CHAPTER IV
THE SEALED CHAMBER
When, amid the most enchanting scenery to be found in Europe, and at atime when all the charms of summer are poured upon the earth, ahandsome young captain is brought into companionship with a youthfulwoman, whose intellect charms even more than her beauty; and when thepair dwell isolated from the rest of the world with nothing to divertattention from each other, it requires no prophet to predict theresult.
Barbara was now out of her convalescent stage; and, therefore, neithershe nor Paul had any valid excuse for remaining longer at CastelNuovo; nevertheless they continued to postpone indefinitely the day ofdeparture.
Paul completely ignored the regiment at Corfu, and the good uncle, whowas doubtless fuming at his nephew's protracted absence; and Barbaraon her part seemed to have forgotten her pursuers from the convent,and her desire for the protection of the British flag.
Enwrapped in each other, yielding to the delicious spirit of _dolcefar niente_, the pair were leading an idyllian life.
To Lambro and Jacintha the scenery around was as it had always been,but to Paul and Barbara, mountains, sea, air, sky, had become steepedin hues of divine beauty; each succeeding day seemed happier than thepreceding.
They entertained a dreamy notion that their life at Castel Nuovo wouldnot last forever, but its end they put far from their thoughts. Thegolden present was all in all. Why anticipate pain? _Vogue lagalere._
Lambro offered no opposition to their stay, though the thought of theMaster's return gave him some uneasiness at times, and he said as muchto Jacintha.
"I wish he would come," was her reply. "I should like to see his facewhen he sets eyes upon the signorina."
"He'll think as we did, that she has risen from the dead," returnedLambro.
"Well, she has a protector in Captain Cressingham, who will know howto deal with the Master, should he appear."
"Humph! there'll be the devil to pay ere long," growled Lambro. ThatJacintha was not married to the old Greek troubled Barbara verylittle, if at all. Jacintha had brought her back to life; Jacintha wasas good as gold; Barbara, figuratively speaking, would have turned andrent any one who should have ventured to assail the reputation ofJacintha.
For, thanks to new influences, Barbara's character was undergoingdevelopment. The stateliness and gravity that had marked her bearingon the first night of her coming to Castel Nuovo were yielding to amore buoyant and girlish spirit.
Close to the castle a semicircle of dark rocks, with a sandy base,over which the tide flowed, formed an ideal bathing place. Everymorning Barbara would seek this spot attended by Jacintha.
"Wouldn't Abbess Teresa and the nuns be scandalized if they saw menow?" she would remark as she returned to breakfast, laughing andwringing out her dark wet locks like some lovely Nereid.
She was a maiden formed for gayety. In previous days her naturaldisposition had evidently been kept under restraint. She was nowrevelling in the sunshine of a new and sweet liberty, and Jacinthacould scarcely believe her own eyes, when one day, attracted by thesounds of sweet laughter and of ringing steel proceeding from anadjoining apartment, she peeped in and discovered the cause of it allto be Barbara, who was receiving her first lesson in fencing fromPaul, while Lambro looked on with sombre approval.
"What next, I wonder?" thought Jacintha.
Barbara illumined the dark and melancholy castle like a sunbeam. EvenLambro relaxed something of his moroseness in her presence, and hadbegun to doubt whether five hundred beshliks could procure in the martof Janina a maiden in all respects like Barbara. She had taken toLambro much more than Paul had, who could not overcome his secretdistrust of the old Palicar.
But then Lambro was a hero in Barbara's eyes, because he had foughtfor the freedom of a conquered race, and she herself, as itsubsequently transpired, was the daughter of a conquered race.
When the day's strolling with Paul was over, and the evening mealfinished, she would invite the old Greek to fight his battles overagain. Sitting on a low stool at his feet, and resting her elbows onher lap and her chin on her hands, her hair sometimes falling in duskywaves around her fair throat, she would betray such interest inLambro's reminiscences that the foolish Paul was often moved tojealousy.
"And by deeds such as these," she murmured on one occasion, "was thefreedom of Hellas won. Why should not Poland achieve what Greece hasachieved?"
"So, signorina, you are of Polish blood?" smiled Paul.
"And am proud of my nationality."
"I would for your sake that your people were free."
