Delphi Complete Works of the Brontes Charlotte, Emily, Anne Brontë (Illustrated) (281 page)

Thus attired she stole noiselessly from her chamber & instead of proceeding toward the grand staircase directed her steps to the winding turret stair which led to an unoccupied hall in which was an arched gate opening directly into the park. As she softly entered this hall she perceived by the moonlight which was streaming brilliantly through the tall latticed windows a dark figure standing near the gate through which she was to pass. Lady Emily was not much of a philosopher & this appearance startled her not a little for she instantly remembered a traditionary story of a wicked fairy who was said to haunt this appartment. her fears on this head however were soon relieved by hearing the rattling of a bunch of Keys accompanied by the gruff murmuring tones of a man’s voice.

“I wonder” said the supposed apparition in soliloquy “I wonder what that beast of a light chose to go out for, it’s a rare thing to be sure for me to be in this dog-hole at midnight without a candle, that last pint made my hand rather unsteady & I can’t see to find the Key-hole.”

Lady Emily now recognized in the speaker a man-servant whose office it was to secure all the castle-gates before retiring to rest, the urgency of her situation immediately suggested an expedient which considering the muddled state of the man’s brain could hardly fail of success. She wrapped herself closely in the mantle & advancing into the middle of the hall said in a voice as commanding as she could muster, “Mortal I command thee to depart from the Great fairy Asherah’s abodef.” the effect of this ruse was instantaneousf. he flung down the keys with a shout of terror & scampered of as fast as his heels could carry him. Lady Emily had now no difficulty in unbarring the portal & making her premeditated escape, with the lightness & swiftness of a liberated Deer she bounded across the moonlit lawn towards the appointed place of rendezvous.

A chill & dreary wind was sweeping among the lofty chestnut trees as she wandered under their huge boughs impatiently awaiting her lover’s arrival. The uncertain light now streaming through a wide opening as the swelling breeze suddenly bowed all the branches in one direction & now when it dyed away & they sprang back to their former station flinging a thousand silvery checquers on the leaf-strewn pathway produced shadows equally uncertain, sometimes it seemed as if a hundred ghosts were gliding among the mighty trunks, beckoning with their dim hands & vanishing as she approached them. Occasionally too a cloud would suddenly obscure the moon, & then in the dense darkness which followed the creaking of branches, the rustling of leaves & the wild howling of wind formed a combination of doleful sounds which might have impressed the stoutest heart with terror.

For half an hour she continued to walk slowly about shivering in the cold night air & at intervals pausing to listen for some advancing step. at length she heard a rumbling noise like the wheels of some vehicle: it drew near: the tramp of horses feet became distinctly audible when suddenly it ceased altogether, five anxious minutes passed, nothing was heard. lady Emily listened & listenedf. she began to doubt whether her ears had not deceived her but now the rustling of the dead leaves foretold an approaching footstep. she knew the tread, none but st Clair had such a stately & martial stride. forward she darted like an arrow from a bow & in another instant was clasped to lord Ronald’s bosom. After the first mute greetings were over he said in a low smothered tone, “Come dearest let us not lose a moment, silence & despatch are necessary for our safety.” they accord- ingly proceeded down the avenue at the end of which a carriage was awaiting their approach, into it lady Emily was handed by her lover who as he warmly pressed the hand which had been put into his as she entered the chaise whispered in the same suppressed voice as before that he would follow her on horse-back. “very well my lord” said Emily, gently returning his grasp. He closed the door mounted a horse which stood near, gave the word of departure & soon by the aid of four wheels & six steeds the fair runaway left her guardian’s castle far behind.

In less than an hour they had rolled over the four miles of road which intervened between them and Verdopolis, passed through the wide streets of that city now all still & desolate & entered a great road which ran northward through an extensive forest, after two hours travelling through the dense gloom of woodland shade the carriage turned aside from the mainpath into a bye-way. they now struck still deeper into the brownish obscurity of oak & palm, elm & cedar, darkly & dimly branch rose above branch each uplifting a thicker canopy of night like foliage till not a single ray of light could find an opening by which to direct the belated traveller’s passing underneath. At last to lady Emily’s great satisfaction the trees began to grow thinner; gradually they assumed a scattered appearance & e’re long the carriage entered an open glade where standing in the full brilliancy of moonlight there appeared a lofty, & ruinous tower. Wall-flowers were waving from its mouldring battlements & ivy-tendrils twined gracefully round the stone mullions of windows from which the glass had long disappeared. Lady Emily shuddered as the carriage stopped before the iron gate of this dreary edifice.

“this will be a dismal hole to sleep in” said she to herself “But why should I be afraid? St Clair is certainly the best judge of the places we ought to halt at”

The door was now unfastened by a foot-man who as the Earl had not yet come up offered to assist her in getting out of the carriage. When she had descended the man proceeded to demand entrance, the loud clamourous din which was produced by the agitation of the rusty knocker strangely interrupted that profound & solemn silence which reigned through the primeval forest While it awoke a hollow echo within the grey desolate ruin. After a long pause the withdrawal of bolts & bars was heard. the portals slowly unfolded & revealed a figure whose appearance was in the most perfect keeping with every thing around, it was that of an old woman bent double with the weight of years: her countenance all wrinkled & shrivelled wore a settled expression of discontent while her small, red eyes gleamed with fiendlike malignity, in one shaking hand she held a huge bunch of rusty keys & in the other a dimly glimmering torch.

“Well Bertha” said the footman “I have brought you a visitor, you must show her up to the highest chamber for I suppose there’s no other in a habitable condition.”

