"My motive is to warn you," said Auriol. "If you love me, you are lost--utterly lost!"
She was so startled, that she could make no reply, but burst into tears.
Auriol took her hand, which she unresistingly yielded.
"A terrible fatality attaches to me, in which you must have no share,"
he said, in a solemn tone.
"Would you had never come to my father"s house!" she exclaimed, in a voice of anguish.
"Is it, then, too late?" cried Auriol despairingly.
"It is--if to love you be fatal," she rejoined.
"Ha!" exclaimed Auriol, striking his forehead with his clenched hand.
"Recall your words--Ebba--recall them--but no, once uttered--it is impossible. You are bound to me for ever. I must fulfil my destiny."
At this juncture a low growl broke from the dog, and, guided by the sound, the youthful couple beheld, standing near the gate, the tall dark man in the black cloak. A fiendish smile sat upon his countenance.
"That is the man who frightened me!" cried Ebba.
"It is the person I supposed!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Auriol. "I must speak to him.
Leave me, Ebba. I will join you presently."
And as the girl, half sinking with apprehension, withdrew, he advanced quickly towards the intruder.
"I have sought you for some days," said the tall man, in a stern, commanding voice. "You have not kept your appointment with me."
"I could not," replied Auriol--"an accident has befallen me."
"I know it," rejoined the other. "I am aware you were a.s.sailed by ruffians in the ruined house over the way. But you are recovered now, and can go forth. You ought to have communicated with me."
"It was my intention to do so," said Auriol.
"Our meeting cannot be delayed much longer," pursued the stranger. "I will give you three more days. On the evening of the last day, at the hour of seven, I shall look for you at the foot of the statue in Hyde Park."
"I will be there," replied Auriol.
"That girl must be the next victim," said the stranger, with a grim smile.
"Peace!" thundered Auriol.
"Nay, I need not remind you of the tenure by which you maintain your power," rejoined the stranger. "But I will not trouble you further now."
And, wrapping his cloak more closely round him, he disappeared.
"Fate has once more involved me in its net," cried Auriol bitterly. "But I will save Ebba, whatever it may cost me. I will see her no more."
And instead of returning to the house, he hurried away in the opposite direction of the stranger.
CHAPTER V
THE MEETING NEAR THE STATUE
The evening of the third day arrived, and Auriol entered Hyde Park by Stanhope Gate. Glancing at his watch, and finding it wanted nearly three-quarters of an hour of the time appointed for his meeting with the mysterious stranger, he struck across the park, in the direction of the Serpentine River. Apparently he was now perfectly recovered, for his arm was without the support of the sling, and he walked with great swiftness. But his countenance was deathly pale, and his looks were so wild and disordered, that the few persons he encountered shrank from him aghast.
A few minutes" rapid walking brought him to the eastern extremity of the Serpentine, and advancing close to the edge of the embankment, he gazed at the waters beneath his feet.
"I would plunge into them, if I could find repose," he murmured. "But it would avail nothing. I should only add to my sufferings. No; I must continue to endure the weight of a life burdened by crime and remorse, till I can find out the means of freeing myself from it. Once I dreaded this unknown danger, but now I seek for it in vain."
The current of his thoughts was here interrupted by the sudden appearance of a dark object on the surface of the water, which he at first took to be a huge fish, with a pair of green fins springing from its back; but after watching it more closely for a few moments, he became convinced that it was a human being, tricked out in some masquerade attire, while the slight struggles which it made proved that life was not entirely extinct.
Though, the moment before, he had contemplated self-destruction, and had only been restrained from the attempt by the certainty of failing in his purpose, instinct prompted him to rescue the perishing creature before him. Without hesitation, therefore, and without tarrying to divest himself of his clothes, he dashed into the water, and striking out, instantly reached the object of his quest, which still continued to float, and turning it over, for the face was downwards, he perceived it was an old man, of exceedingly small size, habited in a pantomimic garb.
He also remarked that a rope was twisted round the neck of the unfortunate being, making it evident that some violent attempt had been made upon his life.
Without pausing for further investigation, he took firm hold of the leathern wings of the dwarf, and with his disengaged hand propelled himself towards the sh.o.r.e, dragging the other after him. The next instant he reached the bank, clambered up the low brickwork, and placed his burden in safety.
The noise of the plunge had attracted attention, and several persons now hurried to the spot. On coming up, and finding Auriol bending over a water-sprite--for such, at first sight, the dwarf appeared--they could not repress their astonishment. Wholly insensible to the presence of those around him, Auriol endeavoured to recall where he had seen the dwarf before. All at once, the recollection flashed upon him, and he cried aloud, "Why, it is my poor murdered grandfather"s attendant, Flapdragon! But no! no!--he must be dead ages ago! Yet the resemblance is singularly striking!"
Auriol"s exclamations, coupled with his wild demeanour, surprised the bystanders, and they came to the conclusion that he must be a travelling showman, who had attempted to drown his dwarf--the grotesque, impish garb of the latter convincing them that he had been exhibited at a booth. They made signs, therefore, to each other not to let Auriol escape, and one of them, raising the dwarf"s head on his knee, produced a flask, and poured some brandy from it down his throat, while others chafed his hands. These efforts were attended with much speedier success than might have been antic.i.p.ated. After a struggle or two for respiration, the dwarf opened his eyes, and gazed at the group around him.
"It must be Flapdragon!" exclaimed Auriol.
"Ah! who calls me?" cried the dwarf.
"I!" rejoined Auriol. "Do you not recollect me?"
"To be sure!" exclaimed the dwarf, gazing at him fixedly; "you are----"
and he stopped.
"You have been thrown into the water, Master Flapdragon?" cried a bystander, noticing the cord round the dwarf"s throat.
"I have," replied the little old man.
"By your governor--that is, by this person?" cried another, laying hold of Auriol.
"By him--no," said the dwarf; "I have not seen that gentleman for nearly three centuries."
"Three centuries, my little patriarch?" said the man who had given him the brandy. "That"s a long time. Think again."
"It"s perfectly true, nevertheless," replied the dwarf.
"His wits have been washed away by the water," said the first speaker.
"Give him a drop more brandy."