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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/7344-h.zip b/7344-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..81f2dae --- /dev/null +++ b/7344-h.zip diff --git a/7344-h/7344-h.htm b/7344-h/7344-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7a8f27 --- /dev/null +++ b/7344-h/7344-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3838 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + +<head> +<title>Archibald Malmaison, by Julian Hawthorne</title> + +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + h1,h2,h3,h4 { text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps } + h1 { margin-top: 2em } + .smallcaps { font-variant: small-caps } + --> +</style> +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Archibald Malmaison, by Julian Hawthorne + +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: Archibald Malmaison + +Author: Julian Hawthorne + +Posting Date: October 8, 2012 [EBook #7344] +Release Date: January, 2005 +First Posted: April 17, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ARCHIBALD MALMAISON *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis Weyant, Eric Eldred, Charles Franks and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<h1>Archibald Malmaison</h1> + +<h2>by Julian Hawthorne</h2> + +<p class="smallcaps" align="center">Author of "Garth," "Sebastian Strome," "Dust," Etc.</p> + +<h1>Introductory.</h1> + +<p>When I was a child, I used to hope my fairy-stories were true. Since +reaching years of discretion, I have preferred acknowledged fiction. This +inconsistency, however, is probably rather apparent than real. Experience +has taught me that the greater the fairy-story the less the truth; and +contrariwise, that the greater the truth the less the fairy-story. In +other words, the artistic graces of romance are irreconcilable with the +crude straightforwardness of fact. The idealism of childhood, believing +that all that is most beautiful must on that very account be most true, +clamors accordingly for truth. The knowledge of maturity, which has +discovered that nothing that is true (in the sense of being existent) can +be beautiful, deprecates truth beyond everything. What happens, we find, +is never what ought to happen; nor does it happen in the right way or +season. In palliation of this hardship, the sublime irony of fate grants +us our imagination, wherewith we create little pet worlds of poetry and +romance, in which everything is arranged in neat harmonies and surprises, +to gratify the scope of our little vision. The actual world, the real +universe, may, indeed, be picturesque and perfect beyond the grandest of +our imaginative miniatures; but since the former can be revealed to us +only in comparatively infinitesimal portions, the miniatures still have +the best of it.</p> + +<p>To preface a story with the information that it is true, is not, therefore, +the way to recommend it. Your hearer's life, and those of his friends, are +enough true stories for him; what he wants of you is merciful fiction. +Destiny, to his apprehension, is always either vapid, or clumsy, or +brutal; and he feels certain that, do your worst, you can never rival the +brutality, the clumsiness, or the vapidity of destiny. If you are silly, +he can at least laugh at you; if you are clumsy or brutal, he has his +remedy; and meanwhile there is always the chance that you may turn out to +be graceful and entertaining. But to bully him with facts is like asking +him to live his life over again; and the civilized human being has yet to +be found who would not rather die than do that.</p> + +<p>No; we are all spontaneously sure that no story-teller, though he were a +Timon of Athens double distilled, can ever be so unsympathetic and +unnatural as destiny, who tells the only story that never winds up. We +cannot understand destiny; we never know to what lengths she may go: but +the story-teller we know inside and out; he is only a possible ourself, +and we defy him to do us any serious harm. I trust I am rendering my +meaning clear, and that no one will suppose that in making this onslaught +upon truth, I have anything else in view than truth as applied to what are +called stories. With truth scientific, moral, religious, I am at present +in nowise concerned. Only, I have no respect for the weakness that will +outrage a promising bit of narrative for the sake of keeping to the facts. +Imbecile! the facts are given you, like the block of marble or the +elements of a landscape, as material for the construction of a work of +art. Which would you rather be, a photographer or Michael Angelo? "<i>Non +vero ma ben trovato</i>" should be your motto; and if you refuse to kill +your heroine on the Saturday night because, forsooth, she really did, +despite all dramatic propriety, survive till Monday morning--why, please +yourself; but do not bring your inanities to me!</p> + +<p>I have now to reconcile this profession of faith with the incongruous fact +that the following story is a true one. True it is, in whole and in part; +furthermore, the events took place in the present century, and within a +hundred miles of London. But let me observe, in the first place, that, +although a true tale, it is nevertheless strange and interesting to an +unusual degree; and, secondly, that this interest and strangeness mainly +depend, not upon the succession of incidents, but upon the subjective +condition--character it cannot be termed--of Archibald Malmaison himself. +This being the case, it follows that the greater part of the objections +above insisted upon fall to the ground. What goes on inside a man must +needs be accepted as it is revealed to us: to invent psychological +attributes does not lie within the province of a romancer. His skill and +power are confined to so selecting and arranging the incidents as to +provide his psychological data with the freest possible development. In +the present case I might easily have devised a stage and a series of +events for Malmaison, which would have brought his mysterious affection +into somewhat more prominent and picturesque relief. But that affection is +itself so absorbing a problem, that the fashion of its statement becomes +of comparatively small import; and I may add that the setting furnished by +nature happens on this occasion to answer all practical purposes tolerably +well. Moreover, I am not altogether a free agent in the matter. The friend +by whose permission I tell the tale is of opinion that no liberties ought +to be taken with its form, any more than with what he is pleased to call +its "physiological characteristics." The main significance of the +narrative being, according to him, of a scientific or pathological kind, +it would be hostile to scientific interests to depart from historical +accuracy in its presentation. From the professional dictum of a man like +Dr. Forbes Rollinson there can, of course, be no appeal, and if I am to +write the account at all, it is but fair that in so doing I should respect +the wishes of him who is the lawful proprietor of it. I have thought it +but fair to myself, however, to begin by offering this explanation. I feel +more or less hampered by the conditions enjoined upon me, and, besides, I +do not agree with Dr. Rollinson's theory of the phenomena. In the present +state of our knowledge, no theory on such subjects can pretend to be more +than hypothetically correct; and my prejudices are opposed to what is +known as the materialistic explanation of the universe. With, all respect +for the validity of science within its proper sphere, I do not conceive +that its judgments are entitled to paramount consideration when they +attempt to settle the problems of psychology. There are mysteries which no +process of inductive reasoning can reach.--The reader, however, will not +be decoyed blindfold into accepting as final either the Doctor's view or +mine; but, after possessing himself of the facts, will be left free to +draw what conclusions he may please.</p> + +<p>As regards the matter of names, dates, and localities, Dr. Rollinson holds +that they had better be given at full length; and here I am not disposed +to differ from him. The system of blanks and initial letters was always +distasteful to me; and to use fictitious names in a true story seems like +taking away with one hand what you give with another. Besides, every one +of the actors in the drama is now dead: Dr. Rollinson [<a href="#1">1</a>] himself being +the only living person who is cognizant, directly, of all the +circumstances, from beginning to end. In his capacity of physician, he was +the intimate and trusted friend of the ill-fated Malmaison household +during upward of twenty years, and he inherited this confidential position +from his father. He has kindly placed at my disposal a number of his +professional note-books and journals, and in various places I have +incorporated with the narrative some of the information which they +contain. At other times I have inserted minor details of conversation and +incident, and have endeavored to throw over the whole as "fictitious" an +air as was consistent with the conscientious observance of my compact with +the Doctor. And now, without further preface, I will proceed to business.</p> + +<h1>I.</h1> + +<p>Archibald Malmaison was the second son of Sir Clarence Butt Malmaison, of +Malmaison, Sussex. He had the odd distinction of being born on the 29th of +February, 1800. His elder brother, Edward, born 1798, died before him, as +will be hereinafter shown. There were no other brothers, but four girls +appeared after Archibald, two of whom died in childhood of scarlet fever, +while the other two grew up to be married. They have nothing to do with +the story, and will not be mentioned again.</p> + +<p>The Malmaisons, as their name denotes, were of French descent--Huguenots. +Like many other emigrants, they yielded, in the course of a generation or +two, to a barbarous mispronunciation of their patronymic, which came to be +spoken of as if spelt "Malmsey."</p> + +<p>How it happened that the chateau of the Empress Josephine was christened by +the same name, I know not; at all events, the Sussex Malmaisons have prior +claim to the title. The estate, which embraced between seven and eight +hundred acres, lay in that portion of the county which borders upon the +junction line of Kent and Surrey. Colonel Battledown, the Peninsular +soldier, owned the adjoining estate in Kent; while the Surrey corner was +occupied, at the epoch of this story, by the Honorable Richard +Pennroyal--he whose father, Lord Epsom, is said to have won ninety +thousand pounds from Fox in a single night's play. The three families had +been on a friendly footing with each other ever since the early part of +the reign of George III.</p> + +<p>Sir Clarence had been an ally of the father of the Honorable Richard in +Parliament (they were both Whigs), and Colonel Battledown, though a Tory, +was such capital company as not only to compensate for his political +derelictions, but even to render them a matter for mutual +congratulation--they so enlivened the conversation! In truth, I suppose +the three gentlemen must have had many a boisterous discussion over their +nightly three or four bottles apiece of claret, and after their hard day +across country.</p> + +<p>The Honorable Richard, by the by, was by far the youngest of the three; at +the time of Archibald's birth he was not much over twenty; but he had a +cool, strong brain, and quite as much gravity as his seniors, over whom, +in fact, he seems to have exercised a species of ascendency. Possibly he +inherited something of his noble father's ability--that of playing quietly +for big stakes when all the odds were in his favor. At all events, in the +year 1801 he married Miss Jane Malmaison, the baronet's sister, who was +fifteen years older than he, but who brought him fifty thousand pounds--a +not unimportant consideration to him at that time.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Pennroyal has one claim upon our notice, and only one; seven years +after her marriage, at the age of forty-two, she completely lost her +memory, and became rather idiotic, and a few years later contrived to fall +into an ornamental fish-pond, and drowned there before her attendants +missed her. She was buried with much stateliness; but it is to be feared +that few persons missed her even then. She left no children.</p> + +<p>Was poor old Jane the first member of the Malmaison line who had shown any +special weakness or peculiarity in the upper story? There was a hoary +tradition to the effect that the son or grandson of the first emigrant had +made some compact or other with the Evil One, the terms of which were that +he (the grandson) was to prolong his terrestrial existence for one hundred +and forty years by the ingenious device of living only every alternate +seven years, the intervening periods to be passed in a sort of +hibernation. In return for this accommodation he was, of course, to make +H.S.M. the usual acknowledgment!</p> + +<p>The final upshot of this bargain--as is usually the way in these cases--is +not known. Did the worthy gentleman work his way into his third half +century? And had he, by that time, acquired astuteness sufficient to cheat +the other party to the contract of his due? History is silent; the only +thing asserted with any appearance of confidence is that Sir Eustace de +Malmaison possessed the power of vanishing at will from the eyes of men. +Nay, he would seem to have bequeathed this useful accomplishment to +certain of his descendants; for there is among the family documents a +curious narrative, signed and witnessed, describing how a member of the +family, in the time (I think) of the Second Pretender, did, being hard +pressed by the minions of the German Prince, and pursued by them into the +extreme eastern chamber of his house of Malmaison, suddenly and without +warning render himself invisible, insomuch that nothing of him remained +save his dagger, and the plume which he bore in his cap. This eastern +chamber had, at the time, but one outlet, and that was into a room already +guarded by the soldiery.</p> + +<p>The chronicle goes on to say that the disappearance was not final: the +mysterious fugitive reappeared on the third day, in the same spot where he +had vanished, but apparently rather the worse for wear. He was at first +taken for a spirit, and all fled before him; but he, going hastily forward +to the dining hall, and finding a great sirloin of beef set out upon the +board, forthwith fell to, and, in a wondrous short time, devoured the +whole thereof, drinking also a gallon and a half of the wine of Burgundy. +This exploit restored the belief of the household in the material +consistency of their master, and thereupon was much thanksgiving, +feasting, and rejoicing. But the secret of the disappearance never was +revealed.</p> + +<p>I give these musty old details for what they are worth; they may perhaps be +construed as an indication that the race of Malmaison had some +peculiarities of its own.</p> + +<p>As for Archibald, he was rather neglected than otherwise. He was a dull and +stolid baby, neither crying nor crowing much: he would sit all day over a +single toy, not playing with it, but holding it idly in his hands or +between his knees. He could neither crawl, walk, nor talk till long after +the usual time for such accomplishments. It seemed as if he had made up +his mind to live according to his birthdays--that is, four times as slow +as other people. The only things he did do well were eating and sleeping: +he never appeared to be thoroughly awake, nor was his appetite ever +entirely satisfied. As might be supposed, therefore, his body grew apace; +and at seven years old (or one and three quarters, as the facetious +Baronet would have it) he weighed twelve good pounds more than his brother +Edward, who was two years his senior, though, to be sure, not a specially +robust child.</p> + +<p>For the rest, poor Archibald seemed to be affectionate, in a dim, +inarticulate way, though his sympathies were confined within somewhat +narrow limits. He loved a certain brindled cat that he had more than +anything else: next to her, his little baby sister; and oddly enough, he +conceived a sort of dog-like admiration for the Honorable Richard +Pennroyal--a compliment which that personage did nothing to deserve, and +which he probably did not desire. He had also a distinct feeling for +localities; he was never quite at his ease except in the nursery-room +where he slept; and, on the other hand, he never failed to exhibit +symptoms of distrust and aversion when he was carried into the East +chamber--that in which his great-grandfather had effected his mysterious +self-effacement. But the only thing that was certain to make him cry was +to be brought into the company of little Kate Battledown, the colonel's +only child, a year or two younger than Archibald, and universally admitted +to be the prettiest and most graceful baby in the neighborhood. But +Archibald, up to his seventh year, would do anything to get away from +her--short of walking.</p> + +<p>In a word, he exhibited such symptoms of a deficient and perverted +understanding as would have gained him--had he been of humbler +birth--the descriptive title of "natural." Being a son of Sir Clarence +Butt Malmaison, he was considered to be peculiar only. The old wives of +the village maintained that he was the sort that could see elves, and +that, if one but knew how, he might be induced to reveal valuable secrets, +and to confer magic favors. But, looking the other way, he was to be +dreaded as a possible (though involuntary) agent of evil; especially +perilous was it, these venerable dames would affirm, to become the object +of his affection or caresses--a dogma which received appalling +confirmation in the fate of the brindled cat, who, after having been +caught by the leg in a trap intended for a less respectable robber of +hen-roosts, was finished by a bull-terrier, who took advantage of her +embarrassed circumstances to pay off upon her a grudge of long standing. +This tragedy occurred in January of the year 1807, and produced a +noticeable effect upon Master Archibald Malmaison. He neither wept nor +tore his hair, but took the far more serious course of losing his +appetite.</p> + +<p>The most remarkable part of the story is yet to come. No one had told him +that the cat was dead, and the cat, having adventurous propensities, had +often been away from home for days at a time without leave or warning. +Nevertheless, Archibald was immediately aware of her fate, and even seemed +(judging from some expressions that escaped him) to have divined the +manner of it. He then gave intimation of an earnest desire to view the +remains; but in this he could not be gratified, for they had already been +secretly interred in an obscure corner of the back garden. Will it be +believed that the "peculiar" child hereupon got upon his fat legs, and, +without either haste or hesitation, deliberately ambled out of the +nursery, along the corridor, down the stairs, across the hall, through the +door, and so round to the back garden and to the very identical spot where +poor Tabby had been deposited!</p> + +<p>The fact is sufficiently well attested; I am not aware that it has ever +been accounted for. The boy had never in his life walked so far before, +although his limbs were perfectly developed and able for much longer +pilgrimages. He did not resist being led away; but, as has been said, he +neglected his bread and milk, and every few days returned to the back +garden, and stood beside the grave in the cold, looking fixedly at it, but +making no active demonstration whatever. This went on for about six weeks, +and attracted a good deal of curiosity in the neighborhood. At length, in +the latter part of February, Archibald had a sort of fit, apparently of an +epileptic nature. On recovering from it, he called for a glass of milk, +and drank it with avidity; he then fell asleep, and did not awake again +for thirty-six hours.</p> + +<p>By this time he was a personage of more importance at Malmaison than he had +ever yet been in his small life. The wise folk who stood around his crib +hazarded various predictions as to the issue of his unnatural slumber. +Some said he would lose what little wit he had; others, that he would +become an acknowledged wizard; others again, that he would never wake up +at all. In short, like other prophets, they foretold everything except +that which was actually to happen; and they would have foretold that too, +if they had thought of it in time.</p> + +<h1>II.</h1> + +<p>Archibald awoke at length, and sat up in bed. He opened his mouth, +apparently for the purpose of saying something, but his tongue refused to +articulate any recognizable words. An irregular, disjointed sound made +itself heard, like the vague outcry of an infant; and then, as if angry at +his own failure, he set up a loud and indignant wail, muffled from time to +time by the cramming of his fingers into his mouth.</p> + +<p>Whatever else was the matter with the child, it was evident that he was +hungry--as, indeed, he well might be. Some bread and milk was brought to +him, that being his favorite food; but to the general astonishment and +dismay, he did not seem to know what it was, although he continued to +exhibit every symptom of a ravenous and constantly augmenting appetite. +They tried him with every imaginable viand, but in vain; they even put +morsels into his mouth, but he had lost the power of mastication, and +could not retain them. The more they labored, the greater became his +exasperation, until at last there was such a hubbub and confusion on the +score of Master Archibald as that hitherto rather insignificant little +personage should have felt proud to occasion.</p> + +<p>Among the anxious and bewildered people who thronged the nursery at this +juncture was a young woman who acted as wet-nurse to the latest born of +the Malmaisons, a baby-girl three months old.</p> + +<p>She was a healthy and full-bodied peasant, and as she pressed forward to +have her look at the now frantic Archibald, she held the nursing +infant--the only serene and complacent member of the assemblage--to her +open breast. Archibald caught sight of her, and immediately reached toward +her, arms, mouth and all, accompanying the action by an outcry so eager, +impatient, and gluttonous that it was capable of only one interpretation. +An incredible interpretation, certainly, but that made no difference; +there was nothing else to be done. Honest Maggie, giggling and rubicund, +put aside her complacent nursling (who thereupon became anything but +complacent) and took to her kind bosom this strapping and unreasonable +young gentleman, who had already got many of his second teeth. That did +not prevent him from making an unconscionably good supper, and thenceforth +the only person likely to be disturbed by his new departure in +gormandizing was Maggie herself. Everything being thus happily arranged, +the household dispersed about its business, the Baronet declaring, with a +great laugh, that he had always said Archie was but a babe in arms, and +this proved it!</p> + +<p>Dr. Rollinson, however (the elder doctor, that is--father of the present +[<a href="#2">2</a>] distinguished bearer of the name), had witnessed this scene with +something more than ordinary wonder or amusement; it had puzzled, but also +interested him extremely. He was less of a conservative than many of his +profession; he kept his mind open, and was not disinclined to examine into +odd theories, and even, perhaps, to originate a few such himself upon +occasion. The question that now confronted him and challenged his +ingenuity was, What was the matter with Archibald? Why had the boy +suddenly gone back to the primitive source of nourishment, not from mere +childish whim, but from actual ignorance--as it seemed--that nourishment +was obtainable in any other way? An obvious reply would be that the boy +had become wholly, idiotic; but the more Dr. Rollinson revolved this rough +and ready explanation, the less satisfactory did he find it. He wisely +decided to study the symptoms and weigh the evidence before committing +himself one way or the other.</p> + +<p>The first result of his observations was to confirm his impression that +Archibald was not idiotic. There was a certain sort of vacancy in the +child's expression, but it was the vacancy of ignorance rather than of +foolishness. And ignorant to a surprising degree he was. He had at no time +been regarded as a boy of large attainments; but what he knew before his +strange seizure was, to what he knew after it, as Bacon to a ploughman. +Had he been newly born into the world, he could not have shown less +acquaintance with it, so far as intellectual comprehension went; his +father, mother, sister--all were alike strangers to him; he gazed at them +with intent but unrecognizing eyes; he never looked up when his name was +spoken, nor did he betray any sign of understanding the talk that went on +around him. His own thoughts and wants were expressed by inarticulate +sounds and by gestures; but the mystery of speech evidently interested +him, and he studied the movements of the lips of those who spoke to him +with a keen, grave scrutiny to them highly amusing--except in the case of +his poor old Aunt Jane, who turned quite pale under his inquisition, and +declared that he must be bewitched, for although he seemed to know +nothing, yet he had the knowingest look of any child she ever saw. Herein +Aunt Jane gave utterance to a fact that was beginning to be generally +acknowledged. Whatever Archibald had lost, it was beyond dispute that he +had somehow come into possession of a fund of native intelligence (the +term "mother wit" seems inappropriate under the circumstances) to which he +had heretofore been a stranger. He might have forgotten his own name, and +the mother that bore him; but he had learned how to learn, and was for the +first time in his life wide awake. This was very much like saying that he +was a new boy in the old skin; and this, again, was little better than a +euphemism for changeling. Was he a changeling after all? The sage old +woman whom we have already quoted asserted confidently that he was, and +that, however much he pretended to ignorance, he really knew vastly more +than any plain human child did or ought to know. And as a warrant for this +opinion they brought forward evidence that Master Archibald, having been +left alone one day in the nursery, had been overheard humming to himself +the words of a certain song--a thing, it was argued, which he could not +have done had he known no words at all; and therefore he was a changeling. +</p> + +<p>Dr. Rollinson happened to hear this argument, and thought it worth while to +inquire further into the matter. Such testimony as he could collect went +to confirm the truth of the story. Not only so, but the song itself, if +the witnesses were to be believed, so far from being an ordinary childish +ditty, was some matter of pretty maids and foaming wine-cups that Tom +Moore might have written, and that gentlemen sometimes trolled out, an +hour or two after dinner. Now this looked very black for Archibald. +Further investigation, however, put a somewhat different face upon the +affair. It transpired that the song had been often sung in Archibald's +hearing, and before his fit, by the Honorable Richard, for whom, as has +been said, the boy had taken a queer fancy.</p> + +<p>And, perhaps because affection is a good teacher, the boy had acquired the +power of repeating some of the verses to himself, of course without +understanding a syllable of them, and very likely without himself being +conscious of what he was doing, he hummed them over, in short, exactly as +a preoccupied parrot might do; and always at a certain time, namely, after +he had been put to bed, and was staring up at the darkening ceiling +previous to falling asleep. This, by itself, was nothing very remarkable; +the puzzle was, how could he do it now? Out of all the wreck of his small +memory, why was this song, the meaning of which he had never understood, +the sole survivor? Was it that his affection for Mr. Pennroyal had kept it +alive? So might a sentimentalist have concluded; but the Doctor was a man +of sense. Was it that the boy was shamming? Impossible on all accounts. +But then, what was it?</p> + +<p>The Doctor had by this time worked himself up to believe that the solution +of this problem would help largely toward the clearing up of the whole +mystery. So he took notes, and continued to observe and to consider.</p> + +<p>He found, in the first place, that the song-singing took place under +exactly the same circumstances as before the fit, and at no other time or +place.</p> + +<p>Hereupon, he devised experiments to discover whether Archibald was +conscious that he was singing, or whether it was an act performed +mechanically, while the mind was otherwise engaged. After the child was in +bed, he quietly arranged a lamp so as to cast a circular space of light +upon the ceiling above the bed, the rest of the room being left in shadow. +Not a word of any song was heard that night; and the test was tried twice +more during the week, with a like result. At another time he got the +Honorable Richard to come into a room adjoining the nursery, and sing the +song so that Archibald might hear it. Archibald heard it, but gave no sign +of being affected thereby. He was then brought into Mr. Richard's +presence; it was the first time they had met since the change. Now, if +ever, was an opportunity for the imperishable quality of the affections to +be vindicated. But no such vindication occurred. On the contrary, after +having stared his uncle almost out of countenance for some minutes, he +turned from him with a marked expression of disapproval, and could never +afterward be induced voluntarily to go near him. The affection had become +an antipathy.</p> + +<p>"No, madam; set your mind at rest," said the bluff Doctor to Lady Malmaison +over a cup of tea that evening. "The child's no changeling; but he's +changed, and changed for the better, too, by Gad! He can tell a bad egg +from a good one now," continued the Doctor, with a significant chuckle, +the significance of which, however, Lady Malmaison perhaps failed to +perceive. But the fact was, the Honorable Richard Pennroyal had never been +an especial favorite with Dr. Rollinson.</p> + +<p>The next day was a new excitement. Archibald had walked, and that, too, as +well as the best-grown boy of seven that you would want to see.</p> + +<p>"Ay, and where did he walk to?" demanded the Doctor.</p> + +<p>It was explained that it was at the time for nursing him, and he was +sitting in his little chair at one end of the nursery, when Maggie had +entered at the other. As soon as he clapped eyes on her, he had set up his +usual impatient outcries; but Maggie, instead of going directly to him, +had stopped to exchange a few words with the head-nurse, unfastening the +front of her dress the while, however, so that Master Archibald's +impatience was carried to the point of intolerance by the glimpse thus +afforded of the good things in store for him. And then, before you had +time to think, he had got up from his chair, and trotted across the floor, +bellowing all the time, and had tugged at Maggie's dress.</p> + +<p>"Bellowing all the time, eh?" said the Doctor.</p> + +<p>"And walking all the same like he was ten year old, sir: and it did give us +all a turn; and if you please, sir, what do you say to <i>that</i>?"</p> + +<p>"What do I say to that?--why, that it's just what I should have +expected--that's what I say!" replied Dr. Rollinson, who had apparently +begun to divine some clew to the grand mystery. But he vouchsafed no +explanations as yet.</p> + +<p>Archibald did not repeat the walking miracle, although, within the space of +a few weeks only, he passed through the regular gradations of crawling, +tottering, and toddling, to normal pedestrianism of the most active kind. +His progress in other accomplishments was almost parallel with this. From +inarticulate gabble he trained his tongue to definite speech; his +vocabulary expanded with astonishing rapidity, and, contrary to his +previous habit, he made incessant use of it. He was now as remarkable for +loquacity as formerly for the opposite characteristic; and his keenness of +observation and retentive memory were a theme of general admiration. In a +word, he used his five senses to ten times better effect than had ever +been expected of him in the old days; and no one who had not seen him for +a year from the time of his fit would have recognized him as the same +child, He was not only making up for lost time--he was incomparably +outstripping his earlier self; he seemed to have emerged from a mental and +physical cocoon--to have cast aside an incrustation of deterrent +clumsiness, and to be hastening onward with the airy case and accuracy of +perfect self-possession. At the end of a year he was to all intents and +purposes ten years old; and what was most remarkable about this swift +advance lay in the fact that a year had seen the whole of it. Though he +had been eight years in the world, the first seven had furnished none of +the mental or moral material for the last: it stood alone and +disconnectedly. Of those seven years it is certain that he retained not +the smallest recollection; they were to him as if they had never been. The +only thing they did provide him with was a well-fed and sound body; in +other respects Archibald was positively new. He had to make the +acquaintance of his family and friends over again; but it was done with +modifications. In other cases besides that of his uncle, it was observed +that he felt antipathies where formerly he loved, and <i>vice versa</i>.</p> + +<p>A minor instance, but interesting as must be all evidence in a case so +strange as this, is that of the brindled cat that was buried in the +garden. Archibald was brought to the grave, which he had so pathetically +haunted before his metamorphosis, not many weeks after the metamorphosis +occurred; and every means was used to revive in him some recollection of +the bereavement; they even went so far as to uncover poor pussy's +remains.... Archibald was first unconscious and indifferent, then curious, +finally disgusted. His feelings were not otherwise touched. All +associations connected with this whilom pet of his, grief for whose loss +was supposed to have been the impelling cause of the fit itself, were as +utterly expunged from his mind as if they had never existed there. +Moreover, aversion from all cats was from this time forth so marked in him +as almost to amount to horror; while dogs, whose presence had been wont to +fill him with dismay, were now his favorite companions. It was the same in +other things; the boy formed independent opinions and prejudices in all +the relations of life--independent, that is, of his past. His temper, too, +was changed; no longer timid, appealing and docile, it was now determined, +enterprising, and bold. It was manifest even thus early that here was a +character fitted to make its way in the world.</p> + +<p>"No, I protest, Doctor, I can never believe it's the same child," said Lady +Malmaison, with a sigh. "That noisy, self-willed boy is never my quiet, +affectionate little Archie. And yesterday he beat his brother Edward, that +is two years older than he. Heigho! Pray, dear Doctor, what is your +opinion?"</p> + +<p>"My opinion, Lady Malmaison, is that women will never be content," answered +the bluff old physician. "I can remember the time when you thought your +quiet little Archie was a nincompoop--and quite right too. And now because +a monstrous piece of good luck has made a Crichton of him, you begin to +regret the nincompoop! It ain't logical;" and the Doctor took snuff.</p> + +<p>"But who ever heard of a child changing his whole nature all in a moment?" +persisted Lady Malmaison.</p> + +<p>"Why, isn't all in a moment better than inch by inch? The thing is no such +mighty matter as some folks try to make it out. The boy went to sleep as +soon as he was born, and has but just waked up--that's my notion about it. +So now, instead of starting, the way most of us do, at the point of +helplessness, he begins life with a body full of seven years' pith, and +faculties sharp set as a new watch. Till now he has but dreamed; now he's +going to exist, with so much the more extra impetus. He don't recollect +what he's been dreaming--why should he?"</p> + +<p>"But he did recollect some things, Doctor; that song.... And then, his +walking across the room."</p> + +<p>"Purely physical--purely automatic," replied the Doctor, tapping his +snuff-box, and pleased with Lady Malmaison's awe at the strange word. "If +he had stopped to think what he was doing he couldn't have done it. The +body, I tell you, grows under all circumstances--as much when you're +asleep as when you're awake; and the body has a memory of its own, +distinct from the mental memory. Have you never hummed a song when you +were doing your embroidery, and thinking about--about Lady Snaffle's +elopement with the captain?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Doctor!"</p> + +<p>"Yes; and if I'd come in at the moment and asked you what you were singing, +could you have told me? Of course you couldn't! You could have told me +all about the elopement. Well, then, that's clear now, ain't it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Lady Malmaison, meaning, it must be supposed, "as clear as +mud." Dr. Rollinson chuckled to himself, and they continued their game of +piquet.</p> + +<h1>III.</h1> + +<p>Possibly the reader, though, understanding the force of the Doctor's +illustration better than good stupid Lady Malmaison could do, is still of +opinion that that eminent practitioner's exposition of the real nucleus of +the mystery might have been more explicit. It is all very well to say that +the boy was asleep for seven years and then woke up; but what does such a +statement mean? Are such prolonged slumbers an ordinary occurrence? And if +so, might not the slumberer, after a longer or shorter interval of +wakefulness, fall asleep again? It is to be feared that the old physician +was not quite so well satisfied in his secret mind as he pretended to be, +and that his learned dissertation upon automatic action was little better +than a device to avoid being pressed upon the real point at issue. But it +is always a delicate matter to fathom the depth of a medical man's +sagaciousness.</p> + +<p>Mention has already been made of little Kate Battledown, the effect of +whose society on Archibald had been so strangely ungenial. A year or two +after his "awakening" the little maiden was again thrown in his way, and +this time with very different results. There is extant among the family +papers a letter containing a very pretty account of the relations which +were soon established between these small personages. They seem to have +taken to one another at once, and exercised over each other a mutual +fascination. Archibald, keen and domineering with his brother and +sisters, and, so far as his power went, with everybody else--was as sweet +as milk to his childish enchantress; and no doubt his manners, if not his +general character, greatly benefited by her companionship. There is a +picture of the two children painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence and now hanging +in the present Dr. Rollinson's parlor (where, doubtless, thousands of his +patients have beheld it, ignorant of its history), which is perhaps as +beautiful an example of English youth and maidenhood at eleven and nine +years of age as could be found in the three kingdoms. The boy, black-eyed +and black-haired, seems to step forward daringly, with his glance fixed +defiantly upon the spectator; but his left hand, extended behind him, +clasps that of little Kate with a protecting gesture; and her great brown +eyes rest on his face, with a look half of apprehension, half of admiring +confidence. There is a second portrait of her, taken ten years later; but +of Archibald no other authentic likeness exists. Report affirms, however, +that in 1823 and thereabout he was esteemed one of the handsomest young +fellows of his day.</p> + +<p>The devotion of the two to each other grew with their growth. She, even at +that early age, must have given occasional foretastes of the wayward, +impulsive, and yet calculating character that was developed in her later +life; but there can be little doubt that she felt a genuine attachment to +Archibald; and he laid himself at her feet with a chivalric +single-heartedness more characteristic of the fifteenth century than of +the early nineteenth. Indeed, his jealous guardianship of her excited not +a little amusement among his seniors; and it is related that in his +twelfth year he actually commissioned Colonel Battledown to carry a formal +"message" on his behalf to the Honorable Richard Pennroyal; the latter's +offence consisting in his having taken Miss Battledown on his knee and +kissed her. The matter was, however, happily arranged on the Hon. +gentleman's expressing his regret for his indiscretion, and the Colonel +and Sir Clarence becoming answerable for his good behavior in future. But +the children's preference for each other now began to suggest other +thoughts than those of mere passing entertainment to the paternal minds. +There seemed to be no good reason why they should not ultimately make a +match of it. It was true that Kate might well expect to find a more +brilliant mate than the second son of a baronet; but, personal feeling and +the friendship of the families aside, she might do much worse than with +Archibald. The second son of Sir Clarence stood a fair chance of hereafter +making a favorable entry into politics; and as for fortune, his aunt on +the mother's side, a Miss Tremont, of Cornwall, an old maid without nearer +relatives than her nephew, was in a fair way to bequeath him seventy +thousand pounds. And furthermore (this was an aspect of the case which +Colonel Battledown probably kept to himself), it was not beyond the bounds +of possibility that Archibald might finally inherit Malmaison in spite of +the accident of his birth. Edward Malmaison had always been a delicate +child, and years were not making him stronger. He was very studious, and +disinclined to those active exercises in which his brother was already +beginning to excel: his eyes were weak and his cheeks pale; and in short, +unless his constitution should presently undergo a favorable change, the +chances were fairly against his surviving Archibald, to say the least of +it. "Archie thrashed him at fisticuffs," said the old man of war to +himself, "and why shouldn't he get the better of him in other ways as +well? Of course we wish no harm to happen to poor Edward, who is a good +little snipe enough; but one must conduct one's campaign to an eye to what +may happen, as well as to what is."</p> + +<p>So this matrimonial arrangement, without being definitely resolved upon +(except possibly in the hearts of the two young persons principally +concerned), was allowed to remain in a state of favorable suspense. Kate +and Archibald saw one another as much as was good for them--although, by +way of keeping up the chivalric conditions, they used to pretend that all +manner of portentous obstacles intervened between them and the +consummation of their desires; and exhausted their ingenuity in the +devising of secret meetings, of elopements across the garden wall, and of +heart-rending separations, when imaginary heartless parents tore them +ruthlessly from one another's arms. In a letter written by Sir Clarence to +Dr. Rollinson, under date December 27th, 1811, the jolly Baronet says: +"Our Xmas festivities were for a time interupted by another Romantic +Event. Catherine, onely daughter of Colonel Battledown eloped with Mr. +Archibald Malmaison of Malmaison. The Fugitives escaped by the pantry +dore, and before they could be overtaken, had been maid man and wife by +the under Gardner in the tool house in the corner of the yard. An +application will be made to Parlement to dissolve the marriage untill the +parties are out of the Nursrie." By this it may appear that Sir Clarence +had even more humor than orthography.</p> + +<p>It was a few weeks after this event that poor old Aunt Jane left the world +by way of the ornamental fish-pond. The pond in question lay on the +boundary-line between the Malmaison estate and that of the Pennroyals; and +the ornamentation consisted of two flights of steps leading down to the +water, and of half a dozen willows whose twisted trunks bent over the +surface. Although of no great area, this pond was startlingly deep, and +the bottom, when you got to it, was of the softest and most unfathomable +mud. Had not Aunt Jane been seen just as she was sinking for the third +time, therefore, the chances are that she would never have been seen till +doomsday; there was room, and to spare, for all the Malmaison line in the +slimy depths of that pool. After the catastrophe, Mr. Pennroyal caused a +handsome iron railing to be erected round the scene of it. This act caused +it to be said that he might have done it before. Did he expect his future +wives to go the road of the first one? And was it not criminal negligence +in him to have suffered her to escape from her attendants? How could such +a thing have happened? Did Mr. Pennroyal consider that people might say +that the death of his wife was no loss to him, but the contrary? because +that fifty thousand pounds of hers, of which, during her lifetime, he +could touch only the interest, became, at her decease, his absolute +property, to do with as he liked. Under such circumstances, a gentleman +careful of his reputation should have guarded her as the apple of his eye. +It was certainly very odd that a poor frail crazy creature should have +been able to elude all pursuit, and then have gone straight to the +pool--in midwinter, too--and deliberately jumped in. And there she might +have lain, and no one the wiser, had not young Archibald Malmaison +happened to see her, and given the alarm. If he had been a few minutes +earlier, who can tell but he might have seen something--that nobody +suspected!</p> + +<p>All this random talk proved nothing more than that the Honorable Mr. +Pennroyal was not a favorite with his neighbors; and that was a fact of +which no proof was needed. Some men, who are good fellows enough at bottom +and even capable of inspiring genuine attachment in particular cases, +never become generally popular. When Mr. Pennroyal was accused of +stinginess, it was not considered that he had a great many liabilities to +meet, and perhaps some big debts to pay off. When it was said that he was +unsocial and cynical, it was forgotten that these very remarks were enough +to make him so. And when he was blamed for neglecting his wife, and +profiting by her demise--well, now, how is a gentleman to pay attentions +to an idiot, or to be inconsolable when Providence gives him fifty +thousand down in exchange for her? Besides, he gave her an imposing +funeral, and put himself and all his household into strict mourning. As +for the iron railing, it might be looked upon as a sort of monument to the +departed, in which practical usefulness and a becoming sentiment were +ingeniously combined.</p> + +<p>The incident had its effect upon Archibald--in rather a curious fashion. He +was, as has been intimated, the one to give the alarm. He had been passing +that way, it seemed, and had caught sight of a struggling something in the +water; and his shouts had speedily drawn the gamekeeper and a couple of +villagers to the spot. The boy had watched the recapture of the lifeless +body in solemn silence, a red flush of color in either cheek. He had been +rather fond of Aunt Jane after her insanity became confirmed, and he was +the only human being whom the poor woman had seemed to recognize, and in +whose company she felt some dull gleams of pleasure. He now shed no tears, +seeming more angry than grieved, and continued to maintain a marked +taciturnity for several days; and, concerning the catastrophe itself, he +could never be induced to speak at all. The power of keeping his own +counsel had always characterized him: in the present instance he was as +gloomily reserved as though he had buried a secret of state in his breast. +Toward the widower his manner became, from hostile, almost insolent. It +was a curious spectacle to see the lad, scarcely out of the nursery, +either ignoring his tall relative, as if the latter were a caitiff +unworthy the notice of a gentleman, or else staring him haughtily in the +face, and staring him down, too! for it was remarked that the Honorable +Richard exhibited an admirable forbearance, not to say meekness, toward +his rude little kinsman. And yet, before this time, he had occasionally +given the boy harsh words and looks.... It must have been that his +bereavement had softened his heart.</p> + +<p>However, time went on, and by degrees the poignancy of the widower's grief +was blunted, and Aunt Jane's name was seldom mentioned by any one; after +all she had not done herself, or anybody connected with her, much credit. +And other changes occurred: the stout old Colonel found it incumbent upon +him to join Sir Arthur Wellesley in the Peninsula; and Kate began to take +the lead in household affairs (her mother was a good deal of an invalid), +and stayed more at home than she used to do, and consequently did not see +so much of Archibald; she gave him to understand that it was more genteel +for him to come and call on her, as Mr. Pennroyal and other gentlemen did. +The young lady was already coming into her heritage of beauty, and +possessed more than her share of maidenly dignity, considering that she +was barely thirteen. And when, at that mention of Pennroyal, Archibald +said:</p> + +<p>"Indeed, Kate, you must not class me with him, or with any man. Remember +that we were married two Christmases ago--" she answered:</p> + +<p>"You foolish boy! that was not a real marriage: a real marriage is done in +a church, by a parson, and I wear a white veil."</p> + +<p>"But ours was an elopement," objected Archibald, disturbed.</p> + +<p>"An elopement without a carriage-and-four and a blacksmith? What an idea!" +</p> + +<p>"Do you mean to say you are not my wife, Kate?" demanded the boy, turning +pale.</p> + +<p>"Neither yours nor anybody's, Mr. Archibald."</p> + +<p>"Kate!" he broke out passionately, the blood leaping to his face, "take +care you never let yourself be any body else's wife than mine! And I don't +see what difference a blacksmith or a veil makes. And if you do, they +shall die! I know how to use a sword, and a pistol too!"</p> + +<p>"O Archie, how wicked you are! and how cruel to me, when you know that I +can never love any man but you, though cruel fate may separate us for a +season!" The young lady was quoting from "Evelina," as Archibald well +knew, but they had got so much in the habit of applying the phraseology of +that work to the requirements of their own private romance, that it came +without their thinking of it.</p> + +<p>"But say that you will be my own at last!" cries Archibald, carrying on the +scene in all seriousness.</p> + +<p>"Nay, my lord, 'tis ungenerous thus to press me--Oh, no, you must not do so, +Archie; the book says that Lord Orville only kisses her hand--"</p> + +<p>"I am not Lord Orville, and I will kiss you where I like; and I don't care +for the book when I feel as I do now! I only care for you."</p> + +<p>"Bravo, young gentleman! that's the way to talk to 'em!" cried Dr. +Rollinson, who had overheard the whole of this conversation, and who now +appeared with his broad figure, his gouty legs, and his gruff chuckle. +"Books are very well for make-believe, but when it comes to downright +earnest, use a tongue of your own--eh?" and he clapped the boy kindly on +the shoulder. "Yes, yes, she'll marry you fast enough when she sees you +making eyes at some other pretty girl! Don't tell me! there's plenty of +'em, go where you will, and when you start on the grand tour, as you'll be +doing one of these days, you'll see for yourself!" Such were the cynical +blasphemies which this man was not ashamed to instil into the ear of his +young friend; and then he led him away somewhere, still chuckling, and +left Miss Battledown to digest her slight the best way she could. The +Doctor fancied he knew a thing or two about the sex. If so, he was very +knowing!</p> + +<h1>IV.</h1> + +<p>Malmaison House was partly destroyed by fire a number of years ago, [<a href="#3">3</a>] and +two years later the portion still standing was taken down to make way for +the proposed branch of the London and South-Coast Railway. The branch is +still unbuilt, but only some heaps of grass-grown rubbish remain to mark +the site of the venerable edifice. But at the period of which I am now +writing it was an imposing pile of gray-stone, standing on a slight +elevation, with a sloping lawn in front, and many large trees surrounding +it. The centre and the right wing were of Elizabethan date; the left wing +was constructed by Sir Christopher Wren, or by some architect of his +school, and, though outwardly corresponding with the rest of the building, +was interiorly both more commodious and less massive. The walls of the old +part were in some places over four feet in thickness, and even the +partitions between the rooms were two feet of solid masonry. Many of the +rooms were hung with tapestry; and in taking down the house several traces +were discovered of secret passages hollowed out within the walls +themselves, and communicating by means of sliding panels from room to +room. The plan of the building comprised two floors and an attic; but the +attic was not coextensive with the lower areas; and there was often a +difference of level between the apartments on the latter floors of from +one to four steps. An irregular corridor on the first floor, badly +lighted, and in some places perfectly dark, extended from the centre into +the right wing, affording entrance to the rooms front and back.</p> + +<p>At the end of the right wing was situated the east chamber, of which +mention has already been made. Originally, the only access to it was by +way of a larger chamber adjoining, which, again, could only be entered +through the dark corridor. This was the condition of things at the time of +the famous magic disappearance of Sir Charles Malmaison, in 1745. But, at +the beginning of the present century, a door was cut through the outside +wall, whence a covered flight of stone steps led down into an enclosed +courtyard. The room was thus rendered independent, so to speak, of the +rest of the house. The occupant might lock the door communicating with the +adjoining chamber, and go and come by the other as he pleased. As for the +courtyard, part of it had formerly been used as a stable, with stalls for +three horses; these were now transferred to the other end of the mansion, +though the stable, of course, remained; and it was necessary to go through +the stable in order to get to the covered flight of steps.</p> + +<p>It may be remembered that Archibald, in what we may term his soporific +period, had manifested a strong, although entirely irrational, repugnance +to this east chamber. Perhaps he had been conscious of presences there +which were imperceptible to normal and healthy senses! Be that as it may, +he got bravely over his folly afterward, and in his twelfth year (his +third, Sir Clarence would have called it) he permanently took up his +quarters there, and would admit no "women" except as a special favor. In +those days, when people were still, more or less, prone to superstition, +it was not every boy who would have enjoyed the sensation of spending his +nights in so isolated a situation; for the right wing was almost entirely +unoccupied on this floor. But Archibald appears to have been singularly +free from fear, whether of the natural or of the supernatural. He +collected together all his boyish <i>penates</i>--his gun, his sword, his +fishing-rods, and his riding-whips, and arranged them about the walls. He +swept down the cobwebs from windows and ceiling; turned out of doors a lot +of miscellaneous lumber that had insensibly collected there during the +last half century; lugged in a few comfortable broad-bottomed chairs and +stanch old tables; set up a bookshelf containing Walton's "Complete +Angler," "Dialogues of Devils," "Arabian Nights," Miss Burney's "Evelina," +and other equally fashionable and ingenious works; kindled a great fire on +the broad hearth; and, upon the whole, rendered the aspect of things more +comfortable than would have been anticipated. The room itself was long, +narrow, and comparatively low; the latticed windows were sunk several feet +into the massive walls; lengths of brownish-green and yellow tapestry, +none the fresher for its two centuries and more of existence, still +protested against the modern heresy of wallpaper; and in a panel-frame +over the fireplace was seen the portrait, by Sir Godfrey Kneller, of the +Jacobite baronet. It was a half-length, in officer's uniform; one hand +holding the hilt of a sword against the breast, while the forefinger of +the other hand pointed diagonally downward, as much as to say, "I vanished +in that direction!" The fireplace, it should be noted, was built on the +side of the room opposite to the windows; that is to say, in one of the +partition walls. And what was on the other side of this partition? Not the +large chamber opening into the corridor--that lay at right angles to the +east chamber, along the southern front of the wing. Not the corridor +either, though it ran for some distance parallel to the east chamber, and +had a door on the east side. But this door led into a great dark closet, +as big as an ordinary room, and used as a receptacle for rubbish. Was it +the dark closet, then, that adjoined the east chamber on the other side of +the partition? No, once more. Had a window been opened through the closet +wall, it would have looked--not into Archibald's room, but--into a narrow +blind court or well, entirely enclosed between four stone walls, and of no +apparent use, save as a somewhat clumsy architectural expedient. There was +no present way of getting into this well, or even of looking into it, +unless one had been at the pains to mount on the roof of the house and +peer down. As a matter of fact, its existence was only made known by the +reports of an occasional workman engaged in renewing the tiles, or mending +a decayed chimney. An accurate survey of the building would, of course, +have revealed it at once; but nothing of the kind had been thought of +within the memory of man. Such a survey would also have revealed what no +one in the least suspected, but which was, nevertheless, a fact of +startling significance--namely, that the blind court was, at least, +fifteen feet shorter, and twenty-five feet narrower, <i>than it ought to +have been</i>!</p> + +<p>Archibald was as far from suspecting it as anybody; indeed, he most likely +never troubled his head about builders' plans in his life. But he thought +a great deal of his great-grandfather's portrait; and since it was so +placed as to be in view of the most comfortable chair before the fire, he +spent many hours of every week gazing at it. What was Sir Charles pointing +at with that left forefinger? And what meant that peculiarly intent and +slightly frowning glance which the painted eyes forever bent upon his own? +Archibald probably had a few of Mrs. Radcliffe's romances along with the +other valuable books on his shelves, and he may have cherished a notion +that a treasure, or an important secret of some sort, was concealed in the +vicinity. Following down the direction of the pointing finger, he found +that it intersected the floor at a spot about five feet to the right of +the side of the fireplace. The floor of the chamber was of solid oak +planking, blackened by age; and it appeared to be no less solid at this +point than at any other. Nevertheless, he thought it would be good fun, +and at all events would do no harm, to cut a hole there, and see what was +underneath. Accordingly, he quietly procured a saw and a hammer and +chisel, and one day, when the family were away from home, he locked +himself into his room, and went to work. The job was not an easy one, the +tough oak wood being almost enough to turn the edge of his chisel, and +there being no purchase at all for the saw. After quarter of an hour's +chipping and hammering, with very little result, he paused to rest. The +board at which he had been working, and which met the wall at right +angles, was very short, not more than eighteen inches long, indeed, being +inserted merely to fill up the gap caused by a deficiency in length of the +plank of which it was the continuation. Between the two adjoining ends was +a crack of some width, and into that crack did Archibald idly stick his +chisel. It seemed to him that the crack widened, so that he was able to +press the blade of the chisel down to its thickest part. He now worked it +eagerly backward and forward, and, to his delight, the crack rapidly +widened still further; in fact, the short board was sliding back +underneath the wainscot. A small oblong cavity was thus revealed, into +which the young discoverer glowered with beating heart and vast +anticipations.</p> + +<p>What he found could scarcely be said to do those anticipations justice; it +was neither a casket of precious stones, nor a document establishing the +family right of ownership of the whole county of Sussex. It was nothing +more than a tarnished rod of silver, about nine inches in length, and +twisted into an irregular sort of corkscrew shape. One end terminated in a +broad flat button; the other in a blunted point. There was nothing else in +the hole--nothing to show what the rod was meant for, or why it was so +ingeniously hidden there. And yet, reflected Archibald, could it have been +so hidden, and its place of concealment so mysteriously indicated, without +any ulterior purpose whatever? It was incredible! Why, the whole portrait +was evidently painted with no other object than that of indicating the +rod's whereabouts. Either, then, there was or had been something else in +the cavity in addition to the rod, or the rod was intended to be used in +some way still unexplained. So much was beyond question.</p> + +<p>Thus cogitated Archibald--that is to say, thus he might have cogitated, for +there is no direct evidence of what passed through his mind. And, in the +first place, he made an exhaustive examination of the cavity, and +convinced himself not only that there was nothing else except dust to be +got out of it, but also that it opened into no other cavity which might +prove more fruitful. His next step was to study the silver rod, in the +hope that scrutiny or inspiration might suggest to him what it was good +for. His pains were rewarded by finding on the flat head the nearly +obliterated figures 3 and 5, inscribed one above the other, in the manner +of a vulgar fraction, thus, 3/5; and by the conviction that the spiral +conformation of the rod was not the result of accident, as he had at first +supposed, but had been communicated to it intentionally, for some purpose +unknown. These conclusions naturally stimulated his curiosity more than +ever, but nothing came of it. The boy was a clever boy, but he was not a +detective trained in this species of research, and the problem was beyond +his ingenuity. He made every application of the figures 3 and 5 that +imagination could suggest; he took them in feet, in inches, in yards; he +added them together, and he subtracted one from the other: all in vain. +The only thing he did not do was to take any one else into his confidence; +he said not a word about the affair even to Kate; being resolved that if +there were a mystery, it should be revealed, at least in the first +instance, to no one else besides himself. At length, after several days +spent in fruitless experiments and loss of temper, he returned the rod to +its hiding-place, with the determination to give himself a rest for +awhile, and see what time and accident would do for him. This plan, though +undoubtedly prudent, seemed likely to effect no more than the others; and +over a year passed away without the rod's being again disturbed. By +degrees his thoughts ceased to dwell so persistently upon the unsolved +puzzle, and other interests took possession of his mind. The tragedy of +his aunt's death, his love for Kate, his studies, his prospects--a hundred +things gave him occupation, until the silver rod was half forgotten.</p> + +<p>In the latter part of 1813, however, he accidentally made a rather +remarkable discovery.</p> + +<h1>V.</h1> + +<p>He had for the first time been out hunting with his father and the +neighboring country gentlemen in the autumn of this year, and it appears +that on two occasions he had the brush awarded to him. At his request the +heads of the two foxes were mounted for him, and he proposed to put them +up on either side his fireplace.</p> + +<p>The wall, above and for a few inches to the right and left of the +mantelpiece, was bare of tapestry; the first-named place being occupied by +the portrait, while the sides were four feet up the oaken wainscot which +surrounded the whole room behind the tapestry, and from thence to the +ceiling, plaster. The mantelpiece and fireplace were of a dark slaty +stone, and of brick, respectively.</p> + +<p>Archibald fixed upon what he considered the most effective positions for +his heads--just above the level of the wainscot, and near enough to the +mantelpiece not to be interfered with by the tapestry. He nailed up one of +them on the left-hand side, the nails penetrating with just sufficient +resistance in the firm plaster; and then, measuring carefully to the +corresponding point on the right-hand side, he proceeded to affix the +other head there. But the nail, on this occasion, could not be made to go +in; and on his attempting to force it with a heavier stroke of the hammer, +it bent beneath the blow, and the hammer came sharply into contact with +the white surface of the wall, producing a clinking sound as from an +impact on metal.</p> + +<p>A brief investigation now revealed the fact that a circular disk of iron, +about three inches in diameter, and painted white to match the plaster, +was here let into the wall. What could be the object of it? With a fresh +nail the boy began to scratch off the paint from the surface of the disk, +in order to determine whether it were actually iron, or some other metal; +in so doing a small movable lid, like the screen of a keyhole, was pushed +aside, disclosing a little round aperture underneath. Archibald pushed the +nail into it, thereby informing himself that the hole went straight into +the wall, for a distance greater than the length of the nail; but how much +greater, and what was at the end of it, he could only conjecture.</p> + +<p>We must imagine him now standing upon a chair, with the nail in his hand, +casting about in his mind for some means of probing this mysterious and +unexpected hole to the bottom. At this juncture he happens to glance +upward, and meets the intent regard of his pictured ancestor, who seems to +have been silently watching him all this time, and only to be prevented by +unavoidable circumstances from speaking out and telling him what to do +next. And there is that constant forefinger pointing--at what? At the +cavity in the floor, of course; but not of that alone; for if you observe, +this same new-found hole in the wall is a third point in the straight line +between the end of the forefinger and the hiding-place of the silver rod; +furthermore, the hole is, as nearly as can be estimated without actual +measurement, three feet distant from the forefinger, and five feet from +the rod; the problem of three above and five below has solved itself in +the twinkling of an eye, and it only remains to act accordingly!</p> + +<p>Archibald sprang to the floor in no small excitement; but the first thing +he did was to see that both his doors were securely fastened. Then he +advanced upon the mystery with heightened color and beating heart, his +imagination revelling in the wildest forecasts of what might be in store; +and anon turning him cold with sickening apprehension lest it should prove +to be nothing after all! But no--something there must be, some buried +secret, now to live once more for him, and for him only: the secret, +whereof dim legends had come down through the obscurity of two hundred +years; the secret, too, of old Sir Charles in the frame yonder, the man of +magic repute. What could it be? Some talisman--some volume of the Black +Art perhaps--which would enable him to vanish at will into thin air, and +to travel with the speed of a wish from place to place--to become a +veritable enchanter, endowed with all supernatural powers. With hands +slightly tremulous from eagerness he pushed back the bit of plank and drew +forth the silver rod; then mounted on the chair and applied it to the +hole, which it fitted accurately. Before pushing it home he paused a +moment.</p> + +<p>In all the stories he had read, the possessors of magic secrets had +acquired the same, only in exchange for something supposed to be equally +valuable, namely, their own souls. It was not to be expected that +Archibald would be able to modify the terms of the bargain in his own +case: was he, then, prepared to pay the price? Every human being, +probably, is called upon to give a more or less direct answer to this +question at some epoch of their lives: and were it not for curiosity and +scepticism, and an unwillingness to profit by the experience of others, +very likely that answer might be more often favorable to virtue than it +actually is. Archibald did not hesitate long. Whether he decided to +disbelieve in any danger; whether he resolved to brave it whatever it +might be; or whether, having got thus far, he had not sufficient control +over his inclinations to resist going further--at all events he drew in +his breath, set his boyish lips, and drove the silver rod into the +aperture with right good will.</p> + +<p>It turned slowly as it entered, the curve of its spiral evidently following +the corresponding windings of the hole. Inward it twisted like a snake, +until only some two inches still projected. As the searcher after +forbidden mysteries continued to press, something seemed to give way +within; and at the same instant an odd, shuffling sound caused him to +glance sharply over his left shoulder.</p> + +<p>What was the matter with the mantelpiece? The whole of the right jamb +seemed to have started forward nearly a foot, while the left jamb had +retired by a corresponding distance into the wall; the hearth, with the +fire burning upon it, remained meanwhile undisturbed. At first Archibald +imagined that the mantelpiece was going to fall, perhaps bringing down the +whole partition with it; but when he had got over the first shock of +surprise sufficiently to make an examination, he found that the entire +structure of massive gray-stone was swung upon a concealed pivot, round +which it turned independently of the brickwork of the fireplace. The +silver rod had released the spring by which the mechanism was held in +check, and an unsuspected doorway was thus revealed, opening into the very +substance of the apparently solid wall. On getting down from his chair he +had no difficulty in pulling forward the jamb far enough to satisfy +himself that there was a cavity of unknown extent behind. And from out of +this cavity breathed a strange dry air, like the sigh of a mummy. As for +the darkness in there, it was almost substantial as of the central chamber +in the great pyramid.</p> + +<p>Archibald may well have had some misgivings, for he was only a boy, and +this happened more than sixty years ago, when ghosts and goblins had not +come to be considered such indefensible humbugs as they are now. +Nevertheless, he was of a singularly intrepid temperament, and besides he +had passed the turning point in this adventure a few minutes ago. Nothing, +therefore, would have turned him back now. Come what might of it, he would +see this business to an end.</p> + +<p>It was, however, impossible to see anything without a light; it would be +necessary to fetch one of the rush candles from the table in the corridor. +It was a matter of half a minute for the boy to go and return; then he +edged himself through the opening, and was standing in a kind of vaulted +tunnel, directly behind the fireplace, the warmth of which he could feel +when he laid his hand on the bricks on that side. The tunnel, which +extended along the interior of the wall toward the left, was about six +feet in height by two and a half in width. Archibald could walk in it +quite easily.</p> + +<p>But, in the first place, he scrutinized the mechanism of the revolving +mantelpiece. It was an extremely ingenious and yet simple device, and so +accurately fitted in all its parts that, after so many years, they still +worked together almost as smoothly as when new. After Archibald had poured +a little of his gun-oil into the joints of the hinges, and along the +grooves, he found that heavy stone structure would open and close as +noiselessly and easily as his own jaws. It could be opened from the inside +by using the silver rod in a hole corresponding to that on the outside; +and, having practised this opening and shutting until he was satisfied +that he was thoroughly master of the process, he put the rod in his +pocket, pulled the jamb gently together behind him, and, candle in hand, +set forth along the tunnel.</p> + +<p>After walking ten paces, he came face-up against a wall lying at right +angles to the direction in which he had been moving. Peering cautiously +round the corner, he saw, at the end of a shallow embrasure, a ponderous +door of dark wood, braced with iron, standing partly open, with a key in +the keyhole, as if some one had just come out, and, in his haste, had +forgotten to shut and lock the door behind him. Archibald now slowly +opened it to its full extent; it creaked as it moved, and the draught of +air made his candle flicker, and caused strange shadows to dance for a +moment in the unexplored void beyond. In another breath Archibald had +crossed the threshold and arrived at the goal of his pilgrimage.</p> + +<p>At first he could see very little; but there could be no doubt that he was +in a room which seemed to be of large extent, and for the existence of +which he could by no means account. The reader, who has been better +informed, will already have assigned it its true place in that unexplained +region mentioned some pages back, between the blind court and the east +chamber. Groping his way cautiously about, Archibald presently discerned a +burnished sconce affixed to the wall, in which having placed his candle, +the light was reflected over the room, so that the objects it contained +stood dimly forth. It was a room of fair extent and considerable height, +and was, apparently, furnished in a style of quaint and sombre +magnificence, such as no other apartment in Malmaison could show. The +arched ceiling was supported by vast oaken beams; the floor was inlaid +with polished marbles. The walls, instead of being hung with tapestry, +were painted in distemper with life-size figure subjects, representing, as +far as the boy could make out, some weird incantation scene. At one end of +the room stood a heavy cabinet, the shelves of which were piled with gold +and silver plate, richly chased, and evidently of great value. Here, in +fact, seemed to have been deposited many of the precious heirlooms of the +family, which had disappeared during the Jacobite rebellions, and were +supposed to have been lost. The cabinet was made of ebony inlaid with +ivory, as was also a broad round table in the centre of the room. In a +niche opposite the cabinet gleamed a complete suit of sixteenth century +armor; and so dry was the atmosphere of the apartment, that scarce a spot +of rust appeared upon the polished surface, which, however, like every +other object in the room, was overlaid with fine dust. A bed, with +embroidered coverlet and heavy silken curtains, stood in a deep recess to +the left of the cabinet. Upon the table lay a number of papers and +parchments, some tied up in bundles, others lying about in disorder. One +was spread open, with a pen thrown down upon it, and an antique ink-horn +standing near; and upon a stand beside the bed was a gold-enamelled +snuff-box, with its lid up, and containing, doubtless, the dusty remnant +of some George II. rappee.</p> + +<p>At all these things Archibald gazed in thoughtful silence. This room had +been left, at a moment's warning, generations ago; since then this strange +dry air had been breathed by no human nostrils, these various objects had +remained untouched and motionless; nothing but time had dwelt in the +chamber; and yet what a change, subtle but mighty, had been wrought! Mere +stillness--mere absence of life--was an appalling thing, the boy thought. +And why had this secret been suffered to pass into oblivion? And why had +fate selected him to discover it? And now, what use would he make of it? +"At all events," said the boy to himself, "it has become my secret, and +shall remain mine; and no fear but the occasion will come when I shall +know what use to make of it." He felt that meanwhile it would give him +power, security, wealth also if he should ever have occasion for it; and +with a curious sentiment of pride he saw himself thus mystically +designated as the true heir of Malmaison--the only one of his age and +generation who had been permitted to stand on an equality with those +historic and legendary ancestors, to whom the secret of this chamber had +given the name and fame of wizards. Henceforth Archibald was as much a +wizard as they.</p> + +<p>Or, might there after all be a power in necromancy that he yet dreamed not +of? Was it possible that even now those old enchanters held their meetings +here, and would question his right to force his way among them?</p> + +<p>As this thought passed through the boy's mind, he was moving slowly +forward, his eyes glancing now here, now there, when all at once the roots +of his hair were stirred with an emotion which, if not fear, was certainly +far removed from tranquillity. From the darkest corner of the room he had +seen a human figure silently and stealthily creeping toward him. Now, as +he fixed his eyes upon it, it stopped, and seemed to return his stare. His +senses did not deceive him; there it stood, distinctly outlined, though +its features were indistinguishable by reason of the shadow that fell upon +them. But what living thing--living with mortal life at least--could +exist in a room that had been closed for sixty years?</p> + +<p>Now certainly this Archibald, who had not yet completed his fourteenth +year, possessed a valiant soul. That all his flesh yearned for instant +flight does not admit of a doubt; and had he fled, this record would never +have been written. Fly, however, he would not, but would step forward +rather, and be resolved what manner of goblin confronted him. Forward, +therefore, he stepped; and behold, the goblin was but the reflection of +himself in a tall mirror, which the obscurity and his own agitation had +prevented him from discerning. The revulsion of feeling thus occasioned +was so strong that for a moment all strength forsook the boy's knees; he +stumbled and fell, and his forehead struck the corner of the ebony +cabinet. He was on his feet again in a moment, but his forehead was +bleeding, and he felt strangely giddy. The candle, too, was getting near +its end; it was time to bring this first visit to a close. He took the +candle from the sconce, passed out through the door, traversed the tunnel, +and thrust the silver key into the keyhole. The stone door yielded before +him; he dropped what was left of the candle, and slipped through the +opening into broad daylight. The first object his dazzled eyes rested upon +was the figure of Miss Kate Battledown. In returning from his visit to the +corridor he must have forgotten to lock the room door after him. She was +standing with her back toward him, looking out of the window, and was +apparently making signs to some one outside.</p> + +<p>Noiselessly Archibald pushed the mantelpiece back into place; thanks to the +oiling he had given the hinges, no sound betrayed the movement. The next +moment Kate turned round, and seeing him, started and cried "Oh!"</p> + +<p>"Good-morning, Mistress Kate," said Archibald.</p> + +<p>"Archibald!"</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"You were not here a moment ago!"</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"Then how did you get here?"</p> + +<p>Archibald made a gesture toward the door leading to the covered stairway.</p> + +<p>"No--no!" said Kate; "it is locked, and the key is on this side." She had +been coming toward him, but now stopped and regarded him with terror in +her looks.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter, Kate?"</p> + +<p>"You are all over blood, Archibald! What has happened? Are you ... oh, what +are you?" She was ready to believe him a ghost.</p> + +<p>"What am I?" repeated the boy, sluggishly. That odd giddiness was +increasing, and he scarcely knew whether he were asleep or awake. Who was +he, indeed? What had happened? Who was that young woman in front of him? +What....</p> + +<p>"Archibald! Archie! Speak to me! Why do you look so strangely?"</p> + +<p>"Me not know oo!" said Archie, and began to cry.</p> + +<p>Mistress Kate turned pale, and began to back toward the door.</p> + +<p>"Me want my Kittie!" blubbered Archie.</p> + +<p>Kate stopped. "You want me?"</p> + +<p>"Me want my 'ittle Kittie--my 'ittle b'indled Kittie! Dey put my Kittie in +de hole in de darden! Me want her to p'ay wiz!" And with this, and with +the tears streaming down his cheeks, poor Archie toddled forward with the +uncertain step and outstretched arms of a little child. But Kate had +already gained the door, and was running screaming across the next room, +and so down the long corridor.</p> + +<p>Poor Archie toddled after, his baby heart filled with mourning for the +brindled cat that had been buried in the back garden seven years before. +Seven years?--or was it only yesterday?</p> + +<h1>VI.</h1> + +<p>Miss Kate Battledown's screams, as she ran down the corridor, must speedily +have summoned the household; and then the dreadful news was told, not +losing anything of its horror, we may be sure, in the recital; and then +appeared poor Archie in confirmation. The greatest confusion and +bewilderment prevailed. No one comprehended anything. It was not known +what had happened. What was this story about Archie's having suddenly +appeared, where before there had been only empty air--just as his great +grandfather, Sir Charles, had done before him? Kate, to whom we may pardon +a little incorrectness or exaggeration under the circumstances, solemnly +asseverated that she had been looking straight at the centre of the room, +and that nobody was there; and that all at once "Archie grew together out +of nothing!" Such is the version of her words given by Lady Malmaison in a +letter to her sister, Miss Tremount, of Cornwall, soon after the +occurrence. Miss Tremount, it may be remembered, had intimated years ago +her intention of making Archibald her heir; and Lady Malmaison's letter is +an amusing and rather ingenious attempt to convey the information about +poor Archie, in such a way as not to frighten off this inheritance. Doctor +Rollinson, she wrote, had seen dear Archie, and had said that what had +happened was only what might have been expected; and that the dear child's +health would certainly not suffer, but, on the contrary, be strengthened, +and his life prolonged. For that there could be no doubt that poor Archie +had been laboring under an almost unnatural excitement, or tension of the +nerves, during the last few years, which had caused Lady Malmaison the +greatest anxiety; and she was truly thankful, for her part, that things +had come out no worse than they had. She could feel secure, now, that her +darling Archie would live to be a quiet, good, sensible English gentleman, +fitted to discharge efficiently, and conscientiously, an English +gentleman's duties, whether it were to manage an estate, or--or in fact +whatever it might be. And then came the little story about the mysterious +apparition of Archie out of vacancy, which Lady Malmaison treated +humorously; though in her own heart she was very much scared at it, and +was moreover privately convinced that Archie was, and would remain, very +little better than an idiot all his life long. Now, it is well known that +English country gentlemen are never idiotic.</p> + +<p>What was the elder Dr. Rollinson's real opinion about Archie's relapse? The +only direct evidence worth having on this point--his own--is unfortunately +not forthcoming, and we are obliged to depend on such inaccurate or +interested hearsay as has just been quoted above. It seems likely that he +came to the conclusion that stupidity was the boy's normal condition and +that his seven years of brilliance had been something essentially abnormal +and temporary, and important only from a pathological point of view. +Indeed, there was nothing in the transmuted Archibald's condition that was +susceptible of being treated as a disease. He was as healthy as the +average of boys of fourteen (if he were a boy of fourteen, and not a child +of seven). He knew nothing, and had retained nothing, of his other life; +he had to be taught his letters--and a terrible job that was, by all +accounts; he occasionally expressed a desire to see his nurse Maggie--who, +the charitable reader will rejoice to hear, had been honestly married +since we last heard of her. He was greatly puzzled to find himself so much +taller than when he last knew himself; and it was a long time before he +could be induced to recognize his own reflection in the looking-glass. +Needless to say that everything connected with the secret chamber and the +silver rod was completely erased from his mind; and though he had been +found with the rod in his hand, he could not tell what it was or where he +got it.</p> + +<p>In this connection, however, I will mention something which, if it be true, +throws a new and strange light upon his psychological condition. There is +reason to believe that he visited the secret chamber in a somnambulistic +state. The evidence on which this supposition is founded appears, at this +distance of time, rather imperfect; but it is certain that a few weeks +after the boy's entrance upon his unintelligent state, the silver rod was +lost sight of; and it is almost certain that during the time of its +disappearance it was lying in its hidden receptacle under the floor beside +the mantelpiece. But in that case, who but Archibald could have put it +there? and when could he have put it there save in his sleep? It is known +that he was a somnambulist during his unenlightened period, though never +in his alternate state; and if he, as a somnambulist, remembered the +hiding-place of the rod, it follows that he must also have remembered the +rod's use, and visited the secret chamber. Thus it would seem that only in +the boy's waking hours was he oblivious and stupid; in his dreams he +truly lived and was awake! Here, then, is a complication of absorbing +interest, which I will leave for physicians and metaphysicians to fight +out between themselves. For my part, I can only look on in respectful +bewilderment.</p> + +<p>But we must leave Archibald for the present, and occupy our minds with the +proceedings of the other personages of this drama. An era of disaster was +in store for most of them. It is curious to note how the proverb that +misfortunes never come single was illustrated in the case of these people. +Fate seems to have launched its thunderbolts at them all at once, as if +making up for lost time; or like a playwright, who clears his stage of all +secondary and superfluous characters, and leaves a free field wherein the +two or three principal people may meet and work out their destiny +unimpeded.</p> + +<p>Colonel Battledown fought under Wellington against Soult at Orthez; and in +a charge of the French cavalry the gallant officer and genial gentleman +was cut in the head by a sabre-stroke and ridden down; and when picked up +after the battle he was dead. He was buried on the spot; the practice of +sending the corpses of heroes and others careering over the face of the +earth, in search of a spot of loam worthy to receive them, was not at that +time so fashionable as it has since become. But the news of his death came +home, and put his friends in mourning, and made Mistress Kate the heiress +of a great property at the age of fourteen. But she was older than her +years, and was generally considered to be "just the sort of person to be +an heiress," whatever that may be. I suppose she was exceedingly handsome, +with a proper sense of her importance, and a capacity of keeping an eye +upon what she considered her interests. At the same time many actions of +hers indicate that she was occasionally liable to ungovernable impulses, +and that her temper was fitful and wayward. Such a woman would make a +capital heroine for a modern novel; she would stand a lot of analyzing.</p> + +<p>The tender relations which had subsisted between her and Archibald were +perforce broken off. What can you do with a lover who suddenly ceases to +have the most distant recollection of you, who does not believe you when +you tell him your name, and whose only associations with that name date +seven years back and are disagreeable? Nobody can blame Kate for giving +Archibald up; she would have been more than human if she could have +intrusted her heart to the keeping of a half-witted wizard, whose +mysterious likeness to, or connection with, a charming young gentleman +rendered him only the more undesirable. Poor Kate! If she gave her heart +to Archibald, and then Archibald became somebody else, what shall we say +became of her heart? Must it not have been irretrievably lost, and shall +we be surprised if we hereafter detect in her a tendency to heartlessness? +</p> + +<p>The next one to drop was Sir Clarence Butt Malmaison. The jolly baronet was +never the same man after the relapse of his second son, whom he had grown +to love more than his first-born, and to whose future he had looked +forward with much ambitious anticipation. He used to sit for hours at a +time sadly watching the child's sluggish gambols about the nursery floor; +ever and anon trying to arouse in his darkened mind some sparks of the +former brightness, and, when the effort failed, sighing heavily, sometimes +with tears trickling down his ruddy old cheeks. If Archibald had never +passed through that period of deceptive promise, it is probable that he +would have received a fair amount of affection as he was, and he would at +all events not have committed the unpardonable offence of inspiring hopes +which were not destined to be fulfilled. Sir Clarence felt like the man in +the fairy tale who received from the fairy a purse of gold, but on opening +the purse to handle the money, found nothing in his grasp but a bunch of +yellow autumn leaves. The heroic end of his friend the Colonel served to +augment the baronet's depression of spirits; nor was his gloom lightened +by the reflection that Kate's inheritance of the estate would now in no +way advantage Archibald. So, what with one thing and another, it must be +confessed that Sir Clarence ended by taking too much wine after dinner. +And the more wine he drank, the less inclination did he feel to keep up +his hardy outdoor habits of riding and shooting; and, consequently, the +more moody and plethoric he became. At length he nearly quarrelled with +Dr. Rollinson because the latter told him plainly that the bottle would be +his coffin; and a few days later he did quarrel, and very violently too, +with the Honorable Richard Pennroyal. This gentleman, it seems, had ridden +over to Malmaison and stayed to dinner; and at dessert the conversation +got round to the present melancholy condition of local affairs.</p> + +<p>"Everything's going to the dogs!" cried poor Sir Clarence, with an oath; +"and no gentleman, by ---, ought to condescend to exist!"</p> + +<p>"Come, Malmaison," said Pennroyal, smiling and cracking filberts, "you're +going too far. Things are not so bad. And there are compensations!"</p> + +<p>"Compensations? What compensations? What the devil do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Ha, ha! Well, for instance, about the poor Colonel. Of course, we're all +dooced sorry to lose the Colonel; fine old chap, and a good hand at +piquet. But after all he had to go some time; and then what happens? The +fair Miss Battledown becomes the richest heiress in the three counties."</p> + +<p>"Ay, and what's the compensation in that? What good does her being an +heiress do me? Can my boy marry her? Answer me that!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I should fancy not; but somebody else can."</p> + +<p>"Somebody else? Who, I'd like to know?" bawled Sir Clarence. "Let me see +the scoundrel who'll dare to marry Kate Battledown--let me see him!"</p> + +<p>"I hear you quite plainly, Malmaison; and I wouldn't exert myself so much +if I were you--you know what the doctor said. As for Miss Battledown, +surely she has a right to marry whom she pleases, hasn't she?"</p> + +<p>"No, she has not!" returned the baronet, getting angrier than ever. "She +belongs to my Archibald; and if any scoundrel--"</p> + +<p>"Really, you are intolerable, Sir Clarence," interrupted Pennroyal, still +smiling, but not a pleasant smile. "A man whose temper is faulty at the +best of times should be more careful to avoid whatever tends to make it +worse;" and as Pennroyal said this he glanced significantly at the +decanter--of which, to do him justice, he was very sparing himself.</p> + +<p>"Pennroyal!" said the old baronet, drawing himself up with a good deal of +dignity, "your father and I were friends before you were born, and you're +my brother-in-law; but if you were not sitting at my table, I'd teach you +better manners than to lecture your elders. I said I should like to see +the scoundrel who would dare to marry Kate Battledown--and--and what is +that to you?"</p> + +<p>"Well, it's just this," returned Pennroyal, quietly; "I'm going to marry +her myself!"</p> + +<p>Sir Clarence started up from his chair with a tremendous oath--and sat down +again. He was putting a terrible restraint upon himself. Not for his life +would he outrage the guest who was beneath his roof. His face became dark +red, and the veins on his forehead and in his neck stood out and throbbed +visibly. His eyes were fixed staringly upon the impassable visage of the +Honorable Richard, and he drew his breath with difficulty. There was a +pause of some duration, broken only by this stertorous breathing, and by +the deliberate cracking of the guest's filberts. At last, with a tragic +effort of courtesy that was almost grotesque, the poor gentleman pushed +the decanter toward his brother-in-law and deadly enemy, accompanying the +act by a rattling sound in the throat, probably intended as an invitation +to help himself. But the struggle was too severe. The next moment the +baronet's eyes rolled wildly, a gasping noise broke from him, and he fell +forward with his head on the table.</p> + +<p>Mr. Pennroyal promptly arose and rang the bell. "Send for the doctor at +once," he said to the servant who appeared. "Sir Clarence has overdrunk +himself, or overeaten himself, I fancy. And help me to put him on the sofa +and loosen his neckcloth. There--very distressing. Apply the usual +remedies, while I step up-stairs and speak to Lady Malmaison."</p> + +<p>The usual remedies availed little, and when Dr. Rollinson arrived, four +hours afterward, it was already evident that even he could be of no use. +Sir Clarence never fully regained consciousness, and two days later he +ceased to breathe. There was an inquest, resulting in a verdict of death +by apoplexy, and followed by a handsome funeral. The widow of the +deceased, who was a lady of easily-stirred emotions and limited intellect, +wept at short intervals during several weeks thereafter, and assured the +Honorable Richard that she had no one in the world to depend on besides +him. Archibald, who had moved about the house during this season of +mourning with handsome vacant face and aimless steps, betrayed little +grief at the family loss or comprehension of it; but whenever Pennroyal +was in the way, he followed him round with a dog-like fondness in strange +contrast with the vivid antipathy which he had manifested toward him in +his other phase of being. As for Archibald's brother, now a pale and +slender but dignified youth of nineteen, he assumed the title of Sir +Edward, and the headship of the house, with a grave propriety of bearing +that surprised those who had only looked upon him as a moping scholar. +Undemonstratively, but surely, he gave evidence that he understood the +responsibilities of his position, and that he knew how to make himself +respected. He did not encourage his mother in her unrestrained dependence +upon Pennroyal; and between the latter and him there appears to have +arisen a coolness more or less marked. Certainly, Pennroyal was far from +loving the ceremonious and punctilious young baronet, who would neither +drink nor play cards. Toward Archibald, on the other hand, he exhibited a +cynical and contemptuous sort of good-humor; often amusing himself by +asking the poor dull-witted youth all sorts of questions about events +which had occurred in his enlightened period, and concerning which, of +course, Archibald was unfathomably ignorant. The Honorable Richard +Pennroyal was not the first man who has failed to see whence his greatest +danger was to be expected.</p> + +<h1>VII.</h1> + +<p>That piece of news with which Mr. Pennroyal had killed Sir Clarence was no +more than the truth. He was the betrothed husband of the beautiful +heiress, Miss Battledown; and the three counties, on the whole, approved +the match. It would consolidate two great contiguous estates, and add one +considerable fortune to another. There was a rather wide discrepancy in +ages, Pennroyal being about forty, while Miss Battledown was only in her +nineteenth year; but that mattered little so that they agreed in other +respects. Miss Battledown was generally believed to have very proper ideas +as to her duties and responsibilities as an heiress. Since poor Archibald +Malmaison lost his wits, she had received more than one offer which a +young lady who was weak-minded enough to regard only personal attractions +might have been tempted to accept; but she had needed no elder person to +counsel her to refuse them. In fact, she had at one time allowed it to be +inferred that she deprecated the idea of being married to any one; and +this demonstrated a commendable maidenly reserve; but it was neither to be +expected nor desired that she should adhere to such a resolution in the +face of good reasons for changing it. And Mr. Pennroyal was an excellent +reason. He had passed through the unsteady period of his life; he had +lived down the vaguely discreditable reports which had once been +circulated at his expense; he had shown himself a thrifty landlord; and +the very fact of his being a widower invested him with a certain +respectability not always appertaining to unmarried gentlemen of his age. +Finally, he belonged to a noble and distinguished family, and though there +was no likelihood of his acceding to the title, who was better qualified +than he to illustrate the substantial virtues of an English country +gentleman?</p> + +<p>We are without detailed records of the early progress of this charming love +affair. The inference is that it proceeded upon orthodox and unexceptional +lines. Mr. Pennroyal would make known to the widow of the late Colonel the +aspirations of his heart, and would receive from her permission to address +himself to the lady of his choice. After the lapse of a few weeks or +months (as the case might be) of mutually complimentary interviews and +correspondence, the swain would entreat the maid to name the day which was +to make him the happiest of men. She would delay and hesitate for a +becoming while; but at length, with a blush and a smile, would indicate a +date too distant for the lover's impatience, yet as near as a respect for +the <i>convenances</i> of wealthy virginity could permit. And now, all +preliminaries being settled, the preparations would go forward with +liberality and despatch.