Delphi Collected Works of Marie Corelli

by Marie Corelli

  “A Roman,” he murmured placidly to himself, between two large bites of toast. “The girl is a Roman, and thereby hopelessly damned.”

  And he smiled again, — more sweetly than before, as though the idea of hopeless damnation suggested some peculiarly agreeable reflections. Unfolding his fine cologne-scented cambric handkerchief, he carefully wiped his fat white fingers free from the greasy marks of the toast, and, taking up the objectionable cross gingerly, as though it were red-hot, he examined it closely on all sides. There were some words engraved on the back of it, and after some trouble Mr. Dyceworthy spelt them out. They were “Passio Christi, conforta me. Thelma.”

  He shook his head with a sort of resigned cheerfulness.

  “Hopelessly damned,” he murmured again gently, “unless—”

  What alternative suggested itself to his mind was not precisely apparent, for his thoughts suddenly turned in a more frivolous direction. Rising from the now exhausted tea-table, he drew out a small pocket-mirror and surveyed himself therein with a mild approval. With the extreme end of his handkerchief he tenderly removed two sacrilegious crumbs that presumed to linger in the corners of his piously pursed mouth. In the same way he detached a morsel of congealed butter that clung pertinaciously to the end of his bashfully retreating nose. This done, he again looked at himself with increased satisfaction, and, putting by his pocket-mirror, rang the bell. It was answered at once by a tall, strongly built woman, with a colorless, stolid countenance, — that might have been carved out of wood for any expression it had in it.

  “Ulrika,” said Mr. Dyceworthy blandly, “you can clear the table.”

  Ulrika, without answering, began to pack the tea-things together in a methodical way, without clattering so much as a plate or spoon, and, piling them compactly on a tray, was about to leave the room, when Mr. Dyceworthy called to her, “Ulrika!”

  “Sir?”

  “Did you ever see a thing like this before?” and he held up the crucifix to her gaze.

  The woman shuddered, and her dull eyes lit up with a sudden terror.

  “It is the witch’s charm!” she muttered thickly, while her pale face grew yet paler. “Burn it, sir! — burn it, and the power will leave her.”

  Mr. Dyceworthy laughed indulgently. “My good woman, you mistake,” he said suavely. “Your zeal for the true gospel leads you into error. There are thousands of misguided persons who worship such a thing as this. It is often all of our dear Lord they know. Sad, very sad! But still, though they, alas! are not of the elect, and are plainly doomed to perdition, — they are not precisely what are termed witches, Ulrika.”

  “She is,” replied the woman with a sort of ferocity; “and, if I had my way, I would tell her so to her face, and see what would happen to her then!”

  “Tut, tut!” remarked Mr. Dyceworthy amiably. “The days of witchcraft are past. You show some little ignorance, Ulrika. You are not acquainted with the great advancement of recent learning.”

  “Maybe, maybe,” and Ulrika turned to go; but she muttered sullenly as she went, “There be them that know and could tell, and them that will have her yet.”

  She shut the door behind her with a sharp clang, and, left to himself, Mr. Dyceworthy again smiled — such a benignant, fatherly smile! He then walked to the window and looked out. It was past seven o’clock, an hour that elsewhere would have been considered evening, but in Bosekop at that season it still seemed afternoon.

  The sun was shining brilliantly, and in the minister’s front garden the roses were all wide awake. A soft moisture glittered on every tiny leaf and blade of grass. The penetrating and delicious odor of sweet violets scented each puff of wind, and now and then the call of the cuckoo pierced the air with a subdued, far-off shrillness.

  From his position Mr. Dyceworthy could catch a glimpse through the trees of the principal thoroughfare of Bosekop — a small, primitive street enough, of little low houses, which, though unpretending from without, were roomy and comfortable within. The distant, cool sparkle of the waters of the Fjord, the refreshing breeze, the perfume of the flowers, and the satisfied impression left on his mind by recent tea and toast — all these things combined had a soothing effect on Mr. Dyceworthy, and with a sigh of absolute comfort he settled his large person in a deep easy chair and composed himself for pious meditation.

