Authors: George W. M. Reynolds,James Malcolm Rymer
"I
will not sit here," he muttered. "I will go and have a watch at that
mysterious picture; there is the centre of attraction, be it what it may."
As he
spoke, he arose and walked into the house, and entered the same apartment which
has been so often mentioned to the reader.
Here
he took a chair, and sat down full before the picture, and began to contemplate
it.
"Well,
for a good likeness, I cannot say I ever saw anything more unprepossessing. I
am sure such a countenance as that could never have won a female heart. Surely,
it is more calculated to terrify the imagination, than to soothe the affections
of the timid and shrinking female.
"However,
I will have an inspection of the picture, and see if I can make anything of
it."
As he
spoke, he put his hand upon the picture with the intention of removing it, when
it suddenly was thrust open, and a man stepped down.
The
doctor was for a moment completely staggered, it was so utterly unexpected, and
he stepped back a pace or two in the first emotion of his surprise; but this
soon passed by, and he prepared to close with his antagonist, which he did
without speaking a word.
There
was a fair struggle for more than two or three minutes, during which the doctor
struggled and fought most manfully; but it was evident that Mr. Chillingworth
had met with a man who was his superior in point of strength, for he not only
withstood the utmost force that Chillingworth could bring against him, but
maintained himself, and turned his strength against the doctor.
Chillingworth
panted with exertion, and found himself gradually losing ground, and was upon
the point of being thrown down at the mercy of his adversary, who appeared to
be inclined to take all advantages of him, when an occurrence happened that
altered the state of affairs altogether.
While
they were struggling, the doctor borne partially to the earth—but yet
struggling, suddenly his antagonist released his hold, and staggered back a few
paces.
"There,
you swab—take that; I am yard-arm and yard-arm with you, you piratical-looking
craft—you lubberly, buccaneering son of a fish-fag."
Before,
however, Jack Pringle, for it was he who came so opportunely to the rescue of
Doctor Chillingworth, could find time to finish the sentence, he found himself
assailed by the very man who, but a minute before, he had, as he thought,
placed
hors de combat
.
A
desperate fight ensued, and the stranger made the greatest efforts to escape
with the picture, but found he could not get off without a desperate struggle.
He was, at length, compelled to relinquish the hope of carrying that off, for
both Mr. Chillingworth and Jack Pringle were engaged hand to hand; but the
stranger struck Jack so heavy a blow on the head, that made him reel a few
yards, and then he escaped through the window, leaving Jack and Mr.
Chillingworth masters of the field, but by no means unscathed by the conflict
in which they had been engaged.
THE GRAND CONSULTATION BROKEN UP BY MRS. CHILLINGWORTH, AND
THE DISAPPEARANCE OF VARNEY.
Remarkable
was the change that had taken place in the circumstances of the Bannerworth
family. From a state of great despondency, and, indeed, absolute poverty, they
had suddenly risen to comfort and independence.
It
seemed as if the clouds that had obscured their destiny, had now, with one
accord, dissipated, and that a brighter day was dawning. Not only had the
circumstances of mental terror which had surrounded them given way in a great
measure to the light of truth and reflection, but those pecuniary distresses
which had pressed upon them for a time, were likewise passing away, and it
seemed probable that they would be in a prosperous condition.
The
acquisition of the title deeds of the estate
, which they thought had passed away from the family
for ever, became to them, in their present circumstances, an immense
acquisition, and brought to their minds a feeling of great contentment.
Many
persons in their situation would have been extremely satisfied at having
secured so strong an interest in the mind of the old admiral, who was very
wealthy, and who, from what he had already said and done, no doubt fully
intended to provide handsomely for the Bannerworth family.
And
not only had they this to look forward to, if they had chosen to regard it as
an advantage, but they knew that by the marriage of Flora with Charles Holland
she would have a fortune at her disposal, while he (Charles) would be the last
man in the world to demur at any reasonable amount of it being lavished upon
her mother and her brothers.
But
all this did not suit the high and independent spirit of Henry Bannerworth. He
was one who would rather have eaten the dust that he procured for himself by
some meritorious exertion, than have feasted on the most delicate viands placed
before him from the resources of another.
But
now that he knew this small estate, the title deeds of which had been so
singularly obtained, had once really belonged to the family, but had been
risked and lost at the gaming-table, he had no earthly scruple in calling such
property again his own.
As to
the large sum of money which Sir Francis Varney in his confessions had declared
to have found its way into the possession of Marmaduke Bannerworth, Henry did
not expect, and scarcely wished to become possessed of wealth through so
tainted a source.
