by Oscar Wilde
“Hush! Keep close. It must be the vampire.”
“Give me my pistol. What are you doing with it?”
“Only ramming down the charge more firmly for you. Take it. If that be Varney the vampire, I shall challenge him to surrender the moment he appears; and if he does not, I will fire upon him, and do you do so likewise.”
“Well, I—I don’t know.”
“You have scruples?”
“I certainly have.”
“Well, well—don’t you fire, then, but leave it to me. There; look—look. Now have you any doubt? There he goes; in his cloak. It is—it is—”
“Varney, by Heavens!” cried Tom Eccles.
“Surrender!” shouted Marchdale.
At the instant Sir Francis Varney sprang forward, and made off at a rapid pace across the meadows.
“Fire after him—fire!” cried Marchdale, “or he will escape. My pistol has missed fire. He will be off.”
On the impulse of the moment, and thus urged by the voice and the gesture of his companion, Tom Eccles took aim as well as he could, and fired after the retreating form of Sir Francis Varney. His conscience smote him as he heard the report and saw the flash of the large pistol amid the half sort of darkness that was still around.
The effect of the shot was then to him painfully apparent. He saw Varney stop instantly; then make a vain attempt to stagger forward a little, and finally fall heavily to the earth, with all the appearance of one killed upon the spot.
“You have hit him,” said Marchdale—“you have hit him. Bravo!”
“I have—hit him.”
“Yes, a capital shot, by Jove!”
“I am very sorry.”
“Sorry! sorry for ridding the world of such a being! What was in your pistol?”
“A couple of slugs.”
“Well, they have made a lodgment in him, that’s quite clear. Let’s go up and finish him at once.”
“He seems finished.”
“I beg your pardon there. When the moonbeams fall upon him he’ll get up and walk away as if nothing was the matter.”
“Will he?” cried Tom, with animation—“will he?”
“Certainly he will.”
“Thank God for that. Now, hark you, Mr. Marchdale: I should not have fired if you had not at the moment urged me to do so. Now, I shall stay and see if the effect which you talk of will ensue; and although it may convince me that he is a vampire, and that there are such things, he may go off, scot free, for me.”
“Go off?”
“Yes; I don’t want to have even a vampire’s blood upon my hands.”
“You are exceedingly delicate.”
“Perhaps I am; it’s my way, though. I have shot him—not you, mind; so, in a manner of speaking, he belongs to me. Now, mark, me: I won’t have him touched any more tonight, unless you think there’s a chance of making a prisoner of him without violence.”
“There he lies; you can go and make a prisoner of him at once, dead as he is; and if you take him out of the moonlight—”
“I understand; he won’t recover.”
“Certainly not.”
“But, as I want him to recover, that don’t suit me.”
“Well, I cannot but honour your scruples, although I do not actually share in them; but I promise you that, since such is your wish, I will take no steps against the vampire; but let us come up to him and see if he be really dead, or only badly wounded.”
Tom Eccles hang back a little from this proposal; but, upon being urged again by Marchdale, and told that he need not go closer than he chose, he consented, and the two of them approached the prostrate form of Sir Francis Varney, which lay upon its face in the faint moonlight, which each moment was gathering strength and power.
“He lies upon his face,” said Marchdale. “Will you go and turn him over?”
“Who—I? God forbid I should touch him.”
“Well—well, I will. Come on.”
They halted within a couple of yards of the body. Tom Eccles would not go a step farther; so Marchdale advanced alone, and pretended to be, with great repugnance, examining for the wound.
“He is quite dead,” he said; “but I cannot see the hurt.”
“I think he turned his head as I fired.”
“Did he? Let us see.”
Marchdale lifted up the head, and disclosed such a mass of clotted-looking blood, that Tom Eccles at once took to his heels, nor stopped until he was nearly as far off as the ruins. Marchdale followed him more slowly, and when he came up to him, he said—
“The slugs have taken effect on his face.”
“I know it—I know it. Don’t tell me.”
“He looks horrible.”
“And I am a murderer.”
“Psha! You look upon this matter too seriously. Think of who and what he was, and then you will soon acquit yourself of being open to any such charge.”
“I am bewildered, Mr. Marchdale, and cannot now know whether he be a vampire or not. If he be not, I have murdered, most unjustifiably, a fellow-creature.”
“Well, but if he be?”
“Why, even then I do not know but that I ought to consider myself as guilty. He is one of God’s creatures if he were ten times a vampire.”
“Well, you really do take a serious view of the affair.”
“Not more serious than it deserves.”
“And what do you mean to do?”
“I shall remain here to await the result of what you tell me will ensue, if he be a real vampire. Even now the moonbeams are full upon him, and each moment increasing in intensity. Think you he will recover?”
“I do indeed.”
“Then here will I wait.”
“Since that is you resolve, I will keep you company. We shall easily find some old stone in the ruins which will serve us for a seat, and there at leisure we can keep our eyes upon the dead body, and be able to observe if it make the least movement.”
