The Plague, Pestilence & Apocalypse MEGAPACK™

by Robert Reed

  loved by Evadne . Overpowered by her new sensations, she did not

  pause to examine them, or to regulate her conduct by any sentiments

  except the tyrannical one which suddenly usurped the empire of her

  heart. She yielded to its influence, and the too natural consequence in

  a mind unattuned to soft emotions was, that the attentions of Adrian

  became distasteful to her . She grew capricious; her gentle conduct

  towards him was exchanged for asperity and repulsive coldness .

  When she perceived the wild or pathetic appeal of his expressive

  countenance, she would relent, and for a while resume her ancient

  kindness. But these fluctuations shook to its depths the soul of the

  sensitive youth; he no longer deemed the world subject to him, be-

  cause he possessed Evadne’s love; he felt in every nerve that the dire

  storms of the mental universe were about to attack his fragile being,

  which quivered at the expectation of its advent .

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  Perdita, who then resided with Evadne, saw the torture that

  Adrian endured . She loved him as a kind elder brother; a relation

  to guide, protect, and instruct her, without the too frequent tyranny

  of parental authority . She adored his virtues, and with mixed con-

  tempt and indignation she saw Evadne pile drear sorrow on his head,

  for the sake of one who hardly marked her . In his solitary despair

  Adrian would often seek my sister, and in covered terms express his

  misery, while fortitude and agony divided the throne of his mind .

  Soon, alas! was one to conquer . Anger made no part of his emotion .

  With whom should he be angry? Not with Raymond, who was un-

  conscious of the misery he occasioned; not with Evadne, for her his

  soul wept tears of blood—poor, mistaken girl, slave not tyrant was

  she, and amidst his own anguish he grieved for her future destiny .

  Once a writing of his fell into Perdita’s hands; it was blotted with

  tears—well might any blot it with the like—

  “Life”—it began thus—“is not the thing romance writers de-

  scribe it; going through the measures of a dance, and after various

  evolutions arriving at a conclusion, when the dancers may sit down

  and repose . While there is life there is action and change . We go

  on, each thought linked to the one which was its parent, each act to

  a previous act . No joy or sorrow dies barren of progeny, which for

  ever generated and generating, weaves the chain that make our life:

  Un dia llama a otro dia y ass i llama, y encadena llanto

  a llanto, y pena a pena.

  Truly disappointment is the guardian deity of human life; she

  sits at the threshold of unborn time, and marshals the events as they

  come forth . Once my heart sat lightly in my bosom; all the beauty

  of the world was doubly beautiful, irradiated by the sun-light shed

  from my own soul . O wherefore are love and ruin for ever joined

  in this our mortal dream? So that when we make our hearts a lair

  for that gently seeming beast, its companion enters with it, and piti-

  lessly lays waste what might have been an home and a shelter .”

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  By degrees his health was shaken by his misery, and then his

  intellect yielded to the same tyranny . His manners grew wild; he

  was sometimes ferocious, sometimes absorbed in speechless mel-

  ancholy . Suddenly Evadne quitted London for Paris; he followed,

  and overtook her when the vessel was about to sail; none knew what

  passed between them, but Perdita had never seen him since; he lived

  in seclusion, no one knew where, attended by such persons as his

  mother selected for that purpose .

  CHAPTER IV.

  THE next day Lord Raymond called at Perdita’s cottage, on his

  way to Windsor Castle . My sister’s heightened colour and sparkling

  eyes half revealed her secret to me . He was perfectly self-possessed;

  he accosted us both with courtesy, seemed immediately to enter into

  our feelings, and to make one with us . I scanned his physiognomy,

  which varied as he spoke, yet was beautiful in every change . The

  usual expression of his eyes was soft, though at times he could make

  them even glare with ferocity; his complexion was colourless; and

  every trait spoke predominate self-will; his smile was pleasing,

  though disdain too often curled his lips—lips which to female eyes

  were the very throne of beauty and love . His voice, usually gentle,

  often startled you by a sharp discordant note, which shewed that his

  usual low tone was rather the work of study than nature . Thus full

  of contradictions, unbending yet haughty, gentle yet fierce, tender

  and again neglectful, he by some strange art found easy entrance

  to the admiration and affection of women; now caressing and now

  tyrannizing over them according to his mood, but in every change

  a despot .

  At the present time Raymond evidently wished to appear ami-

  able . Wit, hilarity, and deep observation were mingled in his talk,

  rendering every sentence that he uttered as a flash of light. He soon

  conquered my latent distaste; I endeavoured to watch him and Per-

  dita, and to keep in mind every thing I had heard to his disadvantage .

