CHAPTER XVIII. THE INTERVIEW.
I am not aware whether fainting was as much the fashion among the fairsex, in the days (or rather the nights) of which I have the honor tohold forth, as at the present time; but I am inclined to think not,from the simple fact that Leoline, though like John Bunyan, "grievouslytroubled and tossed about in her mind," did nothing of the kind. For thefirst few moments, she was altogether too stunned by the suddenness ofthe shock to cry out or make the least resistance, and was conscious ofnothing but of being rapidly borne along in somebody's arms. When thishazy view of things passed away, her new sensation was, the intenselyuncomfortable one of being on the verge of suffocation. She made onefrantic but futile effort to free herself and scream for help, but thestrong arms held her with most loving tightness, and her cry was drownedin the hot atmosphere within the shawl, and never passed beyond it. Mostassuredly Leoline would have been smothered then and there, had theirjourney been much longer; but, fortunately for her, it was only the fewyards between her house and the river. She knew she was then carrieddown some steps, and she heard the dip of the oars in the water, andthen her bearer paused, and went through a short dialogue with somebodyelse--with Count L'Estrange, she rather felt than knew, for nothing wasaudible but a low murmur. The only word she could make out was a low,emphatic "Remember!" in the count's voice, and then she knew she was ina boat, and that it was shoved off, and moving down the rapid river. Thefeeling of heat and suffocation was dreadful and as her abductor placedher on some cushions, she made another desperate but feeble effort tofree herself from the smothering shawl, but a hand was laid lightly onhers, and a voice interposed.
"Lady, it is quite useless for you to struggle, as you are irrevocablyin my power, but if you will promise faithfully not to make any outcry,and will submit to be blindfolded, I shall remove this oppressivemuffling from your head. Tell me if you will promise."
He had partly raised the shawl, and a gush of free air came revivinglyin, and enabled Leoline to gasp out a faint "I promise!" As she spoke,it was lifted off altogether, and she caught one bright fleeting glimpseof the river, sparkling and silvery in the moonlight; of the bright bluesky, gemmed with countless stars, and of some one by her side in thedress of a court-page, whose face was perfectly unknown to her. The nextinstant, a bandage was bound tightly over her eyes, excluding every rayof light, while the strange voice again spoke apologetically,
"Pardon, lady, but it is my orders! I am commanded to treat you withevery respect, but not to let you see where you are borne to."
"By what right does Count L'Estrange commit this outrage!" beganLeoline, almost as imperiously as Miranda herself, and making use of hertongue, like a true woman, the very first moment it was at her disposal."How dare he carry me off in this atrocious way? Whoever you are, sir,if you have the spirit of a man, you will bring me directly back to myown house."
"I am very sorry, lady, but I have received orders that must be obeyed!You must come with me, but you need fear nothing; you will be as safeand secure as in your own home."
"Secure enough, no doubt!" said Leoline, bitterly. "I never did likeCount L'Estrange, but I never knew he was a coward and a villain tillnow!"
Her companion made no reply to this forcible address, and there was amoment's indignant silence on Leoline's part, broken only by the dip ofthe oars, and the rippling of the water. Then,
"Will you not tell me, at least, where you are taking me to?" haughtilydemanded Leoline.
"Lady, I cannot! It was to prevent you knowing, that you have beenblindfolded."
"Oh! your master has a faithful servant, I see! How long am I to be kepta prisoner?"
"I do not know."
"Where is Count L'Estrange?"
"I cannot tell."
"Where am I to see him?"
"I cannot say."
