STRAINS OF MUSIC DRIFTED FROM THE A a.s.sEMBLY R ROOMS as we mounted the Castle"s stairs, and the entry was crowded with young ladies in white muslin, gentlemen in satin knee breeches, and duennas of imposing gravity determined to protect the virtue of their charges. We were to part from the Earl and his lady at the a.s.sembly Room doors, where the Swithins intended to form a part of the glittering throng; and as Henry and I turned from the brightly-lit room-hundreds of candles being illuminated in chandeliers suspended from the lofty ceiling-I was greeted in a barely audible accent by my young acquaintance, Miss Catherine Twining. as we mounted the Castle"s stairs, and the entry was crowded with young ladies in white muslin, gentlemen in satin knee breeches, and duennas of imposing gravity determined to protect the virtue of their charges. We were to part from the Earl and his lady at the a.s.sembly Room doors, where the Swithins intended to form a part of the glittering throng; and as Henry and I turned from the brightly-lit room-hundreds of candles being illuminated in chandeliers suspended from the lofty ceiling-I was greeted in a barely audible accent by my young acquaintance, Miss Catherine Twining.
She looked all the youthfulness of her fifteen years, a slight figure beside the imposing height and breadth of her father, the General; the white muslin she wore made her skin appear sallow; but her dark hair and eyes were as lovely as ever. Only a natural flush to her cheeks and an appearance of joy common to one of the Season"s first a.s.semblies, were utterly lacking-Catherine, I perceived, was not in spirits this evening.
I begged the honour of making her known to our friends-performed the introduction of Earl and Countess, to Catherine"s pleased confusion; and joined my thanks to Lady Swithin for our delightful evening, with my brother Henry"s.
"I shall call upon you first thing, my dear Miss Austen, to give you an account of the ball," Desdemona promised, twinkling; and then her lord swept her into the Rooms, which were as full as they could hold.
"How very fashionable the Countess is, and how very kind the Earl," Catherine Twining breathed. "He looks most truly truly the gentleman." the gentleman."
She may have compared him to the unfavourable memory of Lord Byron; or perhaps to that of her more determined suitor-for a second glance at the crowd mounting the stairs behind General Twining revealed Mr. Hendred Smalls. He formed a third in the Twining party, and had no doubt already claimed several of Catherine"s dances.
She made so bold, however, as to renew our acquaintance; pressed her father to acknowledge my brother Henry; extended the honour to Mr. Hendred Smalls, who bared his unfortunate teeth; and concluded breathlessly, in a lowered voice meant for my ears alone, "Oh, Miss Austen, are you indeed attending? Might I hope to speak with you in the interval between dances? For you must know, I am all of a quake!"
"My state of mourning prevents me entirely from joining the a.s.sembly; but I shall sadly miss your society, Miss Twining." And I confess I did did regret retiring to my bedchamber; the music was infectious, my foot was tapping out a reel. "What has occurred, my dear, to discompose you so?" regret retiring to my bedchamber; the music was infectious, my foot was tapping out a reel. "What has occurred, my dear, to discompose you so?"
"He is here!" she breathed. "Do but glance through the doors, and you shall espy him leaning against a column, for all the world as tho" he were not in the habit of abducting unwilling females! I had thought him returned for good to London! Am I never to be free of his society?" is here!" she breathed. "Do but glance through the doors, and you shall espy him leaning against a column, for all the world as tho" he were not in the habit of abducting unwilling females! I had thought him returned for good to London! Am I never to be free of his society?"
"Lord Byron shall hardly attempt to seduce you in the middle of a ball." I was amused despite myself. But Miss Twining was too agitated for ill-applied humour.
"Oh, Miss Austen, do you think it possible he has published my shame to all of Brighton? Am I entirely exposed? Is it likely I shall enter the a.s.sembly, only to be cut dead dead by all my acquaintance?" by all my acquaintance?"
