E. Phillips Oppenheim

“ Lord Langerdale interrupted.
I answered him without hesitation:
“I am going down to Ravenor Castle.”
He looked surprised, a little agitated.
“I shall go with you,” Lord Langerdale suddenly declared. “Alice was my sister-in-law, and if Ravenor deserted or ill-used her, I have the right to call him to account for it.”
“And I a better one,” I reminded him quietly. “Grant me this favour please. I must go alone and see him—alone.”
He looked at his wife and she inclined her head towards me.
“The boy is right,” she said softly. “It is his affair, not ours. It will be better for him to go alone.” ”

“ Good-looking girl, isn’t she—the one singing, I mean?”
I thought that good-looking was a very feeble mode of expression, and I said so emphatically. In fact, I thought her the most beautiful and most graceful creature I had ever seen; and, as the evening wore on, I found myself applauding her songs so vigorously that she glanced, smiling, into our box, and Mr. Marx, who was still sitting behind the curtain, looked at me with an amused twitching of the lips.
“Morton, Morton, this won’t do!” he exclaimed, laughing. “You’ll be falling head over ears in love with that young woman presently.” ”

“ Marx’s side with a sigh, and found that he had been watching me with an amused smile.
“Busy little place, Torchester,” he remarked.
“It seems so to me,” I acknowledged. “I have never been in any other town except Mellborough.”
“Lucky boy!” he exclaimed, half lightly, half in earnest. “You have all the pleasures of life before you, with the sauce of novelty to help you to relish them. What would I not give never to have seen Paris or Vienna, or never to have been in love, or tasted quails on toast! But here we are at the theatre!” ”

“ Standing on the threshold of his inner room was the tall, dark figure of Mr. Ravenor, handsomer than ever, it seemed to me, in his plain evening dress.
Slowly he advanced out of the shadows, with a faint smile upon his pale face, and laid his hand upon her shoulder, looking first at my little hostess and then at me.
“So you’ve been entertaining one of my guests for me, Trixie, have you?” he said. “Rather late for you to be up, isn’t it? Your nurse has been looking for you everywhere.”
“Then I suppose I must go,” Lady Beatrice Cecilia remarked deliberately. ”

“ A cry burst from my lips, but my father checked me.
“It is well,” he said. “Sit down. You need not fear; I will confess.”
“You have nothing to confess. It is I who must do that.”
“What do you mean?” my father asked, peering forward into the darkness, for there was no lamp lit in the room. “Come nearer; I cannot see your face.”
With trembling fingers I drew up the blind from the high window. The moon, which had just emerged from a bank of black, flying clouds, cast a long stream of light across the room.
Francis moved forward with slow, reluctant steps. ”

“ The faint night breeze was just sufficient to carry to our ears the dull, monotonous roar of an incoming tide.
“Not a very cheerful row, is it?” observed Cecil.
“Cheerful! I call it the most infernally miserable sound I ever heard!” growled de Cartienne, from the back seat, “enough to give a fellow the horrors any day!”
“See that bright light close ahead?” said Cecil, pointing with his whip. “That’s Borden Tower, where we hang out, you know. We shall be there in a minute or two.” ”

“ The table betrayed all the signs of an all-night orgie. Several packs of cards were lying strewn over the crumpled, ash-scattered cloth. There were half-a-dozen tumblers—one nearly full, another broken into pieces—and several empty soda-water bottles lay on the floor.
But the most ghastly sight of all was Cecil’s face. He sat on a chair drawn up to the table, his chin fallen upon his folded arms, dark rims under his eyes, and without a single vestige of colour in his ashen face. There was no one else in the room. ”

“ In a country district everybody knows everyone else’s business; and, child though I was, I knew that no marriage was taking place anywhere near.
I stood listening in wonderment, for I had never heard such a thing before; and, while I was lingering, the bells from Annerley, a village a little farther away, and the grand, mellow-sounding chimes from the chapel at Ravenor Castle, breaking the silence of many years, took up the peal, and the lazy summer day seemed all of a sudden to wake up into a state of unaccountable delight. ”

