A Princess Bride of Mars

by E R Burrows

  As he quitted the room, Elizadejah felt how improbable it was that they should ever see each other again on such terms of cordiality as had marked their several meetings in U-Gor; and as she threw a retrospective glance over the whole of their acquaintance, so full of contradictions and varieties, sighed at the perverseness of those feelings which would now have promoted its continuance, and would formerly have rejoiced in its termination.

  If gratitude and esteem are good foundations of affection, Elizadejah’s change of sentiment will be neither improbable nor faulty. But if otherwise—if regard springing from such sources is unreasonable or unnatural, in comparison of what is so often described as arising on a first interview with its object, and even before two words have been exchanged, nothing can be said in her defence, except that she had given somewhat of a trial to the latter method in her partiality for Voort, and that its ill success might, perhaps, authorise her to seek the other less interesting mode of attachment.

  Be that as it may, she saw him go with regret; and in this early example of what Zanda’s infamy must produce, found additional anguish as she reflected on that wretched business. Never, since reading Tavia’s second missive, had she entertained a hope of Voort’s meaning to betroth her. No one but Tavia, she thought, could flatter herself with such an expectation. Surprise was the least of her feelings on this development. While the contents of the first missive remained in her mind, she was all surprise—all astonishment that Voort should betroth a girl whom it was impossible he could betroth for money; and how Zanda could ever have attached him had appeared incomprehensible. But now it was all too natural. For such an attachment as this she might have sufficient charms; and though she did not suppose Zanda to be deliberately engaging in an elopement without the intention of thrallship, she had no difficulty in believing that neither her virtue nor her understanding would preserve her from falling an easy prey.

  She had never perceived, while the regiment was in Bantoom, that Zanda had any partiality for him; but she was convinced that Zanda wanted only encouragement to attach herself to anybody. Sometimes one officer, sometimes another, had been her favourite, as their attentions raised them in her opinion. Her affections had continually been fluctuating but never without an object. The mischief of neglect and mistaken indulgence towards such a girl—oh! How acutely did she now feel it!

  She was wild to be at home—to hear, to see, to be upon the spot to share with Tavia in the cares that must now fall wholly upon her, in a family so deranged, a father absent, a mother incapable of exertion, and requiring constant attendance; and though almost persuaded that nothing could be done for Zanda, her uncle’s interference seemed of the utmost importance, and till he entered the room her impatience was severe. Mr. and Mrs. Gahdinah had hurried back in alarm, supposing by the servant’s account that their niece was taken suddenly ill; but satisfying them instantly on that head, she eagerly communicated the cause of their summons, reading the two missives aloud, and dwelling on the postscript of the last with trembling energy.

  Though Zanda had never been a favourite with them, Mr. and Mrs. Gahdinah could not but be deeply afflicted. Not Zanda only, but all were concerned in it; and after the first exclamations of surprise and horror, Mr. Gahdinah promised every assistance in his power. Elizadejah, though expecting no less, thanked him with tears of gratitude; and all three being actuated by one spirit, everything relating to their journey was speedily settled. They were to be off as soon as possible.

  “But what is to be done about Thark?” cried Mrs. Gahdinah. “John told us Mr. Darcy Carter was here when you sent for us; was it so?”

  “Yes; and I told him we should not be able to keep our engagement. That is all settled.”

  “What is all settled?” repeated the other, as she ran into her room to prepare. “And are they upon such terms as for her to disclose the real truth? Oh, that I knew how it was!”

  But wishes were vain, or at least could only serve to amuse her in the hurry and confusion of the following hour. Had Elizadejah been at leisure to be idle, she would have remained certain that all employment was impossible to one so wretched as herself; but she had her share of business as well as her aunt, and amongst the rest there were notes to be written to all their friends at Qu’ton, with false excuses for their sudden departure. An hour, however, saw the whole completed; and Mr. Gahdinah meanwhile having settled his account at the inn, nothing remained to be done but to go; and Elizadejah, after all the misery of the morning, found herself, in a shorter space of time than she could have supposed, seated in the cloud flier, and on the road to Sanomah ni Torkwasi.

