"You surely are not going to with Doctor Nikola in that house?" said my wife, when we were alone together that night. "After what the Duke has told us, I wonder that you can be so foolish."
"My dear girl," I answered, "I don't see the of your argument. I shan't be the who has a in the house in question, and I don't I shall be the last. What do you think will to me? Do you think that we have returned to the times of the Borgias, and that Nikola will us? No, I am looking to a very and evening."
"While we are at home, if the table is into the and taking you with it, or Nikola is the side-dishes with some of his chemistry, by which you will be put to sleep for three months, or otherwise upon you in the of what[Pg 156] he calls Science. I don't think it is at all of you to go."
"Dear girl," I answered, "are you not a little unreasonable? Knowing that de Martinos has but in Venice, also that he is a friend of ours—for did he not meet him when in our company?—it is only natural that Nikola should to him some courtesy. In of its decay, the Palace Revecce is an building, and when he that Martinos would like to visit it, he him to dinner. What be more natural? This is the nineteenth century!"
"I am sure I don't mind what century it is," she replied. "Still I to what I said just now. I am sorry you are going."
"In that case I am sorry also," I answered, "but as the I fail to see how I can out of it. I not let the Duke and Martinos go alone, so what can I do?"
"I you will have to go," she ruefully. "I have a presentiment, however, that trouble will result from it."
With that the was dropped, and it was not until the morning, when I was with Glenbarth after breakfast, that it up again.
"Look here, Dick," said my then. "What about this dinner at Nikola's house to-[Pg 157]night? You to be very on going last night; are you of the same mind this morning?"
"Why not?" I answered. "My wife not like the notion, but I am looking to Nikola play the host. The last time I with him, you must remember, was in Port Said, and then the be as a one. What is more, I am to see what Nikola and his house will produce upon our friend the Don."
"I wish he'd of him altogether," my replied. "I the more and more every time I see him."
"Why should you? He you no harm!"
"It's not that," said Glenbarth. "My to him is instinctive; just as one when one looks into the of a snake, or as one is by a or a rat. In of his present respectability, I should not be at all to that at some period of his career he had innumerable."
"Nonsense, nonsense," I replied, "you must not such as that. You were when you saw him, you he was going to come you and Miss Trevor. You have been able to overcome the feeling, and this is the result. You must against it. Doubt[Pg 158]less, when you have more of him, you will like him better."
"I shall like him than I do now," he answered, with conviction. "As they say in the plays, 'my at him!' If you saw him in the light I do, you would not let Lady Hatteras——"
"My dear fellow," I began, from my chair and him, "this is and very ridiculous, and I assume the right of an old friend to tell you so. If you not to go to-night, I'll make some for you, but don't, for goodness' sake, go and make for us all while you're there."
"I have no to do so," he stiffly. "What is more, I am not going to let you go alone. Write your and accept for us both. Bother Nikola and Martinos as well, I wish they were on the other of the world."
I a note to Nikola accepting, on Glenbarth's and my own, his to dinner for that evening. Then I the from my mind for the time being. An hour or so later my wife came to me with a face.
"I am afraid, Dick, that there is something the with Gertrude," she said. "She has gone to her room to down, of a[Pg 159] very and a in all her limbs. I have done what I can for her, but if she not by lunch-time, I think I shall send for a doctor."
As, by lunch-time, she was no better, the services of an English doctor were called in. His report to my wife was a one. He he nothing the with the girl, anything to account for the symptoms.
"Is she of an disposition?" he inquired, when we the together in the drawing-room.
"Not in the least," I replied. "I should say she is what might be called a very evenly-dispositioned woman."
He asked one or two other questions and then took of us, promising to call again next day.
"I cannot it at all," said my wife when he had gone; "Gertrude so well last night. Now she upon her and of this pain in her and the in all her limbs. Her hands and are as cold as ice, and her is as white as a of note-paper."
During the Miss Trevor to up, only to be to return to again. Her had left her, but the[Pg 160] still remained. She incapable, so my wife me, of using her limbs. The upon the Duke may be than described. His was the picture of desolation, and his was all the as he was from to it in speech. I am that, at this period of his life, the gentleman's was by no means as as we were to it. He was to up without the warning, and to looking upon himself and his own little world in a light that was very from cheerful. Realizing that we do no good at home, I took him out in the afternoon, and was to that I was without heart, because, when we had been an hour abroad, I to return to the hotel.
