""I nerved myself for a struggle, but in that moment"s pause a thin, white hand stole from behind the curtain and held mine for a moment.
"""Martin, go quickly!" said a faint, weak voice, so altered that I scarcely recognised it as the voice of Irene. "It is my wish--my command."
"""One word, Irene!" I cried, struggling to free myself. "Just one word!"
"""Farewell!"
"""Irene, you are my wife. Have you nothing else to say to me?"
"""Farewell!"
""There was no sweetness, no regret in that single word. I bowed my head in despair and went.""
There was a long pause. Father Adrian was leaning back in his chair with half-closed eyes, as though exhausted. Paul, standing opposite to him, motionless and silent as a figure of stone, was listening to every word with grave, anxious face.
"Will you hear the rest of the story now?" the priest asked after a prolonged silence.
Paul bowed his head. "I am waiting," he said simply.
"I will continue, then, in your father"s own words as near as possible. This is what he told me."
""I lingered in the island for several days, staying at the monastery, unwilling to go away, and yet frustrated in every attempt I made to enter the castle. On the fourth day, at sunrise, I was awakened suddenly by the deep tolling of the castle bell. I dressed hastily, and hurried up there; but I was thrust from the door, and forbidden to enter. I learned the truth, however, from one of the servants. Irene was dead. On the next day I saw the little funeral procession start from the castle, and directly they entered the grounds of the monastery I joined them. The old Count, bowed and aged with grief, stayed the ceremony, and bade them, with a sudden flash of his old anger, thrust me from the place. But the priest by whose side I had taken my stand raised his hand, and forbade them to touch me. I was in sanctuary,--my feet were on holy ground--and though the Count of Cruta, and Count Hirsfeld who knelt by his side, trembled with anger at my presence, I remained, and on my knees by my wife"s grave I uttered the first prayer my lips had framed since childhood. Through the pine trees which fringed the cliffs, I could see the path where she and I had met in the days when I was her father"s guest, and when I had knelt at her feet a pa.s.sionate lover. The sunlight flashed upon the blue waters below, and the seabirds flew screaming around our heads. It was all just as it had been in the old days; the same for me, but never more for her. The long black coffin was lowered into the grave, and reverently Count Hirsfeld stepped forward and covered it with armfuls of exquisite white flowers, whose perfume made faint the odorous air. And I had no flowers to throw, nothing but the tribute of a pa.s.sionate grief, and a heart well-nigh broken with sorrow and remorse.
""The ceremony was over, and the black-robed monks and priest had pa.s.sed away in a long, solemn procession. Her father, Count Hirsfeld, and I remained there alone; and over Irene"s grave I leaned forward, speaking gently and humbly to him, praying for one word of forgiveness. His only answer was a look of scorn, and he turned away from me with loathing. He would not hear me speak. To him, I was his daughter"s murderer.
""I left the island that night, and returned to England. For several years I lived a very retired life, attending to my duties upon the estate and seldom travelling beyond it. The memory of Irene seemed to haunt me. But as time went on, a change came over my spirits. I was young; and although I still bitterly regretted the past, its influence became weaker and weaker. What was done could not be undone; such reparation as was possible I had made. Brooding over my sin would never make it the less. I reasoned thus with myself, and the final result was inevitable. I commenced to mix more with my fellows, to look up my old friends in town,--in fact, to take up again the threads of my life, which I had once regarded as broken for ever.
""After a while I married; and then, more than ever, Irene and that portion of my past which was bound up with her seemed like some vague, far-distant nightmare, fast a.s.suming a very remote place in my thoughts. I loved my wife as I had never loved Irene, and for a time I was intensely happy. A son was born to me, and in my joy I feasted half the county at Vaux Abbey. I had desired nothing so much as this, for the De Vaux estates and mines, immense as they are, are all strictly entailed. A son was wanted to complete my happiness, and a son I had. But already, although I knew it not, a storm was gathering for me.
""It was about a fortnight after the festivities, and I had just come in with some friends from an afternoon"s shooting, when I was told that a gentleman from abroad--the servant believed--was waiting to see me in the library. Even as he spoke the words I seemed to know who it was. My heart sank, and the presentiment of some coming evil was strong upon me. I hesitated, and then, feverishly anxious to know the worst, I turned away with some careless excuse to my guests and entered the library.
""It was Count Hirsfeld who stood there waiting for my arrival, with a calm, evil smile upon his lips, which instinctively I felt to be the herald of some coming trouble for me. Yet my courage did not altogether desert me.
"""Count Hirsfeld, your presence here demands an immediate explanation," I said sternly. "Had I been at home, you would not have been admitted."
