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 . . . hard by the dim iake or'Auber, 
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HIDDEN WITCHERY. 
 BY NIGEL TOURNEUR. 
 
 DECORATED 
 
 LONDON : 
 
 BY 
 
 LEONARD SMITHERS. 
 
 WILL MEIN. 
 
 MDCCCXCVIII 
 
GIFT OF 
 
 : ••• 
 
 4 • 
 
To 
 
 ONE EVER KIND, 
 
 Whose gracious personality and tender interest in a 
 captious invalid have made bitter-life sweet, and 
 dark malignant hours of sickness and doubt and 
 care fleeting as the sunny moments of a gay April 
 morn : 
 
 THIS TENTATIVE LITTLE BOOK. 
 
 M94696 
 

 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 . . . Till irremeable Old Age sets his knotted 
 hands to the shafts, Passion wheels the vehicle 
 of Life ; sometimes visibly, sometimes in- 
 visibly. . . . Throughout the following 
 stories and sketches — scantily in part, and, it 
 is feared, obscurely, through symbolism — 
 there may be traced the inception, growth, 
 strength, waywardness, and maturity of its 
 physical manhood, culminating in self- 
 knowledge and abnegation. . . . 
 
 N. T. 
 
 London, Shrovetide, 1898. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Apogaeon of Cupid 5 
 
 The Leman's Love : 
 
 I. Issola again Preferreth her Lover . . 33 
 
 II. Her Lover Meeteth a Shameful Death . 47 
 
 III. Hatred Slayeth Itself 55 
 
 IV. Issola Redeemeth the Unshrived Soul . 74 
 
 The Tithe at the Moorstone 87 
 
 The Passing of Lilith 103 
 
 At the Sign of Kypris 123 
 
 In the Hidden Hours of the Night 149 
 
 At the Cross-Roads on the Moor 189 
 
 AND 
 
 The Potion, or, the Tragical Ending of the Loves 
 of Viola, Duchess of Siena, and Marzio, 
 
 Seigneur d'Alibert, her sometime Lover . . 209 
 
THE APOG^ON OF CUPID. 
 
 B 
 

 THE APOG.EON OF CUPID. 
 
 I. 
 
 NONE had ever observed her — of this 
 I was certain. I had heard no one 
 talk of her, and I hugged my feli- 
 city to me. 
 
 When the mavis and blackbird lavished 
 their ringing notes upon the soft spring air, 
 and heavy boughs of peach and cherry scat- 
 tered fragrant blossoms upon the young green 
 grass, it was then, that, in the dim portals of 
 the woods she importuned alluringly my 
 panting soul. 
 
 Indeed, she had invaded my eyes with the 
 silent armies of her beauty ; rendering me a 
 pitiful victim to the unbounded longings of 
 my heart. 
 
V: 6 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 By Dian's fountain she was wont to loiter. 
 There, ensconced behind a leafy sheet of 
 clinging ivy that veiled the entrance to the 
 grot, she would linger through the short 
 spring hours ; drinking in the balmy scents, 
 listening to the woodland song around her. 
 
 Often, when I, passing that way, drank of 
 the bubbling water that fell from the satyr's 
 head, I could declare her eyes were upon 
 me. Nay, had I not twice discovered her, 
 when the seals of slumber had fastened upon 
 her eyelids ? and closer attention had but 
 rivetted mv heart the firmer to her. What 
 man could withstand her beauty ? Certes ! 
 when I surprised her one afternoon lying 
 aslumber upon a bench, the picture had 
 transfixed my senses, and I stood all agape 
 as a most veritable Cymon. 
 
 This fountain was of old-time fashioning, 
 and age had embellished its artistry. From 
 it the glades lead in all directions ; thither 
 came deer to drink, and all sorts of birds to 
 build about and bath in it. 
 
 Ofttimes approaching quietly, I would 
 come upon birdkind perched upon the curl- 
 ing snakes that wreathed about the massive 
 
The Apogceon of Cupid. 7 
 
 basin, all a-busy pruning and dressing their 
 dainty plumes ; so, from frequent sight they 
 closed an acquaintance, even to perching 
 upon my outstretched hand. 
 
 Many times had they seen her. Nay, did 
 they not see my lady every hour she was 
 abroad, for whence their amorous twitterings 
 and play. Only her presence could bestow 
 such joys. 
 
 Sometimes, as I lay deep in the wind- 
 blown grasses, weaving idle rhymes and 
 lending an ear to the many murmurs in the 
 air, it was, as she were nigh. Then my 
 eager heart leapt up to encounter the steady 
 gaze of her starlike eyes : yet alas, she would 
 pass into another glade. 
 
 Never durst I follow. Fear of her ex- 
 ceeding displeasure dispelled all courage ; so, 
 cowing under the dread of her rebuke, I 
 would remain awaiting her return. 
 
 At times a formed resolve possessed me : 
 boldly would I accost her, and, pleading my 
 love, risk all denial. But thought of her 
 countenance hardening into disdain dissolved 
 determination ; and that, notwithstanding the 
 lashing cords of love. 
 
8 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 II. 
 
 " You have seen her then ' he cried, and 
 peered amusedly at me. " I had thought as 
 much : ' and laughing softly to himself he 
 refilled his glass. 
 
 " Have you made the best of your short 
 acquaintance ? " he queried. " If not — I shall 
 be happy to forward your project. But I 
 assure you 'tis a hopeless case." 
 
 His sneering voice recalled me. " In- 
 deed ! " I replied : " I was unaware any pro- 
 ject of mine had been committed to your 
 care. 
 
 " Oh ! " said he carelessly, " one can clearly 
 see you love her ; and I am willing to assist 
 in the best way possible. Few know her so 
 intimately : " and he traced some letters upon 
 the polished oaken surface with a wine- 
 besmeared finger. 
 
 His confident manner nettled me. " It is 
 a great favour you would confer " I answered. 
 " Yet in truth — it is now of little avail. 
 Besides, your foot in this affair could not 
 turn the scale." 
 
 He looked up quickly. 
 
The Apogceon of Cupid. 9 
 
 "Ho! ho! now I understand matters," he 
 cried ; and, rising from the chair, my cousin 
 paced up and down the room. " 'Tis deli- 
 cious ! she has given you, also, the short 
 shrift. Gad ! " and, cackling with delight, he 
 perched himself upon the great lounge by the 
 hearth. 
 
 My face reddened, but I said nothing ; 
 yet his words cut me, and I moved out from 
 the flickering firelight into the shadow. 
 
 " Ay," quoth he, " I was sure that would 
 happen. Play woman against woman, — and 
 the truth wells to the surface. But ! what — 
 what am I to do with Doris ? " " Why ! w 
 said I, " what has she to do with this ? ' 
 
 He stared at me for a second, then burst 
 into a peal of laughter that rattled his ribs 
 against his stays. 
 
 " Lord ! " he gasped, " what a dunce ! 
 Doris? Why — everything!" and he fell a- 
 laughing again at some monstrous joke, but 
 losing his balance tumbled heels up into the 
 lounge. 
 
 'Twas humoursome to watch his thin 
 calves beat the air against the firelight, yet, 
 afraid he would hurt himself, I extricated him. 
 
io Hidden Witchery. 
 
 He smoothed his clothes, and sat down. 
 
 " Ah ! " quoth he ; " you fairly overcame 
 me. Gad! I have it; ,: and he slapped his 
 thigh. " Take Doris off my hands. Pray, 
 do !" and he leaned forward with a simpering 
 look upon his handsome face. 
 
 In a twinkle I had his purpose. 
 
 " Nay ! " replied I gravely ; " a man of the 
 world, such as you, can surely handle two 
 women at once." 
 
 He crowed. " Two ! " cried he, snapping 
 his fingers : " a round half dozen of 'em. 
 " But I had thought now that Favilla has 
 refused you, Doris would fill up the vacant 
 heart. She 's a pretty thing — brown as a 
 berry — hair, head, and hands ;" and he gazed 
 pensively into the fire. — The withered up 
 old fool ! 
 
 But I heeded him not. 
 
 At last her name had rung upon my ears. 
 " Favilla — Favilla " — and I repeated it softly 
 to myself. 
 
 This world needs be a hostile place, when 
 a beauteous woman cannot go forth, but there 
 fall instantly differences between men; and for 
 the most part betwixt old acquaintances. 
 
The Apogczon of Cupid, 1 1 
 
 Never had I held him in very great es- 
 teem, but now I hated the sight of him ; 
 viewing his person with the same sort of eve 
 as we were in Tothill Fields to fight a duel. 
 I looked him all over, eved him as he daintily 
 took a pinch of rappee and arranged his 
 ruffles, glanced at his profile as he turned to 
 me ; and thought he looked a fool. But 
 women love to dangle a handsome idiot at 
 their petticoat strings. — Pshaw ! a pretty 
 puppet for her to play with. Yet I liked 
 not even the idea of mere fooling, and would 
 he were at the devil. 
 
 He blew the snuff from off his laces, and 
 grinned to himself. 
 
 " I cannot understand why women love 
 me" he said complacently. "No!" quoth 
 I sharplv ; " nor I." 
 
 He moved uneasilv in the chair at this, 
 then, reaching forward, lifted his wine-glass. 
 Meditatively he contemplated the ruby colour 
 of the port, as the firelight danced through 
 the facets and flashed sparks into the luscious 
 liquid. His lips fell apart, his brow wrinkled, 
 in truth, his age sat heavily upon him. 
 
 " Ay," he muttered, " one must pander 
 
12 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 to them, flatter them to the top of their 
 bent ; and they will aye be eloquent and 
 trustful. " 
 
 " Are all women to be taken with that 
 bait ? " inquired I sarcastically. 
 
 " Eh ! what 's that ? " he cried : and I 
 repeated my query. 
 
 " No ! " replied he with a faint cackle of 
 derisive laughter. — " There are exceptions. 
 But ply your trade according to the market, 
 and approach a woman upon her own level. 
 If she 's wise : flatter her intellect. If she 's 
 an ass — well, flatter her, she is wise. — But 
 there are exceptions." 
 
 He sighed. I smiled. 
 
 " Ah ! ' I cried. " You are in love in 
 earnest.'* 
 
 " Not I — not I," protested he most strenu- 
 ously. " Indeed, I meant but an idle game ; 
 and now she has swallowed hook and all. 
 What can I do with her? — Favilla! 'tis a 
 sweet name." He paused, then jumped up. 
 "Gad! I know — I'll marry her. — A fine 
 creature! Prithee cousin! wilt dance at the 
 wedding ? " and smirking at me he left the 
 room. 
 
The Apogczon of Cupid. 13 
 
 His last idea must have tickled him, for, 
 some short time after, when smoking in the 
 bookroom, I heard his step crunch the gravel, 
 and peeping out I saw him pass the corner 
 gable, smiling prodigiously to himself. 
 
 Notwithstanding increasing dislike, I had 
 to confess to his modish attire and goodly 
 carriage. Indeed, with all his faults and 
 years, he was yet as gallant a spark as could 
 be found in Ranelagh Gardens on a fete 
 night ; and he knew it. One could not but 
 notice the brave way he carried himself as 
 he walked : I could have done that no more 
 than fly. When passing out from the south 
 lodge gates he chucked the porter's pretty 
 daughter 'neath the chin, and kissed her too : 
 I durst not have done that to save my skin. 
 
 "Ay," I groaned, "the country does make 
 a bumpkin of one; " and I sat and railed at 
 my lack of spirit. 
 
 At some distance behind the house was 
 ranged a shady walk of aged beeches ; and 
 thither I went. 
 
 Cawing crowds of rooks slanted across the 
 sunset sky, as they made for home ; on the 
 pasture land some lowing calves made the 
 
14 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 quietness ring far and wide with their per- 
 sistent cries ; and in the distance the spiral 
 smoke ascending from the neighbouring ham- 
 lets proclaimed the stillness of the evening 
 air, that was only broken by the footsteps of 
 the wearied workers returning to their cots. 
 
 This avenue was a quiet and privy place ; 
 and I gave full sway to my thoughts. 
 
 I was in love, beyond doubt. Favilla 
 — and my lips lingered upon the favoured 
 name — had captured my heart, carrying all 
 before her triumphant sway. 
 
 His offer of acquaintance opened up a 
 new train of ideas : prevailing love battled 
 against my pride. 
 
 As is easily imagined, I had no small 
 desire to meet her, and, if possible upon a 
 formed intimacy, accomplish my intention. 
 But to owe aught to him with his babbling 
 tongue and inordinate conceit ! Nay, I 
 would give him no debt to charge me with, 
 but trust Dame Fortune to favour my 
 cause. Yet she lived in seclusion, so, only 
 through him did any approach appear to 
 me. 
 
 Before returning to the house I paused for 
 
The Apogceon of Cupid. 15 
 
 a while to gaze upon the landscape, as the 
 gloaming gathered. 
 
 The sweet, earthy smell of newly turned 
 sods from the adjoining ploughed fields, the 
 noise of milking as with steady swish the 
 milkers filled their coggies, the distant cry of 
 a shepherd to his dog as it drove in the 
 sheep, all were beloved of me : for I was 
 only a country lout, unfamiliar with the 
 delights of routs, masquerades, gadabouts, 
 and the etceteras of St. James. 
 
 I was moving off 7 , when, hearing voices, I 
 tarried to discern the speakers. 
 
 " I assure you," I heard him say, " 'tis the 
 shorter way — down by the beeches here, 
 and along the field path — " " But the stile 
 and barred gates " — a soft voice interrupted 
 him — " I could never think to face them." 
 
 " Oh ! " he rejoined, " one can surely help 
 you." 
 
 " You will not be troublesome ? " was 
 queried — " I know you of old." 
 
 I could fancy him snigger at this. 
 
 " Well ! I must have payment," cried he : 
 and they passed on. 
 
 Now is not love a subtle diviner. My 
 
1 6 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 eyes had not seen, yet at once I wist that it 
 was Favilla who had preceded with him. 
 Instantly I apprehended his intent, and, 
 giving way to bitter thoughts, manlike attri- 
 buted all sorts of wiles to her. 
 
 " Who had imagined she possessed such 
 coquetry ? " I cried desparingly. " Ay, wo- 
 men are all alike : they do but make man 
 the tilting ground of folly. But Favilla — " ? 
 and I was staggered at heart. 
 
 Then a suggestion occurred : maybe after 
 all my hasty judgment was ill passed. So, 
 curious from love and hatred, I sped down a 
 covert lane to the field path. 
 
 In the dim light I could see they had halted 
 before the first stile, and through the silent air 
 their voices fell distinctly upon my hearing. 
 
 " I do not even know him ' she said. 
 " Why do you torment me ? " 
 
 " He has no acquaintance with you, then ? ,: 
 he asked anxiously. " No ! " she replied 
 sharply — " must I tell you that again ? Why 
 do you question me so ? " 
 
 " He is in love with you ' he cried 
 fiercely. " You know that — no person need 
 tell you the fool's case." 
 
The Apogceon of Cupid. 17 
 
 M He — he is in love with me ? " she re- 
 peated. " Am I to be held guilty for that?" 
 and it seemed to me her voice rang softer. 
 
 " Favilla ? " my cousin entreated : M Do 
 you — " She interrupted him. " Pardon 
 me ? — Mistress Favilla. I had not known 
 our acquaintance entitled any privileges." 
 Heheededher not, but blathered on: "Itis not 
 of my cousin, but of myself, I wish to talk." 
 
 " Indeed," she remarked ironically, " do 
 you ever talk of other folk ? " " Ay," the 
 blockhead answered, " sometimes about you." 
 
 " Such precious compliment " cried she, 
 as she dropped a courtesy. " My Lord the 
 beau hath bereft me of my wits : " and she 
 burst into a peal of silvery laughter. 
 
 I had some notion that he would find 
 himself in a sorry plight, for, so enwrapped 
 was he in his conceit and pride that he per- 
 ceived not the girl's fooling of him. 
 
 Suddenly mounting the stile she gained 
 the other side. " Now we part," she said 
 with a mocked sigh, and held out her hand 
 to him. 
 
 " But you have some minutes' walk yet " 
 he objected. 
 
1 8 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 " Ah ! I see, I must take care of you " she 
 cried tenderly : " you have a delicate con- 
 stitution to be abroad this damp evening/' 
 
 The sarcasm was lost upon him. 
 
 " It is indeed good of you to think upon 
 me " he exclaimed ; " but I did not reckon 
 upon this speedy parting." 
 
 " 'Tis sad — but too true " she rejoined 
 sententiously; and again proffered her hand. 
 
 " Listen to me " he mouthed. " You 
 promised an answer to-night : and give 's it. 
 My agony is unbearable." 
 
 She laughed provokingly. 
 
 " I know what you mean " she cried ; 
 " but the tongue must needs outrun your 
 discretion." 
 
 Then she endeavoured to regain her hand. 
 
 " Nay, be not foolish " she exclaimed, as 
 holding it to his lips he covered it with 
 kisses. " Favilla," he murmured, " listen to 
 my prayer." So in a rant of words he pro- 
 tested his passion. 
 
 She gave no sign of hearance. For a few 
 seconds there was silence. 
 
 " Have you finished i" she inquired in a 
 calm voice. " The next time — prithee wait 
 
The Apogceon of Cupid. 19 
 
 for encouragement : " and, snatching her 
 hand away, she started back. 
 
 He attempted to regain hold, but the 
 sudden, sharp flip-flip of her gloves against 
 his cheek broke his ardour. Even at my 
 distance could be heard the muttered curse 
 from the beau, as he passed over the stile in 
 hot pursuit. 
 
 Bursting with anger, I broke from the 
 spot, and pressing in gained the apex of 
 the angle where the paths converged. 
 
 He collided against me : my left shoulder 
 sent him spinning into the dog roses upon 
 the hedge. No need was there for apology. 
 
 He turned upon me. " How now, you 
 d — d country numskull, must I always find 
 you eavesdropping ? ' cried he ; for he pos- 
 sessed a shrewd approximation of the truth. 
 
 In a moment of rashness he raised his cane 
 — in a second it lay on the far side of the 
 path. 
 
 " One needs have much leisure to stand by 
 and listen to your idle chatter " I retorted 
 warmly. " For whom did your arms gape 
 across the stile ? For Doris ! Eh ? " and I 
 progged him with my stick. 
 
20 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 He closed upon me. 
 
 "Come now!" quoth I : "be steady; and 
 no mischief. Jove! the maid has scurried 
 away." For my eyes could no longer discern 
 the white robed figure flitting through the 
 gloom. 
 
 " Tuts ! tuts ! " said I, " this is a sad case. 
 Would Chloe suffer no favour from a city 
 gent ! Welladay, poor Cynthio ! — What is 
 the world coming to ? " 
 
 "If you cannot hold your tonger — at least 
 have sense ,: he muttered sullenly. " Your 
 sudden presence took me aback " he added 
 in an afterbreath. 
 
 " Ay ! " replied I dryly ; " one can see 
 that." 
 
 And we returned homewards. 
 
 III. 
 
 Through the haloed window panes of the 
 upper gallery the young moon threw zigzag 
 patterns upon the floor. I took a pensive 
 pleasure in planting my footsteps aye in the 
 same corners of the lighted patches ; some- 
 
The Apogceon of Cupid, 
 
 21 
 
 what under the idea that so doing insured 
 luck for my heart's desire. 
 
 Backwards and forwards I paraded the 
 apartment's length. I cared not for the 
 darkness, that, filling the long, empty spaces 
 between the lights, looked so solid as to 
 demand dispersion when I ploughed through 
 it: the stir of thought within my brain 
 made as though the place were full of 
 sunshine ; for I thought upon Favilla and her 
 beauty. 
 
 Her tones dwelt in my memory. 
 
 " He — he is in love with me. Am I to 
 be held guilty for that ? " And the softening 
 of her voice had exalted my hopes. 
 
 As I turned upon my heel, the north door 
 opened, and some one entered. 
 
 I inquired, and was informed my cousin 
 desired to see me. He had retired to bed, 
 for, what between laziness and a desire to 
 retain his complexion — he was as vain of his 
 face, as any madam can be — he always ached 
 for the luxury of the pillows. 
 
 As I entered, he looked up from sipping his 
 cup of chocolate. Egad, he was a quizzical 
 sight with a nightcap drawn about his 
 
22 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 wedge-shaped head, and an embroidered dress- 
 ing-gown all as fine as the Turkish Bashaw's. 
 
 " You were asking for me " I said, as I 
 threw myself into his padded seat. " Whew ! 
 this fire is scorching : " and I thrust myself 
 from it. 
 
 He stared at me from tip to toe. " Yes ! ,: 
 he replied ; " 'tis about that girl. Who is to 
 have her ? We had better settle the matter 
 at once off the hand." 
 
 " Girl," quoth I, " which one — Doris ? " 
 
 " No," he answered, moving impatiently 
 among his bedclothes ; " I mean not her, but 
 Favilla." 
 
 " Well," replied I, laying the tips of my fin- 
 gers together, and looking over them at him — 
 "well, 'tis aquestion of preference, I'd suppose." 
 
 " She has money " he snapped out ; " and 
 influence." "Oho!" I cried, "here's the 
 gist of the matter. And your bags require 
 refilling, eh ? " 
 
 He glanced at me as if to slay me. 
 
 " I admit " said he, " money is a material 
 consideration. Yet by Gad she is a fine woman 
 — a fine woman. See here, Cousin Harry ! 
 After all, it is a risky business. Some folks 
 
The Apogceon of Cupid. 23 
 
 say she 's penniless, and the land passes to 
 the uncle. 'Tis a risky affair " he repeated, 
 meditatively rubbing his hands together. 
 
 " Nay ! I'll not venture upon it " he 
 continued : " I must have security for my 
 person ; " and wagging his head at the 
 candles he lapsed into silence. 
 
 I glanced at his modish habiliments, then 
 at the man himself. His sordid selfishness 
 stung me ; but he was a sodden piece of 
 humanity, and what else could one expect ? 
 Yet, that one of my kin should act thus 
 heated my blood. 
 
 " Suppose she were penniless " I cried, 
 " what then ? ' and jumping up I went to- 
 wards him. 
 
 He turned his shallow face upon me. 
 " Lord ! " quoth he. " I'd let her sink to 
 what she would — a bagnio mistress : " and he 
 chuckled as best he could without his teeth. 
 
 "•Damn you!" cried I. "I'd marry her 
 without a penny — in the shift she wears — if 
 she has nothing else : ' : and I advanced upon 
 him. 
 
 He withdrew beneath his bed-clothes ; 
 his face wore a new startled look upon it. 
 
24 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 " Good God! " he muttered. "Take her 
 then, take her — for you indeed love her." 
 And he turned his face to the wall. 
 
 IV. 
 
 Favilla could not rest. Upon the broad 
 sill of the corner lattice stood a great Chelsea 
 bowl filled with wallflower and jessamine. 
 The rich perfumes spread out upon a cur- 
 rent of air from the half-opened window ; 
 reaching her sensibilities they stirred up re- 
 membrance within her. She could not slum- 
 ber. She tossed hither and thither upon her 
 bed fain for sleep, yet it invaded not her eyes. 
 
 Among the green growths and creeping 
 plants clinging to the outside stone was 
 trained a great trail of eglantine, and, as the 
 wind carried them, the odorous sprays flipped 
 murmurous against the lattice panes. 
 
 Slowly the beat of her white forehead 
 took earnest of the murmur, and resolved 
 into the rhythm : " He loves — he loves you." 
 She started. The words filled her ears : 
 
The Apogceon of Cupid. 25 
 
 " He is in love with you. No one need tell 
 his case." She smiled a little, then her face 
 grew sweetly grave. Had she not first noted 
 him, as she leant out from the hall window 
 and gathered the starry jessamine to mix with 
 hawthorn for the first of May ? 
 
 And this recollection, quickened into exist- 
 ence by luscious fragrance, slowly blended 
 into the first notes of love's alarum. 
 
 He had not gone unnoticed. Ofttimes 
 had she observed him from behind the cling- 
 ing veil at Dian's fountain, and, reckoning up 
 all things, he had found favour in her eyes : 
 that favour which is the progenitor of love. 
 
 Her face grew hot with maiden solicitude 
 at thought of that coxcomb's folly at the 
 stile : for her quick eyes had recognized her 
 lover on his sudden appearance, as womanlike 
 she looked behind. 
 
 Dimly realizing her burning cheeks were 
 indeed the signals of ripening affection she 
 strove to recall herself. This is absurd, 
 ridiculous, she thought, he is a stranger to 
 me : and she endeavoured to control her 
 heart's egregious conduct. Resolutely thrust- 
 ing all thought of him from her, she recounted 
 
26 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 the many suitors to her hand. Many gay 
 sparks had knelt and vowed allegiance to her 
 standard ; yet easily had she blotted them 
 from her memory's tablets. By reason of 
 their number she deemed herself wondrous 
 wise in men, and so fortified against sudden 
 assault. In truth she was a veritable " Tom- 
 boy " — a sore romp trading in fickle hearts. 
 
 But now an indefinable feeling possessed 
 her ; and hidden love welled up, as not far 
 off a restless dreamer murmured "Favilla" 
 in his troubled sleep. 
 
 The recurrent heart carried her back to 
 him, so, speedily forgetting past resolution, 
 she indulged in unwary speculation. 
 
 " I may see him to-morrow," she mur- 
 mured softly. " Dear, dear to-morrow ! " And 
 realizing the import of her surmise, blushing, 
 she held her peace. Yet a tender fear of 
 frustrated hope increased upon her ; welding 
 Love's shafts tightly together. 
 
 Behind the eastern ridge of Maisondieu 
 dawn broadened upon the darksome sky. 
 Narrow bands of gold gleamed in the slits 
 between the sable clouds ; as they brightened, 
 the sullen vapours lightened and fell apart, 
 
The Apogceon of Cupid. 27 
 
 fleecy trails of crimson and purple floated 
 across the glowing gulf, and the clouds re- 
 solved into slate-coloured hue. Slowly the 
 sun peered over the bordering hills, and reft 
 in twain the veil of darkness on the valley's 
 bosom. 
 
 From a beechen hedge in the orchard a 
 blackbird flung his joyous, rich melody into 
 the ear of silent morn. Favilla found no 
 peace. She arose, and flinging covering on 
 leant out at the opened lattice. 
 
 Down in the laurel thickets rang an 
 amorous greeting to the lover's song : the 
 mellow strain fluting through the stillness 
 proclaimed Love's reign. 
 
 And Favilla hearkened with a tender smile 
 upon her parted lips. Then of a sudden she 
 hid her traitor face within the sweet shelter 
 of her hands. 
 
 May, 1894 — January, 1896. 
 
 >x>*>JA 
 
A LEMAN'S LOVE. 
 
A LEMAN'S LOVE. 
 
 I. ISSOLA AGAIN PREFERRETH HER LoVER. 
 
 IN the garden close were no signs of life ; 
 not even a breath of wind to sway the 
 lilies to and fro. Now and again in the 
 outer air there echoed a stray voice and the 
 clink of an armourer's hammer, but no other 
 sounds disturbed the silence, and the after- 
 noon drowsed on. 
 
 As lazy-footed Time crept along the 
 great shadow of the massive keep flung 
 across the sweltering flower-beds, a grateful 
 coolness tempered the heat, and birds emerg- 
 ing from leafy nooks made the air ring with 
 the music of their songs. 
 
 Issola awoke from her pleasing reverie. 
 
 D 
 
34 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 Rising from beneath the shady tangle of 
 briarwood, that clustered within the porch, 
 she passed out overcome with sweet emotion. 
 With lingering steps and languid eyes she 
 proceeded over to the western rampart. 
 
 She slowly crossed the smooth green sward 
 — ever and anon to stop shortly as if her 
 senses were yet drugged with that love- 
 sweetened meditation — to surge on again as 
 present intent beat upon her. A bustling 
 merle looked up from searching for a meal ; 
 it gave but a sidling peep then continued 
 the engrossing task : from a gorbal high upon 
 the tower the cooing gray dove saw her ; 
 swooping down it fluttered around, now and 
 again to settle upon her shoulders. But 
 enamouring thought still charmed her to 
 oblivion ; and Issola strayed dreamingly across 
 the flowery close. 
 
 At a turn of the steps leading to the upper 
 terrace there grew a clump of fleur-de- 
 lis ; budgeoning like bursting flames in the 
 darksome corner. Drawing nigh she plucked 
 of them — unwittingly signaling her mis- 
 fortune. 
 
 The terrace-top was gained. Crossing to 
 
A Lemaris Love. 35 
 
 the narrow parapet, she overlooked the 
 ramparts ; then descending Issola lounged 
 listlessly along them. 
 
 The teeth of time and war had sorely 
 fastened upon the place. Here and there 
 the walls were loose and crumbling, and ivy 
 had encroached upon them ; peace having 
 reigned long in the land. Warfare had ceased 
 with the new crown's accession. Its power 
 was mighty at home and abroad ; and the 
 people grew fat with plenty. Indeed, all 
 marvelled thereat. The common folk re- 
 joiced and were content. Only the nobles 
 murmured at the heavy hand of their succes- 
 sive rulers ; none daring to do great acts of 
 wantonness. — Any man could go his way 
 without taking heed unto his neighbour. 
 
