THE HOUSE OF WHITE SHADOWS

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2701, 4 December 1882, Page 4

THE HOUSE OF WHITE SHADOWS

BY B. L. FAEJEON

Author of “ Blades-o’-Grass,” “ Joshua Marvel,” “ Bread and Cheese and Kisses,” “ Grif,” “ London’s Heart,” &c., &c.

(Continued.)

“The white shadows, they exist then! Edward, do you hear?” The Advocate, upon whom not a word of the conversation had been lost, fixed his eyes upon Fritz. “ It pleases you to be called a fool.” “Why not ?”

“ Why—rather ?” “ I might answer,” said Fritz, “ because people are not generally called by their right names.”

“ That is too wise an answer for a fool. For what reason do you close your eyes ?” “It is a habit of mine ; I can see in the dark what I choose to see.”

The Advocate gazed for a moment or two at the face with its closed eyes, railed to his, and then said to his wife, “ Come, Adelaide, we will look at the house.”

They passed into the grounds, accompanied by Mother Denise, Martin, and Dionotta. Fritz remained outside the gates, ■with his eyes still closed and a smile upon his lips. “ Fritz,” said the host of the inn of The Seven Liars, “ do you know anything of the great man ? ” Fritz rubbed his brows softly, and opened his eyes. “ I know everything.” “ What about him, then ? ” “Listen, Peter Sohclt,” said Fritz, as the neighbors gathered around him, “when my eyes were shut I had a dream of a stranger who was found murdered in your house. People said you murdered him for his money, and it really seemed so, for it was found in your possession. Things were going so hard with you that you begged the great man who has come among us to plead for you at your trial. You were safe enough, then. lie proved to everybody’s satisfaction that it was impossible you could have committed the murder. Don’t be alarmed Peter Schelt, it was only a dream.” “ But did I do it ?” enquired Peter Schelt, in no way disturbed by the bad light in which he was placed by Fritz’s fancies. “ It docs not matter whether you did or not. The great man got you off, and that is all you cared for. Look here, neighbors ; if any of you have black goats that you wish changed into white, go to him; ho can do it for you. He is a great mau, a very great man.” “Ah,” said a neighbor, “and what do you know of his wife ?” “'What all of you should know, hut cannot see, although it stares you in the face.” “ Let us have it, Fritz. “ She is too fair. Christine,” to a stout young woman close to him, “ give thanks to the Virgin to-night that you were sent into the world with a squint in your eye, aud that your legs grow thicker and crookeder every day. You will never drive a man out of his senses with your beauty.” Fritz was compelled to beat a swift retreat, for Christine's arms were as thick as her legs, and they were raised to smite. Down the lane flew the fool, and Christine after him, amid the laughter of the villagers.

Chapter IV.

DREAMS OP LOVE. In the meantime the Advocate and his wife strolled through the grounds, which they found in far ’better order than they expected. It was evident that much of this was due to recent labor. “ There have been twenty men at work for the last three weeks,” explained Mother Denise; “ some of the paths were quite choked up with weeds. It is certainly a great improvement.” But her manner denoted that she was not grateful for it. The orchards were stocked with fruit trees, and the gardens bright with flowers. In a convenient spot a chalet had boon built, to serve as a summer-house, and Mother Denise informed the Advocate’s wife that it was quite now, and was only finished a week ago. “ There was once,” she said, “ a summer house even prettier than this built on this very spot. I remember well the day Mr Baloombe’s father burnt it down with his own hands.” "How odd!” exclaimed the Advocate’s wife. “ For what reason ?” But the old housekeeper bit her lips, and did not reply to the question further than saying, “ For family reasons, my lady. The villa too has been repaired, and a good deal of new furniture brought in. Papers and books, and pictures as well, every day. It is wonderful what has been done.”

Already the Advocate felt the beneficial effects of a healthful change ; his eyes were clearer, his hack straighter, he moved with a brisker step. In his tour through the grounds Mother Denise walked in front, pointing out this and.that, Martin hobbled behind, and Dionetta, encouraged by the Advocate’s .wife, walked by her now mistress’s side.

“ Dionetta,” said the Advocate’s wife, “do you know that you have the prettiest name in all the world ?”

“ Have I, my lady ? I have never thought of it, but it is if you say so.” " I wish I had such a name, bnt they gave me an uglier one —Adelaide.” “Nay,” said Dionetta, raising her eyes in mute appeal for forgiveness for the contradiction. “It is very sweet. May I speak it?”

“Yes, let me hear you.” “ Adelaide ! Adelaide !” murmured Dionetta very softly. The permission was as precious as the gift of a silver chain would have been. “My lady, it is pretty.”

“ Shall we change ?” asked the Advocate’s wife gaily. “ Can we ?” inquired Dionetta, in a tone of solemnity. “ I will ask the priest.”

“ No, do not trouble. But would you like to change ?” “ I do not know. If wo cannot, it is no use thinking of it.” “ There is no harm in thinking of things. Do you like your life here ?” t “ Yes, my lady.” “Would you not prefer to live in a city?” “ I should be frightened, I think, my lady.” “ Not with me?” “O, no, my lady, that would be happiness.”