"Ha!" said Leoline, with infinite contempt, and turning her back uponhim she relapsed into gloomy silence. It had all been so sudden, and hadtaken her so much by surprise, that she had not had time to think of theconsequences until now. But now they came upon her with a rush, and withdismal distinctness; and most distinct among all was, what would SirNorman say! Of course, with all a lover's impatience, he would be athis post by sunrise, would come to look for his bride, and find himselfsold! By that time she would be far enough away, perhaps a melancholycorpse (and at this dreary passage in her meditations, Leoline sighedprofoundly), and he would never know what had become of her, or how muchand how long she had loved him. And this hateful Count L'Estrange, whatdid he intend to do with her? Perhaps go so far as to make her marryhim, and imprison her with the rest of his wives; for Leoline wasprepared to think the very worst of the count, and had not the slightestdoubt that he already had a harem full of abducted wives, somewhere. Butno--he never could do that, he might do what he liked with weaker minds,but she never would be a bride of his while the plague or poison was tobe had in London. And with this invincible determination rooted fixedly,not to say obstinately, in her mind, she was nearly pitched overboardby the boat suddenly landing at some unexpected place. A little naturalscream of terror was repressed on her lips by a hand being placed overthem, and the determined but perfectly respectful tones of the personbeside her speaking.
"Remember your promise, lady, and do not make a noise. We have arrivedat our journey's end, and if you will take my arm, I will lead youalong, instead of carrying you."
Leoline was rather surprised to find the journey so short, but she arosedirectly, with silence and dignity--at least with as much of the lattercommodity as could be reasonably expected, considering that boats onwater are rather unsteady things to be dignified in--and was led gentlyand with care out of the swaying vessel, and up another flight ofstairs. Then, in a few moments, she was conscious of passing from thefree night air into the closer atmosphere of a house; and in goingthrough an endless labyrinth of corridors, and passages, and suites ofrooms, and flights of stairs, until she became so extremely tired,that she stopped with spirited abruptness, and in the plainest possibleEnglish, gave her conductor to understand that they had gone about farenough for all practical purposes. To which that patient and respectfulindividual replied that he was glad to inform her they had but a fewmore steps to go, which the next moment proved to be true, for hestopped and announced that their promenade was over for the night.
"And I suppose I may have the use of my eyes at last?" inquired Leoline,with more haughtiness than Sir Norman could have believed possible sogentle a voice could have expressed.
For reply, her companion rapidly untied the bandage, and withdrew itwith a flourish. The dazzling brightness that burst upon her, so blindedher, that for a moment she could distinguish nothing; and when shelooked round to contemplate her companion, she found him hurriedlymaking his exit, and securely locking the door.
The sound of the key turning in the lock gave her a most peculiarsensation, which none but those who have experienced it can properlyunderstand. It is not the most comfortable feeling in the world to knowyou are a prisoner, even if you have no key turned upon you but theweather, and your jailer be a high east wind and lashing rain. Leoline'sprison and jailer were something worse; and, for the first time, a chillof fear and dismay crept icily to the core of her heart. But Leoline hadsomething of Miranda's courage, as well as her looks and temper; soshe tried to feel as brave as possible, and not think of her unpleasantpredicament while there remained anything else to think about. Perhapsshe might escape, too; and, as this notion struck her, she looked witheager anxiety, not unmixed with curiosity, at the place where she was.By this time, her eyes had been accustomed to the light, which proceededfrom a great antique lamp of bronze, pendent by a brass chain fromthe ceiling; and she saw she was in a moderately sized and by no meanssplendid room. But what struck her most was, that everything had a lookof age about it, from the glittering oak beams of the floor to thefaded ghostly hangings on the wall. There was a bed at one end--a greatspectral ark of a thing, like a mausoleum, with drapery as old andspe
ctral as that on the walls, and in which she could no more have lainthan in a moth-eaten shroud. The seats and the one table the room heldwere of the same ancient and weird pattern, and the sight of them gaveher a shivering sensation not unlike an ague chill. There was but onedoor--a huge structure, with shining panels, securely locked; and escapefrom that quarter was utterly out of the question. There was one window,hung with dark curtains of tarnished embroidery, but in pushing themaside, she met only a dull blank of unlighted glass, for the shutterswere firmly secured without. Altogether, she could not form theslightest idea where she was; and, with a feeling of utter despair, shesat down on one of the queer old chairs, with much the same feeling asif she were sitting in a tomb.
