“You are insolent, sirrah! I comprehend you not.”
“Enough! I can comprehend you,” replied Peter, significantly; “I know the count of the mourners invited to this ceremonial, and I am aware that there are three too many.”
“Know you this saucy knave, mother?”
“I cannot call him to mind, though I fancy I have seen him before.”
“My recollection serves me better, lady,” interposed Peter. “I remember one who was once the proud heiress of Rookwood — ay, proud and beautiful. Then the house was filled with her gallant suitors. Swords were crossed for her. Hearts bled for her. Yet she favored none, until one hapless hour. Sir Reginald Rookwood had a daughter; Sir Reginald lost a daughter. Ha! — I see I am right. Well, he is dead and buried; and Reginald, his son, is dead likewise; and Piers is on his road hither; and you are the last, as in the course of nature you might have been the first. And, now that they are all gone, you do rightly to bury your grievances with them.”
“Silence, sirrah!” exclaimed the gentleman, “or I will beat your brains out with your own spade.”
“No; let him speak, Vavasour,” said the lady, with an expression of anguish— “he has awakened thoughts of other days.”
“I have done,” said Peter, “and must to work. Will you descend with me, madam, into the sepulchre of your ancestry? All your family lie within — ay, and the Lady Eleanor, your mother, amongst the number.”
Mrs. Mowbray signified her assent, and the party prepared to follow him.
The sexton held the lantern so as to throw its light upon the steps as they entered the gloomy receptacle of the departed. Eleanor half repented having ventured within its dreary limits, so much did the appearance of the yawning catacombs, surcharged with mortality, and, above all, the ghostly figure of the grim knight, affect her with dread, as she looked wistfully around. She required all the support her brother’s arm could afford her; nor was Mrs. Mowbray altogether unmoved.
“And all the family are here interred, you say?” inquired the latter.
“All,” replied the sexton.
“Where, then, lies Sir Reginald’s younger brother?”
“Who?” exclaimed Peter, starting.
“Alan Rookwood.”
“What of him?”
“Nothing of moment. But I thought you could, perhaps, inform me. He died young.”
“He did,” replied Peter, in an altered tone— “very young; but not before he had lived to an old age of wretchedness. Do you know his story, madam?”
“I have heard it.”
“From your father’s lips?”
“From Sir Reginald Rookwood’s — never. Call him not my father, sirrah; even here I will not have him named so to me.”
“Your pardon, madam,” returned the sexton. “Great cruelty was shown to the Lady Eleanor, and may well call forth implacable resentment in her child; yet methinks the wrong he did his brother Alan was the foulest stain with which Sir Reginald’s black soul was dyed.”
“With what particular wrong dost thou charge Sir Reginald?” demanded Major Mowbray. “What injury did he inflict upon his brother Alan?”
“He wronged his brother’s honor,” replied the sexton; “he robbed him of his wife, poisoned his existence, and hurried him to an untimely grave.”
Eleanor shudderingly held back during this horrible narration, the hearing of which she would willingly have shunned, had it been possible.
“Can this be true?” asked the major.
“Too true, my son,” replied Mrs. Mowbray, sorrowfully.
“And where lies the unfortunate Alan?” asked Major Mowbray.
“‘Twixt two cross roads. Where else should the suicide lie?”
Evading any further question, Peter hastily traversed the vault, elevating the light so as to reveal the contents of each cell. One circumstance filled him with surprise and dismay — he could nowhere perceive the coffin of his daughter. In vain he peered into every catacomb — they were apparently undisturbed; and, with much internal marvelling and misgiving, Peter gave up the search. “That vision is now explained,” muttered he; “the body is removed, but by whom? Death! can I doubt? It must be Lady Rookwood — who else can have any interest in its removal. She has acted boldly. But she shall yet have reason to repent her temerity.” As he continued his search, his companions silently followed. Suddenly he stopped, and, signifying that all was finished, they not unwillingly quitted this abode of horror, leaving him behind them.
“It is a dreadful place,” whispered Eleanor to her mother; “nor would I have visited it, had I conceived anything of its horrors. And that strange man! who or what is he?”
