For Woman's Love Part- 2 - Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth (robert munsch read aloud .TXT) 📗
- Author: Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
Book online «For Woman's Love Part- 2 - Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth (robert munsch read aloud .TXT) 📗». Author Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
The Duke Of Cumbervale, Weary Of A Sleepless Pillow, Arose Early And
Rang His Bell, Startling His Gentlemanly Valet From His Morning
Slumbers; Dressed Himself With Monsieur's Assistance, And Went Down
Stairs With The Intention Of Taking A Walk Before The Family Should Be
Up.
But His Intention Was Forestalled By The Appearance Of Mr. Rockharrt
Coming Out Of His Chamber On The Opposite Side Of The Hall.
The Iron King Looked Up In Some Surprise At The Apparition Of His Guest
At So Early An Hour; But Quickly Composed Himself As He Gave Him The
Matutinal Salutation:
"Ah, Good Morning, Duke. An Early Riser, Like Myself, Eh? Come Down
Into The Library With Me, And Let Us Look Over The Morning Papers."
A Cheerful Coal Fire Was Burning In The Grate, A Very Acceptable Comfort
On This Chill November Morning.
This Was One Of The Happy Days When There Is "Nothing In The
Papers"--That Is To Say, Nothing Interesting, Absorbing, Soul Harrowing,
In The Form Of Financial Ruin, Highway Robbery, Murder, Arson, Fire, Or
Flood. Everything In The World At The Present Brief Hour Seemed Going On
Well, Consequently The Papers Were Very Dull, Flat, Stale And
Unprofitable, And Were Soon Laid Aside By The Host And His Guest, And
They Fell Into Conversation.
"You Took A Long Walk Yesterday, I Hear--Went Across In The Ferry Boat,
And Strolled Up To The Foot Of Scythia's Roost."
"I Did. Can You Tell Me Anything About That Curious Spot?"
"No; Nothing But That It Was The Dwelling Of An Indian Woman, Who
Pretended To Second Sight, And Who Should Have Been Sent To The State's
Prison As A Felon, Or, At The Very Least, To The Madhouse As A Lunatic.
She Was Burned Out, Or Perhaps Burned Herself Out, And Vanished On The
Same Night That Governor Rothsay Disappeared. She Was In Some Way
Cognizant Of A Plot Against Him That Would Prevent Him From Ever
Entering Upon The Duties Of His Office. I, In My Capacity As Magistrate,
Issued A Warrant For Her Arrest, But It Was Too Late. She Was Gone. It
Is Said By Some People That She Is A Mexican Indian, Who Had Been Very
Beautiful In Her Youth, And Who Had Become Infatuated With An English
Tourist Who Admired Her To Such A Degree That He Married Her--According
To The Rites Of Her Nation. He Was A False Hearted Caitiff, If He Was An
English Lord. Having Committed The Folly Of Marrying The Indian Woman,
He Should Have Been True To Her--Made The Best Of The Bad Bargain.
Instead Of Which He Grew Tired Of Her, And Finally Abandoned Her."
"Did He Return To His Native Country, Do You Know?"
"He Did Not. She Never Gave Him Time. She Went Mad After He Left Her,
Followed Him To New Orleans And Tomahawked Him On The Steamboat. She Was
Tried For Murder, Acquitted On The Ground Of Insanity, And Sent To A
Lunatic Asylum. After A Time She Was Discharged, Or She Escaped. It Is
Not Known Which; Most Probably She Escaped, As She Certainly Was Not
Cured. She Was As Mad As A March Hare All The Time She Lived Here; But
As She Was Harmless--Comparatively Harmless--It Seemed Nobody's Business
To Have Her Shut Up! And As I Said, When At Last I Thought It Was Time
To Have Her Arrested On A Charge Of Vagrancy, It Was Too Late. She
Part 2 Chapter 30 (Unrequited Love) Pg 132Fled."
"Why Do You Suspect That She Had Some Knowledge Of A Plot To Make Away
With The Governor-Elect?"
"I Suspect That She Was In The Plot. Developments Have Led Me To The
Conclusion. By These I Learned That Rothsay Was Not Murdered, As His
Friends Feared, Nor Abducted, As Some Persons Believed, But That He Went
Away, And Lived For Many Months Among The Indians In The Wilderness,
Without Giving A Sign Of His Identity To The People Among Whom He Lived,
Or Sending A Hint Of His Whereabouts, Or Even Of His Existence, To His
Anxious Friends. But That The Massacre Of Terrepeur--In Which He Was
Murdered And His Hut Was Burned--Occurred When It Did, We Might Never
Have Learned His Fate."
"Yet, Still, I Cannot See The Ground Upon Which You Suspect This Indian
Woman Of Complicity In The Man's Disappearance," Said Cumbervale.
"But I Am Coming To That. Scythia Was A Mexican Indian. It Is Well Known
To Travelers That The Mexican Indians Possess The Secret Of A Drug
Which, When Administered To A Man, Will Not Kill Him, Or Do Him Any
Physical Harm, But Will Reduce Him To A State Of Abject Imbecility, So
That His Free Will Is Destroyed, And He May Be Led By Any One Who May
Wish To Lead Him. This Drug Administered To Rothsay, By The Woman, Must
Have So Deprived Him Of His Reason As To Induce Him To Follow Any One
Influencing Him."
"What Interest Could She Have Had In Reducing The Man To This State Of
Dementia?"