"I wonder if there is anything that Miss Trevor would like," he said, as we the of Saint Mark. "It be sent up to her, you know, in your name."
"You might send her some flowers," I answered. "You then send them from yourself."
"By Jove, that's the very thing. You do have some good ideas sometimes."
"Thank you," I said quietly. "Approbation from Sir Hubert Stanley is indeed."[Pg 161]
"Bother your quotations!" he retorted. "Let's to that flower-shop."
We did so, and that upon flowers what would have me in for a month. Having paid for them and orders that they should be sent to the Hotel Galaghetti at once, we left the shop. When we outside, I had to answer all of questions as to I she would like them, it would not have been to have more of one than another, and the would not be too for a sick-room. After that he the shopkeeper would send them in time, and to return in order to this upon the man. Let it be to me for that I with him patiently, my own at a stage in my career. When we the hotel on our return, we that the patient was better. She had had a sleep, and it had her. My wife was going to with her the evening, and this, I that we might go out with clear consciences.
At a to seven we retired to our rooms to dress, and at a past the hour were to start. When we the hall, we the Don us there. He was[Pg 162] with the care, and presented a not figure. He hands with me and to Glenbarth, who had no of him his hand. Previous to setting out, I had from that man his promise that he would with the other the evening.
"You can't me to the as a friend," he had said in reply, "but I will give you my word that I'll be to him—if that's what you want."
And with this I was to be content.
Having taken our places in the which was waiting for us, we set off.
"I had the of Doctor Nikola this morning," said Martinos, as we into the Rio Consiglio. "He did me the of calling upon me."
I gave a start of on this.
"Indeed," I replied. "And at what hour was that?"
"Exactly at eleven o'clock," the Don answered. "I the time I was in the act of going out, and we each other in the hall."
Now it is a thing, a if you like, but it was almost on the of eleven that Miss Trevor had been with her[Pg 163] illness. At a past the hour she so as to be to retire to her room. Of there be no the two affairs, but it was a of a nature calculated to me food for reflection. A moments later the up at the steps of the Palace Revecce. Almost at the same the door opened and we entered the house. The had been in for our coming, and, the man who had us, we the to the above. Though not so as when I had last it, only by Nikola's lantern, it was still to create a upon the Don.
"You were not when you it as a building," he said, as we passed along the to Nikola's room.
As he said this the door opened, and Nikola us. He hands with the Duke first, with the Don, and then with myself.
"Let me offer you a welcome," he began. "Pray enter."
We him into the room I have already described, and the door was closed us. It was in this that I had we should dine, but I that this was not[Pg 164] to be the case. The tables were still with papers, books, and scientific apparatus, just as when I had last it. Glenbarth seated himself in a chair by the window, but I noticed that his to the upon the by the fireplace. He was of the below, and, as I easily imagine, himself else than where he was. The black cat, Apollyon, which was up in an arm-chair, us for a with eyes, as if to make sure of our identities, and then returned to his slumbers. The were open, I remember, and the moon was just above the house-tops opposite. I had just gone to the casement, and was looking upon the still below, when the of the on the right hand was by the man who had us to the house, who Nikola in Italian that dinner was upon the table.
"In that case let us go in to it," said our host. "Perhaps your Grace will be to lead the way."
Glenbarth did as he was requested, and we him, to ourselves in a large, apartment, which had once been frescoed, but was now, like the of the palace, sadly to decay. In the centre of the room[Pg 165] was a small table, well by a lamp, which a soft light upon the board, the of the room being in shadow. The decorations, the napery, and the and silver, were, as I see at one glance, unique. Three men-servants our coming, though where they from and how Nikola had them to enter the palace, I not understand. Nikola, as our host, one end of the table; Glenbarth, being the guest of the evening, was the chair on his left; the Don took that on the right, while I him at the end. How, or by whom, the dinner was was another mystery. Nikola had told us on the occasion of our visit, that he no servants, and that such cooking as he was done for him by an old man who came in once every day. Yet the dinner he gave us on this particular occasion was of the in Europe. It was perfect in every particular. Though Nikola touched anything, he did the of his table royally, and with a that was in with the situation. Had my wife and Miss Trevor been present, they might, for all the terrors they had for us, very well have themselves in the dining-room of some old English country mansion, waited upon by the[Pg 166] family butler, and taken in to dinner by the Bishop and Rural Dean. The Nikola I had when I had last visited the house was as from our present as if he had existed. When I looked at him, I that he had been anything else but the most man of my acquaintance.
