Wylder's Hand

Home > Horror > Wylder's Hand > Page 56
Wylder's Hand Page 56

by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu


  CHAPTER LV.

  THE CAPTAIN AND THE ATTORNEY CONVERSE AMONG THE TOMBS.

  I cannot tell whether that slender, silken machinator, Captain Lake,loitered in the chapel for the purpose of talking to or avoiding Jos.Larkin, who was standing at the doorway, in sad but gracious conversewith the vicar.

  He was certainly observing him from among the tombs in his sly way. Andthe attorney, who had a way, like him, of noting things without appearingto see them, was conscious of it, and was perhaps decided by this trifleto accost the gallant captain.

  So he glided up the short aisle with a sad religious smile, suited to theplace, and inclined his lank back and his tall bald head toward thecaptain in ceremonious greeting as he approached.

  'How d'ye do, Larkin? The fog makes one cough a little this evening.'

  Larkin's answer, thanks, and enquiries, came gravely in return. And withthe same sad smile he looked round on the figures, some marble, somepainted stone, of departed Brandons and Wylders, with garrulous epitaphs,who surrounded them in various costumes, quite a family group, in whichthe attorney was gratified to mingle.

  '_Ancestry_, Captain Lake--_your_ ancestry--noble assemblage--monumentsand timber. Timber like the Brandon oaks, and monuments like these--theseare things which, whatever else he may acquire, the _novus homo_, CaptainBrandon Lake--the _parvenu_--can never command.'

  Mr. Jos. Larkin had a smattering of school Latin, and knew half-a-dozenFrench words, which he took out on occasion.

  'Certainly our good people do occupy some space here; more regularattendants in church, than, I fear, they formerly were; and their virtuesmore remarked, perhaps, than before the stone-cutter was instructed topublish them with his chisel,' answered Lake, with one of his quietsneers.

  'Beautiful chapel this, Captain Lake--beautiful chapel, Sir,' said theattorney, again looking round with a dreary smile of admiration. Butthough his accents were engaging and he smiled--of course, a Sabbath-daysmile--yet Captain Lake perceived that it was not the dove's but therat's eyes that were doing duty under that tall bald brow.

  'Solemn thoughts, Sir--solemn thoughts, Captain Lake--silent mentors,eloquent monitors!' And he waved his long lank hand toward the monumentalgroups.

  'Yes,' said Lake, in the same mocking tone, that was low and sweet, andeasily mistaken for something more amiable. 'You and they go capitallytogether--so solemn, and eloquent, and godly--capital fellows! _I_'m nothalf good enough for such company--and the place is growing rathercold--is not it?'

  'A great many Wylders, Sir--a great many _Wylders_.' And the attorneydropped his voice, and paused at this emphasis, pointing a long fingertoward the surrounding effigies.

  Captain Lake, after his custom, glared a single full look upon theattorney, sudden as the flash of a pair of guns from their embrasures inthe dark; and he said quietly, with a wave of his cane in the samedirection--

  'Yes, a precious lot of Wylders.'

  'Is there a _Wylder_ vault here, Captain Brandon Lake?'

  'Hanged if I know!--what the devil's that to you or me, Sir?' answeredthe captain, with a peevish sullenness.

  'I was thinking, Captain Lake, whether in the event of its turning outthat Mr. Mark Wylder was _dead_, it would be thought proper to lay hisbody here?'

  'Dead, Sir!--and what the plague puts that in your head? You arecorresponding with him--aren't you?'

  'I'll tell you exactly how that is, Captain Lake. May I take the libertyto ask you for one moment to look up?'

  As between these two gentlemen, this, it must be allowed, was animpertinent request. But Captain Lake did look up, and there wassomething extraordinarily unpleasant in his yellow eyes, as he fixed themupon the contracted pupils of the attorney, who, nothing daunted, wenton--

  'Pray, excuse me--thank you, Captain Lake--they say one is better heardwhen looked at than when not seen; and I wish to speak rather low, forreasons.'

  Each looked the other in the eyes, with that uncertain and sinister gazewhich has a character both of fear and menace.

  'I have received those letters, Captain Lake, of which I spoke to youwhen I last had the honour of seeing you, as furnishing, in certaincircumstances connected with them, grave matter of suspicion, since whenI have _not_ received one with Mr. Wylder's signature. But I _have_received, only the other day, a letter from a new correspondent--a personsigning himself James Dutton--announcing his belief that Mr. Mark Wylderis dead--_is dead_--and has been made away with by foul means; and I havearranged, immediately on his arrival, at his desire, to meet himprofessionally, and to hear the entire narrative, both of what he knowsand of what he suspects.'

