CHAPTER XX
A PUBLIC PROMISE
On the evening of the next day I was once again with my faithfulfriends on board the little yacht. Furious with the trick Mouraki hadplayed them, they rejoiced openly at his fall and mingled theircongratulations to me with hearty denunciations of the dead man. Insober reality we had every reason to be glad. Our new master was of adifferent stamp from Mouraki. He was a proud, reserved, honestgentleman, with no personal ends to serve. He had informed me that Imust remain on the island till he received instructions concerning me,but he encouraged me to hope that my troubles were at last over;indeed I gathered from a hint or two which he let fall that Mouraki'send was not likely to be received with great regret in exaltedcircles. In truth I have never known a death greeted with more generalsatisfaction. The soldiers regarded me with quiet approval. To thepeople of Neopalia I became a hero: everybody seemed to have learntsomething at least of the story of my duel with the Pasha, andeverybody had been (so it now appeared) on my side. I could not walkup the street without a shower of benedictions; the islandersfearlessly displayed their liking for me by way of declaring theirhatred for Mouraki's memory and their exultation in his fitting death.In these demonstrations they were not interfered with, and the captainwent so far as to shut his eyes judiciously when, under cover ofnight, they accorded Demetri the tribute of a public funeral. To thisfunction I did not go, although I was informed that my presence wasconfidently expected; but I sought out Panayiota and told her how herlover died. She heard the story with Spartan calm and pride;Neopalians take deaths easily.
Yet there were shadows on our new-born prosperity. Most lenient andgracious to me, the captain preserved a severe and rigorous attitudetowards Phroso. He sent her to her own house--or my house, as withamiable persistence he called it--and kept her there under guard. Hercase also would be considered, he said, and he had forwarded myexoneration of her together with the account of Mouraki's death; buthe feared very much that she would not be allowed to remain in theisland; she would be a centre of discontent there. As for my proposalto restore Neopalia to her, he assured me that it would not belistened to for a moment. If I declined to keep the island,--probablya suitable and loyal lord would be selected, and Phroso would bedeported.
'Where to?' I asked.
'Really I don't know,' said the captain. 'It is but a small matter, mylord, and I have not troubled my superiors with any recommendation onthe subject.'
As he spoke he rose to go. He had been paying us a visit on the yacht,where, in obedience to his advice, I had taken up my abode. Denny, whowas sitting near, gave a curious sort of laugh. I frowned fiercely,the captain looked from one to the other of us in bland curiosity.
'You take an interest in the girl?' he said, in a tone in whichsurprise struggled with civility. Again came Denny's half-smotheredlaugh.
'An interest in her?' said I irritably. 'Well, I suppose I do. Itlooked like it when I took her through that infernal passage, didn'tit?'
The captain smiled apologetically and pursued his way towards thedoor. 'I will try to obtain lenient treatment for her,' said he, andpassed out. I was left alone with Denny, who chose at this moment tobegin to whistle. I glared most ill-humouredly at him. He stoppedwhistling and remarked:
'By this time to-morrow our friends at home will be taking off theirmourning. They'll read in the papers that Lord Wheatley is not dead offever at Neopalia, and they won't read that he has fallen a victim tothe misguided patriotism of the islanders; in fact they'll bepreparing to kill the fatted calf for him.'
It was all perfectly true, both what Denny said and what he impliedwithout saying. But I found no answer to make to it.
'What a happy ending it is,' said Denny.
'Uncommonly,' I growled, lighting a cigar.
After this there was a long silence: I smoked, Denny whistled. I sawthat he was determined to say nothing more explicit unless I gave hima lead, but his whole manner exuded moral disapproval. Theconsciousness of his feelings kept me obstinately dumb.
'Going to stay here long?' he asked at last, in a wonderfully carelesstone.
'Well, there's no hurry, is there?' I retorted aggressively.
'Oh, no; only I should have thought--oh, well, nothing.'
Again silence. Then Watkins opened the door of the cabin and announcedthe return of the captain. I was surprised to see him again so soon. Iwas more surprised when he came at me with outstretched hand and asmile of mingled amusement and reproof on his face.
