Varney the Vampire; Or, the Feast of Blood

by Thomas Preskett Prest

  CHAPTER XXXV.

  THE EXPLANATION.--MARCHDALE'S ADVICE.--THE PROJECTED REMOVAL, AND THEADMIRAL'S ANGER.

  This extremely sudden movement on the part of Varney was certainly asunexpected as it was decisive. Henry had imagined, that by takingpossession of the only entrance to the summer-house, he must come intopersonal conflict with the being who had worked so much evil for him andhis; and that he should so suddenly have created for himself anothermode of exit, certainly never occurred to him.

  "For Heaven's sake, Flora," he said, "unhand me; this is a time foraction."

  "But, Henry, Henry, hear me."

  "Presently, presently, dear Flora; I will yet make another effort toarrest the headlong flight of Varney."

  He shook her off, perhaps with not more roughness than was necessary toinduce her to forego her grasp of him, but in a manner that fully showedhe intended to be free; and then he sprang through the same aperturewhence Varney had disappeared, just as George and Mr. Marchdale arrivedat the door of the summer-house.

  It was nearly morning, so that the fields were brightening up with thefaint radiance of the coming day; and when Henry reached a point whichhe knew commanded an extensive view, he paused, and ran his eye eagerlyalong the landscape, with a hope of discovering some trace of thefugitive.

  Such, however, was not the case; he saw nothing, heard nothing of SirFrancis Varney; and then he turned, and called loudly to George to joinhim, and was immediately replied to by his brother's presence,accompanied by Marchdale.

  Before, however, they could exchange a word, a rattling discharge offire-arms took place from one of the windows, and they heard theadmiral, in a loud voice, shouting,--

  "Broadside to broadside! Give it them again, Jack! Hit them between windand water!"

  Then there was another rattling discharge, and Henry exclaimed,--

  "What is the meaning of that firing?"

  "It comes from the admiral's room," said Marchdale. "On my life, I thinkthe old man must be mad. He has some six or eight pistols ranged in arow along the window-sill, and all loaded, so that by the aid of a matchthey can be pretty well discharged as a volley, which he considers theonly proper means of firing upon the vampyre."

  "It is so," replied George; "and, no doubt, hearing an alarm, he hascommenced operations by firing into the enemy."

  "Well, well," said Henry; "he must have his way. I have pursued Varneythus far, and that he has again retreated to the wood, I cannot doubt.Between this and the full light of day, let us at least make an effortto discover his place of retreat. We know the locality as well as he canpossibly, and I propose now that we commence an active search."

  "Come on, then," said Marchdale. "We are all armed; and I, for one,shall feel no hesitation in taking the life, if it be possible to do so,of that strange being."

  "Of that possibility you doubt?" said George, as they hurried on acrossthe meadows.

  "Indeed I do, and with reason too. I'm certain that when I fired at himbefore I hit him; and besides, Flora must have shot him upon theoccasion when we were absent, and she used your pistols Henry, to defendherself and her mother."

  "It would seem so," said Henry; "and disregarding all presentcircumstances, if I do meet him, I will put to the proof whether he bemortal or not."

  The distance was not great, and they soon reached the margin of thewood; they then separated agreeing to meet within it, at a well-spring,familiar to them all: previous to which each was to make his bestendeavour to discover if any one was hidden among the bush-wood or inthe hollows of the ancient trees they should encounter on their line ofmarch.

  The fact was, that Henry finding that he was likely to pass anexceedingly disturbed, restless night, through agitation of spirits,had, after tossing to and fro on his couch for many hours, wisely atlength risen, and determined to walk abroad in the gardens belonging tothe mansion, in preference to continuing in such a state of fever andanxiety, as he was in, in his own chamber.

  Since the vampyre's dreadful visit, it had been the custom of both thebrothers, occasionally, to tap at the chamber door of Flora, who, at herown request, now that she had changed her room, and dispensed with anyone sitting up with her, wished occasionally to be communicated with bysome member of the family.

  Henry, then, after rapidly dressing, as he passed the door of herbedroom, was about to tap at it, when to his surprise he found it open,and upon hastily entering it he observed that the bed was empty, and ahasty glance round the apartment convinced him that Flora was not there.

  Alarm took possession of him, and hastily arming himself, he rousedMarchdale and George, but without waiting for them to be ready toaccompany him, he sought the garden, to search it thoroughly in case sheshould be anywhere there concealed.

  Thus it was he had come upon the conference so strangely and sounexpectedly held between Varney and Flora in the summer-house. Withwhat occurred upon that discovery the readers are acquainted.

  Flora had promised George that she would return immediately to thehouse, but when, in compliance with the call of Henry, George andMarchdale had left her alone, she felt so agitated and faint that shebegan to cling to the trellis work of the little building for a fewmoments before she could gather strength to reach the mansion.

  Two or three minutes might thus have elapsed, and Flora was in such astate of mental bewilderment with all that had occurred, that she couldscarce believe it real, when suddenly a slight sound attracted herattention, and through the gap which had been made in the wall of thesummer-house, with an appearance of perfect composure, again appearedSir Francis Varney.

  "Flora," he said, quietly resuming the discourse which had been brokenoff, "I am quite convinced now that you will be much the happier for theinterview."

