Alcott, Louisa May - SSC 15 (46 page)

 
          
Then
with averted face and broken voice Guy went on to tell his father’s purposes,
and what had caused this unexpected meeting. The facts were briefly these: The
knowledge that my father had come between him and a princely fortune had always
rankled in my uncle’s heart, chilling the ambitious hopes he cherished even in
his boyhood, and making life an eager search for pleasure in which to drown his
vain regrets. This secret was suspected by my father, and the household league
was formed as some atonement for the innocent offense. It seemed to soothe my
uncle’s resentful nature, and as years went on he lived freely, assured that
ample means would be his through his son. Luxurious, selfindulgent, fond of all
excitements, and reckless in their pursuit, he took no thought for the morrow
till a few months before his return. A gay winter in Paris reduced him to those
straits of which women know so little; creditors were oppressive, summer
friends failed him, gambling debts harassed him, his son reproached him, and
but one resource remained—Guy’s speedy marriage with the half-forgotten
heiress. The boy had been educated to regard this fate as a fixed fact, and
submitted, believing the time to be far distant; but the sudden summons came,
and he rebelled against it, preferring liberty to love. My uncle pacified the
claimants by promises to be fulfilled at my expense, and hurried home to press
on the marriage, which now seemed imperative. I was taken to my future home,
approved by my uncle, beloved by my cousin, and, but for my own folly, might
have been a happy wife on that May morning when I listened to the unveiling of
the past. My mother had been melancholy mad since that unhappy rumor of my
father’s death; this affliction had been well concealed from me, lest the
knowledge should prey upon my excitable nature and perhaps induce a like
misfortune. I believed her dead, yet I had seen her, knew where her solitary
grave was made, and still carried in my bosom the warning she had sent me,
prompted by the unerring instinct of a mother’s heart. In my father’s will a
clause was added just below the one confirming my betrothal, a clause decreeing
that, if it should appear that I inherited my mother’s malady, the fortune
should revert to my cousin, with myself a mournful legacy, to be cherished by
him whether his wife or not. This passage, and that relating to my freedom of
choice, had been omitted in the copy shown me on the night when my seeming
refusal of Guy had induced his father to believe that I loved him, to make a
last attempt to keep the prize by offering himself, and, when that failed, to
harbor a design that changed my little comedy into the tragical experience I
have told.

 
          
Dr.
Karnac’s exclamation had caused the recollection of that clause respecting my
insanity to flash into my uncle’s mind—a mind as quick to conceive as fearless
to execute. I unconsciously abetted the stratagem, and Dr. Karnac was an
unscrupulous ally, for love of gain was as strong as love of science; both were
amply gratified, and I, poor victim, was given up to be experimented upon, till
by subtle means I was driven to the insanity which would give my uncle full
control of my fortune and my fate. How the black plot prospered has been told;
but retribution speedily overtook them both, for Dr. Karnac paid his penalty by
the sudden death that left his ashes among the blackened ruins of that house of
horrors, and my uncle had preceded him. For before the change of heirs could be
effected my mother died, and the hours spent in that unhealthful spot
insinuated the subtle poison of the marsh into his blood; years of pleasure
left little vigor to withstand the fever, and a week of suffering ended a life
of generous impulses perverted, fine endowments wasted, and opportunities
forever lost. When death drew near, he sent for Guy (who, through the hard
discipline of poverty and honest labor, was becoming a manlier man), confessed
all, and implored him to save me before it was too late. He did, and when all
was told, when each saw the other by the light of this strange and sad experience—Guy
poor again, I free, the old bond still existing, the barrier of
misunderstanding gone— it was easy to see our way, easy to submit, to forgive,
forget, and begin anew the life these clouds had darkened for a time.

 
          
Home
received me, kind Madame welcomed me, Guy married me, and I was happy; but over
all these years, serenely prosperous, still
hangs
for
me the shadow of the past, still rises that dead image of my mother, still
echoes that spectral whisper in the dark.

 
 
          
IF
someone does not propose a new and interesting amusement, I shall die of
ennui!” said pretty Belle Daventry, in a tone of despair. “I have read all my
books, used up all my Berlin wools, and it’s too warm to go to town for more.
No one can go sailing yet, as the tide is out; we are all nearly tired to death
of cards, croquet, and gossip, so what shall we do to while away this endless
afternoon? Dr. Meredith, I command you to invent and propose a new game in five
minutes.”

 
          
“To
hear is to obey,” replied the young man, who lay in the grass at her feet, as
he submissively slapped his forehead, and fell a-thinking with all his might.

