CHAPTER III.
PARADISE REGAINED BELOW.
He saw Dea. She had just raised herself up on the mattress. She had on along white dress, carefully closed, and showing only the delicate formof her neck. The sleeves covered her arms; the folds, her feet. Thebranch-like tracery of blue veins, hot and swollen with fever, werevisible on her hands. She was shivering and rocking, rather thanreeling, to and fro, like a reed. The lantern threw up its glancinglight on her beautiful face. Her loosened hair floated over hershoulders. No tears fell on her cheeks. In her eyes there was fire, anddarkness. She was pale, with that paleness which is like thetransparency of a divine life in an earthly face. Her fragile andexquisite form was, as it were, blended and interfused with the folds ofher robe. She wavered like the flicker of a flame, while, at the sametime, she was dwindling into shadow. Her eyes, opened wide, wereresplendent. She was as one just freed from the sepulchre; a soulstanding in the dawn.
Ursus, whose back only was visible to Gwynplaine, raised his arms interror. "O my child! O heavens! she is delirious. Delirium is what Ifeared worst of all. She must have no shock, for that might kill her;yet nothing but a shock can prevent her going mad. Dead or mad! what asituation. O God! what can I do? My child, lie down again."
Meanwhile, Dea spoke. Her voice was almost indistinct, as if a cloudalready interposed between her and earth.
"Father, you are wrong. I am not in the least delirious. I hear all yousay to me, distinctly. You tell me that there is a great crowd ofpeople, that they are waiting, and that I must play to-night. I am quitewilling. You see that I have my reason; but I do not know what to do,since I am dead, and Gwynplaine is dead. I am coming all the same. I amready to play. Here I am; but Gwynplaine is no longer here."
"Come, my child," said Ursus, "do as I bid you. Lie down again."
"He is no longer here, no longer here. Oh! how dark it is!"
"Dark!" muttered Ursus. "This is the first time she has ever utteredthat word!"
Gwynplaine, with as little noise as he could help making as he crept,mounted the step of the caravan, entered it, took from the nail the capeand the esclavine, put the esclavine round his neck, and redescendedfrom the van, still concealed by the projection of the cabin, therigging, and the mast.
Dea continued murmuring. She moved her lips, and by degrees the murmurbecame a melody. In broken pauses, and with the interrupted cadences ofdelirium, her voice broke into the mysterious appeal she had so oftenaddressed to Gwynplaine in _Chaos Vanquished_. She sang, and her voicewas low and uncertain as the murmur of the bee,--
"Noche, quita te de alli. El alba canta...."[23]
She stopped. "No, it is not true. I am not dead. What was I saying?Alas! I am alive. I am alive. He is dead. I am below. He is above. He isgone. I remain. I shall hear his voice no more, nor his footstep. God,who had given us a little Paradise on earth, has taken it away.Gwynplaine, it is over. I shall never feel you near me again. Never! Andhis voice! I shall never hear his voice again. And she sang:--
"Es menester a cielos ir-- Deja, quiero, A tu negro Caparazon."
"We must go to heaven. Take off, I entreat thee, Thy black cloak."
She stretched out her hand, as if she sought something in space on whichshe might rest.
Gwynplaine, rising by the side of Ursus, who had suddenly become asthough petrified, knelt down before her.
"Never," said Dea, "never shall I hear him again."
She began, wandering, to sing again:--
"Deja, quiero, A tu negro Caparazon."
Then she heard a voice--even the beloved voice--answering:--
"O ven! ama! Eres alma, Soy corazon."
"O come and love Thou art the soul, I am the heart."
And at the same instant Dea felt under her hand the head of Gwynplaine.She uttered an indescribable cry.
"Gwynplaine!"
A light, as of a star, shone over her pale face, and she tottered.Gwynplaine received her in his arms.
"Alive!" cried Ursus.
Dea repeated "Gwynplaine;" and with her head bowed against Gwynplaine'scheek, she whispered faintly,--
"You have come down to me again. I thank you, Gwynplaine."
And seated on his knee, she lifted up her head. Wrapt in his embrace,she turned her sweet face towards him, and fixed on him those eyes sofull of light and shadow, as though she could see him.
"It is you," she said.
Gwynplaine covered her sobs with kisses. There are words which are atonce words, cries, and sobs, in which all ecstasy and all grief aremingled and burst forth together. They have no meaning, and yet tellall.
