A Secret Inheritance (Volume 1 of 3)

by B. L. Farjeon

  CHAPTER XII.

  "I must not forget one question I asked Silvain.

  "'In the company of tourists who traversed the pass with Kristel, wasthe young girl present, of whom you have so frequently dreamt?'

  "'No. There seemed to me to be no females among them.'

  "On the morning of that day we started for Bavaria, Silvain havingfirst despatched a letter to his father, informing him that he wasabout to join his brother, and explaining the reason. It would prolongmy story to an undue length were I to dwell upon the record of traveland experience, which does not bear directly upon the history ofSilvain and Kristel. Suffice it, therefore, to say that we arrived inBavaria, and, after necessary inquiry, proceeded straight to themountain pass on which Silvain believed his brother to have met withthe accident. Some time afterwards I reflected with interest upon thesingular contrast in our demeanour while we were pursuing our search.I, who should have been calm, inasmuch as no being dear to me was indanger, was restless and excited. Silvain, who should have beenanxious and disturbed, was composed. He believed in the truth of hisvision; I doubted it. But no room was left for doubt when we came tothe end of our journey. It terminated at the mountain hut, whereKristel was lying slowly recovering from the injuries he had receivedin his fall. Everything was as Silvain had described it. The hut withits many small bedrooms, and the larger apartment in which the mealswere taken; the mount with its cavern of glittering spar and crystal,with its entrance from the summit of the pass, and its mode of egressat the side lower down; the overhanging ledge of rock which could onlybe reached by a daring leap. I recognised, with feelings of amazement,the faithfulness of the detail. The mystery of this spiritual sympathywhich found practical expression in a form so strange, was beyond mycomprehension, and I accepted it, as Silvain accepted it, but thewonder never left me.

  "Kristel was affectionately and unfeignedly glad to see his brother.

  "'Did you expect me?' asked Silvain.

  "'No,' replied Kristel, 'but I hoped you would come.'

  "He listened attentively while Silvain related his dream. Although hehad received no forewarning that Silvain was coming to him, heexpressed no surprise; he regarded it, also, as perfectly natural.

  "Before I saw Kristel I had pictured him in my mind as resembling histwin-brother--dark, like Silvain, with black hair, and brown,melancholy eyes. I had said to myself, 'I shall know Kristel, if Imeet him for the first time when his brother is not present.' Anothersurprise awaited me. There was no resemblance between Silvain andKristel; there was scarcely a brotherly likeness. Kristel was fair,his hair was light, his eyes were blue, and his frame was larger andmore powerful.

  "They had much to relate to each other of their travels andadventures, and I frequently left them alone, in order that they mightindulge freely in brotherly communion. I heard, however, fromKristel's lips the particulars of his accident, which tallied exactlywith the account I had received from Silvain.

  "'You must have dreamt of it,' he said to Silvain, 'at the precisemoment of its occurrence.'

  "Silvain nodded and smiled. He was happy because he was with Kristel,and because Kristel was recovering strength, slowly it was true, butsurely.

  "'Has Kristel,' I said to Silvain, 'ever spoken to you of thebeautiful girl who presented herself to you in your dreams?'

  "'No,' replied Silvain, 'he has not mentioned her.'

  "'Is that not strange?' I asked.

  "Silvain did not reply, and, gazing at him, I saw that he was lost inreverie. I had recalled the image of the girl, and he was musing uponit.

  "At another time I asked Silvain whether he himself had referred toher in his conversations with his brother. He confessed that he hadnot. There was, then, a secret which these brothers held close intheir hearts. I was not wise enough to fix instantly upon the correctsolution of this secret which each was keeping from the other. Itrequired, in a third party, a riper experience than was at my command,to read the riddle aright.

  "Two months passed by, and Kristel hoped in a few days to be able tomove out of the hut in which he had been so long confined, Silvain wasin the habit of going to the post-office in the village, which lay atthe foot of the mountain. He went one morning as usual for letters,and I was left with Kristel. We conversed freely, and Kristel asked meto bring his desk, which was on a table at a little distance from thecouch upon which he was lying. I brought the desk, and he opened it.He took letters from it which he did not read, and then some drawingsin water-colours, an art in which he was proficient. He glanced atthem, and laid them singly aside, retaining one, upon which he gazedlong and earnestly.