  But all appeared so ingenuous, and all was so fascinating, that I

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  forgot everything except the pleasure his society afforded me . Un-

  der the idea of initiating me in the scene of English politics and

  society, of which I was soon to become a part, he narrated a number

  of anecdotes, and sketched many characters; his discourse, rich and

  varied, flowed on, pervading all my senses with pleasure. But for

  one thing he would have been completely triumphant . He alluded to

  Adrian, and spoke of him with that disparagement that the worldly

  wise always attach to enthusiasm . He perceived the cloud gathering,

  and tried to dissipate it; but the strength of my feelings would not

  permit me to pass thus lightly over this sacred subject; so I said em-

  phatically, “Permit me to remark, that I am devotedly attached to the

  Earl of Windsor; he is my best friend and benefactor . I reverence his

  goodness, I accord with his opinions, and bitterly lament his pres-

  ent, and I trust temporary, illness . That illness, from its peculiarity,

  makes it painful to me beyond words to hear him mentioned, unless

  in terms of respect and affection .”

  Raymond replied; but there was nothing conciliatory in his reply .

  I saw that in his heart he despised those dedicated to any but worldly

  idols . “Every man,” he said, “dreams about something, love, hon-

  our, and pleasure; you dream of friendship, and devote yourself to a

  maniac; well, if that be your vocation, doubtless you are in the right

  to follow it .”—

  Some reflection seemed to sting him, and the spasm of pain that

  for a moment convulsed his countenance, checked my indignation .

  “Happy are dreamers,” he continued, “so that they be not awakened!

  Would I could dream! but ‘broad and garish day’ is the element in

  which I live; the dazzling glare o
f reality inverts the scene for me .

  Even the ghost of friendship has departed, and love”——He broke

  off; nor could I guess whether the disdain that curled his lip was

  directed against the passion, or against himself for being its slave .

  This account may be taken as a sample of my intercourse with

  Lord Raymond . I became intimate with him, and each day afforded

  me occasion to admire more and more his powerful and versatile

  talents, that together with his eloquence, which was graceful and

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  witty, and his wealth now immense, caused him to be feared, loved,

  and hated beyond any other man in England .

  My descent, which claimed interest, if not respect, my former

  connection with Adrian, the favour of the ambassador, whose secre-

  tary I had been, and now my intimacy with Lord Raymond, gave me

  easy access to the fashionable and political circles of England . To

  my inexperience we at first appeared on the eve of a civil war; each

  party was violent, acrimonious, and unyielding . Parliament was di-

  vided by three factions, aristocrats, democrats, and royalists . After

  Adrian’s declared predeliction to the republican form of government,

  the latter party had nearly died away, chiefless, guideless; but, when

  Lord Raymond came forward as its leader, it revived with redoubled

  force . Some were royalists from prejudice and ancient affection, and

  there were many moderately inclined who feared alike the capri-

  cious tyranny of the popular party, and the unbending despotism of

  the aristocrats . More than a third of the members ranged themselves

  under Raymond, and their number was perpetually encreasing . The

  aristocrats built their hopes on their preponderant wealth and influ-

  ence; the reformers on the force of the nation itself; the debates were

  violent, more violent the discourses held by each knot of politicians

  as they assembled to arrange their measures . Opprobrious epithets

  were bandied about, resistance even to the death threatened; meet-

  ings of the populace disturbed the quiet order of the country; except

  in war, how could all this end? Even as the destructive flames were

  ready to break forth, I saw them shrink back; allayed by the absence

  of the military, by the aversion entertained by every one to any vio-

  lence, save that of speech, and by the cordial politeness and even

  friendship of the hostile leaders when they met in private society .

  I was from a thousand motives induced to attend minutely to the

  course of events, and watch each turn with intense anxiety .

  I could not but perceive that Perdita loved Raymond; methought

  also that he regarded the fair daughter of Verney with admiration

  and tenderness . Yet I knew that he was urging forward his marriage

  with the presumptive heiress of the Earldom of Windsor, with keen

  expectation of the advantages that would thence accrue to him . All

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  the ex-queen’s friends were his friends; no week passed that he did

  not hold consultations with her at Windsor .

