I stood open-mouthed, aghast, petrified.
Sybil, the woman I loved better than life, was dead, and I had been married to her!
CHAPTER THREE.
GHOSTS OF THE PAST.
Horrified and appalled, my startled eyes were riveted upon the flawless face that in life had entranced me.
"See! She"s dead--dead!" I gasped wildly, when a few seconds later I fully realised the ghastly truth.
Then throwing myself upon my knees, heedless of the presence of strangers, I seized her clammy hand that bore the wedding ring, and covered it with mad, grief-impa.s.sioned caresses. In her breast was a spray of tuberoses, flowers ineffably emblematic of the grave. Faugh!
how I have ever since detested their gruesome, sickly odour. There is death in their breath.
The despairing look in her sightless eyes was so horrible that I covered my face with my hands to shut it out from my gaze. The secret terror that she had dreaded, and to which she had made such veiled, gloomy references, had actually fallen. Her incredible presage of evil, which in Luchon I had at first regarded as the fantastic imaginings of a romantic disposition, had actually become an accomplished fact--some dire, mysterious catastrophe, sudden and complete, had overwhelmed her.
The woman I adored was dead!
In those moments of desolation, stricken down by a sudden grief, I bent over the slim, delicate hands that had so often grasped mine in warm affection, and there came back to me memories of the brief joyous days in the gay little mountain town, when for hours I walked by her side in rapturous transports and sat with her each evening under the trees, charmed by her manner, fascinated by her wondrous fathomless eyes, held by her beautiful countenance as under a spell. There had seemed some mysterious rapport between her soul and mine. The sun shone more brightly for me on the day she came into my world, and my heart became filled with a supreme happiness such as I, blase and world-weary, had never known. Heaven had endowed her with one of those women"s souls embodying pity and love, a ray of joy-giving light from a better world, that consoled my being, softened my existence, and aroused within me for the first time the conviction that in this brotherhood of tears there existed one true-hearted, soft-voiced woman, who might be the sweet companion of my future life. Through those few sunny days we had been forgetful of all earth"s grim realities, of all the evil thoughts of the world. We had led an almost idyllic existence, inspired by our love-making with great contempt for everything, vainly imagining that we should have no other care than that of loving one another.
Ah! how brief, alas! had been our paradise! How sudden and complete was my bereavement! how bitter my sorrow!
True, Sybil had spoken of the mysterious spectral terror which constantly held her in a paroxysm of fear; yet having been satisfied by her declaration that she was not already married, I had continued to love her with the whole strength of my being, never dreaming that her end was so near. Dead! She could no longer utter those soft, sympathetic words that had brought peace to me. No longer could she press my hand, nor smile upon me with those great eyes, clear and trusting as a child"s. Only her soulless body was before me; only her chilly form that ere long would be s.n.a.t.c.hed from my sight forever.
No, I could not realise that she had departed beyond recall. In mad desperation I kissed her brow in an attempt to revivify her. At that moment her sweet voice seemed raised within me, but it was a voice of remembrance that brought hot tears to my eyes.
A second later I sprang up, startled by a loud knocking at the door of the room. The unknown onlookers, breathless and silent, exchanged glances of abject terror. "Hark!" I cried. "What"s that?"
"Hush!" they commanded fiercely. For a few seconds there was a dead silence, then the summons was repeated louder than before, as a deep voice outside cried:
"Open the door. We are police officers, and demand admittance in the name of the law."
Upon the small a.s.sembly the words fell like a thunderbolt.
"They have come!" gasped one of the women, pale and trembling. She was of middle age, and wore an elaborate toilette with a magnificent necklet of pearls.
"Silence! Make no answer," the man who had conducted me from Richmond whispered anxiously. "They may pa.s.s on, and we may yet escape."
"Escape!" I echoed, looking from one to the other; "what crime have you committed?"
A third time the knocking was repeated, when suddenly there was a loud crash, and the door, slowly breaking from its hinges, fell, with its silken portiere, heavily into the room as three detectives, springing over it, dashed towards us.
"See! there she is!" cried one of the men authoritatively, pointing to Sybil. "Arrest her!"
The two others dashed forward to execute their inspector"s orders, but as they did so the clergyman stepped quickly before her chair, and, raising his bony hand, cried:
"Back, I command you! Back! The lady for whose arrest I presume you hold a warrant has, alas! gone to where she is not amenable to the law of man."
The men halted, puzzled.
"What do you mean?" cried the inspector.
"Look for yourselves, gentlemen," the man answered calmly. Then, in a voice full of emotion he added, "She is dead!"
"Dead! Impossible!" all three echoed dismayed, as next second they crowded around her, gazed into her calm, sweet face, and touching her stiffening fingers, at last satisfied themselves of the terrible truth.
