CHAPTER XCIII.
THE ALARM AT ANDERBURY.--THE SUSPICIONS OF THE BANNERWORTH FAMILY, ANDTHE MYSTERIOUS COMMUNICATION.
About twenty miles to the southward of Bannerworth Hall was a good-sizedmarket-town, called Anderbury. It was an extensive and flourishingplace, and from the beauty of its situation, and its contiguity to thesouthern coast of England, it was much admired; and, in consequence,numerous mansions and villas of great pretension had sprang up in itsimmediate neighbourhood.
Betides, there were some estates of great value, and one of these,called Anderbury-on-the-Mount, in consequence of the mansion itself,which was of an immense extent, being built upon an eminence, was to belet, or sold.
This town of Anderbury was remarkable not only for the beauty of itsaspect, but likewise for the quiet serenity of its inhabitants, who werea prosperous, thriving race, and depended very much upon their ownresources.
There were some peculiar circumstances why Anderbury-on-the-Mount was tolet. It had been for a great number of years in possession of a familyof the name of Milltown, who had resided there in great comfort andrespectability, until an epidemic disorder broke out, first among theservants, and then spreading to the junior branches of the family, andfrom them to their seniors, produced such devastation, that in thecourse of three weeks there was but one young man left of the wholefamily, and he, by native vigour of constitution, had baffled thedisorder, and found himself alone in his ancestral halls, the last ofhis race.
Soon a settled melancholy took possession of him, and all that hadformerly delighted him now gave him pain, inasmuch as it brought to hismind a host of recollections of the most agonising character.
In vain was it that the surrounding gentry paid him every possibleattention, and endeavoured to do all that was in their power toalleviate the unhappy circumstances in which he was placed. If hesmiled, it was in a sad sort, and that was very seldom; and at length heannounced his intention of leaving the neighbourhood, and seekingabroad, and in change of scene, for that solace which he could notexpect to find in his ancestral home, after what had occurred within itsancient walls.
There was not a chamber but which reminded him of the past--there wasnot a tree or a plant of any kind or description but which spoke to himplainly of those who were now no more, and whose merry laughter hadwithin his own memory made that ancient place echo with glee, fillingthe sunny air with the most gladsome shouts, such as come from the lipsof happy youth long before the world has robbed it of any of its romanceor its beauty.
There was a general feeling of regret when this young man announced thefact of his departure to a foreign land; for he was much respected, andthe known calamities which he had suffered, and the grief under which helaboured, invested his character with a great and painful interest.
An entertainment was given to him upon the eve of his departure, and onthe next day he was many miles from the place, and the estate ofAnderbury-on-the-Mount was understood to be sold or let.
The old mansion had remained, then, for a year or two vacant, for it wasa place of too much magnitude, and required by far too expensive anestablishment to keep it going, to enable any person whose means werenot very large to think of having anything to do with it.
So, therefore, it remained unlet, and wearing that gloomy aspect which alarge house, untenanted, so very quickly assumes.
It was quite a melancholy thing to look upon it, and to think what itmust have once been, and what it might be still, compared to what itactually was; and the inhabitants of the neighbourhood had made up theirminds that Anderbury-on-the-Mount would remain untenanted for many ayear to come, and, perhaps, ultimately fall into ruin and decay.
But in this they were doomed to be disappointed, for, on the evening ofa dull and gloomy day, about one week after the events we have recordedas taking place at Bannerworth Hall and its immediate neighbourhood, atravelling carriage, with four horses and an out-rider, came dashinginto the place, and drew up at the principal inn in the town, which wascalled the Anderbury Arms.
The appearance of such an equipage, although not the most unusual thingin the world, in consequence of the many aristocratic families whoresided in the neighbourhood, caused, at all events, some sensation,and, perhaps, the more so because it drove up to the inn instead of toany of the mansions of the neighbourhood, thereby showing that thestranger, whoever he was, came not as a visitor, but either merelybaited in the town, being on his road somewhere else, or had somespecial business in it which would soon be learned.
The out-rider, who was in handsome livery, had gallopped on in advanceof the carriage a short distance, for the purpose of ordering the bestapartments in the inn to be immediately prepared for the reception ofhis master.
"Who is he?" asked the landlord.
"It's the Baron Stolmuyer Saltsburgh."
"Bless my heart, I never heard of him before; where did he comefrom--somewhere abroad I suppose?"
"I can't tell you anything of him further than that he is immenselyrich, and is looking for a house. He has heard that there is one to letin this immediate neighbourhood, and that's what has brought him fromLondon, I suppose."
"Yes, there is one; and it is called Anderbury-on-the-Mount."
"Well, he will very likely speak to you about it himself, for here hecomes."
