Varney the Vampire; Or, the Feast of Blood

by Thomas Preskett Prest

  CHAPTER LXXVI.

  THE SECOND NIGHT-WATCH OF MR. CHILLINGWORTH AT THE HALL.

  The military party in the morning left Bannerworth Hall, and the oldplace resumed its wonted quiet. But Dr. Chillingworth found it difficultto get rid of his old friend, the hangman, who seemed quite disposed toshare his watch with him.

  The doctor, without being at all accused of being a prejudiced man,might well object to the continued companionship of one, who, accordingto his own account, was decidedly no better than he should be, if hewere half so good.

  Moreover, it materially interfered with the proceedings of our medicalfriend, whose object was to watch the vampyre with all imaginablequietness and secrecy, in the event of his again visiting BannerworthHall.

  "Sir," he said, to the hangman, "now that you have so obligingly relatedto me your melancholy history, I will not detain you."

  "Oh, you are not detaining me."

  "Yes, but I shall probably remain here for a considerable time."

  "I have nothing to do; and one place is about the same as another tome."

  "Well, then, if I must speak plainly, allow me to say, that as I camehere upon a very important and special errand, I desire mostparticularly to be left alone. Do you understand me now?"

  "Oh! ah!--I understand; you want me to go?"

  "Just so."

  "Well, then, Dr. Chillingworth, allow me to tell you, I have come hereon a very special errand likewise."

  "You have?"

  "I have. I have been putting one circumstance to another, and drawing avariety of conclusions from a variety of facts, so that I have come towhat I consider an important resolve, namely, to have a good look atBannerworth Hall, and if I continue to like it as well as I do now, Ishould like to make the Bannerworth family an offer for the purchase ofit."

  "The devil you would! Why all the world seems mad upon the project ofbuying this old building, which really is getting into such a state ofdilapidation, that it cannot last many years longer."

  "It is my fancy."

  "No, no; there is something more in this than meets the eye. The samereason, be it what may, that has induced Varney the vampyre to become sodesirous of possessing the Hall, actuates you."

  "Possibly."

  "And what is that reason? You may as well be candid with me."

  "Yes, I will, and am. I like the picturesque aspect of the place."

  "No, you know that that is a disingenuous answer, that you know well. Itis not the aspect of the old Hall that has charms for you. But I feel,only from your conduct, more than ever convinced, that some plot isgoing on, having the accomplishment of some great object as its climax,a something of which you have guessed."

  "How much you are mistaken!"

  "No, I am certain I am right; and I shall immediately advise theBannerworth family to return, and to take up their abode again here, inorder to put an end to the hopes which you, or Varney, or any one elsemay have, of getting possession of the place."

  "If you were a man," said the hangman, "who cared a little more foryourself, and a little less for others, I would make a confidant ofyou."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Why, I mean, candidly, that you are not selfish enough to be entitledto my confidence."

  "That is a strange reason for withholding confidence from any man."

  "It is a strange reason; but, in this case, a most abundantly true one.I cannot tell you what I would tell you, because I cannot make theagreement with you that I would fain make."

  "You talk in riddles."

  "To explain which, then, would be to tell my secret."

  Dr. Chillingworth was, evidently, much annoyed, and yet he was in anextremely helpless condition; for as to forcing the hangman to leave theHall, if he did not feel disposed to do so, that was completely out ofthe question, and could not be done. In the first place, he was a muchmore powerful man than the doctor, and in the second, it was quitecontrary to all Mr. Chillingworth's habits, to engage in anything likepersonal warfare.

  He could only, therefore, look his vexation, and say,--

  "If you are determined upon remaining, I cannot help it; but, when someone, as there assuredly will, comes from the Bannerworths, here, to me,or I shall be under the necessity of stating candidly that you areintruding."

  "Very good. As the morning air is keen, and as we now are not likely tobe as good company to each other as we were, I shall go inside thehouse."

  This was a proposition which the doctor did not like, but he wascompelled to submit to it; and he saw, with feelings of uneasiness, thehangman make his way into the Hall by one of the windows.

  Then Dr. Chillingworth sat down to think. Much he wondered what could bethe secret of the great desire which Varney, Marchdale, and even thisman had, all of them to be possessors of the old Hall.

  That there was some powerful incentive he felt convinced, and he longedfor some conversation with the Bannerworths, or with Admiral Bell, inorder that he might state what had now taken place. That some one wouldsoon come to him, in order to bring fresh provisions for the day, he wascertain, and all he could do, in the interim, was, to listen to what thehangman was about in the Hall.

  Not a sound, for a considerable time, disturbed the intense stillness ofthe place; but, now, suddenly, Mr. Chillingworth thought he heard ahammering, as if some one was at work in one of the rooms of the Hall.

  "What can be the meaning of that?" he said, and he was about to proceedat once to the interior of the building, through the same window whichhad enabled the hangman to gain admittance, when he heard his own namepronounced by some one at the back of the garden fence, and upon castinghis eyes in that direction, he, to his great relief, saw the admiral andHenry Bannerworth.

  "Come round to the gate," said the doctor. "I am more glad to see youthan I can tell you just now. Do not make more noise than you can help;but, come round to the gate at once."

  They obeyed the injunction with alacrity, and when the doctor hadadmitted them, the admiral said, eagerly,--

  "You don't mean to tell us that he is here?"

  "No, no, not Varney; but he is not the only one who has taken a greataffection for Bannerworth Hall; you may have another tenant for it, andI believe at any price you like to name."

  "Indeed!"

  "Hush! creep along close to the house, and then you will not be seen.There! do you hear that noise in the hall?"

  "Why it sounds," said the admiral, "like the ship's carpenter at work."

  "It does, indeed, sound like a carpenter; it's only the new tenantmaking, I dare say, some repairs."

