"Oh, Lieutenant Dudleigh," said Edith, "there is no need for me to say how I should feel about a search made by you. I refrain from expressions of grat.i.tude, since you forbid them; and so I do not know what to say."
"Say nothing, then, and--I do not like to say it, but I must--hope for nothing. If you hope, you may be disappointed. If you do not hope, you can not be. But in any case, whether you are disappointed or not, remember this--that in spite of these musty lawyers, if the worst comes to the worst you have one steadfast friend, and that if you say the word I will force a way for you through those gates. If you ever feel discouraged, remember that. It is a great preventive against despair to know that you have an alternative of some kind. And now I will take my departure, for the train will leave soon, and I must go at once."
CHAPTER XXV.
THE SOURCES OF THE NILE.
At length, after an absence of four or five weeks, Dudleigh returned.
Edith had tried hard not to hope, so as to be prepared for a disappointment; but after all, in spite of her efforts, she could not help hoping. She put great confidence in Dudleigh"s energy and perseverance, and thought that he would be able not only to find out where Sir Lionel might be, but even to see him, and make him acquainted with her situation. He had already done so much for her that it seemed quite possible for him to do this. As the days pa.s.sed by she found herself looking forward to his return as the time of her certain deliverance, until at length hope grew into confidence, and the idea of disappointment was completely driven away.
At last he came, and his first appearance put to flight all her hopes, and filled her with a nameless terror. He looked dejected and weary. He asked after her health, and whether she had been in any way molested; after which Edith entreated him to tell her the worst.
"For you bring bad news," said she--"I see it in your face. Tell me the worst."
Dudleigh mournfully shook his head.
"You have not found him, then?"
"No."
"But you must have heard something about him. He is at least alive, is he not?"
"I don"t know even that."
"What! has any thing happened to him?"
"Not that I know of. But he has started on a long and perilous excursion; and whether he will ever return or not is more than I can say."
"Then there is no hope," said Edith, in a voice of despair.
Dudleigh was silent for a time.
"I will tell you all," he replied at length. "When I left you I went at once to Ma.r.s.eilles. I called on Sir Lionel"s agents there, but found that they had heard nothing from him whatever. They said that when he last left that city he had gone to Turkey. I then set off for Constantinople, and spent a week there, trying to find some traces of him. At the British Emba.s.sy they said that he had only remained one day in the city, and had then gone in his yacht, which he had brought with him, on a cruise in the Black Sea. But whether he had returned or not no one knew. At last I met with a merchant who knew him, and he told me that he had returned and gone to Athens. I went to Athens, and found that he had been there at one of the hotels, the landlord of which informed me that he had spent three days there and had left for parts unknown. I left letters at each of these places, and sent others to Smyrna, Beyrout, Jaffa, and Alexandria. Then I returned to Ma.r.s.eilles.
There, to my surprise, I learned that, a few days after I left, they had heard from Sir Lionel, who was in Alexandria, and about to start on the maddest expedition that was ever heard of--a journey up the Nile, into the inaccessible regions of Central Africa--to try to discover the sources of that river. He simply announced to his agents that all his preparations were completed, and that he would leave immediately. What could I do then? I did the only thing there was to be done, and hurried to Alexandria. Of course he had left the place before my letter reached it; and I learned that from the rapid way in which he set out he must already be far out of reach. Even then I would have gone after him, and tracked him to the sources of the Nile themselves, if I had been able.
But I had no experience in travel of that kind. I couldn"t manage a band of Arabs, for I didn"t know a word of their language, and of course I could not stop to study it. That idea would have been absurd. Besides, other reasons had weight with me, and so I came reluctantly back."
"Africa! the sources of the Nile!" exclaimed Edith, dolefully. "I can"t understand why he should have chosen those places."
"Well, it is no new idea. It is a thing that he has had in his mind for years. I have heard him talk of it long ago. I remember hearing him, once say that the only chance now remaining by which a man could gain brilliant distinction was the discovery of the sources of the Nile.