 
          
Holding
up her finger to preserve silence, Belle pulled out her watch and waited with
an expectant smile. The rest of the young party, who were indolently scattered
about under the elms, drew nearer, and brightened visibly, for Dr. Meredith’s
inventive powers were well-known, and something refreshingly novel might be
expected from him. One gentleman did not stir, but then he lay within earshot,
and merely turned his fine eyes from the sea to the group before him. His
glance rested a moment on Belle’s piquant figure, for she looked very pretty
with her bright hair blowing in the wind, one plump white arm extended to keep
order, and one little foot, in a distracting slipper, just visible below the
voluminous folds of her dress. Then the glance passed to another figure,
sitting somewhat apart in a cloud of white muslin, for an airy burnoose floated
from head and shoulders, showing only a singularly charming face. Pale and yet
brilliant, for the Southern eyes were magnificent, the clear olive cheeks
contrasted well with darkest hair; lips like a pomegranate flower, and
delicate, straight brows, as mobile as the lips. A cluster of crimson flowers,
half falling from the loose black braids, and a golden bracelet of Arabian
coins on the slender wrist were the only ornaments she wore, and became her
better than the fashionable frippery of her companions. A book lay on her lap,
but her eyes, full of a passionate melancholy, were fixed on the sea, which
glittered round an island green and flowery as a summer paradise. Rose St. Just
was as beautiful as her Spanish mother, but had inherited the pride and reserve
of her English father; and this pride was the thorn which repelled lovers from
the human flower. Mark
Done
sighed as he looked, and
as if the sigh, low as it was, roused her from her reverie, Rose flashed a
quick glance at him, took up her book, and went on reading the legend of ‘The
Lotus Eaters.”

 
          
“Time
is up now, Doctor,” cried Belle, pocketing her watch with a flourish.

 
          
“Ready
to report,” answered Meredith, sitting up and producing a little box of
tortoiseshell and gold.

 
          
“How mysterious!
What is it? Let me see, first!” And Belle
removed the cover, looking like an inquisitive child. “Only bonbons; how
stupid! That won't do, sir. We don't want to be fed with sugarplums. We demand
to be amused.”

 
          
“Eat
six of these despised bonbons, and you will be amused in a new, delicious, and
wonderful manner,” said the young doctor, laying half a dozen on a green leaf
and offering them to her.

 
          
“Why,
what are they?” she asked, looking at him askance.

 
          
“Hashish;
did you never hear of it?”

 
          
“Oh,
yes; it's that Indian stuff which brings one fantastic visions, isn't it? I’ve
always wanted to see and taste it, and now I will,” cried Belle, nibbling at
one of the bean-shaped comfits with its green heart.

 
          
“I
advise you not to try it. People do all sorts of queer things when they take it.
I wouldn't for the world,” said a prudent young lady warningly, as all examined
the box and its contents.

 
          
“Six
can do no harm, I give you my word. I take twenty before I can enjoy
myself,
and some people even more. I've tried many
experiments, both on the sick and the well, and nothing ever happened amiss,
though the demonstrations were immensely interesting,” said Meredith, eating
his sugarplums with a tranquil air, which was very convincing to others.

 
          
“How
shall I feel?” asked Belle, beginning on her second comfit.

 
          
“A
heavenly dreaminess comes over one, in which they move as if on air. Everything
is calm and lovely to them: no pain, no care, no fear of anything, and while it
lasts one feels like an angel half asleep.”

 
          
“But
if one takes too much, how then?” said a deep voice behind the doctor.

 
          
“Hum!
Well, that’s not so pleasant, unless one likes phantoms, frenzies, and a touch
of nightmare, which seems to last a thousand years. Ever try it,
Done
?” replied Meredith, turning toward the speaker, who was
now leaning on his arm and looking interested.

 
          
“Never.
I’m not a good subject for experiments.
Too nervous a temperament to play pranks with.”

 
          
“I
should say ten would be about your number. Less than that seldom affects men.
Ladies go off sooner, and don’t need so many. Miss St. Just, may I offer you a
taste of Elysium? I owe my success to you,” said the doctor, approaching her
deferentially.

 
          
“To me!
And how?” she asked, lifting her large eyes with a
slight smile.

 
          
“I
was in the depths of despair when my eye caught the title of your book, and I
was saved.
For I remembered that I had hashish in my pocket.”

 
          
“Are
you a lotus-eater?” she said, permitting him to lay the six charmed bonbons on
the page.

 
          
“My faith, no!
I use it for my patients. It is very
efficacious in nervous disorders, and is getting to be quite a pet remedy with
us.”

 
          
“I
do not want to forget the past, but to read the future. Will hashish help me to
do that?” asked Rose with an eager look, which made the young man flush, wondering
if he bore any part in her hopes of that veiled future.

 
          
“Alas, no.
I wish it could, for I, too, long to know my
fate,” he answered, very low, as he looked into the lovely face before him.

