginald, whose destiny
+it has been to come into close contact with a family, the head of
+which, Gabriel Carew, affords a psychological study as strange
+probably as was ever presented to the judgment of mankind.
+
+There are various reasons for my undertaking a task which will occupy
+a great deal of time and entail considerable labour. The labour will
+be interesting to me, and its products no less interesting to you, who
+were always fond of the mystical. I have leisure to apply myself to
+it. Reginald is not at present with me; he has left me for a few weeks
+upon a mission of sunshine. This will sound enigmatical to you, but
+you must content yourself with the gradual and intelligible unfolding
+of the wonderful story I am about to narrate. Like a skilful narrator
+I shall not weaken the interest by giving information and presenting
+pictures to you in the wrong places. The history is one which it is my
+opinion should not be lost to the world; its phases are so remarkable
+that it will open up a field of inquiry which may not be without
+profitable results to those who study psychological mysteries. A few
+years hence I should not be able to recall events in their logical
+order; I therefore do so while I possess the power and while my memory
+is clear with respect to them.
+
+You will soon discover that neither I nor Reginald is the principal
+character in this drama of life. That position is occupied by Mr.
+Gabriel Carew, the owner of an estate in the county of Kent, known as
+Rosemullion.
+
+My labours will be thrown away unless you are prepared to read what I
+shall write with unquestioning faith. I shall set down nothing but the
+truth, and you must accept it without a thought of casting doubt upon
+it. That you will wonder and be amazed is certain; it would, indeed,
+be strange otherwise; for in all your varied experiences (you led a
+busy and eventful life before you left us) you met with none so
+singular and weird as the events which I am about to bring to your
+knowledge. You must accept also--as the best and most suitable form
+through which you will be made familiar not only with the personality
+of Gabriel Carew, but with the mysterious incidents of his life--the
+methods I shall adopt in the unfolding of my narrative. They are such
+as are frequently adopted with success by writers of fiction, and as
+my material is fact, I am justified in pressing it into my service. I
+am aware that objection may be taken to it on the ground that I shall
+be presenting you with conversations between persons of which I was
+not a witness, but I do not see in what other way I could offer you an
+intelligent and intelligible account of the circumstances of the
+story. All that I can therefore do is to promise that I will keep a
+strict curb upon my imagination and will not allow it to encroach upon
+the domains of truth. With this necessary prelude I devote myself to
+my task.
+
+
+
+
+                                 II.
+
+
+Before, however, myself commencing the work there is something
+essential for you to do. Accompanying my own manuscript is a packet,
+carefully sealed and secured, on the outer sheet of which is written,
+"Not to be disturbed or opened until instructions to do so are given
+by Abraham Sandival to his friend Maximilian Gallenofa." The
+precaution is sufficient to whet any man's curiosity, but is not taken
+to that end. It is simply in pursuance of the plan I have designed, by
+which you will become possessed of all the details and particulars for
+the proper understanding of what I shall impart to you. The packet, my
+dear Max, is neither more nor less than a life record made by Gabriel
+Carew himself up to within a few months of his marriage, which took
+place twenty years ago in the village of Nerac. The lady Gabriel Carew
+married was the daughter of Doctor Louis, a gentleman of rare
+acquirements, and distinguished both for his learning and benevolence.
+There is no evidence in the record as to whether its recital was
+spread over a number of years, or was begun and finished within a few
+months; but that matters little. It bears the impress of absolute
+truth and candour, and apart from its startling revelations you will
+recognise in it a picturesqueness of description hardly to be expected
+from one who had not made a study of literature. Its perusal will
+perplexedly stir your mind, and in the feelings it will excite towards
+Gabriel Carew there will most likely be an element of pity, the reason
+for which you will find it difficult to explain. "Season your
+admiration for a while;" before I am at the end of my task the riddle
+will be solved.
+
+As I pen these words I can realise your perplexity during your perusal
+of the record as to the manner in which my son Reginald came be
+associated with so strange a man as the writer. But this is a world of
+mystery, and we can never hope to find a key to its spiritual
+workings. With respect to this particular mystery nothing shall be
+hidden from you. You will learn how I came to be mixed up in it; you
+will learn how vitally interwoven it threatened to be in Reginald's
+life; you will learn how Gabriel Carew's manuscript fell into my
+hands; and the mystery of his life will be revealed to you.
+
+Now, my dear Max, you can unfasten the packet, and read the record.
+
+
+
+
+                                 III.
+
+
+I assume that you are now familiar with the story of Gabriel Carew's
+life up to the point, or within a few months, of his marriage with
+Lauretta, and that you have formed some opinion of the different
+persons with whom he came in contact in Nerac. Outside Nerac there was
+only one person who can be said to have been interested in his fate;
+this was his mother's nurse, Mrs. Fortress, and you must be deeply
+impressed by the part she played in the youthful life of Gabriel
+Carew. Of her I shall have to speak in due course.
+
+I transport you in fancy to Nerac, my dear Max, where I have been not
+very long ago, and where I conversed with old people who to this day
+remember Gabriel Carew and his sweet wife Lauretta, whom he brought
+with him to England some little time after their marriage. It is not
+likely that the incidents in connection with Gabriel Carew and his
+wife will be forgotten during this generation or the next in that
+loveliest of villages.
+
+When you laid aside Carew's manuscript he had received the sanction of
+Lauretta's mother to his engagement with the sweet maid, and the good
+woman had given her children her blessing. Thereafter Gabriel Carew
+wrote: "These are my last written words in the record I have kept.
+From this day I commence a new life." He kept his word with respect to
+his resolve not to add another word to the record. He sealed it up and
+deposited it in his desk; and it is my belief that from that day he
+never read a line of its contents.