By this time the carriage had halted at the door of the hotel, and, thedoor being opened, and the steps lowered, there alighted from it a tallman attired in a kind of pelisse, or cloak, trimmed with rich fur, thebody of it being composed of velvet. Upon his head he wore a travellingcap, and his fingers, as he grasped the cloak around him, were seen tobe covered with rings of great value.
Such a personage, coming in such style, was, of course, likely to behonoured in every possible way by the landlord of the inn, andaccordingly he was shown most obsequiously to the handsomest apartmentin the house, and the whole establishment was put upon the alert toattend to any orders he might choose to give.
He had not been long in the place when he sent for the landlord, who,hastily scrambling on his best coat, and getting his wife to arrange thetie of his neckcloth, proceeded to obey the orders of his illustriousguest, whatever they might chance to be.
He found the Baron Stolmuyer reclining upon a sofa, and having thrownaside his velvet cloak, trimmed with rich fur, he showed that underneathit he wore a costume of great richness and beauty, although, certainly,the form it covered was not calculated to set it off to any greatadvantage, for the baron was merely skin and bone, and looked like a manwho had just emerged from a long illness, for his face was ghastly pale,and the landlord could not help observing that there was a strangepeculiarity about his eyes, the reason of which he could not make out.
"You are the landlord of this inn, I presume," said the baron, "and,consequently, no doubt well acquainted with the neighbourhood?"
"I have the honour to be all that, sir. I have been here about sixteenyears, and in that time I certainly ought to know something of theneighbourhood."
"'Tis well; some one told me there was a little cottage sort of place tolet here, and as I am simple and retired in my habits I thought that itmight possibly suit me."
"A little cottage, sir! There are certainly little cottages to let, butnot such as would suit you; and if I might have presumed, sir, to think,I should have considered Anderbury-on-the-Mount, which is now to let,would have been the place for you. It is a large place, sir, andbelonged to a good family, although they are now all dead and gone,except one, and it's he who wants to let the old place."
"Anderbury-on-the-Mount," said the baron, "was the name of the placementioned to me; but I understood it was a little place."
"Oh! sir, that is quite a mistake; who told you so? It's the largestplace about here; there are a matter of twenty-seven rooms in it, and itstands altogether upon three hundred acres of ground."
"And have you the assurance," said the baron, "to call that anything buta cottage, when the castle of the Stolmuyers, at Saltzburgh, has ones
uite of reception rooms thirty in number, opening into each other, andthe total number of apartments in the whole building is two hundredand sixty, it is surrounded by eight miles of territory."
"The devil!" said the landlord. "I beg your pardon, sir, but when I amastonished, I generally say the devil. They want eight hundred pounds ayear for Anderbury-on-the-Mount."
"A mere trifle. I will sleep here to-night, and in the morning I will goand look at the place. It is near the sea?"
"Half a mile, sir, exactly, from the beach; and one of the most curiouscircumstances of all connected with it is, that there is a subterraneanpassage from the grounds leading right away down to the sea-coast. Amost curious place, sir, partly cut out of the cliff, with cellars in itfor wine, and other matters, that in the height of summer are kept ascool as in the deep winter time. It's more for curiosity than use, sucha place; and the old couple, that now take care of the house, make apretty penny, I'll be bound, though they won't own it, by showing thatpart of the place."
"It may suit me, but I shall be able to give a decisive answer when Isee it on the morrow. You will let my attendants have what they require,and see that my horses be well looked to."
"Certainly, oh! certainly, sir, of course; you might go far, indeed,sir, before you found an inn where everything would be done as thingsare done here. Is there anything in particular, sir, you would like fordinner?"
"How can I tell that, idiot, until the dinner time arrives?"
"Well, but, sir, in that case, you know, we scarcely know what to do,because you see, sir, you understand--"
"It is very strange to me that you can neither see nor understand yourduty. I am accustomed to having the dinner tables spread with all thatmoney can procure; then I choose, but not before, what it suits me topartake of."
"Wil, sir, that is a very good way, and perhaps we ain't quite so usedto that sort of thing as we ought to be in these parts; but anothertime, sir, we shall know better what we are about, without a doubt, andI only hope, sir, that we shall have you in the neighbourhood for a longtime; and so, sir, putting one thing to another, and then drawing aconclusion from both of them, you see, sir, you will be able tounderstand."
"Peace! begone! what is the use of all this bellowing to me--I want itnot--I care not for it."
The baron spoke these words so furiously, that the landlord was ratherterrified than otherwise, and left the room hastily, muttering tohimself that he had never come across such a tiger, and wondering wherethe baron could have possibly come from, and what amount of wealth hecould be possessed of, that would enable him to live in such a princelystyle as he mentioned.