"No,"
he said to himself frequently; "no—I care not if that wealth be never
forthcoming, which was so badly got possession of. Let it sink into the earth,
if, indeed, it be buried there; or let it rot in some unknown corner of the old
mansion. I care not for it."
In
this view of the case he was not alone, for a family more unselfish, or who
cared so little for money, could scarcely have been found; but Admiral Bell and
Charles Holland argued now that they had a right to the amount of money which
Marmaduke Bannerworth had hidden somewhere, and the old admiral reasoned upon
it rather ingeniously, for he said,—
"I
suppose you don't mean to dispute that the money belongs to somebody, and in
that case I should like to know who else it belonged to, if not to you? How do
you get over that, master Henry?"
"I
don't attempt to get over it at all," said Henry; "all I say is, that
I do dislike the whole circumstances connected with it, and the manner in which
it was come by; and, now that we have a small independence, I hope it will not
be found. But, admiral, we are going to hold a family consultation as to what
we shall do, and what is to become of Varney. He has convinced me of his
relationship to our family, and, although his conduct has certainly been
extremely equivocal, he has made all the amends in his power; and now, as he is
getting old, I do not like to throw him upon the wide world for a
subsistence."
"You
don't contemplate," said the admiral, "letting him remain with you,
do you?"
"No;
that would be objectionable for a variety of reasons; and I could not think of
it for a moment."
"I
should think not. The idea of sitting down to breakfast, dinner, tea, and
supper with a vampyre, and taking your grog with a fellow that sucks other
people's blood!"
"Really,
admiral, you do not really still cling to the idea that Sir Francis Varney is a
vampyre."
"I
really don't know; he clings to it himself, that's all I can say; and I think,
under those circumstances, I might as well give him the benefit of his own
proposition, and suppose that he is a vampyre."
"Really,
uncle," said Charles Holland, "I did think that you had discarded the
notion."
"Did
you? I have been thinking of it, and it ain't so desirable to be a vampyre, I
am sure, that any one should pretend to it who is not; therefore, I take the
fellow upon his own showing. He is a vampyre in his own opinion, and so I don't
see, for the life of me, why he should not be so in ours."
"Well,"
said Henry, "waving all that, what are we to do with him? Circumstances
seem to have thrown him completely at our mercy. What are we to do with him,
and what is to become of him for the future?"
"I'll
tell you what I'll do," said the admiral. "If he were ten times a
vampyre, there is some good in the fellow; and I will give him enough to live
upon if he will go to America and spend it. They will take good care there that
he sucks no blood out of them; for, although an American would always rather
lose a drop of blood than a dollar, they keep a pretty sharp look out upon
both."
"The
proposal can be made to him," said Henry, "at all events. It is one
which I don't dislike, and probably one that he would embrace at once; because
he seems, to me, to have completely done with ambition, and to have abandoned
those projects concerning which, at one time, he took such a world of
trouble."
"Don't
you trust to that," said the admiral. "What's bred in the bone don't
so easily get out of the flesh; and once or twice, when Master Varney has been
talking, I have seen those odd looking eyes of his flash up for a moment, as if
he were quite ready to begin his old capers again, and alarm the whole country
side."
"I
must confess," said Charles Holland, "that I myself have had the
impression once or twice that Varney was only subdued for a time, and that,
with a proper amount of provocation, he would become again a very serious
fellow, and to the full as troublesome as he has been."
"Do
you doubt his sincerity?" said Henry.
"No,
I do not do that, Henry: I think Varney fully means what he says; but I think,
at the same time, that he has for so long lead a strange, wild, and reckless
life, that he will find it very far from easy, if indeed possible, to shake off
his old habits and settle down quietly, if not to say comfortably."
"I
regret," said Henry, "that you have such an impression; but, while I
do so, I cannot help admitting that it is, to a considerable extent, no more than
a reasonable one; and perhaps, after all, my expectation that Varney will give
us no more trouble, only amounts to a hope that he will not do so, and nothing
more. But let us consider; there seems to be some slight difference of opinion
among us, as to whether we should take up our residence at this new house of
ours, which we did not know we owned, at Dearbrook, or proceed to London, and
there establish ourselves, or again return to Bannerworth Hall, and, by a
judicious expenditure of some money, make that a more habitable place than it
has been for the last twenty years."
"Now,
I'll tell you what," said the admiral, "I would do. It's quite out of
the question for any body to live long unless they see a ship; don't you think
so, Miss Flora?"
"Why,
how can you ask Flora such a question, uncle," said Charles Holland,
"when you know she don't care a straw about ships, and only looks upon
admirals as natural curiosities?"
