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Table of contents
CHAPTER I
CHAPTER II
CHAPTER III
CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER V
CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER X
CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XIII
CHAPTER XIV
CHAPTER XV[*]
CHAPTER XVI
CHAPTER XVII
CHAPTER XVIII
CHAPTER XIX
CHAPTER XX[*]
CHAPTER XXI
CHAPTER XXII
CHAPTER XXIII
CHAPTER XXIV
CHAPTER XXV
CHAPTER XXVI
CHAPTER XXVII
CHAPTER I
A
great multitude of people filled the church, crowded together in the
old black pews, standing closely thronged in the nave and aisles,
pressing shoulder to shoulder even in the two chapels on the right
and left of the apse, a vast gathering of pale men and women whose
eyes were sad and in whose faces was written the history of their
nation. The mighty shafts and pilasters of the Gothic edifice rose
like the stems of giant trees in a primeval forest from a dusky
undergrowth, spreading out and uniting their stony branches far above
in the upper gloom. From the clerestory windows of the nave an
uncertain light descended halfway to the depths and seemed to float
upon the darkness below as oil upon the water of a well. Over the
western entrance the huge fantastic organ bristled with blackened
pipes and dusty gilded ornaments of colossal size, like some enormous
kingly crown long forgotten in the lumber room of the universe,
tarnished and overlaid with the dust of ages. Eastwards, before the
rail which separated the high altar from the people, wax torches, so
thick that a man might not span one of them with both his hands, were
set up at irregular intervals, some taller, some shorter, burning
with steady, golden flames, each one surrounded with heavy funeral
wreaths, and each having a tablet below it, whereon were set forth in
the Bohemian idiom, the names, titles, and qualities of him or her in
whose memory it was lighted. Innumerable lamps and tapers before the
side altars and under the strange canopied shrines at the bases of
the pillars, struggled ineffectually with the gloom, shedding but a
few sickly yellow rays upon the pallid faces of the persons nearest
to their light.Suddenly
the heavy vibration of a single pedal note burst from the organ upon
the breathing silence, long drawn out, rich, voluminous, and
imposing. Presently, upon the massive bass, great chords grew up,
succeeding each other in a simple modulation, rising then with the
blare of trumpets and the simultaneous crash of mixtures, fifteenths
and coupled pedals to a deafening peal, then subsiding quickly again
and terminating in one long sustained common chord. And now, as the
celebrant bowed at the lowest step before the high altar, the voices
of the innumerable congregation joined the harmony of the organ,
ringing up to the groined roof in an ancient Slavonic melody,
melancholy and beautiful, and rendered yet more unlike all other
music by the undefinable character of the Bohemian language, in which
tones softer than those of the softest southern tongue alternate so
oddly with rough gutturals and strident sibilants.The
Wanderer stood in the midst of the throng, erect, taller than the men
near him, holding his head high, so that a little of the light from
the memorial torches reached his thoughtful, manly face, making the
noble and passionate features to stand out clearly, while losing its
power of illumination in the dark beard and among the shadows of his
hair. His was a face such as Rembrandt would have painted, seen under
the light that Rembrandt loved best; for the expression seemed to
overcome the surrounding gloom by its own luminous quality, while the
deep gray eyes were made almost black by the wide expansion of the
pupils; the dusky brows clearly defined the boundary in the face
between passion and thought, and the pale forehead, by its slight
recession into the shade from its middle prominence, proclaimed the
man of heart, the man of faith, the man of devotion, as well as the
intuitive nature of the delicately sensitive mind and the quick,
elastic qualities of the man's finely organized, but nervous bodily
constitution. The long white fingers of one hand stirred restlessly,
twitching at the fur of his broad lapel which was turned back across
his chest, and from time to time he drew a deep breath and sighed,
not painfully, but wearily and hopelessly, as a man sighs who knows
that his happiness is long past and that his liberation from the
burden of life is yet far off in the future.The
celebrant reached the reading of the Gospel and the men and women in
the pews rose to their feet. Still the singing of the long-drawn-out
stanzas of the hymn continued with unflagging devotion, and still the
deep accompaniment of the ancient organ sustained the mighty chorus
of voices. The Gospel over, the people sank into their seats again,
not standing, as is the custom in some countries, until the Creed had
been said. Here and there, indeed, a woman, perhaps a stranger in the
country, remained upon her feet, noticeable among the many figures
seated in the pews. The Wanderer, familiar with many lands and many
varying traditions of worship, unconsciously noted these exceptions,
looking with a vague curiosity from one to the other. Then, all at
once, his tall frame shivered from head to foot, and his fingers
convulsively grasped the yielding sable on which they lay.She
was there, the woman he had sought so long, whose face he had not
found in the cities and dwellings of the living, neither her grave in
the silent communities of the dead. There, before the uncouth
monument of dark red marble beneath which Tycho Brahe rests in peace,
there she stood; not as he had seen her last on that day when his
senses had left him in the delirium of his sickness, not in the
freshness of her bloom and of her dark loveliness, but changed as he
had dreamed in evil dreams that death would have power to change her.