+
+We are, then, my dear Max, in Nerac, you and I in spirit, in the
+holiday time of the open courtship of Gabriel Carew and Lauretta.
+Carew is occupying the house of which it was his intention to make
+Lauretta the mistress, and there are residing in it, besides the
+ordinary servants, Martin Hartog, the gardener, and his daughter, with
+whom, from Carew's record, Emilius was supposed to be carrying on an
+intrigue of a secret and discreditable nature. It is evident, from the
+manner in which Carew referred to it, that he considered it
+dishonourable. The name of this girl was Patricia.
+
+There remain to be mentioned, as characters in the drama then being
+played, Doctor Louis, Eric, and Father Daniel.
+
+The crimes of the two ruffians who had attempted to enter Doctor
+Louis's house remained for long fresh in the memories of the
+villagers. They were both dead, one murdered, the other executed for a
+deed of which only one person in Nerac had an uneasy sense of his
+innocence--Father Daniel. The good priest, having received from the
+unfortunate man a full account of his life from childhood, journeyed
+shortly afterwards to the village in which he had been born and was
+best known, for the purpose of making inquiries into its truth. He
+found it verified in every particular, and he learnt, moreover, that
+although the hunchback had been frequently in trouble, it was rather
+from sheer wretchedness and poverty than from any natural brutality of
+disposition that he had drifted into crime. It stood to his credit
+that Father Daniel could trace to him no acts of cruel violence;
+indeed, the priest succeeded in bringing to light two or three
+circumstances in the hunchback's career which spoke well for his
+humanity, one of them being that he was kind to his bedridden mother.
+Father Daniel returned to Nerac much shaken by the reflection that in
+this man's case justice had been in error. But if this were so, if the
+hunchback were innocent, upon whom to fix the guilt? A sadness weighed
+upon the good priest's heart as he went about his daily duties, and
+gazed upon his flock with an awful suspicion in his mind that there
+was a murderer among them, for whose crime an innocent man had been
+executed.
+
+Gabriel Carew was happy. The gloom of his early life, which threatened
+to cast dark shadows over all his days, seemed banished for ever. He
+was liked and respected in the village in which he had found his
+happiness; his charities caused men and women to hold him in something
+like affectionate regard; he was Father Daniel's friend, and no case
+of suffering or poverty was mentioned to him which he was not ready to
+relieve; in Doctor Louis's home he held an honoured place; and he was
+loved by a good and pure woman, who had consented to link her fate
+with his. Surely in this prospect there was nothing that could be
+productive of aught but good.
+
+The sweetness and harmony of the time, however, were soon to be
+disturbed. After a few weeks of happiness, Gabriel Carew began to be
+troubled. In his heart he had no love for the twin brothers, Eric and
+Emilius; he believed them to be light-minded and unscrupulous, nay,
+more, he believed them to be treacherous in their dealings with both
+men and women. These evil qualities, he had decided with himself, they
+had inherited from their father, Silvain, whose conduct towards his
+unhappy brother Kristel had excited Gabriel Carew's strong abhorrence.
+As is shown in the comments he makes in his record, all his sympathy
+was with Kristel, and he had contracted a passionate antipathy against
+Silvain, whom he believed to be guilty of the blackest treachery in
+his dealings with Avicia. This antipathy he now transferred to
+Silvain's sons, Eric and Emilius, and they needed to be angels, not
+men, to overcome it.
+
+Not that they tried to win Carew's good opinion. Although his feelings
+for them were not openly expressed, they made themselves felt in the
+consciousness of these twin brothers, who instinctively recognised
+that Gabriel Carew was their enemy. Therefore they held off from him,
+and repaid him quietly in kind. But this was a matter solely and
+entirely between themselves and known only to themselves. The three
+men knew what deep pain and grief it would cause not only Doctor Louis
+and his wife, but the gentle Lauretta, to learn that they were in
+enmity with each other, and one and all were animated by the same
+desire to keep this antagonism from the knowledge of the family. This
+was, indeed, a tacit understanding between them, and it was so
+thoroughly carried out that no member of Doctor Louis's family
+suspected it; and neither was it suspected in the village. To all
+outward appearance Gabriel Carew and Eric and Emilius were friends.
+
+It was not the brothers but Carew who, in the first instance, was to
+blame. He was the originator and the creator of the trouble, for it is
+scarcely to be doubted that had he held out the hand of a frank
+friendship to them, they would have accepted it, even though their
+acceptance needed some sacrifice on their parts. The reason for this
+qualification will be apparent to you later on in the story, and you
+will then also understand why I do not reveal certain circumstances
+respecting the affection of Eric and Emilius for Martin Hartog's
+daughter, Patricia, and for the female members of the family of Doctor
+Louis. It would be anticipating events. I am relating the story in the
+order in which it progressed, and, so far as my knowledge of it goes,
+according to the sequence of time.
+
+Certainly the dominant cause of Gabriel Carew's hatred for the
+brothers sprang from his jealousy of them with respect to Lauretta.
+They and she had been friends from childhood, and they were regarded
+by Doctor Louis and his wife as members of their family. This in
+itself was sufficient to inflame so exacting a lover as Carew. He
+interpreted every innocent little familiarity to their disadvantage,
+and magnified trifles inordinately. They saw his sufferings and were,
+perhaps, somewhat scornful of them. He had already shown them how deep
+was his hatred of them, and they not unnaturally resented it. After
+all, he was a stranger in Nerac, a come-by-chance visitor, who had
+usurped the place which might have been occupied by one of them had
+the winds been fair. Instead of being overbearing and arrogant he
+should have been gracious and conciliating. It was undoubtedly his
+duty to be courteous and mannerly from the first day of their
+acquaintance; instead of which he had, before he saw them, contracted
+a dislike for them which he had allowed to swell to monstrous and
+unjustifiable proportions.