"Hush, my child!" I glanced with a casual air through the doorway. As the sumptuously-dressed throng shifted and parted before my dazzled eyes, I caught a glimpse of a cla.s.sic profile, a sweep of dark curls, a snowy cravat carelessly tied. Lord Byron leaned negligently against the wall, his lame right foot crossed over his left, one hand tucked into the breast of his coat. A branch of candles, flickering in the great room"s draughts, threw his face half in shadow-as romantical a picture as any poet could desire. As I watched, he leaned to whisper in the ear of another gentleman-a tall, thin exquisite with receding hair. Both men smiled.
"His lordship is engrossed in conversation, and it does not appear that anyone has cut him him dead," I observed. dead," I observed.
"That is only Mr. Scrope Davies, who has been intimate with Byron for ages," Catherine retorted. "I am sure he is already in possession of every detail-indeed, it was probably his his cravat I choked on in my misery; Mr. Davies is a cravat I choked on in my misery; Mr. Davies is a dandy dandy, you know, and ruins a score of freshly-ironed cravats each morning, before his valet declares the last to be perfection."
I suppressed a smile. "Recollect that Lord Byron cannot publish an iota of your unfortunate encounter without bringing the whole world"s indignation on his own head. You may rest easy, Miss Twining-indeed you may. Do but remain by your father"s side, and all shall be well. You are certainly safe from dancing dancing with his lordship." with his lordship."
"True, he never dances," Catherine said despairingly. "Not even with Lady Caroline Lamb."
I gazed at her in astonishment. "You are acquainted with Lady Caroline?"
"Not at all," Catherine admitted. "All the world is aware of her connexion with Lord Byron. It is said that he forbade her to waltz at Almack"s waltz at Almack"s, because he could not bear to see her in the arms of another; and that she submitted to the prohibition!"
"We may a.s.sume Lady Caroline is waltzing again," I said drily, "Lord Byron having formed a rival attachment."
Catherine flushed. "I think her a very dashing dashing female," she said wistfully. "Quite out of the common way. I should like to have a glimpse of her. Did you know that she is come to Brighton?" female," she said wistfully. "Quite out of the common way. I should like to have a glimpse of her. Did you know that she is come to Brighton?"
"I had heard as much, yes."
"But oh, Miss Austen-" this was becoming a refrain with Miss Twining, rather as tho" she had learnt it from a novel-"I am ready to sink! Papa shall retire to the card room as soon as the first dance is struck up; and I shall be consigned to the care of Mrs. Silchester. She is Papa"s chosen chaperon on every occasion, having been at school with dear Mamma; but she shrinks from offending the gentlemen. You saw how little her protection availed me with Colonel Hanger-and this is Byron Byron! Could I not accompany you to your rooms, and sit with you for a little while?"
I studied the hectic looks of my young friend-the wide, startled eyes-and saw that she had worked herself into a nervous pa.s.sion. "You are looking far too pretty to give up an a.s.sembly, Miss Twining, and should be wasted on the closed air of my rooms!"
"Catherine!" the General"s voice called peremptorily from behind his daughter.
"Could you not stay a little?" she pressed in an urgent whisper.
"Even were I of a mind to sit down throughout, I am told that the Master of Ceremonies-Mr. Forth, is it not?-is very strict in observing the proprieties. I should not wish to excite his censure."
"No-that is, I quite understand-"
"Catherine!" the General barked. "You are not attending! Make your excuses to your friend-Mr. Smalls awaits your pleasure!"
"Coming, Papa." Catherine made her curtsey. "May I call upon you tomorrow, Miss Austen?"
"-And relate every detail of your Success. I shall be in the Castle"s writing room at one o"clock. I absolutely forbid you to be abroad any earlier-after the fatigues of the a.s.sembly, you shall require a late morning."
"I shall depend upon finding you." And with one last, speaking look, Catherine Twining hurried off to place her flower-like hand in the crabbed paw of Mr. Hendred Smalls.
"WHY IS THE G GENERAL DETERMINED TO THROW AWAY HIS daughter upon that aging cleric?" I demanded of my brother as we mounted the stairs to our rooms. "Were she a lady of daughter upon that aging cleric?" I demanded of my brother as we mounted the stairs to our rooms. "Were she a lady of my my age-long since upon the shelf, and every prospect of romance blasted-I should understand his grasping at the most grotesque fellow who offered; but to thrust poor Catherine-who has everything to recommend her: youth, birth, and beauty-at a man who has none of these, is beyond my comprehension!" age-long since upon the shelf, and every prospect of romance blasted-I should understand his grasping at the most grotesque fellow who offered; but to thrust poor Catherine-who has everything to recommend her: youth, birth, and beauty-at a man who has none of these, is beyond my comprehension!"