The warm olive of her cheek was turned to the hue of wax, the soft
shadows beneath her velvet eyes were deepened and hardened, her
expression, once yielding and changing under the breath of thought
and feeling as a field of flowers when the west wind blows, was now
set, as though for ever, in a death-like fixity. The delicate
features were drawn and pinched, the nostrils contracted, the
colourless lips straightened out of the lines of beauty into the
mould of a lifeless mask. It was the face of a dead woman, but it was
her face still, and the Wanderer knew it well; in the kingdom of his
soul the whole resistless commonwealth of the emotions revolted
together to dethrone death's regent—sorrow, while the
thrice-tempered springs of passion, bent but not broken, stirred
suddenly in the palace of his body and shook the strong foundations
of his being.During
the seconds that followed, his eyes were riveted upon the beloved
head. Then, as the Creed ended, the vision sank down and was lost to
his sight. She was seated now, and the broad sea of humanity hid her
from him, though he raised himself the full height of his stature in
the effort to distinguish even the least part of her head-dress. To
move from his place was all but impossible, though the fierce longing
to be near her bade him trample even upon the shoulders of the throng
to reach her, as men have done more than once to save themselves from
death by fire in crowded places. Still the singing of the hymn
continued, and would continue, as he knew, until the moment of the
Elevation. He strained his hearing to catch the sounds that came from
the quarter where she sat. In a chorus of a thousand singers he
fancied that he could have distinguished the tender, heart-stirring
vibration of her tones. Never woman sang, never could woman sing
again, as she had once sung, though her voice had been as soft as it
had been sweet, and tuned to vibrate in the heart rather than in the
ear. As the strains rose and fell, the Wanderer bowed his head and
closed his eyes, listening, through the maze of sounds, for the
silvery ring of her magic note. Something he heard at last, something
that sent a thrill from his ear to his heart, unless indeed his heart
itself were making music for his ears to hear. The impression reached
him fitfully, often interrupted and lost, but as often renewing
itself and reawakening in the listener the certainty of recognition
which he had felt at the sight of the singer's face.He
who loves with his whole soul has a knowledge and a learning which
surpass the wisdom of those who spend their lives in the study of
things living or long dead, or never animate. They, indeed, can
construct the figure of a flower from the dried web of a single leaf,
or by the examination of a dusty seed, and they can set up the scheme
of life of a shadowy mammoth out of a fragment of its skeleton, or
tell the story of hill and valley from the contemplation of a handful
of earth or of a broken pebble. Often they are right, sometimes they
are driven deeper and deeper into error by the complicated
imperfections of their own science. But he who loves greatly
possesses in his intuition the capacities of all instruments of
observation which man has invented and applied to his use. The lenses
of his eyes can magnify the infinitesimal detail to the dimensions of
common things, and bring objects to his vision from immeasurable
distances; the labyrinth of his ear can choose and distinguish amidst
the harmonies and the discords of the world, muffling in its tortuous
passages the reverberation of ordinary sounds while multiplying a
hundredfold the faint tones of the one beloved voice. His whole body
and his whole intelligence form together an instrument of exquisite
sensibility whereby the perceptions of his inmost soul are hourly
tortured, delighted, caught up into ecstasy, torn and crushed by
jealousy and fear, or plunged into the frigid waters of despair.The
melancholy hymn resounded through the vast church, but though the
Wanderer stretched the faculty of hearing to the utmost, he could no
longer find the note he sought amongst the vibrations of the dank and
heavy air. Then an irresistible longing came upon him to turn and
force his way through the dense throng of men and women, to reach the
aisle and press past the huge pillar till he could slip between the
tombstone of the astronomer and the row of back wooden seats. Once
there, he should see her face to face.He
turned, indeed, as he stood, and he tried to move a few steps. On all
sides curious looks were directed upon him, but no one offered to
make way, and still the monotonous singing continued until he felt
himself deafened, as he faced the great congregation."I
am ill," he said in a low voice to those nearest to him. "Pray
let me pass!"His
face was white, indeed, and those who heard his words believed him. A
mild old man raised his sad blue eyes, gazed at him, and while trying
to draw back, gently shook his head. A pale woman, whose sickly
features were half veiled in the folds of a torn black shawl, moved
as far as she could, shrinking as the very poor and miserable shrink
when they are expected to make way before the rich and the strong. A