This plan was adopted, and they sat down just within the ruins, but in such a place that they had a full view of the dead body, as it appeared to be, of Sir Francis Varney, upon which the sweet moonbeams shone full and clear.
Tom Eccles related how he was incited to come upon his expedition, but he might have spared himself that trouble, as Marchdale had been in a retired corner of the inn parlour before he came to his appointment with Varney, and heard the business for the most part proposed.
Half-an-hour, certainly not more, might have elapsed; when suddenly Tom Eccles uttered an exclamation, partly of surprise and partly of terror—
“He moves; he moves!” he cried. “Look at the vampire’s body.”
Marchdale affected to look with an all-absorbing interest, and there was Sir Francis Varney, raising slowly one arm with the hand outstretched towards the moon, as if invoking that luminary to shed more of its beams upon him. Then the body moved slowly, like some one writhing in pain, and yet unable to move from the spot on which it lay. From the head to the foot, the whole frame seemed to be convulsed, and now and then as the ghastly object seemed to be gathering more strength, the limbs were thrown out with a rapid and a frightful looking violence.
It was truly to one, who might look upon it as a reality and no juggle, a frightful sight to see, and although Marchdale, of course, tolerably well preserved his equanimity, only now and then, for appearance sake, affecting to be wonderfully shocked, poor Tom Eccles was in such a state of horror and fright that he could not, if he would, have flown from the spot, so fascinated was he by the horrible spectacle.
This was a state of things which continued for many minutes, and then the body showed evident symptoms of so much returning animation, that it was about to rise from his gory bed and mingle once again with the living.
“Behold!” said Marchdale—“behold!”
“Heaven have mercy upon us!”
“It is as I said; the beams of the moon have revived the vampire. You perceive now that there can be no doubt.”
“Yes, yes, I see him; I see him.”
Sir Francis Varney now, as if with a great struggle, rose to his feet, and looked up at the bright moon for some moments with such an air and manner that it would not have required any very great amount of imagination to conceive that he was returning to it some sort of thanksgiving for the good that it had done to him.
He then seemed for some moments in a state of considerable indecision as to which way he should proceed. He turned round several times. Then he advanced a step or two towards the house, but apparently his resolution changed again, and casting his eyes upon the ruins, he at once made towards them.
This was too much for the philosophy as well as for the courage of Tom Eccles. It was all very well to look on at some distance, and observe the wonderful and inexplicable proceedings of the vampire; but when he showed symptoms of making a nearer acquaintance, it was not to be borne.
“Why, he’s coming here,” said Tom.—“He seems so indeed,” remarked Marchdale.
“Do you mean to stay?”
“I think I shall.”
“You do, do you?”
“Yes, I should much like to question him, and as we are two to one I think we really can have nothing to fear.”
“Do you? I’m altogether of a different opinion. A man who has more lives than a cat don’t much mind at what odds he fights. You may stay if you like.”
“You do not mean to say that you will desert me?”
“I don’t see a bit how you call it deserting you; if we had come out together on this adventure, I would have stayed it out with you; but as we came separate and independent, we may as well go back so.”
“Well, but—”
“Good morning?” cried Tom, and he at once took to his heels towards the town, without staying to pay any attention to the remonstrances of Marchdale, who called after him in vain.
Sir Francis Varney, probably, had Tom Eccles not gone off so rapidly, would have yet taken another thought, and gone in another direction than that which led him to the ruins, and Tom, if he had had his senses fully about him, as well as all his powers of perception, would have seen that the progress of the vampire was very slow, while he continued to converse with Marchdale, and that it was only when he went off at good speed that Sir Francis Varney likewise thought it prudent to do so.
“Is he much terrified?” said Varney, as he came up to Marchdale.—“Yes, most completely.”
“This then, will make a good story in the town.”
“It will, indeed, and not a little enhance your reputation.”
“Well, well; it don’t much matter now; but if by terrifying people I can purchase for myself anything like immunity for the past, I shall be satisfied.”
“I think you may now safely reckon that you have done so. This man who has fled with so much precipitation, had courage.”
“Unquestionably.”
“Or else he would have shrunk from coming here at all.”
“True, but his courage and presence arose from his strong doubts as to the existence of such beings as vampires.”
“Yes, and now that he is convinced, his bravery has evaporated along with his doubts; and such a tale as he has now to tell, will be found sufficient to convert even the most sceptical in the town.”
“I hope so.”
“And yet it cannot much avail you.”
“Not personally, but I must confess that I am not dead to all human opinions, and I feel some desire of revenge against those dastards who by hundreds have hunted me, burnt down my mansion, and sought my destruction.”
“That I do not wonder at.”
“I would fain leave among them a legacy of fear. Such fear as shall haunt them and their children for years to come. I would wish that the name of Varney, the vampire, should be a sound of terror for generations.”
“It will be so.”
“It shall.”
