by Robert Reed
and then with extreme sweetness, she said, “Lord Raymond, I con-
fide in your goodness and honour.”
Smiling haughtily, he bent his head, and replied, with emphasis,
“Do you indeed confide, Lady Idris?”
THE LAST MAN, by Mary Shelley | 865
She endeavoured to read his thought, and then answered with
dignity, “As you please . It is certainly best not to compromise one-
self by any concealment .”
“Pardon me,” he replied, “if I have offended . Whether you trust
me or not, rely on my doing my utmost to further your wishes, what-
ever they may be .”
Idris smiled her thanks, and rose to take leave . Lord Raymond
requested permission to accompany her to Windsor Castle, to which
she consented, and they quitted the cottage together . My sister and I
were left—truly like two fools, who fancied that they had obtained
a golden treasure, till daylight shewed it to be lead—two silly, luck-
less flies, who had played in sunbeams and were caught in a spider’s
web . I leaned against the casement, and watched those two glori-
ous creatures, till they disappeared in the forest-glades; and then
I turned. Perdita had not moved; her eyes fixed on the ground, her
cheeks pale, her very lips white, motionless and rigid, every feature
stamped by woe, she sat . Half frightened, I would have taken her
hand; but she shudderingly withdrew it, and strove to collect herself .
I entreated her to speak to me: “Not now,” she replied, “nor do you
speak to me, my dear Lionel; you can say nothing, for you know
nothing . I will see you tomorrow; in the meantime, adieu!” She rose,
and walked from the room; but pausing at the door, and leaning
against it, as if her over-busy thoughts had taken from her the power
of supporting herself, she said, “Lord Raymond will probably re-
turn . Will you tell him that he must excuse me today, for I am not
well . I will see him tomorrow if he wishes it, and you also . You had
better return to London with him; you can there make the enquiries
agreed upon, concerning the Earl of Windsor and visit me again
tomorrow, before you proceed on your journey—till then, farewell!”
She spoke falteringly, and concluded with a heavy sigh . I gave
my assent to her request; and she left me . I felt as if, from the order
of the systematic world, I had plunged into chaos, obscure, contrary,
unintelligible . That Raymond should marry Idris was more than ever
intolerable; yet my passion, though a giant from its birth, was too
strange, wild, and impracticable, for me to feel at once the misery
THE LAST MAN, by Mary Shelley | 866
I perceived in Perdita. How should I act? She had not confided in
me; I could not demand an explanation from Raymond without the
hazard of betraying what was perhaps her most treasured secret . I
would obtain the truth from her the following day—in the mean
time—But, while I was occupied by multiplying reflections, Lord
Raymond returned . He asked for my sister; and I delivered her mes-
sage . After musing on it for a moment, he asked me if I were about
to return to London, and if I would accompany him: I consented .
He was full of thought, and remained silent during a considerable
part of our ride; at length he said, “I must apologize to you for my
abstraction; the truth is, Ryland’s motion comes on tonight, and I am
considering my reply .”
Ryland was the leader of the popular party, a hard-headed man,
and in his way eloquent; he had obtained leave to bring in a bill
making it treason to endeavour to change the present state of the
English government and the standing laws of the republic . This at-
tack was directed against Raymond and his machinations for the
restoration of the monarchy .
Raymond asked me if I would accompany him to the House
that evening . I remembered my pursuit for intelligence concerning
Adrian; and, knowing that my time would be fully occupied, I ex-
cused myself . “Nay,” said my companion, “I can free you from your
present impediment . You are going to make enquiries concerning
the Earl of Windsor . I can answer them at once, he is at the Duke
of Athol’s seat at Dunkeld. On the first approach of his disorder,
he travelled about from one place to another; until, arriving at that
romantic seclusion he refused to quit it, and we made arrangements
with the Duke for his continuing there .”
I was hurt by the careless tone with which he conveyed this in-
formation, and replied coldly: “I am obliged to you for your intel-
ligence, and will avail myself of it .”
“You shall, Verney,” said he, “and if you continue of the same
mind, I will facilitate your views. But first witness, I beseech you,
the result of this night’s contest, and the triumph I am about to
achieve, if I may so call it, while I fear that victory is to me defeat .
THE LAST MAN, by Mary Shelley | 867
What can I do? My dearest hopes appear to be near their fulfilment.
