CHALLONER'S ADVENTURE
_THE SQUIRE OF DAMES_
Mr. Edward Challoner had set up lodgings in the suburb of Putney, wherehe enjoyed a parlour and bedroom and the sincere esteem of the people ofthe house. To this remote home he found himself, at a very early hour inthe morning of the next day, condemned to set forth on foot. He was ayoung man of a portly habit; no lover of the exercises of the body;bland, sedentary, patient of delay, a prop of omnibuses. In happier dayshe would have chartered a cab; but these luxuries were now denied him;and with what courage he could muster he addressed himself to walk.
It was then the height of the season and the summer; the weather wasserene and cloudless; and as he paced under the blinded houses and alongthe vacant streets, the chill of the dawn had fled, and some of thewarmth and all the brightness of the July day already shone upon thecity. He walked at first in a profound abstraction, bitterly reviewingand repenting his performances at whist; but as he advanced into thelabyrinth of the south-west, his ear was gradually mastered by thesilence. Street after street looked down upon his solitary figure, houseafter house echoed upon his passage with a ghostly jar, shop after shopdisplayed its shuttered front and its commercial legend; and meanwhile hesteered his course, under day's effulgent dome and through thisencampment of diurnal sleepers, lonely as a ship.
'Here,' he reflected, 'if I were like my scatter-brained companion, herewere indeed the scene where I might look for an adventure. Here, inbroad day, the streets are secret as in the blackest night of January,and in the midst of some four million sleepers, solitary as the woods ofYucatan. If I but raise my voice I could summon up the number of anarmy, and yet the grave is not more silent than this city of sleep.'
He was still following these quaint and serious musings when he came intoa street of more mingled ingredients than was common in the quarter.Here, on the one hand, framed in walls and the green tops of trees, wereseveral of those discreet, _bijou_ residences on which propriety is aptto look askance. Here, too, were many of the brick-fronted barracks ofthe poor; a plaster cow, perhaps, serving as ensign to a dairy, or aticket announcing the business of the mangler. Before one such house,that stood a little separate among walled gardens, a cat was playing witha straw, and Challoner paused a moment, looking on this sleek andsolitary creature, who seemed an emblem of the neighbouring peace. Withthe cessation of the sound of his own steps the silence fell dead; thehouse stood smokeless: the blinds down, the whole machinery of lifearrested; and it seemed to Challoner that he should hear the breathing ofthe sleepers.
As he so stood, he was startled by a dull and jarring detonation fromwithin. This was followed by a monstrous hissing and simmering as from akettle of the bigness of St. Paul's; and at the same time from everychink of door and window spirted an ill-smelling vapour. The catdisappeared with a cry. Within the lodging-house feet pounded on thestairs; the door flew back, emitting clouds of smoke; and two men and anelegantly dressed young lady tumbled forth into the street and fledwithout a word. The hissing had already ceased, the smoke was melting inthe air, the whole event had come and gone as in a dream, and stillChalloner was rooted to the spot. At last his reason and his fear awoketogether, and with the most unwonted energy he fell to running.
Little by little this first dash relaxed, and presently he had resumedhis sober gait and begun to piece together, out of the confused report ofhis senses, some theory of the occurrence. But the occasion of thesounds and stench that had so suddenly assailed him, and the strangeconjunction of fugitives whom he had seen to issue from the house, weremysteries beyond his plummet. With an obscure awe he considered them inhis mind, continuing, meanwhile, to thread the web of streets, and oncemore alone in morning sunshine.
In his first retreat he had entirely wandered; and now, steering vaguelywest, it was his luck to light upon an unpretending street, whichpresently widened so as to admit a strip of gardens in the midst. Herewas quite a stir of birds; even at that hour, the shadow of the leaveswas grateful; instead of the burnt atmosphere of cities, there wassomething brisk and rural in the air; and Challoner paced forward, hiseyes upon the pavement and his mind running upon distant scenes, till hewas recalled, upon a sudden, by a wall that blocked his further progress.This street, whose name I have forgotten, is no thoroughfare.
He was not the first who had wandered there that morning; for as heraised his eyes with an agreeable deliberation, they alighted on thefigure of a girl, in whom he was struck to recognise the third of theincongruous fugitives. She had run there, seemingly, blindfold; the wallhad checked her career: and being entirely wearied, she had sunk upon theground beside the garden railings, soiling her dress among the summerdust. Each saw the other in the same instant of time; and she, with onewild look, sprang to her feet and began to hurry from the scene.
Challoner was doubly startled to meet once more the heroine of hisadventure, and to observe the fear with which she shunned him. Pity andalarm, in nearly equal forces, contested the possession of his mind; andyet, in spite of both, he saw himself condemned to follow in the lady'swake. He did so gingerly, as fearing to increase her terrors; but, treadas lightly as he might, his footfalls eloquently echoed in the emptystreet. Their sound appeared to strike in her some strong emotion; forscarce had he begun to follow ere she paused. A second time sheaddressed herself to flight; and a second time she paused. Then sheturned about, and with doubtful steps and the most attractive appearanceof timidity, drew near to the young man. He on his side continued toadvance with similar signals of distress and bashfulness. At length,when they were but some steps apart, he saw her eyes brim over, and shereached out both her hands in eloquent appeal.
