St. George and St. Michael

by George MacDonald

  CHAPTER XXXVIII.

  THE EXORCISM.

  It was the custom in Raglan to close the gates at eleven o'clock everymorning, and then begin to lay the tables for dinner; nor were theyopened again until the meal was over, and all had dispersed to theirvarious duties. Upon this occasion directions were given that the gatesshould remain closed until the issue of further orders.

  There was little talk in the hall during dinner that day, and not muchin the marquis's dining-room.

  In the midst of the meal at the housekeeper's table, mistress Amanda wastaken suddenly ill, and nearly fell from her chair. A spoonful of one ofmistress Watson's strong waters revived her, but she was compelled toleave the room.

  When the remains of the dinner had been cleared away, the tables liftedfrom the trestles, and all removed, solemn preparations began to be madein the hall. The dais was covered with crimson cloth, and chairs werearranged on each side against the wall for the lords and ladies of thefamily, while in the wide space between was set the marquis's chair ofstate. Immediately below the dais, chairs were placed by the walls forthe ladies and officers of the household. The minstrels' gallery washung with crimson; long ladders were brought, and the windows, the greatbay window and all save the painted one, were hung with thick cloth ofthe same colour, so that a dull red light filled the huge place. Thefloor was then strewn with fresh rushes, and candles were placed andlighted in sconces on the walls, and in two large candlesticks, one oneach side of the marquis's chair. So numerous were the hands employed inthese preparations, that about one o'clock the alarum-bell gave threegreat tolls, and then silence fell.

  Almost noiselessly, and with faces more than grave, the people of thecastle in their Sunday clothes began at once to come troopingin,--amongst the rest Tom Fool, the very picture of dismay. Mrs. Prescothad refused to be left behind, partly from terror, partly fromcuriosity, and supine on a hand-barrow was borne in, and laid upon twoof the table-trestles. Order and what arrangement was needful wereenforced amongst them by Mr. Cook, one of the ushers. In came thegarrison also, with clank and clang, and took their places withcountenances expressive neither of hardihood nor merriment, but a graveexpectancy.

  Mostly by the other door came the ladies and officers, amongst themDorothy, and seated themselves below the dais. When it seemed at lengththat all were present, the two doors were closed, and silence reigned.

  A few minutes more and the ladies and gentlemen of the family, in fulldress, entered by the door at the back of the dais, and were shown totheir places by Mr. Moyle, the first usher. Next came the marquis,leaning on lord Charles, and walking worse than usual. He too was,wonderful to tell, in full dress, and, notwithstanding his corpulencyand lameness, looked every inch a marquis and the head of the house. Heplaced himself in the great chair, and sat upright, looking serenelyaround on the multitude of pale expectant faces, while lord Charles tookhis station erect at his left hand. A moment yet, and by the same door,last of all, entered lord Herbert, alone, in his garb of astrologer. Hecame before his father, bowed to him profoundly, and taking his place byhis right hand, a little in front of the chair, cast a keen eye aroundthe assembly. His look was grave, even troubled, and indeed somewhatanxious.

  'Are all present?' he asked, and was answered only by silence. He thenwaved his right hand three times towards heaven, each time throwing openhis palm outwards and upwards. At the close of the third wafture, a roaras of thunder broke and rolled about the place, making the huge halltremble, and the windows rattle and shake fearfully. Some thought it wasthunder, others thought it more like the consecutive discharge of greatguns. It grew darker, and through the dim stained window many saw adense black smoke rising from the stone-court, at sight of which theytrembled yet more, for what could it be but the chariot upon which Modo,or Mahu, or whatever the demon might be called, rode up from theinfernal lake? Again lord Herbert waved his arm three times, and againthe thunder broke and rolled vibrating about the place. A third time hegave the sign, and once more, but now close over their heads, thethunder broke, and in the midst of its echoes, high in the oak roofappeared a little cloud of smoke. It seemed to catch the eye of lordHerbert. He made one step forward, and held out his hand towards it,with the gesture of a falconer presenting his wrist to a bird.

  'Ha! art thou here?' he said.