"Yes, it is! It is I, Gwynplaine, of whom you are the soul. Do you hearme? I, of whom you are the child, the wife, the star, the breath oflife; I, to whom you are eternity. It is I. I am here. I hold you in myarms. I am alive. I am yours. Oh, when I think that in a moment allwould have been over--one minute more, but for Homo! I will tell youeverything. How near is despair to joy! Dea, we live! Dea, forgive me.Yes--yours for ever. You are right. Touch my forehead. Make sure that itis I. If you only knew--but nothing can separate us now. I rise out ofhell, and ascend into heaven. Am I not with you? You said that Idescended. Not so; I reascend. Once more with you! For ever! I tell youfor ever! Together! We are together! Who would have believed it? We havefound each other again. All our troubles are past. Before us now thereis nothing but enchantment. We will renew our happy life, and we willshut the door so fast that misfortune shall never enter again. I willtell you all. You will be astonished. The vessel has sailed. No one canprevent that now. We are on our voyage, and at liberty. We are going toHolland. We will marry. I have no fear about gaining a livelihood. Whatcan hinder it? There is nothing to fear. I adore you!"
"Not so quick!" stammered Ursus.
Dea, trembling, and with the rapture of an angelic touch, passed herhand over Gwynplaine's profile. He overheard her say to herself, "It isthus that gods are made."
Then she touched his clothes.
"The esclavine," she said, "the cape. Nothing changed; all as it wasbefore."
Ursus, stupefied, delighted, smiling, drowned in tears, looked at them,and addressed an aside to himself.
"I don't understand it in the least. I am a stupid idiot--I, who saw himcarried to the grave! I cry and I laugh. That is all I know. I am asgreat a fool as if I were in love myself. But that is just what I am. Iam in love with them both. Old fool! Too much emotion--too much emotion.It is what I was afraid of. No; it is that I wished for. Gwynplaine, becareful of her. Yes, let them kiss; it is no affair of mine. I am but aspectator. What I feel is droll. I am the parasite of their happiness,and I am nourished by it."
Whilst Ursus was talking to himself, Gwynplaine exclaimed,--
"Dea, you are too beautiful! I don't know where my wits were gone theselast few days. Truly, there is but you on earth. I see you again, but asyet I can hardly believe it. In this ship! But tell me, how did it allhappen? To what a state have they reduced you! But where is the GreenBox? They have robbed you. They have driven you away. It is infamous.Oh, I will avenge you--I will avenge you, Dea! They shall answer for it.I am a peer of England."
Ursus, as if stricken by a planet full in his breast, drew back, andlooked at Gwynplaine attentively.
"It is clear that he is not dead; but can he have gone mad?" and helistened to him doubtfully.
Gwynplaine resumed.
"Be easy, Dea; I will carry my complaint to the House of Lords."
Ursus looked at him again, and struck his forehead with the tip of hisforefinger. Then making up his mind,--
"It is all one to me," he said. "It will be all right, all the same. Beas mad as you like, my Gwynplaine. It is one of the rights of man. Asfor me, I am happy. But how came all this about?"
The vessel continued to sail smoothly and fast. The night grew darkerand darker. The mists, which came inland from the ocean, were invadingthe zenith, from which no wind blew them away. Only a few large starswere visible, and
they disappeared one after another, so that soon therewere none at all, and the whole sky was dark, infinite, and soft. Theriver broadened until the banks on each side were nothing but two thinbrown lines mingling with the gloom. Out of all this shadow rose aprofound peace. Gwynplaine, half seated, held Dea in his embrace. Theyspoke, they cried, they babbled, they murmured in a mad dialogue of joy!How are we to paint thee, O joy!
"My life!"
"My heaven!"
"My love!"
"My whole happiness!"
"Gwynplaine!"
"Dea, I am drunk. Let me kiss your feet."
"Is it you, then, for certain?"
"I have so much to say to you now that I do not know where to begin."
"One kiss!"
"O my wife!"
"Gwynplaine, do not tell me that I am beautiful. It is you who arehandsome."
"I have found you again. I hold you to my heart. This is true. You aremine. I do not dream. Is it possible? Yes, it is. I recover possessionof life. If you only knew! I have met with all sorts of adventures.Dea!"
"Gwynplaine, I love you!"
And Ursus murmured,--
"Mine is the joy of a grandfather."
Homo, having come from under the van, was going from one to the otherdiscreetly, exacting no attention, licking them left and right--nowUrsus's thick shoes, now Gwynplaine's cape, now Dea's dress, now themattress. This was his way of giving his blessing.
They had passed Chatham and the mouth of the Medway. They wereapproaching the sea. The shadowy serenity of the atmosphere was suchthat the passage down the Thames was being made without trouble: nomanoeuvre was needful, nor was any sailor called on deck. At the otherend of the vessel the skipper, still alone, was steering. There wasonly this man aft. At the bow the lantern lighted up the happy group ofbeings who, from the depths of misery, had suddenly been raised tohappiness by a meeting so unhoped for.
