Evil Guest — 04 (There was a deeper gloom than usual ... "which you fear to tell me of.")

There was a deeper gloom than usual over the house.

The servants seemed to know that something had gone wrong, and looked grave and mysterious.

Marston was more than ever dark and moody.

Mrs. Marston's dimmed and swollen eyes showed that she had been weeping.

Mademoiselle absented herself from supper, on the plea of a bad headache.

Rhoda saw that something, she knew not what, had occurred to agitate her elders, and was depressed and anxious.

The old clergyman, whom we have already mentioned, had called, and stayed to supper.

Dr. Danvers was a man of considerable learning, strong sense, and remarkable simplicity of character.

His thoughtful blue eye, and well-marked countenance, were full of gentleness and benevolence, and elevated by a certain natural dignity, of which purity and goodness, without one debasing shade of self-esteem and arrogance, were the animating spirit.

Mrs. Marston loved and respected this good minister of God; and many a time had sought and found, in his gentle and earnest counsels, and in the overflowing tenderness of his sympathy, much comfort and support in the progress of her sore and protracted earthly trial.

Most especially at one critical period in her history had he endeared himself to her, by interposing, and successfully, to prevent a formal separation which (as ending forever the one hope that cheered her on, even in the front of despair) she would probably not long have survived.

With Mr. Marston, however, he was far from being a favorite.

There was that in his lofty and simple purity which abashed and silently reproached the sensual, bitter, disappointed man of the world.

The angry pride of the scornful man felt its own meanness in the grand presence of a simple and humble Christian minister.

And the very fact that all his habits had led him to hold such a character in contempt, made him but the more unreasonably resent the involuntary homage which its exhibition in Dr. Danvers's person invariably extorted from him.

He felt in this good man's presence under a kind of irritating restraint; that he was in the presence of one with whom he had, and could have, no sympathy whatever, and yet one whom he could not help both admiring and respecting; and in these conflicting feelings were involved certain gloomy and humbling inferences about himself, which he hated, and almost feared to contemplate.

It was well, however, for the indulgence of Sir Wynston's conversational propensities, that Dr. Danvers had happened to drop in; for Marston was doggedly silent and sullen, and Mrs. Marston was herself scarcely more disposed than he to maintain her part in a conversation; so that, had it not been for the opportune arrival of the good clergyman, the supper must have been dispatched with a very awkward and unsocial taciturnity.

Marston thought, and, perhaps, not erroneously, that Sir Wynston suspected something of the real state of affairs, and he was, therefore, incensed to perceive, as he thought, in his manner, very evident indications of his being in unusually good spirits.

Thus disposed, the party sat down to supper.

"One of our number is missing," said Sir Wynston, affecting a slight surprise, which, perhaps, he did not feel.

"Mademoiselle de Barras--I trust she is well?"

said Doctor Danvers, looking towards Marston.

"I suppose she is; I don't know," said Marston, drily.

"Why!

how should he know," said the baronet, gaily, but with something almost imperceptibly sarcastic in his tone.

"Our friend, Marston, is privileged to be as ungallant as he pleases, except where he has the happy privilege to owe allegiance; but I, a gay young bachelor of fifty, am naturally curious.

I really do trust that our charming French friend is not unwell."

He addressed his inquiry to Mrs. Marston, who, with some slight confusion, replied:-- "No; nothing, at least, serious; merely a slight headache.

I am sure she will be quite well enough to come down to breakfast."

"She is, indeed, a very charming and interesting young person," said Doctor Danvers.

"There is a certain simplicity about her which argues a good and kind heart, and an open nature."

"Very true, indeed, doctor," observed Berkley, with the same faint, but, to Marston, exquisitely provoking approximation to sarcasm.

"There is, as you say, a very charming simplicity.

Don't you think so, Marston?"

Marston looked at him for a moment, but continued silent.

"Poor mademoiselle!

--she is, indeed, a most affectionate creature," said Mrs. Marston, who felt called upon to say something.

"Come, Marston, will you contribute nothing to the general fund of approbation?"

said Sir Wynston, who was gifted by nature with an amiable talent for teasing, which he was fond of exercising in a quiet way.

"We have all, but you, said something handsome of our absent young friend."