  "'You are an artist,' I said, for, seeing that I had moved my chairfrom the bed, so that I should not intrude upon his private matters,he had called me closer, and invited me by a gesture to examine thesketches.

  "'But a poor one,' he said, still gazing at the drawing in his hand.'Still, this is not bad, I think.' And he held it out to me.

  "He did not notice the start I gave when my eyes fell upon the sketch.It was that of a young girl, with most wonderful black hair which hungloosely down. She was standing on the upper gallery of a lighthouse,and the silver spray of wild waves was dashing upon the stone edifice.Her left hand was arched above her brows, and a scarlet kerchief waswound gracefully round her lovely head.

  "I examined it in silence. The likeness to the description givenby Silvain was unmistakable, and it was only by an effort ofself-restraint that I prevented myself from disclosing that the figurewas familiar to me. The right was not mine; the secret was not mine. Aconfidence had been reposed in me by Silvain, and, if he and Kristelhad not spoken to each other of the girl, it was not for me to betraymy knowledge of her.

  "'A fancy sketch?' I asked.

  "'No,' replied Kristel, 'from the life. Is she not beautiful?'

  "'Very beautiful,' I said, with a sinking heart.

  "I have spoken of the physical dissimilarity of Kristel and Silvain;but although, from the evidence of sight, a stranger would not havetaken them for brothers, he could not have doubted of the closekinship, had he depended for his judgment upon his sense of hearing.Their voices were as one voice, In tone and inflection, so that,closing one's eyes, one could not with absolute certainty decidewhether Kristel or Silvain were speaking. It was this that caused myheart to sink when Kristel asked me if the girl was not beautiful. Inexactly the same tone had Silvain spoken of her, with fervid warmthand enthusiasm. My vague fears--which at that moment I should havefelt a difficulty in explaining--were not dispelled by the action ofKristel, immediately following my reply. Silvain's footsteps wereheard without, and Kristel, swiftly and hurriedly, took the sketchfrom my hand, and placed it in his desk, which he closed and locked.

  "Silvain brought grave news to the hut. His head drooped, his featureswere suffused with sadness.

  "'Kristel,' he said, in a tone of melancholy significance.

  "'Silvain,' said Kristel, in a tone of indifference. The sorrowfulnote in his brother's voice had not reached his heart. He was thinkingof the beautiful girl, with the wild waves dashing up to her feet.

  "'Our father'--faltered Silvain, and stopped, unable to proceed.

  "Even this did not arouse Kristel. He was lying now with his head onthe pillow, and his hands, the fingers of which were interlaced,clasped behind it. Silvain came close to his brother's side, gentlydisengaged the clasped hands, and held one within his own. Kristel wasawakened to reality by this action; and I, who had guessed the truth,stole softly from the room.

  "When they called me in I found them both with tears in their eyes.The letters which Silvain had received at the post-office made themacquainted with the death of their father. Their grief was genuine,and they mourned with sincerity. Kristel was the first to recover hisnatural tone, and he drew Silvain to speak of the future. Silvain'sdesire was to return home immediately Kristel was strong enough totravel, but Kristel would not have it so.

  "'No duty of instantly returning,' he s
aid, 'devolves upon us, and byour remaining abroad a while, it will not be thought that we arewanting in affection. Our letters inform us that the last sad officeshave been performed over the grave of our father; our affairs are ingood hands, and no mother or sister awaits us to relieve her sorrow.We are alone, you and I, Silvain, with no ties beyond us to weaken orstrengthen the affection which unites us and makes our hearts as one.'

  "Silvain looked up with a loving light in his eyes; his nature wasever responsive to the call of affection.

  "'Yes, Kristel,' he said, 'nothing can weaken the ties which unite us.They are perfect, complete. Our hearts truly are one.'

  "'Then you will be guided by me, Silvain?'

  "'Yes.'

  "'Good! We will continue our travels, and nothing shall ever part us.'

  "'Nothing _can_ ever part us, Kristel,' said Silvain.

  "Alas! If, upon the enthusiasm of the present, when men are indulgingin dreams, the presentiment of what was to happen in the future wereto intrude, how quickly the glowing embers would grow white and cold!When I heard the brothers exchange these professions of love, even I,who had some reasons for uneasiness respecting them, saw not the dreadshadows which attended them and beckoned them onwards to their fate.