</p> + +<p>It had been at first arranged that the wedding should be solemnized at the +house of the bride; but, for some reason or other, this plan was +subsequently changed, and Malmaison was fixed upon as the scene of the +ceremony. The great dining-hall, which had more than once been put to +similar uses in years gone by, was made ready for the occasion. It was a +vast and stately apartment, sixty feet in length by forty in breadth, and +its lofty ceiling was richly carved in oak; while around the walls were +arranged suits of historic armor, and swords, pikes, and banners, the +relics of ancestral valor. It was on the ground-floor of the most ancient +part of the house, immediately below that suite of rooms of which the east +chamber was one. It had not been used as a dining-hall since the old times +when retainers fed at the same table with their lords; but family +celebrations had been held there; and at the coming of age of the late Sir +Clarence, in 1775, it had been the scene of a grand banquet to the +neighboring nobility and gentry. The floor at the eastern end of the room +was raised some eight inches above the level of the rest; and it was here +that the bride and bridegroom were to stand. A very reverend dean was +secured to pronounce the service; and there were to be eight bridesmaids +and a best man; the latter being none other than poor beclouded Archibald +himself.</p> + +<p>This choice created a good deal of surprise and comment. The fact appears +to have been that the post of "best man" had, in the first instance, been +offered to young Sir Edward Malmaison, who, however, declined it. His +reason for so doing was, in the first place, disapproval of the match; he +holding the opinion that the widower of his aunt might as well have +refrained from a second nuptials, and that, at all events, he should have +selected any one rather than her who was to have been the wife of +Archibald. His second objection was a personal dislike to the Honorable +Richard, and an indisposition to encourage his intimacy with the family. +But Sir Edward could not so far oppose his mother's wishes as to forbid +the marriage being celebrated at Malmaison; and being obliged to concede +so much, he wisely deemed it most consistent with his dignity to adopt a +manner as outwardly gracious as was compatible with self-respect.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, when Pennroyal--whether maliciously, or from honest good-will +toward one who manifested an almost child-like attachment to +himself--chose Sir Edward's brother in his default, Sir Edward offered no +open opposition. If he remonstrated privately with Archibald, his +arguments were void of effect, and would have been, besides, counteracted +by Lady Malmaison's influence. It is needless to say that Archibald was +immensely proud of the compliment (as he considered it), and took care to +celebrate his distinction at all times and places, opportune or +otherwise--seeming, indeed, to think and talk of little else. It is not +probable that he fully comprehended the significance of the matter, as he +was certainly far from perceiving its ironic aspect; nevertheless, his +dull brain received more stimulus from the prospect than from any other +thing that had befallen him, thereby furnishing sardonic humorists with +the criticism, that if the Honorable Richard Pennroyal would keep on +burying his wives, and choosing Archibald as best man for the new-comer, +the youth might in time become approximately intellectual.</p> + +<p>The wedding-day was fixed for the 5th of March, 1821--a date which was long +remembered in the neighborhood. Fortunately we have ample accounts of +everything that occurred--the testimony of many eye-witnesses, which, +through varying in some unimportant details (as is inevitable), agree +nevertheless upon all essential points. I shall give the gist of the +narrative as concisely as a proper attention to its more important phases +will allow.</p> + +<p>Miss Kate Battledown, with her mother, came to Malmaison on the evening of +the 4th, and spent the night, the ceremony being appointed at eleven the +next forenoon. The young lady spent an hour or so, before going to bed, in +conversation with Archibald, who, in his pleasurable excitement over the +forthcoming event, was much more lively and conversable than usual. As +they walked side by side up and down the great hall, at one end of which +some workmen were still engaged in arranging the decorations for the +morrow, they must have made a handsome picture. Kate was at this time a +lithe and graceful figure, slightly above the medium height, and +possessing a great deal of "style;" in fact, young as she was, she had +been for some time regarded as a model of fashion and deportment by all +the aspiring young women within a radius of twenty miles. She was dressed +on this evening in a gown of some thin, white material, the frilled hem of +which failed by at least six inches to reach the floor, thereby displaying +a pair of arched feet and slender ankles, clothed in open-work silk +stockings. The skirt of this gown began immediately beneath the arms, and +every contour of the wearer's form could be traced through its +close-fitting and diaphanous folds. Miss Battledown's arms were bare, save +for the black silk netted mittens that she wore; her dark curling hair was +gathered pyramidally on the top of her head, and fastened with a black +ribbon; a black velvet band encircled her white throat, and there was a +row of black bows down the front of her dress. Her forehead was narrow and +compact, her large brown eyes were perhaps a trifle closer together than +they should have been, her nose was delicate, her lips blunt-cornered and +rather full than thin; the whole expression of her face spirited and +commanding. As for Archibald, he was a handsome vacancy, so to speak; a +fine physical man wasted for lack of a spiritual man to carry him about +and use him. His regular, finely moulded face, with its healthy pallor and +its black eyes and hair, always had a dim, pathetic look of having +forgotten something. His figure, symmetrical and full of strength, moved +itself awkwardly and unmeaningly, as though ignorant of its own +capabilities, and rather encumbered than otherwise by their redundance. +His smile, which drew his features into their handsomest attitude, was +nevertheless rather silly, and seemed to last on after he himself had +forgotten what he was smiling for. His hands--strong, well-formed hands of +the slender and long-fingered type--hung helplessly at the end of his +arms; or, if he attempted to use them, each finger appeared to have a +different idea of what was to be done, and one and all fumbled drowsily +and shiftlessly at their task. The young man wore the high-collared coat, +short waistcoat, and clinging pantaloons of the period; and his black hair +hung down on his shoulders in natural luxuriance of curls. Poor Archibald +accepted meekly whatever was given him to put on; but he would not let his +hair be cut, or even anointed with the incomparable oil of Macassar.</p> + +<p>"And so you are glad, Archie?" said Mistress Kate, continuing their talk.</p> + +<p>"Oh, glad! yes, glad!" replied Archie, nodding his head slowly and +solemnly.</p> + +<p>"You don't regret me, then, at all?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, regret, no!" said Archie, shaking his head with the same sapience and +gravity.</p> + +<p>"Why do you always repeat what a person says, without seeming to know what +it is? There used to be a time, sir, when regret would have been far too +mild a word for you. Have you forgotten all that? Have you forgotten Lord +Orville and Evelina?"</p> + +<p>"Forgotten, yes; all forgotten!"</p> + +<p>"Come, now, I wish you to remember. You understand that I am to be married +to Richard Pennroyal tomorrow--to Richard Pennroyal!"</p> + +<p>"Uncle Richard, dear Uncle Richard. I love Uncle Richard!"</p> + +<p>"Do you love no one beside him? don't you love me?"</p> + +<p>"Don't love you, oh, no!"</p> + +<p>"Archie, have you forgotten how we were married in the back garden, and how +you used to say I was your little wife; and you wanted to fight a duel +with Richard because he had taken me on his knee and kissed me?"</p> + +<p>"See how pretty!" exclaimed Archie, whose attention had been fixed during +this speech upon two of the workmen who were unrolling between them a +piece of crimson cloth appertaining to the hangings.</p> + +<p>"What a creature!" muttered Kate to herself. To have her romantic souvenirs +ignored even by this simpleton vexed her a little. Perhaps, too, she had +another reason for regretting her companion's witlessness. She could +remember when she had cared for him--or for something called him--more +than she cared now for the man she would wed to-morrow. Why was he not the +same now as then? His face, his hands, his figure--these were the same, or +rather they were handsomer and more manlike than formerly. Why could not +the soul, or whatever may be that mysterious invisible motive-power in a +man--why could it not have stuck to its fortress during these seven years +past? Here were five feet eleven of well-sculptured living clay, that had +been growing and improving for more than one and twenty years; and for an +inhabitant, nothing but a soft foolish child, destitute of memory, +intelligence, and passion. Such reflections may have passed through the +mind of the young heiress; and then she may have thought, glancing at him, +"If my Archibald were here, to-morrow might see another spectacle than +that put down in the programme." She might have thought this; she did not +and of course would not on any account have uttered such a sentiment +aloud. But it would be unjust to her taste and sensibility to suppose +that, apart from worldly and politic considerations, she should have +really preferred a sharp-featured, thin-haired, close-fisted gentleman of +forty to a conceivable hero of half that age, dowered with every grace and +beauty, not to mention Miss Tremount's seventy thousand pounds. Is she to +be blamed if she sighed with a passing regret at that hero's mysterious +disappearance? Yes, he had disappeared, more mysteriously and more +irrevocably than old Sir Charles seventy years ago. Where in the heavens +or the earth or under the earth, indeed, was he? Did he still exist +anywhere? Might she dream of ever meeting him again--that hero?...! Bah! +what nonsense!</p> + +<p>"Pretty!" repeated Archie, who, in the subsidence of his other faculties, +had retained an appreciation of color.</p> + +<p>"Poor boy--poor thing!" said Kate; "you lost a great deal when you lost +your wits; between being a groomsman and a bridegroom there is a very wide +difference. And you don't even care--perhaps that's your greatest loss of +all--ha, ha! Come, Archie, it's time for little fellows like you to be +asleep."</p> + +<p>"Kate--" began Archie; and paused.</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"Do you love anybody?"</p> + +<p>She met his look of dull yet earnest inquiry with a contemptuous smile at +first, but afterward her smile died away and she answered soberly:</p> + +<p>"I did once."</p> + +<p>"I did once, too!" rejoined Archie, with a sort of sluggish eagerness.</p> + +<p>"You did--when?" demanded she, with the beginning of a heart-beat.</p> + +<p>"I think I did--once--when I was asleep."</p> + +<p>She laughed shortly and turned away. "Yes, sleep is the best thing for you, +Archie; you had better sleep all the time now; it will be too late to wake +up to-morrow. Good-night, Archie."</p> + +<h1>VIII.</h1> + +<p>Old Miss Tremount had come up from Cornwall for the occasion, accompanied +by her poodle, her female toady, and her father confessor. The good lady +had altered her will some years before, on hearing of her favorite +nephew's changed condition, and it was feared she would leave her money to +the Church of Rome, of which she was a member. But on receiving the +announcement of her intended visit, Lady Malmaison had begun to entertain +hopes that Sir Edward might succeed in so favorably impressing his aunt as +to induce her to divert at least some portion of her thousands in his +direction. But it is not likely that Miss Tremount had come to Malmaison +with any such views; in fact, her reason for coming had little or no +connection with the late baronet's family. It was not generally known +that, between forty and fifty years previously, there had been tender +passages between Colonel Battledown and this snuffy old maid, whose soul +was now divided between her cards and her psalter. So it was, however; +they were even betrothed to one another, though the betrothal was kept a +secret, the Colonel then being a comparatively penniless young lieutenant, +and as such by no means a desirable son-in-law from the parental point of +view. An elopement was contemplated so soon as the young lady should be of +age; and it would be difficult to explain the occasion of the trumpery +quarrel between the lovers, which ended in the lady taunting the +gentleman with caring only about her money, and resulted in the rupture of +the engagement. Doubtless it might have been renewed; but at this +juncture the lieutenant was ordered away on active service to the American +Colonies, where he remained for some years. Later, he was stationed in +India; and the next time he met his old love, in London, he was twenty +years older than when she had last seen him, and a major, and with ribbons +on his breast, and a wife on his arm. Miss Tremount never betrayed any +grief or disappointment, except in so far as she remained single all her +life, and latterly waxed religious and became a convert to the Jesuits. +But when the Colonel was dead, and she heard that his daughter was about +to be married, she resolved to make a journey to Malmaison; and who can +tell whether in the bottom of her heart, hidden even from her father +confessor, she may not have cherished a secret purpose of making Mistress +Kate her heir? It is certain at all events that she brought her will with +her in her trunk.</p> + +<p>This romance, I say, was known to but few, and as Miss Battledown did not +happen to be among the number, she was less cordial in her behavior to the +old lady than she might otherwise have been. Kate was not constitutionally +a lover of old women, and not herself old enough to be aware that no truly +charitable person should ever be inattentive to seventy thousand pounds, +no matter to how unprepossessing a human being the money might be +attached. Her manner, therefore, was tolerant and patronizing rather than +flattering; and honest Lady Malmaison, though she liked Kate very much, +and would have been delighted to see her inherit seventy thousand pounds +from the Shah of Persia or the President of the United States, was not +quite so unnatural an idiot as to recommend to the young lady a more +conciliating behavior. As for Miss Tremount, she preserved her composure +and kept her counsel perfectly, and never referred to her will even in her +most unguarded moments. She was courteous and complimentary to Sir Edward, +indulgent to Archibald, kind and sisterly to Lady Malmaison, and quietly +observant of everything and everybody. On the wedding morning she +criticised and admired the bride's toilet with a taste and appreciation +that caused the proud young beauty's eyes to sparkle; and just before the +party entered the hall, she pressed Kate's hand affectionately, and said, +in her gentlest tones, that she hoped she would be happy. "I have always +looked upon your mother as one of the happiest of women, my dear," she +added. "May your fortune equal hers!" This good-natured benediction caused +Lady Malmaison a good deal of anxiety; Sir Edward smiled aside at what he +fancied was a subtle stroke of irony; and Kate herself became thoughtful, +and regretted that it was rather late in the day to begin to show Miss +Tremount what a charming elderly lady she thought her.</p> + +<p>The great hall looked its stateliest that morning. The March sunshine came +slanting through the tall windows, and lay in bright patches upon the +broad floor, or gleamed upon the ancient swords and breastplates, or +glowed in the festal hangings. Quite a large number of titled and +fashionable persons were collected at the upper end of the room, +whispering and rustling, and dressed in what we should now consider very +wonderful costumes, though they were all the mode then. A few minutes +before eleven the very reverend dean, and an assistant divine, together +with the bridegroom and Archibald, entered and took their places in great +pomp and dignity beneath the canopy which had been constructed for the +occasion, and which, was covered with fresh flowers, whose fragrance +breathed over the gay assemblage like a sacred incense. At eleven o'clock +there was a general hush of expectation; and presently the door at the +bottom of the hall was thrown open, and the bridal procession came in. +Very pretty they looked as they paced, up the long stretch of carpeting +which had been laid down for them to walk upon, and which had been +scattered over with a profusion of flowers. The bride, with her veil and +her orange-blossoms, was supported on the arm of Sir Henry Rollinson (the +good Doctor had been knighted the year before by an appreciative +sovereign), who was to give her away. She looked calm, pale, and +exceedingly handsome. The widow of Colonel Battledown was escorted by Lord +Epsom, the Honorable Richard's elder brother, and wore a very splendid +pink turban, and red eyes. But all these details, and many more, may be +read in the <i>Morning Post</i> of March 7th, 1821, to which I refer the +curious.</p> + +<p>The service commenced. As Sir Henry Rollinson was in the act of giving the +bride away, he happened to glance at Archibald, and observed that the +latter wore a very strange expression on his face; and a moment afterward +the young man dropped into a chair that happened to be near him, pressing +his head between his hands, and breathing heavily. No one else noticed +this incident; and Sir Henry, who supposed the youth was going to faint, +was of course unable at the time to afford any assistance. The service +went on. Richard Pennroyal and Catherine Battledown were pronounced man +and wife; and man was warned not to put asunder those whom God had joined +together. The ring shone on the new-made wife's finger. The very reverend +dean gave the pair his blessing. All this time Archibald remained with +his head between his hands, the physician watching him not without +apprehensions, and inwardly cursing the folly of those who were +responsible for the poor half-witted creature's appearance in such a +scene.</p> + +<p>The register was now brought forth, in which the happy couple and their +friends were to inscribe their names. The principal personages signed +first. It came to Archibald's turn. It had previously been ascertained +that he knew how to string together the requisite letters upon paper. +There he sat, with his head in his hands. Sir Henry touched him on the +shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Now, then, lad--Archie! wake up! Come! you're wanted!" He spoke sharply +and imperatively, in the hope of rousing the young fellow out of his +stupor, and at least getting him decently out of the room.</p> + +<p>Archibald raised his face, which was deadly pale and covered with sweat, +and looked at the persons around him with a kind of amazed defiance. He +started to his feet, oversetting his chair as he did so, which rolled down +the steps of the dais and fell with a crash on the stone floor below.</p> + +<p>"I came in by the staircase door!" he said in an excited voice, which +startled every one who heard it, so different was it from his usual tones. +"If you thought it locked, you were wrong. How else could I have come?... +When did you bring me here? This is the great hall! What have you been +doing? How came <i>you</i> here?"</p> + +<p>There was a dead silence. Every one felt that some ugly thing was about to +happen. Several women began to laugh hysterically. It seems to have been +supposed, at first, that Archibald had exchanged his inoffensive idiocy +for a condition of raving madness. The old physician was probably the only +one present who had a glimmering of what might be the truth. The +Honorable Richard Pennroyal had none. He pushed between the venerable +knight and his "best man," and relying upon his oft-proved and established +influence over the latter, he took him firmly by the arm, and looked in +his face.</p> + +<p>"Don't make a fool of yourself, Archie," said he, in a low distinct voice, +in which was a subdued ring of menace. "It's all right. You're my best +man, you know. You are to sign your name as one of the witnesses of the +marriage--that's all."</p> + +<p>"I have witnessed no marriage," replied Archibald, returning with surprise +Richard's look. "Who are you?" he continued, after a moment. Then he +exclaimed, "You are Richard Pennroyal--I didn't know you at first, you +look so old!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, the fellow's quite mad!" muttered Richard, turning away with a shrug +of the shoulders. "I should have known better than to run the risk of +having such a lunatic here. We must have him moved out of the room at +once."</p> + +<p>Young Sir Edward overheard this latter sentence. "Pardon me for reminding +you that my brother is at home in Malmaison," he said gravely.</p> + +<p>"Oh, as you please, of course," returned Richard, frowning.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Archibald had caught sight of Kate, and recognized her at once; +and breaking away from his mother and Sir Henry Rollinson, who were +endeavoring to quiet him, he came up to her and planted himself in front +of her, just as Richard was approaching to take her off. Archibald took +both her hands in his.</p> + +<p>"Kate, I have never seen you look so beautiful," he said. "But why have you +got this white veil on?--and orange blossoms! It's like a wedding. What +were they saying about a wedding? ... is it to be our wedding?"</p> + +<p>"The wedding has already taken place, my dear Archie," interposed the +bridegroom, offering his arm to the bride, and smiling with no very good +grace. "This lady is now Mrs. Pennroyal. Stand aside, like a good boy--"</p> + +<p>Archibald grasped Richard by the padded sleeve of his coat, and with an +angry movement of his powerful arm threw him backward into the embrace of +his new mother-in-law, who happened to be coming up from behind.</p> + +<p>"You are under my father's roof, or I would tell you that you are a liar," +said the young man, grimly. Then turning to the bride, who had said not a +word since this scene began, but had kept her eyes constantly fixed upon +the chief actor in it, "He shall not insult you again, my dear. But all +this is very strange. What does it mean?"</p> + +<p>"It means.... It is too late!" replied the girl, in a low, bitter voice. +What could she have meant by that?</p> + +<p>Richard, white with fury, came up again. There was a general murmur and +movement in the surrounding assemblage, who expected to see some deed of +violence committed.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Pennroyal," said he between his teeth, "I am obliged to request you +peremptorily to take my arm and--and leave this house where guests are +insulted and outraged!"</p> + +<p>Archibald turned, his face darkening. But Kate held up her hand +entreatingly; and Archibald caught the gleam of the plain gold ring on her +finger. At that sight he stopped abruptly, and his arms fell to his sides.</p> + +<p>"Is it true?" He asked in a tone of bewilderment.</p> + +<p>Here Sir Edward interposed again, with, his cool courtesy: "Mr. Pennroyal, +and my friends, I trust you will find it possible to overlook the behavior +of my brother. You may see that he is not himself. When he has had time to +recover himself, he will ask pardon of each and all of you. Mr. Pennroyal, +I entreat you and your wife to forget what has passed, and to reconsider +the heavy imputation which has been cast upon my house. Let the shadow +pass away which has threatened for a moment this--most auspicious +occasion!"</p> + +<p>If the last words were ironical, the irony was too grave and ceremonious to +be obtrusive, Pennroyal was fain to return Sir Edward's bow with the best +grace he could muster. The rest of the company accepted the apology, as at +least a formal way out of the difficulty. An effort was made to resume +indifferent conversation, and to act as if nothing had happened. Sir +Edward, with admirable self-possession and smiling courtesy, marshalled +the guests out of the hall, to a neighboring room in which the wedding +breakfast had been set out. Archibald remained behind, and the Doctor and +old Miss Tremount remained with him. He stood still, with his arms at his +sides, his glance fixed upon the floor. The Doctor and Miss Tremount +exchanged a look, and then the latter went up to him, and took one of his +hands between hers.</p> + +<p>"Do you know me, my dear?" she said.</p> + +<p>Archibald looked at her, and shook his head.</p> + +<p>"I am your aunt, Ruth Tremount. My dear, I am so sorry for you."</p> + +<p>"Can you tell me what is the matter with me? Am I mad?"</p> + +<p>"On the contrary," put in the Doctor, "you are yourself for the second time +in your life. You've overslept yourself, my lad, that's all!"</p> + +<p>Archibald cast his eyes round the hall, as if searching for some one. +"Where is my father?" he asked at length.</p> + +<p>There was an awkward pause. Finally Miss Tremount said, "My dear, your +sleep has lasted seven years. Much may happen in such a length of time."</p> + +<p>"But my father--where is he? I want to see him; I will see him!" and he +made some steps toward the door.</p> + +<p>"My poor lad, you cannot see him now--he ... he--"</p> + +<p>"Where is he?" cried Archibald, stamping his foot.</p> + +<p>"He has been for five years in his grave."</p> + +<p>Archibald stared at the Doctor a moment, and then burst out laughing.</p> + +<h1>IX.</h1> + +<p>But Archibald had come into possession of his intelligent soul once more; +or he was awake again; or the pressure of the skull upon the cerebrum had +yet another time been relieved; at all events there was now a brilliant +youth in the flesh-and-blood envelope which, an hour before, had contained +only a half-witted boy. When the first crash of the restoration was over, +the new man began to accommodate himself with wonderful rapidity and +keenness to the strange environment. He knew of nothing that had happened +since that afternoon when he spoke with Kate in the east chamber, while +the blood oozed from the cut on his forehead; but he accepted the facts +with more than a youth's resolution and stoicism. The world had been +turning round while he had been absent--somewhere! Well, then, by the +force of his will and his splendid faculties he would get on even terms +with it again--and more. Injury had been done him; irreparable injury, +perhaps, but which still might be avenged. He was not discouraged; his +spirit seemed to come upon life with all the freshness of a seven years' +rest, and it reckoned nothing impossible.</p> + +<p>Of course his fresh metamorphosis created plenty of comment among the +neighbors; Archibald Malmaison was the most talked-of man in that part of +the country for several weeks, the impossibility of arriving at any +satisfactory conclusion regarding his condition or conditions prolonging +the wonder so far beyond the proverbial nine days. One party were +vehemently of the opinion that he was mad; another party opposed this view +with equal energy and just as much foundation. Both sides put forward +plenty of arguments, and when they were refuted, appealed to Sir Henry +Rollinson, who confirmed them both with equally sagacious shakes of the +head.</p> + +<p>But this good gentleman was now getting near the end of his days, and, in +fact, ceased living in the world before the close of the year. He did not +depart without leaving a successor, however, and one who bade fair to do +credit to his ancestry. This was Mr. E. Forbes Rollinson, his son, who had +concluded a course of study at Vienna and Paris, and who returned to his +native land with the highest diplomas that continental schools could give +him. He was at this time a young man of about five and twenty, with a +great square head and a short, compact figure. The wild jungle of beard +and the terribly penetrating eye-glass which distinguished him in later +times had not then made their appearance. Well, the new Dr. Rollinson had +known something of Archibald as a boy, and was of course much interested +(apart from his friendly feelings) in so remarkable a case. His theory +upon the matter, in so far as he had formed one, did not on all points +coincide with his father's; he belonged to a somewhat more recent +school--more critical and less dogmatic. Still, it would be hazardous to +assert that young Dr. Rollinson knew exactly what was the matter with +Archibald--especially as he has seen reason to modify his first +impressions more than once during the last fifty years. It is enough to +remark here that he thought the affection was of a rhythmic or regularly +recurrent character, a notion which its previous history went far to +justify; and he consequently looked with interest to see whether the +lapse of another seven years would bring about another change. To have +discovered the orbit, so to speak, of a malady, is not, indeed, to have +explained it; but it is always something. It would be more interesting to +know what Archibald thought of himself; and were I, in this instance, a +novelist dealing with a creation of my own, I might not shrink from an +attempt to analyze his mental state. As it is, I can do no more than point +to the curious field of conjecture which it here afforded: the young man +left no confessions or self-analytic diaries; still less did he discuss +his peculiarities with other people. With excellent good sense and no +small courage, he accepted things as they were; he felt his individuality +in no way diminished by the circumstance that it was intermittent or +exchangeable; and perhaps it seemed no more strange to him than the +nightly falling asleep of all mankind does to them. The one mystery is +quite as strange as the other, only the sleep of seven hours is common to +all, while that of seven years is probably unprecedented.</p> + +<p>One grotesque question suggests itself--or may do so shortly--and that is +whether Archibald would be responsible in one phase of his being for a +crime committed in another--for a crime, or any other act involving the +welfare or condition of other people. The analogy with sleep does not here +seem altogether satisfactory; for in ordinary sleep, or even somnambulism, +we are not in active relations with our fellow-beings, and consequently +our lawgivers have not devised a code to control our doings while in that +state. A jury, in delivering its verdict, would be embarrassed by the +reflection that although only one half of the culprit before them was +guilty, they could not give that half its just punishment without at the +same time unjustly punishing the half that was guiltless. A consistent +individuality, therefore, though often a burden and a weariness, is still +not without its advantages.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile an important change had taken place in the relations between the +family of Malmaison and the Honorable Richard Pennroyal. The latter +conceived himself to have been affronted by the former on the occasion of +his marriage, and refused a reconciliation--which, to tell the truth, +neither Sir Edward nor his younger brother were too anxious to force upon +him. Lady Malmaison was still for peace, but her opinion had ceased to +have much weight in the family counsels. At length matters came to a head +somewhat in the following manner.</p> + +<p>Sir Edward Malmaison and Pennroyal happened to meet at the table of a +common friend, and after the ladies had withdrawn, Pennroyal, who had +taken more wine than was usual with him, began to talk at Sir Edward in an +unnecessarily audible and offensive tone. Sir Edward kept his temper, and +made no reply, not having as yet been personally addressed. Pennroyal +after a while came round to where he was sitting, and the two gentlemen +presently fell into conversation. Pennroyal finally declared that he had +been insulted by a man who retained his present title and estates solely +by his (Pennroyal's) permission and kindness. Sir Edward was constrained +to ask him what he meant. Pennroyal thereupon began to utter disparaging +reflections upon the late Sir Clarence, who, he intimated, was not legally +entitled to his name. This brought on a dead silence, and all eyes were +turned upon Sir Edward, whose pale countenance became yet paler as he +said, with his imperturbable courteousness of phrase:</p> + +<p>"I must entreat Mr. Pennroyal not to indulge in innuendos, but to state +explicitly whether he intends anything dishonorable to my father."</p> + +<p>"To a man of the world a word is enough," responded the Honorable Richard, +insolently. "I am not here to tutor schoolboys in the comprehension of the +English tongue."</p> + +<p>"I cannot allow you to evade my question," rejoined Sir Edward, with a +gleam in his eye, though without an alteration in his voice. "You must +explain what you have seen fit to insinuate before these gentlemen, one +way or the other."</p> + +<p>Pennroyal laughed. "When you have lived a few years longer, young +gentleman," said he, "you will learn to be cautious how you ask for too +explicit information regarding the morals of your grandparents."</p> + +<p>At this brutal remark there was a general expression of indignation among +the hearers; but Pennroyal, in no way abashed, added, "Let him disprove it +if he can. Since he provokes me to it, I affirm it--his father had no +right to the title. Let him prove the contrary if he can. I didn't force +on the discussion, but I will tell young Sir Edward Malmaison, as he calls +himself, that he holds property to which he has no claim, and that it +depends upon my good-will and pleasure how long he holds it."</p> + +<p>The host--he was Francis Hastings Kent, Esq. and M. P., the same who +afterward became famous in the Corn-law controversy--here interposed, and +"spoke the sense of the meeting." "Egad, Pennroyal," cried he, "you are +drunk, and you have insulted a gentleman at my table. I'll trouble you to +make him an apology. I have no doubt that Sir Edward Malmaison's titles +are just as good as yours or mine, and, begad, they sha'n't be called in +question here at all events. I say you shall make Sir Edward an apology!" +</p> + +<p>There was only one man in the room who evinced any disagreement with this +speech, and that one was Major Bolingbroke, a retired officer of good +family but of not altogether unexceptionable personal repute; he was +believed to have fought more duels than are usually considered desirable; +and he had for some months past been a constant inmate at the house of Mr. +Pennroyal.</p> + +<p>"It's no affair of mine, of course," said this gallant warrior, "if Sir +Edward chooses to put up with such language from a man, on the ground that +he was drunk when he used it. Only, if there's going to be an apology, I +should advise Sir Edward to exact a very full one, and lose no time about +it."</p> + +<p>Sir Edward, however, rose carelessly, and said with a smile that he could +not think of contributing any further to the unfortunate interruption of +the social harmony; and adding that he had no doubt Mr. Pennroyal would, +as soon as he had had time to recollect himself, make every explanation +that the case demanded, he bowed and left the room.</p> + +<p>It was afterward suspected that Pennroyal's intoxication had been assumed +for the purpose of insulting the heir of Malmaison with the more impunity; +and that the Major was present expressly to aid and abet him. What, then, +was the object, and what the grounds, of the charge which Pennroyal made? +With respect to the latter, nothing was known until later; but the +immediate result was this. Sir Edward went home, and appeared more +cheerful and in better spirits than usual. He spent the next forenoon in +his chamber, apparently engaged in looking over some papers. In the +afternoon he mentioned to his mother and Archibald that he should be +obliged to run up to London for a few days on business, and that he must +start that evening. He had made no allusion to the affair at Francis +Kent's house, and neither Archibald nor Lady Malmaison knew anything about +it. That evening, accordingly, he bade them good-by, and departed +seemingly with a light heart, bidding his brother act as his accredited +plenipotentiary while he was away, and promising his mother to bring her +the latest fashion in turbans when he returned.</p> + +<p>He was absent five days. The Honorable Richard Pennroyal, who had happened +to be likewise called away on business at the same time, returned to his +house some twenty-four hours before Sir Edward was brought in a carriage +to Malmaison, with a bullet-hole just beneath the collar-bone. The fact +is, the two gentlemen had travelled to Belgium instead of to London, and +had there shot at each other in the presence of Major Bolingbroke (who +gave the word) and of a friend of Sir Edward's whose name has not come +down to us. Pennroyal had escaped untouched; Sir Edward, under the care of +Dr. Rollinson the younger, lay for several weeks in a critical condition; +but, when the bullet had been extracted, he rallied, and was able before +long to rise from his bed and walk about the house. But though his +strength had improved, he appeared to be harassed in mind; he carried on a +considerable correspondence with the family lawyers in London, and was +continually searching for something--what, no one could tell. Whatever it +was he did not find it, and his anxiety did not diminish.</p> + +<p>Archibald had of course asked him about the particulars of the duel, and +what led to it; but his brother had sought to make light of the affair, +saying merely that Pennroyal had been very rude, and had failed to make a +suitable apology; and that the insult having been public, he was forced to +resent it. In answer to Archibald's question as to the subject of his +present correspondence with the lawyers, he replied that it related to +some old family traditions, and possessed only an antiquarian interest. +Archibald accepted these answers in silence, but with entire incredulity. +The brothers were fond of each other, but the strange conditions of the +younger's life had prevented their attaining really intimate and +confidential relations. Archibald was too proud either to demand further +particulars from Sir Edward, or to make inquiries elsewhere. Moreover, +there was perhaps less need of information on his side than on that of his +brother, had the latter but known it. Archibald had secrets of his own.</p> + +<p>Pennroyal, meanwhile, kept quiet, waiting for the affair to blow over. +Whether he had intended to kill Sir Edward, or whether he was glad that +the duel had not resulted fatally, I cannot tell. Of course, neither he +nor his wife were seen again at Malmaison. The neighbors were for some +time disposed to give him the cold shoulder; but when his antagonist +recovered, and the matter had lost its first freshness, there appeared to +be little more against him than that he had committed an indiscretion +while under the influence of liquor, and had afterward atoned for it in +accordance with a code of honor which had not, at that epoch, fallen +entirely into disuse. And, after all, what business was it of theirs? +Pennroyal, however objectionable in himself, owned a large property and +belonged to a good family. In short, society received the honorable +prodigal in its bosom once more, and Mrs. Pennroyal reigned the undisputed +toast for a while longer.</p> + +<p>But at the end of six or seven months a new order of events began. Sir +Edward, either from anxiety, or from some imprudent exposure, fell ill +again, and his wound opened afresh and became inflamed. His constitution +had never been good for much, and the chances were all against its being +able to survive this trial. Dr. Rollinson did all that could be done; but +one morning Sir Edward asked to see his brother, and when the two were +left alone together, he said:</p> + +<p>"Well, Archie, how shall you like to be Sir Archibald?"</p> + +<p>For a minute they looked at one another in silence.</p> + +<p>"Do you think so?" then said the younger, frowning a little.</p> + +<p>"I am certain of it."</p> + +<p>"Ned, we are brothers," said Archibald.</p> + +<p>The young men grasped hands, and Archibald half sat on the edge of the bed, +looking down at the invalid, whose face was now bony in its emaciation, +and his eyes sunken and bright.</p> + +<p>"Archie, I have something to tell you."</p> + +<p>"I feared so."</p> + +<p>"It is not anything that you could expect. That quarrel between Richard and +me was about our father. Richard said he was--that is--"</p> + +<p>"Don't fear. Say it!"</p> + +<p>"That his mother was not Lady Malmaison."</p> + +<p>"He lied!"</p> + +<p>"So I told him. But that's not the end of it, unfortunately. He defied me +to prove the contrary. Ever since I first got up after the duel, I have +been looking for the papers relating to Sir Clarence's birth. They're not +to be found. There is no record that our grandmother had any son at all. +On the other hand, there is indirect evidence that our grandfather had an +affair with some woman.... The amount of it is, I have not been able to +establish Sir Clarence's legitimacy. And the worst is still to tell."</p> + +<p>"I know the rest; I know it all! Why didn't you say all this to me at +first, brother? You have been harassing yourself with the idea that +because you couldn't vindicate father, Malmaison might be claimed by +Richard, under that old agreement of Sir Charles's time."</p> + +<p>"How did you know--"</p> + +<p>"I know everything. I know where the papers are that you have been looking +for. Set your mind at rest, Ned. Sir Clarence was the legitimate heir. +There was also a son by the other woman, but he died in infancy. Ned, why +weren't you open with me? Richard has no more hold on our estates than my +groom has. Blame him! I only hope he'll think otherwise! We'll ruin him +first and kill him afterward."</p> + +<p>"If I had only known...." said the sick man, after a pause. "But you are +certain? You have the proof? Where did you find the papers?"</p> + +<p>"I have them. Get well, and you shall know all about it. I have a good many +curious things to tell you, and to show you, too."</p> + +<p>"Well, God be thanked! whatever becomes of me. It is late, Archie, but I'm +beginning to get acquainted with you at last. It is my fault that I did +not know you before. You are better fitted to bear the title than I."</p> + +<p>"No. If I thought so, I would not deny it; but if I inherit Malmaison, our +family will--perish off the earth! I can foresee some things, Ned. The +hope of the house lies in you; I shall bring only calamity. You must get +well."</p> + +<p>Again the brothers grasped hands, looked in one another's eyes for a moment +or two, and then Archibald went out; the day passed, and the evening fell. +At midnight he was Sir Archibald of Malmaison.</p> + +<h1>X.</h1> + +<p>It was not long before the new baronet--the last of his line--began to make +his influence felt. His temper was resolute, secret, and domineering; he +bore himself haughtily among the neighboring squires, never seeking to +please a friend or to conciliate an enemy. Few people liked him; many +stood in awe of him. He seemed to be out of sympathy with his race; his +strange, ambiguous history invested him with an atmosphere of doubt and +mystery; his nature was not like other men's; it was even whispered that +he had powers transcending those of ordinary humanity. It is probable that +his remarkable personal beauty, which in moments of anger or energy +gleamed out with an almost satanic intensity, may have lent substance to +this impression; men shrunk from meeting the stern inquisition of his +black eyes; and for women his glance possessed a sort of fascination, +unconnected with his beauty. But there were other indications more direct +than these. A century, or even half a century, previous to this time Sir +Archibald might have found it difficult to avoid the imputation of +witchcraft. After all, was not he the descendant of his forefathers? and +what had some of them been? "Were there not people in the neighboring +village of Grinstead who were willing to take affidavit that the handsome +young baronet had the power to make himself invisible when he pleased? +Nay, had not Mrs. Pennroyal herself, while she was yet a young maid, +borne testimony to the fact--that he had suddenly stood before her, in +broad daylight, in a room which had the instant before been empty? That +room had always had a queer reputation; it was there, or thereabouts, that +most of these strange goings-on took place. A servant, who had once +wandered in there to announce to Sir Archibald that one of his lawyers had +arrived, and was waiting to see him, had found the room vacant, though he +had seen his master enter it only ten minutes before. Thinking that he +must have gone out by the other entrance, through the stable, he was about +to follow, when he noticed that this door was bolted on the inside. In +some bewilderment, he was on the point of retiring, when he was startled +by a burst of laughter which continued for near a minute, and which, +though it echoed almost in his ears, and came apparently from the very air +round about him, yet sounded faint and unsubstantial as if a vast distance +nevertheless intervened. Whether near or far, it was unmistakably the +laughter of Sir Archibald, but wilder and more scornful than had ever been +heard from his lips. The honest footman was now thoroughly frightened, and +made the best of his way out of the chamber; but before he could cross the +next room and reach the passage-way beyond, the living and peremptory +tones of Sir Archibald himself overtook him, and brought him back with +failing knees and pallid cheeks to where the black-haired baronet was +standing in the doorway. There he stood in flesh and blood, but cloaked, +booted, and spurred, as if just returned from a journey.</p> + +<p>"What were you doing in this room?" demanded the baronet.</p> + +<p>The man faltered out his errand.</p> + +<p>"Hear this, once for all, and remember it," said the baronet, nor sternly +nor roughly, but with a concentration of purpose in his mellow voice that +seemed to stamp the words into the hearer's soul. "No one may enter this +chamber except I open the door. Else harm may happen which I could not +prevent. That is all. Now send Mr. Mawgage to me."</p> + +<p>That was all, but it was quite enough; in fact, the difficulty thereafter +was to induce any one to venture into the room on any terms. It was +believed to be haunted, and that Sir Archibald was either himself the +ghost, or was in some way responsible for there being one.</p> + +<p>I have mentioned this story, to which the reader already possesses the +clew, only by way of showing that Sir Archibald was making use, at that +time, of the secret which he had discovered, and was taking the surest +means of keeping it to himself. He had occupations in the inner chamber at +which he did not wish to be disturbed. What those occupations were he +confided to no living soul--indeed, there was no one who could have served +him as a confidant. His life was a lonely one, if ever a lonely life there +were. Whom had he to love, or to love him? Even his mother, now enfeebled +both in body and mind, felt fear of him rather than fondness for him. She +spent much of her time playing cards with her female companion, and in +worrying over the health of her pet spaniels. But did Sir Archibald love +no one?--at all events he hated somebody, and that heartily. He held +Richard Pennroyal responsible for all the ills that had fallen upon +Malmaison and upon himself; and he was evidently not the man to suffer a +grudge to go unrequited.</p> + +<p>Pennroyal, on the other hand, was not disposed to wait quietly to be +attacked; he came out to meet the enemy half way. In the spring of the +year 1824--about nine months after Sir Edward's death--it was known in +every mansion and public house for twenty miles round that a great lawsuit +would by-and-by be commenced between Malmaison and Pennroyal, the question +to be decided being nothing less than the ownership of the Malmaison +estates, which Richard Pennroyal claimed, in the alleged failure of any +legitimate heir of Sir John Malmaison, deceased--the father of Sir +Clarence--but, as Pennroyal alleged, by a left-handed marriage. I have not +gone into the details of this case, and should not detain the reader over +it if I had; he may, if it pleases him, read it at full length elsewhere. +It is enough to observe that Pennroyal brought forward evidence to show +that he, and his father before him, had always had cognizance of the will +or other document which entitled him to the property in dispute in the +event provided for; and had only been withheld from putting in their claim +thereto by the repeated and solemn assurances of Sir Clarence that no such +irregularity as was suspected regarding his birth had in fact occurred. +Latterly, however, from fresh information accidentally received, it +appeared that Sir Clarence had either been guilty of a wilful and criminal +misstatement, or that he had been deceived. In confirmation whereof, the +Honorable Richard produced documents of undoubted genuineness, showing +that an illegitimate son had been born to Sir John; and now called upon +the defendant to prove that this son had died in childhood, or that he had +not grown up to be Sir Clarence; and furthermore, having disposed of this +difficulty, to show the certificate of birth of a legitimate heir to Sir +John Malmaison, and to identify that heir with Sir Clarence.</p> + +<p>Now, there were certainly some awkward circumstances in respect of this +illegitimacy question. Sir Clarence had known that he had had a brother +born out of wedlock; and it is possible he also knew that the documents +relating to his own birth were not where he could put his hands upon them. +He may even have been aware that, were his title to be challenged, there +would be serious technical difficulties in the way of vindicating it. At +the same time, Sir Clarence was entirely and justly convinced that his +title was good. The history of the illegitimate son was familiar to him, +and to the rest of the family, in all its details. It was not, of course, +an ordinary topic of conversation, but it was an acknowledged piece of +family history. Sir John had been wild in his youth, and had made a good +many loose connections before acceding to the baronetcy--his father, Sir +Charles, the same who ate the venison pasty, having lived to see his heir +a man of thirty. One of these connections had been with the daughter of a +tenant; during its progress a marriage had been arranged between John +Malmaison and a neighboring heiress. About the time that the marriage took +place, the tenant's daughter had a child; Clarence himself was born about +a year later. The child had lived five or six years only; after its death +its mother had gone up to London, and had not since been heard of. This +was all simple enough; the only trouble being that no one could tell what +had become of the certificate of Clarence's birth, or of the other's +decease. Consequently there was an opening for an evil-disposed person to +assert what the Honorable Richard was now asserting.</p> + +<p>Where had the Honorable Richard got his information?--of the absence, +that is to say, of these papers. It was never spoken of outside the +family. It is only proper to observe that his brother, Lord Epsom, would +have nothing to do with the affair, but explicitly and emphatically washed +his hands of it. But this did not deter Richard; he had got his materials, +he had decided upon his plan of action, and he was bound to go through +with it. He entertained no doubts of his success, and he probably +anticipated from it not only solid worldly advantage, but the +gratification of an undisguised enmity. It would give him peculiar +pleasure to augment his prosperity at the expense of Sir Archibald +Malmaison.</p> + +<p>Considering that the outlook was so bad for him, the young baronet faced it +with commendable fortitude. People who met him regarded him with +curiosity, expecting him to appear disturbed, if not desperate. But he +wore an aspect of satisfied composure, tempered only by his habitual +haughtiness. He had interviews with his lawyers, seemed neither flurried +nor helpless, and altogether behaved as if his victory over his opponent +was placed beyond the possibility of a doubt. And yet, what could be his +defence? Was he going to rely upon the title having remained so long +unquestioned? Did he build his hopes upon a possible break in the chain of +Pennroyal's evidence? The on-lookers could only conjecture. And now the +time when conjectures would be exchanged for certainty was at hand.</p> + +<p>It was the autumn of the year 1825. One cool, clear, gray afternoon Sir +Archibald had his horse saddled, and mounting him, rode out upon his +estate. In the course of an hour or so he found himself approaching the +pond, which, as has been already stated, lay on the border-line between +Malmaison and the lands of Richard Pennroyal. As he drew near the spot, he +saw at a distance the figure of a woman, also on horseback. It was +Kate--Mrs. Pennroyal. She was riding slowly in a direction nearly opposite +to his own, so that if they kept on they would meet on the borders of the +pond.</p> + +<p>Sir Archibald had not met this lady for many months; and when he recognized +her, his first impulse was perhaps to draw rein. Then he looked to see +whether that were her impulse likewise. But she held on her course; and +he, smiling in a defiant way, shook his bridle, and in a few moments they +were but half a dozen yards apart. There they paused, as it seemed, by +mutual consent.</p> + +<p>How lovely she looked! Sir Archibald saw it, and ground his teeth with a +kind of silent rage. She should have been his.</p> + +<p>"Good-day, Mrs. Richard Pennroyal!"</p> + +<p>"Good-day, Archibald!"</p> + +<p>His name, coming with such gentleness and sweet familiarity from her lips, +made his blood tingle. He had expected coldness and formality.</p> + +<p>"I had not looked forward to the honor of meeting you here," he said.</p> + +<p>"But we have met here before, I think." And so they had, in days upon which +Archibald now looked back as does an exile upon home. His horse moved +forward a few steps, and his rider only stopped him when he was within +arm's length.</p> + +<p>"That seems long ago; and yet, when I look at you, I could almost believe +it was but yesterday."</p> + +<p>"You have changed more than I," replied the lady, letting her eyes rest +upon him with a certain intentness. This was true enough, physically +speaking; the handsome boy was now a superb young man; but Archibald chose +to interpret her words figuratively, and he answered bitterly:</p> + +<p>"You may have changed little; but that little in you has caused whatever +change you find in me."</p> + +<p>"It is true, then, that you are angry with me? I had hoped otherwise," +said Mrs. Pennroyal, with a sad dignity that sat well upon her.</p> + +<p>"Angry with you!" broke out Archibald, his face flushing. "Has it been a +desire to keep my--my friendship that has caused you to--"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Pennroyal interrupted him, drawing herself up proudly. "Pardon me, +sir, I had no intention of forcing your good-will. If you will be my +enemy, please yourself, and perhaps I may learn to become yours." And she +turned her horse as she spoke. But Archibald, thus seemingly put in the +wrong, and unwilling now to terminate the interview so abruptly, pressed +his heel against his horse's side, and was again beside her.</p> + +<p>"You misunderstand me," said he. "What could I think? You will not deny +that your--that Richard Pennroyal has shown himself no friend of mine."</p> + +<p>"I shall deny nothing that you see fit to charge against me, sir," rejoined +the lady, still hurt and indignant, and the more irresistible.</p> + +<p>Archibald reflected that she was not, perhaps, justly responsible for the +malevolence of another person, even though that person were her husband; +and from this thought to thinking that she might, perhaps, be inclined to +sympathize against her husband and with himself, was an easy transition. +This perilous fancy made his pulses throb and his eyes gleam. He caught +her horse's bridle.</p> + +<p>"Do not go yet! Let us talk a little, since we are met."</p> + +<p>"What has Sir Archibald Malmaison to say to me?"</p> + +<p>"You called me 'Archibald' just now."</p> + +<p>"You called me 'Mrs. Richard Pennroyal'!"</p> + +<p>"Well--and so you are!" said he, between his teeth.</p> + +<p>"Do you think of me by that name?" she asked, turning her brown eyes on him +for a moment, and then looking away.</p> + +<p>"Kate!"</p> + +<p>She put out her beautiful hand, and he took it and carried it to his lips. +Thoughts fierce and sweet flew through his mind. But Mrs. Pennroyal, +having gained her immediate end (which, to do her justice, was probably +nothing worse than the gratification of a coquettish whim), knew how to +take care of herself. She drew her hand away.</p> + +<p>"There--well--you have been very unkind, Archibald. Have we not been +friends--have we not been together from the first? How could you believe +that I could wish you any harm?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, Kate, but you married him!"</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, I as good as asked you to marry me first, and you would not do +it."</p> + +<p>"You asked me!"</p> + +<p>"Yes; you have forgotten. It has all been so strange, you see. I hardly +know, even now, whether you are the Archibald I used to know."</p> + +<p>"But I know, very well," returned he, grimly. "And you are the wife of my +enemy, the man who is trying to ruin me. Kate," he broke off suddenly, +"how did Richard know that those papers were missing in our family? I told +you once--do you remember that day? And no one knew it except you."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Pennroyal would perhaps have preferred not to be asked this question. +But since it was asked, she was bound to make the best answer she could.</p> + +<p>"It was for that I wanted to see you to-day," she said, after a pause. "I +have been to blame, Archibald; but it was ignorantly. It was long +ago--before all these troubles began to occur: while we were yet on good +terms. Ah me! would we were so again!"</p> + +<p>"You told him, then?"</p> + +<p>"I did not know that I was betraying a secret. From what Richard said, I +thought that he knew it, or at least suspected it; and I merely added my +confirmation. Afterward, when I found how things were going, I begged him +not to use that knowledge. But it was too late. I could not be at rest +until I had told you, and asked you to forgive me."</p> + +<p>Archibald would not have believed this speech, if his head only had been +concerned in the matter. Unfortunately, such was not the case. He believed +it because he ardently wished to do so; and he forgave her the more +easily, because that implied having her hand in his again for a few +moments.</p> + +<p>"If I could only see you and Richard at peace again, I should be happy," +resumed Mrs. Pennroyal, with a sigh.</p> + +<p>"Is it for him you fear, or for me?" inquired Archibald, smiling.</p> + +<p>"The danger is yours," she answered, diplomatically.</p> + +<p>He shook his head, still smiling: "Dismiss your anxiety, Kate. There is no +danger for me or mine. Let Richard look to himself!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Pennroyal was startled. She had looked upon the Malmaison case as +virtually hopeless. This hint of the contrary gave her a strong sensation, +not altogether unpleasurable. Richard was her husband, but he was not +nearly so young as Archibald, and as to looks!--there there was no +comparison. Archibald was simply the finest man in England. Perhaps Mrs. +Pennroyal tad never been passionately fond of her husband; and, on the +other hand, she had certainly liked Archibald very much. In the present +quarrel she had felt that the propriety of being on the winning side was +not diminished by the fact that it happened to be her husband's; but if it +should turn out that her husband's was not the winning side after +all--then there was matter for consideration. Of course, strictly +speaking, her husband's misfortunes must be her own; but in this instance +the nominal misfortune would be his failure to ruin Archibald, and Mrs. +Pennroyal thought she could sustain that. No, the sensation was certainly +not unpleasurable. But was it certain that Archibald was not mistaken?</p> + +<p>"I am very glad, for both our sakes," said she, at last. "I could never +have endured to take your name and estates away from you. Then that notion +that the papers were lost was a mistake?"</p> + +<p>"I can tell you nothing more," replied Archibald, looking at her.</p> + +<p>"Ah, you have not forgiven me--you do not trust me!"</p> + +<p>He checked his horse and hers, and turned full upon her: "Kate, you are the +wife of my enemy, I must remember that! If I found you playing a double +part between him and me, I should hate you more than I hate him; and then +... I should be capable of any crime. Well, I will not put it in your +power. You will know all soon enough. Meantime, I trust you in this--to +keep silence on what I have said to-day. Let him believe that he will +succeed until he knows that he has failed. Will you promise that?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Pennroyal saw no harm in making this promise, but she did not see why +she should not make as great a favor as she could of granting it.</p> + +<p>"A wife should have no secrets from her husband, Archibald."</p> + +<p>"Have you never had a secret from him, Kate?"</p> + +<p>"You have no right to ask that!"</p> + +<p>Archibald laughed. "Are you as happy with him as the day is long?"</p> + +<p>She looked up for a moment, and their eyes met. "The days seem very long +sometimes," she said, almost beneath her breath.</p> + +<p>"This day?" he demanded, bending toward her.</p> + +<p>"Autumn days are short, you know," she said, smiling a little, with averted +face.</p> + +<p>"Do you often ride out in autumn?"</p> + +<p>"What else can I do, when my husband is away from home? I must go now--it +is late."</p> + +<p>"And your promise?"</p> + +<p>For the third time that afternoon she gave him her hand. Her color was +higher than usual, and her breathing somewhat uneven. She had not passed +unscathed through this interview. Archibald's was the stronger spirit, and +she felt his power--felt it, and liked to feel it! And he, as he held her +warm and delicate hand in his own, was conscious of a strange tumult in +his heart. Was fate, which he had hitherto found so adverse, going to +change at last, and yield him everything at once--revenge and love in the +same breath? A revenge consummated through love were sweet indeed.</p> + +<p>They parted at length, and rode away in opposite directions. This was their +first meeting, but it was not their last by many.</p> + +<h1>XI.</h1> + +<p>Meanwhile the lawyers were keeping at work with commendable diligence, and +Mr. Pennroyal was counting his chickens as hatched, and was as far as +possible from suspecting the underplot which was going on around him. On +the contrary, it seemed to him that he was becoming at last the assured +favorite of fortune. For this gentleman's life had not been, in all +respects, so prosperous as it appeared. To begin with, he had had a +deplorable weakness for dicing and card-playing, which had frequently +brought him in large sums, but which had ended by costing twenty times as +much as they had won for him. He gave up these forms of diversion, +therefore, and resolved to amass a fortune in a more regular manner. He +studied the stock-market profoundly, until he felt himself sufficiently +master of the situation, and when he entered the lists as a financier. He +bought and sold, and did his very best to buy cheap and to sell dear. He +made several lucky hits; but in the long run he found that the balance was +setting steadily against him. All his ready money was gone, and mortgages +began to settle down like birds of ill-omen upon his house and lands. It +was at this period that he married Kate Battledown; and with the money +that she brought him he began to retrieve his losses, and again the +horizon brightened. Alas! the improvement was only temporary. Ill-luck set +in once more, and more inveterately than ever. Kate's good money went +after his bad money, and neither returned. A good deal of it is said to +have found its way into the pockets of Major Bolingbroke, his second in +the duel. The ill-omened birds settled down once more, until they covered +the roof and disfigured all the landscape.</p> + +<p>To add to his troubles, he did not find that comfort and consolation in his +matrimonial relations which he would fain have had. It is true that he +married his wife first of all for her money; but he was far from +insensible to her other attractions, and, so far from wearying of them, +they took a stronger and stronger hold upon him, until this cold, +sarcastic, and unsocial man grew to be nothing less than uxorious. But his +wife recompensed his devotion but shabbily; her position had not fulfilled +her anticipations, she was angry at the loss of her money, and upon the +whole she repented having taken an irrevocable step too hastily. She felt +herself to be the intellectual equal of her husband, and she was not long +in improving the advantage she possessed of not caring anything about him. +In a word, she bullied the unfortunate gentleman unmercifully, and he +kissed the rod with infatuation.</p> + +<p>This state of things was in force up to the time of Mrs. Pennroyal's +meeting with Archibald, as above described. After that there was a marked +and most enchanting alteration in Mrs. Pennroyal's demeanor toward her +husband. She became all at once affectionate and sympathetic. She +flattered him, she deferred to him, she consulted him, and drew him on +with delicate encouragements to consult her, to confide in her all the +private details of his affairs, which he had never done before, and to +intrust to her safekeeping every inmost fear and aspiration of his mind. +At every point she met him with soothing agreement and ingenuous +suggestion; and in particular did she echo and foster his enmity against +Sir Archibald Malmaison, and urged him forward in his suit, bidding him +spare no expense, since success was assured, and affirming her readiness +to mortgage her very jewels, if need were, to pay the eminent legal +gentlemen who were to conduct the case.</p> + +<p>This behavior of hers afforded her husband especial gratification, for he +had always been a little jealous of Sir Archibald, and indeed one of the +impelling motives to the present action had been a desire to pay his +grudge in this respect. But the discovery that Mrs. Pennroyal hated the +young baronet quite as much as he did, filled his soul with balm; so that +it only needed the successful termination of the lawsuit to render his +bliss complete and overflowing.</p> + +<p>Well, the great case came on; and all the nobility and gentry of the three +counties, and others besides, were there to see and hear. There were bets +that the trial would not be over in seven days, and odds were taken +against its lasting seven weeks. Society forgot its ennui and settled +itself complacently to listen to a piquant story of scandal, intrigue, +imposition, and robbery in high life.</p> + +<p>The reader knows the sequel. Never was there such a disappointment. The +learned brethren of the law opened their mouths only to shut them again.</p> + +<p>For after the famous Mr. Adolphus, counsel for the plaintiff, had +eloquently and ingeniously stated his case and given a picturesque and +appetizing outline of the evidence that he was going to call, and the +facts that he was going to prove; after this preliminary flourish was +over, behold, up got Mr. Sergeant Runnington, who appeared on behalf of +the defendant, and let fall some remarks which, though given in a +sufficiently matter-of-fact and every-day tone, fell like a thunder-clap +upon the ears of all present, save two persons; and produced upon the +Honorable Richard Pennroyal an effect as if a hand-grenade had been let +off within his head, and his spine drawn neatly out through the back of +his neck.</p> + +<p>I cannot give the learned Sergeant's speech here, but the upshot of it was +that the plaintiff had no case; inasmuch as he relied, to make good his +claim, on the absence of any direct evidence establishing the identity of +the late Sir Clarence Butt Malmaison, and the decease of that illegitimate +personage whom the plaintiffs sought to confound with him.</p> + +<p>What could have induced the plaintiff to imagine that such direct evidence +was not forthcoming, Sergeant Runnington confessed himself at a loss to +understand. He had cherished hopes, for the sake of common decency, for +the sake of the respect due to the Bench, for the sake of human nature, +that his learned brother on the other side would have been able to hold +forth a challenge which it would be, in some degree, worth his while to +answer; he regretted sincerely to say that those hopes had not been by any +means fulfilled.</p> + +<p>Had he been previously made aware of the course of attack which the +plaintiff had had the audacity to adopt, he could have saved him and other +persons much trouble, and the Court some hours of its valuable time, by +the utterance of a single word, or, indeed, without the necessity for any +words at all. Really, this affair, about which so much noise had been +made, was so ridiculously simple and empty that he almost felt inclined to +apologize to the Court and to the gentlemen of the jury for showing them +how empty and simple it was. But, indeed, he feared that the apology, if +there was to be one, was not due from his side.</p> + +<p>It was not for him to decide upon the motives which had prompted the +plaintiff to bring this action. He should be sorry to charge any one with +malice, with unconscionable greed, with treacherous and impudent rapacity. +It belonged to the plaintiff to explain why he had carried this case into +court, and what were his grounds for supposing that it could be made to +issue to his credit and advantage.</p> + +<p>For his own part, he should content himself with producing the documents +which the learned counsel on the other side had professed himself so +anxious to get a sight of, and to humbly request that the plaintiff be +nonsuited with costs.</p> + +<p>Thus ended the great trial. People could hardly, at first, believe their +own ears and eyes; but when the documents were acknowledged to be +perfectly genuine and correct, when the learned Mr. Adolphus relinquished +the case, not without disgust, and when the Court, after some very severe +remarks upon the conduct of the plaintiff, had concluded a short address +by adopting the learned Sergeant Runnington's suggestion as to the +costs--when all was settled, in short, in the utterly absurd space of two +hours and three quarters, then at last did society awake to a perception +of the fact that it had been most egregiously and outrageously swindled, +and that the Honorable Richard Pennroyal was the swindler.</p> + +<p>Nobody was at the pains to conceal these sentiments from the honorable +gentleman, and he left the court with as little sympathy as ever +disappointed suitor had.</p> + +<p>Poor man! he suffered enough, in more ways than one, on that disastrous +day, yet one shame and agony, the sharpest of all, was spared him--he did +not see the look and the smile that were exchanged between his wife and +Sir Archibald Malmaison, when the decision of the Court was made known.</p> + +<h1>XII.</h1> + +<p>We are now drawing near the last scene of this strange and sinister +history. The action confines itself almost entirely to the three chief +figures.</p> + +<p>If Pennroyal had been twenty years younger when this catastrophe fell upon +him, it might merely have had the effect of enraging him; but he was near +fifty years of age, and old for his years, and it seems to have +overwhelmed and cowed him. The cat still in his house, like a rat in his +hole, saying nothing, and noticing nothing, but drinking a great deal of +brandy. The fiery stuff did not excite him; it merely had the effect of +keeping him from sinking into unconsciousness of his misery. He knew that +he was a ruined man, and that it was too late to retrieve his ruin. Means +and energy were alike lacking, and could never be supplied. He sat in his +chair, and brooded over all his life, and realized the utterness of his +failure; and nothing could rouse him--not even the intelligence that his +enemy, Sir Archibald, having by the death of his aunt, Miss Tremount, come +into an inheritance of upward of seventy thousand pounds, was buying up +the mortgages, and would probably foreclose on him when he got him +thoroughly in his power. Archibald had beaten him, and he would fight no +more. Let him enjoy his triumph, and push it to the utmost. There was one +point, at all events, on which Richard had the better of him, and this +thought brought with it the sole spark of comfort that these evil days +afforded him. He had his wife--the woman to win whom Sir Archibald would +have given all his lands and fortune, and his soul into the bargain. Yes, +Kate was his, and his only; and it was the resolve to keep her his, and +thus spite his enemy as long as possible, that withheld Richard from +seeking relief in suicide at this juncture. So Providence leads men from +agony to worse agony, with intent, doubtless, to torture out of them the +evil which they will not voluntarily relinquish.</p> + +<p>One winter evening, Richard sitting brooding and sipping brandy as usual, +with a lamp burning on the table beside him, and the embers of the fire +flickering on the broad hearth at his feet, there came a light, measured +step and the rustle of a dress, and he knew that his wife was in the room. +He raised his haggard visage and looked at her. What a goddess of beauty +she seemed! How young, graceful, lovely! How pure and clear were the tints +of her face, how lustrous dark her eyes, how soft her ample hair! How +peerless she was! and all she was--all this treasure of fragrant +womanhood--was his, and not another's. Ay, and his willingly; she really +loved him, he thought; she had shown it of late; she cared for him, old, +ruined, and degraded though he was. It was a strange thing; it was a +pleasant thing. Perhaps, he thought, if he had had such a creature to love +him in earlier days, he might not have been where he was now. But then, in +earlier days, he was not a ruined and wasted man.</p> + +<p>"Kate!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Richard."</p> + +<p>"Oh, never speak so formally! Am I not Dick, thy own dear old Dick--eh?"</p> + +<p>"I did not mean to be formal."</p> + +<p>"Come and sit here beside me--no, here, on the arm of my chair. It was good +of you to come in here. I was getting lonesome. I wanted my Kate to tell +me she loved me--eh?"</p> + +<p>"I only came in to say good-night. It is late."</p> + +<p>"Late?--pooh! It's not nine o'clock. Stay and be sociable a bit. There, I +won't touch another drop if you'll stay."</p> + +<p>"I'm tired; I have a headache. You don't want me."</p> + +<p>"Not want you! Ay, but I do though! Without you, Kate, I should have been a +dead man weeks ago. Not want you!"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! what do you mean? You have drunk too much already, I fear."</p> + +<p>"I mean that, but for you, I'd have blown my brains out the day of the +trial--after I'd blown out his, the scoundrel! But since I have you, I +know a way to worry him better than by blowing his brains out. To know +that you are mine is hell to him. And in that hell I'll keep him, as long +as my body and soul will hang together!"</p> + +<p>"What should he care whether I am yours or not?"</p> + +<p>"Because he loves you--that's why he cares! Ay, you needn't start. He loves +you, and it's hell to him to feel that another man has you. How many +thousand pounds do you think he'd give to kiss this little hand as I kiss +it now? I wish he could see me do it!"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense, you are crazy.... And so you only care for me to spite him?"</p> + +<p>"No, not that. God knows--if there is a God--I love you, Kate, with all +there is left of me--except what hates him! That's my life--love for you +and hate for him. And I believe I hate him less than I love you, though +that's saying a great deal!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I think you love that brandy better than you do me."</p> + +<p>"You do? If you say so, I'll never touch it again!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't care. I don't want you to give up anything that makes you +comfortable."</p> + +<p>"Ay, you do love me, don't you, Kate?"</p> + +<p>"Come, Richard, our courting days are over. And I must go. Good-by!"</p> + +<p>"No, don't go! I feel, somehow, as if I couldn't spare you to-night."</p> + +<p>"Shall I pour you out another glass?"</p> + +<p>"Yes--no! I'll drink no more to-night. Kate...."</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"I'm getting old. In the natural course of things I should die long before +you. I sha'n't die yet a while--but some time, you know. Will you promise +something?"</p> + +<p>"I'll promise nothing to-night. I dare say you'll outlive me."</p> + +<p>"Promise, come what will, you'll never marry him; eh, Kate?"</p> + +<p>"Really, Richard, I--I never heard anything so foolish! I can't stay to +hear any more such talk. You are not your right self. There--let me go!"</p> + +<p>"Go?--go where? Gad, I've a mind to say you sha'n't go! Well, yes, I didn't +mean it; forgive me, Kate! Only you're my wife, you know, and I'm your +husband; and I love you; and somehow I feel afraid to let you out of my +sight--as if I might not see you again. Well, then.... But one thing you +shall do--you shall give me a kiss before you go! Else you sha'n't go at +all!"</p> + +<p>Thus compelled, Mrs. Pennroyal kissed her husband, or let herself be kissed +by him; and then she escaped from the room, with a shudder and a sinking +of the heart.</p> + +<p>Richard Pennroyal sat there alone; the embers of the fire were now gray and +lifeless. He stirred them with his foot, and they fell into ashes. He felt +cold. How still the house was; how lonely! And he had no pleasant thoughts +to keep him company now that his wife had left him; but many thoughts, +many memories that were far from pleasant, were lying in wait for him in +the dark corners of his mind, ready to leap out upon him if he gave them a +chance. Among them, why did the foolish face of crazy old Jane, his wife +of many years ago, persist in obtruding itself? Why did it wear that look +of stupid, unreasonable reproach? yes, unreasonable; for how was he to +blame? He had but let things take their course; no more than that.... well, +scarcely more! And yet that face, that silly old face, that dull, +lifeless, drowned old face, kept meeting his in the dark corners, turn +where he would. If he closed his eyes, it was still visible through the +eyelids, and seemed nearer than ever.</p> + +<p>So he opened his eyes; and there hovered the face, in the gloom beyond the +lamp. What an expression! Was it signalling him to come away? Was it +mocking him for fearing to come? Fearing? He was not afraid. He was a +Pennroyal; he had noble blood in his veins; though he was now a bit old +and shaky, and had, perhaps, been taking a little too much brandy of late. +But--afraid! not he. Why, he would follow the thing, if it came to that; +follow it to....</p> + +<p>He rose slowly from his chair, still keeping his eyes steadily fixed upon +it, and moved toward it, with his hands outstretched. He did not get any +nearer to it; it was retreating before him, like a will-o'-the-wisp. He +kept on, crossing the length of the room; it seemed to pass through the +substance of the door, and yet he saw it beyond. He opened the door +softly; yes, there it was in the hall. A pistol was lying on the little +table beside the door, which Richard knew to be loaded. Mechanically, and +without looking at it, he took it up as he passed. Then down the hall on +tiptoe, the shadowy, unmeaning face marshalling him the way, and leering +at him if he hesitated. Ay, he would follow it to the end, now. +Fortunately, the house-door stood open; there would be no noise in getting +out. Out they glided, pursuer and pursued, into the cold stillness of the +night. There was a moon, but it was dim and low down. The shadows seemed +more real than the light. There was no snow to betray footprints. But +whither would this chase lead? It seemed to be heading toward the +northwest--toward Malmaison; ay, and toward the pool that lay on the +borders of the estate. Richard shuddered when he thought of that pool, and +of the grisly significance of his being led thither by this witless, +idiotic old phantom of his dead wife's face. Stay, the face seemed to have +got itself a body within the last few moments: it was a gray figure that +now flitted on before him; gray and indistinct in the dim moonlight, with +noiseless, waving drapery. It was going the very path that old Jane had +gone that day, many years ago--her last day on earth; and yet, was she not +here again to-night? And she was leading him to the pool; and what then?</p> + +<p>Swiftly she flitted onward, some seventy paces in advance apparently, now +lost in shadow, now reappearing in the light. She never turned nor +beckoned, but kept straight on, and Richard had much ado to keep pace with +her. At length he caught the gleam of the dark pool some little distance +beyond. He set his teeth, and came on. The gray phantom had paused at +last. But was that Jane after all? Not Jane's was that tall and graceful +figure. This must be some other woman's ghost. Was it a ghost? And if so, +was that another--that man who issued from behind a clump of bushes, and +came toward her? The two figures met; the man took the woman in his arms, +and kissed her many times on the lips and eyes. Kisses! ay, those were +kisses indeed! Now they seemed to be conversing together; his arms were +round her waist. The moonlight revealed his features; it was the enemy--it +was Archibald Malmaison! And the woman was not the dead wife, but the +living one.</p> + +<p>"We are perfectly safe, my darling," Archibald was saying. "The room was +all prepared for you, and there is no possibility of discovery. There will +be a great outcry and confusion for a week or so, and they will search for +you, dead and alive; and I along with the rest, the better to disarm +suspicion. It will be settled, at last, that you must have escaped to some +foreign country; or, maybe, Richard himself will fall under suspicion of +having made away with you, as he did with his first wife. Sooner or later, +at any rate, they will give up the search; and, whether or not, we shall +always be free to each other. You could not persuade any one at Malmaison +to so much as put his nose into the east chamber, and as to the other, you +and I are the only living creatures who even dream of its existence. +Darling, you will not mind being a prisoner for a little while, since love +will be a prisoner with you?"</p> + +<p>The woman clung to him tremulously. "I did not know it would be so hard to +leave him," she murmured. "I hate him, and yet it was hard. He is so +wretched; and he is all alone. What will he do now? He kept saying that he +loved me and asking me to love him, and to call him Dick; and ... he made +me kiss him. Oh, Archie, I feel that kiss beneath all yours. I shall +always feel it!"</p> + +<p>"No, this shall make you forget it--"</p> + +<p>"Hush! I hear something!"</p> + +<p>"You are nervous--"</p> + +<p>"Ah! look! It is he. Now God have mercy!"</p> + +<p>Sir Archibald looked; and there, indeed, stood the tall figure of the +Honorable Richard Pennroyal, without his hat, and with an expression on +his face that was a living curse to behold. And yet that face smiled and +bowed with a hideous politeness.</p> + +<p>"Good-evening, Sir Archibald. Will you permit me to inquire whether you are +armed?"</p> + +<p>Sir Archibald put his hand within his vest, and drew out a pistol.</p> + +<p>"Ah, that comes in very conveniently. Now, let us see. Mrs. Pennroyal, +since you are my wife, perhaps you will be good enough to give us the +word?--No, she insists upon fainting. Well, then, we must manage the best +way we can. But let me entreat you to take your aim carefully, my dear Sir +Archibald, for if you miss it will involve unpleasant consequences for +Mrs. Pennroyal as well as for yourself. Now, I will toss up this pebble, +and when it strikes the surface of the water we will fire. Is it agreed? +Here goes, then."</p> + +<p>He had the pebble in his hand, and was in act to toss it, when the baronet, +breaking silence for the first time, said:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Pennroyal, I am willing that this should go no further."</p> + +<p>"Scoundrel and coward!" snarled the other, his deadly fury breaking in a +moment through the thin mockery of courtesy; "come up then, and be shot +like the cur you are!"</p> + +<p>There could be no more words. Sir Archibald raised his pistol; his +antagonist threw the pebble high in the air, and as it smote the smooth +surface of the pool in its descent, both pulled trigger. Richard +Pennroyal's weapon missed fire; Sir Archibald's bullet passed through his +enemy's heart; he swayed backward and forward for a moment, and then fell +on his face, hurling his pistol as he fell at the prostrate figure of his +wife, who lay huddled on the ground; but it flew wide, and struck Sir +Archibald on the temple. Before the ripples caused by the pebble's fall +had died away, Pennroyal had ceased to live.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Pennroyal was still apparently insensible, but as Sir Archibald +approached her she partly raised herself up, and looked first at him and +then at the dead body.</p> + +<p>"It was not worth while," she said.</p> + +<p>"It's done," he murmured. "Are you hurt?"</p> + +<p>"What shall we do?"</p> + +<p>"We must get back to Malmaison."</p> + +<p>"We cannot leave him here."</p> + +<p>Sir Archibald bent over the body of his enemy, and turned the face upward. +It wore a calm and happy expression.</p> + +<p>"I will sink him in the pool," he said. "His will not be the first dead +body that has lain there."</p> + +<p>He stooped accordingly, and getting his hands beneath the arms of the +corpse, dragged it to one of the flights of steps that led down to the +water. Kate sat watching him with her hands clasped in her lap. She heard +a splashing sound and a ripple. Sir Archibald came back, picked up the +pistol, and flung it also into the pool.</p> + +<p>"The water will freeze to-night," he said, "and the fishes will do the +rest. Now, come!"</p> + +<p>In a secret chamber at Malmaison lamps were burning softly in a dozen +sconces of burnished silver round the walls. Their light fell on luxurious +furniture, fit for the boudoir of a lovely and noble lady. The +broad-backed ebony chairs were upholstered in delicate blue damask; clips +and salvers of chased gold stood on the inlaid cabinet; the floor was +covered with richly-tinted Persian rugs and soft-dressed furs; a warm fire +glowed on the hearth, and upon the table was set out a supper such as +might have awakened an appetite in a Roman epicure. A tall mirror, at the +farther end of the room, reflected back the lights and the color and the +sparkle, while in a niche at one side stood rigidly upright an antique +suit of armor, its gauntlets seeming to rest meditatively upon the hilt of +its sword, while from between the closed bars of the helmet one might +fancy that the dark spirit of its former inmate was gazing grimly forth +upon all this splendor and luxury, and passing a ghastly jest thereon. But +it was as fair and comfortable a scene as perhaps this world can show, and +well calculated to make the sternest ascetic in love with life.</p> + +<p>Through the massive oaken door, clamped with polished steel bands, entered +now two pallid and haggard persons--a man and a woman. The light striking +on their eyes made them blink and look aside. The man led the woman to the +fire, and seated her upon a low chair; and taking a blue satin coverlid +from the bed in the recess, he folded it tenderly round her shoulders. She +scarcely seemed to notice where she was, or what was being done; she sat +with her eyes and face fixed, shivering now and then, and with her mind +apparently preoccupied with some ugly recollection. The man then went to +the table and poured out a glass of wine, and held it to the woman's lips, +and after a little resistance she drank some of it.</p> + +<p>"You are as safe here," said he, "as if you were in an island of the South +Sea. I will see that you want for nothing while you have to remain here." +</p> + +<p>"What is the use?" she asked, with a kind of apathetic peevishness.</p> + +<p>"Before long we shall be able to go away," he continued. "My darling, don't +be disheartened. All our happiness is to come."</p> + +<p>"I can never forget it," she said, with a shiver. "What is the use? I can +never get away from him now. Do you think the water is frozen yet?"</p> + +<p>"You must not think of that at all. When you are warm, and have drunk some +wine, you will not feel this nervousness. Nothing has been done that is +worth regretting, or that could have been helped. Kate, I love you more +than ever."</p> + +<p>"What is the use?" she repeated, in a dull tone. "It was not worth while." +</p> + +<p>There was a pause.</p> + +<p>"I must leave you for a few minutes," he said gently. "It is necessary that +I should show myself to Lady Malmaison and to the servants. No one knows +that I have left the house. By the time I come back you will have got +warm, and we will sup together. Don't be downhearted, my darling."</p> + +<p>He bent forward to kiss her. With a sudden gesture of aversion she pushed +him back. "There is blood upon your forehead!" she said, in a sharp +whisper.</p> + +<p>"Only a scratch--I had forgotten it," he answered, trying to smile. "Well, +then, in half an hour, at the utmost, we will meet again."</p> + +<p>She made no rejoinder; and, after standing a moment looking down at her, he +turned and went out. He closed the oaken door behind him, and locked it, +then felt his way along the stone passage, and let himself out by the +concealed entrance. He put the silver rod in its receptacle beneath the +floor, and walked toward the room adjoining. On the threshold of that room +he paused a moment, leaning against the door-post. A sensation of sluggish +weariness had come over him; his head felt full and heavy. He roused +himself presently, and went on trying to remember whither he was going. By +the time he had reached the top of the great staircase, the idea that he +was in search of seemed to have come to him. He descended the stairs and +went directly to Lady Malmaison's room. It was then about eleven o'clock. +The good lady was playing cards with her companion, her spaniel sleeping +on her knees. She looked up in astonishment, for Sir Archibald seldom +honored her with a visit.</p> + +<p>"Mamma," said he, going up to her chair, and standing there awkwardly, +"where is Kate?"</p> + +<p>"My son! what has happened?"</p> + +<p>"Was she married to-day?" pursued the baronet, in an aggrieved tone.</p> + +<p>Lady Malmaison and the companion exchanged a terrified glance.</p> + +<p>"I think it is very unkind, then," declared the young man, reproachfully; +"for Richard promised me I should be groomsman--and now they have gone and +got married while I was asleep. It was unkind of Kate, and I don't love +her; but I don't believe it was Richard's fault, because he is good, and I +love him."</p> + +<p> * * * * *</p> + +<p>"Ring the bell, Simpson," said Lady Malmaison, in a broken voice, "and tell +them to send for Dr. Rollinson."</p> + +<h1>XIII.</h1> + +<p>During all the months of consternation, speculation, and vague hue-and-cry +that followed the mysterious disappearance of the Honorable Mr. and Mrs. +Pennroyal, it never for one moment occurred to any one to suggest any +connection between that unexplained circumstance and the equally curious +but unpertinent fact that poor Sir Archibald had "gone daft" once more.</p> + +<p>How should it? It was known that Sir Archibald had been in his room all +that day and evening up to the time when he came into his mother's chamber +without his wits. It was true that there had been no love lost of late +between the houses of Malmaison and Pennroyal, but that was neither here +nor there.</p> + +<p>The notion that the vanished persons had met with foul play was never +seriously entertained, it being generally agreed that Mr. Pennroyal had +ample reasons for not wishing to remain in a place where his credit and +his welcome were alike worn out. In all likelihood, therefore, the pair +had slunk away to foreign parts, and were living under an assumed name +somewhere on the Continent, or in America.</p> + +<p>It was not surprising that they had gone together, for it was known that +they were on very good terms with each other, especially during the last +year. An idle story of a groom, who affirmed that he had been present at +an interview between Mrs. Pennroyal and Sir Archibald, on horseback, a few +weeks before the trial, when, according to this narrator, they had +appeared to be rather friendly than otherwise, was not thought to be in +any way to the point.</p> + +<p>So the months passed away, and the years followed the months; the house and +the lands of the Pennroyals were sold, and their very name began to be +forgotten. The daft baronet and his aged mother went on living at +Malmaison in a quiet and uneventful manner, seeing very few people, and +doing nothing except allow their large property to grow larger. Yet, in +spite of their retiring inoffensiveness, a shadow seemed to brood over the +ancient house.</p> + +<p>The old story of Sir Archibald's past exploits in the magical line, and of +his ancestors before him, were still revived occasionally round evening +firesides; and it was submitted whether his present condition were not a +judgment upon him for having tampered with forbidden mysteries.</p> + +<p>In the opinion of these fireside juries, there was a curse upon Malmaison, +especially upon that part of it which contained the east chamber. That +room was haunted, and had never been haunted so badly as during the few +days immediately following Sir Archibald's loss of memory.</p> + +<p>It may have been a demon's carousal over the sad plight of the poor, +foolish young baronet. At all events shrieks had been heard, faint and +muffled, but unmistakable, proceeding from that region, when everybody +knew that no living soul was there or could be there; but all the servants +at Malmaison could swear to the sounds. Ay, the place was accursed.</p> + +<p>Late on the night of the 22d of January, 1833, Sir Archibald found himself +mounting the staircase of Malmaison, with but an indistinct idea of how he +came to be doing so. He could not recollect whether he had seen his mother +and the servants or not. No wonder if his thoughts had been a little +absent, with such a dark and burdensome secret as that which lay upon his +soul. But, of course, he must have seen them. He had left Kate with the +intention of doing so, within this very hour; and how should he be coming +up-stairs, unless from the execution of that purpose? His mind was busy +with many projects. It would probably be thought that Mr. and Mrs. +Pennroyal had left the country to escape creditors. If only the pond +froze, and the cold weather held on for a week or two, there would be no +trace that could lead to a suspicion of anything else. For himself, he +would find no difficulty in proving an alibi, if it came to that. And +after all, he had but acted upon compulsion, and in self-defence, and upon +equal terms. He was guilty of no crime, except--well, call it a crime; he +was willing to bear the brunt of that. So they would be able to get away +soon, and in Italy, Spain, somewhere, anywhere, they could live and be +happy many years. Perhaps after a time they could venture to marry and +return openly to England. There were numberless and indefinite +possibilities in their favor. Life was all they wanted, and life they had. +They were both young; the gloom of this unlucky tragedy would soon be +dispelled. Kate had been nervous and distraught when he left her, and no +wonder, poor love! but wine, and food, and warmth would soon bring the +color back to her cheeks and the light to her eyes. Lovely Kate! sweet, +wayward, tender, haughty, but his own at last--his own in spite of earth +and heaven! Yes, he and she would have their will and take their pleasure +in spite of God and man; and if God would kill them, then, at any rate, +they would die together, and in each other's arms.</p> + +<p>With these and many like thoughts flying through his mind, Sir Archibald +Malmaison reached the east chamber struck a light, and lit the candle that +stood on the table beside the door. He looked at his watch--half-past +eleven; he was within his time then; he had been absent less than half an +hour. What was Kate doing, he wondered? He stopped a moment, picturing her +to himself in some luxurious attitude; but his impatience would not suffer +him to delay. He quickly got the silver rod from its receptacle, opened +the concealed door, and went in, carrying the lighted candle in his hand. +In a moment he was at the inner oaken door; it resisted his attempt to +open it. Then he recollected that he had locked it for additional +security. The key was in the lock; he turned it, and entered.</p> + +<p>An involuntary cry of surprise escaped him. Instead of the soft blaze of +light that he had expected, the room was full of a heavy darkness, that +seemed to rush out to meet him, and almost overwhelmed the feeble glimmer +of his wretched candle. And why was it so deadly cold? Where had gone that +cheerful fire which was burning so ardently on the hearth half an hour +ago? Could Kate have put out the lights and gone off? Impossible, since +the doors were fastened. Ah, there she was!</p> + +<p>She was kneeling with her face bowed forward on her arms, which rested on +the seat of one of the low chairs. Her attitude was that of passionate +prayer. Her thick brown hair was unfastened, and fell over her shoulders.</p> + +<p>She made no movement. It was strange! Was she praying? Could she be asleep?</p> + +<p>He took a step or two, and then stopped. Still no movement.</p> + +<p>"Kate!" he said in a hushed voice; and as she did not answer, he spoke more +loudly: "Kate, I have come back; and I've a mind to scold you for letting +the fire go out, and startling me with this darkness. What are you doing +on your knees? Come, my darling, we want no prayers to-night. Kate ... will +you give me a kiss now?</p> + +<p>"Perhaps she may have fainted. Poor darling, she must have fainted!"</p> + +<p>He went close up to her, and laid his hand on her shoulder: he seemed to +grasp nothing but the empty stuff of the dress. With a terrified, +convulsive motion, he pulled her round, so that the head was disturbed +from its position on the arms, and the ghastly mystery was revealed to his +starting eyeballs. The spectacle was not one to be described. He uttered a +weak, wavering scream, and stood there, unable to turn away his gaze.</p> + +<p>I must confess that I do not care to pursue this narrative any farther: +though it is just at this point, according to my venerable friend Dr. +Rollinson, that the real scientific interest begins. He was constantly +with Sir Archibald during the eight or nine months that he remained in +life after this episode; and made some highly important and edifying notes +on his "case," besides writing down the unhappy baronet's confessions, as +given from time to time. After his death, the Doctor made an autopsy of +the brain, and discovered--I care not what! It was not the mystery of the +man's soul, I am convinced.</p> + +<p>I have adhered strictly to the facts throughout. Of course some of the +conversations have been imagined, but always on an adequate foundation of +truth or logical inference. All the dates and "coincidences" are genuine. +But, indeed, I prefer fiction, and am resolved never in future to make an +excursion into the crude and improbable regions of reality.