The ex-queen gives me Idris; Adrian is totally unfitted to succeed to
the earldom, and that earldom in my hands becomes a kingdom . By
the reigning God it is true; the paltry earldom of Windsor shall no
longer content him, who will inherit the rights which must for ever
appertain to the person who possesses it . The Countess can never
forget that she has been a queen, and she disdains to leave a dimin-
ished inheritance to her children; her power and my wit will rebuild
the throne, and this brow will be clasped by a kingly diadem .—I can
do this—I can marry Idris .”—-
He stopped abruptly, his countenance darkened, and its expres-
sion changed again and again under the influence of internal pas-
sion . I asked, “Does Lady Idris love you?”
“What a question,” replied he laughing . “She will of course, as I
shall her, when we are married .”
“You begin late,” said I, ironically, “marriage is usually consid-
ered the grave, and not the cradle of love . So you are about to love
her, but do not already?”
“Do not catechise me, Lionel; I will do my duty by her, be as-
sured . Love! I must steel my heart against that; expel it from its
tower of strength, barricade it out: the fountain of love must cease to
play, its waters be dried up, and all passionate thoughts attendant on
it die—that is to say, the love which would rule me, not that which
I rule . Idris is a gentle, pretty, sweet little girl; it is impossible not to
have an affection for her, and I have a very sincere one; only do not
speak of love —love, the tyrant and the tyrant-queller; love, until
now my conqueror, now my slave; the hungry fire, the untameable
beast, the fanged snake—no—no—I will have nothing to do with
that love . Tell me, Lionel, do you consent that I should marry this
young lady?”
He bent his keen eyes upon me, and my uncontrollable heart
swelled in my bosom . I replied in a calm voice—but how far from
calm was the thought imaged by my still words—“Never!
I can
never consent that Lady Idris should be united to one who does not
love her .”
THE LAST MAN, by Mary Shelley | 868
“Because you love her yourself .”
“Your Lordship might have spared that taunt; I do not, dare not
love her .”
“At least,” he continued haughtily, “she does not love you . I
would not marry a reigning sovereign, were I not sure that her heart
was free . But, O, Lionel! a kingdom is a word of might, and gently
sounding are the terms that compose the style of royalty . Were not
the mightiest men of the olden times kings? Alexander was a king;
Solomon, the wisest of men, was a king; Napoleon was a king; Cae-
sar died in his attempt to become one, and Cromwell, the puritan
and king-killer, aspired to regality . The father of Adrian yielded
up the already broken sceptre of England; but I will rear the fallen
plant, join its dismembered frame, and exalt it above all the flowers
of the field.
“You need not wonder that I freely discover Adrian’s abode . Do
not suppose that I am wicked or foolish enough to found my pur-
posed sovereignty on a fraud, and one so easily discovered as the
truth or falsehood of the Earl’s insanity . I am just come from him .
Before I decided on my marriage with Idris, I resolved to see him
myself again, and to judge of the probability of his recovery .—He is
irrecoverably mad .”
I gasped for breath—
“I will not detail to you,” continued Raymond, “the melancholy
particulars . You shall see him, and judge for yourself; although I
fear this visit, useless to him, will be insufferably painful to you . It
has weighed on my spirits ever since . Excellent and gentle as he is
even in the downfall of his reason, I do not worship him as you do,
but I would give all my hopes of a crown and my right hand to boot,
to see him restored to himself .”
His voice expressed the deepest compassion: “Thou most unac-
countable being,” I cried, “whither will thy actions tend, in all this
maze of purpose in which thou seemest lost?”
“Whither indeed? To a crown, a golden be-gemmed crown, I
hope; and yet I dare not trust and though I dream of a crown and
wake for one, ever and anon a busy devil whispers to me, that it is
THE LAST MAN, by Mary Shelley | 869
but a fool’s cap that I seek, and that were I wise, I should trample on
it, and take in its stead, that which is worth all the crowns of the east
and presidentships of the west .”
“And what is that?”
“If I do make it my choice, then you shall know; at present I dare
not speak, even think of it .”
Again he was silent, and after a pause turned to me laughingly .
When scorn did not inspire his mirth, when it was genuine gaiety
that painted his features with a joyous expression, his beauty be-
came super-eminent, divine. “Verney,” said he, “my first act when
I become King of England, will be to unite with the Greeks, take
Constantinople, and subdue all Asia . I intend to be a warrior, a con-
queror; Napoleon’s name shall vail to mine; and enthusiasts, instead
of visiting his rocky grave, and exalting the merits of the fallen,
shall adore my majesty, and magnify my illustrious achievements .”
I listened to Raymond with intense interest . Could I be other than
all ear, to one who seemed to govern the whole earth in his grasping
imagination, and who only quailed when he attempted to rule him-
self . Then on his word and will depended my own happiness—the
fate of all dear to me . I endeavoured to divine the concealed mean-
ing of his words . Perdita’s name was not mentioned; yet I could
not doubt that love for her caused the vacillation of purpose that
he exhibited . And who was so worthy of love as my noble-minded
sister? Who deserved the hand of this self-exalted king more than
she whose glance belonged to a queen of nations? who loved him, as
he did her; notwithstanding that disappointment quelled her passion,
and ambition held strong combat with his .