 Issola halted in her meandering : closing 
 to the battlements she looked forth from a 
 crenelle. A gentle breeze blew down from 
 heather hills : soothing her heated brows it 
 reinstalled cruel memory. The keen edge 
 of ever poignant sorrow slashing the thin 
 mantle of solacing fancy recalled her from 
 happy dreamland. For a second the under- 
 lip quivered ; then, recollecting her tender 
 
36 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 message, she laid a burning face upon the cool 
 gray stones of the narrow indent. 
 
 " Thy Love waiteth for thee with longing 
 heart. " As she crooned the words over the 
 ardour of her passion broke in upon her — full 
 of quickened emotion she held her breath. 
 
 Of a sudden, down upon the wind, came a 
 quick rhythmical beat of galloping horses. 
 
 Issola started nervously at the unwonted 
 sound : few knew of her in her upland soli- 
 tude. And, tempted with rare expectation, 
 she hurried down to the gateway. 
 
 As the stairway was reached noise of the 
 great gates clashing clamorously together 
 struck upon her hearing, and babble of appre- 
 hensive men-folk : so she tarried upon the 
 upper steps much amazed at the occurrence. 
 The left hand straying upon her encircling 
 zone remorselessly crushed the yellow bloom ; 
 the expectant attitude revealed her heart's 
 surmise : and Issola lingered by the first turn, 
 pausing, yet poised for ready downward 
 flight. Through a neighbouring machicola- 
 tion the sun thrust in a glowing shaft : falling 
 upon the arrested feet the ruddy dartburnished 
 the sparkling buckles into fiery-eyed gold. 
 
A Lemans Love. ^7 
 
 In her suspense Issola stared blindly at the 
 vivid flecks as they stood out against the dark 
 sandstone steps ; yet she was intent on outside 
 matters, and, hearing Jellon's footsteps on the 
 stair, hastened down hoping against hope. 
 
 A grim smile gathered on the puckered 
 face of her aged retainer, as, stopping at a 
 loophole, he surveyed the approaching horse- 
 men — his fingers instinctively hugging around 
 the hot sword hilt. Hearing his lady's in- 
 quiry he relinquished his post to motion to 
 her to occupy it. 
 
 The sunlight poured into the narrow open- 
 ing as if to overpower all vision ; a keen west 
 wind drove in with impetuous force : but 
 shielding her eyes with the palms of her 
 hands Issola peered eagerly down into the 
 wooded gorge, where ran the approach. 
 Nothing was to be seen. Yet not far off the 
 track wound up to daylight ; and now a gay 
 pennon fluttered in the breeze, a glint of ar- 
 mour flashed brightly ; then a small band of 
 horsemen defiled into easy sight. With catch- 
 ing breath she endeavoured to discern the 
 emblem wrought upon the wavy streamer, 
 or devine the person of the leader. But 
 
38 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 glare of the sun blinded her sight, so she 
 bade Jellon consider them. 
 
 He made out quickly the device of a 
 boar carrying a torch between its tusks : 
 perceiving this, he informed her. Torn with 
 bitter disappointment and baffled expectancy, 
 for a moment, she swung in the balance of 
 tears ; then shame controlling her spirit 
 immediate conjecture set in. In a trice the 
 knight's purpose was apparent. The thought 
 of his persistent endeavour brought the red 
 blood to her pale cheeks, and repugnancy 
 floating upon the high tide of anger swelled 
 into sudden, vehement hatred. For Sir Guy, 
 an assertive man and arrogant, would take no 
 denial of his license, yet with frequent in- 
 sinuation pressed his suit ; as she was but a 
 woman, and defenceless. 
 
 Her heady temper broke forth. Stamping 
 her foot, so the latchet flew asunder, she called 
 Jellon to deliver her. "Tell him again " she 
 cried shrilly, " I will have naught to do with 
 a gallows-faced knight. Ay, he sounds before 
 the gates now ! Has he not hawked his lanky 
 limbs enough about me ? I had as lief marry 
 a bastard!" She ceased to listen to the 
 
A Lemans Love. 
 
 39 
 
 trumpet's blare. " Ay, tell him the boar 
 is best fitted for rutting in the mire : and 
 need he know that ? Away to him ! " was 
 panted out ; and dizzy with rage Issola rocked 
 slightjy then reeled against the wall. Jellon 
 sprang forward to uphold her : but recover- 
 ing she in faint voice ordered him to 
 deliver her message ; so reluctantly he went 
 from her. 
 
 Before the gates Sir Guy himself harangued, 
 demanding admittance. The warder's stolid 
 face betraved no evidence of hearance — he 
 but stared mulishly at the gaily caparisoned 
 steed and its rider. The knight, overweening 
 in self-conceit, grew enraged at the loon's 
 high-stomached attitude. Drawing near to 
 the archway, so near, that the tip of a lance 
 could prick him, he essayed an attempt. Ere 
 the keen point slid in between the iron bars 
 the Jacksauce was gone, and he lunged into 
 empty space; wellnigh overbalancing himself 
 in this sally of impetuous foolery. 
 
 In a twinkle a scoresome of men lined the 
 banquette above, and drawing held him at 
 their mercy : for the knight was in light 
 array and a craven heart to boot, — his men 
 
40 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 being distant two bowshot. Blind with rage 
 at his ignominious position he was spurring 
 towards his fellows, when Jellon thrusting 
 a sour face over the battlements bade him 
 stay; and fleering at the discomfited knight 
 in taunting manner he discharged his 
 message. 
 
 Sir Guy was all at a loss to reply. Indeed, 
 the burden of it was too weighty for his 
 immediate comprehension. As the import 
 penetrated his numskull, he grew dumb with 
 oblivious fury. Vainly he stuttered in reply 
 — his chin but see-sawed the air. For the 
 moment a notion of revenge bred fastly upon 
 him, but he checked the insidious suggestion : 
 scantiness of his following, moreso an all- 
 reaching hand of kingly protection, defeated 
 such project. So cursing, he turned horse and 
 fled. Yet he brooded upon her outweighing 
 repugnancy ; and within his heart hatred 
 of his rival ripened inchmeal into knavish 
 intent. 
 
 * * * * 
 
 The noise of the retreating band beat in 
 upon the hearing of Issola. She trembled 
 slightly. As changed into stone she remained 
 
A Lemans Love, 41 
 
 motionless against the wall listening with 
 sharpened breath to the abating commotion. 
 The receding sounds died away in the distance ; 
 only the voices of her dispersing retainers 
 were to be heard ; but, not until the approach 
 of Jellon had she entire faith in the flight. 
 Even then suppressed fear hung about her 
 face — only to give way, as with much chuck- 
 ling her trusty man-at-arms related the dis- 
 comfiture of the violent knight. 
 
 Sir Guy found no favour in his eyes. It 
 was with a significant nod that he declared 
 him acunningand base knight, awary rogue; — 
 was ever a shifty-eyed man not that ? Did the 
 Ladv Issola not recollect a raid into the north 
 
 J 
 
 country ? But she, cutting him short, bade 
 him go, keep close watch ; and turning on 
 her heel left him. 
 
 Jellon watched her, until rounding the cor- 
 ners of the lower tower she passed from view. 
 From immemorial time his stock had served 
 the name of De Vescis. Nay, was himself not 
 the man, who with his lord had sustained 
 the fame of England at Askelon : two men 
 against the puissant infidel host. From sun- 
 rise to sunset the twain had held the tower 
 
42 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 against all comers : above their heads the free 
 banner of England flapping in the languid 
 breeze — below — that bloody stair choked with 
 their slain. But alas, when succour came, 
 his lord was far gone by reason of many 
 mortal wounds, and, babbling awhile of green 
 England and a lone little maid therein he had 
 died calling her name. 
 
 Jellon thought on this. Pugh ! once more 
 that hot, fcetid stench, heavy with the stink of 
 stale blood and ripped-up flesh, seemed to be 
 puffed into his nostrils. Full of the imaginary 
 odour he gladly pushed his head through an 
 aperture, and inhaled the sweet evening air. 
 
 Issola traversed the upper passages, hot 
 with offence at Sir Guy's rampallion be- 
 haviour. He held no place in her esteem. 
 She loathed his gloomy face and lanky limbs. 
 He had naught to recommend him save 
 valour, — even that was tainted with suspicion. 
 When first he had evinced his offensive 
 attentions she treated him with gentle scorn, 
 but encouraged by her loneliness and seem- 
 ing neglect he had persisted in his uncivil 
 conduct, notwithstanding much evidence of 
 deep-rooted opposition. 
 
A Lemans Love. 43 
 
 With beating heart and passionate thoughts 
 she considered his repeated insult. The 
 coward ! to fasten his detestable company 
 upon a defenceless woman. Clenching soft 
 hands she could have slain him, had he been 
 by her, so beside herself was she with anger. 
 Never at any time had she mentioned aught 
 to Sir Raoul, for he, being a passionate man, 
 was ever readv with hand on sword : then, 
 the lust besotted knight might be spit like a 
 mammocked woodcock before his burning 
 dwelling. She had no fear of him. None 
 durst assail or lay hands upon her. For the 
 King rode roughshod over the land, and all 
 the barons feared his stern authority. 
 
 Close by, at the end of the passage, was a 
 covert chamber built within the wall. Issola 
 turned in thither clean forespent : resting upon 
 the broad embrasure of an unbarred bole she 
 gazed down into the emblazoned west. By 
 degrees her shadow sank into the wall whereon 
 it was cast ; the crimson afterglow on the far 
 horizon thinned away ; and labouring lines 
 of rooks made loops of flight as they homed 
 to the wooded uplands. No stir was in that 
 darkening chamber. Only Jellon's gruff voice 
 
44 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 floated up from the ramparts as he went his 
 rounds. 
 
 The damsels searching for their mistress 
 encountered him, and fruitlessly inquired of 
 her. None had seen aught of her since 
 early afternoon ; and with lurking appre- 
 hensions they questioned him. He could 
 bestow no information, but, thinking for a 
 little, he bade them stay until his return : 
 hastening through the lower tower to no 
 avail he turned to regain the open ; — passing 
 by the covert chamber he discovered her. 
 Exhausted and weary Issola had fallen asleep 
 with her aching head resting on soft arms 
 crossed upon the cold, stony sill. Jellon 
 stepped forward to awaken her. Some tears 
 yet glistened upon the fair eyelashes, but a 
 tender smile possessed her face. " Raoul, 
 dear Raoul," was murmured in a passing 
 dream ; then, sighing heavily, the dreamer 
 sobbed a little in her troubled slumber. 
 
 A tightening feeling gripped Jellon by the 
 throat as he listened to that gentle whimper. 
 He recollected, it was, when sitting by his 
 dying lord's side waving a withered branch 
 of palm to cool the heated forehead that last 
 
A Lemans Love. 45 
 
 he had listened to such sound. The knight's 
 wagging tongue had clattered in his closing 
 moments of his little maid, as once one 
 summer's day she had sat in a meadow 
 prinking him with buttercups — he had 
 whimpered lightly — then tossing himself up 
 had cried mightily "Issola! Issola!' and 
 died. A curious feeling came over the 
 hardened man-at-arms as he thought on this : 
 speeding off, he returned with soft covering, 
 which he gently threw about his undisturbed 
 lady ; withdrawing, he sent a handmaid to 
 await beside her. 
 
 A little time passed, a gate clanged, a few 
 footsteps rang in the air ; then silence. This 
 attracted Jellon's attention, and he proceeded 
 without. Suddenly the inner door of the 
 outer hall was opened upon him, and a little 
 page rushing in fell headlong against him. 
 Florimel was staggered by the shock, but not 
 a tittle was his ardour abated ; pulling im- 
 petuously at his opponent's jerkin he besought 
 him for information of his mistress. 
 
 Ere Jellon had time to reply, Sir Raoul 
 stood before him. He likewise inquired. 
 But the lad, eager to inform his ignorant lady, 
 
4 6 
 
 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 hearkened to the first words, and fleeting off 
 before them burst in upon the startled hand- 
 maid. From a niche in the wall a low 
 burning wick sent out a fitful radiance — now 
 the shadows played upon the sleeper's face — 
 now upon her form. Perceiving she slum- 
 bered the boy halted, irresolute of his be- 
 haviour. Her lover solved all doubts. 
 
 He had stopped at the threshold : the 
 light only showing a glistening gown white 
 against the dark gray wall. One glimpse was 
 enough ; and he sprang forward. As he 
 bowed down to touch her lips Issola twitched 
 somewhat, and awakening, peered vacantly 
 into his face. She rubbed her heavy eyelids ; 
 a puzzled look flashed across her countenance. 
 
 Sir Raoul bent back a little, confounded 
 at her strange manner. " Say, I have not 
 dreamt it then ? " she cried ; and leaping up 
 with a whinny of delight nestled within his 
 outstretched arms. So Jellon slunk off 
 quietly with her damsel at his heels. 
 
II. Her Lover Meeteth a Shameful 
 
 Death. 
 
 Sir Raoul was chained tightly to Love's 
 chariot wheels. He cared not for the wind nor 
 rain, that lashed about the turrets of the sullen 
 donjon : leaning against the upper parapet 
 he stared eastward into the black, blustering 
 night. He had no thoughts, but for Love's 
 consideration. A blinking moon threw darts 
 of light across the marshy plain to reveal 
 the mist-filled hollows of the uplands, but 
 scurring cloud flew in tangles across the 
 beaming disc, and forbade his impatient gaze. 
 Down in the keep his lady-mother sat 
 pricking upon her broidery-frame ; yet the 
 scallop shell grew slowly on the pilgrim's 
 bonnet, and the silken weft ravelled thickly 
 in the red Venetian cloth. Ever and anon 
 she glanced at the fair face of Lady Elaine, 
 who sat at her feet reading aloud the story 
 of Paladin Roland and his knights fighting 
 
48 Hiddett Witchery. 
 
 against the Saracens. And, as the history- 
 related of valorous fighting, the high-spirited 
 maid — living in the strife — retold the tale 
 with heightened colour and ennobled voice, 
 her blue eyes aglow with excitement. The 
 hoarse winds grew high ; great gouts of rain 
 poured against the shuttered boles ; storm- 
 fiends screeched in the darkness without : but 
 peace within that chamber was exceeding great. 
 
 In the upper hall the fir faggots blazed 
 and crackled with long-tongued flames, send- 
 ing a furnace blast up the capacious chimney ; 
 massive carvings of stone threw grotesque 
 shapes upon the arras as the torches flickered 
 in the draughts ; and strange shadows wavered 
 in unlit corners as the fires waxed and waned. 
 
 The knight crossed the reeds with feverish 
 haste. Standing beneath a guttering flam- 
 beau he re-read her loving message : 
 " Issola longeth for thee." Like one over- 
 come bv ripened wine he swayed with 
 lavish passion, then bending down he pressed 
 his lips against such foolish, sweet words. 
 Delicate perfume of her dear hands yet 
 lingered about the tiny scrip. — With instant 
 insinuation his memory was stirred. 
 
A Lemans Love. 49 
 
 While once he reclined close listening to 
 the stir of her silken bodice, Issola had reached 
 forth to a golden pouncet-box, and, laughing 
 in her glee, had shook the smiling Cupid's 
 face, sprinkling sweet perfume upon his locks. 
 — Without, gay peacocks strutted in the sun, 
 the flowers leaned amorously to the breeze, and 
 joyous life forgot the creeping feet of Death. 
 
 The storm chapped about. Faint gusts of 
 wind penetrating within thrust forward the 
 hangings, whereon was enwoven the story of 
 Troilus and Cressida arising from their first 
 love sleep, whilst Pandar entered upon them. 
 This spectacle jarred against Sir Raoul's rapt 
 affection. He advanced towards the hearth : 
 glowering into the fantastic, curling flames 
 he pondered with swithering desire fluxing 
 in his hot veins. Her message recurred. As 
 a coiling snake amorous recollection encased 
 about his heart, and stifled all compunction. 
 
 He thirsted for her. "OGod! God!" he 
 murmured. " How sick I am ! If only she 
 were by me now. — Heaven holds naught so 
 sweet as my heart's delight." Had he not 
 wooed in the year's month of lilies — wooed 
 Issola in the blossoming orchard close ? With 
 
 E 
 
50 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 the first shy kiss she had impressed her sove- 
 reignty upon him ; sealing Fate's records. 
 Only to be nigh her for one — one hour! 
 None would know. And did she not wait for 
 him ? — he must go. So passionate madness 
 impelled him through the sour night to her. 
 
 In the narrow cleft of Caldersheugh a 
 bundle of wet spears stacked against the rock 
 gleamed in the fitful moonlight ; on an eddy 
 of the wind came sounds of hoarse voices 
 and clang of armed men. 
 
 Sir Guy walked apart from his followers, 
 and cursed the lengthy wait. Baulked desire 
 spiced the baseness of his purpose, making 
 him weary until his end was accomplished. 
 " Sir Cravenheart ! " he muttered. " The rain 
 daunts him. — A petty lover ! 'Twould cool 
 his heated blood." And he laughed coarsely. 
 
 The wind sank ; the rain ceased : a deep 
 silence fell upon the land : and the hunch of 
 Caldersheugh loomed big in the uncertain 
 
 light. 
 
 From out the thickness of overhanging 
 cloud sprang the murmuring of a moan : that 
 moan of lamentation from souls lost in the 
 desolate land whence is no return. And a 
 
A Lemans Love. 51 
 
 great fear overspread all that heard. The 
 sounds died away. Only the quavering calls 
 of startled moorbirds recorded witness of the 
 strange visitation. 
 
 Sir Guy halted on his heel, shuddering 
 with unacquainted terror; crossing himself 
 he hurried to his rogues, who, springing 
 up, had clustered together, the dice lying un- 
 heeded at their feet. But the dull ears of 
 Sir Raoul hearkened not — he rode on tram- 
 melled with conceits. 
 
 As at Love's feast he lay beside his beloved, 
 while she dropt the luscious fruit between his 
 empurpled lips. Fine samite winding loosely 
 about unguardedly revealed her tender body 
 to his audacious eye; the jewelled girdle 
 tightening against her low, sweet bosom 
 thrust forward the blush roses slipped down 
 betwixt her budding breasts. She pressed 
 fragrant hands upon his beating temples, and 
 drew up the passionate face nearer and nearer 
 to her own, until his hot lips closed against 
 the cool white throat : his arms twined about 
 her slender shoulders, and he munched the 
 honey of her mouth. 
 
 His jennet made slow progress in the 
 
52 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 quaggy track ; its feet clatching heavily in 
 the muddy ruts. It stumbled on through 
 pools of standing water : the splashing plods 
 awoke the curlews' weeping wail, and their 
 eerie cries sounded about him, as they wheeled 
 and doubled in the darkness above. 
 
 Of a sudden Sir Raoul was plucked from 
 his saddle : a hot, clamouring burst of men 
 surrounded him. They tore him to the 
 ground. Bearing upon the knight they 
 endeavoured to bind him; but wrestling 
 mightily in a moment he freed himself. 
 
 The knight fought bravely. 'Twas parry 
 and thrust — speedily the bloody steel cleared 
 a way. A chance blow shattered it. Strik- 
 ing at his foes with bared hands he clove a 
 passage. A fierce fury broke out in him. 
 Clutching two bodies — the twain nearest 
 him — he smote their heads together, bursting 
 them like bastard nuts. Their fellows afeard 
 at this for a second withdrew, the knight 
 rushing upon them as one possessed of devils. 
 His foot tripped. In a trice they were on 
 him: all falling upon Sir Raoul they had 
 smothered him as he sprawled on the heath. 
 Then outside the hubbub a cruel voice 
 
A Lemans Love. 53 
 
 cried sharply : " Bind him, bind him, rogues ; 
 and bring him thither!" But no man 
 struggled — 'twas a maddened fiend. None 
 durst so much as leave off him to pick up 
 the entangled ropes. Sir Guy jeered at his 
 lozels ; treading forward softly he directed 
 them. "How now, loons!" he snarled. 
 " Have the wits left ye ? Pin him by 
 nether limbs to the ground." His men thrust 
 at the knight with their lances, and pegged 
 his writhing body to the turf. At last they 
 bound him amid jibes and much cursing. 
 
 Now Sir Guy strode forward, and, shoul- 
 dering his loathly face so near that his hot 
 breath stunk in the nostrils of his victim, he 
 taunted him, mocking him of his dear love. 
 
 Sir Raoul recognizing the fell purpose in 
 hand prayed with sickly soul for his beloved ; 
 but never spake he a word. 
 
 They dragged him to a lone fir tree, prick- 
 ing him with their cruel spears so that the 
 red blood guttered down his bespattered side ; 
 hooting him they bade God speed his un- 
 shrived soul. 
 
 As he lay beneath the withered branches, 
 panting and exhausted, impotently striving 
 
54 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 to escape his bonds, lo, a vision filled his 
 eyes of a sweet bowed down face with yellow 
 hair, even as he had first beheld his leman in 
 the summer of her youth : and his heart 
 cried unto that hidden face. 
 
 At the midnight hour they cast a halter 
 about his neck, and striking from off his 
 feet the golden spurs they hung him, until 
 the cool hands of Death calmed his jerking 
 body. 
 
 wsmmm 
 
 
III. Hatred Slayeth Itself. 
 
 Daylight faded away ; and the twilight 
 deepened into dusk. In the thickets upon 
 the hill night birds fluttered uneasily about 
 at sounds of an approaching traveller. 
 
 Sir Guy urged his sorrel upward, but the 
 tired steed scrambled and sprawled upon the 
 stony track, and progress was tardy. Already 
 the knight had repented of his foolish freak. 
 Yet, as he twisted in and out among the 
 ragged pines that lined the hilltop, he cast 
 furtive glances to the right and left of him. — 
 Maybe the restless dead yet roamed upon the 
 earth, as in days of yore ; who knew ? 
 
 At length the hill scaled he descended to 
 the plain. Thick mist rising from the 
 marshes between the mountain ranges veiled 
 
56 Hidden Witchery, 
 
 the entire neighbourhood ; but aware that his 
 steed required no guidance, slackening the 
 reins, Sir Guy engaged in recriminating 
 thought. 
 
 Was there ever such timorous fool ? to 
 hatch the notion of a revengeful spirit was 
 the action of a madman's brain ! Yet, as he 
 cast the matter over in his mind, again the 
 weird suggestion crept upon him ; so mutter- 
 ing an oath he spurred forward. 
 
 Some time ago this strange idea had been 
 begot, and, dwelling within his head had 
 softly encaved there. One day, when musing 
 with himself, the lurking affection had sprung 
 into existence; catching upon the attention 
 it had employed his faculty: but never until 
 the present had it much menaced him. 
 
 During the past afternoon, while flying 
 his merlin at some small birds of the air, this 
 insidious proposition had ripened into full 
 conception, had surged upon his intellect 
 and being ; soaking into the tissues of 
 superstitious credulity it had wholly possessed 
 him. 
 
A Lemans Love. 57 
 
 The young spring sun flickered its fiery 
 flashes upon the yellow furze as a breeze 
 drove forward the fleecy clouds ; the bird of 
 prey hovered above its quarry ; and as a 
 leveret sped by his hounds strained fiercely 
 upon their leashes. But Sir Guy had heeded 
 not — all immersed in sudden horrid conjec- 
 ture he stared blankly before him. Not until 
 the merlin's prey fell headlong at his feet 
 had he regained control. He shrugged his 
 shoulders. " Bah ! " quoth he, " 'tis all that 
 packald of lies Outram recounted last night 
 — old wives' tales ! " and picking up the 
 hooded quail he had turned him home- 
 wards. 
 
 But he could not rest within the keep or 
 outer works : a subtle, insinuating fear slowly 
 enwrapped about him, precluding all peace. 
 
 He had entered the lower hall, and draw- 
 ing nigh to a settle within the fireplace sat 
 doggedly down. A few green logs lay 
 smouldering upon the open hearth ; now 
 they burst into flame, now they hissed and 
 bubbled as the heat drove out the sap. The 
 perturbed knight carelessly eyed them, some- 
 times turning over the charred bark upon 
 
58 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 the embers to watch it catch fire and flare 
 up. 
 
 He smiled. Had he not that pair of 
 golden spurs hanging upon the wall above 
 his pallet? Certes, he had never obtained 
 that lot save by their wearer's death ! Again 
 he smiled ; but his face wore a sorry twist. 
 — Was ever mortal plagued with such capri- 
 cious imaginations ? 
 
 Mere cogitation had strengthened his pre- 
 vailing fantasy. Until, surely ever surely, 
 there arose the fixed conviction : — Sir Raoul 
 was yet alive. — Had he ever slain him ? 
 
 In a burst of unmanly terror the knight 
 had sprung from the seat, and hurriedly gained 
 his sleeping chamber. The fool! — There, 
 before his eyes, hung the dead man's rowels 
 beaming in a narrow ray of sunlight: he had 
 but to take four steps, and his fingers touched 
 them. 
 
 So bereft was he of his wits that he had 
 covered his vision. Maybe when next he 
 looked, they might not be there — this might 
 be mere illusion. For a few moments he 
 had stood wavering in nervous uncertainty, 
 then peered betwixt his disclosed fingers: the 
 

 A Lemans Love. 59 
 
 lustrous spectacle still greeted his sight. 
 Leaping forward with a shrill cry of delight 
 he had fingered them ; pressing his thumbs 
 against the sharp pricks ; and dulling their 
 bright surfaces with his sweaty palms. 
 
 Unbidden memories returned upon him : 
 he was again by Caldersheugh on that sour 
 Odlober night. Once more he stood beside 
 that murderous scene. And as in the silence 
 of the midnight, when watching with savage 
 joy the squirming body of his rival he had 
 heard the harsh crake of winging mallards, 
 again, these grating sounds struck upon his 
 hearing. 
 
 Sir Guy started : he had sworn Sir Raoul 
 was by him now. And this sensation pouring 
 in upon him, he had slunk hastily from the 
 chamber. 
 
 His suspense increased with the growth 
 of time ; until, intermingling with dire sus- 
 picion, it had driven him on a fruitless 
 errand. 
 
 As he crossed the hills, spring sunshine 
 and fresh breezes had allayed his excited 
 emotions : but to physic all disease indubit- 
 able evidence of his eyes was requisite; and 
 
60 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 he held upon his way. His courage reviving, 
 he had jeered at his cowardly self; he swore, 
 'twas lack of fresh air and exercise — house- 
 room was but for womenfolk. Thus railing 
 at himself and the times he had discharged 
 his cowardly bile. 
 
 At length skirting round the foot of 
 Caldersheugh Sir Guy had struck off in a 
 westerly direction ; discerning in the dis- 
 tance a lone fir tree he turned towards it. 
 Beneath the sapless branches lay a decaying 
 corpse defiling all sweetness of the evening 
 air. The knight had reined in his steed, and 
 looked at this unwholesome spedtacle. 
 
 A monstrous black mammet was perched 
 on the mortifying body; feasting upon the 
 stinking carrion. Never before had Sir Guy 
 seen the like ; and he glanced uneasily at it. 
 The bird peered at him, then flapping its 
 heavy wings endeavoured to fly ; but heavy, 
 overcome with rancid flesh, it could only 
 hop upon the ground. Hirpling a little 
 way off it had croaked evilly at the 
 intruder. 
 
 It had edged towards him with sidling 
 limp ; ever and anon dabbing its beak against 
 
A Lemans Love. 61 
 
 the clods to relieve it of clinging shreds of 
 flesh : but aye it had come the nearer. Blink- 
 ing furiously with its unblinded eye it had 
 fascinated the luckless mortal. 
 
 Some time in the far bygone — in the depth 
 of ante-natal years — had he not witnessed this 
 scene. That corpse. That bird. Nay, there 
 upon the murdered's face lay the strange fleece 
 of golden hair overhiding all semblance of 
 countenance. 
 
 The knight had glanced from the body to 
 the bird ; until, enthralled by the foul mes- 
 senger of Tisiphone, he gazed fixedly at its 
 baleful eye gleaming with the hidden cunning 
 of many centuries. 
 
 The sun had sunk ; the sky grew overcast 
 with sullen clouds ; a low wind moaned as it 
 sifted through the branches of the blighted 
 tree. 
 
 The mammet had hopped nigh to its 
 transfixed victim. Still chaining the brain 
 with malignant subtilty it had fluttered on 
 his bosom ; then clambering up it settled 
 beneath his chin. Their eyes met. — Sin spake 
 of sin : Destiny of her decrees. Rendered 
 presumptuous the beastly fowl had raised 
 

 62 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 itself up, and pecked viciously at his strained 
 countenance ; but failing to reach had fallen 
 screeching to the earth. 
 
 The sorrel, startled by the sudden noise, 
 had reared from the fearsome object at its 
 feet. The motion jogged Sir Guy. He 
 had started — and having gazed wildly around 
 him spurred in terror from the spot. He 
 had pressed away so impetuously, that not 
 until crossing Skaithmuir Law had his 
 former erratic notion again overwrought him. 
 
 * # * * 
 
 As now he cantered and reviewed the 
 matter, his ghostly apprehensions revived 
 and weighed heavily upon him. Was not 
 the thing possible? did not the tale of Sir 
 Brian and Yvenec, his paramour, prove such 
 fact ? Thus, while he'd fain shatter the argu- 
 ment, he but adduced proof. 
 