CHAPTER IV.
NAY; ON HIGH!
Suddenly Dea, disengaging herself from Gwynplaine's embrace, arose. Shepressed both her hands against her heart, as if to still its throbbings.
"What is wrong with me?" said she. "There is something the matter. Joyis suffocating. No, it is nothing! That is lucky. Your reappearance, Omy Gwynplaine, has given me a blow--a blow of happiness. All this heavenof joy which you have put into my heart has intoxicated me. You beingabsent, I felt myself dying. The true life which was leaving me you havebrought back. I felt as if something was being torn away within me. Itis the shadows that have been torn away, and I feel life dawn in mybrain--a glowing life, a life of fever and delight. This life which youhave just given me is wonderful. It is so heavenly that it makes mesuffer somewhat. It seems as though my soul is enlarged, and canscarcely be contained in my body. This life of seraphim, this plenitude,flows into my brain and penetrates it. I feel like a beating of wingswithin my breast. I feel strangely, but happy. Gwynplaine, you have beenmy resurrection."
She flushed, became pale, then flushed again, and fell.
"Alas!" said Ursus, "you have killed her."
Gwynplaine stretched his arms towards Dea. Extremity of anguish comingupon extremity of ecstasy, what a shock! He would himself have fallen,had he not had to support her.
"Dea!" he cried, shuddering, "what is the matter?"
"Nothing," said she--"I love you!"
She lay in his arms, lifeless, like a piece of linen; her hands werehanging down helplessly.
Gwynplaine and Ursus placed Dea on the mattress. She said, feebly,--
"I cannot breathe lying down."
They lifted her up.
Ursus said,--
"Fetch a pillow."
She replied,--
"What for? I have Gwynplaine!"
She laid her head on Gwynplaine's shoulder, who was sitting behind, andsupporting her, his eyes wild with grief.
"Oh," said she, "how happy I am!"
Ursus took her wrist, and counted the pulsation of the artery. He didnot shake his head. He said nothing, nor expressed his thought except bythe rapid movement of his eyelids, which were opening and closingconvulsively, as if to prevent a flood of tears from bursting out.
"What is the matter?" asked Gwynplaine.
Ursus placed his ear against Dea's left side.
Gwynplaine repeated his question eagerly, fearful of the answer.
Ursus looked at Gwynplaine, then at Dea. He was livid. He said,--
"We ought to be parallel with Canterbury. The distance from here toGravesend cannot be very great. We shall have fine weather all night. Weneed fear no attack at sea, because the fleets are all on the coast ofSpain. We shall have a good passage."
Dea, bent, and growing paler and paler, clutched her robe convulsively.She heaved a sigh of inexpressible sadness, and murmured,--
"I know what this is. I am dying!"
Gwynplaine rose in terror. Ursus held Dea.
"Die! You die! No; it shall not be! You cannot die! Die now! Die atonce! It is impossible! God is not ferociously cruel--to give you and totake you back in the same moment. No; such a thing cannot be. It wouldmake one doubt in Him. Then, indeed, would everything be a snare--theearth, the sky, the cradles of infants, the human heart, love, thestars. God would be a traitor and man a dupe. There would be nothing inwhich to believe. It would be an insult to the creation. Everythingwould be an abyss. You know not what you say, Dea. You shall live! Icommand you to live! You must obey me! I am your husband and yourmaster; I forbid you to leave me! O heavens! O wretched Man! No, itcannot be--I to remain in the world after you! Why, it is as monstrousas that there should be no sun! Dea! Dea! recover! It is but a momentof passing pain. One feels a shudder at times, and thinks no more aboutit. It is absolutely necessary that you should get well and cease tosuffer. _You_ die! What have I done to you? The very thought of itdrives me mad. We belong to each other, and we love each other. You haveno reason for going! It would be unjust! Have I committed crimes?Besides, you have forgiven me. Oh, you would not make me desperate--haveme become a villain, a madman, drive me to perdition? Dea, I entreatyou! I conjure you! I supplicate you! Do not die!"
And clenching his hands in his hair, agonized with fear, stifled withtears, he threw himself at her feet.
"My Gwynplaine," said Dea, "it is no fault of mine."
There then rose to her lips a red froth, which Ursus wiped away with thefold of her robe, before Gwynplaine, who was prostrate at her feet,could see it.
Gwynplaine took her feet in his hands, and implored her in all kinds ofconfused words.