+
+Gabriel Carew, however, justified himself to himself, and it may be
+at once conceded that he had grounds for his feelings which were to
+him--and would likely have been to some other men--sufficient. These
+may now be set forth.
+
+When a lover's suspicious and jealous nature is aroused it does not
+from that moment sleep. There is no rest, no repose for it. If it
+require opportunities for confirmation or for the infliction of
+self-suffering, it is never difficult to find them. Imagination steps
+in and supplies the place of fact. Every hour is a torture; every
+innocent look and smile is brooded over in secret. A most prolific,
+unreasonable, and cruel breeder of shadows is jealousy, and the evil
+of it is that it breeds in secret.
+
+Gabriel Carew set himself to watch, and from the keen observance of a
+nature so thorough and intense as his nothing could escape. He was an
+unseen witness of other interviews between Patricia Hartog and
+Emilius; and not only of interviews between her and Emilius but
+between her and Eric. He formed his conclusions. The brothers were
+playing false to each other, and the girl was playing false with both.
+This was of little account; he had no more than a passing interest in
+Patricia, and although at one time he had some kind of intention of
+informing Martin Hartog of these secret interviews, and placing the
+father on his guard--for the gardener seemed to be quite unaware that
+an intrigue was going on--he relinquished the intention, saying that
+it was no affair of his. But it confirmed the impressions he had
+formed of the character of Eric and Emilius, and it strengthened him
+in his determination to allow no intercourse between them and the
+woman he loved.
+
+An additional torture was in store for him, and it fell upon him like
+a thunderbolt. One day he saw Emilius and Lauretta walking in the
+woods, talking earnestly and confidentially together. His blood
+boiled; his heart beat so violently that he could scarcely distinguish
+surrounding objects. So violent was his agitation that it was many
+minutes before he recovered himself, and then Lauretta and Emilius had
+passed out of sight. He went home in a wild fury of despair.
+
+He had not been near enough to hear one word of the conversation, but
+their attitude was to him confirmation of his jealous suspicion that
+the young man was endeavouring to supplant him in Lauretta's
+affections. In the evening he saw Lauretta in her home, and she
+noticed a change in him.
+
+"Are you ill, Gabriel?" she asked.
+
+"No," he replied, "I am quite well. What should make me otherwise?"
+
+The bitterness in his voice surprised her, and she insisted that he
+should seek repose. "To get me out of the way," he thought; and then,
+gazing into her solicitous and innocent eyes, he mutely reproached
+himself for doubting her. No, it was not she who was to blame; she was
+still his, she was still true to him; but how easy was it for a friend
+so close to her as Emilius to instil into her trustful heart evil
+reports against himself! "That is the first step," he thought. "What
+must follow is simple. These men, these villains, are capable of any
+treachery. Honour is a stranger to their scheming natures. How shall I
+act? To meet them openly, to accuse them openly, may be my ruin.
+They are too firmly fixed in the affections of Doctor Louis and his
+wife--they are too firmly fixed in the affections of even Lauretta
+herself--for me to hope to expose them upon evidence so slender. Not
+slender to me, but to them. These treacherous brothers are conspiring
+secretly against me. I will meet them with their own weapons. Secrecy
+for secrecy. I will wait and watch till I have the strongest proof
+against them, and then I will expose their true characters to Doctor
+Louis and Lauretta."
+
+Having thus resolved, he was not the man to swerve from the plan he
+laid down. The nightly vigils he had kept in his young life served him
+now, and it seemed as if he could do without sleep. The stealthy
+meetings between Patricia and the brothers continued, and before long
+he saw Eric and Lauretta in the woods together. In his espionage he
+was always careful not to approach near enough to bring discovery upon
+himself.
+
+In an indirect manner, as though it was a matter which he deemed of
+slight importance, he questioned Lauretta as to her walks in the woods
+with Eric and Emilius.
+
+"Yes," she said artlessly, "we sometimes meet there."
+
+"By accident?" asked Gabriel Carew.
+
+"Not always by accident," replied Lauretta. "Remember, Gabriel, Eric
+and Emilius are as my brothers, and if they have a secret----" And
+then she blushed, grew confused, and paused.
+
+These signs were poisoned food indeed to Carew, but he did not betray
+himself.
+
+"Have they a secret?" he asked, with assumed carelessness.
+
+"It was wrong of me to speak," said Lauretta, "after my promise to say
+nothing to a single soul in the village."
+
+"And most especially," said Carew, hitting the mark, "to me."
+
+She grew more confused. "Do not press me, Gabriel."
+
+"Only," he continued, with slight persistence, "that it must be a
+heart secret."
+
+She was silent, and he dropped the subject.
+
+From the interchange of these few words he extracted the most
+exquisite torture. There was, then, between Lauretta and the brothers
+a secret of the heart, known only to themselves, to be revealed to
+none, and to him, Gabriel Carew, to whom the young girl was affianced,
+least of all. It must be well understood, in this explanation of what
+was occurring in the lives of these young people at that momentous
+period, that Gabriel Carew never once suspected that Lauretta was
+false to him. His great fear was that Eric and Emilius were working
+warily against him, and were cunningly fabricating some kind of
+evidence in his disfavour which would rob him of Lauretta's love. They
+were conspiring to this end, to the destruction of his happiness, and
+they were waiting for the hour to strike the fatal blow. Well, it was
+for him to strike first. His love for Lauretta was so all-absorbing
+that all other considerations--however serious the direct or indirect
+consequences of them--sank into utter insignificance by the side of
+it. He did not allow it to weigh against Lauretta that she appeared to
+be in collusion with Eric and Emilius, and to be favouring their
+schemes. Her nature was so guileless and unsuspecting that she could
+be easily led and deceived by friends in whom she placed a trust. It
+was this that strengthened Carew in his resolve not to rudely make the
+attempt to open her eyes to the perfidy of Eric and Emilius. She would
+have been incredulous, and the arguments he should use against his
+enemies might be turned against himself. Therefore he adhered to the
+line of action he had marked out. He waited, and watched, and
+suffered. Meanwhile, the day appointed for his union with Lauretta was
+approaching.