  He meditated long, — with fast-closed eyes and open mouth, while the earnestness of his inward thoughts was clearly demonstrated now and then by an irrepressible, — almost triumphant, — cornet-blast from that trifling elevation of his countenance called by courtesy a nose, when his blissful reverie was suddenly broken in upon by the sound of several footsteps crunching slowly along the garden path, and, starting up from his chair, he perceived four individuals clad in white flannel costumes and wearing light straw hats trimmed with fluttering blue ribbons, who were leisurely sauntering up to his door, and stopping occasionally to admire the flowers on their way. Mr. Dyceworthy’s face reddened visibly with excitement.

  “The gentlemen from the yacht,” he murmured to himself, hastily settling his collar and cravat, and pushing up his cherubic wings of hair more prominently behind his ears. “I never thought they would come. Dear me! Sir Philip Errington himself, too! I must have refreshments instantly.”

  And he hurried from the room, calling his orders to Ulrika as he went, and before the visitors had time to ring, he had thrown open the door to them himself, and stood smiling urbanely on the threshold, welcoming them with enthusiasm, — and assuring Sir Philip especially how much honored he felt, by his thus visiting, familiarly and unannounced, his humble dwelling. Errington waved his many compliments good-humoredly aside, and allowed himself and his friends to be marshalled into the best parlor, the drawing-room of the house, a pretty little apartment whose window looked out upon a tangled yet graceful wilderness of flowers.

  “Nice, cosy place this,” remarked Lorimer, as he seated himself negligently on the arm of the sofa. “You must be pretty comfortable here?”

  Their perspiring and affable host rubbed his soft white hands together gently.

  “I thank Heaven it suits my simple needs,” he answered meekly. “Luxuries do not become a poor servant of God.”

  “Ah, then you are different to many others who profess to serve the same Master,” said Duprèz with a sourire fin that had the devil’s own mockery in it. “Monsieur le bon Dieu is very impartial! Some serve Him by constant over-feeding, others by constant over-starving; it is all one to Him apparently! How do you know which among His servants He likes best, the fat or the lean?”

  Sandy Macfarlane, though slightly a bigot for his own form of doctrine, broke into a low chuckle of irrepressible laughter at Duprèz’s levity, but Mr. Dyceworthy’s flabby face betokened the utmost horror.

  “Sir,” he said gravely, “there are subjects concerning which it is not seemly to speak without due reverence. He knoweth His own elect. He hath chosen them out from the beginning. He summoned forth from the million, the glorious apostle of reform, Martin Luther—”

  “Le bon gaillard!” laughed Duprèz. “Tempted by a pretty nun! What man could resist! Myself, I would try to upset all the creeds of this world if I saw a pretty nun worth my trouble. Yes, truly! A pity though, that the poor Luther died of over-eating; his exit from life so undignified!”

  “Shut up, Duprèz,” said Errington severely. “You displease Mr. Dyceworthy by your fooling.”

  “Oh, pray do not mention it, Sir Philip,” murmured the reverend gentleman with a mild patience. “We must accustom ourselves to hear with forbearance the opinions of all men, howsoever contradictory, otherwise our vocation is of no avail. Yet is it sorely grievous to me to consider that there should be any person or persons existent who lack the necessary faith requisite for the performance of God’s promises.”

  “Ye must understand, Mr. Dyceworthy,” said Macfarlane in his slow, deliberate manner, “that ye have before ye a young Frenchman who doesna believe in onything except him
sel’ — and even as to whether he himsel’ is a mon or a myth, he has his doots — vera grave doots.”

  Duprèz nodded delightedly. “That is so!” he exclaimed. “Our dear Sandy puts it so charmingly! To be a myth seems original, — to be a mere man, quite ordinary. I believe it is possible to find some good scientific professor who would prove me to be a myth — the moving shadow of a dream — imagine! — how perfectly poetical!”

  “You talk too much to be a dream, my boy,” laughed Errington, and turning to Mr. Dyceworthy, he added, “I’m afraid you must think us a shocking set. We are really none of us very religious, I fear, though,” and he tried to look serious; “if it had not been for Mr. Lorimer, we should have come to church last Sunday. Mr. Lorimer was, unfortunately, rather indisposed.”

  “Ya-as!” drawled that gentleman, turning from the little window where he had been gathering a rose for his button-hole. “I was knocked up; had fits, and all that sort of thing; took these three fellows all their time on Sunday to hold me down!”

