The Complete Northanger Horrid Novel Collection (9 Books of Gothic Romance and Horror)

by Eliza Parsons

  "'Well, monsieur, I knew it could not be long before you woke; so I determined not to go to the cabaret till you did; so I entered the first field with you in my arms, and having spied the dry ditch where we were when you awoke, I laid you down in it, and seating myself by you, chuckled not a little to myself at the success of my plan,—and when you awoke I was just thinking how you and I should both laugh if we could see ourselves in a miroir.'

  "When Jacques had ended his account, having thanked him in the warmest terms for the interest he had so kindly taken in my welfare, and commended the adroitness with which he had effected our escape, I told him that it behoved us immediately to conclude on some plan for leaving the kingdom with all possible expedition; for if my being alive was not discovered, he would doubtless be sent in search of by his uncle, and that if one was taken, the other would in course share his fate, and then both, beyond a doubt, fall sacrifices to the butchers in the Bastile.

  "'Why, monsieur,' replied he, 'let us set forward as fast as we can to your home, wherever it is.'

  "How astonished was the poor fellow to hear I had neither home nor means of subsistence! He had expected to find me a man of rank and fortune either in Italy or Germany, he knew not which, and who would liberally repay him for his services. He, however, bore his disappointment with the most honourable fortitude, and he drew tears into my eyes by exclaiming, after a short pause of reflection—"Well, monsieur, if you had been un homme de bien, I am sure you would have taken care of pauvre Jacques; as you are not, Jacques will take care of you as well as he is able: as long as that money lasts, half of it is yours;" and so saying, he pulled from his pocket his whole worldly treasure, and threw it upon the bed.

  "After much deliberation, we resolved to travel into Germany in our present disguises, for what purpose neither of us knew, except that we must leave France, and that all places were equally indifferent; for to take possession again of the mansion and estate I had once quitted, I knew to be an impossibility for me at the present moment to attempt, encumbered as it was with debts and mortgages.

  "Next morning at a very early hour we set forward on our journey, and to our great satisfaction arrived in about ten days' time in Germany, without having suffered more on our journey than what was occasioned by fatigue, and our own fears. During the whole expedition, Jacques' conversation was confined to two subjects—his apprehension of being pursued and overtaken, and his wish of being acquainted in what part of the empire was his brother, who had left Paris about four years ago with a man whom nobody knew, and with whom he had only said, he was going into Germany. 'He was an idle fellow,' continued Jacques, 'and, I dare say, took to some lazy kind of life; and pardi, so was his former one, for he could not have a much easier business than valet de chambre to a marquis: it suited him, for he got fine clothes, and strutted about like a singe poudré: I might have had his place when he went away, but I preferred homeliness and hard work to such frippery; and you see how I am rewarded for my honesty; but hard fare here, better hereafter, says l'évangile; so I am never cast down, monsieur, happen what will.'

  "There was something consolatory to me in the reasoning of my humble companion, and I determined to put myself under the guidance of one so cheerful amidst misfortunes, and confident in providence under its painful inflictions, and accordingly told him I was resolved to be entirely directed by him in what course to follow for gaining our future subsistence.

  "After some deliberation, Jacques proposed that we should endeavour to push our way to the capital of the empire, where he said he should stand a chance of being better paid for exercising his trade, as the value of his work would there be better estimated, being, as he assured me, an excellent workman.

  "On the first day of our arrival in Germany, Jacques took advantage of a pool of water somewhat sequestered from the road, again to change the complexion of his face and hands, but it was some days ere he could accomplish a perfect triumph of the ivory over the ebony; however, having turned his clothes into their proper situation, his appearance became decent; and at the next town, having purchased for me a wrapping coat and a hat, I changed the outward form of my sex behind the first hedge we came to on our again proceeding on our journey.