 Time went by ; and he neared the mouth 
 of the valley where lay his stronghold. 
 Happening to glance upwards he noticed a 
 ruddy glare shoot into the dark sky. A ex- 
 clamation burst from his lips. He stopped, 
 and stared gapingly upon the night clouds; 
 
A Lemans Love. 63 
 
 then, in another instant clapped spurs to his 
 horse. He turned the corner of the crags. 
 A band of furious men surged within his 
 castle walls ; the outworks were in flames ; 
 and from all sides went up the din of battle. 
 The knight dashed forward, but a moment's 
 reflection cooled him ; he could effect nought ; 
 yet curiosity prevailing he abided a little. 
 
 The north side of the great court burned 
 brightly, and revealed the mass of fighting- 
 men as they surged to and fro in mortal 
 combat. Slowly the enemy crushed the castle- 
 men into a corner, and slew them at their 
 leisure. And^Sir Guy, absorbed in the strife, 
 gradually made his way along the ridge, 
 till he stood within four bowshot of the 
 place. 
 
 Fresh foes swarmed in, and gave short 
 shrift to the garrison. In the south corner 
 of the quadrangle only one stood alive: his 
 halbert making bloody work as he parried and 
 chopped at the seething mass of enemies be- 
 fore him. At last one running in fetched 
 him a cruel blow beneath the oxter ; and he 
 dropped like a stone. 
 
 The foemen turned their attention to the 
 
64 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 keep. Finding it impregnable, they ceased 
 assaulting ; but firing brushwood and damp- 
 ened litter before the doors they had stifled 
 and burned alive the trembling inmates. The 
 scared women and children crowded upon 
 the leads, while the few aged men-at-arms 
 essayed a vain attempt to quench the fires. 
 
 The flames gripped hold : flickering, beat- 
 ing, their long tongues against the stout oak 
 they crept within. On the upper stair the 
 hindmost occupants shoved fiercely against 
 their fellows ; yet packed tight upon the roof, 
 none could give way — each wedged in the 
 other. 
 
 The fire crawled up the winding stairway 
 and caught upon the woollen hose and long 
 brown tresses of a maddened woman. On all 
 sides oozed up thick, acrid smoke choking 
 the lungs ; while darting sheets of flame beat 
 upon the faces of those jammed against the 
 parapets. 
 
 Suddenly a figure leapt out from an over- 
 hanging embrasure — to drop upon the spear 
 points below. Heavy locks of hair blinded 
 an archer's face as it fell with a dull thud 
 against him : and some looking upon the 
 
A Lemans Love. 65 
 
 woman's fair countenance repented of her 
 death. 
 
 Craven heart though he was, Sir Guy had 
 fain charged into that cowardly throng, yet 
 discretion taking the upper hand he edged 
 away. What was that hovering beneath the 
 dense cloud of smoke that stretched as a pall 
 overhead ? now it swooped down even into 
 the exulting flames — now it soared above the 
 doomed stronghold. 'Twas the mammet. 
 Through the uproar of the conflagration came 
 its harsh, mocking notes ; to thrum upon the 
 ears of Sir Guy as his knell song. — The knight 
 fled headlong into the pitch black night un- 
 witting of any path. 
 
 # * # # 
 
 The hours sped on. Tired and exhausted 
 the sorrel plodded onward unsteadily ; its 
 rider keeping wary watch around him. The 
 waste-lands had been reached ; there was no 
 chance of surprise : but his quaking heart got 
 no relief. Now he heard noises to the left of 
 him, now to the right ; and as often did the 
 knight clap hands to his sword to find that 
 beastkind alone disturbed him. 
 
66 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 He durst not think upon the day's ploy : 
 it had fairly unnerved him. Even the catas- 
 trophe of the night scarce aroused him from 
 his apathy ; yet as he travelled on, his brain 
 recounted the incident of that afternoon. 
 He pondered upon it. The affair was indeed 
 an odd occurrence. The more he thought 
 on't, the less he liked it : it savoured of evil ; 
 and rankling, sorely disturbed his peace of 
 mind. Hasty speculation called up all man- 
 ners of omens, and sought to attribute certain 
 interpretations : nevertheless he could cast 
 upon nothing. 
 
 As he cautiously picked his way among 
 the boulders a signification pierced his wits. 
 It fastened in his brainpans ; jogging a re- 
 luclant memory it verified itself. 
 
 Long years ago, when he was a curly- 
 headed lad with babbling tongue, had not the 
 wizard of Pendleton told his weird ? And 
 now, every tittle of that telling was fulfilled. 
 — A mouldering corpse with golden hair — 
 a loathly bird of calamitous omen — a hearth 
 aflame from its own fire : thus had the 
 ancient prognosticated the falling hand of 
 Fate. And as one recalls a spent event by 
 
A Lemans Love. 67 
 
 means of trifling detail, so Sir Guy remem- 
 bered, that as he cowered behind his father, 
 the latter had snatched some ducats from his 
 pouch and flung them in the seer's face — 
 with no good result — for the mannikin but 
 cursed him with greater vehemence than 
 before. 
 
 All this thronged into the knight's head 
 as he steered haphazard amongst the rocks, 
 until emerging from the gorge he gained the 
 lower tableland. Thick darkness filled the 
 immense space and settled as a blanket upon 
 the face of the earth ; here no creature moved, 
 not even a breath of wind. 
 
 Some sense of coming danger stirred within 
 Sir Guy, and he checked his horse ; but about 
 him there was no sound or token — naught 
 but stark darkness. He went on a little way, 
 then stopped. 
 
 Alone, in the midst of black night that 
 swallowed up all life, an intolerable suspense 
 ripened within him. 
 
 The chance movements of his sorrel accen- 
 tuated the stillness of the place. So intensely 
 did they re-echo the desolateness of his situa- 
 tion, that he durst not listen to the sounds 
 
68 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 as they beat against the silence which inclosed 
 about him. 
 
 The constraint of night weighing heavily 
 upon him grappled his soul with an over- 
 mastering hand ; even until it had mortified 
 all reason. His imagination ran riot. The 
 atmosphere did palpitate with something in- 
 definable — with an unnamed horror. So in 
 burst of pent dread, setting spurs to his steed, 
 the knight rode off* swiftly as if before pur- 
 suit. The wizard's forecast gathered in his 
 head, and enfevered the distraught condition 
 of his mind. He could not thrust it away : 
 it burned heavily into his soul : it shook man- 
 hood from him. Again the air quivered with 
 that throb of impalpable horror. Impelling 
 against Sir Guy it quenched all hardihood 
 in him : and weighted with mysterious fear 
 the miserable knight crawled on through the 
 swathing darkness. 
 
 Now behind him was to be heard the noise 
 of a galloping horse. The sounds became 
 more distinct — they were approaching ; he 
 could hear the clatter of hoofs upon the pebbly 
 track. A pleasing sense of human fellowship 
 filled the knight, and he loitered. 
 
A Lemans Love. 69 
 
 As the horseman drew nigh Sir Guy's sorrel 
 stirred uneasily ; the stranger advancing, it 
 grew more restive ; now and again it plunged 
 forward to be checked with tightened curb. 
 
 The knight was withdrawing a little to his 
 left when an instant scare seized him from 
 tip-to-toe : beast and man took sudden fright, 
 and scurried in panic from the spot. Yet 
 they shook not off the coming horseman — 
 the quick thud of hoofs followed on. His 
 sorrel wallowed in the marshy soil, but Sir 
 Guy gave no respite ; intent on flight he 
 drove his rowels the deeper into the brute's 
 bespattered flanks. But aye he heard the 
 oncomer behind. . . . 
 
 Now could he scarce rely upon his ears ; — 
 silence reigned about. He stopped. Nothing 
 was to be heard save the hard panting of his 
 steed. He collected himself. Was ever such 
 an idiotic fool ! To run from one unbeknown 
 was the action of an erratic. — Was he mad ? 
 Even with that there came a rush of wind — 
 the hoarse breathing of a hard-pressed horse 
 — the thunder of his hoofs. Petrified with 
 a monstrous terror the knight could not 
 budge. The hot nostrils of a jennet scorched 
 
70 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 his thighs ; and the impetuous rider fled by. 
 In passing, that one uncovered the face. — 
 With a great shriek Sir Guy flung hands 
 upon his eyes. . . . 
 
 In the heavens the sable clouds had rolled 
 away ; starlight now gleamed in the dewy 
 cups of heatherbells ; and on the zodiac the 
 slanting signs betokened the expiry of stub- 
 born night. 
 
 Sir Guy's steed browsed upon the scanty 
 foggage ; moving hither and thither it ate its 
 fill. As it cropped the dewy grass some 
 daring rodents hopped nigh to nibble at a 
 juicy herb, or play at hide-and-seek in and 
 out about the horse's feet, for no one heeded 
 them. Sir Guy sat motionless in his saddle 
 — eredt, staring straight before him, he seemed 
 to question the gloom of its evil deeds. Some 
 hours past he had not stirred, nor had he 
 spoken. The sorrel grew restive. It whin- 
 nied ; twitched at the bridle rein : but there 
 was no response. It moved on ; stopped ; 
 pawed a little ; then neighed loudly to the 
 twinkling stars. Sir Guy awoke. Like one 
 relieved from oppressive dreams he shud- 
 dered — drew a hand across his brows — and 
 
A Lemans Love. 71 
 
 looking vaguely around went slowly on his 
 way. 
 
 He had gone a few miles, when in the dis- 
 tance again echoed the dull reverberations of 
 a rider hurrying on his track. 
 
 A deathly sensation benumbed the knight : 
 it was as though his being had slipped away, 
 leaving behind naught but the husk of a 
 refuse body. Passively he awaited the arrival ; 
 as one inert; as one devoid of self-aclion. 
 His horse broke fruitlessly away. Speedily 
 the fierce rider was with him : reining in, 
 that one tarried by the knight's side — stride 
 for stride — motion for motion. A prodigious 
 terror paralysed Sir Guy; he durst not lift 
 up his eyes nor thrust his tongue upon the 
 audacious horseman : but rode as one bereft 
 of all reason. Thought of that uncovered 
 face haunted him, till he was monstrously 
 maddened. The air was full of its multitudes: 
 they flew alongside him : they lined the plain 
 from end to end. He shut his eyelids : they 
 danced within them. Until, verging upon 
 lunacy, he broke open his lips ; and cursing and 
 blaspheming the knight flew across the land. 
 
 Yet ever was he conscious of that strange 
 
72 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 horseman by his side. And the twain swept 
 through the fast dwindling darkness : the 
 murdered and his victim. . . . 
 
 Down in the dales the cocks crew early 
 morning to their cackling mates. — Like to a 
 waning shadow the wraith fell apart, and was 
 gone : and the knight galloped on alone. 
 
 His sorrel slackened its pace. Rounding 
 the edge of Caldersheugh it proceeded 
 leisurely in an easterly direction. 
 
 Upon a far-away ridge of hills the great 
 rose of dawn blossomed, growing larger and 
 larger, until the gray sky above was flecked 
 with red and yellow cloudlets ; the stars 
 faded away ; and larks sent up their songs of 
 joy into the ear of wakeful morn. 
 
 On a neighbouring knoll, outlined against 
 the ruddy east, stood a lone fir tree; from the 
 upper branches of which a few shreds of rope 
 dangled loosely in the freshening breeze. 
 
 Sir Guy drew nigh. Suddenly he raised 
 his head. His imbecile eyes roving upon 
 the ground alit upon the corpse of a slain 
 knight; and he halted. Then the tongue 
 babbered within his mouth. " His face ! 
 his face!" he cried shrilly; and swaying 
 
A Lemans Love. 
 
 73 
 
 unsteadily in the saddle fell headlong to the 
 earth. 
 
 The sun arose and ran its course : and 
 darkness again gathered upon the lands to 
 shroud a plunging steed tethered to the dead 
 man's hand. 
 
IV. Issola Redeemeth the Unshrived 
 
 Soul. 
 
 Winter had come and gone; spring had 
 passed : and night began to shorten the 
 numbers of her hours. 
 
 Within the narrow precincts of the garden 
 close Issola walked with her handmaids, and 
 enjoyed the perfumed air. An eventide breeze 
 wavering among the fragrant plants and shrubs 
 mingled the varied scents into one generous 
 pervading odour ; the mating doves were at 
 ease ; and all Nature rested for the coming 
 night. 
 
 As the chattering band gathered upon 
 the grass, one of the damoselles passing by a 
 bunch of love-at-ease snatched a bloomy 
 spray, and, pulling apart the satin petals 
 enacted playfully " He loves — he loves me 
 not." The others collected about her; yet 
 Issola went slowly onwards, her eyes bent 
 

 A Lemaris Love. 75 
 
 upon the ground as engaged in weighty 
 thought. She paid no heed to the laughing 
 cluster of sprightly maidens as they stood 
 about the luckless flower bespoiling it ot 
 every pinken blossom, but holding straight 
 on attained the west terrace stairs. Passing 
 up them she reached the outer ramparts. 
 
 The sun had sunk beneath thick lowering 
 clouds, gilding long inner streaks into thin 
 golden lips ; the glow smote the sky, and it 
 gloomed redly as daylight waned. A waft of 
 wind moved the sable yewtips in the close 
 with solemn motion, then ceased ; and sombre 
 stillness held the air as evening closed in. 
 
 Issola paused for a moment, then stepping 
 to the banquette leant against the battlements. 
 She took tent to naught, but gazing steadily 
 down into the west seemed lost to all ex- 
 ternals. 
 
 The damoselles hastening after her poured 
 along the terrace, all laughing and merry- 
 hearted : but Issola — her face bowed upon 
 her hands. " His love hath been won away 
 from me," she moaned, " for yet he cometh 
 not, nor tidings of him." And recalling 
 tender love-passages she wept piteously. 
 
76 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 From a watch-tower in the upper rampier 
 the maidens saw her ; hurrying down by the 
 north entry they sped to her, thinking to tell 
 her of their fortunes. Of a sudden, hearing 
 the sound of weeping, they stopped — all 
 hanging against the wind like so many pen- 
 dulous white blossoms ; then softly they went 
 towards her, and with gentle words sought 
 to appease her grief. Issola lifted her tear- 
 sodden countenance, and speaking sweetly 
 bade them return to the keep, where she also 
 would in little time rejoin them. With hushed 
 voices they retired ; but Guinivere lingered 
 behind, for she loved her mistress. 
 
 Again these tired eyes, weary of watching, 
 were strained forth to the lowlands, as if to 
 seek from them her beloved wherever he 
 was. But the glimmering landscape was 
 slowly hidden under murky gloom ; in Dules- 
 water wrack arose, and thickened over that 
 desolate valley ; the blue deepened above ; 
 and stars lit up their tiny tapers. Her yellow 
 locks grew dank with dew ; and the kirtle 
 clung with weighty folds about her. Yet, 
 heedless of the time or place, her stricken 
 heart went from her in heavy sobs. " 'Tis 
 
<■*"-> V 
 
 A Lemans Love. jj 
 
 the third month," she wept, " and he hath 
 never come. His love is dead : ' and she 
 nursed sorrow upon pangs of sweetened recol- 
 lection. 
 
 He had wooed with the last year's lilies. 
 His amorous persuasion had dulled away into 
 the hum of drowsy bees seeking honey from 
 her flowers, as he took her within his arms 
 and pilfered passion from her ruddy lips ; for 
 she could not deny him. Month had glided 
 into month, and they dallied long with love's 
 delight. Now winter had merged into spring, 
 and spring was breaking into summer, yet he 
 had not crossed the threshold of her bower, 
 nor, had any heard his footsteps in the halls. 
 Death — death often strode along these lonely 
 uplands : but she quenched the vauncing 
 thought. " He is not dead ' she cried. 
 " For none durst stand against him." She 
 bethought herself of his lusty strength and 
 noted prowess in the field ; but wist not of 
 enemies lying in secret wait. 
 
 Now Guinivere crept forward, and with 
 delicate persuasion entreated her to with- 
 draw. Issola hearkened; and the twain turned 
 thence to the keep. Worn out with grief, 
 
,J ' ■■■■■■ — ••— — — -^ ■ "■ 
 
 78 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 that bade fair to envenom as death's poison, 
 she passed straightway to her bower. 
 
 A lamp borne between the wings of a 
 silver cherubim flickered in the draughty 
 chamber, and shed a heady perfume on the 
 air. Through a barred rose window the rising 
 moon threw warm gules upon the floor, and 
 stained the rushes as if with new spilt blood. 
 
 Issola, sick at heart, had no patience for 
 the tattling of her handmaids, and dismissed 
 them in short terms ; then crossing to a settle 
 she flung herself down on the gray wolf's skin. 
 
 The emblem of a bleeding heart resolved 
 itself within the moonlit circle upon the 
 reeds ; for a second it held there, and was 
 2:one. But her eves beheld not. And a dense 
 
 O J ill 
 
 cloud arose out of the west and covered the 
 face of the moon. 
 
 Her heavy head craved for rest ; and she 
 unrobed. The light flamed up, and revealed 
 on the corded hangings Tristram and Iseult 
 of Tyntagel enthroned by Love in Heaven. 
 They stared compassionately at the world-old 
 erief : but the elves behind the scarlet wolf 
 grinned with jealous glee. 
 
 " His love is mine " she murmured ; " for 
 

 A Lemans Love. 79 
 
 what of this body, his eager arms so oft en- 
 clipt": as the fine gauze of a last covering 
 betrayed her exquisite shape. 
 
 A mighty gust of overwhelming passion 
 broke out, enflaming her hungered heart: 
 and it raged with restless stour. Would she 
 not forswear all heavenly hopes to feed her 
 thirsty lips upon his sweet mouth and feel 
 his cool arms enclasp with strenuous embrace ? 
 Even hell would she endure for his sake — 
 Nay, no pain or anguish were possible to be 
 sharper than the present — if only she could 
 reach him — . 
 
 In a frenzied burst of amorous desire she 
 cast herself upon her couch crying upon the 
 name of her beloved. 
 
 The night passed on ; and the twelfth hour 
 drew nigh. The starry eyes of an asp on the 
 glittering catch of her warm and fragrant 
 zone gleamed with baleful fire, and the elves 
 sprawled over the precious stones and dived 
 among the fastnesses of her snowy lawn. A 
 great gray owl flew up from the lowlands, 
 and perching upon the sill hooted three times 
 before her bower window. It paused for an 
 instant, then swooped down into the darkness 
 
80 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 beneath. The sounds awoke Issola. She arose : 
 slipping like a snow-white fawn across the 
 rustling reeds she threw open a shot window, 
 and looked forth. The nightbird fluttered up 
 silently to the sill; seeing her it dipped off; 
 hooting hideously in its wavering flight it 
 swayed away, and was lost in the depths of 
 night. And the sands of the twelfth hour ran 
 slackly. 
 
 Suddenly the heart stirred tumultuously 
 within her. " Yea, he cometh ! ' she cried : 
 but there was no noise or signal of approach. 
 A light hand tirled three times on her door; 
 and she lagged forward to unlatch it. The 
 door swung open. Lo, it was he she exalted 
 before all men. Issola flung herself upon 
 him. " Love — My love ! " she cried shrilly ; 
 and entwined close about him murmuring 
 words of delirious joy. So bestraught was she, 
 that speech failed her — she could but lie upon 
 his dear bosom. 
 
 " Beloved, where have ye been of past 
 months?" at length she whispered, looking 
 up into his face. His white lips moved 
 in speech, but she sealed them to silence. 
 " Stay, stay," he cried, " the hour speeds ; 
 
■»• 
 
 A Lemans Love. 81 
 
 and God's day is at hand. Hear my prayer, 
 that I may go hence with peace for all time." 
 " Our folly is our delight M she answered 
 softly : and with love's cozenage she allured 
 him to dalliance. 
 
 Sir Raoul touched not the wanton. " Sweet 
 Leman," said he, " many nights have ye be- 
 wailed thy love ; and now from walking to 
 and fro upon the face of the earth have ye 
 called me. What will ye ? Alack, my love 
 is now as Death's cold breath, and my kisses 
 as the echo of his voice." But she interrupted 
 him. — "Talk of love's joys; — thy lips are 
 aye sweet to me." 
 
 The moon shone from behind the cloud ; 
 one ray falling in struck upon the Crucified 
 in the chamber chapel, and Christ stared upon 
 them. The light veiled its face : and the 
 sands of the hour-glass slowly ceased to run. 
 
 The eyes of her lover glowed, as, gathering 
 her within his enticing embrace he uttered, 
 " Wouldst give thy soul for love of me?" 
 " Yea, even my soul for thy sake " was whis- 
 pered passionately in reply. 
 
 Far down in Berriotdale the midnight bell 
 of Morham Abbey called holy men to prayer 
 
 G 
 
82 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 and penance ; its tongue clappered sharply 
 upon the still air to quiver faint echoes far 
 into the uplands. Floating in they broke 
 upon Issola's ear. She shuddered strangely. 
 Scales fell from off her eyes : and a monstrous 
 terror was begot upon her. Sir Raoul was 
 as a man slain in grievous hard affray with 
 manifold bloodv wounds and cuts — his fair 
 face set in the bony hand of Death. With 
 the last wavering note he went from her ; and 
 she fell shrieking to the floor. 
 
 Once more the setting moon peered in. 
 
 Issola knelt before the shrine, and prayed. 
 Her swollen agony increased. Bowing 
 humbly before the Cross she besought peace 
 for that unshrived soul. " Lord, Lord," she 
 moaned, " have mercy. He was the only 
 son of a widow woman : even of one after 
 Thy Heart's desire. Have mercy, Sweet 
 Jesu, for Thy Lady Mother's sake." 
 
 But no calm soothed her troubled soul. 
 
 And the moon fell behind the hills ; the 
 chapel was again cloaked in darkness ; only 
 a beseeching voice broke the silence with 
 yearning prayer. 
 
 Her unrest wrought upon her. Clinging 
 
A Lemans Love. 83 
 
 to the feet of the Merciful One, she called 
 piteously upon Him. . . . The ponderous 
 crucifix swayed above her, then fell with a 
 dull thud upon the slim prostrate figure ; — a 
 convulsive jerk, a low moan, a few shivers; 
 and the quivering body lay still. 
 
 Before dawn a wandering wind blew up 
 from the valleys, and eddying within that 
 silent chapel wove the long yellow hair 
 about Issola's cold face, binding her silken 
 tresses over the great gray eyes that stared 
 starkly upon a lightening east. A spider 
 spun its fragile web, and linked the Cross to 
 the clay. And the elves mourned, for they 
 too had loved her. 
 
 The sun arose, and creation awoke. In 
 Duleswater an ancient corpse lay rotting to 
 the air, while screaming kites wheeled above: 
 in Morham Abbey there lay a new cast bier, 
 while sweet incense bore up to God many 
 masses chaunted for a pitiful soul. But 
 beyond the golden bar of Heaven the twain 
 hurried hand in hand towards the throne of 
 the Merciful One. 
 
 Ottober ', 1894 — November , 1895. 
 
THE TITHE AT THE 
 MOORSTONE. 
 
THE TITHE AT THE 
 MOORSTONE. 
 
 THE boat was fastened; and I clambered 
 up the broken steps. The silence 
 met me like a friend : no sounds 
 were to be heard, but measured lapping of 
 water against the stone-lined banks, and the 
 occasional cheep of a screech-bat. 
 
 I gained the terrace. Nowhere was a 
 light visible : the Grange seemed filled with 
 silence and darkness. 
 
 Slowly I wended up the long alley. The 
 beldam, that witch hag, weighed heavily 
 upon my spirits ; and a loathesome fear pos- 
 sessed me. In daytime I had brooded over 
 her address and hell-got leer, yet sunshine, 
 and fellowship of men, and ripened wine, had 
 beclogged my apprehensions. Now, walking 
 
88 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 betwixt the high, dense hedges of box where 
 no sound was, for the thick turf as velvet 
 sunk my footsteps, I was once more affrighted. 
 Twice had she crossed me, and two times had 
 evil fortune befallen : — the galleon captured, 
 my brother slain. 
 
 " Egad, man, what of old wives' prattle ! ,: 
 quoth I to myself; " their gizzards are stuffed 
 with ancient tales. Tush ! a fig for the hag's 
 rubbish! Did not Bab May last St. Agnes' 
 Eve tell her beads to my name ? And that 
 evenly too. Nay, nay, her malignity cannot 
 wanton on me ! " 
 
 But ever and anon as I paced up the 
 silent, fragrant alley, her words fell back 
 again ; and unwittingly I shuddered. God 
 wot courage was a constant companion — yet 
 affright grew and overwrought me. 
 
 My bilbo fastened in a blown branch ; and 
 I stooped to release it. — A torturing scream 
 broke shrilly upon my ears — an oath — a 
 scuffle ; then silence. 
 
 " In God's name what's ado ? " I muttered ; 
 and sped up to the terrace door. It was 
 bolted. This threw me all aback, for never 
 before had it been so encountered. 
 
The Tithe at the Moorstone. 89 
 
 Now I heard the west gates thrown open 
 creaking villainously upon their hinges ; a 
 clatter of horses' hoofs : then no noise. I ran 
 swiftly round the terrace, leapt the small 
 stream, and hastening up the steep stood 
 upon the margin of the moor. But dark- 
 ness of night, and softness of verdure, had 
 swallowed up both sight and sound. I 
 turned into the courtyard, and hurried to 
 the wicket gate by the ancient buttery; it 
 swung over to my touch, so speeding 
 through the smaller hall I gained the great 
 staircase. 
 
 At the first turn I tripped over a sprawling 
 body — in a trice I was on it, and at the throat. 
 It was a woman. With nervous hands I 
 struck a light ; and beheld the countenance of 
 her handmaid. 
 
 " Mistress Marion, " cried I thickly, "what 
 has happened?" — but she had been stunned 
 by a heavy blow, which yet left a thick, 
 red weak upon her forehead. So in haste to 
 ascertain the safety of my beloved I caught 
 up the maid, and rushed down the long cor- 
 ridor. 
 
 The door of Viola's room stood ajar. 
 
90 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 I broke in clamouring her name: but 
 there came no response. The chamber was 
 
 empty. 
 
 I flung down the woman, and with 
 trembling hands lit the flambeaux bv the 
 tall mirror : as the light filled the room I 
 noticed full disorder on every side. Viola 
 must have retired to rest ; for her garments 
 with manv dainty frills and ravishments of 
 white lay flung aside, while the bed-clothes 
 were betossed. 
 
 Hastilv I threw water over the damsel's 
 face, and violently shook her. 
 
 " Mistress Marion, " I shouted loudlv in 
 her ear ; " where is my Lady ? " 
 
 She opened her eyes, her lips moved ; but 
 I heard no sound. Bending down I caught 
 the low moan : " My Lord ! The Tithe 
 at the Moorstone — Sir Jasper — ;" and the 
 goodly maid fell afaint again. 
 
 This is the Devil's ploy, thought I. 
 
 Suddenly the heart sank within me : now, 
 I knew of a certain that an evil eye had been 
 cast upon us. My feet seemed rooted to the 
 oaken floor : action was wanting in all my 
 members : I stood as a stucco doll. Me- 
 
The Tithe at the Moorstone. 91 
 
 seemed an age passed, and no sounds heard, 
 but sough of the wind through the blighted 
 pines and the dismal hoot of a ranging owl. 
 
 It was strange. Fragrance of jessamine still 
 lingered in the room, as it was at even when 
 last we sat in Love's sweet bower. This per- 
 turbed my senses with dear recollections : 
 and as a lout, struck dumb with fears 
 indefinite, with bitter grief tearing at my 
 heart-strings, heedlessly I loitered. Then 
 recurred that bodeful wording: "Seek her 
 by the Moorstone when no time is ! ' and 
 cursing my tardiness I hastened from the 
 chamber. 
 
 As I fled along the dark, re-echoing cor- 
 ridors, a mighty blast of wind drave into 
 the house, swirling and screeching through 
 the many passages ; then fell a great silence 
 all around. And my heart pat exceedingly 
 within me, for aye on this night did evil 
 fortune befall. From one a babe would be 
 reft, ne'er to be seen again : from another a 
 fair virgin would be ravished — to be dis- 
 covered next morn lying afield, babbling and 
 disfigured : ofttimes a wedded wench would 
 be lifted from beside her slumbering bride- 
 
92 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 groom, and next morn at the waking hour a 
 dead corpse chilled his living blood. 
 
 All this crushed into my head as unwitting 
 of the way I traversed the outer hall. Its 
 porch stood open ; and I marvelled thereat. 
 Neither in my life, nor in my father's, had 
 this been ; for time had so rusted and en- 
 crusted the iron bratticed halves of the great 
 door that nigh a scoresome of strong men 
 could scarce accomplish the opening thereof: 
 but now, it gaped to the thickening dark- 
 ness. 
 
 I gained the heath. All was still. Behind 
 me lay the Grange buried in the gathering 
 night : beyond — the Moorstone. 
 
 I plunged impetuously forward ; scudding 
 up the rising grounds like a leveret before 
 pursuit. 
 
 Now arose all my grandam had told. This 
 was the eve of witchery's highest revelry — the 
 30th of April. A great offering was brought 
 this night to the Moorstone ; around hearth- 
 stones at eventide it was whispered the Evil 
 One himself came and feasted. But no 
 mortal had ever seen and told. Had not 
 my father been found two score years ago 
 
The Tithe at the Moorstone. 93 
 
 on the 1 st of May lying in deathly stupor 
 nigh to the Moorstone, his body naked and 
 livid, with impress of great taloned fingers 
 over all : and never again had his voice 
 greeted the ear. 
 