"They _will_ be free again," she answered, a beautiful heroic looktransfiguring her face with a new light. "Oh! Kosciusko," she cried,with an outburst of patriotism that quite surprised Paul, "why did yousay '_Finis Poloniae_'? Because _you_ said it, men have come to believeit. No, no, it is not true. The greenstone sceptre of Poland may liein the treasury of the Kremlin broken in halves, but the spirit of thePolish people is not broken. Would that I had been born a man that Imight shoulder musket and fight for fatherland! The Princess Radzivilfought on horseback against the Russians, and why may not I?" And thenraising her wine-glass aloft, she added, "Confusion to the Czar!"
"Amen," said Lambro, responsive to the toast. "We had to assassinateold Capo d'Istria because he was too much under Russian influence. Ah!how we danced the Romaika the night he died!"
This remark of Lambro created a diversion, for Barbara, who had neverseen the Greek national dance, asked him to describe it.
The old Palicar did more than describe,--he acted it. Kicking hisembroidered slippers into the air he went through all the flings andevolutions of the Romaika with an agility surprising for one so aged,at the same time chanting an appropriate ballad.
"Ah! who could leap higher than Lambro in his youth?" he cried, whenhe had finished his performance.
Barbara thanked him, and observed, with a pretty air of command, thatas Lambro had done something to entertain them it was now Paul's turnto do the like.
And Paul began by singing the first song that entered his head andthat happened to be "The Mistletoe Bough," at that time not sohackneyed a ballad as now, and probably never before heard in the hallof a Dalmatian castle. At any rate it was new to his hearers, andBarbara in particular seemed much interested by it.
"Is there any truth in it?" she asked at its conclusion.
"Supposed to be founded on fact," returned Paul, proceeding to relatethe story of the fair lady of Modena.
"Ginevra, if she had lived at Castel Nuovo," observed Barbara, "mighthave found a better place of concealment than an oaken chest. Now,"she added, prompted by a playful impulse, "give me a clear start ofone minute, and without going outside the castle I will undertake tohide where no one shall find me."
She sprang up, and with laughing eyes and graceful step danced fromthe apartment.
"She is still a girl, you see," smiled Paul.
Entering into the fun of the thing they allowed a full minute toelapse, and then set off to find her.
They went through the castle from roof to basement, exploring everyplace capable of affording concealment. But Barbara was invisible; shehad vanished as if completely melted to air.
Half-an-hour had passed in this search. Then they went again throughthe building loudly calling her by name, and, proclaiming themselvesbeaten, they invited her to come forth from her hiding place.
Their appeal met with no response. They stared dubiously at oneanother. The affair had begun to lose its humorous side. Thedeath-like silence, Barbara's invisibility, the gray twilight nowstealing through the castle, caused it to assume a somewhat ghostlyaspect.
"She must have gone outside," said Lambro.
"She promised to keep within the building," observed Paul.
For the third time they explored the castle, ending their search onthe highest landing of the staircase. Here they paused before thelocked door of the mysterious study.
"She is perhaps concealed here," suggested Paul.
"Impossible," returned Lambro, pointing to the wax. "The Master's sealis unbroken."
"There is an entrance to this room leading from the chamber in whichthe signorina first slept," remarked Paul quietly.
This statement was pure conjecture on his part, but its truth wasinstantly made evident by Lambro's manner. He turned so savagely uponJacintha that Paul thought he was going to strike her.
"So you couldn't keep your tongue quiet?"
"You err," said Paul, hastening to vindicate the woman. "Jacintha hastold me nothing. It is simply a guess of mine, and--"
He broke off abruptly and placed his ear to the door.
"By heaven, there is some one in this room. I can detect a soundwithin. Signorina, are you here?" he cried, rapping upon the panels.
The dusk of the landing was suddenly illumined by a light that cameand went in a moment. Merely a flash of summer lightning.
It was accompanied by something startling within. A faint cry of"Oh!"--plainly the voice of Barbara; a dull thud as of the fall of ahuman body, and then a significant stillness.
With a soldier's promptitude Paul flung himself against the door,bruising his shoulders by the violence of the impact.
"You'll never force that door," said Lambro. "It's too strong. We mustgo downstairs. The signorina must have got in here through the secretpanel in the bedroom."