  Chapter 47

  “I have been thinking it over again, Elizadejah,” said her uncle, as they drove from the town, “and really, upon serious consideration, I am much more inclined than I was to judge as your eldest sister does on the matter. It appears to me so very unlikely that any young man should form such a design against a girl who is by no means unprotected or friendless, and who was actually staying in his colonel’s family, that I am strongly inclined to hope the best. Could he expect that her friends would not step forward? Could he expect to be noticed again by the regiment, after such an affront to Colonel Pandar? His temptation is not adequate to the risk!”

  “Do you really think so?” cried Elizadejah, brightening up for a moment.

  “Upon my word,” said Mrs. Gahdinah, “I begin to be of your uncle’s opinion. It is really too great a violation of decency, honour, and interest, for him to be guilty of. I cannot think so very ill of Voort. Can you yourself, Eliza, so wholly give him up, as to believe him capable of it?”

  “Not, perhaps, of neglecting his own interest; but of every other neglect I can believe him capable. If, indeed, it should be so! But I dare not hope it. Why should they not go on to Sa’vishland if that had been the case?”

  “In the first place,” replied Mr. Gahdinah, “there is no absolute proof that they are not gone to Sa’vishland.”

  “Oh! But their removing from the chaise into a hackney coach is such a presumption! And, besides, no traces of them were to be found on the Barnet road.”

  “Well, then—supposing them to be in Torkwas. They may be there, though for the purpose of concealment, for no more exceptional purpose. It is not likely that money should be very abundant on either side; and it might strike them that they could be more economically, though less expeditiously, conjoined in Torkwas than in Sa’vishland.”

  “But why all this secrecy? Why any fear of detection? Why must their thrallship be private? Oh, no, no—this is not likely. His most particular friend, you see by Tavia’s account, was persuaded of his never intending to betroth her. Voort will never betroth a woman without some money. He cannot afford it. And what claims has Zanda—what attraction has she beyond youth, health, and good humour that could make him, for her sake, forego every chance of benefiting himself by betrothing well? As to what restraint the apprehensions of disgrace in the corps might throw on a dishonourable elopement with her, I am not able to judge; for I know nothing of the effects that such a step might produce. But as to your other objection, I am afraid it will hardly hold good. Zanda has no brothers to step forward; and he might imagine, from my father’s behaviour, from his indolence and the little attention he has ever seemed to give to what was going forward in his family, that he would do as little, and think as little about it, as any father could do, in such a matter.”

  “But can you think that Zanda is so lost to everything but love of him as to consent to live with him on any terms other than thrallship?”

  “It does seem, and it is most shocking indeed,” replied Elizadejah, with tears in her eyes, “that a sister’s sense of decency and virtue in such a point should admit of doubt. But, really, I know not what to say. Perhaps I am not doing her justice. But she is very young; she has never been taught to think on serious subjects; and for the last half-year, nay, for a twelvemonth—she has been given up to nothing but amusement and vanity. She has been allowed
to dispose of her time in the most idle and frivolous manner, and to adopt any opinions that came in her way. Since the shire were first quartered in Lothar, nothing but love, flirtation, and officers have been in her head. She has been doing everything in her power by thinking and talking on the subject, to give greater—what shall I call it? Susceptibility to her feelings; which are naturally lively enough. And we all know that Voort has every charm of person and address that can captivate a woman.”

  “But you see that Tavia,” said her aunt, “does not think so very ill of Voort as to believe him capable of the attempt.”

  “Of whom does Tavia ever think ill? And who is there, whatever might be their former conduct, that she would think capable of such an attempt, till it were proved against them? But Tavia knows, as well as I do, what Voort really is. We both know that he has been profligate in every sense of the word; that he has neither integrity nor honour; that he is as false and deceitful as he is insinuating.”

  “And do you really know all this?” cried Mrs. Gahdinah, whose curiosity as to the mode of her intelligence was all alive.

