Horrid Mysteries: a Story/Volume 3/Chapter 2
CHAPTER II.
" The above chapter, dearest Count, is a faithful, but brief, extract from that part of Elmira's history of which I was ignorant till then. You see how singular the turn of her and of my fate was directed by a higher Power. If ever I had been capable to doubt that Providence guides the fate of man, the reflections which her account produced, would certainly have convinced me of the eternal truth, that a benevolent Being watches over our life and happiness, and produces light out of darkness.
"Give me now leave to inform you of the remainder of my adventures, which I shall be able to conclude in a few words. Clara was in love with the son of a neighbouring farmer; but being poor, and the father of her lover a rich man, the latter would not consent to a union between his son and her. Being averse to sell or to abalienate any thing my fainted Elmira had possessed, I gave her the considerable produce of my little estate as a dowry, saw the young couple married, and went through Swisserland and Germany to G******, where I had the happiness to make your acquaintance.
"You know my history from that day: suffice it, therefore, to tell you briefly, that while you was fighting the battles of your country against Great Britain, I went to B******, to commence a private, but, nevertheless, not inactive life, and to enjoy those pleasures I was accustomed to. I shall not tire your patience with an account of the little adventures, and the unimportant events, of that period in which I was constantly surrounded by members of secret societies, and enthusiasts of all sorts, got possession of their secrets, and observed that they were far inferior to what I already knew, or that they were partly connected with the confederacy in Spain."
I shall here, at last, take up again the thread of those events I have mentioned in the middle of my adventures, which I have wrote down for the Count. The reader will recollect that a man (James) settled in our neighbourhood, who, as I apprehended, was nearly connected with me. His appearance threatened me with new misfortunes; and he seemed to intend opening a new way of influence on me through the heart of the Count. However, that ominous apparition passed quickly over. He had, indeed, purchased a country seat in the neighbourhood; but disappeared after a few days. I was told that he was going to B****** on matrimonial affairs, and my apprehensions vanished. That incident left, however, some impression on my mind; and many plans, particularly that of returning to my native country, were thereby obliterated from my soul. I comprehended many a mysterious phenomenon more clearly, and could, in some degree, account for Amanuel's apparitions, the frequent repetition of which now appeared to me to be a great imprudence of the unknown confederates. They probably intended to frighten me, by letting me see that I was surrounded every where by their secret agents: however, the mystic appearance of Amanuel's presence, which had affected my senses so powerfully, lost its awfulness entirely through that oversight. I was no stranger to the artifices wrought through natural magic; and also not ignorant what a powerful influence a heated, overflowing, and transported imagination produces on our senses. The whole now appeared to me a mere scarecrow for children. The mystic farce was continued too long, and afterwards betrayed the whole confederacy. The mysterious veil was removed from that memorable moment, and my imagination being rectified by cool reflection, the miserable artifices of the confederates rather filled me with contempt than with awe. James's apparition in my neighbourhood opened my eyes; and my mind, being now liberated from the thraldom of a deluded imagination, firmly begins a new, decided career.
The Count was very much grieved at the sudden departure of the dear stranger, as he used to call him. I was already, in the beginning, strongly tempted to predict it; but cannot conceive what prevented me from doing so; and my friend was, soon after that incident, a second time obliged, by his affairs, to leave me, before I could conclude my history, and elucidate many mysterious events to him; for the various occupations in which I was engaged did not allow me, as I already have informed the reader, more leisure hours for the continuation of my memoirs than I could spare from the time of nocturnal rest.
My friend remained a long time absent, being detained by the unaccountable intricacy of his affairs. It really seemed as if they intended to exhaust his patience by juridical chicanes and petty artifices, to make him waste his precious time in the most useless manner. I very seldom received letters from him, and he always concluded them by informing me that he should not return so soon. Being convinced that I was completely acquainted with his ideas, he did not trouble himself about the management of his estates, which was an additional motive for me to be the more careful. There never was a period in my whole life, in which I knew so well to fill up every moment with such exactness; every one of them, from morning till night, being counted and designed for some employment. These tedious occupations did not at first please me much on account of their tiresome sameness; however, after a few weeks reluctant exertion, they grew so easy, and at last so amusing to me, that I could not disuse myself therefrom. I now exercised more authority over the Count's people than he ever did himself, because he had not acquired that knowledge of the inferior classes which I possessed: I conversed with every one, listened to every proposal of theirs, and frequently improved my own plans by comparing and uniting their ideas with mine. I was all the day long on horseback, or running from one part of the estate to the other, to give directions to the workmen. I never indulged myself with reading before all the labourers had finished their daily task, and my accounts were settled; and after supper, which received an additional relish from the fatigues of the day, I continued my memoirs till it was time to go to rest, when I went to bed highly satisfied with myself. The writing down of my memoirs was, from that time, continued with so much assiduity, that the manuscript was finished in less than a month after the Count's departure. I afterwards corrected it in many places, and gave it him on his return.