“ Are you not happy here ?” “Yes; very happy.” “ But you wish for something ?” “No, my lady; I have everything I want.”

“ Everything! positively everything !” “ Yes, my lady.” “ There is one thing you must want if yo have it not already.” “ May I know what it is ?” “ Yes, child —Love.” Dionetta blushed crimson from forehead to nock, and the Advocate’s wife laughed, and tapped her cheek. “ You are very pretty, Dionetta. Do you mean to tell me you have not a lover ?” “ I have been asked my lady,” said the girl, in a tone so low that it could just be heard. “ And you consented ?”

“ No, my lady.” “ And really and truly you have not a lover ? Where can the men’s eyes be ? ” “ What can I say, my lady,” murmured Dionetta, her head bent down. “ There are some who say that they love mo.” “ Hut you don’t love them.” “ No, my lady.” “You would like to have one you could love ?”

“ One day, my lady, if I am so fortunate.”

“ I promise you,” said the Advocate’s wife, with a blithe laugh, “ that one day you will bo so fortunate. Women wore made for love. It is the only thing in life worth living for. Blushing again ! I would give my jewel case, Dionetta, to he able to blush like you.” “I cannot holp.it, my lady. My face often grows quite rod when I am alone.” “ And thinking of love,” added the Advocate’s wife. “ Bor what else should make it red ? I-can see, Dionetta, that you and I are going to he great friends.”

“ You are very good, my lady, but I am ouly a poor peasant'. I will serve you faithfully.” ‘ >•■ “Aud keep my secrets. Mind that, Dionotta. You must keep my secrets.” “Can you have any?” murmured Dionotta, “ and shall you tell them to mo ?” “ Every woman in the' world has secrets, and every woman in the world must have someone to whom she can whisper them. You will find that out for yourself in time. 0, yes child, I have secrets —and one, a very precious one. If over you guess it without my tolling you, keep it buried in your heart, and do not speak of it to a living soul.” “ I would not dare, my lady.”

“ I intend to bo very, very happy here, and you must help to make mo so, Dionetta.” “ 1 will do my best, my lady.” They walked a little apart from the others during this conversation, at the conclusion of which they found themselves at the step of The House of White Shadows. “ Edward,” said the Advocate’s wife to him as they entered the house, “ I have found a treasure. My new maid is charming.” “ lam glad to hear it; she has an xngonous face ; but you will be able to judge her better when you know her better.”

“You do not trust many persons, Edward.” “ Not many, Adelaide.” “ Mo ?” she asked archly. “Implicitly.” “ And another, I think.” “ Certainly one other.” “ I should not be far out if I were to name Mr Balcombe.” “ Yes, Arthur Balcombe. Had you mixed with all kinds and conditions of people as I have done, Adelaide, had you had my experiences, you would have learnt to place one quality above all others.” “ What is that, Edward ?” “ The quality of the dog Faithfulness.” “ Before love, my dear?” “ Yes, before love. Love too frequently changes, as the seasons do. Faithfulness is a fixed quality. It is immutable.” The arrangements within the house wore complete and admirable. For the Advocate a study, with a library which brought an expression of satisfaction to his face ; a spacious and commodious apartment, neither overloaded with furniture, nor oppressive with bare spaces; with an oirtlook from one window to the snow regions of Mont Blanc, from another to the city of Geneva, which, at the present moment, lay bathed in a soft mellow light. For the Advocate’s wife a boudoir and reception rooms into which new fashions had been introduced with judgment so good as not to jar with the old furnishings which had adorned them for many generations. “Mr Balcombe,” said the Advocate’s wife, “ has been at great trouble to render his villa agreeable to us.” “ He has a fine delicacy,” said the Advocate. “ There is no man for whom I have so high a regard.” On his study table the Advocate found the principal newspapers of the day. He sat down and unfolded them, and his wife, seeing that his attention had become deeply engaged, presently left him to himself. Ho did not leave the study until ho was summoned to dinner, and, the meal over, he returned to the room, and remained there until two hours after midnight, studying in the newspapers the particulars of the murder of the unfortunate flower girl, whoso body had been found in the wildly-rushing Ehone. And while he pondered and mused, and paced the room with thoughtful face, his wife lay sleeping in her holiday home, with smiles on her lips and joy in her heart, for she was dreaming of one far away. And her dream was of love. And Dionotta, the pretty maid, also slept, with her hands clasped at the back of her head ; and her lady was saying to her, “ Then really and truly, Dionetta, you have not a lover ? Women were made for love ; it is the only thing in life worth living for.” And ablush, even in her sleep, stole over Dionetta’s fair face and bosom. For her dream was of love. “ And Fritz the fool tossed in his hed, and muttered, “ Too fair ! too fair ! If I were rich and handsome I would lay down my life for her. It is a good thing for you, Fritz, that you are a fool.” And Gautran, in his prison cell, writhed upon his hard bed in the midst of the darkness ; for by his side lay the phantom body of a murdered girl, and his despair was deep and awful. And in the Swiss mountains, two hundred miles distant from The House of White Shadows, roamed a young man in the moonlight, struggling with all his mental might with a terror which oppressed him. The spot he had flown to was ten thousand feet above the level of the sea, and his sleeping room was in the hut of a peasant, mountain bom and mountain bred, who lived a life of dull contentment with his goats and wife and children. Par up in the heights immense forests of fir trees lay in dark, solemn masses, not a branch stirred, a profound repose reigned within their depths ; while the sleepless waterfalls in the lower heights, leaping and creeping and dashing over chasm and precipice, proclaimed the eternal wakefulness of nature. The solitary man gazed upon these majestic signs in awe and despair. “ There is no such thing as oblivion,” he muttered ; “ there is no such thing as forgetfulness. The solitudes are full of voices. My God ! to die and be blotted out for over and ever were bettor than this agony! I will conquer it—l will! —I will! —I will!” But as he spoke there gleamed upon him from a laughing cascade the vision of a face so beautiful as to force a groan from his lips. He turned from it, but it shone upon him, with a tender wooing, in every waterfall that met his sight. Trembling with the force of a passion he found it almost impossible to resist, he walked to his mountain home, and threw himself upon his couch. He was exhausted with sleepless nights, and in a few minutes he fell into a deep slumber, and a calm stole over his troubled soul, for his dreams were of love.