“ Ravenor is expected home,” she said slowly.
I started and a little exclamation of pleasure escaped me. There was no man whom I longed so much to see. What a reputation was his! A scholar of European fame, a poet, and a great sinner; a Crœsus; at times a reckless Sybarite, at others an ascetic and a hermit; a student of Voltaire; the founder of a new school of philosophy. All these things I had heard of him at different times, but as yet I had never seen him. Something more than my curiosity had been excited and I looked forward now to its gratification. ”

“ In less than a minute the bell sounded again.
“His name is Richards, sir—or, rather, he says he is known to you by that name—and he is very emphatic about seeing you—and, begging your pardon, sir, a little insolent. He says that his business is of the utmost importance.”
[72]
I repeated the message and stood as though turned to stone. Was my fancy playing tricks with me in the dimly-lit room, or had Mr. Ravenor’s face really become ghastly and livid, like the face of a man who sees the phantom shadows of a hideous nightmare passing before his fixed gaze? ”

“ Cecil assented. “No one but a blackguard would have behaved as he did to poor little Milly. But about London, Phil?”
“I will go,” I said. “If you like we will leave here to-morrow.”
Lady Silchester received us very kindly, and Beatrice, though full of the distractions of her first season, seemed even better pleased to see us. It was strange how much I found in the tall slim girl, whom everyone was quoting as the beauty of the season, to remind me of the quaint, old-fashioned child whose imperious manner and naïve talk had so charmed me a few years ago. ”

“ The waiter called a hansom, and we drove through the busy streets, Mr. Marx leisurely smoking a fragrant cigarette, and I leaning forward, watching the hurrying throngs of people, some pleasure-seekers, but mostly just released from their daily toil at the factory or workshop.
It was a wet night and the streets seemed like a perfect sea of umbrellas. The rain was coming down in sheets, beating against the closed glass front of our cab and dimming its surface, until it became impossible to see farther than the horse’s head. ”

“ I looked up from the letter with a great sense of relief and met Cecil’s delighted gaze.
“Hurrah, old chap!” he exclaimed, only half under his breath. “Won’t we have a rare old time?”
“Cave!” I whispered, for the doctor was looking our way.
“More vacation,” he remarked, in a grumbling tone, which was made up for, however, by a good-natured smile. “Upon my word, I don’t know how Mr. Ravenor imagines you’re ever going to learn anything! However, I suppose you must go.”
de Cartienne looked up inquiringly.
“We’re going to stay at Ravenor Castle for a week,” Cecil explained. “We’re off to-morrow.” ”

“ We were standing together on the lawn in front of the house and she was in the shadow of a tall cypress tree.
“I do not suppose that he will remain here long,” she continued, in a hard, strained tone; “but while he is at the Castle it is my wish that you do not enter the park at all.”
“Not enter the park!” I repeated the words and stared at my mother in blank astonishment. What difference could Mr. Ravenor’s presence make to us?
“Surely you do not mean this?” I cried, bitterly disappointed. “Why, I have been looking forward for years to see Mr. Ravenor! He is a famous man!” ”

“ I strolled over to the high French windows and looked out upon the grey twilight. I had scarcely stood there for a moment when the sound of horses’ feet and smoothly rolling wheels coming up the broad drive told me that Mr. Ravenor’s visitor was at hand, and immediately afterwards a small brougham flashed past the window and, describing a semi-circle, pulled up in front of the hall door. A footman leaped down from the box and several servants stood on the steps and respectfully saluted the lady who had alighted from the carriage. ”

“ Marx’s brief note, was to show it to Mr. Ravenor; but, after a second’s consideration, I changed my mind. Mr. Marx was a complete mystery to me. At times it seemed possible that the interest which he undoubtedly showed in me was genuine and kindly, and I struggled against my dislike of the man. Then I remembered his brutal conduct to the lunatic and the other inexplicable parts of his behaviour, and the darkest suspicions and doubts began to take shape in my imagination. ”

“ We could see nothing, for a thick mantle of darkness—a darkness which could almost be felt—had fallen upon the earth. We stood crouched together, trembling and fearful.
“Thank Heaven for the darkness!” my mother murmured to herself. “Philip,” she went on, stooping down and feeling for my hand, “do you know where we are? We should be close to the slate-pits.”
I was on the point of answering her, but the words died away on my parted lips. Such a sight as was revealed to us at that moment might have driven a strong man mad. ”