Paul darted down the staircase, and in a moment more was within thebedchamber. He saw what had escaped his eye in the three previousexplorations, namely, that the circular piece of violet-colored waxwas traversed by a horizontal fracture, clearly caused by the movingof the panel. Lambro, who had followed close upon Paul, touched acertain spring hidden within some ornamental carving of the wall, andthe panel glided off laterally, revealing a narrow corridor behind.
"To the left," said Lambro. "There's a staircase a few feet off. Atthe top of that another to the right. Mount that and you'll see theMaster's room before you."
It was strange that the old Palicar did not follow Paul up thestaircase, but so it was. He remained in the bedroom by the open panelwith his hand to his ear in the attitude of listening.
"Oh, if she has discovered--it!" said Jacintha, with clasped hands.
"Well, what if she has? It was not our doing, nor the Master's for thematter of that."
"When I heard the signorina fall just now it brought the heart to mymouth. It reminded me of that other fall--you know whose. And in thesame room, too! If--"
"Hold your tongue! How can I listen while you keep chattering?"
Paul, following the directions given by Lambro, had ascended the twostaircases, and passing through a square opening in a panelled wallsimilar to that which he had just quitted, found himself in themysterious study.
Barbara lay upon the floor in a seeming swoon.
Paul cast one swift glance around the apartment, but failed to discernanything in its present state calculated to inspire fear.
Kneeling by Barbara's side he raised her to a sitting posture, andpassing his left arm around her rested her head upon his shoulder.
"Dearest Barbara, what has frightened you?" he asked, observing thather eyes were opening. It was the first time he had addressed her byher Christian name; the word had escaped him quite involuntarily."What has frightened you?" he repeated.
"That!" she said.
Like a timid child she clung to him, and indicating as the cause ofher fear the life-size portrait of a man hanging upon the wall,--aportrait scarcely discernible in the dim light.
"Take me away," she murmured faintly. "There is something strange inthe atmosphere of this room, something that I can't understand,something that makes me fear. Take me away."
As she seemed unable of herself to rise, Paul raised her light form inhis arms and carried her down the secret stairway, through thebedchamber, past the wondering Lambro and his consort, back again intothe dining-hall whence she had first set out.
She neither blushed nor resisted at finding herself in his arms,apparently not giving the matter a thought. Her fear overpowered everyother emotion.
"Lambro," she asked, when somewhat revived by a stimulant administeredby Jacintha. "There is a man's portrait on the wall of that room.Whose?"
"The Master's."
"The Master's?" she echoed in a tone of dismay. "Have I been livingall this time in the house of my enemy?"
"You know the Master, then?" inquired Paul of Barbara. "What is hisname?"
"Cardinal Ravenna."
"The Master _is_ a cardinal, I believe," said Lambro. "Ravenna? Humph!I have heard him called that by--by some; but it's not the name heusually bears when here."
"You serve a very bad master, Lambro," said Barbara reproachfully.
The old Palicar shrugged his shoulders in lieu of a reply.
Paul here recalled Lambro's remark to the effect that the Masterbelonged to a peculiar brotherhood pledged to the repudiation ofwomen. This misogyny was now explained. But why should the abode of aRoman ecclesiastic contain a lady's bedchamber kept in a state ofpreparation for an occupant? Paul glanced at Jacintha as if seeking anexplanation from her, but the old Greek had set a warning eye uponhis partner, and under that glittering terror Jacintha became mute.
"You have broken the Master's seal," grumbled Lambro, turning toBarbara. "He will learn that some one has been in that room. Whatexcuse am I to make to him?"
"How did you discover the secret panel?" asked Paul of Barbara, andpaying but scant respect to the Palicar's complaint.
"By accident," she replied. "Sleeping or waking that violet wax hasexercised a fascination over me. Yesterday, attracted by anindefinable impulse, I stole into the bedchamber. Conjecturing thatthe panel might be a movable one, I began to search for the spring.Fortune favored my endeavors; I discovered the hidden corridor, butdid not venture within. To-day when I heard you relate the story ofGinevra, I thought it would be a piece of fun to hide behind the paneland get you to search for me. While standing there in concealment theimpulse came upon me to go forward and explore. I ascended the twostaircases, and entered the upper room by a panel which I found open.Till that moment curiosity had been my only feeling, but as soon as Ientered the gray twilight of that room I found myself trembling; theplace seemed like a haunted chamber. And yet frightened though I was Icould not retreat. Some strange power drew me on to the centre of theapartment, and there I stood looking around for--I know not what. Icould hear your far-off cries, but I hesitated to answer lest thesound of my voice should call forth something terrible from thissilent chamber.