  And to the eyes of all, a creature like a bat was plainly visible,perched upon his forefinger, and waving up and down its filmy wings. Helooked at it for a moment, bent his head to it, seemed to whisper, andthen addressed it aloud.

  'Go,' he said, 'alight upon the head of him or of her who hath wroughtthe evil thou knowest in this house. For it was of thine own kind, andwould have smirched a fair brow.'

  As he spoke he cast the creature aloft. A smothered cry came from someof the women, and Tom Fool gave a great sob and held his breath tight.Once round the wide space the bat flew, midway between floor and roof,and returning perched again upon lord Herbert's hand.

  'Ha!' said his lordship, stooping his head over it, 'what meanest thou?Is not the evil-doer in presence? What?--Nay, but it cannot be? Notwithin the walls?--Ha! "Not in the HALL" thou sayest!'

  He lifted his head, turned to his father, and said,

  'Your lordship's commands have been disregarded. One of your people isabsent.'

  The marquis turned to lord Charles.

  'Call me the ushers of the hall, my lord,' he said.

  In a moment the two officers were before him.

  'Search and see, and bring me word who is absent,' said the marquis.

  The two gentlemen went down into the crowd, one from each side of thedais.

  A minute or two passed, and then Mr. Cook came back and said,--

  'My lord, I cannot find Caspar Kaltoff.'

  'Caspar! Art not there, Caspar?' cried lord Herbert.

  'Here I am, my lord,' answered the voice of Caspar from somewhere in thehall.

  'I beg your lordship's pardon,' said Mr. Cook. 'I failed to find him.'

  'It matters not, master usher. Look again,' said lord Herbert.

  At the moment, Caspar, the sole attendant spirit, that day at least,upon his lord's commands, stood in one of the deep windows behind thecrimson cloth, more than twenty feet above the heads of the assembly.The windows were connected by a narrow gallery in the thickness of thewall, communicating also with the minstrels' gallery, by means of which,and a ladder against the porch, Caspar could come and go unseen.

  As lord Herbert spoke, Mr. Moyle came up on the dais, and brought hisreport that mistress Amanda Fuller was not with the rest of the ladies.

  Lord Herbert turned to his wife.

  'My lady,' he said, 'mistress Amanda is of your people: knowest thouwherefore she cometh not?'

  'I know not, my lord, but I will send and see,' replied ladyMargaret.--'My lady Broughton, wilt thou go and inquire wherefore thedamsel disregardeth my lord of Worcester's commands?'

  She had chosen the gentlest-hearted of her women to go on the message.

  Lady Broughton came back pale and trembling--indeed there was muchpallor and trembling that day in Raglan--with the report that she couldnot find her. A shudder ran through the whole body of the hall. Plainlythe impression was that she had been FETCHED. The thunder and the smokehad not been for nothing: the devil had claimed and carried off his own!On the dais the impression was somewhat different; but all were one inthis, that every eye was fixed on lord Herbert, every thought hanging onhis pleasure.

  For a whole minute he stood, apparently lost in meditation. The batstill rested on his hand, but his wings were still.

  He had intended causing it to settle on Amanda's head, but now he mustalter his plan. Nor was he sorry to do so, for it had involved no smallrisk of failure, the toy requiring most delicate adjustment, and itsmanagement a circumspection and nicety that occasioned him no littleanxiety. It had indeed been arranged that Amanda should sit right underthe window next the dais, so that he might have the assistance of Casparfrom above; but if by any chance t
he mechanical bat should alight uponthe head of another, mistress Doughty or lady Broughton instead ofAmanda--what then? He was not sorry to find himself rescued from thisjeopardy, and scarcely more than a minute had elapsed ere he had deviseda plan by which to turn the check to the advantage of all--even that ofAmanda herself, towards whom, while he felt bound to bring her to shameshould she prove guilty, he was yet willing to remember mercy; while,should she be innocent, no harm would now result from his mistakensuspicion. He turned and whispered to his father.

  'I will back thee, lad. Do as thou wilt,' returned the marquis, gravelynodding his head.

