The Forsaken Inn Part 22

And what does a girl's fancy need more? Still a glimpse so short might not have had such deep consequences if it had not been followed by an event which rendered those first impressions indelible."

"An event, Honora?"

"Yes, mamma. You remember the day you sent me with Cecile to take my first lessons in tambour work of Madame Douay?"

"Remember? Oh, my child, that awful day when you came near losing your life! When the house fell with you in it, and--"

"Yes, yes, mamma, and I came home looking so pale you thought I was hurt, and fainted away, and would have died yourself if I had not kissed you back to life. Well, mamma, dear, I was hurt, but not in my body. It was my heart that had received a wound--a wound from which I never shall recover, for it was made by the greatness, the goodness, the n.o.ble self-sacrifice of the marquis."

"Honora! And you never mentioned his name--never!"

"I know, I know, mamma; but you have already forgiven me for that. You know it was from no unworthy motive. Think how you felt when you first saw papa. Think--"

A hurried movement from the mother interrupted her.

"Do not keep me in suspense," she pleaded; "let me hear what you have to tell."

"But you are cold; you shudder. Let me get a shawl."

"No, no, child, I am not cold, only impatient. Go on with your story--go on. How came you to meet the marquis in that place?"

"Ah," cried the daughter, "it was a strange occurrence. It all came about through a mistake of Cecile's. Madame Douay, as we were told by the concierge, lived on the fourth floor, but Cecile made a miscount and we went up to the fifth, and as there was a Madame Douay there also, we did not detect our error, but went into her apartments and were seated in the small salon to await madame's presence. We had not told our errand, so we could not blame the maid who admitted us, nor, though madame failed to appear, did we ever remember to blame any one, for presently through the open window near which we sat there came the sound of voices from the room above, and a drama began of such startling interest that we could think of nothing else.

"Two men were talking. Young men they seemed, and though I could not see them, I could tell from the fresh, fine voice of the one that he was a true man, and from the sneering, smothered tones of the other that he was not only a cynic, but of vicious tendencies. The first one was saying, 'I never suspected this,' when my attention was first called to their words, and the answer which came was as follows: 'If you had, I should not have had the pleasure of seeing you here. Men are not apt to rush voluntarily upon their deaths, and that you are a dead man you already know; for I have sworn to kill you as the clock strikes three, and it is but ten minutes of that time, and you have not a weapon with which to defend yourself.'

"Mamma, you can imagine my feelings at hearing these words, though they were uttered by a person I could not see, to another person equally unknown to me? I looked at Cecile and she looked at me, but we could neither of us move. Every faculty seemed paralyzed save that of hearing. We held our breaths and listened for the reply. It came instantly and without a thrill in its clear accents.

"'You are a gentleman, and no common a.s.sa.s.sin. How can you reconcile such an act as this with your honor, or with what sophistries quiet the stings of your conscience when time shall have shown you the sin of so unprovoked an onslaught?'

"'It is not unprovoked,' was the harsh and bitter reply. 'You promised to marry Mademoiselle de Fontaine, and yesterday, at three o'clock--ah, I was there!--you formally renounced your claims. This is an insult that calls for blood, and blood it shall have. Twenty-four hours have elapsed less ten minutes, since you cast this slur upon a n.o.ble lady's good name. When the hour is ripe, you will pay the penalty it requires with your life.'

"'But,' urged his young companion, 'Mademoiselle de Fontaine had herself requested the breaking off of this contract. I am but following the lady's behests in withdrawing from a position forced upon us against our will, and in direct opposition to her happiness.'

"'And by what right do you presume to follow the behests of a lady still under age? Has she not guardians to consult? Should not I--'

"'You?'

"'Pardon me, I have not introduced myself, it seems. I am the Marquis de la Roche-Guyon.'"

Honora paused; her mother's exclamation had stopped her:

"The marquis! Oh! Honora, and you have always said he was so good!"

"Wait, mamma; remember it is the cynical voice which is speaking, and the marquis's voice is not cynical. The words, however, are what I have told you; 'I am the Marquis de la Roche-Guyon.'