</p> + +<p align="center" class="smallcaps">The End.</p> + +<h1>Footnotes</h1> + +<p><a name="1"></a>1. Dr. Forbes Rollinson's death occurred while these pages were in +preparation. This is not the place to add my tribute of affection and +appreciation to the many memoirs of him which have appeared in the public +prints. My first acquaintance with him dates but little more than three +years prior to his death; but the impression he produced upon me of +cordiality, culture, and ability will remain with me while I live. He was +a grand old gentleman of a school that is now bygone; a scholar of vast +attainments, and a Christian in heart and life, if not in profession. +Although he had far exceeded the ordinary span of life--he was born, I +believe, in the last century--he showed few signs of physical, and none of +mental infirmity; and his sudden and painless decease was quite +unexpected.</p> + +<p>I subjoin extracts from a letter written to me on the subject of the +present narrative:</p> + +<p>"WELLESLEY HOUSE, QUEEN'S GATE, W.</p> + +<p>"MY DEAR H.: I must say I fail to perceive the force of your objections. +What is fiction, at best, but an imitation of truth--and a pretty poor +imitation, too, as a general thing?... You ought to be glad to be saved +the trouble of inventing.... In the matter of love-making and adventure I +have nothing to say, but scientific truths are not lightly to be tampered +with. 'Round off the corners' by all means, if you think fit, but do not +suffer your artistic proclivities to lead you into a misrepresentation of +the essential facts.... The people are all dead, and the estate is broken +up, so you need have no hesitation regarding names. Literary value aside, +the thing would be worth nothing if the means of verifying it were +withheld....</p> + +<p>"Ever faithfully yours,</p> + +<p>"June 3d, 1878. E. FORBES ROLLINSON."</p> + +<p><a name='2'></a>2. Now also the late: <i>vide supra</i>.</p> + +<p><a name="3"></a>3. 3. In July, 1867.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Archibald Malmaison, by Julian Hawthorne + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ARCHIBALD MALMAISON *** + +***** This file should be named 7344-h.htm or 7344-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/7/3/4/7344/ + +Produced by Curtis Weyant, Eric Eldred, Charles Franks and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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: Archibald Malmaison + +Author: Julian Hawthorne + +Posting Date: October 8, 2012 [EBook #7344] +Release Date: January, 2005 +First Posted: April 17, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ARCHIBALD MALMAISON *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis Weyant, Eric Eldred, Charles Franks and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + + + + + +Archibald Malmaison + +by Julian Hawthorne + +Author of "Garth," "Sebastian Strome," "Dust," Etc. + + + + +INTRODUCTORY. + + + +When I was a child, I used to hope my fairy-stories were true. Since +reaching years of discretion, I have preferred acknowledged fiction. This +inconsistency, however, is probably rather apparent than real. Experience +has taught me that the greater the fairy-story the less the truth; and +contrariwise, that the greater the truth the less the fairy-story. In +other words, the artistic graces of romance are irreconcilable with the +crude straightforwardness of fact. The idealism of childhood, believing +that all that is most beautiful must on that very account be most true, +clamors accordingly for truth. The knowledge of maturity, which has +discovered that nothing that is true (in the sense of being existent) can +be beautiful, deprecates truth beyond everything. What happens, we find, +is never what ought to happen; nor does it happen in the right way or +season. In palliation of this hardship, the sublime irony of fate grants +us our imagination, wherewith we create little pet worlds of poetry and +romance, in which everything is arranged in neat harmonies and surprises, +to gratify the scope of our little vision. The actual world, the real +universe, may, indeed, be picturesque and perfect beyond the grandest of +our imaginative miniatures; but since the former can be revealed to us +only in comparatively infinitesimal portions, the miniatures still have +the best of it. + +To preface a story with the information that it is true, is not, therefore, +the way to recommend it. Your hearer's life, and those of his friends, are +enough true stories for him; what he wants of you is merciful fiction. +Destiny, to his apprehension, is always either vapid, or clumsy, or +brutal; and he feels certain that, do your worst, you can never rival the +brutality, the clumsiness, or the vapidity of destiny. If you are silly, +he can at least laugh at you; if you are clumsy or brutal, he has his +remedy; and meanwhile there is always the chance that you may turn out to +be graceful and entertaining. But to bully him with facts is like asking +him to live his life over again; and the civilized human being has yet to +be found who would not rather die than do that. + +No; we are all spontaneously sure that no story-teller, though he were a +Timon of Athens double distilled, can ever be so unsympathetic and +unnatural as destiny, who tells the only story that never winds up. We +cannot understand destiny; we never know to what lengths she may go: but +the story-teller we know inside and out; he is only a possible ourself, +and we defy him to do us any serious harm. I trust I am rendering my +meaning clear, and that no one will suppose that in making this onslaught +upon truth, I have anything else in view than truth as applied to what are +called stories. With truth scientific, moral, religious, I am at present +in nowise concerned. Only, I have no respect for the weakness that will +outrage a promising bit of narrative for the sake of keeping to the facts. +Imbecile! the facts are given you, like the block of marble or the +elements of a landscape, as material for the construction of a work of +art. Which would you rather be, a photographer or Michael Angelo? "_Non +vero ma ben trovato_" should be your motto; and if you refuse to kill +your heroine on the Saturday night because, forsooth, she really did, +despite all dramatic propriety, survive till Monday morning--why, please +yourself; but do not bring your inanities to me! + +I have now to reconcile this profession of faith with the incongruous fact +that the following story is a true one. True it is, in whole and in part; +furthermore, the events took place in the present century, and within a +hundred miles of London. But let me observe, in the first place, that, +although a true tale, it is nevertheless strange and interesting to an +unusual degree; and, secondly, that this interest and strangeness mainly +depend, not upon the succession of incidents, but upon the subjective +condition--character it cannot be termed--of Archibald Malmaison himself. +This being the case, it follows that the greater part of the objections +above insisted upon fall to the ground. What goes on inside a man must +needs be accepted as it is revealed to us: to invent psychological +attributes does not lie within the province of a romancer. His skill and +power are confined to so selecting and arranging the incidents as to +provide his psychological data with the freest possible development. In +the present case I might easily have devised a stage and a series of +events for Malmaison, which would have brought his mysterious affection +into somewhat more prominent and picturesque relief. But that affection is +itself so absorbing a problem, that the fashion of its statement becomes +of comparatively small import; and I may add that the setting furnished by +nature happens on this occasion to answer all practical purposes tolerably +well. Moreover, I am not altogether a free agent in the matter. The friend +by whose permission I tell the tale is of opinion that no liberties ought +to be taken with its form, any more than with what he is pleased to call +its "physiological characteristics." The main significance of the +narrative being, according to him, of a scientific or pathological kind, +it would be hostile to scientific interests to depart from historical +accuracy in its presentation. From the professional dictum of a man like +Dr. Forbes Rollinson there can, of course, be no appeal, and if I am to +write the account at all, it is but fair that in so doing I should respect +the wishes of him who is the lawful proprietor of it. I have thought it +but fair to myself, however, to begin by offering this explanation. I feel +more or less hampered by the conditions enjoined upon me, and, besides, I +do not agree with Dr. Rollinson's theory of the phenomena. In the present +state of our knowledge, no theory on such subjects can pretend to be more +than hypothetically correct; and my prejudices are opposed to what is +known as the materialistic explanation of the universe. With, all respect +for the validity of science within its proper sphere, I do not conceive +that its judgments are entitled to paramount consideration when they +attempt to settle the problems of psychology. There are mysteries which no +process of inductive reasoning can reach.--The reader, however, will not +be decoyed blindfold into accepting as final either the Doctor's view or +mine; but, after possessing himself of the facts, will be left free to +draw what conclusions he may please. + +As regards the matter of names, dates, and localities, Dr. Rollinson holds +that they had better be given at full length; and here I am not disposed +to differ from him. The system of blanks and initial letters was always +distasteful to me; and to use fictitious names in a true story seems like +taking away with one hand what you give with another. Besides, every one +of the actors in the drama is now dead: Dr. Rollinson [1] himself being +the only living person who is cognizant, directly, of all the +circumstances, from beginning to end. In his capacity of physician, he was +the intimate and trusted friend of the ill-fated Malmaison household +during upward of twenty years, and he inherited this confidential position +from his father. He has kindly placed at my disposal a number of his +professional note-books and journals, and in various places I have +incorporated with the narrative some of the information which they +contain. At other times I have inserted minor details of conversation and +incident, and have endeavored to throw over the whole as "fictitious" an +air as was consistent with the conscientious observance of my compact with +the Doctor. And now, without further preface, I will proceed to business. + + + + +I. + + +Archibald Malmaison was the second son of Sir Clarence Butt Malmaison, of +Malmaison, Sussex. He had the odd distinction of being born on the 29th of +February, 1800. His elder brother, Edward, born 1798, died before him, as +will be hereinafter shown. There were no other brothers, but four girls +appeared after Archibald, two of whom died in childhood of scarlet fever, +while the other two grew up to be married. They have nothing to do with +the story, and will not be mentioned again. + +The Malmaisons, as their name denotes, were of French descent--Huguenots. +Like many other emigrants, they yielded, in the course of a generation or +two, to a barbarous mispronunciation of their patronymic, which came to be +spoken of as if spelt "Malmsey." + +How it happened that the chateau of the Empress Josephine was christened by +the same name, I know not; at all events, the Sussex Malmaisons have prior +claim to the title. The estate, which embraced between seven and eight +hundred acres, lay in that portion of the county which borders upon the +junction line of Kent and Surrey. Colonel Battledown, the Peninsular +soldier, owned the adjoining estate in Kent; while the Surrey corner was +occupied, at the epoch of this story, by the Honorable Richard +Pennroyal--he whose father, Lord Epsom, is said to have won ninety +thousand pounds from Fox in a single night's play. The three families had +been on a friendly footing with each other ever since the early part of +the reign of George III. + +Sir Clarence had been an ally of the father of the Honorable Richard in +Parliament (they were both Whigs), and Colonel Battledown, though a Tory, +was such capital company as not only to compensate for his political +derelictions, but even to render them a matter for mutual +congratulation--they so enlivened the conversation! In truth, I suppose +the three gentlemen must have had many a boisterous discussion over their +nightly three or four bottles apiece of claret, and after their hard day +across country. + +The Honorable Richard, by the by, was by far the youngest of the three; at +the time of Archibald's birth he was not much over twenty; but he had a +cool, strong brain, and quite as much gravity as his seniors, over whom, +in fact, he seems to have exercised a species of ascendency. Possibly he +inherited something of his noble father's ability--that of playing quietly +for big stakes when all the odds were in his favor. At all events, in the +year 1801 he married Miss Jane Malmaison, the baronet's sister, who was +fifteen years older than he, but who brought him fifty thousand pounds--a +not unimportant consideration to him at that time. + +Mrs. Pennroyal has one claim upon our notice, and only one; seven years +after her marriage, at the age of forty-two, she completely lost her +memory, and became rather idiotic, and a few years later contrived to fall +into an ornamental fish-pond, and drowned there before her attendants +missed her. She was buried with much stateliness; but it is to be feared +that few persons missed her even then. She left no children. + +Was poor old Jane the first member of the Malmaison line who had shown any +special weakness or peculiarity in the upper story? There was a hoary +tradition to the effect that the son or grandson of the first emigrant had +made some compact or other with the Evil One, the terms of which were that +he (the grandson) was to prolong his terrestrial existence for one hundred +and forty years by the ingenious device of living only every alternate +seven years, the intervening periods to be passed in a sort of +hibernation. In return for this accommodation he was, of course, to make +H.S.M. the usual acknowledgment! + +The final upshot of this bargain--as is usually the way in these cases--is +not known. Did the worthy gentleman work his way into his third half +century? And had he, by that time, acquired astuteness sufficient to cheat +the other party to the contract of his due? History is silent; the only +thing asserted with any appearance of confidence is that Sir Eustace de +Malmaison possessed the power of vanishing at will from the eyes of men. +Nay, he would seem to have bequeathed this useful accomplishment to +certain of his descendants; for there is among the family documents a +curious narrative, signed and witnessed, describing how a member of the +family, in the time (I think) of the Second Pretender, did, being hard +pressed by the minions of the German Prince, and pursued by them into the +extreme eastern chamber of his house of Malmaison, suddenly and without +warning render himself invisible, insomuch that nothing of him remained +save his dagger, and the plume which he bore in his cap. This eastern +chamber had, at the time, but one outlet, and that was into a room already +guarded by the soldiery. + +The chronicle goes on to say that the disappearance was not final: the +mysterious fugitive reappeared on the third day, in the same spot where he +had vanished, but apparently rather the worse for wear. He was at first +taken for a spirit, and all fled before him; but he, going hastily forward +to the dining hall, and finding a great sirloin of beef set out upon the +board, forthwith fell to, and, in a wondrous short time, devoured the +whole thereof, drinking also a gallon and a half of the wine of Burgundy. +This exploit restored the belief of the household in the material +consistency of their master, and thereupon was much thanksgiving, +feasting, and rejoicing. But the secret of the disappearance never was +revealed. + +I give these musty old details for what they are worth; they may perhaps be +construed as an indication that the race of Malmaison had some +peculiarities of its own. + +As for Archibald, he was rather neglected than otherwise. He was a dull and +stolid baby, neither crying nor crowing much: he would sit all day over a +single toy, not playing with it, but holding it idly in his hands or +between his knees. He could neither crawl, walk, nor talk till long after +the usual time for such accomplishments. It seemed as if he had made up +his mind to live according to his birthdays--that is, four times as slow +as other people. The only things he did do well were eating and sleeping: +he never appeared to be thoroughly awake, nor was his appetite ever +entirely satisfied. As might be supposed, therefore, his body grew apace; +and at seven years old (or one and three quarters, as the facetious +Baronet would have it) he weighed twelve good pounds more than his brother +Edward, who was two years his senior, though, to be sure, not a specially +robust child. + +For the rest, poor Archibald seemed to be affectionate, in a dim, +inarticulate way, though his sympathies were confined within somewhat +narrow limits. He loved a certain brindled cat that he had more than +anything else: next to her, his little baby sister; and oddly enough, he +conceived a sort of dog-like admiration for the Honorable Richard +Pennroyal--a compliment which that personage did nothing to deserve, and +which he probably did not desire. He had also a distinct feeling for +localities; he was never quite at his ease except in the nursery-room +where he slept; and, on the other hand, he never failed to exhibit +symptoms of distrust and aversion when he was carried into the East +chamber--that in which his great-grandfather had effected his mysterious +self-effacement. But the only thing that was certain to make him cry was +to be brought into the company of little Kate Battledown, the colonel's +only child, a year or two younger than Archibald, and universally admitted +to be the prettiest and most graceful baby in the neighborhood. But +Archibald, up to his seventh year, would do anything to get away from +her--short of walking. + +In a word, he exhibited such symptoms of a deficient and perverted +understanding as would have gained him--had he been of humbler +birth--the descriptive title of "natural." Being a son of Sir Clarence +Butt Malmaison, he was considered to be peculiar only. The old wives of +the village maintained that he was the sort that could see elves, and +that, if one but knew how, he might be induced to reveal valuable secrets, +and to confer magic favors. But, looking the other way, he was to be +dreaded as a possible (though involuntary) agent of evil; especially +perilous was it, these venerable dames would affirm, to become the object +of his affection or caresses--a dogma which received appalling +confirmation in the fate of the brindled cat, who, after having been +caught by the leg in a trap intended for a less respectable robber of +hen-roosts, was finished by a bull-terrier, who took advantage of her +embarrassed circumstances to pay off upon her a grudge of long standing. +This tragedy occurred in January of the year 1807, and produced a +noticeable effect upon Master Archibald Malmaison. He neither wept nor +tore his hair, but took the far more serious course of losing his +appetite. + +The most remarkable part of the story is yet to come. No one had told him +that the cat was dead, and the cat, having adventurous propensities, had +often been away from home for days at a time without leave or warning. +Nevertheless, Archibald was immediately aware of her fate, and even seemed +(judging from some expressions that escaped him) to have divined the +manner of it. He then gave intimation of an earnest desire to view the +remains; but in this he could not be gratified, for they had already been +secretly interred in an obscure corner of the back garden. Will it be +believed that the "peculiar" child hereupon got upon his fat legs, and, +without either haste or hesitation, deliberately ambled out of the +nursery, along the corridor, down the stairs, across the hall, through the +door, and so round to the back garden and to the very identical spot where +poor Tabby had been deposited! + +The fact is sufficiently well attested; I am not aware that it has ever +been accounted for. The boy had never in his life walked so far before, +although his limbs were perfectly developed and able for much longer +pilgrimages. He did not resist being led away; but, as has been said, he +neglected his bread and milk, and every few days returned to the back +garden, and stood beside the grave in the cold, looking fixedly at it, but +making no active demonstration whatever. This went on for about six weeks, +and attracted a good deal of curiosity in the neighborhood. At length, in +the latter part of February, Archibald had a sort of fit, apparently of an +epileptic nature. On recovering from it, he called for a glass of milk, +and drank it with avidity; he then fell asleep, and did not awake again +for thirty-six hours. + +By this time he was a personage of more importance at Malmaison than he had +ever yet been in his small life. The wise folk who stood around his crib +hazarded various predictions as to the issue of his unnatural slumber. +Some said he would lose what little wit he had; others, that he would +become an acknowledged wizard; others again, that he would never wake up +at all. In short, like other prophets, they foretold everything except +that which was actually to happen; and they would have foretold that too, +if they had thought of it in time. + + + + +II. + + +Archibald awoke at length, and sat up in bed. He opened his mouth, +apparently for the purpose of saying something, but his tongue refused to +articulate any recognizable words. An irregular, disjointed sound made +itself heard, like the vague outcry of an infant; and then, as if angry at +his own failure, he set up a loud and indignant wail, muffled from time to +time by the cramming of his fingers into his mouth. + +Whatever else was the matter with the child, it was evident that he was +hungry--as, indeed, he well might be. Some bread and milk was brought to +him, that being his favorite food; but to the general astonishment and +dismay, he did not seem to know what it was, although he continued to +exhibit every symptom of a ravenous and constantly augmenting appetite. +They tried him with every imaginable viand, but in vain; they even put +morsels into his mouth, but he had lost the power of mastication, and +could not retain them. The more they labored, the greater became his +exasperation, until at last there was such a hubbub and confusion on the +score of Master Archibald as that hitherto rather insignificant little +personage should have felt proud to occasion. + +Among the anxious and bewildered people who thronged the nursery at this +juncture was a young woman who acted as wet-nurse to the latest born of +the Malmaisons, a baby-girl three months old. + +She was a healthy and full-bodied peasant, and as she pressed forward to +have her look at the now frantic Archibald, she held the nursing +infant--the only serene and complacent member of the assemblage--to her +open breast. Archibald caught sight of her, and immediately reached toward +her, arms, mouth and all, accompanying the action by an outcry so eager, +impatient, and gluttonous that it was capable of only one interpretation. +An incredible interpretation, certainly, but that made no difference; +there was nothing else to be done. Honest Maggie, giggling and rubicund, +put aside her complacent nursling (who thereupon became anything but +complacent) and took to her kind bosom this strapping and unreasonable +young gentleman, who had already got many of his second teeth. That did +not prevent him from making an unconscionably good supper, and thenceforth +the only person likely to be disturbed by his new departure in +gormandizing was Maggie herself. Everything being thus happily arranged, +the household dispersed about its business, the Baronet declaring, with a +great laugh, that he had always said Archie was but a babe in arms, and +this proved it! + +Dr. Rollinson, however (the elder doctor, that is--father of the present +[2] distinguished bearer of the name), had witnessed this scene with +something more than ordinary wonder or amusement; it had puzzled, but also +interested him extremely. He was less of a conservative than many of his +profession; he kept his mind open, and was not disinclined to examine into +odd theories, and even, perhaps, to originate a few such himself upon +occasion. The question that now confronted him and challenged his +ingenuity was, What was the matter with Archibald? Why had the boy +suddenly gone back to the primitive source of nourishment, not from mere +childish whim, but from actual ignorance--as it seemed--that nourishment +was obtainable in any other way? An obvious reply would be that the boy +had become wholly, idiotic; but the more Dr. Rollinson revolved this rough +and ready explanation, the less satisfactory did he find it. He wisely +decided to study the symptoms and weigh the evidence before committing +himself one way or the other. + +The first result of his observations was to confirm his impression that +Archibald was not idiotic. There was a certain sort of vacancy in the +child's expression, but it was the vacancy of ignorance rather than of +foolishness. And ignorant to a surprising degree he was. He had at no time +been regarded as a boy of large attainments; but what he knew before his +strange seizure was, to what he knew after it, as Bacon to a ploughman. +Had he been newly born into the world, he could not have shown less +acquaintance with it, so far as intellectual comprehension went; his +father, mother, sister--all were alike strangers to him; he gazed at them +with intent but unrecognizing eyes; he never looked up when his name was +spoken, nor did he betray any sign of understanding the talk that went on +around him. His own thoughts and wants were expressed by inarticulate +sounds and by gestures; but the mystery of speech evidently interested +him, and he studied the movements of the lips of those who spoke to him +with a keen, grave scrutiny to them highly amusing--except in the case of +his poor old Aunt Jane, who turned quite pale under his inquisition, and +declared that he must be bewitched, for although he seemed to know +nothing, yet he had the knowingest look of any child she ever saw. Herein +Aunt Jane gave utterance to a fact that was beginning to be generally +acknowledged. Whatever Archibald had lost, it was beyond dispute that he +had somehow come into possession of a fund of native intelligence (the +term "mother wit" seems inappropriate under the circumstances) to which he +had heretofore been a stranger. He might have forgotten his own name, and +the mother that bore him; but he had learned how to learn, and was for the +first time in his life wide awake. This was very much like saying that he +was a new boy in the old skin; and this, again, was little better than a +euphemism for changeling. Was he a changeling after all? The sage old +woman whom we have already quoted asserted confidently that he was, and +that, however much he pretended to ignorance, he really knew vastly more +than any plain human child did or ought to know. And as a warrant for this +opinion they brought forward evidence that Master Archibald, having been +left alone one day in the nursery, had been overheard humming to himself +the words of a certain song--a thing, it was argued, which he could not +have done had he known no words at all; and therefore he was a changeling. + + +Dr. Rollinson happened to hear this argument, and thought it worth while to +inquire further into the matter. Such testimony as he could collect went +to confirm the truth of the story. Not only so, but the song itself, if +the witnesses were to be believed, so far from being an ordinary childish +ditty, was some matter of pretty maids and foaming wine-cups that Tom +Moore might have written, and that gentlemen sometimes trolled out, an +hour or two after dinner. Now this looked very black for Archibald. +Further investigation, however, put a somewhat different face upon the +affair. It transpired that the song had been often sung in Archibald's +hearing, and before his fit, by the Honorable Richard, for whom, as has +been said, the boy had taken a queer fancy. + +And, perhaps because affection is a good teacher, the boy had acquired the +power of repeating some of the verses to himself, of course without +understanding a syllable of them, and very likely without himself being +conscious of what he was doing, he hummed them over, in short, exactly as +a preoccupied parrot might do; and always at a certain time, namely, after +he had been put to bed, and was staring up at the darkening ceiling +previous to falling asleep. This, by itself, was nothing very remarkable; +the puzzle was, how could he do it now? Out of all the wreck of his small +memory, why was this song, the meaning of which he had never understood, +the sole survivor? Was it that his affection for Mr. Pennroyal had kept it +alive? So might a sentimentalist have concluded; but the Doctor was a man +of sense. Was it that the boy was shamming? Impossible on all accounts. +But then, what was it? + +The Doctor had by this time worked himself up to believe that the solution +of this problem would help largely toward the clearing up of the whole +mystery. So he took notes, and continued to observe and to consider. + +He found, in the first place, that the song-singing took place under +exactly the same circumstances as before the fit, and at no other time or +place. + +Hereupon, he devised experiments to discover whether Archibald was +conscious that he was singing, or whether it was an act performed +mechanically, while the mind was otherwise engaged. After the child was in +bed, he quietly arranged a lamp so as to cast a circular space of light +upon the ceiling above the bed, the rest of the room being left in shadow. +Not a word of any song was heard that night; and the test was tried twice +more during the week, with a like result. At another time he got the +Honorable Richard to come into a room adjoining the nursery, and sing the +song so that Archibald might hear it. Archibald heard it, but gave no sign +of being affected thereby. He was then brought into Mr. Richard's +presence; it was the first time they had met since the change. Now, if +ever, was an opportunity for the imperishable quality of the affections to +be vindicated. But no such vindication occurred. On the contrary, after +having stared his uncle almost out of countenance for some minutes, he +turned from him with a marked expression of disapproval, and could never +afterward be induced voluntarily to go near him. The affection had become +an antipathy. + +"No, madam; set your mind at rest," said the bluff Doctor to Lady Malmaison +over a cup of tea that evening. "The child's no changeling; but he's +changed, and changed for the better, too, by Gad! He can tell a bad egg +from a good one now," continued the Doctor, with a significant chuckle, +the significance of which, however, Lady Malmaison perhaps failed to +perceive. But the fact was, the Honorable Richard Pennroyal had never been +an especial favorite with Dr. Rollinson. + +The next day was a new excitement. Archibald had walked, and that, too, as +well as the best-grown boy of seven that you would want to see. + +"Ay, and where did he walk to?" demanded the Doctor. + +It was explained that it was at the time for nursing him, and he was +sitting in his little chair at one end of the nursery, when Maggie had +entered at the other. As soon as he clapped eyes on her, he had set up his +usual impatient outcries; but Maggie, instead of going directly to him, +had stopped to exchange a few words with the head-nurse, unfastening the +front of her dress the while, however, so that Master Archibald's +impatience was carried to the point of intolerance by the glimpse thus +afforded of the good things in store for him. And then, before you had +time to think, he had got up from his chair, and trotted across the floor, +bellowing all the time, and had tugged at Maggie's dress. + +"Bellowing all the time, eh?" said the Doctor. + +"And walking all the same like he was ten year old, sir: and it did give us +all a turn; and if you please, sir, what do you say to _that_?" + +"What do I say to that?--why, that it's just what I should have +expected--that's what I say!" replied Dr. Rollinson, who had apparently +begun to divine some clew to the grand mystery. But he vouchsafed no +explanations as yet. + +Archibald did not repeat the walking miracle, although, within the space of +a few weeks only, he passed through the regular gradations of crawling, +tottering, and toddling, to normal pedestrianism of the most active kind. +His progress in other accomplishments was almost parallel with this. From +inarticulate gabble he trained his tongue to definite speech; his +vocabulary expanded with astonishing rapidity, and, contrary to his +previous habit, he made incessant use of it. He was now as remarkable for +loquacity as formerly for the opposite characteristic; and his keenness of +observation and retentive memory were a theme of general admiration. In a +word, he used his five senses to ten times better effect than had ever +been expected of him in the old days; and no one who had not seen him for +a year from the time of his fit would have recognized him as the same +child. He was not only making up for lost time--he was incomparably +outstripping his earlier self; he seemed to have emerged from a mental and +physical cocoon--to have cast aside an incrustation of deterrent +clumsiness, and to be hastening onward with the airy case and accuracy of +perfect self-possession. At the end of a year he was to all intents and +purposes ten years old; and what was most remarkable about this swift +advance lay in the fact that a year had seen the whole of it. Though he +had been eight years in the world, the first seven had furnished none of +the mental or moral material for the last: it stood alone and +disconnectedly. Of those seven years it is certain that he retained not +the smallest recollection; they were to him as if they had never been. The +only thing they did provide him with was a well-fed and sound body; in +other respects Archibald was positively new. He had to make the +acquaintance of his family and friends over again; but it was done with +modifications. In other cases besides that of his uncle, it was observed +that he felt antipathies where formerly he loved, and _vice versa_. + +A minor instance, but interesting as must be all evidence in a case so +strange as this, is that of the brindled cat that was buried in the +garden. Archibald was brought to the grave, which he had so pathetically +haunted before his metamorphosis, not many weeks after the metamorphosis +occurred; and every means was used to revive in him some recollection of +the bereavement; they even went so far as to uncover poor pussy's +remains.... Archibald was first unconscious and indifferent, then curious, +finally disgusted. His feelings were not otherwise touched. All +associations connected with this whilom pet of his, grief for whose loss +was supposed to have been the impelling cause of the fit itself, were as +utterly expunged from his mind as if they had never existed there. +Moreover, aversion from all cats was from this time forth so marked in him +as almost to amount to horror; while dogs, whose presence had been wont to +fill him with dismay, were now his favorite companions. It was the same in +other things; the boy formed independent opinions and prejudices in all +the relations of life--independent, that is, of his past. His temper, too, +was changed; no longer timid, appealing and docile, it was now determined, +enterprising, and bold. It was manifest even thus early that here was a +character fitted to make its way in the world. + +"No, I protest, Doctor, I can never believe it's the same child," said Lady +Malmaison, with a sigh. "That noisy, self-willed boy is never my quiet, +affectionate little Archie. And yesterday he beat his brother Edward, that +is two years older than he. Heigho! Pray, dear Doctor, what is your +opinion?" + +"My opinion, Lady Malmaison, is that women will never be content," answered +the bluff old physician. "I can remember the time when you thought your +quiet little Archie was a nincompoop--and quite right too. And now because +a monstrous piece of good luck has made a Crichton of him, you begin to +regret the nincompoop! It ain't logical;" and the Doctor took snuff. + +"But who ever heard of a child changing his whole nature all in a moment?" +persisted Lady Malmaison. + +"Why, isn't all in a moment better than inch by inch? The thing is no such +mighty matter as some folks try to make it out. The boy went to sleep as +soon as he was born, and has but just waked up--that's my notion about it. +So now, instead of starting, the way most of us do, at the point of +helplessness, he begins life with a body full of seven years' pith, and +faculties sharp set as a new watch. Till now he has but dreamed; now he's +going to exist, with so much the more extra impetus. He don't recollect +what he's been dreaming--why should he?" + +"But he did recollect some things, Doctor; that song.... And then, his +walking across the room." + +"Purely physical--purely automatic," replied the Doctor, tapping his +snuff-box, and pleased with Lady Malmaison's awe at the strange word. "If +he had stopped to think what he was doing he couldn't have done it. The +body, I tell you, grows under all circumstances--as much when you're +asleep as when you're awake; and the body has a memory of its own, +distinct from the mental memory. Have you never hummed a song when you +were doing your embroidery, and thinking about--about Lady Snaffle's +elopement with the captain?" + +"Oh, Doctor!" + +"Yes; and if I'd come in at the moment and asked you what you were singing, +could you have told me? Of course you couldn't! You could have told me +all about the elopement. Well, then, that's clear now, ain't it?" + +"Yes," said Lady Malmaison, meaning, it must be supposed, "as clear as +mud." Dr. Rollinson chuckled to himself, and they continued their game of +piquet. + + + + +III. + + +Possibly the reader, though, understanding the force of the Doctor's +illustration better than good stupid Lady Malmaison could do, is still of +opinion that that eminent practitioner's exposition of the real nucleus of +the mystery might have been more explicit. It is all very well to say that +the boy was asleep for seven years and then woke up; but what does such a +statement mean? Are such prolonged slumbers an ordinary occurrence? And if +so, might not the slumberer, after a longer or shorter interval of +wakefulness, fall asleep again? It is to be feared that the old physician +was not quite so well satisfied in his secret mind as he pretended to be, +and that his learned dissertation upon automatic action was little better +than a device to avoid being pressed upon the real point at issue. But it +is always a delicate matter to fathom the depth of a medical man's +sagaciousness. + +Mention has already been made of little Kate Battledown, the effect of +whose society on Archibald had been so strangely ungenial. A year or two +after his "awakening" the little maiden was again thrown in his way, and +this time with very different results. There is extant among the family +papers a letter containing a very pretty account of the relations which +were soon established between these small personages. They seem to have +taken to one another at once, and exercised over each other a mutual +fascination. Archibald, keen and domineering with his brother and +sisters, and, so far as his power went, with everybody else--was as sweet +as milk to his childish enchantress; and no doubt his manners, if not his +general character, greatly benefited by her companionship. There is a +picture of the two children painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence and now hanging +in the present Dr. Rollinson's parlor (where, doubtless, thousands of his +patients have beheld it, ignorant of its history), which is perhaps as +beautiful an example of English youth and maidenhood at eleven and nine +years of age as could be found in the three kingdoms. The boy, black-eyed +and black-haired, seems to step forward daringly, with his glance fixed +defiantly upon the spectator; but his left hand, extended behind him, +clasps that of little Kate with a protecting gesture; and her great brown +eyes rest on his face, with a look half of apprehension, half of admiring +confidence. There is a second portrait of her, taken ten years later; but +of Archibald no other authentic likeness exists. Report affirms, however, +that in 1823 and thereabout he was esteemed one of the handsomest young +fellows of his day. + +The devotion of the two to each other grew with their growth. She, even at +that early age, must have given occasional foretastes of the wayward, +impulsive, and yet calculating character that was developed in her later +life; but there can be little doubt that she felt a genuine attachment to +Archibald; and he laid himself at her feet with a chivalric +single-heartedness more characteristic of the fifteenth century than of +the early nineteenth. Indeed, his jealous guardianship of her excited not +a little amusement among his seniors; and it is related that in his +twelfth year he actually commissioned Colonel Battledown to carry a formal +"message" on his behalf to the Honorable Richard Pennroyal; the latter's +offence consisting in his having taken Miss Battledown on his knee and +kissed her. The matter was, however, happily arranged on the Hon. +gentleman's expressing his regret for his indiscretion, and the Colonel +and Sir Clarence becoming answerable for his good behavior in future. But +the children's preference for each other now began to suggest other +thoughts than those of mere passing entertainment to the paternal minds. +There seemed to be no good reason why they should not ultimately make a +match of it. It was true that Kate might well expect to find a more +brilliant mate than the second son of a baronet; but, personal feeling and +the friendship of the families aside, she might do much worse than with +Archibald. The second son of Sir Clarence stood a fair chance of hereafter +making a favorable entry into politics; and as for fortune, his aunt on +the mother's side, a Miss Tremont, of Cornwall, an old maid without nearer +relatives than her nephew, was in a fair way to bequeath him seventy +thousand pounds. And furthermore (this was an aspect of the case which +Colonel Battledown probably kept to himself), it was not beyond the bounds +of possibility that Archibald might finally inherit Malmaison in spite of +the accident of his birth. Edward Malmaison had always been a delicate +child, and years were not making him stronger. He was very studious, and +disinclined to those active exercises in which his brother was already +beginning to excel: his eyes were weak and his cheeks pale; and in short, +unless his constitution should presently undergo a favorable change, the +chances were fairly against his surviving Archibald, to say the least of +it. "Archie thrashed him at fisticuffs," said the old man of war to +himself, "and why shouldn't he get the better of him in other ways as +well? Of course we wish no harm to happen to poor Edward, who is a good +little snipe enough; but one must conduct one's campaign to an eye to what +may happen, as well as to what is." + +So this matrimonial arrangement, without being definitely resolved upon +(except possibly in the hearts of the two young persons principally +concerned), was allowed to remain in a state of favorable suspense. Kate +and Archibald saw one another as much as was good for them--although, by +way of keeping up the chivalric conditions, they used to pretend that all +manner of portentous obstacles intervened between them and the +consummation of their desires; and exhausted their ingenuity in the +devising of secret meetings, of elopements across the garden wall, and of +heart-rending separations, when imaginary heartless parents tore them +ruthlessly from one another's arms. In a letter written by Sir Clarence to +Dr. Rollinson, under date December 27th, 1811, the jolly Baronet says: +"Our Xmas festivities were for a time interupted by another Romantic +Event. Catherine, onely daughter of Colonel Battledown eloped with Mr. +Archibald Malmaison of Malmaison. The Fugitives escaped by the pantry +dore, and before they could be overtaken, had been maid man and wife by +the under Gardner in the tool house in the corner of the yard. An +application will be made to Parlement to dissolve the marriage untill the +parties are out of the Nursrie." By this it may appear that Sir Clarence +had even more humor than orthography. + +It was a few weeks after this event that poor old Aunt Jane left the world +by way of the ornamental fish-pond. The pond in question lay on the +boundary-line between the Malmaison estate and that of the Pennroyals; and +the ornamentation consisted of two flights of steps leading down to the +water, and of half a dozen willows whose twisted trunks bent over the +surface. Although of no great area, this pond was startlingly deep, and +the bottom, when you got to it, was of the softest and most unfathomable +mud. Had not Aunt Jane been seen just as she was sinking for the third +time, therefore, the chances are that she would never have been seen till +doomsday; there was room, and to spare, for all the Malmaison line in the +slimy depths of that pool. After the catastrophe, Mr. Pennroyal caused a +handsome iron railing to be erected round the scene of it. This act caused +it to be said that he might have done it before. Did he expect his future +wives to go the road of the first one? And was it not criminal negligence +in him to have suffered her to escape from her attendants? How could such +a thing have happened? Did Mr. Pennroyal consider that people might say +that the death of his wife was no loss to him, but the contrary? because +that fifty thousand pounds of hers, of which, during her lifetime, he +could touch only the interest, became, at her decease, his absolute +property, to do with as he liked. Under such circumstances, a gentleman +careful of his reputation should have guarded her as the apple of his eye. +It was certainly very odd that a poor frail crazy creature should have +been able to elude all pursuit, and then have gone straight to the +pool--in midwinter, too--and deliberately jumped in. And there she might +have lain, and no one the wiser, had not young Archibald Malmaison +happened to see her, and given the alarm. If he had been a few minutes +earlier, who can tell but he might have seen something--that nobody +suspected! + +All this random talk proved nothing more than that the Honorable Mr. +Pennroyal was not a favorite with his neighbors; and that was a fact of +which no proof was needed. Some men, who are good fellows enough at bottom +and even capable of inspiring genuine attachment in particular cases, +never become generally popular. When Mr. Pennroyal was accused of +stinginess, it was not considered that he had a great many liabilities to +meet, and perhaps some big debts to pay off. When it was said that he was +unsocial and cynical, it was forgotten that these very remarks were enough +to make him so. And when he was blamed for neglecting his wife, and +profiting by her demise--well, now, how is a gentleman to pay attentions +to an idiot, or to be inconsolable when Providence gives him fifty +thousand down in exchange for her? Besides, he gave her an imposing +funeral, and put himself and all his household into strict mourning. As +for the iron railing, it might be looked upon as a sort of monument to the +departed, in which practical usefulness and a becoming sentiment were +ingeniously combined. + +The incident had its effect upon Archibald--in rather a curious fashion. He +was, as has been intimated, the one to give the alarm. He had been passing +that way, it seemed, and had caught sight of a struggling something in the +water; and his shouts had speedily drawn the gamekeeper and a couple of +villagers to the spot. The boy had watched the recapture of the lifeless +body in solemn silence, a red flush of color in either cheek. He had been +rather fond of Aunt Jane after her insanity became confirmed, and he was +the only human being whom the poor woman had seemed to recognize, and in +whose company she felt some dull gleams of pleasure. He now shed no tears, +seeming more angry than grieved, and continued to maintain a marked +taciturnity for several days; and, concerning the catastrophe itself, he +could never be induced to speak at all. The power of keeping his own +counsel had always characterized him: in the present instance he was as +gloomily reserved as though he had buried a secret of state in his breast. +Toward the widower his manner became, from hostile, almost insolent. It +was a curious spectacle to see the lad, scarcely out of the nursery, +either ignoring his tall relative, as if the latter were a caitiff +unworthy the notice of a gentleman, or else staring him haughtily in the +face, and staring him down, too! for it was remarked that the Honorable +Richard exhibited an admirable forbearance, not to say meekness, toward +his rude little kinsman. And yet, before this time, he had occasionally +given the boy harsh words and looks.... It must have been that his +bereavement had softened his heart. + +However, time went on, and by degrees the poignancy of the widower's grief +was blunted, and Aunt Jane's name was seldom mentioned by any one; after +all she had not done herself, or anybody connected with her, much credit. +And other changes occurred: the stout old Colonel found it incumbent upon +him to join Sir Arthur Wellesley in the Peninsula; and Kate began to take +the lead in household affairs (her mother was a good deal of an invalid), +and stayed more at home than she used to do, and consequently did not see +so much of Archibald; she gave him to understand that it was more genteel +for him to come and call on her, as Mr. Pennroyal and other gentlemen did. +The young lady was already coming into her heritage of beauty, and +possessed more than her share of maidenly dignity, considering that she +was barely thirteen. And when, at that mention of Pennroyal, Archibald +said: + +"Indeed, Kate, you must not class me with him, or with any man. Remember +that we were married two Christmases ago--" she answered: + +"You foolish boy! that was not a real marriage: a real marriage is done in +a church, by a parson, and I wear a white veil." + +"But ours was an elopement," objected Archibald, disturbed. + +"An elopement without a carriage-and-four and a blacksmith? What an idea!" + + +"Do you mean to say you are not my wife, Kate?" demanded the boy, turning +pale. + +"Neither yours nor anybody's, Mr. Archibald." + +"Kate!" he broke out passionately, the blood leaping to his face, "take +care you never let yourself be any body else's wife than mine! And I don't +see what difference a blacksmith or a veil makes. And if you do, they +shall die! I know how to use a sword, and a pistol too!" + +"O Archie, how wicked you are! and how cruel to me, when you know that I +can never love any man but you, though cruel fate may separate us for a +season!" The young lady was quoting from "Evelina," as Archibald well +knew, but they had got so much in the habit of applying the phraseology of +that work to the requirements of their own private romance, that it came +without their thinking of it. + +"But say that you will be my own at last!" cries Archibald, carrying on the +scene in all seriousness. + +"Nay, my lord, 'tis ungenerous thus to press me--Oh, no, you must not do +so, Archie; the book says that Lord Orville only kisses her hand--" + +"I am not Lord Orville, and I will kiss you where I like; and I don't care +for the book when I feel as I do now! I only care for you." + +"Bravo, young gentleman! that's the way to talk to 'em!" cried Dr. +Rollinson, who had overheard the whole of this conversation, and who now +appeared with his broad figure, his gouty legs, and his gruff chuckle. +"Books are very well for make-believe, but when it comes to downright +earnest, use a tongue of your own--eh?" and he clapped the boy kindly on +the shoulder. "Yes, yes, she'll marry you fast enough when she sees you +making eyes at some other pretty girl! Don't tell me! there's plenty of +'em, go where you will, and when you start on the grand tour, as you'll be +doing one of these days, you'll see for yourself!" Such were the cynical +blasphemies which this man was not ashamed to instil into the ear of his +young friend; and then he led him away somewhere, still chuckling, and +left Miss Battledown to digest her slight the best way she could. The +Doctor fancied he knew a thing or two about the sex. If so, he was very +knowing! + + + + +IV. + + +Malmaison House was partly destroyed by fire a number of years ago, [3] and +two years later the portion still standing was taken down to make way for +the proposed branch of the London and South-Coast Railway. The branch is +still unbuilt, but only some heaps of grass-grown rubbish remain to mark +the site of the venerable edifice. But at the period of which I am now +writing it was an imposing pile of gray-stone, standing on a slight +elevation, with a sloping lawn in front, and many large trees surrounding +it. The centre and the right wing were of Elizabethan date; the left wing +was constructed by Sir Christopher Wren, or by some architect of his +school, and, though outwardly corresponding with the rest of the building, +was interiorly both more commodious and less massive. The walls of the old +part were in some places over four feet in thickness, and even the +partitions between the rooms were two feet of solid masonry. Many of the +rooms were hung with tapestry; and in taking down the house several traces +were discovered of secret passages hollowed out within the walls +themselves, and communicating by means of sliding panels from room to +room. The plan of the building comprised two floors and an attic; but the +attic was not coextensive with the lower areas; and there was often a +difference of level between the apartments on the latter floors of from +one to four steps. An irregular corridor on the first floor, badly +lighted, and in some places perfectly dark, extended from the centre into +the right wing, affording entrance to the rooms front and back. + +At the end of the right wing was situated the east chamber, of which +mention has already been made. Originally, the only access to it was by +way of a larger chamber adjoining, which, again, could only be entered +through the dark corridor. This was the condition of things at the time of +the famous magic disappearance of Sir Charles Malmaison, in 1745. But, at +the beginning of the present century, a door was cut through the outside +wall, whence a covered flight of stone steps led down into an enclosed +courtyard. The room was thus rendered independent, so to speak, of the +rest of the house. The occupant might lock the door communicating with the +adjoining chamber, and go and come by the other as he pleased. As for the +courtyard, part of it had formerly been used as a stable, with stalls for +three horses; these were now transferred to the other end of the mansion, +though the stable, of course, remained; and it was necessary to go through +the stable in order to get to the covered flight of steps. + +It may be remembered that Archibald, in what we may term his soporific +period, had manifested a strong, although entirely irrational, repugnance +to this east chamber. Perhaps he had been conscious of presences there +which were imperceptible to normal and healthy senses! Be that as it may, +he got bravely over his folly afterward, and in his twelfth year (his +third, Sir Clarence would have called it) he permanently took up his +quarters there, and would admit no "women" except as a special favor. In +those days, when people were still, more or less, prone to superstition, +it was not every boy who would have enjoyed the sensation of spending his +nights in so isolated a situation; for the right wing was almost entirely +unoccupied on this floor. But Archibald appears to have been singularly +free from fear, whether of the natural or of the supernatural. He +collected together all his boyish _penates_--his gun, his sword, his +fishing-rods, and his riding-whips, and arranged them about the walls. He +swept down the cobwebs from windows and ceiling; turned out of doors a lot +of miscellaneous lumber that had insensibly collected there during the +last half century; lugged in a few comfortable broad-bottomed chairs and +stanch old tables; set up a bookshelf containing Walton's "Complete +Angler," "Dialogues of Devils," "Arabian Nights," Miss Burney's "Evelina," +and other equally fashionable and ingenious works; kindled a great fire on +the broad hearth; and, upon the whole, rendered the aspect of things more +comfortable than would have been anticipated. The room itself was long, +narrow, and comparatively low; the latticed windows were sunk several feet +into the massive walls; lengths of brownish-green and yellow tapestry, +none the fresher for its two centuries and more of existence, still +protested against the modern heresy of wallpaper; and in a panel-frame +over the fireplace was seen the portrait, by Sir Godfrey Kneller, of the +Jacobite baronet. It was a half-length, in officer's uniform; one hand +holding the hilt of a sword against the breast, while the forefinger of +the other hand pointed diagonally downward, as much as to say, "I vanished +in that direction!" The fireplace, it should be noted, was built on the +side of the room opposite to the windows; that is to say, in one of the +partition walls. And what was on the other side of this partition? Not the +large chamber opening into the corridor--that lay at right angles to the +east chamber, along the southern front of the wing. Not the corridor +either, though it ran for some distance parallel to the east chamber, and +had a door on the east side. But this door led into a great dark closet, +as big as an ordinary room, and used as a receptacle for rubbish. Was it +the dark closet, then, that adjoined the east chamber on the other side of +the partition? No, once more. Had a window been opened through the closet +wall, it would have looked--not into Archibald's room, but--into a narrow +blind court or well, entirely enclosed between four stone walls, and of no +apparent use, save as a somewhat clumsy architectural expedient. There was +no present way of getting into this well, or even of looking into it, +unless one had been at the pains to mount on the roof of the house and +peer down. As a matter of fact, its existence was only made known by the +reports of an occasional workman engaged in renewing the tiles, or mending +a decayed chimney. An accurate survey of the building would, of course, +have revealed it at once; but nothing of the kind had been thought of +within the memory of man. Such a survey would also have revealed what no +one in the least suspected, but which was, nevertheless, a fact of +startling significance--namely, that the blind court was, at least, +fifteen feet shorter, and twenty-five feet narrower, _than it ought to +have been_! + +Archibald was as far from suspecting it as anybody; indeed, he most likely +never troubled his head about builders' plans in his life. But he thought +a great deal of his great-grandfather's portrait; and since it was so +placed as to be in view of the most comfortable chair before the fire, he +spent many hours of every week gazing at it. What was Sir Charles pointing +at with that left forefinger? And what meant that peculiarly intent and +slightly frowning glance which the painted eyes forever bent upon his own? +Archibald probably had a few of Mrs. Radcliffe's romances along with the +other valuable books on his shelves, and he may have cherished a notion +that a treasure, or an important secret of some sort, was concealed in the +vicinity. Following down the direction of the pointing finger, he found +that it intersected the floor at a spot about five feet to the right of +the side of the fireplace. The floor of the chamber was of solid oak +planking, blackened by age; and it appeared to be no less solid at this +point than at any other. Nevertheless, he thought it would be good fun, +and at all events would do no harm, to cut a hole there, and see what was +underneath. Accordingly, he quietly procured a saw and a hammer and +chisel, and one day, when the family were away from home, he locked +himself into his room, and went to work. The job was not an easy one, the +tough oak wood being almost enough to turn the edge of his chisel, and +there being no purchase at all for the saw. After quarter of an hour's +chipping and hammering, with very little result, he paused to rest. The +board at which he had been working, and which met the wall at right +angles, was very short, not more than eighteen inches long, indeed, being +inserted merely to fill up the gap caused by a deficiency in length of the +plank of which it was the continuation. Between the two adjoining ends was +a crack of some width, and into that crack did Archibald idly stick his +chisel. It seemed to him that the crack widened, so that he was able to +press the blade of the chisel down to its thickest part. He now worked it +eagerly backward and forward, and, to his delight, the crack rapidly +widened still further; in fact, the short board was sliding back +underneath the wainscot. A small oblong cavity was thus revealed, into +which the young discoverer glowered with beating heart and vast +anticipations. + +What he found could scarcely be said to do those anticipations justice; it +was neither a casket of precious stones, nor a document establishing the +family right of ownership of the whole county of Sussex. It was nothing +more than a tarnished rod of silver, about nine inches in length, and +twisted into an irregular sort of corkscrew shape. One end terminated in a +broad flat button; the other in a blunted point. There was nothing else in +the hole--nothing to show what the rod was meant for, or why it was so +ingeniously hidden there. And yet, reflected Archibald, could it have been +so hidden, and its place of concealment so mysteriously indicated, without +any ulterior purpose whatever? It was incredible! Why, the whole portrait +was evidently painted with no other object than that of indicating the +rod's whereabouts. Either, then, there was or had been something else in +the cavity in addition to the rod, or the rod was intended to be used in +some way still unexplained. So much was beyond question. + +Thus cogitated Archibald--that is to say, thus he might have cogitated, for +there is no direct evidence of what passed through his mind. And, in the +first place, he made an exhaustive examination of the cavity, and +convinced himself not only that there was nothing else except dust to be +got out of it, but also that it opened into no other cavity which might +prove more fruitful. His next step was to study the silver rod, in the +hope that scrutiny or inspiration might suggest to him what it was good +for. His pains were rewarded by finding on the flat head the nearly +obliterated figures 3 and 5, inscribed one above the other, in the manner +of a vulgar fraction, thus, 3/5; and by the conviction that the spiral +conformation of the rod was not the result of accident, as he had at first +supposed, but had been communicated to it intentionally, for some purpose +unknown. These conclusions naturally stimulated his curiosity more than +ever, but nothing came of it. The boy was a clever boy, but he was not a +detective trained in this species of research, and the problem was beyond +his ingenuity. He made every application of the figures 3 and 5 that +imagination could suggest; he took them in feet, in inches, in yards; he +added them together, and he subtracted one from the other: all in vain. +The only thing he did not do was to take any one else into his confidence; +he said not a word about the affair even to Kate; being resolved that if +there were a mystery, it should be revealed, at least in the first +instance, to no one else besides himself. At length, after several days +spent in fruitless experiments and loss of temper, he returned the rod to +its hiding-place, with the determination to give himself a rest for +awhile, and see what time and accident would do for him. This plan, though +undoubtedly prudent, seemed likely to effect no more than the others; and +over a year passed away without the rod's being again disturbed. By +degrees his thoughts ceased to dwell so persistently upon the unsolved +puzzle, and other interests took possession of his mind. The tragedy of +his aunt's death, his love for Kate, his studies, his prospects--a hundred +things gave him occupation, until the silver rod was half forgotten. + +In the latter part of 1813, however, he accidentally made a rather +remarkable discovery. + + + + +V. + + +He had for the first time been out hunting with his father and the +neighboring country gentlemen in the autumn of this year, and it appears +that on two occasions he had the brush awarded to him. At his request the +heads of the two foxes were mounted for him, and he proposed to put them +up on either side his fireplace. + +The wall, above and for a few inches to the right and left of the +mantelpiece, was bare of tapestry; the first-named place being occupied by +the portrait, while the sides were four feet up the oaken wainscot which +surrounded the whole room behind the tapestry, and from thence to the +ceiling, plaster. The mantelpiece and fireplace were of a dark slaty +stone, and of brick, respectively. + +Archibald fixed upon what he considered the most effective positions for +his heads--just above the level of the wainscot, and near enough to the +mantelpiece not to be interfered with by the tapestry. He nailed up one of +them on the left-hand side, the nails penetrating with just sufficient +resistance in the firm plaster; and then, measuring carefully to the +corresponding point on the right-hand side, he proceeded to affix the +other head there. But the nail, on this occasion, could not be made to go +in; and on his attempting to force it with a heavier stroke of the hammer, +it bent beneath the blow, and the hammer came sharply into contact with +the white surface of the wall, producing a clinking sound as from an +impact on metal. + +A brief investigation now revealed the fact that a circular disk of iron, +about three inches in diameter, and painted white to match the plaster, +was here let into the wall. What could be the object of it? With a fresh +nail the boy began to scratch off the paint from the surface of the disk, +in order to determine whether it were actually iron, or some other metal; +in so doing a small movable lid, like the screen of a keyhole, was pushed +aside, disclosing a little round aperture underneath. Archibald pushed the +nail into it, thereby informing himself that the hole went straight into +the wall, for a distance greater than the length of the nail; but how much +greater, and what was at the end of it, he could only conjecture. + +We must imagine him now standing upon a chair, with the nail in his hand, +casting about in his mind for some means of probing this mysterious and +unexpected hole to the bottom. At this juncture he happens to glance +upward, and meets the intent regard of his pictured ancestor, who seems to +have been silently watching him all this time, and only to be prevented by +unavoidable circumstances from speaking out and telling him what to do +next. And there is that constant forefinger pointing--at what? At the +cavity in the floor, of course; but not of that alone; for if you observe, +this same new-found hole in the wall is a third point in the straight line +between the end of the forefinger and the hiding-place of the silver rod; +furthermore, the hole is, as nearly as can be estimated without actual +measurement, three feet distant from the forefinger, and five feet from +the rod; the problem of three above and five below has solved itself in +the twinkling of an eye, and it only remains to act accordingly! + +Archibald sprang to the floor in no small excitement; but the first thing +he did was to see that both his doors were securely fastened. Then he +advanced upon the mystery with heightened color and beating heart, his +imagination revelling in the wildest forecasts of what might be in store; +and anon turning him cold with sickening apprehension lest it should prove +to be nothing after all! But no--something there must be, some buried +secret, now to live once more for him, and for him only: the secret, +whereof dim legends had come down through the obscurity of two hundred +years; the secret, too, of old Sir Charles in the frame yonder, the man of +magic repute. What could it be? Some talisman--some volume of the Black +Art perhaps--which would enable him to vanish at will into thin air, and +to travel with the speed of a wish from place to place--to become a +veritable enchanter, endowed with all supernatural powers. With hands +slightly tremulous from eagerness he pushed back the bit of plank and drew +forth the silver rod; then mounted on the chair and applied it to the +hole, which it fitted accurately. Before pushing it home he paused a +moment. + +In all the stories he had read, the possessors of magic secrets had +acquired the same, only in exchange for something supposed to be equally +valuable, namely, their own souls. It was not to be expected that +Archibald would be able to modify the terms of the bargain in his own +case: was he, then, prepared to pay the price? Every human being, +probably, is called upon to give a more or less direct answer to this +question at some epoch of their lives: and were it not for curiosity and +scepticism, and an unwillingness to profit by the experience of others, +very likely that answer might be more often favorable to virtue than it +actually is. Archibald did not hesitate long. Whether he decided to +disbelieve in any danger; whether he resolved to brave it whatever it +might be; or whether, having got thus far, he had not sufficient control +over his inclinations to resist going further--at all events he drew in +his breath, set his boyish lips, and drove the silver rod into the +aperture with right good will. + +It turned slowly as it entered, the curve of its spiral evidently following +the corresponding windings of the hole. Inward it twisted like a snake, +until only some two inches still projected. As the searcher after +forbidden mysteries continued to press, something seemed to give way +within; and at the same instant an odd, shuffling sound caused him to +glance sharply over his left shoulder. + +What was the matter with the mantelpiece? The whole of the right jamb +seemed to have started forward nearly a foot, while the left jamb had +retired by a corresponding distance into the wall; the hearth, with the +fire burning upon it, remained meanwhile undisturbed. At first Archibald +imagined that the mantelpiece was going to fall, perhaps bringing down the +whole partition with it; but when he had got over the first shock of +surprise sufficiently to make an examination, he found that the entire +structure of massive gray-stone was swung upon a concealed pivot, round +which it turned independently of the brickwork of the fireplace. The +silver rod had released the spring by which the mechanism was held in +check, and an unsuspected doorway was thus revealed, opening into the very +substance of the apparently solid wall. On getting down from his chair he +had no difficulty in pulling forward the jamb far enough to satisfy +himself that there was a cavity of unknown extent behind. And from out of +this cavity breathed a strange dry air, like the sigh of a mummy. As for +the darkness in there, it was almost substantial as of the central chamber +in the great pyramid. + +Archibald may well have had some misgivings, for he was only a boy, and +this happened more than sixty years ago, when ghosts and goblins had not +come to be considered such indefensible humbugs as they are now. +Nevertheless, he was of a singularly intrepid temperament, and besides he +had passed the turning point in this adventure a few minutes ago. Nothing, +therefore, would have turned him back now. Come what might of it, he would +see this business to an end. + +It was, however, impossible to see anything without a light; it would be +necessary to fetch one of the rush candles from the table in the corridor. +It was a matter of half a minute for the boy to go and return; then he +edged himself through the opening, and was standing in a kind of vaulted +tunnel, directly behind the fireplace, the warmth of which he could feel +when he laid his hand on the bricks on that side. The tunnel, which +extended along the interior of the wall toward the left, was about six +feet in height by two and a half in width. Archibald could walk in it +quite easily. + +But, in the first place, he scrutinized the mechanism of the revolving +mantelpiece. It was an extremely ingenious and yet simple device, and so +accurately fitted in all its parts that, after so many years, they still +worked together almost as smoothly as when new. After Archibald had poured +a little of his gun-oil into the joints of the hinges, and along the +grooves, he found that heavy stone structure would open and close as +noiselessly and easily as his own jaws. It could be opened from the inside +by using the silver rod in a hole corresponding to that on the outside; +and, having practised this opening and shutting until he was satisfied +that he was thoroughly master of the process, he put the rod in his +pocket, pulled the jamb gently together behind him, and, candle in hand, +set forth along the tunnel. + +After walking ten paces, he came face-up against a wall lying at right +angles to the direction in which he had been moving. Peering cautiously +round the corner, he saw, at the end of a shallow embrasure, a ponderous +door of dark wood, braced with iron, standing partly open, with a key in +the keyhole, as if some one had just come out, and, in his haste, had +forgotten to shut and lock the door behind him. Archibald now slowly +opened it to its full extent; it creaked as it moved, and the draught of +air made his candle flicker, and caused strange shadows to dance for a +moment in the unexplored void beyond. In another breath Archibald had +crossed the threshold and arrived at the goal of his pilgrimage. + +At first he could see very little; but there could be no doubt that he was +in a room which seemed to be of large extent, and for the existence of +which he could by no means account. The reader, who has been better +informed, will already have assigned it its true place in that unexplained +region mentioned some pages back, between the blind court and the east +chamber. Groping his way cautiously about, Archibald presently discerned a +burnished sconce affixed to the wall, in which having placed his candle, +the light was reflected over the room, so that the objects it contained +stood dimly forth. It was a room of fair extent and considerable height, +and was, apparently, furnished in a style of quaint and sombre +magnificence, such as no other apartment in Malmaison could show. The +arched ceiling was supported by vast oaken beams; the floor was inlaid +with polished marbles. The walls, instead of being hung with tapestry, +were painted in distemper with life-size figure subjects, representing, as +far as the boy could make out, some weird incantation scene. At one end of +the room stood a heavy cabinet, the shelves of which were piled with gold +and silver plate, richly chased, and evidently of great value. Here, in +fact, seemed to have been deposited many of the precious heirlooms of the +family, which had disappeared during the Jacobite rebellions, and were +supposed to have been lost. The cabinet was made of ebony inlaid with +ivory, as was also a broad round table in the centre of the room. In a +niche opposite the cabinet gleamed a complete suit of sixteenth century +armor; and so dry was the atmosphere of the apartment, that scarce a spot +of rust appeared upon the polished surface, which, however, like every +other object in the room, was overlaid with fine dust. A bed, with +embroidered coverlet and heavy silken curtains, stood in a deep recess to +the left of the cabinet. Upon the table lay a number of papers and +parchments, some tied up in bundles, others lying about in disorder. One +was spread open, with a pen thrown down upon it, and an antique ink-horn +standing near; and upon a stand beside the bed was a gold-enamelled +snuff-box, with its lid up, and containing, doubtless, the dusty remnant +of some George II. rappee. + +At all these things Archibald gazed in thoughtful silence. This room had +been left, at a moment's warning, generations ago; since then this strange +dry air had been breathed by no human nostrils, these various objects had +remained untouched and motionless; nothing but time had dwelt in the +chamber; and yet what a change, subtle but mighty, had been wrought! Mere +stillness--mere absence of life--was an appalling thing, the boy thought. +And why had this secret been suffered to pass into oblivion? And why had +fate selected him to discover it? And now, what use would he make of it? +"At all events," said the boy to himself, "it has become my secret, and +shall remain mine; and no fear but the occasion will come when I shall +know what use to make of it." He felt that meanwhile it would give him +power, security, wealth also if he should ever have occasion for it; and +with a curious sentiment of pride he saw himself thus mystically +designated as the true heir of Malmaison--the only one of his age and +generation who had been permitted to stand on an equality with those +historic and legendary ancestors, to whom the secret of this chamber had +given the name and fame of wizards. Henceforth Archibald was as much a +wizard as they. + +Or, might there after all be a power in necromancy that he yet dreamed not +of? Was it possible that even now those old enchanters held their meetings +here, and would question his right to force his way among them? + +As this thought passed through the boy's mind, he was moving slowly +forward, his eyes glancing now here, now there, when all at once the roots +of his hair were stirred with an emotion which, if not fear, was certainly +far removed from tranquillity. From the darkest corner of the room he had +seen a human figure silently and stealthily creeping toward him. Now, as +he fixed his eyes upon it, it stopped, and seemed to return his stare. His +senses did not deceive him; there it stood, distinctly outlined, though +its features were indistinguishable by reason of the shadow that fell upon +them. But what living thing--living with mortal life at least--could +exist in a room that had been closed for sixty years? + +Now certainly this Archibald, who had not yet completed his fourteenth +year, possessed a valiant soul. That all his flesh yearned for instant +flight does not admit of a doubt; and had he fled, this record would never +have been written. Fly, however, he would not, but would step forward +rather, and be resolved what manner of goblin confronted him. Forward, +therefore, he stepped; and behold, the goblin was but the reflection of +himself in a tall mirror, which the obscurity and his own agitation had +prevented him from discerning. The revulsion of feeling thus occasioned +was so strong that for a moment all strength forsook the boy's knees; he +stumbled and fell, and his forehead struck the corner of the ebony +cabinet. He was on his feet again in a moment, but his forehead was +bleeding, and he felt strangely giddy. The candle, too, was getting near +its end; it was time to bring this first visit to a close. He took the +candle from the sconce, passed out through the door, traversed the tunnel, +and thrust the silver key into the keyhole. The stone door yielded before +him; he dropped what was left of the candle, and slipped through the +opening into broad daylight. The first object his dazzled eyes rested upon +was the figure of Miss Kate Battledown. In returning from his visit to the +corridor he must have forgotten to lock the room door after him. She was +standing with her back toward him, looking out of the window, and was +apparently making signs to some one outside. + +Noiselessly Archibald pushed the mantelpiece back into place; thanks to the +oiling he had given the hinges, no sound betrayed the movement. The next +moment Kate turned round, and seeing him, started and cried "Oh!" + +"Good-morning, Mistress Kate," said Archibald. + +"Archibald!" + +"Well?" + +"You were not here a moment ago!" + +"Well?" + +"Then how did you get here?" + +Archibald made a gesture toward the door leading to the covered stairway. + +"No--no!" said Kate; "it is locked, and the key is on this side." She had +been coming toward him, but now stopped and regarded him with terror in +her looks. + +"What is the matter, Kate?" + +"You are all over blood, Archibald! What has happened? Are you ... oh, what +are you?" She was ready to believe him a ghost. + +"What am I?" repeated the boy, sluggishly. That odd giddiness was +increasing, and he scarcely knew whether he were asleep or awake. Who was +he, indeed? What had happened? Who was that young woman in front of him? +What.... + +"Archibald! Archie! Speak to me! Why do you look so strangely?" + +"Me not know oo!" said Archie, and began to cry. + +Mistress Kate turned pale, and began to back toward the door. + +"Me want my Kittie!" blubbered Archie. + +Kate stopped. "You want me?" + +"Me want my 'ittle Kittie--my 'ittle b'indled Kittie! Dey put my Kittie in +de hole in de darden! Me want her to p'ay wiz!" And with this, and with +the tears streaming down his cheeks, poor Archie toddled forward with the +uncertain step and outstretched arms of a little child. But Kate had +already gained the door, and was running screaming across the next room, +and so down the long corridor. + +Poor Archie toddled after, his baby heart filled with mourning for the +brindled cat that had been buried in the back garden seven years before. +Seven years?--or was it only yesterday? + + + + +VI. + + +Miss Kate Battledown's screams, as she ran down the corridor, must speedily +have summoned the household; and then the dreadful news was told, not +losing anything of its horror, we may be sure, in the recital; and then +appeared poor Archie in confirmation. The greatest confusion and +bewilderment prevailed. No one comprehended anything. It was not known +what had happened. What was this story about Archie's having suddenly +appeared, where before there had been only empty air--just as his great +grandfather, Sir Charles, had done before him? Kate, to whom we may pardon +a little incorrectness or exaggeration under the circumstances, solemnly +asseverated that she had been looking straight at the centre of the room, +and that nobody was there; and that all at once "Archie grew together out +of nothing!" Such is the version of her words given by Lady Malmaison in a +letter to her sister, Miss Tremount, of Cornwall, soon after the +occurrence. Miss Tremount, it may be remembered, had intimated years ago +her intention of making Archibald her heir; and Lady Malmaison's letter is +an amusing and rather ingenious attempt to convey the information about +poor Archie, in such a way as not to frighten off this inheritance. Doctor +Rollinson, she wrote, had seen dear Archie, and had said that what had +happened was only what might have been expected; and that the dear child's +health would certainly not suffer, but, on the contrary, be strengthened, +and his life prolonged. For that there could be no doubt that poor Archie +had been laboring under an almost unnatural excitement, or tension of the +nerves, during the last few years, which had caused Lady Malmaison the +greatest anxiety; and she was truly thankful, for her part, that things +had come out no worse than they had. She could feel secure, now, that her +darling Archie would live to be a quiet, good, sensible English gentleman, +fitted to discharge efficiently, and conscientiously, an English +gentleman's duties, whether it were to manage an estate, or--or in fact +whatever it might be. And then came the little story about the mysterious +apparition of Archie out of vacancy, which Lady Malmaison treated +humorously; though in her own heart she was very much scared at it, and +was moreover privately convinced that Archie was, and would remain, very +little better than an idiot all his life long. Now, it is well known that +English country gentlemen are never idiotic. + +What was the elder Dr. Rollinson's real opinion about Archie's relapse? The +only direct evidence worth having on this point--his own--is unfortunately +not forthcoming, and we are obliged to depend on such inaccurate or +interested hearsay as has just been quoted above. It seems likely that he +came to the conclusion that stupidity was the boy's normal condition and +that his seven years of brilliance had been something essentially abnormal +and temporary, and important only from a pathological point of view. +Indeed, there was nothing in the transmuted Archibald's condition that was +susceptible of being treated as a disease. He was as healthy as the +average of boys of fourteen (if he were a boy of fourteen, and not a child +of seven). He knew nothing, and had retained nothing, of his other life; +he had to be taught his letters--and a terrible job that was, by all +accounts; he occasionally expressed a desire to see his nurse Maggie--who, +the charitable reader will rejoice to hear, had been honestly married +since we last heard of her. He was greatly puzzled to find himself so much +taller than when he last knew himself; and it was a long time before he +could be induced to recognize his own reflection in the looking-glass. +Needless to say that everything connected with the secret chamber and the +silver rod was completely erased from his mind; and though he had been +found with the rod in his hand, he could not tell what it was or where he +got it. + +In this connection, however, I will mention something which, if it be true, +throws a new and strange light upon his psychological condition. There is +reason to believe that he visited the secret chamber in a somnambulistic +state. The evidence on which this supposition is founded appears, at this +distance of time, rather imperfect; but it is certain that a few weeks +after the boy's entrance upon his unintelligent state, the silver rod was +lost sight of; and it is almost certain that during the time of its +disappearance it was lying in its hidden receptacle under the floor beside +the mantelpiece. But in that case, who but Archibald could have put it +there? and when could he have put it there save in his sleep? It is known +that he was a somnambulist during his unenlightened period, though never +in his alternate state; and if he, as a somnambulist, remembered the +hiding-place of the rod, it follows that he must also have remembered the +rod's use, and visited the secret chamber. Thus it would seem that only in +the boy's waking hours was he oblivious and stupid; in his dreams he +truly lived and was awake! Here, then, is a complication of absorbing +interest, which I will leave for physicians and metaphysicians to fight +out between themselves. For my part, I can only look on in respectful +bewilderment. + +But we must leave Archibald for the present, and occupy our minds with the +proceedings of the other personages of this drama. An era of disaster was +in store for most of them. It is curious to note how the proverb that +misfortunes never come single was illustrated in the case of these people. +Fate seems to have launched its thunderbolts at them all at once, as if +making up for lost time; or like a playwright, who clears his stage of all +secondary and superfluous characters, and leaves a free field wherein the +two or three principal people may meet and work out their destiny +unimpeded. + +Colonel Battledown fought under Wellington against Soult at Orthez; and in +a charge of the French cavalry the gallant officer and genial gentleman +was cut in the head by a sabre-stroke and ridden down; and when picked up +after the battle he was dead. He was buried on the spot; the practice of +sending the corpses of heroes and others careering over the face of the +earth, in search of a spot of loam worthy to receive them, was not at that +time so fashionable as it has since become. But the news of his death came +home, and put his friends in mourning, and made Mistress Kate the heiress +of a great property at the age of fourteen. But she was older than her +years, and was generally considered to be "just the sort of person to be +an heiress," whatever that may be. I suppose she was exceedingly handsome, +with a proper sense of her importance, and a capacity of keeping an eye +upon what she considered her interests. At the same time many actions of +hers indicate that she was occasionally liable to ungovernable impulses, +and that her temper was fitful and wayward. Such a woman would make a +capital heroine for a modern novel; she would stand a lot of analyzing. + +The tender relations which had subsisted between her and Archibald were +perforce broken off. What can you do with a lover who suddenly ceases to +have the most distant recollection of you, who does not believe you when +you tell him your name, and whose only associations with that name date +seven years back and are disagreeable? Nobody can blame Kate for giving +Archibald up; she would have been more than human if she could have +intrusted her heart to the keeping of a half-witted wizard, whose +mysterious likeness to, or connection with, a charming young gentleman +rendered him only the more undesirable. Poor Kate! If she gave her heart +to Archibald, and then Archibald became somebody else, what shall we say +became of her heart? Must it not have been irretrievably lost, and shall +we be surprised if we hereafter detect in her a tendency to heartlessness? + + +The next one to drop was Sir Clarence Butt Malmaison. The jolly baronet was +never the same man after the relapse of his second son, whom he had grown +to love more than his first-born, and to whose future he had looked +forward with much ambitious anticipation. He used to sit for hours at a +time sadly watching the child's sluggish gambols about the nursery floor; +ever and anon trying to arouse in his darkened mind some sparks of the +former brightness, and, when the effort failed, sighing heavily, sometimes +with tears trickling down his ruddy old cheeks. If Archibald had never +passed through that period of deceptive promise, it is probable that he +would have received a fair amount of affection as he was, and he would at +all events not have committed the unpardonable offence of inspiring hopes +which were not destined to be fulfilled. Sir Clarence felt like the man in +the fairy tale who received from the fairy a purse of gold, but on opening +the purse to handle the money, found nothing in his grasp but a bunch of +yellow autumn leaves. The heroic end of his friend the Colonel served to +augment the baronet's depression of spirits; nor was his gloom lightened +by the reflection that Kate's inheritance of the estate would now in no +way advantage Archibald. So, what with one thing and another, it must be +confessed that Sir Clarence ended by taking too much wine after dinner. +And the more wine he drank, the less inclination did he feel to keep up +his hardy outdoor habits of riding and shooting; and, consequently, the +more moody and plethoric he became. At length he nearly quarrelled with +Dr. Rollinson because the latter told him plainly that the bottle would be +his coffin; and a few days later he did quarrel, and very violently too, +with the Honorable Richard Pennroyal. This gentleman, it seems, had ridden +over to Malmaison and stayed to dinner; and at dessert the conversation +got round to the present melancholy condition of local affairs. + +"Everything's going to the dogs!" cried poor Sir Clarence, with an oath; +"and no gentleman, by ---, ought to condescend to exist!" + +"Come, Malmaison," said Pennroyal, smiling and cracking filberts, "you're +going too far. Things are not so bad. And there are compensations!" + +"Compensations? What compensations? What the devil do you mean?" + +"Ha, ha! Well, for instance, about the poor Colonel. Of course, we're all +dooced sorry to lose the Colonel; fine old chap, and a good hand at +piquet. But after all he had to go some time; and then what happens? The +fair Miss Battledown becomes the richest heiress in the three counties." + +"Ay, and what's the compensation in that? What good does her being an +heiress do me? Can my boy marry her? Answer me that!" + +"Well, I should fancy not; but somebody else can." + +"Somebody else? Who, I'd like to know?" bawled Sir Clarence. "Let me see +the scoundrel who'll dare to marry Kate Battledown--let me see him!" + +"I hear you quite plainly, Malmaison; and I wouldn't exert myself so much +if I were you--you know what the doctor said. As for Miss Battledown, +surely she has a right to marry whom she pleases, hasn't she?" + +"No, she has not!" returned the baronet, getting angrier than ever. "She +belongs to my Archibald; and if any scoundrel--" + +"Really, you are intolerable, Sir Clarence," interrupted Pennroyal, still +smiling, but not a pleasant smile. "A man whose temper is faulty at the +best of times should be more careful to avoid whatever tends to make it +worse;" and as Pennroyal said this he glanced significantly at the +decanter--of which, to do him justice, he was very sparing himself. + +"Pennroyal!" said the old baronet, drawing himself up with a good deal of +dignity, "your father and I were friends before you were born, and you're +my brother-in-law; but if you were not sitting at my table, I'd teach you +better manners than to lecture your elders. I said I should like to see +the scoundrel who would dare to marry Kate Battledown--and--and what is +that to you?" + +"Well, it's just this," returned Pennroyal, quietly; "I'm going to marry +her myself!" + +Sir Clarence started up from his chair with a tremendous oath--and sat down +again. He was putting a terrible restraint upon himself. Not for his life +would he outrage the guest who was beneath his roof. His face became dark +red, and the veins on his forehead and in his neck stood out and throbbed +visibly. His eyes were fixed staringly upon the impassable visage of the +Honorable Richard, and he drew his breath with difficulty. There was a +pause of some duration, broken only by this stertorous breathing, and by +the deliberate cracking of the guest's filberts. At last, with a tragic +effort of courtesy that was almost grotesque, the poor gentleman pushed +the decanter toward his brother-in-law and deadly enemy, accompanying the +act by a rattling sound in the throat, probably intended as an invitation +to help himself. But the struggle was too severe. The next moment the +baronet's eyes rolled wildly, a gasping noise broke from him, and he fell +forward with his head on the table. + +Mr. Pennroyal promptly arose and rang the bell. "Send for the doctor at +once," he said to the servant who appeared. "Sir Clarence has overdrunk +himself, or overeaten himself, I fancy. And help me to put him on the sofa +and loosen his neckcloth. There--very distressing. Apply the usual +remedies, while I step up-stairs and speak to Lady Malmaison." + +The usual remedies availed little, and when Dr. Rollinson arrived, four +hours afterward, it was already evident that even he could be of no use. +Sir Clarence never fully regained consciousness, and two days later he +ceased to breathe. There was an inquest, resulting in a verdict of death +by apoplexy, and followed by a handsome funeral. The widow of the +deceased, who was a lady of easily-stirred emotions and limited intellect, +wept at short intervals during several weeks thereafter, and assured the +Honorable Richard that she had no one in the world to depend on besides +him. Archibald, who had moved about the house during this season of +mourning with handsome vacant face and aimless steps, betrayed little +grief at the family loss or comprehension of it; but whenever Pennroyal +was in the way, he followed him round with a dog-like fondness in strange +contrast with the vivid antipathy which he had manifested toward him in +his other phase of being. As for Archibald's brother, now a pale and +slender but dignified youth of nineteen, he assumed the title of Sir +Edward, and the headship of the house, with a grave propriety of bearing +that surprised those who had only looked upon him as a moping scholar. +Undemonstratively, but surely, he gave evidence that he understood the +responsibilities of his position, and that he knew how to make himself +respected. He did not encourage his mother in her unrestrained dependence +upon Pennroyal; and between the latter and him there appears to have +arisen a coolness more or less marked. Certainly, Pennroyal was far from +loving the ceremonious and punctilious young baronet, who would neither +drink nor play cards. Toward Archibald, on the other hand, he exhibited a +cynical and contemptuous sort of good-humor; often amusing himself by +asking the poor dull-witted youth all sorts of questions about events +which had occurred in his enlightened period, and concerning which, of +course, Archibald was unfathomably ignorant. The Honorable Richard +Pennroyal was not the first man who has failed to see whence his greatest +danger was to be expected. + + + + +VII. + + +That piece of news with which Mr. Pennroyal had killed Sir Clarence was no +more than the truth. He was the betrothed husband of the beautiful +heiress, Miss Battledown; and the three counties, on the whole, approved +the match. It would consolidate two great contiguous estates, and add one +considerable fortune to another. There was a rather wide discrepancy in +ages, Pennroyal being about forty, while Miss Battledown was only in her +nineteenth year; but that mattered little so that they agreed in other +respects. Miss Battledown was generally believed to have very proper ideas +as to her duties and responsibilities as an heiress. Since poor Archibald +Malmaison lost his wits, she had received more than one offer which a +young lady who was weak-minded enough to regard only personal attractions +might have been tempted to accept; but she had needed no elder person to +counsel her to refuse them. In fact, she had at one time allowed it to be +inferred that she deprecated the idea of being married to any one; and +this demonstrated a commendable maidenly reserve; but it was neither to be +expected nor desired that she should adhere to such a resolution in the +face of good reasons for changing it. And Mr. Pennroyal was an excellent +reason. He had passed through the unsteady period of his life; he had +lived down the vaguely discreditable reports which had once been +circulated at his expense; he had shown himself a thrifty landlord; and +the very fact of his being a widower invested him with a certain +respectability not always appertaining to unmarried gentlemen of his age. +Finally, he belonged to a noble and distinguished family, and though there +was no likelihood of his acceding to the title, who was better qualified +than he to illustrate the substantial virtues of an English country +gentleman? + +We are without detailed records of the early progress of this charming love +affair. The inference is that it proceeded upon orthodox and unexceptional +lines. Mr. Pennroyal would make known to the widow of the late Colonel the +aspirations of his heart, and would receive from her permission to address +himself to the lady of his choice. After the lapse of a few weeks or +months (as the case might be) of mutually complimentary interviews and +correspondence, the swain would entreat the maid to name the day which was +to make him the happiest of men. She would delay and hesitate for a +becoming while; but at length, with a blush and a smile, would indicate a +date too distant for the lover's impatience, yet