The Magician Part 26

No one could deny that Haddo had got possession of the land he wanted; for, when it was put up to auction, no one would bid against him, and he bought it for a song.

As soon as he could do so naturally, Arthur asked after Margaret. The woman shrugged her shoulders. No one knew anything about her. She never came out of the park gates, but sometimes you could see her wandering about inside by herself. She saw no one. Haddo had long since quarrelled with the surrounding gentry; and though one old lady, the mother of a neighbouring landowner, had called when Margaret first came, she had not been admitted, and the visit was never returned.

'She'll come to no good, poor lady,' said the hostess of the inn. 'And they do say she's a perfect picture to look at.'

Arthur went to his room. He longed for the day to come. There was no certain means of seeing Margaret. It was useless to go to the park gates, since even the tradesmen were obliged to leave their goods at the lodge; but it appeared that she walked alone, morning and afternoon, and it might be possible to see her then. He decided to climb into the park and wait till he came upon her in some spot where they were not likely to be observed.

Next day the great heat of the last week was gone, and the melancholy sky was dark with lowering clouds. Arthur inquired for the road which led to Skene, and set out to walk the three miles which separated him from it.

The country was grey and barren. There was a broad waste of heath, with gigantic boulders strewn as though in pre-historic times t.i.tans had waged there a mighty battle. Here and there were trees, but they seemed hardly to withstand the fierce winds of winter; they were old and bowed before the storm. One of them attracted his attention. It had been struck by lightning and was riven asunder, leafless; but the maimed branches were curiously set on the trunk so that they gave it the appearance of a human being writhing in the torture of infernal agony. The wind whistled strangely. Arthur's heart sank as he walked on. He had never seen a country so desolate.

He came to the park gates at last and stood for some time in front of them. At the end of a long avenue, among the trees, he could see part of a splendid house. He walked along the wooden palisade that surrounded the park. Suddenly he came to a spot where a board had been broken down. He looked up and down the road. No one was in sight. He climbed up the low, steep bank, wrenched down a piece more of the fence, and slipped in.

He found himself in a dense wood. There was no sign of a path, and he advanced cautiously. The bracken was so thick and high that it easily concealed him. Dead owners had plainly spent much care upon the place, for here alone in the neighbourhood were trees in abundance; but of late it had been utterly neglected. It had run so wild that there were no traces now of its early formal arrangement; and it was so hard to make one's way, the vegetation was so thick, that it might almost have been some remnant of primeval forest. But at last he came to a gra.s.sy path and walked along it slowly. He stopped on a sudden, for he heard a sound. But it was only a pheasant that flew heavily through the low trees. He wondered what he should do if he came face to face with Oliver. The innkeeper had a.s.sured him that the squire seldom came out, but spent his days locked in the great attics at the top of the house. Smoke came from the chimneys of them, even in the hottest days of summer, and weird tales were told of the devilries there committed.

Arthur went on, hoping in the end to catch sight of Margaret, but he saw no one. In that grey, chilly day the woods, notwithstanding their greenery, were desolate and sad. A sombre mystery seemed to hang over them. At last he came to a stone bench at a cross-way among the trees, and, since it was the only resting-place he had seen, it struck him that Margaret might come there to sit down. He hid himself in the bracken.

He had forgotten his watch and did not know how the time pa.s.sed; he seemed to be there for hours.

But at length his heart gave a great beat against his ribs, for all at once, so silently that he had not heard her approach, Margaret came into view. She sat on the stone bench. For a moment he dared not move in case the sound frightened her. He could not tell how to make his presence known. But it was necessary to do something to attract her attention, and he could only hope that she would not cry out.

'Margaret,' he called softly.

She did not move, and he repeated her name more loudly. But still she made no sign that she had heard. He came forward and stood in front of her.

'Margaret.'

She looked at him quietly. He might have been someone she had never set eyes on, and yet from her composure she might have expected him to be standing there.

'Margaret, don't you know me?'

'What do you want?' she answered placidly.

He was so taken aback that he did not know what to say. She kept gazing at him steadfastly. On a sudden her calmness vanished, and she sprang to her feet.

'Is it you really?' she cried, terribly agitated. 'I thought it was only a shape that mimicked you.'

'Margaret, what do you mean? What has come over you?'

She stretched out her hand and touched him.

'I'm flesh and blood all right,' he said, trying to smile.

She shut her eyes for a moment, as though in an effort to collect herself.

'I've had hallucinations lately,' she muttered. 'I thought it was some trick played upon me.'

Suddenly she shook herself.

'But what are you doing here? You must go. How did you come? Oh, why won't you leave me alone?'

'I've been haunted by a feeling that something horrible was going to happen to you. I was obliged to come.'

'For G.o.d's sake, go. You can do me no good. If he finds out you've been here--'

She stopped, and her eyes were dilated with terror. Arthur seized her hands.

'Margaret, I can't go--I can't leave you like this. For Heaven's sake, tell me what is the matter. I'm so dreadfully frightened.'

He was aghast at the difference wrought in her during the two months since he had seen her last. Her colour was gone, and her face had the greyness of the dead. There were strange lines on her forehead, and her eyes had an unnatural glitter. Her youth had suddenly left her. She looked as if she were struck down by mortal illness.

'What is that matter with you?' he asked.

'Nothing.' She looked about her anxiously. 'Oh, why don't you go? How can you be so cruel?'

'I must do something for you,' he insisted.

She shook her head.

'It's too late. Nothing can help me now.' She paused; and when she spoke again it was with a voice so ghastly that it might have come from the lips of a corpse. 'I've found out at last what he's going to do with me He wants me for his great experiment, and the time is growing shorter.'

'What do you mean by saying he wants you?'

'He wants--my life.'

Arthur gave a cry of dismay, but she put up her hand.

'It's no use resisting. It can't do any good--I think I shall be glad when the moment comes. I shall at least cease to suffer.'

'But you must be mad.'

'I don't know. I know that he is.'

'But if your life is in danger, come away for G.o.d's sake. After all, you're free. He can't stop you.'

'I should have to go back to him, as I did last time,' she answered, shaking her head. 'I thought I was free then, but gradually I knew that he was calling me. I tried to resist, but I couldn't. I simply had to go to him.'

'But it's awful to think that you are alone with a man who's practically raving mad.'

'I'm safe for today,' she said quietly. 'It can only be done in the very hot weather. If there's no more this year, I shall live till next summer.'

'Oh, Margaret, for G.o.d's sake don't talk like that. I love you--I want to have you with me always. Won't you come away with me and let me take care of you? I promise you that no harm shall come to you.'

'You don't love me any more; you're only sorry for me now.'

'It's not true.'

'Oh yes it is. I saw it when we were in the country. Oh, I don't blame you. I'm a different woman from the one you loved. I'm not the Margaret you knew.'

'I can never care for anyone but you.'