  'Ushers of the hall,' cried lord Herbert, 'close and lock both itsdoors. Lock also the door to the minstrels' gallery, and, with my lord'sleave, that to my lord's stair. My lord Charles, go thou prithee, andwith chalk draw me a pentacle upon the threshold of each of the four;and do thou, sir Toby Mathews, make the holy sign thereabove upon thelintel and the doorposts. For the door to the pitched court, however,leave that until I am gone forth and it is closed behind me, and then dothereunto the same as to the others, after which let all sit in silence.Move not, neither speak, for any sound of fear or smell of horror. Forthe gift that is in him from his mother, Thomas Rees shall accompany me.Go to the door, and wait until I come.'

  Having thus spoken he raised the bat towards his face, and, approachinghis lips, seemed once more to be talking to it in whispers. The menialsand the garrison had no doubt but he talked to his familiar spirit. Oftheir superiors, mistress Watson at least was of the same conviction.Then he bent his ear towards it as if he were listening, and it began toflutter its wings, at which sir Toby's faith in him began to waver. Amoment more and he cast the creature from him. It flew aloft, traversedthe whole length of the roof, and vanished.

  It had in fact, as its master willed, alighted in the farthest corner ofthe roof, a little dark recess. Then, bowing low to his father, themagician stepped down from the dais, and walked through a lane ofawe-struck domestics and soldiery to the door, where Tom stood waitinghis approach. The fool was in a strange flutter of feelings, a conflictof pride and terror, the latter of which would, but for the former, haveunnerved him quite; for not only was he doubtful of the magician'sintent with regard to himself, but the hall seemed now the only place ofsecurity, and all outside it given over to goblins or worse.

  The moment they crossed the threshold, the door was closed behind them,the holy sign was signed over the one, and the pentacle drawn upon theother.

  All eyes were turned upon the marquis. He sat motionless. Motionless,too, as if they had been carved in stone like the leopard and wyvernover their heads, sat all the lords and ladies, embodying in themselvesthe words of the motto there graven, Mulaxe Vel Timere Sperno.Motionless sat the ladies beneath the dais, but their faces weretroubled and pale, for Amanda was one of them, and their imaginationswere busy with what might now be befalling her. Dorothy sat in muchdistress, for although she could lay no evil intent to her own charge,she was yet the cause of the whole fearful business. As for Scudamore,though he too was white of blee, he said to himself, and honestly, thatthe devil might fly away with her and welcome for what he cared. Onewoman in the crowd fainted and fell, but uttered never a moan. The verychildren were hushed by the dread that pervaded the air, and the smellof sulphur, which from a suspicion grew to a plain presence, increasednot a little the high-wrought awe.

  After about half an hour, during which expectation of somethingfrightful had been growing with every moment, three great knocks came tothe porch door. Mr. Moyle opened it, and in walked lord Herbert as hehad issued, with Tom Fool, in whom the importance had now at lengthbanished almost every sign of dread, at his heels. He reascended thedais, bowed once more to his father, spoke a few words to him in a tonetoo low to be overheard, and then turning to the assembly, said withsolemn voice and stern countenance:

  'The air is clear. The sin of Raglan is purged. Every one to his place.'

  Had not Tom Fool, who had remained by the door, led the way from thehall, it might have been doubtful when any one would venture to stir;but, with many a deep-drawn breath and sigh of relief, they troopedslowly out after him, until the body of the hall was empty. In theirhearts keen curiosity and vague terror contended like fire and water.

  From that hour, while Raglan stood, the face of Amanda Serafina was nomore seen within its walls. At midnight shrieks and loud wailings wereheard, but if they came from Amanda, they were her last signs.

  I shall not, however, hide the proceedings of lord Herbert without thehall any more than he did himself when he reached the oak parlour withthe members of his own family, in which Dorothy seemed now included. Hehad taken Tom Fool both because he knew the castle so well, and mighttherefore be useful in searching for Amanda, and because he believed hemight depend, if not on his discretion, yet on his dread, for secrecy.They had scarcely left the hall before they were joined by Caspar, who,while his master and the fool went in one direction, set off in another,and after a long search in vain, at length found her in an empty stallin the subterranean stable, as if, in the agony of her terror at theawful noises and the impending discovery, she had sought refuge in thecompanionship of the innocent animals. She was crouching, the very imageof fear, under the manger, gave no cry when he entered, but seemed togather a little courage when she found that the approaching steps werethose of a human being.

