"What she saw it is unnecessary to tell you. I called up before her
mind pictures of what her future life would probably be, as she sank
lower and yet lower on the downward path. She stood there motionless
with horror as the pictures changed from bad to worse, till at last she
saw the well-nigh unrecognizable image of herself as she lay in one of
the hospital wards: then with a shriek of fear she turned, looked at me
for one moment with terror-stricken eyes, and fled from the room.
"I sent for a trained nurse, and, with her assistance, watched over
Vancome till he recovered. Before many days his dislike wore off, and
in the depth of his misery and loneliness, he turned to me as a friend,
the only one now left to him. When he had sufficiently recovered, I
persuaded him to go abroad and travel.
"I saw him off. When we parted he said to me--’I am very sorry to lose
you, and still more sorry for the way in which from the first I have
acted. It is no use going into the matter. You are a strange being,
Sydney; it is hard to know what to make of you. I used to think you
were the devil, and now am half inclined to fancy you are an angel. But
angel or devil, you are certainly not a man, for no man would have done
all you have for nothing. You never make use of an opportunity even if
it is thrown in your way. Now why did you not let me die? You could
then have married Vera, and, as the books put it, lived happy ever
after.’
"’I will tell you why,’ I said. ’There is no such thing as the
happiness you speak of. You have tried to find it in one way; others
try to find it by other means, but they all fail. No one who seeks for
happiness ever gains it. It is the same with all. One man seeks fame;
for years he struggles through pain and weariness, till at last, maybe,
it comes, and he finds the desired angel but a poor, thin,
unsatisfactory phantom, pointing with one finger at death; and he laughs
that he could have wasted his youth and health in search of such a
miserable, mocking spectre. The idea that wealth gives happiness is
about the most comical delusion that man suffers from. There is one
plane of enjoyment which is determined by the man himself; one delusion
that this plane can be altered by climbing the treadmill of prosperity.
A man puts his foot on the step, and immediately descends to the same
position; and many continue to climb after happiness in this foolish
manner all their lives. Unknowingly they may perhaps turn the mill of
invention and progress, and this is most likely the object of the
delusion. No, Vancome,’ I concluded, for the boat was starting, ’try a
new way, and you shall yet turn cursing to blessing. Good-bye.’
"This is the last time that he ever saw me; but I know that he
remembered these parting words, and did not altogether live the rest of
his life in vain. Two years after this, whilst shooting in Africa, he
was attacked by cholera, and died. During his short illness I never
left him. When I came to his bedside he was insensible through the pain
of the first attack. The case was quite hopeless; but I was able to save
him further suffering, and he never regained consciousness. His body was
embalmed, sent to England, and buried in the family grave at Somerville.
"I had spent the greater part of these two years at Aphar. Vera no
longer needed my help. She was learning from her friend the joy of
living for others. Agnes still yearned after the little orphan children
she had left, and so contagious is true enthusiasm, that unconsciously
she infected Vera with the desire to help her in this work. One day a
sad case came under her notice. One of the Canons of L---- Cathedral
was lunching at Somerville, and the conversation drifted to ’Workhouse
Management,’ a pet subject of the Canon, who was on the Board of
Guardians.
"’It is very fortunate,’ Agnes said to him, ’that you who take a real
interest in the poor are on the Board; so often these matters are left
in the hands of those who care for little but their own interest.’
"’I hope,’ he replied, ’that I have been able to do something, but under
the present system the work is enough to make any man’s heart bleed.
For the old people we can do something, but for the little children it
is terrible. Once let them get into the workhouse, and seven out of ten
are ruined for life.’
"’I know,’ said Agnes, tears coming into her eyes. ’It is terrible!
Herded as they are together, without love, or personal sympathy, the
evil which is always surrounding them works like leaven. Do you know,
Vera,’ she continued, turning to her friend, ’that the little things
when they came to me at the Orphanage often did not know how to kiss.
Oh! it made my heart ache, trying to teach a little girl of seven to
kiss me.’
"’Yet these are not the most painful cases, to my mind,’ the Canon said.
’Only last week two children, such dear little things, were brought in
by the relieving officer. Their mother, a widow, had for four years
struggled hard to support them, but work for which she was unfitted, at
last brought on consumption. When she died there was nothing for it but
to bring them to the pauper school. They will now have to be separated
from each other. The boy, who is a plucky little fellow of nine, has
always looked after his younger sister, and when he heard that she must
be taken from him I never saw such abject misery on a child’s face.