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No how should their I wonder” replied the hag in an angry mumbling tone “When no body’s slept in them for more than sixty long years, but what have you brought such a painted toy as this here for? there’s no good in the wind I think”

“Silence you old witch” said the man “or I’ll cut your tongue out.” then addressing lady Emily he continued “I hope madam you’ll excuse such an attendant as she is for the present: had there been time to procure a better my master would not have failed to do so”

Lady Emily replied “that she could make every allowance for old age “ & was proceeding to speak a few kind words to the miserable being when she turned abruptly away & muttering “follow me my fine madam an you want to see your sleeping-place” hobbled out of the appartment. Our heroine immediately complied with her request or rather command, & leaving the roofless hall in which she then stood, followed the hideous crone through a suite of damp empty rooms through which the wind was sighing in tones too wildly mournful not to communicate a feeling of sympathetic melancholy to the heart of every listener, at length they reached a room smaller than the others to which a canopy-couch with faded velvet curtains a few chairs, a table & an old-fashioned carved ward-robe gave a habitable if not a comfortable appearance, here the old woman stopped & placing the candle on the table said “Now here you may lie till tomorrow if spirits don’t run away with you”

“Oh I have no fear of that” replied lady Emily forcing a laugh “but my good Bertha can you not light a fire in that grate for it’s very cold?”

“No not I” replied the hag “I’ve something else to do indeed” & with these ungracious words she walked or rather crept out of the room.

When she was gone lady Emily very naturally fell into a fit of rather sorrowful musing. The clandestine & secret nature of the past the dreariness of the present & the uncertainty of the future all contributed to impress her mind with the deepest gloom. Ere long however the image of St Clair rising like the sun above a threatening horizon dispelled the sadness which hung over her mind.

“Soon” thought she “he will be here & then this decayed tower will to me wear the aspect of a kings palace”

Scarcely had this consoling reflection been uttered in a half whispered soliloquy When a stately stride & jingling spurs sounded from the antichamber. the door which stood ajar was gently pushed open & the Earls tall form wrapped in a travelling cloak & with a plumed bonnet darkly shading his noble features appeared at the entrance.

“You are come at last” said lady Emily. “How long you have been, I was almost beginning to fear that you had lost your way in that dismal wood”

“Beautiful Creature” replied he in a tone which thrilled through her like an electrical shock “I would give every thing I possess on earth to be in reality an object of such tender interest in your eyes, but alas I fear that your sweet sympathy is directed to one who while I live shall never more hear it expressed by that silvery voice. Behold me fair lady & know into whose power you have fallen”

So saying he flung off” at once the enshrouding cloak & hat & there stood before the horror stricken lady not the form of her lover St Clair but that of his rival Colonel Percy. The ghastly paleness which instantly overspread her face & the sudden clasping of her hands alone proclaimed what feelings passed through her mind as she beheld this unexpected apparition.

“Come cheer up” continued the Colonel with a scornful smile. “It’s as well to settle your mind now for I swear by every-thing earthly or heavenly, sacred or profane that this painter-lover of yours, - this romancing arrow-shooting artist has seen your face for the last time” “Wretch” exclaimed lady Emily her eyes sparkling with scorn & hatred “Know that he whom you call my painter lover has higher & purer blood in his veins than you. he is Earl St Clair of Clan Albyn & you are but the dependent hanger on of a noble relative”

“So he has told you” returned Percy “but damsel be he lord or limner I have fairly outwitted him this time, his chariot wheels tarried somewhat too long methinks. mine were better oiled - they ran smoother. I won the race & have borne off the prize triumphantly, he may now cry St Clair to the rescue but none of his plaided minions can reach the length of this dark & unknown retreat,”

“Unprincipled villain” said lady Emily whose high spirit was now fully roused “you have acted treacherously, you have adopted means totally unbecoming the honour of a gentleman or never should I have been thus ensnared by your toils”

“Humph” replied the colonel “I am not one of those punctilious fools who consider honour as the God of their Idolatry. Eavesdroppers, spys, or false-witnesses are all equally acceptable to me when there is a great end in View which can be more easily obtained by their assistance.”

“Colonel Percy” said lady Emily “for I can call you by no name so detestable as your own do you intend to keep me in this tower or to send me back to Clydesdale Castle?”

“I shall keep you here most assuredly till you promise to become my wife & then you shall re-appear in Verdopolis with a magnificence suitable to the future Duchess of Beaufort”

“Then here I remain till death or some happier chance relieves me, for not all the tortures that man’s ingenuity could devise should ever induce me to marry one whose vices have sunk him so low in the ranks of humanity as yours have one who openly renounces the dominion of honnour & declares that he has given himself up to the blind guidance of his own depraved inclinations”

“Excellently well preached” remarked the Colonel with a sneer “but fair worshipper of honnour this resolution will not prevent the proposed incarceration which shall be inflicted on you as a sort of punishment for having flagrantly violated the decrees of that Deity whose cause you so eloquently advocate, pray my lady was it quite consistent with the dictates of honnour to deceive your old doting uncle and elope at midnight with an unknown adventurer?”

this taunt was too much for lady Emily, the remembrance of her Uncle & of what his sufferings would be when her disappearance should be known instantly destroyed that semblance of dignity which pnde had taught her to assume in order to overawe her suitor’s fam- jhar insolence. She leant her head on her hand & burst into a flood of bitter tears.

Those crystal drops” said the Colonel totally unmoved by her ress Tell me that it would be no very difficult matter to soften your apparently stubborn heart. could I but remain here one day longer I am certain that the powers of persuasion I possess would succeed in bringing my Queen of Beauty to reason but unfortunately dire necessity commands my immediate departure. Before Sunrise I ought to be in Verdopolis & day is already breaking over those eastern Hills. Farewell” he continued in a more serious tone, “Farewell lady Emily, I am going where their is likely to be hot work & perhaps some black rebel’s sabre may before long rid you of a sincere though rejected lover & the world of what most men call a villain.”