lad of fifteen stood upon tiptoe to make himself even slighter than
he was and thus to widen the way, and the Wanderer found himself,
after repeated efforts, as much as two steps distant from his former
position. He was still trying to divide the crowd when the music
suddenly ceased, and the tones of the organ died away far up under
the western window. It was the moment of the Elevation, and the first
silvery tinkling of the bell, the people swayed a little, all those
who were able kneeling, and those whose movements were impeded by the
press of worshippers bending towards the altar as a field of grain
before the gale. The Wanderer turned again and bowed himself with the
rest, devoutly and humbly, with half-closed eyes, as he strove to
collect and control his thoughts in the presence of the chief mystery
of his Faith. Three times the tiny bell was rung, a pause followed,
and thrice again the clear jingle of the metal broke the solemn
stillness. Then once more the people stirred, and the soft sound of
their simultaneous motion was like a mighty sigh breathed up from the
secret vaults and the deep foundations of the ancient church; again
the pedal note of the organ boomed through the nave and aisles, and
again the thousands of human voices took up the strain of song.The
Wanderer glanced about him, measuring the distance he must traverse
to reach the monument of the Danish astronomer and confronting it
with the short time which now remained before the end of the Mass. He
saw that in such a throng he would have no chance of gaining the
position he wished to occupy in less than half an hour, and he had
not but a scant ten minutes at his disposal. He gave up the attempt
therefore, determining that when the celebration should be over he
would move forward with the crowd, trusting to his superior stature
and energy to keep him within sight of the woman he sought, until
both he and she could meet, either just within or just without the
narrow entrance of the church.Very
soon the moment of action came. The singing died away, the
benediction was given, the second Gospel was read, the priest and the
people repeated the Bohemian prayers, and all was over. The countless
heads began to move onward, the shuffling of innumerable feet sent
heavy, tuneless echoes through vaulted space, broken every moment by
the sharp, painful cough of a suffering child whom no one could see
in the multitude, or by the dull thud of some heavy foot striking
against the wooden seats in the press. The Wanderer moved forward
with the rest. Reaching the entrance of the pew where she had sat he
was kept back during a few seconds by the half dozen men and women
who were forcing their way out of it before him. But at the farthest
end, a figure clothed in black was still kneeling. A moment more and
he might enter the pew and be at her side. One of the other women
dropped something before she was out of the narrow space, and
stooped, fumbling and searching in the darkness. At the minute, the
slight, girlish figure rose swiftly and passed like a shadow before
the heavy marble monument. The Wanderer saw that the pew was open at
the other end, and without heeding the woman who stood in his way, he
sprang upon the low seat, passed her, stepped to the floor upon the
other side and was out in the aisle in a moment. Many persons had
already left the church and the space was comparatively free.She
was before him, gliding quickly toward the door. Ere he could reach
her, he saw her touch the thick ice which filled the marble basin,
cross herself hurriedly and pass out. But he had seen her face again,
and he knew that he was not mistaken. The thin, waxen features were
as those of the dead, but they were hers, nevertheless. In an instant
he could be by her side. But again his progress was momentarily
impeded by a number of persons who were entering the building hastily
to attend the next Mass. Scarcely ten seconds later he was out in the
narrow and dismal passage which winds between the north side of the
Teyn Kirche and the buildings behind the Kinsky Palace. The vast
buttresses and towers cast deep shadows below them, and the blackened
houses opposite absorb what remains of the uncertain winter's
daylight. To the left of the church a low arch spans the lane,
affording a covered communication between the north aisle and the
sacristy. To the right the open space is somewhat broader, and three
dark archways give access to as many passages, leading in radiating
directions and under the old houses to the streets beyond.The
Wanderer stood upon the steps, beneath the rich stone carvings which
set forth the Crucifixion over the door of the church, and his quick
eyes scanned everything within sight. To the left, no figure
resembling the one he sought was to be seen, but on the right, he
fancied that among a score of persons now rapidly dispersing he could
distinguish just within one of the archways a moving shadow, black
against the blackness. In an instant he had crossed the way and was
hurrying through the gloom. Already far before him, but visible and,
as he believed, unmistakable, the shade was speeding onward, light as
mist, noiseless as thought, but yet clearly to be seen and followed.
He cried aloud, as he ran,"Beatrice!