"She Had Been Like A Mother To The Young Man, And Had Sheltered Him In
Her Hut For Years, When He Had No Other Home. She Was Very Much Attached
To This Adopted Son Of Hers; She Was Longing To Go Back To Her Tribe And
Die Among Her Own People. It May Be That She Wished To Take Him With
Her, And So Gave Him The Drug That Destroyed His Will. Or, She May Have
Been The Tool Of Others. All This Is The Merest Conjecture. But The
Facts Remain That She Foretold His Fate, And That She Vanished On The
Same Day On Which He Disappeared, And That He Remained In Exile,
Voluntarily, Until He Was Murdered By The Indians. Still--There Might
Have Been Another Cause For This Self-Expatriation."
"May I Inquire Its Nature?"
"No, Duke; It Is Only In My Secret Thought. I Have No Just Right To
Speak Of It To You. But If The Question Be Not Indiscreet, Will You Tell
Me Why You Take So Deep An Interest In The Unreliable Story Of This
Indian Woman's Life?"
"Certainly; Because The Wild Young Blade Who Married And Left Her, And
Paid Down His Life For That Desertion, Was My Own Uncle, My Father's
Elder Brother, Earl Netherby, The Heir To The Dukedom, By Whose Death My
Father, And Subsequently Myself, Succeeded To The Title."
Part 2 Chapter 30 (Unrequited Love) Pg 133You Astonish Me! Are You Sure Of This?"
"Reasonably Sure. I Was But Five Years Old When My Uncle Came To Bid Us
Good-By, Before Setting Out For America. But I Remember His Having On
His Finger A Wonderful Ring, A Large Solitaire Diamond With Certain
Flaws In It; But These Flaws Were Very Curious; They Were Faint Traces
Left By The Hand Of Nature Shaping Out A Human Eye. When Ordinary
Mortals Like Myself Looked At The Diamond, They Saw The Delicate Outline
Of An Eye Traced By The Flaws In The Stone; But It Was Said That
Whenever A Clairvoyant Looked Into It They Could See, Not The Human Eye,
But, As Through A Telescope, They Could View The Panorama Of Future
Events."
"What Nonsense!" Said Mr. Rockharrt.
"Nonsense, Of Course," Assented The Duke. "I Did Not Speak Of The Ring
On Account Of Its Supposed Magic Power, But Because It Was So Peculiar A
Jewel That It Would Be Impossible To Mistake It For Any Other Ring, Or
Any Other Ring For Itself; And To Lead Up To The Statement That Its
Discovery Enabled Me To Identify The Mexican Indian Woman With The
Maniac Who Murdered My Uncle, As You Will See Very Soon. When My Uncle
Took Leave Of Us, My Father, Noticing The Family Talisman--Which, By The
Way, Was Picked Up By Our Ancestor, Raoul-De-Netherbie, The Great
Crusader, On The Battle Field Of Acre, And Was Said To Have Belonged To
An Eastern Magician, And Has Remained An Heirloom With The Head Of Our
Family Ever Since--Inquired Of His Brother Whether He Was Going To Wear
That Outre Jewel In Open View Upon His Finger. My Uncle Answered That He
Was; And Half Laughing, And Wholly Incredulous, He Added:
"'You Know, Hugh, That This Stone Is A Talisman Against Shipwreck,
Fires, Floods, Robbery, Murder, Illness, And All The Perils By Land Or
By Sea, And All The Ills That Flesh Is Heir To. While I Wear This Ring I
Expect To Be Safe From The Evils Of The World, The Flesh, And The Devil.
So It Shall Never Leave My Living Hand While I Am Away; But It Shall
Bring Me Home Safe To Live To A Patriarchal Age And Then Die Peacefully
In My Bed, With My Children And Children's Children Of Many Generations
Weeping And Wailing Around Me.'
"These Or Words To This Effect He Was Speaking, While I, Standing By The
Chair In Which He Sat, Toyed With His Hand, And Gazed Curiously Upon The
Talismanic Jewel, And Got Into My Mind An Impression Of It That Never
Was Lost. My Uncle Soon After Left The House, And We Never Saw Him Alive
Again."
"He Was The Victim Of This Mad Woman?"
"I Know It. News Was Slow In Those Days. We Seldom Heard From My Uncle.
His Letters Were But The Mark Of The Cities He Stopped At. We Had One
Part 2 Chapter 30 (Unrequited Love) Pg 134Letter From Boston; A Month Later One From New York; A Fortnight Later,
Perhaps--For I Only Remember These Matters By Hearing Them Talked Over
By My Parents--From Philadelphia; Later Still, And Later, Baltimore,
Washington, Nashville, New Orleans, And So On As He Journeyed Southward.
Then Came A Long Interval, During Which We Heard Nothing From Him, While
All His Family Suffered The Deepest Anxiety, Fearing That He Had Fallen
A Victim To The Terrible Fever That Was Then Desolating The Crescent
City. Then At Length Came A Letter From His Valet--A Deep Black-Bordered
Letter--Which Announced The Terrible News Of The Murder Of His Master By
A Mexican Indian Woman, Supposed To Be Mad. There Were No Details, But
Only The Explanation That He, The Valet--Who Had Seen The Murder, Which
Was The Work Of An Instant--Was Detained In New Orleans As A Witness For
The Prosecution, And Should Not Be Able To Return Home Until After The
Trial. It Was Two Months After The Latter That The Valet Came Back To
England In Charge Of His Late Master's Effects, Which Had All Been
Sealed By The
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