"""I come," he answered slowly, with his eyes fixed steadily upon my face, "as an amba.s.sador from your wife."
"""From my wife!" I repeated. "You do not know her! What do you mean?"
""He shrugged his shoulders. "I regret that my meaning is not clear,"
he said. "I repeat that I come as an amba.s.sador from your wife, Irene de Vaux. I have brought you a message from her."
"""A message from the dead!" I gasped.
"""Dead! By no means!" he answered, with a slow, cruel smile. "Irene is living! Is it possible that you did not know it?"""
CHAPTER XXVII
"GRIM FIGURES TRACED BY SORROW"S FIERY HAND"
The lamp which stood on Paul"s writing-table had gone out, and only a few dull red embers remained in the grate. By moving a single yard backwards, Paul was almost lost in the deep shadows which hung about the room, whilst such light as there was fell directly upon the priest"s pale face. During those last few moments his voice had grown a shade more solemn--more intense. Paul, who stood looking out at him from the darkness with dazed senses, like a man in a dream, never doubted for an instant, although perhaps he scarcely realized the full meaning of the story to which he was listening.
"It must have been in this very room," Father Adrian continued, looking around him, "that your father and Count Hirsfeld stood face to face. But you are naturally impatient. I will take up the story again in your father"s own words to me.
""It was several moments before I could collect myself sufficiently to answer Count Hirsfeld. Everything seemed dim and unreal around me.
Only that calm, mocking face remained steadfast, and his words rang in my ears.
"""It is a lie!" I gasped. "We stood together by her grave! She is dead!"
""The calmness suddenly vanished from my tormentor"s face and manner.
His eyes were ablaze with mingled triumph and hate. "You thought so, you poor fool!" he hissed out at me across the table. "Bah! you were a fool! You were easily deceived! Listen!
"""You thought it a light thing to carry off the only daughter of the last Count of Cruta. "Twas easily done, no doubt; but you made for yourself enemies of men from whose vengeance you were bound to suffer.
One was the Count whose daughter you had dishonoured, and whose proud name you disgraced; the other was myself, the man whom she was to have married--myself, who loved her! Do you think that because I did not seek you out and shoot you as you deserved, that I forgot? There were men on the island who loved their lord, and who at the word from him would have hunted you down and murdered you. If he restrained them, do you imagine he was willing to bear this great dishonour without striking a blow? Bah! it was my word that said "wait," my counsel which saved you from death as too light a punishment. There is another way, I said. So we waited.
"""It was my persuasions which induced Irene to leave you and return to her father. It was I who pointed out to her your great selfishness, and raised in her the longing for revenge! It was I who laid the plot into which you fell.
"""A few words more! It is all so simple! Irene was about to become a mother; and you, believing her to be on her deathbed, married her. The child was born on the next day--your son and heir! Meanwhile, Irene"s waiting maid, who had been for long in a consumption, died. It was her funeral which you attended with such interesting penitence. Irene herself was fast recovering; she was never in any real danger. She lives with her old father, and the boy lives with her. We waited! We read of your marriage, and the Count cried, "Let us strike!" But I said, "No, let us wait!" Time went on. We read again of the birth of a son and heir to you, and of the great rejoicings. Irene held your boy in her arms, and she frowned. "Go now," she commanded, "tell Martin de Vaux that his son and heir is here, and his wife is here! Tell him that they are weary of his absence." So I came!"
""There was a dead silence. My throat and lips were dry; I could not speak. Count Hirsfeld watched me with folded arms. It was his vengeance!
"""It is not true!" I stammered out at last. "I will not believe it.
Irene is dead!"
""I tried to speak confidently, but I failed. In my heart I believed the Count.
""He shrugged his shoulders. "You have reason," he remarked. "Why should you believe me? Come to Cruta, and you will see for yourself.
You can see the headstone at the foot of the grave: "Sacred to the memory of Marie, faithful servant of Irene of Cruta." You can see the doctor who attended her and your wife at the same time! Better still, you can see your wife and your infant son! What do you say?"
"""I will not go!" I cried pa.s.sionately. "I will not see them! It was base treachery!"
"""One must use the weapons of craft against villains," he said.
"There is no baseness to equal yours. You are repaid in your own coin; that is all."
""I sank into a chair. The insult moved me to no fit of anger. I was numbed.
"""If this be true," I asked, "what does Irene ask for? I will not go back to her, or see her, or acknowledge her in any way. She can have money, that is all!"
"""Naturally, she requires an allowance," Count Hirsfeld answered, "and a large one, to enable her to bring up her son in accordance with his position!"