“Ay, who is he?” repeated Major Mowbray.
“I recollect him now,” replied Mrs. Mowbray; “he is one who has ever been connected with the family. He had a daughter, whose beauty was her ruin: it is a sad tale; I cannot tell it now: you have heard enough of misery and guilt: but that may account for his bitterness of speech. He was a dependent upon my poor brother.”
“Poor man!” replied Eleanor; “if he has been unfortunate, I pity him. I am sorry we have been into that dreadful place. I am very faint: and I tremble more than ever at the thought of meeting Ranulph Rookwood again. I can scarcely support myself — I am sure I shall not venture to look upon him.”
“Had I dreamed of the likelihood of his attending the ceremony, rest assured, dear Eleanor, we should not have been here: but I was informed there was no possibility of his return. Compose yourself, my child. It will be a trying time to both of us; but it is now inevitable.”
At this moment the bell began to toll. “The procession has started,” said Peter, as he passed the Mowbrays. “That bell announces the setting out.”
“See yonder persons hurrying to the door,” exclaimed Eleanor, with eagerness, and trembling violently. “They are coming. Oh! I shall never be able to go through with it, dear mother.”
Peter hastened to the church door, where he stationed himself, in company with a host of others, equally curious. Flickering lights in the distance, shining like stars through the trees, showed them that the procession was collecting in front of the hall. The rain had now entirely ceased; the thunder muttered from afar, and the lightning seemed only to lick the moisture from the trees. The bell continued to toll, and its loud booming awoke the drowsy echoes of the valley. On the sudden, a solitary, startling concussion of thunder was heard; and presently a man rushed down from the belfry, with the tidings that he had seen a ball of fire fall from a cloud right over the hall. Every ear was on the alert for the next sound; none was heard. It was the crisis of the storm. Still the funeral procession advanced not. The strong sheen of the torchlight was still visible from the bottom of the avenue, now disappearing, now brightly glimmering, as if the bearers were hurrying to and fro amongst the trees. It was evident that much confusion prevailed, and that some misadventure had occurred. Each man muttered to his neighbor, and few were there who had not in a measure surmised the cause of the delay. At this juncture, a person without his hat, breathless with haste and almost palsied with fright, rushed through the midst of them and, stumbling over the threshold, fell headlong into the church.
“What’s the matter, Master Plant? What has happened? Tell us! Tell us!” exclaimed several voices simultaneously.
“Lord have mercy upon us!” cried Plant, gasping for utterance, and not attempting to raise himself. “It’s horrible! dreadful! oh! — oh!”
“What has happened?” inquired Peter, approaching the fallen man.
“And dost thou need to ask, Peter Bradley? thou, who foretold it all? but I will not say what I think, though my tongue itches to tell thee the truth. Be satisfied, thy wizard’s lore has served thee right — he is dead.”
“Who? Ranulph Rookwood? Has anything befallen him, or the prisoner, Luke Bradley?” asked the sexton, with eagerness.
A scream here burst forth from one who was standing behind the group; and, in spite of the efforts
of her mother to withhold her, Eleanor Mowbray rushed forward.
“Has aught happened to Sir Ranulph?” asked she.
“Noa — noa — not to Sir Ranulph — he be with the body.”
“Heaven be thanked for that!” exclaimed Eleanor. And then, as if ashamed of her own vehemence, and, it might seem, apparent indifference to another’s fate, she inquired who was hurt.
“It be poor neighbor Toft, that be killed by a thunderbolt, ma’am,” replied Plant.
Exclamations of horror burst from all around.
No one was more surprised at this intelligence than the sexton. Like many other seers, he had not, in all probability, calculated upon the fulfilment of his predictions, and he now stared aghast at the extent of his own foreknowledge.
