THE STONE DRAGON
CHAPTER I
By Murray Gilchrist
My father's account of his last visit to Furnivaux Castle which I found in his journal some years after his death enlightened me concerning the cause of his disagreement with my great aunt Barbara In response to an imperious summons he had travelled hurriedly from the south of France to the remote corner of Westmoreland where her estate lay no sooner had he reached the portico than the old woman confronted him and began to discuss a new plan for restoring his shrunken fortunes by a marriage compact between myself and one of her great nieces either Rachel or Mary both of whom were children in the house I was fifteen years old then Rachel thirteen and Mary ten The ceremony was to take place at once and I was to travel for some years before claiming my child wife My father refused indignantly scarce had his decisive words been spoken ere Lady Barbara turned away angrily Fool is there no changing you she cried He understood her peculiarities and despite his acknowledgment that she was a gross and materialistic woman who held no views beyond this world and whose chief enjoyment was to interfere mischievously with the affairs of other folk his kinship made him treat her with respect folk his kinship made him treat her with respect None he replied My boy shall not be forced into bondage before he knows what love means I would rather he begged for his bread than wronged body and soul She swung round and showed a menacing face You have refused what I had set my heart on Her voice softened Tis for the love I bear you Alston I want to help you remember that I am your mother's sister Don t refuse me Aunt he said painfully it may not be I cannot sin against my son 1 She came still nearer Well so be it she muttered in his ear Others will suffer for your obstinacy I know what my project meant but you with your blind gropings after light will never see Nay you come no further into my house this is no place for you The door was closed violently and my father passed along the dark avenues to the village He was with me in two days but although I pressed him often being curious to hear all about Furni vaux which I had never seen he refused to disclose either the cause or the result of his visit Before two years had passed however I found myself by a curious trick of fortune in the vicinity of Furnivaux Castle I had suffered from an acute attack of brain fever and when convalescent had been ordered by the doctor to taste the air of Marlbrok over Sands a quaint watering place at the mouth of the Lamber estuary My father was engaged at the time in preparing for the press his volume of Philosophical Discussions and although he would willingly have accompanied me I chose rather to take Jeffreys a man who had been his valet in former times but who held now the posts of confidant secretary and checker of the domestic accounts a faithful old servant of a type unknown to the present generation At first my father was averse to my visiting Marlbrok He had suggested Nice or Mentone fancying that the bustle of foreign life would act as a tonic but as he heard of the marvellous strengthening virtues which according to Doctor Pulteney belonged to the Lamber water he consented and after strictly enjoining me not to go within at least a mile of Furnivaux travelled with me and left me with Jeffreys at an ancient inn On the fourth evening of my stay I strolled with Jeffreys to a large hill whose seaward side is perfectly precipitous but which is easily climbed landward by a winding sheep path When I had reached the summit I threw myself on the grass and rested for a while gazing at the misty outline of Man then when my dimmed eyes had cleared I turned and saw high on the side of a far distant inland hill an enormous building which at first sight appeared on fire for the westering sun struck full on the great square windows A grove of majestic trees gloomed to the left and a park besprinkled with herds of deer sloped downward to the furthermost recess of the estuary A shepherd was training a dog near the place where I sat regardless of Jeffrey's deprecations I called to him and inquired the name of the house Furnivaux Castle young sir Lady Barbara Verelst's place he replied What I cried Tell me all about it Have you ever been there What is it like Before he could answer Jeffreys interposed Come Master Ralph it is growing chill we shall have Doctor Pulteney here if you take cold But I took no heed of him and despite his attempted hindrance obtained all the necessary information concerning the way An evil desire to disobey my father filled me it seemed as if 4 THE STONE DRAGON the glamour of the house had cast a spell me and as I was hurried away by Jeffreys I resolved to take advantage of him in the early morning and to visit Lady Barbara I slept little that night but lay watching dawn