'My dear lord,' he exclaimed, seizing my defenceless hand, 'is thistreating me quite fairly? So far as a word from you went, I was leftcompletely in the dark. Of course I understand now, but it was anutter surprise to me.' He shook his head with playful reproach.
'If you understand now, I confess you have the advantage of me,' Ireturned, with some stiffness. 'Pray, sir, what has occurred? No doubtit's something remarkable. I've learnt to rely on Neopalia for that.'
'It was remarkable in my eyes, I admit, and rather startling. But ofcourse I acquiesced. In fact, my dear lord, it materially alters thesituation. As your wife, she will be in a very different--'
'Hallo!' cried Denny, leaping up from the bench where he had beensitting.
'In a very different position indeed,' pursued the captain blandly.'We should have, if I may say so, a guarantee for her good behaviour.We should have you to look to--a great security, as I need not tellyou.'
'My dear sir,' said I in exasperated pleading, 'you don't seem tothink you need tell me anything. Pray inform me of what has occurred,and what this wonderful thing is that makes so much change.'
'Indeed,' said he, 'if I had surprised a secret, I would apologise;but it's evidently known to all the islanders.'
'Well, but I'm not an islander,' I cried in growing fury.
The captain sat down, lit a cigarette very deliberately, and observed:
'It was perhaps stupid of me not to have thought of it. She is, ofcourse, a beautiful girl, but hardly, if I may say so, your equal inposition, my lord.'
I jumped up and caught him by the shoulder. He might order me underarrest if he liked, but he should tell me what had happened first.
'What's happened?' I reiterated. 'Since you left us--what?'
'A deputation of the islanders, headed by their priest, came to ask myleave for the inhabitants to go up to the house and see their Lady.'
'Yes, yes. What for?'
'To offer her their congratulations on her betrothal--'
'What?'
'And their assurances of loyalty to her and to her husband for hersake. Oh, it simplifies the matter very much.'
'Oh, does it? And did you tell them they might go?'
'Was there any objection? Certainly. Certainly I told them they mightgo, and I added that I heard with great gratification that a marriageso--'
What the captain had said to the deputation I did not wait to hear. Nodoubt it was something highly dignified and appropriate, for he wasevidently much pleased with himself. But before he could possibly havefinished so ornate a sentence, I was on the deck of the yacht. I heardDenny push back his chair, whether merely in wonder or in order tofollow me I did not know. I leapt from the yacht on to the jetty andstarted to run up the street nearly as quickly as I had run down it onthe day when Mouraki was kind enough to send my friends a-fishing. Atall costs I must stop the demonstration of delight which theinconvenient innocence of these islanders was preparing.
Alas, the street was a desert! The movements of the captain werealways leisurely. The impetuous Neopalians had wasted no time: theyhad got a start of me, and running up the hill after them was no joke.Against my will I was at last obliged to drop into a walk, and thuspursued my way doggedly, thinking in gloomy despair how everythingconspired to push me along the road which my honour and my pledgedword closed to me. Was ever man so tempted? Did ever circumstances soconspire with his own wishes, or fate make duty seem more hard?
I turned the corner of the road which lead to the old house. I
t washere I had first heard Phroso's voice in the darkness, here where,from the window of the hall, I had seen her lithe graceful figure whenshe came in her boy's dress to raid my cows; a little further on waswhere I had said farewell to her when she went back, the grant ofNeopalia in her hand, to soften the hearts of her turbulentcountrymen; here where Mouraki had tried her with his guile andintimidated her with his harshness; and there was the house where Ihad declared to the Pasha that she should be my wife. How sweet thatsaying sounded in my remembering ears! Yet I swear I did not waver.Many have called me a fool for it since. I know nothing about that.Times change, and people are very wise nowadays. My father was a fool,I daresay, to give thousands to his spendthrift school-fellow, justbecause he happened to have said he would.