"As a great traveller, Don Josè," he said, the guest on his right hand, "you have of in a great number of countries, and I under a of circumstances. Now tell me, what is your most of a meal?"
"That which I managed to obtain after the of Valparaiso," said Martinos. "We had been without food for two days, that is to say, without a meal, when I upon a house where had been without being touched. I can see it now. Ye gods! it was delightful. And not the less so the old we were after had managed to make his escape."
"You were in opposition to Balmaceda, then?" said Nikola quietly.
Martinos paused for a moment he answered.
"Yes, against Balmaceda," he replied. "I wonder the old died, and if so what of his money."[Pg 167]
"That is a question one would like to have settled a good many people," Glenbarth put in.
"There was that man up in the Central States, the Republic of—ah! what was its name?—Equinata," said Nikola. "I don't know you the story."
"Do you the who those men?" I asked. "The man you were telling me of the other night."
"The same," Nikola replied. "Well, he managed to his country, taking with him something like two dollars. From that moment he has been of, and as a of I do not he will be. After all, luck has a great to do with in this world."
"Permit me to out a to the God of Chance," said Martinos. "He has me well."
"I think we can all subscribe to that," said Nikola. "You, Sir Richard, would not be the happy man you are had it not been for a of good which you on one in the Pacific of another. You, my dear Duke, would have been in Bournemouth Bay had not our friend Hatteras to be an early riser, and to have taken a break[Pg 168]fast; while you, Don Martinos, would in all not be my guest to-night had not——"
The Spaniard looked at him as if he what he was about to hear.
"Had not what happened?" he asked.
"Had President Balmaceda his day," was the reply. "He did not do so, however, and so we four here to-night. Certainly, a to the God of Chance."
At last the dinner came to an end, and the withdrew, having the upon the table. The from one to another until it the history of the in which we were then the guests. For the Spaniard's Nikola related it in detail. He did not any particular upon it, however, as he had done upon the he had told the Duke and myself the room in which he had us. He it in a matter-of-fact way, as if it were one in which he was only interested. Yet I not help that he his more than on the Spaniard, who sat his and with an of attention upon his face. When the had been for the last time, Nikola that we should the dining-room and return to his own sitting-room.[Pg 169]
"I do not at home in this room," he said by way of explanation; "for that I use it. I of such food as I need in the next, and allow the of the house to into that which you see about you."
With that we rose from the table and returned to the room in which he had us. A box of was produced and round; Nikola coffee with his own hands at a table in the corner, and then I the that I would come. Presently Nikola to speak of the history of Venice. As I had already had good to know, he had a perfect study of it, particularly of the part played in it by the Revecce family. He with particular upon the through the Lion's Mouth, and then, with an to Glenbarth and myself for us with it again, to the of the the room in which we were then seated. Once more he the and the trap-door opened. A cold draught, of horrors, came up to us.
"And there the died with the of the woman he loved in his ears from the room above," said Nikola. "Does it not that you can them now? For[Pg 170] my part, I think they will echo through all eternity."
If he had been an actor what a he would have made! As he us pointing into the he us spell-bound. As for Martinos, all the of the centuries to be in him, and he Nikola's as if he were the power of movement.
"Come," Nikola at last, the trap-door and the upon it as he spoke, "you have the history of the house. You shall now do more than that! You shall see it!"
Fixing his upon us he two or three in the air with his long white hands. Meanwhile, it to me as if he were looking into my brain. I to my eyes, but without success. They were to his face, and I not remove them. Then an of took of me, and I must have consciousness, for I have no of anything until I myself in a place I for a moment I had before. And yet after a time I it. It was a day in the early spring, the fresh over the from the open sea was[Pg 171] the water of the lagoons. I looked at my surroundings. I was in Venice, and yet it was not the Venice with which I was familiar. I was with Nikola upon the steps of a house, the of which was well-nigh completed. It was a edifice, and I easily the of the owner as he in his and it from the of open water opposite. He was a tall and man, and a and hose, shoes with large bows, and a with fur. There was also a of gold his neck. Beside him was a man I to be the architect, for presently the man his hand upon his and him for the work he had done, that it was admirable. Then, at a signal, the gave a of his and the little across to the steps, where they close to where I was standing. I in order that they might pass, but they took no of notice of my presence. Passing on, they entered the house.