  "The cash Jacques now had left, consisted, in all, of a louis-d'or and deux écus; accordingly, in order to housewife the money we possessed, it not appearing to us so easy a matter to acquire more when it was spent, we resolved to buy a loaf and some cheese, of which we ate, when hungry, under a tree; and, as the season was the middle of summer, we determined to sleep under hedges or in any out-houses we might meet with, thus to avoid the unnecessary expense of entering inns on the road.

  "Necessity reconciles measures, which, to those who have never been reduced to adopt them, appear insurmountable; thus we experienced nothing more than accidental inconvenience from pursuing our plan. In the enjoyment of liberty I ever forgot care; and Jacques never failed to declare once every day, that he had rather sleep in a ditch with mud for a feather-bed, than on down in the Bastile.

  "Journeying on one night by moonlight, the decayed castle wherein you, Lauretta, was an unfortunate prisoner, attracted our notice: its ruined condition seemed to bespeak it uninhabited; the gate stood open; we entered the hall, and without much farther observation, we determined to make it our abode for the night.

  "We lay down together in a corner of the hall, where we had scarcely composed ourselves to sleep, when the sounding of a shrill tucket aroused our attention.—We listened without speaking:—In a couple of minutes a man entered the hall from a distant part of the building, and proceeding to the gate, called out, 'All's safe,' immediately we heard the trampling of horses approaching close to the gate; a number of men, who were talking confusedly, dismounted from them and entered the hall; and the first sentence I distinctly heard, and which opened to me at once the nature of this strange adventure, was, 'curse the barrenness of the road! one can find nobody to plunder,' uttered by one of the men as he vaulted from his horse.

  "Presently another man entered the hall from the interior part of the building, carrying a lamp: in an instant Jacques sprung from my side, and running to the man, threw his arms around his neck, exclaiming, 'Ah mon frère, je vous retrouve! Ah mon cher frère! mon cher frère!'

  "In his eagerness to embrace his brother, Jacques had knocked the lamp out of his hand, which being extinguished by the fall, the party was left in darkness to exercise their imaginations on what they had heard; and, from what motive I cannot pretend to say, whether from surprise or any supernatural fear, a general silence prevailed till another light was brought into the hall; on the appearance of which, Jacques, regardless of surrounding objects, came running back to me, all the way introducing me to his brother as his 'très bon ami.'

  "The banditti, for such, you will have perceived, were the inhabitants of this decayed mansion, immediately came round me; I rose and began to apologise for our intrusion into their dwelling, by stating to them the truth of our circumstances, which Jacques summed up by telling them we were almost penniless, having just escaped from the Bastile.

  "Avowed enemies to tyranny, and plainly perceiving there was no deceit in the relationship of the brothers, the banditti invited us to enter that part of the building which they inhabited, and partake of their supper before we retired to rest, when we should be accommodated with a bed.

  "I thanked them for their kindness in the warmest terms, and they conducted us into a hall where a repast had been prepared against their return. I ate in complaisance to my entertainers,—and Jacques, because variety, to which he was unaccustomed, whetted his appetite.

  "After supper I was requested to relate my adventures, Jacques having awakened their curiosity by repeatedly referring to our late escape; and though I should have preferred retiring to sleep, I felt myself bound to comply with their request.

  "When I had concluded my story, the leader rose, and taking my hand,—'We are your brothers in affliction,' he said; 'most of us whom yo
u here behold, have been driven from the haunts of men, by the cruelty of man; but there is not one of us whose heart has been steeled by his misfortunes into inhumanity: never has the traveller whom we have plundered borne the marks of our violence,—never have we left the poor man destitute,—the rich and profligate alone have been our prey,—the unfortunate at all times our care;—you are unfortunate, and we are willing to receive you as a brother; will you then become one of us, and live free from the despotism of tyrants, and the malice of an envious world, enjoying perfect liberty, subject only to laws of our own, and those useless where honour presides?'

  "'Well said, noble captain!' cried Jacques, starting up: 'honour amongst thieves is an old proverb of my father's: I'll make one of you with all my heart.'

