""I will never, never more touch them," I cried in terror when I saw his pocket-handkerchief, which he had applied to the wound, saturated with blood.
"And I have kept my word, though it has not prevented my obtaining a wide reputation as a duellist. Neither Charles Felters nor the servant of Lord William could hold their tongues, though the latter had been forbidden by his master to say a word on the subject. I was reminded very unpleasantly, next time I appeared in the town, that the affair had become public property. Lord William would not allow us to send for a surgeon, but had the wound dressed by his own servant; and, fortunately, it turned out to be less dangerous than I feared at first. I sought my own room, and hid myself there with all the remorse of a Cain. I resolved to throw myself at his feet and beg his pardon. But the reaction to my excited state of feelings had now set in, and I fell exhausted on a sofa, where I slept for several hours a feverish kind of sleep. When I awoke Lord William was gone. After this I was seriously ill; and on my recovery my grandfather took me as soon as possible to the Werve for the fresh country air. Sir John told me, when I was quite well, that Lord William had certainly given proof of his good-nature to allow me to touch him; for while at Eton he had been considered one of the best fencers in the school, and just before quitting England he had fought a duel with an officer in the Horse Guards, and wounded him in a manner that report said was likely to be fatal.
"My answer to this was that I had never suspected Lord William of being a duellist.
""That he never was; but in this instance his honour was at stake. He could not leave the insult of this captain unpunished. Perhaps, however, he would have acted more justly if he had put his wife to death; and though an English jury would certainly have brought him in guilty of murder, yet, considering the great provocation he had received, public opinion would have sympathized with him in the highest degree. Now he is reconciled to her again, at least in outward appearance; but he has written to me that he is going to make a tour all over the world.""
"And you have never since heard of this "My lord?"" I asked Francis, to whose story I had listened with as much sorrow as attention.
"Never; and I don"t even know his family name to this day. Changes now followed in rapid succession. My father died suddenly; my grandfather was promoted in rank, and we removed to Zutphen, where I proposed to begin a new life. But though we break with our antecedents, it is impossible to sponge out the past. However, more of this hereafter. I must attend to the other gentlemen, otherwise I shall be accused of neglecting my duties. I will tell you more of this history at another time if it interests you; for it is a relief to me to confide it to a friend. Only never begin the subject yourself, as there are moments when I cannot bear to think of it."
"I promise you this, Francis," I replied, pressing her hand.
It would be impossible for me to recount all the feelings which pa.s.sed through my mind in listening to Francis"s trials. I will not weary you, dear William, for I acknowledge I felt sad and irritable. And yet I tried to think these were her "campaign years," as she calls them, though it was evident her heart had suffered long before she attained her twenty-fifth birthday. If she had told me of deception, so common in the world, of an engagement broken off, of a misplaced affection, such things would not have troubled my peace of mind. What affected me was to think this Englishman had won the place in her affections which I wished to be the first to occupy--that place which permits a man to inspire a woman with confidence, and exercise over her an influence authoritative and beneficial. Time had done much to cool her love for him, but she had not forgotten him; and it was certainly a devotion to his memory which rendered her so indifferent to the merits of other men. I wondered if she had told me all this history in order to make me comprehend the improbability of my being able to replace her ideal. Had she not told me on the heath, on our first meeting, that if she suspected I came to demand her hand in marriage, she would leave me there and then? I felt myself diminishing in her estimation. And there was a portrait of William III. hanging over the mantelpiece which seemed to say to me, ironically, "Too late, too late!"
Yet again I asked myself whether I was not growing jealous of a vain shadow. Eight years had pa.s.sed since these events. She was no longer a little girl, who could imagine she saw a Romeo in her mentor who was a long way on the wrong side of forty. Who could say that the comparison, which she could not fail to make now, would be to my disadvantage?
I determined not to remain in this perplexity. At the risk of committing an imprudence, I made up my mind to ask her whether she regarded the loss of her Lord William as irreparable. It was necessary for me to know what chance of success was left me.
This night I slept little, for I was rolling over in my mind all sorts of extravagant declarations which I intended to make to my cousin next day. This, however, was the day preceding the General"s birthday, and Francis was fully occupied with the Captain in making all sorts of preparations; so that during the whole day I never once could find a suitable moment to begin the subject. The master of the village school would bring up to the Castle his best pupils to recite verses made for the occasion; the clergyman and the notables would also come to offer their congratulations.
Francis sent me to the post-office to fetch a registered letter for her. [4] General von Zwenken was in a bad humour because Rolf had no time to amuse him, and finding myself rather in the way I went off to my room to write.