as near as a respect for +the _convenances_ of wealthy virginity could permit. And now, all +preliminaries being settled, the preparations would go forward with +liberality and despatch. + +It had been at first arranged that the wedding should be solemnized at the +house of the bride; but, for some reason or other, this plan was +subsequently changed, and Malmaison was fixed upon as the scene of the +ceremony. The great dining-hall, which had more than once been put to +similar uses in years gone by, was made ready for the occasion. It was a +vast and stately apartment, sixty feet in length by forty in breadth, and +its lofty ceiling was richly carved in oak; while around the walls were +arranged suits of historic armor, and swords, pikes, and banners, the +relics of ancestral valor. It was on the ground-floor of the most ancient +part of the house, immediately below that suite of rooms of which the east +chamber was one. It had not been used as a dining-hall since the old times +when retainers fed at the same table with their lords; but family +celebrations had been held there; and at the coming of age of the late Sir +Clarence, in 1775, it had been the scene of a grand banquet to the +neighboring nobility and gentry. The floor at the eastern end of the room +was raised some eight inches above the level of the rest; and it was here +that the bride and bridegroom were to stand. A very reverend dean was +secured to pronounce the service; and there were to be eight bridesmaids +and a best man; the latter being none other than poor beclouded Archibald +himself. + +This choice created a good deal of surprise and comment. The fact appears +to have been that the post of "best man" had, in the first instance, been +offered to young Sir Edward Malmaison, who, however, declined it. His +reason for so doing was, in the first place, disapproval of the match; he +holding the opinion that the widower of his aunt might as well have +refrained from a second nuptials, and that, at all events, he should have +selected any one rather than her who was to have been the wife of +Archibald. His second objection was a personal dislike to the Honorable +Richard, and an indisposition to encourage his intimacy with the family. +But Sir Edward could not so far oppose his mother's wishes as to forbid +the marriage being celebrated at Malmaison; and being obliged to concede +so much, he wisely deemed it most consistent with his dignity to adopt a +manner as outwardly gracious as was compatible with self-respect. + +Accordingly, when Pennroyal--whether maliciously, or from honest good-will +toward one who manifested an almost child-like attachment to +himself--chose Sir Edward's brother in his default, Sir Edward offered no +open opposition. If he remonstrated privately with Archibald, his +arguments were void of effect, and would have been, besides, counteracted +by Lady Malmaison's influence. It is needless to say that Archibald was +immensely proud of the compliment (as he considered it), and took care to +celebrate his distinction at all times and places, opportune or +otherwise--seeming, indeed, to think and talk of little else. It is not +probable that he fully comprehended the significance of the matter, as he +was certainly far from perceiving its ironic aspect; nevertheless, his +dull brain received more stimulus from the prospect than from any other +thing that had befallen him, thereby furnishing sardonic humorists with +the criticism, that if the Honorable Richard Pennroyal would keep on +burying his wives, and choosing Archibald as best man for the new-comer, +the youth might in time become approximately intellectual. + +The wedding-day was fixed for the 5th of March, 1821--a date which was long +remembered in the neighborhood. Fortunately we have ample accounts of +everything that occurred--the testimony of many eye-witnesses, which, +through varying in some unimportant details (as is inevitable), agree +nevertheless upon all essential points. I shall give the gist of the +narrative as concisely as a proper attention to its more important phases +will allow. + +Miss Kate Battledown, with her mother, came to Malmaison on the evening of +the 4th, and spent the night, the ceremony being appointed at eleven the +next forenoon. The young lady spent an hour or so, before going to bed, in +conversation with Archibald, who, in his pleasurable excitement over the +forthcoming event, was much more lively and conversable than usual. As +they walked side by side up and down the great hall, at one end of which +some workmen were still engaged in arranging the decorations for the +morrow, they must have made a handsome picture. Kate was at this time a +lithe and graceful figure, slightly above the medium height, and +possessing a great deal of "style;" in fact, young as she was, she had +been for some time regarded as a model of fashion and deportment by all +the aspiring young women within a radius of twenty miles. She was dressed +on this evening in a gown of some thin, white material, the frilled hem of +which failed by at least six inches to reach the floor, thereby displaying +a pair of arched feet and slender ankles, clothed in open-work silk +stockings. The skirt of this gown began immediately beneath the arms, and +every contour of the wearer's form could be traced through its +close-fitting and diaphanous folds. Miss Battledown's arms were bare, save +for the black silk netted mittens that she wore; her dark curling hair was +gathered pyramidally on the top of her head, and fastened with a black +ribbon; a black velvet band encircled her white throat, and there was a +row of black bows down the front of her dress. Her forehead was narrow and +compact, her large brown eyes were perhaps a trifle closer together than +they should have been, her nose was delicate, her lips blunt-cornered and +rather full than thin; the whole expression of her face spirited and +commanding. As for Archibald, he was a handsome vacancy, so to speak; a +fine physical man wasted for lack of a spiritual man to carry him about +and use him. His regular, finely moulded face, with its healthy pallor and +its black eyes and hair, always had a dim, pathetic look of having +forgotten something. His figure, symmetrical and full of strength, moved +itself awkwardly and unmeaningly, as though ignorant of its own +capabilities, and rather encumbered than otherwise by their redundance. +His smile, which drew his features into their handsomest attitude, was +nevertheless rather silly, and seemed to last on after he himself had +forgotten what he was smiling for. His hands--strong, well-formed hands of +the slender and long-fingered type--hung helplessly at the end of his +arms; or, if he attempted to use them, each finger appeared to have a +different idea of what was to be done, and one and all fumbled drowsily +and shiftlessly at their task. The young man wore the high-collared coat, +short waistcoat, and clinging pantaloons of the period; and his black hair +hung down on his shoulders in natural luxuriance of curls. Poor Archibald +accepted meekly whatever was given him to put on; but he would not let his +hair be cut, or even anointed with the incomparable oil of Macassar. + +"And so you are glad, Archie?" said Mistress Kate, continuing their talk. + +"Oh, glad! yes, glad!" replied Archie, nodding his head slowly and +solemnly. + +"You don't regret me, then, at all?" + +"Oh, regret, no!" said Archie, shaking his head with the same sapience and +gravity. + +"Why do you always repeat what a person says, without seeming to know what +it is? There used to be a time, sir, when regret would have been far too +mild a word for you. Have you forgotten all that? Have you forgotten Lord +Orville and Evelina?" + +"Forgotten, yes; all forgotten!" + +"Come, now, I wish you to remember. You understand that I am to be married +to Richard Pennroyal tomorrow--to Richard Pennroyal!" + +"Uncle Richard, dear Uncle Richard. I love Uncle Richard!" + +"Do you love no one beside him? don't you love me?" + +"Don't love you, oh, no!" + +"Archie, have you forgotten how we were married in the back garden, and how +you used to say I was your little wife; and you wanted to fight a duel +with Richard because he had taken me on his knee and kissed me?" + +"See how pretty!" exclaimed Archie, whose attention had been fixed during +this speech upon two of the workmen who were unrolling between them a +piece of crimson cloth appertaining to the hangings. + +"What a creature!" muttered Kate to herself. To have her romantic souvenirs +ignored even by this simpleton vexed her a little. Perhaps, too, she had +another reason for regretting her companion's witlessness. She could +remember when she had cared for him--or for something called him--more +than she cared now for the man she would wed to-morrow. Why was he not the +same now as then? His face, his hands, his figure--these were the same, or +rather they were handsomer and more manlike than formerly. Why could not +the soul, or whatever may be that mysterious invisible motive-power in a +man--why could it not have stuck to its fortress during these seven years +past? Here were five feet eleven of well-sculptured living clay, that had +been growing and improving for more than one and twenty years; and for an +inhabitant, nothing but a soft foolish child, destitute of memory, +intelligence, and passion. Such reflections may have passed through the +mind of the young heiress; and then she may have thought, glancing at him, +"If my Archibald were here, to-morrow might see another spectacle than +that put down in the programme." She might have thought this; she did not +and of course would not on any account have uttered such a sentiment +aloud. But it would be unjust to her taste and sensibility to suppose +that, apart from worldly and politic considerations, she should have +really preferred a sharp-featured, thin-haired, close-fisted gentleman of +forty to a conceivable hero of half that age, dowered with every grace and +beauty, not to mention Miss Tremount's seventy thousand pounds. Is she to +be blamed if she sighed with a passing regret at that hero's mysterious +disappearance? Yes, he had disappeared, more mysteriously and more +irrevocably than old Sir Charles seventy years ago. Where in the heavens +or the earth or under the earth, indeed, was he? Did he still exist +anywhere? Might she dream of ever meeting him again--that hero?...! Bah! +what nonsense! + +"Pretty!" repeated Archie, who, in the subsidence of his other faculties, +had retained an appreciation of color. + +"Poor boy--poor thing!" said Kate; "you lost a great deal when you lost +your wits; between being a groomsman and a bridegroom there is a very wide +difference. And you don't even care--perhaps that's your greatest loss of +all--ha, ha! Come, Archie, it's time for little fellows like you to be +asleep." + +"Kate--" began Archie; and paused. + +"What?" + +"Do you love anybody?" + +She met his look of dull yet earnest inquiry with a contemptuous smile at +first, but afterward her smile died away and she answered soberly: + +"I did once." + +"I did once, too!" rejoined Archie, with a sort of sluggish eagerness. + +"You did--when?" demanded she, with the beginning of a heart-beat. + +"I think I did--once--when I was asleep." + +She laughed shortly and turned away. "Yes, sleep is the best thing for you, +Archie; you had better sleep all the time now; it will be too late to wake +up to-morrow. Good-night, Archie." + + + + +VIII. + + +Old Miss Tremount had come up from Cornwall for the occasion, accompanied +by her poodle, her female toady, and her father confessor. The good lady +had altered her will some years before, on hearing of her favorite +nephew's changed condition, and it was feared she would leave her money to +the Church of Rome, of which she was a member. But on receiving the +announcement of her intended visit, Lady Malmaison had begun to entertain +hopes that Sir Edward might succeed in so favorably impressing his aunt as +to induce her to divert at least some portion of her thousands in his +direction. But it is not likely that Miss Tremount had come to Malmaison +with any such views; in fact, her reason for coming had little or no +connection with the late baronet's family. It was not generally known +that, between forty and fifty years previously, there had been tender +passages between Colonel Battledown and this snuffy old maid, whose soul +was now divided between her cards and her psalter. So it was, however; +they were even betrothed to one another, though the betrothal was kept a +secret, the Colonel then being a comparatively penniless young lieutenant, +and as such by no means a desirable son-in-law from the parental point of +view. An elopement was contemplated so soon as the young lady should be of +age; and it would be difficult to explain the occasion of the trumpery +quarrel between the lovers, which ended in the lady taunting the +gentleman with caring only about her money, and resulted in the rupture of +the engagement. Doubtless it might have been renewed; but at this +juncture the lieutenant was ordered away on active service to the American +Colonies, where he remained for some years. Later, he was stationed in +India; and the next time he met his old love, in London, he was twenty +years older than when she had last seen him, and a major, and with ribbons +on his breast, and a wife on his arm. Miss Tremount never betrayed any +grief or disappointment, except in so far as she remained single all her +life, and latterly waxed religious and became a convert to the Jesuits. +But when the Colonel was dead, and she heard that his daughter was about +to be married, she resolved to make a journey to Malmaison; and who can +tell whether in the bottom of her heart, hidden even from her father +confessor, she may not have cherished a secret purpose of making Mistress +Kate her heir? It is certain at all events that she brought her will with +her in her trunk. + +This romance, I say, was known to but few, and as Miss Battledown did not +happen to be among the number, she was less cordial in her behavior to the +old lady than she might otherwise have been. Kate was not constitutionally +a lover of old women, and not herself old enough to be aware that no truly +charitable person should ever be inattentive to seventy thousand pounds, +no matter to how unprepossessing a human being the money might be +attached. Her manner, therefore, was tolerant and patronizing rather than +flattering; and honest Lady Malmaison, though she liked Kate very much, +and would have been delighted to see her inherit seventy thousand pounds +from the Shah of Persia or the President of the United States, was not +quite so unnatural an idiot as to recommend to the young lady a more +conciliating behavior. As for Miss Tremount, she preserved her composure +and kept her counsel perfectly, and never referred to her will even in her +most unguarded moments. She was courteous and complimentary to Sir Edward, +indulgent to Archibald, kind and sisterly to Lady Malmaison, and quietly +observant of everything and everybody. On the wedding morning she +criticised and admired the bride's toilet with a taste and appreciation +that caused the proud young beauty's eyes to sparkle; and just before the +party entered the hall, she pressed Kate's hand affectionately, and said, +in her gentlest tones, that she hoped she would be happy. "I have always +looked upon your mother as one of the happiest of women, my dear," she +added. "May your fortune equal hers!" This good-natured benediction caused +Lady Malmaison a good deal of anxiety; Sir Edward smiled aside at what he +fancied was a subtle stroke of irony; and Kate herself became thoughtful, +and regretted that it was rather late in the day to begin to show Miss +Tremount what a charming elderly lady she thought her. + +The great hall looked its stateliest that morning. The March sunshine came +slanting through the tall windows, and lay in bright patches upon the +broad floor, or gleamed upon the ancient swords and breastplates, or +glowed in the festal hangings. Quite a large number of titled and +fashionable persons were collected at the upper end of the room, +whispering and rustling, and dressed in what we should now consider very +wonderful costumes, though they were all the mode then. A few minutes +before eleven the very reverend dean, and an assistant divine, together +with the bridegroom and Archibald, entered and took their places in great +pomp and dignity beneath the canopy which had been constructed for the +occasion, and which, was covered with fresh flowers, whose fragrance +breathed over the gay assemblage like a sacred incense. At eleven o'clock +there was a general hush of expectation; and presently the door at the +bottom of the hall was thrown open, and the bridal procession came in. +Very pretty they looked as they paced, up the long stretch of carpeting +which had been laid down for them to walk upon, and which had been +scattered over with a profusion of flowers. The bride, with her veil and +her orange-blossoms, was supported on the arm of Sir Henry Rollinson (the +good Doctor had been knighted the year before by an appreciative +sovereign), who was to give her away. She looked calm, pale, and +exceedingly handsome. The widow of Colonel Battledown was escorted by Lord +Epsom, the Honorable Richard's elder brother, and wore a very splendid +pink turban, and red eyes. But all these details, and many more, may be +read in the _Morning Post_ of March 7th, 1821, to which I refer the +curious. + +The service commenced. As Sir Henry Rollinson was in the act of giving the +bride away, he happened to glance at Archibald, and observed that the +latter wore a very strange expression on his face; and a moment afterward +the young man dropped into a chair that happened to be near him, pressing +his head between his hands, and breathing heavily. No one else noticed +this incident; and Sir Henry, who supposed the youth was going to faint, +was of course unable at the time to afford any assistance. The service +went on. Richard Pennroyal and Catherine Battledown were pronounced man +and wife; and man was warned not to put asunder those whom God had joined +together. The ring shone on the new-made wife's finger. The very reverend +dean gave the pair his blessing. All this time Archibald remained with +his head between his hands, the physician watching him not without +apprehensions, and inwardly cursing the folly of those who were +responsible for the poor half-witted creature's appearance in such a +scene. + +The register was now brought forth, in which the happy couple and their +friends were to inscribe their names. The principal personages signed +first. It came to Archibald's turn. It had previously been ascertained +that he knew how to string together the requisite letters upon paper. +There he sat, with his head in his hands. Sir Henry touched him on the +shoulder. + +"Now, then, lad--Archie! wake up! Come! you're wanted!" He spoke sharply +and imperatively, in the hope of rousing the young fellow out of his +stupor, and at least getting him decently out of the room. + +Archibald raised his face, which was deadly pale and covered with sweat, +and looked at the persons around him with a kind of amazed defiance. He +started to his feet, oversetting his chair as he did so, which rolled down +the steps of the dais and fell with a crash on the stone floor below. + +"I came in by the staircase door!" he said in an excited voice, which +startled every one who heard it, so different was it from his usual tones. +"If you thought it locked, you were wrong. How else could I have come?... +When did you bring me here? This is the great hall! What have you been +doing? How came _you_ here?" + +There was a dead silence. Every one felt that some ugly thing was about to +happen. Several women began to laugh hysterically. It seems to have been +supposed, at first, that Archibald had exchanged his inoffensive idiocy +for a condition of raving madness. The old physician was probably the only +one present who had a glimmering of what might be the truth. The +Honorable Richard Pennroyal had none. He pushed between the venerable +knight and his "best man," and relying upon his oft-proved and established +influence over the latter, he took him firmly by the arm, and looked in +his face. + +"Don't make a fool of yourself, Archie," said he, in a low distinct voice, +in which was a subdued ring of menace. "It's all right. You're my best +man, you know. You are to sign your name as one of the witnesses of the +marriage--that's all." + +"I have witnessed no marriage," replied Archibald, returning with surprise +Richard's look. "Who are you?" he continued, after a moment. Then he +exclaimed, "You are Richard Pennroyal--I didn't know you at first, you +look so old!" + +"Oh, the fellow's quite mad!" muttered Richard, turning away with a shrug +of the shoulders. "I should have known better than to run the risk of +having such a lunatic here. We must have him moved out of the room at +once." + +Young Sir Edward overheard this latter sentence. "Pardon me for reminding +you that my brother is at home in Malmaison," he said gravely. + +"Oh, as you please, of course," returned Richard, frowning. + +Meanwhile Archibald had caught sight of Kate, and recognized her at once; +and breaking away from his mother and Sir Henry Rollinson, who were +endeavoring to quiet him, he came up to her and planted himself in front +of her, just as Richard was approaching to take her off. Archibald took +both her hands in his. + +"Kate, I have never seen you look so beautiful," he said. "But why have you +got this white veil on?--and orange blossoms! It's like a wedding. What +were they saying about a wedding? ... is it to be our wedding?" + +"The wedding has already taken place, my dear Archie," interposed the +bridegroom, offering his arm to the bride, and smiling with no very good +grace. "This lady is now Mrs. Pennroyal. Stand aside, like a good boy--" + +Archibald grasped Richard by the padded sleeve of his coat, and with an +angry movement of his powerful arm threw him backward into the embrace of +his new mother-in-law, who happened to be coming up from behind. + +"You are under my father's roof, or I would tell you that you are a liar," +said the young man, grimly. Then turning to the bride, who had said not a +word since this scene began, but had kept her eyes constantly fixed upon +the chief actor in it, "He shall not insult you again, my dear. But all +this is very strange. What does it mean?" + +"It means.... It is too late!" replied the girl, in a low, bitter voice. +What could she have meant by that? + +Richard, white with fury, came up again. There was a general murmur and +movement in the surrounding assemblage, who expected to see some deed of +violence committed. + +"Mrs. Pennroyal," said he between his teeth, "I am obliged to request you +peremptorily to take my arm and--and leave this house where guests are +insulted and outraged!" + +Archibald turned, his face darkening. But Kate held up her hand +entreatingly; and Archibald caught the gleam of the plain gold ring on her +finger. At that sight he stopped abruptly, and his arms fell to his sides. + +"Is it true?" He asked in a tone of bewilderment. + +Here Sir Edward interposed again, with, his cool courtesy: "Mr. Pennroyal, +and my friends, I trust you will find it possible to overlook the behavior +of my brother. You may see that he is not himself. When he has had time to +recover himself, he will ask pardon of each and all of you. Mr. Pennroyal, +I entreat you and your wife to forget what has passed, and to reconsider +the heavy imputation which has been cast upon my house. Let the shadow +pass away which has threatened for a moment this--most auspicious +occasion!" + +If the last words were ironical, the irony was too grave and ceremonious to +be obtrusive, Pennroyal was fain to return Sir Edward's bow with the best +grace he could muster. The rest of the company accepted the apology, as at +least a formal way out of the difficulty. An effort was made to resume +indifferent conversation, and to act as if nothing had happened. Sir +Edward, with admirable self-possession and smiling courtesy, marshalled +the guests out of the hall, to a neighboring room in which the wedding +breakfast had been set out. Archibald remained behind, and the Doctor and +old Miss Tremount remained with him. He stood still, with his arms at his +sides, his glance fixed upon the floor. The Doctor and Miss Tremount +exchanged a look, and then the latter went up to him, and took one of his +hands between hers. + +"Do you know me, my dear?" she said. + +Archibald looked at her, and shook his head. + +"I am your aunt, Ruth Tremount. My dear, I am so sorry for you." + +"Can you tell me what is the matter with me? Am I mad?" + +"On the contrary," put in the Doctor, "you are yourself for the second time +in your life. You've overslept yourself, my lad, that's all!" + +Archibald cast his eyes round the hall, as if searching for some one. +"Where is my father?" he asked at length. + +There was an awkward pause. Finally Miss Tremount said, "My dear, your +sleep has lasted seven years. Much may happen in such a length of time." + +"But my father--where is he? I want to see him; I will see him!" and he +made some steps toward the door. + +"My poor lad, you cannot see him now--he ... he--" + +"Where is he?" cried Archibald, stamping his foot. + +"He has been for five years in his grave." + +Archibald stared at the Doctor a moment, and then burst out laughing. + + + + +IX. + + +But Archibald had come into possession of his intelligent soul once more; +or he was awake again; or the pressure of the skull upon the cerebrum had +yet another time been relieved; at all events there was now a brilliant +youth in the flesh-and-blood envelope which, an hour before, had contained +only a half-witted boy. When the first crash of the restoration was over, +the new man began to accommodate himself with wonderful rapidity and +keenness to the strange environment. He knew of nothing that had happened +since that afternoon when he spoke with Kate in the east chamber, while +the blood oozed from the cut on his forehead; but he accepted the facts +with more than a youth's resolution and stoicism. The world had been +turning round while he had been absent--somewhere! Well, then, by the +force of his will and his splendid faculties he would get on even terms +with it again--and more. Injury had been done him; irreparable injury, +perhaps, but which still might be avenged. He was not discouraged; his +spirit seemed to come upon life with all the freshness of a seven years' +rest, and it reckoned nothing impossible. + +Of course his fresh metamorphosis created plenty of comment among the +neighbors; Archibald Malmaison was the most talked-of man in that part of +the country for several weeks, the impossibility of arriving at any +satisfactory conclusion regarding his condition or conditions prolonging +the wonder so far beyond the proverbial nine days. One party were +vehemently of the opinion that he was mad; another party opposed this view +with equal energy and just as much foundation. Both sides put forward +plenty of arguments, and when they were refuted, appealed to Sir Henry +Rollinson, who confirmed them both with equally sagacious shakes of the +head. + +But this good gentleman was now getting near the end of his days, and, in +fact, ceased living in the world before the close of the year. He did not +depart without leaving a successor, however, and one who bade fair to do +credit to his ancestry. This was Mr. E. Forbes Rollinson, his son, who had +concluded a course of study at Vienna and Paris, and who returned to his +native land with the highest diplomas that continental schools could give +him. He was at this time a young man of about five and twenty, with a +great square head and a short, compact figure. The wild jungle of beard +and the terribly penetrating eye-glass which distinguished him in later +times had not then made their appearance. Well, the new Dr. Rollinson had +known something of Archibald as a boy, and was of course much interested +(apart from his friendly feelings) in so remarkable a case. His theory +upon the matter, in so far as he had formed one, did not on all points +coincide with his father's; he belonged to a somewhat more recent +school--more critical and less dogmatic. Still, it would be hazardous to +assert that young Dr. Rollinson knew exactly what was the matter with +Archibald--especially as he has seen reason to modify his first +impressions more than once during the last fifty years. It is enough to +remark here that he thought the affection was of a rhythmic or regularly +recurrent character, a notion which its previous history went far to +justify; and he consequently looked with interest to see whether the +lapse of another seven years would bring about another change. To have +discovered the orbit, so to speak, of a malady, is not, indeed, to have +explained it; but it is always something. It would be more interesting to +know what Archibald thought of himself; and were I, in this instance, a +novelist dealing with a creation of my own, I might not shrink from an +attempt to analyze his mental state. As it is, I can do no more than point +to the curious field of conjecture which it here afforded: the young man +left no confessions or self-analytic diaries; still less did he discuss +his peculiarities with other people. With excellent good sense and no +small courage, he accepted things as they were; he felt his individuality +in no way diminished by the circumstance that it was intermittent or +exchangeable; and perhaps it seemed no more strange to him than the +nightly falling asleep of all mankind does to them. The one mystery is +quite as strange as the other, only the sleep of seven hours is common to +all, while that of seven years is probably unprecedented. + +One grotesque question suggests itself--or may do so shortly--and that is +whether Archibald would be responsible in one phase of his being for a +crime committed in another--for a crime, or any other act involving the +welfare or condition of other people. The analogy with sleep does not here +seem altogether satisfactory; for in ordinary sleep, or even somnambulism, +we are not in active relations with our fellow-beings, and consequently +our lawgivers have not devised a code to control our doings while in that +state. A jury, in delivering its verdict, would be embarrassed by the +reflection that although only one half of the culprit before them was +guilty, they could not give that half its just punishment without at the +same time unjustly punishing the half that was guiltless. A consistent +individuality, therefore, though often a burden and a weariness, is still +not without its advantages. + +Meanwhile an important change had taken place in the relations between the +family of Malmaison and the Honorable Richard Pennroyal. The latter +conceived himself to have been affronted by the former on the occasion of +his marriage, and refused a reconciliation--which, to tell the truth, +neither Sir Edward nor his younger brother were too anxious to force upon +him. Lady Malmaison was still for peace, but her opinion had ceased to +have much weight in the family counsels. At length matters came to a head +somewhat in the following manner. + +Sir Edward Malmaison and Pennroyal happened to meet at the table of a +common friend, and after the ladies had withdrawn, Pennroyal, who had +taken more wine than was usual with him, began to talk at Sir Edward in an +unnecessarily audible and offensive tone. Sir Edward kept his temper, and +made no reply, not having as yet been personally addressed. Pennroyal +after a while came round to where he was sitting, and the two gentlemen +presently fell into conversation. Pennroyal finally declared that he had +been insulted by a man who retained his present title and estates solely +by his (Pennroyal's) permission and kindness. Sir Edward was constrained +to ask him what he meant. Pennroyal thereupon began to utter disparaging +reflections upon the late Sir Clarence, who, he intimated, was not legally +entitled to his name. This brought on a dead silence, and all eyes were +turned upon Sir Edward, whose pale countenance became yet paler as he +said, with his imperturbable courteousness of phrase: + +"I must entreat Mr. Pennroyal not to indulge in innuendos, but to state +explicitly whether he intends anything dishonorable to my father." + +"To a man of the world a word is enough," responded the Honorable Richard, +insolently. "I am not here to tutor schoolboys in the comprehension of the +English tongue." + +"I cannot allow you to evade my question," rejoined Sir Edward, with a +gleam in his eye, though without an alteration in his voice. "You must +explain what you have seen fit to insinuate before these gentlemen, one +way or the other." + +Pennroyal laughed. "When you have lived a few years longer, young +gentleman," said he, "you will learn to be cautious how you ask for too +explicit information regarding the morals of your grandparents." + +At this brutal remark there was a general expression of indignation among +the hearers; but Pennroyal, in no way abashed, added, "Let him disprove it +if he can. Since he provokes me to it, I affirm it--his father had no +right to the title. Let him prove the contrary if he can. I didn't force +on the discussion, but I will tell young Sir Edward Malmaison, as he calls +himself, that he holds property to which he has no claim, and that it +depends upon my good-will and pleasure how long he holds it." + +The host--he was Francis Hastings Kent, Esq. and M. P., the same who +afterward became famous in the Corn-law controversy--here interposed, and +"spoke the sense of the meeting." "Egad, Pennroyal," cried he, "you are +drunk, and you have insulted a gentleman at my table. I'll trouble you to +make him an apology. I have no doubt that Sir Edward Malmaison's titles +are just as good as yours or mine, and, begad, they sha'n't be called in +question here at all events. I say you shall make Sir Edward an apology!" + + +There was only one man in the room who evinced any disagreement with this +speech, and that one was Major Bolingbroke, a retired officer of good +family but of not altogether unexceptionable personal repute; he was +believed to have fought more duels than are usually considered desirable; +and he had for some months past been a constant inmate at the house of Mr. +Pennroyal. + +"It's no affair of mine, of course," said this gallant warrior, "if Sir +Edward chooses to put up with such language from a man, on the ground that +he was drunk when he used it. Only, if there's going to be an apology, I +should advise Sir Edward to exact a very full one, and lose no time about +it." + +Sir Edward, however, rose carelessly, and said with a smile that he could +not think of contributing any further to the unfortunate interruption of +the social harmony; and adding that he had no doubt Mr. Pennroyal would, +as soon as he had had time to recollect himself, make every explanation +that the case demanded, he bowed and left the room. + +It was afterward suspected that Pennroyal's intoxication had been assumed +for the purpose of insulting the heir of Malmaison with the more impunity; +and that the Major was present expressly to aid and abet him. What, then, +was the object, and what the grounds, of the charge which Pennroyal made? +With respect to the latter, nothing was known until later; but the +immediate result was this. Sir Edward went home, and appeared more +cheerful and in better spirits than usual. He spent the next forenoon in +his chamber, apparently engaged in looking over some papers. In the +afternoon he mentioned to his mother and Archibald that he should be +obliged to run up to London for a few days on business, and that he must +start that evening. He had made no allusion to the affair at Francis +Kent's house, and neither Archibald nor Lady Malmaison knew anything about +it. That evening, accordingly, he bade them good-by, and departed +seemingly with a light heart, bidding his brother act as his accredited +plenipotentiary while he was away, and promising his mother to bring her +the latest fashion in turbans when he returned. + +He was absent five days. The Honorable Richard Pennroyal, who had happened +to be likewise called away on business at the same time, returned to his +house some twenty-four hours before Sir Edward was brought in a carriage +to Malmaison, with a bullet-hole just beneath the collar-bone. The fact +is, the two gentlemen had travelled to Belgium instead of to London, and +had there shot at each other in the presence of Major Bolingbroke (who +gave the word) and of a friend of Sir Edward's whose name has not come +down to us. Pennroyal had escaped untouched; Sir Edward, under the care of +Dr. Rollinson the younger, lay for several weeks in a critical condition; +but, when the bullet had been extracted, he rallied, and was able before +long to rise from his bed and walk about the house. But though his +strength had improved, he appeared to be harassed in mind; he carried on a +considerable correspondence with the family lawyers in London, and was +continually searching for something--what, no one could tell. Whatever it +was he did not find it, and his anxiety did not diminish. + +Archibald had of course asked him about the particulars of the duel, and +what led to it; but his brother had sought to make light of the affair, +saying merely that Pennroyal had been very rude, and had failed to make a +suitable apology; and that the insult having been public, he was forced to +resent it. In answer to Archibald's question as to the subject of his +present correspondence with the lawyers, he replied that it related to +some old family traditions, and possessed only an antiquarian interest. +Archibald accepted these answers in silence, but with entire incredulity. +The brothers were fond of each other, but the strange conditions of the +younger's life had prevented their attaining really intimate and +confidential relations. Archibald was too proud either to demand further +particulars from Sir Edward, or to make inquiries elsewhere. Moreover, +there was perhaps less need of information on his side than on that of his +brother, had the latter but known it. Archibald had secrets of his own. + +Pennroyal, meanwhile, kept quiet, waiting for the affair to blow over. +Whether he had intended to kill Sir Edward, or whether he was glad that +the duel had not resulted fatally, I cannot tell. Of course, neither he +nor his wife were seen again at Malmaison. The neighbors were for some +time disposed to give him the cold shoulder; but when his antagonist +recovered, and the matter had lost its first freshness, there appeared to +be little more against him than that he had committed an indiscretion +while under the influence of liquor, and had afterward atoned for it in +accordance with a code of honor which had not, at that epoch, fallen +entirely into disuse. And, after all, what business was it of theirs? +Pennroyal, however objectionable in himself, owned a large property and +belonged to a good family. In short, society received the honorable +prodigal in its bosom once more, and Mrs. Pennroyal reigned the undisputed +toast for a while longer. + +But at the end of six or seven months a new order of events began. Sir +Edward, either from anxiety, or from some imprudent exposure, fell ill +again, and his wound opened afresh and became inflamed. His constitution +had never been good for much, and the chances were all against its being +able to survive this trial. Dr. Rollinson did all that could be done; but +one morning Sir Edward asked to see his brother, and when the two were +left alone together, he said: + +"Well, Archie, how shall you like to be Sir Archibald?" + +For a minute they looked at one another in silence. + +"Do you think so?" then said the younger, frowning a little. + +"I am certain of it." + +"Ned, we are brothers," said Archibald. + +The young men grasped hands, and Archibald half sat on the edge of the bed, +looking down at the invalid, whose face was now bony in its emaciation, +and his eyes sunken and bright. + +"Archie, I have something to tell you." + +"I feared so." + +"It is not anything that you could expect. That quarrel between Richard and +me was about our father. Richard said he was--that is--" + +"Don't fear. Say it!" + +"That his mother was not Lady Malmaison." + +"He lied!" + +"So I told him. But that's not the end of it, unfortunately. He defied me +to prove the contrary. Ever since I first got up after the duel, I have +been looking for the papers relating to Sir Clarence's birth. They're not +to be found. There is no record that our grandmother had any son at all. +On the other hand, there is indirect evidence that our grandfather had an +affair with some woman.... The amount of it is, I have not been able to +establish Sir Clarence's legitimacy. And the worst is still to tell." + +"I know the rest; I know it all! Why didn't you say all this to me at +first, brother? You have been harassing yourself with the idea that +because you couldn't vindicate father, Malmaison might be claimed by +Richard, under that old agreement of Sir Charles's time." + +"How did you know--" + +"I know everything. I know where the papers are that you have been looking +for. Set your mind at rest, Ned. Sir Clarence was the legitimate heir. +There was also a son by the other woman, but he died in infancy. Ned, why +weren't you open with me? Richard has no more hold on our estates than my +groom has. Blame him! I only hope he'll think otherwise! We'll ruin him +first and kill him afterward." + +"If I had only known...." said the sick man, after a pause. "But you are +certain? You have the proof? Where did you find the papers?" + +"I have them. Get well, and you shall know all about it. I have a good many +curious things to tell you, and to show you, too." + +"Well, God be thanked! whatever becomes of me. It is late, Archie, but I'm +beginning to get acquainted with you at last. It is my fault that I did +not know you before. You are better fitted to bear the title than I." + +"No. If I thought so, I would not deny it; but if I inherit Malmaison, our +family will--perish off the earth! I can foresee some things, Ned. The +hope of the house lies in you; I shall bring only calamity. You must get +well." + +Again the brothers grasped hands, looked in one another's eyes for a moment +or two, and then Archibald went out; the day passed, and the evening fell. +At midnight he was Sir Archibald of Malmaison. + + + + +X. + + +It was not long before the new baronet--the last of his line--began to make +his influence felt. His temper was resolute, secret, and domineering; he +bore himself haughtily among the neighboring squires, never seeking to +please a friend or to conciliate an enemy. Few people liked him; many +stood in awe of him. He seemed to be out of sympathy with his race; his +strange, ambiguous history invested him with an atmosphere of doubt and +mystery; his nature was not like other men's; it was even whispered that +he had powers transcending those of ordinary humanity. It is probable that +his remarkable personal beauty, which in moments of anger or energy +gleamed out with an almost satanic intensity, may have lent substance to +this impression; men shrunk from meeting the stern inquisition of his +black eyes; and for women his glance possessed a sort of fascination, +unconnected with his beauty. But there were other indications more direct +than these. A century, or even half a century, previous to this time Sir +Archibald might have found it difficult to avoid the imputation of +witchcraft. After all, was not he the descendant of his forefathers? and +what had some of them been? "Were there not people in the neighboring +village of Grinstead who were willing to take affidavit that the handsome +young baronet had the power to make himself invisible when he pleased? +Nay, had not Mrs. Pennroyal herself, while she was yet a young maid, +borne testimony to the fact--that he had suddenly stood before her, in +broad daylight, in a room which had the instant before been empty? That +room had always had a queer reputation; it was there, or thereabouts, that +most of these strange goings-on took place. A servant, who had once +wandered in there to announce to Sir Archibald that one of his lawyers had +arrived, and was waiting to see him, had found the room vacant, though he +had seen his master enter it only ten minutes before. Thinking that he +must have gone out by the other entrance, through the stable, he was about +to follow, when he noticed that this door was bolted on the inside. In +some bewilderment, he was on the point of retiring, when he was startled +by a burst of laughter which continued for near a minute, and which, +though it echoed almost in his ears, and came apparently from the very air +round about him, yet sounded faint and unsubstantial as if a vast distance +nevertheless intervened. Whether near or far, it was unmistakably the +laughter of Sir Archibald, but wilder and more scornful than had ever been +heard from his lips. The honest footman was now thoroughly frightened, and +made the best of his way out of the chamber; but before he could cross the +next room and reach the passage-way beyond, the living and peremptory +tones of Sir Archibald himself overtook him, and brought him back with +failing knees and pallid cheeks to where the black-haired baronet was +standing in the doorway. There he stood in flesh and blood, but cloaked, +booted, and spurred, as if just returned from a journey. + +"What were you doing in this room?" demanded the baronet. + +The man faltered out his errand. + +"Hear this, once for all, and remember it," said the baronet, nor sternly +nor roughly, but with a concentration of purpose in his mellow voice that +seemed to stamp the words into the hearer's soul. "No one may enter this +chamber except I open the door. Else harm may happen which I could not +prevent. That is all. Now send Mr. Mawgage to me." + +That was all, but it was quite enough; in fact, the difficulty thereafter +was to induce any one to venture into the room on any terms. It was +believed to be haunted, and that Sir Archibald was either himself the +ghost, or was in some way responsible for there being one. + +I have mentioned this story, to which the reader already possesses the +clew, only by way of showing that Sir Archibald was making use, at that +time, of the secret which he had discovered, and was taking the surest +means of keeping it to himself. He had occupations in the inner chamber at +which he did not wish to be disturbed. What those occupations were he +confided to no living soul--indeed, there was no one who could have served +him as a confidant. His life was a lonely one, if ever a lonely life there +were. Whom had he to love, or to love him? Even his mother, now enfeebled +both in body and mind, felt fear of him rather than fondness for him. She +spent much of her time playing cards with her female companion, and in +worrying over the health of her pet spaniels. But did Sir Archibald love +no one?--at all events he hated somebody, and that heartily. He held +Richard Pennroyal responsible for all the ills that had fallen upon +Malmaison and upon himself; and he was evidently not the man to suffer a +grudge to go unrequited. + +Pennroyal, on the other hand, was not disposed to wait quietly to be +attacked; he came out to meet the enemy half way. In the spring of the +year 1824--about nine months after Sir Edward's death--it was known in +every mansion and public house for twenty miles round that a great lawsuit +would by-and-by be commenced between Malmaison and Pennroyal, the question +to be decided being nothing less than the ownership of the Malmaison +estates, which Richard Pennroyal claimed, in the alleged failure of any +legitimate heir of Sir John Malmaison, deceased--the father of Sir +Clarence--but, as Pennroyal alleged, by a left-handed marriage. I have not +gone into the details of this case, and should not detain the reader over +it if I had; he may, if it pleases him, read it at full length elsewhere. +It is enough to observe that Pennroyal brought forward evidence to show +that he, and his father before him, had always had cognizance of the will +or other document which entitled him to the property in dispute in the +event provided for; and had only been withheld from putting in their claim +thereto by the repeated and solemn assurances of Sir Clarence that no such +irregularity as was suspected regarding his birth had in fact occurred. +Latterly, however, from fresh information accidentally received, it +appeared that Sir Clarence had either been guilty of a wilful and criminal +misstatement, or that he had been deceived. In confirmation whereof, the +Honorable Richard produced documents of undoubted genuineness, showing +that an illegitimate son had been born to Sir John; and now called upon +the defendant to prove that this son had died in childhood, or that he had +not grown up to be Sir Clarence; and furthermore, having disposed of this +difficulty, to show the certificate of birth of a legitimate heir to Sir +John Malmaison, and to identify that heir with Sir Clarence. + +Now, there were certainly some awkward circumstances in respect of this +illegitimacy question. Sir Clarence had known that he had had a brother +born out of wedlock; and it is possible he also knew that the documents +relating to his own birth were not where he could put his hands upon them. +He may even have been aware that, were his title to be challenged, there +would be serious technical difficulties in the way of vindicating it. At +the same time, Sir Clarence was entirely and justly convinced that his +title was good. The history of the illegitimate son was familiar to him, +and to the rest of the family, in all its details. It was not, of course, +an ordinary topic of conversation, but it was an acknowledged piece of +family history. Sir John had been wild in his youth, and had made a good +many loose connections before acceding to the baronetcy--his father, Sir +Charles, the same who ate the venison pasty, having lived to see his heir +a man of thirty. One of these connections had been with the daughter of a +tenant; during its progress a marriage had been arranged between John +Malmaison and a neighboring heiress. About the time that the marriage took +place, the tenant's daughter had a child; Clarence himself was born about +a year later. The child had lived five or six years only; after its death +its mother had gone up to London, and had not since been heard of. This +was all simple enough; the only trouble being that no one could tell what +had become of the certificate of Clarence's birth, or of the other's +decease. Consequently there was an opening for an evil-disposed person to +assert what the Honorable Richard was now asserting. + +Where had the Honorable Richard got his information?--of the absence, +that is to say, of these papers. It was never spoken of outside the +family. It is only proper to observe that his brother, Lord Epsom, would +have nothing to do with the affair, but explicitly and emphatically washed +his hands of it. But this did not deter Richard; he had got his materials, +he had decided upon his plan of action, and he was bound to go through +with it. He entertained no doubts of his success, and he probably +anticipated from it not only solid worldly advantage, but the +gratification of an undisguised enmity. It would give him peculiar +pleasure to augment his prosperity at the expense of Sir Archibald +Malmaison. + +Considering that the outlook was so bad for him, the young baronet faced it +with commendable fortitude. People who met him regarded him with +curiosity, expecting him to appear disturbed, if not desperate. But he +wore an aspect of satisfied composure, tempered only by his habitual +haughtiness. He had interviews with his lawyers, seemed neither flurried +nor helpless, and altogether behaved as if his victory over his opponent +was placed beyond the possibility of a doubt. And yet, what could be his +defence? Was he going to rely upon the title having remained so long +unquestioned? Did he build his hopes upon a possible break in the chain of +Pennroyal's evidence? The on-lookers could only conjecture. And now the +time when conjectures would be exchanged for certainty was at hand. + +It was the autumn of the year 1825. One cool, clear, gray afternoon Sir +Archibald had his horse saddled, and mounting him, rode out upon his +estate. In the course of an hour or so he found himself approaching the +pond, which, as has been already stated, lay on the border-line between +Malmaison and the lands of Richard Pennroyal. As he drew near the spot, he +saw at a distance the figure of a woman, also on horseback. It was +Kate--Mrs. Pennroyal. She was riding slowly in a direction nearly opposite +to his own, so that if they kept on they would meet on the borders of the +pond. + +Sir Archibald had not met this lady for many months; and when he recognized +her, his first impulse was perhaps to draw rein. Then he looked to see +whether that were her impulse likewise. But she held on her course; and +he, smiling in a defiant way, shook his bridle, and in a few moments they +were but half a dozen yards apart. There they paused, as it seemed, by +mutual consent. + +How lovely she looked! Sir Archibald saw it, and ground his teeth with a +kind of silent rage. She should have been his. + +"Good-day, Mrs. Richard Pennroyal!" + +"Good-day, Archibald!" + +His name, coming with such gentleness and sweet familiarity from her lips, +made his blood tingle. He had expected coldness and formality. + +"I had not looked forward to the honor of meeting you here," he said. + +"But we have met here before, I think." And so they had, in days upon which +Archibald now looked back as does an exile upon home. His horse moved +forward a few steps, and his rider only stopped him when he was within +arm's length. + +"That seems long ago; and yet, when I look at you, I could almost believe +it was but yesterday." + +"You have changed more than I," replied the lady, letting her eyes rest +upon him with a certain intentness. This was true enough, physically +speaking; the handsome boy was now a superb young man; but Archibald chose +to interpret her words figuratively, and he answered bitterly: + +"You may have changed little; but that little in you has caused whatever +change you find in me." + +"It is true, then, that you are angry with me? I had hoped otherwise," +said Mrs. Pennroyal, with a sad dignity that sat well upon her. + +"Angry with you!" broke out Archibald, his face flushing. "Has it been a +desire to keep my--my friendship that has caused you to--" + +Mrs. Pennroyal interrupted him, drawing herself up proudly. "Pardon me, +sir, I had no intention of forcing your good-will. If you will be my +enemy, please yourself, and perhaps I may learn to become yours." And she +turned her horse as she spoke. But Archibald, thus seemingly put in the +wrong, and unwilling now to terminate the interview so abruptly, pressed +his heel against his horse's side, and was again beside her. + +"You misunderstand me," said he. "What could I think? You will not deny +that your--that Richard Pennroyal has shown himself no friend of mine." + +"I shall deny nothing that you see fit to charge against me, sir," rejoined +the lady, still hurt and indignant, and the more irresistible. + +Archibald reflected that she was not, perhaps, justly responsible for the +malevolence of another person, even though that person were her husband; +and from this thought to thinking that she might, perhaps, be inclined to +sympathize against her husband and with himself, was an easy transition. +This perilous fancy made his pulses throb and his eyes gleam. He caught +her horse's bridle. + +"Do not go yet! Let us talk a little, since we are met." + +"What has Sir Archibald Malmaison to say to me?" + +"You called me 'Archibald' just now." + +"You called me 'Mrs. Richard Pennroyal'!" + +"Well--and so you are!" said he, between his teeth. + +"Do you think of me by that name?" she asked, turning her brown eyes on him +for a moment, and then looking away. + +"Kate!" + +She put out her beautiful hand, and he took it and carried it to his lips. +Thoughts fierce and sweet flew through his mind. But Mrs. Pennroyal, +having gained her immediate end (which, to do her justice, was probably +nothing worse than the gratification of a coquettish whim), knew how to +take care of herself. She drew her hand away. + +"There--well--you have been very unkind, Archibald. Have we not been +friends--have we not been together from the first? How could you believe +that I could wish you any harm?" + +"Ah, Kate, but you married him!" + +"Well, sir, I as good as asked you to marry me first, and you would not do +it." + +"You asked me!" + +"Yes; you have forgotten. It has all been so strange, you see. I hardly +know, even now, whether you are the Archibald I used to know." + +"But I know, very well," returned he, grimly. "And you are the wife of my +enemy, the man who is trying to ruin me. Kate," he broke off suddenly, +"how did Richard know that those papers were missing in our family? I told +you once--do you remember that day? And no one knew it except you." + +Mrs. Pennroyal would perhaps have preferred not to be asked this question. +But since it was asked, she was bound to make the best answer she could. + +"It was for that I wanted to see you to-day," she said, after a pause. "I +have been to blame, Archibald; but it was ignorantly. It was long +ago--before all these troubles began to occur: while we were yet on good +terms. Ah me! would we were so again!" + +"You told him, then?" + +"I did not know that I was betraying a secret. From what Richard said, I +thought that he knew it, or at least suspected it; and I merely added my +confirmation. Afterward, when I found how things were going, I begged him +not to use that knowledge. But it was too late. I could not be at rest +until I had told you, and asked you to forgive me." + +Archibald would not have believed this speech, if his head only had been +concerned in the matter. Unfortunately, such was not the case. He believed +it because he ardently wished to do so; and he forgave her the more +easily, because that implied having her hand in his again for a few +moments. + +"If I could only see you and Richard at peace again, I should be happy," +resumed Mrs. Pennroyal, with a sigh. + +"Is it for him you fear, or for me?" inquired Archibald, smiling. + +"The danger is yours," she answered, diplomatically. + +He shook his head, still smiling: "Dismiss your anxiety, Kate. There is no +danger for me or mine. Let Richard look to himself!" + +Mrs. Pennroyal was startled. She had looked upon the Malmaison case as +virtually hopeless. This hint of the contrary gave her a strong sensation, +not altogether unpleasurable. Richard was her husband, but he was not +nearly so young as Archibald, and as to looks!--there there was no +comparison. Archibald was simply the finest man in England. Perhaps Mrs. +Pennroyal tad never been passionately fond of her husband; and, on the +other hand, she had certainly liked Archibald very much. In the present +quarrel she had felt that the propriety of being on the winning side was +not diminished by the fact that it happened to be her husband's; but if it +should turn out that her husband's was not the winning side after +all--then there was matter for consideration. Of course, strictly +speaking, her husband's misfortunes must be her own; but in this instance +the nominal misfortune would be his failure to ruin Archibald, and Mrs. +Pennroyal thought she could sustain that. No, the sensation was certainly +not unpleasurable. But was it certain that Archibald was not mistaken? + +"I am very glad, for both our sakes," said she, at last. "I could never +have endured to take your name and estates away from you. Then that notion +that the papers were lost was a mistake?" + +"I can tell you nothing more," replied Archibald, looking at her. + +"Ah, you have not forgiven me--you do not trust me!" + +He checked his horse and hers, and turned full upon her: "Kate, you are the +wife of my enemy, I must remember that! If I found you playing a double +part between him and me, I should hate you more than I hate him; and then +... I should be capable of any crime. Well, I will not put it in your +power. You will know all soon enough. Meantime, I trust you in this--to +keep silence on what I have said to-day. Let him believe that he will +succeed until he knows that he has failed. Will you promise that?" + +Mrs. Pennroyal saw no harm in making this promise, but she did not see why +she should not make as great a favor as she could of granting it. + +"A wife should have no secrets from her husband, Archibald." + +"Have you never had a secret from him, Kate?" + +"You have no right to ask that!" + +Archibald laughed. "Are you as happy with him as the day is long?" + +She looked up for a moment, and their eyes met. "The days seem very long +sometimes," she said, almost beneath her breath. + +"This day?" he demanded, bending toward her. + +"Autumn days are short, you know," she said, smiling a little, with averted +face. + +"Do you often ride out in autumn?" + +"What else can I do, when my husband is away from home? I must go now--it +is late." + +"And your promise?" + +For the third time that afternoon she gave him her hand. Her color was +higher than usual, and her breathing somewhat uneven. She had not passed +unscathed through this interview. Archibald's was the stronger spirit, and +she felt his power--felt it, and liked to feel it! And he, as he held her +warm and delicate hand in his own, was conscious of a strange tumult in +his heart. Was fate, which he had hitherto found so adverse, going to +change at last, and yield him everything at once--revenge and love in the +same breath? A revenge consummated through love were sweet indeed. + +They parted at length, and rode away in opposite directions. This was their +first meeting, but it was not their last by many. + + + + +XI. + + +Meanwhile the lawyers were keeping at work with commendable diligence, and +Mr. Pennroyal was counting his chickens as hatched, and was as far as +possible from suspecting the underplot which was going on around him. On +the contrary, it seemed to him that he was becoming at last the assured +favorite of fortune. For this gentleman's life had not been, in all +respects, so prosperous as it appeared. To begin with, he had had a +deplorable weakness for dicing and card-playing, which had frequently +brought him in large sums, but which had ended by costing twenty times as +much as they had won for him. He gave up these forms of diversion, +therefore, and resolved to amass a fortune in a more regular manner. He +studied the stock-market profoundly, until he felt himself sufficiently +master of the situation, and when he entered the lists as a financier. He +bought and sold, and did his very best to buy cheap and to sell dear. He +made several lucky hits; but in the long run he found that the balance was +setting steadily against him. All his ready money was gone, and mortgages +began to settle down like birds of ill-omen upon his house and lands. It +was at this period that he married Kate Battledown; and with the money +that she brought him he began to retrieve his losses, and again the +horizon brightened. Alas! the improvement was only temporary. Ill-luck set +in once more, and more inveterately than ever. Kate's good money went +after his bad money, and neither returned. A good deal of it is said to +have found its way into the pockets of Major Bolingbroke, his second in +the duel. The ill-omened birds settled down once more, until they covered +the roof and disfigured all the landscape. + +To add to his troubles, he did not find that comfort and consolation in his +matrimonial relations which he would fain have had. It is true that he +married his wife first of all for her money; but he was far from +insensible to her other attractions, and, so far from wearying of them, +they took a stronger and stronger hold upon him, until this cold, +sarcastic, and unsocial man grew to be nothing less than uxorious. But his +wife recompensed his devotion but shabbily; her position had not fulfilled +her anticipations, she was angry at the loss of her money, and upon the +whole she repented having taken an irrevocable step too hastily. She felt +herself to be the intellectual equal of her husband, and she was not long +in improving the advantage she possessed of not caring anything about him. +In a word, she bullied the unfortunate gentleman unmercifully, and he +kissed the rod with infatuation. + +This state of things was in force up to the time of Mrs. Pennroyal's +meeting with Archibald, as above described. After that there was a marked +and most enchanting alteration in Mrs. Pennroyal's demeanor toward her +husband. She became all at once affectionate and sympathetic. She +flattered him, she deferred to him, she consulted him, and drew him on +with delicate encouragements to consult her, to confide in her all the +private details of his affairs, which he had never done before, and to +intrust to her safekeeping every inmost fear and aspiration of his mind. +At every point she met him with soothing agreement and ingenuous +suggestion; and in particular did she echo and foster his enmity against +Sir Archibald Malmaison, and urged him forward in his suit, bidding him +spare no expense, since success was assured, and affirming her readiness +to mortgage her very jewels, if need were, to pay the eminent legal +gentlemen who were to conduct the case. + +This behavior of hers afforded her husband especial gratification, for he +had always been a little jealous of Sir Archibald, and indeed one of the +impelling motives to the present action had been a desire to pay his +grudge in this respect. But the discovery that Mrs. Pennroyal hated the +young baronet quite as much as he did, filled his soul with balm; so that +it only needed the successful termination of the lawsuit to render his +bliss complete and overflowing. + +Well, the great case came on; and all the nobility and gentry of the three +counties, and others besides, were there to see and hear. There were bets +that the trial would not be over in seven days, and odds were taken +against its lasting seven weeks. Society forgot its ennui and settled +itself complacently to listen to a piquant story of scandal, intrigue, +imposition, and robbery in high life. + +The reader knows the sequel. Never was there such a disappointment. The +learned brethren of the law opened their mouths only to shut them again. + +For after the famous Mr. Adolphus, counsel for the plaintiff, had +eloquently and ingeniously stated his case and given a picturesque and +appetizing outline of the evidence that he was going to call, and the +facts that he was going to prove; after this preliminary flourish was +over, behold, up got Mr. Sergeant Runnington, who appeared on behalf of +the defendant, and let fall some remarks which, though given in a +sufficiently matter-of-fact and every-day tone, fell like a thunder-clap +upon the ears of all present, save two persons; and produced upon the +Honorable Richard Pennroyal an effect as if a hand-grenade had been let +off within his head, and his spine drawn neatly out through the back of +his neck. + +I cannot give the learned Sergeant's speech here, but the upshot of it was +that the plaintiff had no case; inasmuch as he relied, to make good his +claim, on the absence of any direct evidence establishing the identity of +the late Sir Clarence Butt Malmaison, and the decease of that illegitimate +personage whom the plaintiffs sought to confound with him. + +What could have induced the plaintiff to imagine that such direct evidence +was not forthcoming, Sergeant Runnington confessed himself at a loss to +understand. He had cherished hopes, for the sake of common decency, for +the sake of the respect due to the Bench, for the sake of human nature, +that his learned brother on the other side would have been able to hold +forth a challenge which it would be, in some degree, worth his while to +answer; he regretted sincerely to say that those hopes had not been by any +means fulfilled. + +Had he been previously made aware of the course of attack which the +plaintiff had had the audacity to adopt, he could have saved him and other +persons much trouble, and the Court some hours of its valuable time, by +the utterance of a single word, or, indeed, without the necessity for any +words at all. Really, this affair, about which so much noise had been +made, was so ridiculously simple and empty that he almost felt inclined to +apologize to the Court and to the gentlemen of the jury for showing them +how empty and simple it was. But, indeed, he feared that the apology, if +there was to be one, was not due from his side. + +It was not for him to decide upon the motives which had prompted the +plaintiff to bring this action. He should be sorry to charge any one with +malice, with unconscionable greed, with treacherous and impudent rapacity. +It belonged to the plaintiff to explain why he had carried this case into +court, and what were his grounds for supposing that it could be made to +issue to his credit and advantage. + +For his own part, he should content himself with producing the documents +which the learned counsel on the other side had professed himself so +anxious to get a sight of, and to humbly request that the plaintiff be +nonsuited with costs. + +Thus ended the great trial. People could hardly, at first, believe their +own ears and eyes; but when the documents were acknowledged to be +perfectly genuine and correct, when the learned Mr. Adolphus relinquished +the case, not without disgust, and when the Court, after some very severe +remarks upon the conduct of the plaintiff, had concluded a short address +by adopting the learned Sergeant Runnington's suggestion as to the +costs--when all was settled, in short, in the utterly absurd space of two +hours and three quarters, then at last did society awake to a perception +of the fact that it had been most egregiously and outrageously swindled, +and that the Honorable Richard Pennroyal was the swindler. + +Nobody was at the pains to conceal these sentiments from the honorable +gentleman, and he left the court with as little sympathy as ever +disappointed suitor had. + +Poor man! he suffered enough, in more ways than one, on that disastrous +day, yet one shame and agony, the sharpest of all, was spared him--he did +not see the look and the smile that were exchanged between his wife and +Sir Archibald Malmaison, when the decision of the Court was made known. + + + + +XII. + + +We are now drawing near the last scene of this strange and sinister +history. The action confines itself almost entirely to the three chief +figures. + +If Pennroyal had been twenty years younger when this catastrophe fell upon +him, it might merely have had the effect of enraging him; but he was near +fifty years of age, and old for his years, and it seems to have +overwhelmed and cowed him. The cat still in his house, like a rat in his +hole, saying nothing, and noticing nothing, but drinking a great deal of +brandy. The fiery stuff did not excite him; it merely had the effect of +keeping him from sinking into unconsciousness of his misery. He knew that +he was a ruined man, and that it was too late to retrieve his ruin. Means +and energy were alike lacking, and could never be supplied. He sat in his +chair, and brooded over all his life, and realized the utterness of his +failure; and nothing could rouse him--not even the intelligence that his +enemy, Sir Archibald, having by the death of his aunt, Miss Tremount, come +into an inheritance of upward of seventy thousand pounds, was buying up +the mortgages, and would probably foreclose on him when he got him +thoroughly in his power. Archibald had beaten him, and he would fight no +more. Let him enjoy his triumph, and push it to the utmost. There was one +point, at all events, on which Richard had the better of him, and this +thought brought with it the sole spark of comfort that these evil days +afforded him. He had his wife--the woman to win whom Sir Archibald would +have given all his lands and fortune, and his soul into the bargain. Yes, +Kate was his, and his only; and it was the resolve to keep her his, and +thus spite his enemy as long as possible, that withheld Richard from +seeking relief in suicide at this juncture. So Providence leads men from +agony to worse agony, with intent, doubtless, to torture out of them the +evil which they will not voluntarily relinquish. + +One winter evening, Richard sitting brooding and sipping brandy as usual, +with a lamp burning on the table beside him, and the embers of the fire +flickering on the broad hearth at his feet, there came a light, measured +step and the rustle of a dress, and he knew that his wife was in the room. +He raised his haggard visage and looked at her. What a goddess of beauty +she seemed! How young, graceful, lovely! How pure and clear were the tints +of her face, how lustrous dark her eyes, how soft her ample hair! How +peerless she was! and all she was--all this treasure of fragrant +womanhood--was his, and not another's. Ay, and his willingly; she really +loved him, he thought; she had shown it of late; she cared for him, old, +ruined, and degraded though he was. It was a strange thing; it was a +pleasant thing. Perhaps, he thought, if he had had such a creature to love +him in earlier days, he might not have been where he was now. But then, in +earlier days, he was not a ruined and wasted man. + +"Kate!" + +"Yes, Richard." + +"Oh, never speak so formally! Am I not Dick, thy own dear old Dick--eh?" + +"I did not mean to be formal." + +"Come and sit here beside me--no, here, on the arm of my chair. It was good +of you to come in here. I was getting lonesome. I wanted my Kate to tell +me she loved me--eh?" + +"I only came in to say good-night. It is late." + +"Late?--pooh! It's not nine o'clock. Stay and be sociable a bit. There, I +won't touch another drop if you'll stay." + +"I'm tired; I have a headache. You don't want me." + +"Not want you! Ay, but I do though! Without you, Kate, I should have been a +dead man weeks ago. Not want you!" + +"Nonsense! what do you mean? You have drunk too much already, I fear." + +"I mean that, but for you, I'd have blown my brains out the day of the +trial--after I'd blown out his, the scoundrel! But since I have you, I +know a way to worry him better than by blowing his brains out. To know +that you are mine is hell to him. And in that hell I'll keep him, as long +as my body and soul will hang together!" + +"What should he care whether I am yours or not?" + +"Because he loves you--that's why he cares! Ay, you needn't start. He loves +you, and it's hell to him to feel that another man has you. How many +thousand pounds do you think he'd give to kiss this little hand as I kiss +it now? I wish he could see me do it!" + +"Nonsense, you are crazy.... And so you only care for me to spite him?" + +"No, not that. God knows--if there is a God--I love you, Kate, with all +there is left of me--except what hates him! That's my life--love for you +and hate for him. And I believe I hate him less than I love you, though +that's saying a great deal!" + +"Oh, I think you love that brandy better than you do me." + +"You do? If you say so, I'll never touch it again!" + +"Oh, I don't care. I don't want you to give up anything that makes you +comfortable." + +"Ay, you do love me, don't you, Kate?" + +"Come, Richard, our courting days are over. And I must go. Good-by!" + +"No, don't go! I feel, somehow, as if I couldn't spare you to-night." + +"Shall I pour you out another glass?" + +"Yes--no! I'll drink no more to-night. Kate...." + +"Well?" + +"I'm getting old. In the natural course of things I should die long before +you. I sha'n't die yet a while--but some time, you know. Will you promise +something?" + +"I'll promise nothing to-night. I dare say you'll outlive me." + +"Promise, come what will, you'll never marry him; eh, Kate?" + +"Really, Richard, I--I never heard anything so foolish! I can't stay to +hear any more such talk. You are not your right self. There--let me go!" + +"Go?--go where? Gad, I've a mind to say you sha'n't go! Well, yes, I didn't +mean it; forgive me, Kate! Only you're my wife, you know, and I'm your +husband; and I love you; and somehow I feel afraid to let you out of my +sight--as if I might not see you again. Well, then.... But one thing you +shall do--you shall give me a kiss before you go! Else you sha'n't go at +all!" + +Thus compelled, Mrs. Pennroyal kissed her husband, or let herself be kissed +by him; and then she escaped from the room, with a shudder and a sinking +of the heart. + +Richard Pennroyal sat there alone; the embers of the fire were now gray and +lifeless. He stirred them with his foot, and they fell into ashes. He felt +cold. How still the house was; how lonely! And he had no pleasant thoughts +to keep him company now that his wife had left him; but many thoughts, +many memories that were far from pleasant, were lying in wait for him in +the dark corners of his mind, ready to leap out upon him if he gave them a +chance. Among them, why did the foolish face of crazy old Jane, his wife +of many years ago, persist in obtruding itself? Why did it wear that look +of stupid, unreasonable reproach? yes, unreasonable; for how was he to +blame? He had but let things take their course; no more than that ... well, +scarcely more! And yet that face, that silly old face, that dull, +lifeless, drowned old face, kept meeting his in the dark corners, turn +where he would. If he closed his eyes, it was still visible through the +eyelids, and seemed nearer than ever. + +So he opened his eyes; and there hovered the face, in the gloom beyond the +lamp. What an expression! Was it signalling him to come away? Was it +mocking him for fearing to come? Fearing? He was not afraid. He was a +Pennroyal; he had noble blood in his veins; though he was now a bit old +and shaky, and had, perhaps, been taking a little too much brandy of late. +But--afraid! not he. Why, he would follow the thing, if it came to that; +follow it to.... + +He rose slowly from his chair, still keeping his eyes steadily fixed upon +it, and moved toward it, with his hands outstretched. He did not get any +nearer to it; it was retreating before him, like a will-o'-the-wisp. He +kept on, crossing the length of the room; it seemed to pass through the +substance of the door, and yet he saw it beyond. He opened the door +softly; yes, there it was in the hall. A pistol was lying on the little +table beside the door, which Richard knew to be loaded. Mechanically, and +without looking at it, he took it up as he passed. Then down the hall on +tiptoe, the shadowy, unmeaning face marshalling him the way, and leering +at him if he hesitated. Ay, he would follow it to the end, now. +Fortunately, the house-door stood open; there would be no noise in getting +out. Out they glided, pursuer and pursued, into the cold stillness of the +night. There was a moon, but it was dim and low down. The shadows seemed +more real than the light. There was no snow to betray footprints. But +whither would this chase lead? It seemed to be heading toward the +northwest--toward Malmaison; ay, and toward the pool that lay on the +borders of the estate. Richard shuddered when he thought of that pool, and +of the grisly significance of his being led thither by this witless, +idiotic old phantom of his dead wife's face. Stay, the face seemed to have +got itself a body within the last few moments: it was a gray figure that +now flitted on before him; gray and indistinct in the dim moonlight, with +noiseless, waving drapery. It was going the very path that old Jane had +gone that day, many years ago--her last day on earth; and yet, was she not +here again to-night? And she was leading him to the pool; and what then? + +Swiftly she flitted onward, some seventy paces in advance apparently, now +lost in shadow, now reappearing in the light. She never turned nor +beckoned, but kept straight on, and Richard had much ado to keep pace with +her. At length he caught the gleam of the dark pool some little distance +beyond. He set his teeth, and came on. The gray phantom had paused at +last. But was that Jane after all? Not Jane's was that tall and graceful +figure. This must be some other woman's ghost. Was it a ghost? And if so, +was that another--that man who issued from behind a clump of bushes, and +came toward her? The two figures met; the man took the woman in his arms, +and kissed her many times on the lips and eyes. Kisses! ay, those were +kisses indeed! Now they seemed to be conversing together; his arms were +round her waist. The moonlight revealed his features; it was the enemy--it +was Archibald Malmaison! And the woman was not the dead wife, but the +living one. + +"We are perfectly safe, my darling," Archibald was saying. "The room was +all prepared for you, and there is no possibility of discovery. There will +be a great outcry and confusion for a week or so, and they will search for +you, dead and alive; and I along with the rest, the better to disarm +suspicion. It will be settled, at last, that you must have escaped to some +foreign country; or, maybe, Richard himself will fall under suspicion of +having made away with you, as he did with his first wife. Sooner or later, +at any rate, they will give up the search; and, whether or not, we shall +always be free to each other. You could not persuade any one at Malmaison +to so much as put his nose into the east chamber, and as to the other, you +and I are the only living creatures who even dream of its existence. +Darling, you will not mind being a prisoner for a little while, since love +will be a prisoner with you?" + +The woman clung to him tremulously. "I did not know it would be so hard to +leave him," she murmured. "I hate him, and yet it was hard. He is so +wretched; and he is all alone. What will he do now? He kept saying that he +loved me and asking me to love him, and to call him Dick; and ... he made +me kiss him. Oh, Archie, I feel that kiss beneath all yours. I shall +always feel it!" + +"No, this shall make you forget it--" + +"Hush! I hear something!" + +"You are nervous--" + +"Ah! look! It is he. Now God have mercy!" + +Sir Archibald looked; and there, indeed, stood the tall figure of the +Honorable Richard Pennroyal, without his hat, and with an expression on +his face that was a living curse to behold. And yet that face smiled and +bowed with a hideous politeness. + +"Good-evening, Sir Archibald. Will you permit me to inquire whether you are +armed?" + +Sir Archibald put his hand within his vest, and drew out a pistol. + +"Ah, that comes in very conveniently. Now, let us see. Mrs. Pennroyal, +since you are my wife, perhaps you will be good enough to give us the +word?--No, she insists upon fainting. Well, then, we must manage the best +way we can. But let me entreat you to take your aim carefully, my dear Sir +Archibald, for if you miss it will involve unpleasant consequences for +Mrs. Pennroyal as well as for yourself. Now, I will toss up this pebble, +and when it strikes the surface of the water we will fire. Is it agreed? +Here goes, then." + +He had the pebble in his hand, and was in act to toss it, when the baronet, +breaking silence for the first time, said: + +"Mr. Pennroyal, I am willing that this should go no further." + +"Scoundrel and coward!" snarled the other, his deadly fury breaking in a +moment through the thin mockery of courtesy; "come up then, and be shot +like the cur you are!" + +There could be no more words. Sir Archibald raised his pistol; his +antagonist threw the pebble high in the air, and as it smote the smooth +surface of the pool in its descent, both pulled trigger. Richard +Pennroyal's weapon missed fire; Sir Archibald's bullet passed through his +enemy's heart; he swayed backward and forward for a moment, and then fell +on his face, hurling his pistol as he fell at the prostrate figure of his +wife, who lay huddled on the ground; but it flew wide, and struck Sir +Archibald on the temple. Before the ripples caused by the pebble's fall +had died away, Pennroyal had ceased to live. + +Mrs. Pennroyal was still apparently insensible, but as Sir Archibald +approached her she partly raised herself up, and looked first at him and +then at the dead body. + +"It was not worth while," she said. + +"It's done," he murmured. "Are you hurt?" + +"What shall we do?" + +"We must get back to Malmaison." + +"We cannot leave him here." + +Sir Archibald bent over the body of his enemy, and turned the face upward. +It wore a calm and happy expression. + +"I will sink him in the pool," he said. "His will not be the first dead +body that has lain there." + +He stooped accordingly, and getting his hands beneath the arms of the +corpse, dragged it to one of the flights of steps that led down to the +water. Kate sat watching him with her hands clasped in her lap. She heard +a splashing sound and a ripple. Sir Archibald came back, picked up the +pistol, and flung it also into the pool. + +"The water will freeze to-night," he said, "and the fishes will do the +rest. Now, come!" + +In a secret chamber at Malmaison lamps were burning softly in a dozen +sconces of burnished silver round the walls. Their light fell on luxurious +furniture, fit for the boudoir of a lovely and noble lady. The +broad-backed ebony chairs were upholstered in delicate blue damask; clips +and salvers of chased gold stood on the inlaid cabinet; the floor was +covered with richly-tinted Persian rugs and soft-dressed furs; a warm fire +glowed on the hearth, and upon the table was set out a supper such as +might have awakened an appetite in a Roman epicure. A tall mirror, at the +farther end of the room, reflected back the lights and the color and the +sparkle, while in a niche at one side stood rigidly upright an antique +suit of armor, its gauntlets seeming to rest meditatively upon the hilt of +its sword, while from between the closed bars of the helmet one might +fancy that the dark spirit of its former inmate was gazing grimly forth +upon all this splendor and luxury, and passing a ghastly jest thereon. But +it was as fair and comfortable a scene as perhaps this world can show, and +well calculated to make the sternest ascetic in love with life. + +Through the massive oaken door, clamped with polished steel bands, entered +now two pallid and haggard persons--a man and a woman. The light striking +on their eyes made them blink and look aside. The man led the woman to the +fire, and seated her upon a low chair; and taking a blue satin coverlid +from the bed in the recess, he folded it tenderly round her shoulders. She +scarcely seemed to notice where she was, or what was being done; she sat +with her eyes and face fixed, shivering now and then, and with her mind +apparently preoccupied with some ugly recollection. The man then went to +the table and poured out a glass of wine, and held it to the woman's lips, +and after a little resistance she drank some of it. + +"You are as safe here," said he, "as if you were in an island of the South +Sea. I will see that you want for nothing while you have to remain here." + + +"What is the use?" she asked, with a kind of apathetic peevishness. + +"Before long we shall be able to go away," he continued. "My darling, don't +be disheartened. All our happiness is to come." + +"I can never forget it," she said, with a shiver. "What is the use? I can +never get away from him now. Do you think the water is frozen yet?" + +"You must not think of that at all. When you are warm, and have drunk some +wine, you will not feel this nervousness. Nothing has been done that is +worth regretting, or that could have been helped. Kate, I love you more +than ever." + +"What is the use?" she repeated, in a dull tone. "It was not worth while." + +There was a pause. + +"I must leave you for a few minutes," he said gently. "It is necessary that +I should show myself to Lady Malmaison and to the servants. No one knows +that I have left the house. By the time I come back you will have got +warm, and we will sup together. Don't be downhearted, my darling." + +He bent forward to kiss her. With a sudden gesture of aversion she pushed +him back. "There is blood upon your forehead!" she said, in a sharp +whisper. + +"Only a scratch--I had forgotten it," he answered, trying to smile. "Well, +then, in half an hour, at the utmost, we will meet again." + +She made no rejoinder; and, after standing a moment looking down at her, he +turned and went out. He closed the oaken door behind him, and locked it, +then felt his way along the stone passage, and let himself out by the +concealed entrance. He put the silver rod in its receptacle beneath the +floor, and walked toward the room adjoining. On the threshold of that room +he paused a moment, leaning against the door-post. A sensation of sluggish +weariness had come over him; his head felt full and heavy. He roused +himself presently, and went on trying to remember whither he was going. By +the time he had reached the top of the great staircase, the idea that he +was in search of seemed to have come to him. He descended the stairs and +went directly to Lady Malmaison's room. It was then about eleven o'clock. +The good lady was playing cards with her companion, her spaniel sleeping +on her knees. She looked up in astonishment, for Sir Archibald seldom +honored her with a visit. + +"Mamma," said he, going up to her chair, and standing there awkwardly, +"where is Kate?" + +"My son! what has happened?" + +"Was she married to-day?" pursued the baronet, in an aggrieved tone. + +Lady Malmaison and the companion exchanged a terrified glance. + +"I think it is very unkind, then," declared the young man, reproachfully; +"for Richard promised me I should be groomsman--and now they have gone and +got married while I was asleep. It was unkind of Kate, and I don't love +her; but I don't believe it was Richard's fault, because he is good, and I +love him." + + * * * * * + +"Ring the bell, Simpson," said Lady Malmaison, in a broken voice, "and tell +them to send for Dr. Rollinson." + + + + +XIII. + + +During all the months of consternation, speculation, and vague hue-and-cry +that followed the mysterious disappearance of the Honorable Mr. and Mrs. +Pennroyal, it never for one moment occurred to any one to suggest any +connection between that unexplained circumstance and the equally curious +but unpertinent fact that poor Sir Archibald had "gone daft" once more. + +How should it? It was known that Sir Archibald had been in his room all +that day and evening up to the time when he came into his mother's chamber +without his wits. It was true that there had been no love lost of late +between the houses of Malmaison and Pennroyal, but that was neither here +nor there. + +The notion that the vanished persons had met with foul play was never +seriously entertained, it being generally agreed that Mr. Pennroyal had +ample reasons for not wishing to remain in a place where his credit and +his welcome were alike worn out. In all likelihood, therefore, the pair +had slunk away to foreign parts, and were living under an assumed name +somewhere on the Continent, or in America. + +It was not surprising that they had gone together, for it was known that +they were on very good terms with each other, especially during the last +year. An idle story of a groom, who affirmed that he had been present at +an interview between Mrs. Pennroyal and Sir Archibald, on horseback, a few +weeks before the trial, when, according to this narrator, they had +appeared to be rather friendly than otherwise, was not thought to be in +any way to the point. + +So the months passed away, and the years followed the months; the house and +the lands of the Pennroyals were sold, and their very name began to be +forgotten. The daft baronet and his aged mother went on living at +Malmaison in a quiet and uneventful manner, seeing very few people, and +doing nothing except allow their large property to grow larger. Yet, in +spite of their retiring inoffensiveness, a shadow seemed to brood over the +ancient house. + +The old story of Sir Archibald's past exploits in the magical line, and of +his ancestors before him, were still revived occasionally round evening +firesides; and it was submitted whether his present condition were not a +judgment upon him for having tampered with forbidden mysteries. + +In the opinion of these fireside juries, there was a curse upon Malmaison, +especially upon that part of it which contained the east chamber. That +room was haunted, and had never been haunted so badly as during the few +days immediately following Sir Archibald's loss of memory. + +It may have been a demon's carousal over the sad plight of the poor, +foolish young baronet. At all events shrieks had been heard, faint and +muffled, but unmistakable, proceeding from that region, when everybody +knew that no living soul was there or could be there; but all the servants +at Malmaison could swear to the sounds. Ay, the place was accursed. + +Late on the night of the 22d of January, 1833, Sir Archibald found himself +mounting the staircase of Malmaison, with but an indistinct idea of how he +came to be doing so. He could not recollect whether he had seen his mother +and the servants or not. No wonder if his thoughts had been a little +absent, with such a dark and burdensome secret as that which lay upon his +soul. But, of course, he must have seen them. He had left Kate with the +intention of doing so, within this very hour; and how should he be coming +up-stairs, unless from the execution of that purpose? His mind was busy +with many projects. It would probably be thought that Mr. and Mrs. +Pennroyal had left the country to escape creditors. If only the pond +froze, and the cold weather held on for a week or two, there would be no +trace that could lead to a suspicion of anything else. For himself, he +would find no difficulty in proving an alibi, if it came to that. And +after all, he had but acted upon compulsion, and in self-defence, and upon +equal terms. He was guilty of no crime, except--well, call it a crime; he +was willing to bear the brunt of that. So they would be able to get away +soon, and in Italy, Spain, somewhere, anywhere, they could live and be +happy many years. Perhaps after a time they could venture to marry and +return openly to England. There were numberless and indefinite +possibilities in their favor. Life was all they wanted, and life they had. +They were both young; the gloom of this unlucky tragedy would soon be +dispelled. Kate had been nervous and distraught when he left her, and no +wonder, poor love! but wine, and food, and warmth would soon bring the +color back to her cheeks and the light to her eyes. Lovely Kate! sweet, +wayward, tender, haughty, but his own at last--his own in spite of earth +and heaven! Yes, he and she would have their will and take their pleasure +in spite of God and man; and if God would kill them, then, at any rate, +they would die together, and in each other's arms. + +With these and many like thoughts flying through his mind, Sir Archibald +Malmaison reached the east chamber struck a light, and lit the candle that +stood on the table beside the door. He looked at his watch--half-past +eleven; he was within his time then; he had been absent less than half an +hour. What was Kate doing, he wondered? He stopped a moment, picturing her +to himself in some luxurious attitude; but his impatience would not suffer +him to delay. He quickly got the silver rod from its receptacle, opened +the concealed door, and went in, carrying the lighted candle in his hand. +In a moment he was at the inner oaken door; it resisted his attempt to +open it. Then he recollected that he had locked it for additional +security. The key was in the lock; he turned it, and entered. + +An involuntary cry of surprise escaped him. Instead of the soft blaze of +light that he had expected, the room was full of a heavy darkness, that +seemed to rush out to meet him, and almost overwhelmed the feeble glimmer +of his wretched candle. And why was it so deadly cold? Where had gone that +cheerful fire which was burning so ardently on the hearth half an hour +ago? Could Kate have put out the lights and gone off? Impossible, since +the doors were fastened. Ah, there she was! + +She was kneeling with her face bowed forward on her arms, which rested on +the seat of one of the low chairs. Her attitude was that of passionate +prayer. Her thick brown hair was unfastened, and fell over her shoulders. + +She made no movement. It was strange! Was she praying? Could she be asleep? + +He took a step or two, and then stopped. Still no movement. + +"Kate!" he said in a hushed voice; and as she did not answer, he spoke more +loudly: "Kate, I have come back; and I've a mind to scold you for letting +the fire go out, and startling me with this darkness. What are you doing +on your knees? Come, my darling, we want no prayers to-night. Kate ... +will you give me a kiss now? + +"Perhaps she may have fainted. Poor darling, she must have fainted!" + +He went close up to her, and laid his hand on her shoulder: he seemed to +grasp nothing but the empty stuff of the dress. With a terrified, +convulsive motion, he pulled her round, so that the head was disturbed +from its position on the arms, and the ghastly mystery was revealed to his +starting eyeballs. The spectacle was not one to be described. He uttered a +weak, wavering scream, and stood there, unable to turn away his gaze. + +I must confess that I do not care to pursue this narrative any farther: +though it is just at this point, according to my venerable friend Dr. +Rollinson, that the real scientific interest begins. He was constantly +with Sir Archibald during the eight or nine months that he remained in +life after this episode; and made some highly important and edifying notes +on his "case," besides writing down the unhappy baronet's confessions, as +given from time to time. After his death, the Doctor made an autopsy of +the brain, and discovered--I care not what! It was not the mystery of the +man's soul, I am convinced. + +I have adhered strictly to the facts throughout. Of course some of the +conversations have been imagined, but always on an adequate foundation of +truth or logical inference. All the dates and "coincidences" are genuine. +But, indeed, I prefer fiction, and am resolved never in future to make an +excursion into the crude and improbable regions of reality. + + +The End. + + + + +Footnotes + + +1. Dr. Forbes Rollinson's death occurred while these pages were in +preparation. This is not the place to add my tribute of affection and +appreciation to the many memoirs of him which have appeared in the public +prints. My first acquaintance with him dates but little more than three +years prior to his death; but the impression he produced upon me of +cordiality, culture, and ability will remain with me while I live. He was +a grand old gentleman of a school that is now bygone; a scholar of vast +attainments, and a Christian in heart and life, if not in profession. +Although he had far exceeded the ordinary span of life--he was born, I +believe, in the last century--he showed few signs of physical, and none of +mental infirmity; and his sudden and painless decease was quite +unexpected. + +I subjoin extracts from a letter written to me on the subject of the +present narrative: + +"WELLESLEY HOUSE, QUEEN'S GATE, W. + +"MY DEAR H.: I must say I fail to perceive the force of your objections. +What is fiction, at best, but an imitation of truth--and a pretty poor +imitation, too, as a general thing?... You ought to be glad to be saved +the trouble of inventing.... In the matter of love-making and adventure I +have nothing to say, but scientific truths are not lightly to be tampered +with. 'Round off the corners' by all means, if you think fit, but do not +suffer your artistic proclivities to lead you into a misrepresentation of +the essential facts.... The people are all dead, and the estate is broken +up, so you need have no hesitation regarding names. Literary value aside, +the thing would be worth nothing if the means of verifying it were +withheld.... + +"Ever faithfully yours, + +"June 3d, 1878. E. FORBES ROLLINSON." + +2. Now also the late: _vide supra_. + +3. 3. In July, 1867. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Archibald Malmaison, by Julian Hawthorne + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ARCHIBALD MALMAISON *** + +***** This file should be named 7344.txt or 7344.