"Of course, not knowing either party, nor this name, least of all realizing that it was the one by which the gentleman addressed was himself known, I did not understand why it should create so great an impression. But that it did was evident, not only from the momentary hush that followed, but from the violent exclamation that burst from the young man's lips. 'You scoundrel!' was his cry. But instantly he seemed to regret the word, for he said almost with the same breath: 'Your pardon, but there is but one man in the world besides myself who could, under any circ.u.mstances, have a right to that name.'

"'And that man?'

"'Is my cousin, the deceased marquis's son, long esteemed dead also, and now legally accepted as such.'

"'And what a.s.sures you that I am not he? Your eyes? Well, I am changed, Louis, but not so changed that a good look should not satisfy you that I am the man I claim to be. Besides, you should know this mark on my forehead. You gave it to me--'

"'Isidor!'

"I could not comprehend it then, but I have learned since that the marquis--our marquis, I mean--had only just come into his t.i.tle; that the son of the preceding Marquis de la Roche-Guyon had been so long missing that the courts had finally adjudged him dead, and given up his inheritance to his cousin; that the first act of the new marquis was to liberate the Demoiselle de Fontaine from an engagement that stood in the way of her marriage with one more desirable to her; and that the unexpected appearance of the real heir in this sudden and mysterious manner was as great a surprise to him as any mortal circ.u.mstance could be. Yet to me, who waited with palpitating heart and anxious ears for what should be said next, there was no evidence of this in his tone.

With the politeness we are accustomed to in Frenchmen he observed:

"'You are welcome, Isidor;' and then, as if struck himself by the incongruity between this phrase and the look and manner of his companion, he added, in slow tones--'even if you do bring a sword with you.'

"The other, the real marquis, as I suppose, seemed to hesitate at this, and I began to hope he was ashamed of his dreadful threats and would speedily beg the other's pardon. But I did not know the man, or realize the determination which lay at the bottom of his furious and uncompromising words. But he soon made it evident to us.

"'Louis,' he exclaimed, 'you have always been my evil genius. From our childhood you have stood in my way with your superior strength, beauty, prowess and address. When I was young I simply shrank from you in shame and distaste, but as I grew older I learned to detest you; and now that I see you again, after five years of absence, handsome as ever, taller than ever, and radiant, notwithstanding your nearness to death, with memories such as I have never known, nor can know, and beliefs such as I have never cherished nor will cherish, I hate you so that I find it difficult to wait for the five minutes yet to elapse before my word will let me lift my pistol and fire upon you.'

"'Then it is your hate of me, and not your fondness for your sister, that has led you to lay this trap for me?' exclaimed the other. 'I should think your hate would be satisfied by the change which your return will make in my prospects. From the marquisate of La Roche-Guyon to a simple captaincy in his majesty's guards is quite a step, Isidor.

Will it not suffice to soothe an antagonism which I never shared?'

"'Nothing can soothe it, not even your death! You have robbed me of too much. First, of the world's esteem, then of my mother's confidence, and, lastly, of my father's love. Yes; deny it if you will, my father loved you better than he did me. This was the reason he sent me from home; and when, shipwrecked and captured by savages, I found myself thrown into an Eastern dungeon, half my misery and all my rage were in the thought that he would not consider my loss a misfortune, but die in greater peace and hope from knowing that his family honors would devolve upon one more after his own heart than myself. Oh! I have had cause, and I have had time to nourish my hate. Five years in a dungeon affords one leisure, and on every square stone of that wall, and upon every inch of its relentless pavement, I have beaten out this determination with my bare hands and manacled feet, that if I ever did escape, and ever did return to the home of my fathers, I would have full pay for the suffering you have caused me, even if I had it in your blood. I have returned, and I find my father dead, and in his place yourself, happy, insolent, and triumphant. Can you blame me for remembering my vows, for resenting what will ever seem an insult to my sister, and for wishing to hurry the time that moves so slowly toward the fatal stroke of three?'

"'I do not blame you, because you are a madman. I do not fear you, because, having no one in the world to love, I do not greatly dread a sudden release from it. But I pity you because you have suffered, and will defend myself because your sufferings will be increased rather than diminished by the success of your crazy intentions.'

"The answer came, quick and furious:

"'I do not want your pity, and I scorn any defense which you can make.