  “Dear me!” and Mr. Dyceworthy was about to make further inquiries concerning Mr. Lorimer’s present state of health, when the door opened, and Ulrika entered, bearing a large tray laden with wine and other refreshments. As she set it down, she gave a keen, covert glance round the room, as though rapidly taking note of the appearance and faces of all the young men, then, with a sort of stiff curtsey, she departed as noiselessly as she had come, — not, however, without leaving a disagreeable impression on Errington’s mind.

  “Rather a stern Phyllis, that waiting-maid of yours,” he remarked, watching his host, who was carefully drawing the cork from one of the bottles of wine.

  Mr. Dyceworthy smiled. “Oh, no, no! not stern at all,” he answered sweetly. “On the contrary, most affable and kind-hearted. Her only fault is that she is a little zealous, — over-zealous for the purity of the faith; and she has suffered much; but she is an excellent woman, really excellent! Sir Philip, will you try this Lacrima Christi?”

  “Lacrima Christi!” exclaimed Duprèz. “You do not surely get that in Norway?”

  “It seems strange, certainly,” replied Mr. Dyceworthy, “but it is a fact that the Italian or Papist wines are often used here. The minister whose place I humbly endeavor to fill has his cellar stocked with them. The matter is easy of comprehension when once explained. The benighted inhabitants of Italy, a land, lost in the darkness of error, still persist in their fasts, notwithstanding the evident folly of their ways — and the Norwegian sailors provide them with large quantities of fish for their idolatrous customs, bringing back their wines in exchange.”

  “A very good idea,” said Lorimer, sipping the Lacrima with evident approval— “Phil, I doubt if your brands on board the Eulalie are better than this.”

  “Hardly so good,” replied Errington with some surprise, as he tasted the wine and noted its delicious flavor. “The minister must be a fine connoisseur. Are there many other families about here, Mr. Dyceworthy, who know how to choose their wines so well?”

  Mr. Dyceworthy smiled with a dubious air.

  “There is one other household that in the matter of choice liquids is almost profanely particular,” he said. “But they are people who are ejected with good reason from respectable society, and, — it behooves me not to speak of their names.”

  “Oh, indeed!” said Errington, while a sudden and inexplicable thrill of indignation fired his blood and sent it in a wave of color up to his forehead— “May I ask—”

  But he was interrupted by Lorimer, who, nudging him slyly on one side, muttered, “Keep cool, old fellow! You can’t tell whether he’s talking about the Güldmar folk! Be quiet — you don’t want every one to know your little game.”

  Thus adjured, Philip swallowed a large gulp of wine, to keep down his feelings, and strove to appear interested in the habits and caprices of bees, a subject into which Mr. Dyceworthy had just inveigled Duprèz and Macfarlane.

  “Come and see my bees,” said the Reverend Charles almost pathetically. “They are emblems of ever-working and patient industry, — storing up honey for others to partake thereof.”

  “They wudna store it up at a’, perhaps, if they knew that,” observed Sandy significantly.

  Mr. Dyceworthy positively shone all over with beneficence.

  “They would store it up, sir; yes, they would, even if they knew! It is God’s will that they should store it up; it is God’s will that they should show an example of unselfishness, that they should flit from flower to flower sucking therefrom the sweetness to impart into strange palates unlike their own. It is a beautiful lesson; it teaches us who are the ministers of the Lord to likewise suck the sweetness from the flowers of the living gospel, and impart it gladly to the unbelievers who shall find it sweeter than the sweetest honey!”

  And he shook his head piously several times, while the pores of his fat visage exuded holy oil. Duprèz sniggered secretly. Macfarlane looked preternaturally solemn.

  “Come,” repeated the reverend gentleman, with an inviting smile. “Come and see my bees, — also my strawberries! I shall be delighted to send a basket of the fruit to the yacht, if Sir Philip will permit me?”

  Errington expressed his thanks with due courtesy, and hastened to seize the opportunity that presented itself for breaking away from the party.