"She sha’n’t go," he said. "I promised mother to look after her--she
sha’n’t go!" And the two poor little lonely things clung together and
had to be separated when they fell asleep. I would not let the officer
tear them apart.’
"’It’s shameful!’ Vera said. ’Why do people let such things be?’
"’God only knows!’ the clergyman answered. ’Because they are, I suppose,
too selfish to care. If they could only be made to see for themselves
the misery, it would not be tolerated; but they pay the poor-rate and
think no more about it. Would that some voice could make them hear; the
evil could so easily be remedied.’
"’It sha’n’t happen in the case you have mentioned, any way,’ Vera said;
’shall it, Agnes? We will have them here and look after them, poor
little things.’ And Agnes, whose heart was too full for words, could
only answer by getting up and kissing her friend.
"Thus it came to pass that the work began, but no one with a heart can
begin such a work of love and stop. I have known women fairly well off
start such an undertaking, and nearly starve themselves to death for the
sake of the little ones. There is always one more that must be saved;
the home is full, the money running out, but the sorrowful face pleads
too strongly, and room must be found. And so it was with Vera and
Agnes. Somerville could soon not contain its inmates. A new home was
built in the park; fresh hands had to be employed.
"There was no danger for Vera now; in such work there is no time for
weariness or sin. Little hands drag the selfishness out of those who
tend them; tiny lips satisfy the aching want of love. Happiness that
has so long evaded pursuit, comes unsought and overwhelms the givers.
Faith, never learned through doctrine, is discovered by the evidence of
a love-awakened heart when it first realizes that such as these little
ones are the angels who behold the Father’s face; and that inasmuch as
we have done it unto one of the least of these, we have done it to our
Saviour; and through Him found salvation."
*PART V*
*CHAPTER XVI*
When I next went over to spend the evening with Sydney I reminded him
that there was a room in his house which he had promised some day to
show me.
"Be patient," he answered, "you will see it before very long."
My companion was in more than usually good spirits. He was in one of
his bright, amusing, and kindly satirical moods, and for some time he
kept me in a state of nearly continual laughter by recounting his early
experiences with the sixth sense before he properly understood how to
regulate this new power.
"During the next two hundred years," he said, "the earth will be a
lively place for those who are fond of observation. If I am not much
mistaken there will be great progress in the growth of spiritual
science, and as its professors will probably possess a very imperfect
knowledge there may be some little confusion. Fancy how unpleasant it
will be to many people when their thoughts become common property, and
their actions can no longer be done in secret. When a cad, however
polished, will appear as a cad; and children will be sent to school to
undergo heart-training and not to learn deportment; when the future
members of Parliament will have to study the art, not of elocution and
subterfuge, but of caring more for their constituents than for their own
interests; when the wife will no longer ask her husband why he returned
so late, because she will know as well as he does; when the detective
will be banished into the region of history, and the judge require
neither witness nor jury; when curiosity, the cause of so much vice,
shall be exercised only in spiritual things, and men and women walk
naked yet unashamed both in body and spirit.
"Of course all this will come gradually, and future generations will
find no more inconvenience than would young children if the change took
place to-morrow. All our so-called modesty and our deceit are unknown
to them, being merely the outcome of training. The child is open enough
until by mental or physical smacks he learns to cover his body with
garments, and his thoughts with words most suitable to concealing them.
When such clothing is transparent the man will become in this respect as
a little child.
"This will be the time of which Emerson speaks, when he says--’Every man
takes care that his neighbour shall not cheat him, but a day comes when
he begins to care that he do not cheat his neighbour. Then all goes
well; he has changed his market-cart into a chariot of the sun. What a
day dawns when we have taken to heart the doctrine of faith! To prefer
as a better investment being to doing, being to seeming, logic to rhythm
and to display; the year to the day, the life to the year, character to
performance.’
"The desire to perform is the one great hindrance to progress. So many
wish to do, so few to be. If we are great we cannot help doing great
things, and if we are small-minded no effort shall magnify our output.
It is for this reason that I give a limit of two hundred years for even
this partial development of a sense which is already latent in many. In
the present rush of action growth is retarded, discovery thrown into the
melting-pot for gain, whereby its most valuable component parts escape
in the form of invisible gases. But come with me, and I will show you
the secret which is hidden behind that third door."
We passed as usual into the laboratory.
"Sit down, and while we smoke I will tell you a few things which it is
as well you should know before we go further.