I was always very fond of gardening; and although my friend had an excellent taste in arranging the whole, yet he had too little patience to dedicate much time to a proper survey and regulation of the particulars. I began, therefore, to revise his excellent plans, and to polish them more carefully than he had taken the trouble to do, and altered some parts of his garden accordingly. Some old buildings and pleasure houses were sacrificed to my impatient industry. A pavilion, which was situated in a corner of the park, and visited by no one who valued his life, was one of the chief objects that had excited my dislike. It was entirely concealed by bushes and trees, and seemed to have been designed by nature for solitude, which determined me to have it pulled down, and to build in its place a little hermitage, with a few small apartments; flattering myself with the sweet hope of being able to inhabit them the subsequent summer. I formed that idea and the plan for the new building in one night; went early in the morning into the garden, took some workmen with me, who were cleaning a bason, ordering them to provide themselves with the necessary implements, and conducted them to the pavilion, with the instruction to pull the old nest instantly down. My orders were put into execution with the greatest alacrity. A part of one of the side-walls fell down of itself; and a large stone, which seemed to support the rest, being removed, we beheld the entrance of a narrow subterraneous passage. We stared at each other, seized with astonishment; and I asked one of the workmen whether he could strike fire? He affirmed it; and some of his fellow labourers tore some dry branches from a fir-tree, which, being lighted, the whole train followed me laughing into the cavern, expecting to find a great treasure, and to have some share of it. We descended, therefore, cheerfully; and I cannot deny that I also hoped to find something of value, though of a different nature from what they imagined. The scene which once took place between myself and the Count in that very garden, the small distance of the famous turf-seat from the pavilion, the communication of these two places through an almost impenetrable boscage, and the favourable concealment of the spot, seemed to promise me some important discovery, which was the reason of my being more apprehensive than the rest of my fellow adventurers. However, the consideration of my being attended by seven stout Germans, armed with their working tools, and of a brave appearance, soon inspired me with courage. I entered the avenue laughing, though with a beating heart, and called to the rest to keep close to my heels. I left one at the avenue, to guard us against all external attacks; and to alarm the servants at the castle, if we should not return within the course of an hour. Having descended some part of our way almost perpendicularly, the passage grew so small, that we found it very difficult to proceed. I constantly held the torch before me, examining the ground carefully, lest we should be caught in a dangerous snare. Yet, the passage soon grew wider, the way more even; and we had not proceeded a minute, when we came into a vaulted cave, which apparently formerly was a cellar. We discovered, in the back part, a second receptacle, furnished with a table and chairs, that were pretty new. On examining the table, I found that a piece had recently been cut out of it; and it appeared to me that some person had attempted to obliterate a character which seemed to have been cut into the wood. After a more minute inspection, I discovered some traces of an E.
I could not guess, at first, what that letter could mean, but recollected, at last, that the Count had the singular custom to delineate frequently such an E in the sand, or to cut it into the bark of trees; and I ere now suspected that letter to be the first character of the name of a former mistress. I discovered nothing else besides this; neither a new avenue, nor a continuation of the vault. I had ordered all my attendants to search every corner: however, we found no farther trace of a human inhabitation; yet, when I left the vault, to ascend the passage again, one of them exclaimed, that he had found some papers. I ordered him to give them to me, and unfolded them. All of them were blank, except the fourth, on which something was written, and I was struck with astonishment when I read, "Countess Elmira is cautioned against the young Marquis Carlos of G****** who means to impose upon her." I did not know whether I could trust my eyes; yet it was undoubtedly the same paper. Seeing, however, that my attendants were astonished to see me start back, I added coolly, after a few moments consideration, "The D———l may make that out without the other half."
So saying, I threw the whole parcel into the same corner in which it had been found. Thus terminated that singular expedition. I left the passage with an easy heart; but my conductors hung their heads, because they had not found the expected treasures. In order to console them for their disappointment, I gave every one a dollar, under the condition to mention nothing of our adventure to the Count's servants. I could easily foresee that this would be the surest means of having it circulated in the castle, and determined to watch whether I could gather nothing from the behaviour of the servants, all of whom I suspected very much. However, the whole affair became a subject of general merriment: every one was impatient to see the subterraneous vault; and the visits of the curious to the cellar became soon so numerous, that I ordered the passage to be shut up, because it was now the general rendezvous of the servants. Thus terminated that adventure. The new pavilion was finished in a short time, and furnished, and I had the pleasure of breakfasting there before the Count returned. He arrived at length, fatigued by the incidents and the labours which had retarded his return so long. His affairs were, indeed, settled, and his law-suit was gained: however, the expences amounted to more than he had saved; and he had, besides, reason to regret the time he had wasted in that disagreeable affair. Yet he thought himself rewarded for his troubles, in some degree, by several discoveries he had accidentally made, and which he communicated to me without reserve as soon as he had read my memoirs.
"Let us act just, dear Carlos," he said, "notwithstanding those villainous artifices. We are not bound to keep promises which have been forced from us by cruelties: it would, however, be to no purpose to inform you of the history of those days when I suddenly left you. You have discovered the mysteries of the cavern: it seems to be forsaken already for some time, and I have made a solemn promise to be silent. What is, at present, of more importance to me, is to find out the persons that still are very active in our neighbourhood, that have confounded my law-suit, and, as I have reason to apprehend, will ruin us sooner or later. Marquis, are you my friend?" Here he stretched out his hand. I shook it warmly, and replied, "Yes, I am your sincere, your faithful friend."
"Will you ever preserve me your affection?" "By Heaven! for ever!" "Then come to my heart, my brother, and receive from me the same vow. I swear to be inviolably your friend; and may I be left without comfort in my dying hour, if ever I forget this promise only for a single moment. May Heaven preserve me your friendship; this is all that I wish."
"Lewis, I follow you whithersoever you go, in spite of all disasters that may befall you."
"Well, then, let us boldly meet those daring villains that intrude upon our fate; let us save the last half of life; let us sacrifice a few years more, and without mercy attack them in the centre of their mystic abode."
"Here is my hand. I follow you."
"Let us go to Paris, assemble our friends around us, and then penetrate into Spain. How willingly would I sacrifice the greater part of my fortune in that attempt, if I could purchase peace and tranquillity."