So saying, the Prince drew out his purse and took from it a small bundle of bank-notes.
‘You see, I was a week or so behind you, but I mean to catch you up and come neck and neck into the winning-post,’ he continued. ‘This,’ laying one of the notes upon the table, ‘will suffice for the bill. As for the rest—’
He tossed them into the fire, and they went up the chimney in a single blaze.
The young man tried to catch his arm, but as the table was between them his interference came too late.
‘Unhappy man,’ he cried, ‘you should not have burned them all! You should have kept forty pounds.’
‘Forty pounds!’ repeated the Prince. ‘Why, in heaven’s name, forty pounds?’
‘Why not eighty?’ cried the Colonel; ‘for to my certain knowledge there must have been a hundred in the bundle.’
‘It was only forty pounds he needed,’ said the young man gloomily. ‘But without them there is no admission. The rule is strict. Forty pounds for each. Accursed life, where a man cannot even die without money!’
The Prince and the Colonel exchanged glances.
‘Explain yourself,’ said the latter. ‘I have still a pocket-book tolerably well lined, and I need not say how readily I would share my wealth with Godall. But I must know to what end: you must certainly tell us what you mean.’
The young man seemed to awaken; he looked uneasily from one to the other, and his face flushed deeply.
‘You are not fooling me?’ he asked. ‘You are indeed ruined men like me?’
‘Indeed, I am for my part,’ replied the Colonel.
‘And for mine,’ said the Prince, ‘I have given you proof. Who but a ruined man would throw his notes into the fire? The action speaks for itself.’
‘A ruined man—yes,’ returned the other suspiciously, ‘or else a millionaire.’
‘Enough, sir,’ said the Prince; ‘I have said so, and I am not accustomed to have my word remain in doubt.’
‘Ruined?’ said the young man. ‘Are you ruined, like me? Are you, after a life of indulgence, come to such a pass that you can only indulge yourself in one thing more? Are you’—he kept lowering his voice as he went on—‘are you going to give yourselves that last indulgence? Are you going to avoid the consequences of your folly by the one infallible and easy path? Are you going to give the slip to the sheriff’s officers of conscience by the one open door?’
Suddenly he broke off and attempted to laugh.
‘Here is your health!’ he cried, emptying his glass, ‘and goodnight to you, my merry ruined men.’
Colonel Geraldine caught him by the arm as he was about to rise.
‘You lack confidence in us,’ he said, ‘and you are wrong. To all your questions I make answer in the affirmative. But I am not so timid, and can speak the Queen’s English plainly. We too, like yourself, have had enough of life, and are determined to die. Sooner or later, alone or together, we meant to seek out death and beard him where he lies ready. Since we have met you, and your case is more pressing, let it be tonight—and at once—and, if you will, all three together. Such a penniless trio,’ he cried, ‘should go arm in arm into the halls of Pluto, and give each other some countenance among the shades!’
Geraldine had hit exactly on the manners and intonations that became the part he was playing. The Prince himself was disturbed, and looked over at his confidant with a shade of doubt. As for the young man, the flush came back darkly into his cheek, and his eyes threw out a spark of light.
‘You are the men for me!’ he cried, with an almost terrible gayety. ‘Shake hands upon the bargain!’ (His hand was cold and wet.) ‘You little know in what a company you will begin the march! You little know in what a happy moment for yourselves you partook of my cream tarts! I am only a unit, but I am a unit in an army. I know Death’s private door. I am one of his familiars, and can show you into eternity without ceremony and yet without scandal.’
They called upon him eagerly to explain his meaning.
‘Can you muster eighty pounds between you?’ he demanded.
Geraldine ostentatiously consulted his pocket-book, and replied in the affirmative.
‘Fortunate beings!’ cried the young man. ‘Forty pounds is the entry money of the Suicide Club.’
‘The Suicide Club,’ said the Prince, ‘why, what the devil is that?’