Beatrice!"His
strong voice echoed along the dank walls and out into the court
beyond. It was intensely cold, and the still air carried the sound
clearly to the distance. She must have heard him, she must have known
his voice, but as she crossed the open place, and the gray light fell
upon her, he could see that she did not raise her bent head nor
slacken her speed.He
ran on, sure of overtaking her in the passage she had now entered,
for she seemed to be only walking, while he was pursuing her at a
headlong pace. But in the narrow tunnel, when he reached it, she was
not, though at the farther end he imagined that the fold of a black
garment was just disappearing. He emerged into the street, in which
he could now see in both directions to a distance of fifty yards or
more. He was alone. The rusty iron shutters of the little shops were
all barred and fastened, and every door within the range of his
vision was closed. He stood still in surprise and listened. There was
no sound to be heard, not the grating of a lock, nor the tinkling of
a bell, nor the fall of a footstep.He
did not pause long, for he made up his mind as to what he should do
in the flash of a moment's intuition. It was physically impossible
that she should have disappeared into any one of the houses which had
their entrances within the dark tunnel he had just traversed. Apart
from the presumptive impossibility of her being lodged in such a
quarter, there was the self-evident fact that he must have heard the
door opened and closed. Secondly, she could not have turned to the
right, for in that direction the street was straight and without any
lateral exit, so that he must have seen her. Therefore she must have
gone to the left, since on that side there was a narrow alley leading
out of the lane, at some distance from the point where he was now
standing—too far, indeed, for her to have reached it unnoticed,
unless, as was possible, he had been greatly deceived in the distance
which had lately separated her from him.Without
further hesitation, he turned to the left. He found no one in the
way, for it was not yet noon, and at that hour the people were either
at their prayers or at their Sunday morning's potations, and the
place was as deserted as a disused cemetery. Still he hastened
onward, never pausing for breath, till he found himself all at once
in the great Ring. He knew the city well, but in his race he had
bestowed no attention upon the familiar windings and turnings,
thinking only of overtaking the fleeting vision, no matter how, no
matter where. Now, on a sudden, the great, irregular square opened
before him, flanked on the one side by the fantastic spires of the
Teyn Church, and the blackened front of the huge Kinsky Palace, on
the other by the half-modern Town Hall with its ancient tower, its
beautiful porch, and the graceful oriel which forms the apse of the
chapel in the second story.One
of the city watchmen, muffled in his military overcoat, and
conspicuous by the great bunch of dark feathers that drooped from his
black hat, was standing idly at the corner from which the Wanderer
emerged. The latter thought of inquiring whether the man had seen a
lady pass, but the fellow's vacant stare convinced him that no
questioning would elicit a satisfactory answer. Moreover, as he
looked across the square he caught sight of a retreating figure
dressed in black, already at such a distance as to make positive
recognition impossible. In his haste he found no time to convince
himself that no living woman could have thus outrun him, and he
instantly resumed his pursuit, gaining rapidly upon her he was
following. But it is not an easy matter to overtake even a woman,
when she has an advantage of a couple of hundred yards, and when the
race is a short one. He passed the ancient astronomical clock, just
as the little bell was striking the third quarter after eleven, but
he did not raise his head to watch the sad-faced apostles as they
presented their stiff figures in succession at the two square
windows. When the blackened cock under the small Gothic arch above
flapped his wooden wings and uttered his melancholy crow, the
Wanderer was already at the corner of the little Ring, and he could
see the object of his pursuit disappearing before him into the
Karlsgasse. He noticed uneasily that the resemblance between the
woman he was following and the object of his loving search seemed now
to diminish, as in a bad dream, as the distance between himself and
her decreased. But he held resolutely on, nearing her at every step,
round a sharp corner to the right, then to the left, to the right
again, and once more in the opposite direction, always, as he knew,
approaching the old stone bridge. He was not a dozen paces behind her
as she turned quickly a third time to the right, round the wall of
the ancient house which faces the little square over against the
enormous buildings comprising the Clementine Jesuit monastery and the
astronomical observatory. As he sprang past the corner he saw the
heavy door just closing and heard the sharp resounding clang of its
iron fastening. The lady had disappeared, and he felt sure that she
had gone through that entrance.He
knew the house well, for it is distinguished from all others in
Prague, both by its shape and its oddly ornamented, unnaturally
narrow front. It is built in the figure of an irregular triangle, the
blunt apex of one angle facing the little square, the sides being
erected on the one hand along the Karlsgasse and on the other upon a
narrow alley which leads away towards the Jews' quarter. Overhanging
passages are built out over this dim lane, as though to facilitate
the interior communications of the dwelling, and in the shadow
beneath them there is a small door studded with iron nails which is
invariably shut. The main entrance takes in all the scant breadth of
the truncated angle which looks towards the monastery. Immediately
over it is a great window, above that another, and, highest of all,
under the pointed gable, a round and unglazed aperture, within which
there is inky darkness. The windows of the first and second stories
are flanked by huge figures of saints, standing forth in strangely
contorted attitudes, black with the dust of ages, black as all old
Prague is black, with the smoke of the brown Bohemian coal, with the
dark and unctuous mists of many autumns, with the cruel, petrifying
frosts of ten score winters.He
who knew the cities of men as few have known them, knew also this
house. Many a time had he paused before it by day and by night,
wondering who lived within its massive, irregular walls, behind those
uncouth, barbarously sculptured saints who kept their interminable
watch high up by the lozenged windows. He would know now. Since she
whom he sought had entered, he would enter too; and in some corner of
that dwelling which had long possessed a mysterious attraction for
his eyes, he would find at last that being who held power over his
heart, that Beatrice whom he had learned to think of as dead, while
still believing that somewhere she must be yet alive, that dear lady
whom, dead or living, he loved beyond all others, with a great love,
passing words.
CHAPTER II
The
Wanderer stood still before the door. In the freezing air, his
quick-drawn breath made fantastic wreaths of mist, white and full of
odd shapes as he watched the tiny clouds curling quickly into each
other before the blackened oak. Then he laid his hand boldly upon the
chain of the bell. He expected to hear the harsh jingling of cracked
metal, but he was surprised by the silvery clearness and musical
quality of the ringing tones which reached his ear. He was pleased,
and unconsciously took the pleasant infusion for a favourable omen.