"I never praise anybody, Wynston; not even you," said Marston, with an obvious sneer.

"Well, well, I must comfort myself with the belief that your silence covers a great deal of good-will, and, perhaps, a little admiration, too," answered his cousin, significantly.

"Comfort yourself in any honest way you will, my dear Wynston," retorted Marston, with a degree of asperity, which, to all but the baronet himself, was unaccountable.

"You may be right, you may be wrong; on a subject so unimportant it matters very little which; you are at perfect liberty to practice delusions, if you will, upon yourself."

"By-the-bye, Mr. Marston, is not your son about to come down here?"

asked Doctor Danvers, who perceived that the altercation was becoming, on Marston's part, somewhat testy, if not positively rude.

"Yes; I expect him in a few days," replied he, with a sudden gloom.

"You have not seen him, Sir Wynston?"

asked the clergyman.

"I have that pleasure yet to come," said the baronet.

"A pleasure it is, I do assure you," said Doctor Danvers, heartily.

"He is a handsome lad, with the heart of a hero--a fine, frank, generous lad, and as merry as a lark."

"Yes, yes," interrupted Marston; "he is well enough, and has done pretty well at Cambridge.

Doctor Danvers, take some wine."

It was strange, but yet mournfully true, that the praises which the good Doctor Danvers thus bestowed upon his son were bitter to the soul of the unhappy Marston.

They jarred upon his ear, and stung his heart; for his conscience converted them into so many latent insults and humiliations to himself.

"Your wine is very good, Marston.

I think your clarets are many degrees better than any I can get," said Sir Wynston, sipping a glass of his favorite wine.

"You country gentlemen are sad selfish dogs; and, with all your grumbling, manage to collect the best of whatever is worth having about you."

"We sometimes succeed in collecting a pleasant party," retorted Marston, with ironical courtesy, "though we do not always command the means of entertaining them quite as we would wish."

It was the habit of Doctor Danvers, without respect of persons or places, to propose, before taking his departure from whatever domestic party he chanced to be thrown among for the evening, to read some verses from that holy Book, on which his own hopes and peace were founded, and to offer up a prayer for all to the throne of grace.

Marston, although he usually absented himself from such exercises, did not otherwise discourage them; but upon the present occasion, starting from his gloomy reverie, he himself was the first to remind the clergyman of his customary observance.

Evil thoughts loomed upon the mind of Marston, like measureless black mists upon a cold, smooth sea.

They rested, grew, and darkened there; and no heaven-sent breath came silently to steal them away.

Under this dread shadow his mind lay waiting, like the deep, before the Spirit of God moved upon its waters, passive and awful.

Why for the first time now did religion interest him?

The unseen, intangible, was even now at work within him.

A dreadful power shook his very heart and soul.

There was some strange, ghastly wrestling going on in his own immortal spirit, a struggle that made him faint, which he had no power to determine.

He looked upon the holy influence of the good man's prayer--a prayer in which he could not join--with a dull, superstitious hope that the words, inviting better influence, though uttered by another, and with other objects, would, like a spell, chase away the foul fiend that was busy with his soul.

Marston sate, looking into the fire, with a countenance of stern gloom, upon which the wayward lights of the flickering hearth sported fitfully; while at a distant table Doctor Danvers sate down, and, taking his well-worn Bible from his pocket, turned over its leaves, and began, in gentle but impressive tones, to read.

Sir Wynston was much too well bred to evince the slightest disposition to aught but the most proper and profound attention.

The faintest imaginable gleam of ridicule might, perhaps, have been discerned in his features, as he leaned back in his chair, and, closing his eyes, composed himself to at least an attitude of attention.

No man could submit with more cheerfulness to an inevitable bore.

In these things, then, thou hast no concern; the judgment troubles thee not; thou hast no fear of death, Sir Wynston Berkley; yet there is a heart beating near thee, the mysteries of which, could they glide out and stand before thy face, would perchance appal thee, cold, easy man of the world.

Aye, couldst thou but see with those cunning eyes of thine, but twelve brief hours into futurity, each syllable that falls from that good man's lips unheeded would peal through thy heart and brain like maddening thunder.