Chaptee V. THE INTERVIEW IN THE PEISON

“ Else, Gautran.” At this command Gautran rose slowly from the floor of his prison cell, upon which he had been lying at full length, face downward, and stood before the gaoler. “ What do you want with me ?” The gaoler scrutinised him, and laughed at him in mockery. “ You look more like beast than man.” “ That’s how I’ve been treated,” growled Gautran.

“As you deserve. So you have influential friends, it seems.” “Have I?” with a savage scowl at the taunt.

“ One will be here to see you directly.” “ Let him keep from me. I care to see no one.” .

“ That may be, but you have no choice, this gentlemen is not to be denied.” “A gentleman, oh ?” exclaimed Gautran with some slight show of interest. “Yes, a gentleman.” “Who is he then, and what does ho want with me ?” “ Who is lie ? a great lawyer who has sent murderers to their doom.”

“Ah !” and Gautran drew a long vindictive breath through his closed teeth.” “ And has set some free, I’m told. “Which is ho going to do for me ?” asked Gautran, in a dull, hopeless tone. “ Ask that of himself. Here ho is. SUenee.” The door was opened, and the Advocate entered the cell. “This is Gautran?” ho asked of the gaoler. “ This is he,” replied the gaoler. “ Leave mo alone with him.” “ It is against my orders, sir.” “ Here is your authority.” He handed to the gaoler a paper which gave him permission to hold free and uninterrupted converse with Gautran, accused of the murder of Madeline, the flower girl, the interview not to last longer than an hour.

The gaoler prepared to depart, but before ho left the coll, ho said in an undertone—“Be careful of the man, he is a savage, and not to be trusted.”

“ There is nothing to fear,” said the Advocate.

The gaoler lingered a moment and then retired.

The coll was but dimly lighted, and the Advocate, coming into it from the full sunlight of a bright day, could not see clearly for a little while. On the other hand, Gautran, whose eyes ware accustomed to the gloom, had a distinct view of the Advocate, and in a furtive, hangdog fashion closely inspected the features of his visitor. “You are a woodman,” said the Advocate. ‘ Aye, master, a woodman, it is well known.” “ Have you any money ?”

“Not a sou.” “ What about this murder ?” asked the Advocate abruptly. “What about it then ?” demanded Gautran, with an attempt at defiance. “ I am here to assist you, if I see my way. You have no lawyer to defend you.” “ How should I got one P What lawyer works without money, and where should an unfortunate devil like me got it from to pay him?”

Theie was a secret cunning in his manner which did not escape the Advocate’s notice.

“Liston, Gautran; Ido not ask you if you are guilty or innocent of the crime, for that is a formula, and, guilty or not guilty, you would return hut one answer. Have you anything to toll mo ?” “ Nothing.” “ You have led an evil life.”

“ Not my fault. I was born in it, and that is to stand against me now. I know well enough there is no chance for me.” “ Arc there any witnesses who would speak in your favor.” “ None that I know of.”

“It is true that you were walking with the girl on the night she was murdered ?”

‘•'No man has heard me deny it/* re plied Gant ran, shuddering. “ Why do you shudder P” “Master, I loved the girl. We wore to have been married.” “ That is disputed/* “ Everything is disputed that would toll in my favor. The truth is of no use to a poor devil like Gautran. Have you heard any good of mo, master ?” “ Not anything; all that I have hoard is against you.” “ That is the way of it. Well then, judge for yourself.” “ Can you point out anyone—can you indicate any one —who would be likely to murder the girl ? You shudder again.” (To be continued on Thursday.)