The heavy door swung back almost immediately, and he was confronted
by a tall porter in dark green cloth and gold lacings, whose imposing
appearance was made still more striking by the magnificent fair beard
which flowed down almost to his waist. The man lifted his heavy
cocked hat and held it low at his side as he drew back to let the
visitor enter. The latter had not expected to be admitted thus
without question, and paused under the bright light which illuminated
the arched entrance, intending to make some inquiry of the porter.
But the latter seemed to expect nothing of the sort. He carefully
closed the door, and then, bearing his hat in one hand and his
gold-headed staff in the other, he proceeded gravely to the other end
of the vaulted porch, opened a great glazed door and held it back for
the visitor to pass.The
Wanderer recognized that the farther he was allowed to penetrate
unhindered into the interior of the house, the nearer he should be to
the object of his search. He did not know where he was, nor what he
might find. For all that he knew, he might be in a club, in a great
banking-house, or in some semi-public institution of the nature of a
library, an academy or a conservatory of music. There are many such
establishments in Prague, though he was not acquainted with any in
which the internal arrangements so closely resembled those of a
luxurious private residence. But there was no time for hesitation,
and he ascended the broad staircase with a firm step, glancing at the
rich tapestries which covered the walls, at the polished surface of
the marble steps on either side of the heavy carpet, and at the
elaborate and beautiful iron-work of the hand-rail. As he mounted
higher, he heard the quick rapping of an electric signal above him,
and he understood that the porter had announced his coming. Reaching
the landing, he was met by a servant in black, as correct at all
points as the porter himself, and who bowed low as he held back the
thick curtain which hung before the entrance. Without a word the man
followed the visitor into a high room of irregular shape, which
served as a vestibule, and stood waiting to receive the guest's furs,
should it please him to lay them aside. To pause now, and to enter
into an explanation with a servant, would have been to reject an
opportunity which might never return. In such an establishment, he
was sure of finding himself before long in the presence of some more
or less intelligent person of his own class, of whom he could make
such inquiries as might enlighten him, and to whom he could present
such excuses for his intrusion as might seem most fitting in so
difficult a case. He let his sables fall into the hands of the
servant and followed the latter along a short passage.The
man introduced him into a spacious hall and closed the door, leaving
him to his own reflections. The place was very wide and high and
without windows, but the broad daylight descended abundantly from
above through the glazed roof and illuminated every corner. He would
have taken the room for a conservatory, for it contained a forest of
tropical trees and plants, and whole gardens of rare southern
flowers. Tall letonias, date palms, mimosas and rubber trees of many
varieties stretched their fantastic spikes and heavy leaves half-way
up to the crystal ceiling; giant ferns swept the polished marble
floor with their soft embroideries and dark green laces; Indian
creepers, full of bright blossoms, made screens and curtains of their
intertwining foliage; orchids of every hue and of every exotic
species bloomed in thick banks along the walls. Flowers less rare,
violets and lilies of the valley, closely set and luxuriant, grew in
beds edged with moss around the roots of the larger plants and in
many open spaces. The air was very soft and warm, moist and full of
heavy odours as the still atmosphere of an island in southern seas,
and the silence was broken only by the light plash of softly-falling
water.Having
advanced a few steps from the door, the Wanderer stood still and
waited, supposing that the owner of the dwelling would be made aware
of a visitor's presence and would soon appear. But no one came. Then
a gentle voice spoke from amidst the verdure, apparently from no
great distance."I
am here," it said.He
moved forward amidst the ferns and the tall plants, until he found
himself on the farther side of a thick network of creepers. Then he
paused, for he was in the presence of a woman, of her who dwelt among
the flowers. She was sitting before him, motionless and upright in a
high, carved chair, and so placed that the pointed leaves of the palm
which rose above her cast sharp, star-shaped shadows over the broad
folds of her white dress. One hand, as white, as cold, as heavily
perfect as the sculpture of a Praxiteles or a Phidias, rested with
drooping fingers on the arm of the chair. The other pressed the pages
of a great book which lay open on the lady's knee. Her face was
turned toward the visitor, and her eyes examined his face; calmly and
with no surprise in them, but not without a look of interest. Their
expression was at once so unusual, so disquieting, and yet so
inexplicably attractive as to fascinate the Wanderer's gaze. He did
not remember that he had ever seen a pair of eyes of distinctly
different colours, the one of a clear, cold gray, the other of a
deep, warm brown, so dark as to seem almost black, and he would not
have believed that nature could so far transgress the canons of her
own art and yet preserve the appearance of beauty. For the lady was
beautiful, from the diadem of her red gold hair to the proud curve of
her fresh young lips; from her broad, pale forehead, prominent and
boldly modelled at the angles of the brows, to the strong mouldings