"I think," he continued, when we had settled ourselves comfortably, "I
have already explained to you that, contrary to the general belief,
Wordsworth was quite right when he said--
’Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;
The soul that rises with us, our life’s Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar.’
"There are very many cases where it is necessary for certain reasons
that the spirit should be re-incarnated on this earth many times before
the earth-lesson is learned, and before it is able to unite with the
feminine element and thereby rise to more perfect existence. Life, like
matter, is indestructible, but as atoms unite and reunite to form what
we call elements, and these again unite and reunite to form chemical
compounds, so life or spirit, which is one and the same thing, is ever
being drawn together by attraction.
"Thus, for the sake of argument, we will say that the life of a flower
unites with that of another flower, and rises thus to the animal kingdom
where free existence is possible. I use this expression only for
convenience, as no arbitrary line can be drawn between the two kingdoms.
Then again, the lower animal life unites with its female element to form
the higher; and so on up to man. This explains why the lower we go down
in the scale the greater is the number of lives to be found on each
level, for it requires millions to blend together before the higher
orders are reached. This is why also in animals you see certain sides
of characters which are all noticeable in man. They are, as it were,
the bricks making ready for the future temple. So the spirit of man is
also imperfect and one-sided lacking the feminine qualities to be found
in woman. A time comes, however, when two suitable natures meet, and
after death their spirits blend together even as Swedenborg has written,
and they form what he calls one angel; that is to say, a still more
perfect being. And this joining together does not cease even then, but
angel unites with angel and archangel with archangel up to God. Thus
none can harm his neighbour without injuring part of his future self,
for all at last shall be one.
"This view is repellent to the carnal mind, as it destroys what he is
pleased to term his individuality; but this is only owing to the fact
that his mind at present is unable to comprehend unity with personality.
An interesting example of the confusion arising from this difficulty
will be obvious if you hear a deist and a trinitarian argue together."
"But," I said, "I do not like the idea myself. I wish to retain my own
consciousness, and have no desire to be merged in others."
"Do you not retain your own consciousness now?" he asked.
"Undoubtedly."
"And yet," he continued, "millions of lives have united to form that
consciousness."
"But I don’t care about the past," I said, "it is the future. According
to you, in my next existence I shall unite with some other spirit and
lose half my own individuality."
"I do not think you will," he replied laughing, "because you do not love
as yet, and love only is the attraction which draws kindred spirits
together. When they desire to unite, they will. Till then they must
remain incomplete. But those who are thus joined together are conscious
not of loss, but of the most exquisite gain; and this union is
foreshadowed by the joining together in marriage of man and woman here."
"But it cannot always be the spirits of husband and wife who are thus
united."
Sydney laughed.
"Hardly," he said. "Marriage is but a material convenience, and there
are not many who have reached that state when the unity of souls becomes
desirable; but nevertheless there are those living whose marriage is a
foretaste of a union which shall be made perfect through death. But
often the complement of a spirit is not on this earth, though they have
met in some previous existence."
"Do you know," I asked, "to whose spirit yours will be united?"
"I do," he answered; and the accent on the words drew my attention to
his face: there I read such depth of love and hope as I have never seen
light up the features of man or woman. "It was," he said, "while in the
spirit-world that I learnt much of what I have now told you. But I
learnt more than this, for I was able to look into the past, and to see
the why and wherefore of many things that had previously puzzled me
here. It was something that I had thus discovered which induced me to
buy the land and build this present house. Beyond that panel, through
which we are going, lies one of the secrets of my past. But I must
explain one more thing to you before we go.
"The higher the form of spirit life, the longer it usually takes for
souls to unite. In the lower orders these changes may occur every few
minutes; in the higher, centuries may intervene."
Sydney now got up, and motioning me to follow, went to a sliding panel,
touched a spring, and we passed together into a narrow passage. After
descending some winding steps, which must have brought us to about
twenty-five feet below the level of the house, we passed through another
door into a large covered courtyard which, except for its domed roof and
polygonal shape, reminded me of one of the Pompeian houses.
"This," said my companion, "is, as far as I know, the only perfect Roman
house in Britain, and the history of its preservation is very
interesting. The stone roofing of the courtyard is also curious,
resembling as it does more the covering of one of the Roman tombs to be
found in St. Helena and Sta Costanza than the usual domestic style of
architecture. It was in this very court that centuries ago I first met
the girl I love, and have in many forms loved ever since. It was in
that room beyond"--he pointed to one of the smaller apartments which
could be seen through an open archway--"that a scene took place the
effects of which have been felt to the present time."