I saw them now, the bright picturesque crowd, thronging round the doorof the house; and on the step of the threshold I saw her, standingthere, tall and slim, with one hand resting on the arm of Kortes'ssister. A loud cry rose from the people. She did not seem to speak.With set teeth I walked on. Now someone in the circle caught sight ofme. There was another eager cry, a stir, shouts, gestures; then theyturned and ran to me. Before I could move or speak a dozen stronghands were about me. They swung me up on their shoulders and carriedme along; the rest waved their hands and cheered: they blessed me andcalled me their lord. The women laughed and the girls shot merry shyglances at me. Thus they bore me in triumph to Phroso's feet. Surely Iwas indeed a hero in Neopalia to-day, for they believed that throughme their Lady would be left to them, and their island escape thepunishment they feared. So they sang One-eyed Alexander's chant nomore, but burst into a glad hymn--an epithalamium--as I knelt atPhroso's feet, and did not dare to lift my eyes to her fair face.
'Here's a mess!' I groaned, wondering what they had said to my poorPhroso.
Then a sudden silence fell on them. Looking up in wonder, I saw thatPhroso had raised her hand and was about to speak. She did not look atme--nay, she did not look at them; her eyes were fixed on the sea thatshe loved. Then her voice came, low but clear:
'Friends--for all are friends here, and there are no strangers--oncebefore, in the face of all of you I have told my love for my lord. Mylord did not know that what I said was true, and I have not told himthat it was true till I tell him here to-day. But you talk foolishlywhen you greet me as my lord's bride; for in his country he is a greatman and owns great wealth, and Neopalia is very small and poor, and Iseem but a poor girl to him, though you call me your Lady.'
Here she paused an instant; then she went on, her voice sinking alittle lower and growing almost dreamy, as if she let herself driftidly on the waves of fancy.
'Is it strange to speak to you--to you, my brothers and sisters of ourisland? I do not know; I love to speak to you all; for, poor as I amand as our island is, I think sometimes that had my lord come here afree man he would have loved me. But his heart was not his own, andthe lady he loves waits for him at home, and he will go to her. Sowish me joy no more on what cannot be.' And then, very suddenly,before I or any of them could move or speak, she withdrew inside thethreshold, and Kortes's sister swiftly closed the door. I was on myfeet as it shut, and I stood facing it, my back to the islanders.
Among them at first there was an amazed silence, but soon voicesbegan to be heard. I turned round and met their gaze. The strong yokeof Mouraki was off them; their fear had gone, and with it theirmeekness. They were again in the fierce impetuous mood of St Tryphon'sday: they were exasperated at their disappointment, enraged to findthe plan which left Phroso to them and relieved them of the threatenedadvent of a Government nominee brought to nothing.
'They'll take her away,' said one.
'They'll send us a rascally Turk,' cried another.
'He shall hear the death-chant then,' menaced a third.
Then their anger, seeking an outlet, turned on me. I do not know thatI had the right to consider myself an entirely innocent victim.
'He has won her love by fraud,' muttered one to another, withevil-disposed glances and ominous frowns.
I thought they were going to handle me roughly, and I felt for therevolver which the captain had been kind enough to restore to me. Buta new turn was given to their thoughts by a tall fellow, with longhair and flashing eyes, who leapt out from the middle of the throng,crying loudly:
'Is not Mouraki dead? Why need we fear? Shall we wait idle while ourLady is taken from us? To the shore, islanders! Where is fear sinceMouraki is dead?'
His words lit a torch that blazed up furiously. In an instant theywere aflame with the mad notion of attacking the soldiers and thegunboat. No voice was raised to point out the hopelessness of such anattempt, the certain death and the heavy penalties which must wait onit. The death-chant broke out again, mingled with exhortations to turnand march against the soldiers, and with encouragements to the tallfellow--Orestes they called him--to put himself at their head. He wasnot loth.
'Let us go and get our guns and our knives,' he cried, 'and then tothe shore!'
'And this man?' called half-a-dozen, pointing at me.
'When we have driven out the soldiers we will deal with him,' saidMaster Orestes. 'If our Lady desires him for her husband, he shall wedher.'