 Mv eager feet sank in a bog, and tardily 
 I set them down again, lest I be pitted and 
 drawn in by the quickening morass. There 
 was no noise, but the swishle of reeds against 
 mv body as I bent on. Now and again 
 a moor hen or water-rat was startled, and 
 I heard it scuttle from me. Ever and 
 anon elusive lights shimmered out in the 
 distance to tell of mortals lured to destruc- 
 tion by malicious goblins : and I gathered 
 in my mind, how that travellers crossing be- 
 tween mirk and morning had been lost ; luck- 
 less wights snared into depthless morasses. 
 
 I broke out into a speedier pace, and prayed 
 the Saints for a stout heart. Haply stumbling 
 into a narrow, westerly track I gained courage 
 with firm ground beneath me. "My God! ' 
 I groaned ; " to think of my love in their 
 hellish tricks:" — the blood thickened at that 
 very thought. 
 
 As I sped up to the waste land, my brain 
 
94 Hidden IVitchery. 
 
 pieced together the case, — the heart was with 
 my Mistress. 
 
 Yester-even, as she lay in my arms, a cold 
 shiver chilled her gentle frame, and breath 
 failed for the space of a lamb's bleat. As 
 life pulsed back, she clung her tender, soft 
 body to mine ; anew the quickening beat of 
 her heart was felt. And sweet caresses 
 calmed the terrified spirit. She wist not 
 the cause, but subtle love caught upon the 
 reason : an evil eye had rested upon her, and 
 thralled. — Ay, and by Sir Jasper had it been 
 cast. 
 
 " May God smother him in his own 
 slime ! " I muttered thickly ; and sped the 
 faster onwards. 
 
 At last the dreary highlands were reached. 
 No knowledge had I whereby to gain the 
 centre, where lay the Moorstone within the 
 circle of stone pillars gathered by heathenish 
 hands : I was all uncertain of it. Neither 
 moon nor stars broke the sullen darkness ; 
 no stir was in the air. All in a clap, out 
 of the blackness to my right, came a shrill 
 cry of " Help ! Help ! " Then the silence 
 was broken by shrieks of a tortured being 
 
The Tithe at the Moorstone. 95 
 
 borne far into the night. They beat upon 
 my ear full of a dread terror : and I stood 
 rooted to the spot. Suddenly the air rang 
 with a faint echo of " Geoffrey ! Geoffrey ! " 
 The vague sound died away ; and I heard 
 naught but the pit-pat of my bosom. 
 
 Now a harsh, hurtling noise passed over- 
 head ; an echo of discordant laughter and 
 gibberish talk. — Even now were the devilish 
 gang aloose. Already some luckless wight 
 had they fastened upon, and done to death. 
 For this hellish brood was my Mistress to be 
 sacrificed. 
 
 A mighty wrath flared up within me, and 
 I pressed on fiercely. Hell's dawn broke red 
 behind a ridge ; some small deer drove rapidly 
 past me : my limbs slackened as timorously I 
 clambered up; muttering a paternoster the top 
 was reached. The sight therefrom terrified 
 me : by reason of fear my body shook. 
 
 Before the Druids' circle, wherein lay the 
 stone, sat a horrid being of evil growth, 
 possessing the voice of man. Around him 
 red columns of fire belched forth beclouding 
 the air with hell's vapours ; far back, until 
 enveloped with the mists of night, grinned 
 
96 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 myriads of babbering skulls — ancient witches 
 and wizards, again to renew the past. On a 
 sudden the earth trembled; and I fell quaking 
 upon the sods. 
 
 Methinks I had lain there in stupor a 
 goodly time, as, when breath crept back, the 
 space before me was covered with crawling, 
 flickering flames, and numberless voices filled 
 the air with hoarse revelry. My heart gave 
 a great bound ; but the blood clotted within 
 its runs: for bound to the Moorstone lay 
 Viola. I sank on the turf, riven with un- 
 utterable agony. No prayer issued from 
 trembling lips — indeed my head was blank. 
 Then thoughts slowly shaped themselves. 
 Tradition hath it : that every Walpurgis Eve 
 the Evil One demands the pure soul of 
 maidenhood, thereafter to woo it to destruc- 
 tion. So Sir Jasper, maddened at my felicity, 
 had outrun all humanity of God and man. 
 His base malignity roused my beclotted blood ; 
 and I cursed him. Nay, I could but die 
 beside her, and balk his devilish intent : and 
 I started up. . . . 
 
 But I was borne upon the grass by an 
 overmastering hand, that, stiffening all flesh, 
 
The Tithe at the Moor stone. 97 
 
 turned my body into stone. I lay prostrate, 
 speechless, and mightily afraid. — Verily man 
 is but a beast of the fields, when the spirits of 
 evil and of darkness do stalk abroad. 
 
 A voice sounded from among the crawl- 
 ing flames ; as it receded from the circling 
 witchery and drew nigh unto the Evil One, 
 it died away into a long-drawn sob. The 
 person of a male appeared amongst the many, 
 wavering fires ; with bowed head and low 
 crouching body he adored : then with indis- 
 tinct voice he proffered the offering. Great 
 clouds of smoke gathered above as a roof: 
 all sound died away into a deadened silence. 
 
 And human utterance issued from the pillar 
 of fire, that, slowly filling the circle, enwrapt 
 the evil growth. " It is good," it said ; " and 
 the soul of the maid is without stain." 
 
 Yet there upspake a voice in reverent 
 accents: "Almighty Master, we cast a spell 
 upon her, for she cried on her lover to save." 
 So the bane was recalled : yet the recumbent 
 figure lay motionless. 
 
 Forthwith there arose a mighty clamour- 
 ing of many tongues crying : " A mortal is 
 with us ! " 
 
 H 
 
98 Hidden Witchery, 
 
 The harsh, unhallowed outcry filled the 
 air; and curling flames shooting out their 
 long tongues sprang upon me from the sur- 
 face of the earth. My breath hardened — 
 my pulse throbbed not — meseemed I was, 
 and was not. Scant knowledge had I that 
 hell's crowd surged upon me, and surged 
 back again ; — baffled. Again they thronged 
 around, endeavouring to devour me : but I 
 was unharmed. Hideous forms filled the 
 air; griffins with hurtling wings and mon- 
 strous faces swarmed above, darkening the 
 dim light ; huge embodiments of winged 
 snakes swelled up, and spitting at me raged 
 impotently with hellish spleen. 
 
 Suddenly like a base chimera the unholy 
 crew went : naught before me but the lurid 
 round of flame and the motionless body of 
 my Love. Yet, on all sides great bodied 
 creatures, mingling with gigantic, wavering 
 shadows, noiselessly massed themselves in 
 the heavens above and upon the face of the 
 sleeping lands. Afar and surrounding the 
 forces of hell were arranging. — My heart 
 went from me : I lay heaped upon the 
 ground. 
 
The Tithe at the Moorstone. 99 
 
 Now the blast of a mighty hurricane wind 
 was to be heard ; then speeding nearer, and 
 nearer. Many things tossed by me. Yea : 
 the Evil One would snatch me as that thistle- 
 down borne on the gusty breeze. ... A 
 speck of gold flashed in the red gloomed air, 
 another, and another ; then a multitude of small 
 birds with golden plumage and whitened 
 breasts broke over the body of my Love, 
 settling thereon, until she was a mass of 
 wavering gold. The wind caught me. . . . 
 
 The grim countenance of night blanched 
 before the oncoming morn ; gray dawn 
 peered upon the mist-swathed hills. I awoke: 
 starting to my feet I gazed with surprise at 
 my strange bed-quarters. 'Twas deuced odd 
 to fall asleep upon the moor. Suddenly the 
 wild fantasy of midnight clappered upon my 
 brain ; and I shivered at mere thought of it. 
 
 A scurrying breeze tore asunder the seeth- 
 ing rack in a hollow at my feet. Between 
 the parting shreds was revealed a body upon 
 the Moorstone. 
 
 I attained the spot with frantic speed : 
 catching hold of the massive slabs I drew 
 up my cramped figure. Before my eyes lay 
 
IOO 
 
 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 Viola, and, upon her swarthy tresses floated 
 one small golden plume. Through the mon- 
 strous enactment of evil God had preserved 
 her in the hollow of his hand. 
 
 Walpurgis Eve, 1896. 
 
 
THE PASSING OF LILITH. 
 
Toi qui, comme un coup de couteau, 
 Dans mon coeur plaintifest entree; 
 Toi qui, forte comme un troupeau 
 De demons, vins, folle et paree, 
 
 De mon esprit humilie 
 Faire son lit et ton demaine ; 
 — Infame a qui je suis lie 
 Comme le forcat a la chaine 
 
 Baudelaire, 
 
THE PASSING OF LILITH. 
 
 I. 
 
 EVENING crept upon the hills. The 
 declining sun fell among golden and 
 purple vapours; the firwoods stood 
 out brown and motionless against a stretch 
 of gilded green ; and the heavens above paled 
 away into an infinity of blue. Soon in the 
 azure west a silver sickle moon would appear 
 to declare our hour of meeting : and I wan- 
 dered aimlessly about the budding alleys, 
 tarrying until the time appointed. 
 
 Verily passion is a cruel tyrant. 
 
 God wot no man can restrain himself from 
 the allurements of a delicate woman : and she, 
 unto whom was my heart's domain, had sorely 
 misled me, cloaking with sweet iniquities 
 
104 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 mine eyes from sin. Ofttimes the soul, that 
 inner consciousness of good and evil, had im- 
 pelled me unto an higher aim. Alack, I was 
 a weak creature of impulse — will withered 
 under the glamour of her eyes — and at her 
 approach I fell from all reason. Was there 
 ever such sorry slave ? Nay ! Hotfleshed 
 Faustina wallowing in the reek of Roman 
 harlotry was less despicable than I, for her 
 entire being, bloated with the insolence of 
 domineering desire, unreservedly gave itself 
 up; but mine as a weathervane moved to 
 every motion of an unstable will. 
 
 The ancient sage Chrysanthius hath it, that 
 mind is master of the man : certainly he had 
 known no Lais in his youth. 
 
 There was an arbour at the end of the 
 myrtle walk ; and thither I turned my steps. 
 A blush rose twining about the trellis-work 
 with matted growth made a little chamber, 
 and scented trails of yellow honeysuckle, 
 disputing the supremacy, clustered about the 
 unfrequented seat. It seemed a wanton act 
 to displace the fragrant occupants ; so I 
 strayed onwards meditating deeply upon my 
 egregious folly. 
 
The Passing of Li lit h. 105 
 
 This bondage was a reproach on all 
 manhood ; and sickened with past delight, 
 prompted for the liberty of my will, I now 
 resolved for freedom. 
 
 Alas ! I knew this calm was but a breath- 
 ing space. Soon my refreshened body would 
 overcome all qualms of comprehension, and, 
 like to a twig of the bitter-sweet the biting 
 of conscience would zest to satiety : reproba- 
 tion of desire but emboldened and intensified 
 my appetences. 
 
 In the train of that last thought came a 
 surge of wanton recollection, probing imagi- 
 nation to the quick. I called up self-mastery: 
 I strove vehemently for self-control. 
 
 "I will not seek her to-night" I muttered. 
 "One needs begin sometime :" and high 
 resolution prevailed. 
 
 In a neighbouring coppice a nightingale 
 sang with poignant emotion. Soon, passing 
 from earthly strife, it thrilled the song with 
 exalted praise, and cheered my soul. 
 
 I plunged burning hands into the cool, 
 gurgling waters of a fountain. 
 
 " I shall not go to-night/' I cried ; and 
 deep determination enforced my feebleness. 
 
106 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 A recipient power of restraint passed into 
 the heart ; it waxed mighty, battening upon 
 self-conceit. This is an easy matter, thought 
 I to myself — aversion and control are in every 
 man's hands. 
 
 And I turned up the juniper walk. 
 
 II. 
 
 What caused it I know not. — Maybe it 
 was by whisper of the sultry wind, or rich 
 fragrance of the pink mezerion flower, or 
 subtle communication of an all-reaching will; 
 but eager appetence seizing me overbore all 
 opposition. 
 
 It grew upon me : until sipping upon the 
 lees of spent desire it intoxicated my entire 
 being. 
 
 An impetuous faction possessed me. 
 
 Nay ! Why ought I mortify my flesh ? For 
 paltry pleasure of self-denial — to gloat over 
 such barren virtue and deify myself? — Soul 
 was an idle byword, and inevitable necessity 
 circumscribed us. 
 
The Passing of Lilith. 107 
 
 Thus did I solace myself. 
 
 Alas, this was of frequent occurrence. Of 
 a truth in my calm moments life was a heavy, 
 weary burden ; for knowledge of failure em- 
 bittered, making me less courageous ; more- 
 over, the withes of bondage plaiting about an 
 enfeebled brain seemed like to obscure the 
 steady light of reason. 
 
 Now sway of luxurious inclination en- 
 larged the empire of my lustihood ; so in- 
 sistent desire outrunning all bounds drove me 
 thence. 
 
 Indeed ! 'twas aye a vain dream to deem 
 one moment's victory of avail against her 
 subtle, all-pervading influence. 
 
 III. 
 
 I hastened down the grassy walk, and gained 
 the east postern door. 
 
 Upon the inner side of the cope-stone em- 
 bedded in the high wall was that hideous 
 emblem of fleeting mortality, placed long 
 years ago by a freakish ancestor. Passing 
 
s 
 
 1 08 Hidden Witchery, 
 
 out I chanced to look upwards. A malicious 
 leer seemed to flit over the skeleton face with 
 its horrid, empty eyes: and shuddering I 
 hurried with trembling feet from beneath it. 
 
 In the firwood solemn calmness of the 
 motionless trees begat quietude within me, 
 stilling the excited senses ; and I walked 
 slowly, giving unto the matter a more acute 
 consideration. I pondered deeply upon my 
 unmanly folly. The inner spirit longing for 
 peace and purity reasserted for freedom, yet 
 too weak, faltered in its purpose and there- 
 with failed. 
 
 " My God — my God ! " I cried hoarsely. 
 " Only to meet Desire as a human being, and 
 grappling, know the worst at once. But to 
 be encumbered lifelong — " : and stretching 
 out vain hands I clutched at empty air. 
 
 My heart recognizing its base endurance 
 of desire trembled at the enormity of its com- 
 mittal ; yet intemperate madness incited me : 
 and I sped onwards as for a throne. 
 
 A dip in the path brought me upon a 
 narrow tongue of moorland. Ancient roots 
 of gnarled heather crawled across the ground, 
 and bade me pick my way with caution. 
 
The Passing of Li lit h. 109 
 
 Now the high tide of revulsion rolling in 
 upon my enervated being swept that shameless 
 delirium of obsession far from me ; a great 
 calm obtained sovereignty ; and I lingered 
 by the way meting out measure of good and 
 evil. 
 
 Strict government of my enfranchized body 
 would demand a heavy, irksome indemnity of 
 my heart — would become the horrid torture 
 of a life, an intolerable anguish — for which 
 was no assuagement but the soothing hand 
 of Death. 
 
 And all flesh rebelled from such strenuous 
 denial. 
 
 My undirected feet blundered on, striking 
 sorely against the sharp flints and other strew- 
 ments of the sandy track ; but heedless, intent 
 upon this most weighty importance, I over- 
 looked not the way. 
 
 Suddenly I woke from my thoughts. 
 
 "Nay!" cried I. "Am I to be tost as a 
 puppet ball betwixt my soul and hers ? ' 
 
 So reckless with torment, as malefactor no 
 longer possessing will or body, I assented 
 unto the call of shrieking Pandemos. 
 
i io Hidden Witchery. 
 
 IV. 
 
 The muffled roar of sea waves breaking against 
 the rocky headland bade me take heed to the 
 time ; and I quickened my pace. 
 
 A gray mist cloaked the marshland that 
 stretched down to the shore. 
 
 As I crossed memory of time long-past 
 shot into my head ; and I stood stock-still, 
 so fluttered was I thereby. " Tush, man ! be 
 not a simpleton," quoth I to myself, and took 
 my way again. 
 
 Yet a thought grew and over-wrought me, 
 until anger, waxing great, gave short shrift to 
 the delicate vision. 
 
 By dallying on the way the night was far 
 spent when at last I approached her dwelling. 
 No lights shone in the ivy-clad pile, save a 
 glimmer in an eastern chamber. 
 
 I entered the dark cypress alley leading 
 up to the turret door ; the thick grass that 
 floored the winding pathway deadened all 
 sound of approach, and noiselessly I gained 
 the entrance. The iron-studded oak opened 
 
The Passing of Lilith. in 
 
 to my touch ; and climbing the narrow stair- 
 way with beating heart I reached the top. 
 Then thrusting aside a heavy curtain I entered 
 upon the corridor. 
 
 Down before her chamber-opening swung 
 a Venetian lamp glowing with rich colours. 
 Its scented flames strove to out-illume the 
 faint light of the new moon, that shining 
 through high arched windows intermingled 
 in its sickly beams strange shadows of writh- 
 ing, clutching, hands. 
 
 With scurried flight I made past them. 
 
 As my steps rang out in the silence low 
 voluptuous breathing of a softly piped flute 
 thrilled the ear, and infused unutterable long- 
 ing within me. 
 
 Like one staggered by strong wine I tar- 
 ried before the Barolese hanging, nervously 
 twisting the blue silken tassels with agitated 
 hands. At length the vertigo passing I softly 
 entered. 
 
 It was a long, narrow chamber bound 
 around with sweet-smelling sandal-wood, 
 whereon carved dexterously by cunning hands 
 were all emblems of the life and death of 
 Hippostratus. The ceiling was fretted with 
 
I 12 
 
 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 golden fire ; and at the further end of the 
 room supported upon the outstretched wings 
 of bronze griffins stood a large porphyry 
 thurible, distilling unnamed odours through 
 the mouths of brazen snakes. 
 
 A swart handmaid sat nigh to the blazing 
 fire ; and she played rarely upon a flute. 
 
 There, soothed asleep, lay Lilith. 
 
 He was a wretched wight who gazed upon 
 her alluring countenance: for its silent beauty 
 grew and greatened, until the soul, wavering, 
 was overthrown, and manhood became as a 
 suckling child. Yet I, witless and unheedy, 
 drunk in the appealing glamour with thirsty 
 
 eyes. 
 
 Her oval face was pearly pale, and great 
 sombre eyes lay hid beneath their tender lids, 
 the long lashes closed upon her rounded 
 cheeks. The upper lip of her honied mouth 
 made to bring Life to Death strove down to 
 meet its fellow, one stray lock of golden hair lay 
 curling as a caress upon her fair temples, while 
 beneath the right ear the head of a jewelled 
 bodkin glowed amid short curling hair. 
 
 She moved uneasily under myall-devouring 
 gaze. 
 
The Passing of Lilith. 1 1 3 
 
 I pressed my hot lips against her snow- 
 white throat beneath the pouting chin. This 
 amorous theft awoke her. She gave a little 
 startled cry of delight, then laying hands upon 
 my face drew it up, and kissed lingeringly 
 the white, thirsty lips. 
 
 "My beloved ! ' she murmured. " Why 
 did you tarry ? My heart misgave me, and 
 I doubted." 
 
 The stammering tongue belied my soul ; 
 and I clung within her outstretched arms. 
 
 She bade the handmaid bring refreshment. 
 That one, turning from us, in short time 
 came back bearing a shallow, gilded maund, 
 and on it small pasties, and fruits, and ruddy 
 flasks of Spanish wines ; she also served pale 
 golden citrons, and manchets of fine wheaten 
 bread sweetened with honey ; then making 
 an obeisance retired. 
 
 " Sabina pipes most excellently upon the 
 flute " said I, advisedly using a modest phrase. 
 
 "Yes," Lilith rejoined, " she was taught of 
 me. It is her ear that carries her on — she 
 hath little skill herself." 
 
 I picked up the instrument and examined 
 it ; its shape was quaint, and singularly em- 
 
 1 
 
ii4 Hidden Witchery, 
 
 bossed with strange characters ; the mouth- 
 piece, whereon the lips rest, worn and yellow 
 with immemorial usage. 
 
 " Time hath passed since that was made ' 
 remarked I, laying it down on the cushions. 
 
 "Ay!" she replied. " 'Tis an heirloom 
 made of bone taken from a leman's body : 
 whose charm of music was so exquisite, that 
 she had bereft the senses of all control." 
 
 I gave a froward gesture, and bidding her 
 talk of less unholy things poured out a cup 
 of honest wine ; the matured juice quickened 
 my pulse yet steadied the immoderate senses. 
 
 Suddenly she cast her deep eyes upon me. 
 Their searching gaze reft from me the striving 
 of my soul. And a strange, unfathomable 
 look crept upon that beautiful face. 
 
 Lilith arose : approaching to the fire she 
 stood before the flaming logs. 
 
 Daintily she warmed a small, slender foot. 
 The flickering firelight climbed up her shapely 
 figure, touching upon the curve of her waist, 
 glancing upon the sweet occupants of her 
 heaving- bosom and the ardent hollow be- 
 tween ; the glittering embroidery enwrought 
 fantastically with seed-pearls and silver upon 
 
The Passing of Li lit h. 115 
 
 her clinging gown caught my eyes : and 
 the import of the whole stung my flesh as a 
 burning brand. 
 
 Of a sudden she raised her head. " Oh, 
 such gallant lover ! " she cried. — " He offers 
 nothing to an hungered one :" and she bowed 
 full featly towards me. 
 
 The reproof smote me. Hastening to her 
 I proffered the gilded maund. 
 
 " Oh, foolish head ! ' she whispered, look- 
 ing down upon me with eyes that set my 
 blood afire — " 'Tis the heart that hungers." 
 
 I gave no reply : for, swelling with passion, 
 I could but stare greedily upon her face. 
 
 "Is it possible you do not love me? ' she 
 cried entreatingly ; her eyelashes glistening 
 with sudden tears. 
 
 " Nay," I replied, " look upon mine eyes. 
 I swear — ." " 'Tis naught but flattery " she 
 exclaimed petulantly, and dropped her hands 
 in helpless fashion by her sides. 
 
 A second passed. My head whirled as a 
 spinning roundabout. I threw myself by 
 her side. 
 
 " Let go my hands" she murmured. " You 
 love me not — you love me not." 
 
n6 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 V. 
 
 I lingered before the hearth idly watching 
 the blue wisps of smoke. Dawn was at hand, 
 yet darkness overspread the land. 
 
 On the fire-tiles was depicted the story of 
 the Judgment of Paris. As I considered that 
 tale the odd fantasy returned, so, immersed 
 in dreamful conjecture I cast me down on a 
 suttee. And lo ! as in visions of the night 
 when slumber has fallen I dreamed. 
 
 I tarried beside one gowned in pale blue 
 damassin ; and her face was exceeding fair. I 
 wist not who she was — but my soul awoke 
 and leapt up to meet the lovelights of her eyes. 
 
 I started ; and gazed stupidly about, until 
 the neighbourhood recalled me. 
 
 Now some hidden chord vibrated within 
 me. I was filled with hatred at my sur- 
 roundings. The air was laden with heavy 
 loathsomeness; the entire place instinctive 
 of repulsive brutality, and noisomeness. 
 
 I shuddered : then a sudden flash lightened 
 my intense brain. 
 
The Passing of Lilith. 117 
 
 While Death's dear counterfeit had em- 
 balmed my senses — by a curious chance, by a 
 whim of Fate's perversity — my vagrom heart 
 had lived, and died, and lived again. 
 
 In the wakening sleep of dream Time's 
 pendulum had been tossed far back, mis- 
 spent years elided, and manhood approved of 
 proper value. Ay! had not my heart once 
 trembled under the sweet tyranny of a 
 woman's eyes, and, under the bountiful in- 
 fluence of that woman's beauty had not 
 mine honour been established ? Marguerite! 
 Marguerite! — thy face was the face of my 
 dream. 
 
 I sat and took counsel with my soul : and 
 from reason of its sore travail was taught of 
 the wisdom of fools. 
 
 But, anew through the sleeping stillness of 
 the house, sweet piping of a flute crept softly. 
 
 I started at the sound : it was the leman's 
 flute. Again its amorous strains echoed 
 enticingly ; but my heart responded not. 
 
 I arose, and stepped to where Lilith slept. 
 In her lap was the pale golden citron with 
 which she had quenched her thirst ; its 
 bitter rind torn in several places: between her 
 
1 1 8 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 small round breasts lay a great scarlet lustcup 
 all crushed and withered ; one curled petal 
 resting upon that ruddy mouth stained with 
 the kisses of slain youth. 
 
 I scanned curiously the sleeper's passive 
 countenance. — My eyes opened ; a great 
 horror filled me. Her might was strange and 
 great, nay, deadlier than Death : for he but 
 giveth peace. On whom fastened love for 
 this woman was no rest. For with lust did 
 she lure the soul of man : eating into the core 
 with insatiate appetite she scathed it, until it 
 died. And only in shape did that one remain 
 human. 
 
 I had besought God for Desire. — It lav 
 stretched out before me. 
 
 A panic gripped me by the heart, and car- 
 ried away all reason. Bending down I seized 
 one long, black tress. Twisting it about the 
 warm soft throat I had strangled the woman 
 as she lay. Her sombre eyes glared upon 
 me for a second, and I saw therein the lost 
 souls of countless generations. Beneath my 
 throttling hands she died : and the flute was 
 stilled at last. 
 
 I fled in madness from the perfumed 
 
The Passing of Lilith. 119 
 
 chamber : stumbling, twining down the turret 
 stair I gained outer air. 
 
 Dawn had lifted over the eastern waves. 
 In the glades the dewy grass glistened with 
 silvern sheen ; and wafts of wind came and 
 went bearing faint fragrance of clover, and 
 wild roses, and meadow sweet. The golden 
 rays of the rising sun shooting through the 
 cold blue heavens chased all shadows from 
 the land. 
 
 But I fled homewards through that stilly 
 morning as one accursed — accursed among 
 mankind and brutes. 
 
 Lammas tide, 1895. 
 
AT THE SIGN OF KYPRIS. 
 
AT THE SIGN OF KYPRIS. 
 
 A 
 
 T last we gained the outskirt of the 
 woods. The loon's prediction proved 
 right : at some little distance to the 
 right stood an hostelry. So Sybilla and I 
 turned thither with lightened hearts and 
 
 eager feet. 
 
 This inn was indeed of ancient and rambling 
 stru&ure ; the face of it twisted out of all 
 shape by the hand of centuries. Huge gables 
 moss-encrusted and pierced with lattice win- 
 dows overhung the front, where tangles of 
 gray ivy and southern creeper smothered the 
 bulging framework, and hung in festoons 
 about the huddled chimney stacks upon the 
 mouldering roof. 
 
 By the pale light of the moon the place 
 had a deserted appearance— there were no 
 
124 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 signs of the living. Yet I descried a light 
 shining in an upper lattice ; so lustily wield- 
 ing the dog's head against the hall door I 
 rang dull echoes into a still interior. 
 
 No heed was given to the noisy summons. 
 Stepping back I scanned the house. True, no 
 smoke issued from the gaunt, rude clumps 
 of chimneys, yet the light was there : so 
 again I rapped vehemently upon the rusty 
 platen. 
 
 This time, with the desired effect. For 
 above me a window was opened, and a voice 
 demanded our wants. I cried we sought food 
 and lodging for the night, and willingly 
 would pay any sum for such provision. There 
 was a murmured assent, and with a noisy 
 clang the lattice fell to. 
 
 " Rudolf," cried Sybilla, closing in to me, 
 " let us continue on the way. Surely we 
 cannot be far from Thirlcote ? and this place 
 is little to my liking. — Come ; ' and there 
 was a note of lurking entreaty in her voice. 
 I turned to her with a flourish. 
 
 " Madam," quoth I sententiously, " if we 
 arrive out of the night at the Thirlcote or- 
 dinary, and stay there — what will the gossips 
 
At the Sign of Kypris. 125 
 
 say over their afternoon Bohee ? Depend 
 on't — the tale will travel to town ; and be 
 marvellously enlarged on the wav. But here, 
 none will know us." 
 
 " Oh ! I care not, what folks say n she re- 
 plied, tossing her head; "but the place is 
 outlandish and strange in appearance." — 
 " Why ! " ejaculated I with affected indigna- 
 tion. " Surely you can trust to me ? " 
 
 She was turning with an appeasing reply 
 upon her lips, when with sounds of much 
 unchaining the door was unlatched ; slowly 
 it gaped open to the moonlight : and a voice 
 from the interior bade us enter. 
 
 A serving-maid appeared with a light, and 
 advancing down the long, darksome hall 
 made speedily towards us. The flickering 
 flame she bore only served to make more 
 visible the heavy gloom enshrouding the 
 entrance, and, when once we stepped within, 
 the change was as to a sepulchre — the dark- 
 ness was so great. 
 
 Sybilla slipped her arm within mine : and 
 oddly enough held closer than usual to me ; 
 her skirts rustled against my feet. 
 
 Jove, thought I to myself, here's a maid to 
 
126 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 clip and buss — as I cast eyes upon the hand- 
 maid, and observed her looks. 
 
 She was indeed beautiful. Of middle 
 height and supple form she was a sight for 
 the gods. One might have imagined, her 
 tresses were powdered with dust of golden 
 daffodillies, so rare was the colour. The 
 complexion of the lovely face was delicately 
 fair, and the long silkly lashes of her flashing 
 eyes swept darkling upon the milk-white 
 skin. 
 
 She received us with a curtsey, and, an- 
 nouncing our chambers were ready, led way 
 up a great winding staircase at the end of the 
 nether hall. 
 