"Do not be offering her a place in our curricle, Jane," Henry warned as he paused before my door.
"I shall be as firm as you desire."
"Our journey home shall be sadly flat," he sighed, "without the prospect of duels or abduction to lend it spice."
--- THE MUSIC AND BUSTLE THROUGHOUT THE C CASTLE BEING likely to keep me awake some hours, I settled down to pen this account in my journal; and as my candle guttered low, and the cessation of the instruments suggested supper was being served, I stirred up Betsy"s excellent fire, replenished my candlestick, and got into bed to read by the dim light. The improving nature of the text-I had selected a volume of sermons in deference to Recent Events of a Melancholy Turn-was unequal to the fatigue of so advanced an hour; my mind was p.r.o.ne to wander. Laughter and hubbub drifted up from the a.s.sembly Rooms, and I had an idea of the overheated girls, catching a chill as they moved from ballroom to supper, picking at their ices and smoked salmon. Catherine should yet be among them; I hoped for her sake that Lord Byron had quitted the rooms at an early hour, and that Mr. Smalls had retired, as the elderly must, to the card room-leaving the object of his fancy to more suitable partners. Poor Catherine! To be caught between the rage of the poet, and the simpering of the clergyman! likely to keep me awake some hours, I settled down to pen this account in my journal; and as my candle guttered low, and the cessation of the instruments suggested supper was being served, I stirred up Betsy"s excellent fire, replenished my candlestick, and got into bed to read by the dim light. The improving nature of the text-I had selected a volume of sermons in deference to Recent Events of a Melancholy Turn-was unequal to the fatigue of so advanced an hour; my mind was p.r.o.ne to wander. Laughter and hubbub drifted up from the a.s.sembly Rooms, and I had an idea of the overheated girls, catching a chill as they moved from ballroom to supper, picking at their ices and smoked salmon. Catherine should yet be among them; I hoped for her sake that Lord Byron had quitted the rooms at an early hour, and that Mr. Smalls had retired, as the elderly must, to the card room-leaving the object of his fancy to more suitable partners. Poor Catherine! To be caught between the rage of the poet, and the simpering of the clergyman!
What she required, I thought, was a simple, bracing sportsman like my brother Edward had been. Henry, indeed, was confident that just such a suitor must must appear. But what if the Unknown came too late? appear. But what if the Unknown came too late? Jane, Jane Jane, Jane, I scolded myself as I snuffed out my candle near two o"clock, when at last the sounds of revelry had died from the rooms and streets below-You ought to have nothing to do with the child"s troubles. But Lord Byron had decided that; it was his abduction that had ensnared me.
TUESDAY, 11 MAY 1813 1813.
"SUCH A SCENE, MY DEAR MY DEAR M MISS A AUSTEN, YOU CAN YOU CAN NEVER NEVER have witnessed!" have witnessed!"
Lady Swithin threw back her head-which bore a pert little jockey bonnet this morning, worn with a spencer of French twill-and crowed with laughter. "Caro Lamb, with a circlet on her brow, a robe fit for a Greek chorus, sandals, and her toenails painted with gold leaf toenails painted with gold leaf. She stopped all conversation dead when she appeared in the a.s.sembly Rooms; and I am certain one of the violinists snapped a string, from the resounding tw.a.n.g tw.a.n.g! that greeted her arrival."
"But she was known to be a guest of the Regent"s," I observed reasonably. "I suppose she may attend the local ball, if she chuses."
"It was not Caro Caro, so much as her appearance! I do not think she could have aroused greater comment had she paraded through the a.s.sembly naked. She was determined to figure as Lord Byron"s Attic Muse-the breathing heart of Childe Harold Childe Harold. When instead, as poor Swithin observed, she succeeded merely in suggesting a Cyprian G.o.ddess."
By this, of course, Lady Swithin meant a harlot.