We went together to the House in the evening . Raymond, while
he knew that his plans and prospects were to be discussed and de-
cided during the expected debate, was gay and careless . An hum,
like that of ten thousand hives of swarming bees, stunned us as we
entered the coffee-room . Knots of politicians were assembled with
anxious brows and loud or deep voices . The aristocratical party, the
richest and most influential men in England, appeared less agitated
than the others, for the question was to be discussed without their
THE LAST MAN, by Mary Shelley | 870
interference. Near the fire was Ryland and his supporters. Ryland
was a man of obscure birth and of immense wealth, inherited from
his father, who had been a manufacturer . He had witnessed, when
a young man, the abdication of the king, and the amalgamation of
the two houses of Lords and Commons; he had sympathized with
these popular encroachments, and it had been the business of his
life to consolidate and encrease them. Since then, the influence of
the landed proprietors had augmented; and at first Ryland was not
sorry to observe the machinations of Lord Raymond, which drew
off many of his opponent’s partizans . But the thing was now go-
ing too far . The poorer nobility hailed the return of sovereignty, as
an event which would restore them to their power and rights, now
lost . The half extinct spirit of royalty roused itself in the minds of
men; and they, willing slaves, self-constituted subjects, were ready
to bend their necks to the yoke . Some erect and manly spirits still
remained, pillars of state; but the word republic had grown stale to
the vulgar ear; and many—the event would prove whether it was
a majority— pined for the tinsel and show of royalty . Ryland was
roused to resistance; he asserted that his sufferance alone had per-
mitted the encrease of this party; but the time for indulgence was
passed, and with one motion of his arm he would sweep away the
cobwebs that blinded his countrymen .
When Raymond entered the coffee-room, his presence was
hailed by his friends almost with a shout . They gathered round him,
counted their numbers, and detailed the reasons why they were now
to receive an addition of such and such members, who had not yet
declared themselves. Some trifling business of the House having
been gone through, the leaders took their seats in the chamber; the
clamour of voices continued, till Ryland arose to speak, and then
the slightest whispered observation was audible. All eyes were fixed
upon him as he stood—ponderous of frame, sonorous of voice,
and with a manner which, though not graceful, was impressive . I
turned from his marked, iron countenance to Raymond, whose face,
veiled by a smile, would not betray his care; yet his lips quivered
THE LAST MAN, by Mary Shelley | 871
somewhat, and his hand clasped the bench on which he sat, with a
convulsive strength that made t
he muscles start again .
Ryland began by praising the present state of the British empire .
He recalled past years to their memory; the miserable contentions
which in the time of our fathers arose almost to civil war, the abdica-
tion of the late king, and the foundation of the republic . He described
this republic; shewed how it gave privilege to each individual in the
state, to rise to consequence, and even to temporary sovereignty .
He compared the royal and republican spirit; shewed how the one
tended to enslave the minds of men; while all the institutions of
the other served to raise even the meanest among us to something
great and good . He shewed how England had become powerful, and
its inhabitants valiant and wise, by means of the freedom they en-
joyed . As he spoke, every heart swelled with pride, and every cheek
glowed with delight to remember, that each one there was English,
and that each supported and contributed to the happy state of things
now commemorated . Ryland’s fervour increased—his eyes lighted
up—his voice assumed the tone of passion . There was one man,
he continued, who wished to alter all this, and bring us back to our
days of impotence and contention:—one man, who would dare ar-
rogate the honour which was due to all who claimed England as
their birthplace, and set his name and style above the name and style
of his country . I saw at this juncture that Raymond changed colour;
his eyes were withdrawn from the orator, and cast on the ground;
the listeners turned from one to the other; but in the meantime the
speaker’s voice filled their ears—the thunder of his denunciations
influenced their senses. The very boldness of his language gave
him weight; each knew that he spoke truth—a truth known, but not
acknowledged . He tore from reality the mask with which she had
been clothed; and the purposes of Raymond, which before had crept
around, ensnaring by stealth, now stood a hunted stag—even at
bay—as all perceived who watched the irrepressible changes of his
countenance . Ryland ended by moving, that any attempt to re-erect
the kingly power should be declared treason, and he a traitor who
THE LAST MAN, by Mary Shelley | 872
should endeavour to change the present form of government . Cheers
and loud acclamations followed the close of his speech .