  'Mistress Amanda Fuller,' said his lordship with awful severity, 'thouhast in thy possession a jewel which is not thine own.'

  'A jewel, my lord?' faltered Amanda, betaking herself by the force ofinborn propensity and habit, even when hopeless of success inconcealment, to the falsehood she carried with her like an atmosphere;'I know not what your lordship means. Of what sort is the jewel?'

  'One very like this,' returned lord Herbert, producing the false ring.

  'Why, there you have it, my lord!'

  'Traitress to thy king and thy lord, out of thine own mouth have Iconvicted thee. This is not the ring. See!'

  As he spoke he squeezed it betwixt his finger and thumb to a shapelessmass, and threw it from him--then continued:

  'Thou art she who did show the rebel his way from the prison into whichher lord had cast him.'

  'He took me by the throat, my lord,' gasped Amanda, 'and put me inmortal terror.'

  'Thou slanderest him,' returned lord Herbert. 'The roundhead is agentleman, and would not, to save his life, have harmed thee, even hadhe known what a worthless thing thou art. I will grant that he put theein fear. But wherefore gavest thou no alarm when he was gone?'

  'He made me swear that I would not betray him.'

  'Let it be so. Why didst thou not reveal the way he took?'

  'I knew it not.'

  'Yet thou wentest after him when he left thee. And wherefore didst thounot deliver the ring he gave thee for mistress Dorothy?'

  'I feared she would betray me, that I had held talk with the prisoner.'

  'Let that too pass as less wicked than cowardly. But wherefore didstthou lock the door upon her when thou sawest her go into the roundhead'sprison? Thou knewest that therefrom she must bear the blame of havingset him free, with other blame, and worse for a maiden to endure?'

  'It was a sudden temptation, my lord, which I knew not how to resist,and was carried away thereby. Have pity upon me, dear my lord,' moanedAmanda.

  'I will believe thee there also, for I fear me thou hast had so littlepractice in the art of resisting temptation, that thou mightst wellyield to one that urged thee towards such mere essential evil. But howwas it that, after thou hadst had leisure to reflect, thou didst spreadabroad the report that she was found there, and that to the hurt notonly of her loyal fame, but of her maidenly honour, understanding wellthat no one was there but herself, and that he alone who could beartestimony to her innocence and thy guilt was parted from her byeverything that could divide them except hatred? Was the temptation tothat also too sudden for thy resistance?'

  At length Amanda was speechless. She hung
her head, for the first timein her life ashamed of herself.

  'Go before to thy chamber. I follow thee.'

  She rose to obey, but she could scarcely walk, and he ordered the men toassist her. Arrived in her room she delivered up the ring, and at lordHerbert's command proceeded to gather together her few possessions. Thatdone, they led her away to the rude chamber in the watch tower, wherestood the arblast, and there, seated on her chest, they left her withthe assurance that if she cried out or gave any alarm, it would be tothe publishing of her own shame.

  At the dead of night Caspar and Tom, with four picked men from theguard, came to lead her away. Worn out by that time, and with nothing tosustain her from within, she fancied they were going to kill her, andgiving way utterly, cried and shrieked aloud. Obdurate however, asgentle, they gave no ear to her petitions, but bore her through thewestern gate, and so to the brick gate in the rampart, placed her in acarriage behind six horses, and set out with her for Caerleon, where hermother lived in obscurity. At her door they set her down, and leavingthe carriage at Usk, returned to Raglan one by one in the night, mountedon the horses. By the warders who admitted them they were supposed to bereturned from distinct missions on the king's business.

  Many were the speculations in the castle as to the fate of mistressAmanda Serafina Fuller, but the common belief continued to be that shehad been carried off by Satan, body and soul.

  END OF VOLUME II.

  START OF VOLUME III