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/7/3/4/7344/ + +Produced by Curtis Weyant, Eric Eldred, Charles Franks and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Archibald Malmaison + +Author: Julian Hawthorne + +Release Date: January, 2005 [EBook #7344] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on April 17, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ARCHIBALD MALMAISON *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis Weyant, Eric Eldred, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +Archibald Malmaison + +by Julian Hawthorne + +Author of "Garth," "Sebastian Strome," "Dust," Etc. + + + + +INTRODUCTORY. + + + +When I was a child, I used to hope my fairy-stories were true. Since +reaching years of discretion, I have preferred acknowledged fiction. This +inconsistency, however, is probably rather apparent than real. Experience +has taught me that the greater the fairy-story the less the truth; and +contrariwise, that the greater the truth the less the fairy-story. In +other words, the artistic graces of romance are irreconcilable with the +crude straightforwardness of fact. The idealism of childhood, believing +that all that is most beautiful must on that very account be most true, +clamors accordingly for truth. The knowledge of maturity, which has +discovered that nothing that is true (in the sense of being existent) can +be beautiful, deprecates truth beyond everything. What happens, we find, +is never what ought to happen; nor does it happen in the right way or +season. In palliation of this hardship, the sublime irony of fate grants +us our imagination, wherewith we create little pet worlds of poetry and +romance, in which everything is arranged in neat harmonies and surprises, +to gratify the scope of our little vision. The actual world, the real +universe, may, indeed, be picturesque and perfect beyond the grandest of +our imaginative miniatures; but since the former can be revealed to us +only in comparatively infinitesimal portions, the miniatures still have +the best of it. + +To preface a story with the information that it is true, is not, therefore, +the way to recommend it. Your hearer's life, and those of his friends, are +enough true stories for him; what he wants of you is merciful fiction. +Destiny, to his apprehension, is always either vapid, or clumsy, or +brutal; and he feels certain that, do your worst, you can never rival the +brutality, the clumsiness, or the vapidity of destiny. If you are silly, +he can at least laugh at you; if you are clumsy or brutal, he has his +remedy; and meanwhile there is always the chance that you may turn out to +be graceful and entertaining. But to bully him with facts is like asking +him to live his life over again; and the civilized human being has yet to +be found who would not rather die than do that. + +No; we are all spontaneously sure that no story-teller, though he were a +Timon of Athens double distilled, can ever be so unsympathetic and +unnatural as destiny, who tells the only story that never winds up. We +cannot understand destiny; we never know to what lengths she may go: but +the story-teller we know inside and out; he is only a possible ourself, +and we defy him to do us any serious harm. I trust I am rendering my +meaning clear, and that no one will suppose that in making this onslaught +upon truth, I have anything else in view than truth as applied to what are +called stories. With truth scientific, moral, religious, I am at present +in nowise concerned. Only, I have no respect for the weakness that will +outrage a promising bit of narrative for the sake of keeping to the facts. +Imbecile! the facts are given you, like the block of marble or the +elements of a landscape, as material for the construction of a work of +art. Which would you rather be, a photographer or Michael Angelo? "_Non +vero ma ben trovato_" should be your motto; and if you refuse to kill +your heroine on the Saturday night because, forsooth, she really did, +despite all dramatic propriety, survive till Monday morning--why, please +yourself; but do not bring your inanities to me! + +I have now to reconcile this profession of faith with the incongruous fact +that the following story is a true one. True it is, in whole and in part; +furthermore, the events took place in the present century, and within a +hundred miles of London. But let me observe, in the first place, that, +although a true tale, it is nevertheless strange and interesting to an +unusual degree; and, secondly, that this interest and strangeness mainly +depend, not upon the succession of incidents, but upon the subjective +condition--character it cannot be termed--of Archibald Malmaison himself. +This being the case, it follows that the greater part of the objections +above insisted upon fall to the ground. What goes on inside a man must +needs be accepted as it is revealed to us: to invent psychological +attributes does not lie within the province of a romancer. His skill and +power are confined to so selecting and arranging the incidents as to +provide his psychological data with the freest possible development. In +the present case I might easily have devised a stage and a series of +events for Malmaison, which would have brought his mysterious affection +into somewhat more prominent and picturesque relief. But that affection is +itself so absorbing a problem, that the fashion of its statement becomes +of comparatively small import; and I may add that the setting furnished by +nature happens on this occasion to answer all practical purposes tolerably +well. Moreover, I am not altogether a free agent in the matter. The friend +by whose permission I tell the tale is of opinion that no liberties ought +to be taken with its form, any more than with what he is pleased to call +its "physiological characteristics." The main significance of the +narrative being, according to him, of a scientific or pathological kind, +it would be hostile to scientific interests to depart from historical +accuracy in its presentation. From the professional dictum of a man like +Dr. Forbes Rollinson there can, of course, be no appeal, and if I am to +write the account at all, it is but fair that in so doing I should respect +the wishes of him who is the lawful proprietor of it. I have thought it +but fair to myself, however, to begin by offering this explanation. I feel +more or less hampered by the conditions enjoined upon me, and, besides, I +do not agree with Dr. Rollinson's theory of the phenomena. In the present +state of our knowledge, no theory on such subjects can pretend to be more +than hypothetically correct; and my prejudices are opposed to what is +known as the materialistic explanation of the universe. With, all respect +for the validity of science within its proper sphere, I do not conceive +that its judgments are entitled to paramount consideration when they +attempt to settle the problems of psychology. There are mysteries which no +process of inductive reasoning can reach.--The reader, however, will not +be decoyed blindfold into accepting as final either the Doctor's view or +mine; but, after possessing himself of the facts, will be left free to +draw what conclusions he may please. + +As regards the matter of names, dates, and localities, Dr. Rollinson holds +that they had better be given at full length; and here I am not disposed +to differ from him. The system of blanks and initial letters was always +distasteful to me; and to use fictitious names in a true story seems like +taking away with one hand what you give with another. Besides, every one +of the actors in the drama is now dead: Dr. Rollinson [1] himself being +the only living person who is cognizant, directly, of all the +circumstances, from beginning to end. In his capacity of physician, he was +the intimate and trusted friend of the ill-fated Malmaison household +during upward of twenty years, and he inherited this confidential position +from his father. He has kindly placed at my disposal a number of his +professional note-books and journals, and in various places I have +incorporated with the narrative some of the information which they +contain. At other times I have inserted minor details of conversation and +incident, and have endeavored to throw over the whole as "fictitious" an +air as was consistent with the conscientious observance of my compact with +the Doctor. And now, without further preface, I will proceed to business. + + + + +I. + + +Archibald Malmaison was the second son of Sir Clarence Butt Malmaison, of +Malmaison, Sussex. He had the odd distinction of being born on the 29th of +February, 1800. His elder brother, Edward, born 1798, died before him, as +will be hereinafter shown. There were no other brothers, but four girls +appeared after Archibald, two of whom died in childhood of scarlet fever, +while the other two grew up to be married. They have nothing to do with +the story, and will not be mentioned again. + +The Malmaisons, as their name denotes, were of French descent--Huguenots. +Like many other emigrants, they yielded, in the course of a generation or +two, to a barbarous mispronunciation of their patronymic, which came to be +spoken of as if spelt "Malmsey." + +How it happened that the chateau of the Empress Josephine was christened by +the same name, I know not; at all events, the Sussex Malmaisons have prior +claim to the title. The estate, which embraced between seven and eight +hundred acres, lay in that portion of the county which borders upon the +junction line of Kent and Surrey. Colonel Battledown, the Peninsular +soldier, owned the adjoining estate in Kent; while the Surrey corner was +occupied, at the epoch of this story, by the Honorable Richard +Pennroyal--he whose father, Lord Epsom, is said to have won ninety +thousand pounds from Fox in a single night's play. The three families had +been on a friendly footing with each other ever since the early part of +the reign of George III. + +Sir Clarence had been an ally of the father of the Honorable Richard in +Parliament (they were both Whigs), and Colonel Battledown, though a Tory, +was such capital company as not only to compensate for his political +derelictions, but even to render them a matter for mutual +congratulation--they so enlivened the conversation! In truth, I suppose +the three gentlemen must have had many a boisterous discussion over their +nightly three or four bottles apiece of claret, and after their hard day +across country. + +The Honorable Richard, by the by, was by far the youngest of the three; at +the time of Archibald's birth he was not much over twenty; but he had a +cool, strong brain, and quite as much gravity as his seniors, over whom, +in fact, he seems to have exercised a species of ascendency. Possibly he +inherited something of his noble father's ability--that of playing quietly +for big stakes when all the odds were in his favor. At all events, in the +year 1801 he married Miss Jane Malmaison, the baronet's sister, who was +fifteen years older than he, but who brought him fifty thousand pounds--a +not unimportant consideration to him at that time. + +Mrs. Pennroyal has one claim upon our notice, and only one; seven years +after her marriage, at the age of forty-two, she completely lost her +memory, and became rather idiotic, and a few years later contrived to fall +into an ornamental fish-pond, and drowned there before her attendants +missed her. She was buried with much stateliness; but it is to be feared +that few persons missed her even then. She left no children. + +Was poor old Jane the first member of the Malmaison line who had shown any +special weakness or peculiarity in the upper story? There was a hoary +tradition to the effect that the son or grandson of the first emigrant had +made some compact or other with the Evil One, the terms of which were that +he (the grandson) was to prolong his terrestrial existence for one hundred +and forty years by the ingenious device of living only every alternate +seven years, the intervening periods to be passed in a sort of +hibernation. In return for this accommodation he was, of course, to make +H.S.M. the usual acknowledgment! + +The final upshot of this bargain--as is usually the way in these cases--is +not known. Did the worthy gentleman work his way into his third half +century? And had he, by that time, acquired astuteness sufficient to cheat +the other party to the contract of his due? History is silent; the only +thing asserted with any appearance of confidence is that Sir Eustace de +Malmaison possessed the power of vanishing at will from the eyes of men. +Nay, he would seem to have bequeathed this useful accomplishment to +certain of his descendants; for there is among the family documents a +curious narrative, signed and witnessed, describing how a member of the +family, in the time (I think) of the Second Pretender, did, being hard +pressed by the minions of the German Prince, and pursued by them into the +extreme eastern chamber of his house of Malmaison, suddenly and without +warning render himself invisible, insomuch that nothing of him remained +save his dagger, and the plume which he bore in his cap. This eastern +chamber had, at the time, but one outlet, and that was into a room already +guarded by the soldiery. + +The chronicle goes on to say that the disappearance was not final: the +mysterious fugitive reappeared on the third day, in the same spot where he +had vanished, but apparently rather the worse for wear. He was at first +taken for a spirit, and all fled before him; but he, going hastily forward +to the dining hall, and finding a great sirloin of beef set out upon the +board, forthwith fell to, and, in a wondrous short time, devoured the +whole thereof, drinking also a gallon and a half of the wine of Burgundy. +This exploit restored the belief of the household in the material +consistency of their master, and thereupon was much thanksgiving, +feasting, and rejoicing. But the secret of the disappearance never was +revealed. + +I give these musty old details for what they are worth; they may perhaps be +construed as an indication that the race of Malmaison had some +peculiarities of its own. + +As for Archibald, he was rather neglected than otherwise. He was a dull and +stolid baby, neither crying nor crowing much: he would sit all day over a +single toy, not playing with it, but holding it idly in his hands or +between his knees. He could neither crawl, walk, nor talk till long after +the usual time for such accomplishments. It seemed as if he had made up +his mind to live according to his birthdays--that is, four times as slow +as other people. The only things he did do well were eating and sleeping: +he never appeared to be thoroughly awake, nor was his appetite ever +entirely satisfied. As might be supposed, therefore, his body grew apace; +and at seven years old (or one and three quarters, as the facetious +Baronet would have it) he weighed twelve good pounds more than his brother +Edward, who was two years his senior, though, to be sure, not a specially +robust child. + +For the rest, poor Archibald seemed to be affectionate, in a dim, +inarticulate way, though his sympathies were confined within somewhat +narrow limits. He loved a certain brindled cat that he had more than +anything else: next to her, his little baby sister; and oddly enough, he +conceived a sort of dog-like admiration for the Honorable Richard +Pennroyal--a compliment which that personage did nothing to deserve, and +which he probably did not desire. He had also a distinct feeling for +localities; he was never quite at his ease except in the nursery-room +where he slept; and, on the other hand, he never failed to exhibit +symptoms of distrust and aversion when he was carried into the East +chamber--that in which his great-grandfather had effected his mysterious +self-effacement. But the only thing that was certain to make him cry was +to be brought into the company of little Kate Battledown, the colonel's +only child, a year or two younger than Archibald, and universally admitted +to be the prettiest and most graceful baby in the neighborhood. But +Archibald, up to his seventh year, would do anything to get away from her +--short of walking. + +In a word, he exhibited such symptoms of a deficient and perverted +understanding as would have gained him--had he been of humbler +birth--the descriptive title of "natural." Being a son of Sir Clarence +Butt Malmaison, he was considered to be peculiar only. The old wives of +the village maintained that he was the sort that could see elves, and +that, if one but knew how, he might be induced to reveal valuable secrets, +and to confer magic favors. But, looking the other way, he was to be +dreaded as a possible (though involuntary) agent of evil; especially +perilous was it, these venerable dames would affirm, to become the object +of his affection or caresses--a dogma which received appalling +confirmation in the fate of the brindled cat, who, after having been +caught by the leg in a trap intended for a less respectable robber of +hen-roosts, was finished by a bull-terrier, who took advantage of her +embarrassed circumstances to pay off upon her a grudge of long standing. +This tragedy occurred in January of the year 1807, and produced a +noticeable effect upon Master Archibald Malmaison. He neither wept nor +tore his hair, but took the far more serious course of losing his +appetite. + +The most remarkable part of the story is yet to come. No one had told him +that the cat was dead, and the cat, having adventurous propensities, had +often been away from home for days at a time without leave or warning. +Nevertheless, Archibald was immediately aware of her fate, and even seemed +(judging from some expressions that escaped him) to have divined the +manner of it. He then gave intimation of an earnest desire to view the +remains; but in this he could not be gratified, for they had already been +secretly interred in an obscure corner of the back garden. Will it be +believed that the "peculiar" child hereupon got upon his fat legs, and, +without either haste or hesitation, deliberately ambled out of the +nursery, along the corridor, down the stairs, across the hall, through the +door, and so round to the back garden and to the very identical spot where +poor Tabby had been deposited! + +The fact is sufficiently well attested; I am not aware that it has ever +been accounted for. The boy had never in his life walked so far before, +although his limbs were perfectly developed and able for much longer +pilgrimages. He did not resist being led away; but, as has been said, he +neglected his bread and milk, and every few days returned to the back +garden, and stood beside the grave in the cold, looking fixedly at it, but +making no active demonstration whatever. This went on for about six weeks, +and attracted a good deal of curiosity in the neighborhood. At length, in +the latter part of February, Archibald had a sort of fit, apparently of an +epileptic nature. On recovering from it, he called for a glass of milk, +and drank it with avidity; he then fell asleep, and did not awake again +for thirty-six hours. + +By this time he was a personage of more importance at Malmaison than he had +ever yet been in his small life. The wise folk who stood around his crib +hazarded various predictions as to the issue of his unnatural slumber. +Some said he would lose what little wit he had; others, that he would +become an acknowledged wizard; others again, that he would never wake up +at all. In short, like other prophets, they foretold everything except +that which was actually to happen; and they would have foretold that too, +if they had thought of it in time. + + + + +II. + + +Archibald awoke at length, and sat up in bed. He opened his mouth, +apparently for the purpose of saying something, but his tongue refused to +articulate any recognizable words. An irregular, disjointed sound made +itself heard, like the vague outcry of an infant; and then, as if angry at +his own failure, he set up a loud and indignant wail, muffled from time to +time by the cramming of his fingers into his mouth. + +Whatever else was the matter with the child, it was evident that he was +hungry--as, indeed, he well might be. Some bread and milk was brought to +him, that being his favorite food; but to the general astonishment and +dismay, he did not seem to know what it was, although he continued to +exhibit every symptom of a ravenous and constantly augmenting appetite. +They tried him with every imaginable viand, but in vain; they even put +morsels into his mouth, but he had lost the power of mastication, and +could not retain them. The more they labored, the greater became his +exasperation, until at last there was such a hubbub and confusion on the +score of Master Archibald as that hitherto rather insignificant little +personage should have felt proud to occasion. + +Among the anxious and bewildered people who thronged the nursery at this +juncture was a young woman who acted as wet-nurse to the latest born of +the Malmaisons, a baby-girl three months old. + +She was a healthy and full-bodied peasant, and as she pressed forward to +have her look at the now frantic Archibald, she held the nursing +infant--the only serene and complacent member of the assemblage--to her +open breast. Archibald caught sight of her, and immediately reached toward +her, arms, mouth and all, accompanying the action by an outcry so eager, +impatient, and gluttonous that it was capable of only one interpretation. +An incredible interpretation, certainly, but that made no difference; +there was nothing else to be done. Honest Maggie, giggling and rubicund, +put aside her complacent nursling (who thereupon became anything but +complacent) and took to her kind bosom this strapping and unreasonable +young gentleman, who had already got many of his second teeth. That did +not prevent him from making an unconscionably good supper, and thenceforth +the only person likely to be disturbed by his new departure in +gormandizing was Maggie herself. Everything being thus happily arranged, +the household dispersed about its business, the Baronet declaring, with a +great laugh, that he had always said Archie was but a babe in arms, and +this proved it! + +Dr. Rollinson, however (the elder doctor, that is--father of the present +[2] distinguished bearer of the name), had witnessed this scene with +something more than ordinary wonder or amusement; it had puzzled, but also +interested him extremely. He was less of a conservative than many of his +profession; he kept his mind open, and was not disinclined to examine into +odd theories, and even, perhaps, to originate a few such himself upon +occasion. The question that now confronted him and challenged his +ingenuity was, What was the matter with Archibald? Why had the boy +suddenly gone back to the primitive source of nourishment, not from mere +childish whim, but from actual ignorance--as it seemed--that nourishment +was obtainable in any other way? An obvious reply would be that the boy +had become wholly, idiotic; but the more Dr. Rollinson revolved this rough +and ready explanation, the less satisfactory did he find it. He wisely +decided to study the symptoms and weigh the evidence before committing +himself one way or the other. + +The first result of his observations was to confirm his impression that +Archibald was not idiotic. There was a certain sort of vacancy in the +child's expression, but it was the vacancy of ignorance rather than of +foolishness. And ignorant to a surprising degree he was. He had at no time +been regarded as a boy of large attainments; but what he knew before his +strange seizure was, to what he knew after it, as Bacon to a ploughman. +Had he been newly born into the world, he could not have shown less +acquaintance with it, so far as intellectual comprehension went; his +father, mother, sister--all were alike strangers to him; he gazed at them +with intent but unrecognizing eyes; he never looked up when his name was +spoken, nor did he betray any sign of understanding the talk that went on +around him. His own thoughts and wants were expressed by inarticulate +sounds and by gestures; but the mystery of speech evidently interested +him, and he studied the movements of the lips of those who spoke to him +with a keen, grave scrutiny to them highly amusing--except in the case of +his poor old Aunt Jane, who turned quite pale under his inquisition, and +declared that he must be bewitched, for although he seemed to know +nothing, yet he had the knowingest look of any child she ever saw. Herein +Aunt Jane gave utterance to a fact that was beginning to be generally +acknowledged. Whatever Archibald had lost, it was beyond dispute that he +had somehow come into possession of a fund of native intelligence (the +term "mother wit" seems inappropriate under the circumstances) to which he +had heretofore been a stranger. He might have forgotten his own name, and +the mother that bore him; but he had learned how to learn, and was for the +first time in his life wide awake. This was very much like saying that he +was a new boy in the old skin; and this, again, was little better than a +euphemism for changeling. Was he a changeling after all? The sage old +woman whom we have already quoted asserted confidently that he was, and +that, however much he pretended to ignorance, he really knew vastly more +than any plain human child did or ought to know. And as a warrant for this +opinion they brought forward evidence that Master Archibald, having been +left alone one day in the nursery, had been overheard humming to himself +the words of a certain song--a thing, it was argued, which he could not +have done had he known no words at all; and therefore he was a changeling. + + +Dr. Rollinson happened to hear this argument, and thought it worth while to +inquire further into the matter. Such testimony as he could collect went +to confirm the truth of the story. Not only so, but the song itself, if +the witnesses were to be believed, so far from being an ordinary childish +ditty, was some matter of pretty maids and foaming wine-cups that Tom +Moore might have written, and that gentlemen sometimes trolled out, an +hour or two after dinner. Now this looked very black for Archibald. +Further investigation, however, put a somewhat different face upon the +affair. It transpired that the song had been often sung in Archibald's +hearing, and before his fit, by the Honorable Richard, for whom, as has +been said, the boy had taken a queer fancy. + +And, perhaps because affection is a good teacher, the boy had acquired the +power of repeating some of the verses to himself, of course without +understanding a syllable of them, and very likely without himself being +conscious of what he was doing, he hummed them over, in short, exactly as +a preoccupied parrot might do; and always at a certain time, namely, after +he had been put to bed, and was staring up at the darkening ceiling +previous to falling asleep. This, by itself, was nothing very remarkable; +the puzzle was, how could he do it now? Out of all the wreck of his small +memory, why was this song, the meaning of which he had never understood, +the sole survivor? Was it that his affection for Mr. Pennroyal had kept it +alive? So might a sentimentalist have concluded; but the Doctor was a man +of sense. Was it that the boy was shamming? Impossible on all accounts. +But then, what was it? + +The Doctor had by this time worked himself up to believe that the solution +of this problem would help largely toward the clearing up of the whole +mystery. So he took notes, and continued to observe and to consider. + +He found, in the first place, that the song-singing took place under +exactly the same circumstances as before the fit, and at no other time or +place. + +Hereupon, he devised experiments to discover whether Archibald was +conscious that he was singing, or whether it was an act performed +mechanically, while the mind was otherwise engaged. After the child was in +bed, he quietly arranged a lamp so as to cast a circular space of light +upon the ceiling above the bed, the rest of the room being left in shadow. +Not a word of any song was heard that night; and the test was tried twice +more during the week, with a like result. At another time he got the +Honorable Richard to come into a room adjoining the nursery, and sing the +song so that Archibald might hear it. Archibald heard it, but gave no sign +of being affected thereby. He was then brought into Mr. Richard's +presence; it was the first time they had met since the change. Now, if +ever, was an opportunity for the imperishable quality of the affections to +be vindicated. But no such vindication occurred. On the contrary, after +having stared his uncle almost out of countenance for some minutes, he +turned from him with a marked expression of disapproval, and could never +afterward be induced voluntarily to go near him. The affection had become +an antipathy. + +"No, madam; set your mind at rest," said the bluff Doctor to Lady Malmaison +over a cup of tea that evening. "The child's no changeling; but he's +changed, and changed for the better, too, by Gad! He can tell a bad egg +from a good one now," continued the Doctor, with a significant chuckle, +the significance of which, however, Lady Malmaison perhaps failed to +perceive. But the fact was, the Honorable Richard Pennroyal had never been +an especial favorite with Dr. Rollinson. + +The next day was a new excitement. Archibald had walked, and that, too, as +well as the best-grown boy of seven that you would want to see. + +"Ay, and where did he walk to?" demanded the Doctor. + +It was explained that it was at the time for nursing him, and he was +sitting in his little chair at one end of the nursery, when Maggie had +entered at the other. As soon as he clapped eyes on her, he had set up his +usual impatient outcries; but Maggie, instead of going directly to him, +had stopped to exchange a few words with the head-nurse, unfastening the +front of her dress the while, however, so that Master Archibald's +impatience was carried to the point of intolerance by the glimpse thus +afforded of the good things in store for him. And then, before you had +time to think, he had got up from his chair, and trotted across the floor, +bellowing all the time, and had tugged at Maggie's dress. + +"Bellowing all the time, eh?" said the Doctor. + +"And walking all the same like he was ten year old, sir: and it did give us +all a turn; and if you please, sir, what do you say to _that_?" + +"What do I say to that?--why, that it's just what I should have +expected--that's what I say!" replied Dr. Rollinson, who had apparently +begun to divine some clew to the grand mystery. But he vouchsafed no +explanations as yet. + +Archibald did not repeat the walking miracle, although, within the space of +a few weeks only, he passed through the regular gradations of crawling, +tottering, and toddling, to normal pedestrianism of the most active kind. +His progress in other accomplishments was almost parallel with this. From +inarticulate gabble he trained his tongue to definite speech; his +vocabulary expanded with astonishing rapidity, and, contrary to his +previous habit, he made incessant use of it. He was now as remarkable for +loquacity as formerly for the opposite characteristic; and his keenness of +observation and retentive memory were a theme of general admiration. In a +word, he used his five senses to ten times better effect than had ever +been expected of him in the old days; and no one who had not seen him for +a year from the time of his fit would have recognized him as the same +child. He was not only making up for lost time--he was incomparably +outstripping his earlier self; he seemed to have emerged from a mental and +physical cocoon--to have cast aside an incrustation of deterrent +clumsiness, and to be hastening onward with the airy case and accuracy of +perfect self-possession. At the end of a year he was to all intents and +purposes ten years old; and what was most remarkable about this swift +advance lay in the fact that a year had seen the whole of it. Though he +had been eight years in the world, the first seven had furnished none of +the mental or moral material for the last: it stood alone and +disconnectedly. Of those seven years it is certain that he retained not +the smallest recollection; they were to him as if they had never been. The +only thing they did provide him with was a well-fed and sound body; in +other respects Archibald was positively new. He had to make the +acquaintance of his family and friends over again; but it was done with +modifications. In other cases besides that of his uncle, it was observed +that he felt antipathies where formerly he loved, and _vice versa_. + +A minor instance, but interesting as must be all evidence in a case so +strange as this, is that of the brindled cat that was buried in the +garden. Archibald was brought to the grave, which he had so pathetically +haunted before his metamorphosis, not many weeks after the metamorphosis +occurred; and every means was used to revive in him some recollection of +the bereavement; they even went so far as to uncover poor pussy's +remains.... Archibald was first unconscious and indifferent, then curious, +finally disgusted. His feelings were not otherwise touched. All +associations connected with this whilom pet of his, grief for whose loss +was supposed to have been the impelling cause of the fit itself, were as +utterly expunged from his mind as if they had never existed there. +Moreover, aversion from all cats was from this time forth so marked in him +as almost to amount to horror; while dogs, whose presence had been wont to +fill him with dismay, were now his favorite companions. It was the same in +other things; the boy formed independent opinions and prejudices in all +the relations of life--independent, that is, of his past. His temper, too, +was changed; no longer timid, appealing and docile, it was now determined, +enterprising, and bold. It was manifest even thus early that here was a +character fitted to make its way in the world. + +"No, I protest, Doctor, I can never believe it's the same child," said Lady +Malmaison, with a sigh. "That noisy, self-willed boy is never my quiet, +affectionate little Archie. And yesterday he beat his brother Edward, that +is two years older than he. Heigho! Pray, dear Doctor, what is your +opinion?" + +"My opinion, Lady Malmaison, is that women will never be content," answered +the bluff old physician. "I can remember the time when you thought your +quiet little Archie was a nincompoop--and quite right too. And now because +a monstrous piece of good luck has made a Crichton of him, you begin to +regret the nincompoop! It ain't logical;" and the Doctor took snuff. + +"But who ever heard of a child changing his whole nature all in a moment?" +persisted Lady Malmaison. + +"Why, isn't all in a moment better than inch by inch? The thing is no such +mighty matter as some folks try to make it out. The boy went to sleep as +soon as he was born, and has but just waked up--that's my notion about it. +So now, instead of starting, the way most of us do, at the point of +helplessness, he begins life with a body full of seven years' pith, and +faculties sharp set as a new watch. Till now he has but dreamed; now he's +going to exist, with so much the more extra impetus. He don't recollect +what he's been dreaming--why should he?" + +"But he did recollect some things, Doctor; that song.... And then, his +walking across the room." + +"Purely physical--purely automatic," replied the Doctor, tapping his +snuff-box, and pleased with Lady Malmaison's awe at the strange word. "If +he had stopped to think what he was doing he couldn't have done it. The +body, I tell you, grows under all circumstances--as much when you're +asleep as when you're awake; and the body has a memory of its own, +distinct from the mental memory. Have you never hummed a song when you +were doing your embroidery, and thinking about--about Lady Snaffle's +elopement with the captain?" + +"Oh, Doctor!" + +"Yes; and if I'd come in at the moment and asked you what you were singing, +could you have told me? Of course you couldn't! You could have told me +all about the elopement. Well, then, that's clear now, ain't it?" + +"Yes," said Lady Malmaison, meaning, it must be supposed, "as clear as +mud." Dr. Rollinson chuckled to himself, and they continued their game of +piquet. + + + + +III. + + +Possibly the reader, though, understanding the force of the Doctor's +illustration better than good stupid Lady Malmaison could do, is still of +opinion that that eminent practitioner's exposition of the real nucleus of +the mystery might have been more explicit. It is all very well to say that +the boy was asleep for seven years and then woke up; but what does such a +statement mean? Are such prolonged slumbers an ordinary occurrence? And if +so, might not the slumberer, after a longer or shorter interval of +wakefulness, fall asleep again? It is to be feared that the old physician +was not quite so well satisfied in his secret mind as he pretended to be, +and that his learned dissertation upon automatic action was little better +than a device to avoid being pressed upon the real point at issue. But it +is always a delicate matter to fathom the depth of a medical man's +sagaciousness. + +Mention has already been made of little Kate Battledown, the effect of +whose society on Archibald had been so strangely ungenial. A year or two +after his "awakening" the little maiden was again thrown in his way, and +this time with very different results. There is extant among the family +papers a letter containing a very pretty account of the relations which +were soon established between these small personages. They seem to have +taken to one another at once, and exercised over each other a mutual +fascination. Archibald, keen and domineering with his brother and +sisters, and, so far as his power went, with everybody else--was as sweet +as milk to his childish enchantress; and no doubt his manners, if not his +general character, greatly benefited by her companionship. There is a +picture of the two children painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence and now hanging +in the present Dr. Rollinson's parlor (where, doubtless, thousands of his +patients have beheld it, ignorant of its history), which is perhaps as +beautiful an example of English youth and maidenhood at eleven and nine +years of age as could be found in the three kingdoms. The boy, black-eyed +and black-haired, seems to step forward daringly, with his glance fixed +defiantly upon the spectator; but his left hand, extended behind him, +clasps that of little Kate with a protecting gesture; and her great brown +eyes rest on his face, with a look half of apprehension, half of admiring +confidence. There is a second portrait of her, taken ten years later; but +of Archibald no other authentic likeness exists. Report affirms, however, +that in 1823 and thereabout he was esteemed one of the handsomest young +fellows of his day. + +The devotion of the two to each other grew with their growth. She, even at +that early age, must have given occasional foretastes of the wayward, +impulsive, and yet calculating character that was developed in her later +life; but there can be little doubt that she felt a genuine attachment to +Archibald; and he laid himself at her feet with a chivalric +single-heartedness more characteristic of the fifteenth century than of +the early nineteenth. Indeed, his jealous guardianship of her excited not +a little amusement among his seniors; and it is related that in his +twelfth year he actually commissioned Colonel Battledown to carry a formal +"message" on his behalf to the Honorable Richard Pennroyal; the latter's +offence consisting in his having taken Miss Battledown on his knee and +kissed her. The matter was, however, happily arranged on the Hon. +gentleman's expressing his regret for his indiscretion, and the Colonel +and Sir Clarence becoming answerable for his good behavior in future. But +the children's preference for each other now began to suggest other +thoughts than those of mere passing entertainment to the paternal minds. +There seemed to be no good reason why they should not ultimately make a +match of it. It was true that Kate might well expect to find a more +brilliant mate than the second son of a baronet; but, personal feeling and +the friendship of the families aside, she might do much worse than with +Archibald. The second son of Sir Clarence stood a fair chance of hereafter +making a favorable entry into politics; and as for fortune, his aunt on +the mother's side, a Miss Tremont, of Cornwall, an old maid without nearer +relatives than her nephew, was in a fair way to bequeath him seventy +thousand pounds. And furthermore (this was an aspect of the case which +Colonel Battledown probably kept to himself), it was not beyond the bounds +of possibility that Archibald might finally inherit Malmaison in spite of +the accident of his birth. Edward Malmaison had always been a delicate +child, and years were not making him stronger. He was very studious, and +disinclined to those active exercises in which his brother was already +beginning to excel: his eyes were weak and his cheeks pale; and in short, +unless his constitution should presently undergo a favorable change, the +chances were fairly against his surviving Archibald, to say the least of +it. "Archie thrashed him at fisticuffs," said the old man of war to +himself, "and why shouldn't he get the better of him in other ways as +well? Of course we wish no harm to happen to poor Edward, who is a good +little snipe enough; but one must conduct one's campaign to an eye to what +may happen, as well as to what is." + +So this matrimonial arrangement, without being definitely resolved upon +(except possibly in the hearts of the two young persons principally +concerned), was allowed to remain in a state of favorable suspense. Kate +and Archibald saw one another as much as was good for them--although, by +way of keeping up the chivalric conditions, they used to pretend that all +manner of portentous obstacles intervened between them and the +consummation of their desires; and exhausted their ingenuity in the +devising of secret meetings, of elopements across the garden wall, and of +heart-rending separations, when imaginary heartless parents tore them +ruthlessly from one another's arms. In a letter written by Sir Clarence to +Dr. Rollinson, under date December 27th, 1811, the jolly Baronet says: +"Our Xmas festivities were for a time interupted by another Romantic +Event. Catherine, onely daughter of Colonel Battledown eloped with Mr. +Archibald Malmaison of Malmaison. The Fugitives escaped by the pantry +dore, and before they could be overtaken, had been maid man and wife by +the under Gardner in the tool house in the corner of the yard. An +application will be made to Parlement to dissolve the marriage untill the +parties are out of the Nursrie." By this it may appear that Sir Clarence +had even more humor than orthography. + +It was a few weeks after this event that poor old Aunt Jane left the world +by way of the ornamental fish-pond. The pond in question lay on the +boundary-line between the Malmaison estate and that of the Pennroyals; and +the ornamentation consisted of two flights of steps leading down to the +water, and of half a dozen willows whose twisted trunks bent over the +surface. Although of no great area, this pond was startlingly deep, and +the bottom, when you got to it, was of the softest and most unfathomable +mud. Had not Aunt Jane been seen just as she was sinking for the third +time, therefore, the chances are that she would never have been seen till +doomsday; there was room, and to spare, for all the Malmaison line in the +slimy depths of that pool. After the catastrophe, Mr. Pennroyal caused a +handsome iron railing to be erected round the scene of it. This act caused +it to be said that he might have done it before. Did he expect his future +wives to go the road of the first one? And was it not criminal negligence +in him to have suffered her to escape from her attendants? How could such +a thing have happened? Did Mr. Pennroyal consider that people might say +that the death of his wife was no loss to him, but the contrary? because +that fifty thousand pounds of hers, of which, during her lifetime, he +could touch only the interest, became, at her decease, his absolute +property, to do with as he liked. Under such circumstances, a gentleman +careful of his reputation should have guarded her as the apple of his eye. +It was certainly very odd that a poor frail crazy creature should have +been able to elude all pursuit, and then have gone straight to the +pool--in midwinter, too--and deliberately jumped in. And there she might +have lain, and no one the wiser, had not young Archibald Malmaison +happened to see her, and given the alarm. If he had been a few minutes +earlier, who can tell but he might have seen something--that nobody +suspected! + +All this random talk proved nothing more than that the Honorable Mr. +Pennroyal was not a favorite with his neighbors; and that was a fact of +which no proof was needed. Some men, who are good fellows enough at bottom +and even capable of inspiring genuine attachment in particular cases, +never become generally popular. When Mr. Pennroyal was accused of +stinginess, it was not considered that he had a great many liabilities to +meet, and perhaps some big debts to pay off. When it was said that he was +unsocial and cynical, it was forgotten that these very remarks were enough +to make him so. And when he was blamed for neglecting his wife, and +profiting by her demise--well, now, how is a gentleman to pay attentions +to an idiot, or to be inconsolable when Providence gives him fifty +thousand down in exchange for her? Besides, he gave her an imposing +funeral, and put himself and all his household into strict mourning. As +for the iron railing, it might be looked upon as a sort of monument to the +departed, in which practical usefulness and a becoming sentiment were +ingeniously combined. + +The incident had its effect upon Archibald--in rather a curious fashion. He +was, as has been intimated, the one to give the alarm. He had been passing +that way, it seemed, and had caught sight of a struggling something in the +water; and his shouts had speedily drawn the gamekeeper and a couple of +villagers to the spot. The boy had watched the recapture of the lifeless +body in solemn silence, a red flush of color in either cheek. He had been +rather fond of Aunt Jane after her insanity became confirmed, and he was +the only human being whom the poor woman had seemed to recognize, and in +whose company she felt some dull gleams of pleasure. He now shed no tears, +seeming more angry than grieved, and continued to maintain a marked +taciturnity for several days; and, concerning the catastrophe itself, he +could never be induced to speak at all. The power of keeping his own +counsel had always characterized him: in the present instance he was as +gloomily reserved as though he had buried a secret of state in his breast. +Toward the widower his manner became, from hostile, almost insolent. It +was a curious spectacle to see the lad, scarcely out of the nursery, +either ignoring his tall relative, as if the latter were a caitiff +unworthy the notice of a gentleman, or else staring him haughtily in the +face, and staring him down, too! for it was remarked that the Honorable +Richard exhibited an admirable forbearance, not to say meekness, toward +his rude little kinsman. And yet, before this time, he had occasionally +given the boy harsh words and looks.... It must have been that his +bereavement had softened his heart. + +However, time went on, and by degrees the poignancy of the widower's grief +was blunted, and Aunt Jane's name was seldom mentioned by any one; after +all she had not done herself, or anybody connected with her, much credit. +And other changes occurred: the stout old Colonel found it incumbent upon +him to join Sir Arthur Wellesley in the Peninsula; and Kate began to take +the lead in household affairs (her mother was a good deal of an invalid), +and stayed more at home than she used to do, and consequently did not see +so much of Archibald; she gave him to understand that it was more genteel +for him to come and call on her, as Mr. Pennroyal and other gentlemen did. +The young lady was already coming into her heritage of beauty, and +possessed more than her share of maidenly dignity, considering that she +was barely thirteen. And when, at that mention of Pennroyal, Archibald +said: + +"Indeed, Kate, you must not class me with him, or with any man. Remember +that we were married two Christmases ago--" she answered: + +"You foolish boy! that was not a real marriage: a real marriage is done in +a church, by a parson, and I wear a white veil." + +"But ours was an elopement," objected Archibald, disturbed. + +"An elopement without a carriage-and-four and a blacksmith? What an idea!" + + +"Do you mean to say you are not my wife, Kate?" demanded the boy, turning +pale. + +"Neither yours nor anybody's, Mr. Archibald." + +"Kate!" he broke out passionately, the blood leaping to his face, "take +care you never let yourself be any body else's wife than mine! And I don't +see what difference a blacksmith or a veil makes. And if you do, they +shall die! I know how to use a sword, and a pistol too!" + +"O Archie, how wicked you are! and how cruel to me, when you know that I +can never love any man but you, though cruel fate may separate us for a +season!" The young lady was quoting from "Evelina," as Archibald well +knew, but they had got so much in the habit of applying the phraseology of +that work to the requirements of their own private romance, that it came +without their thinking of it. + +"But say that you will be my own at last!" cries Archibald, carrying on the +scene in all seriousness. + +"Nay, my lord, 'tis ungenerous thus to press me--Oh, no, you must not do so, +Archie; the book says that Lord Orville only kisses her hand--" + +"I am not Lord Orville, and I will kiss you where I like; and I don't care +for the book when I feel as I do now! I only care for you." + +"Bravo, young gentleman! that's the way to talk to 'em!" cried Dr. +Rollinson, who had overheard the whole of this conversation, and who now +appeared with his broad figure, his gouty legs, and his gruff chuckle. +"Books are very well for make-believe, but when it comes to downright +earnest, use a tongue of your own--eh?" and he clapped the boy kindly on +the shoulder. "Yes, yes, she'll marry you fast enough when she sees you +making eyes at some other pretty girl! Don't tell me! there's plenty of +'em, go where you will, and when you start on the grand tour, as you'll be +doing one of these days, you'll see for yourself!" Such were the cynical +blasphemies which this man was not ashamed to instil into the ear of his +young friend; and then he led him away somewhere, still chuckling, and +left Miss Battledown to digest her slight the best way she could. The +Doctor fancied he knew a thing or two about the sex. If so, he was very +knowing! + + + + +IV. + + +Malmaison House was partly destroyed by fire a number of years ago, [3] and +two years later the portion still standing was taken down to make way for +the proposed branch of the London and South-Coast Railway. The branch is +still unbuilt, but only some heaps of grass-grown rubbish remain to mark +the site of the venerable edifice. But at the period of which I am now +writing it was an imposing pile of gray-stone, standing on a slight +elevation, with a sloping lawn in front, and many large trees surrounding +it. The centre and the right wing were of Elizabethan date; the left wing +was constructed by Sir Christopher Wren, or by some architect of his +school, and, though outwardly corresponding with the rest of the building, +was interiorly both more commodious and less massive. The walls of the old +part were in some places over four feet in thickness, and even the +partitions between the rooms were two feet of solid masonry. Many of the +rooms were hung with tapestry; and in taking down the house several traces +were discovered of secret passages hollowed out within the walls +themselves, and communicating by means of sliding panels from room to +room. The plan of the building comprised two floors and an attic; but the +attic was not coextensive with the lower areas; and there was often a +difference of level between the apartments on the latter floors of from +one to four steps. An irregular corridor on the first floor, badly +lighted, and in some places perfectly dark, extended from the centre into +the right wing, affording entrance to the rooms front and back. + +At the end of the right wing was situated the east chamber, of which +mention has already been made. Originally, the only access to it was by +way of a larger chamber adjoining, which, again, could only be entered +through the dark corridor. This was the condition of things at the time of +the famous magic disappearance of Sir Charles Malmaison, in 1745. But, at +the beginning of the present century, a door was cut through the outside +wall, whence a covered flight of stone steps led down into an enclosed +courtyard. The room was thus rendered independent, so to speak, of the +rest of the house. The occupant might lock the door communicating with the +adjoining chamber, and go and come by the other as he pleased. As for the +courtyard, part of it had formerly been used as a stable, with stalls for +three horses; these were now transferred to the other end of the mansion, +though the stable, of course, remained; and it was necessary to go through +the stable in order to get to the covered flight of steps. + +It may be remembered that Archibald, in what we may term his soporific +period, had manifested a strong, although entirely irrational, repugnance +to this east chamber. Perhaps he had been conscious of presences there +which were imperceptible to normal and healthy senses! Be that as it may, +he got bravely over his folly afterward, and in his twelfth year (his +third, Sir Clarence would have called it) he permanently took up his +quarters there, and would admit no "women" except as a special favor. In +those days, when people were still, more or less, prone to superstition, +it was not every boy who would have enjoyed the sensation of spending his +nights in so isolated a situation; for the right wing was almost entirely +unoccupied on this floor. But Archibald appears to have been singularly +free from fear, whether of the natural or of the supernatural. He +collected together all his boyish _penates_--his gun, his sword, his +fishing-rods, and his riding-whips, and arranged them about the walls. He +swept down the cobwebs from windows and ceiling; turned out of doors a lot +of miscellaneous lumber that had insensibly collected there during the +last half century; lugged in a few comfortable broad-bottomed chairs and +stanch old tables; set up a bookshelf containing Walton's "Complete +Angler," "Dialogues of Devils," "Arabian Nights," Miss Burney's "Evelina," +and other equally fashionable and ingenious works; kindled a great fire on +the broad hearth; and, upon the whole, rendered the aspect of things more +comfortable than would have been anticipated. The room itself was long, +narrow, and comparatively low; the latticed windows were sunk several feet +into the massive walls; lengths of brownish-green and yellow tapestry, +none the fresher for its two centuries and more of existence, still +protested against the modern heresy of wallpaper; and in a panel-frame +over the fireplace was seen the portrait, by Sir Godfrey Kneller, of the +Jacobite baronet. It was a half-length, in officer's uniform; one hand +holding the hilt of a sword against the breast, while the forefinger of +the other hand pointed diagonally downward, as much as to say, "I vanished +in that direction!" The fireplace, it should be noted, was built on the +side of the room opposite to the windows; that is to say, in one of the +partition walls. And what was on the other side of this partition? Not the +large chamber opening into the corridor--that lay at right angles to the +east chamber, along the southern front of the wing. Not the corridor +either, though it ran for some distance parallel to the east chamber, and +had a door on the east side. But this door led into a great dark closet, +as big as an ordinary room, and used as a receptacle for rubbish. Was it +the dark closet, then, that adjoined the east chamber on the other side of +the partition? No, once more. Had a window been opened through the closet +wall, it would have looked--not into Archibald's room, but--into a narrow +blind court or well, entirely enclosed between four stone walls, and of no +apparent use, save as a somewhat clumsy architectural expedient. There was +no present way of getting into this well, or even of looking into it, +unless one had been at the pains to mount on the roof of the house and +peer down. As a matter of fact, its existence was only made known by the +reports of an occasional workman engaged in renewing the tiles, or mending +a decayed chimney. An accurate survey of the building would, of course, +have revealed it at once; but nothing of the kind had been thought of +within the memory of man. Such a survey would also have revealed what no +one in the least suspected, but which was, nevertheless, a fact of +startling significance--namely, that the blind court was, at least, +fifteen feet shorter, and twenty-five feet narrower, _than it ought to +have been_! + +Archibald was as far from suspecting it as anybody; indeed, he most likely +never troubled his head about builders' plans in his life. But he thought +a great deal of his great-grandfather's portrait; and since it was so +placed as to be in view of the most comfortable chair before the fire, he +spent many hours of every week gazing at it. What was Sir Charles pointing +at with that left forefinger? And what meant that peculiarly intent and +slightly frowning glance which the painted eyes forever bent upon his own? +Archibald probably had a few of Mrs. Radcliffe's romances along with the +other valuable books on his shelves, and he may have cherished a notion +that a treasure, or an important secret of some sort, was concealed in the +vicinity. Following down the direction of the pointing finger, he found +that it intersected the floor at a spot about five feet to the right of +the side of the fireplace. The floor of the chamber was of solid oak +planking, blackened by age; and it appeared to be no less solid at this +point than at any other. Nevertheless, he thought it would be good fun, +and at all events would do no harm, to cut a hole there, and see what was +underneath. Accordingly, he quietly procured a saw and a hammer and +chisel, and one day, when the family were away from home, he locked +himself into his room, and went to work. The job was not an easy one, the +tough oak wood being almost enough to turn the edge of his chisel, and +there being no purchase at all for the saw. After quarter of an hour's +chipping and hammering, with very little result, he paused to rest. The +board at which he had been working, and which met the wall at right +angles, was very short, not more than eighteen inches long, indeed, being +inserted merely to fill up the gap caused by a deficiency in length of the +plank of which it was the continuation. Between the two adjoining ends was +a crack of some width, and into that crack did Archibald idly stick his +chisel. It seemed to him that the crack widened, so that he was able to +press the blade of the chisel down to its thickest part. He now worked it +eagerly backward and forward, and, to his delight, the crack rapidly +widened still further; in fact, the short board was sliding back +underneath the wainscot. A small oblong cavity was thus revealed, into +which the young discoverer glowered with beating heart and vast +anticipations. + +What he found could scarcely be said to do those anticipations justice; it +was neither a casket of precious stones, nor a document establishing the +family right of ownership of the whole county of Sussex. It was nothing +more than a tarnished rod of silver, about nine inches in length, and +twisted into an irregular sort of corkscrew shape. One end terminated in a +broad flat button; the other in a blunted point. There was nothing else in +the hole--nothing to show what the rod was meant for, or why it was so +ingeniously hidden there. And yet, reflected Archibald, could it have been +so hidden, and its place of concealment so mysteriously indicated, without +any ulterior purpose whatever? It was incredible! Why, the whole portrait +was evidently painted with no other object than that of indicating the +rod's whereabouts. Either, then, there was or had been something else in +the cavity in addition to the rod, or the rod was intended to be used in +some way still unexplained. So much was beyond question. + +Thus cogitated Archibald--that is to say, thus he might have cogitated, for +there is no direct evidence of what passed through his mind. And, in the +first place, he made an exhaustive examination of the cavity, and +convinced himself not only that there was nothing else except dust to be +got out of it, but also that it opened into no other cavity which might +prove more fruitful. His next step was to study the silver rod, in the +hope that scrutiny or inspiration might suggest to him what it was good +for. His pains were rewarded by finding on the flat head the nearly +obliterated figures 3 and 5, inscribed one above the other, in the manner +of a vulgar fraction, thus, 3/5; and by the conviction that the spiral +conformation of the rod was not the result of accident, as he had at first +supposed, but had been communicated to it intentionally, for some purpose +unknown. These conclusions naturally stimulated his curiosity more than +ever, but nothing came of it. The boy was a clever boy, but he was not a +detective trained in this species of research, and the problem was beyond +his ingenuity. He made every application of the figures 3 and 5 that +imagination could suggest; he took them in feet, in inches, in yards; he +added them together, and he subtracted one from the other: all in vain. +The only thing he did not do was to take any one else into his confidence; +he said not a word about the affair even to Kate; being resolved that if +there were a mystery, it should be revealed, at least in the first +instance, to no one else besides himself. At length, after several days +spent in fruitless experiments and loss of temper, he returned the rod to +its hiding-place, with the determination to give himself a rest for +awhile, and see what time and accident would do for him. This plan, though +undoubtedly prudent, seemed likely to effect no more than the others; and +over a year passed away without the rod's being again disturbed. By +degrees his thoughts ceased to dwell so persistently upon the unsolved +puzzle, and other interests took possession of his mind. The tragedy of +his aunt's death, his love for Kate, his studies, his prospects--a hundred +things gave him occupation, until the silver rod was half forgotten. + +In the latter part of 1813, however, he accidentally made a rather +remarkable discovery. + + + + +V. + + +He had for the first time been out hunting with his father and the +neighboring country gentlemen in the autumn of this year, and it appears +that on two occasions he had the brush awarded to him. At his request the +heads of the two foxes were mounted for him, and he proposed to put them +up on either side his fireplace. + +The wall, above and for a few inches to the right and left of the +mantelpiece, was bare of tapestry; the first-named place being occupied by +the portrait, while the sides were four feet up the oaken wainscot which +surrounded the whole room behind the tapestry, and from thence to the +ceiling, plaster. The mantelpiece and fireplace were of a dark slaty +stone, and of brick, respectively. + +Archibald fixed upon what he considered the most effective positions for +his heads--just above the level of the wainscot, and near enough to the +mantelpiece not to be interfered with by the tapestry. He nailed up one of +them on the left-hand side, the nails penetrating with just sufficient +resistance in the firm plaster; and then, measuring carefully to the +corresponding point on the right-hand side, he proceeded to affix the +other head there. But the nail, on this occasion, could not be made to go +in; and on his attempting to force it with a heavier stroke of the hammer, +it bent beneath the blow, and the hammer came sharply into contact with +the white surface of the wall, producing a clinking sound as from an +impact on metal. + +A brief investigation now revealed the fact that a circular disk of iron, +about three inches in diameter, and painted white to match the plaster, +was here let into the wall. What could be the object of it? With a fresh +nail the boy began to scratch off the paint from the surface of the disk, +in order to determine whether it were actually iron, or some other metal; +in so doing a small movable lid, like the screen of a keyhole, was pushed +aside, disclosing a little round aperture underneath. Archibald pushed the +nail into it, thereby informing himself that the hole went straight into +the wall, for a distance greater than the length of the nail; but how much +greater, and what was at the end of it, he could only conjecture. + +We must imagine him now standing upon a chair, with the nail in his hand, +casting about in his mind for some means of probing this mysterious and +unexpected hole to the bottom. At this juncture he happens to glance +upward, and meets the intent regard of his pictured ancestor, who seems to +have been silently watching him all this time, and only to be prevented by +unavoidable circumstances from speaking out and telling him what to do +next. And there is that constant forefinger pointing--at what? At the +cavity in the floor, of course; but not of that alone; for if you observe, +this same new-found hole in the wall is a third point in the straight line +between the end of the forefinger and the hiding-place of the silver rod; +furthermore, the hole is, as nearly as can be estimated without actual +measurement, three feet distant from the forefinger, and five feet from +the rod; the problem of three above and five below has solved itself in +the twinkling of an eye, and it only remains to act accordingly! + +Archibald sprang to the floor in no small excitement; but the first thing +he did was to see that both his doors were securely fastened. Then he +advanced upon the mystery with heightened color and beating heart, his +imagination revelling in the wildest forecasts of what might be in store; +and anon turning him cold with sickening apprehension lest it should prove +to be nothing after all! But no--something there must be, some buried +secret, now to live once more for him, and for him only: the secret, +whereof dim legends had come down through the obscurity of two hundred +years; the secret, too, of old Sir Charles in the frame yonder, the man of +magic repute. What could it be? Some talisman--some volume of the Black +Art perhaps--which would enable him to vanish at will into thin air, and +to travel with the speed of a wish from place to place--to become a +veritable enchanter, endowed with all supernatural powers. With hands +slightly tremulous from eagerness he pushed back the bit of plank and drew +forth the silver rod; then mounted on the chair and applied it to the +hole, which it fitted accurately. Before pushing it home he paused a +moment. + +In all the stories he had read, the possessors of magic secrets had +acquired the same, only in exchange for something supposed to be equally +valuable, namely, their own souls. It was not to be expected that +Archibald would be able to modify the terms of the bargain in his own +case: was he, then, prepared to pay the price? Every human being, +probably, is called upon to give a more or less direct answer to this +question at some epoch of their lives: and were it not for curiosity and +scepticism, and an unwillingness to profit by the experience of others, +very likely that answer might be more often favorable to virtue than it +actually is. Archibald did not hesitate long. Whether he decided to +disbelieve in any danger; whether he resolved to brave it whatever it +might be; or whether, having got thus far, he had not sufficient control +over his inclinations to resist going further--at all events he drew in +his breath, set his boyish lips, and drove the silver rod into the +aperture with right good will. + +It turned slowly as it entered, the curve of its spiral evidently following +the corresponding windings of the hole. Inward it twisted like a snake, +until only some two inches still projected. As the searcher after +forbidden mysteries continued to press, something seemed to give way +within; and at the same instant an odd, shuffling sound caused him to +glance sharply over his left shoulder. + +What was the matter with the mantelpiece? The whole of the right jamb +seemed to have started forward nearly a foot, while the left jamb had +retired by a corresponding distance into the wall; the hearth, with the +fire burning upon it, remained meanwhile undisturbed. At first Archibald +imagined that the mantelpiece was going to fall, perhaps bringing down the +whole partition with it; but when he had got over the first shock of +surprise sufficiently to make an examination, he found that the entire +structure of massive gray-stone was swung upon a concealed pivot, round +which it turned independently of the brickwork of the fireplace. The +silver rod had released the spring by which the mechanism was held in +check, and an unsuspected doorway was thus revealed, opening into the very +substance of the apparently solid wall. On getting down from his chair he +had no difficulty in pulling forward the jamb far enough to satisfy +himself that there was a cavity of unknown extent behind. And from out of +this cavity breathed a strange dry air, like the sigh of a mummy. As for +the darkness in there, it was almost substantial as of the central chamber +in the great pyramid. + +Archibald may well have had some misgivings, for he was only a boy, and +this happened more than sixty years ago, when ghosts and goblins had not +come to be considered such indefensible humbugs as they are now. +Nevertheless, he was of a singularly intrepid temperament, and besides he +had passed the turning point in this adventure a few minutes ago. Nothing, +therefore, would have turned him back now. Come what might of it, he would +see this business to an end. + +It was, however, impossible to see anything without a light; it would be +necessary to fetch one of the rush candles from the table in the corridor. +It was a matter of half a minute for the boy to go and return; then he +edged himself through the opening, and was standing in a kind of vaulted +tunnel, directly behind the fireplace, the warmth of which he could feel +when he laid his hand on the bricks on that side. The tunnel, which +extended along the interior of the wall toward the left, was about six +feet in height by two and a half in width. Archibald could walk in it +quite easily. + +But, in the first place, he scrutinized the mechanism of the revolving +mantelpiece. It was an extremely ingenious and yet simple device, and so +accurately fitted in all its parts that, after so many years, they still +worked together almost as smoothly as when new. After Archibald had poured +a little of his gun-oil into the joints of the hinges, and along the +grooves, he found that heavy stone structure would open and close as +noiselessly and easily as his own jaws. It could be opened from the inside +by using the silver rod in a hole corresponding to that on the outside; +and, having practised this opening and shutting until he was satisfied +that he was thoroughly master of the process, he put the rod in his +pocket, pulled the jamb gently together behind him, and, candle in hand, +set forth along the tunnel. + +After walking ten paces, he came face-up against a wall lying at right +angles to the direction in which he had been moving. Peering cautiously +round the corner, he saw, at the end of a shallow embrasure, a ponderous +door of dark wood, braced with iron, standing partly open, with a key in +the keyhole, as if some one had just come out, and, in his haste, had +forgotten to shut and lock the door behind him. Archibald now slowly +opened it to its full extent; it creaked as it moved, and the draught of +air made his candle flicker, and caused strange shadows to dance for a +moment in the unexplored void beyond. In another breath Archibald had +crossed the threshold and arrived at the goal of his pilgrimage. + +At first he could see very little; but there could be no doubt that he was +in a room which seemed to be of large extent, and for the existence of +which he could by no means account. The reader, who has been better +informed, will already have assigned it its true place in that unexplained +region mentioned some pages back, between the blind court and the east +chamber. Groping his way cautiously about, Archibald presently discerned a +burnished sconce affixed to the wall, in which having placed his candle, +the light was reflected over the room, so that the objects it contained +stood dimly forth. It was a room of fair extent and considerable height, +and was, apparently, furnished in a style of quaint and sombre +magnificence, such as no other apartment in Malmaison could show. The +arched ceiling was supported by vast oaken beams; the floor was inlaid +with polished marbles. The walls, instead of being hung with tapestry, +were painted in distemper with life-size figure subjects, representing, as +far as the boy could make out, some weird incantation scene. At one end of +the room stood a heavy cabinet, the shelves of which were piled with gold +and silver plate, richly chased, and evidently of great value. Here, in +fact, seemed to have been deposited many of the precious heirlooms of the +family, which had disappeared during the Jacobite rebellions, and were +supposed to have been lost. The cabinet was made of ebony inlaid with +ivory, as was also a broad round table in the centre of the room. In a +niche opposite the cabinet gleamed a complete suit of sixteenth century +armor; and so dry was the atmosphere of the apartment, that scarce a spot +of rust appeared upon the polished surface, which, however, like every +other object in the room, was overlaid with fine dust. A bed, with +embroidered coverlet and heavy silken curtains, stood in a deep recess to +the left of the cabinet. Upon the table lay a number of papers and +parchments, some tied up in bundles, others lying about in disorder. One +was spread open, with a pen thrown down upon it, and an antique ink-horn +standing near; and upon a stand beside the bed was a gold-enamelled +snuff-box, with its lid up, and containing, doubtless, the dusty remnant +of some George II. rappee. + +At all these things Archibald gazed in thoughtful silence. This room had +been left, at a moment's warning, generations ago; since then this strange +dry air had been breathed by no human nostrils, these various objects had +remained untouched and motionless; nothing but time had dwelt in the +chamber; and yet what a change, subtle but mighty, had been wrought! Mere +stillness--mere absence of life--was an appalling thing, the boy thought. +And why had this secret been suffered to pass into oblivion? And why had +fate selected him to discover it? And now, what use would he make of it? +"At all events," said the boy to himself, "it has become my secret, and +shall remain mine; and no fear but the occasion will come when I shall +know what use to make of it." He felt that meanwhile it would give him +power, security, wealth also if he should ever have occasion for it; and +with a curious sentiment of pride he saw himself thus mystically +designated as the true heir of Malmaison--the only one of his age and +generation who had been permitted to stand on an equality with those +historic and legendary ancestors, to whom the secret of this chamber had +given the name and fame of wizards. Henceforth Archibald was as much a +wizard as they. + +Or, might there after all be a power in necromancy that he yet dreamed not +of? Was it possible that even now those old enchanters held their meetings +here, and would question his right to force his way among them? + +As this thought passed through the boy's mind, he was moving slowly +forward, his eyes glancing now here, now there, when all at once the roots +of his hair were stirred with an emotion which, if not fear, was certainly +far removed from tranquillity. From the darkest corner of the room he had +seen a human figure silently and stealthily creeping toward him. Now, as +he fixed his eyes upon it, it stopped, and seemed to return his stare. His +senses did not deceive him; there it stood, distinctly outlined, though +its features were indistinguishable by reason of the shadow that fell upon +them. But what living thing--living with mortal life at least--could +exist in a room that had been closed for sixty years? + +Now certainly this Archibald, who had not yet completed his fourteenth +year, possessed a valiant soul. That all his flesh yearned for instant +flight does not admit of a doubt; and had he fled, this record would never +have been written. Fly, however, he would not, but would step forward +rather, and be resolved what manner of goblin confronted him. Forward, +therefore, he stepped; and behold, the goblin was but the reflection of +himself in a tall mirror, which the obscurity and his own agitation had +prevented him from discerning. The revulsion of feeling thus occasioned +was so strong that for a moment all strength forsook the boy's knees; he +stumbled and fell, and his forehead struck the corner of the ebony +cabinet. He was on his feet again in a moment, but his forehead was +bleeding, and he felt strangely giddy. The candle, too, was getting near +its end; it was time to bring this first visit to a close. He took the +candle from the sconce, passed out through the door, traversed the tunnel, +and thrust the silver key into the keyhole. The stone door yielded before +him; he dropped what was left of the candle, and slipped through the +opening into broad daylight. The first object his dazzled eyes rested upon +was the figure of Miss Kate Battledown. In returning from his visit to the +corridor he must have forgotten to lock the room door after him. She was +standing with her back toward him, looking out of the window, and was +apparently making signs to some one outside. + +Noiselessly Archibald pushed the mantelpiece back into place; thanks to the +oiling he had given the hinges, no sound betrayed the movement. The next +moment Kate turned round, and seeing him, started and cried "Oh!" + +"Good-morning, Mistress Kate," said Archibald. + +"Archibald!" + +"Well?" + +"You were not here a moment ago!" + +"Well?" + +"Then how did you get here?" + +Archibald made a gesture toward the door leading to the covered stairway. + +"No--no!" said Kate; "it is locked, and the key is on this side." She had +been coming toward him, but now stopped and regarded him with terror in +her looks. + +"What is the matter, Kate?" + +"You are all over blood, Archibald! What has happened? Are you ... oh, what +are you?" She was ready to believe him a ghost. + +"What am I?" repeated the boy, sluggishly. That odd giddiness was +increasing, and he scarcely knew whether he were asleep or awake. Who was +he, indeed? What had happened? Who was that young woman in front of him? +What.... + +"Archibald! Archie! Speak to me! Why do you look so strangely?" + +"Me not know oo!" said Archie, and began to cry. + +Mistress Kate turned pale, and began to back toward the door. + +"Me want my Kittie!" blubbered Archie. + +Kate stopped. "You want me?" + +"Me want my 'ittle Kittie--my 'ittle b'indled Kittie! Dey put my Kittie in +de hole in de darden! Me want her to p'ay wiz!" And with this, and with +the tears streaming down his cheeks, poor Archie toddled forward with the +uncertain step and outstretched arms of a little child. But Kate had +already gained the door, and was running screaming across the next room, +and so down the long corridor. + +Poor Archie toddled after, his baby heart filled with mourning for the +brindled cat that had been buried in the back garden seven years before. +Seven years?--or was it only yesterday? + + + + +VI. + + +Miss Kate Battledown's screams, as she ran down the corridor, must speedily +have summoned the household; and then the dreadful news was told, not +losing anything of its horror, we may be sure, in the recital; and then +appeared poor Archie in confirmation. The greatest confusion and +bewilderment prevailed. No one comprehended anything. It was not known +what had happened. What was this story about Archie's having suddenly +appeared, where before there had been only empty air--just as his great +grandfather, Sir Charles, had done before him? Kate, to whom we may pardon +a little incorrectness or exaggeration under the circumstances, solemnly +asseverated that she had been looking straight at the centre of the room, +and that nobody was there; and that all at once "Archie grew together out +of nothing!" Such is the version of her words given by Lady Malmaison in a +letter to her sister, Miss Tremount, of Cornwall, soon after the +occurrence. Miss Tremount, it may be remembered, had intimated years ago +her intention of making Archibald her heir; and Lady Malmaison's letter is +an amusing and rather ingenious attempt to convey the information about +poor Archie, in such a way as not to frighten off this inheritance. Doctor +Rollinson, she wrote, had seen dear Archie, and had said that what had +happened was only what might have been expected; and that the dear child's +health would certainly not suffer, but, on the contrary, be strengthened, +and his life prolonged. For that there could be no doubt that poor Archie +had been laboring under an almost unnatural excitement, or tension of the +nerves, during the last few years, which had caused Lady Malmaison the +greatest anxiety; and she was truly thankful, for her part, that things +had come out no worse than they had. She could feel secure, now, that her +darling Archie would live to be a quiet, good, sensible English gentleman, +fitted to discharge efficiently, and conscientiously, an English +gentleman's duties, whether it were to manage an estate, or--or in fact +whatever it might be. And then came the little story about the mysterious +apparition of Archie out of vacancy, which Lady Malmaison treated +humorously; though in her own heart she was very much scared at it, and +was moreover privately convinced that Archie was, and would remain, very +little better than an idiot all his life long. Now, it is well known that +English country gentlemen are never idiotic. + +What was the elder Dr. Rollinson's real opinion about Archie's relapse? The +only direct evidence worth having on this point--his own--is unfortunately +not forthcoming, and we are obliged to depend on such inaccurate or +interested hearsay as has just been quoted above. It seems likely that he +came to the conclusion that stupidity was the boy's normal condition and +that his seven years of brilliance had been something essentially abnormal +and temporary, and important only from a pathological point of view. +Indeed, there was nothing in the transmuted Archibald's condition that was +susceptible of being treated as a disease. He was as healthy as the +average of boys of fourteen (if he were a boy of fourteen, and not a child +of seven). He knew nothing, and had retained nothing, of his other life; +he had to be taught his letters--and a terrible job that was, by all +accounts; he occasionally expressed a desire to see his nurse Maggie--who, +the charitable reader will rejoice to hear, had been honestly married +since we last heard of her. He was greatly puzzled to find himself so much +taller than when he last knew himself; and it was a long time before he +could be induced to recognize his own reflection in the looking-glass. +Needless to say that everything connected with the secret chamber and the +silver rod was completely erased from his mind; and though he had been +found with the rod in his hand, he could not tell what it was or where he +got it. + +In this connection, however, I will mention something which, if it be true, +throws a new and strange light upon his psychological condition. There is +reason to believe that he visited the secret chamber in a somnambulistic +state. The evidence on which this supposition is founded appears, at this +distance of time, rather imperfect; but it is certain that a few weeks +after the boy's entrance upon his unintelligent state, the silver rod was +lost sight of; and it is almost certain that during the time of its +disappearance it was lying in its hidden receptacle under the floor beside +the mantelpiece. But in that case, who but Archibald could have put it +there? and when could he have put it there save in his sleep? It is known +that he was a somnambulist during his unenlightened period, though never +in his alternate state; and if he, as a somnambulist, remembered the +hiding-place of the rod, it follows that he must also have remembered the +rod's use, and visited the secret chamber. Thus it would seem that only in +the boy's waking hours was he oblivious and stupid; in his dreams he +truly lived and was awake! Here, then, is a complication of absorbing +interest, which I will leave for physicians and metaphysicians to fight +out between themselves. For my part, I can only look on in respectful +bewilderment. + +But we must leave Archibald for the present, and occupy our minds with the +proceedings of the other personages of this drama. An era of disaster was +in store for most of them. It is curious to note how the proverb that +misfortunes never come single was illustrated in the case of these people. +Fate seems to have launched its thunderbolts at them all at once, as if +making up for lost time; or like a playwright, who clears his stage of all +secondary and superfluous characters, and leaves a free field wherein the +two or three principal people may meet and work out their destiny +unimpeded. + +Colonel Battledown fought under Wellington against Soult at Orthez; and in +a charge of the French cavalry the gallant officer and genial gentleman +was cut in the head by a sabre-stroke and ridden down; and when picked up +after the battle he was dead. He was buried on the spot; the practice of +sending the corpses of heroes and others careering over the face of the +earth, in search of a spot of loam worthy to receive them, was not at that +time so fashionable as it has since become. But the news of his death came +home, and put his friends in mourning, and made Mistress Kate the heiress +of a great property at the age of fourteen. But she was older than her +years, and was generally considered to be "just the sort of person to be +an heiress," whatever that may be. I suppose she was exceedingly handsome, +with a proper sense of her importance, and a capacity of keeping an eye +upon what she considered her interests. At the same time many actions of +hers indicate that she was occasionally liable to ungovernable impulses, +and that her temper was fitful and wayward. Such a woman would make a +capital heroine for a modern novel; she would stand a lot of analyzing. + +The tender relations which had subsisted between her and Archibald were +perforce broken off. What can you do with a lover who suddenly ceases to +have the most distant recollection of you, who does not believe you when +you tell him your name, and whose only associations with that name date +seven years back and are disagreeable? Nobody can blame Kate for giving +Archibald up; she would have been more than human if she could have +intrusted her heart to the keeping of a half-witted wizard, whose +mysterious likeness to, or connection with, a charming young gentleman +rendered him only the more undesirable. Poor Kate! If she gave her heart +to Archibald, and then Archibald became somebody else, what shall we say +became of her heart? Must it not have been irretrievably lost, and shall +we be surprised if we hereafter detect in her a tendency to heartlessness? + + +The next one to drop was Sir Clarence Butt Malmaison. The jolly baronet was +never the same man after the relapse of his second son, whom he had grown +to love more than his first-born, and to whose future he had looked +forward with much ambitious anticipation. He used to sit for hours at a +time sadly watching the child's sluggish gambols about the nursery floor; +ever and anon trying to arouse in his darkened mind some sparks of the +former brightness, and, when the effort failed, sighing heavily, sometimes +with tears trickling down his ruddy old cheeks. If Archibald had never +passed through that period of deceptive promise, it is probable that he +would have received a fair amount of affection as he was, and he would at +all events not have committed the unpardonable offence of inspiring hopes +which were not destined to be fulfilled. Sir Clarence felt like the man in +the fairy tale who received from the fairy a purse of gold, but on opening +the purse to handle the money, found nothing in his grasp but a bunch of +yellow autumn leaves. The heroic end of his friend the Colonel served to +augment the baronet's depression of spirits; nor was his gloom lightened +by the reflection that Kate's inheritance of the estate would now in no +way advantage Archibald. So, what with one thing and another, it must be +confessed that Sir Clarence ended by taking too much wine after dinner. +And the more wine he drank, the less inclination did he feel to keep up +his hardy outdoor habits of riding and shooting; and, consequently, the +more moody and plethoric he became. At length he nearly quarrelled with +Dr. Rollinson because the latter told him plainly that the bottle would be +his coffin; and a few days later he did quarrel, and very violently too, +with the Honorable Richard Pennroyal. This gentleman, it seems, had ridden +over to Malmaison and stayed to dinner; and at dessert the conversation +got round to the present melancholy condition of local affairs. + +"Everything's going to the dogs!" cried poor Sir Clarence, with an oath; +"and no gentleman, by ---, ought to condescend to exist!" + +"Come, Malmaison," said Pennroyal, smiling and cracking filberts, "you're +going too far. Things are not so bad. And there are compensations!" + +"Compensations? What compensations? What the devil do you mean?" + +"Ha, ha! Well, for instance, about the poor Colonel. Of course, we're all +dooced sorry to lose the Colonel; fine old chap, and a good hand at +piquet. But after all he had to go some time; and then what happens? The +fair Miss Battledown becomes the richest heiress in the three counties." + +"Ay, and what's the compensation in that? What good does her being an +heiress do me? Can my boy marry her? Answer me that!" + +"Well, I should fancy not; but somebody else can." + +"Somebody else? Who, I'd like to know?" bawled Sir Clarence. "Let me see +the scoundrel who'll dare to marry Kate Battledown--let me see him!" + +"I hear you quite plainly, Malmaison; and I wouldn't exert myself so much +if I were you--you know what the doctor said. As for Miss Battledown, +surely she has a right to marry whom she pleases, hasn't she?" + +"No, she has not!" returned the baronet, getting angrier than ever. "She +belongs to my Archibald; and if any scoundrel--" + +"Really, you are intolerable, Sir Clarence," interrupted Pennroyal, still +smiling, but not a pleasant smile. "A man whose temper is faulty at the +best of times should be more careful to avoid whatever tends to make it +worse;" and as Pennroyal said this he glanced significantly at the +decanter--of which, to do him justice, he was very sparing himself. + +"Pennroyal!" said the old baronet, drawing himself up with a good deal of +dignity, "your father and I were friends before you were born, and you're +my brother-in-law; but if you were not sitting at my table, I'd teach you +better manners than to lecture your elders. I said I should like to see +the scoundrel who would dare to marry Kate Battledown--and--and what is +that to you?" + +"Well, it's just this," returned Pennroyal, quietly; "I'm going to marry +her myself!" + +Sir Clarence started up from his chair with a tremendous oath--and sat down +again. He was putting a terrible restraint upon himself. Not for his life +would he outrage the guest who was beneath his roof. His face became dark +red, and the veins on his forehead and in his neck stood out and throbbed +visibly. His eyes were fixed staringly upon the impassable visage of the +Honorable Richard, and he drew his breath with difficulty. There was a +pause of some duration, broken only by this stertorous breathing, and by +the deliberate cracking of the guest's filberts. At last, with a tragic +effort of courtesy that was almost grotesque, the poor gentleman pushed +the decanter toward his brother-in-law and deadly enemy, accompanying the +act by a rattling sound in the throat, probably intended as an invitation +to help himself. But the struggle was too severe. The next moment the +baronet's eyes rolled wildly, a gasping noise broke from him, and he fell +forward with his head on the table. + +Mr. Pennroyal promptly arose and rang the bell. "Send for the doctor at +once," he said to the servant who appeared. "Sir Clarence has overdrunk +himself, or overeaten himself, I fancy. And help me to put him on the sofa +and loosen his neckcloth. There--very distressing. Apply the usual +remedies, while I step up-stairs and speak to Lady Malmaison." + +The usual remedies availed little, and when Dr. Rollinson arrived, four +hours afterward, it was already evident that even he could be of no use. +Sir Clarence never fully regained consciousness, and two days later he +ceased to breathe. There was an inquest, resulting in a verdict of death +by apoplexy, and followed by a handsome funeral. The widow of the +deceased, who was a lady of easily-stirred emotions and limited intellect, +wept at short intervals during several weeks thereafter, and assured the +Honorable Richard that she had no one in the world to depend on besides +him. Archibald, who had moved about the house during this season of +mourning with handsome vacant face and aimless steps, betrayed little +grief at the family loss or comprehension of it; but whenever Pennroyal +was in the way, he followed him round with a dog-like fondness in strange +contrast with the vivid antipathy which he had manifested toward him in +his other phase of being. As for Archibald's brother, now a pale and +slender but dignified youth of nineteen, he assumed the title of Sir +Edward, and the headship of the house, with a grave propriety of bearing +that surprised those who had only looked upon him as a moping scholar. +Undemonstratively, but surely, he gave evidence that he understood the +responsibilities of his position, and that he knew how to make himself +respected. He did not encourage his mother in her unrestrained dependence +upon Pennroyal; and between the latter and him there appears to have +arisen a coolness more or less marked. Certainly, Pennroyal was far from +loving the ceremonious and punctilious young baronet, who would neither +drink nor play cards. Toward Archibald, on the other hand, he exhibited a +cynical and contemptuous sort of good-humor; often amusing himself by +asking the poor dull-witted youth all sorts of questions about events +which had occurred in his enlightened period, and concerning which, of +course, Archibald was unfathomably ignorant. The Honorable Richard +Pennroyal was not the first man who has failed to see whence his greatest +danger was to be expected. + + + + +VII. + + +That piece of news with which Mr. Pennroyal had killed Sir Clarence was no +more than the truth. He was the betrothed husband of the beautiful +heiress, Miss Battledown; and the three counties, on the whole, approved +the match. It would consolidate two great contiguous estates, and add one +considerable fortune to another. There was a rather wide discrepancy in +ages, Pennroyal being about forty, while Miss Battledown was only in her +nineteenth year; but that mattered little so that they agreed in other +respects. Miss Battledown was generally believed to have very proper ideas +as to her duties and responsibilities as an heiress. Since poor Archibald +Malmaison lost his wits, she had received more than one offer which a +young lady who was weak-minded enough to regard only personal attractions +might have been tempted to accept; but she had needed no elder person to +counsel her to refuse them. In fact, she had at one time allowed it to be +inferred that she deprecated the idea of being married to any one; and +this demonstrated a commendable maidenly reserve; but it was neither to be +expected nor desired that she should adhere to such a resolution in the +face of good reasons for changing it. And Mr. Pennroyal was an excellent +reason. He had passed through the unsteady period of his life; he had +lived down the vaguely discreditable reports which had once been +circulated at his expense; he had shown himself a thrifty landlord; and +the very fact of his being a widower invested him with a certain +respectability not always appertaining to unmarried gentlemen of his age. +Finally, he belonged to a noble and distinguished family, and though there +was no likelihood of his acceding to the title, who was better qualified +than he to illustrate the substantial virtues of an English country +gentleman? + +We are without detailed records of the early progress of this charming love +affair. The inference is that it proceeded upon orthodox and unexceptional +lines. Mr. Pennroyal would make known to the widow of the late Colonel the +aspirations of his heart, and would receive from her permission to address +himself to the lady of his choice. After the lapse of a few weeks or +months (as the case might be) of mutually complimentary interviews and +correspondence, the swain would entreat the maid to name the day which was +to make him the happiest of men. She would delay and hesitate for a +becoming while; but at length, with a blush and a smile, would indicate a +date too distant for the lover's impatience, yet as near as a respect for +the _convenances_ of wealthy virginity could permit. And now, all +preliminaries being settled, the preparations would go forward with +liberality and despatch. + +It had been at first arranged that the wedding should be solemnized at the +house of the bride; but, for some reason or other, this plan was +subsequently changed, and Malmaison was fixed upon as the scene of the +ceremony. The great dining-hall, which had more than once been put to +similar uses in years gone by, was made ready for the occasion. It was a +vast and stately apartment, sixty feet in length by forty in breadth, and +its lofty ceiling was richly carved in oak; while around the walls were +arranged suits of historic armor, and swords, pikes, and banners, the +relics of ancestral valor. It was on the ground-floor of the most ancient +part of the house, immediately below that suite of rooms of which the east +chamber was one. It had not been used as a dining-hall since the old times +when retainers fed at the same table with their lords; but family +celebrations had been held there; and at the coming of age of the late Sir +Clarence, in 1775, it had been the scene of a grand banquet to the +neighboring nobility and gentry. The floor at the eastern end of the room +was raised some eight inches above the level of the rest; and it was here +that the bride and bridegroom were to stand. A very reverend dean was +secured to pronounce the service; and there were to be eight bridesmaids +and a best man; the latter being none other than poor beclouded Archibald +himself. + +This choice created a good deal of surprise and comment. The fact appears +to have been that the post of "best man" had, in the first instance, been +offered to young Sir Edward Malmaison, who, however, declined it. His +reason for so doing was, in the first place, disapproval of the match; he +holding the opinion that the widower of his aunt might as well have +refrained from a second nuptials, and that, at all events, he should have +selected any one rather than her who was to have been the wife of +Archibald. His second objection was a personal dislike to the Honorable +Richard, and an indisposition to encourage his intimacy with the family. +But Sir Edward could not so far oppose his mother's wishes as to forbid +the marriage being celebrated at Malmaison; and being obliged to concede +so much, he wisely deemed it most consistent with his dignity to adopt a +manner as outwardly gracious as was compatible with self-respect. + +Accordingly, when Pennroyal--whether maliciously, or from honest good-will +toward one who manifested an almost child-like attachment to +himself--chose Sir