What would Sir Norman say? What would he ever think of her, when hefound her gone. And what was destined to be her fate in this dreadfulout-of-the-way place? She would have cried, as most of her sex would betempted to do in such a situation, but that her dislike and horror ofCount L'Estrange was a good deal stronger than her grief, and turned hertears to sparks of indignant fire. Never, never, never! would she be hiswife! He might kill her a thousand times, if he liked, and she wouldn'tyield an inch. She did not mind dying in a good cause; she could do itbut once. And with Sir Norman despising her, as she felt he must do,when he found her run away, she rather liked the idea than otherwise.Mentally, she bade adieu to all her friends before beginning to preparefor her melancholy fate--to her handsome lover, to his gallant friendOrmiston, to her poor nurse, Prudence, and to her mysterious visitor, LaMasque.
La Masque! Ah! that name awoke a new chord of recollection--the casket,she had it with her yet. Instantly, everything was forgotten but it andits contents; and she placed a chair directly under the lamp, drew itout, and looked at it. It was a pretty little bijou itself, with itspolished ivory surface, and shining clasps of silver. But the inside hadfar more interest for her than the outside, and she fitted the keyand unlocked it with a trembling hand. It was lined with azure velvet,wrought with silver thread, in dainty wreathe of water lilies; and inthe bottom, neatly folded, lay a sheet of foolscap. She opened it withnervous haste; it was a common sheet enough, stamped with fool's capand bells, that showed it belonged to Cromwell's time. It was closelywritten, in a light, fair hand, and bore the title "Leoline's History."
Leoline's hand trembled so with eagerness, she could scarcely hold thepaper; but her eye rapidly ran from line to line, and she stopped nottill she reached the end. While she read, her face alternately flushedand paled, her eyes dilated, her lips parted; and before she finishedit, there came over all a look of the most unutterable horror. Itdropped from her powerless fingers as she finished; and she sank back inher chair with such a ghastly paleness, that it seemed absolutely likethe lividness of death.
A sudden and startling noise awoke her from her trance of horror--someone trying to get in at the window! The chill of terror it sent throughevery vein acted as a sort of counter-irritant to the other feeling,and she sprang from her chair and turned her face fearfully toward thesounds. But in all her terror she did not forget the mysterious sheet offoolscap, which lay, looking up at her, on the floor; and she snatchedit up, and thrust it and the casket out of sight. Still the sounds wenton, but softly and cautiously; and at intervals, as if the worker wereafraid of being heard. Leoline went back, step by step, to the otherextremity of the room, with her eyes still fixed on the window, and onher face a white terror, that left her perfectly colorless.
Who could it be? Not Count L'Estrange, for he would surely not needto enter his own house like a burglar--not Sir Norman Kingsley, for hecould certainly not find out her abduction and her prison so soon, andshe had no other friends in the whole wide world to trouble themselvesabout her. There was one, but the idea of ever seeing her again was sounspeakably dreadful, that she would rather have seen the most horriblespectre her imagination could conjure up, than that tall, graceful,rich-robed form.
Still the noises perseveringly continued; there was the sound ofwithdrawing bolts, and then a pale ray of moonlight shot between theparted curtains, shoving the shutters had been opened. Whiter and whiterLeoline grew, and she felt herself growing cold and rigid with mortalfear. Softly the window was raised, a hand stole in and parted thecurtains, and a pale face and two great dark eyes wandered slowly roundthe room, and rested at last on her, standing, like a galvanized corpse,as far from the window as the wall would permit. The hand was lifted ina warning gesture, as if to enforce silence; the window was raised stillhigher, a figure, lithe and agile as a cat, sprang lightly into theroom, and standing with his back to her, re-closed the shutters, re-shutthe window, and re-drew the curtains, before taking the trouble to turnround.
This discreet little manoeuvre, which showed her visitor was human, andgifted with human prudence, re-assured Leoline a little; and, to judgeby the reverse of the medal, the nocturnal intruder was nothingvery formidable after all. But the stranger did not keep her long insuspense; while she stood gazing at him, as if fascinated, he turnedround, stepped forward, took off his cap, made her a courtly bow,and then straightening himself up, prepared, with great coolness, toscrutinize and be scrutinized.