of the well-balanced chin, which gave evidence of strength and
resolution wherewith to carry out the promise of the high aquiline
features and of the wide and sensitive nostrils."Madame,"
said the Wanderer, bending his head courteously and advancing another
step, "I can neither frame excuses for having entered your house
unbidden, nor hope to obtain indulgence for my intrusion, unless you
are willing in the first place to hear my short story. May I expect
so much kindness?"He
paused, and the lady looked at him fixedly and curiously. Without
taking her eyes from his face, and without speaking, she closed the
book she had held on her knee, and laid it beside her upon a low
table. The Wanderer did not avoid her gaze, for he had nothing to
conceal, nor any sense of timidity. He was an intruder upon the
privacy of one whom he did not know, but he was ready to explain his
presence and to make such amends as courtesy required, if he had
given offence.The
heavy odours of the flowers filled his nostrils with an unknown,
luxurious delight, as he stood there, gazing into the lady's eyes; he
fancied that a gentle breath of perfumed air was blowing softly over
his hair and face out of the motionless palms, and the faint plashing
of the hidden fountain was like an exquisite melody in his ears. It
was good to be in such a place, to look on such a woman, to breathe
such odours, and to hear such tuneful music. A dreamlike,
half-mysterious satisfaction of the senses dulled the keen
self-knowledge of body and soul for one short moment. In the stormy
play of his troubled life there was a brief interlude of peace. He
tasted the fruit of the lotus, his lips were moistened in the sweet
waters of forgetfulness.The
lady spoke at last, and the spell left him, not broken, as by a
sudden shock, but losing its strong power by quick degrees until it
was wholly gone."I
will answer your question by another," said the lady. "Let
your reply be the plain truth. It will be better so.""Ask
what you will. I have nothing to conceal.""Do
you know who and what I am? Do you come here out of curiosity, in the
vain hope of knowing me, having heard of me from others?""Assuredly
not." A faint flush rose in the man's pale and noble face. "You
have my word," he said, in the tone of one who is sure of being
believed, "that I have never, to my knowledge, heard of your
existence, that I am ignorant even of your name—forgive my
ignorance—and that I entered this house, not knowing whose it might
be, seeking and following after one for whom I have searched the
world, one dearly loved, long lost, long sought.""It
is enough. Be seated. I am Unorna.""Unorna?"
repeated the Wanderer, with an unconscious question in his voice, as
though the name recalled some half-forgotten association."Unorna—yes.
I have another name," she added, with a shade of bitterness,
"but it is hardly mine. Tell me your story. You loved—you
lost—you seek—so much I know. What else?"The
Wanderer sighed."You
have told in those few words the story of my life—the unfinished
story. A wanderer I was born, a wanderer I am, a wanderer I must ever
be, until at last I find her whom I seek. I knew her in a strange
land, far from my birthplace, in a city where I was known but to a
few, and I loved her. She loved me, too, and that against her
father's will. He would not have his daughter wed with one not of her
race; for he himself had taken a wife among strangers, and while she
was yet alive he had repented of what he had done. But I would have
overcome his reasons and his arguments—she and I could have
overcome them together, for he did not hate me, he bore me no
ill-will. We were almost friends when I last took his hand. Then the
hour of destiny came upon me. The air of that city was treacherous
and deadly. I had left her with her father, and my heart was full of
many things, and of words both spoken and unuttered. I lingered upon
an ancient bridge that spanned the river, and the sun went down. Then
the evil fever of the south laid hold upon me and poisoned the blood
in my veins, and stole the consciousness from my understanding. Weeks
passed away, and memory returned, with the strength to speak. I
learned that she I loved and her father were gone, and none knew
whither. I rose and left the accursed city, being at that time scarce
able to stand upright upon my feet. Finding no trace of those I
sought, I journeyed to their own country, for I knew where her father
held his lands. I had been ill many weeks and much time had passed,
from the day on which I had left her, until I was able to move from
my bed. When I reached the gates of her home, I was told that all had
been lately sold, and that others now dwelt within the walls. I
inquired of those new owners of the land, but neither they or any of
all those whom I questioned could tell me whither I should direct my
search. The father was a strange man, loving travel and change and
movement, restless and unsatisfied with the world, rich and free to
make his own caprice his guide through life; reticent he was,
moreover, and thoughtful, not given to speaking out his intentions.
Those who administered his affairs in his absence were honourable
men, bound by his especial injunction not to reveal his ever-varying
plans. Many times, in my ceaseless search, I met persons who had
lately seen him and his daughter and spoken with them. I was ever on
their track, from hemisphere to hemisphere, from continent to
continent, from country to country, from city to city, often
believing myself close upon them, often learning suddenly that an
ocean lay between them and me. Was he eluding me, purposely,
resolutely, or was he unconscious of my desperate pursuit, being
served by chance alone and by his own restless temper? I do not know.