 As we threaded the innumerable corridors 
 and cross passages I could discern on the 
 walls dim faded arras, whereon, enwoven in 
 golden thread, were fabulous monsters of 
 antiquity, Minotaur and his like; while here 
 and there the centaurs strove at the bridal 
 feast. 
 
 Suddenly the maid stopped before a door. 
 " You will sup here," she said, glowering in- 
 tently upon us : then we were ushered into 
 the room. 
 
At the Sign of Kypris. 127 
 
 On the spacious hearth a fir fire crackled 
 and flamed with much show of comfort. A 
 lounge seat was by it ; so with a sigh of relief 
 Sybilla sank wearily into the delicious hol- 
 low. 
 
 The serving-maid lit the silver sconces 
 upon the walls, and, tarrying ever so slightly 
 by the candles on high mantel, looked search- 
 ingly upon the strayed reveller, then sighing 
 wearily, as if of grief oppressed, left us. 
 
 " Oh," exclaimed Sybilla, concealing a 
 yawn, " this is better than without. Is it 
 not indeed a quaint place ? See ! ' : and she 
 pointed round the room. 
 
 My eyes followed the motion of her arm ; 
 and I gazed with astonishment about me. 
 
 Dark oak panelling lined the chamber, and 
 emblazoned thereon in silver-chrome, all life- 
 size and wondrous fine, was naked Danae 
 ashowered with glittering gold, Venus en- 
 treating love favours of Adonis, and Apollo 
 pursuing with hot feet and eager eyes the 
 faint-hearted Daphne. Again, one saw Venus 
 repulsing Mars, then his triumph over her, 
 while Bacchus strove with a blushing wood- 
 land nymph and attained unto his desired 
 
i 2 8 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 bliss. At the far end a great oriel was con- 
 cealed by valenced hangings of purple cloth, 
 whereon Astarte and her myriad doves were 
 embroidered in creamy silken woof. 
 
 " This is an odd place we have chanced on ,: 
 quoth I, turning to my companion. " Yes," 
 replied Sybilla with a roguish look, "I never 
 thought this forenoon to find myself here. 
 Indeed, I know not, where I am, but I am 
 safe : " and she looked up with a smile. 
 
 " My dear Lady," answered I, kissing her 
 hand, " my service, as ever, is at your com- 
 mand. — Sir Harry Tresham would venture 
 his Manor and lands to be in my place to- 
 night." 
 
 She laughed. " You are apt to over-reckon 
 matters " said she, and lapsed into silence. 
 
 Now the maid appeared, and, drawing forth 
 a cover-table made of ebony inlaid with silver 
 Arabic symbols, set it between us, and put 
 thereon divers dishes ; amongst others, pasties 
 of peacocks' hearts and tongues of jays. Con- 
 fections of candied quinces, and pomegranates 
 were brought; and ruddy pomewater, and 
 sugared poperin abed to red rose leaves. 
 All had a luscious flavour soon cloying the 
 
At the Sign of Kypris. 129 
 
 appetite; so that both but toyed with the 
 dainty fare. 
 
 I could scarce keep my eyes from off the 
 serving-wench ; for, clad in a saffron-coloured 
 gown swathled under her bosom with a broad 
 band of golden cloth, she seemed a delicate 
 ramp for a man to deal with. Yet, even as I 
 turned my glance upon Sybilla, I checked the 
 ranging thoughts. 
 
 We were served in silence. 
 
 After removing all the maid laid malvoisie 
 and almonds upon a side-table by the door. 
 
 " Your bedchambers lay ready at this end 
 of the passage ' she said as she bade good- 
 e'en ; " and lights are on the outside." So 
 saying she curtseyed, and retired. 
 
 Sybilla inclined to silence, so I reached me 
 a viol lying at hand. It was curiously made 
 and garnished with mother-o'-pearl, the tone 
 quite sweet and clear : so I sang softly 
 Dowland's " Love Meeting." 
 
 Then what moved me I wot not : but as 
 in bygone days Azile had sung the love- 
 sweetened ditty, so the tender strains poured 
 from my lips to ring loudly in the room and 
 die away echoing in distant passages. 
 
 K 
 
130 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 Sybilla awoke from her brown study. 
 
 " That song smacks of the love-sick swain, 
 
 musician ! ' cried she. " Wherefore the 
 complaint ? " 
 
 " I — ! " I rejoined. " Oh, no ! when in 
 your company there is scant time for the 
 fever to infect one." 
 
 " — Or too much ' she replied, with a 
 gesture of her head. 
 
 I rose and offered her the malvoisie, and 
 having poured out a quantity for myself 
 betook me to the broad settle fronting her. 
 
 "Nay, Rudolf! Come here. The seat is 
 ample for two ,: cried Sybilla, drawing her 
 gown tight about her as I sank into the 
 proffered space. 
 
 " There, now ! " she exclaimed smiling on 
 me. — "Am I not gracious to-night ? " and she 
 blew me a kiss over the brim of the goblet. 
 
 " True, this is an unwonted concession ' 
 
 1 replied, balancing my silver cup upon the 
 broad shoulder of the seat. " Such a favour 
 has not been granted in all our friendship. 
 " Pray what occasions it. — What do you 
 desire ?"I asked in an assumed weary tone. 
 
 " — Only the steadfast continuance of your 
 
At the Sign of ' Kypris. 131 
 
 Don Quixotic service " she answered. " Nay, 
 unless I exert some feminine wiles, you w r ill 
 gradually slip away from me ; and once 
 more I will be lonely in the world." 
 
 I laughed protestinglv. 
 
 She contemplated the amber wine, swil- 
 ling it slightly about the sides of her goblet. 
 
 " My dearest lady," I said lightly, " you 
 will never be alone : your admirers swell 
 into a considerable train were the cast drawn 
 together." 
 
 " Ay ! ' she replied bitterly. " And what 
 want thev ? — 'Tis all their own end. I have 
 but one true friend ' she cried ; and clasped 
 her warm palm upon mine. 
 
 I raised her sweet hand and pressed the 
 soft white wrist against my lips ; then tip- 
 ping my cup drank to her prosperity. 
 
 Suddenly she raised her deep brown eves 
 to mine ; and I saw therein the reflection of 
 a hidden fear. 
 
 "Rudolf!" said she. "Suppose in life I 
 fall by the way — what then ? Remember 
 many traps are set for a woman." 
 
 " Ay," interrupted I significantly, — " and 
 some walk open-eved into them." 
 
132 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 She twitched her hand away from mine. 
 
 " You still harp upon the same strain ' 
 cried she impatiently. " I tell you — I care 
 nothing for that lean lank of a man. Is that 
 not enough ? " 
 
 And with an air of bravado she sipped 
 her wine. 
 
 " I will even suppose so " quoth I with a 
 shrug : " but in time his stubborn will must 
 overcome yours. Playing with fire is but a 
 game for rogues and fools. — I have been in- 
 formed you met him at the Rotunda some 
 nights " back I added with hesitation in my 
 voice. 
 
 " Oh ! Sir Curious knows everything ' : 
 she flashed out; and lapsed into silence. 
 
 For a few seconds I watched her fair sweet 
 face, then bestirred myself. 
 
 " Madam," said I gravely, " I am no Sir 
 Benjamin Backbite ; but if gossip is rife in 
 the coffee houses with your fair name per- 
 force it thrusts itself into my ears. And 
 you must remember, that the first step of 
 folly severs our friendship — though God 
 knows it will cut me to the heart. I have 
 my probity of honour to preserve. Indeed 
 
At the Sign of Kypris. 133 
 
 it is tarnished already by the misconstruc- 
 tions put upon our close and lengthy inti- 
 macy." And I rose up from her side. 
 
 With a quick movement Sybilla flung 
 herself upon her knees, and seized hold of my 
 hands. 
 
 " No, no, Rudolf/' she cried hanging 
 upon me, " you must never leave me. You 
 cannot : for you love me." 
 
 " Yes," said I with a sigh, " alas, I love 
 you ; and like a fool desire no reward but 
 your advancement and happiness. You are 
 right, my Lady," quoth I with a forced 
 laugh. " I shall never leave you : a man's 
 sincerity of purpose is evinced by his folly." 
 
 " Nay, dearest of all ! you are not a fool " 
 cried she : " you are the best of men ; and 
 have always advised me to my advantage. I 
 would rather have the 'fool's' word of praise 
 than all the world's. But I am young, and 
 needs flutter my wings : we two can never 
 be man and wife — we would quarrel like 
 dogs in a manger." 
 
 " Well," I rejoined, my heart all softer 
 by her affectionate glances, " — see the wings 
 are not devilishly clipped. — Not that I hold 
 
134- Hidden Witchery. 
 
 marriage according to book and paraphrase 
 necessary for the true union of hearts ; yet, 
 the contrary cases are few." 
 
 For a few moments she swung our hands 
 to and fro. Then a sudden flush mounted 
 upon her pale exquisite face and stained it 
 ared. 
 
 " Rudolf," quoth she softly with down- 
 cast head, " I ne'er heard that before from 
 you — 'tis a revelation." 
 
 " I — Oh, I have held that doctrine for many 
 years, but for evident purposes have never 
 preached it " cried I unconcernedly; — " I had 
 no wish to prompt your belief in it : for at 
 best it is a somewhat pernicious remedy." 
 
 Then a new thought struck the addled 
 brains, and shot the hot blood swirling about 
 my heart. With a jerk I stayed her idle sway- 
 ing of our conjoint palms. At that instant 
 she looked up. But her eyes would not meet 
 my ardent gaze ; they fell upon the wainscot 
 to* be arrested by Apollo and his fleeting 
 mate : and her colour heightened. 
 
 " Rudolf, you are thick-brained " Sybilla 
 murmured lowly ; and tried to regain her 
 hands. 
 
At the Sign of Kypris. 135 
 
 A sudden access of passion took me and 
 stormed all restrain. I could not withstand 
 it. Flinging myself at her feet I pressed 
 passionately my mouth against the silvern 
 hem of her garment. 
 
 A little laugh slipped from her. She leant 
 forward with a tender look escaping from her 
 eyes. "You may touch my lips ' : ' she said 
 simply ; and bent her dear face down to me. 
 
 II. 
 
 Sybilla had retired to her bedchamber ; 
 and I sat alone in the supper-room. 
 
 I awoke from my engrossing cogitation 
 as a curious emotion thrilled me from top 
 to toe. I started, and rose to my feet. The 
 candles had long since guttered in their 
 sockets, and save for the fire there was no 
 light. 
 
 A strange, languid feeling was in the air. 
 To my eyes it seemed the heathenish deities 
 
136 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 again sported amorously with each other : 
 and the burning whiteness of Danae's body 
 perturbed my senses. 
 
 Suddenly in the whisht of the house my 
 quick ear caught the sound of rustling, 
 tailing, garments : then my eyes, as it were, 
 beheld her lovely, unswathed body — that 
 body I had so oft enclipt with no thought of 
 possessing. 
 
 The vision scorched my senses with vaunc- 
 ing desire. 
 
 Where'er I turned it was the same. The 
 dazzling sight devoured all reason. And 
 Venus smiling joyously at the glowing youth 
 bade him not withhold his cowardly hand. 
 
 I strove to banish the arising trend of 
 luxurious thoughts clustering about my heart 
 and to demean myself worthily as a man. 
 
 In the dim firelight recollections thronged 
 thickly upon me : once more I was in the 
 land of golden sunshine and glossy fruit. 
 Tender eyed Azile, and imperious Julie, 
 stately Amalie, and love-long Valerie, all 
 passed before me. With each had I drained 
 passion to the lees. 
 
 Remembrance begat regret of spent plea- 
 
At the Sign of Kypris. 137 
 
 sures not — not stricken repentance : and alas, 
 I dared to think of that soft form in my 
 loving embrace, and, of my hot persuasion 
 hearkened to by her murmurous dissent. 
 With two hearts beating in unison there 
 could be no wrong : for long years had I 
 loved her : and by her own conduct would 
 I be justified. 
 
 Across my memory swept recollection of 
 the perfume of her body as once in a summer 
 gone by I had pressed my ready lips in 
 frolic upon the smooth, firm bosom, where 
 revealed bv the mischievous 'kerchief. 
 
 This played the firebrand. With a hasty 
 motion I uprose to go — but sank down in 
 the lounge torn with diverse desires. 
 
 I buried my face upon the padded arm of 
 the great chair — the chair wherein she had 
 sat. The subtle fragrance of her person yet 
 lingered about the cheveril. Like a callow 
 colt of fifteen I even kissed the spot whereon 
 her arm had rested ; the breath catching in 
 my throat. 
 
 I checked my childish outburst. 
 
 Good God, thought I, what is affecting 
 me? is it madness — or have I drunk of 
 
138 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 Aretinean wine, and am bewitched? What 
 do I intend? And as the base intent flung 
 upon me in its entirety I shuddered at the 
 foul malignity of my purpose. 
 
 The flesh justified its existence. What 
 now, O craven heart, it whispered, others 
 have done likewise ; even thyself. — What of 
 Valerie, and amorous Julie ? 
 
 I had no answer for my heart smote me. 
 
 " Passion, A Plaything ' is the Avenyll 
 motto : and surpassing well had we lived so. 
 
 Yet, from the first day of my intimacy 
 with Sybilla, I had struggled for a higher 
 end in view : her peace, her comfort, and 
 happiness. Now it was indeed ironical to 
 have the thorns of the flesh prick the fine 
 bubble of resolution I held professedly in 
 view. 
 
 I started up and paced hastily the long 
 room. 
 
 In the fitful firelight Mars grappled more 
 violently with the Queen of Love, and 
 Apollo hastened his pursuit of Daphne. 
 
 I cowered in the corner and covered my 
 hot, wanton eyes ; yet the incitement ram- 
 paged about my brain : sweat broke out and 
 
At the Sign of Kypris. 139 
 
 poured down my strained brows ; and I groaned 
 aloud in my trouble. 
 
 But why crucify myself upon the cross of 
 forbearance ? — why deny my eager heart 
 that which another would obtain ? For the 
 lecherous hound would finally suborn her 
 through sheer predominance of brutal will- 
 power. Sybilla needs give way. And why 
 not when love was in the question, and on 
 each side for the matter o't ? 
 
 I staggered towards the door distraught 
 with desire and desperate madness. 
 
 "And what want they? — Tis all their 
 own end. I have but one true friend " rang 
 in my ears again ; and I seemed to feel her 
 warm soft fingers entwine about my hand. 
 
 I stopped short in my steps stricken with 
 amazement ; a new reading of my part flashed 
 upon me. " Good God," I cried, " at present 
 I am the worst enemy she can encounter : 
 her betrayal, the repayment for her friend- 
 ship and affeclion. Sweetheart, I would be 
 a true friend rather than lover ; for the latter 
 goes as the caprice changes, but the former 
 remains for ever. God, God, save me from 
 my evil self." 
 
140 Hidden Witchery, 
 
 I crossed to the dying embers and medi- 
 tated. Honour now spake in brave clear 
 tones ; and I perceived the distinct folly of 
 my conduct. Sybilla relied implicitly upon 
 me : she had no prop in the world at large 
 save me : no kith and kind, nothing but her 
 dower of wilful beauty and innate sweetness. 
 So I bowed to the humiliating abnegation 
 of self. 
 
 Weary with self-wrestling and strife I rose 
 to get abed, and, passing by the oriel, slipped 
 aside the hangings. The moon had set ; a 
 strange, misty darkness held before the peep 
 of dawn ; no sounds were to be heard save 
 the gabble of winging mallards as they sped 
 northwards. I stirred uneasily as a feeling 
 of familiarity with my surroundings grew 
 upon me ; but drowsiness increasing I with- 
 drew. 
 
 Without, the corridor was strongly per- 
 fumed with odour of burning calambac 
 wood. The smell caught in my nostrils : 
 stirring up some indistinct recollections of 
 times long past it caused me to linger in 
 the passage. 
 
 As I stayed, and, snuffing in the air, tried 
 
At the Sign of Kypris. 141 
 
 to seize upon the particular memories, lo, a 
 light appeared at the far end, and a figure 
 drew into view; so I, inquisitive, stepped back 
 into the darkness of the supper chamber. 
 
 The person came nigh : and singular 
 astonishment filled me. 
 
 It was the serving-maid. 
 
 Naked, bearing aloft a burning golden 
 heart, she passed by ; with repulsive horror 
 trailing in the rear. The woman was cor- 
 porate Life-in-Death. The cruel winter of 
 old age had sorely pillaged her body of its 
 graces — only from the bosom upwards was 
 there the semblance of form. Her shrivelled 
 figure tottered from side to side upon its 
 palsied feet that seemed scarce strong enough 
 to support the meagre, bent trunk and attenu- 
 ated limbs. Yet her countenance was surpass- 
 ing beautiful. 
 
 She passed slowly onwards ; her dark eyes 
 fixed stonily before her, her long silken 
 tresses flashing golden against the loose, 
 bloated skin : and the blazing heart flared 
 upon the horrid sight. 
 
 She proceeded lingeringly down the cor- 
 ridor, and brought astand before Sybilla b 
 
142 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 bedchamber. Full deftly and quietly she 
 opened the door and disappeared within. A 
 monstrous fear laid hold of me ; so fleeing 
 down the oaken floor I stood before the dis- 
 closed room. 
 
 The unholy hag had advanced to the bed- 
 side : her lamp lit up the sleeper, so that I 
 could see the tracery of azure veins upon the 
 side of her near temple. 
 
 The beldam seemed confounded: she mur- 
 mured loudly, and bending over the resting 
 body peered curiously about. 
 
 "One," she muttered, "only one!" and 
 her nether lip purled. — "He must be an 
 untoward rogue, for, never before has he un- 
 furnished such goodlv gear." 
 
 Stretching out a bony hand she made to 
 seize the virgin. 
 
 With a mighty effort I shoved myself for- 
 ward — stumbling on the threshold, to fall head- 
 long into the room. She turned upon me with 
 malignant glare. My tongue clove to the 
 roof of my mouth : move it I could not. 
 Unconsciously my fingers signed the cross, 
 and I fell aswoon on the floor. 
 
 Sense came back tardily. At length I 
 
At the Sign of Kypris. 143 
 
 scrambled to my trembling feet and sped to 
 Sybilla's bedside : she yet slept as if no harm 
 were nigh. Muttering a prayer for thank- 
 fulness I flung me upon a settle at her feet 
 and waited for daybreak. 
 
 There were no sounds within the hostelry 
 — all was silent as the tomb. Now and 
 again I heard a dry board creak or a rat 
 scratch at the wainscot, but no more. The 
 stark silence was so great that it was audible; 
 yet I cared not, for by me was Sybilla in the 
 beauty of sleep. I could hear her breathing 
 soft and low, and by the flickering firelight 
 could watch her bosom come and go against 
 the light covering envailing it. No evil 
 thoughts assailed me ; nor did I heed the 
 darkness that cumbered the land: for was I 
 not watchman for my beloved in the sanctuary 
 of her sleeping chamber. 
 
 Soon dawn broke over the woods; an 
 early bird twittered at the window sill ; the 
 gray mist lightened and lifted away. Sybilla 
 stirred in her sleep : so arising I stepped 
 gently to her and made to awaken her. She 
 opened her eyes, and with amazement in- 
 quired of my audacious presence. 
 
144 Hidden IVitchery. 
 
 u We must leave at once ' I cried ; " I 
 will await on you without." "But" — she 
 interjected. " There is time afterwards for 
 explanations " I declared ; and entreated her 
 to hurry. 
 
 In a few minutes she was by my side. 
 
 " In God's name let us hurry and gain the 
 outside " I exclaimed violently : " this night 
 I have been in Hell." 
 
 Sybilla started. 
 
 "Your hair is streaked with white" she cried 
 
 in an incredulous voice. "Rudolf !' 
 
 But cutting her short I hurried away. 
 
 At last we stood in the great hall. Faint 
 sunbeams straggling through the quarrells 
 cast fantastic shapes and shadows upon the 
 opposite wall ; the arras was dimmed with 
 dust ; thickened cobwebs draggled upon a 
 floor deep with the mould of many centuries. 
 Yet upon it were the imprints of myriads 
 of footmarks. 
 
 We hastened through, and with difficulty 
 unbarred the heavy door. 
 
 Sybilla passed out into the sweet air of 
 early morn ; her dainty small feet stole softly 
 upon the silent road. 
 
At the Sign of Kypris. 145 
 
 I was stepping over the crumbling flags, 
 when a hoarse cough rang out behind me ; 
 turning round, I beheld the serving-maid. 
 But now she was as the Ancient of Time : 
 lean and wizened were her toothless chaps, 
 coarse locks of grisly gray hair fell in a tangle 
 upon her crooked shoulders. — Her beauty 
 entirely shent. 
 
 " We are in great haste " I exclaimed ; 
 and proffered payment. 
 
 " 'Tis needless " she replied dully, her 
 leaden eyes blinking to the joyous light of 
 the rising sun. 
 
 And again the feeling of familiarity pos- 
 sessed me. 
 
 " In former times you rested here " she 
 mumbled ; " and who pays — pays never 
 again." 
 
 Amazed at the crone's strange words, as 
 I passed out, I inquired the name of the 
 hostelry. 
 
 The hag leered hideously at me : drawing 
 herself up, she cried mightily : — " The Sign 
 of Kypris." 
 
 Then the voice weakened ; and the figure 
 drooped. 
 
 L 
 
146 
 
 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 " I am Passion : true Love hath slain 
 me " she moaned out, behind the closing 
 door. 
 
 And I stood pondering upon that saying, 
 until, Sybilla took me by the hand. 
 
 Lammastide, 1896. 
 
IN THE HIDDEN HOURS 
 OF THE NIGHT. 
 
" Fenme ne puet tant amer l'oume con li horn fait le 
 fenme. Car li amors de le fenme est en son oeul, et en 
 son le cateron de sa mamele, et en son l'orteil del pie ; mais 
 li amors de l'oume est ens el cue[r] plantee, dont ele ne 
 puet iscir." 
 
 AUCASSIN £ff NlCOLETTE. 
 
IN THE HIDDEN HOURS 
 OF THE NIGHT. 
 
 THE apothecary met me at the entrance. 
 He shook his head. " No," said he 
 in answer to my inquiry, "there is 
 no hope : the end is nigh. She has been 
 calling upon you for the past half-hour " he 
 added. 
 
 " Can nothing be done " cried I, as I fol- 
 lowed close upon his heels into the unlit hall. 
 
 " Nothing," replied he, turning his face 
 upon me : " only the hand of God can 
 save her. The disease has caught upon the 
 heart; — death may come any moment." So 
 saying he led way up a broad staircase lead- 
 ing into a western gallery, and, hurrying 
 to its nether end where glimmered a show of 
 fire, gained the sick-chamber. 
 
150 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 Through the half opened door I heard her 
 pleading voice utter my name then die away 
 into an inarticulate sob, as she realized the 
 apparent impossibility of her desire. 
 
 For a second I hovered upon the threshold. 
 
 Pride battled with my wish to see her : for, 
 with her dishonour had this woman not tar- 
 nished my fair name, had she not turned the 
 jibes of the ribble-rabble upon my house : 
 Then came the low moan — "Rupert,Rupert ; " 
 and the sound of catching breath in her 
 throat. Instantly the insolence of my con- 
 ceit was humbled : and I stepped into the 
 room. 
 
 Clarissa lay 'thwartways upon the dis- 
 ordered bed, her fingers clutched tightly 
 upon the clothes. Suddenly she raised her- 
 self. " Rupert, Rupert," she uttered thickly ; 
 then, with a shrill cry, fell back upon the 
 pillows as a violent spasm shot through her. 
 
 I arrested my feet. 
 
 Renewed sight of her brought back the 
 past and present : it cauterized cruelly my 
 estranged heart. 
 
 Before me lay my wife — the pampered 
 mistress of a dastardly cousin — the notorious 
 
Hidde?i Hours of the Night, 151 
 
 courtesan of the town — brought thither to the 
 residence of her paramour to die friendless and 
 alone. And the irony on 't — that I, her 
 husband, whom she had driven to live in 
 foreign lands, should turn in to her bv a mere 
 chance as she lav cluttering mv name. 
 
 The apothecary touched me on the elbow. 
 
 " Remember, mv lord, this distemper is 
 contagious" he whispered. " Indeed 'tis mighty 
 dangerous to approach ; for the blood, turn- 
 ing acrimonious, has corroded its vessels, and 
 produced pestilential swellings upon the face." 
 
 I shrugged my shoulders. " Well," quoth 
 I in a murmur, "betake yourself!" 
 
 He shook his head. "Nay," said he, "I will 
 remain until the end. Hear: she calls vou." 
 
 I nodded as her bleating: caught the ear. 
 
 o o 
 
 In the sombre room the waxen candles 
 spread out a dull and uncertain light ; but, 
 even with the indistinct radiation, I could 
 catch an old familiar gesture with the chin 
 as she moved her restless head : a gesture I 
 had noted on her bridal night, as, wakeful 
 with doting love, I had watched her slumber- 
 ing through the long silent hours. 
 
 Suddenly she smote her knees together ; 
 
152 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 a long low moan broke from her lips as 
 pain racked her body ; then one could hear 
 the dear breath sucked in between her clenched 
 teeth. 
 
 The apothecary stepped to the bedside ; 
 taking in hand a dish of medicinal waters he 
 sponged softly her inflamed cheeks and fore- 
 head. The ensuing coolness was grateful to 
 Clarissa. She opened her eyes and weakly 
 thanked him. 
 
 The sound of her voice touched the chords 
 of memory ; it was as clear and melodious 
 as ever in my time : and I shrank back into 
 the shadow of the door. As I stood there a 
 whiff of damp air wafted by me ; thick, 
 musty as of a charnel house : and I shuddered. 
 
 Sir Mortimer had no use for this place ; 
 his debauchery swallowed up his rental roll, 
 so the house was in a lamentable state ; a 
 place more fit for owls and screech-bats than 
 human habitation. 
 
 As the gusts of wind swirled round the 
 buttresses and outlying gables the windows 
 clattered loudly against their fixtures ; here 
 and there the lattice-work was broken and 
 unhinged ; so the autumn blasts, bellowing 
 
Hidden Hours of the Night. 153 
 
 in, had littered the mouldering floors with 
 leaves, that lay rotting upon the untrodden 
 passages. Before me the clouded camlet lining 
 the upper parts of the sick-chamber was dusty 
 and torn — one could see the naked wall roped 
 with twisted cobwebs; while the golden 
 glory of the embossed leather bordering the 
 wainscot had faded long ago into a shim- 
 mering obscurity. 
 
 A noise in the gallery made me turn : it 
 was caused by a female, presumably the 
 housekeeper, who was mending the fire with 
 billets of wood. The resinous bulks shot out 
 a great flare of light, and revealed the most 
 evil countenance I had ever clapped eyes on. 
 
 For a second the woman stood looking 
 into the flames, then sat down on a settle by the 
 hearth. Her toothless maw gibbered a little ; 
 she puckered the wrinkled skin of her fore- 
 head until it stood beetling upon the pent- 
 house eyebrows, then suddenly withdrew a 
 pack of cartes from her empty bosom ; spread- 
 ing them out upon her lap she contemplated 
 them. 
 
 The logs burned fiercely with increasing 
 glare ; and upon the discoloured ceiling, with 
 
154 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 its fine Italian impasto work all peeling and en- 
 ridged with damp, the shadow of the chimney 
 mantel flickered with leaps and bounds; now 
 covering Herodias as she considered the 
 head of John the First Martyr in its bloody 
 charger, now revealing the Tetrarch as he sat 
 at meat and eyed dancing Salome. 
 
 Again and again the crone turned over the 
 devil's books ; sometimes wiping her clammy 
 hands upon her tattered gown of betimes rich 
 brocade, but now foully smirched and rent, 
 a mere relic of past glory. She started and 
 shielded her eyes from the glow; then, hastily 
 shuffling her cartes, re-dealt them. 
 
 "King, Ace, Queen; — Spades. — Always 
 Spades ! " she croaked. 
 
 Upon her sick-bed Clarissa tossed from 
 side to side as if to avoid the recurrent 
 stitches of pain ; she moaned heavily, then 
 throwing her arms into the air let them fall 
 with a thud upon the bedside. 
 
 The crone made a hideous grimace with 
 her in-bent mouth. 
 
 " F faith the poor lamb wants her dearie. Ay, 
 ay, he'll come— there is no doubt on 't ! " said 
 she to herself; and turned again to the cartes. 
 
Hidden Hours of the Night. 155 
 
 She crouched low against the light, until 
 I could see her twisted shape sharp and black 
 against the blaze. 
 
 "Spades, — always Spades/' she repeated ; — 
 "a man with a dagger. — Death." With that 
 there came a hoarse howl of wind about the 
 house ; skirling above the chimney like a 
 gyved fiend. The ancient dropped her cartes 
 in terror upon the flames, and hobbled frantic- 
 ally away into the surrounding darkness. 
 
 Yet through the distance I could hear her 
 cry : and the echoing passages took up the 
 call ; it clashed loudly upon my hearing — 
 "Death, Death." 
 
 I leant against the wall, for I felt weary 
 and faint : the atmosphere close with must 
 and mould had caught upon my senses ; and 
 my head swam. 
 
 The apothecary drew nigh. 
 