  I had never seen the sister of Adrian . I had heard that she was

  lovely, amiable, and fascinating . Wherefore should I see her? There

  are times when we have an indefinable sentiment of impending

  change for better or for worse, to arise from an event; and, be it for

  better or for worse, we fear the change, and shun the event . For this

  reason I avoided this high-born damsel . To me she was everything

  and nothing; her very name mentioned by another made me start

  and tremble; the endless discussion concerning her union with Lord

  Raymond was real agony to me . Methought that, Adrian withdrawn

  from active life, and this beauteous Idris, a victim probably to her

  mother’s ambitious schemes, I ought to come forward to protect her

  from undue influence, guard her from unhappiness, and secure to

  her freedom of choice, the right of every human being . Yet how was

  I to do this? She herself would disdain my interference . Since then I

  must be an object of indifference or contempt to her, better, far bet-

  ter avoid her, nor expose myself before her and the scornful world

  to the chance of playing the mad game of a fond, foolish Icarus . One

  day, several months after my return to England, I quitted London to

  visit my sister . Her society was my chief solace and delight; and my

  spirits always rose at the expectation of seeing her . Her conversation

  was full of pointed remark and discernment; in her pleasant alcove,

  redolent with sweetest flowers, adorned by magnificent casts, an-

  tique vases, and copies of the finest pictures of Raphael, Correggio,

  and Claude, painted by herself, I fancied myself in a fairy retreat

  untainted by and inaccessible to the noisy contentions of politicians

  and the frivolous pursuits of fashion . On this occasion, my sister

  was not alone; nor could I fail to recognise her companion: it was

  Idris, the till now unseen object of my mad idolatry .

  In what fitting terms of wonder and delight, in what choice

  expression and soft flow of language, can I usher in the loveliest,

  wisest, best? How in poor assemblage of words convey the halo of

  glory that surrounded her, the thousand graces that waited unwearied

  on her. The first thing that struck you on beholding that charming

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  countenance was its perfect goodness and frankness; candour sat

  upon her brow, simplicity in her eyes, heavenly benignity in her

  smile. Her tall slim figure bent gracefully as a poplar to the breezy

  west, and her gait, goddess-like, was as that of a winged angel new

  alit from heaven’s high floor; the pearly fairness of her complexion

  was stained by a pure suffusion; her voice resembled the low, sub-

  dued tenor of a flute. It is easiest perhaps to describe by contrast. I

  have detailed the perfections of my sister; and yet she was utterly

  unlike Idris . Perdita, even where she loved, was reserved and timid;

  Idris was frank and confiding. The one recoiled to solitude, that she

  might there entrench herself from disappointment and injury; the

  other walked forth in open day, believing that none would harm her .

  Wordsworth has compared a beloved female to two fair objects in

  nature; but his lines always appeared to me rather a contrast than a

  similitude:

  A violet by a mossy stone

  Half hidden from the eye,

  Fair as a star when only one

  Is shining in the sky.

  Such a violet was sweet Perdita, trembling to entrust herself to

  the very air, cowering from observation, yet betrayed by her excel-

  lences; and repaying with a thousand graces the labour of those who

  sought her in her lonely bye-path . Idris was as the star, set in single

  splendour in the dim anadem of balmy evening; ready to enlighten

  and delight the subject world, shielded herself from every taint by

  her unimagined distance from all that was not like herself akin to

  heaven .

  I found this vision of beauty in Perdita’s alcove, in earnest con-

  versation with its inmate . Whe
n my sister saw me, she rose, and

  taking my hand, said, “He is here, even at our wish; this is Lionel,

  my brother .” Idris arose also, and bent on me her eyes of celestial

  blue, and with grace peculiar said—“You hardly need an introduc-

  tion; we have a picture, highly valued by my father, which declares

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  at once your name . Verney, you will acknowledge this tie, and as my

  brother’s friend, I feel that I may trust you .”

  Then, with lids humid with a tear and trembling voice, she con-

  tinued— “Dear friends, do not think it strange that now, visiting

  you for the first time, I ask your assistance, and confide my wishes

  and fears to you . To you alone do I dare speak; I have heard you

  commended by impartial spectators; you are my brother’s friends,

  therefore you must be mine . What can I say? if you refuse to aid me,

  I am lost indeed!” She cast up her eyes, while wonder held her audi-

  tors mute; then, as if carried away by her feelings, she cried—“My

  brother! beloved, ill-fated Adrian! how speak of your misfortunes?

  Doubtless you have both heard the current tale; perhaps believe the

  slander; but he is not mad! Were an angel from the foot of God’s

  throne to assert it, never, never would I believe it . He is wronged,

  betrayed, imprisoned—save him! Verney, you must do this; seek

  him out in whatever part of the island he is immured; find him, res-

  cue him from his persecutors, restore him to himself, to me—on the

  wide earth I have none to love but only him!”

  Her earnest appeal, so sweetly and passionately expressed, filled

  me with wonder and sympathy; and, when she added, with thrilling

  voice and look, “Do you consent to undertake this enterprize?” I

  vowed, with energy and truth, to devote myself in life and death to

  the restoration and welfare of Adrian . We then conversed on the plan

  I should pursue, and discussed the probable means of discovering

  his residence . While we were in earnest discourse, Lord Raymond

  entered unannounced: I saw Perdita tremble and grow deadly pale,

  and the cheeks of Idris glow with purest blushes . He must have been

  astonished at our conclave, disturbed by it I should have thought; but

  nothing of this appeared; he saluted my companions, and addressed

  me with a cordial greeting . Idris appeared suspended for a moment,