“And now, then, for a consideration of what is to be done with our prisoner. What is your resolve upon that point?”
“I have considered it while I was lying upon yon green sward waiting for the friendly moonbeams to fall upon my face, and it seems to me that there is no sort of resource but to—”
“Kill him?”
“No, no.”
“What then?”
“To set him free.”
“Nay, have you considered the immense hazard of doing so? Think again; I pray you think again. I am decidedly of opinion that he more than suspects who are his enemies; and, in that case, you know what consequences would ensue; besides, have we not enough already to encounter? Why should we add another young, bold, determined spirit to the band which is already arrayed against us?”
“You talk in vain, Marchdale; I know to what it all tends; you have a strong desire for the death of this young man.”
“No; there you wrong me. I have no desire for his death, for its own sake; but, where great interests are at stake, there must be sacrifices made.”
“So there must; therefore, I will make a sacrifice, and let this young prisoner free from his dungeon.”
“If such be your determination, I know well it is useless to combat with it. When do you purpose giving him his freedom?”
“I will not act so heedlessly as that your principles of caution shall blame me. I will attempt to get from him some promise that he will not make himself an active instrument against me. Perchance, too, as Bannerworth Hall, which he is sure to visit, wears such an air of desertion, I may be able to persuade him that the Bannerworth family, as well as his uncle, have left this part of the country altogether; so that, without making any inquiry for them about the neighbourhood, he may be induced to leave at once.”
“That would be well.”
“Good; your prudence approves of the plan, and therefore it shall be done.”
“I am rather inclined to think,” said Marchdale, with a slight tone of sarcasm, “that if my prudence did not approve of the plan, it would still be done.”
“Most probably,” said Varney, calmly.—“Will you release him tonight?”
“It is morning, now, and soon the soft grey light of day will tint the east. I do not think I will release him till sunset again now. Has he provision to last him until then?”
“He has.”
“Well, then, two hours after sunset I will come here and release him from his weary bondage, and now I must go to find some place in which to hide my proscribed head. As for Bannerworth Hall, I will yet have it in my power; I have sworn to do so, I will keep my oath.”
“The accomplishment of our purpose, I regret to say, seems as far off as ever.”
“Not so—not so. As I before remarked, we must disappear, for a time, so as to lull suspicion. There will then arise a period when Bannerworth Hall will neither be watched, as it is now, nor will it be inhabited—a period before the Bannerworth family has made up its mind to go back to it, and when long watching without a result has become too tiresome to be continued at all; then we can at once pursue our object.”
“Be it so.”
“And now, Marchdale, I want more money.”
“More money!”
“Yes; you know well that I have had large demands of late.”
“But I certainly had an impression that you were possessed, by the death of some one, with very ample means.”
“Yes, but there is a means by which all is taken from me. I have no real resources but what are rapidly used up, so I must come upon you again.”
“I have already completely crippled myself as regards money matters in this enterprise, and I do certainly hope that the fruits will not be far distant. If they be much longer d
elayed, I shall really not know what to do. However, come to the lodge where you have been staying, and then I will give you, to the extent of my ability, whatever sum you think your present exigencies require.”
“Come on, then, at once. I would certainly, of course, rather leave this place now, before daybreak. Come on, I say, come on.”
Sir Francis Varney and Marchdale walked for some time in silence across the meadows. It was evident that there was not between these associates the very best of feelings. Marchdale was always smarting under an assumption of authority over him, on the part of Sir Francis Varney, while the latter scarcely cared to conceal any portion of the contempt with which he regarded his hypocritical companion.
Some very strong band of union, indeed, must surely bind these two strange persons together! It must be something of a more than common nature which induces Marchdale not only to obey the behests of his mysterious companion, but to supply him so readily with money as we perceive he promises to do.
And, as regards Varney, the vampire, be, too, must have some great object in view to induce him to run such a world of risk, and take so much trouble as he was doing with the Bannerworth family.
What his object is, and what is the object of Marchdale, will, now that we have progressed so far in our story, soon appear, and then much that is perfectly inexplicable, will become clear and distinct, and we shall find that some strong human motives are at the bottom of it all.
CHAPTER LXV.
VARNEY’S VISIT TO THE DUNGEON OF THE LONELY PRISONER IN THE RUINS.
Evident it was that Marchdale was not near so scrupulous as Sir Francis Varney, in what he chose to do. He would, without hesitation, have sacrificed the life of that prisoner in the lonely dungeon, whom it would be an insult to the understanding of our readers, not to presume that they had, long ere this, established in their minds to be Charles Holland.
His own safety seemed to be the paramount consideration with Marchdale, and it was evident that he cared for nothing in comparison with that object.
It says much, however, for Sir Francis Varney, that he did not give in to such a blood-thirsty feeling, but rather chose to set the prisoner free, and run all the chances of the danger to which he might expose himself by such a course of conduct, than to insure safety, comparatively, by his destruction.