At last, some one told me that she was dead, speaking thoughtlessly,
not knowing that I loved her. He who told me had heard the news from
another, who had received it on hearsay from a third. None knew in
what place her spirit had parted; none knew by what manner of
sickness she had died. Since then, I have heard others say that she
is not dead, that they have heard in their turn from others that she
yet lives. An hour ago, I knew not what to think. To-day, I saw her
in a crowded church. I heard her voice, though I could not reach her
in the throng, struggle how I would. I followed her in haste, I lost
her at one turning, I saw her before me at the next. At last a
figure, clothed as she had been clothed, entered your house. Whether
it was she I know not certainly, but I do know that in the church I
saw her. She cannot be within your dwelling without your knowledge;
if she be here—then I have found her, my journey is ended, my
wanderings have led me home at last. If she be not here, if I have
been mistaken, I entreat you to let me set eyes on that other whom I
mistook for her, to forgive then my mannerless intrusion and to let
me go."Unorna
had listened with half-closed eyes, but with unfaltering attention,
watching the speaker's face from beneath her drooping lids, making no
effort to read his thoughts, but weighing his words and impressing
every detail of his story upon her mind. When he had done there was
silence for a time, broken only by the plash and ripple of the
falling water."She
is not here," said Unorna at last. "You shall see for
yourself. There is indeed in this house a young girl to whom I am
deeply attached, who has grown up at my side and has always lived
under my roof. She is very pale and dark, and is dressed always in
black.""Like
her I saw.""You
shall see her again. I will send for her." Unorna pressed an
ivory key in the silver ball which lay beside her, attached to a
thick cord of white silk. "Ask Sletchna Axenia to come to me,"
she said to the servant who opened the door in the distance, out of
sight behind the forest of plants.Amid
less unusual surroundings the Wanderer would have rejected with
contempt the last remnants of his belief in the identity of Unorna's
companion, with Beatrice. But, being where he was, he felt unable to
decide between the possible and the impossible, between what he might
reasonably expect and what lay beyond the bounds of reason itself.
The air he breathed was so loaded with rich exotic perfumes, the
woman before him was so little like other women, her strangely
mismatched eyes had for his own such a disquieting attraction, all
that he saw and felt and heard was so far removed from the
commonplaces of daily life as to make him feel that he himself was
becoming a part of some other person's existence, that he was being
gradually drawn away from his identity, and was losing the power of
thinking his own thoughts. He reasoned as the shadows reason in
dreamland, the boundaries of common probability receded to an
immeasurable distance, and he almost ceased to know where reality
ended and where imagination took up the sequence of events.Who
was this woman, who called herself Unorna? He tried to consider the
question, and to bring his intelligence to bear upon it. Was she a
great lady of Prague, rich, capricious, creating a mysterious
existence for herself, merely for her own good pleasure? Her
language, her voice, her evident refinement gave colour to the idea,
which was in itself attractive to a man who had long ceased to expect
novelty in this working-day world. He glanced at her face, musing and
wondering, inhaling the sweet, intoxicating odours of the flowers and
listening to the tinkling of the hidden fountain. Her eyes were
gazing into his, and again, as if by magic, the curtain of life's
stage was drawn together in misty folds, shutting out the past, the
present, and the future, the fact, the doubt, and the hope, in an
interval of perfect peace.He
was roused by the sound of a light footfall upon the marble pavement.
Unorna's eyes were turned from his, and with something like a
movement of surprise he himself looked towards the new comer. A young
girl was standing under the shadow of a great letonia at a short
distance from him. She was very pale indeed, but not with that
death-like, waxen pallor which had chilled him when he had looked
upon that other face. There was a faint resemblance in the small,
aquiline features, the dress was black, and the figure of the girl
before him was assuredly neither much taller nor much shorter than
that of the woman he loved and sought. But the likeness went no
further, and he knew that he had been utterly mistaken.Unorna
exchanged a few indifferent words with Axenia and dismissed her."You
have seen," she said, when the young girl was gone. "Was it
she who entered the house just now?""Yes.
I was misled by a mere resemblance. Forgive me for my importunity—let
me thank you most sincerely for your great kindness." He rose as
he spoke."Do
not go," said Unorna, looking at him earnestly.He
stood still, silent, as though his attitude should explain itself,
and yet expecting that she would say something further. He felt that
her eyes were upon him, and he raised his own to meet the look
frankly, as was his wont. For the first time since he had entered her
presence he felt that there was more than a mere disquieting
attraction in her steady gaze; there was a strong, resistless
fascination, from which he had no power to withdraw himself. Almost
unconsciously he resumed his seat, still looking at her, while
telling himself with a severe effort that he would look but one
instant longer and then turn away. Ten seconds passed, twenty, half a
minute, in total silence. He was confused, disturbed, and yet wholly
unable to shut out her penetrating glance. His fast ebbing
consciousness barely allowed him to wonder whether he was weakened by
the strong emotions he had felt in the church, or by the first
beginning of some unknown and unexpected malady. He was utterly weak
and unstrung. He could neither rise from his seat, nor lift his hand,
nor close the lids of his eyes. It was as though an irresistible
force were drawing him into the depths of a fathomless whirlpool,
down, down, by its endless giddy spirals, robbing him of a portion of
his consciousness at every gyration, so that he left behind him at
every instant something of his individuality, something of the
central faculty of self-recognition. He felt no pain, but he did not
feel that inexpressible delight of peace which already twice had
descended upon him. He experienced a rapid diminution of all
perception, of all feeling, of all intelligence. Thought, and the
memory of thought, ebbed from his brain and left it vacant, as the
waters of a lock subside when the gates are opened, leaving emptiness
in their place.Unorna's
eyes turned from him, and she raised her hand a moment, letting it
fall again upon her knee. Instantly the strong man was restored to
himself; his weakness vanished, his sight was clear, his intelligence
was awake. Instantly the certainty flashed upon him that Unorna
possessed the power of imposing the hypnotic sleep and had exercised
that gift upon him, unexpectedly and against his will. He would have
more willingly supposed that he had been the victim of a momentary
physical faintness, for the idea of having been thus subjected to the
influence of a woman, and of a woman whom he hardly knew, was
repugnant to him, and had in it something humiliating to his pride,
or at least to his vanity. But he could not escape the conviction
forced upon him by the circumstances."Do
not go far, for I may yet help you," said Unorna, quietly. "Let
us talk of this matter and consult what is best to be done. Will you
accept a woman's help?""Readily.