Do you think I have not made my calculations well? There is nothing here which can give you hope. We are alone on the sixth story. Beneath us are only women, and if you call from the window, I can shoot you dead before your voice can reach the street. Perhaps, though, you do not think of saving yourself, but of ensnaring me. Bah! as if the sight of the headsman would stop me now. Besides, I am prepared for flight. Have you looked at this house? It is not like other houses; it is double, and the room in which we stand has other foundations and walls from this one behind me which I guard with my pistol. Let the deed be once done--and the clock, as you see, gives us but one minute more--and I leap into this other apartment, down another flight of stairs from those you came up, and so to another door that opens upon another street. Then shout, if you will; I am safe. As to your life, it is as much at my command as if my bullet were already in your heart.'

"'We will see!' was the thundering reply, and with these words a rush was made that shook the floor above our heads, and scattered bits of plaster down upon us. Released by the action from the fearful spell which had benumbed my limbs, I felt that I could move at last, and, leaping to my feet, I uttered scream after scream. But they perished in my throat, smothered by a new fear; for at this moment my arm was caught by Cecile, and following, with horrified gaze, the pointing of her uplifted hand, I saw the straight line of the window-ledge before me dip and curve, and yielding to the force of her agonized strength, I let myself be dragged across the floor, while before us, beneath us, above us, all was one chaos of heaving and crashing timbers, which, in another instant, broke into a thunder of confused sounds, and we beheld beneath us a pit of darkness, death, and tumult, where, but an instant before, were all the appurtenances of a comfortable and luxurious home.

"We were safe, for we had reached the flooring of the second house before that of the first had completely fallen, but I could not think of myself, narrow as my escape had been, and marvelous as was the warning which had revealed to Cecile the only path of safety. For in the clouded s.p.a.ce above me, overhanging a gulf I dared not measure with my eyes or sound with my imagination, I saw clinging by one arm to a beam the awful figure of a man, while crouching near him on a portion of flooring that still clung intact to the wall, I beheld another in whose n.o.ble traits, distorted though they were by the emotions of the moment, I recognized him who, but a month before, had changed the world for me with his look.

"Ah! mamma, and a thousand deaths lay between us; and we could neither reach him nor give any alarm, for the s.p.a.ce in which we found ourselves was small and shut from the outer world by a door which was locked. How it became locked I never knew, but I have thought that the maid in flying might have turned the key behind her, under some wild impression that by this means she would shut out destruction. However that may be, we were helpless and threatened by death. But our own situation did not alarm us, for theirs was so much more terrible, especially that of the man whose straining arm clung so frantically to a support that threatened every moment to slip from his grasp. I could not look at him, and scarcely could I look at the other. But I did, for in his face there was such a high and n.o.ble resolve that it made me forget his danger, till suddenly I heard him speak high above the sounds that arose in a tempest from the street:

"'Do not despair, Isidor. I think I can reach you and pull you up upon the beam. You shall not die a dog's death if I can help it. Hold on and I will come.' And he began to move and raise himself upon the narrow platform on which he stood, and I saw that he meant what he said, and involuntarily and with but little reason I cried:

"'Don't do it! He is your enemy. Save yourself; he is but a murderer; let him go.'

"I said that; I who never had a cruel thought before in my life. But he, without looking to see whence this voice came, answered boldly:

"'It is because he is my enemy that I wish to save him. I could never enjoy a safety won at the expense of his death. Isidor, you must live!

So hold on, my cousin.'

[Ill.u.s.tration]

"And without saying anything further, this brave man set about a task that seemed to me at that moment not only superhuman but impossible.

Gathering himself up, he prepared to make a spring, and in another instant would have launched himself toward that rocking beam, if Cecile, driven to extremity by the slow tottering of the floor upon which we stood, had not shrieked:

"'And to save him you would leave us to perish?'

"He paused and gave one look. 'Yes!' he cried. 'G.o.d help you, but you look like innocent women, while he--' The leap was made. He lay clinging to the beam. His cousin, who had not fallen, cast one glance up; their eyes met, and Isidor, as he was called, gave one great sob. 'Oh, Louis!'