+
+
+
+
+                                 IV.
+
+
+Within a fortnight of that day Gabriel Carew's passions were roused to
+an almost uncontrollable pitch.
+
+It was evening, and he saw Eric and Emilius in the woods. They were
+conversing with more than ordinary animation, and appeared to be
+discussing some question upon which they did not agree. Carew saw
+signs which he could not interpret--appeals, implorings, evidences of
+strong feeling on one side and of humbleness on the other, despair
+from one, sorrow from the other; and then suddenly a phase which
+startled the watcher and filled him with a savage joy. Eric, in a
+paroxysm, laid hands furiously upon his brother, and it seemed for a
+moment as if a violent struggle were about to take place.
+
+It was to the restraint and moderation of Emilius that this
+unbrotherly conflict was avoided. He did not meet violence with
+violence; after a pause he gently lifted Eric's hands from his
+shoulders, and with a sad look turned away, Eric gazing at his
+retreating figure in a kind of bewilderment. Presently Emilius was
+gone, and only Eric remained.
+
+He was not long alone. From an opposite direction to that taken by
+Emilius the watcher saw approaching the form of the woman he loved,
+and to whom he was shortly to be wed. That her coming was not
+accidental, but in fulfilment of a promise was clear to Gabriel Carew.
+Eric expected her, and welcomed her without surprise. Then the two
+began to converse.
+
+Carew's heart beat tumultuously; he would have given worlds to hear
+what was being said, but he was at too great a distance for a word to
+reach his ears. For a time Eric was the principal speaker, Lauretta,
+for the most part, listening, and uttering now and then merely a word
+or two. In her quiet way she appeared to be as deeply agitated as the
+young man who was addressing her in an attitude of despairing appeal.
+Again and again it seemed as if he had finished what he had to say,
+and again and again he resumed, without abatement of the excitement
+under which he was labouring. At length he ceased, and then Lauretta
+became the principal actor in the scene. She spoke long and forcibly,
+but always with that gentleness of manner which was one of her
+sweetest characteristics. In her turn she seemed to be appealing to
+the young man, and to be endeavouring to impress upon him a sad and
+bitter truth which he was unwilling, and not in the mood, to
+recognise. For a long time she was unsuccessful; the young man walked
+impatiently a few steps from her, then returned, contrite and humble,
+but still with all the signs of great suffering upon him. At length
+her words had upon him the effect she desired; he wavered, he held out
+his hands helplessly, and presently covered his face with them and
+sank to the ground. Then, after a silence, during which Lauretta gazed
+compassionately upon his convulsed form, she stooped and placed her
+hand upon his shoulder. He lifted his eyes, from which the tears were
+flowing, and raised himself from the earth. He stood before her with
+bowed head, and she continued to speak. The pitiful sweetness of her
+face almost drove Carew mad; it could not be mistaken that her heart
+was beating with sympathy for Eric's sufferings. A few minutes more
+passed, and then it seemed as if she had prevailed. Eric accepted the
+hand she held out to him, and pressed his lips upon it. Had he at that
+moment been within Gabriel Carew's reach, it would have fared ill with
+both these men, but Heaven alone knows whether it would have averted
+what was to follow before the setting of another sun, to the
+consternation and grief of the entire village. After pressing his lips
+to Lauretta's hand, the pair separated, each going a different way,
+and Gabriel Carew ground his teeth as he observed that there were
+tears in Lauretta's eyes as well as in Eric's. A darkness fell upon
+him as he walked homewards.
+
+
+
+
+                                  V.
+
+
+The following morning Nerac and the neighbourhood around were agitated
+by news of a tragedy more thrilling and terrible than that in which
+the hunchback and his companion in crime were concerned. In attendance
+upon this tragedy, and preceding its discovery, was a circumstance
+stirring enough in its way in the usually quiet life of the simple
+villagers, but which, in the light of the mysterious tragedy, would
+have paled into insignificance had it not been that it appeared to
+have a direct bearing upon it. Martin Hartog's daughter, Patricia, had
+fled from her home, and was nowhere to be discovered.
+
+This flight was made known to the villagers early in the morning by
+the appearance among them of Martin Hartog, demanding in which house
+his daughter had taken refuge. The man was distracted; his wild words
+and actions excited great alarm, and when he found that he could
+obtain no satisfaction from them, and that every man and woman in
+Nerac professed ignorance of his daughter's movements, he called down
+heaven's vengeance upon the man who had betrayed her, and left them to
+search the woods for Patricia.
+
+The words he had uttered in his imprecations when he called upon a
+higher power for vengeance on a villain opened the villagers' eyes.
+Patricia had been betrayed. By whom? Who was the monster who had
+worked this evil?
+
+While they were talking excitedly together they saw Gabriel Carew
+hurrying to the house of Father Daniel. He was admitted, and in the
+course of a few minutes emerged from it in the company of the good
+priest, whose troubled face denoted that he had heard the sad news of
+Patricia's flight from her father's home. The villagers held aloof
+from Father Daniel and Gabriel Carew, seeing that they were in earnest
+converse. Carew was imparting to the priest his suspicions of Eric and
+Emilius in connection with this event; he did not mention Lauretta's
+name, but related how on several occasions he had been an accidental
+witness of meetings between Patricia and one or other of the brothers.