‘Listen,’ said the young man; ‘this is the age of conveniences, and I have to tell you of the last perfection of the sort. We have affairs in different places; and hence railways were invented. Railways separated us infallibly from our friends; and so telegraphs were made that we might communicate speedily at great distances. Even in hotels we have lifts to spare us a climb of some hundred steps. Now, we know that life is only a stage to play the fool upon as long as the part amuses us. There was one more convenience lacking to modern comfort; a decent, easy way to quit that stage; the back stairs to liberty; or, as I said this moment, Death’s private door. This, my two fellow-rebels, is supplied by the Suicide Club. Do not suppose that you and I are alone, or even exceptional, in the highly reasonable desire that we profess. A large number of our fellow-men, who have grown heartily sick of the performance in which they are expected to join daily and all their lives long, are only kept from flight by one or two considerations. Some have families who would be shocked, or even blamed, if the matter became public; others have a weakness at heart and recoil from the circumstances of death. That is, to some extent, my own experience. I cannot put a pistol to my head and draw the trigger; for something stronger than myself withholds the act; and although I loathe life, I have not strength enough in my body to take hold of death and be done with it. For such as I, and for all who desire to be out of the coil without posthumous scandal, the Suicide Club has been inaugurated. How this has been managed, what is its history, or what may be its ramifications in other lands, I am myself uninformed; and what I know of its constitution, I am not at liberty to communicate to you. To this extent, however, I am at your service. If you are truly tired of life, I will introduce you tonight to a meeting; and if not tonight, at least some time within the week, you will be easily relieved of your existences. It is now (consulting his watch) eleven; by half-past, at latest, we must leave this place; so that you have half an hour before you to consider my proposal. It is more serious than a cream tart,’ he added, with a smile; ‘and I suspect more palatable.’
‘More serious, certainly,’ returned Colonel Geraldine; ‘and as it is so much more so, will you allow me five minutes’ speech in private with my friend, Mr Godall?’
‘It is only fair,’ answered the young man. ‘If you will permit, I will retire.’
‘You will be very obliging,’ said the Colonel.
As soon as the two were alone—‘What,’ said Prince Florizel, ‘is the use of this confabulation, Geraldine? I see you are flurried, whereas my mind is very tranquilly made up. I will see the end of this.’
‘Your Highness,’ said the Colonel turning pale; ‘let me ask you to consider the importance of your life, not only to your friends, but to the public interest. “If not tonight,” said this madman; but supposing that tonight some irreparable disaster were to overtake your Highness’s person, what, let me ask you, what would be my despair, and what the concern and disaster of a great nation?’
‘I will see the end of this,’ repeated the Prince in his most deliberate tones; ‘and have the kindness, Colonel Geraldine, to remember and respect your word of honour as a gentleman. Under no circumstances, recollect, nor without my special authority, are you to betray the incognito under which I choose to go abroad. These were my commands, which I now reiterate. And now,’ he added, ‘let me ask you to call for the bill.’
Colonel Geraldine bowed in submission; but he had a very white face as he summoned the young man of the cream tarts, and issued his directions to the waiter. The Prince preserved his undisturbed demeanour, and described a Palais Royal farce to the young suicide with great humour and gus
to. He avoided the Colonel’s appealing looks without ostentation, and selected another cheroot with more than usual care. Indeed, he was now the only man of the party who kept any command over his nerves.
The bill was discharged, the Prince giving the whole change of the note to the astonished waiter; and the three drove off in a four wheeler. They were not long upon the way before the cab stopped at the entrance to a rather dark court. Here all descended.
After Geraldine had paid the fare, the young man turned, and addressed Prince Florizel as follows:
‘It is still time, Mr Godall, to make good your escape into thralldom. And for you too, Major Hammersmith. Reflect well before you take another step; and if your hearts say no—here are the crossroads.’
‘Lead on, sir,’ said the Prince. ‘I am not the man to go back from a thing once said.’
