Delphi Complete Works of the Brontes

by Bronte Sisters

  at length they arrived at the mansion, little King knocked at the Great Gate the folding-doors rolled back and a blaze of red light burst forth illuminating the grand flight of broad sculptured steps & the dark avenue for a great distance off. a huge fire was burning in the wide hall chimney & every branch of the brass lustre bore a flame . The servants were gathered together at superf: GameKeeper sat at the head of the table, Jack 0f All Tfrades officated as waiter & 0rderly-Man as vice president. Peels of laughter rose every instant to the lofty roof & the oaken rafters trembled, little King & his companions entered. the doors were shut again & lord Charles was left to the darkness & solitude of night which formed a wide difference to the revels he had just caught a glimpse of. after a moments thought he cleared the steps with a bound & springing along the path came to a door in the wall which he opened with a key he took from his pocket & then entred a small green plain delightfully planted with many beautiful shrubs & trees & watred by a fountain in the midst, this he presently crossed & ascending a high flight of balustraded marble steps reached a terrace that led to an arched glass door, he opened this also & a small elegantly furnished room became apparent which was his own & his brothers private appartment.

  Arthur was sitting by the fire with his head resting on his hand lost in deep abstraction, the moment lord Wellesley entred he started up exclaiming “0 Charles I have been listening & wishing for you a long time & now I am rejoiced at your arrival - come sit down & let us have our usual pleasant converzazione before retiring to rest.f Charles met his brothers welcome with equal cordiality &, flinging himself on the warm persian rug began to relate his adventures of that day, in which employment I must for the present leave him & return to little King and the 3 old women.

  After Supper was over he requested leave to speak with the housekeeper & was informed by one of the maids that she had withdrawn for the night & they dared not now disturb her but that to-morrow he might procure an interview for himself & freinds. this answer by no means pleased the Dames who were begining in a loud shrill cadence to express their dissatisfaction, when Old-Man-Cockney coming in they together with the servants were driven off to-bed.

  The next morning they rose with the sun & were only prevented from breaking in upon Mrs Daura Dovelike’s rest by a chamber-maid who met them at the door & warned them of the consequence of their intrusion namely instant dismission without an audience. It was with difficulty they were persuaded to wait till nine-o.clock so great was their anxiety to have the affair of engagement settled, at that time Mrs Daura sent word that she was ready to receive them. On proceeding to her apartment they found her seated at breakfast in an arm chair with her feet on a cushonied foot-stool, her stiff figure was invested in an old fashioned bustling black silk gown with cap & ruff starched to the consistence of buck-ram.” as kind Fortune would have it she happened this morning to be in good temper so after bidding them sit down & asking a few questions she agreed to take them before her lady the Duchess of Wellington .

  When they had passed through a long corridor gallery & anti- chamber they came to her private sitting-room, it was ornamented after a most splendid but nevertheless simple & unostentatious stylef. The Duchess was engaged at her usual charitable employment of working for the poor.’4 She was attired in a rich robe of dark crimson velvet almost entirely unadorned except one bright diamond which fastend the belt, the redundant tresses of her fine brown hair were confined in a silken net over which gracefully waved a single white ostrich feather, her face & figure were extremely beautiful & her large hazel eyes beamed with expression, but the principal charm about her was the gentleness & sweetness ever visible in her countenance, it seemed and it was impossible for her to storm & frown or even be angry for if any thing wrong was comitted by her servants or dependants she only looked greived & sad & not dark or lowering.

  When they entred the Duke was also in the room conversing with his lady & the housekeeper on seeing him courtesied respectfully & was going away when he called her back & quitting the appartment left them to transact business without being under the embarrasment of his awe-inspiring-minister-general-& clerk-confusing prescence. after a short conversation it was settled that the 3 old Dames should act for one month on trial as washer-women & laundry-maids & that if during the prescribed time they behaved well they should then be taken into permanent service at wages of 10 guineas per-anumn each, when this was fixed they left her ladyships equally delighted with the mild condescension of her manner the enchanting benignity of her smiles & the unexpected success of their application.