  "D--n his impudence!"

  "Why, it certainly does look like a very cool proceeding, I must admit."

  "Who, and what is he?"

  "Who he is now, I cannot tell you, but he was once the hangman ofLondon, at a time when I was practising in the metropolis, and so Ibecame acquainted with him. He knows Sir Francis Varney, and, if Imistake not, has found out the cause of that mysterious personage'sgreat attachment to Bannerworth Hall, and has found the reasons socogent, that he has got up an affection for it himself."

  "To me," said Henry, "all this is as incomprehensible as anything canpossibly be. What on earth does it all mean?"

  "My dear Henry," said the doctor, "will you be ruled by me?"

  "I will be ruled by any one whom I know I can trust; for I am like a mangroping his way in the dark."

  "Then allow this gentleman who is carpentering away so pleasantly withinthe house, to do so to his heart's content, but don't let him leave it.Show yourselves now in the garden, he has sufficient prudence to knowthat three constitute rather fearful odds against one, and so he will becareful, and remain where he is. If he should come out, we need not lethim go until we thoroughly ascertain what he has been about."

  "You shall command the squadron, doctor," said the admiral, "and have itall your own way, you know, so here goes! Come along, Henry, and let'sshow ourselves; we are both armed too!"

  They walked out in
to the centre of the garden, and they were soonconvinced that the hangman saw them, for a face appeared at the window,and was as quickly withdrawn again.

  "There," said the doctor, "now he knows he is a prisoner, and we may aswell place ourselves in some position which commands a good view of thehouse, as well as of the garden gate, and so see if we cannot starve himout, though we may be starved out ourselves."

  "Not at all!" said Admiral Bell, producing from his ample pocketsvarious parcels,--"we came to bring you ample supplies."

  "Indeed!"

  "Yes; we have been as far as the ruins."

  "Oh, to release Marchdale. Charles told me how the villain had falleninto the trap he had laid for him."

  "He has, indeed, fallen into the trap, and it's one he won't easily getout of again. He's dead."

  "Dead!--dead!"

  "Yes; in the storm of last night the ruins have fallen, and he is bythis time as flat as a pancake."

  "Good God! and yet it is but a just retribution upon him. He would haveassassinated poor Charles Holland in the cruelest and most cold-bloodedmanner, and, however we may shudder at the manner of his death, wecannot regret it."

  "Except that he has escaped your friend the hangman," said the admiral.

  "Don't call him my friend, if you please," said Dr. Chillingworth, "but,hark how he is working away, as if he really intended to carry the houseaway piece by piece, as opportunity may serve, if you will not let it tohim altogether, just as it stands."

  "Confound him! he is evidently working on his own account," said theadmiral, "or he would not be half so industrious."

  There was, indeed, a tremendous amount of hammering and noise, of onesort and another, from the house, and it was quite clear that thehangman was too heart and soul in his work, whatever may have been theobject of it, to care who was listening to him, or to what conjecture hegave rise.

  He thought probably that he could but he stopped in what he was about,and, until he was so, that he might as well go on.

  And on he went, with a vengeance, vexing the admiral terribly, whoproposed so repeatedly to go into the house and insist upon knowing whathe was about, that his, wishes were upon the point of being conceded toby Henry, although they were combatted by the doctor, when, from thewindow at which he had entered, out stepped the hangman.

  "Good morning, gentlemen! good morning," he said, and he moved towardsthe garden gate. "I will not trouble you any longer. Good morning!"

  "Not so fast," said the admiral, "or we may bring you up with a roundturn, and I never miss my mark when I can see it, and I shall not let itget out of sight, you may depend."

  He drew a pistol from his pocket, as he spoke, and pointed it at thehangman, who, thereupon paused and said:--

  "What! am I not to be permitted to go in peace? Why it was but a shorttime since the doctor was quarrelling with me because I did not go, andnow it seems that I am to be shot if I do."

  "Yes," said the admiral, "that's it."

  "Well! but,--"

  "You dare," said he, "stir another inch towards the gate, and you are adead man!"

  The hangman hesitated a moment, and looked at Admiral Bell; apparentlythe result of the scrutiny was, that he would keep his word, for hesuddenly turned and dived in at the window again without saying anotherword.

  "Well; you have certainly stopped him from leaving," said Henry; "butwhat's to be done now?"

  "Let him be, let him be," said the doctor; "he must come out again, forthere are no provisions in the place, and he will be starved out."

  "Hush! what is that?" said Henry.

  There was a very gentle ring at the bell which hung over the gardengate.

  "That's an experiment, now, I'll be bound," said the doctor, "toascertain if any one is here; let us hide ourselves, and take nonotice."

  The ring in a few moments was repeated, and the three confederates hidthemselves effectually behind some thick laurel bushes and awaited withexpectation what might next ensue.

  Not long had they occupied their place of concealment, before they hearda heavy fall upon the gravelled pathway, immediately within the gate, asif some one had clambered to the top from the outside, and then jumpeddown.

  That this was the case the sound of footsteps soon convinced them, andto their surprise as well as satisfaction, they saw through theinterstices of the laurel bush behind which they were concealed, no lessa personage that Sir Francis Varney himself.

  "It is Varney," said Henry.

  "Yes, yes," whispered the doctor. "Let him be, do not move for anyconsideration, for the first time let him do just what he likes."

  "D--n the fellow!" said the admiral; "there are some points about himthat like, after all, and he's quite an angel compared to that rascalMarchdale."

  "He is,--he saved Charles."

  "He did, and not if I know it shall any harm come to him, unless he wereterribly to provoke it by becoming himself the assailant."

  "How sad he looks!"

  "Hush! he comes nearer; it is not safe to talk. Look at him."