After taking me over the building, which was in perfect preservation,
and showing me the bath, kitchen and various rooms, he drew my attention
to the mosaic floor and to various frescoes on the walls. The
workmanship was very beautiful, but the scenes depicted were coarse and
sensual.
"Now," he said, "that I have shown you one of the scenes of my life, we
may as well go up to the room above. This place is cold, and if you
wish to hear the story we shall find it more comfortable in our usual
place."
As soon as we had returned to the laboratory my companion began his
story of the past.
"It is unnecessary for me to give you a full picture of this district
during the close of the fourth century. At this time, as you will
remember, the Romans had not been recalled, and many of the nobles had
settled down at various places in the southern counties, having built
for themselves houses more or less after the type then common in Italy.
Some of these Roman villas have been discovered in recent years, though
none so well preserved as the specimen we have just examined. This
house was built by Valerius Marius, a celebrated warrior and huntsman.
He selected this spot when the times became more peaceful on account of
the abundance of game in the neighbouring forest. The soldiers and
slaves under him were for the time organized into an army of beaters,
after the manner of those days. The wild boar and other beasts were
thus driven from the forest into netted enclosures and slaughtered by
hundreds.
"This man had never married, but he had one child, Viola, by a favourite
slave, who, at this time, was a very beautiful girl of about sixteen.
He treated her as his own daughter, bringing her up in luxury, and
letting her follow her heart’s desire, which, considering that she was
by nature little better than a lovely savage, was a dangerous
experiment. Among her retinue of slaves was a fair Saxon boy, who, on
account of his good looks, had been bought for a high price when nine
years old to act as a page to the little girl. Like many men engaged in
active pursuits, the father allowed these two children to grow up
together, without realizing the changed condition which came by years,
or that his baby girl was growing into a woman, and her little slave-boy
into a youth. The female slaves who ministered to their mistress, while
probably conscious of the danger, had no wish to interfere and to rob
the girl and themselves of a bright and pleasant companion.
"Thus it came to pass that these two children were left much together,
especially during the hunting expeditions, and like two beautiful
animals they developed early. The girl, partly owing to her sex and
partly to her Southern blood, led the way in this as she did in all
other matters. The boy was her slave, and she never for one moment
forgot to remind him of his servitude, whether they were at play
together, or whether he were attending to the many duties she found for
him. And the boy had loved her from the first with a childish devotion;
the beautiful little dark-eyed girl had been his queen from the first
day when he had been brought, a little naked, fair-haired boy, and given
to the maiden in the atrium or hall. As she ran out of the tablinum
beyond on hearing her father’s voice, his big blue eyes opened wide with
astonishment. Was this to be his mistress, this dainty little
white-robed goddess? And unbidden he knelt down before her, fully
persuaded in his childish ignorance that he was in the presence of some
elfish deity. He would then and at any future time have died to save
her, and though she often treated him brutally, even making the women
slaves beat him unmercifully if he happened to cause her displeasure, no
thought of anger ever entered his mind. Was she not his mistress? And
why should she not do with him as she desired?
"According to custom, the owner of a slave gave him whatever name seemed
most suitable, and the maid, by reason of the colour of the child’s
hair, called her little servant Aureus. As Viola grew older she was
allowed on certain occasions to ride out with Aureus and meet her father
at the end of one of the netted enclosures, so as to witness the final
slaughter. Here, placed upon a small platform erected on one of the
trees, she could watch the wild boar and other animals as they were
driven further and further into the ambuscade. She saw them rushing
madly at the netting and being slaughtered by the men who surrounded it
with their long boar-spears. But the moment of true excitement came at
the end, when with a wild rush the maddened animals, who had so far
escaped destruction, burst at last through the only opening possible and
rushed into the open plain. Here at least they had some little chance
of escape, for though they were unable to return to the forest, they
might, if they could avoid the archers’ arrows, find at last some
distant cover. The footmen had done their work, and at this point the
horsemen galloped forth followed by the hounds, who had till now been
kept in leash. The plain was soon covered with flying huntsmen and
hounds, racing after the maddened fugitives. But exciting as this scene
was, Viola soon got tired of being only a spectator, and would often
urge her father to allow her to follow the chase on horseback; but he,
knowing the danger, had hitherto always refused.