If the Baron Stolmuyer of Saltzburgh had wished ever so much to impressupon the minds of all persons in the neighbourhood the fact of hiswealth and importance, he could not have adopted a better plan toaccomplish that object than by first of all impressing such facts uponthe mind of the landlord of the Anderbury Arms, for in the course ofanother hour it was tolerably well spread all over the town, that neverhad there been such a guest at the Anderbury Arms; and that he calledAnderbury-on-the-Mount, with all its rooms--all its outbuildings, andits three hundred acres of ground, a cottage.
This news spread like wildfire, awaking no end of speculation, andgiving rise to the most exaggerated rumours, so that a number of personscame to the inn on purpose to endeavour to get a look at the baron; buthe did not stir from his apartments, so that these wondermongers weredisappointed, and even forced to go away as wise as they came; but inthe majority of cases they made up their minds that in the morning theyshould surely be able to obtain a glimpse of him, which was considered agreat treat, for a man with an immense income is looked upon in Englandas a natural curiosity.
The landlord took his guest at his word as regards the dinner, andprovided such a repast as seldom, indeed, graced the board at theAnderbury Arms--a repast sufficient for twenty people, and certainlywhich was a monstrous thing to set before one individual.
The baron, however, made no remark, but selected a portion from some ofthe dishes, and those dishes that he did select from, were of thesimplest kind, and not such as the landlord expected him to take, sothat he really paid about one hundred times the amount he ought to havedone for what actually passed his lips.
And then what a fidget the landlord was in about his wines, for hedoubted not but such a guest would be extremely critical and hard toplease; but, to his great relief, the baron declined taking any wine,merely washing down his repast with a tumbler of cool water; and then,although the hour was very early, he retired at once to rest.
The landlord was not disposed to disregard the injunction which thebaron had given him to attend carefully on his servants and horses, andafter giving orders that nothing should be stinted as regarded thelatter, he himself looked to the creature-comforts of the former, and hedid this with a double motive, for not only was he anxious to make themost he could out of the baron in the way of charges, but he waspositively panting with curiosity to know more about so singular apersonage, and he thought that surely the servants must be able tofurnish him with some particulars regarding their eccentric master.
In this, however, he was mistaken, for although they told him all theyknew, that amounted to so little as really not to be worth the learning.
They informed him that they had been engaged all in the last week, andthat they knew nothing of the baron whatever, or where he came from, orwhat he was, excepting that he paid them most liberal wages, and was notvery exacting in the service he required of them.
This was very unsatisfactory, and when the landlord started on amission, which he considered himself bound to perform, to a Mr. Leek, inthe town, who had the letting of Anderbury-on-the-Mount, he was quitevexed to think what a small amount of information he was able to carryto him.
"I can tell him," he said to himself as he went quickly towards theagent's residence; "I can tell him the baron's name, and that in themorning he wants to look at Anderbury-on-the-Mount; but that's all Iknow of him, except that he is a most extraordinary man--indeed, themost extraordinary that I ever came near."
Mr. Leek, the house agent, notwithstanding the deficiency of the factscontained in the landlord's statement, was well enough satisfied to hearthat any one of apparent wealth was inquiring after the large premisesto let, for, as he said truly to the landlord,--
"The commission on letting and receiving the rentals of such a propertyis no joke to me."
"Precisely," said the landlord. "I thought it was better to come andtell you at once, for there can be no doubt that he is enormously rich."
"If that be satisfactorily proved, it's of no consequence what he is, orwho he is, and you may depend I shall be round to the inn early in themorning to attend upon him; and in that case, perhaps, if you have anyconversation with him, you will be so good as to mention that I willshow him over the premises at his own hour, and you shall not beforgotten, you may depend, if any arrangement is actually come to. Itwill be just as well for you to tell him what a nice property it is, andthat it is to be let for eight hundred a year, or sold outright foreight thousand pounds."
"I will, you may depend, Mr. Leek. A most extraordinary man you willfind him; not the handsomest in the world, I can tell you, but handsomeis as handsome does, say I; and, if he takes Anderbury-on-the-Mount, Ihave no doubt but he will spend a lot of money in the neighbourhood, andwe shall all be the better of that, of course, as you well know, sir."
This then was thoroughly agreed upon between these high contractingpowers, and the landlord returned home very well satisfied, indeed, withthe position in which he had put the affair, and resolved upon urging onthe baron, as far as it lay within his power so to do, to establishhimself in the neighbourhood, and to allow him to be purveyor-in-generalto his household, which, if the baron continued in his liberal humour,would be unquestionably a very pleasant post to occupy.
Varney the Vampire; Or, the Feast of Blood Page 92