‘Your coolness does me good,’ replied their guide. ‘I have never seen anyone so unmoved at this conjuncture; and yet you are not the first whom I have escorted to this door. More than one of my friends has preceded me, where I knew I must shortly follow. But this is of no interest to you. Wait me here for only a few moments; I shall return as soon as I have arranged the preliminaries of your introduction.’
And with that the young man, waving his hand to his companions, turned into the court, entered a door-way and disappeared.
‘Of all our follies,’ said Colonel Geraldine in a low voice, ‘this is the wildest and most dangerous.’
‘I perfectly believe so,’ returned the Prince.
‘We have still,’ pursued the Colonel, ‘a moment to ourselves. Let me beseech your Highness to profit by the opportunity and retire. The consequences of this step are so dark, and may be so grave, that I feel myself justified in pushing a little farther than usual the liberty which your Highness is so condescending as to allow me in private.’
‘Am I to understand that Colonel Geraldine is afraid?’ asked his Highness, taking his cheroot from his lips, and looking keenly into the other’s face.
‘My fear is certainly not personal,’ replied the other proudly; ‘of that your Highness may rest well assured.’
‘I had supposed as much,’ returned the Prince, with undisturbed good humour; ‘but I was unwilling to remind you of the difference in our stations. No more—no more,’ he added, seeing Geraldine about to apologise, ‘you stand excused.’
And he smoked placidly, leaning against a railing, until the young man returned.
‘Well,’ he asked, ‘has our reception been arranged?’
‘Follow me,’ was the reply. ‘The President will see you in the cabinet. And let me warn you to be frank in your answers. I have stood your guarantee; but the club requires a searching inquiry before admission; for the indiscretion of a single member would lead to the dispersion of the whole society forever.’
The Prince and Geraldine put their heads together for a moment. ‘Bear me out in this,’ said the one; and ‘Bear me out in that,’ said the other; and by boldly taking up the characters of men with whom both were acquainted, they had come to an agreement in a twinkling, and were ready to follow their guide into the President’s cabinet.
There were no formidable obstacles to pass. The outer door stood open; the door of the cabinet was ajar; and there, in a small but very high apartment, the young man left them once more.
‘He will be here immediately,’ he said with a nod, as he disappeared.
Voices were audible in the cabinet through the folding doors which formed one end; and now and then the noise of a champagne cork, followed by a burst of laughter, intervened among the sounds of conversation. A single tall window looked out upon the river and the embankment; and by the disposition of the lights they judged themselves not far from Charing Cross station. The furniture was scanty, and the coverings worn to the thread; and there was nothing movable except a hand-bell in the centre of a round table, and the hats and coats of a considerable party hung round the wall on pegs.
‘What sort of a den is this?’ said Geraldine.
‘That is what I have come to see,’ replied the Prince. ‘If they keep live devils on the premises, the thing may grow amusing.’
Just then the folding door was opened no more than was necessary for the passage of a human body; and there entered at the same moment a louder buzz of talk, and the redoubtable President of the Suicide Club. The President was a man of fifty or upwards; large and rambling in his gait, with shaggy side-whiskers, a bald top to his head, and a veiled grey eye, which now and then emitted a twinkle. His mouth, which embraced a large cigar, he kept continually screwing round and round and from side to side, as he looked sagaciously and coldly at the strangers. He was dressed in light tweeds, with his neck very open, in a striped shirt collar; and carried a minute book under one arm.
‘Good evening,’ said he, after he had closed the door behind him. ‘I am told you wish to speak with me.’
‘We have a desire, sir, to join the Suicide Club,’ replied the Colonel.
The President rolled his cigar about in his mouth.
‘What is that?’ he said abruptly.
‘Pardon me,’ returned the Colonel, ‘but I believe you are the person best qualified to give us information on that point.’
‘I?’ cried the President. ‘A Suicide Club? Come, come! this is a frolic for All Fools’ Day. I can make allowances for gentlemen who get merry in their liquor; but let there be an end to this.’