Well might they look at each other; for the two faces were perfectly thesame, and each one saw himself and herself as others saw them. There wasthe same coal-black, curling hair; the same lustrous dark eyes; thesame clear, colorless complexion, the same delicate, perfect features;nothing was different but the costume and the expression. That latterwas essentially different, for the young lady's betrayed amazement,terror, doubt, and delight all at once; while the young gentleman's wasa grand, careless surprise, mixed with just a dash of curiosity.
He was the first to speak; and after they had stared at each other forthe space of five minutes, he described a graceful sweep with his hand,and held forth in the following strain,
"I greatly fear, fair Leoline, that I have startled you by my sudden andsurprising entrance; and if I have been the cause of a moment's alarmto one so perfectly beautiful, I shall hate myself for ever after. If Icould have got in any other way, rest assured I would not have risked myneck and your peace of mind by such a suspicious means of ingress as thewindow; but if you will take the trouble to notice, the door is thick,and I am composed of too solid flesh to whisk through the keyhole; so Ihad to make my appearance the best way I could."
"Who are you?" faintly asked Leoline.
"Your friend, fair lady, and Sir Norman Kingsley's."
Hubert looked to see Leoline start and blush, and was deeply gratifiedto see her do both; and her whole pretty countenance became alive withnew-born hope, as if that name were a magic talisman of freedom and joy.
"What is your name, and who are you?" she inquired, in a breathless sortof way, that made Hubert look at her a moment in calm astonishment.
"I have told you your friend; christened at some remote period, Hubert.For further particulars, apply to the Earl of Rochester, whose page Iam."
"The Earl of Rochester's page!" she repeated, in the same quick, excitedway, that surprised and rather lowered her in that good youth's opinion,for giving way to any feelings so plebeian. "It is--it must be thesame!"
"I have no doubt of it," said Hubert. "The same what?"
"Did you not come from France--from Dijon, recently?" went on Leoline,rather inappositely, as it struck her hearer.
"Certainly I came from Dijon. Had I the honor of being known to youthere?"
"How strange! How wonderful!" said Leoline, with a paling cheek andquickened breathing. "How mysterious those things turn out I ThankHeaven that I have found some one to love at last!"
This speech, which was Greek, algebra, high Dutch, or thereabouts, toMaster Hubert, caused him to stare to such an extent, that when hecame to think of it afterward, positively shocked him. The two great,wondering dark eyes transfixing her with so much amazement, broughtLeoline to a sense of her talking unfathomable mysteries, quiteincomprehensible to her handsome auditor. She looked at him with asmile, held out her h
and; and Hubert received a strange little electricthrill, to see that her eyes were full of tears. He took the hand andraised it to his lips, wondering if the young lady, struck by his goodlooks, had conceived a rash and inordinate attack of love at firstsight, and was about to offer herself to him and discard Sir Norman forever. From this speculation, the sweet voice aroused him.
"You have told me who you are. Now, do you know who I am?"
"I hope so, fairest Leoline. I know you are the most beautiful lady inEngland, and to-morrow will be called Lady Kingsley!"
"I am something more," said Leoline, holding his hand between both hers,and bending near him; "I am your sister!"
The Earl of Rochester's page must have had good blood in his veins; fornever was there duke, grandee, or peer of the realm, more radicallyand unaffectedly nonchalant than he. To this unexpected announcement helistened with most dignified and well-bred composure, and in his secretheart, or rather vanity, more disappointed than otherwise, to find hisfirst solution of her tenderness a great mistake. Leoline held his handtight in hers, and looked with loving and tearful eyes in his face.
"Dear Hubert, you are my brother--my long-unknown brother, and I loveyou with my whole heart!"
"Am I?" said Hubert. "I dare say I am, for they all say we look as muchalike as two peas. I am excessively delighted to hear it, and to knowthat you love me. Permit me to embrace my new relative."