Edward's brother in his default, Sir Edward offered no +open opposition. If he remonstrated privately with Archibald, his +arguments were void of effect, and would have been, besides, counteracted +by Lady Malmaison's influence. It is needless to say that Archibald was +immensely proud of the compliment (as he considered it), and took care to +celebrate his distinction at all times and places, opportune or +otherwise--seeming, indeed, to think and talk of little else. It is not +probable that he fully comprehended the significance of the matter, as he +was certainly far from perceiving its ironic aspect; nevertheless, his +dull brain received more stimulus from the prospect than from any other +thing that had befallen him, thereby furnishing sardonic humorists with +the criticism, that if the Honorable Richard Pennroyal would keep on +burying his wives, and choosing Archibald as best man for the new-comer, +the youth might in time become approximately intellectual. + +The wedding-day was fixed for the 5th of March, 1821--a date which was long +remembered in the neighborhood. Fortunately we have ample accounts of +everything that occurred--the testimony of many eye-witnesses, which, +through varying in some unimportant details (as is inevitable), agree +nevertheless upon all essential points. I shall give the gist of the +narrative as concisely as a proper attention to its more important phases +will allow. + +Miss Kate Battledown, with her mother, came to Malmaison on the evening of +the 4th, and spent the night, the ceremony being appointed at eleven the +next forenoon. The young lady spent an hour or so, before going to bed, in +conversation with Archibald, who, in his pleasurable excitement over the +forthcoming event, was much more lively and conversable than usual. As +they walked side by side up and down the great hall, at one end of which +some workmen were still engaged in arranging the decorations for the +morrow, they must have made a handsome picture. Kate was at this time a +lithe and graceful figure, slightly above the medium height, and +possessing a great deal of "style;" in fact, young as she was, she had +been for some time regarded as a model of fashion and deportment by all +the aspiring young women within a radius of twenty miles. She was dressed +on this evening in a gown of some thin, white material, the frilled hem of +which failed by at least six inches to reach the floor, thereby displaying +a pair of arched feet and slender ankles, clothed in open-work silk +stockings. The skirt of this gown began immediately beneath the arms, and +every contour of the wearer's form could be traced through its +close-fitting and diaphanous folds. Miss Battledown's arms were bare, save +for the black silk netted mittens that she wore; her dark curling hair was +gathered pyramidally on the top of her head, and fastened with a black +ribbon; a black velvet band encircled her white throat, and there was a +row of black bows down the front of her dress. Her forehead was narrow and +compact, her large brown eyes were perhaps a trifle closer together than +they should have been, her nose was delicate, her lips blunt-cornered and +rather full than thin; the whole expression of her face spirited and +commanding. As for Archibald, he was a handsome vacancy, so to speak; a +fine physical man wasted for lack of a spiritual man to carry him about +and use him. His regular, finely moulded face, with its healthy pallor and +its black eyes and hair, always had a dim, pathetic look of having +forgotten something. His figure, symmetrical and full of strength, moved +itself awkwardly and unmeaningly, as though ignorant of its own +capabilities, and rather encumbered than otherwise by their redundance. +His smile, which drew his features into their handsomest attitude, was +nevertheless rather silly, and seemed to last on after he himself had +forgotten what he was smiling for. His hands--strong, well-formed hands of +the slender and long-fingered type--hung helplessly at the end of his +arms; or, if he attempted to use them, each finger appeared to have a +different idea of what was to be done, and one and all fumbled drowsily +and shiftlessly at their task. The young man wore the high-collared coat, +short waistcoat, and clinging pantaloons of the period; and his black hair +hung down on his shoulders in natural luxuriance of curls. Poor Archibald +accepted meekly whatever was given him to put on; but he would not let his +hair be cut, or even anointed with the incomparable oil of Macassar. + +"And so you are glad, Archie?" said Mistress Kate, continuing their talk. + +"Oh, glad! yes, glad!" replied Archie, nodding his head slowly and +solemnly. + +"You don't regret me, then, at all?" + +"Oh, regret, no!" said Archie, shaking his head with the same sapience and +gravity. + +"Why do you always repeat what a person says, without seeming to know what +it is? There used to be a time, sir, when regret would have been far too +mild a word for you. Have you forgotten all that? Have you forgotten Lord +Orville and Evelina?" + +"Forgotten, yes; all forgotten!" + +"Come, now, I wish you to remember. You understand that I am to be married +to Richard Pennroyal tomorrow--to Richard Pennroyal!" + +"Uncle Richard, dear Uncle Richard. I love Uncle Richard!" + +"Do you love no one beside him? don't you love me?" + +"Don't love you, oh, no!" + +"Archie, have you forgotten how we were married in the back garden, and how +you used to say I was your little wife; and you wanted to fight a duel +with Richard because he had taken me on his knee and kissed me?" + +"See how pretty!" exclaimed Archie, whose attention had been fixed during +this speech upon two of the workmen who were unrolling between them a +piece of crimson cloth appertaining to the hangings. + +"What a creature!" muttered Kate to herself. To have her romantic souvenirs +ignored even by this simpleton vexed her a little. Perhaps, too, she had +another reason for regretting her companion's witlessness. She could +remember when she had cared for him--or for something called him--more +than she cared now for the man she would wed to-morrow. Why was he not the +same now as then? His face, his hands, his figure--these were the same, or +rather they were handsomer and more manlike than formerly. Why could not +the soul, or whatever may be that mysterious invisible motive-power in a +man--why could it not have stuck to its fortress during these seven years +past? Here were five feet eleven of well-sculptured living clay, that had +been growing and improving for more than one and twenty years; and for an +inhabitant, nothing but a soft foolish child, destitute of memory, +intelligence, and passion. Such reflections may have passed through the +mind of the young heiress; and then she may have thought, glancing at him, +"If my Archibald were here, to-morrow might see another spectacle than +that put down in the programme." She might have thought this; she did not +and of course would not on any account have uttered such a sentiment +aloud. But it would be unjust to her taste and sensibility to suppose +that, apart from worldly and politic considerations, she should have +really preferred a sharp-featured, thin-haired, close-fisted gentleman of +forty to a conceivable hero of half that age, dowered with every grace and +beauty, not to mention Miss Tremount's seventy thousand pounds. Is she to +be blamed if she sighed with a passing regret at that hero's mysterious +disappearance? Yes, he had disappeared, more mysteriously and more +irrevocably than old Sir Charles seventy years ago. Where in the heavens +or the earth or under the earth, indeed, was he? Did he still exist +anywhere? Might she dream of ever meeting him again--that hero?...! Bah! +what nonsense! + +"Pretty!" repeated Archie, who, in the subsidence of his other faculties, +had retained an appreciation of color. + +"Poor boy--poor thing!" said Kate; "you lost a great deal when you lost +your wits; between being a groomsman and a bridegroom there is a very wide +difference. And you don't even care--perhaps that's your greatest loss of +all--ha, ha! Come, Archie, it's time for little fellows like you to be +asleep." + +"Kate--" began Archie; and paused. + +"What?" + +"Do you love anybody?" + +She met his look of dull yet earnest inquiry with a contemptuous smile at +first, but afterward her smile died away and she answered soberly: + +"I did once." + +"I did once, too!" rejoined Archie, with a sort of sluggish eagerness. + +"You did--when?" demanded she, with the beginning of a heart-beat. + +"I think I did--once--when I was asleep." + +She laughed shortly and turned away. "Yes, sleep is the best thing for you, +Archie; you had better sleep all the time now; it will be too late to wake +up to-morrow. Good-night, Archie." + + + + +VIII. + + +Old Miss Tremount had come up from Cornwall for the occasion, accompanied +by her poodle, her female toady, and her father confessor. The good lady +had altered her will some years before, on hearing of her favorite +nephew's changed condition, and it was feared she would leave her money to +the Church of Rome, of which she was a member. But on receiving the +announcement of her intended visit, Lady Malmaison had begun to entertain +hopes that Sir Edward might succeed in so favorably impressing his aunt as +to induce her to divert at least some portion of her thousands in his +direction. But it is not likely that Miss Tremount had come to Malmaison +with any such views; in fact, her reason for coming had little or no +connection with the late baronet's family. It was not generally known +that, between forty and fifty years previously, there had been tender +passages between Colonel Battledown and this snuffy old maid, whose soul +was now divided between her cards and her psalter. So it was, however; +they were even betrothed to one another, though the betrothal was kept a +secret, the Colonel then being a comparatively penniless young lieutenant, +and as such by no means a desirable son-in-law from the parental point of +view. An elopement was contemplated so soon as the young lady should be of +age; and it would be difficult to explain the occasion of the trumpery +quarrel between the lovers, which ended in the lady taunting the +gentleman with caring only about her money, and resulted in the rupture of +the engagement. Doubtless it might have been renewed; but at this +juncture the lieutenant was ordered away on active service to the American +Colonies, where he remained for some years. Later, he was stationed in +India; and the next time he met his old love, in London, he was twenty +years older than when she had last seen him, and a major, and with ribbons +on his breast, and a wife on his arm. Miss Tremount never betrayed any +grief or disappointment, except in so far as she remained single all her +life, and latterly waxed religious and became a convert to the Jesuits. +But when the Colonel was dead, and she heard that his daughter was about +to be married, she resolved to make a journey to Malmaison; and who can +tell whether in the bottom of her heart, hidden even from her father +confessor, she may not have cherished a secret purpose of making Mistress +Kate her heir? It is certain at all events that she brought her will with +her in her trunk. + +This romance, I say, was known to but few, and as Miss Battledown did not +happen to be among the number, she was less cordial in her behavior to the +old lady than she might otherwise have been. Kate was not constitutionally +a lover of old women, and not herself old enough to be aware that no truly +charitable person should ever be inattentive to seventy thousand pounds, +no matter to how unprepossessing a human being the money might be +attached. Her manner, therefore, was tolerant and patronizing rather than +flattering; and honest Lady Malmaison, though she liked Kate very much, +and would have been delighted to see her inherit seventy thousand pounds +from the Shah of Persia or the President of the United States, was not +quite so unnatural an idiot as to recommend to the young lady a more +conciliating behavior. As for Miss Tremount, she preserved her composure +and kept her counsel perfectly, and never referred to her will even in her +most unguarded moments. She was courteous and complimentary to Sir Edward, +indulgent to Archibald, kind and sisterly to Lady Malmaison, and quietly +observant of everything and everybody. On the wedding morning she +criticised and admired the bride's toilet with a taste and appreciation +that caused the proud young beauty's eyes to sparkle; and just before the +party entered the hall, she pressed Kate's hand affectionately, and said, +in her gentlest tones, that she hoped she would be happy. "I have always +looked upon your mother as one of the happiest of women, my dear," she +added. "May your fortune equal hers!" This good-natured benediction caused +Lady Malmaison a good deal of anxiety; Sir Edward smiled aside at what he +fancied was a subtle stroke of irony; and Kate herself became thoughtful, +and regretted that it was rather late in the day to begin to show Miss +Tremount what a charming elderly lady she thought her. + +The great hall looked its stateliest that morning. The March sunshine came +slanting through the tall windows, and lay in bright patches upon the +broad floor, or gleamed upon the ancient swords and breastplates, or +glowed in the festal hangings. Quite a large number of titled and +fashionable persons were collected at the upper end of the room, +whispering and rustling, and dressed in what we should now consider very +wonderful costumes, though they were all the mode then. A few minutes +before eleven the very reverend dean, and an assistant divine, together +with the bridegroom and Archibald, entered and took their places in great +pomp and dignity beneath the canopy which had been constructed for the +occasion, and which, was covered with fresh flowers, whose fragrance +breathed over the gay assemblage like a sacred incense. At eleven o'clock +there was a general hush of expectation; and presently the door at the +bottom of the hall was thrown open, and the bridal procession came in. +Very pretty they looked as they paced, up the long stretch of carpeting +which had been laid down for them to walk upon, and which had been +scattered over with a profusion of flowers. The bride, with her veil and +her orange-blossoms, was supported on the arm of Sir Henry Rollinson (the +good Doctor had been knighted the year before by an appreciative +sovereign), who was to give her away. She looked calm, pale, and +exceedingly handsome. The widow of Colonel Battledown was escorted by Lord +Epsom, the Honorable Richard's elder brother, and wore a very splendid +pink turban, and red eyes. But all these details, and many more, may be +read in the _Morning Post_ of March 7th, 1821, to which I refer the +curious. + +The service commenced. As Sir Henry Rollinson was in the act of giving the +bride away, he happened to glance at Archibald, and observed that the +latter wore a very strange expression on his face; and a moment afterward +the young man dropped into a chair that happened to be near him, pressing +his head between his hands, and breathing heavily. No one else noticed +this incident; and Sir Henry, who supposed the youth was going to faint, +was of course unable at the time to afford any assistance. The service +went on. Richard Pennroyal and Catherine Battledown were pronounced man +and wife; and man was warned not to put asunder those whom God had joined +together. The ring shone on the new-made wife's finger. The very reverend +dean gave the pair his blessing. All this time Archibald remained with +his head between his hands, the physician watching him not without +apprehensions, and inwardly cursing the folly of those who were +responsible for the poor half-witted creature's appearance in such a +scene. + +The register was now brought forth, in which the happy couple and their +friends were to inscribe their names. The principal personages signed +first. It came to Archibald's turn. It had previously been ascertained +that he knew how to string together the requisite letters upon paper. +There he sat, with his head in his hands. Sir Henry touched him on the +shoulder. + +"Now, then, lad--Archie! wake up! Come! you're wanted!" He spoke sharply +and imperatively, in the hope of rousing the young fellow out of his +stupor, and at least getting him decently out of the room. + +Archibald raised his face, which was deadly pale and covered with sweat, +and looked at the persons around him with a kind of amazed defiance. He +started to his feet, oversetting his chair as he did so, which rolled down +the steps of the dais and fell with a crash on the stone floor below. + +"I came in by the staircase door!" he said in an excited voice, which +startled every one who heard it, so different was it from his usual tones. +"If you thought it locked, you were wrong. How else could I have come?... +When did you bring me here? This is the great hall! What have you been +doing? How came _you_ here?" + +There was a dead silence. Every one felt that some ugly thing was about to +happen. Several women began to laugh hysterically. It seems to have been +supposed, at first, that Archibald had exchanged his inoffensive idiocy +for a condition of raving madness. The old physician was probably the only +one present who had a glimmering of what might be the truth. The +Honorable Richard Pennroyal had none. He pushed between the venerable +knight and his "best man," and relying upon his oft-proved and established +influence over the latter, he took him firmly by the arm, and looked in +his face. + +"Don't make a fool of yourself, Archie," said he, in a low distinct voice, +in which was a subdued ring of menace. "It's all right. You're my best +man, you know. You are to sign your name as one of the witnesses of the +marriage--that's all." + +"I have witnessed no marriage," replied Archibald, returning with surprise +Richard's look. "Who are you?" he continued, after a moment. Then he +exclaimed, "You are Richard Pennroyal--I didn't know you at first, you +look so old!" + +"Oh, the fellow's quite mad!" muttered Richard, turning away with a shrug +of the shoulders. "I should have known better than to run the risk of +having such a lunatic here. We must have him moved out of the room at +once." + +Young Sir Edward overheard this latter sentence. "Pardon me for reminding +you that my brother is at home in Malmaison," he said gravely. + +"Oh, as you please, of course," returned Richard, frowning. + +Meanwhile Archibald had caught sight of Kate, and recognized her at once; +and breaking away from his mother and Sir Henry Rollinson, who were +endeavoring to quiet him, he came up to her and planted himself in front +of her, just as Richard was approaching to take her off. Archibald took +both her hands in his. + +"Kate, I have never seen you look so beautiful," he said. "But why have you +got this white veil on?--and orange blossoms! It's like a wedding. What +were they saying about a wedding? ... is it to be our wedding?" + +"The wedding has already taken place, my dear Archie," interposed the +bridegroom, offering his arm to the bride, and smiling with no very good +grace. "This lady is now Mrs. Pennroyal. Stand aside, like a good boy--" + +Archibald grasped Richard by the padded sleeve of his coat, and with an +angry movement of his powerful arm threw him backward into the embrace of +his new mother-in-law, who happened to be coming up from behind. + +"You are under my father's roof, or I would tell you that you are a liar," +said the young man, grimly. Then turning to the bride, who had said not a +word since this scene began, but had kept her eyes constantly fixed upon +the chief actor in it, "He shall not insult you again, my dear. But all +this is very strange. What does it mean?" + +"It means.... It is too late!" replied the girl, in a low, bitter voice. +What could she have meant by that? + +Richard, white with fury, came up again. There was a general murmur and +movement in the surrounding assemblage, who expected to see some deed of +violence committed. + +"Mrs. Pennroyal," said he between his teeth, "I am obliged to request you +peremptorily to take my arm and--and leave this house where guests are +insulted and outraged!" + +Archibald turned, his face darkening. But Kate held up her hand +entreatingly; and Archibald caught the gleam of the plain gold ring on her +finger. At that sight he stopped abruptly, and his arms fell to his sides. + +"Is it true?" He asked in a tone of bewilderment. + +Here Sir Edward interposed again, with, his cool courtesy: "Mr. Pennroyal, +and my friends, I trust you will find it possible to overlook the behavior +of my brother. You may see that he is not himself. When he has had time to +recover himself, he will ask pardon of each and all of you. Mr. Pennroyal, +I entreat you and your wife to forget what has passed, and to reconsider +the heavy imputation which has been cast upon my house. Let the shadow +pass away which has threatened for a moment this--most auspicious +occasion!" + +If the last words were ironical, the irony was too grave and ceremonious to +be obtrusive, Pennroyal was fain to return Sir Edward's bow with the best +grace he could muster. The rest of the company accepted the apology, as at +least a formal way out of the difficulty. An effort was made to resume +indifferent conversation, and to act as if nothing had happened. Sir +Edward, with admirable self-possession and smiling courtesy, marshalled +the guests out of the hall, to a neighboring room in which the wedding +breakfast had been set out. Archibald remained behind, and the Doctor and +old Miss Tremount remained with him. He stood still, with his arms at his +sides, his glance fixed upon the floor. The Doctor and Miss Tremount +exchanged a look, and then the latter went up to him, and took one of his +hands between hers. + +"Do you know me, my dear?" she said. + +Archibald looked at her, and shook his head. + +"I am your aunt, Ruth Tremount. My dear, I am so sorry for you." + +"Can you tell me what is the matter with me? Am I mad?" + +"On the contrary," put in the Doctor, "you are yourself for the second time +in your life. You've overslept yourself, my lad, that's all!" + +Archibald cast his eyes round the hall, as if searching for some one. +"Where is my father?" he asked at length. + +There was an awkward pause. Finally Miss Tremount said, "My dear, your +sleep has lasted seven years. Much may happen in such a length of time." + +"But my father--where is he? I want to see him; I will see him!" and he +made some steps toward the door. + +"My poor lad, you cannot see him now--he ... he--" + +"Where is he?" cried Archibald, stamping his foot. + +"He has been for five years in his grave." + +Archibald stared at the Doctor a moment, and then burst out laughing. + + + + +IX. + + +But Archibald had come into possession of his intelligent soul once more; +or he was awake again; or the pressure of the skull upon the cerebrum had +yet another time been relieved; at all events there was now a brilliant +youth in the flesh-and-blood envelope which, an hour before, had contained +only a half-witted boy. When the first crash of the restoration was over, +the new man began to accommodate himself with wonderful rapidity and +keenness to the strange environment. He knew of nothing that had happened +since that afternoon when he spoke with Kate in the east chamber, while +the blood oozed from the cut on his forehead; but he accepted the facts +with more than a youth's resolution and stoicism. The world had been +turning round while he had been absent--somewhere! Well, then, by the +force of his will and his splendid faculties he would get on even terms +with it again--and more. Injury had been done him; irreparable injury, +perhaps, but which still might be avenged. He was not discouraged; his +spirit seemed to come upon life with all the freshness of a seven years' +rest, and it reckoned nothing impossible. + +Of course his fresh metamorphosis created plenty of comment among the +neighbors; Archibald Malmaison was the most talked-of man in that part of +the country for several weeks, the impossibility of arriving at any +satisfactory conclusion regarding his condition or conditions prolonging +the wonder so far beyond the proverbial nine days. One party were +vehemently of the opinion that he was mad; another party opposed this view +with equal energy and just as much foundation. Both sides put forward +plenty of arguments, and when they were refuted, appealed to Sir Henry +Rollinson, who confirmed them both with equally sagacious shakes of the +head. + +But this good gentleman was now getting near the end of his days, and, in +fact, ceased living in the world before the close of the year. He did not +depart without leaving a successor, however, and one who bade fair to do +credit to his ancestry. This was Mr. E. Forbes Rollinson, his son, who had +concluded a course of study at Vienna and Paris, and who returned to his +native land with the highest diplomas that continental schools could give +him. He was at this time a young man of about five and twenty, with a +great square head and a short, compact figure. The wild jungle of beard +and the terribly penetrating eye-glass which distinguished him in later +times had not then made their appearance. Well, the new Dr. Rollinson had +known something of Archibald as a boy, and was of course much interested +(apart from his friendly feelings) in so remarkable a case. His theory +upon the matter, in so far as he had formed one, did not on all points +coincide with his father's; he belonged to a somewhat more recent +school--more critical and less dogmatic. Still, it would be hazardous to +assert that young Dr. Rollinson knew exactly what was the matter with +Archibald--especially as he has seen reason to modify his first +impressions more than once during the last fifty years. It is enough to +remark here that he thought the affection was of a rhythmic or regularly +recurrent character, a notion which its previous history went far to +justify; and he consequently looked with interest to see whether the +lapse of another seven years would bring about another change. To have +discovered the orbit, so to speak, of a malady, is not, indeed, to have +explained it; but it is always something. It would be more interesting to +know what Archibald thought of himself; and were I, in this instance, a +novelist dealing with a creation of my own, I might not shrink from an +attempt to analyze his mental state. As it is, I can do no more than point +to the curious field of conjecture which it here afforded: the young man +left no confessions or self-analytic diaries; still less did he discuss +his peculiarities with other people. With excellent good sense and no +small courage, he accepted things as they were; he felt his individuality +in no way diminished by the circumstance that it was intermittent or +exchangeable; and perhaps it seemed no more strange to him than the +nightly falling asleep of all mankind does to them. The one mystery is +quite as strange as the other, only the sleep of seven hours is common to +all, while that of seven years is probably unprecedented. + +One grotesque question suggests itself--or may do so shortly--and that is +whether Archibald would be responsible in one phase of his being for a +crime committed in another--for a crime, or any other act involving the +welfare or condition of other people. The analogy with sleep does not here +seem altogether satisfactory; for in ordinary sleep, or even somnambulism, +we are not in active relations with our fellow-beings, and consequently +our lawgivers have not devised a code to control our doings while in that +state. A jury, in delivering its verdict, would be embarrassed by the +reflection that although only one half of the culprit before them was +guilty, they could not give that half its just punishment without at the +same time unjustly punishing the half that was guiltless. A consistent +individuality, therefore, though often a burden and a weariness, is still +not without its advantages. + +Meanwhile an important change had taken place in the relations between the +family of Malmaison and the Honorable Richard Pennroyal. The latter +conceived himself to have been affronted by the former on the occasion of +his marriage, and refused a reconciliation--which, to tell the truth, +neither Sir Edward nor his younger brother were too anxious to force upon +him. Lady Malmaison was still for peace, but her opinion had ceased to +have much weight in the family counsels. At length matters came to a head +somewhat in the following manner. + +Sir Edward Malmaison and Pennroyal happened to meet at the table of a +common friend, and after the ladies had withdrawn, Pennroyal, who had +taken more wine than was usual with him, began to talk at Sir Edward in an +unnecessarily audible and offensive tone. Sir Edward kept his temper, and +made no reply, not having as yet been personally addressed. Pennroyal +after a while came round to where he was sitting, and the two gentlemen +presently fell into conversation. Pennroyal finally declared that he had +been insulted by a man who retained his present title and estates solely +by his (Pennroyal's) permission and kindness. Sir Edward was constrained +to ask him what he meant. Pennroyal thereupon began to utter disparaging +reflections upon the late Sir Clarence, who, he intimated, was not legally +entitled to his name. This brought on a dead silence, and all eyes were +turned upon Sir Edward, whose pale countenance became yet paler as he +said, with his imperturbable courteousness of phrase: + +"I must entreat Mr. Pennroyal not to indulge in innuendos, but to state +explicitly whether he intends anything dishonorable to my father." + +"To a man of the world a word is enough," responded the Honorable Richard, +insolently. "I am not here to tutor schoolboys in the comprehension of the +English tongue." + +"I cannot allow you to evade my question," rejoined Sir Edward, with a +gleam in his eye, though without an alteration in his voice. "You must +explain what you have seen fit to insinuate before these gentlemen, one +way or the other." + +Pennroyal laughed. "When you have lived a few years longer, young +gentleman," said he, "you will learn to be cautious how you ask for too +explicit information regarding the morals of your grandparents." + +At this brutal remark there was a general expression of indignation among +the hearers; but Pennroyal, in no way abashed, added, "Let him disprove it +if he can. Since he provokes me to it, I affirm it--his father had no +right to the title. Let him prove the contrary if he can. I didn't force +on the discussion, but I will tell young Sir Edward Malmaison, as he calls +himself, that he holds property to which he has no claim, and that it +depends upon my good-will and pleasure how long he holds it." + +The host--he was Francis Hastings Kent, Esq. and M. P., the same who +afterward became famous in the Corn-law controversy--here interposed, and +"spoke the sense of the meeting." "Egad, Pennroyal," cried he, "you are +drunk, and you have insulted a gentleman at my table. I'll trouble you to +make him an apology. I have no doubt that Sir Edward Malmaison's titles +are just as good as yours or mine, and, begad, they sha'n't be called in +question here at all events. I say you shall make Sir Edward an apology!" + + +There was only one man in the room who evinced any disagreement with this +speech, and that one was Major Bolingbroke, a retired officer of good +family but of not altogether unexceptionable personal repute; he was +believed to have fought more duels than are usually considered desirable; +and he had for some months past been a constant inmate at the house of Mr. +Pennroyal. + +"It's no affair of mine, of course," said this gallant warrior, "if Sir +Edward chooses to put up with such language from a man, on the ground that +he was drunk when he used it. Only, if there's going to be an apology, I +should advise Sir Edward to exact a very full one, and lose no time about +it." + +Sir Edward, however, rose carelessly, and said with a smile that he could +not think of contributing any further to the unfortunate interruption of +the social harmony; and adding that he had no doubt Mr. Pennroyal would, +as soon as he had had time to recollect himself, make every explanation +that the case demanded, he bowed and left the room. + +It was afterward suspected that Pennroyal's intoxication had been assumed +for the purpose of insulting the heir of Malmaison with the more impunity; +and that the Major was present expressly to aid and abet him. What, then, +was the object, and what the grounds, of the charge which Pennroyal made? +With respect to the latter, nothing was known until later; but the +immediate result was this. Sir Edward went home, and appeared more +cheerful and in better spirits than usual. He spent the next forenoon in +his chamber, apparently engaged in looking over some papers. In the +afternoon he mentioned to his mother and Archibald that he should be +obliged to run up to London for a few days on business, and that he must +start that evening. He had made no allusion to the affair at Francis +Kent's house, and neither Archibald nor Lady Malmaison knew anything about +it. That evening, accordingly, he bade them good-by, and departed +seemingly with a light heart, bidding his brother act as his accredited +plenipotentiary while he was away, and promising his mother to bring her +the latest fashion in turbans when he returned. + +He was absent five days. The Honorable Richard Pennroyal, who had happened +to be likewise called away on business at the same time, returned to his +house some twenty-four hours before Sir Edward was brought in a carriage +to Malmaison, with a bullet-hole just beneath the collar-bone. The fact +is, the two gentlemen had travelled to Belgium instead of to London, and +had there shot at each other in the presence of Major Bolingbroke (who +gave the word) and of a friend of Sir Edward's whose name has not come +down to us. Pennroyal had escaped untouched; Sir Edward, under the care of +Dr. Rollinson the younger, lay for several weeks in a critical condition; +but, when the bullet had been extracted, he rallied, and was able before +long to rise from his bed and walk about the house. But though his +strength had improved, he appeared to be harassed in mind; he carried on a +considerable correspondence with the family lawyers in London, and was +continually searching for something--what, no one could tell. Whatever it +was he did not find it, and his anxiety did not diminish. + +Archibald had of course asked him about the particulars of the duel, and +what led to it; but his brother had sought to make light of the affair, +saying merely that Pennroyal had been very rude, and had failed to make a +suitable apology; and that the insult having been public, he was forced to +resent it. In answer to Archibald's question as to the subject of his +present correspondence with the lawyers, he replied that it related to +some old family traditions, and possessed only an antiquarian interest. +Archibald accepted these answers in silence, but with entire incredulity. +The brothers were fond of each other, but the strange conditions of the +younger's life had prevented their attaining really intimate and +confidential relations. Archibald was too proud either to demand further +particulars from Sir Edward, or to make inquiries elsewhere. Moreover, +there was perhaps less need of information on his side than on that of his +brother, had the latter but known it. Archibald had secrets of his own. + +Pennroyal, meanwhile, kept quiet, waiting for the affair to blow over. +Whether he had intended to kill Sir Edward, or whether he was glad that +the duel had not resulted fatally, I cannot tell. Of course, neither he +nor his wife were seen again at Malmaison. The neighbors were for some +time disposed to give him the cold shoulder; but when his antagonist +recovered, and the matter had lost its first freshness, there appeared to +be little more against him than that he had committed an indiscretion +while under the influence of liquor, and had afterward atoned for it in +accordance with a code of honor which had not, at that epoch, fallen +entirely into disuse. And, after all, what business was it of theirs? +Pennroyal, however objectionable in himself, owned a large property and +belonged to a good family. In short, society received the honorable +prodigal in its bosom once more, and Mrs. Pennroyal reigned the undisputed +toast for a while longer. + +But at the end of six or seven months a new order of events began. Sir +Edward, either from anxiety, or from some imprudent exposure, fell ill +again, and his wound opened afresh and became inflamed. His constitution +had never been good for much, and the chances were all against its being +able to survive this trial. Dr. Rollinson did all that could be done; but +one morning Sir Edward asked to see his brother, and when the two were +left alone together, he said: + +"Well, Archie, how shall you like to be Sir Archibald?" + +For a minute they looked at one another in silence. + +"Do you think so?" then said the younger, frowning a little. + +"I am certain of it." + +"Ned, we are brothers," said Archibald. + +The young men grasped hands, and Archibald half sat on the edge of the bed, +looking down at the invalid, whose face was now bony in its emaciation, +and his eyes sunken and bright. + +"Archie, I have something to tell you." + +"I feared so." + +"It is not anything that you could expect. That quarrel between Richard and +me was about our father. Richard said he was--that is--" + +"Don't fear. Say it!" + +"That his mother was not Lady Malmaison." + +"He lied!" + +"So I told him. But that's not the end of it, unfortunately. He defied me +to prove the contrary. Ever since I first got up after the duel, I have +been looking for the papers relating to Sir Clarence's birth. They're not +to be found. There is no record that our grandmother had any son at all. +On the other hand, there is indirect evidence that our grandfather had an +affair with some woman.... The amount of it is, I have not been able to +establish Sir Clarence's legitimacy. And the worst is still to tell." + +"I know the rest; I know it all! Why didn't you say all this to me at +first, brother? You have been harassing yourself with the idea that +because you couldn't vindicate father, Malmaison might be claimed by +Richard, under that old agreement of Sir Charles's time." + +"How did you know--" + +"I know everything. I know where the papers are that you have been looking +for. Set your mind at rest, Ned. Sir Clarence was the legitimate heir. +There was also a son by the other woman, but he died in infancy. Ned, why +weren't you open with me? Richard has no more hold on our estates than my +groom has. Blame him! I only hope he'll think otherwise! We'll ruin him +first and kill him afterward." + +"If I had only known...." said the sick man, after a pause. "But you are +certain? You have the proof? Where did you find the papers?" + +"I have them. Get well, and you shall know all about it. I have a good many +curious things to tell you, and to show you, too." + +"Well, God be thanked! whatever becomes of me. It is late, Archie, but I'm +beginning to get acquainted with you at last. It is my fault that I did +not know you before. You are better fitted to bear the title than I." + +"No. If I thought so, I would not deny it; but if I inherit Malmaison, our +family will--perish off the earth! I can foresee some things, Ned. The +hope of the house lies in you; I shall bring only calamity. You must get +well." + +Again the brothers grasped hands, looked in one another's eyes for a moment +or two, and then Archibald went out; the day passed, and the evening fell. +At midnight he was Sir Archibald of Malmaison. + + + + +X. + + +It was not long before the new baronet--the last of his line--began to make +his influence felt. His temper was resolute, secret, and domineering; he +bore himself haughtily among the neighboring squires, never seeking to +please a friend or to conciliate an enemy. Few people liked him; many +stood in awe of him. He seemed to be out of sympathy with his race; his +strange, ambiguous history invested him with an atmosphere of doubt and +mystery; his nature was not like other men's; it was even whispered that +he had powers transcending those of ordinary humanity. It is probable that +his remarkable personal beauty, which in moments of anger or energy +gleamed out with an almost satanic intensity, may have lent substance to +this impression; men shrunk from meeting the stern inquisition of his +black eyes; and for women his glance possessed a sort of fascination, +unconnected with his beauty. But there were other indications more direct +than these. A century, or even half a century, previous to this time Sir +Archibald might have found it difficult to avoid the imputation of +witchcraft. After all, was not he the descendant of his forefathers? and +what had some of them been? "Were there not people in the neighboring +village of Grinstead who were willing to take affidavit that the handsome +young baronet had the power to make himself invisible when he pleased? +Nay, had not Mrs. Pennroyal herself, while she was yet a young maid, +borne testimony to the fact--that he had suddenly stood before her, in +broad daylight, in a room which had the instant before been empty? That +room had always had a queer reputation; it was there, or thereabouts, that +most of these strange goings-on took place. A servant, who had once +wandered in there to announce to Sir Archibald that one of his lawyers had +arrived, and was waiting to see him, had found the room vacant, though he +had seen his master enter it only ten minutes before. Thinking that he +must have gone out by the other entrance, through the stable, he was about +to follow, when he noticed that this door was bolted on the inside. In +some bewilderment, he was on the point of retiring, when he was startled +by a burst of laughter which continued for near a minute, and which, +though it echoed almost in his ears, and came apparently from the very air +round about him, yet sounded faint and unsubstantial as if a vast distance +nevertheless intervened. Whether near or far, it was unmistakably the +laughter of Sir Archibald, but wilder and more scornful than had ever been +heard from his lips. The honest footman was now thoroughly frightened, and +made the best of his way out of the chamber; but before he could cross the +next room and reach the passage-way beyond, the living and peremptory +tones of Sir Archibald himself overtook him, and brought him back with +failing knees and pallid cheeks to where the black-haired baronet was +standing in the doorway. There he stood in flesh and blood, but cloaked, +booted, and spurred, as if just returned from a journey. + +"What were you doing in this room?" demanded the baronet. + +The man faltered out his errand. + +"Hear this, once for all, and remember it," said the baronet, nor sternly +nor roughly, but with a concentration of purpose in his mellow voice that +seemed to stamp the words into the hearer's soul. "No one may enter this +chamber except I open the door. Else harm may happen which I could not +prevent. That is all. Now send Mr. Mawgage to me." + +That was all, but it was quite enough; in fact, the difficulty thereafter +was to induce any one to venture into the room on any terms. It was +believed to be haunted, and that Sir Archibald was either himself the +ghost, or was in some way responsible for there being one. + +I have mentioned this story, to which the reader already possesses the +clew, only by way of showing that Sir Archibald was making use, at that +time, of the secret which he had discovered, and was taking the surest +means of keeping it to himself. He had occupations in the inner chamber at +which he did not wish to be disturbed. What those occupations were he +confided to no living soul--indeed, there was no one who could have served +him as a confidant. His life was a lonely one, if ever a lonely life there +were. Whom had he to love, or to love him? Even his mother, now enfeebled +both in body and mind, felt fear of him rather than fondness for him. She +spent much of her time playing cards with her female companion, and in +worrying over the health of her pet spaniels. But did Sir Archibald love +no one?--at all events he hated somebody, and that heartily. He held +Richard Pennroyal responsible for all the ills that had fallen upon +Malmaison and upon himself; and he was evidently not the man to suffer a +grudge to go unrequited. + +Pennroyal, on the other hand, was not disposed to wait quietly to be +attacked; he came out to meet the enemy half way. In the spring of the +year 1824--about nine months after Sir Edward's death--it was known in +every mansion and public house for twenty miles round that a great lawsuit +would by-and-by be commenced between Malmaison and Pennroyal, the question +to be decided being nothing less than the ownership of the Malmaison +estates, which Richard Pennroyal claimed, in the alleged failure of any +legitimate heir of Sir John Malmaison, deceased--the father of Sir +Clarence--but, as Pennroyal alleged, by a left-handed marriage. I have not +gone into the details of this case, and should not detain the reader over +it if I had; he may, if it pleases him, read it at full length elsewhere. +It is enough to observe that Pennroyal brought forward evidence to show +that he, and his father before him, had always had cognizance of the will +or other document which entitled him to the property in dispute in the +event provided for; and had only been withheld from putting in their claim +thereto by the repeated and solemn assurances of Sir Clarence that no such +irregularity as was suspected regarding his birth had in fact occurred. +Latterly, however, from fresh information accidentally received, it +appeared that Sir Clarence had either been guilty of a wilful and criminal +misstatement, or that he had been deceived. In confirmation whereof, the +Honorable Richard produced documents of undoubted genuineness, showing +that an illegitimate son had been born to Sir John; and now called upon +the defendant to prove that this son had died in childhood, or that he had +not grown up to be Sir Clarence; and furthermore, having disposed of this +difficulty, to show the certificate of birth of a legitimate heir to Sir +John Malmaison, and to identify that heir with Sir Clarence. + +Now, there were certainly some awkward circumstances in respect of this +illegitimacy question. Sir Clarence had known that he had had a brother +born out of wedlock; and it is possible he also knew that the documents +relating to his own birth were not where he could put his hands upon them. +He may even have been aware that, were his title to be challenged, there +would be serious technical difficulties in the way of vindicating it. At +the same time, Sir Clarence was entirely and justly convinced that his +title was good. The history of the illegitimate son was familiar to him, +and to the rest of the family, in all its details. It was not, of course, +an ordinary topic of conversation, but it was an acknowledged piece of +family history. Sir John had been wild in his youth, and had made a good +many loose connections before acceding to the baronetcy--his father, Sir +Charles, the same who ate the venison pasty, having lived to see his heir +a man of thirty. One of these connections had been with the daughter of a +tenant; during its progress a marriage had been arranged between John +Malmaison and a neighboring heiress. About the time that the marriage took +place, the tenant's daughter had a child; Clarence himself was born about +a year later. The child had lived five or six years only; after its death +its mother had gone up to London, and had not since been heard of. This +was all simple enough; the only trouble being that no one could tell what +had become of the certificate of Clarence's birth, or of the other's +decease. Consequently there was an opening for an evil-disposed person to +assert what the Honorable Richard was now asserting. + +Where had the Honorable Richard got his information?--of the absence, +that is to say, of these papers. It was never spoken of outside the +family. It is only proper to observe that his brother, Lord Epsom, would +have nothing to do with the affair, but explicitly and emphatically washed +his hands of it. But this did not deter Richard; he had got his materials, +he had decided upon his plan of action, and he was bound to go through +with it. He entertained no doubts of his success, and he probably +anticipated from it not only solid worldly advantage, but the +gratification of an undisguised enmity. It would give him peculiar +pleasure to augment his prosperity at the expense of Sir Archibald +Malmaison. + +Considering that the outlook was so bad for him, the young baronet faced it +with commendable fortitude. People who met him regarded him with +curiosity, expecting him to appear disturbed, if not desperate. But he +wore an aspect of satisfied composure, tempered only by his habitual +haughtiness. He had interviews with his lawyers, seemed neither flurried +nor helpless, and altogether behaved as if his victory over his opponent +was placed beyond the possibility of a doubt. And yet, what could be his +defence? Was he going to rely upon the title having remained so long +unquestioned? Did he build his hopes upon a possible break in the chain of +Pennroyal's evidence? The on-lookers could only conjecture. And now the +time when conjectures would be exchanged for certainty was at hand. + +It was the autumn of the year 1825. One cool, clear, gray afternoon Sir +Archibald had his horse saddled, and mounting him, rode out upon his +estate. In the course of an hour or so he found himself approaching the +pond, which, as has been already stated, lay on the border-line between +Malmaison and the lands of Richard Pennroyal. As he drew near the spot, he +saw at a distance the figure of a woman, also on horseback. It was +Kate--Mrs. Pennroyal. She was riding slowly in a direction nearly opposite +to his own, so that if they kept on they would meet on the borders of the +pond. + +Sir Archibald had not met this lady for many months; and when he recognized +her, his first impulse was perhaps to draw rein. Then he looked to see +whether that were her impulse likewise. But she held on her course; and +he, smiling in a defiant way, shook his bridle, and in a few moments they +were but half a dozen yards apart. There they paused, as it seemed, by +mutual consent. + +How lovely she looked! Sir Archibald saw it, and ground his teeth with a +kind of silent rage. She should have been his. + +"Good-day, Mrs. Richard Pennroyal!" + +"Good-day, Archibald!" + +His name, coming with such gentleness and sweet familiarity from her lips, +made his blood tingle. He had expected coldness and formality. + +"I had not looked forward to the honor of meeting you here," he said. + +"But we have met here before, I think." And so they had, in days upon which +Archibald now looked back as does an exile upon home. His horse moved +forward a few steps, and his rider only stopped him when he was within +arm's length. + +"That seems long ago; and yet, when I look at you, I could almost believe +it was but yesterday." + +"You have changed more than I," replied the lady, letting her eyes rest +upon him with a certain intentness. This was true enough, physically +speaking; the handsome boy was now a superb young man; but Archibald chose +to interpret her words figuratively, and he answered bitterly: + +"You may have changed little; but that little in you has caused whatever +change you find in me." + +"It is true, then, that you are angry with me? I had hoped otherwise," +said Mrs. Pennroyal, with a sad dignity that sat well upon her. + +"Angry with you!" broke out Archibald, his face flushing. "Has it been a +desire to keep my--my friendship that has caused you to--" + +Mrs. Pennroyal interrupted him, drawing herself up proudly. "Pardon me, +sir, I had no intention of forcing your good-will. If you will be my +enemy, please yourself, and perhaps I may learn to become yours." And she +turned her horse as she spoke. But Archibald, thus seemingly put in the +wrong, and unwilling now to terminate the interview so abruptly, pressed +his heel against his horse's side, and was again beside her. + +"You misunderstand me," said he. "What could I think? You will not deny +that your--that Richard Pennroyal has shown himself no friend of mine." + +"I shall deny nothing that you see fit to charge against me, sir," rejoined +the lady, still hurt and indignant, and the more irresistible. + +Archibald reflected that she was not, perhaps, justly responsible for the +malevolence of another person, even though that person were her husband; +and from this thought to thinking that she might, perhaps, be inclined to +sympathize against her husband and with himself, was an easy transition. +This perilous fancy made his pulses throb and his eyes gleam. He caught +her horse's bridle. + +"Do not go yet! Let us talk a little, since we are met." + +"What has Sir Archibald Malmaison to say to me?" + +"You called me 'Archibald' just now." + +"You called me 'Mrs. Richard Pennroyal'!" + +"Well--and so you are!" said he, between his teeth. + +"Do you think of me by that name?" she asked, turning her brown eyes on him +for a moment, and then looking away. + +"Kate!" + +She put out her beautiful hand, and he took it and carried it to his lips. +Thoughts fierce and sweet flew through his mind. But Mrs. Pennroyal, +having gained her immediate end (which, to do her justice, was probably +nothing worse than the gratification of a coquettish whim), knew how to +take care of herself. She drew her hand away. + +"There--well--you have been very unkind, Archibald. Have we not been +friends--have we not been together from the first? How could you believe +that I could wish you any harm?" + +"Ah, Kate, but you married him!" + +"Well, sir, I as good as asked you to marry me first, and you would not do +it." + +"You asked me!" + +"Yes; you have forgotten. It has all been so strange, you see. I hardly +know, even now, whether you are the Archibald I used to know." + +"But I know, very well," returned he, grimly. "And you are the wife of my +enemy, the man who is trying to ruin me. Kate," he broke off suddenly, +"how did Richard know that those papers were missing in our family? I told +you once--do you remember that day? And no one knew it except you." + +Mrs. Pennroyal would perhaps have preferred not to be asked this question. +But since it was asked, she was bound to make the best answer she could. + +"It was for that I wanted to see you to-day," she said, after a pause. "I +have been to blame, Archibald; but it was ignorantly. It was long +ago--before all these troubles began to occur: while we were yet on good +terms. Ah me! would we were so again!" + +"You told him, then?" + +"I did not know that I was betraying a secret. From what Richard said, I +thought that he knew it, or at least suspected it; and I merely added my +confirmation. Afterward, when I found how things were going, I begged him +not to use that knowledge. But it was too late. I could not be at rest +until I had told you, and asked you to forgive me." + +Archibald would not have believed this speech, if his head only had been +concerned in the matter. Unfortunately, such was not the case. He believed +it because he ardently wished to do so; and he forgave her the more +easily, because that implied having her hand in his again for a few +moments. + +"If I could only see you and Richard at peace again, I should be happy," +resumed Mrs. Pennroyal, with a sigh. + +"Is it for him you fear, or for me?" inquired Archibald, smiling. + +"The danger is yours," she answered, diplomatically. + +He shook his head, still smiling: "Dismiss your anxiety, Kate. There is no +danger for me or mine. Let Richard look to himself!" + +Mrs. Pennroyal was startled. She had looked upon the Malmaison case as +virtually hopeless. This hint of the contrary gave her a strong sensation, +not altogether unpleasurable. Richard was her husband, but he was not +nearly so young as Archibald, and as to looks!--there there was no +comparison. Archibald was simply the finest man in England. Perhaps Mrs. +Pennroyal tad never been passionately fond of her husband; and, on the +other hand, she had certainly liked Archibald very much. In the present +quarrel she had felt that the propriety of being on the winning side was +not diminished by the fact that it happened to be her husband's; but if it +should turn out that her husband's was not the winning side after +all--then there was matter for consideration. Of course, strictly +speaking, her husband's misfortunes must be her own; but in this instance +the nominal misfortune would be his failure to ruin Archibald, and Mrs. +Pennroyal thought she could sustain that. No, the sensation was certainly +not unpleasurable. But was it certain that Archibald was not mistaken? + +"I am very glad, for both our sakes," said she, at last. "I could never +have endured to take your name and estates away from you. Then that notion +that the papers were lost was a mistake?" + +"I can tell you nothing more," replied Archibald, looking at her. + +"Ah, you have not forgiven me--you do not trust me!" + +He checked his horse and hers, and turned full upon her: "Kate, you are the +wife of my enemy, I must remember that! If I found you playing a double +part between him and me, I should hate you more than I hate him; and then +... I should be capable of any crime. Well, I will not put it in your +power. You will know all soon enough. Meantime, I trust you in this--to +keep silence on what I have said to-day. Let him believe that he will +succeed until he knows that he has failed. Will you promise that?" + +Mrs. Pennroyal saw no harm in making this promise, but she did not see why +she should not make as great a favor as she could of granting it. + +"A wife should have no secrets from her husband, Archibald." + +"Have you never had a secret from him, Kate?" + +"You have no right to ask that!" + +Archibald laughed. "Are you as happy with him as the day is long?" + +She looked up for a moment, and their eyes met. "The days seem very long +sometimes," she said, almost beneath her breath. + +"This day?" he demanded, bending toward her. + +"Autumn days are short, you know," she said, smiling a little, with averted +face. + +"Do you often ride out in autumn?" + +"What else can I do, when my husband is away from home? I must go now--it +is late." + +"And your promise?" + +For the third time that afternoon she gave him her hand. Her color was +higher than usual, and her breathing somewhat uneven. She had not passed +unscathed through this interview. Archibald's was the stronger spirit, and +she felt his power--felt it, and liked to feel it! And he, as he held her +warm and delicate hand in his own, was conscious of a strange tumult in +his heart. Was fate, which he had hitherto found so adverse, going to +change at last, and yield him everything at once--revenge and love in the +same breath? A revenge consummated through love were sweet indeed. + +They parted at length, and rode away in opposite directions. This was their +first meeting, but it was not their last by many. + + + + +XI. + + +Meanwhile the lawyers were keeping at work with commendable diligence, and +Mr. Pennroyal was counting his chickens as hatched, and was as far as +possible from suspecting the underplot which was going on around him. On +the contrary, it seemed to him that he was becoming at last the assured +favorite of fortune. For this gentleman's life had not been, in all +respects, so prosperous as it appeared. To begin with, he had had a +deplorable weakness for dicing and card-playing, which had frequently +brought him in large sums, but which had ended by costing twenty times as +much as they had won for him. He gave up these forms of diversion, +therefore, and resolved to amass a fortune in a more regular manner. He +studied the stock-market profoundly, until he felt himself sufficiently +master of the situation, and when he entered the lists as a financier. He +bought and sold, and did his very best to buy cheap and to sell dear. He +made several lucky hits; but in the long run he found that the balance was +setting steadily against him. All his ready money was gone, and mortgages +began to settle down like birds of ill-omen upon his house and lands. It +was at this period that he married Kate Battledown; and with the money +that she brought him he began to retrieve his losses, and again the +horizon brightened. Alas! the improvement was only temporary. Ill-luck set +in once more, and more inveterately than ever. Kate's good money went +after his bad money, and neither returned. A good deal of it is said to +have found its way into the pockets of Major Bolingbroke, his second in +the duel. The ill-omened birds settled down once more, until they covered +the roof and disfigured all the landscape. + +To add to his troubles, he did not find that comfort and consolation in his +matrimonial relations which he would fain have had. It is true that he +married his wife first of all for her money; but he was far from +insensible to her other attractions, and, so far from wearying of them, +they took a stronger and stronger hold upon him, until this cold, +sarcastic, and unsocial man grew to be nothing less than uxorious. But his +wife recompensed his devotion but shabbily; her position had not fulfilled +her anticipations, she was angry at the loss of her money, and upon the +whole she repented having taken an irrevocable step too hastily. She felt +herself to be the intellectual equal of her husband, and she was not long +in improving the advantage she possessed of not caring anything about him. +In a word, she bullied the unfortunate gentleman unmercifully, and he +kissed the rod with infatuation. + +This state of things was in force up to the time of Mrs. Pennroyal's +meeting with Archibald, as above described. After that there was a marked +and most enchanting alteration in Mrs. Pennroyal's demeanor toward her +husband. She became all at once affectionate and sympathetic. She +flattered him, she deferred to him, she consulted him, and drew him on +with delicate encouragements to consult her, to confide in her all the +private details of his affairs, which he had never done before, and to +intrust to her safekeeping every inmost fear and aspiration of his mind. +At every point she met him with soothing agreement and ingenuous +suggestion; and in particular did she echo and foster his enmity against +Sir Archibald Malmaison, and urged him forward in his suit, bidding him +spare no expense, since success was assured, and affirming her readiness +to mortgage her very jewels, if need were, to pay the eminent legal +gentlemen who were to conduct the case. + +This behavior of hers afforded her husband especial gratification, for he +had always been a little jealous of Sir Archibald, and indeed one of the +impelling motives to the present action had been a desire to pay his +grudge in this respect. But the discovery that Mrs. Pennroyal hated the +young baronet quite as much as he did, filled his soul with balm; so that +it only needed the successful termination of the lawsuit to render his +bliss complete and overflowing. + +Well, the great case came on; and all the nobility and gentry of the three +counties, and others besides, were there to see and hear. There were bets +that the trial would not be over in seven days, and odds were taken +against its lasting seven weeks. Society forgot its ennui and settled +itself complacently to listen to a piquant story of scandal, intrigue, +imposition, and robbery in high life. + +The reader knows the sequel. Never was there such a disappointment. The +learned brethren of the law opened their mouths only to shut them again. + +For after the famous Mr. Adolphus, counsel for the plaintiff, had +eloquently and ingeniously stated his case and given a picturesque and +appetizing outline of the evidence that he was going to call, and the +facts that he was going to prove; after this preliminary flourish was +over, behold, up got Mr. Sergeant Runnington, who appeared on behalf of +the defendant, and let fall some remarks which, though given in a +sufficiently matter-of-fact and every-day tone, fell like a thunder-clap +upon the ears of all present, save two persons; and produced upon the +Honorable Richard Pennroyal an effect as if a hand-grenade had been let +off within his head, and his spine drawn neatly out through the back of +his neck. + +I cannot give the learned Sergeant's speech here, but the upshot of it was +that the plaintiff had no case; inasmuch as he relied, to make good his +claim, on the absence of any direct evidence establishing the identity of +the late Sir Clarence Butt Malmaison, and the decease of that illegitimate +personage whom the plaintiffs sought to confound with him. + +What could have induced the plaintiff to imagine that such direct evidence +was not forthcoming, Sergeant Runnington confessed himself at a loss to +understand. He had cherished hopes, for the sake of common decency, for +the sake of the respect due to the Bench, for the sake of human nature, +that his learned brother on the other side would have been able to hold +forth a challenge which it would be, in some degree, worth his while to +answer; he regretted sincerely to say that those hopes had not been by any +means fulfilled. + +Had he been previously made aware of the course of attack which the +plaintiff had had the audacity to adopt, he could have saved him and other +persons much trouble, and the Court some hours of its valuable time, by +the utterance of a single word, or, indeed, without the necessity for any +words at all. Really, this affair, about which so much noise had been +made, was so ridiculously simple and empty that he almost felt inclined to +apologize to the Court and to the gentlemen of the jury for showing them +how empty and simple it was. But, indeed, he feared that the apology, if +there was to be one, was not due from his side. + +It was not for him to decide upon the motives which had prompted the +plaintiff to bring this action. He should be sorry to charge any one with +malice, with unconscionable greed, with treacherous and impudent rapacity. +It belonged to the plaintiff to explain why he had carried this case into +court, and what were his grounds for supposing that it could be made to +issue to his credit and advantage. + +For his own part, he should content himself with producing the documents +which the learned counsel on the other side had professed himself so +anxious to get a sight of, and to humbly request that the plaintiff be +nonsuited with costs. + +Thus ended the great trial. People could hardly, at first, believe their +own ears and eyes; but when the documents were acknowledged to be +perfectly genuine and correct, when the learned Mr. Adolphus relinquished +the case, not without disgust, and when the Court, after some very severe +remarks upon the conduct of the plaintiff, had concluded a short address +by adopting the learned Sergeant Runnington's suggestion as to the +costs--when all was settled, in short, in the utterly absurd space of two +hours and three quarters, then at last did society awake to a perception +of the fact that it had been most egregiously and outrageously swindled, +and that the Honorable Richard Pennroyal was the swindler. + +Nobody was at the pains to conceal these sentiments from the honorable +gentleman, and he left the court with as little sympathy as ever +disappointed suitor had. + +Poor man! he suffered enough, in more ways than one, on that disastrous +day, yet one shame and agony, the sharpest of all, was spared him--he did +not see the look and the smile that were exchanged between his wife and +Sir Archibald Malmaison, when the decision of the Court was made known. + + + + +XII. + + +We are now drawing near the last scene of this strange and sinister +history. The action confines itself almost entirely to the three chief +figures. + +If Pennroyal had been twenty years younger when this catastrophe fell upon +him, it might merely have had the effect of enraging him; but he was near +fifty years of age, and old for his years, and it seems to have +overwhelmed and cowed him. The cat still in his house, like a rat in his +hole, saying nothing, and noticing nothing, but drinking a great deal of +brandy. The fiery stuff did not excite him; it merely had the effect of +keeping him from sinking into unconsciousness of his misery. He knew that +he was a ruined man, and that it was too late to retrieve his ruin. Means +and energy were alike lacking, and could never be supplied. He sat in his +chair, and brooded over all his life, and realized the utterness of his +failure; and nothing could rouse him--not even the intelligence that his +enemy, Sir Archibald, having by the death of his aunt, Miss Tremount, come +into an inheritance of upward of seventy thousand pounds, was buying up +the mortgages, and would probably foreclose on him when he got him +thoroughly in his power. Archibald had beaten him, and he would fight no +more. Let him enjoy his triumph, and push it to the utmost. There was one +point, at all events, on which Richard had the better of him, and this +thought brought with it the sole spark of comfort that these evil days +afforded him. He had his wife--the woman to win whom Sir Archibald would +have given all his lands and fortune, and his soul into the bargain. Yes, +Kate was his, and his only; and it was the resolve to keep her his, and +thus spite his enemy as long as possible, that withheld Richard from +seeking relief in suicide at this juncture. So Providence leads men from +agony to worse agony, with intent, doubtless, to torture out of them the +evil which they will not voluntarily relinquish. + +One winter evening, Richard sitting brooding and sipping brandy as usual, +with a lamp burning on the table beside him, and the embers of the fire +flickering on the broad hearth at his feet, there came a light, measured +step and the rustle of a dress, and he knew that his wife was in the room. +He raised his haggard visage and looked at her. What a goddess of beauty +she seemed! How young, graceful, lovely! How pure and clear were the tints +of her face, how lustrous dark her eyes, how soft her ample hair! How +peerless she was! and all she was--all this treasure of fragrant +womanhood--was his, and not another's. Ay, and his willingly; she really +loved him, he thought; she had shown it of late; she cared for him, old, +ruined, and degraded though he was. It was a strange thing; it was a +pleasant thing. Perhaps, he thought, if he had had such a creature to love +him in earlier days, he might not have been where he was now. But then, in +earlier days, he was not a ruined and wasted man. + +"Kate!" + +"Yes, Richard." + +"Oh, never speak so formally! Am I not Dick, thy own dear old Dick--eh?" + +"I did not mean to be formal." + +"Come and sit here beside me--no, here, on the arm of my chair. It was good +of you to come in here. I was getting lonesome. I wanted my Kate to tell +me she loved me--eh?" + +"I only came in to say good-night. It is late." + +"Late?--pooh! It's not nine o'clock. Stay and be sociable a bit. There, I +won't touch another drop if you'll stay." + +"I'm tired; I have a headache. You don't want me." + +"Not want you! Ay, but I do though! Without you, Kate, I should have been a +dead man weeks ago. Not want you!" + +"Nonsense! what do you mean? You have drunk too much already, I fear." + +"I mean that, but for you, I'd have blown my brains out the day of the +trial--after I'd blown out his, the scoundrel! But since I have you, I +know a way to worry him better than by blowing his brains out. To know +that you are mine is hell to him. And in that hell I'll keep him, as long +as my body and soul will hang together!" + +"What should he care whether I am yours or not?" + +"Because he loves you--that's why he cares! Ay, you needn't start. He loves +you, and it's hell to him to feel that another man has you. How many +thousand pounds do you think he'd give to kiss this little hand as I kiss +it now? I wish he could see me do it!" + +"Nonsense, you are crazy.... And so you only care for me to spite him?" + +"No, not that. God knows--if there is a God--I love you, Kate, with all +there is left of me--except what hates him! That's my life--love for you +and hate for him. And I believe I hate him less than I love you, though +that's saying a great deal!" + +"Oh, I think you love that brandy better than you do me." + +"You do? If you say so, I'll never touch it again!" + +"Oh, I don't care. I don't want you to give up anything that makes you +comfortable." + +"Ay, you do love me, don't you, Kate?" + +"Come, Richard, our courting days are over. And I must go. Good-by!" + +"No, don't go! I feel, somehow, as if I couldn't spare you to-night." + +"Shall I pour you out another glass?" + +"Yes--no! I'll drink no more to-night. Kate...." + +"Well?" + +"I'm getting old. In the natural course of things I should die long before +you. I sha'n't die yet a while--but some time, you know. Will you promise +something?" + +"I'll promise nothing to-night. I dare say you'll outlive me." + +"Promise, come what will, you'll never marry him; eh, Kate?" + +"Really, Richard, I--I never heard anything so foolish! I can't stay to +hear any more such talk. You are not your right self. There--let me go!" + +"Go?--go where? Gad, I've a mind to say you sha'n't go! Well, yes, I didn't +mean it; forgive me, Kate! Only you're my wife, you know, and I'm your +husband; and I love you; and somehow I feel afraid to let you out of my +sight--as if I might not see you again. Well, then.... But one thing you +shall do--you shall give me a kiss before you go! Else you sha'n't go at +all!" + +Thus compelled, Mrs. Pennroyal kissed her husband, or let herself be kissed +by him; and then she escaped from the room, with a shudder and a sinking +of the heart. + +Richard Pennroyal sat there alone; the embers of the fire were now gray and +lifeless. He stirred them with his foot, and they fell into ashes. He felt +cold. How still the house was; how lonely! And he had no pleasant thoughts +to keep him company now that his wife had left him; but many thoughts, +many memories that were far from pleasant, were lying in wait for him in +the dark corners of his mind, ready to leap out upon him if he gave them a +chance. Among them, why did the foolish face of crazy old Jane, his wife +of many years ago, persist in obtruding itself? Why did it wear that look +of stupid, unreasonable reproach? yes, unreasonable; for how was he to +blame? He had but let things take their course; no more than that ... well, +scarcely more! And yet that face, that silly old face, that dull, +lifeless, drowned old face, kept meeting his in the dark corners, turn +where he would. If he closed his eyes, it was still visible through the +eyelids, and seemed nearer than ever. + +So he opened his eyes; and there hovered the face, in the gloom beyond the +lamp. What an expression! Was it signalling him to come away? Was it +mocking him for fearing to come? Fearing? He was not afraid. He was a +Pennroyal; he had noble blood in his veins; though he was now a bit old +and shaky, and had, perhaps, been taking a little too much brandy of late. +But--afraid! not he. Why, he would follow the thing, if it came to that; +follow it to.... + +He rose slowly from his chair, still keeping his eyes steadily fixed upon +it, and moved toward it, with his hands outstretched. He did not get any +nearer to it; it was retreating before him, like a will-o'-the-wisp. He +kept on, crossing the length of the room; it seemed to pass through the +substance of the door, and yet he saw it beyond. He opened the door +softly; yes, there it was in the hall. A pistol was lying on the little +table beside the door, which Richard knew to be loaded. Mechanically, and +without looking at it, he took it up as he passed. Then down the hall on +tiptoe, the shadowy, unmeaning face marshalling him the way, and leering +at him if he hesitated. Ay, he would follow it to the end, now. +Fortunately, the house-door stood open; there would be no noise in getting +out. Out they glided, pursuer and pursued, into the cold stillness of the +night. There was a moon, but it was dim and low down. The shadows seemed +more real than the light. There was no snow to betray footprints. But +whither would this chase lead? It seemed to be heading toward the +northwest--toward Malmaison; ay, and toward the pool that lay on the +borders of the estate. Richard shuddered when he thought of that pool, and +of the grisly significance of his being led thither by this witless, +idiotic old phantom of his dead wife's face. Stay, the face seemed to have +got itself a body within the last few moments: it was a gray figure that +now flitted on before him; gray and indistinct in the dim moonlight, with +noiseless, waving drapery. It was going the very path that old Jane had +gone that day, many years ago--her last day on earth; and yet, was she not +here again to-night? And she was leading him to the pool; and what then? + +Swiftly she flitted onward, some seventy paces in advance apparently, now +lost in shadow, now reappearing in the light. She never turned nor +beckoned, but kept straight on, and Richard had much ado to keep pace with +her. At length he caught the gleam of the dark pool some little distance +beyond. He set his teeth, and came on. The gray phantom had paused at +last. But was that Jane after all? Not Jane's was that tall and graceful +figure. This must be some other woman's ghost. Was it a ghost? And if so, +was that another--that man who issued from behind a clump of bushes, and +came toward her? The two figures met; the man took the woman in his arms, +and kissed her many times on the lips and eyes. Kisses! ay, those were +kisses indeed! Now they seemed to be conversing together; his arms were +round her waist. The moonlight revealed his features; it was the enemy--it +was Archibald Malmaison! And the woman was not the dead wife, but the +living one. + +"We are perfectly safe, my darling," Archibald was saying. "The room was +all prepared for you, and there is no possibility of discovery. There will +be a great outcry and confusion for a week or so, and they will search for +you, dead and alive; and I along with the rest, the better to disarm +suspicion. It will be settled, at last, that you must have escaped to some +foreign country; or, maybe, Richard himself will fall under suspicion of +having made away with you, as he did with his first wife. Sooner or later, +at any rate, they will give up the search; and, whether or not, we shall +always be free to each other. You could not persuade any one at Malmaison +to so much as put his nose into the east chamber, and as to the other, you +and I are the only living creatures who even dream of its existence. +Darling, you will not mind being a prisoner for a little while, since love +will be a prisoner with you?" + +The woman clung to him tremulously. "I did not know it would be so hard to +leave him," she murmured. "I hate him, and yet it was hard. He is so +wretched; and he is all alone. What will he do now? He kept saying that he +loved me and asking me to love him, and to call him Dick; and ... he made +me kiss him. Oh, Archie, I feel that kiss beneath all yours. I shall +always feel it!" + +"No, this shall make you forget it--" + +"Hush! I hear something!" + +"You are nervous--" + +"Ah! look! It is he. Now God have mercy!" + +Sir Archibald looked; and there, indeed, stood the tall figure of the +Honorable Richard Pennroyal, without his hat, and with an expression on +his face that was a living curse to behold. And yet that face smiled and +bowed with a hideous politeness. + +"Good-evening, Sir Archibald. Will you permit me to inquire whether you are +armed?" + +Sir Archibald put his hand within his vest, and drew out a pistol. + +"Ah, that comes in very conveniently. Now, let us see. Mrs. Pennroyal, +since you are my wife, perhaps you will be good enough to give us the +word?--No, she insists upon fainting. Well, then, we must manage the best +way we can. But let me entreat you to take your aim carefully, my dear Sir +Archibald, for if you miss it will involve unpleasant consequences for +Mrs. Pennroyal as well as for yourself. Now, I will toss up this pebble, +and when it strikes the surface of the water we will fire. Is it agreed? +Here goes, then." + +He had the pebble in his hand, and was in act to toss it, when the baronet, +breaking silence for the first time, said: + +"Mr. Pennroyal, I am willing that this should go no further." + +"Scoundrel and coward!" snarled the other, his deadly fury breaking in a +moment through the thin mockery of courtesy; "come up then, and be shot +like the cur you are!" + +There could be no more words. Sir Archibald raised his pistol; his +antagonist threw the pebble high in the air, and as it smote the smooth +surface of the pool in its descent, both pulled trigger. Richard +Pennroyal's weapon missed fire; Sir Archibald's bullet passed through his +enemy's heart; he swayed backward and forward for a moment, and then fell +on his face, hurling his pistol as he fell at the prostrate figure of his +wife, who lay huddled on the ground; but it flew wide, and struck Sir +Archibald on the temple. Before the ripples caused by the pebble's fall +had died away, Pennroyal had ceased to live. + +Mrs. Pennroyal was still apparently insensible, but as Sir Archibald +approached her she partly raised herself up, and looked first at him and +then at the dead body. + +"It was not worth while," she said. + +"It's done," he murmured. "Are you hurt?" + +"What shall we do?" + +"We must get back to Malmaison." + +"We cannot leave him here." + +Sir Archibald bent over the body of his enemy, and turned the face upward. +It wore a calm and happy expression. + +"I will sink him in the pool," he said. "His will not be the first dead +body that has lain there." + +He stooped accordingly, and getting his hands beneath the arms of the +corpse, dragged it to one of the flights of steps that led down to the +water. Kate sat watching him with her hands clasped in her lap. She heard +a splashing sound and a ripple. Sir Archibald came back, picked up the +pistol, and flung it also into the pool. + +"The water will freeze to-night," he said, "and the fishes will do the +rest. Now, come!" + +In a secret chamber at Malmaison lamps were burning softly in a dozen +sconces of burnished silver round the walls. Their light fell on luxurious +furniture, fit for the boudoir of a lovely and noble lady. The +broad-backed ebony chairs were upholstered in delicate blue damask; clips +and salvers of chased gold stood on the inlaid cabinet; the floor was +covered with richly-tinted Persian rugs and soft-dressed furs; a warm fire +glowed on the hearth, and upon the table was set out a supper such as +might have awakened an appetite in a Roman epicure. A tall mirror, at the +farther end of the room, reflected back the lights and the color and the +sparkle, while in a niche at one side stood rigidly upright an antique +suit of armor, its gauntlets seeming to rest meditatively upon the hilt of +its sword, while from between the closed bars of the helmet one might +fancy that the dark spirit of its former inmate was gazing grimly forth +upon all this splendor and luxury, and passing a ghastly jest thereon. But +it was as fair and comfortable a scene as perhaps this world can show, and +well calculated to make the sternest ascetic in love with life. + +Through the massive oaken door, clamped with polished steel bands, entered +now two pallid and haggard persons--a man and a woman. The light striking +on their eyes made them blink and look aside. The man led the woman to the +fire, and seated her upon a low chair; and taking a blue satin coverlid +from the bed in the recess, he folded it tenderly round her shoulders. She +scarcely seemed to notice where she was, or what was being done; she sat +with her eyes and face fixed, shivering now and then, and with her mind +apparently preoccupied with some ugly recollection. The man then went to +the table and poured out a glass of wine, and held it to the woman's lips, +and after a little resistance she drank some of it. + +"You are as safe here," said he, "as if you were in an island of the South +Sea. I will see that you want for nothing while you have to remain here." + + +"What is the use?" she asked, with a kind of apathetic peevishness. + +"Before long we shall be able to go away," he continued. "My darling, don't +be disheartened. All our happiness is to come." + +"I can never forget it," she said, with a shiver. "What is the use? I can +never get away from him now. Do you think the water is frozen yet?" + +"You must not think of that at all. When you are warm, and have drunk some +wine, you will not feel this nervousness. Nothing has been done that is +worth regretting, or that could have been helped. Kate, I love you more +than ever." + +"What is the use?" she repeated, in a dull tone. "It was not worth while." + +There was a pause. + +"I must leave you for a few minutes," he said gently. "It is necessary that +I should show myself to Lady Malmaison and to the servants. No one knows +that I have left the house. By the time I come back you will have got +warm, and we will sup together. Don't be downhearted, my darling." + +He bent forward to kiss her. With a sudden gesture of aversion she pushed +him back. "There is blood upon your forehead!" she said, in a sharp +whisper. + +"Only a scratch--I had forgotten it," he answered, trying to smile. "Well, +then, in half an hour, at the utmost, we will meet again." + +She made no rejoinder; and, after standing a moment looking down at her, he +turned and went out. He closed the oaken door behind him, and locked it, +then felt his way along the stone passage, and let himself out by the +concealed entrance. He put the silver rod in its receptacle beneath the +floor, and walked toward the room adjoining. On the threshold of that room +he paused a moment, leaning against the door-post. A sensation of sluggish +weariness had come over him; his head felt full and heavy. He roused +himself presently, and went on trying to remember whither he was going. By +the time he had reached the top of the great staircase, the idea that he +was in search of seemed to have come to him. He descended the stairs and +went directly to Lady Malmaison's room. It was then about eleven o'clock. +The good lady was playing cards with her companion, her spaniel sleeping +on her knees. She looked up in astonishment, for Sir Archibald seldom +honored her with a visit. + +"Mamma," said he, going up to her chair, and standing there awkwardly, +"where is Kate?" + +"My son! what has happened?" + +"Was she married to-day?" pursued the baronet, in an aggrieved tone. + +Lady Malmaison and the companion exchanged a terrified glance. + +"I think it is very unkind, then," declared the young man, reproachfully; +"for Richard promised me I should be groomsman--and now they have gone and +got married while I was asleep. It was unkind of Kate, and I don't love +her; but I don't believe it was Richard's fault, because he is good, and I +love him." + + * * * * * + +"Ring the bell, Simpson," said Lady Malmaison, in a broken voice, "and tell +them to send for Dr. Rollinson." + + + + +XIII. + + +During all the months of consternation, speculation, and vague hue-and-cry +that followed the mysterious disappearance of the Honorable Mr. and Mrs. +Pennroyal, it never for one moment occurred to any one to suggest any +connection between that unexplained circumstance and the equally curious +but unpertinent fact that poor Sir Archibald had "gone daft" once more. + +How should it? It was known that Sir Archibald had been in his room all +that day and evening up to the time when he came into his mother's chamber +without his wits. It was true that there had been no love lost of late +between the houses of Malmaison and Pennroyal, but that was neither here +nor there. + +The notion that the vanished persons had met with foul play was never +seriously entertained, it being generally agreed that Mr. Pennroyal had +ample reasons for not wishing to remain in a place where his credit and +his welcome were alike worn out. In all likelihood, therefore, the pair +had slunk away to foreign parts, and were living under an assumed name +somewhere on the Continent, or in America. + +It was not surprising that they had gone together, for it was known that +they were on very good terms with each other, especially during the last +year. An idle story of a groom, who affirmed that he had been present at +an interview between Mrs. Pennroyal and Sir Archibald, on horseback, a few +weeks before the trial, when, according to this narrator, they had +appeared to be rather friendly than otherwise, was not thought to be in +any way to the point. + +So the months passed away, and the years followed the months; the house and +the lands of the Pennroyals were sold, and their very name began to be +forgotten. The daft baronet and his aged mother went on living at +Malmaison in a quiet and uneventful manner, seeing very few people, and +doing nothing except allow their large property to grow larger. Yet, in +spite of their retiring inoffensiveness, a shadow seemed to brood over the +ancient house. + +The old story of Sir Archibald's past exploits in the magical line, and of +his ancestors before him, were still revived occasionally round evening +firesides; and it was submitted whether his present condition were not a +judgment upon him for having tampered with forbidden mysteries. + +In the opinion of these fireside juries, there was a curse upon Malmaison, +especially upon that part of it which contained the east chamber. That +room was haunted, and had never been haunted so badly as during the few +days immediately following Sir Archibald's loss of memory. + +It may have been a demon's carousal over the sad plight of the poor, +foolish young baronet. At all events shrieks had been heard, faint and +muffled, but unmistakable, proceeding from that region, when everybody +knew that no living soul was there or could be there; but all the servants +at Malmaison could swear to the sounds. Ay, the place was accursed. + +Late on the night of the 22d of January, 1833, Sir Archibald found himself +mounting the staircase of Malmaison, with but an indistinct idea of how he +came to be doing so. He could not recollect whether he had seen his mother +and the servants or not. No wonder if his thoughts had been a little +absent, with such a dark and burdensome secret as that which lay upon his +soul. But, of course, he must have seen them. He had left Kate with the +intention of doing so, within this very hour; and how should he be coming +up-stairs, unless from the execution of that purpose? His mind was busy +with many projects. It would probably be thought that Mr. and Mrs. +Pennroyal had left the country to escape creditors. If only the pond +froze, and the cold weather held on for a week or two, there would be no +trace that could lead to a suspicion of anything else. For himself, he +would find no difficulty in proving an alibi, if it came to that. And +after all, he had but acted upon compulsion, and in self-defence, and upon +equal terms. He was guilty of no crime, except--well, call it a crime; he +was willing to bear the brunt of that. So they would be able to get away +soon, and in Italy, Spain, somewhere, anywhere, they could live and be +happy many years. Perhaps after a time they could venture to marry and +return openly to England. There were numberless and indefinite +possibilities in their favor. Life was all they wanted, and life they had. +They were both young; the gloom of this unlucky tragedy would soon be +dispelled. Kate had been nervous and distraught when he left her, and no +wonder, poor love! but wine, and food, and warmth would soon bring the +color back to her cheeks and the light to her eyes. Lovely Kate! sweet, +wayward, tender, haughty, but his own at last--his own in spite of earth +and heaven! Yes, he and she would have their will and take their pleasure +in spite of God and man; and if God would kill them, then, at any rate, +they would die together, and in each other's arms. + +With these and many like thoughts flying through his mind, Sir Archibald +Malmaison reached the east chamber struck a light, and lit the candle that +stood on the table beside the door. He looked at his watch--half-past +eleven; he was within his time then; he had been absent less than half an +hour. What was Kate doing, he wondered? He stopped a moment, picturing her +to himself in some luxurious attitude; but his impatience would not suffer +him to delay. He quickly got the silver rod from its receptacle, opened +the concealed door, and went in, carrying the lighted candle in his hand. +In a moment he was at the inner oaken door; it resisted his attempt to +open it. Then he recollected that he had locked it for additional +security. The key was in the lock; he turned it, and entered. + +An involuntary cry of surprise escaped him. Instead of the soft blaze of +light that he had expected, the room was full of a heavy darkness, that +seemed to rush out to meet him, and almost overwhelmed the feeble glimmer +of his wretched candle. And why was it so deadly cold? Where had gone that +cheerful fire which was burning so ardently on the hearth half an hour +ago? Could Kate have put out the lights and gone off? Impossible, since +the doors were fastened. Ah, there she was! + +She was kneeling with her face bowed forward on her arms, which rested on +the seat of one of the low chairs. Her attitude was that of passionate +prayer. Her thick brown hair was unfastened, and fell over her shoulders. + +She made no movement. It was strange! Was she praying? Could she be asleep? + +He took a step or two, and then stopped. Still no movement. + +"Kate!" he said in a hushed voice; and as she did not answer, he spoke more +loudly: "Kate, I have come back; and I've a mind to scold you for letting +the fire go out, and startling me with this darkness. What are you doing +on your knees? Come, my darling, we want no prayers to-night. Kate ... +will you give me a kiss now? + +"Perhaps she may have fainted. Poor darling, she must have fainted!" + +He went close up to her, and laid his hand on her shoulder: he seemed to +grasp nothing but the empty stuff of the dress. With a terrified, +convulsive motion, he pulled her round, so that the head was disturbed +from its position on the arms, and the ghastly mystery was revealed to his +starting eyeballs. The spectacle was not one to be described. He uttered a +weak, wavering scream, and stood there, unable to turn away his gaze. + +I must confess that I do not care to pursue this narrative any farther: +though it is just at this point, according to my venerable friend Dr. +Rollinson, that the real scientific interest begins. He was constantly +with Sir Archibald during the eight or nine months that he remained in +life after this episode; and made some highly important and edifying notes +on his "case," besides writing down the unhappy baronet's confessions, as +given from time to time. After his death, the Doctor made an autopsy of +the brain, and discovered--I care not what! It was not the mystery of the +man's soul, I am convinced. + +I have adhered strictly to the facts throughout. Of course some of the +conversations have been imagined, but always on an adequate foundation of +truth or logical inference. All the dates and "coincidences" are genuine. +But, indeed, I prefer fiction, and am resolved never in future to make an +excursion into the crude and improbable regions of reality. + + +The End. + + + + +Footnotes + + +1. Dr. Forbes Rollinson's death occurred while these pages were in +preparation. This is not the place to add my tribute of affection and +appreciation to the many memoirs of him which have appeared in the public +prints. My first acquaintance with him dates but little more than three +years prior to his death; but the impression he produced upon me of +cordiality, culture, and ability will remain with me while I live. He was +a grand old gentleman of a school that is now bygone; a scholar of vast +attainments, and a Christian in heart and life, if not in profession. +Although he had far exceeded the ordinary span of life--he was born, I +believe, in the last century--he showed few signs of physical, and none of +mental infirmity; and his sudden and painless decease was quite +unexpected. + +I subjoin extracts from a letter written to me on the subject of the +present narrative: + +"WELLESLEY HOUSE, QUEEN'S GATE, W. + +"MY DEAR H.: I must say I fail to perceive the force of your objections. +What is fiction, at best, but an imitation of truth--and a pretty poor +imitation, too, as a general thing?... You ought to be glad to be saved +the trouble of inventing.... In the matter of love-making and adventure I +have nothing to say, but scientific truths are not lightly to be tampered +with. 'Round off the corners' by all means, if you think fit, but do not +suffer your artistic proclivities to lead you into a misrepresentation of +the essential facts.... The people are all dead, and the estate is broken +up, so you need have no hesitation regarding names. Literary value aside, +the thing would be worth nothing if the means of verifying it were +withheld.... + +"Ever faithfully yours, + +"June 3d, 1878. E. FORBES ROLLINSON." + +2. Now also the late: _vide supra_. + +3. 3. In July, 1867. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Archibald Malmaison, by Julian Hawthorne + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ARCHIBALD MALMAISON *** + +This file should be named armal10.txt or armal10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, armal11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, armal10a.txt + +Produced by Curtis Weyant, Eric Eldred, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/old/armal10.zip b/old/armal10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4c3dc56 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/armal10.zip diff --git a/old/armal10h.htm b/old/armal10h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8620de6 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/armal10h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3818 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?> +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> + +<html> + +<head> +<title>Archibald Malmaison, by Julian Hawthorne</title> + +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + h1,h2,h3,h4 { text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-variant: small-caps } + h1 { margin-top: 2em } + .smallcaps { font-variant: small-caps } + --> +</style> +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Archibald Malmaison, by Julian Hawthorne +#6 in our series by Julian Hawthorne + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. 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You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Archibald Malmaison + +Author: Julian Hawthorne + +Release Date: January, 2005 [EBook #7344] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on April 17, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ARCHIBALD MALMAISON *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis Weyant, Eric Eldred, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +</pre> + + + + + +<h1>Archibald Malmaison</h1> + +<h2>by Julian Hawthorne</h2> + +<p class="smallcaps" align="center">Author of "Garth," "Sebastian Strome," "Dust," Etc.</p> + +<h1>Introductory.</h1> + +<p>When I was a child, I used to hope my fairy-stories were true. Since +reaching years of discretion, I have preferred acknowledged fiction. This +inconsistency, however, is probably rather apparent than real. Experience +has taught me that the greater the fairy-story the less the truth; and +contrariwise, that the greater the truth the less the fairy-story. In +other words, the artistic graces of romance are irreconcilable with the +crude straightforwardness of fact. The idealism of childhood, believing +that all that is most beautiful must on that very account be most true, +clamors accordingly for truth. The knowledge of maturity, which has +discovered that nothing that is true (in the sense of being existent) can +be beautiful, deprecates truth beyond everything. What happens, we find, +is never what ought to happen; nor does it happen in the right way or +season. In palliation of this hardship, the sublime irony of fate grants +us our imagination, wherewith we create little pet worlds of poetry and +romance, in which everything is arranged in neat harmonies and surprises, +to gratify the scope of our little vision. The actual world, the real +universe, may, indeed, be picturesque and perfect beyond the grandest of +our imaginative miniatures; but since the former can be revealed to us +only in comparatively infinitesimal portions, the miniatures still have +the best of it.