+
+"It was not for me to place a construction upon these meetings," said
+Carew, "nor did it appear to me that I was called upon to mention it
+to any one. It would have been natural for me to suppose that Martin
+Hartog was fully acquainted with his daughter's movements, and that,
+being of an independent nature, he would have resented any
+interference from me. He is Patricia's father, and it was believed by
+all that he guarded her well. Had he been my equal I might have
+incidentally asked whether there was anything serious between his
+daughter and these brothers, but I am his master, and therefore was
+precluded from inviting a confidence which can only exist between men
+occupying the same social condition. There is, besides, another reason
+for my silence which, if you care to hear, I will impart to you."
+
+"Nothing should be concealed from me," said Father Daniel.
+
+"Although," said Gabriel Carew, "I have been a resident here now for
+some time, I felt, and feel, that a larger knowledge of me is
+necessary to give due and just weight to the unfavourable opinion I
+have formed of two men with whom you have been acquainted from
+childhood, and who hold a place in your heart of which they are
+utterly unworthy. Not alone in your heart, but in the hearts of my
+dearest friends, Doctor Louis and his family.
+
+"You refer to Eric and Emilius," said the priest.
+
+"Yes, I refer to them."
+
+"What you have already said concerning them has deeply pained me. I do
+not share your suspicions. Their meetings with Hartog's daughter were,
+I am convinced, innocent. They are incapable of an act of baseness;
+they are of noble natures, and it is impossible that they should ever
+have harboured a thought of treachery to a young maiden."
+
+"I am more than justified," said Gabriel Carew, "by the expression of
+your opinion, in the course I took. You would have listened with
+impatience to me, and what I should have said would have recoiled on
+myself. Yet now I regret that I did not interfere; this calamity might
+have been avoided, and a woman's honour saved. Let us seek Martin
+Hartog; he may be in possession of information to guide us."
+
+From the villagers they learnt that Hartog had gone to the woods, and
+they were about to proceed in that direction when another, who had
+just arrived, informed them that he had seen Hartog going to Gabriel
+Carew's house. Thither they proceeded, and found Hartog in his
+cottage. He was on his knees, when they entered, before a box in which
+his daughter kept her clothes. This he had forced open, and was
+searching. He looked wildly at Father Daniel and Carew, and
+immediately resumed his task, throwing the girl's clothes upon the
+floor after examining the pockets. In his haste and agitation he did
+not observe a portrait which he had cast aside, Carew picked it up and
+handed it to Father Daniel. It was the portrait of Emilius.
+
+"Does this look like innocence?" inquired Carew. "Who is the more
+likely to be right in our estimate of these brothers, you or I?"
+
+Father Daniel, overwhelmed by the evidence, did not reply. By this
+time Martin Hartog had found a letter which he was eagerly perusing.
+
+"This is the villain," he cried. "If there is justice in heaven he has
+met with his deserts. If he still lives he shall die by my hands!"
+
+"Hush, hush!" murmured Father Daniel. "Vengeance is not yours to deal
+out. Pray for comfort--pray for mercy."
+
+"Pray for mercy!" cried Hartog with a bitter laugh. "I pray for
+vengeance! If the monster be not already smitten, Lord, give him into
+my hands! I will tear him limb from limb! But who, who is he? The
+cunning villain has not even signed his name!"
+
+Father Daniel took the letter from his unresisting hand, and as his
+eyes fell upon the writing he started and trembled.
+
+"Emilius's?" asked Gabriel Carew.
+
+"Alas!" sighed the priest.
+
+It was indeed the writing of Emilius. Martin Hartog had heard Carew's
+inquiry and the priest's reply.
+
+"What!" he cried. "That viper!" And without another word he rushed
+from the cottage. Carew and the priest hastily followed him, but he
+outstripped them, and was soon out of sight.
+
+"There will be a deed of violence done," said Father Daniel, "if the
+men meet. I must go immediately to the house of these unhappy brothers
+and warn them."
+
+Carew accompanied him, but when they arrived at the house they were
+informed that nothing had been seen of Eric and Emilius since the
+previous night. Neither of them had been home nor slept in his bed.
+This seemed to complicate the mystery in Father Daniel's eyes,
+although it was no mystery to Carew, who was convinced that where
+Patricia was there would Emilius be found. Father Daniel's grief and
+horror were clearly depicted. He looked upon the inhabitants of Nerac
+as one family, and he regarded the dishonour of Martin Hartog's
+daughter as dishonour to all. Carew, being anxious to see Lauretta,
+left him to his inquiries. Dr. Louis and his family were already
+acquainted with the agitating news.
+
+"Dark clouds hang over this once happy village," said Doctor Louis to
+Carew.
+
+He was greatly shocked, but he had no hesitation in declaring that,
+although circumstances looked black against the twin brothers, his
+faith in them was undisturbed. Lauretta shared his belief, and
+Lauretta's mother also. Gabriel Carew did not combat with them; he
+held quietly to his views, convinced that in a short time they would
+think as he did. Lauretta was very pale, and out of consideration for
+her Gabriel Carew endeavoured to avoid the all-engrossing subject.
+That, however, was impossible. Nothing else could be thought or spoken
+of. Again and again it was indirectly referred to. Once Carew remarked
+to Lauretta, "You said that Eric and Emilius had a secret, and you
+gave me to understand that you were not ignorant of it. Has it any
+connection with what has occurred?"
+
+"I must not answer you, Gabriel," she replied; "when we see Emilius
+again all will be explained."