Here in the afternoon I found on my table a little Russian leather case, on which my initials had been embroidered above the word Souvenir. Inside I found a bank-note equivalent to the sum Francis had borrowed of me; on the envelope which inclosed it she had written, in a bold hand, the word Merci, her name, and the date. The case itself was not new. Poor dear girl! she must have sat up half the night to work my initials in silk, as a surprise. I now felt more than ever how dear she was become to me, and I promised myself not to temporize any longer. Then the idea occurred to me: If I can get her permission, I will ask her hand of the General to-morrow after I have congratulated him on his birthday.
This idea threw me into a transport of joy. I got up from my chair with the intention of seeking my cousin and bringing matters to a crisis at any risk. My hand was already on the handle of the door, when I thought I heard a tap at the window. Immediately a hoa.r.s.e voice called several times--
"Francis! Francis!"
Astonished, and wishing to know who this could be, I stood motionless. The voice cried again--
"Francis, if you don"t open the window I will break the sash all to pieces."
CHAPTER XXVI.
As, for very good reasons, Francis gave no answer, a vigorous arm forced open the window, and a man sprang into the room, seemingly quite indifferent about any damage he might have caused.
"What is your business with Miss Mordaunt?" I asked, advancing towards the intruder.
"A stranger here?" he answered, with an expression of surprise; "I thought they never had visitors now."
"I think the manner of your entrance is much more astonishing, and I am the person surprised."
"Well, yes, my entrance is somewhat irregular," he replied, in the most familiar style possible; "however, Mr. Unknown, I am neither a thief nor a housebreaker. I have entered in this way because I wished no one but Francis to know of my arrival, and I was sure I should find her here; but, now I am here, allow me to rest myself whilst I reflect a little upon the best means of obtaining an interview with her."
And he threw himself at full length on the old sofa, which creaked under his weight.
"Ah! ah!" he continued, examining the walls, "the family portraits are gone--eaten away, no doubt, by the moths and the damp."
It was quite clear to me the stranger was not here for the first time. Though his manners were free, there was something gentlemanly in his personal appearance. Still his dress was fantastic. He wore a short velvet jacket with metal b.u.t.tons, and a silk handkerchief loosely tied around his neck; tight trousers of a grey pearl colour, and polished riding-boots with spurs, and a soft felt hat.
"You"ve got nothing to drink here?" he asked, after a pause of some minutes. "I have ridden for three hours, and my throat is almost choked with sand and dust."
He spoke Dutch with a foreign accent. His age seemed to be about fifty, though he might be younger. His lively, active features were never at rest for a moment; his greenish-grey eyes, the fine wrinkles on his high sunburnt forehead, and the paleness of his cheeks, all marked him as the adventurer endued with strong pa.s.sions--an impression that was increased by his thick-set face, large nose, and the tufted mustachios hanging over his thick, sensual lips. I could not refuse him a gla.s.s of water, unwelcome as I found his presence. As I handed it to him I said--
"You seem to know this house well."
"Yes, and that"s no wonder; I played many a prank here in my boyhood. But you, sir, who are you? An adjutant of the Colonel"s, or a protege of Francis"s?"
"I think I have the best right to question you, and to ask who you are?"
"That"s true enough; and I would tell you with pleasure, but it"s a secret which concerns others besides myself. Call me Mr. Smithson--it"s the name I am known by at present."
"Very well. Now what is your business here, Mr. Smithson?"
"I wish you to tell Francis I am here."
"Do you think the news will be agreeable to her?" I demanded.
"I cannot say, but she will come all the same."
"Here, into my room?"
"Bah! our Major Frank is no prude."
"Mr. Smithson, I give you fair warning that if you say a single word derogatory to the character of Miss Mordaunt, I shall instantly make you take the same way out of this room by which you entered it."
"Oh! oh! Mr. Unknown, I am a first-rate boxer. But easy, man, easy! For I should be the last person in the world to say an offensive word about Francis. Now, since you know her, you ought to be aware that she would never refuse to a.s.sist a person in distress out of a sense of prudery. Just you ask her to come here to see--not Smithson, because she does not know me under that name, but a relation of hers, who calls himself Rudolf."
"And if she refuses to come?"
"Oh, you make too many difficulties. Ah! is it possible you are her----I should have thought Francis Mordaunt more capable of commanding a batalion than of bowing herself under the yoke of marriage. But, after all, women do change their minds. Then you are the happy mortal?"
"A truce to your suppositions," I answered him in a firm voice; "I am here as a relation, a grand-nephew of the General"s; my name is Leopold van Zonshoven."
"Well, upon my word! Probably we are cousins, for I am also related to the General. Francis will not refuse to come, I a.s.sure you--especially if you tell her that I do not come to ask for money; on the contrary, I bring some with me."
Hereupon he drew from his pocket a purse containing a number of clean, new greenbacks.
"Tell her what you have seen; it will set her mind at ease, and possibly yours also--for you seem as yet only half-and-half convinced that I am not a highwayman."