'Are you an English gentleman?' she cried.
The unhappy Challoner regarded her with consternation. He was the spiritof fine courtesy, and would have blushed to fail in his devoirs to anylady; but, in the other scale, he was a man averse from amorousadventures. He looked east and west; but the houses that looked downupon this interview remained inexorably shut; and he saw himself, thoughin the full glare of the day's eye, cut off from any human intervention.His looks returned at last upon the suppliant. He remarked withirritation that she was charming both in face and figure, elegantlydressed and gloved; a lady undeniable; the picture of distress andinnocence; weeping and lost in the city of diurnal sleep.
'Madam,' he said, 'I protest you have no cause to fear intrusion; and ifI have appeared to follow you, the fault is in this street, which hasdeceived us both.' An unmistakable relief appeared upon the lady's face.'I might have guessed it!' she exclaimed. 'Thank you a thousand times!But at this hour, in this appalling silence, and among all these staringwindows, I am lost in terrors--oh, lost in them!' she cried, her faceblanching at the words. 'I beg you to lend me your arm,' she added withthe loveliest, suppliant inflection. 'I dare not go alone; my nerve isgone--I had a shock, oh, what a shock! I beg of you to be my escort.'
'My dear madam,' responded Challoner heavily, 'my arm is at yourservice.'
'She took it and clung to it for a moment, struggling with her sobs; andthe next, with feverish hurry, began to lead him in the direction of thecity. One thing was plain, among so much that was obscure: it was plainher fears were genuine. Still, as she went, she spied around as if fordangers; and now she would shiver like a person in a chill, and nowclutch his arm in hers. To Challoner her terror was at once repugnantand infectious; it gained and mastered, while it still offended him; andhe wailed in spirit and longed for release.
'Madam,' he said at last, 'I am, of course, charmed to be of use to anylady; but I confess I was bound in a direction opposite to that youfollow, and a word of explanation--'
'Hush!' she sobbed, 'not here--not here!'
The blood of Challoner ran cold. He might have thought the lady mad; buthis memory was charged with more perilous stuff; and in view of thedetonation, the smoke and the flight of the ill-assorted trio, his mindwas lost among mysteries. So they continued to thread the maz
e ofstreets in silence, with the speed of a guilty flight, and both thrillingwith incommunicable terrors. In time, however, and above all by theirquick pace of walking, the pair began to rise to firmer spirits; the ladyceased to peer about the corners; and Challoner, emboldened by theresonant tread and distant figure of a constable, returned to the chargewith more of spirit and directness.
'I thought,' said he, in the tone of conversation, 'that I hadindistinctly perceived you leaving a villa in the company of twogentlemen.'
'Oh!' she said, 'you need not fear to wound me by the truth. You saw meflee from a common lodging-house, and my companions were not gentlemen.In such a case, the best of compliments is to be frank.'
'I thought,' resumed Challoner, encouraged as much as he was surprised bythe spirit of her reply, 'to have perceived, besides, a certain odour. Anoise, too--I do not know to what I should compare it--'
'Silence!' she cried. 'You do not know the danger you invoke. Wait,only wait; and as soon as we have left those streets, and got beyond thereach of listeners, all shall be explained. Meanwhile, avoid the topic.What a sight is this sleeping city!' she exclaimed; and then, with a mostthrilling voice, '"Dear God," she quoted, "the very houses seem asleep,and all that mighty heart is lying still."'
'I perceive, madam,' said he, 'you are a reader.'
'I am more than that,' she answered, with a sigh. 'I am a girl condemnedto thoughts beyond her age; and so untoward is my fate, that this walkupon the arm of a stranger is like an interlude of peace.'
They had come by this time to the neighbourhood of the Victoria Stationand here, at a street corner, the young lady paused, withdrew her armfrom Challoner's, and looked up and down as though in pain or indecision.Then, with a lovely change of countenance, and laying her gloved handupon his arm--
'What you already think of me,' she said, 'I tremble to conceive; yet Imust here condemn myself still further. Here I must leave you, and hereI beseech you to wait for my return. Do not attempt to follow me or spyupon my actions. Suspend yet awhile your judgment of a girl as innocentas your own sister; and do not, above all, desert me. Stranger as youare, I have none else to look to. You see me in sorrow and great fear;you are a gentleman, courteous and kind: and when I beg for a fewminutes' patience, I make sure beforehand you will not deny me.'
