We will leave Anthony Hurdlestone to weep and watch beside the newly dead, and conduct our readers into the cottage occupied by Farmer Mathews and his family.
Returning the night before from market, very much the worse from liquor, the farmer had fallen from his horse, and received a very severe concussion of the brain. William, surprised at his long absence, left the house at daybreak in search of his father, and found him lying, apparently dead, within sight of his own door.
With Mary"s a.s.sistance, he carried him into the house. Medical aid was called in, and all had been done that man could do to alleviate the sufferings of the injured farmer, but with little effect. The man had received a mortal blow, and the doctor, when he left that evening, had p.r.o.nounced the fatal sentence that his case was hopeless; that, in all probability, he would expire before the morning.
As the night drew on, the elder Mathews became quite unconscious of surrounding objects, and but for the quick hard breathing, you would have imagined him already dead.
The door of the cottage was open, to admit the fresh air; and in the door way, revealed by the solitary candle which burnt upon the little table by the bed-side, stood the tall athletic figure of William Mathews. His sister was sitting in a low chair by the bed"s head, her eyes fixed with a vacant stare upon the heavy features of the dying man.
"William," she said, in a quick deep voice, "where are you? Do come and watch with me. I do not like to be alone."
"You are not alone," returned the ruffian sullenly; "I am here; and some one else is here whom you cannot see."
"Whom do you mean?"
"The devil, to be sure," responded her brother. "He is always near us; but never more near than in the hour of death and the day of judgment."
"Good Lord, deliver us!" said the girl, repeating unconsciously aloud part of the liturgy of the Church to which nominally she belonged.
"All in good time," responded the human fiend. "Has father shown any sign of returning sense since the morning?"
"No, he has remained just in the same state. William, will he die?"
"You may be sure of that, Mary. Living men never look as he does now."
"It is a terrible sight," said his sister. "I always did hope that I should die before father; but since I got into this trouble I have wished that he might never live to know it. That was sin, William. See how my wicked thoughts have become prophecy. Yet I am so glad that he never found out my crime, that it makes the tears dry in my eyes to see him thus."
"You make too much fuss about your condition, girl! What is done cannot be undone. All you can now do is to turn it to the best possible account."
"What do you mean, William?"
"Make money by it."
"Alas," said the girl, "what was given away freely cannot be redeemed with gold. Had I the wealth of the whole world, I would gladly give it to regain my lost peace of mind. Oh, for one night of calm fresh sleep, such as I used to enjoy after a hard day"s work in the field. What would I not give for such a night"s rest? Rest! I never rest now. I work and toil all day; I go to bed--heart-weary and head-weary--but sleep never comes as it used to come. After long hours of tossing from side to side, just about the dawn of day, a heavy stupor comes over me, full of frightful sights and sounds, so frightful that I start and awake, and pray not to sleep again."
"And what has made such a change--that one act?" said the ruffian.
"Pshaw! girl. G.o.d will never d.a.m.n your soul for the like of that. It was foolish and imprudent; but I don"t call _that_ sin."
"Then what is sin?" said the girl solemnly.
"Why, murder, and theft, and--"
"And what?"
"Hang me! if I wish to go deeper into the matter. But if that is sin, which you make such a to-do about, then the whole world are sinners."
"Do you think that you are not a sinner, William?"
"I never thought a word about it," said the man. "I am not a whit worse than others; but I am poorer, and that makes my faults more conspicuous.
There is G.o.dfrey Hurdlestone, every whit as bad as I am, yet were we to be tried by the same jury, the men that would hang me would acquit him.
But his day is over," he continued, talking to himself. "He is now as poor as me; and if the rich heiress does not marry him, will be much worse off."
"Marry!" cried Mary, springing from her seat, and grasping her brother"s arm. "Who talks of G.o.dfrey Hurdlestone marrying?"
"I talk of it--every one talks of it--he boasts of it himself. I was told last night by Captain Whitmore"s serving-man, that his master had given his consent to the match, and that the young lady was coming round, and that Mr. G.o.dfrey was every day at the house. Perhaps the Colonel being cooped up in jail may spoil the young man"s wooing."
"In jail! Colonel Hurdlestone in jail! Can that be true?"
"Fact."
"And Mr. G.o.dfrey? What will become of Mr. G.o.dfrey?"
"He will become one of us, and have to take care of himself. And if he does marry Miss Whitmore, he will have enough to take care of you."
"Do you think that I would share his affections with another woman?"
cried the girl, her pale cheeks flushing to crimson. "Brother, I am not sunk so low as that--not quite so low."
"You are sunk quite low enough for anything, Mary. You may be as bad as you like now, the world will think no worse of you than it does at present. You have made a bad bargain, and you must stand by it. If you cannot be the man"s wife, you must rest content with being his mistress; married or single you will always be G.o.dfrey Hurdlestone"s better half.
Miss Whitmore is not to compare to you, in spite of her pretty waxen face, and she is not the woman to please such a wild fellow as him. He will grow tired of her before the honeymoon is over, and you will have it all your own way."
"Juliet Whitmore shall never be his wife, nor any other woman, while I live. But, William, if he is as poor as you say he is, what use will it be to you my continuing to live with him in sin? He cannot give me money if he has none for himself."
"Hush," said the ruffian, drawing nearer, and glancing quickly round, to be certain that they were alone. "Did you never hear of the rich miser, Mark Hurdlestone?"
"Mr. Anthony"s father?"
"The same. And do you not know that, were Anthony out of the way, removed by death or any other cause, G.o.dfrey Hurdlestone would be his heir?"
"Well, what of that? Anthony is alive and well, and may outlive us all."
"Strong men often die very suddenly. There is an ill-luck hangs about this same Mr. Anthony. I prophesy that his life will be a short one.
Hark! Was that a groan? Father is coming to himself."
He took the candle and went up to the bed. The sick man still breathed, but remained in the same stupor as before. "This cannot last long," said his son, stooping over the corpse-like figure. "Father was a strong man for his age, but "tis all up with him now. I wish he could speak to us, and tell us where he is going; but I"m thinking that we shall never hear the sound of his voice again. The bell will toll for him before sunrise to-morrow."
He had scarcely finished speaking when the slow, deep boom of the death-bell awoke the sluggish stillness of the heavy night. The brother and sister started, and Mary gave a loud scream.
"Who"s dead?" said Mathews, stepping to the open door "some of the quality, or that bell would not speak out at this late hour of night.
Ha! Mr. G.o.dfrey Hurdlestone. Is that you?"
"What"s wrong here?" cried G.o.dfrey, glancing rapidly round the cottage.
"Mathews, have you heard the news? My poor father"s dead."
"Dead!" exclaimed both his companions in a breath. "Colonel Hurdlestone dead! When did he die?"
"This evening, at sunset. "Tis a bad piece of business, Mathews. He died insolvent, and I am left without a penny."
"Alas, what will become of us all!" shrieked Mary, flinging herself frantically upon the bed. "William, he has ceased to breathe. Our father too is dead!"