The Vampyre; a Tale

by John William Polidori

bullets close to their heads, and by the echoedreport of several guns. In an instant their guards had left them, and,placing themselves behind rocks, had begun to fire in the directionwhence the report came. Lord Ruthven and Aubrey, imitating theirexample, retired for a moment behind the sheltering turn of thedefile: but ashamed of being thus detained by a foe, who withinsulting shouts bade them advance, and being exposed to unresistingslaughter, if any of the robbers should climb above and take them inthe rear, they determined at once to rush forward in search of theenemy. Hardly had they lost the shelter of the rock, when Lord Ruthvenreceived a shot in the shoulder, which brought him to the ground.Aubrey hastened to his assistance; and, no longer heeding the contestor his own peril, was soon surprised by seeing the robbers' facesaround him--his guards having, upon Lord Ruthven's being wounded,immediately thrown up their arms and surrendered.

  By promises of great reward, Aubrey soon induced them to convey hiswounded friend to a neighbouring cabin; and having agreed upon aransom, he was no more disturbed by their presence--they beingcontent merely to guard the entrance till their comrade should returnwith the promised sum, for which he had an order. Lord Ruthven'sstrength rapidly decreased; in two days mortification ensued, anddeath seemed advancing with hasty steps. His conduct and appearancehad not changed; he seemed as unconscious of pain as he had been ofthe objects about him: but towards the close of the last evening, hismind became apparently uneasy, and his eye often fixed upon Aubrey,who was induced to offer his assistance with more than usualearnestness--"Assist me! you may save me--you may do more thanthat--I mean not my life, I heed the death of my existence as littleas that of the passing day; but you may save my honour, your friend'shonour."--"How? tell me how? I would do any thing," replied Aubrey.--"Ineed but little--my life ebbs apace--I cannot explain thewhole--but if you would conceal all you know of me, my honour werefree from stain in the world's mouth--and if my death were unknownfor some time in England--I--I--but life."--"It shall not beknown."--"Swear!" cried the dying man, raising himself with exultantviolence, "Swear by all your soul reveres, by all your nature fears,swear that, for a year and a day you will not impart your knowledge ofmy crimes or death to any living being in any way, whatever mayhappen, or whatever you may see. "--His eyes seemed bursting fromtheir sockets: "I swear!" said Aubrey; he sunk laughing upon hispillow, and breathed no more.

  Aubrey retired to rest, but did not sleep; the many circumstancesattending his acquaintance with this man rose upon his mind, and heknew not why; when he remembered his oath a cold shivering came overhim, as if from the presentiment of something horrible awaiting him.Rising early in the morning, he was about to enter the hovel in whichhe had left the corpse, when a robber met him, and informed him thatit was no longer there, having been conveyed by himself and comrades,upon his retiring, to the pinnacle of a neighbouring mount, accordingto a promise they had given his lordship, that it should be exposed tothe first cold ray of the moon that rose after his death. Aubreyastonished, and taking several of the men, determined to go and buryit upon the spot where it lay. But, when he had mounted to the summithe found no trace of either the corpse or the clothes, though therobbers swore they pointed out the identical rock on which they hadlaid the body. For a time his mind was bewildered in conjectures, buthe at last returned, convinced that they had buried the corpse for thesake of the clothes.

  Weary of a country in which he had met with such terrible misfortunes,and in which all apparently conspired to heighten that superstitiousmelancholy that had seized upon his mind, he resolved to leave it, andsoon arrived at Smyrna. While waiting for a vessel to convey him toOtranto, or to Naples, he occupied himself in arranging those effectshe had with him belonging to Lord Ruthven. Amongst other things therewas a case containing several weapons of offence, more or less adaptedto ensure the death of the victim. There were several daggers andataghans. Whilst turning them over, and examining their curious forms,what was his surprise at finding a sheath apparently ornamented in thesame style as the dagger discovered in the fatal hut--heshuddered--hastening to gain further proof, he found the weapon, andhis horror may be imagined when he discovered that it fitted, thoughpeculiarly shaped, the sheath he held in his hand. His eyes seemed toneed no further certainty--they seemed gazing to be bound to thedagger; yet still he wished to disbelieve; but the particular form,the same varying tints upon the haft and sheath were alike insplendour on both, and left no room for doubt; there were also dropsof blood on each.