  "The days passed slowly now until Kristel was sufficiently recoveredto travel. He would have started long before he was fit, but Silvainwould not allow him; and Kristel must have had some doubts of hisstrength, or he would not have allowed himself to be prevailed upon,so great was his impatience to start. At length the day was fixed, andwe left the mountain and the village. I had solicited to be permittedto accompany them and they had readily consented. Their society wasagreeable to me, and I loved Silvain. I looked upon Kristel, also,with affection, but my feelings towards him were weaker than those Ientertained for his brother. Silvain appealed more closely to me; wehad been longer in association, and our natures, in impulsive warmthand unreserve, were in unison. Kristel was colder, and sometimessuddenly checked himself when about to open his heart. I do not saythat this should tell against a man, and I have no doubt that, in thetelling of my story, I am influenced in my remarks by the strangeevents of which you will presently hear.

  "At this point I am again silently reminded to be thoroughly sincere.Not alone because I was happy in the society of the brothers and lovedSilvain was I desirous to accompany them. I had thought long andseriously over the beautiful girl by the sea whose picture Kristelkept concealed in his desk, and who held a place in the hearts of thebrothers, and I was haunted by a foreboding that she was destined toplay a part in their lives. By remaining with them I should perhapsmake her acquaintance, and might help, for good, either one or theother. Of course, all this was but vaguely in my mind, and probablythe most truthful explanation would be that I was prompted bycuriosity pure and simple.

  "Kristel had extracted a promise from Silvain, to the effect thatKristel was to assume the position of director of the route we were totake. I, also, was bound. We were to ask no questions, to offer noadvice, but to go blindly wherever Kristel willed and wished.

  "'It suits my humour exactly," said Silvain, merrily, 'and relieves usof responsibility. Eh, Louis?'

  "'Yes,' I said, 'I am entirely agreeable.' But I wondered why Kristelhad insisted upon this stipulation. That he had a distinct motive Iwas convinced. But what motive--and whither was he about to lead us?

  "'Oh, I will take the responsibility,' said Kristel, 'and you shallfind me the best of guides and couriers.'

  "So we started gaily, and in a few days left Bavaria far behind us.

  "In pursuance of the necessary scheme of brevity I had laid down formyself, I shall not pause in my story to give you an account of theplaces we visited under Kristel's guidance and direction. I will butsay that I subsequently held the opinion--and I have no doubt it wascorrect--that, although Kristel had one distinct goal in view from themoment we started from the mountain-hut, It was a preconceived part ofhis plan that we should arrive at it by a devious route, and should,to a certain extent, be supposed to come to it by accident. Thereforewe lingered here and there, and shared in the ordinary pleasures of atour in the holiday of life. Between us existed a most agreeable amityand complaisance, and I inwardly confessed it to be a wise proceedingthat one, whose word was law, should be elected captain of ourwanderings. By land, and lake, and sea, over valley and mountain, wemade pleasant progress, picking intellectual flowers by the waysides,until at length Kristel's design was unfolded to my view.

  "We arrived at a village on the southwest coast of France, and thereremained for several days. It was a village inhabited by fishermen,and on one pretext and another, Kristel kept us there. In pursuance ofour promise of obedience we did not demur; and indeed there was muchto interest us in the life of simplicity led by the good-heartedinhabitants. Their ancestors, for innumerable generations, had livedthere before them, and the quaint and sweet crust of primitiveness layupon the natures of the simple people, and invested them with apeculiar charm. They received us hospitably, and gave us of theirbest, freely and willingly. The weather was tempestuous and stormywhen we arrived, and for a week there was no change in it. Fiercewinds swept across the stormy sea, and roared and shrieked along thecoast. This prevented the fishermen from following their usualavocation, but they were by no means idle. Sails were mended, boatswere caulked and pitched and made sound; then there were the curingand smoking of fish, the repairing of huts, and all the industry of abusy leisure. To such as they inaction was worse than death; work,cheerfully performed, formed the greater part of the pleasure of life.Often and often have I thought of the sweetness of existence as itpresented itself to me in that ancient village by the sea.

