The Lady of Lynn

by Walter Besant

  CHAPTER XXII

  THE ABDUCTION

  The daring attempt to carry off this heiress and to marry her by forceproved in the end the most effective instrument in the success of LordFylingdale's schemes that could possibly be desired or designed. Sogreat is my mistrust of the man that I have sometimes doubted whetherthe whole affair was not contrived by him. I dismiss the suspicion,however, not because it is in the least degree unworthy of hischaracter, but because it is unworthy of the character of Tom Rising.To carry off a girl is not thought dishonourable, especially as it canalways be made to appear that it was with the consent of the girlherself. But to enter into a conspiracy for the furtherance of anotherman's secret designs would be impossible for such a man. Besides, hissubsequent conduct proves that he was not in any way mixed up with thegrand conspiracy of which most of the conspirators knew nothing.

  The chair into which Molly stepped without suspicion, and without evenlooking for the captain, who should have walked beside her, stood, asI have said, before the entrance of the long room. Outside, the treeswere hung with coloured lamps; the place was as bright as in thesunshine of noon--one would think that nothing could be done in such aplace which would not be observed. There is, however, one thing whichis never observed; it is the personal appearance of servants. No oneregards the boatman of the ferry; or the driver of the hackney coach;or the postboy; or the chairmen. The chair, then, stood with its dooropen opposite to the entrance of the long room. The chairmen stoodretired, a little in the shade, but not so far off as to need calling,when Lord Fylingdale handed in the lady. This done, he stood hat inhand, bowing. The chairmen stepped up briskly, seized the poles, andmarched off with the quick step of those who have a light burden tocarry. No one observed the faces of the chairmen, or, indeed, thoughtof looking at them; no one remarked the fact that Tom Rising walkedout of the long room directly afterwards and followed the chair.Within, Molly sat unsuspecting, excited by the triumphs of theevening. The chair passed through the gardens and the gates recentlyerected; instead of turning to the right, which would lead intoHogman's Lane, the chairmen turned to the left, through the town gate,and so, turning northwards, into the open fields. Yet Molly observednothing. I think she fell asleep; when she came to herself she lookedout of the window. On the right and on the left of her were openfields.

  It was a clear evening. Towards the middle of May there is no blackdarkness, but only a dimmer outline and deeper shadows. Molly, whoknew the country round Lynn perfectly well, understood at once thatshe had been carried outside the town; that she was no longer on thehigh road but on one of the cross tracks--one cannot call them roadswhich connect the villages--so that there was very little chance ofmeeting any passengers or vehicles. And by the stars she saw that theywere carrying her in a northerly direction.

  She perceived, therefore, that some devilry was going on. Now, she wasnot a girl who would try to help herself in such a deserted and lonelyspot by shrieking; nor did she see that any good purpose would beserved by calling to the chairmen to let her out. She sat up,therefore, her heart beating a little faster than usual, andconsidered what she should do.

  No one is ignorant that an heiress goes in continual peril ofabduction. To run away with an heiress; to persuade her; threaten her;cajole her; or terrify her into marriage is a thing which has beenattempted hundreds of times, and has succeeded many times. Nay, thereare, I am told, women of cracked reputation and in danger of arrestand the King's Bench for debt who will visit places of resort in orderto pass themselves off as heiresses to great fortunes, hoping therebyto tempt some gallant adventurer to carry them off, and so to takeover their debts instead of the fortunes they expected. And there arestories in plenty of adventurers looking about them for an heiresswhom they may carry off at the risk of a duello, which generallyfollows, at the hands of the lady's friends.

  Molly, therefore, though not a woman of fashion, understood by thistime her value, especially in the eyes of the adventurer. And she alsounderstood quite clearly at this moment that she had been carried awaywithout the knowledge of her guardian, and that the intention of theabductor was nothing more or less than a forced marriage and theacquisition of her fortune. "Jack," she told me afterwards, "I confessthat I did wish, just for a little, that you might be coming along theroad with a trusty club. But then I remembered that I was no punythread paper of a woman, but as strong as most men, and I tookcourage. Weapon I had none, except a steel bodkin gilt stuck in myhair--a small thing, but it might serve if any man ventured too near.And I thought, besides, that there would be a hue and cry, and thatthe country round would be scoured in all directions. They would mostcertainly grow tired of carrying me about in a chair; they must stopsomewhere and put me into some place or other. I thought, also, that Icould easily manage to keep off one man, or perhaps two, and that itwould be very unlikely that more than one would attempt to force meinto marriage. Perhaps I might escape. Perhaps I might barricademyself. Perhaps my bodkin might help me to save myself. I wouldwillingly stab a man to the heart with it. Perhaps I might pick upsomething--a griddle would be a weapon handy for braining a man, oreven a frying pan would do. Whatever happened, Jack, I was resolvedthat nothing, not even fear of murder, should make me marry the manwho had carried me off."