 " My lord," said he, "it is better, you now 
 go, lest one is met upon whom you have 
 no desire to look — one, who will be here 
 instantly." 
 
 " Indeed," said I, " who is he ?" 
 
 The man paused. I bade him speak out : 
 he shook his head. 
 
156 Hidde?i Witchery. 
 
 cc >' 
 
 'Tis needless to inquire ' he rejoined. 
 " Go your way, my lord, now you have 
 indulged to the full the detestation for your 
 unfortunate lady. As you swore, you have 
 seen her at the ebbtide of life ; and what 
 serves it ? " 
 
 " But who is the man," I asked, im- 
 patiently stamping my foot ; — " Sir Morti- 
 mer r 
 
 He nodded, and looked curiously at me. 
 
 I gave a short laugh. " Why man," said 
 I, " nowadays that fool is nothing to me. 
 Himself he hurt when he took Clarissa into 
 his eager arms. Gad ! as I know — she was 
 better to have for a day than a lifetime:" 
 and I laughed bitterly. " Certes ! he must 
 have been sorely infatuated to regain posses- 
 sion of that poor worn out beauty " added I ; 
 " but maybe human ware is scarce at present ? " 
 
 Then what I deemed curiosity got the 
 upper hand. 
 
 " Does she still care for him? "was my query. 
 
 The apothecary scanned me from beneath 
 his bushv evebrows ; but he did not answer. 
 
 I repeated my question. 
 
 An odd, pitiful expression passed into his 
 
Hidden Hours of the Night. 157 
 
 face. He took me by the arm, and conveyed 
 me to Clarissa, who had fallen into a doze 
 and lay face from us : having dipped his 
 fingers in a dish of camphorated waters, he 
 withdrew from the warm precincts of her 
 bosom a glove. 
 
 " My lord !" said he in a low voice, holding 
 up the crumpled and frayed gear into the 
 candle light. " See that ? " 
 
 " Certainly," I exclaimed softly. " 'Tis a 
 glove. 
 
 "Ay! true, only a glove" replied the 
 apothecary; "but the owner oft:" and he 
 stared me straight in the face. 
 
 I thrust forward. My eyes caught upon 
 a silver threaded monogram on the cuff : I 
 started, and seized hold of it. 
 
 " Why!" cried I. " 'Twas mine years ago. 
 Does she gather such baubles from all her 
 favoured lovers? — 'Twill be a pretty stock by 
 this time," quoth I callously ; and, as that 
 thought struck me, I dropped the glove an' 
 it were poison upon the floor. 
 
 The apothecary stooped, and having picked 
 up the fawnskin replaced it by her breasts. 
 Clarissa stirred, and awoke. I slipped behind 
 
158 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 the silk tabby curtain ; yet so that one could 
 observe her. 
 
 " Garth," she murmured, " my throat burns. 
 No one is here ? " she queried weakly ; 
 turning her head from side to side as if to espy 
 an onlooker. 
 
 The apothecary gave no answer, but handed 
 to her a draught of cooling cordial. 
 
 " Garth," she continued as breath came 
 back, " if Sir Mortimer comes hither, I will not 
 see him. Surely he can let me die in peace ?' : 
 and she moved her limbs fretfully about. 
 
 Garth brought the candles nearer the bed- 
 side. " If he comes — he shall not enter here ' 
 he said firmly ; " be sure of it: " and he offered 
 persuasively a sleeping potion. 
 
 Obedient, like a child, Clarissa took the 
 dram, which obtained an almost immediate 
 effect upon her weakened frame ; her eyes 
 closed, the mouth relaxed its firmness ; with 
 a swoop the minions of sleep bore her 
 thence. 
 
 I crept out, and stood over her. For five 
 long years I had not seen her ; yet she had 
 little changed. Of slender figure and exact 
 proportions, she seemed more exquisite and 
 
Hidde7i Hours of the Night. 159 
 
 perfect than ever ; her flower-like face, with 
 the curving eyebrows pencilled darkly against 
 the pallid skin, more beautiful ; but, upon 
 the low forehead, and about the mouth and 
 graciously moulded throat, were many cruel 
 lines of damnatory evidence. 
 
 Ay, fairer than ever she lay before me — 
 the woman, who had crunched my highest 
 and holiest hopes underneath the heels ot 
 her desires. 
 
 Silently I contemplated her. 
 
 In her slumber one arm had escaped from 
 beneath the clothes, and lay lengthways by the 
 pillow; the fine cambric sleeve was gathered 
 above the elbow, and betrayed the dainty 
 shape. 
 
 I blinked mv eves. I seized a light, and 
 bent down. There, just peeping from below 
 the soft lawn upon her snowy arm, lay twisted 
 a golden snake studded with purple scarabs 
 and ruddy iacinths ; — the betrothal counter- 
 change given these seven years back. 
 
 I was uplifting the loose hanging sleeve to 
 obtain inspection, when the apothecary re- 
 strained me. "Remember," said he : "you 
 may incur contagion." 
 
160 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 I shook off his hand, and considered the 
 jewelled ornament. 
 
 Ay, 'twas the same. There, upon the clasp, 
 were the interwoven letters : — " C : R." 
 
 I recovered my balance, and gazed with 
 some curiosity upon her. 
 
 Suddenly I looked up. 
 
 " 'Tis an odd fancy, that," quoth I, pointing 
 to the bauble upon her arm. 
 
 "Ay," replied Garth, " she is very fond of 
 it : to my knowledge, it has not left her 
 arm for many a year." 
 
 " Indeed ! " I rejoined. " She has not much 
 use now for a pledge of honour, I daresay ; ' 
 and I shrugged my shoulders. 
 
 Garth cleared his throat. "My lord!" said 
 he. " This is no time to bandy phrases, nor is 
 it my business to meddle with your private 
 affairs, for I am but a serving apothecary : 
 but, of women misjudged — is she ; and your- 
 self is the cause on 't." 
 
 I sprang back : the man had touched me 
 on the quick. 
 
 " Sir," cried I, u you may keep your clack- 
 ing tongue to yourself; — as for me, that is 
 my own affair : " and I looked angrily at him. 
 
Hidden Hours of the Night. 161 
 
 He clasped his hands nervously together ; 
 his eyes met mine, then dropped ; he wore 
 the aspect of one troubled with a secret. 
 
 " Well," said I, in a dry tone, " what 
 has my lord judge, the apothecary, to say 
 to me : " and, somewhat mollified with his 
 abashed attitude, I looked easier upon him. 
 
 To my surprise he flung himself at my 
 feet, and catching upon my riding cloak held 
 closely to me. 
 
 " Why, man, what tomfoolery is this," I 
 asked sternly. 
 
 " My lord, hear me, hear me," he cried. 
 " There would not have lived a purer, sweeter 
 woman than your lady, but for a most mon- 
 strous and devilish delusion upon you both.' 
 
 I elevated my eyebrows, and turned a cold 
 face upon his rigmarole. " Ay," said I in an 
 undertone, " they all say their purity is tricked 
 away ; 'tis an old song." 
 
 Garth pulled me by the cloak. " I swear, 
 it is the truth ' he continued vehemently. 
 " In your absence in the Low Countries Sir 
 Mortimer won her away to London upon a 
 pretence ; he forged her letter to you ; he 
 spread the ribald reports upon the town ; he 
 
 M 
 
1 62 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 poisoned your ears through the agency of 
 Lady Betty." — I started and drew the riding 
 cloak tight about me. — "This once done, and 
 you absent ; friendless, and with bad repute ; 
 with none to help her, what could she do but 
 succumb to his stubborn, persistent wooing. 
 Sir ! as you know — the flesh is frail ; and a 
 woman is none of the strongest. Forgive 
 her, sir, ere she dies :" and the man clung 
 upon my hands. 
 
 I disengaged them from his strenuous 
 grasp. 
 
 "What childish prattle is this?" said I 
 harshly. "You fool — Haines is but one of 
 many;" and I drew away from the gabbling 
 idiot. 
 
 " My lord," he cried, rising from his knees, 
 " whom have you ever met ? " 
 
 "One," replied I sullenly; — " Brittain. 
 I killed him : " and I laughed brutally, 
 for the old sore was open all afresh and 
 torturing. 
 
 Garth nodded his head. 
 
 " 'Tis one," he said slowly : " the other 
 comes to-night. Sir Rupert," and he stepped 
 towards me, " have pity upon her. Never, 
 
Hidde?i Hours of the Night. 163 
 
 night and day, has she ceased to love you : and 
 I swear she has known only these two." — I 
 gave vent to a spluttering sneer. — " My lord," 
 the man pleaded, " what could she do. 'Twas 
 that — or starvation : for she had no jointure. 
 You were — God knows where in the South 
 Seas — and, after young Rintoul's death, she was 
 penniless, and, for a short time in the Fleet." 
 
 " My God ! " I exclaimed, as I glanced at 
 the slim, gracious body and lovely face, and 
 thought of her lying in that stinking den of 
 iniquity. And I did not answer ; as, for the 
 first time, I owned to a sense of my hot 
 headedness perverted by cruel jealousy. 
 
 "Rintoul!" I rejoined at last in a low 
 voice ; — " what had he to do with the 
 matter ? " 
 
 " He was her friend" was the reply. " The 
 one person who gave freely his assistance, his 
 company, and looked for no other reward than 
 trusted friendship." 
 
 "A d d fool!" I ejaculated: "he should 
 
 have ta'en his wages like the others." 
 
 " There were no others save the two men- 
 tioned " interrupted the apothecary. " The 
 report she was common property was a 
 
 
164 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 damnable lie propagated by Sir Mortimer to 
 achieve his vile end. She was shunned: she 
 fell. And vou — vou who should have be- 
 lieved in her — cast her off upon the mere 
 hearsav ol a busvbody lawyer. My lord, had 
 vou come forward, your lady had ne'er 
 suffered nor been misjudged; nor sinned.'' 
 
 I looked at the man : his very vehemence 
 bore a trace of truth : vet I knew he lied 
 like hell. 
 
 Bah ! I would trust my perceptions before 
 the sole evidence of a blathering apothecary. 
 She had cozened me from the very hour I 
 first encountered her and her paramour, Sir 
 Mortimer, sitting close in the sycamore room. 
 Moreover, my love was dead, slain through 
 excessive pain of heart and mind. 
 
 From the first I had maintained an un- 
 swerving aloofness ; and that, I would sus- 
 tain. 
 
 Garth watched intently mv face. 
 
 "Will you not speak to her when she 
 awakes " he implored. " She loves you. 
 See ! even in her sleep she clasps your glove 
 to her heart." And in truth she had. 
 
 I stepped over, and gazed at her. Her 
 
Hidden Hours of the Night. 165 
 
 bosom came and went to the rhythmic beat 
 of her breath, and, between the unlaced yoke, 
 her sweet breasts and tender body could be 
 descried. 
 
 An odd feeling crept over me ; a softening 
 of the hardness of my heart : but muttering 
 an oath I faced about. 
 
 Then, of a sudden, footsteps were heard in 
 the gallery. Some one swore at the lack of 
 lights. It was Sir Mortimer. 
 
 Garth hurried to me. " Now, my lord, 
 the proof is vouchsafed " he whispered. " See 
 — stand in here ; " and he pointed behind the 
 curtains veiling the head of the bed. 
 
 I hesitated for a moment : an uncontrol- 
 able determination took me ; and I darted 
 into the sheltering obscurity. 
 
 Even as I did so, the baronet appeared at 
 the door ; he steadied himself against the 
 jamb, then entered. As he came within the 
 range of light I noted him. 
 
 There was no deception about his appear- 
 ance. One could tell his smooth, hypocritical 
 face among a thousand: his Roman nose with 
 its close-lying nostrils, his cruel, sensual mouth 
 with its thin, compressed lips, were enough 
 
1 66 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 evidence of the fellow's character; — gentle- 
 man, I had never dubbed him. 
 
 Garth met him. " Well," inquired 
 Haines with an oath, " how goes the patient ? ' 
 and he swayed somewhat drunkenly in his gait. 
 
 The apothecary bowed. 
 
 " Sir," replied he, " she has fallen into a 
 sweet slumber this half-hour : but I fear there 
 is no hope." The man's voice failed him ; 
 he shivered a little, twined his fingers as if 
 assailed with an upstart pain ; then, lifting 
 a light from the side-table, lit up the 
 sleeper. 
 
 Ho, ho, thought I, here is another victim 
 to her wiles ; and indeed it was so. 
 
 Haines crossed to Clarissa's bedside. 
 
 In the faint radiance of the nightlight 
 one could imagine the puffy swellings upon 
 her pallid cheeks to be the symptoms of 
 healthiness and colour ; her lips were parted 
 and showed just a peep of the regular white 
 teeth. 
 
 " You must not awaken her " ordered the 
 apothecary. " She is in the influence of a 
 sleeping draught ; and dire harm will result 
 if she is disturbed." 
 
Hidde?i Hours of the Night. 167 
 
 Sir Mortimer gave a slight lurch and an 
 imbecile laugh. 
 
 "Devil take you ! " said he thickly. " Do 
 — do you think I have ridden forty miles to 
 see a pretty face, and no more ! She is mine 
 — I pay for her ; " and he hiccuped like a 
 stable boy. 
 
 " Sir," cried Garth, " if her rest is broken 
 — I will not answer for the consequence. 
 Nay! you must not;" he exclaimed, as 
 Haines put hand upon her. 
 
 The baronet swung round with an ugly 
 look upon his inflamed face. " There — 
 there is the door," he growled. " Go ! ' And 
 he pointed to the exit. 
 
 Garth firmly shook his head. " I shall 
 not leave " he declared emphatically. 
 "Well, stay. — But do not interfere in my 
 business " Haines rejoined crossly ; then 
 bending down he would have aroused 
 Clarissa. 
 
 The apothecary intercepted the descending 
 arm : in a trice he lay prone, senseless upon 
 the floor. 
 
 "Damn him!" muttered Haines, as he 
 glanced at the prostrate figure. " She's mine ; 
 
1 68 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 every inch of her — illness or none. Bah! a 
 fig for the plague ; I'll handle her." And his 
 chops fell as he gloated over the helpless, 
 infected body of his whilom victim. 
 
 I peered round the corner of the bedstead. 
 
 A fiery detestation for the man flamed up 
 within me by leaps and bounds. I saw 
 before me her traducer — the man, who with 
 devilish cunning and perversion had seduced 
 her mind through stress of circumstance him- 
 self arraigned — the man, who had banned my 
 peace of brain and soul, who had filled my 
 ears with vile aspersions by means of his 
 pimpish devices ; but above all — he, who had 
 corroded her inborn sweetness and purity. — 
 That brute, with his lanky limbs, and long 
 white hands ; the agents of his passions. 
 
 I gripped my jaws together ; I could feel 
 my lips hard as bars upon my strained mouth ; 
 and I stood lurking behind the curtains with 
 hot jealousy pricking at my heart. 
 
 I could see Sir Mortimer advance his 
 rapacious hand upon her bosom : with a 
 sudden pluck at the inclosing lace he tore 
 aside the yoke, and fingered her breasts. 
 
 The motion and access of cold awoke 
 
Hidden Hours of the Night. 169 
 
 Clarissa; she lay staring upon the marauder 
 with dilated eyes ; until of a sudden recog- 
 nizing him she tore herself away. His arms 
 followed fast upon her ; they enclipped her : 
 with a lascivious leer on his sallow face he 
 bent down to kiss her. 
 
 " Tush, tush, madam ! 'tis not the first-fruits " 
 he cried, as she thrust her poor face from him; 
 and more lusty than ever he pressed her. 
 
 Clarissa struggled frantically to escape his 
 bonds. 
 
 In her wrestling the smock slipped from oft 
 her shoulders : the upper part of her body 
 lay naked and glowing to the eye. 
 
 At sight of this, once my own, a fierce 
 hatred for the man sprang up. — Ay, with 
 the same foul grasp had he not ruined her ; 
 tainting her purity with his base desires, 
 with his ramping animal indulgence. But 
 she — ! and an unclean reflection darted into 
 my brain to re-heat its virulence against 
 her. 
 
 Yet instantly I swerved. 
 
 " Rupert, Rupert," rang shrilly in my 
 ears ; and Clarissa fought desperately against 
 her keeper. 
 
I70 
 
 7 
 
 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 This woesome bleat for me in her ex- 
 tremity broke down all barriers : it mad- 
 dened me beyond control. 
 
 Only for an instant did I linger to find my 
 sword-hilt ; the next, I was upon him. 
 
 " Unhand her," cried I violently ; and I 
 hit him on the shoulder with a heavy hand. 
 
 Haines dropt her, and leapt furiously upon 
 me. 
 
 Our eyes met. He fell back. His 
 clenched fists flattened out. Panic-stricken, 
 he glowered stupidly at me. 
 
 In a second I regained my coolness. 
 
 " Sir," said I harshly, " you must deal 
 with me now. — You carrion ! ' and I smote 
 him on the cheek. 
 
 My sudden appearance had taken both 
 aback : he glared blankly at me, while 
 Clarissa lay silent, peering upon me with an 
 unmeasured look of wonder and uncertainty 
 in her eyes. 
 
 " It seems as if I were unwelcome here," 
 cried I ironically ; and bowed towards him. 
 
 At the sound of my voice Sir Mortimer's 
 lips quivered ; his amazed face resumed its 
 sickly hue ; he recovered his presence of 
 
Hidden Hours of the Night. 171 
 
 mind. Then his beady eyes travelled from 
 me to Clarissa, and back. 
 
 "Ay," said I, in answer to his thought, 
 " I know you now to be a panderly rogue, a 
 valiant Mohawk — but only amongst women." 
 
 " Madam," and I turned quickly to my 
 wife, who lay speechless and wondering, " do 
 you love this man ? " 
 
 Clarissa made an idle motion with her lips : 
 but she did not speak, she could but gaze 
 confusedly at me. 
 
 I stepped to her. A great wave of pity 
 affected me ; and I took her by the hand. 
 
 " Clarissa ! do you love this man ? " I re- 
 peated quietly ; looking for the first time 
 in many years into her glorious eyes. 
 
 A great rush of blood tided in her, suffus- 
 ing a ruddy flush upon her pale skin ; her 
 tongue rapped against the roof of her mouth : 
 taken with intermedled surprise and fear she 
 was dumb. 
 
 I gently stroked her bare arm. The con- 
 tact of her naked flesh stirred my tumultuous 
 blood : but I kept a close eye upon Haines. 
 
 A second or two passed ; yet she was silent. 
 
 " Speak, Clarissa ! Speak. There is nought 
 
172 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 to fear " I cried reassuringly. "Do you love 
 this man? — He owns the preference, then ? ' 
 And my tones hardened as certaincy of my 
 delusion beat in upon me. 
 
 She shot her arms into the air. " Before 
 God and the Holy Angels I hate him " cried 
 she vehemently ; clapping her hands together 
 in supplication. 
 
 I nodded my head. " Pray, how long has 
 the hatred existed," inquired I callously. 
 
 Clarissa replied not : she but turned her 
 large, hazel eyes upon me. I started : my 
 heart gave a great leap : but I restrained my- 
 self with an iron hand. 
 
 Sir Mortimer moved his feet uneasilv 
 about, then he pulled himself up and coughed. 
 
 " Well," said I, coming to him, " what's 
 your voice in the business — is it that of 
 Shemei ? " — He nervously bit his pomaded 
 moustache. — " Nay," I continued, " that of 
 Absalom is more in your line. He plucked 
 his fruit, and feared to take the consequence." 
 
 " See here, bouncer," and I seized him by 
 the shoulder, " God knows the harm you've 
 wrought with your lying tongue and starva- 
 tion tricks, your bawdish feints and instil- 
 
Hidden Hours of the Night. 173 
 
 ments : and now the Devil needs have pay- 
 ment on 't all." 
 
 " The credit is long o'erdrawn " quoth I 
 facetiously : for I was getting into fine fettle 
 at the prospect of at last killing my man. 
 
 Long had I looked for this; and, now he 
 was within my grip, I would delicately slay 
 him. Of t'other question there was no fear : 
 he could never overcome my strength or 
 agility. 
 
 Haines moistened his dry lips. 
 
 "Sir," said he, "I will make every repara- 
 tion, but you know " 
 
 I burst into a strident laugh. " Ho, ho," 
 I ejaculated, checking my hollow merriment, 
 " so impurity is to be paid for:" and with a 
 sudden storm of fury I slashed his face with 
 my tasselled gloves. 
 
 Uttering an oath he started back and drew 
 his rapier, then attacking, forced me into the 
 light of the candles on the high chimney 
 mantel. 
 
 He pinked me sorely in the arm. This 
 disposed of my berseker fit ; and I con- 
 trolled my movements. 
 
 Haines fought from the semi-obscurity of 
 
174 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 the shadow cast by the mantel, whilst I was 
 full in the light ; but, little by little, I reversed 
 the positions, and began to play with him. 
 Twice I pricked him gently in the ribs as he 
 lounged at me with his clumsy strokes in 
 tierce ; and twice, in the sword-arm. 
 
 As my guard stood firm he grew enraged : 
 yet it was no avail ; I withstood him. 
 
 There were no sounds save from the move- 
 ments of our bodies, and Sir Mortimer's rasp- 
 ing breath. I could hear the Deathhead tick 
 ominously behind the worm-eaten wainscot, 
 and a mouse clitter with its small feet along 
 the leaf-littered floor of the adjoining gallery. 
 There were no lights save two upon the 
 huge mantel overhanging the gaping fire- 
 place, and one upon the side-table by 
 Clarissa's bed. The unsnuffed candles sent 
 out a dim fitful flicker : gloom and darkness 
 enshrouded the room. 
 
 A frightened spider scaled his cord as I 
 forced Sir Mortimer against the dusty camlet; 
 and, as he knocked his heels against the panel- 
 ling, a flock of rats broke away and scurried 
 past the sprawling figure of the apothecary, 
 who lay in a heap upon the creaking boards. 
 
Hidden Hours of the Night. 175 
 
 As I drove the long rapier into my oppo- 
 nent's side, behind him on the enwoven cloth 
 the bloody nail of Heber's spouse seemed 
 redder than ever ; more ruddy, than his life- 
 dew upon mv fleckered steel. 
 
 Haines thrust wildly at me. In vain. Again 
 and again I pierced him where I willed ; 
 puncturing his fine brocade waistcoat and 
 Hollands shirt into bloody patterns of re- 
 venge. 
 
 All honour went from me. In a furious 
 lust of vindictiveness I drove my pointed 
 blade deep into his shrinking body. I 
 shouted with glee as I felt the steel slide in. 
 Bah ! why should I treat him with honour 
 who had perverted my wife's — his was rotten 
 at the best, rotten with debauchery ; — and 
 these arms had constrained Clarissa, had 
 compelled her to dishonour or starvation. — 
 And I circled round the doomed ravisher, 
 plying my steel in his rank flesh as a house- 
 wife her needle in the sock. 
 
 Sir Mortimer became weak ; he clutched 
 at the wallcloth to sustain himself. With a 
 noisv rip the decayed stuff gave way ; and 
 bellowing, he fell on me. I stepped back : 
 
176 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 with a dull thud he landed above the body of 
 the apothecary, and, stunned, lay motionless. 
 
 An irritable sense of deprivation moved 
 me ; — I would he had given more sport : 
 and with a kick I turned over his carcase to 
 view him ; — him, God's Image ! 
 
 But, with that, there came a moan from 
 Clarissa who now wrestled with Death, for, 
 alas, the hot, pestilential fever was encroach- 
 ing close about her heart. 
 
 I advanced to her with combative fury and 
 hatred yet swelling upon my lineaments. She 
 looked at me as I were the Basilisk. Then 
 her fearful eyes dropt upon the dripping 
 rapier : with a scream, she covered them with 
 her hands. 
 
 Cursing I threw it from me, and laughed 
 harshly. 
 
 "Madam!" cried I hoarsely. "See the 
 cause:" and I pointed to her fallen paramour. 
 
 She gave a little gasp as her glance alit 
 upon him ; her fingers crept upon the open 
 smock, and tore at the Brussels lace edging 
 the yoke ; the blood fled from her flower-like 
 face, leaving her mouth ascarlet ; her heavy 
 underlip quivered. Suddenly she raised her 
 
Hidden Hours of the Night. 177 
 
 beautiful eyes to mine, swiftly to let them 
 fall again. Her glance but clung upon my 
 face for a second : yet I read therein her 
 passionate appeal. 
 
 Her great eyes made a flare of my 
 doubts, consuming all indifference, all in- 
 action. The innate purity of her heart peered 
 from their lustrous depths ; and the thrill of 
 its desire, entering anew into me, trumpeted 
 the retreat of wavering sophistry. 
 
 " Clarissa," I cried, with my soul clamour- 
 ing onmy lips. "Say: itwasnotwantonness?' 
 
 A look of intense agony blanched her 
 face ; she shut her eyes : but I got no reply. 
 Tears glistened underneath the dark, silky 
 eyelashes, to roll down her wan cheeks ; her 
 bosom heaved with short, convulsive breath- 
 ing ; she stretched out her groping hands 
 to me. 
 
 With a great sob, I threw myself upon the 
 bed, and covered my face with her small, hot 
 palms. 
 
 " Hush," she murmured, as I sobbed out 
 my shame, "mine is the blame. But you 
 were cruel, Rupert — oh, so cruel : ' and 
 breath failed her dear lips. 
 
 N 
 
178 Hidden Witchery, 
 
 For a little time she did not move. I looked 
 up : she lay back upon the pillows with no 
 sign of life, except the twitching of her mouth. 
 
 The apothecary was right. 
 
 Haines' rude awakening of her had aug- 
 mented the misordered spirits ; and she was 
 dying: dying, alas, too soon for me repentant ; 
 dying by reason of him, with his damned 
 intrigues and brutish lusts. Death was at 
 hand to carry away her rare beauty and 
 goodly heritage of body, whose singular fair- 
 ness had occasioned the marvellous cruelty 
 of her lot : and I, rendered dumb bv the 
 tumult of my senses, stood heart-stricken 
 above my regained love. 
 
 In the deep stillness, my ears caught the 
 stirring of Sir Mortimer. In a trice, my 
 hatred and loathing for the man seized pos- 
 session of my mind : and a devilish subtilty 
 was invented. 
 
 I turned to the man — he yet lived. With 
 rough handling I trailed him across the room, 
 and set him on a tall-backed chair by the top 
 end of the bed. 
 
 Haines recovered somewhat, and, rising up, 
 endeavoured to walk. With a pounce I was 
 
Hidden Hours of the Night. 179 
 
 upon him ; binding a rent curtain about him, 
 I had him stiff and certain as a mummy of 
 the Pharaohs. 
 
 " Curse you," quoth he faintly, " what 
 play is this ? " as I bound him faster and faster 
 to the seat. 
 
 " You see her ? " said I, indicating the faint 
 image of Clarissa in the tarnished mirror 
 fronting us. 
 
 He nodded sullenly. 
 
 " Well," continued I, so softly and gently, 
 " she is dying — dying because of you ; ' and 
 mv voice sank into silence. 
 
 Then I struck his lying mouth. 
 
 " Ay ! " cried I fiercely. — " It shall be blood 
 for blood — life for life." 
 
 The baronet's face whitened, " Why," 
 whined he, " what is 't vou mean ? " 
 
 I smiled fiendishly at him, and, having 
 whipped out my hanger, cut up his gray 
 cloth sleeves. He swore and twisted about ; 
 but an idea occurred, so pulling his jaws 
 asunder I gagged him with his own silk 
 handkerchief. 
 
 Thereupon, I stepped back, and contem- 
 plated him in the dim candle light; — the 
 
180 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 craven was now writ plain upon his coun- 
 tenance. — But I, to my business. 
 
 Hanger in hand I stood behind him. As 
 a surgeon, I fingered his upper arms, then, 
 laying the cold, sharp blade against his soft, 
 yielding flesh, I ripped them upwards, most 
 dextrously, from the elbows. 
 
 Thus, I treated the ravisher of her honour. 
 And I could feel him cringe beneath the 
 knife. 
 
 I bowed to him. 
 
 " So," cried I, "is flesh rendered for flesh: ' 
 and, as I went from him, his blood bespattered 
 the floor. 
 
 As I traversed the chamber the physician 
 gave a gasp, and drew his body together ; 
 rearing himself upon his elbow, he gazed 
 dazedly around. I assisted him to his feet. 
 He staggered towards Clarissa : seeing her 
 afaint, he motioned me to sprinkle upon her 
 face some waters from a phial he carried about 
 his person. 
 
 This revived her ; and life again flickered 
 upon the beautiful face. 
 
 She felt about for my hand, then carried it 
 to her lips, but, too weak, needs let it fall. 
 
Hidden Hours of the Night. 1 8 1 
 
 The apothecary put his cold fingers upon 
 my hot sword-arm : they chilled me to the 
 bone. " Sir," said he, " Death will come in 
 the twinkling of an eye. See to it — that 
 you acquit her." 
 
 My head bowed upon my bosom. 
 
 " "tis I," I replied lowly, " who sue for 
 remission ; for I am the true culprit. My 
 hotheadedness and weak belief did forward 
 her ruinous descent : she had none to help 
 her." 
 
 His grasp tightened upon my shoulder- 
 blade, till I winced. " She will have strong 
 cordials to retain animation for a little while ' 
 he replied. "Sir! Forgive: as you will be 
 forgiven." Turning to her, he administered 
 the retarding draught. 
 