"And Lord Byron?" I enquired.
"-Was a veritable picture of Persecuted Genius. His brow darkened stormily; he threw off all restraining hands; he muttered imprecations in Caro"s general direction; and departed without speaking so much as a word to her."
"Very ungentlemanly. He thus exposed Lady Caroline to the ridicule of her world; and I cannot admire him for it."
"No; but you shall be glad of one thing-Caro"s arrival freed your little friend, Miss Twining, from Byron"s pursuit at least! He was most most determined last evening. She had only to quit the floor at the close of a dance, and loose the hand of her partner-who might be gone in search of lemonade, or pineapple ice-to be set upon by his lordship, blind to all else, and quoting impa.s.sioned words over her shrinking form. Poor goosecap, I quite pitied her; Swithin was just such an one, you know, when in the throes of pa.s.sion for determined last evening. She had only to quit the floor at the close of a dance, and loose the hand of her partner-who might be gone in search of lemonade, or pineapple ice-to be set upon by his lordship, blind to all else, and quoting impa.s.sioned words over her shrinking form. Poor goosecap, I quite pitied her; Swithin was just such an one, you know, when in the throes of pa.s.sion for me. me."
I had seen Lord Swithin in disappointed Love; he had never approached the diabolical figure who struck terror in Catherine"s heart.
"Then Miss Twining has cause to be grateful to Lady Caroline," I observed.
"Yes, indeed! And I observed the two ladies conversing, if you will credit it, later that evening-so perhaps your friend found occasion to convey her thanks, however awkward Lord Byron might regard such a conversation, did he know of it. And now I must be off-Swithin has a horse running in the race, you know, and I dare not stay away. I wish you would make another of our party!"
I begged off, having formed a prior engagement; and looked forward to hearing an account of Catherine"s interesting evening from her own lips-but she did not appear in the Castle"s writing room at one o"clock.
I could not wonder at her absence; she must have been abroad very late, and no doubt slept until noon. I had crossed full two sheets to Ca.s.sandra with a report of our dinner in Marine Parade, and the hour was advanced, when my brother Henry burst into the panelled chamber. His looks were agitated and his face dreadfully pale.
"Henry!" I cried, starting up. "Are you unwell?"
He glanced around him wildly; I was not the sole occupant of the writing room, and whatever his news might be, it was not intended for a stranger"s ears. I collected my papers swiftly and joined him in the doorway.
"You have not heard," he murmured, grasping me by the elbow and propelling me towards the Castle"s front door.
"You bear some dreadful news?"
"Catherine Twining. Your acquaintance. It is all over Raggett"s."
"What sc.r.a.pe has the foolish girl fallen into now? She did not keep her appointment this afternoon."
"Nor shall she keep any in future, Jane."
I stopped short and studied his face. "She has quitted Brighton?"
"For good and all." He drew me inexorably out into the fresh air of the Steyne, where I saw that a crowd had gathered near the old publick house called the King"s Arms-the place so roundly patronised by the officers of Brighton Camp and their devoted followers. But Henry avoided the publick house, and turned hurriedly into the Promenade Grove. He led me to a seat in a neat square of shrubbery.
"You must prepare yourself, Jane." His grey eyes were flat with despair.
"Tell me what you must, Henry-I beg of you."
"Miss Twining"s body was discovered in Lord Byron"s bed at the King"s Arms this morning."
"No!" I cried.
Catherine as I had last seen her-the agitation in all her looks, her dread of that man-sprang vividly to mind.
She had been right to fear him.
He had killed her.
In a fit of pa.s.sion-whether rage, love, madness, who could say?-Lord Byron had torn out the life of that delicate flower. But how had he lured her from the General"s side? What possible mischance had delivered the girl into Byron"s hands?
And what profound indifference to his own security had led him to murder her in his very bedchamber?
"Was she...had he..."
Of course he had; but the word rape rape was one I found difficult to utter. was one I found difficult to utter.
But Henry was hardly attending, his gaze fixed on his gloved hands.
"It is the oddest thing, Jane," he said. "She was wrapped in a sailor"s hammock, sewn tight; and when the thing was slit open, it was discovered that she had drowned. drowned."