  There are found scattered about the byroads of the country many smallinns for the accommodation of persons of the baser sort. Hitherresort, on the way from one village to another, the sturdy tramp,whose back is scored by many a whipping at the hands of constable andhead-borough. What does he care? He hitches his shoulders and goes hisway, lifting from the hedge and helping himself from the poultry yard.Here you may find the travelling tinker, who has a language of hisown. Here you will find the pedlar with his pack. He is part trader,part receiver of stolen goods, part thief, part carrier of messagesand information between thieves. Here also you will meet the footpadand the highwayman; the smuggler and the poacher, and the fugitive. Ifan honest man should put up at one of these places he will meet withstrange companions in the kitchen, and with strange bedfellows in thechamber. If they suspect that he has money they will rob him; if theythink that he will give evidence against them they will murder him. Ina word, such a wayside inn is the receptacle of all those who live byrobbery, by begging, by pretence, and lies and roguery.

  It was before such a wayside inn that the chairmen stopped. Molly knewit very well. It was at a place called Riffley's Spring; the inn is"The Traveller's Rest"; it stood just two and a half miles from Lynn,and one mile from the village of Wootton. It was a small house,gloomy, and ill-lighted at the best; there was a door in the middle.The diamond panes of the windows were mostly broken in their leadenframes; the woodwork was decaying; the upper floor projecting darkenedthe lower rooms; in the dim twilight, when the chair stopped, thehouse looked a dark and noisome place, fit only for cutthroats andmurderers.

  The poles were withdrawn and the door thrown open. Molly, looking out,saw before her, hat in hand, her late partner, the young fellow theycalled Tom Rising.

  "Oh!" she cried. "Is it possible? I thought I was in the hands of somehighwayman. Is this your doing, sir? I was told that you were agentleman."

  He bowed low, and began a little speech which he had prepared inreadiness:

  "Madam, you will confess that you are yourself alone to blame. Firedwith the sight of so much loveliness, what wonder if I aspired topossess myself of these charms. Sure a Laplander himself would bewarmed, even in his frozen region."

  "Sir, what nonsense is this? What do you mean?"

  "I mean, madam, that your lovely face and figure are sufficientexcuse, not only in the eyes of the world, but in your own eyes, foran action such as this. The violence of the passion which----"

  "Sir, will you order your fellows to take me back?"

  "No, madam, I will not."

  "Then, sir, will you tell me what you propose to do?"

  "I intend to marry you."

  "Against my consent?"

  "I have you in my power. I
shall ask your consent. If you grant it weshall enter upon married life as a pair of lovers should. If yourefuse--I shall be the master, but you will be the wife."

  Molly laughed. "You think that I am afraid? Very well, sir. If youpersist you shall have a lesson in love-making that will last yourlifetime."

  "Everything is fair in love. Come, madam, you will please to get outof the chair."

  "What a villain is this!" said Molly. "He is in love with my fortuneand he pretends it is my person. He thinks to steal my fortune when heruns away with me. You are a highwayman, Mr. Rising; a common thiefand a common robber. You shall be hanged outside Norwich Gaol."

  Tom Rising swore a great oath, calling, in his blasphemous way, uponthe Lord to inflict dire pains and penalties upon him if he shouldresign the lovely object of his affection now in his possession. Youhave heard that he had the reputation of a reckless dare devil whostuck at nothing, was daunted by nothing, and was like a bulldog forhis tenacity.

  "Understand, madam," he concluded this declaration, "I am resolved tomarry you. Resolved. Bear that in mind."

  "And I, sir, am resolved that I will not marry you. Resolved. Bearthat in mind."

  "Never yet did I resolve upon anything but I had it. No; never yet."

  "Mr. Rising, you think you have me in your power. You shall see. Oncemore I ask you, as a gentleman, to send me back. Remember I have manyfriends. The whole town, high and low, will be presently out after me.scouring the country."

  "In an hour you will be at Wootton. The parson hath promised to awaitus there. You will be my wife in one short hour's time."

  "You waste words, sir."