"Now it so happened that among the slave girls was one named Myra, who
had recently been bought by Valerius Marius on account of her beauty.
She was ambitious, and hated her mistress on account of the high
position which she held through her father’s love. If, she thought, I
could but get rid of this girl I might rule here myself in her place.
"It was not long before she realized how dangerous the intimacy might
soon become between Aureus and Viola, and though she had no ill-will to
the former, she was quite willing to sacrifice him if only by so doing
she could also bring about the destruction of her mistress. To
accomplish her ends she decided to worm her way into their affections.
As she had seen much of life and no little of vice, she was able to
interest the girl with many stories connected with the past. But she
did not find it easy to get an opportunity to talk in private with the
boy. Viola seldom allowed him to leave her, and was evidently jealous if
he showed the least liking for any of the slave girls, more especially
for the new beauty. Myra, however, was not to be easily defeated. She
saw at once that the boy was as yet a child, and that to accomplish her
end speedily it would be necessary for her to awaken some youthful
passion in his heart, which should ultimately bring about the ruin of
her rival.
"Taking, therefore, an opportunity when for once Viola unaccompanied had
gone with her father to visit some neighbouring Roman nobles, she drew
the boy aside and asked him to show her the surrounding country.
"’I have,’ she said, ’not dared to go beyond the enclosure, fearing the
wild beasts, but with you as companion I should not fear.’
"It was against the rules for any of the female slaves to go outside the
boundary of the dwelling-place without permission, but Myra was at this
time in favour, and no one left behind would have dared to interfere
with her actions. She was known to be vindictive, and, having the ear
of her master, would have had little difficulty in revenging an insult.
"So Aureus consented, and they wandered out into the forest, following
the course of a small stream. At length they came to an opening in the
trees where the sun shone pleasantly upon a bank of ferns. Here they
sat and rested. At their feet was a deep pool in which the boy had
often bathed; and Myra, as she reclined on the bank, dabbled her bare
legs in the clear water to wash the dust from them.
"’Do you often come here with your mistress?’ she asked. ’You seem
always with her.’
"’When we were children,’ the boy said, ’we often stole out here in the
summer-time to bathe in the cool water. But we do not bathe here now.’
"’Why not?’ his companion asked.
"The boy looked up into her face with a comical, innocent expression.
’I do not quite know,’ he said. ’She is too old to bathe now, except in
the bath; only slave girls bathe out of doors when they are grown up.’
"’So you think it does not matter what we do?’ she said.
"’You are different from the others,’ he answered. ’You wear a tunic,
and not an ordinary dress.’
"’You call this a tunic, do you?’ she said, pointing to the thin garment
which partially concealed the full sensuous beauty of her limbs. ’This
is not much of a robe, this summer thing. I might almost as well be
without it.’
"’Do you feel cold?’ he asked.
"’Feel me,’ she said.
"The boy placed his hand upon her bare neck as she moved closer to him.
’You are quite hot,’ he said, ’your skin almost burns me. But how soft
and smooth it is! Tell me, why are women so much more beautiful than
men?’
"’I don’t think they are,’ the girl answered. ’You, for instance, are
more beautiful than Viola. Look at your arm;’ and as she said this she
laid her dark hand upon his shoulder. ’How fair you are by the side of
any of us! Look at your hair;’ and she ran her fingers through the
bright soft waves of gold. ’Do you not think that it is more beautiful
than our long dark tresses?’
"’No, I do not,’ he said. ’Viola’s hair is beautiful, and so is yours;
far more beautiful than mine.’
"’There you are mistaken,’ she said. ’You do not know. Come and look.’
"The two bent forward over the still clear water. It was a pretty
picture which they saw reflected; the young boy’s fair sun-tanned face
surrounded with a bright halo of curls through which the sunlight
played. The girl bending over him, her dark tresses, which she had
unbound, falling over his shoulders and covering them both as with a
cloud; her breast, which hitherto looked brown against the white of her
tunic, now by contrast with the deep shade of her hair was reflected
back with the brilliancy of ivory.
"’You are beautiful,’ was all the boy said.
"’_We_ are beautiful,’ the girl corrected. ’Do you think,’ she
continued, ’that I am as lovely as your mistress?’
"’Oh dear, no!’ the boy replied, with uncomplimentary frankness. Then,
feeling that he had angered her, he went on, ’You see it is different.
She is so young, so delicate!’ And saying this he looked again into the
water, contrasting in his mind the tender budding grace of the maiden
with the reflection of developed womanhood before him.