A shout of approval greeted this arrangement, and they drew togetherinto a sort of rude column, the women making a fringe to it. But Icould not let them march on their own destruction without a word ofwarning. I sprang on to the raised step where Phroso had stood, justoutside the door, and cried:
'You fools! The guns of the ship will mow you down before you cantouch a hair of the head of a single soldier.'
A deep derisive groan met my attempt at dissuasion.
'On, on!' they cried.
'It's certain death,' I shouted, and now I saw one or two of the womenhesitate, and look first at me and then at each other with doubt andfear. But Orestes would not listen, and called again to them to takethe road. Thus we were when the door behind me opened, and Phroso wasagain by my side. She knew how matters went. Her eyes were wild withterror and distress.
'Stop them, my lord, stop them,' she implored.
For answer, I took my revolver from my pocket, saying, 'I'll do what Ican.'
'No, no, not like that! That would be your death as well as theirs.'
'Come,' cried Orestes, in the pride of his sudden elevation toleadership. 'Come, follow me, I'll lead you to victory.'
'You fools, you fools!' I groaned. 'In an hour half of you will bedead.'
No, they would not listen. Only the women now laid imploring hands onthe arms of husbands and brothers, useless loving restraints, angrilyflung off.
'Stop them, stop them!' prayed Phroso. 'By any means, my lord, by anymeans!'
'There's only one way,' said I.
'Whatever the way may be,' she urged; for now the column was facinground towards the harbour. Orestes had taken his place, swelling withimportance and eager to display his prowess. In a word, Neopalia wasin revolt again, and the death-chant threatened to swell out in allits barbaric simple savagery at any moment.
There was nothing else for it; I must temporise; and that word isgenerally, and was in this case, the equivalent of a much shorter one.I could not leave these mad fools to rush on ruin. A plan was in myhead and I gave it play. I took a pace forward, raised my hand, andcried:
'Hear me before you march, Neopalians, for I am your friend.'
My voice gained me a minute's silence; the column stood still, thoughOrestes chafed impatiently at the delay.
'You're in haste, men of Neopalia,' said I. 'Indeed you're always inhaste. You were in haste to kill me who had done you no harm. You arein haste to kill yourselves by marching into the mouth of the greatgun of the ship. In truth I wonder that any of you are still alive.But here, in this matter, you are most of all in haste, for havingheard what the Lady Phroso said, you have not asked nor waited to hearwhat I say, but have at once gone mad, all of you, and chosen themaddest among you and made him your leader.'
I do not think t
hat they had expected quite this style of speech. Theyhad looked for passionate reproaches or prayerful entreaties; coolscorn and chaff put them rather at a loss, and my reference toOrestes, who looked sour enough, won me a hesitating laugh.
'And then, all of you mad together, off you go, leaving me here, theonly sane man in the place! For am not I sane? Aye, not mad enough toleave the fairest lady in the world when she says she loves me!' Itook Phroso's hand and kissed it. It lay limp and cold in mine. 'Formy home,' I went on, 'is a long way off, and it is long since I haveseen the lady of whom you have heard; and a man's heart will not bedenied.' Again I kissed Phroso's hand, but I dared not look her in theface.
My meaning had dawned on them now. There was an instant's silence, thelast relic of doubt and puzzle; then a sudden loud shout went up fromthem. Orestes alone was sullen and mute, for my surrender deposed himfrom his brief eminence. Again and again they shouted in joy. I knewthat their shouts must reach nearly to the harbour. Men and womencrowded round me and seized my hand; nobody seemed to make any bonesabout the 'lady who waited' for me. They were single-hearted patriots,these Neopalians. I had observed that virtue in them several timesbefore, and their behaviour now confirmed my opinion. But there was,of course, a remarkable difference in the manifestation. Before I hadbeen the object, now I was the subject; for by announcing my intentionof marrying Phroso I took rank as a Neopalian. Indeed for a minute ortwo I was afraid that the post of generalissimo, vacant by Orestes'sdeposition, would be forcibly thrust upon me.
Happily their enthusiasm took a course which was more harmless,although it was hardly less embarrassing. They made a ring roundPhroso and me, and insisted on our embracing one another in the glareof publicity. Yet somehow I forgot them all for a moment--them all,and more than them all--while I held her in my arms.