"Then suddenly the sight of a lady's portrait hanging on the wallimpelled me forward and almost made me forget my fears. The portraitwas so like me that at first I thought it must be mine, but I know itcannot be."
"Why not?" asked Paul.
"Because I have never sat to an artist, and, moreover, the lady iswearing a dress such as I have never worn. She carries a sceptre inher hand and on her head is a diadem. Who ever saw me with sceptre anddiadem? No; the portrait is not mine. Whose can it be? Do you know,Lambro?"
The old Palicar shook his head, but Paul felt that little reliancecould be placed on his denial.
"In a distant corner," continued Barbara, "was another portrait, lesseasy to examine since it hung in the shadows. As I was moving forwarda sudden gleam illumined the dusky chamber, bringing every line of theportrait into clear relief. I recognized the face of my enemy,Cardinal Ravenna; he seemed to be smiling at me with wickedsatisfaction. Such fear and trembling took hold of me that I fainted."
"And that is all you have seen?" said Lambro, with evident relief, afeeling in which Jacintha seemed to share.
"What else was there to see, then?" asked Paul, fixing a significantlook on the Palicar, who remained mute to the question.
"And this place, you say, belongs to Cardinal Ravenna?" said Barbara."I must leave to-morrow."
"Oh! my lady, so soon?" cried Jacintha sorrowfully, for she had becomevery fond of Barbara.
"If the card
inal should appear he will take me back to the convent."
"By whose authority?" asked Paul, hotly.
"He is my guardian."
"That may be, but he shall not restore you to the convent against yourwill. You have not taken the vows of a nun?"
"No. I was placed in the convent to be educated merely."
"And you do not wish to return?"
"After enjoying freedom? Oh! no, no."
"Then you shall not return," said Paul, decisively.
"Still I must leave here. I cannot stay longer under this roof."
"True, but do not act hastily. Where are you going? What are yourplans? Take a day for reflection. That brief delay will not make muchdifference. It is not likely that the cardinal will appear to-morrow,and if he should, what matters? For my own part I should very muchlike to come face to face with the man who proposes to immure youwithin the walls of a nunnery. He would not find me honey-tongued,though such a course may seem ungrateful after having so long enjoyedthe shelter of his roof. Fear him not, signorina. Remain at leastanother day. Remember that to-morrow was fixed for our sail to IsolaSacra."
Barbara was persuaded by these words. One day, as Paul had said, wouldnot make much difference.
"And I fainted at sight of a picture!" she said, with self-reproachfulsmile. "I, who have talked of shouldering a musket, and of fightingfor Poland."
"We all have our fears at times. I ran away from my first battle,"observed Lambro, without stating from how many others he had run.
Now that her fears were vanishing, Barbara began to review the sequelof her recent adventure. She had waked from a swoon to find herself inthe arms of Paul, and with the words "dearest Barbara" falling uponher ear. The significance of the expression did not appeal to her atthe time, but now the recalling of it caused her heart to palpitate.Her color came and went. She scarcely dared raise her eyes to meet hisgaze. Silence and shyness marked her as their own for the remainder ofthe evening.
That night, when the other inmates of the castle were sleeping, Paul,with lighted lamp, stole off to the bedchamber containing the secretpanel, and began to explore the hidden passage and staircase leadingto the mysterious study. Roof, walls, and flooring were of black oakthick with dust. Every angle had a festoon of cobwebs. On turning thecorner of the staircase Paul made his first discovery. For somepurpose or other a very long nail had been fixed in the baluster, andnot having been driven far into the wood, it projected in such amanner that unobservant persons brushing hastily by would run the riskof tearing their clothing.
Some such accident had happened, for from the head of this nail therehung a tiny shred of flimsy fabric, which, upon examination by thelight of the lamp, Paul found to be a fragment of delicate lace,--laceof a color, texture, and pattern that he had seen in the charmingwhite costume with the silver rope-girdle which Jacintha had bestowedupon Barbara.