"Myra laughed; but though it was not her desire to win the boy from his
devotion to Viola, there was beneath the laughter in her eyes an angry,
jealous light.
"’Ah! my pretty infant,’ she cried, ’when you are older you will grow
wiser. So you love this little mistress of yours, do you?’
"’I worship her!’ he said, slightly correcting the verb, and giving it,
not only a fuller, but more chastened meaning.
"’What is the difference,’ she asked, ’between love and worship?’
"’You tell me,’ he said; ’I am not good at explaining, I only feel.’
"They had moved back from the water, and were now once more lying on the
soft bank.
"’I don’t think you know much about feeling, child,’ she answered, ’and
as for love, why you’re a perfect baby! We begin by worshipping; we go
on to loving; and we often end by hating!’
"’Then I don’t want to get to loving,’ he said, ’I like worshipping
best, especially if love leads to hatred; but I don’t believe it! I
might, perhaps, hate you, Myra, but I never could hate Viola. However,
tell me what love is, and I will tell you if I have ever loved.’
"’Have you ever kissed your mistress?’ she asked.
"The boy looked surprised. ’The Roman nobles,’ he answered, ’do not
kiss their slaves.’
"The girl burst out laughing; this idea, from her point of view, was
exceedingly comical, but she did not contradict him. ’I will tell you
some stories about love,’ she said.
"Myra, being a Roman slave girl, and having passed through some
considerable experience of what she termed love, it would be unnecessary
and unedifying to follow her further. Manners and customs change, and
the refinement of thought and language, notwithstanding many an ebb and
flow, has enlarged its borders. To describe therefore any such scene as
this truthfully, would be not only undesirable, but misleading.
"When Aureus returned to the villa late that evening, though he may not
have been intellectually much wiser, he had tasted of the fruit of the
tree of knowledge, and knew more of evil than formerly; but it is
doubtful whether he or his teacher had any active consciousness of sin.
They were little better than half-educated savages, and their training
on the moral side had in one case been neglected, and in the other
perverted.
"After Viola’s return, she noticed a change in her fair slave. He was
as devoted as ever, but less bright and natural in manner. When they
were alone together he would sit watching her every movement The
sensation of being thus watched made her angry and uncomfortable.
"On one such occasion she turned to him and said crossly, ’I shall sell
you. You’re getting too old and dull to be any amusement. What has
come to you of late? Ah! it never struck me before. You’re in love!’
"As she said this, the boy turned scarlet. She had guessed part of the
truth, but not that he was in love with her.
"’Yes, I see it now--in love with that hateful slave Myra!’ she
continued, stamping her foot. ’I ought to have known! They told me
that you and she had been out together in my absence. I’ll teach her to
go interfering with my slaves! I’ll let her know who rules here!’
"And the girl, raging with passion, bade Aureus to follow, and hurried
back to the villa. Going into one of the inner rooms, she told some of
the maidens to fetch Myra, who came reluctantly at her summons. The
slight girl, absolute mistress of those around, drew up her haughty
little figure, when she saw the beautiful slave enter, and at once
demanded by whose authority she had left the enclosure during her
absence.
"This was too great a strain on Myra’s temper, and relying on the favour
shown by her master, she became insolent, even taunting her mistress
with her illegitimate birth.
"’Who are you!’ she cried, ’to rule over me! Daughter of a slave! Soon
shall you be turned from your high position, and be servant of my
children. Who made you better than the others, that you dare to give
orders to me?’
"For a moment Viola stood speechless with anger, her face contracted
with rage; then turning to those round her, she cried--
"’Bind her, the insolent brute! I’ll teach her whether I am mistress or
not!’
"The slave-girls were nothing loth to see their haughty companion
humbled, for they were jealous of her beauty, and of the favour which
had hitherto been shown to her. In a moment the wretched girl was
seized, the grand tunic of which she had been so proud was taken from
her, and her hands and feet tightly bound.
"’Now,’ said Viola, ’bring the double-lashed whip.’
"When Myra heard this order, her pride vanished, and with tears and
entreaties she began to cry to her mistress to spare her. But Viola
only mocked at her terror.
"’Ah!’ she cried, ’so the slave is beginning to recognize her mistress;
and she shall do so with good reason before we let her go!’ Then,
turning to Aureus, she said, ’Take the whip, and let me see that you use
it like a man, or by the gods I will have you lashed and sold in the
public slave-market.’