  "You will have to alight, madam. The post-chaise is here to carry usto Wootton, where the parson waits to marry us. In an hour, I say, youshall be my wife."

  Molly looked out of the other window. The post-chaise was there withits pair of horses, and the postboy waiting at the horses' heads. Shewould have to make her stand at once, therefore. To get into thepost-chaise with that man would be dangerous, even though she was asstrong as himself, and, since she was not a drinker of wine, she wasin a better condition.

  "I looked round at the house," she told me afterwards. "I thought thatif I could get into the house I might gain some time--perhaps I couldbar the door--perhaps I could find that griddle or the frying pan ofwhich I spoke. Or if it came to using the bodkin, there would be moreroom for my arm in a house than in a chair or a chaise. So I had onemore parley, in order to gain time, and then slipped out."

  "Sir," she said, "I give you one more chance of retaining the name andreputation of gentleman. Carry me back, or else await the vengeance ofmy friends. I warn you solemnly that murder will be done before Imarry you. Understand, sir, murder of you, or your confederates, ormyself."

  She spoke with so much calmness and with so much resolution that shearoused all his native obstinacy. Besides, it was now too late. Thenews of the abduction would be all over Lynn--he must carry the thingthrough. He swore another loud and blasphemous oath. Heavens! how hewas punished! How swiftly and speedily!

  Molly stepped out of the chair. Tom Rising, his hat in hand, againbowed low. "Madam," he said, "you are well advised. Pray let me handyou into the chaise."

  She made no reply, but, rushing past him, darted into the house. Shestumbled down one step and found herself in a room where the twilightoutside could not penetrate. It was quite dark. She closed the doorbehind her and bolted it, finding a bolt in the usual place.

  Then she waited a moment, thinking what she could do next. A rustlingand a footstep showed that she was not alone.

  "Who is there?" she cried. "Is there no light?"

  She heard the striking of flint and steel; she saw the splutteringyellow light of a match, and by its flickering she discerned an oldwoman trying to light a candle--a rushlight in a tin frame, with holesat the sides.

  Molly looked quietly round the room. A knife lay on the table. Shetook it up. It was one of the rough clasp knives, used by rustics whenthey eat their dinners under the hedge. She stepped forward and tookthe light from the old woman's hand.

  "Quick!" she said, "who is in the house?"

  "No one, except myself. He said the house was to be kept clearto-night."

  "Can they get in?"

  "They can kick the house down if they like, it's so old and crazy."

  "Is there an upper room?"

  The old woman pointed to the far corner. Molly now perceived that theplace was the kitchen, the tap-room, the sitting-room, and all. Atable was in the middle; a settle was standing beside the fireplace;there was a bench or two; mugs and cups of wood, pewter and commonware stood on the mantelshelf; a side of bacon hung in the chimney. Inthe corner, to which the old woman pointed, was a ladder. Molly ranacross the room. At the top of the ladder there was a square openinglarge enough for her passage. She went up, and found herself, by thedim rushlight, in an upper chamber, the floor of which was coveredwith flock beds laid on the boards. There was one small frame of glassin the roof, which was not made to open. The place reeked with foulair, worse than the orlop deck or the hold after a voyage.

  Down below she heard her captor kicking at the door. Apparently, theold woman drew back the bolt, for he came in noisily, swearinghorribly. Apparently, the old woman pointed to the ladder, or perhapsthe glimmer from the room above guided him. He came to the ladder andtried persuasion.

  "Molly, my dear," he cried, "come down, come down. I won't harm you.Upon my honour I will not. I want only to put you into the chaise andcarry you off to be married. Molly, you are the loveliest girl in thecounty. Molly, I say, there is nobody can hold a candle to you. Molly,I will make you as happy as the day is long. Molly, I love you tentimes as well as that proud lord. He will not marry you. There isn't aman in all the company I will not fight for your sake. Don't think Iwill let any other man have you. Damn it, Molly, why don't youanswer?"

  For now she kept silence. The more he parleyed, the more time shegained. But she found one or two loose boards that had been used forlaying in trestles for the support of the flock beds. She laid themacross the trapdoor, but there was nothing to keep them down.

  Then Tom Rising began to swear at the old woman.

  "You fool! You blundering, silly, jenny ass of a fool. What the devildid you give her the candle for?"

  "I didn't give it. She took it."

  "Go, get another candle, then."

  "There are no more candles, master," said the old woman in her feeblevoice. "She's got the only one."