This fragment of lace had not become detached while Barbara herselfwas turning the staircase, inasmuch as during her recent adventure shehad been wearing a different dress.
Scrutinizing everywhere, Paul was attracted by a faint sparkle comingfrom the dust in a corner of the staircase, the cause of which provedto be a little article of gold, obviously a seal. It was circular inshape, and the band encircling the stone was inscribed with the motto,"_Esse quam videri_." The stone itself forming the seal was a lovelysapphire bearing the image of a double-headed eagle, beautifully anddelicately engraved.
"The royal arms of Poland, as I live!" muttered Paul. His surprise wasnaturally very great, but since speculation as to how the thing cameto be there would have been mere waste of time, he pocketed thetreasure-trove and passed on to the mysterious apartment. This hefound differed in no way from an ordinary study. It was well lightedand well carpeted. There were numerous shelves with books thereon.There were chairs, a table, and an escritoire. There wereoil-paintings on the walls. There was really nothing to alarm one inthe aspect of the apartment. Paul did not feel anything of the strangesensation spoken of by Barbara, and therefore he felt compelled toascribe that part of her experience to the imagination of a timidmaiden. The room was locked and sealed from intrusion: _ergo_, herargument was there must be something fearful in it.
Paul turned his attention to the portraits on the wall, and began withthat of the Master who was represented in the scarlet robes of acardinal. It was a handsome face upon which Paul gazed,--a face fullof intellectual power, with nothing of the mystic visionary about it;the face of a man of action, a man of ambition, an ecclesiasticalstatesman of the type of Richelieu or Mazarin. Paul waved the lamp toand fro, trying to educe the wicked expression that had frightenedBarbara. True, the countenance was a cold and haughty character, buthe could not honestly affirm that there was anything sinister in it.Barbara's fancy was probably due to her hostile feelings.
He next surveyed the picture of the young lady,--a maiden robed injewelled attire with pearl necklace, diadem, and sceptre. Theresemblance to Barbara was indeed so marvellous that Paul at first wasdisposed to believe that she was the person here represented, and thatthe symbols of high rank were decorative fancies of the artist.
A closer study of the portrait, however, made him think otherwise.True, every feature corresponded with Barbara's; hair and eyes were ofthe same color. The difference was in the expression. This girl hadmischievous eyes, an arch smile, a radiant look. It was clearly theface of one leading a happy, unclouded life, whereas even in Barbara'ssmile there was always a tinge of melancholy, as if her mind wereshadowed by the memory of some secret sorrow.
Who was this youthful lady with the smiling eyes? If she resembledBarbara in face, why not in the height and shape of her figure? Ah!here without doubt was the original wearer of that soft, silky dresswhich had required no alteration to suit Barbara. The young lady hadperhaps left it as a parting gift to Jacintha for services rendered bythe latter.
She had doubtless come to Castel Nuovo under the charge of CardinalRavenna. Singular that the bedchamber in which Barbara had sleptshould have been previously occupied by a lady her exact counterpartin face and figure! Was the bedroom that was kept in a constant stateof readiness intended for her use?
He understood now the cause of the amazement on the part of Lambro andJacintha when they first beheld Barbara; they were doubtless startledby her extraordinary resemblance to their previous guest.
That this lady had traversed the corridor leading to the cardinal'sstudy was proved by the lace fragment of her dress adhering to thenail of the staircase, though it was difficult to assign a reason forthis proceeding. A secret amour was the first idea that suggesteditself. But then, a girl with so lovely a face would never lackyouthful and handsome lovers; it was not likely, therefore, that shewould be guilty of an intrigue with an ecclesiastic old enough to beher father.
The mystery was bewildering, especially when the diadem and sceptrewere taken into consideration. Lambro and his consort could explainit, but only by breaking the oath imposed upon them by thecardinal,--an oath taken, if Jacintha's words were true, upon the HolySacrament itself. It must be a weighty secret to require suchsafeguarding; nay, more, it was a secret that threatened Jacintha'sown life, as shown by her remark to Lambro: "Shall I be permitted toleave here after your death?"
Musing on all this, Paul turned from the portraits to examine the restof the apartment, without discovering anything of consequence, till,being near the hearth, he happened to glance downwards. For a momenthe stood as still as a statue; then he stooped and held the lamp low.
On the polished oak flooring was a dark stain.