+
+Little did she suspect the awful import of those simple words. In
+Carew's mind the remembrance of the story of Kristel and Silvain was
+very vivid.
+
+"Were Eric and Emilius true friends?" he asked.
+
+Lauretta looked at him piteously; her lips quivered. "They are
+brothers," she said.
+
+"You trust me, Lauretta?" he said.
+
+"Indeed I do," she replied. "Thoroughly."
+
+"You love me, Lauretta?"
+
+"With my whole heart, Gabriel."
+
+She gazed at him in tender surprise; for weeks past he had not been so
+happy. The trouble by which he had been haunted took flight.
+
+"And yet," he could not help saying, "you have a secret, and you keep
+it from me!"
+
+His voice was almost gay; there was no touch of reproach in it.
+
+"The secret is not mine, Gabriel," she said, and she allowed him to
+pass his arm around her; her head sank upon his breast. "When you know
+all, you will approve," she murmured. "As I trust you, so must you
+trust me."
+
+Their lips met; perfect confidence and faith were established between
+them, although on Lauretta's side there had been no shadow on the love
+she gave him.
+
+It was late in the afternoon when Carew was informed that Father
+Daniel wished to speak to him privately. He kissed Lauretta and went
+out to the priest, in whose face he saw a new horror.
+
+"I should be the first to tell them," said Father Daniel in a husky
+voice, "but I am not yet strong enough. They will learn soon enough
+without me. It is known only to a few."
+
+"What is known?" asked Carew. "Is Emilius found?"
+
+"No," replied the priest, "but Eric is. I would not have him removed
+until the magistrate, who is absent and has been sent for, arrives.
+Come with me."
+
+In a state of wonder Carew accompanied Father Daniel out of Doctor
+Louis's house, and the priest led the way to the woods.
+
+"Why in this direction?" inquired Gabriel Carew. "We have passed the
+house in which the brothers live."
+
+"Wait," said Father Daniel solemnly. "They live there no longer."
+
+The sun was setting, and the light was quivering on the tops of the
+distant trees. Father Daniel and Gabriel Carew plunged into the woods.
+There were scouts on the outskirts, to whom the priest said, "Has the
+magistrate arrived?"
+
+"No, father," was the answer, "we expect him every moment."
+
+Father Daniel nodded and passed on.
+
+"What does all this mean?" asked Gabriel Carew.
+
+And again the priest replied, "Wait."
+
+From that moment until they arrived at the spot to which Father Daniel
+led him, Carew was silent. What had passed between him and Lauretta
+had so filled his soul with happiness that he bestowed but little
+thought upon a vulgar intrigue between a peasant girl and men whom he
+had long since condemned. They no longer troubled him; they had passed
+for ever out of his life, and his heart was at rest. Father Daniel and
+he walked some distance into the shadows of the forest and the night.
+Before him he saw lights in the hands of two villagers who had
+evidently been stationed there to keep guard.
+
+"Father Daniel?" they cried in fearsome voices.
+
+"Yes," he replied, "it is I."
+
+He conducted Gabriel Carew to a spot, and pointed downwards with his
+finger; and there, prone and still upon the fallen leaves, lay the
+body of Eric stone dead, stabbed to the heart!
+
+"Martin Hartog," said the priest, "is in custody on suspicion of this
+ruthless murder."
+
+"Why?" asked Gabriel Carew. "What evidence is there to incriminate
+him?"
+
+"When the body was first discovered," said the priest, "your gardener
+was standing by its side. Upon being questioned his answer was, 'If
+judgment has not fallen upon the monster, it has overtaken his
+brother. The brood should be wiped off the face of the earth.' He
+spoke no further word."
+
+
+
+
+                                 VI.
+
+
+Gabriel Carew was overwhelmed by the horror of this discovery. The
+meeting between the brothers, of which he had been a secret witness on
+the previous evening, and during which Eric had laid violent hands on
+Emilius, recurred to him. He had not spoken of it, nor did he mention
+it now. There was time enough. If Martin Hartog confessed his guilt
+the matter was settled; if he did not, the criminal must be sought
+elsewhere, and it would be his duty to supply evidence which would
+tend to fix the crime upon Emilius. He did not believe Martin Hartog
+to be guilty; he had already decided within himself that Emilius had
+murdered Eric, and that the tragedy of Kristel and Silvain had been
+repeated in the lives of Silvain's sons. There was a kind of
+retribution in this which struck Gabriel Carew with singular force.
+"Useless," he thought, "to fly from a fate which is preordained. When
+he recovered from the horror which had fallen on him upon beholding
+the body of Eric, he asked Father Daniel at what hour of the day the
+unhappy man had been killed.
+
+"That," said Father Daniel, "has yet to be determined. No doctor has
+seen the body, but the presumption is that when Martin Hartog,
+animated by his burning craving for vengeance, of which we were both a
+witness, rushed from his cottage, he made his way to the woods, and
+that he here unhappily met the brother of the man whom he believed to
+be the betrayer of his daughter. What followed may be easily
+imagined."
+
+The arrival of the magistrate put a stop to the conversation. He
+listened to what Father Daniel had to relate, and some portions of the
+priest's explanations were corroborated by Gabriel Carew. The
+magistrate then gave directions that the body of Eric should be
+conveyed to the courthouse; and he and the priest and Carew walked
+back to the village together.
+
+"The village will become notorious," he remarked. "Is there an
+epidemic of murder amongst us that this one should follow so closely
+upon the heels of the other?" Then, after a pause, he asked Father
+Daniel whether he believed Martin Hartog to be guilty.
+
+"I believe no man to be guilty," said the priest, "until he is proved
+so incontrovertibly. Human justice frequently errs."