  The next day they commenced the performnance of the duties of their office which they continued for some weeks to execute with equal punctuality dilligence & sobriety but not without many qarrels among themselves often ending in ferocious fights where tooth nail feet & hands were employed with equal fury, in these fracas little King (who always continued with them) was observed to be exceedingly active inciting them by every means in his power to maul & mangle each other in the most horrible way. this circumstance however was not much wondered at as his constant disposition to all kinds of mischeif was well knowfn & he was considered by every member of the house of Strathfeildsay not excepting the Duke himself more as an evil brownie than a legitamate fairy.’

  Lord Charles had not revealed to any-one the strange incident, of which he was witness that happened on the first night of their arrival, his curiosity of which he naturally possesed a considerable share strengthened. he watched them narrowly but nothing occurred furthur to warrant the suspicion of their being supernatural crea- turesf. One afternoon he went alone to that part of the rivers banks whence he saw them walking on the waves, after wandering some time among the trees gathering wild roses blue-bells & other feild flowers he lay down on the green turf & fixed his eyes on the blue sky peering at intervals through the thick masses of overhanging foliage, the sounds that saluted his ear were all of a lulling soothing character only the soft murmuring of the water flowing, the distant cooing of turtle doves from the groves or the wispering of wind in the trees, by degree^ his eyes closed a pleasing sensation of secluded rest glided through him & he was gradually passing away into a profound balmy slumber when suddenly an articulate voice came up on the breeze which said “meet us at midnight in the corridor.f he started up & listened, the sound had dyed off & no trace or tone of it remained in the wild woodland music breathing around.

  “I am bewitched” he exclaimed aloud “those beings have certainly cast a spell over me but I will keep the asignation notwith standing for I can do so without any one being accquainted with it as Arthur is at London.”

  he then rose & walked home, during the remainder of the day a most unusual expression of thought appeared in his countenance & at night he retired early to his chamber, he sat pensively alone reading by a table till every noise ceased & not a voice or footstep was heard to break the dead hush reigning throughout the whole house, then the dull heavy toll of the great hall clock fell on his ear, twelve times the hammer resounded. he got up & extinguished his taper & quitted the room by a secret outlet opening to the corridor. his eyes glanced with an involuntary shudder down the long vista, all was veild in impenetrable darkness, at length a bright light appeared moving among the pillars. he advanced onwards, it receded slowly from him but he still followed, after awhile he saw it ascending a stair which wound up the great round tower. there he bent his course till he gained a huge door where the light vanished & left him alone, the door with a harsh jawing din opened & a vast lofty chamber became visible faintly illumined by long glimmering rows of torches which cast on all sides a bloody & terrific light. It had no roof but the sky above seemed as if a star-lit & cloudy dome, a huge black canopy in the midst swayed to-& fro in the wind that rushed through the open top & underneath were set 3 Coffins each of which held a shrouded corpse. Lord Charles advanced towards them & turning aside the winding sheets perceived that they were the 3 old washerwomen, he trembled with dread & at that instant a loud laugh rang
in his ears. he looked up & beheld little King and queens standing beside him, one of them gave him a hearty slap on the shoulder saying “Charley dont’ be frightened they were only our enchantments.f”

  he opened his eyes at this salute stared around wondered & became bewildered. For Lo! he was lying in the pale moonlight on the rivers bank & no living creature near. he imediately ran with all haste to the house & when he had arrived there repeated his tale with eagerness to his father mother & brother whom he found together in the private parlour, they laughed at it of course but on inquiry it was found that the old women had been absent from Sftrathfeildsay since the morning, investigation was set on foot but no clue by which they could be traced was discovered. One Country-man said that he had observed them about noon on the moor with little king, but that he had occasion to turn away his eyes for an instant & when he looked again he saw little King & queens standing in the same place but not the smallest mark of them. this was all that could after the strictest search be gatherd & they have never been seen or heard of from that time to this. Charlotte Bronte July 14 1830