CHAPTER TWELVE
Canva.s.sing a Murder TUESDAY, 11 MAY 1813 1813.
BRIGHTON, CONT.
HENRY"S SMALL FUND OF INTELLIGENCE WAS IMPARTED IN a matter of moments as we sat in the sheltered privacy of the Promenade Grove. a matter of moments as we sat in the sheltered privacy of the Promenade Grove.
"It was the chambermaid who found her. The girl thought it odd that Lord Byron"s door should be slightly ajar, and yet no sound of movement be audible within," he said. "The maid hesitated to disturb his lordship, because of course it is well known the man is a poet, and has been engaged in writing out cantos of his latest work-"
"He is writing here in Brighton?" I said numbly.
"Apparently so. At all events, neither Byron nor his traps were to be found in the bedchamber; but the unfortunate Miss Twining-"
It was whispered at Raggett"s that the girl was still clothed in the white muslin gown she had worn at the a.s.sembly. There were marks of brutality at her throat, as tho" she had been forcibly held under water-and she had died in the sea, for the dried stains of salt water were everywhere upon her person.
"The chambermaid put it about that her eyes were wide open," Henry said in a subdued tone, "and that such a look of terror as lingered in them, she hoped never to witness again."
"But the hammock, Henry?" I knew of such things from my Naval brothers; when a sailor died, his sleeping hammock served as shroud-sewn up around him, before burial at sea. "Was Miss Twining forced into it alive-trapped inside?" inside?"
The image of the girl, fighting like a blind kitten tossed with its brethren into the mill pond at birth, was too hideous to contemplate. How terrified she must have been-the darkness of the night, and the blacker dark of the water as it flooded around her- "No," my brother said. "The marks on her neck suggest otherwise. The hammock may have been intended to hide the deed-or dispose of the body-but somehow or other it ended in Byron"s rooms. Miss Twining was probably already dead when she was placed into it, and carried to Byron"s bedchamber by her murderer."
"Can its owner be identified?"
"The word Giaour Giaour is embroidered on its edge." is embroidered on its edge."
"Giaour?" I repeated blankly. "What sort of word is that, Henry?"
"I have no idea. But presumably Miss Twining"s murderer knows; it will perhaps be the name of his boat-or one readily to hand, at the moment he..."
"Forced her head under the waves." I stared at my brother, a scene from two days previous recurring to mind: the crimson-hulled yacht, surging out to sea, and the dark-haired sailor at her helm, ignoring the foundering woman in his wake. "Why must you persist in referring to her murderer her murderer, Henry, as tho" we had not an idea who it was? Are we both not certain in our minds? It will be Lord Byron"s Lord Byron"s boat that is found to be called boat that is found to be called Giaour. Giaour."
And in the most intense irritation at the entire race of men, I swung away from him abruptly, striding down the Marine Parade in the direction of Black Rock.
I COULD NOT BE EASY IN MY CONSCIENCE COULD NOT BE EASY IN MY CONSCIENCE. I WAS BESET WAS BESET with the demons of regret. Nothing could be clearer than that the poet, spurned, had exacted a hideous revenge upon young Catherine Twining-and we had been the agents of her release from his chaise. But how had she died? What fateful events had determined the hours after I parted from poor Catherine at the door of the a.s.sembly Rooms-and why, oh why, had I refused to with the demons of regret. Nothing could be clearer than that the poet, spurned, had exacted a hideous revenge upon young Catherine Twining-and we had been the agents of her release from his chaise. But how had she died? What fateful events had determined the hours after I parted from poor Catherine at the door of the a.s.sembly Rooms-and why, oh why, had I refused to stay stay? It seemed, in retrospect, so little that the girl had asked; and I had prated about propriety propriety. But for me, Catherine Twining might yet be alive.
When Henry caught up with me, far down the Marine Parade, I was more mistress of myself. But he paced beside me wordlessly, both of us buffeted by the wind. The rain of the previous day had given way to a cloudless sky, the sun brilliant and hard-cut as a diamond; sea wrack lay everywhere strewn about the shingle.
"Have they arrested the poet?" I demanded at last.
"They cannot find him, Jane."