"They do not see us," said Nikola, who was me. "Let us enter and what the famous Admiral Francesco Revecce thinks of his property."
We did so to ourselves in a[Pg 172] courtyard. In the centre of this was a well, upon which a in was the touches to a design of and fruit. From here a staircase, and this we ascended. In the different rooms were to be at work upon the walls, sea-fights, in the history of the Republic, and of the famous master of the house. Before each the owner paused, approval, advice, or such or as he needful. In his company we visited the kitchens, the pantler's offices, and to the the water-level. Then we once more to the courtyard, and at the great doors while the owner took his in his barge, pleased measure with his new abode. Then the changed.
Once more I the house with Nikola. It was night, but it was not dark, for great on either of the door, and a hundred helped to the scene. All the Great World of Venice was making its way to the Palace Revecce that night. The of the series of fêtes to the of Francesco Revecce, the most famous of the Republic, who had twice the French fleet, and who had that day married the of the Duke of Levano,[Pg 173] was in progress. The was still young, he was also rich and powerful; the was one of the of Venice, being one of its daughters. Their new home was as as money and the taste of the period make it. Small wonder was it, therefore, that the world to pay to them.
"Let us once more enter and look about us," said Nikola.
"One moment," I answered, him a step as he was in the act of into with a girl who had just from her upon the arm of a grey-haired man.
"You need have no fear," he replied. "You that we are Spirits in a Spirit World, and that they are not of our presence."
And this appeared to be the case, for no one us, and more than once I saw people approach Nikola, and, though it may seem, walk through him without being the least aware of the fact.
On this occasion the great was illuminated. Scores of were the stairs continually, while of music from the rooms above.
"Let us ascend," said Nikola, "and see the there."[Pg 174]
It was a entertainment, and when we entered the great reception-rooms, no have been in Venice. I looked upon the and his bride, and the as being the man I had the on the skill he had in the of the palace. He was more now, however, than on that occasion, and did the of his house with the and of one to the of his name and position in the world. His was a girl, with a pale, sweet face, and that one long after they had looked at them. She was doing her best to appear happy her guests, but in my own I that such was not the case. Knowing what was her, I something of the that was so upon her heart. Surrounding her were the citizens of the Republic of all time. There was not one who did not do her honour, and among the who were her guests that night, how many were there who her good fortune? Then the once more changed.
This time the room was that with which I was best acquainted, the same in which Nikola had taken up his abode. The upon the and were dry, and Revecce was[Pg 175] at sea again, his old enemy the French, who once more an attack upon the city. It was evening, and the red of the upon a woman's face, as she the table at which a man was writing. I at once her as Revecce's bride. The man himself was and handsome, and when he looked up at the woman and smiled, the love-light in her eyes, as it had not done when she had looked upon Revecce. There was no need for Nikola to tell me that he was Andrea Bunopelli, the artist to skill the room its paintings.
"Art sure 'twill be safe, love?" asked the woman in a low voice, as she her hand upon his shoulder. "Remember 'tis death to a false against a citizen of the Republic, and 'twill be when 'tis against the great Revecce."
"I have that in mind," the man answered. "But there is to fear, dear love. The will not be suspected, and I will it in the Lion's Mouth myself,—and then?"
Her only answer was to over him and him. He the upon the he had written, and when it was dry, it up and it in his bosom. Then he the woman once more and prepared to the room. The whole was so that I have[Pg 176] that he saw me as I him.
"Do not linger," she said in farewell. "I shall know no peace till you return."
Drawing the he disappeared, and then once more the changed.