“ Just then Cecil appeared, and she beckoned him eagerly to her side.
“Cecil, Mr. Morton tells me that you have promised to ride with Beatrice this morning,” she said.
“So we did,” he exclaimed. “Awfully sorry to disappoint her, but, of course, I didn’t know anything about the meet.”
“Oh, I am glad that you are not going to desert me, then,” she said, laughing. “Mr. Morton declares that he is going to keep his engagement.”
“Very good of him, if he is,” remarked Cecil, stirring his tea with great cheerfulness.
“Don’t pity me,” I said, rising. “I’m sure I shall enjoy it. Au revoir, Miss Hamilton.” ”

“ Far away below me—for Ravenor Castle stood on the highest point in the country—a dull-red glow in the sky, and many twinkling lights stretched far and wide, marked the place where a great town lay. On my right hand was a smooth stretch of green turf, dotted all over with thickly growing spreading oak trees. On the left was a straggling plantation, bounded by a low greystone wall, which sloped down gradually to one of the bracken-covered, disused slate-quarries, with which the neighbourhood abounded. ”

“ MISS MABEL FAY.
The cab pulled up with a jerk underneath a long row of brightly burning lights. We dismounted, and I followed Mr. Marx up a broad flight of thickly carpeted stairs into a semi-circular corridor draped with crimson hangings and dimly lit with rose-coloured lights. A faint perfume hung about the place, and from below came the soft melody of a rhythmical German waltz which the orchestra was playing. I almost held my breath, with a curious mixture of expectation and excitement, as I followed Mr. Marx and an attendant down the corridor. ”

“ A TÊTE-À-TÊTE DINNER.
“What have you been up to in Torchester, eh? Shopping?” Mr. Marx inquired. I saw no reason for concealing anything from him, nor did I do so. Rather awkwardly I told him of Mr. Ravenor’s note to me, and that I had been with Reynolds all the afternoon. Perhaps I spoke with a little enthusiasm of our somewhat elaborate purchases. At any rate, when I had finished, he laughed softly to himself—a long, noiseless, but not unpleasant laugh.
“Well, I’m glad I met you,” he said, his lips still twitching, as though with amusement. “Sit down and have some dinner with me.” ”

“ Some of the vacant chairs were taken possession of by men, and already delicate blue clouds of smoke were curling upwards to the vaulted ceiling. It was the short period dearer to the heart of man than any during the day. Every one stretched out his stiff limbs, filled his glass and assumed his favourite attitude. Voices were raised and a sudden change of tone crept in upon the conversation. Only Mr. Ravenor and a few of the older guests appeared to be still engrossed in the discussion of some abstruse scientific controversy then raging in the reviews. ”

“ A great man once said that the best adviser of youth was the man whose own life had been a failure. If this be anything more than a paradox, then there can be no one better fitted for that post than I. Already the flavour of life has become like dead ashes between my teeth; and the fault is my own. Mr. Marris was talking a great deal of nonsense in the drawing-room before dinner this evening. ”

“ Again the tinkle of the telephone bell rang out from the corner and interrupted his speech. Mr. Ravenor motioned me towards it.
“Go and hear what it is and repeat it to me,” he said.
I put my ear to the tube and repeated the words as they came:
“A man desires to see you, sir, but refuses to give his name. I have told him that it is quite useless my communicating with you without it; but he is persistent and refuses to go away. He is respectably dressed, but rather rough-looking.”
Mr. Ravenor shrugged his shoulders and took up his pen, as though about to resume his writing. ”

“ Ravenor leaned back in his armchair, apparently content to wait for her decision. I moved across the room to her side and took her cold fingers into mine.
“Mother,” I cried, with glowing cheeks and voice trembling with eagerness, “what is the matter? Why do you not say ‘yes’? You know how I have wanted to go to college! There is no reason why you should not consent, is there?”
Mr. Ravenor smiled—a very slight movement of the lips. ”

“ Late in the afternoon of the following day a visitor rode through the stack-yard and reined in his horse before our door. I was reading in the room which my mother chiefly occupied and, when I glanced out of the side-window, overhung and darkened by jessamine and honeysuckle, I had a great surprise. The book dropped from my fingers and I stood still for a moment, uncertain what to do. For outside, sitting composedly upon his fine black horse and apparently considering as to the best means of making his presence known, was Mr. Ravenor. ”