"The boy, though he had often witnessed such scenes before, hesitated;
he had never been called upon to hit a woman, and the thought was
instinctively repugnant to him. On the other hand, he had never
disobeyed his mistress, and her will was his law. He lifted the whip
and let it fall gently upon the prostrate woman, who was bound down upon
one of the raised stone seats. Then Viola came up to him, and grinding
her teeth with anger, she seized his arm.
"’If you do not hit her,’ she hissed, ’hit her so that the blood shall
flow forth freely, I will kill you both! Brute!’ she cried; ’you love
her--you dare to love her!’
"Then the boy did as his mistress told him, and a great curse entered
into his soul, for the brute nature was awakened, and he knew the
delight of cruelty; for the sister fiend of lust, with her horrible
fascination, took, for the time, possession of him as he watched the
writhing body of his victim. But the young girl Viola stood by more
damned than the slave who did her bidding, for a double curse fell upon
her soul.
"On a lovely day towards the end of summer, Viola at last obtained her
father’s consent to ride with the huntsmen, and Aureus, who was a
skilful horseman, was told off to be her attendant, and made responsible
for her safety.
"It was late in the day before the wild beasts broke cover and the
riders galloped over the plain in pursuit. The girl selected for her
quarry a hart which had been slightly wounded by one of the archers, and
soon she and her companion were urging their horses over the ground.
They were both well mounted, but the animals at that date were ill
fitted for speed, and there seemed little chance of their overtaking the
stag unless his wound exhausted him. The girl, however, was far too
excited to consider possibilities, and they soon left the other huntsmen
far behind, the sound of the horns growing fainter and fainter.
"At last the hart came to a small wood, and disappeared among the
undergrowth.
"’Had we not better return?’ the boy asked. ’We shall find it no easy
matter to follow him further.’
"But the girl had no mind to give up the chase. A few hounds had
followed them, and she put them upon the track and began forcing her
horse through the dense thicket. They had not far to go before once
more the open country could be seen through the willow-stems, and after
wading a small stream they came in sight of the stag who had just been
driven from his place of concealment. The hounds, now also emerging
from the stream, gave tongue joyfully at view of their prey.
"Once more the chase commenced. Forgetting time and place in the wild
excitement, the two continued their solitary run accompanied by three
slow but keen-scented hounds. Scrambling up the steep hills and wading
the many streams which came in their path, they at last discovered their
quarry, who had taken refuge in a deep pool. The boy and girl
dismounted and rested for a moment to recover their breath.
"In the mean time the hounds plunged into the water; but powerful though
they were on land, resembling as they did in appearance a cross between
the modern bloodhound and boarhound, they were no match in the water
against their horned antagonist. Aureus knew that, dangerous as was the
undertaking to one not fully experienced, it would be necessary for him
to go to their assistance. Placing, therefore, his knife between his
teeth, and throwing off his garment, he plunged into the water and swam
out to the spot where the unequal contest was raging. Waiting for a
suitable moment when the attention of the stag was engaged, he
approached it cautiously from behind, and taking the dagger from between
his teeth, stabbed it to the heart.
"The girl, who was standing on the bank breathless with excitement, now
that she saw the stag was dead, gave a cry of delight, and called to
Aureus to push the body in front of him to the side of the pool so that
she might help him to drag it from the water. She then called the
reluctant hounds to her, and watched impatiently the accomplishment of
the youth’s difficult task.
"At length between them they managed to get the body on dry land, and at
once set to work, after the manner of the time with which they were so
familiar, to break up the body; the girl blowing her horn, and the boy
presenting her with the head and antlers. Nor did they forget to reward
the faithful hounds.
"They were reminded by the greed of these their followers that they also
were hungry, and having lighted a fire--for no huntsman ever went forth
without providing materials for this contingency--they were soon busy
cooking some of the choicest morsels on slips of wood over hot charcoal.
Then, like two young savages, they feasted, drinking from a neighbouring
stream.
"It was now growing dusk, and if they hoped to return that night there
was no time to spare. At first by following the marks of their horses’
feet they had little difficulty in retracing their steps, but coming to
a wide stretch of heath they lost the track, and while endeavouring in
vain to find it, darkness settled down. As they were far from any
landmark known to them, and were, moreover, shut in by the surrounding
hills, they at last gave up the attempt in despair, and decided to make
the best of the circumstances and spend the night in some sheltered
spot.