Every other part of the world, he said, is known."
"How long should you think he might be absent on such a journey?" asked Edith, anxiously.
"How long? Ah! Miss Dalton, so long that it should not be thought of.
Years must elapse before he returns."
"Years!"
"Yes--if he ever does return," said Dudleigh, in a mournful voice. "With him now the question is not, When will he return? but rather, Will he ever return? It is, as you must know, a most desperate and hopeless undertaking. For thousands of years men have tried that journey, and failed."
"But may he not be baffled and turn back? There is some hope in that.
He will find out that it is impossible." And Edith for a moment grasped at that thought.
"You will think me one of Job"s comforters," said Dudleigh, with a melancholy smile. "But I think it is a poor mark of friendship to hide the truth. It is better for you to know all now. The fact is, there would be some hope of his return if he were any other than Sir Lionel Dudleigh. But being what he is, he will follow his purpose to the end.
He is a man of unflinching courage and inflexible determination. More than this, he announced to his friends before he left that he would either bring back the truth about the sources of the Nile, or else he would not come back at all. So now he has not only his resolution to impel him, but his pride also."
"This hope, then, fails me utterly," said Edith, after a long pause.
"I fear so."
"He is, in fact, the same as dead."
"Yes, as far as you are concerned, and your present needs."
"This is terrible!"
"Miss Dalton, I do not know what to say. I can only say that my heart aches for you. I delayed on the road, because I could not bear to bring this news to you. Then I wrote a letter, and thought of sending that, but I feared you might not get it. I could not bear to see you in sorrow."
"You, at least, Lieutenant Dudleigh," said Edith, earnestly, "have acted toward me like a true friend and a true gentleman. No one could have done more. It is some consolation to know that every thing which was possible has been done."
There was now a long pause. Each one was lost in thought. Edith"s sad face was turned toward Dudleigh, but she did not notice him. She was wrapped in her own thoughts, and wondering how long she could endure the life that now lay before her.
"Miss Dalton," said Dudleigh at length, in a mournful voice, "I have to leave at once to join my regiment, for my leave is up, and it may be some time before I see you again."
He paused.
Edith looked at him earnestly, fearful of what she thought might be coming. Would it be a confession of love? How strong that love must be which had prompted him to such devotion! And yet she could not return it? Yet if he said any thing about it, what could she say? Could she refuse one who had done so much, one who loved her so deeply, one who was the only friend now left her?
"It is heart-breaking to leave you here, Miss Dalton," he continued, "among unscrupulous enemies. When I am away I shall be distracted by a thousand fears about you. How can you endure this life? And yet I might do something to save you from it. My own life is at your disposal. Do you wish to be free now? Will you have that gate opened, and fly?"
Edith said not a word. She was filled with extreme agitation. Fly! Did that mean to fly with him? to escape with a lover? and then--what?
"If you wish to escape now, at this moment, Miss Dalton, all that you have to do is to go out with me. I am armed. If there is any resistance, I can force a way through. The first man that dares to bar the way dies. As for me, if I fall, I shall ask nothing more."
And saying this, Dudleigh looked at Edith inquiringly.
But Edith faltered. Her horror of bloodshed was great. Was her situation so desperate that she could sacrifice a human life to gain her freedom? Perhaps that life might be Dudleigh"s. Could she risk the life of the man who had done so much for her? She could not. No, after all, she shrank from gaining her freedom at such a risk.
Then, again, if she were free, where could she go? She knew now how utterly forlorn she was. Miss Plympton was gone, and Sir Lionel was gone. There were none left. She could not live without money, and all her vast property was under the control of another. Dudleigh had said nothing about love either: and she was grateful for his delicacy. Did he intend in his deep devotion to support her himself, or what did he intend?
"You hesitate, Miss Dalton," said he at last. "Have you your old fear about bloodshed?"
"I can not bear to risk such a sacrifice," said Edith.