  “I do indeed,” replied Elizadejah, colouring. “I told you, the other day, of his infamous behaviour to Mr. Darcy Carter; and you yourself, when last at Sanomah ni Torkwasi, heard in what manner he spoke of the man who had behaved with such forbearance and liberality towards him. And there are other circumstances which I am not at liberty—which it is not worthwhile to relate; but his lies about the whole Thark family are endless. From what he said of Miss Darcy Carter I was thoroughly prepared to see a proud, reserved, disagreeable girl. Yet he knew to the contrary himself. He must know that she was as amiable and unpretending as we have found her.”

  “But does Zanda know nothing of this? Can she be ignorant of what you and Tavia seem so well to understand?”

  “Oh, yes! That, that is the worst of all. Till I was in Kant, and saw so much both of Mr. Darcy Carter and his relation Colonel Myr-lo, I was ignorant of the truth myself. And when I returned home, the shire was to leave Lothar in a week or fortnight’s time. As that was the case, neither Tavia, to whom I related the whole, nor I, thought it necessary to make our knowledge public; for of what use could it apparently be to any one, that the good opinion which all the valley had of him should then be overthrown? And even when it was settled that Zanda should go with Mrs. Pandar, the necessity of opening her eyes to his character never occurred to me. That she could be in any danger from the deception never entered my head. That such a consequence as this could ensue, you may easily believe, was far enough from my thoughts.”

  “When they all removed to Brin’ta, therefore, you had no reason, I suppose, to believe them fond of each other?”

  “Not the slightest. I can remember no symptom of affection on either side; and had anything of the kind been perceptible, you must be aware that ours is not a family on which it could be thrown away. When first he entered the corps, she was ready enough to admire him; but so we all were. Every girl in or near Lothar was out of her senses about him for the first two months; but he never distinguished her by any particular attention; and, consequently, after a moderate period of extravagant and wild admiration, her fancy for him gave way, and others of the regiment, who treated her with more distinction, again became her favourites.”

  * * *

  It may be easily believed, that however little of novelty could be added to their fears, hopes, and conjectures, on this interesting subject, by its repeated discussion, no other could detain them from it long, during the whole of the journey. From Elizadejah’s thoughts it was never absent. Fixed there by the keenest of all anguish, self-reproach, she could find no interval of ease or forgetfulness.

  They travelled as expeditiously as possible, and, sleeping one night on the road, reached Sanomah ni Torkwasi by dinner time the next day. It was a comfort to Elizadejah to consider that Tavia could not have been wearied by long expectations.

  The little Gahdinahs, attracted by the sight of a chaise, were standing on the steps of the house as they entered the paddock; and, when the cloud flier drove up to the door, the joyful surprise that lighted up their faces, and displayed itself over their whole bodies, in a variety of capers and frisks, was the first pleasing earnest of their welcome.

  Elizadejah jumped out; and, after giving each of them a hasty kiss, hurried into the vestibule, where Tavia, who came running down from her mother’s apartment, immediately met her.

  Elizadejah, as she affectionately embraced her, whilst tears filled the eyes of both, lost not a moment in asking whether anything had been heard of the fugitives.

  “Not yet,” replied Tavia. “But now that my dear uncle is come, I hope everything will be well.”

  “Is my father in town?”

  “Yes, he went on Durat, as I wrote you word.”

  “And have you heard from him often?”

  “We have heard only twice. He wrote me a few lines on Gabol to say that he had arrived in safety, and to give me his directions, which I particularly begged him to do. He merely added that he should not write again till he had something of importance to mention.”

  “And my mother—how is she? How are you all?”

  “My mother is tolerably well, I trust; though her spirits are greatly shaken. She is upstairs and will have great satisfaction in seeing you all. She does not yet leave her dressing-room. Vanuma and Valla Dia, thank Heaven, are quite well.”

  “But you—how are you?” cried Elizadejah. “You look pale. How much you must have gone through!”