  "A dangerous coast it was; and in the distance a lighthouse. Beyondthe lighthouse treacherous silver sands, in which lurked sudden deathwhen Nature was convulsed with passionate throes; at other timesfairly safe, bathed in peace and beauty. Within the radius of a fewmiles many ships had been wrecked, and many a crew engulfed.

  "We were young, strong, and in good health, and could afford to laughat wind and rain. Wrapped in oilskins lent to us by the fishermen, wescaled high rocks, round the base of which the waves dashed furiously,and watched the wondrous effects of the raging tempest. At such timesa man's soul is lifted up as it were. The littleness of the human lifewe live assumes its proper and just proportion, and we become sensibleof the divine grandeur of Nature.

  "At the end of a week the storm abated, and the sea became calm. Whenwe arose in the morning the sun was shining upon a scene of lovelinessand peace.

  "'We are going to visit the lighthouse,' said Kristel.

  "There was a glad and eager light in his eyes, and he was full ofexcitement.

  "He had made arrangements with a party of boatmen, and after breakfastwe went down to the shore, and took our seats in the boat. It was along pull--six miles the boatmen said. From the village this watch-dogof the sea was only partially visible, the reason being that it stoodon the other side of a promontory, which we now skirted. A gray,stately mass of stone, it reared beneficently to the clouds, an angelof warning to the toilers of the sea. Calm as was the day, the waves,broken up and lashed into anger by hidden rocks, were wild andturbulent around the edifice. Nearer and nearer we approached, andsaw, but imperfectly as yet, the figure of a woman watching us fromthe topmost gallery.

  "'Avicia,' said one of the rowers to his comrades.

  "They nodded, and looked in her direction, and said, 'Yes, Avicia.'

  "Avicia! A sufficiently attractive and unusual name. But it was notthe name which compelled my breathless attention and observation; itwas a simple bit of colour on her head, worn as a covering.

  "What colour? Scarlet.

  "I closed my eyes and became lost in reflection.

  "First, of the description given to me by Silvain of a beautiful girlwith raven hair, with parted lips and white teeth gleaming, and with ascarlet covering upon her head, looking out towards us, who weremoving towards her upon the wa
ter.

  "Next, of a coloured sketch of this beautiful girl, upon which Kristelwas gazing, as he and I sat together in the mountain hut, with love inhis eyes and in his heart. 'Is she not beautiful?' Kristel had asked;and when he heard the footsteps of his brother without, he hadhurriedly and jealously hidden the sketch, so that Silvain should notsee it. And Silvain had never set eyes upon it, neither at that nor atany other time. Of this I was convinced, although I had no positiveknowledge of the fact.

  "'Shall I ever see her in my waking life?' were Silvain's words. Andwhen I asked him if he believed she lived, he answered, 'As surely asI live. If I knew where she is to be found I would go and seek her.'Well, without seeking her he was moving towards her; and Kristel and Iwere with him; and Avicia was watching and waiting for us.

  "I opened my eyes and looked forward, in dumb amazement andapprehension. She had not moved from her point of observation. Iturned towards Silvain and Kristel. They were both gazing at her likemen entranced. For a moment I felt as if an enchantment had fallenupon us.

  "'What name did you say?' I asked of the boatmen.

  "A foolish and unnecessary question, for I had heard it distinctly,and it was already deeply rooted in my mind.

  "'Avicia,' they replied.

  "Silvain drew a long breath.

  "'Kristel,' he said to his brother.

  "'Yes,' said Kristel, in a dreamy tone.

  "'She is no shadow.'

  "'No, she lives.'

  "'I have dreamt of her exactly as she is, exactly as she stands at thepresent moment.'

  "'You have dreamt of her, Silvain!' exclaimed Kristel, in the samesoft dreamy tone. 'Impossible.'

  "'It is true. I described her to Louis.'

  "'Yes,' I said, 'it is true.'

  "Presently, after a pause, Silvain said, 'You knew she was here,Kristel?'

  "'Yes,' replied Kristel, 'I knew she was here.'

  "No further words were spoken till we reached the lighthouse, entranceto which was obtained by means of stone steps, on each side of whichhung ropes and chains to guide and steady us. In a few moments westood in the presence of Avicia.

  "'I told you I would come, Avicia,' said Kristel. 'This is my brotherSilvain.'"