Algernon Blackwood

“ In the mind of the archaeologist, as he stood gazing down upon his treasures before going to bed, stirred a faint, inexplicable warmth of awakened imagination, whose trail, as he followed it, led him out into the wintry sky beyond the old stone walls. Upon one open palm lay the little pair of shining sandals, upon the other gleamed the bright crystal jewel. He gazed down at them in silence, forgetting that his guest sat smoking by the fire, watching him. ”

“ Memory, indeed, hardly registered normally for some minutes, and it was partly the marble-white face of his host, and partly another thing as well, that undoubtedly caused his momentary loss of self-control. Sir Mark lurched heavily a second time against his chair. A sound immediately behind them both had rendered his balance insecure. Trench turned in the grip of a supreme amazement. The voice was that of his sister. It issued from the lips of Marjory, as she collapsed yet deeper into the chair she had never, he now realised, for one moment left. ”

“ As the strings grew louder, the sense of anticipation became yet more keen, and when low flutes took up a delicate melody to the harps’ accompaniment, the critic knew a moment of positive enchantment that he, for one, had never yet experienced upon any stage before.
“The youthful impresario was right,” he whispered to his host. “Where⁠—who are the players? How do they manage that sound so well?” He interrupted himself with a long-drawn “Sshhh’ ” to the audience, who still kept up their whispering too loudly. “Very, very clever!” ”

“ The leather was in good preservation. They peered inside. Two flat, brownish objects lay at the bottom of the little cedar box that still exhaled faint aroma of its original fragrance; and as Sir Mark puzzled at first, lifted them out tenderly for examination, the emotion of the archeologist rose in him to a degree he had never iever experienced before, not even in his former Egyptian days of wonderful excavation and discovery. ”

“ He turned to Sir Mark, as his sister hurried away. “You must let me into the secret too,” he observed, “as soon as the great performance is over. I’m not an expert, like my sister, but I’m eager to see and learn.”
And Sir Mark, drawing up his mind and manners to the surface of today again, explained briefly what the precious objects were. “Marjory,” he mentioned, “your sister⁠—her instinct is quite extraordinary where Roman things are concerned, really wonderful. I hope⁠—she won’t overtire herself tonight with all this acting, children business. ”

“ Before the climax of the Christmas Tree, there would take place the time-honoured rivalry between the Shutes of the Upper and the Lower Valley, each side giving its performance respectively amid keenest competition. Children, of course, were the actors, only two grownups, one of either sex, being permitted to take part; and Lady Shute of Carsholt, zealous partisan of her own Lower Valley, was persuaded that Miss Trench, though her part was a small one, would this time lead her side to victory. ”

“ Behind the servant, meanwhile, came Hugo Trench, already dressed; as Judge of the rival factions which were to perform after dinner, he was alert and interested like themselves, though in a different way.
“The audience is pouring in,” he announced laughingly, “and as I’m a famous dramatic critic as well as arbiter, I insist upon your being ready, Marjory. Every child in the castle’s calling for you, and Lady Shute” with a glance at his host⁠—“declares you’re wanted in every room at once.” ”

“ They handled and fingered the mysterious little things of dust and powdery wood, piecing them together again, as it were; making technical, expert comments; yet both stirred to their hearts by the human emotions that seemed still clinging about these pathetic symbols of ancient joy and gaiety. ”

“ But she’s stage-manager, dresser, scene-shifter, and prompter in addition. How she loves and enjoys it all, though!”
“She’s most competent, most gifted,” added Sir Mark, hurrying off with an excuse to make himself ready, and leaving the critic in charge of the relics on the table.
Hugo Trench, left alone with the musty treasures on the table before him, examined them with the merely curious interest of a well-read, cultivated mind. ”

“ Flutes! It’s astonishing!” he was muttering, though to himself rather than to his guest. “A curtain has been drawn,” his whisper continued, “and someone looks forth on us!”
“Perfect, perfect!” repeated the Judge, as the tune quickened and the strings now sounded close behind the curtain. “It’s Marjory’s idea, no doubt,” he added proudly, too excited to notice the strangeness of the other’s language, and then came once more his vehement hiss, half-angrily this time, since the audience obstinately refused to maintain a proper silence. ”

“ The conversation was interrupted by a servant, and Sir Mark, outwardly apologetic, but inwardly glowing with his discovery, watched his wife disappear upon some urgent errand, then slowly made his way down a corridor to his study.
“We must be patient, Marjory, for another twenty-four hours or so,” he mentioned, on finding her waiting for him to examine the treasures they had brought into the house only a few hours before. “Once the performance is over, and the people gone, we can get to work again.” ”

“ I The change of atmosphere at Carsholt began probably soon after Sir Mark’s discovery of the Roman cinerary urn that very morning, but the discordant element in the castle household was not noticeable until Lady Shute betrayed her jealousy with the remark: “It’s that interfering girl again! Why in the world should she go digging about the grounds like this?” Her eyes were questioning; her lips became very thin. ”

“ I’m sure she danced divinely, and perhaps”⁠—her voice sank away, fading curiously in volume⁠—“she loved him⁠—”
Her companion, examining the crystal and gold chain in his fingers, was not listening, apparently, to her fanciful description. “Of no great value,” he remarked, “of no particular value, but interesting all the same⁠—extraordinarily interesting. One can see the whole thing,” he continued, half to himself, half to her, “the scene itself, the girl dancing, the great Roman looking on. One can hear the flutes, the twanging of the harps. It’s easily reconstructed, isn’t it? ”

“ The sandals in particular he looked at closely for some minutes, since dancing was his absorbing hobby, and it was his Study of Classical Dancing in Relation to the Modern Ballet that had won for him his present eminent position in the artistic world.
At the moment, however, a more human interest, and one nearer to his heart, divided his attention. He was thinking of his sister’s passionate adoration for a man thirty years her senior; wondering whether Lady Shute had⁠—and why her husband had not⁠—divined it ”

“ Its success, judging by the spontaneous applause from both sides, was beyond question, and Hugo Trench, busily making the notes he was expected to make, watched by numerous anxious eyes, registered as well the mental comment that “if the Lower Valley 1s going to beat that,” the Shute tribe would indeed be an uncommonly gifted set of people. For the excellence of the performance had genuinely surprised him ”