"Excepting
one," said Flora, "and he is an admiral who is natural but no
curiosity, unless it be that you, can call him such because he is so just and
generous, and, as for ships, who can help admiring them; and if Admiral Bell
proposes that we live in some pleasant, marine villa by the sea-coast, he shall
have my vote and interest for the proceeding."
"Bravo!
Huzza!" cried the admiral. "I tell you what it is, Master Charley—you
horse marine,—I have a great mind to cut you out, and have Miss Flora
myself."
"Don't,
uncle," said Charles; "that would be so very cruel, after she has
promised me so faithfully. How do you suppose I should like it; come now, be
merciful."
At
this moment, and before any one could make another remark, there came rather a
sharp ring at the garden-gate bell, and Henry exclaimed,—
"That's
Mr. Chillingworth, and I am glad he has come in time to join our conference.
His advice is always valuable; and, moreover, I rather think he will bring us
some news worth the hearing."
The
one servant who they had to wait upon them looked into the room, and
said,—"If you please, here is Mrs. Chillingworth."
"Mistress?
you mean Mr."
"No;
it is Mrs. Chillingworth and her baby."
"The
devil!" said the admiral; "what can she want?"
"I'll
come and let you know," said Mrs. Chillingworth, "what I want;"
and she darted into the room past the servant. "I'll soon let you know,
you great sea crab. I want my husband; and what with your vampyre, and one
thing and another, I haven't had him at home an hour for the past three weeks.
What am I to do? There is all his patients getting well as fast as they can
without him; and, when they find that out, do you think they will take any more
filthy physic? No, to be sure not; people ain't such fools as to do anything of
the sort."
"I'll
tell you what we will do, ma'am," said the admiral; "we'll all get
ill at once, on purpose to oblige ye; and I'll begin by having the
measles."
"You
are an old porpoise, and I believe it all owing to you that my husband neglects
his wife and family. What's vampyres to him, I should like to know, that he
should go troubling about them? I never heard of vampyres taking draughts and
pills."
"No,
nor any body else that had the sense of a goose," said the admiral;
"but if it's your husband you want, ma'am, it's no use your looking for
him here, for here he is not."
"Then
where is he? He is running after some of your beastly vampyres somewhere, I'll
be bound, and you know where to send for him."
"Then
you are mistaken; for, indeed, we don't. We want him ourselves, ma'am, and
can't find him—that's the fact."
"It's
all very well talking, sir, but if you were a married woman, with a family
about you, and the last at the breast, you'd feel very different from what you
do now."
"I'm
d——d if I don't suppose I should," said the admiral; "but as for the
last, ma'am, I'd soon settle that. I'd wring its neck, and shove it
overboard."
"You
would, you brute? It's quite clear to me you never had a child of your
own."
"Mrs.
Chillingworth," said Henry, "I think you have no right to complain to
us of your domestic affairs. Where your husband goes, and what he does, is at
his own will and pleasure, and, really, I don't see that we are to be made
answerable as to whether he is at home or abroad; to say nothing of the bad
taste—and bad taste it most certainly is, of talking of your private affairs to
other people."
"Oh,
dear!" said Mrs. Chillingworth; "that's your idea, is it, you
no-whiskered puppy?"
"Really,
madam, I cannot see what my being destitute of whiskers has to do with the
affair; and I am inclined to think my opinion is quite as good without them as
with them."
"I
will speak," said Flora, "to the doctor, when I see him."
"Will
you, Miss Doll's-eyes? Oh, dear me! you'll speak to the doctor, will you?"
"What
on earth do you want?" said Henry. "For your husband's sake, whom we
all respect, we wish to treat you with every imaginable civility; but we tell
you, candidly, that he is not here, and, therefore, we cannot conceive what
more you can require of us."
"Oh,
it's a row," said the admiral; "that's what she wants—woman like.
D——d a bit do they care what it's about as long as there's a disturbance. And
now, ma'am, will you sit down and have a glass of grog?"
"No,
I will not sit down; and all I can say is, that I look upon this place as a den
full of snakes and reptiles. That's my opinion; so I'll not stay any longer;
but, wishing that great judgments may some day come home to you all, and that
you may know what it is to be a mother, with five babies, and one at the
breast, I despise you all and leave you."
So
saying, Mrs. Chillingworth walked from the place, feeling herself highly hurt
and offended at what had ensued; and they were compelled to let her go just as
she was, without giving her any information, for they had a vivid recollection
of the serious disturbance she had created on a former occasion, when she had
actually headed a mob, for the purpose of hunting out Varney, the vampyre, from
Bannerworth Hall, and putting an end consequently, as she considered, to that
set of circumstances which kept the doctor so much from his house, to the great
detriment of a not very extensive practice.