  "Molly, if you won't come down I shall force my way up."

  Still she kept silence.

  He took two steps up the ladder and lifted the boards, showing thefingers of his left hand. Molly applied her knife, gently butdexterously; but it touched the bone, and taught him what to expect.He drew back with a cry of rage.

  "Come down," he said, "or it will be worse for you. Come down, I say."

  He had not reckoned on a knife and on the girl's courage in using it.

  "Molly," he said again, more softly, "come down." She still maintainedsilence.

  "You have no food up there," he went on. "Your window is only a lightin the roof looking away from the road. No one from Lynn will comethis way. If they do they will see nothing. You had better come down.Molly, I shall wait here for a month. I shall starve you out. Do youhear? By the Lord, I will set fire to the thatch and burn you out. Bythe Lord, you _shall_ come down."

  So he raved and raged. Meantime the two chairmen, who were his ownservants, stood, pole in hand, one in front of the house and onebehind, to prevent an escape. But this was impossible, because theroom, as you have heard, had no other window than a small squareopening in the roof, in which was fitted a piece of coarse, commonglass.

  "Jack," she told me, "when he talked of setting fire to the thatch Iconfess I trembled, because, you see, my knife would not help methere. And, indeed, I think he would have done it, because he was likeone that has gone mad with rage. He was like a mad bull. He stormed,he
raged, he cursed and swore; he called me all the names you everheard of--such names as the sailors call their sweethearts when theyare in a rage with them--and then he called me all the endearingnames, such as loveliest of my sex, fairest nymph, tender beauty. Whata man!"

  Meantime she made no answer whatever, and the darkness and the silenceand the obstinacy of the girl were driving the unfortunate lover to akind of madness, and I know not what would have happened.

  "Molly," he said, "willy nilly, down you come. I shall tear down thethatch. I would burn you out, but I would not spoil your beauty. Ishall tear down the thatch, and my men shall carry you down."

  Then Molly made answer.

  "I have a knife in my possession. Do not think that I am afraid to useit. The first man who lays hands on me I will kill--whether it is youor your servants."

  "That we shall see. Look ye, Molly, you are only a merchant'sdaughter, and I am a gentleman. Do you think I value that comparedwith marrying you? Not one whit. When we are married I will buy moreland; I will be the greatest landowner of the whole county. Sir Robertwill make me sheriff. I will go into Parliament, Molly; he will makeme a peer. Come down, I say."

  But she spoke no more.

  Then he lost control of himself, and for a while stamped and swore,threatened and cursed. "You will have it, then? Here, John, go andlook for a ladder. There's always a ladder in the back yard. Put it upagainst the thatch. Tear it down. Make a hole in the roof. Tear offthe whole roof."

  The man propped his chair pole against the door, and went round tolook for the ladder and to obey orders.

  "So," Molly told me, "I was besieged. Mr. Rising was below, but I hadmy knife, and he was afraid to venture up the steps. I heard the menclumping about outside. I heard them plant the ladder and climb up.Now a countryman who understands a thatch is able to tear it off veryquickly, either to make or mend a hole, or to tear down the roofaltogether. And I feared that I must use my knife seriously. Was everwoman more barbarously abused? Well--I waited. By the quick tearingaway of the straw I saw that the fellow on the ladder knew how tothatch a rick or a cottage. In a few minutes there would be a hole bigenough for half-a-dozen men to enter. Jack," her cheek flushed and hereye brightened. "God forgive me! But I made up my mind the moment thatman stepped within the room to plunge my knife into his heart."

  If a woman's honour is dearer than her life, then surely it is moreprecious than a dozen lives of those who would rob her of thattreasure.

  However, this last act of defence was not necessary.

  "Master," cried the postboy, who was waiting with the chaise. "Master,here be men on horseback galloping. I doubt they are coming after thelady."

  Tom Rising stepped to the door and looked down the road. The day wasalready beginning to break. He saw in the dim light a company ofhorsemen galloping along the road; it was a bad road, and there hadbeen rain, so that the horses went heavily. They were very near; in afew moments they would be upon him. He looked at the chaise. He madeone more effort.

  "Molly," he said, "come down quick. There is just time. Let us have nomore fooling."

  Again she made no reply. Knife in hand, with crimson cheek and setlips, she watched the hole in the thatch and the man tearing it away.

  Tom Rising swore again, most blasphemously. Then, seeing that the gamewas lost, he loosened his sword in its scabbard and stepped into themiddle of the road.