With which the court page kissed Leoline with emphasis, while shescarcely knew whether to laugh, cry, or be provoked at his composure.On the whole, she did a little of all three, and pushed him away with ahalt pout.
"You insensible mortal! How can you stand there and hear that you havefound a sister with so much indifference?"
"Indifferent? Not I! You have no idea how wildly excited I am!" saidHubert, in a voice not betokening the slightest emotion. "How did youfind it out, Leoline?"
"Never mind! I shall tell you that again. You don't doubt it, I hope?"
"Of course not! I knew from the first moment I set eyes on you, that ifyou were not my sister, you ought to be! I wish you'd tell me all theparticulars, Leoline."
"I shall do so as soon as I am out of this; but how can I tell youanything here?"
"That's true!" said Hubert, reflectively. "Well, I'll wait. Now, don'tyou wonder how I found you out, and came here?"
"Indeed I do. How was it, Hubert?"
"Oh, well, I don't know as I can altogether tell you; but you see, SirNorman Kingsley being possessed of an inspiration that something washappening to you, came to your house a short time ago, and, as hesuspected, discovered that you were missing. I met him there,rather depressed in his mind about it, and he told me--beginning theconversation, I must say, in a very excited manner," said Hubert,parenthetically, as memory recalled the furious shaking he hadundergone--"and he told me he fancied you were abducted, and by oneCount L'Estrange. Now I had a hazy idea who Count L'Estrange was, andwhere he would be most apt to take you to; and so I came here, and aftersome searching, more inquiring, and a few unmitigated falsehoods (you'llregret to hear), discovered you were locked up in this place, andsucceeded in getting in through the window. Sir Norman is waiting forme in a state of distraction so now, having found you, I will go andrelieve his mind by reporting accordingly."
"And leave me here?" cried Leoline, in affright, "and in the power ofCount L'Estrange? Oh! no, no! You must take me with you, Hubert!"
"My dear Leoline, it is quite impossible to do it without help, andwithout a ladder. I will return to Sir Norman; and when the darknesscomes that precedes day-dawn, we will raise the ladder to your window,and try to get you out. Be patient--only wait an hour or two, and thenyou will be free."
"But, O Hubert, where am I? What dreadful place it this?"
"Why, I do not know that this is a very dreadful place; and most peopleconsider it a sufficiently respectable house; but, still, I would rathersee my sister anywhere else than in it, and will take the trouble ofkidnapping her out of it as quickly as possible."
"But, Hubert, tell me--do tell me, who is Count L'Estrange?" Hubertlaughed.
"Cannot, really, Leoline! at least, not until to-morrow, and you areLady Kingsley."
"But, what if he should come here to-night?"
"I do not think there is much danger of that, but whether he does ornot, rest assured you shall be free to-morrow! At all events, it isquite impossible for you to escape with me now; and even as it is, Irun the risk of being detected, and made a prisoner, myself. You mustbe patient and wait, Leoline, and trust to Providence and your brotherHubert!"
"I must, I suppose!" said Leoline, sighing, "and you cannot take me awayuntil day-dawn."
"Quite impossible; and then all this drapery of yours will be ever somuch in the way. Would you object to garments like these?" pointing tohis doublet and hose. "If you would not, I think I could procure you afit-out."
"But I should, though!" said Leoline, with spirit "and most decidedly,too! I shall wear nothing of the kind, Sir Page!"
"Every one to her fancy!" said Hubert, with a French shrug, "and mypretty sister shall have hers in spite of earth, air, fire, and water!And now, fair Leoline, for a brief time, adieu, and au revoir!"
"You will not fail me!" exclaimed Leoline, earnestly, clasping herhands.
"If I do, it shall be the last thing I will fail in on earth; for if Iam alive by to-morrow morning, Leoline shall be free!"
"And you will be careful--you will both be careful!"
"Excessively careful! Now then."
The last two words were addressed to the window which he noiselesslyopened as he spoke. Leoline caught a glimpse of the bright freemoonlight, and watched him with desperate envy; but the next moment theshutters were closed, and Hubert and the moonlight were both gone.