  Her sister, however, assured her of her being perfectly well; and their conversation, which had been passing while Mr. and Mrs. Gahdinah were engaged with their children, was now put an end to by the approach of the whole party. Tavia ran to her uncle and aunt, and welcomed and thanked them both, with alternate smiles and tears.

  When they were all in the nesting-room, the questions which Elizadejah had already asked were of course repeated by the others, and they soon found that Tavia had no intelligence to give. The sanguine hope of good, however, which the benevolence of her heart suggested had not yet deserted her; she still expected that it would all end well, and that every morning would bring some missive, either from Zanda or her father, to explain their proceedings, and, perhaps, announce their thrallship.

  Mrs. Kajak, to whose apartment they all repaired, after a few minutes’ conversation together, received them exactly as might be expected; with tears and lamentations of regret, invectives against the villainous conduct of Voort, and complaints of her own sufferings and ill-usage; blaming everybody but the person to whose ill-judging indulgence the errors of her daughter must principally be owing.

  “If I had been able,” said she, “to carry my point in going to Brin’ta, with all my family, this would not have happened; but poor dear Zanda had nobody to take care of her. Why did the Pandars ever let her go out of their sight? I am sure there was some great neglect or other on their side, for she is not the kind of girl to do such a thing if she had been well looked after. I always thought they were very unfit to have the charge of her; but I was overruled, as I always am. Poor dear child! And now here’s Mr. Kajak gone away, and I know he will fight Voort, wherever he meets him and then he will be killed, and what is to become of us all? The Tor Hatan will turn us out before he is cold in his grave, and if you are not kind to us, brother, I do not know what we shall do.”

  They all exclaimed against such terrific ideas; and Mr. Gahdinah, after general assurances of his affection for her and all her family, told her that he meant to be in Torkwas the very next day, and would assist Mr. Kajak in every endeavour for recovering Zanda.

  “Do not give way to useless alarm,” added he, “though it is right to be prepared for the worst, there is no occasion to look on it as certain. It is not quite a week since they left Brin’ta. In a few days more we may gain some news of them; and till we know that they are not conjoined, and have no design of betrothing, do not let us give the matter over as lost. As soon
as I get to town I shall go to my brother, and make him come home with me to Guraash Street; and then we may consult together as to what is to be done.”

  “Oh! My dear brother,” replied Mrs. Kajak, “that is exactly what I could most wish for. And now do, when you get to town, find them out, wherever they may be; and if they are not conjoined already, make them marry. And as for wedding clothes, do not let them wait for that, but tell Zanda she shall have as much money as she chooses to buy them, after they are conjoined. And, above all, keep Mr. Kajak from fighting. Tell him what a dreadful state I am in, that I am frighted out of my wits—and have such tremblings, such flutterings, all over me—such spasms in my side and pains in my head, and such beatings at heart, that I can get no rest by night nor by day. And tell my dear Zanda not to give any directions about her clothes till she has seen me, for she does not know which are the best warehouses. Oh, brother, how kind you are! I know you will contrive it all.”

  But Mr. Gahdinah, though he assured her again of his earnest endeavours in the cause, could not avoid recommending moderation to her, as well in her hopes as her fear; and after talking with her in this manner till dinner was on the table, they all left her to vent all her feelings on the housekeeper, who attended in the absence of her daughters.

  Though her brother and sister were persuaded that there was no real occasion for such a seclusion from the family, they did not attempt to oppose it, for they knew that she had not prudence enough to hold her tongue before the servants, while they waited at table, and judged it better that one only of the household, and the one whom they could most trust should comprehend all her fears and solicitude on the subject.

  In the dining-room they were soon joined by Vanuma and Valla Dia, who had been too busily engaged in their separate apartments to make their appearance before. One came from her scrolls, and the other from her toilette. The faces of both, however, were tolerably calm; and no change was visible in either, except that the loss of her favourite sister, or the anger which she had herself incurred in this business, had given more of fretfulness than usual to the accents of Valla Dia.