But I cannot accept her will as mine, nor resign my consciousness
into her keeping.""Not
for the sake of seeing her whom you say you love?"The
Wanderer was silent, being yet undetermined how to act, and still
unsteadied by what he had experienced. But he was able to reason, and
he asked of his judgment what he should do, wondering what manner of
woman Unorna might prove to be, and whether she was anything more
than one of those who live and even enrich themselves by the exercise
of the unusual faculties of powers nature has given them. He had seen
many of that class, and he considered most of them to be but half
fanatics, half charlatans, worshipping in themselves as something
almost divine that which was but a physical power, or weakness,
beyond their own limited comprehension. Though a whole school of wise
and thoughtful men had already produced remarkable results and
elicited astounding facts by sifting the truth through a fine web of
closely logical experiment, it did not follow that either Unorna, or
any other self-convinced, self-taught operator could do more than
grope blindly towards the light, guided by intuition alone amongst
the varied and misleading phenomena of hypnotism. The thought of
accepting the help of one who was probably, like most of her kind, a
deceiver of herself and therefore, and thereby, of others, was an
affront to the dignity of his distress, a desecration of his love's
sanctity, a frivolous invasion of love's holiest ground. But, on the
other hand, he was stimulated to catch at the veriest shadows of
possibility by the certainty that he was at last within the same city
with her he loved, and he knew that hypnotic subjects are sometimes
able to determine the abode of persons whom no one else can find.
To-morrow it might be too late. Even before to-day's sun had set
Beatrice might be once more taken from him, snatched away to the ends
of the earth by her father's ever-changing caprice. To lose a moment
now might be to lose all.He
was tempted to yield, to resign his will into Unorna's hands, and his
sight to her leading, to let her bid him sleep and see the truth. But
then, with a sudden reaction of his individuality, he realized that
he had another course, surer, simpler, more dignified. Beatrice was
in Prague. It was little probable that she was permanently
established in the city, and in all likelihood she and her father
were lodged in one of the two or three great hotels. To be driven
from the one to the other of these would be but an affair of minutes.
Failing information from this source, there remained the registers of
the Austrian police, whose vigilance takes note of every stranger's
name and dwelling-place."I
thank you," he said. "If all my inquiries fail, and if you
will let me visit you once more to-day, I will then ask your help.""You
are right," Unorna answered.
CHAPTER III
He
had been deceived in supposing that he must inevitably find the names
of those he sought upon the ordinary registers which chronicle the
arrival and departure of travellers. He lost no time, he spared no
effort, driving from place to place as fast as two sturdy Hungarian
horses could take him, hurrying from one office to another, and again
and again searching endless pages and columns which seemed full of
all the names of earth, but in which he never found the one of all
others which he longed to read. The gloom in the narrow streets was
already deepening, though it was scarcely two hours after mid-day,
and the heavy air had begun to thicken with a cold gray haze, even in
the broad, straight Przikopy, the wide thoroughfare which has taken
the place and name of the moat before the ancient fortifications, so
that distant objects and figures lost the distinctness of their
outlines. Winter in Prague is but one long, melancholy dream, broken
sometimes at noon by an hour of sunshine, by an intermittent
visitation of reality, by the shock and glare of a little broad
daylight. The morning is not morning, the evening is not evening; as
in the land of the Lotus, it is ever afternoon, gray, soft, misty,
sad, save when the sun, being at his meridian height, pierces the dim
streets and sweeps the open places with low, slanting waves of pale
brightness. And yet these same dusky streets are thronged with a
moving multitude, are traversed ever by ceaseless streams of men and
women, flowing onward, silently, swiftly, eagerly. The very beggars
do not speak above a whisper, the very dogs are dumb. The stillness
of all voices leaves nothing for the perception of the hearing save
the dull thread of many thousand feet and the rough rattle of an
occasional carriage. Rarely, the harsh tones of a peasant, or the
clear voices of a knot of strangers, unused to such oppressive
silence, startle the ear, causing hundreds of eager, half-suspicious,
half-wondering eyes to turn in the direction of the sound.
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!