  As Jos. Larkin delivered this with stern features and emphasis, thecaptain's countenance underwent such a change as convinced the attorneythat some indescribable evil had befallen Mark Wylder, and that CaptainBrandon Lake had a guilty knowledge thereof. With this conviction came asense of superiority and a pleasant confidence in his position, whichbetrayed itself in a slight frown and a pallid smile, as he lookedsteadily in the young man's face, with his small, crafty, hungry eyes.

  Lake knew that his face had betrayed him. He had felt the livid change ofcolour, and that twitching at his mouth and cheek which he could notcontrol. The mean, tyrannical, triumphant gaze of the attorney was uponhim, and his own countenance was his accuser.

  Lake ground his teeth, and returned Jos. Larkin's intimidating smirk witha look of fury, which--for he now believed he held the winning cards--didnot appal him.

  Lake cleared his throat twice, but did not find his voice, and turnedaway and read half through the epitaph on Lady Mary Brandon, which is apious and somewhat puritanical composition. I hope it did him good.

  'You know, Sir,' said Captain Lake, but a little huskily, turning aboutand smiling at last, 'that Mark Wylder is nothing to me. We don'tcorrespond: we have not corresponded. I know--upon my honour and soul,Sir--nothing on earth about him--what he's doing, where he is, or what'sbecome of him. But I can't hear a man of business like you assert, uponwhat he conceives to be reliable information--situated as the Brandontitle is--depending, I mean, in some measure, upon his life--that MarkWylder is no more, without being a good deal shocked.'

  'I quite understand, Sir--quite, Captain Lake. It is very serious, Sir,very; but I can't believe it has gone that length, quite. I shall knowmore, of course, when I've seen James Dutton. I can't think, I mean, he'sbeen made away with in that sense; nor how that could benefit anyone; andI'd much rather, Captain Lake, move in this matter--since move I must--inyour interest--I mean, as your friend and man of business--than in anyway, Captain Lake, that might possibly involve you in trouble.'

  'You _are_ my man of business--aren't you? and have no grounds forill-will--eh?' said the captain, drily.

  'No ill-will certainly--quite the reverse. Thank Heaven, I think I maytruly say, I bear ill-will to no man living; and wish you, Captain Lake,nothing but good, Sir--nothing but good.'

  'Except a hasty word or two, I know no reason you should _not_,' said thecaptain, in the same tone.

  'Quite so. But, Captain Brandon Lake, there is nothing like beingcompletely above-board--it has been my rule through life; and I willsay--it would not be frank and candid to say anything else--that I haveof late been anything but satisfied with the position which, ostensiblyyour professional adviser and confidential man of business, I haveoccupied. Have I been consulted?--I put it to you; have I been trusted?Has there been any real confidence, Captain Lake, upon your part? Youhave certainly had relations with Mr. Mark Wylder--correspondence, foranything I know. You have entertained the project of purchasing theReverend William Wylder's reversion; and you have gone intoelectioneering business, and formed connections of that sort, withoutonce doing me the honour to confer with me on the subject. Now, the plainquestion is, do you wish to retain my services?'

  'Certainly,' said Captain Lake, biting his lip, with a sinister littlefrown.

  'Then, Captain Lake, upon the same principle, and speaking quiteabove-board, you must dism
iss at once from your mind the idea that you_can_ do so upon the terms you have of late seen fit to impose. I amspeaking frankly when I say there must be a total change. I must _be_ inreality what I am held out to the world as being--your trusted, andresponsible, and _sole_ adviser. I don't aspire to the position--I amwilling at this moment to retire from it; but I never yet knew a divideddirection come to good. It is an office of great responsibility, and Ifor one will not consent to touch it on any other conditions than those Ihave taken the liberty to mention.'

  'These are easily complied with--in fact I undertake to show you theyhave never been disturbed,' answered Lake, rather sullenly. 'So thatbeing understood--eh?--I suppose we have nothing particular to add?'

  And Captain Lake extended his gloved hand to take leave.

  But the attorney looked down and then up, with a shadow on his face, andhis lip in his finger and thumb, and he said--

  'That's all very well, and a _sine qua non_, so far as it goes! but, mydear Captain Lake, let us be plain. You must see, my dear Sir, with suchrumours, possibly about to get afloat, and such persons about to appear,as this James Dutton, that matters are really growing critical, andthere's no lack of able solicitors who would on speculation, undertake asuit upon less evidence, perhaps, than may be forthcoming, to upset yourtitle, under the will, through Mrs. Dorcas Brandon Lake--your jointtitle--in favour of the reversioner.'