  CHAPTER TWO

  VOLUME 4TH

  It was a sweet July evening When the Marquis of Douro & lord Charles Wellesley lay stretched on the verge of a lofty precipice silently beholding the prospect around. Majestic forest trees waving above their heads formed with woven intermingled boughs a sylvan roof to the natural carpet of grass & flowers spread beneath. Far down hundreds of green oaks & sycamores clothed the rocky and almost perpendicular shelving abyss in the dark sumer verdure with which their branches were now arrayed & from the profound depth below arose the voice of a concealed torrent hid by the gathering obscurity of dusk which was there heightened because of the gulph into which the sides of the precipice sloped that lay beyond the reach of the unceratain light lingering on the horizon after sunset. No sound save that dissipated the twilight sensation of stillness with which every passing breath of wind was charged until the Marquis taking a guitar that lay by his side swept its chords till every string vibrated in unison & then played an old mournful air which sweeping over the broad landscape was answered from a great distance by the same tune.

  “There listen to Marian’s reply” exclaimed lord Charles.

  Arthur listend attentively but the music & its echos in a little while dyed softly away. They both remained silent for some time again, their eyes were fixed on the east where a pale light spreading over the sky began to herald the moons advent, at length like a silver sheild she heaved slowly up among stars and clouds & sat like Empress of the night on a throne of blue hills which bounded the orient expanse of scenery .

  “It is surely impossible for that orb of light to be a world like ours,” said Arthur as the splendour of its beams shone around him.

  “Not at all my dear brother” replied lord Charles laughing “if you like I’ll tell you a tale concerning it while we sit idly here.”

  “do Charles you know I always enjoy your stories particularly when I’m melancholy as I happen to be just now. Begin love I am ready. “

  “Well I will directly but first where’s my ape Tringiaf? Tringiaf! Oh here he comes now Tringia sit down under that branch of underwood. there are some nuts & blackberries to amuse yourself with & you must be more quiet than a dove while I divert Arthurs attention from the inhabitant of that pretty house which you may see yonder Tringia surrounded by a garden & plantation & lo! what do I see stooping amid the flowery parterres of that garden? an object clothed all in white! it cannot be, yes it is Marion Hume! & now that I look better through this small opera-glass, she is watering the very rose- tree that Arthur gave her from the green house & planted there with his own hands kind youth that he was. yes & there is her harp standing by the bower from which a few minutes ago she played that enchanting air.”

  “Charles are you going to tell me this story or not” said Arthur apparently whishing to draw of his attention.

  “yes I am brother” replied lord Wellesley and he began as follows.

  Once upon a time there lived in Georgia upon the banks of silver Aragua which washes the feet of the mighty Elborus; an old man named Mirza Abduliemah. he abode all alone in a solitary hut far from the habitations of men the nearest hamlet being twelve miles distant, his occupation was that of a woodcutter an easy business for one who lived in the heart of Georgias forests & he likewise gathered & sold the fruit of chestnut trees, accustomed from his youth to the vast solitudes of Caucasus Giant Mountains he needed not the society of human beings but loved rather to walk in the vales of young vines & lindens which smile round the borders of Aragua to gaze at the wonderous ravines rent in the stupendous sides of icy Kasibeck or to view in mute astonishment the awful form of good Gara towering aloft & raising its snow-crowned head afar into the deep azure of his native skies.’15

  One evening as he returned homewards weighed down under the burden of sticks which he had gathered in a wood 3 miles distant from his hut he sat him down in a little green glen between two rocks. The sky over-head was bright cloudless & beautiful. The horizon round about was clear as liquid amber & the light which streamed from it was of the purest golden hue enriching the sumits of the coniform hills with a faint glow of orange that divested the snow of that cold deadly aspect which would ill have harmonized with the transparency of warmth that tinted every other object. The aged Mirza felt himself touched with the beauteous prospect & kneeling he turned towards Mecca said his sunset prayers to Mahomet & then thanked the one Almighty God for his goodness in creating such a profusion of fair & lovely scenes merely for ungrateful man’s pleasure & reacreation.