 And in the stillness I heard a drop, drop- 
 ping upon the floor. 
 
 But there came a weak cry of " Rupert, 
 Rupert." 
 
 This tugged at my heartstrings. Long 
 pent passion, bursting up, broke all bands of 
 foolish scruples. She called on me — Clarissa, 
 my first and only love — and straightway she 
 was in mv arms. 
 
1 82 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 For long years had I thirsted to feel the 
 touch of her gracious body, the music of 
 her soft voice, the fragrance of her hair : 
 and, half mad with joy and grief, I clipped 
 her to me. What cared I, although the mal- 
 versations of brutes had besmirched her cor- 
 poreal qualities — I owned the empiry of her 
 heart and brain. 
 
 Clarissa lay in my arms, her queenly head 
 upon my bosom ; with a contented sigh she 
 clung close to me, her eyes fixed steadfast on 
 mine. 
 
 " Dearest of all," she whispered, " I am 
 happy at last. I knew you would come to 
 me. Oh, Rupert ! " and she kissed the braid- 
 ing upon my coat. 
 
 " Hark! " she ejaculated faintly. " What 
 is that?" and she thrilled strangely, as the 
 noise of a drip-dripping echoed in the room. 
 
 I laughed nervously. " Tis the ivy with- 
 out " I answered softly ; and caressingly re- 
 assured her. But I glanced aside uneasily, as 
 the sound grew louder. 
 
 " Hear! 'tis again " Clarissa murmured. 
 
 " Hush ! it is some one walking in the cor- 
 ridor " I replied ; and stilled her fears. 
 
Hidden Hours of the Night. 183 
 
 The fever returned, and wrought upon 
 her senses ; she babbled of childhood and 
 early years. 
 
 Suddenly she threw herself from my hold, 
 again upon the pillows. 
 
 " See — there he is " — and she pointed into 
 a dark corner. — "Ay, he's coming — coming. 
 Rupert ! — Save me — save me : ' and with a 
 scream she buried her face against me. 
 
 " Dearest," cried I, all astagger, " there are 
 none here save Garth and I ; ,: and gently 
 stroking the hot, beating head I strove to 
 calm her. 
 
 But, upon the tabby curtain, grew a large, 
 irregular stain. Slowly it deepened into 
 crimson hue, as the gore, clotting upon Sir 
 Mortimer's dripping elbows, soaked through 
 the silken woof. 
 
 I looked furtively about for the apothe- 
 cary : he was nowhere to be seen. There 
 was a loathly stillness about the place : within, 
 without the house. There was not the 
 merest shimmer of fire in the corridor : 
 the open door of the bedchamber seemed 
 a sheet of blackness. In the room the gut- 
 tering candles wavered with sickly shoots of 
 
184 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 light ; mere embroideries upon the inclosing 
 gloom. 
 
 Clarissa slowly turned her face up to me ; 
 her eyelids contracted ; she shivered. 
 
 " Rupert, Rupert, who is coming near," 
 was whispered hoarsely : " oh, it is so cold." 
 Then she opened wide her eyes. " I see 
 him ! There is his cruel face, and grasping 
 hands. — Ah." With a piercing shriek she 
 fell heavily against me. 
 
 And the gory splatch grew, and greatened 
 upon the creamy silk. 
 
 The atmosphere became more chilly and 
 stagnant ; an odd feeling affected me ; a 
 tremour caused my jaws to chitter as in 
 time of frost. I held Clarissa closer to me ; 
 stubbornly, as if one was by me to reft her 
 away : and shouted upon Garth. But he 
 came not. 
 
 As my look at the door sped back to my 
 beloved's face it traversed the mirror oppo- 
 site me ; simultaneously, the flames of the 
 expiring candles gave a few leaps, and the 
 room was nigh filled with night : ere 
 that — once more, my eyes had beheld Sir 
 Mortimer. His head had fallen upon the 
 
Hidden Hours of the Night. 185 
 
 left shoulder ; his nether jaw hung loosely 
 down : but his dimming sight was fixed 
 immutably upon the reflecting surface. 
 
 Casting a silent curse in the waning gaze, 
 he stared at us with his protrusive, bloodshot 
 eyes. 
 
 With a hiss the lights were drowned in 
 their fat : but, in the faint light from 
 the floating wick by the bed, the ruddy stain 
 seemed shapened like a bloody hand fastening 
 upon Clarissa. 
 
 She moved. " Kiss me, Rupert," she 
 murmured. " Oh, I am tired, so tired : " and 
 feebly she nestled in to me. 
 
 Not one but a thousand kisses did I rain 
 upon her sweet lips and face. Thought of 
 her cruel lot and pressing death fairly broke 
 me : and I wept over her; blubbering like a 
 child. 
 
 " Ladybird, ladybird," I sobbed. " Would 
 God, I could die with you. To find and lose 
 you so soon." And I ceased from the intensity 
 of my grief. 
 
 Behind the tabby, I heard the death-rattle 
 richochet in his gurgling throat. His head 
 struck the back of the chair. And a speaking 
 
1 86 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 stillness followed on. Yet, there sounded 
 through the silence, that drip-drop, drip- 
 drop-dropping upon the floor. 
 
 Clarissa uttered a moan; her clasp tightened 
 about my neck. I gently placed the bed- 
 covering around her. Suddenly she sat up- 
 right. The night-light flared up. Her eyes 
 caught upon the monstrous sight beside her. 
 She started, and tore aside the hangings . . . 
 
 Her face stiffened with fright ; for the 
 moment, she held her breath. Then, with a 
 shrill laugh, she fell upon my neck, and died. 
 
 . . . The slow hours passed by. Alone, 
 with the dear dead in my arms, I stood void 
 of all sense by reason of unutterable agony. 
 Not until milch kine had lowed in their stalls 
 did I move : then with a sigh I stroked her 
 dark tresses ; and, holding her closer to me, I 
 bore her silently away — anywhere, anywhere, 
 away from his accursed vicinity. 
 
 Martinmas, 1895- 1896. 
 
AT THE CROSSROADS ON 
 THE MOOR 
 
AT THE CROSSROADS ON 
 THE MOOR. 
 
 THE wind moaned without the Grange. 
 Now and again, coming in great claps 
 it swirled around the gables, and cried 
 with strange and mournful notes in the 
 darkness. All was peace and quietness within 
 the house : the household had retired to 
 rest ; and, save the steward who awaited my 
 departure, Yssolane and I were alone. 
 
 Into the ear of silence struck the hour of 
 eleven. With a start I rose from my beloved's 
 side. 
 
 " Jove," I cried, " so late already ? — and I, 
 here ! Why, 'twas my intention to have left 
 ere now : for much must be done before I get 
 abed : " and, stepping to the little rose win- 
 dow, I drew aside its silver-threaded tappet, 
 and considered the night. 
 
190 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 " Egad, it is dark," quoth I, as the black- 
 ness loomed in, and filled the window frame 
 as with an ebony slab. " Hear to the wind ! — 
 it moans to-night, as if the devil and his angels 
 were abroad : ' and I gave a laugh. 
 
 She drew close to me. " Nay, dearest, do 
 not go," she cried beseechingly, as rain 
 bespattered the pane. " 'Twill be a stormy 
 night. There 's no cause on 't . Stay, Ralph, 
 stay by me ; and leave in early morning ! ' 
 
 I turned from the threatening darkness to 
 her fair beauty. 
 
 " Sweetheart, sweetheart ! " I replied. 
 " What would gossips say ? How their tongues 
 would wag ! 'Twould give Mistress Hark- 
 away a month's talk. Oh, the scandal of it 
 all ! Fie ! Fie ! " and I pulled a pretentious 
 face. 
 
 Yssolane playfully smote my lips with her 
 forefinger, and reiterated her plea. I shook 
 my head, and, catching her in my arms, 
 carried her to the fire ; setting her down in 
 the ingle-neuk. I resumed my place beside 
 her on the cushioned settle. Her counten- 
 ance brightened, and testified to her belief of 
 my intention. 
 
At the Crossroads on the Moor. 191 
 
 " Nay, dearest," said I, in reply to the tacit 
 testimony of her glancing eyes : "I must away; 
 for the day after to-morrow sees us wedded ; 
 and I have attended to little or nothing. 
 When the candles gutter; then I'll off. 
 Moreover, 'tis onlv some six miles home ! ' 
 
 I plied my case with all cogency ; yet 
 she gave no ear, but plead the more be- 
 seechingly. 
 
 Now, as if to reinforce her argument, the 
 wind increased, and, growling around the 
 chimnev stack, stirred the dying embers into 
 a lambent glow ; the rain shivered with force 
 upon the lattice panes ; and, in the courtyard, 
 the gargoyles gurgled and spouted with in- 
 cessant and louder splashings. Her dear 
 company and cheery chamber did indeed 
 retain me ; but, at the gutteringof the candles, 
 I arose, and made ready to depart; though, I 
 own, with much self-compulsion. 
 
 As I fastened my cloak tight about me 
 Yssolane again plead strongly against my 
 set purpose. 
 
 Some hidden fear seemed to lurk within 
 her. She cluno- to me as if to retain me with 
 her gentle hands ; and, words failing her, lay 
 
192 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 upon my bosom with strenuous entreaty writ 
 large upon her eyes. 
 
 " Dearest of women," I cried, " have no fear. 
 Blindfolded, Cassandra and I could cover the 
 road : if one fails the other will surely travel 
 home." 
 
 With sweet reassurance I strengthened her 
 uneasy mind ; and, loosing me from her arms, 
 stepped out into the darkness. 
 
 On the face of it, the weather seemed more 
 ominous than stormy. Through the flying 
 scud in the sky one could detect the faint 
 starlight ; down in the east, over the rugged 
 hunch of Dead Man's Law, blinked the 
 peaked face of a new-born moon, swathed 
 between woolly bands of mist : yet a feeling 
 of something impending was in the air; and 
 for a moment I remained swithering on the 
 doorsteps. 
 
 " Bide ye where ye be, sir," cried the 
 steward, as he held the stirrup : " 'twill be a 
 wild night. Bide ye where ye be : 'tis Easter- 
 tide ! " 
 
 " Tush ! — a bag of wind, and a dish of rain" 
 I replied, making for the saddle. " And what 
 of Easter-tide?' Jaggard shook his head. 
 
At the Crossroads on the Moor. 193 
 
 " A bad night to travel on, sir," he answered. 
 " The dead arise to seek redemption; and the 
 Fiend claims his own. Godforfend the right ! " 
 
 " A list of packman's lies " quoth I. 
 "Good-night!" and, with a nod, I rode off. 
 
 A few roods away, I turned round. 
 
 There in the west window of the bookroom, 
 a great flare of candles in her hands, my beloved 
 stood, vainly striving to discover me. As I 
 looked the steward approached; took the 
 lights from her ; the twain disappeared into 
 the hall : and nought remained except the 
 blackness, and the driving wind and rain. 
 
 With a shiver, I rode onward into the 
 blustering night, but ever and anon turned 
 again, as if that dear scene yet greeted my 
 vision. 
 
 When well on the road I repented of the 
 outset. The wind blew snell ; coming with 
 impetuous gusts, it battled about me and shook 
 the sure-footed mare from her foothold : the 
 rain increased, it cut against my face ; soon to 
 penetrate my clothes and chill me to the bone. 
 
 Marry, thought I, it is little wonder 
 Yssolane had bodings, as Cassandra rolled from 
 side to side and stumbled on in the now 
 
194 Hidden Witche7y. 
 
 thickening darkness ; for hurrying clouds had 
 cloaked both moon and stars. The wind 
 swept across the hill-land, howling like 
 Beelzebub ; the rain lashed against me with 
 sharpened force : and I had much ado to 
 keep my seat, far less note the way. 
 
 Thinking to obtain a sheltered path, I 
 turned off the roadway into a bosky bottom 
 that wound to the moor, down to the cross- 
 roads, where the hill-track converged with 
 the highways. 
 
 As I rode down this hollow the air became 
 more stilly; though above, the storm yet 
 ripped shrilly across the gap. In time the 
 wind grew calm, and the rain ceased save 
 for a spent spitter. Around me the trees 
 stood together thickly — I could scarce see 
 to pick my way beneath their overhanging 
 boughs. The darkness deepened, and the 
 stillness greatened : never a stir in the wood, 
 never a motion in the air; no sounds around 
 me save the crackling of withered branches 
 beneath Cassandra's trampling, or the occa- 
 sional hoot of an adventurous night fowl. 
 
 I had gone some miles, by this ; and now 
 heartily wished the journey at an end : my 
 
At the Crossroads on the Moor. 195 
 
 travelling so lonesome and eerie. 'Twas as 
 Nature were dead, or collecting her forces for 
 some monstrous outburst. 
 
 Some little way on the wood thinned apace; 
 but this did not lighten the murky gloom, 
 that settled down and packed the intervening 
 spaces. 
 
 Suddenly I pricked my ears, and drew 
 Cassandra a-standstill. 
 
 A strange sound shivered the silence : 
 around, afar and anear, a rustling murmur 
 filled the air. The heart of the wood thrilled 
 with mysterious fears ; the leaves began to 
 sharpen one against another with sibillant 
 agitation. Then quietness reigned. A stoat 
 scuttled, from out a coppice, squealing with 
 alarm : it dashed against the horse's hoof; 
 only to flee onward squealing louder than 
 afore. Cassandra took sudden fright, and 
 bolted from the spot. 
 
 I regained the mastery with difficulty ; 
 and we jogged onward at a speedy pace. 
 
 Soon the mouth of the bottom was reached. 
 And, with a sigh of satisfaction, I noted 
 the gloom lift somewhat; due, doubtless, to 
 a rising breeze that came and went in puffs. 
 
196 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 I neared the turn whence the path de- 
 bouched upon the crossroads. Cassandra 
 slackened her pace. Suddenly she stopped 
 — move she would not, but stood stock-still 
 with splayed feet and labouring nostrils ; a 
 shiver throughout her frame. 
 
 Some strange affair must be ago here 
 thought I : and with that got off her ; and 
 going ahead some few feet peered inquisitively 
 about. 
 
 Nought could be descried among the 
 bracken and broom : nought save the darkness 
 which seemed to fluctuate and waver before 
 my very eyes. 
 
 " Pest, upon the night ! ' cried I. " One 
 could think Satan moved all nature to his 
 hand ! " 
 
 Even with that a bellow of wind blustered 
 down the bottom, screeching and weeping 
 like very hell's self — Cassandra broke from 
 me. Turning in a trice, she fled up the way 
 we came, neighing like a steed demoniac. 
 
 I burst into a volley of oaths, and took 
 after the galloping horse: but in vain ; 
 already the beat of hoofs was dying away in 
 the distance. 
 
At the Crossroads on the Moor. 197 
 
 " Lackaday," I cried, " it will scurry back 
 to the Grange : and then, such hubbub as 
 man never knew ! ' and I fell a-swearing 
 like a Spanish Walloon. 
 
 However the fit of anger spent I set home- 
 ward ; for though the moor road was lonely 
 yet it was fine, firm walking — whereas the 
 path Grangeward was full of many woes for 
 a benighted traveller ; and I own to little 
 liking for the woodv part, 'twas so eldritch. 
 Moreover, the stretch was only of some three 
 miles more : and I was at my gates. 
 
 Now the wind had arisen, yet, as the rain 
 held off and the road ran free, I stepped out 
 merrilv. But in a few minutes the song 
 died upon my lips ; the lightness, from my 
 heart. The soughing of the wind as it 
 moaned around the broomy knowes appealed 
 to some dread sense within me, and instilled 
 a certain sensation of fear, foreign to my 
 nature. 
 
 I closed my ears to the eerie sounds, and 
 forced my pace ; but aye the breeze seemed 
 fraught with a strange burden. 
 
 The moor lay still; never so much as 
 rabbit's spud, or curlew's call. And as I 
 
198 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 neared the crossroads remembrance flashed 
 into my head of the dead lying there : — an 
 -/Egyptian slain by her own hand ; — buried in 
 a suicide's grave, her body impaled by a stake 
 through the bowels. 
 
 I shuddered, and, by closing my eyes, tried 
 to drive away the recollection of an ashen 
 pale face and ruddy-ringed throat. 
 
 Of a sudden a motion of fear shot into me. 
 
 With a start I gazed before me. I blinked 
 my eyes. I closed them ; and threw my 
 hands on my brows, and wondered if I were 
 dreaming. On the patch of ground that 
 knit together the roads was an illumination 
 of tapers — the figure of a corpse — the person 
 of a man. 
 
 I had never deemed myself a coward ; yet 
 now found myself on my hands and knees ; 
 hiding from that light as a thief in the night. 
 Who the man was — who the corpse — I knew 
 not. An uncontrollable shuddering rippled 
 into me ; a desire for instant retreat : but 
 with a muttered oath, cursing myself for 
 my cowardice, I advanced warily upon the 
 scene. 
 
 But, mark you, some instincl ruling me, I 
 
At the Crossroads on the Moor. 199 
 
 crawled and crept like the vilest spy in 
 creation, — which is far from my nature. 
 
 At length I came within some three or four 
 ells, and covertly ensconced myself upon the 
 near side, behind a great bush of eldergrowth. 
 
 'Twas the corpse of the suicide : I could 
 note her swarthy tresses clotting to the 
 decayed head. The body lay stretched East 
 and West ; the arms by the sides. The 
 putrifled hands bore altar candles ; the feet, 
 likewise : and strange, though the wind 
 swayed the eldergrowth, the flames never 
 flickered but unwavering shed their light ; I 
 could note the stuff that bound the tapers — 
 'twas silken. 
 
 The Man, his face was from me ; I knew 
 him not : yet, by his hunchback, now could 
 tell him amid a thousand. 
 
 He contemplated the loathsome spectacle 
 for a moment : then, with a gesture, placed 
 a sacred wafer upon the liquid lips ; and on 
 the swimming eye-balls. With his hands he 
 made three mystic signs, and three times 
 three walked round the body. 
 
 I strained my sight to observe his face, but 
 alack, it was so swathed with linen, that 
 
2 do Hidden Witchery. 
 
 nought was visible except the eye holes in 
 the spotless bands. 
 
 Then the import of the whole broke in 
 upon me. At Eastertide witchery renew the 
 instruments wherewith to work their evil 
 will. And the Man sought an unshrived soul : 
 striving with the subtle wiles of Hell to 
 conjure it from its dread abode by false 
 hopes of redemption from sin and probatory 
 punishment. Thus he wrought to secure 
 him his familiar for a term and a term. 
 
 The dreadful significance cruelly clouted 
 my brain ; a cold sweat gathered on me ; I 
 lay crouching behind my shelter, sapless and 
 inert. 
 
 At the ninth round the Man tarried before 
 the ^Egyptian's head. He made an abomin- 
 able obeisance towards the East ; then re- 
 moved the wafers, and spat blasphemously 
 upon them. 
 
 A hurricane wind clamoured around : yet 
 never the lights so much as flickered : they 
 pointed steadily upward as if to pierce the 
 louring clouds and attract the eye of Heaven. 
 But the darkness deepened, swath upon swath. 
 
 The Man stooped. Taking a golden 
 
At the Crossroads on the Moor. 201 
 
 chalice in his right hand, he sprinkled holy- 
 wine upon the mouldering mouth and fore- 
 head ; then made three mystic signs ; and 
 three times three walked round the dead. 
 
 But I had no thoughts on him. Out of 
 the night I saw a vast Shadow loom and 
 overspread the land, covering heath and 
 home : till with encircling closure it surged 
 in, and in, upon the unhallowed spot. Yet 
 the Man knew it not. 
 
 Agsin at the ninth round He tarried before 
 the ^Egyptian's head : once more to spill the 
 holy wine of redemption upon those accursed 
 lips. 
 
 The Shadow came nigh. Within its cloak 
 of chilly blackness my horror-stricken eyes 
 descried the hideous forms of Hell's prisoners: 
 crowding, crushing to its lessening rim, to 
 wager on Hell's Plot against High Heaven. 
 And the Man knew, and bowed before the 
 shadow : and, crying with a loud voice, com- 
 manded the unshrived soul to come forth. 
 
 The corpse quivered: it thrilled; and was 
 transfigured with life. 
 
 The Man arose, and smote the woman 
 heavily on her mouth with the crucifix. 
 
202 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 The doors of death swung open : and the 
 tongue of the dead was loosened. 
 
 An overwhelming outburst of terror rioted 
 in me. With a mighty effort I found a 
 voice. " Dear Jesu deliver me " rang from 
 my very soul. But the boom of the startled 
 bitterns drowned my cry : and the Shadow 
 still came nigh. . . . 
 
 When sensibility returned a morning sun 
 poured his glory upon the moors; the air was 
 balmy and pellucid ; no clouds fretted the 
 serenity of the blue sky. 
 
 I sprang up, and looked about. My eyes 
 bore upon the crossroads ; and without in- 
 terest : the Man — it was the Man — I looked 
 for ; and though no trace of the affair was 
 visible I fled in mad terror from the spot. 
 The sun, the freshened air, the springy turf 
 soothed my troubled brain ; and my heart 
 lightening, I clapped my hands in glee and 
 shouted with delight. 
 
 Ere I knew I was beside a cot, around 
 which a scattered band of men was collecting. 
 I stood stock-still. Fright paralyzed me : 
 the Man might be there. But in an instant 
 I was off. Voices cried out my name, 
 
At the Crossroads on the Moor. 203 
 
 'Twas but a feint of His : and with a cry of 
 dread I sped the faster. 
 
 I heard the sound of runners ; of pursuers : 
 their calls to one another ; their nearing feet. 
 I redoubled frantically my pace : a false step 
 — a shelving bank ; and I fell headlong into 
 a bushy thicket. 
 
 The pursuers plucked me out with tender 
 care. 
 
 " The Man ! The Man ! " I yammered ; 
 and thrust violently from them. But firm 
 hands held me, and strong arms wound 
 about. 
 
 " Who, master, who be the Man ? ' my 
 servants implored. I but gibbered the faster, 
 and struggled the more. With sorrowing 
 and wondering hearts they bent homeward, 
 carrying me in their arms. 
 
 Midway, across a swamp, they encountered 
 an early traveller. 
 
 " Why, what fool is this ? " cried an ar- 
 rogant voice, as I lay babbling and foaming 
 at the mouth. " The Man ! v repeated the 
 horseman : " what Man ? Let me see the 
 idiot. Lackaday, — Sir Lovelace ! Woe 
 woe, — 'tis a mournful sight for his bride ! ' 
 
204 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 Affright seized me. I stopped my bab- 
 bering ; for a moment, the tongue clove to 
 the roof of my mouth. 
 
 "The Man, the Man," I cried shrilly; 
 and, pointing at him, wrestled violently with 
 my keepers. 
 
 " God's life, he is moonstruck ! ' said the 
 rider. " How he froths and fumes ! Stand 
 aside, loon : ' and he jerked his bridle-rein. 
 
 " Nay, nay, not so fast away ! ' called a 
 voice. " Confront him with the master. 
 Maybe he can say more." And willy-nilly 
 they dragged him to me. 
 
 I shrieked, and strove to escape ; but all 
 anought. They confronted us. His hunch- 
 back seared my sight like a red-hot iron. In 
 a fit of bedazing terror I spat at him. 
 
 " He hath bewitched the master," cried 
 one. " Ay," echoed another : " sink or swim 
 the wizard in the moss." 
 
 So in a tumult of cries and strife they tossed 
 the Man far into the quickening morass. 
 
 He crawled to the side; — only to be thrown 
 farther into the slime. Again he floundered 
 to the brink. With their swords they thrust 
 his bleeding carcass deep into the sludge. 
 
At the Crossroads on the Moor. 205 
 
 Now I lay quiet in the grip of my keepers, 
 crowing with delight, and, loosened, could do 
 nought but jump, and jump, and hulloa from 
 very joy. 
 
 A strange Shadow fell athwart the swamp 
 as the Man sank low, and lower, into the 
 slime. His evil eves hurled maledictions 
 upon us ; but never spake he a word. And 
 the Shadow flitted nearer and nearer to his 
 head. 
 
 Deeper and deeper he dropped. The 
 swelling slough swayed around, heaving to 
 his maddened struggles up against his chin. 
 
 With a gulp he disappeared beneath the 
 surface. As his breath-bubbles welled out 
 on the quivering ooze a burst of fiendish 
 laughter grated from above : and I stotted to 
 the ground, raving like one demented. . . . 
 
 The murmur of a cushat call floated in 
 through an open window ; it sounded sweet 
 in the dewy gloaming ; filtering in, with the 
 odour of blossom and garden scents. Without 
 I saw some fir trees dark and high against the 
 pale blue evening sky, and through my half- 
 closed eyes looked at the crows hovering 
 about the bushy tops. Ay, said my wander- 
 
206 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 ing thought to my fevered brain, I'll harry 
 the nests to-morrow — if my mother 's not at 
 hand : and with that I fell asleep. 
 
 When next I awoke it was daytime. The 
 curious sun slipped in his beams between the 
 shaded lattice. One ray glowed across the 
 darkened chamber, to fall upon a prie-dieu 
 encumbered with the gown of a kneeling 
 figure. 
 
 I gazed vaguely at this sight for some 
 minutes. The sound of weeping fell upon 
 my ear, and roused my heart from its dull 
 repose. I started up, but fell back with a 
 moan. " Yssolane, Yssolane," rang from 
 feeble lips. 
 
 Then quick, soft patter of flying feet : a 
 wet cheek on mine : and heart spake to 
 heart again. 
 
 Eastertide, 1897. 
 
THE POTION, 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE TRAGICAL ENDING OF THE LOVES 
 
 OF VIOLA, DUCHESS OF SIENA, AND 
 
 MARZIO, SEIGNEUR D'ALIBERT, 
 
 HER SOMETIME LOVER. 
 
... It fell upon Martinmas Eve that this marvellous 
 beauty died : some say of the same poison, which, all un- 
 knowingly, she had administered to her lover ; yet some 
 say otherwise ; averring her death was occasioned by the 
 Fearful Hand of God. For as the fair and carnal Lucrece, 
 daughter of the Borgia, nourished nought but foulest 
 leprosy of sin, so this, the prodigious beauty of the time, 
 nourished nought save cunning murder and lewd wanton- 
 ness of body. Therefore, her sudden death, the multitude 
 assigned to Divine Retribution. Truth to tell, upon be- 
 holding the monstrous destruction of her lover, she died 
 as a common woman ; of a broken heart. . . . 
 
 Islip. — His Journey. 
 
THE POTION. 
 
 An hour before midnight. A large, square room 
 on the topmost storey of the west donjon of 
 a castle in the Apennines. To the left, 
 there is the staircase door : to the right, a 
 door opening upon the battlements of the 
 tower. The stone walls of the room are 
 dusty and bare, save beside the three, narrow, 
 upright windows, where hang dark, heavy 
 curtains of coarse cloth. The east window 
 is uncovered : through the chinks of the 
 shutters comes a low rhythm of dance 
 music, borne upon the gusty wind; now 
 and again raindrops sweep heavily against 
 the wood. Most of the room is in shadow: 
 sometimes, from the fires and furnaces 
 ranged against the walls, dull red flames leap 
 up, and Jill the darksome place with a lurid 
 glow. Upon the north wall hangs a 
 lamp ; the body thereof a human skull 
 
210 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 ribbed with silver bands. From it a long 
 tapering flame is emitted, which shows up 
 indistinctly the copper alembics and other 
 appurtenances of the alchemist, who sits 
 beneath the light alongside a narrow oaken 
 table, upon which stand a few phials and 
 an hour-glass. He reads a ??ia?iuscript. 
 There are no sounds in the room, save the 
 music fai?itly inter?nitting as the wind comes 
 and goes, save the bubbling of liquids in 
 retorts and pans. 
 
 The Alchemist folds up the nia?iuscript. 
 He turns the hour-glass. 
 
 Alchemist. 
 'Tis yet three minutes to the appointed 
 hour. That is — by the method of infusion 
 Malabris used. (He opens the manuscript 
 again, and reads.) "When the golden liquid 
 clearing, becomes limpid as dew, the philtre 
 is ripe for usage." 
 
 [He rises, and stepping over to a close- 
 fire nigh to him contemplates 
 the stuff. 
 
 Alchemist. 
 
 'Tis an odd humour of the Duchess to 
 
The Potion. 211 
 
 possess this love philtre. Why, what wants 
 she with it ? Some fine morn, a sluggish 
 gallant will awake with love buzzing in his 
 brain, and his blood afire. 'Tis indeed an 
 odd humour ! Yet, ever since the Lord 
 Marzio married, she has been strangely- 
 mannered. And my Lord the Duke notes 
 it not! 
 
 [He holds the flask up to the light. 
 As he does so a light knock 
 sounds against the staircase door : 
 it opens: and the Duchess enters. 
 A great gust of wind swirls 
 around the tower ; the rain gouts 
 against the shuttered windows. 
 
 Duchess. 
 Perugio ? The philtre, the philtre? 
 Quick ! lest I be missed from the throng of 
 dancers. 
 
 [The Alchemist bows : he hands 
 the fas k to her. 
 
 Duchess [gladly). 
 Oh, Perugio ! But — but listen ? I also 
 lack a deadly potion, one drop of which will 
 cause death. I must have it now — at once. 
 
212 
 
 Hidden JVitchery. 
 
 The Alchemist (turning to the table 
 
 behind him) . 
 