Then they removed their hats reverently, and, aghast at the sudden and unexpected discovery, stood eagerly listening to the grave-faced man who had made the amazing announcement.
"Yes," he continued, preserving a quiet demeanour. "Such an occurrence is undoubtedly as unexpected by you as it is bitterly painful to us.
This intrusion upon the death-chamber is, I know, warranted by certain unfortunate circ.u.mstances; nevertheless it is my duty, as the officiating priest, to inform you that shortly before this lady expired she was united in matrimony by special licence to this gentleman, Mr Stuart Ridgeway, and of course if you wish you can inspect the register, which I think you will find duly in order."
"The marriage does not concern us," the red-faced inspector answered, murmuring in the same breath an apology for causing us unnecessary pain by forcing the door. "The lady is dead, therefore we must, of course, return our warrant unexecuted."
The others also expressed regret at their hasty action, and, having quite satisfied themselves that Sybil was not merely unconscious, they consulted among themselves in an undertone, and afterwards withdrew with disappointment plainly portrayed upon their features.
"What is the meaning of this?" I demanded angrily of the clergyman when they had gone.
"Unfortunately I can make no explanation," he replied.
"But while I have been unconscious you have, without my knowledge or consent, performed the ceremony of marriage, uniting me to a dead bride.
You have thus rendered yourself distinctly liable to prosecution, therefore I demand to know the reason at once," I exclaimed fiercely.
Unconcernedly he shrugged his shoulders, answering: "I regret extremely that it is beyond my power to satisfy you. No doubt all this appears exceedingly strange; nevertheless, when the truth is revealed, I venture to think you will not be inclined to judge me quite so harshly, sir. I was asked to perform a service, and have done so. This lady is your wife, although, alas! she no longer lives."
"But why was I entrapped here to be wedded to a dying woman?"
"I have acted no part in entrapping you--as you term it," he protested with calm dignity. "I had but one duty; I have performed that faithfully."
"Then I am to understand that you absolutely refuse to tell me the name of my dead wife, or any facts concerning her?"
"I do."
"Very well, then. I shall invoke the aid of the police in order to fully investigate the mystery," I said. "That all of you fear arrest is evident from the alarm betrayed on the arrival of the officers. What guarantee have I that Sybil has not been murdered?"
"Mine," interposed one of the men, bald-headed and grey bearded, who had until then been standing silent and thoughtful. "I may as well inform you that I am a qualified medical pract.i.tioner, and for two years have been this lady"s medical attendant. She suffered acutely from heart-disease, and the hurry and excitement of the marriage ceremony under such strange conditions has resulted fatally. I think my certificate, combined with my personal reputation in the medical profession, will be quite sufficient to satisfy any coroner"s officer."
Approaching my dead bride as he spoke, he tenderly closed her staring eyes, composed her hands, and, taking up the veil I had torn aside, folded it and placed it lightly across her white face.
I was about to demur, when suddenly the man who had acted as my guide placed his hand upon my shoulder, saying in a calm, serious tone:
"Remember, you have taken your oath never to attempt to elucidate this mystery."
"Yes, but if I have suspicion that Sybil has been murdered I am justified in breaking it," I cried in protest. "She has not been murdered, I swear," he replied. "Moreover, the doctor here stakes his professional reputation by giving a certificate showing natural causes."
This did not satisfy me, and I commented in rather uncomplimentary terms upon the unsatisfactory nature of the whole proceedings.
"But before coming here you accepted my conditions," the man said, thrusting his hands deep into his pockets. "Sybil sought your aid to save her from a deadly peril, and you were willing to a.s.sist her. You have done so, although alas! all our efforts have been unavailing. You have had the unique experience of having been a bridegroom and a widower within ten minutes. Although I admit that there are many mysterious circ.u.mstances surrounding your tragic union, yet for the present it is impossible to give my explanation. Indeed, as I have already told you, any inquiries must inevitably increase your burden of sorrow and unhappiness. Therefore preserve silence and wait until I am able to render you full satisfaction. When the true facts are exposed, you will find that the only safeguard to ourselves lies in the present preservation of our secret."
I observed that he was fully alive to my suspicions, that he divined them, and anxiously followed my words. I surprised a swift gleam in his eye that revealed the instinctive terror of the animal attacked at the moment of its fancied security. I felt convinced that a crime had been committed. At thought of it my heart-beats were quickened, and my nerves thrilled. Again he placed his hand upon my shoulder, but I shrank with unconquerable repugnance from that contact. "I intend to elucidate this mystery," I said firmly. "Neither threats nor oaths shall deter me from seeking the truth."