"Having come to a suitable place they tied up their horses and crept
together into a small hollow which was carpeted with bracken and roofed
by sandstone rock. It was a mild night, but Viola, thinly clad as she
was, felt the cold reaction which follows violent exercise, and nestled
up closer and closer to her companion, who was far too accustomed to
exposure to feel the least chilled by the night air. After a few moments
of silence, the girl, raising herself a little, bent over and kissed the
boy’s lips.
"’There,’ she said, ’that is a reward for your having been brave and
killed the stag!’
"But the boy trembled at her touch; it was the first time she had ever
kissed him; it was the kindling of a new and fatal change in their
relationship: childhood had gone!"
"As may be imagined, Myra’s bitterness against her mistress was
strengthened rather than lessened by the cruel punishment. She made
bitter complaint to her master, but without success; as, though he was
vexed at what he considered an excessive punishment, he made it a point
in no way to interfere with his daughter in matters of this kind. He
knew too well that a divided rule would mean continued complaints; and,
moreover, he thought his fair slave had lately been getting somewhat out
of hand, and that a little check was desirable. So he only laughed,
telling her that she must learn to be an obedient girl, and do what her
mistress told her.
"But Myra’s day of revenge was nearer than she expected, and she soon
began to suspect the altered relationship between Viola and Aureus. She
was therefore content to wait her time, and during this interval she
feigned the most abject meekness and fawning servility to her young
tyrant, avoiding at the same time all intercourse with the boy.
"Marius had been absent when these two returned home the morning after
the hunt. It was usual in these days to continue the chase of fugitives
as long as any chance of capture remained. Moreover, there was much
work to be done in collecting the slain. Owing to this their absence
caused no comment, the servants at the villa fancying that Viola had
been with her father, while he was under the impression that the girl
had returned with her prize on the evening of the previous day.
"Viola was now often allowed to join the hunting parties, and she and
her boy lover were thrown more than ever together. It was a happy time
for both of them, living as they did only for the pleasure of the
moment, and disregarding all thought of the future. They were too young
and reckless either to know or consider the consequences of their
present folly. But nature moves in her own way, following her own laws,
whether her children regard them or not. She has her own ends to
fulfil, and is utterly callous of conventional restrictions; to her
there is neither king nor slave, neither queen nor serving-maid, but
only male and female, and she treats all alike, without respect of
persons or regard to social convenience. It is her children’s fault,
not hers, if things turn out disastrously; if men make restrictions for
themselves which have no part in her plan of action and impose laws
which interfere with her wider and more impartial scheme.
"The winter came and went, and many of the same spring flowers which now
make our lanes so beautiful at this time of the year, carpeted the open
glades of the forest, and bordered the pure untainted streams. The
delicate lacework of drooping ferns was reflected in the still pools,
then stocked with fish as yet unacquainted with guile; the May-fly
required no second inspection, but might be devoured recklessly without
fear of fatal results, while the wriggling worm which strayed too near
the bank, and turned over gently into the water, had not the chances of
escape which he now enjoys. No committee of taste would then lie round
to study his movements for fear that a dangerous hook might be concealed
somewhere in his body.
"It was on a lovely evening shortly after the cuckoo’s note had become
once more a familiar sound, that Viola and Aureus, returning from a
ramble in the wood, were met a few yards from the enclosure by Marius.
As the girl glanced up at her father, she was suddenly overwhelmed with
terror. She had seen anger often on his face before, but never when he
had looked at her, and never such deep anger as this. What was the
meaning of it?
"With a haughty word he dismissed the slave, and telling his daughter to
follow, went on toward the forest. For some time the silence was only
broken by the sound of their footsteps, and the sweet singing of the
birds. At last the man stopped, and turning round, looked fixedly at
his daughter for a moment. Then, with a deep-drawn sob, half of anger
and half of pain, he cried--
"’So it is true! This which they have told me, and which I might have
seen with my own eyes. My daughter, whom I have loved and honoured, has
demeaned herself even to the level of a slave--has become one of the
vile! You know your fate--the fate of the wanton. Even though I have
loved you, this past love shall not save you. Were you not my own child
I would even now sell you in the slave-market, that you might follow the
vile calling you have chosen. As it is, you shall die!’
"When Viola heard this she fell upon her knees before her father, and
with tears implored him to spare her life. Then, in her terror, a
thought crossed her mind. She might yet save herself by a lie. To hide her guilt she knew would be impossible, but she might throw all the blame upon another, and so save herself. |
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