  “If you will excuse us for twenty minutes or so, Mr. Dyceworthy,” he said, “Lorimer and I want to consult a fellow here in Bosekop about some new fishing tackle. We shan’t be gone long. Mac, you and Duprèz wait for us here. Don’t commit too many depredations on Mr. Dyceworthy’s strawberries.”

  The reason for their departure was so simply and naturally given, that it was accepted without any opposing remarks. Duprèz was delighted to have the chance of amusing himself by harassing the Reverend Charles with open professions of utter atheism, and Macfarlane, who loved an argument more than he loved whiskey, looked forward to a sharp discussion presently concerning the superiority of John Knox, morally and physically, over Martin Luther. So that when the others went their way, their departure excited no suspicion in the minds of their friends, and most unsuspecting of all was the placid Mr. Dyceworthy, who, had he imagined for an instant the direction which they were going, would certainly not have discoursed on the pleasures of bee-keeping with the calmness and placid conviction, that always distinguished him when holding forth on any subject that was attractive to his mind. Leading the way through his dewy, rose-grown garden, and conversing amicably as he went, he escorted Macfarlane and Duprèz to what he called with a gentle humor his “Bee-Metropolis,” while Errington and Lorimer returned to the shore of the Fjord, where they had left their boat moored to a small, clumsily constructed pier, — and entering it, they set themselves to the oars and pulled away together with the long, steady, sweeping stroke rendered famous by the exploits of the Oxford and Cambridge men. After some twenty minutes’ rowing, Lorimer looked up and spoke as he drew his blade swiftly through the bright green water.

  “I feel as though I were aiding and abetting you in some crime, Phil. You know, my first impression of this business remains the same. You had much better leave it alone.”

  “Why?” asked Errington coolly.

  “Well, ‘pon my life I don’t know why. Except that, from long experience, I have proved that it’s always dangerous and troublesome to run after a woman. Leave her to run after you — she’ll do it fast enough.”

  “Wait till you see her. Besides, I’m not running after any woman,” averred Philip with some heat.

  “Oh, I beg your pardon — I forgot. She’s not a woman; she’s a Sun-angel. You are rowing, not running, after a Sun-angel. Is that correct? I say, don’t drive through the water like that; you’ll pull the boat round.”

  Errington slackened his speed and laughed. “It’s only curiosity,” he said, lifting his hat, and pushing back the clustering dark-brown curls from his brow. “I bet you that sleek Dyceworthy fellow meant the old bonde and his daughter, when he
spoke of persons who were ‘ejected’ from the social circles of Bosekop. Fancy Bosekop society presuming to be particular — what an absurd idea!”

  “My good fellow, don’t pretend to be so deplorably ignorant! Surely you know that a trumpery village or a two-penny town is much more choice and exclusive in its ‘sets’ than a great city? I wouldn’t live in a small place for the world. Every inhabitant would know the cut of my clothes by heart, and the number of buttons on my waistcoat. The grocer would copy the pattern of my trousers, — the butcher would carry a cane like mine. It would be simply insufferable. To change the subject, may I ask you if you know which way you are going, for it seems to me we’re bound straight for a smash on that uncomfortable-looking rock, where there is certainly no landing-place.”

  Errington stopped pulling, and, standing up in the boat, began to examine the surroundings with keen interest. They were close to the great crag “shaped like a giant’s helmet,” as Valdemar Svensen had said. It rose sheer out of the water, and its sides were almost perpendicular. Some beautiful star-shaped sea anemones clung to it in a vari-colored cluster on one projection, and the running ripple of the small waves broke on its jagged corners with a musical splash, and sparkle of white foam. Below them, in the emerald mirror of the Fjord, it was so clear that they could see the fine white sand lying at the bottom, sprinkled thick with shells and lithe moving creatures of all shapes, while every now and then, there streamed past them, brilliantly tinted specimens of the Medusae, with their long feelers or tendrils, looking like torn skins of crimson and azure floss silk.

  The place was very silent; only the sea-gulls circled round and round the summit of the great rock, some of them occasionally swooping down on the unwary fishes, their keen eyes perceived in the waters beneath, then up again they soared, swaying their graceful wings and uttering at intervals that peculiar wild cry that in solitary haunts sounds so intensely mournful. Errington gazed about him in doubt for some minutes, then suddenly his face brightened. He sat down again in the boat and resumed his oar.