Hearken, hearken, Sir Wynston Berkley, perchance these are the farewell words of thy better angel--the last pleadings of despised mercy!

The party broke up.

Doctor Danvers took his leave, and rode homeward, down the broad avenue, between the gigantic ranks of elm that closed it in.

The full moon was rising above the distant hills; the mists lay like sleeping lakes in the laps of the hollows; and the broad demesne looked tranquil and sad under this chastened and silvery glory.

The good old clergyman thought, as he pursued his way, that here at least, in a spot so beautiful and sequestered, the stormy passions and fell contentions of the outer world could scarcely penetrate.

Yet, in that calm secluded spot, and under the cold, pure light which fell so holily, what a hell was weltering and glaring!

--what a spectacle was that moon to go down upon!

As Sir Wynston was leaving the parlor for his own room, Marston accompanied him to the hall, and said--"I shan't play tonight, Sir Wynston."

"Ah, ha!

very particularly engaged?"

suggested the baronet, with a faint, mocking smile.

"Well, my dear fellow, we must endeavor to make up for it tomorrow--eh?"

"I don't know that," said Marston, "and--in a word, there is no use, sir, in our masquerading with one another.

Each knows the other; each understands the other.

I wish to have a word or two with you in your room tonight, when we shan't be interrupted."

Marston spoke in a fierce and grating whisper, and his countenance, more even than his accents, betrayed the intensity of his bridled fury.

Sir Wynston, however, smiled upon his cousin as if his voice had been melody, and his looks all sunshine.

"Very good, Marston, just as you please," he said; "only don't be later than one, as I shall be getting into bed about that hour."

"Perhaps, upon second thoughts, it is as well to defer what I have to say," said Marston, musingly.

"Tomorrow will do as well; so, perhaps, Sir Wynston, I may not trouble you tonight."

"Just as suits you best, my dear Marston," replied the baronet, with a tranquil smile; "only don't come after the hour I have stipulated."

So saying, the baronet mounted the stairs, and made his way to his chamber.

He was in excellent spirits, and in high good-humor with himself: the object of his visit to Gray Forest had been, as he now flattered himself, attained.

He had conducted an affair requiring the profoundest mystery in its prosecution, and the nicest tactic in its management, almost to a triumphant issue.

He had perfectly masked his design, and completely outwitted Marston; and to a person who piqued himself upon his clever diplomacy, and vaunted that he had never yet sustained a defeat in any object which he had seriously proposed to himself, such a combination of successes was for the moment quite intoxicating.

Sir Wynston not only enjoyed his own superiority with all the vanity of a selfish nature, but he no less enjoyed, with a keen and malicious relish, the intense mortification which, he was well assured, Marston must experience; and all the more acutely, because of the utter impossibility, circumstanced as he was, of his taking any steps to manifest his vexation, without compromising himself in a most unpleasant way.

Animated by these amiable feelings, Sir Wynston Berkley sate down, and wrote the following short letter, addressed to Mrs. Gray, Wynston Hall:-- "Mrs. Gray, "On receipt of this have the sitting rooms and several bedrooms put in order, and thoroughly aired.

Prepare for my use the suite of three rooms over the library and drawing room; and have the two great wardrobes, and the cabinet in the state bedroom, removed into the large dressing room which opens upon the bedroom I have named.

Make everything as comfortable as possible.

If anything is wanted in the way of furniture, drapery, ornament, &c. , you need only write to John Skelton, Esq.

, Spring-garden, London, stating what is required, and he will order and send them down.

You must be expeditious, as I shall probably go down to Wynston, with two or three friends, at the beginning of next month.

"WYNSTON BERKLEY "P. S.

--I have written to direct Arkins and two or three of the other servants to go down at once.

Set them all to work immediately."

He then applied himself to another letter of considerably greater length, and from which, therefore, we shall only offer a few extracts.

It was addressed to John Skelton, Esq.

, and began as follows.

-- "My Dear Skelton, "You are, doubtless, surprised at my long silence, but I have had nothing very particular to say.

My visit to this dull and uncomfortable place was (as you rightly surmise) not without its object--a little bit of wicked romance; the pretty demoiselle of Rouen, whom I mentioned to you more than once--la belle de Barras--was, in truth, the attraction that drew me hither; and I think (for, as yet, she affects hesitation), I shall have no further trouble with her.