"I tell you, I will not have it! _You_ die? I have no strength left tobear it. Die? Yes; but both of us together--not otherwise. _You_ die, myDea? I will never consent to it! My divinity, my love! Do you understandthat I am with you? I swear that you shall live! Oh, but you cannot havethought what would become of me after you were gone. If you had an ideaof the necessity which you are to me, you would see that it isabsolutely impossible! Dea! you see I have but you! The mostextraordinary things have happened to me. You will hardly believe that Ihave just explored the whole of life in a few hours! I have found outone thing--that there is nothing in it! You exist! if you did not, theuniverse would have no meaning. Stay with me! Have pity on me! Since youlove me, live on! If I have just found you again, it is to keep you.Wait a little longer; you cannot leave me like this, now that we havebeen together but a few minutes! Do not be impatient! O Heaven, how Isuffer! You are not angry with me, are you? You know that I could nothelp going when the wapentake came for me. You will breathe more easilypresently, you will see. Dea, all has been put right. We are going to behappy. Do not drive me to despair, Dea! I have done nothing to you."
These words were not spoken, but sobbed out. They rose from hisbreast--now in a lament which might have attracted the dove, now in aroar which might have made lions recoil.
Dea answered him in a voice growing weaker and weaker, and pausing atnearly every word.
"Alas! it is of no use, my beloved. I see that you are doing all
youcan. An hour ago I wanted to die; now I do not. Gwynplaine--my adoredGwynplaine--how happy we have been! God placed you in my life, and Hetakes me out of yours. You see, I am going. You will remember the GreenBox, won't you, and poor blind little Dea? You will remember my song? Donot forget the sound of my voice, and the way in which I said, 'I loveyou!' I will come back and tell it to you again, in the night while youare asleep. Yes, we found each other again; but it was too much joy. Itwas to end at once. It is decreed that I am to go first. I love myfather, Ursus, and my brother, Homo, very dearly. You are all so good.There is no air here. Open the window. My Gwynplaine, I did not tellyou, but I was jealous of a woman who came one day. You do not even knowof whom I speak. Is it not so? Cover my arms; I am rather cold. And Fibiand Vinos, where are they? One comes to love everybody. One feels afriendship for all those who have been mixed up in one's happiness. Wehave a kindly feeling towards them for having been present in our joys.Why has it all passed away? I have not clearly understood what hashappened during the last two days. Now I am dying. Leave me in my dress.When I put it on I foresaw that it would be my shroud. I wish to keep iton. Gwynplaine's kisses are upon it. Oh, what would I not have given tohave lived on! What a happy life we led in our poor caravan! How wesang! How I listened to the applause! What joy it was never to beseparated from each other! It seemed to me that I was living in a cloudwith you; I knew one day from another, although I was blind. I knew thatit was morning, because I heard Gwynplaine; I felt that it was night,because I dreamed of Gwynplaine. I felt that I was wrapped up insomething which was his soul. We adored each other so sweetly. It is allfading away; and there will be no more songs. Alas that I cannot liveon! You will think of me, my beloved!"
Her voice was growing fainter. The ominous waning, which was death, wasstealing away her breath. She folded her thumbs within her fingers--asign that her last moments were approaching. It seemed as though thefirst uncertain words of an angel just created were blended with thelast failing accents of the dying girl.
She murmured,--
"You will think of me, won't you? It would be very sad to be dead, andto be remembered by no one. I have been wayward at times; I beg pardonof you all. I am sure that, if God had so willed it, we might yet havebeen happy, my Gwynplaine; for we take up but very little room, and wemight have earned our bread together in another land. But God has willedit otherwise. I cannot make out in the least why I am dying. I nevercomplained of being blind, so that I cannot have offended any one. Ishould never have asked for anything, but always to be blind as I was,by your side. Oh, how sad it is to have to part!"
Her words were more and more inarticulate, evaporating into each other,as if they were being blown away. She had become almost inaudible.
"Gwynplaine," she resumed, "you will think of me, won't you? I shallcrave it when I am dead."
And she added,--
"Oh, keep me with you!"
Then, after a pause, she said,--
"Come to me as soon as you can. I shall be very unhappy without you,even in heaven. Do not leave me long alone, my sweet Gwynplaine! Myparadise was here; above there is only heaven! Oh! I cannot breathe! Mybeloved! My beloved! My beloved!"
"Mercy!" cried Gwynplaine.
"Farewell!" murmured Dea.
And he pressed his mouth to her beautiful icy hands. For a moment itseemed as if she had ceased to breathe. Then she raised herself on herelbows, and an intense splendour flashed across her eyes, and through anineffable smile her voice rang out clearly.