+
+"I bear in remembrance," said the magistrate, "that you would not
+subscribe to the general belief in the hunchback's guilt."
+
+"Nor do I now," said Father Daniel.
+
+"And you," said the magistrate, turning to Gabriel Carew, "do you
+believe Hartog to be guilty?"
+
+"I do not," replied Carew.
+
+"Do your suspicions point elsewhere?" asked the magistrate.
+
+"This is not the time or place," said Carew, "for me to give
+expression to any suspicion I may entertain. The first thing to be
+settled is Hartog's complicity in this murder."
+
+"True," said the magistrate.
+
+"Father Daniel believes," continued Carew, "that Eric was murdered
+to-day, within the last hour or two. That is not my belief."
+
+"The doctors will decide that," said the magistrate. "If the deed was
+not, in your opinion, perpetrated within the last few hours, when do
+you suppose it was done?"
+
+"Last night," Carew replied.
+
+"Have you any distinct grounds for the belief?"
+
+"None. You have asked me a question which I have answered. There is no
+matter of absolute knowledge involved in it; if there were I should be
+able to speak more definitely. Until the doctors pronounce there is
+nothing more to be said. But I may say this: if Hartog is proved to be
+innocent, I may have something to reveal in the interests of justice."
+
+The magistrate nodded and said, "By the way, where is Emilius, and
+what has he to say about it?"
+
+"Neither Eric nor Emilius," replied Father Daniel, "slept at home last
+night, and since yesterday evening Emilius has not been seen."
+
+The magistrate looked grave. "Is it known where he is? He should be
+instantly summoned."
+
+"Nothing is known of him," said Father Daniel. "Inquiries have been
+made, but nothing satisfactory has been elicited."
+
+The magistrate glanced at Carew, and for a little while was silent.
+Shortly after they reached the court-house the doctors presented their
+report. In their opinion Eric had been dead at least fourteen or
+fifteen hours, certainly for longer than twelve. This disposed of the
+theory that he had been killed in the afternoon. Their belief was that
+the crime was committed shortly after midnight. In that case Martin
+Hartog must be incontestably innocent. He was able to account for
+every hour of the previous day and night. He was out until near
+midnight; he was accompanied home, and a friend sat up with him till
+late, both keeping very quiet for fear of disturbing Patricia, who was
+supposed to be asleep in her room, but who before that time had most
+likely fled from her home. Moreover, it was proved that Martin Hartog
+rose in the morning at a certain time, and that it was only then that
+he became acquainted with the disappearance of his daughter. Father
+Daniel and Gabriel Carew were present when the magistrate questioned
+Hartog. The man seemed indifferent as to his fate, but he answered
+quite clearly the questions put to him. He had not left his cottage
+after going to bed on the previous night; he believed his daughter to
+be in her room, and only this morning discovered his mistake. After
+his interview with Father Daniel and Gabriel Carew he rushed from the
+cottage in the hope of meeting with Emilius, whom he intended to kill;
+he came upon the dead body of Eric in the woods, and his only regret
+was that it was Eric and not Emilius.
+
+"If the villain who has dishonoured me were here at this moment," said
+Martin Hartog, "I would strangle him. No power should save him from my
+just revenge!"
+
+The magistrate ordered him to be set at liberty, and he wandered out
+of the court-house a hopeless and despairing man. Then the magistrate
+turned to Carew, and asked him, now that Hartog was proved to be
+innocent, what he had to reveal that might throw light upon the crime.
+Carew, after some hesitation, related what he had seen the night
+before when Emilius and Eric were together in the forest.
+
+"But," said the magistrate, "the brothers were known to be on the most
+loving terms."
+
+"So," said Carew, "were their father, Silvain, and his brother Kristel
+until a woman stepped between them. Upon this matter, however, it is
+not for me to speak. Perhaps Doctor Louis can enlighten you."
+
+"I have heard something of the story of these hapless brothers," said
+the magistrate, pondering, "but am not acquainted with all the
+particulars. I will send for Doctor Louis."
+
+Carew then asked that he should be allowed to go for Doctor Louis, his
+object being to explain to the doctor, on their way to the magistrate,
+how it was that reference had been made to the story of Silvain and
+Kristel which he had heard from the doctor's lips. He also desired to
+hint to Doctor Louis that Lauretta might be in possession of
+information respecting Eric and Emilius which might be useful in
+clearing up the mystery.
+
+"You have acted right," said Doctor Louis sadly to Gabriel Carew; "at
+all risks justice must be done. Ah! how the past comes back to me! And
+is this to be the end of that fated family? I cannot believe that
+Emilius can be guilty of a crime so horrible!"
+
+His distress was so keen that Carew himself, now that he was freed
+from the jealousy by which he had been tortured with respect to
+Lauretta, hoped also that Emilius would be able to clear himself of
+the charge hanging over him. But when they arrived at the magistrate's
+court they were confronted by additional evidence which seemed to tell
+heavily against the absent brother. A witness had come forward who
+deposed that, being out on the previous night very late, and taking a
+short cut through the woods to his cottage, he heard voices of two men
+which he recognised as the voices of Emilius and Eric. They were
+raised in anger, and one--the witness could not say which--cried out,
+
+"Well, kill me, for I do not wish to live!"
+
+Upon being asked why he did not interpose, his answer was that he did
+not care to mix himself up with a desperate quarrel; and that as he
+had a family he thought the best thing he could do was to hasten home
+as quickly as possible. Having told all he knew he was dismissed, and
+bade to hold himself in readiness to repeat his evidence on a future
+occasion.