  "Gracious Heaven!" said Flora, "whence have you come from?"

  "I have never left," said Varney.

  "But I saw you fly from this spot."

  "You did; but it was only to another immediately outside the summerhouse. I had no idea of breaking off our conference so abruptly."

  "Have you anything to add to what you have already stated?"

  "Absolutely nothing, unless you have a question to propose to me--Ishould have thought you had, Flora. Is there no other circumstanceweighing heavily upon your mind, as well as the dreadful visitation Ihave subjected you to?"

  "Yes," said Flora. "What has become of Charles Holland?"

  "Listen. Do not discard all hope; when you are far from here you willmeet with him again."

  "But he has left me."

  "And yet he will be able, when you again encounter him, so far toextenuate his seeming perfidy, that you shall hold him as untouched inhonour as when first he whispered to you that he loved you."

  "Oh, joy! joy!" said Flora; "by that assurance you have robbedmisfortune of its sting, and richly compensated me for all that I havesuffered."

  "Adieu!" said the vampyre. "I shall now proceed to my own home by adifferent route to that taken by those who would kill me."

  "But after this," said Flora, "there shall be no danger; you shall beheld harmless, and our departure from Bannerworth Hall shall be soquick, that you will soon be released from all apprehension of vengeancefrom my brother, and I shall taste again of that happiness which Ithought had fled from me for ever."

  "Farewell," said the vampire; and folding his cloak closely around him,he strode from the summer-house, soon disappearing from her sight behindthe shrubs and ample vegetation with which that garden abounded.

  Flora sunk upon her knees, and uttered a brief, but heartfeltthanksgiving to Heaven for this happy change in her destiny. The hue ofhealth faintly again visited her cheeks, and as she now, with a feelingof more energy and strength than she had been capable of exerting formany days, walked towards the house, she felt all that delightfulsensation which the mind experiences when it is shaking off the trammelsof some serious evil which it delights now to find that the imaginationhas attired in far worse colours than the facts deserved.

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bsp; It is scarcely necessary, after this, to say that the search in the woodfor Sir Francis Varney was an unproductive one, and that the morningdawned upon the labours of the brother and of Mr. Marchdale, withouttheir having discovered the least indication of the presence of Varney.Again puzzled and confounded, they stood on the margin of the wood, andlooked sadly towards the brightening windows of Bannerworth Hall, whichwere now reflecting with a golden radiance the slant rays of the morningsun.

  "Foiled again," remarked Henry, with a gesture of impatience; "foiledagain, and as completely as before. I declare that I will fight thisman, let our friend the admiral say what he will against such a measureI will meet him in mortal combat; he shall consummate his triumph overour whole family by my death, or I will rid the world and ourselves ofso frightful a character."

  "Let us hope," said Marchdale, "that some other course may be adopted,which shall put an end to these proceedings."

  "That," exclaimed Henry, "is to hope against all probability; what othercourse can be pursued? Be this Varney man or devil, he has evidentlymarked us for his prey."

  "Indeed, it would seem so," remarked George; "but yet he shall find thatwe will not fall so easily; he shall discover that if poor Flora'sgentle spirit has been crushed by these frightful circumstances, we areof a sterner mould."

  "He shall," said Henry; "I for one will dedicate my life to this matter.I will know no more rest than is necessary to recruit my frame, until Ihave succeeded in overcoming this monster; I will seek no pleasure here,and will banish from my mind, all else that may interfere with that onefixed pursuit. He or I must fall."

  "Well spoken," said Marchdale; "and yet I hope that circumstances mayoccur to prevent such a necessity of action, and that probably you willyet see that it will be wise and prudent to adopt a milder and a safercourse."

  "No, Marchdale, you cannot feel as we feel. You look on more as aspectator, sympathising with the afflictions of either, than feeling thefull sting of those afflictions yourself."

  "Do I not feel acutely for you? I'm a lonely man in the world, and Ihave taught myself now to centre my affections in your family; myrecollections of early years assist me in so doing. Believe me, both ofyou, that I am no idle spectator of your griefs, but that I share themfully. If I advise you to be peaceful, and to endeavour by the gentlestmeans possible to accomplish your aims, it is not that I would counselyou cowardice; but having seen so much more of the world than either ofyou have had time or opportunity of seeing, I do not look soenthusiastically upon matters, but, with a cooler, calmer judgment, I donot say a better, I proffer to you my counsel."

  "We thank you," said Henry; "but this is a matter in which action seemsspecially called for. It is not to be borne that a whole family is to beoppressed by such a fiend in human shape as that Varney."

  "Let me," said Marchdale, "counsel you to submit to Flora's decision inthis business; let her wishes constitute the rules of action. She is thegreatest sufferer, and the one most deeply interested in the terminationof this fearful business. Moreover she has judgment and decision ofcharacter--she will advise you rightly, be assured."

  "That she would advise us honourably," said Henry, "and that we shouldfeel every disposition in the world to defer to her wishes ourproposition, is not to be doubted; but little shall be done without hercounsel and sanction. Let us now proceed homeward, for I am most anxiousto ascertain how it came about that she and Sir Francis Varney weretogether in that summer-house at so strange an hour."

  They all three walked together towards the house, conversing in asimilar strain as they went.