She is a fine creature, and you will admit, when you have seen her, well worth taking some trouble about.

She is, however, a very knowing little minx, and evidently suspects me of being a sad, fickle dog--and, as I surmise, has some plans, moreover, respecting my morose cousin, Marston, a kind of wicked Penruddock, who has carried all his London tastes into his savage retreat, a paradise of bogs and bushes.

There is, I am very confident, a liaison in that quarter.

The young lady is evidently a good deal afraid of him, and insists upon such precautions in our interviews, that they have been very few, and far between, indeed.

Today, there has been a fracas of some kind.

I have no doubt that Marston, poor devil, is jealous.

His situation is really pitiably comic--with an intriguing mistress, a saintly wife, and a devil of a jealous temper of his own.

I shall meet Mary on reaching town.

Has Clavering (shabby dog!

) paid his I. O.

U.

yet?

Tell the little opera woman she had better be quiet.

She ought to know me by this time; I shall do what is right, but won't submit to be bullied.

If she is troublesome, snap your fingers at her, on my behalf, and leave her to her remedy.

I

have written to Gray, to get things at Wynston in order.

She will draw upon you for what money she requires.

Send down two or three of the servants, if they have not already gone.

The place is very dusty and dingy, and needs a great deal of brushing and scouring.

I shall see you in town very soon.

By the way, has the claret I ordered from the Dublin house arrived yet?

It is consigned to you, and goes by the 'Lizard'; pay the freightage, and get Edwards to pack it; ten dozen or so may as well go down to Wynston, and send other wines in proportion.

I leave details to you...."

Some further directions upon other subjects followed; and having subscribed the dispatch, and addressed it to the gentlemanlike scoundrel who filled the onerous office of factotum to this profligate and exacting man of the world, Sir Wynston Berkley rang his bell, and gave the two letters into the hand of his man, with special directions to carry them himself in person, to the post office in the neighboring village, early next morning.

These little matters completed, Sir Wynston stirred his fire, leaned back in his easy chair, and smiled blandly over the sunny prospect of his imaginary triumphs.

It here becomes necessary to describe, in a few words, some of the local relations of Sir Wynston's apartments.

The bedchamber which he occupied opened from the long passage of which we have already spoken--and there were two other smaller apartments opening from it in train.

In the further of these, which was entered from a lobby, communicating by a back stair with the kitchen and servants' apartments, lay Sir Wynston's valet, and the intermediate chamber was fitted up as a dressing room for the baronet himself.

These circumstances it is necessary to mention, that what follows may be clearly intelligible.

While the baronet was penning these records of vicious schemes--dire waste of wealth and time--irrevocable time!

--Marston paced his study in a very different frame of mind.

There were a gloom and disorder in the room accordant with those of his own mind.

Shelves of ancient tomes, darkened by time, and upon which the dust of years lay sleeping--dark oaken cabinets, filled with piles of deeds and papers, among which the nimble spiders were crawling--and, from the dusky walls, several stark, pale ancestors, looking down coldly from their tarnished frames.

An hour, and another hour passed--and still Marston paced this melancholy chamber, a prey to his own fell passions and dark thoughts.

He was not a superstitious man, but, in the visions which haunted him, perhaps, was something which made him unusually excitable--for, he experienced a chill of absolute horror, as, standing at the farther end of the room, with his face turned towards the entrance, he beheld the door noiselessly and slowly pushed open, by a pale, thin hand, and a figure dressed in a loose white robe, glide softly in.

He stood for some seconds gazing upon this apparition, as it moved hesitatingly towards him from the dusky extremity of the large apartment, before he perceived that the form was that of Mrs. Marston.

"Hey, ha!

--Mrs. Marston--what on earth has called you hither?"

he asked, sternly.

"You ought to have been at rest an hour ago; get to your chamber, and leave me, I have business to attend to."

"Now, dear Richard, you must forgive me," she said, drawing near, and looking up into his haggard face with a sweet and touching look of timidity and love; "I could not rest until I saw you again; your looks have been all this night so unlike yourself; so strange and terrible, that I am afraid some great misfortune threatens you, which you fear to tell me of."