 
          
The
soft glance changed to one of cool indifference and Rose gently brushed the
hashish off her book, saying, with a little gesture of dismissal, “Then I have
no desire to taste Elysium.”

 
          
The
white morsels dropped into the grass at her feet; but Dr. Meredith let them
lie, and turning sharply, went back to sun himself in Belle’s smiles.

 
          
“I’ve
eaten all
mine
, and so has Evelyn. Mr. Norton will see
goblins, I know, for he has taken quantities. I’m glad of it, for he
don’t
believe in it, and I want to have him convinced by
making a spectacle of himself for our amusement,” said Belle, in great spirits
at the new plan.

 
          
“When
does the trance come on?” asked Evelyn, a shy girl, already rather alarmed at
what she had done.

           
“About three hours
after you take your dose, though the time varies with different people.
Your pulse will rise, heart beat quickly, eyes darken and dilate, and an
uplifted sensation will pervade you generally. Then these symptoms change, and
the bliss begins. I’ve seen people sit or lie in one position for hours, rapt
in a delicious dream, and wake from it as tranquil as if they had not a nerve
in their bodies.”

 
          
“How charming!
Til take some every time I’m worried. Let me
see. It’s now four, so our trances will come about seven, and we will devote
the evening to manifestations,” said Belle.

 
          
“Come,
Done
, try it. We are all going in for the fun. Here’s
your dose,” and Meredith tossed him a dozen bonbons, twisted up in a bit of
paper.

 
          
“No,
thank you; I
know,
myself too well to risk it. If you
are all going to turn hashish-eaters, you’ll need someone to take care of you,
so I’ll keep sober,” tossing the little parcel back.

 
          
It
fell short, and the doctor, too lazy to pick it up, let it lie, merely saying,
with a laugh, “Well, I advise any bashful man to take hashish when he wants to
offer his heart to any fair lady, for it will give him the courage of a hero,
the eloquence of a poet, and the ardor of an Italian. Remember that, gentlemen,
and come to me when the crisis approaches.”

 
          
“Does
it conquer the pride, rouse the pity, and soften the hard hearts of the fair
sex?” asked
Done
.

 
          
“I
dare say now is your time to settle the fact, for here are two ladies who have
imbibed, and in three hours will be in such a seraphic state of mind that ‘No’
will be an impossibility to them.”

 
          
“Oh,
mercy on us; what have we done? If that’s the case, I shall shut myself up till
my foolish fit is over. Rose, you haven’t taken any; I beg you to mount guard
over me, and see that I don’t disgrace myself by any nonsense. Promise me you
will,” cried Belle, in half-real, halffeigned alarm at the consequences of her
prank.

 
          
“I
promise,” said Rose, and floated down the green path as noiselessly as a white
cloud, with a curious smile on her lips.

 
          
“Don’t
tell any of the rest what we have done, but after tea let us go into the grove
and compare notes,” said Norton, as
Done
strolled away
to the beach, and the voices of approaching friends broke the summer quiet.

 
          
At
tea, the initiated glanced covertly at one another, and saw, or fancied they
saw, the effects of the hashish, in a certain suppressed excitement of manner,
and unusually brilliant eyes. Belle laughed often, a silvery ringing laugh,
pleasant to hear; but when complimented on her good spirits, she looked
distressed, and said she could not help her merriment; Meredith was quite calm,
but rather dreamy; Evelyn was pale, and her next neighbor heard her heart beat;
Norton talked incessantly, but as he talked uncommonly well, no one suspected
anything. Done and Miss St. Just watched the others with interest, and were
very quiet, especially Rose, who scarcely spoke, but smiled her sweetest, and
looked very lovely.

 
          
The
moon rose early, and the experimenters slipped away to the grove, leaving the
outsiders on the lawn as usual. Some bold spirit asked Rose to sing, and she at
once complied, pouring out Spanish airs in a voice that melted the hearts of
her audience, so full of fiery sweetness or tragic pathos was it. Done seemed
quite carried away, and lay with his face in the grass, to hide the tears that
would come; till, afraid of openly disgracing himself, he started up and
hurried down to the little wharf, where he sat alone, listening to the music
with a countenance which plainly revealed to the stars the passion which
possessed him. The sound of loud laughter from the grove, followed by entire
silence, caused him to wonder what demonstrations were taking place, and half
resolve to go and see. But that enchanting voice held him captive, even when a
boat put off mysteriously from a point nearby, and sailed away like a phantom through
the twilight.

 
          
Half
an hour afterward, a white figure came down the path, and Roses voice broke in
on his midsummer night s dream. The moon shone clearly now, and showed him the
anxiety in her face as she said hurriedly, “Where is Belle?”

 
          
“Gone
sailing, I believe.”

 
          
“How
could you let her go? She was not fit to take care of herself!”

 
          
“I
forgot that.”