creep over the sea and listening to plaintive chirping of birds As the cracked bell Marlbrok St Mary's struck six I sprang from bed dressed hurriedly and after a quiet laugh at the thought of what Jeffreys consternation would be when he discovered my absence I slipped from the house and followed the path the shepherd had described It led through a long wood of small trees matted with bracken and sedge and crossed many rivulets that ran down to the sea There was much honeysuckle so sweet that life grew absolutely perfect I gathered a large bunch wherein lay many bees and chanting extempore rhymes I hurried onward When I reached the terrace of Furnivaux it was nearly breakfast time The hall door open revealed a vista of ancient pictures As I knocked there timidly an ancient serving man in fawn livery appeared Something perhaps my resemblance to my father amazed him and he bade me enter at once I wish to see Lady Barbara Verelst I said He ushered me into a small white panelled room Her ladyship will be with you very soon 1 he replied Meanwhile I arranged the honeysuckle in a large china dish As I was doing this a slight noise disturbed me and looking up I saw a white frocked little girl eyeing me very intently A black Persian cat lay in her arms rubbing its head on her shoulder Coimn Mary I cried The child dropped the cat and ran forward to bring her tiny mouth to mine But even as she kissed footsteps came and she drew back alarmed I took the honeysuckle and flung it all into her apron and she as if fearing to be seen made for another door and disappeared Then Lady Barbara entered There was nothing of the patrician in her appearance Clad in a plain brown dress with a narrow collar of lace she might well have passed for a housekeeper who had no liking for bright colour Her face was round and russet with a broad low forehead that was covered with an intricate network of wrinkles Her eyes were small and sherry coloured and her teeth which as I heard afterwards were natural glistened like regular pieces of ivory Altogether she struck me as a sharp bargain driving countrywoman with a good deal of craft and an underlying vein of sarcastic humour As she saw me she courtesied very low So you are Ralph or Rafe as I love best to say it she said Well you are very welcome here though your father and I got across at our last meeting But I suppose he has thought better of my proposal and sent you now 1 Here she looked at her watch a massive gold and crystal globe that swung from her girdle The girl is a long time 1 she exclaimed Before I could open my mouth to declare the truth about my father a rustling of silks came and a girl swept through the doorway She was about fifteen years old but might well have passed for twenty Tall and slender in figure and with a face so perfectly so strangely lovely it compelled me to make a simile of a flame resolving at the lambent crest into a star She moved towards me and with no assumption of modesty threw her arms around my neck and kissed me I have no idea how she was dressed but as I write comes a recollection of the flower called crown imperial lying on a web of red golden hair Lady Barbara shrieked in affected dismay My dear Rachel she cried you are forgetting yourself Rafe is not a little boy he seventeen he 1s a man 1 Rachel Verelst turned to her uplifting luminous eyes O aunt she said with a sigh of relief it is most delicious to see a man I am Miranda he Ferdinand Cousin mincingly you Ye the first man I ve seen for two years except of course the servants and they don t count with such people as your lowly handmaid 1 Something about her perhaps the fact that her manner was so opposed to that with which I had endowed my ideal woman fascinated me at once Never before had I seen such radiant beauty never before had I known a woman lay herself out so coquettishly to attract attention She was unlike anything I had ever dreamed of and even as I stood I felt myself become enthralled There was such admiration too in her glance admiration of the most flattering kind All suddenly I sprang high in self esteem A handsome couple the old woman said pointedly One fair as day the other as Shakespeare says somewhere black as night Yes day and night Now pray let me see you walk together to the breakfast room I will waive etiquette for once and you shall take precedence Ah yes sir your arm was given gracefully I am quite satisfied with your manner You are a Verelst though your name is Eyre With many comments upon the picture we made she followed us to a small parlour hung with red velvet embossed with earl's coronets in gilt A light meal was spread The aroma of coffee filled the air and after the footman had brought in the hot dishes a gust of fresher sweetness came as Mary shyly bedecked with honeysuckle entered and sat at my side Lady Barbara took no heed of her appearance so bent was