</p> + +<p>To preface a story with the information that it is true, is not, therefore, +the way to recommend it. Your hearer's life, and those of his friends, are +enough true stories for him; what he wants of you is merciful fiction. +Destiny, to his apprehension, is always either vapid, or clumsy, or +brutal; and he feels certain that, do your worst, you can never rival the +brutality, the clumsiness, or the vapidity of destiny. If you are silly, +he can at least laugh at you; if you are clumsy or brutal, he has his +remedy; and meanwhile there is always the chance that you may turn out to +be graceful and entertaining. But to bully him with facts is like asking +him to live his life over again; and the civilized human being has yet to +be found who would not rather die than do that.</p> + +<p>No; we are all spontaneously sure that no story-teller, though he were a +Timon of Athens double distilled, can ever be so unsympathetic and +unnatural as destiny, who tells the only story that never winds up. We +cannot understand destiny; we never know to what lengths she may go: but +the story-teller we know inside and out; he is only a possible ourself, +and we defy him to do us any serious harm. I trust I am rendering my +meaning clear, and that no one will suppose that in making this onslaught +upon truth, I have anything else in view than truth as applied to what are +called stories. With truth scientific, moral, religious, I am at present +in nowise concerned. Only, I have no respect for the weakness that will +outrage a promising bit of narrative for the sake of keeping to the facts. +Imbecile! the facts are given you, like the block of marble or the +elements of a landscape, as material for the construction of a work of +art. Which would you rather be, a photographer or Michael Angelo? "<i>Non +vero ma ben trovato</i>" should be your motto; and if you refuse to kill +your heroine on the Saturday night because, forsooth, she really did, +despite all dramatic propriety, survive till Monday morning--why, please +yourself; but do not bring your inanities to me!</p> + +<p>I have now to reconcile this profession of faith with the incongruous fact +that the following story is a true one. True it is, in whole and in part; +furthermore, the events took place in the present century, and within a +hundred miles of London. But let me observe, in the first place, that, +although a true tale, it is nevertheless strange and interesting to an +unusual degree; and, secondly, that this interest and strangeness mainly +depend, not upon the succession of incidents, but upon the subjective +condition--character it cannot be termed--of Archibald Malmaison himself. +This being the case, it follows that the greater part of the objections +above insisted upon fall to the ground. What goes on inside a man must +needs be accepted as it is revealed to us: to invent psychological +attributes does not lie within the province of a romancer. His skill and +power are confined to so selecting and arranging the incidents as to +provide his psychological data with the freest possible development. In +the present case I might easily have devised a stage and a series of +events for Malmaison, which would have brought his mysterious affection +into somewhat more prominent and picturesque relief. But that affection is +itself so absorbing a problem, that the fashion of its statement becomes +of comparatively small import; and I may add that the setting furnished by +nature happens on this occasion to answer all practical purposes tolerably +well. Moreover, I am not altogether a free agent in the matter. The friend +by whose permission I tell the tale is of opinion that no liberties ought +to be taken with its form, any more than with what he is pleased to call +its "physiological characteristics." The main significance of the +narrative being, according to him, of a scientific or pathological kind, +it would be hostile to scientific interests to depart from historical +accuracy in its presentation. From the professional dictum of a man like +Dr. Forbes Rollinson there can, of course, be no appeal, and if I am to +write the account at all, it is but fair that in so doing I should respect +the wishes of him who is the lawful proprietor of it. I have thought it +but fair to myself, however, to begin by offering this explanation. I feel +more or less hampered by the conditions enjoined upon me, and, besides, I +do not agree with Dr. Rollinson's theory of the phenomena. In the present +state of our knowledge, no theory on such subjects can pretend to be more +than hypothetically correct; and my prejudices are opposed to what is +known as the materialistic explanation of the universe. With, all respect +for the validity of science within its proper sphere, I do not conceive +that its judgments are entitled to paramount consideration when they +attempt to settle the problems of psychology. There are mysteries which no +process of inductive reasoning can reach.--The reader, however, will not +be decoyed blindfold into accepting as final either the Doctor's view or +mine; but, after possessing himself of the facts, will be left free to +draw what conclusions he may please.</p> + +<p>As regards the matter of names, dates, and localities, Dr. Rollinson holds +that they had better be given at full length; and here I am not disposed +to differ from him. The system of blanks and initial letters was always +distasteful to me; and to use fictitious names in a true story seems like +taking away with one hand what you give with another. Besides, every one +of the actors in the drama is now dead: Dr. Rollinson [<a href="#1">1</a>] himself being +the only living person who is cognizant, directly, of all the +circumstances, from beginning to end. In his capacity of physician, he was +the intimate and trusted friend of the ill-fated Malmaison household +during upward of twenty years, and he inherited this confidential position +from his father. He has kindly placed at my disposal a number of his +professional note-books and journals, and in various places I have +incorporated with the narrative some of the information which they +contain. At other times I have inserted minor details of conversation and +incident, and have endeavored to throw over the whole as "fictitious" an +air as was consistent with the conscientious observance of my compact with +the Doctor. And now, without further preface, I will proceed to business.</p> + +<h1>I.</h1> + +<p>Archibald Malmaison was the second son of Sir Clarence Butt Malmaison, of +Malmaison, Sussex. He had the odd distinction of being born on the 29th of +February, 1800. His elder brother, Edward, born 1798, died before him, as +will be hereinafter shown. There were no other brothers, but four girls +appeared after Archibald, two of whom died in childhood of scarlet fever, +while the other two grew up to be married. They have nothing to do with +the story, and will not be mentioned again.</p> + +<p>The Malmaisons, as their name denotes, were of French descent--Huguenots. +Like many other emigrants, they yielded, in the course of a generation or +two, to a barbarous mispronunciation of their patronymic, which came to be +spoken of as if spelt "Malmsey."</p> + +<p>How it happened that the chateau of the Empress Josephine was christened by +the same name, I know not; at all events, the Sussex Malmaisons have prior +claim to the title. The estate, which embraced between seven and eight +hundred acres, lay in that portion of the county which borders upon the +junction line of Kent and Surrey. Colonel Battledown, the Peninsular +soldier, owned the adjoining estate in Kent; while the Surrey corner was +occupied, at the epoch of this story, by the Honorable Richard +Pennroyal--he whose father, Lord Epsom, is said to have won ninety +thousand pounds from Fox in a single night's play. The three families had +been on a friendly footing with each other ever since the early part of +the reign of George III.</p> + +<p>Sir Clarence had been an ally of the father of the Honorable Richard in +Parliament (they were both Whigs), and Colonel Battledown, though a Tory, +was such capital company as not only to compensate for his political +derelictions, but even to render them a matter for mutual +congratulation--they so enlivened the conversation! In truth, I suppose +the three gentlemen must have had many a boisterous discussion over their +nightly three or four bottles apiece of claret, and after their hard day +across country.</p> + +<p>The Honorable Richard, by the by, was by far the youngest of the three; at +the time of Archibald's birth he was not much over twenty; but he had a +cool, strong brain, and quite as much gravity as his seniors, over whom, +in fact, he seems to have exercised a species of ascendency. Possibly he +inherited something of his noble father's ability--that of playing quietly +for big stakes when all the odds were in his favor. At all events, in the +year 1801 he married Miss Jane Malmaison, the baronet's sister, who was +fifteen years older than he, but who brought him fifty thousand pounds--a +not unimportant consideration to him at that time.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Pennroyal has one claim upon our notice, and only one; seven years +after her marriage, at the age of forty-two, she completely lost her +memory, and became rather idiotic, and a few years later contrived to fall +into an ornamental fish-pond, and drowned there before her attendants +missed her. She was buried with much stateliness; but it is to be feared +that few persons missed her even then. She left no children.</p> + +<p>Was poor old Jane the first member of the Malmaison line who had shown any +special weakness or peculiarity in the upper story? There was a hoary +tradition to the effect that the son or grandson of the first emigrant had +made some compact or other with the Evil One, the terms of which were that +he (the grandson) was to prolong his terrestrial existence for one hundred +and forty years by the ingenious device of living only every alternate +seven years, the intervening periods to be passed in a sort of +hibernation. In return for this accommodation he was, of course, to make +H.S.M. the usual acknowledgment!</p> + +<p>The final upshot of this bargain--as is usually the way in these cases--is +not known. Did the worthy gentleman work his way into his third half +century? And had he, by that time, acquired astuteness sufficient to cheat +the other party to the contract of his due? History is silent; the only +thing asserted with any appearance of confidence is that Sir Eustace de +Malmaison possessed the power of vanishing at will from the eyes of men. +Nay, he would seem to have bequeathed this useful accomplishment to +certain of his descendants; for there is among the family documents a +curious narrative, signed and witnessed, describing how a member of the +family, in the time (I think) of the Second Pretender, did, being hard +pressed by the minions of the German Prince, and pursued by them into the +extreme eastern chamber of his house of Malmaison, suddenly and without +warning render himself invisible, insomuch that nothing of him remained +save his dagger, and the plume which he bore in his cap. This eastern +chamber had, at the time, but one outlet, and that was into a room already +guarded by the soldiery.</p> + +<p>The chronicle goes on to say that the disappearance was not final: the +mysterious fugitive reappeared on the third day, in the same spot where he +had vanished, but apparently rather the worse for wear. He was at first +taken for a spirit, and all fled before him; but he, going hastily forward +to the dining hall, and finding a great sirloin of beef set out upon the +board, forthwith fell to, and, in a wondrous short time, devoured the +whole thereof, drinking also a gallon and a half of the wine of Burgundy. +This exploit restored the belief of the household in the material +consistency of their master, and thereupon was much thanksgiving, +feasting, and rejoicing. But the secret of the disappearance never was +revealed.</p> + +<p>I give these musty old details for what they are worth; they may perhaps be +construed as an indication that the race of Malmaison had some +peculiarities of its own.</p> + +<p>As for Archibald, he was rather neglected than otherwise. He was a dull and +stolid baby, neither crying nor crowing much: he would sit all day over a +single toy, not playing with it, but holding it idly in his hands or +between his knees. He could neither crawl, walk, nor talk till long after +the usual time for such accomplishments. It seemed as if he had made up +his mind to live according to his birthdays--that is, four times as slow +as other people. The only things he did do well were eating and sleeping: +he never appeared to be thoroughly awake, nor was his appetite ever +entirely satisfied. As might be supposed, therefore, his body grew apace; +and at seven years old (or one and three quarters, as the facetious +Baronet would have it) he weighed twelve good pounds more than his brother +Edward, who was two years his senior, though, to be sure, not a specially +robust child.</p> + +<p>For the rest, poor Archibald seemed to be affectionate, in a dim, +inarticulate way, though his sympathies were confined within somewhat +narrow limits. He loved a certain brindled cat that he had more than +anything else: next to her, his little baby sister; and oddly enough, he +conceived a sort of dog-like admiration for the Honorable Richard +Pennroyal--a compliment which that personage did nothing to deserve, and +which he probably did not desire. He had also a distinct feeling for +localities; he was never quite at his ease except in the nursery-room +where he slept; and, on the other hand, he never failed to exhibit +symptoms of distrust and aversion when he was carried into the East +chamber--that in which his great-grandfather had effected his mysterious +self-effacement. But the only thing that was certain to make him cry was +to be brought into the company of little Kate Battledown, the colonel's +only child, a year or two younger than Archibald, and universally admitted +to be the prettiest and most graceful baby in the neighborhood. But +Archibald, up to his seventh year, would do anything to get away from her +--short of walking.</p> + +<p>In a word, he exhibited such symptoms of a deficient and perverted +understanding as would have gained him--had he been of humbler +birth--the descriptive title of "natural." Being a son of Sir Clarence +Butt Malmaison, he was considered to be peculiar only. The old wives of +the village maintained that he was the sort that could see elves, and +that, if one but knew how, he might be induced to reveal valuable secrets, +and to confer magic favors. But, looking the other way, he was to be +dreaded as a possible (though involuntary) agent of evil; especially +perilous was it, these venerable dames would affirm, to become the object +of his affection or caresses--a dogma which received appalling +confirmation in the fate of the brindled cat, who, after having been +caught by the leg in a trap intended for a less respectable robber of +hen-roosts, was finished by a bull-terrier, who took advantage of her +embarrassed circumstances to pay off upon her a grudge of long standing. +This tragedy occurred in January of the year 1807, and produced a +noticeable effect upon Master Archibald Malmaison. He neither wept nor +tore his hair, but took the far more serious course of losing his +appetite.</p> + +<p>The most remarkable part of the story is yet to come. No one had told him +that the cat was dead, and the cat, having adventurous propensities, had +often been away from home for days at a time without leave or warning. +Nevertheless, Archibald was immediately aware of her fate, and even seemed +(judging from some expressions that escaped him) to have divined the +manner of it. He then gave intimation of an earnest desire to view the +remains; but in this he could not be gratified, for they had already been +secretly interred in an obscure corner of the back garden. Will it be +believed that the "peculiar" child hereupon got upon his fat legs, and, +without either haste or hesitation, deliberately ambled out of the +nursery, along the corridor, down the stairs, across the hall, through the +door, and so round to the back garden and to the very identical spot where +poor Tabby had been deposited!</p> + +<p>The fact is sufficiently well attested; I am not aware that it has ever +been accounted for. The boy had never in his life walked so far before, +although his limbs were perfectly developed and able for much longer +pilgrimages. He did not resist being led away; but, as has been said, he +neglected his bread and milk, and every few days returned to the back +garden, and stood beside the grave in the cold, looking fixedly at it, but +making no active demonstration whatever. This went on for about six weeks, +and attracted a good deal of curiosity in the neighborhood. At length, in +the latter part of February, Archibald had a sort of fit, apparently of an +epileptic nature. On recovering from it, he called for a glass of milk, +and drank it with avidity; he then fell asleep, and did not awake again +for thirty-six hours.</p> + +<p>By this time he was a personage of more importance at Malmaison than he had +ever yet been in his small life. The wise folk who stood around his crib +hazarded various predictions as to the issue of his unnatural slumber. +Some said he would lose what little wit he had; others, that he would +become an acknowledged wizard; others again, that he would never wake up +at all. In short, like other prophets, they foretold everything except +that which was actually to happen; and they would have foretold that too, +if they had thought of it in time.</p> + +<h1>II.</h1> + +<p>Archibald awoke at length, and sat up in bed. He opened his mouth, +apparently for the purpose of saying something, but his tongue refused to +articulate any recognizable words. An irregular, disjointed sound made +itself heard, like the vague outcry of an infant; and then, as if angry at +his own failure, he set up a loud and indignant wail, muffled from time to +time by the cramming of his fingers into his mouth.</p> + +<p>Whatever else was the matter with the child, it was evident that he was +hungry--as, indeed, he well might be. Some bread and milk was brought to +him, that being his favorite food; but to the general astonishment and +dismay, he did not seem to know what it was, although he continued to +exhibit every symptom of a ravenous and constantly augmenting appetite. +They tried him with every imaginable viand, but in vain; they even put +morsels into his mouth, but he had lost the power of mastication, and +could not retain them. The more they labored, the greater became his +exasperation, until at last there was such a hubbub and confusion on the +score of Master Archibald as that hitherto rather insignificant little +personage should have felt proud to occasion.</p> + +<p>Among the anxious and bewildered people who thronged the nursery at this +juncture was a young woman who acted as wet-nurse to the latest born of +the Malmaisons, a baby-girl three months old.</p> + +<p>She was a healthy and full-bodied peasant, and as she pressed forward to +have her look at the now frantic Archibald, she held the nursing +infant--the only serene and complacent member of the assemblage--to her +open breast. Archibald caught sight of her, and immediately reached toward +her, arms, mouth and all, accompanying the action by an outcry so eager, +impatient, and gluttonous that it was capable of only one interpretation. +An incredible interpretation, certainly, but that made no difference; +there was nothing else to be done. Honest Maggie, giggling and rubicund, +put aside her complacent nursling (who thereupon became anything but +complacent) and took to her kind bosom this strapping and unreasonable +young gentleman, who had already got many of his second teeth. That did +not prevent him from making an unconscionably good supper, and thenceforth +the only person likely to be disturbed by his new departure in +gormandizing was Maggie herself. Everything being thus happily arranged, +the household dispersed about its business, the Baronet declaring, with a +great laugh, that he had always said Archie was but a babe in arms, and +this proved it!</p> + +<p>Dr. Rollinson, however (the elder doctor, that is--father of the present +[<a href="#2">2</a>] distinguished bearer of the name), had witnessed this scene with +something more than ordinary wonder or amusement; it had puzzled, but also +interested him extremely. He was less of a conservative than many of his +profession; he kept his mind open, and was not disinclined to examine into +odd theories, and even, perhaps, to originate a few such himself upon +occasion. The question that now confronted him and challenged his +ingenuity was, What was the matter with Archibald? Why had the boy +suddenly gone back to the primitive source of nourishment, not from mere +childish whim, but from actual ignorance--as it seemed--that nourishment +was obtainable in any other way? An obvious reply would be that the boy +had become wholly, idiotic; but the more Dr. Rollinson revolved this rough +and ready explanation, the less satisfactory did he find it. He wisely +decided to study the symptoms and weigh the evidence before committing +himself one way or the other.</p> + +<p>The first result of his observations was to confirm his impression that +Archibald was not idiotic. There was a certain sort of vacancy in the +child's expression, but it was the vacancy of ignorance rather than of +foolishness. And ignorant to a surprising degree he was. He had at no time +been regarded as a boy of large attainments; but what he knew before his +strange seizure was, to what he knew after it, as Bacon to a ploughman. +Had he been newly born into the world, he could not have shown less +acquaintance with it, so far as intellectual comprehension went; his +father, mother, sister--all were alike strangers to him; he gazed at them +with intent but unrecognizing eyes; he never looked up when his name was +spoken, nor did he betray any sign of understanding the talk that went on +around him. His own thoughts and wants were expressed by inarticulate +sounds and by gestures; but the mystery of speech evidently interested +him, and he studied the movements of the lips of those who spoke to him +with a keen, grave scrutiny to them highly amusing--except in the case of +his poor old Aunt Jane, who turned quite pale under his inquisition, and +declared that he must be bewitched, for although he seemed to know +nothing, yet he had the knowingest look of any child she ever saw. Herein +Aunt Jane gave utterance to a fact that was beginning to be generally +acknowledged. Whatever Archibald had lost, it was beyond dispute that he +had somehow come into possession of a fund of native intelligence (the +term "mother wit" seems inappropriate under the circumstances) to which he +had heretofore been a stranger. He might have forgotten his own name, and +the mother that bore him; but he had learned how to learn, and was for the +first time in his life wide awake. This was very much like saying that he +was a new boy in the old skin; and this, again, was little better than a +euphemism for changeling. Was he a changeling after all? The sage old +woman whom we have already quoted asserted confidently that he was, and +that, however much he pretended to ignorance, he really knew vastly more +than any plain human child did or ought to know. And as a warrant for this +opinion they brought forward evidence that Master Archibald, having been +left alone one day in the nursery, had been overheard humming to himself +the words of a certain song--a thing, it was argued, which he could not +have done had he known no words at all; and therefore he was a changeling. +</p> + +<p>Dr. Rollinson happened to hear this argument, and thought it worth while to +inquire further into the matter. Such testimony as he could collect went +to confirm the truth of the story. Not only so, but the song itself, if +the witnesses were to be believed, so far from being an ordinary childish +ditty, was some matter of pretty maids and foaming wine-cups that Tom +Moore might have written, and that gentlemen sometimes trolled out, an +hour or two after dinner. Now this looked very black for Archibald. +Further investigation, however, put a somewhat different face upon the +affair. It transpired that the song had been often sung in Archibald's +hearing, and before his fit, by the Honorable Richard, for whom, as has +been said, the boy had taken a queer fancy.</p> + +<p>And, perhaps because affection is a good teacher, the boy had acquired the +power of repeating some of the verses to himself, of course without +understanding a syllable of them, and very likely without himself being +conscious of what he was doing, he hummed them over, in short, exactly as +a preoccupied parrot might do; and always at a certain time, namely, after +he had been put to bed, and was staring up at the darkening ceiling +previous to falling asleep. This, by itself, was nothing very remarkable; +the puzzle was, how could he do it now? Out of all the wreck of his small +memory, why was this song, the meaning of which he had never understood, +the sole survivor? Was it that his affection for Mr. Pennroyal had kept it +alive? So might a sentimentalist have concluded; but the Doctor was a man +of sense. Was it that the boy was shamming? Impossible on all accounts. +But then, what was it?</p> + +<p>The Doctor had by this time worked himself up to believe that the solution +of this problem would help largely toward the clearing up of the whole +mystery. So he took notes, and continued to observe and to consider.</p> + +<p>He found, in the first place, that the song-singing took place under +exactly the same circumstances as before the fit, and at no other time or +place.</p> + +<p>Hereupon, he devised experiments to discover whether Archibald was +conscious that he was singing, or whether it was an act performed +mechanically, while the mind was otherwise engaged. After the child was in +bed, he quietly arranged a lamp so as to cast a circular space of light +upon the ceiling above the bed, the rest of the room being left in shadow. +Not a word of any song was heard that night; and the test was tried twice +more during the week, with a like result. At another time he got the +Honorable Richard to come into a room adjoining the nursery, and sing the +song so that Archibald might hear it. Archibald heard it, but gave no sign +of being affected thereby. He was then brought into Mr. Richard's +presence; it was the first time they had met since the change. Now, if +ever, was an opportunity for the imperishable quality of the affections to +be vindicated. But no such vindication occurred. On the contrary, after +having stared his uncle almost out of countenance for some minutes, he +turned from him with a marked expression of disapproval, and could never +afterward be induced voluntarily to go near him. The affection had become +an antipathy.</p> + +<p>"No, madam; set your mind at rest," said the bluff Doctor to Lady Malmaison +over a cup of tea that evening. "The child's no changeling; but he's +changed, and changed for the better, too, by Gad! He can tell a bad egg +from a good one now," continued the Doctor, with a significant chuckle, +the significance of which, however, Lady Malmaison perhaps failed to +perceive. But the fact was, the Honorable Richard Pennroyal had never been +an especial favorite with Dr. Rollinson.</p> + +<p>The next day was a new excitement. Archibald had walked, and that, too, as +well as the best-grown boy of seven that you would want to see.</p> + +<p>"Ay, and where did he walk to?" demanded the Doctor.</p> + +<p>It was explained that it was at the time for nursing him, and he was +sitting in his little chair at one end of the nursery, when Maggie had +entered at the other. As soon as he clapped eyes on her, he had set up his +usual impatient outcries; but Maggie, instead of going directly to him, +had stopped to exchange a few words with the head-nurse, unfastening the +front of her dress the while, however, so that Master Archibald's +impatience was carried to the point of intolerance by the glimpse thus +afforded of the good things in store for him. And then, before you had +time to think, he had got up from his chair, and trotted across the floor, +bellowing all the time, and had tugged at Maggie's dress.</p> + +<p>"Bellowing all the time, eh?" said the Doctor.</p> + +<p>"And walking all the same like he was ten year old, sir: and it did give us +all a turn; and if you please, sir, what do you say to <i>that</i>?"</p> + +<p>"What do I say to that?--why, that it's just what I should have +expected--that's what I say!" replied Dr. Rollinson, who had apparently +begun to divine some clew to the grand mystery. But he vouchsafed no +explanations as yet.</p> + +<p>Archibald did not repeat the walking miracle, although, within the space of +a few weeks only, he passed through the regular gradations of crawling, +tottering, and toddling, to normal pedestrianism of the most active kind. +His progress in other accomplishments was almost parallel with this. From +inarticulate gabble he trained his tongue to definite speech; his +vocabulary expanded with astonishing rapidity, and, contrary to his +previous habit, he made incessant use of it. He was now as remarkable for +loquacity as formerly for the opposite characteristic; and his keenness of +observation and retentive memory were a theme of general admiration. In a +word, he used his five senses to ten times better effect than had ever +been expected of him in the old days; and no one who had not seen him for +a year from the time of his fit would have recognized him as the same +child, He was not only making up for lost time--he was incomparably +outstripping his earlier self; he seemed to have emerged from a mental and +physical cocoon--to have cast aside an incrustation of deterrent +clumsiness, and to be hastening onward with the airy case and accuracy of +perfect self-possession. At the end of a year he was to all intents and +purposes ten years old; and what was most remarkable about this swift +advance lay in the fact that a year had seen the whole of it. Though he +had been eight years in the world, the first seven had furnished none of +the mental or moral material for the last: it stood alone and +disconnectedly. Of those seven years it is certain that he retained not +the smallest recollection; they were to him as if they had never been. The +only thing they did provide him with was a well-fed and sound body; in +other respects Archibald was positively new. He had to make the +acquaintance of his family and friends over again; but it was done with +modifications. In other cases besides that of his uncle, it was observed +that he felt antipathies where formerly he loved, and <i>vice versa</i>.</p> + +<p>A minor instance, but interesting as must be all evidence in a case so +strange as this, is that of the brindled cat that was buried in the +garden. Archibald was brought to the grave, which he had so pathetically +haunted before his metamorphosis, not many weeks after the metamorphosis +occurred; and every means was used to revive in him some recollection of +the bereavement; they even went so far as to uncover poor pussy's +remains.... Archibald was first unconscious and indifferent, then curious, +finally disgusted. His feelings were not otherwise touched. All +associations connected with this whilom pet of his, grief for whose loss +was supposed to have been the impelling cause of the fit itself, were as +utterly expunged from his mind as if they had never existed there. +Moreover, aversion from all cats was from this time forth so marked in him +as almost to amount to horror; while dogs, whose presence had been wont to +fill him with dismay, were now his favorite companions. It was the same in +other things; the boy formed independent opinions and prejudices in all +the relations of life--independent, that is, of his past. His temper, too, +was changed; no longer timid, appealing and docile, it was now determined, +enterprising, and bold. It was manifest even thus early that here was a +character fitted to make its way in the world.</p> + +<p>"No, I protest, Doctor, I can never believe it's the same child," said Lady +Malmaison, with a sigh. "That noisy, self-willed boy is never my quiet, +affectionate little Archie. And yesterday he beat his brother Edward, that +is two years older than he. Heigho! Pray, dear Doctor, what is your +opinion?"</p> + +<p>"My opinion, Lady Malmaison, is that women will never be content," answered +the bluff old physician. "I can remember the time when you thought your +quiet little Archie was a nincompoop--and quite right too. And now because +a monstrous piece of good luck has made a Crichton of him, you begin to +regret the nincompoop! It ain't logical;" and the Doctor took snuff.</p> + +<p>"But who ever heard of a child changing his whole nature all in a moment?" +persisted Lady Malmaison.</p> + +<p>"Why, isn't all in a moment better than inch by inch? The thing is no such +mighty matter as some folks try to make it out. The boy went to sleep as +soon as he was born, and has but just waked up--that's my notion about it. +So now, instead of starting, the way most of us do, at the point of +helplessness, he begins life with a body full of seven years' pith, and +faculties sharp set as a new watch. Till now he has but dreamed; now he's +going to exist, with so much the more extra impetus. He don't recollect +what he's been dreaming--why should he?"</p> + +<p>"But he did recollect some things, Doctor; that song.... And then, his +walking across the room."</p> + +<p>"Purely physical--purely automatic," replied the Doctor, tapping his +snuff-box, and pleased with Lady Malmaison's awe at the strange word. "If +he had stopped to think what he was doing he couldn't have done it. The +body, I tell you, grows under all circumstances--as much when you're +asleep as when you're awake; and the body has a memory of its own, +distinct from the mental memory. Have you never hummed a song when you +were doing your embroidery, and thinking about--about Lady Snaffle's +elopement with the captain?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Doctor!"</p> + +<p>"Yes; and if I'd come in at the moment and asked you what you were singing, +could you have told me? Of course you couldn't! You could have told me +all about the elopement. Well, then, that's clear now, ain't it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," said Lady Malmaison, meaning, it must be supposed, "as clear as +mud." Dr. Rollinson chuckled to himself, and they continued their game of +piquet.</p> + +<h1>III.</h1> + +<p>Possibly the reader, though, understanding the force of the Doctor's +illustration better than good stupid Lady Malmaison could do, is still of +opinion that that eminent practitioner's exposition of the real nucleus of +the mystery might have been more explicit. It is all very well to say that +the boy was asleep for seven years and then woke up; but what does such a +statement mean? Are such prolonged slumbers an ordinary occurrence? And if +so, might not the slumberer, after a longer or shorter interval of +wakefulness, fall asleep again? It is to be feared that the old physician +was not quite so well satisfied in his secret mind as he pretended to be, +and that his learned dissertation upon automatic action was little better +than a device to avoid being pressed upon the real point at issue. But it +is always a delicate matter to fathom the depth of a medical man's +sagaciousness.</p> + +<p>Mention has already been made of little Kate Battledown, the effect of +whose society on Archibald had been so strangely ungenial. A year or two +after his "awakening" the little maiden was again thrown in his way, and +this time with very different results. There is extant among the family +papers a letter containing a very pretty account of the relations which +were soon established between these small personages. They seem to have +taken to one another at once, and exercised over each other a mutual +fascination. Archibald, keen and domineering with his brother and +sisters, and, so far as his power went, with everybody else--was as sweet +as milk to his childish enchantress; and no doubt his manners, if not his +general character, greatly benefited by her companionship. There is a +picture of the two children painted by Sir Thomas Lawrence and now hanging +in the present Dr. Rollinson's parlor (where, doubtless, thousands of his +patients have beheld it, ignorant of its history), which is perhaps as +beautiful an example of English youth and maidenhood at eleven and nine +years of age as could be found in the three kingdoms. The boy, black-eyed +and black-haired, seems to step forward daringly, with his glance fixed +defiantly upon the spectator; but his left hand, extended behind him, +clasps that of little Kate with a protecting gesture; and her great brown +eyes rest on his face, with a look half of apprehension, half of admiring +confidence. There is a second portrait of her, taken ten years later; but +of Archibald no other authentic likeness exists. Report affirms, however, +that in 1823 and thereabout he was esteemed one of the handsomest young +fellows of his day.</p> + +<p>The devotion of the two to each other grew with their growth. She, even at +that early age, must have given occasional foretastes of the wayward, +impulsive, and yet calculating character that was developed in her later +life; but there can be little doubt that she felt a genuine attachment to +Archibald; and he laid himself at her feet with a chivalric +single-heartedness more characteristic of the fifteenth century than of +the early nineteenth. Indeed, his jealous guardianship of her excited not +a little amusement among his seniors; and it is related that in his +twelfth year he actually commissioned Colonel Battledown to carry a formal +"message" on his behalf to the Honorable Richard Pennroyal; the latter's +offence consisting in his having taken Miss Battledown on his knee and +kissed her. The matter was, however, happily arranged on the Hon. +gentleman's expressing his regret for his indiscretion, and the Colonel +and Sir Clarence becoming answerable for his good behavior in future. But +the children's preference for each other now began to suggest other +thoughts than those of mere passing entertainment to the paternal minds. +There seemed to be no good reason why they should not ultimately make a +match of it. It was true that Kate might well expect to find a more +brilliant mate than the second son of a baronet; but, personal feeling and +the friendship of the families aside, she might do much worse than with +Archibald. The second son of Sir Clarence stood a fair chance of hereafter +making a favorable entry into politics; and as for fortune, his aunt on +the mother's side, a Miss Tremont, of Cornwall, an old maid without nearer +relatives than her nephew, was in a fair way to bequeath him seventy +thousand pounds. And furthermore (this was an aspect of the case which +Colonel Battledown probably kept to himself), it was not beyond the bounds +of possibility that Archibald might finally inherit Malmaison in spite of +the accident of his birth. Edward Malmaison had always been a delicate +child, and years were not making him stronger. He was very studious, and +disinclined to those active exercises in which his brother was already +beginning to excel: his eyes were weak and his cheeks pale; and in short, +unless his constitution should presently undergo a favorable change, the +chances were fairly against his surviving Archibald, to say the least of +it. "Archie thrashed him at fisticuffs," said the old man of war to +himself, "and why shouldn't he get the better of him in other ways as +well? Of course we wish no harm to happen to poor Edward, who is a good +little snipe enough; but one must conduct one's campaign to an eye to what +may happen, as well as to what is."</p> + +<p>So this matrimonial arrangement, without being definitely resolved upon +(except possibly in the hearts of the two young persons principally +concerned), was allowed to remain in a state of favorable suspense. Kate +and Archibald saw one another as much as was good for them--although, by +way of keeping up the chivalric conditions, they used to pretend that all +manner of portentous obstacles intervened between them and the +consummation of their desires; and exhausted their ingenuity in the +devising of secret meetings, of elopements across the garden wall, and of +heart-rending separations, when imaginary heartless parents tore them +ruthlessly from one another's arms. In a letter written by Sir Clarence to +Dr. Rollinson, under date December 27th, 1811, the jolly Baronet says: +"Our Xmas festivities were for a time interupted by another Romantic +Event. Catherine, onely daughter of Colonel Battledown eloped with Mr. +Archibald Malmaison of Malmaison. The Fugitives escaped by the pantry +dore, and before they could be overtaken, had been maid man and wife by +the under Gardner in the tool house in the corner of the yard. An +application will be made to Parlement to dissolve the marriage untill the +parties are out of the Nursrie." By this it may appear that Sir Clarence +had even more humor than orthography.</p> + +<p>It was a few weeks after this event that poor old Aunt Jane left the world +by way of the ornamental fish-pond. The pond in question lay on the +boundary-line between the Malmaison estate and that of the Pennroyals; and +the ornamentation consisted of two flights of steps leading down to the +water, and of half a dozen willows whose twisted trunks bent over the +surface. Although of no great area, this pond was startlingly deep, and +the bottom, when you got to it, was of the softest and most unfathomable +mud. Had not Aunt Jane been seen just as she was sinking for the third +time, therefore, the chances are that she would never have been seen till +doomsday; there was room, and to spare, for all the Malmaison line in the +slimy depths of that pool. After the catastrophe, Mr. Pennroyal caused a +handsome iron railing to be erected round the scene of it. This act caused +it to be said that he might have done it before. Did he expect his future +wives to go the road of the first one? And was it not criminal negligence +in him to have suffered her to escape from her attendants? How could such +a thing have happened? Did Mr. Pennroyal consider that people might say +that the death of his wife was no loss to him, but the contrary? because +that fifty thousand pounds of hers, of which, during her lifetime, he +could touch only the interest, became, at her decease, his absolute +property, to do with as he liked. Under such circumstances, a gentleman +careful of his reputation should have guarded her as the apple of his eye. +It was certainly very odd that a poor frail crazy creature should have +been able to elude all pursuit, and then have gone straight to the +pool--in midwinter, too--and deliberately jumped in. And there she might +have lain, and no one the wiser, had not young Archibald Malmaison +happened to see her, and given the alarm. If he had been a few minutes +earlier, who can tell but he might have seen something--that nobody +suspected!</p> + +<p>All this random talk proved nothing more than that the Honorable Mr. +Pennroyal was not a favorite with his neighbors; and that was a fact of +which no proof was needed. Some men, who are good fellows enough at bottom +and even capable of inspiring genuine attachment in particular cases, +never become generally popular. When Mr. Pennroyal was accused of +stinginess, it was not considered that he had a great many liabilities to +meet, and perhaps some big debts to pay off. When it was said that he was +unsocial and cynical, it was forgotten that these very remarks were enough +to make him so. And when he was blamed for neglecting his wife, and +profiting by her demise--well, now, how is a gentleman to pay attentions +to an idiot, or to be inconsolable when Providence gives him fifty +thousand down in exchange for her? Besides, he gave her an imposing +funeral, and put himself and all his household into strict mourning. As +for the iron railing, it might be looked upon as a sort of monument to the +departed, in which practical usefulness and a becoming sentiment were +ingeniously combined.</p> + +<p>The incident had its effect upon Archibald--in rather a curious fashion. He +was, as has been intimated, the one to give the alarm. He had been passing +that way, it seemed, and had caught sight of a struggling something in the +water; and his shouts had speedily drawn the gamekeeper and a couple of +villagers to the spot. The boy had watched the recapture of the lifeless +body in solemn silence, a red flush of color in either cheek. He had been +rather fond of Aunt Jane after her insanity became confirmed, and he was +the only human being whom the poor woman had seemed to recognize, and in +whose company she felt some dull gleams of pleasure. He now shed no tears, +seeming more angry than grieved, and continued to maintain a marked +taciturnity for several days; and, concerning the catastrophe itself, he +could never be induced to speak at all. The power of keeping his own +counsel had always characterized him: in the present instance he was as +gloomily reserved as though he had buried a secret of state in his breast. +Toward the widower his manner became, from hostile, almost insolent. It +was a curious spectacle to see the lad, scarcely out of the nursery, +either ignoring his tall relative, as if the latter were a caitiff +unworthy the notice of a gentleman, or else staring him haughtily in the +face, and staring him down, too! for it was remarked that the Honorable +Richard exhibited an admirable forbearance, not to say meekness, toward +his rude little kinsman. And yet, before this time, he had occasionally +given the boy harsh words and looks.... It must have been that his +bereavement had softened his heart.</p> + +<p>However, time went on, and by degrees the poignancy of the widower's grief +was blunted, and Aunt Jane's name was seldom mentioned by any one; after +all she had not done herself, or anybody connected with her, much credit. +And other changes occurred: the stout old Colonel found it incumbent upon +him to join Sir Arthur Wellesley in the Peninsula; and Kate began to take +the lead in household affairs (her mother was a good deal of an invalid), +and stayed more at home than she used to do, and consequently did not see +so much of Archibald; she gave him to understand that it was more genteel +for him to come and call on her, as Mr. Pennroyal and other gentlemen did. +The young lady was already coming into her heritage of beauty, and +possessed more than her share of maidenly dignity, considering that she +was barely thirteen. And when, at that mention of Pennroyal, Archibald +said:</p> + +<p>"Indeed, Kate, you must not class me with him, or with any man. Remember +that we were married two Christmases ago--" she answered:</p> + +<p>"You foolish boy! that was not a real marriage: a real marriage is done in +a church, by a parson, and I wear a white veil."</p> + +<p>"But ours was an elopement," objected Archibald, disturbed.</p> + +<p>"An elopement without a carriage-and-four and a blacksmith? What an idea!" +</p> + +<p>"Do you mean to say you are not my wife, Kate?" demanded the boy, turning +pale.</p> + +<p>"Neither yours nor anybody's, Mr. Archibald."</p> + +<p>"Kate!" he broke out passionately, the blood leaping to his face, "take +care you never let yourself be any body else's wife than mine! And I don't +see what difference a blacksmith or a veil makes. And if you do, they +shall die! I know how to use a sword, and a pistol too!"</p> + +<p>"O Archie, how wicked you are! and how cruel to me, when you know that I +can never love any man but you, though cruel fate may separate us for a +season!" The young lady was quoting from "Evelina," as Archibald well +knew, but they had got so much in the habit of applying the phraseology of +that work to the requirements of their own private romance, that it came +without their thinking of it.</p> + +<p>"But say that you will be my own at last!" cries Archibald, carrying on the +scene in all seriousness.</p> + +<p>"Nay, my lord, 'tis ungenerous thus to press me--Oh, no, you must not do so, +Archie; the book says that Lord Orville only kisses her hand--"</p> + +<p>"I am not Lord Orville, and I will kiss you where I like; and I don't care +for the book when I feel as I do now! I only care for you."</p> + +<p>"Bravo, young gentleman! that's the way to talk to 'em!" cried Dr. +Rollinson, who had overheard the whole of this conversation, and who now +appeared with his broad figure, his gouty legs, and his gruff chuckle. +"Books are very well for make-believe, but when it comes to downright +earnest, use a tongue of your own--eh?" and he clapped the boy kindly on +the shoulder. "Yes, yes, she'll marry you fast enough when she sees you +making eyes at some other pretty girl! Don't tell me! there's plenty of +'em, go where you will, and when you start on the grand tour, as you'll be +doing one of these days, you'll see for yourself!" Such were the cynical +blasphemies which this man was not ashamed to instil into the ear of his +young friend; and then he led him away somewhere, still chuckling, and +left Miss Battledown to digest her slight the best way she could. The +Doctor fancied he knew a thing or two about the sex. If so, he was very +knowing!</p> + +<h1>IV.</h1> + +<p>Malmaison House was partly destroyed by fire a number of years ago, [<a href="#3">3</a>] and +two years later the portion still standing was taken down to make way for +the proposed branch of the London and South-Coast Railway. The branch is +still unbuilt, but only some heaps of grass-grown rubbish remain to mark +the site of the venerable edifice. But at the period of which I am now +writing it was an imposing pile of gray-stone, standing on a slight +elevation, with a sloping lawn in front, and many large trees surrounding +it. The centre and the right wing were of Elizabethan date; the left wing +was constructed by Sir Christopher Wren, or by some architect of his +school, and, though outwardly corresponding with the rest of the building, +was interiorly both more commodious and less massive. The walls of the old +part were in some places over four feet in thickness, and even the +partitions between the rooms were two feet of solid masonry. Many of the +rooms were hung with tapestry; and in taking down the house several traces +were discovered of secret passages hollowed out within the walls +themselves, and communicating by means of sliding panels from room to +room. The plan of the building comprised two floors and an attic; but the +attic was not coextensive with the lower areas; and there was often a +difference of level between the apartments on the latter floors of from +one to four steps. An irregular corridor on the first floor, badly +lighted, and in some places perfectly dark, extended from the centre into +the right wing, affording entrance to the rooms front and back.</p> + +<p>At the end of the right wing was situated the east chamber, of which +mention has already been made. Originally, the only access to it was by +way of a larger chamber adjoining, which, again, could only be entered +through the dark corridor. This was the condition of things at the time of +the famous magic disappearance of Sir Charles Malmaison, in 1745. But, at +the beginning of the present century, a door was cut through the outside +wall, whence a covered flight of stone steps led down into an enclosed +courtyard. The room was thus rendered independent, so to speak, of the +rest of the house. The occupant might lock the door communicating with the +adjoining chamber, and go and come by the other as he pleased. As for the +courtyard, part of it had formerly been used as a stable, with stalls for +three horses; these were now transferred to the other end of the mansion, +though the stable, of course, remained; and it was necessary to go through +the stable in order to get to the covered flight of steps.</p> + +<p>It may be remembered that Archibald, in what we may term his soporific +period, had manifested a strong, although entirely irrational, repugnance +to this east chamber. Perhaps he had been conscious of presences there +which were imperceptible to normal and healthy senses! Be that as it may, +he got bravely over his folly afterward, and in his twelfth year (his +third, Sir Clarence would have called it) he permanently took up his +quarters there, and would admit no "women" except as a special favor. In +those days, when people were still, more or less, prone to superstition, +it was not every boy who would have enjoyed the sensation of spending his +nights in so isolated a situation; for the right wing was almost entirely +unoccupied on this floor. But Archibald appears to have been singularly +free from fear, whether of the natural or of the supernatural. He +collected together all his boyish <i>penates</i>--his gun, his sword, his +fishing-rods, and his riding-whips, and arranged them about the walls. He +swept down the cobwebs from windows and ceiling; turned out of doors a lot +of miscellaneous lumber that had insensibly collected there during the +last half century; lugged in a few comfortable broad-bottomed chairs and +stanch old tables; set up a bookshelf containing Walton's "Complete +Angler," "Dialogues of Devils," "Arabian Nights," Miss Burney's "Evelina," +and other equally fashionable and ingenious works; kindled a great fire on +the broad hearth; and, upon the whole, rendered the aspect of things more +comfortable than would have been anticipated. The room itself was long, +narrow, and comparatively low; the latticed windows were sunk several feet +into the massive walls; lengths of brownish-green and yellow tapestry, +none the fresher for its two centuries and more of existence, still +protested against the modern heresy of wallpaper; and in a panel-frame +over the fireplace was seen the portrait, by Sir Godfrey Kneller, of the +Jacobite baronet. It was a half-length, in officer's uniform; one hand +holding the hilt of a sword against the breast, while the forefinger of +the other hand pointed diagonally downward, as much as to say, "I vanished +in that direction!" The fireplace, it should be noted, was built on the +side of the room opposite to the windows; that is to say, in one of the +partition walls. And what was on the other side of this partition? Not the +large chamber opening into the corridor--that lay at right angles to the +east chamber, along the southern front of the wing. Not the corridor +either, though it ran for some distance parallel to the east chamber, and +had a door on the east side. But this door led into a great dark closet, +as big as an ordinary room, and used as a receptacle for rubbish. Was it +the dark closet, then, that adjoined the east chamber on the other side of +the partition? No, once more. Had a window been opened through the closet +wall, it would have looked--not into Archibald's room, but--into a narrow +blind court or well, entirely enclosed between four stone walls, and of no +apparent use, save as a somewhat clumsy architectural expedient. There was +no present way of getting into this well, or even of looking into it, +unless one had been at the pains to mount on the roof of the house and +peer down. As a matter of fact, its existence was only made known by the +reports of an occasional workman engaged in renewing the tiles, or mending +a decayed chimney. An accurate survey of the building would, of course, +have revealed it at once; but nothing of the kind had been thought of +within the memory of man. Such a survey would also have revealed what no +one in the least suspected, but which was, nevertheless, a fact of +startling significance--namely, that the blind court was, at least, +fifteen feet shorter, and twenty-five feet narrower, <i>than it ought to +have been</i>!</p> + +<p>Archibald was as far from suspecting it as anybody; indeed, he most likely +never troubled his head about builders' plans in his life. But he thought +a great deal of his great-grandfather's portrait; and since it was so +placed as to be in view of the most comfortable chair before the fire, he +spent many hours of every week gazing at it. What was Sir Charles pointing +at with that left forefinger? And what meant that peculiarly intent and +slightly frowning glance which the painted eyes forever bent upon his own? +Archibald probably had a few of Mrs. Radcliffe's romances along with the +other valuable books on his shelves, and he may have cherished a notion +that a treasure, or an important secret of some sort, was concealed in the +vicinity. Following down the direction of the pointing finger, he found +that it intersected the floor at a spot about five feet to the right of +the side of the fireplace. The floor of the chamber was of solid oak +planking, blackened by age; and it appeared to be no less solid at this +point than at any other. Nevertheless, he thought it would be good fun, +and at all events would do no harm, to cut a hole there, and see what was +underneath. Accordingly, he quietly procured a saw and a hammer and +chisel, and one day, when the family were away from home, he locked +himself into his room, and went to work. The job was not an easy one, the +tough oak wood being almost enough to turn the edge of his chisel, and +there being no purchase at all for the saw. After quarter of an hour's +chipping and hammering, with very little result, he paused to rest. The +board at which he had been working, and which met the wall at right +angles, was very short, not more than eighteen inches long, indeed, being +inserted merely to fill up the gap caused by a deficiency in length of the +plank of which it was the continuation. Between the two adjoining ends was +a crack of some width, and into that crack did Archibald idly stick his +chisel. It seemed to him that the crack widened, so that he was able to +press the blade of the chisel down to its thickest part. He now worked it +eagerly backward and forward, and, to his delight, the crack rapidly +widened still further; in fact, the short board was sliding back +underneath the wainscot. A small oblong cavity was thus revealed, into +which the young discoverer glowered with beating heart and vast +anticipations.</p> + +<p>What he found could scarcely be said to do those anticipations justice; it +was neither a casket of precious stones, nor a document establishing the +family right of ownership of the whole county of Sussex. It was nothing +more than a tarnished rod of silver, about nine inches in length, and +twisted into an irregular sort of corkscrew shape. One end terminated in a +broad flat button; the other in a blunted point. There was nothing else in +the hole--nothing to show what the rod was meant for, or why it was so +ingeniously hidden there. And yet, reflected Archibald, could it have been +so hidden, and its place of concealment so mysteriously indicated, without +any ulterior purpose whatever? It was incredible! Why, the whole portrait +was evidently painted with no other object than that of indicating the +rod's whereabouts. Either, then, there was or had been something else in +the cavity in addition to the rod, or the rod was intended to be used in +some way still unexplained. So much was beyond question.</p> + +<p>Thus cogitated Archibald--that is to say, thus he might have cogitated, for +there is no direct evidence of what passed through his mind. And, in the +first place, he made an exhaustive examination of the cavity, and +convinced himself not only that there was nothing else except dust to be +got out of it, but also that it opened into no other cavity which might +prove more fruitful. His next step was to study the silver rod, in the +hope that scrutiny or inspiration might suggest to him what it was good +for. His pains were rewarded by finding on the flat head the nearly +obliterated figures 3 and 5, inscribed one above the other, in the manner +of a vulgar fraction, thus, 3/5; and by the conviction that the spiral +conformation of the rod was not the result of accident, as he had at first +supposed, but had been communicated to it intentionally, for some purpose +unknown. These conclusions naturally stimulated his curiosity more than +ever, but nothing came of it. The boy was a clever boy, but he was not a +detective trained in this species of research, and the problem was beyond +his ingenuity. He made every application of the figures 3 and 5 that +imagination could suggest; he took them in feet, in inches, in yards; he +added them together, and he subtracted one from the other: all in vain. +The only thing he did not do was to take any one else into his confidence; +he said not a word about the affair even to Kate; being resolved that if +there were a mystery, it should be revealed, at least in the first +instance, to no one else besides himself. At length, after several days +spent in fruitless experiments and loss of temper, he returned the rod to +its hiding-place, with the determination to give himself a rest for +awhile, and see what time and accident would do for him. This plan, though +undoubtedly prudent, seemed likely to effect no more than the others; and +over a year passed away without the rod's being again disturbed. By +degrees his thoughts ceased to dwell so persistently upon the unsolved +puzzle, and other interests took possession of his mind. The tragedy of +his aunt's death, his love for Kate, his studies, his prospects--a hundred +things gave him occupation, until the silver rod was half forgotten.</p> + +<p>In the latter part of 1813, however, he accidentally made a rather +remarkable discovery.</p> + +<h1>V.</h1> + +<p>He had for the first time been out hunting with his father and the +neighboring country gentlemen in the autumn of this year, and it appears +that on two occasions he had the brush awarded to him. At his request the +heads of the two foxes were mounted for him, and he proposed to put them +up on either side his fireplace.</p> + +<p>The wall, above and for a few inches to the right and left of the +mantelpiece, was bare of tapestry; the first-named place being occupied by +the portrait, while the sides were four feet up the oaken wainscot which +surrounded the whole room behind the tapestry, and from thence to the +ceiling, plaster. The mantelpiece and fireplace were of a dark slaty +stone, and of brick, respectively.</p> + +<p>Archibald fixed upon what he considered the most effective positions for +his heads--just above the level of the wainscot, and near enough to the +mantelpiece not to be interfered with by the tapestry. He nailed up one of +them on the left-hand side, the nails penetrating with just sufficient +resistance in the firm plaster; and then, measuring carefully to the +corresponding point on the right-hand side, he proceeded to affix the +other head there. But the nail, on this occasion, could not be made to go +in; and on his attempting to force it with a heavier stroke of the hammer, +it bent beneath the blow, and the hammer came sharply into contact with +the white surface of the wall, producing a clinking sound as from an +impact on metal.</p> + +<p>A brief investigation now revealed the fact that a circular disk of iron, +about three inches in diameter, and painted white to match the plaster, +was here let into the wall. What could be the object of it? With a fresh +nail the boy began to scratch off the paint from the surface of the disk, +in order to determine whether it were actually iron, or some other metal; +in so doing a small movable lid, like the screen of a keyhole, was pushed +aside, disclosing a little round aperture underneath. Archibald pushed the +nail into it, thereby informing himself that the hole went straight into +the wall, for a distance greater than the length of the nail; but how much +greater, and what was at the end of it, he could only conjecture.</p> + +<p>We must imagine him now standing upon a chair, with the nail in his hand, +casting about in his mind for some means of probing this mysterious and +unexpected hole to the bottom. At this juncture he happens to glance +upward, and meets the intent regard of his pictured ancestor, who seems to +have been silently watching him all this time, and only to be prevented by +unavoidable circumstances from speaking out and telling him what to do +next. And there is that constant forefinger pointing--at what? At the +cavity in the floor, of course; but not of that alone; for if you observe, +this same new-found hole in the wall is a third point in the straight line +between the end of the forefinger and the hiding-place of the silver rod; +furthermore, the hole is, as nearly as can be estimated without actual +measurement, three feet distant from the forefinger, and five feet from +the rod; the problem of three above and five below has solved itself in +the twinkling of an eye, and it only remains to act accordingly!</p> + +<p>Archibald sprang to the floor in no small excitement; but the first thing +he did was to see that both his doors were securely fastened. Then he +advanced upon the mystery with heightened color and beating heart, his +imagination revelling in the wildest forecasts of what might be in store; +and anon turning him cold with sickening apprehension lest it should prove +to be nothing after all! But no--something there must be, some buried +secret, now to live once more for him, and for him only: the secret, +whereof dim legends had come down through the obscurity of two hundred +years; the secret, too, of old Sir Charles in the frame yonder, the man of +magic repute. What could it be? Some talisman--some volume of the Black +Art perhaps--which would enable him to vanish at will into thin air, and +to travel with the speed of a wish from place to place--to become a +veritable enchanter, endowed with all supernatural powers. With hands +slightly tremulous from eagerness he pushed back the bit of plank and drew +forth the silver rod; then mounted on the chair and applied it to the +hole, which it fitted accurately. Before pushing it home he paused a +moment.</p> + +<p>In all the stories he had read, the possessors of magic secrets had +acquired the same, only in exchange for something supposed to be equally +valuable, namely, their own souls. It was not to be expected that +Archibald would be able to modify the terms of the bargain in his own +case: was he, then, prepared to pay the price? Every human being, +probably, is called upon to give a more or less direct answer to this +question at some epoch of their lives: and were it not for curiosity and +scepticism, and an unwillingness to profit by the experience of others, +very likely that answer might be more often favorable to virtue than it +actually is. Archibald did not hesitate long. Whether he decided to +disbelieve in any danger; whether he resolved to brave it whatever it +might be; or whether, having got thus far, he had not sufficient control +over his inclinations to resist going further--at all events he drew in +his breath, set his boyish lips, and drove the silver rod into the +aperture with right good will.</p> + +<p>It turned slowly as it entered, the curve of its spiral evidently following +the corresponding windings of the hole. Inward it twisted like a snake, +until only some two inches still projected. As the searcher after +forbidden mysteries continued to press, something seemed to give way +within; and at the same instant an odd, shuffling sound caused him to +glance sharply over his left shoulder.</p> + +<p>What was the matter with the mantelpiece? The whole of the right jamb +seemed to have started forward nearly a foot, while the left jamb had +retired by a corresponding distance into the wall; the hearth, with the +fire burning upon it, remained meanwhile undisturbed. At first Archibald +imagined that the mantelpiece was going to fall, perhaps bringing down the +whole partition with it; but when he had got over the first shock of +surprise sufficiently to make an examination, he found that the entire +structure of massive gray-stone was swung upon a concealed pivot, round +which it turned independently of the brickwork of the fireplace. The +silver rod had released the spring by which the mechanism was held in +check, and an unsuspected doorway was thus revealed, opening into the very +substance of the apparently solid wall. On getting down from his chair he +had no difficulty in pulling forward the jamb far enough to satisfy +himself that there was a cavity of unknown extent behind. And from out of +this cavity breathed a strange dry air, like the sigh of a mummy. As for +the darkness in there, it was almost substantial as of the central chamber +in the great pyramid.</p> + +<p>Archibald may well have had some misgivings, for he was only a boy, and +this happened more than sixty years ago, when ghosts and goblins had not +come to be considered such indefensible humbugs as they are now. +Nevertheless, he was of a singularly intrepid temperament, and besides he +had passed the turning point in this adventure a few minutes ago. Nothing, +therefore, would have turned him back now. Come what might of it, he would +see this business to an end.</p> + +<p>It was, however, impossible to see anything without a light; it would be +necessary to fetch one of the rush candles from the table in the corridor. +It was a matter of half a minute for the boy to go and return; then he +edged himself through the opening, and was standing in a kind of vaulted +tunnel, directly behind the fireplace, the warmth of which he could feel +when he laid his hand on the bricks on that side. The tunnel, which +extended along the interior of the wall toward the left, was about six +feet in height by two and a half in width. Archibald could walk in it +quite easily.</p> + +<p>But, in the first place, he scrutinized the mechanism of the revolving +mantelpiece. It was an extremely ingenious and yet simple device, and so +accurately fitted in all its parts that, after so many years, they still +worked together almost as smoothly as when new. After Archibald had poured +a little of his gun-oil into the joints of the hinges, and along the +grooves, he found that heavy stone structure would open and close as +noiselessly and easily as his own jaws. It could be opened from the inside +by using the silver rod in a hole corresponding to that on the outside; +and, having practised this opening and shutting until he was satisfied +that he was thoroughly master of the process, he put the rod in his +pocket, pulled the jamb gently together behind him, and, candle in hand, +set forth along the tunnel.</p> + +<p>After walking ten paces, he came face-up against a wall lying at right +angles to the direction in which he had been moving. Peering cautiously +round the corner, he saw, at the end of a shallow embrasure, a ponderous +door of dark wood, braced with iron, standing partly open, with a key in +the keyhole, as if some one had just come out, and, in his haste, had +forgotten to shut and lock the door behind him. Archibald now slowly +opened it to its full extent; it creaked as it moved, and the draught of +air made his candle flicker, and caused strange shadows to dance for a +moment in the unexplored void beyond. In another breath Archibald had +crossed the threshold and arrived at the goal of his pilgrimage.</p> + +<p>At first he could see very little; but there could be no doubt that he was +in a room which seemed to be of large extent, and for the existence of +which he could by no means account. The reader, who has been better +informed, will already have assigned it its true place in that unexplained +region mentioned some pages back, between the blind court and the east +chamber. Groping his way cautiously about, Archibald presently discerned a +burnished sconce affixed to the wall, in which having placed his candle, +the light was reflected over the room, so that the objects it contained +stood dimly forth. It was a room of fair extent and considerable height, +and was, apparently, furnished in a style of quaint and sombre +magnificence, such as no other apartment in Malmaison could show. The +arched ceiling was supported by vast oaken beams; the floor was inlaid +with polished marbles. The walls, instead of being hung with tapestry, +were painted in distemper with life-size figure subjects, representing, as +far as the boy could make out, some weird incantation scene. At one end of +the room stood a heavy cabinet, the shelves of which were piled with gold +and silver plate, richly chased, and evidently of great value. Here, in +fact, seemed to have been deposited many of the precious heirlooms of the +family, which had disappeared during the Jacobite rebellions, and were +supposed to have been lost. The cabinet was made of ebony inlaid with +ivory, as was also a broad round table in the centre of the room. In a +niche opposite the cabinet gleamed a complete suit of sixteenth century +armor; and so dry was the atmosphere of the apartment, that scarce a spot +of rust appeared upon the polished surface, which, however, like every +other object in the room, was overlaid with fine dust. A bed, with +embroidered coverlet and heavy silken curtains, stood in a deep recess to +the left of the cabinet. Upon the table lay a number of papers and +parchments, some tied up in bundles, others lying about in disorder. One +was spread open, with a pen thrown down upon it, and an antique ink-horn +standing near; and upon a stand beside the bed was a gold-enamelled +snuff-box, with its lid up, and containing, doubtless, the dusty remnant +of some George II. rappee.</p> + +<p>At all these things Archibald gazed in thoughtful silence. This room had +been left, at a moment's warning, generations ago; since then this strange +dry air had been breathed by no human nostrils, these various objects had +remained untouched and motionless; nothing but time had dwelt in the +chamber; and yet what a change, subtle but mighty, had been wrought! Mere +stillness--mere absence of life--was an appalling thing, the boy thought. +And why had this secret been suffered to pass into oblivion? And why had +fate selected him to discover it? And now, what use would he make of it? +"At all events," said the boy to himself, "it has become my secret, and +shall remain mine; and no fear but the occasion will come when I shall +know what use to make of it." He felt that meanwhile it would give him +power, security, wealth also if he should ever have occasion for it; and +with a curious sentiment of pride he saw himself thus mystically +designated as the true heir of Malmaison--the only one of his age and +generation who had been permitted to stand on an equality with those +historic and legendary ancestors, to whom the secret of this chamber had +given the name and fame of wizards. Henceforth Archibald was as much a +wizard as they.</p> + +<p>Or, might there after all be a power in necromancy that he yet dreamed not +of? Was it possible that even now those old enchanters held their meetings +here, and would question his right to force his way among them?</p> + +<p>As this thought passed through the boy's mind, he was moving slowly +forward, his eyes glancing now here, now there, when all at once the roots +of his hair were stirred with an emotion which, if not fear, was certainly +far removed from tranquillity. From the darkest corner of the room he had +seen a human figure silently and stealthily creeping toward him. Now, as +he fixed his eyes upon it, it stopped, and seemed to return his stare. His +senses did not deceive him; there it stood, distinctly outlined, though +its features were indistinguishable by reason of the shadow that fell upon +them. But what living thing--living with mortal life at least--could +exist in a room that had been closed for sixty years?</p> + +<p>Now certainly this Archibald, who had not yet completed his fourteenth +year, possessed a valiant soul. That all his flesh yearned for instant +flight does not admit of a doubt; and had he fled, this record would never +have been written. Fly, however, he would not, but would step forward +rather, and be resolved what manner of goblin confronted him. Forward, +therefore, he stepped; and behold, the goblin was but the reflection of +himself in a tall mirror, which the obscurity and his own agitation had +prevented him from discerning. The revulsion of feeling thus occasioned +was so strong that for a moment all strength forsook the boy's knees; he +stumbled and fell, and his forehead struck the corner of the ebony +cabinet. He was on his feet again in a moment, but his forehead was +bleeding, and he felt strangely giddy. The candle, too, was getting near +its end; it was time to bring this first visit to a close. He took the +candle from the sconce, passed out through the door, traversed the tunnel, +and thrust the silver key into the keyhole. The stone door yielded before +him; he dropped what was left of the candle, and slipped through the +opening into broad daylight. The first object his dazzled eyes rested upon +was the figure of Miss Kate Battledown. In returning from his visit to the +corridor he must have forgotten to lock the room door after him. She was +standing with her back toward him, looking out of the window, and was +apparently making signs to some one outside.</p> + +<p>Noiselessly Archibald pushed the mantelpiece back into place; thanks to the +oiling he had given the hinges, no sound betrayed the movement. The next +moment Kate turned round, and seeing him, started and cried "Oh!"</p> + +<p>"Good-morning, Mistress Kate," said Archibald.</p> + +<p>"Archibald!"</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"You were not here a moment ago!"</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"Then how did you get here?"</p> + +<p>Archibald made a gesture toward the door leading to the covered stairway.</p> + +<p>"No--no!" said Kate; "it is locked, and the key is on this side." She had +been coming toward him, but now stopped and regarded him with terror in +her looks.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter, Kate?"</p> + +<p>"You are all over blood, Archibald! What has happened? Are you ... oh, what +are you?" She was ready to believe him a ghost.</p> + +<p>"What am I?" repeated the boy, sluggishly. That odd giddiness was +increasing, and he scarcely knew whether he were asleep or awake. Who was +he, indeed? What had happened? Who was that young woman in front of him? +What....</p> + +<p>"Archibald! Archie! Speak to me! Why do you look so strangely?"</p> + +<p>"Me not know oo!" said Archie, and began to cry.</p> + +<p>Mistress Kate turned pale, and began to back toward the door.</p> + +<p>"Me want my Kittie!" blubbered Archie.</p> + +<p>Kate stopped. "You want me?"</p> + +<p>"Me want my 'ittle Kittie--my 'ittle b'indled Kittie! Dey put my Kittie in +de hole in de darden! Me want her to p'ay wiz!" And with this, and with +the tears streaming down his cheeks, poor Archie toddled forward with the +uncertain step and outstretched arms of a little child. But Kate had +already gained the door, and was running screaming across the next room, +and so down the long corridor.</p> + +<p>Poor Archie toddled after, his baby heart filled with mourning for the +brindled cat that had been buried in the back garden seven years before. +Seven years?--or was it only yesterday?</p> + +<h1>VI.</h1> + +<p>Miss Kate Battledown's screams, as she ran down the corridor, must speedily +have summoned the household; and then the dreadful news was told, not +losing anything of its horror, we may be sure, in the recital; and then +appeared poor Archie in confirmation. The greatest confusion and +bewilderment prevailed. No one comprehended anything. It was not known +what had happened. What was this story about Archie's having suddenly +appeared, where before there had been only empty air--just as his great +grandfather, Sir Charles, had done before him? Kate, to whom we may pardon +a little incorrectness or exaggeration under the circumstances, solemnly +asseverated that she had been looking straight at the centre of the room, +and that nobody was there; and that all at once "Archie grew together out +of nothing!" Such is the version of her words given by Lady Malmaison in a +letter to her sister, Miss Tremount, of Cornwall, soon after the +occurrence. Miss Tremount, it may be remembered, had intimated years ago +her intention of making Archibald her heir; and Lady Malmaison's letter is +an amusing and rather ingenious attempt to convey the information about +poor Archie, in such a way as not to frighten off this inheritance. Doctor +Rollinson, she wrote, had seen dear Archie, and had said that what had +happened was only what might have been expected; and that the dear child's +health would certainly not suffer, but, on the contrary, be strengthened, +and his life prolonged. For that there could be no doubt that poor Archie +had been laboring under an almost unnatural excitement, or tension of the +nerves, during the last few years, which had caused Lady Malmaison the +greatest anxiety; and she was truly thankful, for her part, that things +had come out no worse than they had. She could feel secure, now, that her +darling Archie would live to be a quiet, good, sensible English gentleman, +fitted to discharge efficiently, and conscientiously, an English +gentleman's duties, whether it were to manage an estate, or--or in fact +whatever it might be. And then came the little story about the mysterious +apparition of Archie out of vacancy, which Lady Malmaison treated +humorously; though in her own heart she was very much scared at it, and +was moreover privately convinced that Archie was, and would remain, very +little better than an idiot all his life long. Now, it is well known that +English country gentlemen are never idiotic.</p> + +<p>What was the elder Dr. Rollinson's real opinion about Archie's relapse? The +only direct evidence worth having on this point--his own--is unfortunately +not forthcoming, and we are obliged to depend on such inaccurate or +interested hearsay as has just been quoted above. It seems likely that he +came to the conclusion that stupidity was the boy's normal condition and +that his seven years of brilliance had been something essentially abnormal +and temporary, and important only from a pathological point of view. +Indeed, there was nothing in the transmuted Archibald's condition that was +susceptible of being treated as a disease. He was as healthy as the +average of boys of fourteen (if he were a boy of fourteen, and not a child +of seven). He knew nothing, and had retained nothing, of his other life; +he had to be taught his letters--and a terrible job that was, by all +accounts; he occasionally expressed a desire to see his nurse Maggie--who, +the charitable reader will rejoice to hear, had been honestly married +since we last heard of her. He was greatly puzzled to find himself so much +taller than when he last knew himself; and it was a long time before he +could be induced to recognize his own reflection in the looking-glass. +Needless to say that everything connected with the secret chamber and the +silver rod was completely erased from his mind; and though he had been +found with the rod in his hand, he could not tell what it was or where he +got it.</p> + +<p>In this connection, however, I will mention something which, if it be true, +throws a new and strange light upon his psychological condition. There is +reason to believe that he visited the secret chamber in a somnambulistic +state. The evidence on which this supposition is founded appears, at this +distance of time, rather imperfect; but it is certain that a few weeks +after the boy's entrance upon his unintelligent state, the silver rod was +lost sight of; and it is almost certain that during the time of its +disappearance it was lying in its hidden receptacle under the floor beside +the mantelpiece. But in that case, who but Archibald could have put it +there? and when could he have put it there save in his sleep? It is known +that he was a somnambulist during his unenlightened period, though never +in his alternate state; and if he, as a somnambulist, remembered the +hiding-place of the rod, it follows that he must also have remembered the +rod's use, and visited the secret chamber. Thus it would seem that only in +the boy's waking hours was he oblivious and stupid; in his dreams he +truly lived and was awake! Here, then, is a complication of absorbing +interest, which I will leave for physicians and metaphysicians to fight +out between themselves. For my part, I can only look on in respectful +bewilderment.</p> + +<p>But we must leave Archibald for the present, and occupy our minds with the +proceedings of the other personages of this drama. An era of disaster was +in store for most of them. It is curious to note how the proverb that +misfortunes never come single was illustrated in the case of these people. +Fate seems to have launched its thunderbolts at them all at once, as if +making up for lost time; or like a playwright, who clears his stage of all +secondary and superfluous characters, and leaves a free field wherein the +two or three principal people may meet and work out their destiny +unimpeded.</p> + +<p>Colonel Battledown fought under Wellington against Soult at Orthez; and in +a charge of the French cavalry the gallant officer and genial gentleman +was cut in the head by a sabre-stroke and ridden down; and when picked up +after the battle he was dead. He was buried on the spot; the practice of +sending the corpses of heroes and others careering over the face of the +earth, in search of a spot of loam worthy to receive them, was not at that +time so fashionable as it has since become. But the news of his death came +home, and put his friends in mourning, and made Mistress Kate the heiress +of a great property at the age of fourteen. But she was older than her +years, and was generally considered to be "just the sort of person to be +an heiress," whatever that may be. I suppose she was exceedingly handsome, +with a proper sense of her importance, and a capacity of keeping an eye +upon what she considered her interests. At the same time many actions of +hers indicate that she was occasionally liable to ungovernable impulses, +and that her temper was fitful and wayward. Such a woman would make a +capital heroine for a modern novel; she would stand a lot of analyzing.</p> + +<p>The tender relations which had subsisted between her and Archibald were +perforce broken off. What can you do with a lover who suddenly ceases to +have the most distant recollection of you, who does not believe you when +you tell him your name, and whose only associations with that name date +seven years back and are disagreeable? Nobody can blame Kate for giving +Archibald up; she would have been more than human if she could have +intrusted her heart to the keeping of a half-witted wizard, whose +mysterious likeness to, or connection with, a charming young gentleman +rendered him only the more undesirable. Poor Kate! If she gave her heart +to Archibald, and then Archibald became somebody else, what shall we say +became of her heart? Must it not have been irretrievably lost, and shall +we be surprised if we hereafter detect in her a tendency to heartlessness? +</p> + +<p>The next one to drop was Sir Clarence Butt Malmaison. The jolly baronet was +never the same man after the relapse of his second son, whom he had grown +to love more than his first-born, and to whose future he had looked +forward with much ambitious anticipation. He used to sit for hours at a +time sadly watching the child's sluggish gambols about the nursery floor; +ever and anon trying to arouse in his darkened mind some sparks of the +former brightness, and, when the effort failed, sighing heavily, sometimes +with tears trickling down his ruddy old cheeks. If Archibald had never +passed through that period of deceptive promise, it is probable that he +would have received a fair amount of affection as he was, and he would at +all events not have committed the unpardonable offence of inspiring hopes +which were not destined to be fulfilled. Sir Clarence felt like the man in +the fairy tale who received from the fairy a purse of gold, but on opening +the purse to handle the money, found nothing in his grasp but a bunch of +yellow autumn leaves. The heroic end of his friend the Colonel served to +augment the baronet's depression of spirits; nor was his gloom lightened +by the reflection that Kate's inheritance of the estate would now in no +way advantage Archibald. So, what with one thing and another, it must be +confessed that Sir Clarence ended by taking too much wine after dinner. +And the more wine he drank, the less inclination did he feel to keep up +his hardy outdoor habits of riding and shooting; and, consequently, the +more moody and plethoric he became. At length he nearly quarrelled with +Dr. Rollinson because the latter told him plainly that the bottle would be +his coffin; and a few days later he did quarrel, and very violently too, +with the Honorable Richard Pennroyal. This gentleman, it seems, had ridden +over to Malmaison and stayed to dinner; and at dessert the conversation +got round to the present melancholy condition of local affairs.</p> + +<p>"Everything's going to the dogs!" cried poor Sir Clarence, with an oath; +"and no gentleman, by ---, ought to condescend to exist!"</p> + +<p>"Come, Malmaison," said Pennroyal, smiling and cracking filberts, "you're +going too far. Things are not so bad. And there are compensations!"</p> + +<p>"Compensations? What compensations? What the devil do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"Ha, ha! Well, for instance, about the poor Colonel. Of course, we're all +dooced sorry to lose the Colonel; fine old chap, and a good hand at +piquet. But after all he had to go some time; and then what happens? The +fair Miss Battledown becomes the richest heiress in the three counties."</p> + +<p>"Ay, and what's the compensation in that? What good does her being an +heiress do me? Can my boy marry her? Answer me that!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I should fancy not; but somebody else can."</p> + +<p>"Somebody else? Who, I'd like to know?" bawled Sir Clarence. "Let me see +the scoundrel who'll dare to marry Kate Battledown--let me see him!"</p> + +<p>"I hear you quite plainly, Malmaison; and I wouldn't exert myself so much +if I were you--you know what the doctor said. As for Miss Battledown, +surely she has a right to marry whom she pleases, hasn't she?"</p> + +<p>"No, she has not!" returned the baronet, getting angrier than ever. "She +belongs to my Archibald; and if any scoundrel--"</p> + +<p>"Really, you are intolerable, Sir Clarence," interrupted Pennroyal, still +smiling, but not a pleasant smile. "A man whose temper is faulty at the +best of times should be more careful to avoid whatever tends to make it +worse;" and as Pennroyal said this he glanced significantly at the +decanter--of which, to do him justice, he was very sparing himself.</p> + +<p>"Pennroyal!" said the old baronet, drawing himself up with a good deal of +dignity, "your father and I were friends before you were born, and you're +my brother-in-law; but if you were not sitting at my table, I'd teach you +better manners than to lecture your elders. I said I should like to see +the scoundrel who would dare to marry Kate Battledown--and--and what is +that to you?"</p> + +<p>"Well, it's just this," returned Pennroyal, quietly; "I'm going to marry +her myself!"</p> + +<p>Sir Clarence started up from his chair with a tremendous oath--and sat down +again. He was putting a terrible restraint upon himself. Not for his life +would he outrage the guest who was beneath his roof. His face became dark +red, and the veins on his forehead and in his neck stood out and throbbed +visibly. His eyes were fixed staringly upon the impassable visage of the +Honorable Richard, and he drew his breath with difficulty. There was a +pause of some duration, broken only by this stertorous breathing, and by +the deliberate cracking of the guest's filberts. At last, with a tragic +effort of courtesy that was almost grotesque, the poor gentleman pushed +the decanter toward his brother-in-law and deadly enemy, accompanying the +act by a rattling sound in the throat, probably intended as an invitation +to help himself. But the struggle was too severe. The next moment the +baronet's eyes rolled wildly, a gasping noise broke from him, and he fell +forward with his head on the table.</p> + +<p>Mr. Pennroyal promptly arose and rang the bell. "Send for the doctor at +once," he said to the servant who appeared. "Sir Clarence has overdrunk +himself, or overeaten himself, I fancy. And help me to put him on the sofa +and loosen his neckcloth. There--very distressing. Apply the usual +remedies, while I step up-stairs and speak to Lady Malmaison."</p> + +<p>The usual remedies availed little, and when Dr. Rollinson arrived, four +hours afterward, it was already evident that even he could be of no use. +Sir Clarence never fully regained consciousness, and two days later he +ceased to breathe. There was an inquest, resulting in a verdict of death +by apoplexy, and followed by a handsome funeral. The widow of the +deceased, who was a lady of easily-stirred emotions and limited intellect, +wept at short intervals during several weeks thereafter, and assured the +Honorable Richard that she had no one in the world to depend on besides +him. Archibald, who had moved about the house during this season of +mourning with handsome vacant face and aimless steps, betrayed little +grief at the family loss or comprehension of it; but whenever Pennroyal +was in the way, he followed him round with a dog-like fondness in strange +contrast with the vivid antipathy which he had manifested toward him in +his other phase of being. As for Archibald's brother, now a pale and +slender but dignified youth of nineteen, he assumed the title of Sir +Edward, and the headship of the house, with a grave propriety of bearing +that surprised those who had only looked upon him as a moping scholar. +Undemonstratively, but surely, he gave evidence that he understood the +responsibilities of his position, and that he knew how to make himself +respected. He did not encourage his mother in her unrestrained dependence +upon Pennroyal; and between the latter and him there appears to have +arisen a coolness more or less marked. Certainly, Pennroyal was far from +loving the ceremonious and punctilious young baronet, who would neither +drink nor play cards. Toward Archibald, on the other hand, he exhibited a +cynical and contemptuous sort of good-humor; often amusing himself by +asking the poor dull-witted youth all sorts of questions about events +which had occurred in his enlightened period, and concerning which, of +course, Archibald was unfathomably ignorant. The Honorable Richard +Pennroyal was not the first man who has failed to see whence his greatest +danger was to be expected.</p> + +<h1>VII.</h1> + +<p>That piece of news with which Mr. Pennroyal had killed Sir Clarence was no +more than the truth. He was the betrothed husband of the beautiful +heiress, Miss Battledown; and the three counties, on the whole, approved +the match. It would consolidate two great contiguous estates, and add one +considerable fortune to another. There was a rather wide discrepancy in +ages, Pennroyal being about forty, while Miss Battledown was only in her +nineteenth year; but that mattered little so that they agreed in other +respects. Miss Battledown was generally believed to have very proper ideas +as to her duties and responsibilities as an heiress. Since poor Archibald +Malmaison lost his wits, she had received more than one offer which a +young lady who was weak-minded enough to regard only personal attractions +might have been tempted to accept; but she had needed no elder person to +counsel her to refuse them. In fact, she had at one time allowed it to be +inferred that she deprecated the idea of being married to any one; and +this demonstrated a commendable maidenly reserve; but it was neither to be +expected nor desired that she should adhere to such a resolution in the +face of good reasons for changing it. And Mr. Pennroyal was an excellent +reason. He had passed through the unsteady period of his life; he had +lived down the vaguely discreditable reports which had once been +circulated at his expense; he had shown himself a thrifty landlord; and +the very fact of his being a widower invested him with a certain +respectability not always appertaining to unmarried gentlemen of his age. +Finally, he belonged to a noble and distinguished family, and though there +was no likelihood of his acceding to the title, who was better qualified +than he to illustrate the substantial virtues of an English country +gentleman?</p> + +<p>We are without detailed records of the early progress of this charming love +affair. The inference is that it proceeded upon orthodox and unexceptional +lines. Mr. Pennroyal would make known to the widow of the late Colonel the +aspirations of his heart, and would receive from her permission to address +himself to the lady of his choice. After the lapse of a few weeks or +months (as the case might be) of mutually complimentary interviews and +correspondence, the swain would entreat the maid to name the day which was +to make him the happiest of men. She would delay and hesitate for a +becoming while; but at length, with a blush and a smile, would indicate a +date too distant for the lover's impatience, yet as near as a respect for +the <i>convenances</i> of wealthy virginity could permit. And now, all +preliminaries being settled, the preparations would go forward with +liberality and despatch.</p> + +<p>It had been at first arranged that the wedding should be solemnized at the +house of the bride; but, for some reason or other, this plan was +subsequently changed, and Malmaison was fixed upon as the scene of the +ceremony. The great dining-hall, which had more than once been put to +similar uses in years gone by, was made ready for the occasion. It was a +vast and stately apartment, sixty feet in length by forty in breadth, and +its lofty ceiling was richly carved in oak; while around the walls were +arranged suits of historic armor, and swords, pikes, and banners, the +relics of ancestral valor. It was on the ground-floor of the most ancient +part of the house, immediately below that suite of rooms of which the east +chamber was one. It had not been used as a dining-hall since the old times +when retainers fed at the same table with their lords; but family +celebrations had been held there; and at the coming of age of the late Sir +Clarence, in 1775, it had been the scene of a grand banquet to the +neighboring nobility and gentry. The floor at the eastern end of the room +was raised some eight inches above the level of the rest; and it was here +that the bride and bridegroom were to stand. A very reverend dean was +secured to pronounce the service; and there were to be eight bridesmaids +and a best man; the latter being none other than poor beclouded Archibald +himself.</p> + +<p>This choice created a good deal of surprise and comment. The fact appears +to have been that the post of "best man" had, in the first instance, been +offered to young Sir Edward Malmaison, who, however, declined it. His +reason for so doing was, in the first place, disapproval of the match; he +holding the opinion that the widower of his aunt might as well have +refrained from a second nuptials, and that, at all events, he should have +selected any one rather than her who was to have been the wife of +Archibald. His second objection was a personal dislike to the Honorable +Richard, and an indisposition to encourage his intimacy with the family. +But Sir Edward could not so far oppose his mother's wishes as to forbid +the marriage being celebrated at Malmaison; and being obliged to concede +so much, he wisely deemed it most consistent with his dignity to adopt a +manner as outwardly gracious as was compatible with self-respect.