‘Call your club what you will,’ said the Colonel, ‘you have some company behind these doors, and we insist on joining it.’
‘Sir,’ returned the President, curtly, ‘you have made a mistake. This is a private house, and you must leave it instantly.’
The Prince had remained quietly in his seat throughout this little colloquy; but now, when the Colonel looked over to him, as much as to say, ‘Take your answer and come away, for God’s sake!’, he drew his cheroot from his mouth, and spoke—
‘I have come here,’ said he, ‘upon the invitation of a friend of yours. He has doubtless informed you of my intention in thus intruding on your party. Let me remind you that a person in my circumstances has exceedingly little to bind him, and is not at all likely to tolerate much rudeness. I am a very quiet man, as a usual thing; but, my dear sir, you are either going to oblige me in the little matter of which you are aware, or you shall very bitterly repent that you ever admitted me to your antechamber.’
The President laughed aloud.
‘That is the way to speak,’ said he. ‘You are a man who is a man. You know the way to my heart, and can do what you like with me. Will you,’ he continued, addressing Geraldine, ‘will you step aside for a few minutes? I shall finish first with your companion, and some of the club’s formalities require to be fulfilled in private.’
With these words he opened the door of a small closet, into which he shut the Colonel.
‘I believe in you,’ he said to Florizel, as soon as they were alone; ‘but are you sure of your friend?’
‘Not so sure as I am of myself, though he has more cogent reasons,’ answered Florizel, ‘but sure enough to bring him here without alarm. He has had enough to cure the most tenacious man of life. He was cashiered the other day for cheating at cards.’
‘A good reason, I daresay,’ replied the President; ‘at least, we have another in the same case, and I feel sure of him. Have you also been in the Service, may I ask?’
‘I have,’ was the reply; ‘but I was too lazy, I left it early.’
‘What is your reason for being tired of life?’ pursued the President.
‘The same, as near as I can make out,’ answered the Prince; ‘unadulterated laziness.’
The President started. ‘D—n it,’ said he, ‘you must have something better than that.’
‘I have no more money,’ added Florizel. ‘That is also a vexation, without doubt. It brings my sense of idleness to an acute point.’
The President rolled his cigar round in his mouth for some seconds,
directing his gaze straight into the eyes of this unusual neophyte; but the Prince supported his scrutiny with unabashed good temper.
‘If I had not a deal of experience,’ said the President at last, ‘I should turn you off. But I know the world; and this much anyway, that the most frivolous excuses for a suicide are often the toughest to stand by. And when I downright like a man, as I do you, sir, I would rather strain the regulation than deny him.’
The Prince and the Colonel, one after the other, were subjected to a long and particular interrogatory: the Prince alone; but Geraldine in the presence of the Prince, so that the President might observe the countenance of the one while the other was being warmly cross-examined. The result was satisfactory; and the President, after having booked a few details of each case, produced a form of oath to be accepted. Nothing could be conceived more passive than the obedience promised, or more stringent than the terms by which the juror bound himself. The man who forfeited a pledge so awful could scarcely have a rag of honour or any of the consolations of religion left to him. Florizel signed the document, but not without a shudder; the Colonel followed his example with an air of great depression. Then the President received the entry money; and without more ado, introduced the two friends into the smoking-room of the Suicide Club.
The smoking-room of the Suicide Club was the same height as the cabinet into which it opened, but much larger, and papered from top to bottom with an imitation of oak wainscot. A large and cheerful fire and a number of gas-jets illuminated the company. The Prince and his follower made the number up to eighteen. Most of the party were smoking, and drinking champagne; a feverish hilarity reigned, with sudden and rather ghastly pauses.
‘Is this a full meeting?’ asked the Prince.
‘Middling,’ said the President. ‘By the way,’ he added, ‘if you have any money, it is usual to offer some champagne. It keeps up a good spirit, and is one of my own little perquisites.’
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