“I tell ‘ee what, Master Peter,” said Plant, shaking his bullet-head, “it be well for thee thou didn’t live in my grandfather’s time, or thou’dst ha’ been ducked in a blanket; or may be burnt at the stake, like Ridley and Latimer, as we read on — but however that may be, ye shall hear how poor Toft’s death came to pass, and nobody can tell ‘ee better nor I, seeing I were near to him, poor fellow, at the time. Well, we thought as how the storm were all over — and had all got into order of march, and were just beginning to step up the avenue, the coffin-bearers pushing lustily along, and the torches shining grandly, when poor Simon Toft, who could never travel well in liquor in his life, reeled to one side, and staggering against the first huge lime-tree, sat himself down beneath it — thou knowest the tree I mean.”
“The tree of fate,” returned Peter. “I ought, methinks, to know it.”
“Well, I were just stepping aside to pick him up, when all at once there comes such a crack of thunder, and, whizzing through the trees, flashed a great globe of red fire, so bright and dazzlin’, it nearly blinded me; and when I opened my eyes, winkin’ and waterin’, I see’d that which blinded me more even than the flash — that which had just afore been poor Simon, but which was now a mass o’ black smouldering ashes, clean consumed and destroyed — his clothes rent to a thousand tatters — the earth and stones tossed up, and scattered all about, and a great splinter of the tree lying beside him.”
“Heaven’s will be done!” said the sexton; “this is an awful judgment.”
“And Sathan cast down; for this is a spice o’ his handiwork,” muttered Plant; adding, as he slunk away, “If ever Peter Bradley do come to the blanket, dang me if I don’t lend a helpin’ hand.”
CHAPTER IV. — THE FUNERAL
How like a silent stream, shaded by night,
And gliding softly with our windy sighs,
Moves the whole frame of this solemnity!
Tears, sighs, and blacks, filling the simile!
Whilst I, the only murmur in this grove
Of death, thus hollowly break forth.
The Fatal Dowry.
WORD being given that the funeral train was fast approaching, the church door was thrown open, and the assemblage divided in two lines, to allow it admission.
Meanwhile, a striking change had taken place, even in this brief period, in the appearance of the night. The sky, heretofore curtained with darkness, was now illumined by a serene, soft moon, which, floating in a watery halo, tinged with silvery radiance the edges of a few ghostly clouds that hurried along the deep and starlit skies. The suddenness of the change could not fail to excite surprise and admiration, mingled with regret that the procession had not been delayed until the present time.
Slowly and mournfully the train was seen to approach the churchyard, winding, two by two, with melancholy step, around the corner of the road. First came Dr. Small; then the mutes, with their sable panoply; next, the torch-bearers; next, those who sustained the coffin, bending beneath their ponderous burden, followed by Sir Ranulph and a long line of attendants, all plainly to be distinguished by the flashing torchlight. There was a slight halt at the gate, and the coffin changed supporters.
“Ill luck betide them!” ejaculated Peter; “could they find no other place except that to halt at? Must Sir Piers be gatekeeper till next Yule! No,” added he, seeing what followed; “it will be poor Toft, after all.”
Following close upon the coffin came a rude shell, containing, as Peter rightly conjectured, the miserable remains of Simon Toft, who had met his fate in the manner described by Plant. The bolt of death glanced from the tree which it first struck, and reduced the unfortunate farmer to a heap of dust. Universal consternation prevailed, and doubts were entertained as to what course should be pursued. It was judged best by Dr. Small to remove the remains at once to the charnel-house. Thus “unanointed, unaneled, with all his imperfections on his head,” was poor Simon Toft, in one brief second, in the twinkling of an eye, plunged from the height of festivity to the darkness of the grave, and so horribly disfigured, that scarce a vestige of humanity was discernible in the mutilated mass that remained of him. Truly may we be said to walk in blindness, and amidst deep pitfalls.
The churchyard was thronged by the mournful train. The long array of dusky figures — the waving torchlight gleaming ruddily in the white moonshine — now glistening upon the sombre habiliments of the bearers, and on their shrouded load, now reflected upon the jagged branches of the yew-trees, or falling upon the ivied buttresses of the ancient church, constituted no unimpressive picture. Over all, like a lamp hung in the still sky, shone the moon, shedding a soothing, spiritual lustre over the scene.