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, when Pennroyal--whether maliciously, or from honest good-will +toward one who manifested an almost child-like attachment to +himself--chose Sir Edward's brother in his default, Sir Edward offered no +open opposition. If he remonstrated privately with Archibald, his +arguments were void of effect, and would have been, besides, counteracted +by Lady Malmaison's influence. It is needless to say that Archibald was +immensely proud of the compliment (as he considered it), and took care to +celebrate his distinction at all times and places, opportune or +otherwise--seeming, indeed, to think and talk of little else. It is not +probable that he fully comprehended the significance of the matter, as he +was certainly far from perceiving its ironic aspect; nevertheless, his +dull brain received more stimulus from the prospect than from any other +thing that had befallen him, thereby furnishing sardonic humorists with +the criticism, that if the Honorable Richard Pennroyal would keep on +burying his wives, and choosing Archibald as best man for the new-comer, +the youth might in time become approximately intellectual.</p> + +<p>The wedding-day was fixed for the 5th of March, 1821--a date which was long +remembered in the neighborhood. Fortunately we have ample accounts of +everything that occurred--the testimony of many eye-witnesses, which, +through varying in some unimportant details (as is inevitable), agree +nevertheless upon all essential points. I shall give the gist of the +narrative as concisely as a proper attention to its more important phases +will allow.</p> + +<p>Miss Kate Battledown, with her mother, came to Malmaison on the evening of +the 4th, and spent the night, the ceremony being appointed at eleven the +next forenoon. The young lady spent an hour or so, before going to bed, in +conversation with Archibald, who, in his pleasurable excitement over the +forthcoming event, was much more lively and conversable than usual. As +they walked side by side up and down the great hall, at one end of which +some workmen were still engaged in arranging the decorations for the +morrow, they must have made a handsome picture. Kate was at this time a +lithe and graceful figure, slightly above the medium height, and +possessing a great deal of "style;" in fact, young as she was, she had +been for some time regarded as a model of fashion and deportment by all +the aspiring young women within a radius of twenty miles. She was dressed +on this evening in a gown of some thin, white material, the frilled hem of +which failed by at least six inches to reach the floor, thereby displaying +a pair of arched feet and slender ankles, clothed in open-work silk +stockings. The skirt of this gown began immediately beneath the arms, and +every contour of the wearer's form could be traced through its +close-fitting and diaphanous folds. Miss Battledown's arms were bare, save +for the black silk netted mittens that she wore; her dark curling hair was +gathered pyramidally on the top of her head, and fastened with a black +ribbon; a black velvet band encircled her white throat, and there was a +row of black bows down the front of her dress. Her forehead was narrow and +compact, her large brown eyes were perhaps a trifle closer together than +they should have been, her nose was delicate, her lips blunt-cornered and +rather full than thin; the whole expression of her face spirited and +commanding. As for Archibald, he was a handsome vacancy, so to speak; a +fine physical man wasted for lack of a spiritual man to carry him about +and use him. His regular, finely moulded face, with its healthy pallor and +its black eyes and hair, always had a dim, pathetic look of having +forgotten something. His figure, symmetrical and full of strength, moved +itself awkwardly and unmeaningly, as though ignorant of its own +capabilities, and rather encumbered than otherwise by their redundance. +His smile, which drew his features into their handsomest attitude, was +nevertheless rather silly, and seemed to last on after he himself had +forgotten what he was smiling for. His hands--strong, well-formed hands of +the slender and long-fingered type--hung helplessly at the end of his +arms; or, if he attempted to use them, each finger appeared to have a +different idea of what was to be done, and one and all fumbled drowsily +and shiftlessly at their task. The young man wore the high-collared coat, +short waistcoat, and clinging pantaloons of the period; and his black hair +hung down on his shoulders in natural luxuriance of curls. Poor Archibald +accepted meekly whatever was given him to put on; but he would not let his +hair be cut, or even anointed with the incomparable oil of Macassar.</p> + +<p>"And so you are glad, Archie?" said Mistress Kate, continuing their talk.</p> + +<p>"Oh, glad! yes, glad!" replied Archie, nodding his head slowly and +solemnly.</p> + +<p>"You don't regret me, then, at all?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, regret, no!" said Archie, shaking his head with the same sapience and +gravity.</p> + +<p>"Why do you always repeat what a person says, without seeming to know what +it is? There used to be a time, sir, when regret would have been far too +mild a word for you. Have you forgotten all that? Have you forgotten Lord +Orville and Evelina?"</p> + +<p>"Forgotten, yes; all forgotten!"</p> + +<p>"Come, now, I wish you to remember. You understand that I am to be married +to Richard Pennroyal tomorrow--to Richard Pennroyal!"</p> + +<p>"Uncle Richard, dear Uncle Richard. I love Uncle Richard!"</p> + +<p>"Do you love no one beside him? don't you love me?"</p> + +<p>"Don't love you, oh, no!"</p> + +<p>"Archie, have you forgotten how we were married in the back garden, and how +you used to say I was your little wife; and you wanted to fight a duel +with Richard because he had taken me on his knee and kissed me?"</p> + +<p>"See how pretty!" exclaimed Archie, whose attention had been fixed during +this speech upon two of the workmen who were unrolling between them a +piece of crimson cloth appertaining to the hangings.</p> + +<p>"What a creature!" muttered Kate to herself. To have her romantic souvenirs +ignored even by this simpleton vexed her a little. Perhaps, too, she had +another reason for regretting her companion's witlessness. She could +remember when she had cared for him--or for something called him--more +than she cared now for the man she would wed to-morrow. Why was he not the +same now as then? His face, his hands, his figure--these were the same, or +rather they were handsomer and more manlike than formerly. Why could not +the soul, or whatever may be that mysterious invisible motive-power in a +man--why could it not have stuck to its fortress during these seven years +past? Here were five feet eleven of well-sculptured living clay, that had +been growing and improving for more than one and twenty years; and for an +inhabitant, nothing but a soft foolish child, destitute of memory, +intelligence, and passion. Such reflections may have passed through the +mind of the young heiress; and then she may have thought, glancing at him, +"If my Archibald were here, to-morrow might see another spectacle than +that put down in the programme." She might have thought this; she did not +and of course would not on any account have uttered such a sentiment +aloud. But it would be unjust to her taste and sensibility to suppose +that, apart from worldly and politic considerations, she should have +really preferred a sharp-featured, thin-haired, close-fisted gentleman of +forty to a conceivable hero of half that age, dowered with every grace and +beauty, not to mention Miss Tremount's seventy thousand pounds. Is she to +be blamed if she sighed with a passing regret at that hero's mysterious +disappearance? Yes, he had disappeared, more mysteriously and more +irrevocably than old Sir Charles seventy years ago. Where in the heavens +or the earth or under the earth, indeed, was he? Did he still exist +anywhere? Might she dream of ever meeting him again--that hero?...! Bah! +what nonsense!</p> + +<p>"Pretty!" repeated Archie, who, in the subsidence of his other faculties, +had retained an appreciation of color.</p> + +<p>"Poor boy--poor thing!" said Kate; "you lost a great deal when you lost +your wits; between being a groomsman and a bridegroom there is a very wide +difference. And you don't even care--perhaps that's your greatest loss of +all--ha, ha! Come, Archie, it's time for little fellows like you to be +asleep."</p> + +<p>"Kate--" began Archie; and paused.</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"Do you love anybody?"</p> + +<p>She met his look of dull yet earnest inquiry with a contemptuous smile at +first, but afterward her smile died away and she answered soberly:</p> + +<p>"I did once."</p> + +<p>"I did once, too!" rejoined Archie, with a sort of sluggish eagerness.</p> + +<p>"You did--when?" demanded she, with the beginning of a heart-beat.</p> + +<p>"I think I did--once--when I was asleep."</p> + +<p>She laughed shortly and turned away. "Yes, sleep is the best thing for you, +Archie; you had better sleep all the time now; it will be too late to wake +up to-morrow. Good-night, Archie."</p> + +<h1>VIII.</h1> + +<p>Old Miss Tremount had come up from Cornwall for the occasion, accompanied +by her poodle, her female toady, and her father confessor. The good lady +had altered her will some years before, on hearing of her favorite +nephew's changed condition, and it was feared she would leave her money to +the Church of Rome, of which she was a member. But on receiving the +announcement of her intended visit, Lady Malmaison had begun to entertain +hopes that Sir Edward might succeed in so favorably impressing his aunt as +to induce her to divert at least some portion of her thousands in his +direction. But it is not likely that Miss Tremount had come to Malmaison +with any such views; in fact, her reason for coming had little or no +connection with the late baronet's family. It was not generally known +that, between forty and fifty years previously, there had been tender +passages between Colonel Battledown and this snuffy old maid, whose soul +was now divided between her cards and her psalter. So it was, however; +they were even betrothed to one another, though the betrothal was kept a +secret, the Colonel then being a comparatively penniless young lieutenant, +and as such by no means a desirable son-in-law from the parental point of +view. An elopement was contemplated so soon as the young lady should be of +age; and it would be difficult to explain the occasion of the trumpery +quarrel between the lovers, which ended in the lady taunting the +gentleman with caring only about her money, and resulted in the rupture of +the engagement. Doubtless it might have been renewed; but at this +juncture the lieutenant was ordered away on active service to the American +Colonies, where he remained for some years. Later, he was stationed in +India; and the next time he met his old love, in London, he was twenty +years older than when she had last seen him, and a major, and with ribbons +on his breast, and a wife on his arm. Miss Tremount never betrayed any +grief or disappointment, except in so far as she remained single all her +life, and latterly waxed religious and became a convert to the Jesuits. +But when the Colonel was dead, and she heard that his daughter was about +to be married, she resolved to make a journey to Malmaison; and who can +tell whether in the bottom of her heart, hidden even from her father +confessor, she may not have cherished a secret purpose of making Mistress +Kate her heir? It is certain at all events that she brought her will with +her in her trunk.</p> + +<p>This romance, I say, was known to but few, and as Miss Battledown did not +happen to be among the number, she was less cordial in her behavior to the +old lady than she might otherwise have been. Kate was not constitutionally +a lover of old women, and not herself old enough to be aware that no truly +charitable person should ever be inattentive to seventy thousand pounds, +no matter to how unprepossessing a human being the money might be +attached. Her manner, therefore, was tolerant and patronizing rather than +flattering; and honest Lady Malmaison, though she liked Kate very much, +and would have been delighted to see her inherit seventy thousand pounds +from the Shah of Persia or the President of the United States, was not +quite so unnatural an idiot as to recommend to the young lady a more +conciliating behavior. As for Miss Tremount, she preserved her composure +and kept her counsel perfectly, and never referred to her will even in her +most unguarded moments. She was courteous and complimentary to Sir Edward, +indulgent to Archibald, kind and sisterly to Lady Malmaison, and quietly +observant of everything and everybody. On the wedding morning she +criticised and admired the bride's toilet with a taste and appreciation +that caused the proud young beauty's eyes to sparkle; and just before the +party entered the hall, she pressed Kate's hand affectionately, and said, +in her gentlest tones, that she hoped she would be happy. "I have always +looked upon your mother as one of the happiest of women, my dear," she +added. "May your fortune equal hers!" This good-natured benediction caused +Lady Malmaison a good deal of anxiety; Sir Edward smiled aside at what he +fancied was a subtle stroke of irony; and Kate herself became thoughtful, +and regretted that it was rather late in the day to begin to show Miss +Tremount what a charming elderly lady she thought her.</p> + +<p>The great hall looked its stateliest that morning. The March sunshine came +slanting through the tall windows, and lay in bright patches upon the +broad floor, or gleamed upon the ancient swords and breastplates, or +glowed in the festal hangings. Quite a large number of titled and +fashionable persons were collected at the upper end of the room, +whispering and rustling, and dressed in what we should now consider very +wonderful costumes, though they were all the mode then. A few minutes +before eleven the very reverend dean, and an assistant divine, together +with the bridegroom and Archibald, entered and took their places in great +pomp and dignity beneath the canopy which had been constructed for the +occasion, and which, was covered with fresh flowers, whose fragrance +breathed over the gay assemblage like a sacred incense. At eleven o'clock +there was a general hush of expectation; and presently the door at the +bottom of the hall was thrown open, and the bridal procession came in. +Very pretty they looked as they paced, up the long stretch of carpeting +which had been laid down for them to walk upon, and which had been +scattered over with a profusion of flowers. The bride, with her veil and +her orange-blossoms, was supported on the arm of Sir Henry Rollinson (the +good Doctor had been knighted the year before by an appreciative +sovereign), who was to give her away. She looked calm, pale, and +exceedingly handsome. The widow of Colonel Battledown was escorted by Lord +Epsom, the Honorable Richard's elder brother, and wore a very splendid +pink turban, and red eyes. But all these details, and many more, may be +read in the <i>Morning Post</i> of March 7th, 1821, to which I refer the +curious.</p> + +<p>The service commenced. As Sir Henry Rollinson was in the act of giving the +bride away, he happened to glance at Archibald, and observed that the +latter wore a very strange expression on his face; and a moment afterward +the young man dropped into a chair that happened to be near him, pressing +his head between his hands, and breathing heavily. No one else noticed +this incident; and Sir Henry, who supposed the youth was going to faint, +was of course unable at the time to afford any assistance. The service +went on. Richard Pennroyal and Catherine Battledown were pronounced man +and wife; and man was warned not to put asunder those whom God had joined +together. The ring shone on the new-made wife's finger. The very reverend +dean gave the pair his blessing. All this time Archibald remained with +his head between his hands, the physician watching him not without +apprehensions, and inwardly cursing the folly of those who were +responsible for the poor half-witted creature's appearance in such a +scene.</p> + +<p>The register was now brought forth, in which the happy couple and their +friends were to inscribe their names. The principal personages signed +first. It came to Archibald's turn. It had previously been ascertained +that he knew how to string together the requisite letters upon paper. +There he sat, with his head in his hands. Sir Henry touched him on the +shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Now, then, lad--Archie! wake up! Come! you're wanted!" He spoke sharply +and imperatively, in the hope of rousing the young fellow out of his +stupor, and at least getting him decently out of the room.</p> + +<p>Archibald raised his face, which was deadly pale and covered with sweat, +and looked at the persons around him with a kind of amazed defiance. He +started to his feet, oversetting his chair as he did so, which rolled down +the steps of the dais and fell with a crash on the stone floor below.</p> + +<p>"I came in by the staircase door!" he said in an excited voice, which +startled every one who heard it, so different was it from his usual tones. +"If you thought it locked, you were wrong. How else could I have come?... +When did you bring me here? This is the great hall! What have you been +doing? How came <i>you</i> here?"</p> + +<p>There was a dead silence. Every one felt that some ugly thing was about to +happen. Several women began to laugh hysterically. It seems to have been +supposed, at first, that Archibald had exchanged his inoffensive idiocy +for a condition of raving madness. The old physician was probably the only +one present who had a glimmering of what might be the truth. The +Honorable Richard Pennroyal had none. He pushed between the venerable +knight and his "best man," and relying upon his oft-proved and established +influence over the latter, he took him firmly by the arm, and looked in +his face.</p> + +<p>"Don't make a fool of yourself, Archie," said he, in a low distinct voice, +in which was a subdued ring of menace. "It's all right. You're my best +man, you know. You are to sign your name as one of the witnesses of the +marriage--that's all."</p> + +<p>"I have witnessed no marriage," replied Archibald, returning with surprise +Richard's look. "Who are you?" he continued, after a moment. Then he +exclaimed, "You are Richard Pennroyal--I didn't know you at first, you +look so old!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, the fellow's quite mad!" muttered Richard, turning away with a shrug +of the shoulders. "I should have known better than to run the risk of +having such a lunatic here. We must have him moved out of the room at +once."</p> + +<p>Young Sir Edward overheard this latter sentence. "Pardon me for reminding +you that my brother is at home in Malmaison," he said gravely.</p> + +<p>"Oh, as you please, of course," returned Richard, frowning.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Archibald had caught sight of Kate, and recognized her at once; +and breaking away from his mother and Sir Henry Rollinson, who were +endeavoring to quiet him, he came up to her and planted himself in front +of her, just as Richard was approaching to take her off. Archibald took +both her hands in his.</p> + +<p>"Kate, I have never seen you look so beautiful," he said. "But why have you +got this white veil on?--and orange blossoms! It's like a wedding. What +were they saying about a wedding? ... is it to be our wedding?"</p> + +<p>"The wedding has already taken place, my dear Archie," interposed the +bridegroom, offering his arm to the bride, and smiling with no very good +grace. "This lady is now Mrs. Pennroyal. Stand aside, like a good boy--"</p> + +<p>Archibald grasped Richard by the padded sleeve of his coat, and with an +angry movement of his powerful arm threw him backward into the embrace of +his new mother-in-law, who happened to be coming up from behind.</p> + +<p>"You are under my father's roof, or I would tell you that you are a liar," +said the young man, grimly. Then turning to the bride, who had said not a +word since this scene began, but had kept her eyes constantly fixed upon +the chief actor in it, "He shall not insult you again, my dear. But all +this is very strange. What does it mean?"</p> + +<p>"It means.... It is too late!" replied the girl, in a low, bitter voice. +What could she have meant by that?</p> + +<p>Richard, white with fury, came up again. There was a general murmur and +movement in the surrounding assemblage, who expected to see some deed of +violence committed.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Pennroyal," said he between his teeth, "I am obliged to request you +peremptorily to take my arm and--and leave this house where guests are +insulted and outraged!"</p> + +<p>Archibald turned, his face darkening. But Kate held up her hand +entreatingly; and Archibald caught the gleam of the plain gold ring on her +finger. At that sight he stopped abruptly, and his arms fell to his sides.</p> + +<p>"Is it true?" He asked in a tone of bewilderment.</p> + +<p>Here Sir Edward interposed again, with, his cool courtesy: "Mr. Pennroyal, +and my friends, I trust you will find it possible to overlook the behavior +of my brother. You may see that he is not himself. When he has had time to +recover himself, he will ask pardon of each and all of you. Mr. Pennroyal, +I entreat you and your wife to forget what has passed, and to reconsider +the heavy imputation which has been cast upon my house. Let the shadow +pass away which has threatened for a moment this--most auspicious +occasion!"</p> + +<p>If the last words were ironical, the irony was too grave and ceremonious to +be obtrusive, Pennroyal was fain to return Sir Edward's bow with the best +grace he could muster. The rest of the company accepted the apology, as at +least a formal way out of the difficulty. An effort was made to resume +indifferent conversation, and to act as if nothing had happened. Sir +Edward, with admirable self-possession and smiling courtesy, marshalled +the guests out of the hall, to a neighboring room in which the wedding +breakfast had been set out. Archibald remained behind, and the Doctor and +old Miss Tremount remained with him. He stood still, with his arms at his +sides, his glance fixed upon the floor. The Doctor and Miss Tremount +exchanged a look, and then the latter went up to him, and took one of his +hands between hers.</p> + +<p>"Do you know me, my dear?" she said.</p> + +<p>Archibald looked at her, and shook his head.</p> + +<p>"I am your aunt, Ruth Tremount. My dear, I am so sorry for you."</p> + +<p>"Can you tell me what is the matter with me? Am I mad?"</p> + +<p>"On the contrary," put in the Doctor, "you are yourself for the second time +in your life. You've overslept yourself, my lad, that's all!"</p> + +<p>Archibald cast his eyes round the hall, as if searching for some one. +"Where is my father?" he asked at length.</p> + +<p>There was an awkward pause. Finally Miss Tremount said, "My dear, your +sleep has lasted seven years. Much may happen in such a length of time."</p> + +<p>"But my father--where is he? I want to see him; I will see him!" and he +made some steps toward the door.</p> + +<p>"My poor lad, you cannot see him now--he ... he--"</p> + +<p>"Where is he?" cried Archibald, stamping his foot.</p> + +<p>"He has been for five years in his grave."</p> + +<p>Archibald stared at the Doctor a moment, and then burst out laughing.</p> + +<h1>IX.</h1> + +<p>But Archibald had come into possession of his intelligent soul once more; +or he was awake again; or the pressure of the skull upon the cerebrum had +yet another time been relieved; at all events there was now a brilliant +youth in the flesh-and-blood envelope which, an hour before, had contained +only a half-witted boy. When the first crash of the restoration was over, +the new man began to accommodate himself with wonderful rapidity and +keenness to the strange environment. He knew of nothing that had happened +since that afternoon when he spoke with Kate in the east chamber, while +the blood oozed from the cut on his forehead; but he accepted the facts +with more than a youth's resolution and stoicism. The world had been +turning round while he had been absent--somewhere! Well, then, by the +force of his will and his splendid faculties he would get on even terms +with it again--and more. Injury had been done him; irreparable injury, +perhaps, but which still might be avenged. He was not discouraged; his +spirit seemed to come upon life with all the freshness of a seven years' +rest, and it reckoned nothing impossible.</p> + +<p>Of course his fresh metamorphosis created plenty of comment among the +neighbors; Archibald Malmaison was the most talked-of man in that part of +the country for several weeks, the impossibility of arriving at any +satisfactory conclusion regarding his condition or conditions prolonging +the wonder so far beyond the proverbial nine days. One party were +vehemently of the opinion that he was mad; another party opposed this view +with equal energy and just as much foundation. Both sides put forward +plenty of arguments, and when they were refuted, appealed to Sir Henry +Rollinson, who confirmed them both with equally sagacious shakes of the +head.</p> + +<p>But this good gentleman was now getting near the end of his days, and, in +fact, ceased living in the world before the close of the year. He did not +depart without leaving a successor, however, and one who bade fair to do +credit to his ancestry. This was Mr. E. Forbes Rollinson, his son, who had +concluded a course of study at Vienna and Paris, and who returned to his +native land with the highest diplomas that continental schools could give +him. He was at this time a young man of about five and twenty, with a +great square head and a short, compact figure. The wild jungle of beard +and the terribly penetrating eye-glass which distinguished him in later +times had not then made their appearance. Well, the new Dr. Rollinson had +known something of Archibald as a boy, and was of course much interested +(apart from his friendly feelings) in so remarkable a case. His theory +upon the matter, in so far as he had formed one, did not on all points +coincide with his father's; he belonged to a somewhat more recent +school--more critical and less dogmatic. Still, it would be hazardous to +assert that young Dr. Rollinson knew exactly what was the matter with +Archibald--especially as he has seen reason to modify his first +impressions more than once during the last fifty years. It is enough to +remark here that he thought the affection was of a rhythmic or regularly +recurrent character, a notion which its previous history went far to +justify; and he consequently looked with interest to see whether the +lapse of another seven years would bring about another change. To have +discovered the orbit, so to speak, of a malady, is not, indeed, to have +explained it; but it is always something. It would be more interesting to +know what Archibald thought of himself; and were I, in this instance, a +novelist dealing with a creation of my own, I might not shrink from an +attempt to analyze his mental state. As it is, I can do no more than point +to the curious field of conjecture which it here afforded: the young man +left no confessions or self-analytic diaries; still less did he discuss +his peculiarities with other people. With excellent good sense and no +small courage, he accepted things as they were; he felt his individuality +in no way diminished by the circumstance that it was intermittent or +exchangeable; and perhaps it seemed no more strange to him than the +nightly falling asleep of all mankind does to them. The one mystery is +quite as strange as the other, only the sleep of seven hours is common to +all, while that of seven years is probably unprecedented.</p> + +<p>One grotesque question suggests itself--or may do so shortly--and that is +whether Archibald would be responsible in one phase of his being for a +crime committed in another--for a crime, or any other act involving the +welfare or condition of other people. The analogy with sleep does not here +seem altogether satisfactory; for in ordinary sleep, or even somnambulism, +we are not in active relations with our fellow-beings, and consequently +our lawgivers have not devised a code to control our doings while in that +state. A jury, in delivering its verdict, would be embarrassed by the +reflection that although only one half of the culprit before them was +guilty, they could not give that half its just punishment without at the +same time unjustly punishing the half that was guiltless. A consistent +individuality, therefore, though often a burden and a weariness, is still +not without its advantages.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile an important change had taken place in the relations between the +family of Malmaison and the Honorable Richard Pennroyal. The latter +conceived himself to have been affronted by the former on the occasion of +his marriage, and refused a reconciliation--which, to tell the truth, +neither Sir Edward nor his younger brother were too anxious to force upon +him. Lady Malmaison was still for peace, but her opinion had ceased to +have much weight in the family counsels. At length matters came to a head +somewhat in the following manner.</p> + +<p>Sir Edward Malmaison and Pennroyal happened to meet at the table of a +common friend, and after the ladies had withdrawn, Pennroyal, who had +taken more wine than was usual with him, began to talk at Sir Edward in an +unnecessarily audible and offensive tone. Sir Edward kept his temper, and +made no reply, not having as yet been personally addressed. Pennroyal +after a while came round to where he was sitting, and the two gentlemen +presently fell into conversation. Pennroyal finally declared that he had +been insulted by a man who retained his present title and estates solely +by his (Pennroyal's) permission and kindness. Sir Edward was constrained +to ask him what he meant. Pennroyal thereupon began to utter disparaging +reflections upon the late Sir Clarence, who, he intimated, was not legally +entitled to his name. This brought on a dead silence, and all eyes were +turned upon Sir Edward, whose pale countenance became yet paler as he +said, with his imperturbable courteousness of phrase:</p> + +<p>"I must entreat Mr. Pennroyal not to indulge in innuendos, but to state +explicitly whether he intends anything dishonorable to my father."</p> + +<p>"To a man of the world a word is enough," responded the Honorable Richard, +insolently. "I am not here to tutor schoolboys in the comprehension of the +English tongue."</p> + +<p>"I cannot allow you to evade my question," rejoined Sir Edward, with a +gleam in his eye, though without an alteration in his voice. "You must +explain what you have seen fit to insinuate before these gentlemen, one +way or the other."</p> + +<p>Pennroyal laughed. "When you have lived a few years longer, young +gentleman," said he, "you will learn to be cautious how you ask for too +explicit information regarding the morals of your grandparents."</p> + +<p>At this brutal remark there was a general expression of indignation among +the hearers; but Pennroyal, in no way abashed, added, "Let him disprove it +if he can. Since he provokes me to it, I affirm it--his father had no +right to the title. Let him prove the contrary if he can. I didn't force +on the discussion, but I will tell young Sir Edward Malmaison, as he calls +himself, that he holds property to which he has no claim, and that it +depends upon my good-will and pleasure how long he holds it."</p> + +<p>The host--he was Francis Hastings Kent, Esq. and M. P., the same who +afterward became famous in the Corn-law controversy--here interposed, and +"spoke the sense of the meeting." "Egad, Pennroyal," cried he, "you are +drunk, and you have insulted a gentleman at my table. I'll trouble you to +make him an apology. I have no doubt that Sir Edward Malmaison's titles +are just as good as yours or mine, and, begad, they sha'n't be called in +question here at all events. I say you shall make Sir Edward an apology!" +</p> + +<p>There was only one man in the room who evinced any disagreement with this +speech, and that one was Major Bolingbroke, a retired officer of good +family but of not altogether unexceptionable personal repute; he was +believed to have fought more duels than are usually considered desirable; +and he had for some months past been a constant inmate at the house of Mr. +Pennroyal.</p> + +<p>"It's no affair of mine, of course," said this gallant warrior, "if Sir +Edward chooses to put up with such language from a man, on the ground that +he was drunk when he used it. Only, if there's going to be an apology, I +should advise Sir Edward to exact a very full one, and lose no time about +it."</p> + +<p>Sir Edward, however, rose carelessly, and said with a smile that he could +not think of contributing any further to the unfortunate interruption of +the social harmony; and adding that he had no doubt Mr. Pennroyal would, +as soon as he had had time to recollect himself, make every explanation +that the case demanded, he bowed and left the room.</p> + +<p>It was afterward suspected that Pennroyal's intoxication had been assumed +for the purpose of insulting the heir of Malmaison with the more impunity; +and that the Major was present expressly to aid and abet him. What, then, +was the object, and what the grounds, of the charge which Pennroyal made? +With respect to the latter, nothing was known until later; but the +immediate result was this. Sir Edward went home, and appeared more +cheerful and in better spirits than usual. He spent the next forenoon in +his chamber, apparently engaged in looking over some papers. In the +afternoon he mentioned to his mother and Archibald that he should be +obliged to run up to London for a few days on business, and that he must +start that evening. He had made no allusion to the affair at Francis +Kent's house, and neither Archibald nor Lady Malmaison knew anything about +it. That evening, accordingly, he bade them good-by, and departed +seemingly with a light heart, bidding his brother act as his accredited +plenipotentiary while he was away, and promising his mother to bring her +the latest fashion in turbans when he returned.</p> + +<p>He was absent five days. The Honorable Richard Pennroyal, who had happened +to be likewise called away on business at the same time, returned to his +house some twenty-four hours before Sir Edward was brought in a carriage +to Malmaison, with a bullet-hole just beneath the collar-bone. The fact +is, the two gentlemen had travelled to Belgium instead of to London, and +had there shot at each other in the presence of Major Bolingbroke (who +gave the word) and of a friend of Sir Edward's whose name has not come +down to us. Pennroyal had escaped untouched; Sir Edward, under the care of +Dr. Rollinson the younger, lay for several weeks in a critical condition; +but, when the bullet had been extracted, he rallied, and was able before +long to rise from his bed and walk about the house. But though his +strength had improved, he appeared to be harassed in mind; he carried on a +considerable correspondence with the family lawyers in London, and was +continually searching for something--what, no one could tell. Whatever it +was he did not find it, and his anxiety did not diminish.</p> + +<p>Archibald had of course asked him about the particulars of the duel, and +what led to it; but his brother had sought to make light of the affair, +saying merely that Pennroyal had been very rude, and had failed to make a +suitable apology; and that the insult having been public, he was forced to +resent it. In answer to Archibald's question as to the subject of his +present correspondence with the lawyers, he replied that it related to +some old family traditions, and possessed only an antiquarian interest. +Archibald accepted these answers in silence, but with entire incredulity. +The brothers were fond of each other, but the strange conditions of the +younger's life had prevented their attaining really intimate and +confidential relations. Archibald was too proud either to demand further +particulars from Sir Edward, or to make inquiries elsewhere. Moreover, +there was perhaps less need of information on his side than on that of his +brother, had the latter but known it. Archibald had secrets of his own.</p> + +<p>Pennroyal, meanwhile, kept quiet, waiting for the affair to blow over. +Whether he had intended to kill Sir Edward, or whether he was glad that +the duel had not resulted fatally, I cannot tell. Of course, neither he +nor his wife were seen again at Malmaison. The neighbors were for some +time disposed to give him the cold shoulder; but when his antagonist +recovered, and the matter had lost its first freshness, there appeared to +be little more against him than that he had committed an indiscretion +while under the influence of liquor, and had afterward atoned for it in +accordance with a code of honor which had not, at that epoch, fallen +entirely into disuse. And, after all, what business was it of theirs? +Pennroyal, however objectionable in himself, owned a large property and +belonged to a good family. In short, society received the honorable +prodigal in its bosom once more, and Mrs. Pennroyal reigned the undisputed +toast for a while longer.</p> + +<p>But at the end of six or seven months a new order of events began. Sir +Edward, either from anxiety, or from some imprudent exposure, fell ill +again, and his wound opened afresh and became inflamed. His constitution +had never been good for much, and the chances were all against its being +able to survive this trial. Dr. Rollinson did all that could be done; but +one morning Sir Edward asked to see his brother, and when the two were +left alone together, he said:</p> + +<p>"Well, Archie, how shall you like to be Sir Archibald?"</p> + +<p>For a minute they looked at one another in silence.</p> + +<p>"Do you think so?" then said the younger, frowning a little.</p> + +<p>"I am certain of it."</p> + +<p>"Ned, we are brothers," said Archibald.</p> + +<p>The young men grasped hands, and Archibald half sat on the edge of the bed, +looking down at the invalid, whose face was now bony in its emaciation, +and his eyes sunken and bright.</p> + +<p>"Archie, I have something to tell you."</p> + +<p>"I feared so."</p> + +<p>"It is not anything that you could expect. That quarrel between Richard and +me was about our father. Richard said he was--that is--"</p> + +<p>"Don't fear. Say it!"</p> + +<p>"That his mother was not Lady Malmaison."</p> + +<p>"He lied!"</p> + +<p>"So I told him. But that's not the end of it, unfortunately. He defied me +to prove the contrary. Ever since I first got up after the duel, I have +been looking for the papers relating to Sir Clarence's birth. They're not +to be found. There is no record that our grandmother had any son at all. +On the other hand, there is indirect evidence that our grandfather had an +affair with some woman.... The amount of it is, I have not been able to +establish Sir Clarence's legitimacy. And the worst is still to tell."</p> + +<p>"I know the rest; I know it all! Why didn't you say all this to me at +first, brother? You have been harassing yourself with the idea that +because you couldn't vindicate father, Malmaison might be claimed by +Richard, under that old agreement of Sir Charles's time."</p> + +<p>"How did you know--"</p> + +<p>"I know everything. I know where the papers are that you have been looking +for. Set your mind at rest, Ned. Sir Clarence was the legitimate heir. +There was also a son by the other woman, but he died in infancy. Ned, why +weren't you open with me? Richard has no more hold on our estates than my +groom has. Blame him! I only hope he'll think otherwise! We'll ruin him +first and kill him afterward."</p> + +<p>"If I had only known...." said the sick man, after a pause. "But you are +certain? You have the proof? Where did you find the papers?"</p> + +<p>"I have them. Get well, and you shall know all about it. I have a good many +curious things to tell you, and to show you, too."</p> + +<p>"Well, God be thanked! whatever becomes of me. It is late, Archie, but I'm +beginning to get acquainted with you at last. It is my fault that I did +not know you before. You are better fitted to bear the title than I."</p> + +<p>"No. If I thought so, I would not deny it; but if I inherit Malmaison, our +family will--perish off the earth! I can foresee some things, Ned. The +hope of the house lies in you; I shall bring only calamity. You must get +well."</p> + +<p>Again the brothers grasped hands, looked in one another's eyes for a moment +or two, and then Archibald went out; the day passed, and the evening fell. +At midnight he was Sir Archibald of Malmaison.</p> + +<h1>X.</h1> + +<p>It was not long before the new baronet--the last of his line--began to make +his influence felt. His temper was resolute, secret, and domineering; he +bore himself haughtily among the neighboring squires, never seeking to +please a friend or to conciliate an enemy. Few people liked him; many +stood in awe of him. He seemed to be out of sympathy with his race; his +strange, ambiguous history invested him with an atmosphere of doubt and +mystery; his nature was not like other men's; it was even whispered that +he had powers transcending those of ordinary humanity. It is probable that +his remarkable personal beauty, which in moments of anger or energy +gleamed out with an almost satanic intensity, may have lent substance to +this impression; men shrunk from meeting the stern inquisition of his +black eyes; and for women his glance possessed a sort of fascination, +unconnected with his beauty. But there were other indications more direct +than these. A century, or even half a century, previous to this time Sir +Archibald might have found it difficult to avoid the imputation of +witchcraft. After all, was not he the descendant of his forefathers? and +what had some of them been? "Were there not people in the neighboring +village of Grinstead who were willing to take affidavit that the handsome +young baronet had the power to make himself invisible when he pleased? +Nay, had not Mrs. Pennroyal herself, while she was yet a young maid, +borne testimony to the fact--that he had suddenly stood before her, in +broad daylight, in a room which had the instant before been empty? That +room had always had a queer reputation; it was there, or thereabouts, that +most of these strange goings-on took place. A servant, who had once +wandered in there to announce to Sir Archibald that one of his lawyers had +arrived, and was waiting to see him, had found the room vacant, though he +had seen his master enter it only ten minutes before. Thinking that he +must have gone out by the other entrance, through the stable, he was about +to follow, when he noticed that this door was bolted on the inside. In +some bewilderment, he was on the point of retiring, when he was startled +by a burst of laughter which continued for near a minute, and which, +though it echoed almost in his ears, and came apparently from the very air +round about him, yet sounded faint and unsubstantial as if a vast distance +nevertheless intervened. Whether near or far, it was unmistakably the +laughter of Sir Archibald, but wilder and more scornful than had ever been +heard from his lips. The honest footman was now thoroughly frightened, and +made the best of his way out of the chamber; but before he could cross the +next room and reach the passage-way beyond, the living and peremptory +tones of Sir Archibald himself overtook him, and brought him back with +failing knees and pallid cheeks to where the black-haired baronet was +standing in the doorway. There he stood in flesh and blood, but cloaked, +booted, and spurred, as if just returned from a journey.</p> + +<p>"What were you doing in this room?" demanded the baronet.</p> + +<p>The man faltered out his errand.</p> + +<p>"Hear this, once for all, and remember it," said the baronet, nor sternly +nor roughly, but with a concentration of purpose in his mellow voice that +seemed to stamp the words into the hearer's soul. "No one may enter this +chamber except I open the door. Else harm may happen which I could not +prevent. That is all. Now send Mr. Mawgage to me."</p> + +<p>That was all, but it was quite enough; in fact, the difficulty thereafter +was to induce any one to venture into the room on any terms. It was +believed to be haunted, and that Sir Archibald was either himself the +ghost, or was in some way responsible for there being one.</p> + +<p>I have mentioned this story, to which the reader already possesses the +clew, only by way of showing that Sir Archibald was making use, at that +time, of the secret which he had discovered, and was taking the surest +means of keeping it to himself. He had occupations in the inner chamber at +which he did not wish to be disturbed. What those occupations were he +confided to no living soul--indeed, there was no one who could have served +him as a confidant. His life was a lonely one, if ever a lonely life there +were. Whom had he to love, or to love him? Even his mother, now enfeebled +both in body and mind, felt fear of him rather than fondness for him. She +spent much of her time playing cards with her female companion, and in +worrying over the health of her pet spaniels. But did Sir Archibald love +no one?--at all events he hated somebody, and that heartily. He held +Richard Pennroyal responsible for all the ills that had fallen upon +Malmaison and upon himself; and he was evidently not the man to suffer a +grudge to go unrequited.</p> + +<p>Pennroyal, on the other hand, was not disposed to wait quietly to be +attacked; he came out to meet the enemy half way. In the spring of the +year 1824--about nine months after Sir Edward's death--it was known in +every mansion and public house for twenty miles round that a great lawsuit +would by-and-by be commenced between Malmaison and Pennroyal, the question +to be decided being nothing less than the ownership of the Malmaison +estates, which Richard Pennroyal claimed, in the alleged failure of any +legitimate heir of Sir John Malmaison, deceased--the father of Sir +Clarence--but, as Pennroyal alleged, by a left-handed marriage. I have not +gone into the details of this case, and should not detain the reader over +it if I had; he may, if it pleases him, read it at full length elsewhere. +It is enough to observe that Pennroyal brought forward evidence to show +that he, and his father before him, had always had cognizance of the will +or other document which entitled him to the property in dispute in the +event provided for; and had only been withheld from putting in their claim +thereto by the repeated and solemn assurances of Sir Clarence that no such +irregularity as was suspected regarding his birth had in fact occurred. +Latterly, however, from fresh information accidentally received, it +appeared that Sir Clarence had either been guilty of a wilful and criminal +misstatement, or that he had been deceived. In confirmation whereof, the +Honorable Richard produced documents of undoubted genuineness, showing +that an illegitimate son had been born to Sir John; and now called upon +the defendant to prove that this son had died in childhood, or that he had +not grown up to be Sir Clarence; and furthermore, having disposed of this +difficulty, to show the certificate of birth of a legitimate heir to Sir +John Malmaison, and to identify that heir with Sir Clarence.</p> + +<p>Now, there were certainly some awkward circumstances in respect of this +illegitimacy question. Sir Clarence had known that he had had a brother +born out of wedlock; and it is possible he also knew that the documents +relating to his own birth were not where he could put his hands upon them. +He may even have been aware that, were his title to be challenged, there +would be serious technical difficulties in the way of vindicating it. At +the same time, Sir Clarence was entirely and justly convinced that his +title was good. The history of the illegitimate son was familiar to him, +and to the rest of the family, in all its details. It was not, of course, +an ordinary topic of conversation, but it was an acknowledged piece of +family history. Sir John had been wild in his youth, and had made a good +many loose connections before acceding to the baronetcy--his father, Sir +Charles, the same who ate the venison pasty, having lived to see his heir +a man of thirty. One of these connections had been with the daughter of a +tenant; during its progress a marriage had been arranged between John +Malmaison and a neighboring heiress. About the time that the marriage took +place, the tenant's daughter had a child; Clarence himself was born about +a year later. The child had lived five or six years only; after its death +its mother had gone up to London, and had not since been heard of. This +was all simple enough; the only trouble being that no one could tell what +had become of the certificate of Clarence's birth, or of the other's +decease. Consequently there was an opening for an evil-disposed person to +assert what the Honorable Richard was now asserting.</p> + +<p>Where had the Honorable Richard got his information?--of the absence, +that is to say, of these papers. It was never spoken of outside the +family. It is only proper to observe that his brother, Lord Epsom, would +have nothing to do with the affair, but explicitly and emphatically washed +his hands of it. But this did not deter Richard; he had got his materials, +he had decided upon his plan of action, and he was bound to go through +with it. He entertained no doubts of his success, and he probably +anticipated from it not only solid worldly advantage, but the +gratification of an undisguised enmity. It would give him peculiar +pleasure to augment his prosperity at the expense of Sir Archibald +Malmaison.</p> + +<p>Considering that the outlook was so bad for him, the young baronet faced it +with commendable fortitude. People who met him regarded him with +curiosity, expecting him to appear disturbed, if not desperate. But he +wore an aspect of satisfied composure, tempered only by his habitual +haughtiness. He had interviews with his lawyers, seemed neither flurried +nor helpless, and altogether behaved as if his victory over his opponent +was placed beyond the possibility of a doubt. And yet, what could be his +defence? Was he going to rely upon the title having remained so long +unquestioned? Did he build his hopes upon a possible break in the chain of +Pennroyal's evidence? The on-lookers could only conjecture. And now the +time when conjectures would be exchanged for certainty was at hand.</p> + +<p>It was the autumn of the year 1825. One cool, clear, gray afternoon Sir +Archibald had his horse saddled, and mounting him, rode out upon his +estate. In the course of an hour or so he found himself approaching the +pond, which, as has been already stated, lay on the border-line between +Malmaison and the lands of Richard Pennroyal. As he drew near the spot, he +saw at a distance the figure of a woman, also on horseback. It was +Kate--Mrs. Pennroyal. She was riding slowly in a direction nearly opposite +to his own, so that if they kept on they would meet on the borders of the +pond.</p> + +<p>Sir Archibald had not met this lady for many months; and when he recognized +her, his first impulse was perhaps to draw rein. Then he looked to see +whether that were her impulse likewise. But she held on her course; and +he, smiling in a defiant way, shook his bridle, and in a few moments they +were but half a dozen yards apart. There they paused, as it seemed, by +mutual consent.</p> + +<p>How lovely she looked! Sir Archibald saw it, and ground his teeth with a +kind of silent rage. She should have been his.</p> + +<p>"Good-day, Mrs. Richard Pennroyal!"</p> + +<p>"Good-day, Archibald!"</p> + +<p>His name, coming with such gentleness and sweet familiarity from her lips, +made his blood tingle. He had expected coldness and formality.</p> + +<p>"I had not looked forward to the honor of meeting you here," he said.</p> + +<p>"But we have met here before, I think." And so they had, in days upon which +Archibald now looked back as does an exile upon home. His horse moved +forward a few steps, and his rider only stopped him when he was within +arm's length.</p> + +<p>"That seems long ago; and yet, when I look at you, I could almost believe +it was but yesterday."</p> + +<p>"You have changed more than I," replied the lady, letting her eyes rest +upon him with a certain intentness. This was true enough, physically +speaking; the handsome boy was now a superb young man; but Archibald chose +to interpret her words figuratively, and he answered bitterly:</p> + +<p>"You may have changed little; but that little in you has caused whatever +change you find in me."</p> + +<p>"It is true, then, that you are angry with me? I had hoped otherwise," +said Mrs. Pennroyal, with a sad dignity that sat well upon her.</p> + +<p>"Angry with you!" broke out Archibald, his face flushing. "Has it been a +desire to keep my--my friendship that has caused you to--"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Pennroyal interrupted him, drawing herself up proudly. "Pardon me, +sir, I had no intention of forcing your good-will. If you will be my +enemy, please yourself, and perhaps I may learn to become yours." And she +turned her horse as she spoke. But Archibald, thus seemingly put in the +wrong, and unwilling now to terminate the interview so abruptly, pressed +his heel against his horse's side, and was again beside her.</p> + +<p>"You misunderstand me," said he. "What could I think? You will not deny +that your--that Richard Pennroyal has shown himself no friend of mine."</p> + +<p>"I shall deny nothing that you see fit to charge against me, sir," rejoined +the lady, still hurt and indignant, and the more irresistible.</p> + +<p>Archibald reflected that she was not, perhaps, justly responsible for the +malevolence of another person, even though that person were her husband; +and from this thought to thinking that she might, perhaps, be inclined to +sympathize against her husband and with himself, was an easy transition. +This perilous fancy made his pulses throb and his eyes gleam. He caught +her horse's bridle.</p> + +<p>"Do not go yet! Let us talk a little, since we are met."</p> + +<p>"What has Sir Archibald Malmaison to say to me?"</p> + +<p>"You called me 'Archibald' just now."</p> + +<p>"You called me 'Mrs. Richard Pennroyal'!"</p> + +<p>"Well--and so you are!" said he, between his teeth.</p> + +<p>"Do you think of me by that name?" she asked, turning her brown eyes on him +for a moment, and then looking away.</p> + +<p>"Kate!"</p> + +<p>She put out her beautiful hand, and he took it and carried it to his lips. +Thoughts fierce and sweet flew through his mind. But Mrs. Pennroyal, +having gained her immediate end (which, to do her justice, was probably +nothing worse than the gratification of a coquettish whim), knew how to +take care of herself. She drew her hand away.</p> + +<p>"There--well--you have been very unkind, Archibald. Have we not been +friends--have we not been together from the first? How could you believe +that I could wish you any harm?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, Kate, but you married him!"</p> + +<p>"Well, sir, I as good as asked you to marry me first, and you would not do +it."</p> + +<p>"You asked me!"</p> + +<p>"Yes; you have forgotten. It has all been so strange, you see. I hardly +know, even now, whether you are the Archibald I used to know."</p> + +<p>"But I know, very well," returned he, grimly. "And you are the wife of my +enemy, the man who is trying to ruin me. Kate," he broke off suddenly, +"how did Richard know that those papers were missing in our family? I told +you once--do you remember that day? And no one knew it except you."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Pennroyal would perhaps have preferred not to be asked this question. +But since it was asked, she was bound to make the best answer she could.</p> + +<p>"It was for that I wanted to see you to-day," she said, after a pause. "I +have been to blame, Archibald; but it was ignorantly. It was long +ago--before all these troubles began to occur: while we were yet on good +terms. Ah me! would we were so again!"</p> + +<p>"You told him, then?"</p> + +<p>"I did not know that I was betraying a secret. From what Richard said, I +thought that he knew it, or at least suspected it; and I merely added my +confirmation. Afterward, when I found how things were going, I begged him +not to use that knowledge. But it was too late. I could not be at rest +until I had told you, and asked you to forgive me."</p> + +<p>Archibald would not have believed this speech, if his head only had been +concerned in the matter. Unfortunately, such was not the case. He believed +it because he ardently wished to do so; and he forgave her the more +easily, because that implied having her hand in his again for a few +moments.</p> + +<p>"If I could only see you and Richard at peace again, I should be happy," +resumed Mrs. Pennroyal, with a sigh.</p> + +<p>"Is it for him you fear, or for me?" inquired Archibald, smiling.</p> + +<p>"The danger is yours," she answered, diplomatically.</p> + +<p>He shook his head, still smiling: "Dismiss your anxiety, Kate. There is no +danger for me or mine. Let Richard look to himself!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Pennroyal was startled. She had looked upon the Malmaison case as +virtually hopeless. This hint of the contrary gave her a strong sensation, +not altogether unpleasurable. Richard was her husband, but he was not +nearly so young as Archibald, and as to looks!--there there was no +comparison. Archibald was simply the finest man in England. Perhaps Mrs. +Pennroyal tad never been passionately fond of her husband; and, on the +other hand, she had certainly liked Archibald very much. In the present +quarrel she had felt that the propriety of being on the winning side was +not diminished by the fact that it happened to be her husband's; but if it +should turn out that her husband's was not the winning side after +all--then there was matter for consideration. Of course, strictly +speaking, her husband's misfortunes must be her own; but in this instance +the nominal misfortune would be his failure to ruin Archibald, and Mrs. +Pennroyal thought she could sustain that. No, the sensation was certainly +not unpleasurable. But was it certain that Archibald was not mistaken?</p> + +<p>"I am very glad, for both our sakes," said she, at last. "I could never +have endured to take your name and estates away from you. Then that notion +that the papers were lost was a mistake?"</p> + +<p>"I can tell you nothing more," replied Archibald, looking at her.</p> + +<p>"Ah, you have not forgiven me--you do not trust me!"</p> + +<p>He checked his horse and hers, and turned full upon her: "Kate, you are the +wife of my enemy, I must remember that! If I found you playing a double +part between him and me, I should hate you more than I hate him; and then +... I should be capable of any crime. Well, I will not put it in your +power. You will know all soon enough. Meantime, I trust you in this--to +keep silence on what I have said to-day. Let him believe that he will +succeed until he knows that he has failed. Will you promise that?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Pennroyal saw no harm in making this promise, but she did not see why +she should not make as great a favor as she could of granting it.</p> + +<p>"A wife should have no secrets from her husband, Archibald."</p> + +<p>"Have you never had a secret from him, Kate?"</p> + +<p>"You have no right to ask that!"</p> + +<p>Archibald laughed. "Are you as happy with him as the day is long?"</p> + +<p>She looked up for a moment, and their eyes met. "The days seem very long +sometimes," she said, almost beneath her breath.</p> + +<p>"This day?" he demanded, bending toward her.</p> + +<p>"Autumn days are short, you know," she said, smiling a little, with averted +face.</p> + +<p>"Do you often ride out in autumn?"</p> + +<p>"What else can I do, when my husband is away from home? I must go now--it +is late."</p> + +<p>"And your promise?"</p> + +<p>For the third time that afternoon she gave him her hand. Her color was +higher than usual, and her breathing somewhat uneven. She had not passed +unscathed through this interview. Archibald's was the stronger spirit, and +she felt his power--felt it, and liked to feel it! And he, as he held her +warm and delicate hand in his own, was conscious of a strange tumult in +his heart. Was fate, which he had hitherto found so adverse, going to +change at last, and yield him everything at once--revenge and love in the +same breath? A revenge consummated through love were sweet indeed.</p> + +<p>They parted at length, and rode away in opposite directions. This was their +first meeting, but it was not their last by many.</p> + +<h1>XI.</h1> + +<p>Meanwhile the lawyers were keeping at work with commendable diligence, and +Mr. Pennroyal was counting his chickens as hatched, and was as far as +possible from suspecting the underplot which was going on around him. On +the contrary, it seemed to him that he was becoming at last the assured +favorite of fortune. For this gentleman's life had not been, in all +respects, so prosperous as it appeared. To begin with, he had had a +deplorable weakness for dicing and card-playing, which had frequently +brought him in large sums, but which had ended by costing twenty times as +much as they had won for him. He gave up these forms of diversion, +therefore, and resolved to amass a fortune in a more regular manner. He +studied the stock-market profoundly, until he felt himself sufficiently +master of the situation, and when he entered the lists as a financier. He +bought and sold, and did his very best to buy cheap and to sell dear. He +made several lucky hits; but in the long run he found that the balance was +setting steadily against him. All his ready money was gone, and mortgages +began to settle down like birds of ill-omen upon his house and lands. It +was at this period that he married Kate Battledown; and with the money +that she brought him he began to retrieve his losses, and again the +horizon brightened. Alas! the improvement was only temporary. Ill-luck set +in once more, and more inveterately than ever. Kate's good money went +after his bad money, and neither returned. A good deal of it is said to +have found its way into the pockets of Major Bolingbroke, his second in +the duel. The ill-omened birds settled down once more, until they covered +the roof and disfigured all the landscape.</p> + +<p>To add to his troubles, he did not find that comfort and consolation in his +matrimonial relations which he would fain have had. It is true that he +married his wife first of all for her money; but he was far from +insensible to her other attractions, and, so far from wearying of them, +they took a stronger and stronger hold upon him, until this cold, +sarcastic, and unsocial man grew to be nothing less than uxorious. But his +wife recompensed his devotion but shabbily; her position had not fulfilled +her anticipations, she was angry at the loss of her money, and upon the +whole she repented having taken an irrevocable step too hastily. She felt +herself to be the intellectual equal of her husband, and she was not long +in improving the advantage she possessed of not caring anything about him. +In a word, she bullied the unfortunate gentleman unmercifully, and he +kissed the rod with infatuation.</p> + +<p>This state of things was in force up to the time of Mrs. Pennroyal's +meeting with Archibald, as above described. After that there was a marked +and most enchanting alteration in Mrs. Pennroyal's demeanor toward her +husband. She became all at once affectionate and sympathetic. She +flattered him, she deferred to him, she consulted him, and drew him on +with delicate encouragements to consult her, to confide in her all the +private details of his affairs, which he had never done before, and to +intrust to her safekeeping every inmost fear and aspiration of his mind. +At every point she met him with soothing agreement and ingenuous +suggestion; and in particular did she echo and foster his enmity against +Sir Archibald Malmaison, and urged him forward in his suit, bidding him +spare no expense, since success was assured, and affirming her readiness +to mortgage her very jewels, if need were, to pay the eminent legal +gentlemen who were to conduct the case.</p> + +<p>This behavior of hers afforded her husband especial gratification, for he +had always been a little jealous of Sir Archibald, and indeed one of the +impelling motives to the present action had been a desire to pay his +grudge in this respect. But the discovery that Mrs. Pennroyal hated the +young baronet quite as much as he did, filled his soul with balm; so that +it only needed the successful termination of the lawsuit to render his +bliss complete and overflowing.</p> + +<p>Well, the great case came on; and all the nobility and gentry of the three +counties, and others besides, were there to see and hear. There were bets +that the trial would not be over in seven days, and odds were taken +against its lasting seven weeks. Society forgot its ennui and settled +itself complacently to listen to a piquant story of scandal, intrigue, +imposition, and robbery in high life.</p> + +<p>The reader knows the sequel. Never was there such a disappointment. The +learned brethren of the law opened their mouths only to shut them again.</p> + +<p>For after the famous Mr. Adolphus, counsel for the plaintiff, had +eloquently and ingeniously stated his case and given a picturesque and +appetizing outline of the evidence that he was going to call, and the +facts that he was going to prove; after this preliminary flourish was +over, behold, up got Mr. Sergeant Runnington, who appeared on behalf of +the defendant, and let fall some remarks which, though given in a +sufficiently matter-of-fact and every-day tone, fell like a thunder-clap +upon the ears of all present, save two persons; and produced upon the +Honorable Richard Pennroyal an effect as if a hand-grenade had been let +off within his head, and his spine drawn neatly out through the back of +his neck.</p> + +<p>I cannot give the learned Sergeant's speech here, but the upshot of it was +that the plaintiff had no case; inasmuch as he relied, to make good his +claim, on the absence of any direct evidence establishing the identity of +the late Sir Clarence Butt Malmaison, and the decease of that illegitimate +personage whom the plaintiffs sought to confound with him.</p> + +<p>What could have induced the plaintiff to imagine that such direct evidence +was not forthcoming, Sergeant Runnington confessed himself at a loss to +understand. He had cherished hopes, for the sake of common decency, for +the sake of the respect due to the Bench, for the sake of human nature, +that his learned brother on the other side would have been able to hold +forth a challenge which it would be, in some degree, worth his while to +answer; he regretted sincerely to say that those hopes had not been by any +means fulfilled.</p> + +<p>Had he been previously made aware of the course of attack which the +plaintiff had had the audacity to adopt, he could have saved him and other +persons much trouble, and the Court some hours of its valuable time, by +the utterance of a single word, or, indeed, without the necessity for any +words at all. Really, this affair, about which so much noise had been +made, was so ridiculously simple and empty that he almost felt inclined to +apologize to the Court and to the gentlemen of the jury for showing them +how empty and simple it was. But, indeed, he feared that the apology, if +there was to be one, was not due from his side.</p> + +<p>It was not for him to decide upon the motives which had prompted the +plaintiff to bring this action. He should be sorry to charge any one with +malice, with unconscionable greed, with treacherous and impudent rapacity. +It belonged to the plaintiff to explain why he had carried this case into +court, and what were his grounds for supposing that it could be made to +issue to his credit and advantage.</p> + +<p>For his own part, he should content himself with producing the documents +which the learned counsel on the other side had professed himself so +anxious to get a sight of, and to humbly request that the plaintiff be +nonsuited with costs.</p> + +<p>Thus ended the great trial. People could hardly, at first, believe their +own ears and eyes; but when the documents were acknowledged to be +perfectly genuine and correct, when the learned Mr. Adolphus relinquished +the case, not without disgust, and when the Court, after some very severe +remarks upon the conduct of the plaintiff, had concluded a short address +by adopting the learned Sergeant Runnington's suggestion as to the +costs--when all was settled, in short, in the utterly absurd space of two +hours and three quarters, then at last did society awake to a perception +of the fact that it had been most egregiously and outrageously swindled, +and that the Honorable Richard Pennroyal was the swindler.</p> + +<p>Nobody was at the pains to conceal these sentiments from the honorable +gentleman, and he left the court with as little sympathy as ever +disappointed suitor had.</p> + +<p>Poor man! he suffered enough, in more ways than one, on that disastrous +day, yet one shame and agony, the sharpest of all, was spared him--he did +not see the look and the smile that were exchanged between his wife and +Sir Archibald Malmaison, when the decision of the Court was made known.</p> + +<h1>XII.</h1> + +<p>We are now drawing near the last scene of this strange and sinister +history. The action confines itself almost entirely to the three chief +figures.</p> + +<p>If Pennroyal had been twenty years younger when this catastrophe fell upon +him, it might merely have had the effect of enraging him; but he was near +fifty years of age, and old for his years, and it seems to have +overwhelmed and cowed him. The cat still in his house, like a rat in his +hole, saying nothing, and noticing nothing, but drinking a great deal of +brandy. The fiery stuff did not excite him; it merely had the effect of +keeping him from sinking into unconsciousness of his misery. He knew that +he was a ruined man, and that it was too late to retrieve his ruin. Means +and energy were alike lacking, and could never be supplied. He sat in his +chair, and brooded over all his life, and realized the utterness of his +failure; and nothing could rouse him--not even the intelligence that his +enemy, Sir Archibald, having by the death of his aunt, Miss Tremount, come +into an inheritance of upward of seventy thousand pounds, was buying up +the mortgages, and would probably foreclose on him when he got him +thoroughly in his power. Archibald had beaten him, and he would fight no +more. Let him enjoy his triumph, and push it to the utmost. There was one +point, at all events, on which Richard had the better of him, and this +thought brought with it the sole spark of comfort that these evil days +afforded him. He had his wife--the woman to win whom Sir Archibald would +have given all his lands and fortune, and his soul into the bargain. Yes, +Kate was his, and his only; and it was the resolve to keep her his, and +thus spite his enemy as long as possible, that withheld Richard from +seeking relief in suicide at this juncture. So Providence leads men from +agony to worse agony, with intent, doubtless, to torture out of them the +evil which they will not voluntarily relinquish.</p> + +<p>One winter evening, Richard sitting brooding and sipping brandy as usual, +with a lamp burning on the table beside him, and the embers of the fire +flickering on the broad hearth at his feet, there came a light, measured +step and the rustle of a dress, and he knew that his wife was in the room. +He raised his haggard visage and looked at her. What a goddess of beauty +she seemed! How young, graceful, lovely! How pure and clear were the tints +of her face, how lustrous dark her eyes, how soft her ample hair! How +peerless she was! and all she was--all this treasure of fragrant +womanhood--was his, and not another's. Ay, and his willingly; she really +loved him, he thought; she had shown it of late; she cared for him, old, +ruined, and degraded though he was. It was a strange thing; it was a +pleasant thing. Perhaps, he thought, if he had had such a creature to love +him in earlier days, he might not have been where he was now. But then, in +earlier days, he was not a ruined and wasted man.</p> + +<p>"Kate!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Richard."</p> + +<p>"Oh, never speak so formally! Am I not Dick, thy own dear old Dick--eh?"</p> + +<p>"I did not mean to be formal."</p> + +<p>"Come and sit here beside me--no, here, on the arm of my chair. It was good +of you to come in here. I was getting lonesome. I wanted my Kate to tell +me she loved me--eh?"</p> + +<p>"I only came in to say good-night. It is late."</p> + +<p>"Late?--pooh! It's not nine o'clock. Stay and be sociable a bit. There, I +won't touch another drop if you'll stay."</p> + +<p>"I'm tired; I have a headache. You don't want me."</p> + +<p>"Not want you! Ay, but I do though! Without you, Kate, I should have been a +dead man weeks ago. Not want you!"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! what do you mean? You have drunk too much already, I fear."</p> + +<p>"I mean that, but for you, I'd have blown my brains out the day of the +trial--after I'd blown out his, the scoundrel! But since I have you, I +know a way to worry him better than by blowing his brains out. To know +that you are mine is hell to him. And in that hell I'll keep him, as long +as my body and soul will hang together!"</p> + +<p>"What should he care whether I am yours or not?"</p> + +<p>"Because he loves you--that's why he cares! Ay, you needn't start. He loves +you, and it's hell to him to feel that another man has you. How many +thousand pounds do you think he'd give to kiss this little hand as I kiss +it now? I wish he could see me do it!"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense, you are crazy.... And so you only care for me to spite him?"</p> + +<p>"No, not that. God knows--if there is a God--I love you, Kate, with all +there is left of me--except what hates him! That's my life--love for you +and hate for him. And I believe I hate him less than I love you, though +that's saying a great deal!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I think you love that brandy better than you do me."</p> + +<p>"You do? If you say so, I'll never touch it again!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't care. I don't want you to give up anything that makes you +comfortable."</p> + +<p>"Ay, you do love me, don't you, Kate?"</p> + +<p>"Come, Richard, our courting days are over. And I must go. Good-by!"</p> + +<p>"No, don't go! I feel, somehow, as if I couldn't spare you to-night."</p> + +<p>"Shall I pour you out another glass?"</p> + +<p>"Yes--no! I'll drink no more to-night. Kate...."</p> + +<p>"Well?"</p> + +<p>"I'm getting old. In the natural course of things I should die long before +you. I sha'n't die yet a while--but some time, you know. Will you promise +something?"</p> + +<p>"I'll promise nothing to-night. I dare say you'll outlive me."</p> + +<p>"Promise, come what will, you'll never marry him; eh, Kate?"</p> + +<p>"Really, Richard, I--I never heard anything so foolish! I can't stay to +hear any more such talk. You are not your right self. There--let me go!"</p> + +<p>"Go?--go where? Gad, I've a mind to say you sha'n't go! Well, yes, I didn't +mean it; forgive me, Kate! Only you're my wife, you know, and I'm your +husband; and I love you; and somehow I feel afraid to let you out of my +sight--as if I might not see you again. Well, then.... But one thing you +shall do--you shall give me a kiss before you go! Else you sha'n't go at +all!"</p> + +<p>Thus compelled, Mrs. Pennroyal kissed her husband, or let herself be kissed +by him; and then she escaped from the room, with a shudder and a sinking +of the heart.</p> + +<p>Richard Pennroyal sat there alone; the embers of the fire were now gray and +lifeless. He stirred them with his foot, and they fell into ashes. He felt +cold. How still the house was; how lonely! And he had no pleasant thoughts +to keep him company now that his wife had left him; but many thoughts, +many memories that were far from pleasant, were lying in wait for him in +the dark corners of his mind, ready to leap out upon him if he gave them a +chance. Among them, why did the foolish face of crazy old Jane, his wife +of many years ago, persist in obtruding itself? Why did it wear that look +of stupid, unreasonable reproach? yes, unreasonable; for how was he to +blame? He had but let things take their course; no more than that.... well, +scarcely more! And yet that face, that silly old face, that dull, +lifeless, drowned old face, kept meeting his in the dark corners, turn +where he would. If he closed his eyes, it was still visible through the +eyelids, and seemed nearer than ever.</p> + +<p>So he opened his eyes; and there hovered the face, in the gloom beyond the +lamp. What an expression! Was it signalling him to come away? Was it +mocking him for fearing to come? Fearing? He was not afraid. He was a +Pennroyal; he had noble blood in his veins; though he was now a bit old +and shaky, and had, perhaps, been taking a little too much brandy of late. +But--afraid! not he. Why, he would follow the thing, if it came to that; +follow it to....</p> + +<p>He rose slowly from his chair, still keeping his eyes steadily fixed upon +it, and moved toward it, with his hands outstretched. He did not get any +nearer to it; it was retreating before him, like a will-o'-the-wisp. He +kept on, crossing the length of the room; it seemed to pass through the +substance of the door, and yet he saw it beyond. He opened the door +softly; yes, there it was in the hall. A pistol was lying on the little +table beside the door, which Richard knew to be loaded. Mechanically, and +without looking at it, he took it up as he passed. Then down the hall on +tiptoe, the shadowy, unmeaning face marshalling him the way, and leering +at him if he hesitated. Ay, he would follow it to the end, now. +Fortunately, the house-door stood open; there would be no noise in getting +out. Out they glided, pursuer and pursued, into the cold stillness of the +night. There was a moon, but it was dim and low down. The shadows seemed +more real than the light. There was no snow to betray footprints. But +whither would this chase lead? It seemed to be heading toward the +northwest--toward Malmaison; ay, and toward the pool that lay on the +borders of the estate. Richard shuddered when he thought of that pool, and +of the grisly significance of his being led thither by this witless, +idiotic old phantom of his dead wife's face. Stay, the face seemed to have +got itself a body within the last few moments: it was a gray figure that +now flitted on before him; gray and indistinct in the dim moonlight, with +noiseless, waving drapery. It was going the very path that old Jane had +gone that day, many years ago--her last day on earth; and yet, was she not +here again to-night? And she was leading him to the pool; and what then?</p> + +<p>Swiftly she flitted onward, some seventy paces in advance apparently, now +lost in shadow, now reappearing in the light. She never turned nor +beckoned, but kept straight on, and Richard had much ado to keep pace with +her. At length he caught the gleam of the dark pool some little distance +beyond. He set his teeth, and came on. The gray phantom had paused at +last. But was that Jane after all? Not Jane's was that tall and graceful +figure. This must be some other woman's ghost. Was it a ghost? And if so, +was that another--that man who issued from behind a clump of bushes, and +came toward her? The two figures met; the man took the woman in his arms, +and kissed her many times on the lips and eyes. Kisses! ay, those were +kisses indeed! Now they seemed to be conversing together; his arms were +round her waist. The moonlight revealed his features; it was the enemy--it +was Archibald Malmaison! And the woman was not the dead wife, but the +living one.</p> + +<p>"We are perfectly safe, my darling," Archibald was saying. "The room was +all prepared for you, and there is no possibility of discovery. There will +be a great outcry and confusion for a week or so, and they will search for +you, dead and alive; and I along with the rest, the better to disarm +suspicion. It will be settled, at last, that you must have escaped to some +foreign country; or, maybe, Richard himself will fall under suspicion of +having made away with you, as he did with his first wife. Sooner or later, +at any rate, they will give up the search; and, whether or not, we shall +always be free to each other. You could not persuade any one at Malmaison +to so much as put his nose into the east chamber, and as to the other, you +and I are the only living creatures who even dream of its existence. +Darling, you will not mind being a prisoner for a little while, since love +will be a prisoner with you?"</p> + +<p>The woman clung to him tremulously. "I did not know it would be so hard to +leave him," she murmured. "I hate him, and yet it was hard. He is so +wretched; and he is all alone. What will he do now? He kept saying that he +loved me and asking me to love him, and to call him Dick; and ... he made +me kiss him. Oh, Archie, I feel that kiss beneath all yours. I shall +always feel it!"</p> + +<p>"No, this shall make you forget it--"</p> + +<p>"Hush! I hear something!"</p> + +<p>"You are nervous--"</p> + +<p>"Ah! look! It is he. Now God have mercy!"</p> + +<p>Sir Archibald looked; and there, indeed, stood the tall figure of the +Honorable Richard Pennroyal, without his hat, and with an expression on +his face that was a living curse to behold. And yet that face smiled and +bowed with a hideous politeness.</p> + +<p>"Good-evening, Sir Archibald. Will you permit me to inquire whether you are +armed?"</p> + +<p>Sir Archibald put his hand within his vest, and drew out a pistol.</p> + +<p>"Ah, that comes in very conveniently. Now, let us see. Mrs. Pennroyal, +since you are my wife, perhaps you will be good enough to give us the +word?--No, she insists upon fainting. Well, then, we must manage the best +way we can. But let me entreat you to take your aim carefully, my dear Sir +Archibald, for if you miss it will involve unpleasant consequences for +Mrs. Pennroyal as well as for yourself. Now, I will toss up this pebble, +and when it strikes the surface of the water we will fire. Is it agreed? +Here goes, then."</p> + +<p>He had the pebble in his hand, and was in act to toss it, when the baronet, +breaking silence for the first time, said:</p> + +<p>"Mr. Pennroyal, I am willing that this should go no further."</p> + +<p>"Scoundrel and coward!" snarled the other, his deadly fury breaking in a +moment through the thin mockery of courtesy; "come up then, and be shot +like the cur you are!"</p> + +<p>There could be no more words. Sir Archibald raised his pistol; his +antagonist threw the pebble high in the air, and as it smote the smooth +surface of the pool in its descent, both pulled trigger. Richard +Pennroyal's weapon missed fire; Sir Archibald's bullet passed through his +enemy's heart; he swayed backward and forward for a moment, and then fell +on his face, hurling his pistol as he fell at the prostrate figure of his +wife, who lay huddled on the ground; but it flew wide, and struck Sir +Archibald on the temple. Before the ripples caused by the pebble's fall +had died away, Pennroyal had ceased to live.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Pennroyal was still apparently insensible, but as Sir Archibald +approached her she partly raised herself up, and looked first at him and +then at the dead body.</p> + +<p>"It was not worth while," she said.</p> + +<p>"It's done," he murmured. "Are you hurt?"</p> + +<p>"What shall we do?"</p> + +<p>"We must get back to Malmaison."</p> + +<p>"We cannot leave him here."</p> + +<p>Sir Archibald bent over the body of his enemy, and turned the face upward. +It wore a calm and happy expression.</p> + +<p>"I will sink him in the pool," he said. "His will not be the first dead +body that has lain there."</p> + +<p>He stooped accordingly, and getting his hands beneath the arms of the +corpse, dragged it to one of the flights of steps that led down to the +water. Kate sat watching him with her hands clasped in her lap. She heard +a splashing sound and a ripple. Sir Archibald came back, picked up the +pistol, and flung it also into the pool.</p> + +<p>"The water will freeze to-night," he said, "and the fishes will do the +rest. Now, come!"</p> + +<p>In a secret chamber at Malmaison lamps were burning softly in a dozen +sconces of burnished silver round the walls. Their light fell on luxurious +furniture, fit for the boudoir of a lovely and noble lady. The +broad-backed ebony chairs were upholstered in delicate blue damask; clips +and salvers of chased gold stood on the inlaid cabinet; the floor was +covered with richly-tinted Persian rugs and soft-dressed furs; a warm fire +glowed on the hearth, and upon the table was set out a supper such as +might have awakened an appetite in a Roman epicure. A tall mirror, at the +farther end of the room, reflected back the lights and the color and the +sparkle, while in a niche at one side stood rigidly upright an antique +suit of armor, its gauntlets seeming to rest meditatively upon the hilt of +its sword, while from between the closed bars of the helmet one might +fancy that the dark spirit of its former inmate was gazing grimly forth +upon all this splendor and luxury, and passing a ghastly jest thereon. But +it was as fair and comfortable a scene as perhaps this world can show, and +well calculated to make the sternest ascetic in love with life.</p> + +<p>Through the massive oaken door, clamped with polished steel bands, entered +now two pallid and haggard persons--a man and a woman. The light striking +on their eyes made them blink and look aside. The man led the woman to the +fire, and seated her upon a low chair; and taking a blue satin coverlid +from the bed in the recess, he folded it tenderly round her shoulders. She +scarcely seemed to notice where she was, or what was being done; she sat +with her eyes and face fixed, shivering now and then, and with her mind +apparently preoccupied with some ugly recollection. The man then went to +the table and poured out a glass of wine, and held it to the woman's lips, +and after a little resistance she drank some of it.</p> + +<p>"You are as safe here," said he, "as if you were in an island of the South +Sea. I will see that you want for nothing while you have to remain here." +</p> + +<p>"What is the use?" she asked, with a kind of apathetic peevishness.</p> + +<p>"Before long we shall be able to go away," he continued. "My darling, don't +be disheartened. All our happiness is to come."</p> + +<p>"I can never forget it," she said, with a shiver. "What is the use? I can +never get away from him now. Do you think the water is frozen yet?"</p> + +<p>"You must not think of that at all. When you are warm, and have drunk some +wine, you will not feel this nervousness. Nothing has been done that is +worth regretting, or that could have been helped. Kate, I love you more +than ever."</p> + +<p>"What is the use?" she repeated, in a dull tone. "It was not worth while." +</p> + +<p>There was a pause.</p> + +<p>"I must leave you for a few minutes," he said gently. "It is necessary that +I should show myself to Lady Malmaison and to the servants. No one knows +that I have left the house. By the time I come back you will have got +warm, and we will sup together. Don't be downhearted, my darling."</p> + +<p>He bent forward to kiss her. With a sudden gesture of aversion she pushed +him back. "There is blood upon your forehead!" she said, in a sharp +whisper.</p> + +<p>"Only a scratch--I had forgotten it," he answered, trying to smile. "Well, +then, in half an hour, at the utmost, we will meet again."</p> + +<p>She made no rejoinder; and, after standing a moment looking down at her, he +turned and went out. He closed the oaken door behind him, and locked it, +then felt his way along the stone passage, and let himself out by the +concealed entrance. He put the silver rod in its receptacle beneath the +floor, and walked toward the room adjoining. On the threshold of that room +he paused a moment, leaning against the door-post. A sensation of sluggish +weariness had come over him; his head felt full and heavy. He roused +himself presently, and went on trying to remember whither he was going. By +the time he had reached the top of the great staircase, the idea that he +was in search of seemed to have come to him. He descended the stairs and +went directly to Lady Malmaison's room. It was then about eleven o'clock. +The good lady was playing cards with her companion, her spaniel sleeping +on her knees. She looked up in astonishment, for Sir Archibald seldom +honored her with a visit.</p> + +<p>"Mamma," said he, going up to her chair, and standing there awkwardly, +"where is Kate?"</p> + +<p>"My son! what has happened?"</p> + +<p>"Was she married to-day?" pursued the baronet, in an aggrieved tone.</p> + +<p>Lady Malmaison and the companion exchanged a terrified glance.</p> + +<p>"I think it is very unkind, then," declared the young man, reproachfully; +"for Richard promised me I should be groomsman--and now they have gone and +got married while I was asleep. It was unkind of Kate, and I don't love +her; but I don't believe it was Richard's fault, because he is good, and I +love him."</p> + +<p> * * * * *</p> + +<p>"Ring the bell, Simpson," said Lady Malmaison, in a broken voice, "and tell +them to send for Dr. Rollinson."</p> + +<h1>XIII.</h1> + +<p>During all the months of consternation, speculation, and vague hue-and-cry +that followed the mysterious disappearance of the Honorable Mr. and Mrs. +Pennroyal, it never for one moment occurred to any one to suggest any +connection between that unexplained circumstance and the equally curious +but unpertinent fact that poor Sir Archibald had "gone daft" once more.</p> + +<p>How should it? It was known that Sir Archibald had been in his room all +that day and evening up to the time when he came into his mother's chamber +without his wits. It was true that there had been no love lost of late +between the houses of Malmaison and Pennroyal, but that was neither here +nor there.</p> + +<p>The notion that the vanished persons had met with foul play was never +seriously entertained, it being generally agreed that Mr. Pennroyal had +ample reasons for not wishing to remain in a place where his credit and +his welcome were alike worn out. In all likelihood, therefore, the pair +had slunk away to foreign parts, and were living under an assumed name +somewhere on the Continent, or in America.</p> + +<p>It was not surprising that they had gone together, for it was known that +they were on very good terms with each other, especially during the last +year. An idle story of a groom, who affirmed that he had been present at +an interview between Mrs. Pennroyal and Sir Archibald, on horseback, a few +weeks before the trial, when, according to this narrator, they had +appeared to be rather friendly than otherwise, was not thought to be in +any way to the point.</p> + +<p>So the months passed away, and the years followed the months; the house and +the lands of the Pennroyals were sold, and their very name began to be +forgotten. The daft baronet and his aged mother went on living at +Malmaison in a quiet and uneventful manner, seeing very few people, and +doing nothing except allow their large property to grow larger. Yet, in +spite of their retiring inoffensiveness, a shadow seemed to brood over the +ancient house.</p> + +<p>The old story of Sir Archibald's past exploits in the magical line, and of +his ancestors before him, were still revived occasionally round evening +firesides; and it was submitted whether his present condition were not a +judgment upon him for having tampered with forbidden mysteries.</p> + +<p>In the opinion of these fireside juries, there was a curse upon Malmaison, +especially upon that part of it which contained the east chamber. That +room was haunted, and had never been haunted so badly as during the few +days immediately following Sir Archibald's loss of memory.</p> + +<p>It may have been a demon's carousal over the sad plight of the poor, +foolish young baronet. At all events shrieks had been heard, faint and +muffled, but unmistakable, proceeding from that region, when everybody +knew that no living soul was there or could be there; but all the servants +at Malmaison could swear to the sounds. Ay, the place was accursed.</p> + +<p>Late on the night of the 22d of January, 1833, Sir Archibald found himself +mounting the staircase of Malmaison, with but an indistinct idea of how he +came to be doing so. He could not recollect whether he had seen his mother +and the servants or not. No wonder if his thoughts had been a little +absent, with such a dark and burdensome secret as that which lay upon his +soul. But, of course, he must have seen them. He had left Kate with the +intention of doing so, within this very hour; and how should he be coming +up-stairs, unless from the execution of that purpose? His mind was busy +with many projects. It would probably be thought that Mr. and Mrs. +Pennroyal had left the country to escape creditors. If only the pond +froze, and the cold weather held on for a week or two, there would be no +trace that could lead to a suspicion of anything else. For himself, he +would find no difficulty in proving an alibi, if it came to that. And +after all, he had but acted upon compulsion, and in self-defence, and upon +equal terms. He was guilty of no crime, except--well, call it a crime; he +was willing to bear the brunt of that. So they would be able to get away +soon, and in Italy, Spain, somewhere, anywhere, they could live and be +happy many years. Perhaps after a time they could venture to marry and +return openly to England. There were numberless and indefinite +possibilities in their favor. Life was all they wanted, and life they had. +They were both young; the gloom of this unlucky tragedy would soon be +dispelled. Kate had been nervous and distraught when he left her, and no +wonder, poor love! but wine, and food, and warmth would soon bring the +color back to her cheeks and the light to her eyes. Lovely Kate! sweet, +wayward, tender, haughty, but his own at last--his own in spite of earth +and heaven! Yes, he and she would have their will and take their pleasure +in spite of God and man; and if God would kill them, then, at any rate, +they would die together, and in each other's arms.</p> + +<p>With these and many like thoughts flying through his mind, Sir Archibald +Malmaison reached the east chamber struck a light, and lit the candle that +stood on the table beside the door. He looked at his watch--half-past +eleven; he was within his time then; he had been absent less than half an +hour. What was Kate doing, he wondered? He stopped a moment, picturing her +to himself in some luxurious attitude; but his impatience would not suffer +him to delay. He quickly got the silver rod from its receptacle, opened +the concealed door, and went in, carrying the lighted candle in his hand. +In a moment he was at the inner oaken door; it resisted his attempt to +open it. Then he recollected that he had locked it for additional +security. The key was in the lock; he turned it, and entered.</p> + +<p>An involuntary cry of surprise escaped him. Instead of the soft blaze of +light that he had expected, the room was full of a heavy darkness, that +seemed to rush out to meet him, and almost overwhelmed the feeble glimmer +of his wretched candle. And why was it so deadly cold? Where had gone that +cheerful fire which was burning so ardently on the hearth half an hour +ago? Could Kate have put out the lights and gone off? Impossible, since +the doors were fastened. Ah, there she was!</p> + +<p>She was kneeling with her face bowed forward on her arms, which rested on +the seat of one of the low chairs. Her attitude was that of passionate +prayer. Her thick brown hair was unfastened, and fell over her shoulders.</p> + +<p>She made no movement. It was strange! Was she praying? Could she be asleep?</p> + +<p>He took a step or two, and then stopped. Still no movement.</p> + +<p>"Kate!" he said in a hushed voice; and as she did not answer, he spoke more +loudly: "Kate, I have come back; and I've a mind to scold you for letting +the fire go out, and startling me with this darkness. What are you doing +on your knees? Come, my darling, we want no prayers to-night. Kate ... will +you give me a kiss now?</p> + +<p>"Perhaps she may have fainted. Poor darling, she must have fainted!"</p> + +<p>He went close up to her, and laid his hand on her shoulder: he seemed to +grasp nothing but the empty stuff of the dress. With a terrified, +convulsive motion, he pulled her round, so that the head was disturbed +from its position on the arms, and the ghastly mystery was revealed to his +starting eyeballs. The spectacle was not one to be described. He uttered a +weak, wavering scream, and stood there, unable to turn away his gaze.</p> + +<p>I must confess that I do not care to pursue this narrative any farther: +though it is just at this point, according to my venerable friend Dr. +Rollinson, that the real scientific interest begins. He was constantly +with Sir Archibald during the eight or nine months that he remained in +life after this episode; and made some highly important and edifying notes +on his "case," besides writing down the unhappy baronet's confessions, as +given from time to time. After his death, the Doctor made an autopsy of +the brain, and discovered--I care not what! It was not the mystery of the +man's soul, I am convinced.</p> + +<p>I have adhered strictly to the facts throughout. Of course some of the +conversations have been imagined, but always on an adequate foundation of +truth or logical inference. All the dates and "coincidences" are genuine. +But, indeed, I prefer fiction, and am resolved never in future to make an +excursion into the crude and improbable regions of reality.</p> + +<p align="center" class="smallcaps">The End.</p> + +<h1>Footnotes</h1> + +<p><a name="1"></a>1. Dr. Forbes Rollinson's death occurred while these pages were in +preparation. This is not the place to add my tribute of affection and +appreciation to the many memoirs of him which have appeared in the public +prints. My first acquaintance with him dates but little more than three +years prior to his death; but the impression he produced upon me of +cordiality, culture, and ability will remain with me while I live. He was +a grand old gentleman of a school that is now bygone; a scholar of vast +attainments, and a Christian in heart and life, if not in profession. +Although he had far exceeded the ordinary span of life--he was born, I +believe, in the last century--he showed few signs of physical, and none of +mental infirmity; and his sudden and painless decease was quite +unexpected.</p> + +<p>I subjoin extracts from a letter written to me on the subject of the +present narrative:</p> + +<p>"WELLESLEY HOUSE, QUEEN'S GATE, W.</p> + +<p>"MY DEAR H.: I must say I fail to perceive the force of your objections. +What is fiction, at best, but an imitation of truth--and a pretty poor +imitation, too, as a general thing?... You ought to be glad to be saved +the trouble of inventing.... In the matter of love-making and adventure I +have nothing to say, but scientific truths are not lightly to be tampered +with. 'Round off the corners' by all means, if you think fit, but do not +suffer your artistic proclivities to lead you into a misrepresentation of +the essential facts.... The people are all dead, and the estate is broken +up, so you need have no hesitation regarding names. Literary value aside, +the thing would be worth nothing if the means of verifying it were +withheld....</p> + +<p>"Ever faithfully yours,</p> + +<p>"June 3d, 1878. E. FORBES ROLLINSON."</p> + +<p><a name='2'></a>2. Now also the late: <i>vide supra</i>.</p> + +<p><a name="3"></a>3. 3. In July, 1867.</p> + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Archibald Malmaison, by Julian Hawthorne + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ARCHIBALD MALMAISON *** + +This file should be named armal10h.htm or armal10h.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, armal11h.htm +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, armal10ah.htm + +Produced by Curtis Weyant, Eric Eldred, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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