  "During the time I had been reciting my adventures, Jacques had been drinking pretty freely of the palatable wine the table afforded; and having taken somewhat too potent a dose, it was rather the spirit of the wine than that of his own courage which spoke for him in the last sentence. The captain perceived his situation, and commanded his brother to conduct him to bed; but he promised faithfully not to drink another drop, or speak another word, if he might but be permitted to sit up as long as his 'cher maître.'

  "During this little altercation between the captain and Jacques, I had a moment of leisure to reflect on the words which had been addressed to me: I thought they appeared rather an apology for a mode of life which the speaker himself knew to be culpable, but was from necessity constrained to follow, than an eulogium which might tempt me to embrace it: I accordingly requested that I might deliberate on his proposal till the morning; a request readily granted me: Jacques and I then retired for the night,—Jacques assuring the captain he had resolved to serve under him.

  "A few moments served to change the powers of the deceitful liquor which had produced Jacques's valour; for he was no sooner in bed than his boasted prowess was forgotten in a profound sleep, and I thus left to my own reflections.

  "During the greatest part of the night I remained awake, undecided what plan to follow. My mind revolted from becoming a determined robber; but I felt a still greater antipathy to again mixing in the ensnaring scenes of that world from which I had already experienced so much perfidy and sorrow; and I at length resolved to accept the asylum which had been offered me.

  "In the morning when Jacques awoke, all the occurrences of the preceding night had entirely fled from his memory, and he awoke me in a great fright, inquiring whether we had got into the Bastile again. Just as I had sufficiently roused myself to begin to rally his recollection, his brother entered to call us to breakfast, and his presence saved me the trouble of farther explanation, as, on sight of him, Jacques immediately recollected where he was.

  "On seeing the captain, I immediately declared to him my resolution; and was welcomed by him into my new situation, as also separately by every voice of the community.

  "The captain then turned to Jacques, and reminded him of his promise.

  "Jacques stared vacantly, and inquired 'what it was?'

  "'To become one of the fraternity over which I have the honour to preside,' returned the leader.

  "'Did I promise that?'

  "'You did.'

  "'Well then, I'll keep my word; and if you will but feed me and clothe me, I'll be savetier to you all for nothing: and what more can you desire of me, if you will but consider that a cobbler ought to stick to his last?'

  "His brother joined me in interceding for the grant of his petition; and his native mirth, rather than any other qualification, obtained for him the majority of votes in his favour.

  CHAPTER XX

  ——————Yes, yes—'tis she!

  This little cross—I know it by sure marks!

  -AARON HILL

  On the preceding night, the faces of such of the banditti as had been out prowling, had been disguised with some colouring, which was always their custom when going on any expedition; and being now cleared from it, Jacques recognised, in the person of Kroonzer, the man with whom his brother had left France, of which occurrence this was the brief account: Kroonzer was the son of a German man and French woman; his residence had been chiefly in France, and his trade, from his infancy, none of the most creditable; his parents having been people, who, by assuming various disguises and characters in various places, had made these their means of imposing on the credulous, and defrauding the ignorant; thus gaining a fortuitous subsistence, whilst they cautiously kept within the pale of the law, and yet were in reality little better than common thieves.

  "This mode of life had initiated Kroonzer into all the intrigues of Paris; and from his first herding with the banditti, to whose knowledge he had been led by accident, he had become extremely useful to them, by going annually into France, and finding means of disposing to advantage of such rings, watches, and other trinkets of value, as had fallen into their hands, and, before their knowledge of Kroonzer, had proved of little worth to them, as no one amongst them had ventured to hazard the experiment of changing them into money.

  "It was in one of these expeditions that Kroonzer became acquainted with Jacques's brother; and having found him to be a man whom he believed would be a valuable acquisition to their society, he had enticed him into Germany under false promises, nor made the real truth known to him till he introduced him to his comrades; a measure which he had however been strictly forbidden by the captain ever again to repeat. Guillaume Perlet was, as it fortunately happened for the security of the banditti, an acceptable subject; for, preferring any kind of idleness to work, his new mode of life was pleasing to him the first moment of his being made acquainted with it.