The organ broke into a solemn strain as the coffin was borne along the mid-aisle — the mourners following, with reverent step, and slow. It was deposited near the mouth of the vault, the whole assemblage circling around it. Dr. Small proceeded with the performance of that magnificent service appointed for the burial of the dead, in a tone as remarkable for its sadness as for its force and fervor. There was a tear in every eye — a cloud on every brow.
Brightly illumined as was the whole building, there were still some recesses which, owing to the intervention of heavy pillars, were thrown into shade; and in one of these, supported by her mother and brother, stood Eleanor, a weeping witness of the scene. She beheld the coffin silently borne along; she saw one dark figure slowly following; she knew those pale features — oh, how pale they were! A year had wrought a fearful alteration; she could scarce credit what she beheld. He must, indeed, have suffered — deeply suffered; and her heart told her that his sorrows had been for her.
Many a wistful look, besides, was directed to the principal figure in this ceremonial, Ranulph Rookwood. He was a prey to unutterable anguish of soul; his heart bled inwardly for the father he had lost. Mechanically following the body down the aisle, he had taken his station near it, gazing with confused vision upon the bystanders; had listened, with a sad composure, to the expressive delivery of Small, until he read— “For man walketh in a vain shadow, and disquieteth himself in vain; he heapeth up riches, and cannot tell who shall gather them.”
“Verily!” exclaimed a deep voice; and Ranulph, looking round, met the eyes of Peter Bradley fixed full upon him. But it was evidently not the sexton who had spoken.
Small continued the service. He arrived at this verse: “Thou hast set our misdeeds before thee; and our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.”
“Even so!” exclaimed the voice; and as Ranulph raised his eyes in the direction of the sound, he thought he saw a dark figure, muffled in a cloak, disappear behind one of the pillars. He bestowed, however, at the moment, little thought upon this incident. His heart melted within him; and leaning his face upon his hand, he wept aloud.
“Command yourself, I entreat of you, my dear Sir Ranulph,” said Dr. Small, as soon as the service was finished, “and suffer this melancholy ceremonial to be completed.” Saying which, he gently withdrew Ranulph from his support, and the coffin was lowered into the vault.
Ranulph remained for some time in the extremity of sorrow. When he in part recovered, the crowd had dispersed, and few persons were remaining within the church; yet near hi
m stood three apparent loiterers. They advanced towards him. An exclamation of surprise and joy burst from his lips.
“Eleanor!”
“Ranulph!”
“Is it possible? Do I indeed behold you, Eleanor?”
No other word was spoken. They rushed into each other’s arms. Oh! sad — sad is the lover’s parting — no pang so keen; but if life hath a zest more exquisite than others — if felicity hath one drop more racy than the rest in her honeyed cup, it is the happiness enjoyed in such a union as the present. To say that he was as one raised from the depths of misery by some angel comforter, were a feeble comparison of the transport of Ranulph. To paint the thrilling delight of Eleanor — the trembling tenderness — the fond abandonment which vanquished all her maiden scruples, would be impossible. Reluctantly yielding — fearing, yet complying, her lips were sealed in one long, loving kiss, the sanctifying pledge of their tried affection.
“Eleanor, dear Eleanor,” exclaimed Ranulph, “though I hold you within my arms — though each nerve within my frame assures me of your presence — though I look into those eyes, which seem fraught with greater endearment than ever I have known them wear — though I see and feel and know all this, so sudden, so unlooked for is the happiness, that I could almost doubt its reality. Say to what blessed circumstance I am indebted for this unlooked-for happiness.”
“We are staying not far hence, with friends, dear Ranulph; and my mother, hearing of Sir Piers Rookwood’s death, and wishing to bury all animosity with him, resolved to be present at the sad ceremony. We were told you could not be here.”
“And would my presence have prevented your attendance, Eleanor?”
“Not that, dear Ranulph; but — —”
“But what?”
At this moment the advance of Mrs. Mowbray offered an interruption to their further discourse.
The Works of William Harrison Ainsworth Page 33