  when he had finished he rose resumed his bundle of faggots & casting a last look at the glorious horizon he prepared to quit the glen, but what was his surprise on beholding a black even line drawn around the pellucid heavens like a zone.” it rose slowly up coiled itself in rings & unfurled with a noise like the concentrated winds of heaven two dark dragon pinions which shadowed the west as if the obscurity of thunder clouds hung over it. For a few moments it wavered between the vault of heaven & the globe of earth, then gradually descended. Mirza shook like one palsy stricken, but how was his fear heightened when he felt himself drawn powerless towards it. he prayed, he shreiked, he called on the name of Mahomet in vain, still like iron before the magnet he continued his charmed course upward, swifter than light he fled to the sky on on for days & nights till the moon grew larger than the earth to his eyes, at length overwhelmed with dread he fell into a long swoon & when his orbs of vision were released from the bondage by which they were held fast closed & sealed he was in a land the like of which no man ever before saw. Nothing was to be seen but black mountains higher than the highest on earth vomiting forth floods of fire & clouds of smoke - nothing to be heard but the roaring of internal flames, the ground quaked constantly under him & was continually rending in every direction & from the ravines fresh streams of red burning liquid burst boiling forth & overwhelmed every thing near.

  “I must die I cannot live” he exclaimed aloud while the cold sweat of terror fell in large drops from his writhing visage. “0! Mahomet O! Allah save thy servantf! what horrid crime has he committed thus to die the death of an infidel?”

  “Squilish squilli keriwes Nevilah” exclaimed a sharp shrill voice above him. he looked up & beheld a creature standing on the point of a rock surrounded by several others of a similar form. But how shall I describe its shapef? to what shall I liken it? it was seven feet in height stood on legs that resembled branches of trees, its eyes were two holes in a square block that formed its head, its mouth was invisible except by a pucker in the rugged skin when shut, but when open it was an oblong hole displaying 3 rows of brown teeth as sharp and slender as pins, its arms were so long that from the elbows downward they rested on the ground, it with the others cleared the rock at one leap & alighted near Mirza. they seized & bound him with long scarfs that hung on their heads & afterwards remained for about half a hour examining him closely & showing every sign
of extreme astonishment. at the end of that time Mirza heard a great hissing bubbling noisef. he looked up & beheld a vast volume of lava rolling impetuously towards him, they saw it likewise & catching him up in their arms fled with incredible swiftness in an opposite direction, it however followed & would presently have overtaken them if a steep rock had not come to their releif. in a moment they sprang from it to one which stood opposite and the lava when it reached the brink was percipitated with a noise like the tremendous crash & rattle of approximate thunder down the declivity where in a short time it assumed the appearance of a black mass undistinguishable from the dense gloom of the ravine where it lay.

  when this was over they hastened on without halting till day began to wane. at that time they reached a narrow vale irrigated by a branch from a neighbouring river & planted by several high trees of a kind unknown on earth, one which far outdid the rest in loftiness & beauty spreading its huge branches for a vast extent around, bore among thickly clustered leaves & blossoms hundreds of strange appearances like the nests of great birds, to this the beings who still carried Mirza with them directed their steps & quickly ascending the trunk & boughs took possesion of the topmost of these nests & snugly ensconced themselves there behind an intrenchment of rich purple & golden streaked fruit growing luxuriantly on one side of their circular habitation, when they had plucked & eaten themselves they offred some to Mirza. he tasted it at first warily but finding that it proved gratefully refreshing to his palate though the flavour was different from any he had ever before known he eat freely & without restraint. When the repast was concluded they all sat perfectly silent having their eyes fixed on a certain point of the sky which was azure like that which canopies our world. Mirza looked in that direction also & began mentally to repeat his evening prayers.