  "The captain treated me with great kindness and attention, and indeed my health required it, for the sudden change from eleven years of inactivity, to the great fatigue I had the last twenty days been undergoing, had reduced me to a state of excessive weakness.

  "For the first year, I was not required to do any thing more in the various business of our household, of which every one in his turn took a part, than what I chose for my own amusement; nor during the whole of the time I lived amongst the banditti, in all nearly eight years, was any thing more asked of me than to take my turn in the evening and nightly watches.

  "The evening watch was to answer the tucket sounded by the banditti, on their return from an excursion, that, in case of the officers of justice having entered their haunt during their absence, they might thus be apprised of it, ere they entered the castle, and, by flying, prevent their being taken with their spoils upon them, which would prove sure evidences of their guilt.

  "Of the night watch this was the import; that those who did not go out in the quest of plunder watched for two hours alternately in the hall of the castle, that the fraternity might not be surprised in their sleep.

  "During the first six years of my residence amongst the banditti, no circumstance worth relating occurred; and as I was not constrained to act the part of a plunderer, considering myself comparatively free from guilt, I felt myself tolerably happy: at the expiration of that period the captain died.

  "A ballot immediately took place for appointing him a successor, and the majority of suffrages fell upon Kroonzer.

  "About three months after his becoming leader of the fraternity, was the time at which he had always been accustomed to visit France; and as no one was deemed so fit for the business of that expedition as himself; he again undertook to perform it, notwithstanding his rise to his present situation; and accordingly, having appointed a deputy to guide the helm until his return, he departed as usual.

  "The time of his absence was marked with an event of some moment: this was the death of Guillaume Perlet; and for some weeks it required all my most eloquent persuasions and remonstrances to keep Jacques from exceeding the bounds of reasonable sorrow on the loss of his brother; and he declared, that the thought of leaving me alone in my present situation, was his only inducement to struggle against death.

  "At the stated tim
e Kroonzer returned, and with him came the chevalier D'Aignon.

  "Kroonzer had one fault,—it was that inordinate thirst of money which often leads its possessor to gratify in a heedless moment his ruling passion, and to repent at leisure that he did not subdue it. Conscious that he had acted wrongly, and yet too honourable to attempt a deceit which might endanger the security of those to whom the strongest ties of fellowship connected him,—when Theodore had retired for the night (for no one has a right to question the captain, and thus we knew not yet on what motive Theodore was brought amongst us), he candidly confessed the inconsiderate measure of which he had been guilty, and asked our advice how to act.

  "He informed us, that during his visits to Paris, he had been much in the habit of frequenting gaming-tables, at many of which he had for the last three years frequently seen the chevalier, and had at times, he said, won of him sums of money to no small amount.—'He always paid his money without concern, and was so eager to enter into any measure for squandering it,' continued Kroonzer, 'that I soon found him to be a fit subject to exercise my talents upon. No very favourable opportunity offered to forward my plans on him, till a few days ago, happening to meet him at a tavern where he was engaged at dice with a young nobleman, and a dispute arising between them, and swords being called in to adjust their quarrel, the young man fell by the hand of the chevalier: his rage was now lost in fear for his own safety, and he exclaimed madly, that he was lost, ruined, and a dead man. I was the only one in the room with them; and approaching him, I told him if he would sign a draft for five hundred louis-d'ors, which I drew from my pocket, I would insure his safety: he immediately acquiesced, and I gloried in my success, till the reflection of a few moments told me how wrongly I had been acting, since I had no other means of securing him but by bringing him hither; and I could not steel my heart into being the villain to desert him, now he had paid me so liberally for his protection; I accordingly effected his escape, and I have secured my reward: but how shall we secure our own safety?'