 Madam ! here is an extract. One small 
 
 drop of this amber liquid corrupts the blood ; 
 
 corroding the veins and flesh even unto death. 
 
 Duchess. 
 Give it ! 
 
 Alchemist (arresting her outstretched arm). 
 Not so fast ! Listen. He who compounded 
 this essence of death died by reason of the 
 same : his unshrived soul roams eternally 
 throughout the world : and 'tis said, that, 
 aye the night a mortal is to die from this 
 unsavoury draught, three times a strange 
 tapping sounds without — the soul unshrived, 
 striving to warn its fellow. 
 
 Duchess (contemptuously). 
 A tale for a winter's night with wind and 
 robbers without ! Give it ! 
 
 [He puts the potion into the proffered 
 hand. An evil look gathers 
 on the beautiful face of the 
 
The Potion. 213 
 
 Duchess; then, a baleful^ trium- 
 phant smile. 'The winds moan 
 about the battlements. 
 
 Duchess. 
 This is dearer to me than life. Only one 
 small drop i' the cup : and the soul has gone 
 from her lovelit eyes, and the pulse of her 
 bosom is stilled. Only one small drop ! 
 Sir, this is sure ? 
 
 Alchemist {nodding his head). 
 It has the power. 
 
 Duchess {motioning to the philtre in 
 her left hand). 
 But this philtre ! Is it proper stuff? 
 
 [Alchemist gently removes the flask 
 
 from her left hand. He holds it 
 
 up to the lights and examines it. 
 
 Alchemist. 
 
 See. The golden colour transfuses into a 
 
 limpid clarity ; and the liquor is ripe. Ah, 
 
 madam, were I — even old and withered as I 
 
 am — were I to drink of this from your hand : 
 
214 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 my brain and body would be drugged with 
 the essences of Love's incitement. No peace 
 nor rest would be mine ; until Love's fruition 
 had crowned the exalted senses ! 
 
 Duchess {snatching it from him). 
 O Love, and Death. — To think I hold the 
 factors of Life within the palms of these 
 small hands ! 
 
 [She gazes at the phials with a rapt 
 expression upon her face : she 
 gently shakes them. 
 
 Alchemist. 
 Be steady, madam — lest a drop, spilt upon 
 your right hand, brings horrors not yet known. 
 
 Duchess. 
 Oh, I care not. But, Perugio ! seal them 
 up ; lest one precious atom be lost : and, 
 prithee, mark well the poison. 
 
 [She ceases. Her hands clench. A 
 passionate gesture breaks from 
 her. She walks rapidly up and 
 down the room with her eyes 
 fixed upon the floor. 
 
The Potion. 215 
 
 Duchess [hotly). 
 I see her. Marzio is with her — her, 
 his wife. They are in the west gallery by 
 the entrance to my tiring room — oh, I 
 know — ensconced behind the tusser curtain, 
 where he and I a thousand times have been. 
 See. She clips him round the neck ; and 
 fawns upon him, worse than the meanest 
 courtesan. — Oh, shameless ! shameless ! 
 Ah ! She thinks I break my heart for him. 
 Fool! — I am here — here, conjuring your 
 destruction. 
 
 [She stops suddenly \ and turns round 
 to the Alchemist, who has 
 been busy on the phials. 
 
 Duchess (vehemently; pointing to the death 
 
 potion) . 
 Perugio ! does it envenom ? Will her 
 veins boil with blood so foul, that her ex- 
 quisite face and alluring bosom can nourish 
 masses of loathly corruption ? Will it brand 
 her as the hideous objed: of hatred? 
 
 [She seizes him by the shoulder. 
 
216 Hidden JVitchery. 
 
 Duchess {fiercely). 
 Say — it does so. 
 
 Alchemist {putting down the unclosed 
 phials upon the table). 
 For that, — the potion needs watery dilution 
 to ten thousand times its bulk. So then : 
 one drop i the day for a month breeds 
 leprosy, and many foul sores upon the 
 body. Nay ! the afflicted is as a veritable 
 lazar house. 
 
 Duchess (warmly). 
 Rare, rare, news ! God ! to see her 
 accursed grace and beauty stink before my 
 eyes : the while, I have again chained 
 Marzio to me. — Oh, that blessed philtre of 
 Love ! But I must away ! You may kiss 
 me, Perugio — on the mouth, if you wish. 
 Nay, not so warmly ; but as becomes an 
 ancient. Fie ! fie ! you press too hard. 
 
 [She starts, and listens intently. 'The 
 rushing winds whirl about the 
 tower ; dashing against the un- 
 curtained window a weird 
 
The Potion. 217 
 
 rhytlun of dance music. The 
 wafts of air cause the furnace 
 flames to leap up: the entire 
 room is bathed in a lurid light. 
 
 Duchess. 
 Hark to the night! How the winds roar 
 about the towers. Hist ! there are the last 
 bars of the Zarabanda. I must away. But 
 to-night — to-night — the potion for Saint 
 Issola ! 
 
 Alchemist {with deprecatory gesture). 
 Madam ! is there no way save by the 
 poison ? She has no blemish in her sweet 
 nature except all engrossing love for her lord 
 Seigneur d'Alibert. 
 
 Duchess [fiercely; drawing herself up). 
 
 What more? Is that not offence? Who 
 am I, that she should have reft him from me. 
 — I — the Duchess of Siena — the toast of a 
 thousand feasts. I would brush a myriad 
 Issolas from my path did they thwart 
 me. And she ? — I shall destroy this chit — as 
 
2i 8 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 the wanton child a fly upon the pane — part 
 by part. What is that ? 
 
 [There is a sudden calm without. Two 
 knocks ring clearly upon the 
 battlement door. The Al- 
 chemist starts. Slowly he 
 traverses the room, and flings 
 open the door : nothing is visible. 
 The thick darkness looms in ; 
 and the raindrops spitter upon 
 the dusty steps. 
 
 Alchemist (in a strained voice). 
 Who is there ? Who is there ? 
 
 [There comes ?io reply. He peers 
 out : shrinking back, he shuts 
 the door hurriedly: then he makes 
 the sign of the cross in a furtive 
 manner. 
 
 Alchemist (to himself). 
 'Tis strange : no one was there. Were 
 there two knocks ? 
 

 The Potion. 219 
 
 Duchess (regarding herself in the ?nirror of 
 burnished silver underneath the lamp, and 
 arranging her mantle so as to conceal her 
 
 face) . 
 It must have been upon the staircase door. 
 [The Alchemist opens the staircase 
 door. He looks down the wind- 
 ing stairway. He shakes his 
 head, then looks again intently. 
 
 Duchess. 
 Why, what see you ? 
 
 Alchemist (in an odd voice) . 
 Seigneur d'Alibert. He is coming hither. 
 [The Duchess starts. For a moment 
 she is perturbed : then a look of 
 great passion creeps upon her 
 face. She clasps together her 
 hands: a note of yearning 
 sounds in her voice. 
 
 Duchess. 
 Marzio— ! What wants he here ? Oh, to 
 meet him alone,— face-to-face. See, Perugio, 
 
220 Hidden Witchery, 
 
 have the door open : I slip behind it. — So. 
 Now, not a word — not a word, about me. 
 
 [Marzio, Seigneur d'Alibert, stum- 
 bles into the room : he recovers 
 his balance with an effort. 
 
 Marzio {looking angrily around). 
 A curse on your plaguy stairs ! — my toes 
 are knocked out of shape ! The Duchess 
 here ! Never a chance on 't. I said as much 
 afore coming on the fool's errand, but the 
 rogue of a page 
 
 Alchemist {interrupting him). 
 The Duchess ? 
 
 Marzio {crossly). 
 The same ! She has been missed some 
 time back. A loon of a page averred he had 
 noted her hurrying hither. 
 
 Alchemist {shrugging his shoulders). 
 Sir, you see all. But, why seek her with 
 such haste ? 
 
The Potion. 221 
 
 Marzio. 
 Seek her ? God's life, 'tis the Duke. He 
 is so doting and love-crazy, that never a 
 moment can he suffer her absence. Tis 
 apparent, master alchemist, that you move 
 but seldom from your lair among the pots 
 and pans ; — the whole Court rings with it. 
 Faugh ! This atmosphere breathes poison. 
 Never for a moment would she think to come 
 here. Yet, if she did — her rare beauty would 
 so purify the air, that, from its very sweetness, 
 would I recognize her presence. Even now, 
 there is a subtle savour in the place, that 
 catches on my senses. 
 
 Alchemist (hastily). 
 Ay, there are many odorous gums about. 
 
 Marzio. 
 
 A goodly tree to distil such fragrant oozings. 
 IMeasuredly.) 'Tis strange : the odour catches 
 somewhat on my memory. 
 
 [Marzio sits down in the Al- 
 chemist's chair : his attitude 
 relaxes. He closes his eyes : he 
 breathes heavily. 
 
222 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 Alchemist. 
 My Lord ! a glass of strong waters ? 
 
 Marzio {slowly). 
 No, no. 'Tis nothing. 
 
 \He passes slowly his left hand over 
 his forehead, down upon his 
 eyes ; then lets it fall languidly 
 by his side. He opens his eyes 
 wide before him, and speaks as if 
 in a trance. 
 
 Marzio. 
 It is aye the same — aye, the same. I am 
 ever as a sick man dreaming dreams of his 
 golden summer's prime ; one, living in his 
 dreams ; one, dreaming throughout his life. 
 Oh, to encounter life red-hot at the core — or, 
 to feel the being reel beneath the shock of 
 Passion. But, to drudge on and on ; and 
 fetter Love, God's gift, with the iron grip of 
 circumstance. Nay ! 'Tis too much for any 
 proper man to endure. 
 
 [With a start Marzio pauses, then 
 rises and hastily paces up and 
 down the room. 
 
The Potion. 223 
 
 Alchemist. 
 My Lord, — what ails you ? 
 
 [The Duchess drops her pomander 
 box. Marzio stops. 
 
 Alchemist. 
 A pestle, my Lord, a pestle fallen from its 
 place. What ails you ? 
 
 Marzio (in an outburst}. 
 Ails me — what ails me, you ask ? Sir, 
 what knowledge have you of the flesh ? 
 What drug can dull the keen edge of ever 
 poignant memory, or cause the unforgetful 
 to forget. Her face to-night — her flower- 
 like face with its dark passionate eyes set 
 hotly upon mine : her tender lips, like open- 
 ing buds upon her ruddv mouth : her grace ; 
 her beauty. And that peddling dotard, the 
 Duke, bv her side at the feast ; — leering upon 
 her ; — stealing his lean arm about her, until he 
 had embraced her, even before our sight. 
 — 'Tis hell itself to think on't : — and she once 
 mine ! Oh, fool, fool, — to enrich honour at 
 the expense of self. 
 
 [He flings himself into the chair ; his 
 
224 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 throbbing head upon the palms 
 of his hands, 'The Alchemist 
 approaches, and lays his hand 
 upon Marzio. The Duchess 
 makes an uncertain movement 
 towards them. Marzio looks 
 up before him : she retires again. 
 
 Alchemist. 
 My Lord, be calm ! 
 
 Marzio [looking up). 
 Calm ! — Be calm — you said. Shall the fire 
 cease its heat ? or the sea, its motion ? — Then, 
 indeed, passion shall cease to madden men. 
 Ay, passion — nought, but brute passion. 
 Tush! be silent; and save your wind. Prate 
 to me of honour, who never knew what 
 womanly honour is, until, alas, too late for 
 valuation ! who only appraised her purity 
 from impure motives ! Ah, Issola ! Have I 
 not fought for purity and probity of heart. 
 For you, have I not striven a thousand times 
 against this blind passion, that consumes 
 me ; against this glamour, still thrown in 
 the mere flicker of a woman's eyes. Ah y 
 
The Potion. 225 
 
 Issola, you can ne'er even imagine the case. 
 [Springs up.) Sir ! is there no magic, no 
 potion, that can drive this obsession from me. 
 Drug me — spell me : but free me from this 
 hidden witchery of the flesh. {Recalls 
 himself.) Pshaw ! how I screed like a mad- 
 man. So, sir, I can say the Duchess is not 
 here ? 
 
 [Marzio steps towards the door. His 
 
 foot knocks against the pomander 
 
 box, driving it away. He stops 
 
 and stares at it — his finger 
 
 pointed towards it. As the 
 
 Alchemist rushes forward to 
 
 pick it up the Duchess steps 
 
 out from behind the door — her 
 
 face ghastly pale. She stretches 
 
 out her arms towards Marzio : 
 
 with a little inarticulate cry, she 
 
 swoons against the door, which 
 
 shuts with a metallic clang. 
 
 Alchemist. 
 Madam ! Madam ! 
 
 [Marzio springs forward. Suddenly 
 he halts ; a look of amazement 
 
226 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 and consternation flashes upon 
 his face. The Duchess opens 
 her eyes. 
 
 Marzio (bowing low). 
 The Duchess ! 
 
 Duchess {with an effort recovering herself). 
 Yes, the Duchess. Sir, you are searching 
 for me? 
 
 Marzio [bowing). 
 The Duke demands your presence. 
 
 Duchess. 
 Demands ! God, every touch of his stings 
 me like an asp ! And you — I caught your 
 eve to-night, as he kissed me on the cheek. 
 Marzio, come back to me — come back to 
 me. 
 
 Alchemist (expostulating, puts his hand upon 
 
 her arm). 
 Madam, the Duke ! 
 
 [She takes no heed but advances 
 
The Potion. 227 
 
 towards Marzio, who steps 
 hack until he is nigh to the 
 hanging lamp. 
 
 Alchemist {more intensely). 
 Madam, you are the Duchess ! 
 
 Duchess. 
 Oh, I am the Duchess : and what of 
 that ? Can I not love ? The merest scullion 
 maid can choose her mate : but I — born to a 
 loveless marriage, bound to a wooden stock 
 called a husband — am I not flesh and blood ? 
 Can I too not love and hate ? I am the 
 Duchess : and I am a woman. 
 
 [Marzio opens his lips, then shuts 
 them determinedly. A pained 
 expression grows upon his face : 
 suddenly his eyes close, his shoul- 
 ders fall. The Duchess looks at 
 him with a passionate-lit glance, 
 then swiftly approaches him. 
 
 Duchess (softly)* 
 Marzio ? 
 
228 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 Marzio (striving to recall himself ; looking 
 up at her). 
 Madam, the Duke desires your presence. 
 [The Duchess makes an angry ges- 
 ture : she turns upon her heel, 
 and walks towards the staircase 
 door. Of a sudden, she comes 
 back to him : a curious look 
 grows upon her lovely face, her 
 eyes glow with a stra?ige light. 
 
 Alchemist {intercepting her). 
 Madam, be mistress of yourself ! Leave 
 him. 
 
 [But the Duchess pays no heed. She 
 advances so near Marzio that 
 her breasts touch his shoulder, 
 her breath moves his wavy hair. 
 She fixes her great eyes intensely 
 upon his face : half clinging 
 upon him, she twines her fingers 
 about his right hand. 
 
 Duchess [slowly, passionately). 
 Marzio ! Not one word for me ? — not one. 
 [He trembles : gives way : throwing 
 
The Potion. 229 
 
 himself at her feet, he casts his 
 arms about her, and kisses hotly 
 the cloth of her gown. 
 
 Marzio. 
 Viola. Viola. 
 
 [But in an instant he throws himself 
 from her, and springs up. 
 
 Marzio {wildly). 
 No! no! Save me from myself! Help 
 me, oh God! God! Hear me. {Speaking 
 with great effort) Go. Your husband awaits 
 you. 
 
 [He indicates the door to the Duchess, 
 who is looking at him with im- 
 movable eyes. Yet of a sudden 
 he casts down his sight from her 
 all-devouring gaze ; the out- 
 stretched arm falls by his side. 
 A great look of triumph flashes 
 over her face, and is gone. 
 
 'The Alchemist is stepping 
 between them, when suddenly he 
 falls back with a motion of 
 terror, as a tapping upon a 
 
230 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 door reverberates loudly through 
 the stillness. A mighty clap of 
 wind cla?nours about the tower. 
 
 Alchemist {turning towards the staircase door ; 
 in awestruck voice). 
 Again ! It is the warning. But yet ; — the 
 third time. — The third time. 
 
 [He withdraws from the laboratory. 
 Neither M arzio nor the Duch- 
 ess stirs ; nor do they hear the 
 Alchemist's footsteps sound 
 loudly on the stairway, then die 
 away as he recedes. Suddenly 
 the Duchess advances swiftly 
 to Marzio's side, and closes 
 upon him. 
 
 Duchess (impetuously). 
 Marzio ! what need of foolish scruples? 
 Have we not loved and suffered : let us 
 love again. Love is God's gift ; it knows 
 no control, nor abatement from that false 
 notion called honour : for, Love is Nature's 
 eternal Law of sex and sex; the ordinance 
 
The Potion. 231 
 
 that rules the universe. Marzio, my Marzio, 
 be blind no longer to the truth. We two 
 loved, and parted. We two have striven 
 to live apart. Yet in vain. For, as surely 
 as the tide meets the main in its ceaseless 
 ebb and flow, so we meet again, again ; and 
 yet again. Be wise. Fate has decreed it. 
 Marzio ! speak to me. 
 
 [Marzio looks at her for an instant. 
 Mastering himself, he turns 
 away his gaze. He moves 
 somewhat from her, 
 
 Marzio (thickly). 
 Viola ! you speak, what I ne'er thought 
 to have heard again from you. Ever for the 
 past months your words have rung in my 
 ears: — "'Tis best you marry her: and we 
 part." You said so with mocking laughter 
 in your voice : and the very devils in Hell 
 grinned at the news. Hush ! Nay, I never 
 spoke so cruelly to you. Have you for- 
 gotten so soon : never shall I. The words 
 scorched deep into my brain as you uttered 
 them that night we stood upon the terrace, 
 within the shadow of the cypress tree. My 
 
232 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 hands were on your shoulders — my lips upon 
 your cheek (I thought on that, when he 
 kissed you this evening at the board). I was 
 wild ; torn with passionate desire, with doubts 
 and fears : but you — you grew so calm, and 
 cold, and saintly — just like one of sculptor 
 Baldarasso's little angels in the chapel. I re- 
 member well — you stirred apart and nipped 
 a firefly between your fingers. " 'Tis best 
 you marry her : and we part " said you ; and 
 moved my hot hands from off your bosom. 
 The very moonbeam, flitting upon your face, 
 shared in your disdain, and concealed your 
 eyes and crimson mouth in the darkness 
 
 Duchess (interrupting him). 
 Marzio ! Marzio ! say no more ! I was 
 mad with the bitter jealousy of an unheeded 
 woman 
 
 Marzio {without attention to her). 
 
 So calm and saintly you were, that I deemed 
 
 cold reason had quenched Love's potency ; — 
 
 that no longer were you my beloved, but 
 
 Viola, Duchess of Siena, recalling me to my 
 
The Potion. 233 
 
 duty towards the State and her; the paramount 
 lady of the land. So, as the Duke elefted, 
 I wooed Issola, my pure-souled Issola. Yet, 
 day and night, I see nothing, but one woman's 
 face — hear nothing, but one woman's voice 
 ringing in my ears. 
 
 [He stops, then strides to her and 
 grips her by the arm. Both 
 stand underneath the lamp. In 
 a near corner, from out some 
 alembic, wavering circles of 
 vapour float upwards to the 
 stone ceiling, and, gathering, 
 slowly creep along the dusty 
 rubble work like a tangled cloud- 
 let. Without, the wind has 
 fallen, the rain is a mere 
 drizzle, the music of the dancers 
 sounds loudly, and the noise of 
 the changing guards. Within, 
 all is silence save the occa- 
 sional crackle of the charcoal. 
 
 Marzio {hotly). 
 If I stand again with you in the shadow of 
 that tree. Would you kiss me back ? Would 
 
234 Hidden JVitchery, 
 
 you reject me, if I sued ? Speak. {Flings 
 her arm away.) Bah ! I think the old mad- 
 ness lasts; but, not the pain, not the pain, of 
 your disdain. 
 
 [He turns from her, and -walks quickly 
 up and down the dim place. 
 
 Duchess [flinging out her arms to him). 
 Marzio ! I was not myself. I was crazed 
 with an evil, jealous imagination. To have 
 you look upon another woman was as a slash 
 across my heart. I know men are wantons : 
 and, that you should have dared to fling one 
 glance or thought elsewhere, than to me, 
 maddened me as only jealous love can mad- 
 den. I was wrone, Marzio. I was auite 
 
 wrong. 
 
 [Marzio stops short in his pacing 
 to and fro : he gives vent to a 
 hitter, short laugh. 
 
 Marzio (indignantly, vehemently). 
 
 I look on another woman ! There is but 
 
 one woman in the world. — The world rings 
 
 with her name : — Viola, Viola. I throw looks 
 
 and thoughts at other women ! Never an 
 
The Potion. 235 
 
 hour passes, but you slip into my mind un- 
 awares, and turn foul to fair, darkness to 
 light. Never a night, but my heart cries 
 for you ; and, dreaming, I awake to hear my 
 call of " Viola n echoing in the air. I — 1 
 God's life ! and what of the sweet favours, 
 and smiles, thrown to every cringing courtier. 
 This one to kiss your hand, because he plucks 
 a lily from the moat and has wet his toes 
 at the marge — that one to encircle your 
 dainty foot and ankle as you swing into the 
 saddle. 
 
 [With a sudden gesture he advances 
 upon her. 
 
 Marzio [hotly; recklessly). 
 You — you arraign me — you, who claim 
 my service — body, mind, and 
 
 Duchess {interrupting him 'with a triumphant 
 cry ; flinging her arms about him). 
 — And love. 
 
 [Involuntarily their lips meet. Again 
 the night has grown stormy : 
 the wind and rain lash against 
 the tower : but, above the tempest 
 
236 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 sound the strange rhythms of 
 the Zarabanda^ waxing and 
 waning as the wind changes. 
 
 Marzio [controlling himself with an 
 effort ; disengaging her) . 
 No! you must not. Go to the Duke. 
 
 Duchess [positively). 
 Beloved! Love knows nought except his 
 own calls. 
 
 [She kisses him again ; and clings 
 tenderly upon him. Marzio 
 puts her a little from him. 
 
 Marzio. 
 Nay, not so ! It is your duty. We two 
 have dreamed life's sweetest dream. (Oh, 
 once more, to dream such a dream : then 
 die.) Hush ! hear me. Love is the all-in- 
 all of Life ; but Life, not of Love. There 
 are demands and duties, tasks and obligations, 
 higher and holier than Love's. 
 
 Duchess (falling from him). 
 Why ! what mean you ? 
 
The Potion. 237 
 
 Marzio. 
 You have the Duke ; the State : I — Issola ; 
 and my birthright of manhood. Our distinct 
 duties are demanded of us. Fate has written 
 it so. 
 
 Duchess {warmly). 
 'Twas Fate threw us together. We cannot 
 part : for 'twixt man and woman Love and 
 Fate are one. 
 
 Marzio [sadly ; shaking his head). 
 You err : 'twas Passion, not Love, that 
 threw us together ; and Passion is but a base 
 growth. Love, that knows not the beloved 
 from her body, nor her body from herself : 
 that is Fate. 
 
 [The Duchess rests her head for a 
 moment on his shoulder : she 
 kisses the lace collar of his doub- 
 let : then stares before her. 
 Marzio strokes her dark tresses. 
 He takes her hand^ and presses 
 his lips upon the fragrant palm. 
 
 Marzio. 
 Madam ! we will hurry to the Duke. He 
 will indeed be uneasy. 
 
238 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 Duchess {with a swift motion removes herself; 
 she puts a hand upon her throbbing 
 forehead) . 
 I know not what this means. Oh, how 
 my head does ache ! 
 
 [She wavers, then falls backwards — 
 Marzio catches her. With a 
 sigh, she puts her arms round 
 his neck, her head upon his 
 shoulder. 
 
 Duchess {reproachfully). 
 Marzio, your words are cruel : they cut me 
 to the heart. Let us love, while love we 
 may. 
 
 Marzio {his eyes closed ; his voice thick with 
 suppressed emotion). 
 They are cruel : me, also, they cut to the 
 heart. But the truth must be told. Viola, 
 each has but pandered to the other's passions : 
 even our surrender was the fruition of selfish, 
 inborn desire. Where is no abnegation of 
 self — body, mind, and soul — is no love. Pas- 
 sion was our portion — brute passion. 
 
The Potion. 239 
 
 [For a seco?id both are still : she look- 
 ing straight before her at his 
 strained face. Suddenly she 
 throws herself from his arms, 
 and seems as if striving to re- 
 call herself She brushes the 
 hair back from her forehead 
 and temples : she is agitated 
 strangely. 
 
 Duchess. 
 Ah, ah ! (Strangling!)' in her throat ; then 
 fiercely '.) Your arms, sir, keep them for your 
 Issola — your Saint Issola. (She steps back, ajid 
 looks contemptuously at him.) Tied to her 
 girdle strings ! Seigneur d'Alibert — a woman's 
 pap-child ! Love ! what knows your saint of 
 Love ? Can she drench the soul with such 
 ecstasy that it swoonds beneath its load ? Can 
 she enwrap the senses, and make the unreal 
 real — this common earth into Heaven's self? 
 Oh, man ! am I mad ? Do I live ? Or is all 
 this one horrid mockery of make-believe ? Oh, 
 to think I have loved such an ignoble crea- 
 ture. To think, that for you I risked fair 
 fame and fortune, threw honour to the winds 
 
240 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 and made chastity a by-date in my calendar. 
 Vile wretch. I — a Duchess — to sue at your 
 feet ; to proffer this matchless face and 
 figure, these tender arms and hands, a sacrifice 
 to you. — Oh, the shame will kill me. Yes, 
 sir! tell the Duke I come. 
 
 [The Duchess points significantly to 
 the door. Marzio staggers 
 towards it like a giddy person : 
 he half turns, and, speaking 
 with difficulty, totters upon his 
 feet. 
 
 Marzio. 
 Madam ! Loved I not Honour now — so 
 would I love you the less. [Turns to the door.) 
 How she hates me — how she hates me. 
 
 [Suddenly he puts his hands to his side. 
 
 Marzio. 
 'Tis as a hand gripped my heart. My 
 
 head swims. I — I 
 
 [He reels backwards into the chair 
 beneath the flickering lamp : to 
 his right is the table, whereon are 
 
The Potion. 241 
 
 the potion and philtre, The 
 Duchess springs forward to 
 him. 
 
 Duchess [urgently anxious) . 
 Marzio ! I did not mean what I said. 
 Speak to me — speak to me ! 
 
 [She kneels by his side: her voice is 
 full of passionate entreaty. 
 
 Duchess. 
 It was my head — not my heart — that 
 prompted my cruel words. I — I love you 
 yet, Marzio. 
 
 [She leans her head affectionately 
 against him ; her arms seek 
 round him. Marzio's head is 
 thrown back : his breath comes 
 in pants : his voice is thick and 
 suffocated. 
 
 Marzio. 
 I know not, what I do, or say. It is hard 
 to do the right — to do the right, and not sin. 
 [He passes his hand over his brows ; 
 
 R 
 
242 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 and gives vent to an in- 
 articulate 77io an. The Duchess 
 peers intently at him. A sudden 
 thought flashes into her head : a 
 
 joyous, triumphant look gathers 
 upon her face. She glances around 
 
 for the philtre, and, observing it, 
 arises to her feet ; yet fronting 
 the table so as to conceal the 
 phials, she puts cut her right 
 hand behind her and seizes a 
 phial. Still considering him 
 with eyes close-set, with that look 
 of increasing triumph and love 
 deepeni7ig upon her beautiful face, 
 she pours out the liquid. 
 
 Duchess {softly, persuasively}. 
 Marzio, drink this cordial : and we will 
 hurry to the Duke. 
 
 [She puts the goblet into his hand. 
 Like a ma7i in a dream he drinks. 
 For an instant, he holds the 
 goblet in his trembling ha7id, 
 then, with a shrill cry, flings it 
 from him. 
 
The Potion. 243 
 
 Marzio (rising up ; his voice choked). 
 Ah — ah — {Mightily.) Viola. Viola. 
 
 [_So, crying aloud her name, he falls 
 dead at her feet. 'The Duchess 
 screams : she flings her hands 
 upon her face. 
 
 Duchess. 
 The poison ! — the poison ! 
 
 [She sways heavily above her lover s 
 corpse. The te?npest rages with- 
 out: yet, even above the screaming 
 of the wind, two raps sound 
 without. With a howl, the 
 wind bursts open the battlement 
 door : the rain beats in ; the 
 drops hiss as they fall upon the 
 hot alembics and furnaces : from 
 the lower reach of the castle ring 
 the strange cadences of the 
 Zarabanda ; weirdly rising and 
 falling upon the eddying wind. 
 The Duchess starts : she stares 
 fixedly beyond the open door, out 
 into the black raging night. Sud- 
 denly, she screams with terror. 
 
244 Hidden Witchery. 
 
 Duchess (incoherently). 
 What is that shadow ? There. There. 
 Coming near : and nearer. It is — it is — 
 No, God. God — not yet. No, Death, — not 
 yet, not yet. Ah — {screams). Marzio. 
 Marzio. 
 
 [So, screaming aloud his name, she 
 falls dead across his body. Yet, 
 ever the Zarabanda sounds on. 
 
 Lammastide, 1897. 
 
 FINIS. 
 

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