  He left Smyrna, and on his way home, at Rome, his first inquiries wereconcerning the lady he had attempted to snatch from Lord Ruthven'sseductive arts. Her parents were in distress, their fortune ruined,and she had not been heard of since the departure of his lordship.Aubrey's mind became almost broken under so many repeated horrors; hewas afraid that this lady had fallen a victim to the destroyer ofIanthe. He became morose and silent; and his only occupation consistedin urging the speed of the postilions, as if he were going to save thelife of some one he held dear. He arrived at Calais; a breeze, whichseemed obedient to his will, soon wafted him to the English shores;and he hastened to the mansion of his fathers, and there, for amoment, appeared to lose, in the embraces and caresses of his sister,all memory of the past. If she before, by her infantine caresses, hadgained his affection, now that the woman began to appear, she wasstill more attaching as a companion.

  Miss Aubrey had not that winning grace which gains the gaze andapplause of the drawing-room assemblies. There was none of that lightbrilliancy which only exists in the heated atmosphere of a crowdedapartment. Her blue eye was never lit up by the levity of the mindbeneath. There was a melancholy charm about it which did not seem toarise from misfortune, but from some feeling within, that appeared toindicate a soul conscious of a brighter realm. Her step was not thatlight footing, which strays where'er a butterfly or a colour mayattract--it was sedate and pensive. When alone, her face was neverbrightened by the smile of joy; but when her brother breathed to herhis affection, and would in her presence forget those griefs she knewdestroyed his rest, who would have exchanged her smile for that of thevoluptuary? It seemed as if those eyes,--that face were then playingin the light of their own native sphere. She was yet only eighteen,and had not been presented to the world, it having been thought by herguardians more fit that her presentation should be delayed until herbrother's return from the continent, when he might be her protector.It was now, therefore, resolved that the next drawing-room, which wasfast approaching, should be the epoch of her entry into the "busyscene." Aubrey would rather have remained in the mansion of hisfathers, and fed upon the melancholy which overpowered him. He couldnot feel interest about the frivolities of fashionable strangers, whenhis mind had been so torn by the events he had witnessed; but hedetermined to sacrifice his own comfort to the protection of hissister. They soon arrived in town, and prepared for the next day,which had been announced as a drawing-room.

  The crowd was excessive--a drawing-room had not been held for a longtime, and all who were anxious to bask in the smile of royalty,hastened thither. Aubrey was there with his sister. While he wasstanding in a corner by himself, heedless of all around him, engagedin the remembrance that the first time he had seen Lord Ruthven was inthat very place--he felt himself suddenly seized by the arm, and avoice he recognized too well, sounded in his ear--"Remember youroath." He had hardly courage to turn, fearful of seeing a spectrethat would blast him, when he perceived, at a little distance, thesame figure which had attracted his notice on this spot upon his firstentry into society. He gazed till his limbs almost refusing to beartheir weight, he was obliged to take the arm of a friend, and forcinga passage through the crowd, he threw himself into his carriage, andwas driven home. He paced the room with hurried steps, and fixed hishands upon his head, as if he were afraid his thoughts were burstingfrom his brain. Lord Ruthven again before him--circumstances startedup in dreadful array--the dagger--his oath.--He roused himself, hecould not believe it possible--the dead rise again!--He thought hisimagination had conjur
ed up the image his mind was resting upon. Itwas impossible that it could be real--he determined, therefore, togo again into society; for though he attempted to ask concerning LordRuthven, the name hung upon his lips, and he could not succeed ingaining information. He went a few nights after with his sister to theassembly of a near relation. Leaving her under the protection of amatron, he retired into a recess, and there gave himself up to his owndevouring thoughts. Perceiving, at last, that many were leaving, heroused himself, and entering another room, found his sister surroundedby several, apparently in earnest conversation; he attempted to passand get near her, when one, whom he requested to move, turned round,and revealed to him those features he most abhorred. He sprangforward, seized his sister's arm, and, with hurried step, forced hertowards the street: at the door he found