"Light!" she cried. "I see!"
And she expired. She fell back rigid and motionless on the mattress.
"Dead!" said Ursus.
And the poor old man, as if crushed by his despair, bowed his bald headand buried his swollen face in the folds of the gown which covered Dea'sfeet. He lay there in a swoon.
Then Gwynplaine became awful. He arose, lifted his eyes, and gazed intothe vast gloom above him. Seen by none on earth, but looked down upon,perhaps, as he stood in the darkness, by some invisible presence, hestretched his hands on high, and said,--
"I come!"
And he strode across the deck, towards the side of the vessel, as ifbeckoned by a vision.
A few paces off was the abyss. He walked slowly, never casting down hiseyes. A smile came upon his face, such as Dea's had just worn. Headvanced straight before him, as if watching something. In his eyes wasa light like the reflection of a soul perceived from afar off. He criedout, "Yes!" At every step he was approaching nearer to the side of thevessel. His gait was rigid, his arms were lifted up, his head was thrownback, his eyeballs were fixed. His movement was ghost-like. He advancedwithout haste and without hesitation, with fatal precision, as thoughthere were before him no yawning gulf and open grave. He murmured, "Beeasy. I follow you. I understand the sign that you are making me." Hiseyes were fixed upon a certain spot in the sky, where the shadow wasdeepest. The smile was still upon his face. The sky was perfectly black;there was no star visible in it, and yet he evidently saw one. Hecrossed the deck. A few stiff and ominous steps, and he had reached thevery edge.
"I come," said he; "Dea, behold, I come!"
One step more; there was no bulwark; the void was before him; he strodeinto it. He fell. The night was thick and dull, the water deep. Itswallowed him up. He disappeared calmly and silently. None saw nor heardhim. The ship sailed on, and the river flowed.
Shortly afterwards the ship reached the sea.
When Ursus returned to consciousness, he found that Gwynplaine was nolonger with him, and he saw Homo by the edge of the deck baying in theshadow and looking down upon the water.
THE END.
[Footnote 1: As much as to say, the other daughters are provided for asbest may be. (Note by Ursus on the margin of the wall.)]
[Footnote 2: _Una nube salida del malo lado del diablo_.]
[Footnote 3: Tiller of the mountain, who is that man?--A man.
What tongue does he speak?--All.
What things does he know?--All.
What is his country?--None and all.
Who is his God?--God.
What do you call him?--The madman.
What do you say you call him?--The wise man.
In your band, what is he?--He is what he is.
The chief?--No.
Then what is he?--The soul.]
[Footnote 4: Traitors.]
[Footnote 5: The above is a very inefficient and rather absurdtranslation of the French. It turns upon the fact that in the Frenchlanguage the word for darkness is plural--_tenebres_.--TRANSLATOR.]
[Footnote 6: Transcriber's note: The original text refers to "vitresepaisses", thick panes, without specific dimensions. Glass only amillimetre thick would have been rather flimsy.]
[Footnote 7: _Gaufrier_, the iron with which a pattern is traced onstuff.]
[Footnote 8: Art thou near me?]
[Footnote 9: Cotes, coasts, costa, ribs.]
[Footnote 10: "Their lips were four red roses on a stem, Which in their summer beauty kissed each other." _Shakespeare_.]
[Footnote 11: Regina Saba coram rege crura denudavit.--_Schicklardus inProemio Tarich Jersici, F_. 65.]
[Footnote 12: Book I., p. 196.]
[Footnote 13: Pray! weep! Reason is born of the word. Song createslight.]
[Footnote 14: Night, away! the dawn sings hallali.]
[Footnote 15: Thou must go to heaven and smile, thou that weepest.]
[Footnote 16: Break the yoke; throw off, monster, thy dark clothing.]
[Footnote 17: O come and love! thou art soul, I am heart.]
[Footnote 18: The Fenian, Burke.]
[Footnote 19: The life and the limbs of subjects depend on the king.Chamberlayne, Part 2, chap. iv., p. 76.]
[Footnote 20: This fashion of sleeping partly undrest came from Italy,and was derived from the Romans. "_Sub clara nuda lacerna_," saysHorace.]
[Footnote 21: The author is apparently mistaken. The Chamberlains of theExchequer divided the wooden laths into
tallies, which were given outwhen disbursing coin, and checked or tallied when accounting for it. Itwas in burning the old tallies in an oven that the Houses of Parliamentwere destroyed by fire.--TRANSLATOR.]
[Footnote 22: Villiers called James I., "_Votre cochonnerie_."]
[Footnote 23: "Depart, O night! sings the dawn."]
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