Challoner grudgingly promised; and the young lady, with a gratefuleye-shot, vanished round the corner. But the force of her appeal hadbeen a little blunted; for the young man was not only destitute ofsisters, but of any female relative nearer than a great-aunt in Wales.Now he was alone, besides, the spell that he had hitherto obeyed began toweaken; he considered his behaviour with a sneer; and plucking up thespirit of revolt, he started in pursuit. The reader, if he has everplied the fascinating trade of the noctambulist, will not be unawarethat, in the neighbourhood of the great railway centres, certain earlytaverns inaugurate the business of the day. It was into one of thesethat Challoner, coming round the corner of the block, beheld his charmingcompanion disappear. To say he was surprised were inexact, for he hadlong since left that sentiment behind him. Acute disgust anddisappointment seized upon his soul; and with silent oaths, he damnedthis commonplace enchantress. She had scarce been gone a second, ere theswing-doors reopened, and she appeared again in company with a young manof mean and slouching attire. For some five or six exchanges theyconversed together with an animated air; then the fellow shouldered againinto the tap; and the young lady, with something swifter than a walk,retraced her steps towards Challoner. He saw her coming, a miracle ofgrace; her ankle, as she hurried, flashing from her dress; her movementseloquent of speed and youth; and though he still entertained somethoughts of flight, they grew miserably fainter as the distance lessened.Against mere beauty he was proof: it was her unmistakable gentility thatnow robbed him of the courage of his cowardice. With a provedadventuress he had acted strictly on his right; with one who, in spite ofall, he could not quite deny to be a lady, he found himself disarmed. Atthe very corner from whence he had spied upon her interview, she cameupon him, still transfixed, and--'Ah!' she cried, with a bright flush ofcolour. 'Ah! Ungenerous!'
The sharpness of the attack somewhat restored the Squire of Dames to thepossession of himself.
'Madam,' he returned, with a fair show of stoutness, 'I do not think thathitherto you can complain of any lack of generosity; I have sufferedmyself to be led over a considerable portion of the metropolis; and if Inow request you to discharge me of my office of protector, you havefriends at hand who will be glad of the succession.'
She stood a moment dumb.
'It is well,' she said. 'Go! go, and may God help me! You have seenme--me, an innocent girl! fleeing from a dire catastrophe and haunted bysinister men; and neither pity, curiosity, nor honour move you to awaitmy explanation or to help in my distress. Go!' she repeated. 'I am lostindeed.' And with a passionate gesture she turned and fled along thestreet.
Challoner observed her retreat and disappear, an almost intolerable senseof guilt contending with the profound sense that he was being gulled.She was no sooner gone than the first of these feelings took the upperhand; he felt, if he had done her less than justice, that his conduct wasa perfect model of the ungracious; the cultured tone of her voice, herchoice of language, and the elegant decorum of her movements, cried outaloud against a harsh construction; and between penitence and curiosityhe began slowly to follow in her wake. At the corner he had her oncemore full in view. Her speed was failing like a stricken bird's. Evenas he looked, she threw her arm out gropingly, and fell and leanedagainst the wall. At the spectacle, Challoner's fortitude gave way. Ina few strides he overtook her and, for the first time removing his hat,assured her in the most moving terms of his entire respect and firmdesire to help her. He spoke at first unheeded; but gradually itappeared that she began to comprehend his words; she moved a little, anddrew herself upright; and finally, as with a sudden movement offorgiveness, turned on the young man a countenance in which reproach andgratitude were mingled. 'Ah, madam,' he cried, 'use me as you will!'And once more, but now with a great air of deference, he offered her theconduct of his arm. She took it with a sigh that struck him to theheart; and they began once more to trace the deserted streets. But nowher steps, as though exhausted by emotion, began to linger on the way;she leaned the more heavily upon his arm; and he, like the parent bird,stooped fondly above his drooping convoy. Her physical distress was notaccompanied by any failing of her spirits; and hearing her strike so sooninto a playful and charming vein of talk, Challoner could notsufficiently admire the elasticity of his companion's nature. 'Let meforget,' she had said, 'for one half hour, let me forget;' and sureenough, with the very word, her sorrows appeared to be forgotten. Beforeevery house she paused, invented a name for the proprietor, and sketchedhis character: here lived the old general whom she was to marry on thefifth of the next month, there was the mansion of the rich widow who hadset her heart on Challoner; and though she still hung wearily on theyoung man's arm, her laughter sounded low and pleasant in his ears.'Ah,' she sighed, by way of commentary, 'in such a life as mine I mustseize tight hold of any happiness that I can find.'
When they arrived, in this leisurely manner, at the head of GrosvenorPlace, the gates of the park were opening and the bedraggled company ofnight-walkers were being at last admitted into that paradise of lawns.Challoner and his companion followed the movement, and walked for awhilein silence in that tatterdemalion crowd; but as one after another, wearywith the night's patrolling of the city pavement, sank upon the benchesor wandered into separate paths, the vast extent of the park had soonutterly swallowed up the last of these intruders; and the pair proceededon their way alone in the grateful quiet of the morning.
Presently they came in sight of a bench, standing very open on a mound ofturf. The young lady looked about her with relief.
'Here,' she said, 'here at last we are secure from listeners. Here,then, you shall learn and judge my history. I could not bear that w
eshould part, and that you should still suppose your kindness squanderedupon one who was unworthy.'
Thereupon she sat down upon the bench, and motioning Challoner to take aplace immediately beside her, began in the following words, and with thegreatest appearance of enjoyment, to narrate the story of her life.
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