+
+Then the magistrate heard what Doctor Louis had to say, and summed up
+the whole matter thus:
+
+"The reasonable presumption is, that the brothers quarrelled over some
+love affair with a person at present unknown; for although Martin
+Hartog's daughter has disappeared, there is nothing as yet to connect
+her directly with the affair. Whether premeditatedly, or in a fit of
+ungovernable passion, Emilius killed his brother and fled. If he does
+not present himself to-morrow morning in the village he must be sought
+for. Nothing more can be done to-night."
+
+It was a melancholy night for all, to Carew in a lesser degree than to
+the others, for the crime which had thrown gloom over the whole
+village had brought ease to his heart. He saw now how unreasonable had
+been his jealousy of the brothers, and he was disposed to judge them
+more leniently.
+
+On that night Doctor Louis held a private conference with Lauretta,
+and received from her an account of the unhappy difference between the
+brothers. As Silvain and Kristel had both loved one woman, so had Eric
+and Emilius, but in the case of the sons there had been no supplanting
+of the affections. Emilius and Patricia had long loved each other, and
+had kept their love a secret, Eric himself not knowing it. When
+Emilius discovered that his brother loved Patricia his distress of
+mind was very great, and it was increased by the knowledge that was
+forced upon him that there was in Eric's passion for the girl
+something of the fierce quality which had distinguished Kristel's
+passion for Avicia. In his distress he had sought advice from
+Lauretta, and she had undertaken to act as an intermediary, and to
+endeavour to bring Eric to reason. On two or three occasions she
+thought she had succeeded, but her influence over Eric lasted only as
+long as he was in her presence. He made promises which he found it
+impossible to keep, and he continued to hope against hope. Lauretta
+did not know what had passed between the brothers on the previous
+evening, in the interview of which I was a witness, but earlier in the
+day she had seen Emilius, who had confided a secret to her keeping
+which placed Eric's love for Patricia beyond the pale of hope. He was
+secretly married to Patricia, and had been so for some time. When
+Gabriel Carew heard this he recognised how unjust he had been towards
+Emilius and Patricia in the construction he had placed upon their
+secret interviews. Lauretta advised Emilius to make known his marriage
+to Eric, and offered to reveal the fact to the despairing lover, but
+Emilius would not consent to this being immediately done. He
+stipulated that a week should pass before the revelation was made;
+then, he said, it might be as well that all the world should know
+it--a fatal stipulation, against which Lauretta argued in vain. Thus
+it was that in the last interview between Eric and Lauretta, Eric was
+still in ignorance of the insurmountable bar to his hopes. As it
+subsequently transpired, Emilius had made preparations to remove
+Patricia from Nerac that very night. Up to that point, and at that
+time nothing more was known; but when Emilius was tried for the murder
+Lauretta's evidence did not help to clear him, because it established
+beyond doubt the fact of the existence of an animosity between the
+brothers.
+
+On the day following the discovery of the murder, Emilius did not make
+his appearance in the village, and officers were sent in search of
+him. There was no clue as to the direction which he and Patricia had
+taken, and the officers, being slow-witted, were many days before they
+succeeded in finding him. Their statement, upon their return to Nerac
+with their prisoner, was, that upon informing him of the charge
+against him, he became violently agitated and endeavoured to escape.
+He denied that he made such an attempt, asserting that he was
+naturally agitated by the awful news, and that for a few minutes he
+scarcely knew what he was doing, but, being innocent, there was no
+reason why he should make a fruitless endeavour to avoid an inevitable
+inquiry into the circumstances of a most dreadful crime.
+
+He was much broken down by his position. No brother, he declared, had
+ever been more fondly loved than Eric was by him, and he would have
+suffered a voluntary death rather than be guilty of an act of violence
+towards one for whom he entertained so profound an affection. In the
+preliminary investigations he gave the following explanation of all
+within his knowledge. What Lauretta had stated was true in every
+particular; neither did he deny Carew's evidence nor the evidence of
+the villager who had deposed that, late on the night of the murder,
+high words had passed between him and Eric.
+
+"The words," said Emilius, "'Well, kill me, for I do not wish to
+live!' were uttered by my poor brother when I told him that Patricia
+was my wife. For although I had not intended that this should be known
+until a few days after my departure, my poor brother was so worked up
+by his love for my wife, that I felt I dared not, in justice to him
+and myself, leave him any longer in ignorance. For that reason, and
+thus impelled, pitying him most deeply, I revealed to him the truth.
+Had the witness whose evidence, true as it is, seems to bear fatally
+against me, waited and listened, he would have been able to testify in
+my favour. My poor brother for a time was overwhelmed by the
+revelation. His love for my wife perhaps did not die immediately away;
+but, high-minded and honourable as he was, he recognised that to
+persevere in it would be a guilty act. The force of his passion became
+less; he was no longer violent--he was mournful. He even, in a
+despairing way, begged my forgiveness, and I, reproachful that I had
+not earlier confided in him, begged _his_ forgiveness for the
+unconscious wrong I had done him. Then, after a while, we fell
+into our old ways of love; tender words were exchanged; we clasped
+each other's hand; we embraced. Truly you who hear me can scarcely
+realise what Eric and I had always been to each other. More than
+brothers--more like lovers. Heartbroken as he was at the conviction
+that the woman he adored was lost to him, I was scarcely less
+heartbroken that I had won her. And so, after an hour's loving
+converse, I left him; and when we parted, with a promise to meet again
+when his wound was healed, we kissed each other as we had done in the
+days of our childhood."
+
+
+
+                           END OF VOL. II.
+
+
+
+              RICHARD CLAY AND SONS, LONDON AND BUNGAY.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Secret Inheritance  (Volume 2 of 3), by
+B. L. (Benjamin Leopold) Farjeon
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