she on her own plans So your father has really conquered his prejudices she remarked I knew all the time that they meant nothing poor Alston he was always feather brained and I did not believe that he would have held out so long Well forgive and forget It does my heart good to see you and Rachel at table together I am almost inclined to sing Nunc Dimittis at once Something in the exultancy of her voice suppressed my avowal that overpowered by curiosity and attraction I had come clandestinely It was not from kindness that my tongue refused its office but rather of a dread of how she might act Did he send any message any writings she inquired sharply I shook my head Ah the rogue she said He s proud of you he knows that your presence is enough to explain all Ay and a very good recommendation to my favour Alston had ever a little of the diplomatist Again let me assure you that nobody could be more welcome 1 So the meal passed Often Rachel turned to me with proudly sweeping eyes and brought her face so near mine that I could see my reflection in each apple For one so young her wit was brilliant and sharp edged but the vivid outlines of her colouring prevented me from seeing anything unmaidenly in her demeanour There was depth mingled with unstableness in her character and although against my will I was allured I could not help feeling a sort of oppression as if the air were becoming too heavily perfumed Two centuries ago she might have shone as a king's mistress When I looked at her sister timid frail and shrinking it was as if a draught of cool air rippled across my temples Once the child essayed to speak Cousin Rafe she said softly will you tell me after breakfast what the world is like I don t mean the country or the little market towns but those places that one reads about Is Venice like Mrs RadclifFe paints it in the Mysteries UdolphoV Lady Barbara began to laugh rather coarsely What is the girl raving about she said turning contemptuously to Rachel Does she think that at my age I Ve nothing better to do than to listen to puerile descriptions My dear Rafe do not trouble with her Rachel I wonder you permit his attention to be distracted Great tears rolled down Mary's cheeks I was angered I like to hear her talk I said chivalrously At this my great
aunt laughed again but Rachel with wonderful tact rose and embraced her
sister If she had not done so I believe that I should have hated her
Even Lady Barbara was pleased You are a good girl Rachel she said
patting her shoulder Now Mary you must forgive my querulousness 1 She
took Rachel's hand and drew her from the table As she reached the door
she paused Rafe she said can you amuse yourself till noon Rachel writes
my letters and manages everything for me so I must take her away Mary
make your cousin's stay here as pleasant as you can show him all over
the house and gardens or anywhere so long as he's entertained If you
care to ride order the ponies But Mary as soon as we were alone led me
to the open window A flight of stairs descended from here to an old
garden where busts and urns surmounted columns of fluted marble A spring
prattling over many hued stones crossed the middle of this and deepened
into shallow pools that were edged with irises and flowering rushes Let
us sit beside the dragon at the wellhead she said it is my favourite
dreaming place and I will ask you all I want to know I am not THE STONE
tiresome to you Cousin Rafe she added downcast eyes Our spirits rose Ere
long I was chasing up and down the maze quite forgetful of gravity of
seventeen and attempting at corner to grasp her flying skirts but ever
intentionally out of compliment to her of foot Her paleness had quite
disappeared as she laughed at me through the legs of the peacocks she
looked like a young nymph began to sing hurriedly in a silvery voice in
imitation of some gaffer When first I went a waggonin a waggonin did go I
filled my pairients hearts full of sorra grief au woe And many are the
hardships that I ha since gone thro So sing wo my lads sing wo Drive on
my lads Yo ho For ye canna drive a waggon when the wunnago Every word
came clear and distinct Scarcely however had she begun the second verse
than sound of an approaching vehicle silenced her looked down the avenue
and beheld a trap drawn by a bony white horse It drew up near us A
familiar voice accosted me Master Ralph 1 To my surprise it was old
Jeffreys very haggard and with eyes more sad than reproachful O Master
Ralph he said come back at once for God's sake There s just time enough
to catch the boat if you don t linger a moment Word came this morning
that my poor master was dying His voice broke into sobs Turning hastily
to the child who stood aghast at my side I gave her one quick kiss and
then sprang up to the seat forgetful of all save the great catastrophe
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