Now it chanced that the captain, Denny and Hogvardt chose this momentfor appearing on the road, in the course of a leisurely approach tothe house; and they beheld Phroso and myself in a very sentimentalattitude on the doorstep, with the islanders standing round in highdelight. Denny's amazed 'Hallo!' warned me of what had happened. Theislanders--their enmity towards the suzerain power allayed as quicklyas it had been roused--ran to the captain to impart the joyful news.He came up to me, and bestowed his sanction by a shake of the hand.
'But why did you behave so strangely, my lord, when I wished you joyan hour ago on the boat?' he asked; and it was a very naturalquestion.
'Oh, the truth is,' said I, 'that there was a little difficulty in theway then.'
'Oh, a lover's quarrel?' he smiled.
'Well, something like it,' I admitted.
'Everything is quite right now, I hope?' he said politely.
'Well, very nearly,' said I. Then I met Denny's eye.
'Am I also to congratulate you?' said Denny coldly.
There was no opportunity of explaining matters to him, the captain wastoo near.
'I shall be very glad if you will,' I said, 'and if Hogvardt willalso.'
Hogvardt shrugged his shoulders, raised his brows, smiled andobserved:
'I trust you're acting for the best, my lord.'
Denny made no answer at all. He kicked the ground with his foot. Iknew very well what was in Denny's mind. Denny was of my family on hismother's side, and Denny's eye asked, 'Where is the word of aWheatley?' All this I realised fully. I read his mind then moreclearly than I could read my own; for had we been alone, and had heput to me the plain question, 'Do you mean to make her your wife, orare you playing another trick?' by heaven, I should not have knownwhat to answer! I had begun a trick; the plan was to persuade theislanders into dispersing peacefully by my pretence, and then to slipaway quietly by myself, trusting to their good sense--although abroken reed, yet the only resource--to make them accept anaccomplished fact. But was that my mind now, since I had held Phrosoin my arms, and her lips had met mine in the kiss which the islandershailed as the pledge of our union?
I do not know. I saw Phroso turn and go into the house again. Thecaptain spoke to Denny; I saw him point up to the window of the roomwhich Mouraki had occupied. He went in. Denny motioned Hogvardt to hisside, and they two also went into the house without asking me toaccompany them. Gradually the throng of islanders dispersed. Orestesflung off in sullen disappointment; the men, those who had knivescarefully hiding them, walked down the road like peaceful citizens;the women strolled away, laughing, chattering, gossiping, delighted,as women always are, with the love affair. Thus I was left alone infront of the house. It was late afternoon, and clouds had gatheredover the sea. The air was very still; no sound struck my ear exceptthe wash of the waves on the shore.
There I stood fighting the battle, for how long I do not know. Thestruggle within me was very sore. On either side seemed now to lie apath that it soiled my feet to tread: on the one was a broken pledge,on the other a piece of trickery and knavishness. The joy of a lovethat could be mine only through dishonour was imperfect joy; yet, ifthat love could not be mine, life seemed too empty a thing to live.The voices of the two sounded in my ear--the light merry prattle andthe calmer sweeter voice. Ah, this island of mine, what things it puton a man!
At last I felt a hand laid on my shoulder. I turned, and in thequick-gathering dusk of the evening I saw Kortes's sister; she lookedlong and earnestly into my face.
'Well?' said I. 'What is it now?'
'She must see you, my lord,' answered the woman. 'She must see younow, at once.'
I looked again at the harbour and the sea, trying to quell the tumultof my thoughts and to resolve what I would do. I could find no courseand settle on no resolution.
'Yes, she must see me,' said I at last. I could say nothing else.
The woman moved away, a strange bewilderment shewing itself in herkind eyes. Again I was left alone in my restless self-communings. Iheard people moving to and fro in the house. I heard the window ofMouraki's room, where the captain was, closed with a decisive hand;and then I became aware of some one approaching me. I turned and sawPhroso's white dress gleaming through the gloom, and her face nearlyas white above it.
Yes, the time had come; but I was not ready.