  Lake only bit his lip and shook his head. The attorney knew, however,that the danger was quite appreciated, and went on--

  'You will, therefore, want a competent man--who has the papers at hisfingers' ends, and knows how to deal ably--_ably_, Sir, with a fellow ofJames Dutton's stamp--at your elbow. The fact is, to carry you safelythrough you will need pretty nearly the undivided attention of awell-qualified, able, and confidential practitioner; and I need not say,such a man is not to be had for nothing.'

  Lake nodded a seeming assent, which seemed to say, 'I have found it so.'

  'Now, my dear Captain Lake, I just mention this--I put it beforeyou--that is, because you know the county is not to be contested fornothing--and you'll want a very serious sum of money for the purpose, andpossibly a petition--and I can, one way or another, make up, with aneffort, about L15,000_l._ Now it strikes me that it would be a wise thingfor you--the wisest thing, perhaps, my dear Captain Lake, you everdid--to place me in the same boat with yourself.'

  'I don't exactly see.'

  'I'll make it quite clear.' The attorney's tall forehead had a littlepink flush over it at this moment, and he was looking down a little andpoking the base of Sir William de Braundon's monument with the point ofhis umbrella. 'I wish, Captain Lake, to be perfectly frank, and, as Isaid, above-board. You'll want the money, and you must make up your mindto sell Five Oaks.'

  Captain Lake shifted his foot, as if he had found it on a sudden on a hotflag.

  'Sell Five Oaks--that's fourteen hundred a year,' said he.

  'Hardly so much, but nearly, perhaps.'

  'Forty-three thousand pounds were offered for it. Old Chudworth offeredthat about ten years ago.'

  'Of course, Captain Lake, if you are looking for a fancy price from me Imust abandon the idea. I was merely supposing a dealing between friends,and in that sense I ventured to name the extreme limit to which I couldgo. Little more than five per cent, for my money, if I insure--andpossibly to defend an action before I've been six months in possession. Ithink my offer will strike you as a _great_ one, considering the postureof affairs. Indeed, I apprehend, my friends will hardly think mejustified in offering so much.'

  The sexton was walking back and forward near the door, making the bestclatter he decently could, and wondering the Captain and Lawyer Larkincould find no better place to talk in than the church.

  'In a moment--in a moment,' said the lawyer, signalling to him to bequiet, as loftily as if chapel, hall, and sexton were his privateproperty.

  It was one of those moments into which a good deal of talk is fitted, andwhich seem somewhat of the longest to those who await its expiration.

  The chapel was growing dark, and its stone and marble company of bygoneWylders and Brandons were losing themselves in shadow. Part of theperiwig and cheek of Sir Marcus Brandon still glimmered whitish, as at alittle distance did also the dim marble face and arm of the youngCountess of Lydingworth, mourning these hundred and thirty years over herdead baby. Sir William Wylder, in ruff, rosettes, and full dress of JamesI.'s fashion, on his back, defunct, with children in cloaks kneeling athead and foot, was hardly distinguishable; and the dusky crimson andtarnished gold had gone out of view till morning. The learned ArchbishopBrandon, a cadet, who filled the see of York in his day, and was the onlyunexceptionably godly personage of that long line, was praying, as usual,at his desk--perhaps to the saints and Virgin, for I believe he wasbefore the Reformation--in beard and skull-cap, as was evident from theblack profile of head and uplifted hands, against the dim sky seenthrough the chapel window. A dusky glow from the west still faintlyshowed Hans Holbein's proud 'Elector,' in the Brandon window, fading,with Death himself, and the dread inscription, 'Princeps indueturmaerore,' into utter darkness.

  The ice once broken, Jos. Larkin urged his point with all sorts ofarguments, always placing the proposed transaction in the most plausiblelights and attitudes, and handling his subject in round and flowingsentences. This master of persuasion was not aware that Captain Lake wasarguing the question for himself, on totally different grounds, and thatit was fixed in his mind pretty much in these terms:--

  'That old villain wants an exorbitant bribe--is he worth it?'

  He knew what the lawyer thought he did _not_ know--that Five Oaks washeld by the lawyers to be possibly _without_ those unfortunatelimitations which affected all the rest of the estate. It was only amoot-point; but the doubt had led Mr. Jos. Larkin to the selection.

  'I'll look in upon you between eight and nine in the morning, and I'llsay yes or no then,' said the captain, as they parted under the old stoneporch, the attorney with a graceful inclination, a sad smile, and a waveof his hand--the captain with his hands in the pockets of his loose coat,and a sidelong glance from his yellow eyes.

  The sky, as he looked toward Brandon, was draped in black cloud,intensely black, meeting a black horizon--except for one little rent ofdeep crimson which showed westward behind those antique gables and lordlytrees, like a lake of blood.

 

‹ Prev