A cold wind across the lagoon, and there was a of in the air. A haggard, was on the steps of a small door of the palace. Presently it was opened to him by an servant, who asked his business, and would have him away. When he had something to him, however, the other that it was his master, he to be a in the hands of the French. Then, measure, the man him. Having me the he was about to make, I looked at him with pity, and when he and almost fell, I to him up, but only air. At last, when his had told him everything, he him to a of the palace, where he was to for some days, taking of the many passages the contained, and by so doing his suspicions. His wife was to him, and the man who had his was the man to he had been so and generous[Pg 177] a benefactor. I to by his time after time in the narrow passage the arras, through a opening the love-making going on within. I see the me with and hate, until I he would in upon them, and then the old would lead him away, his upon his lips. How many times I with him there I cannot say, it is that at last he the pain no longer, and, open the door, entered the room and the man and woman. As I write, I can the of the pair, and the woman's in my ears now. I can see Bunopelli from the table, at which he had been seated, with the death-look in his face. Within an hour the of the they had against Revecce had been and signed, and they were and secure until the time for should arrive. Then, for the time since he had in Venice, he ordered his and set off for the Council Chamber to look his in the and to the right to those who had him.
i004
"Throwing open the door ... he them."
When he returned his was and set, and there was a look in his that had not been there before. He to the room in[Pg 178] which there was the trap-door in the floor, and presently the were him. In Bunopelli for for the woman. There was no to be there. I would have for them too, but I was powerless to make myself heard. I saw the great of that upon the man's brow, the look of in the woman's face, and the on her husband's countenance. Nothing save them now. The man was torn, to the last for for her, from the woman's side, the trap-door gave a click, and he disappeared. Then they hands upon the woman, and I saw them open her mouth—but I cannot set the rest. My to the of my mouth, and though I in the of their task, my were as as before. Then, with the still upon the husband's face, and the from the below, and the woman with.... The changed.
When I saw it again a of was the room. It was still the same apartment, and yet in a not the same. The were upon the walls, there was a in the shape and make of the furniture, and in other things, but it was[Pg 179] the room in which Francesco Revecce had taken his terrible revenge. A tall and woman, some thirty years of age, was the window a in her hand. She had the of it and was with it in her hand, looking upon the signature. At last she it to her and it passionately. Then, to a at the end of the room, she it and looked at the child it contained. She had her in prayer, and was still praying, when with a start I to myself Glenbarth and the Don in the room in which we had been after dinner. Nikola was the fireplace, and there was a look like that of death upon his face. It was not until that the Spaniard and Glenbarth me that they had what I had seen. Both, however, were at a to the meaning of the last picture, and, having my own in my mind, I was not to be into it to them. That it was Nikola's own mother, and that this house was her property, and the same in which the of the Spanish Colony had his love to her, I now see. And if anything were wanting to my suspicions, Nikola's face,[Pg 180] when my returned to me, was to do so.
"Let me out of this house," the Duke thickly. "I cannot breathe while I am in it. Take me away, Hatteras; for God's take me away!"
I had already to my and had to his side.
"I think it would be that we should be going, Doctor Nikola," I said, to our host.
The Spaniard, on his side, did not a word. He was so as to be the power of speech. But Nikola did not to what I said. Never had I such a look upon his face. His was always white, now, however, it was human. For my own part I what was in his mind, but I give no to it.
"Come," I said to my companions, "let us return to our hotel."
They rose and to move the door. The Duke had it, however, Nikola, with what I see was a effort, his self-possession.
"You must me," he said in almost his voice. "I had for the moment forgotten[Pg 181] my as host. I you have had but a evening."
When we had our and cloaks, we him down-stairs through the house, which was now as as the grave, to the great doors upon the steps. Having a we entered it, after Nikola "good-night." He hands with Glenbarth and myself, but I noticed that he did not offer to do so with the Don. Then we out into the middle of the and had presently the and were making our way our hotel. I am perfectly that the not one of us spoke. The events of the had proved too much for us, and was impossible. We Martinos "good-night" in the hall, and then the Duke and I to our own apartments. Spirits had been upon the table, and I noticed that the Duke helped himself to almost twice his quantity. He looked as if he needed it.
"My God, Dick," he said, "did you see what in that room? Did you see that woman with the——"
He put his and walked to the window. I with him, for had I not the same thing myself?
"It's certain, Dick," he said, when he returned a moments later, "that, were I to see much[Pg 182] more of Nikola in that house, I should go mad. But why did he let me see it? Why? Why? For Heaven's answer me."
How I tell him the that was in my own mind? How I to him the that was slowly but surely taking of me? Why had Nikola the Don to his house? Why had he him the picture of that terrible crime? Like Glenbarth I only ask the same question—Why? Why? Why?
