CHAPTER VI.
A GLANCE AT THE BANNERWORTH FAMILY.--THE PROBABLE CONSEQUENCES OF THEMYSTERIOUS APPARITION'S APPEARANCE.
Having thus far, we hope, interested our readers in the fortunes of afamily which had become subject to so dreadful a visitation, we trustthat a few words concerning them, and the peculiar circumstances inwhich they are now placed, will not prove altogether out of place, orunacceptable. The Bannerworth family then were well known in the part ofthe country where they resided. Perhaps, if we were to say they werebetter known by name than they were liked, on account of that name, weshould be near the truth, for it had unfortunately happened that for avery considerable time past the head of the family had been the veryworst specimen of it that could be procured. While the junior brancheswere frequently amiable and most intelligent, and such in mind andmanner as were calculated to inspire goodwill in all who knew them, hewho held the family property, and who resided in the house now occupiedby Flora and her brothers, was a very so--so sort of character.
This state of things, by some strange fatality, had gone on for nearly ahundred years, and the consequence was what might have been fairlyexpected, namely--that, what with their vices and what with theirextravagances, the successive heads of the Bannerworth family hadsucceeded in so far diminishing the family property that, when it cameinto the hands of Henry Bannerworth, it was of little value, on accountof the numerous encumbrances with which it was saddled.
The father of Henry had not been a very brilliant exception to thegeneral rule, as regarded the head of the family. If he were not quiteso bad as many of his ancestors, that gratifying circumstance was to beaccounted for by the supposition that he was not quite so bold, and thatthe change in habits, manners, and laws, which had taken place in ahundred years, made it not so easy for even a landed proprietor to playthe petty tyrant.
He had, to get rid of those animal spirits which had prompted many ofhis predecessors to downright crimes, had recourse to the gaming-table,and, after raising whatever sums he could upon the property whichremained, he naturally, and as might have been fully expected, lost themall.
He was found lying dead in the garden of the house one day, and by hisside was his pocket-book, on one leaf of which, it was the impression ofthe family, he had endeavoured to write something previous to hisdecease, for he held a pencil firmly in his grasp.
The probability was that he had felt himself getting ill, and, beingdesirous of making some communication to his family which pressedheavily upon his mind, he had attempted to do so, but was stopped by thetoo rapid approach of the hand of death.
For some days previous to his decease, his conduct had been extremelymysterious. He had announced an intention of leaving England forever--of selling the house and grounds for whatever they would fetchover and above the sums for which they were mortgaged, and so clearinghimself of all encumbrances.
He had, but a few hours before he was found lying dead, made thefollowing singular speech to Henry,--
"Do not regret, Henry, that the old house which has been in our familyso long is about to be parted with. Be assured that, if it is but forthe first time in my life, I have good and substantial reasons now forwhat I am about to do. We shall be able to go some other country, andthere live like princes of the land."
Where the means were to come from to live like a prince, unless Mr.Bannerworth had some of the German princes in his eye, no one knew buthimself, and his sudden death buried with him that most importantsecret.
There were some words written on the leaf of his pocket-book, but theywere of by far too indistinct and ambiguous a nature to lead toanything. They were these:--
"The money is ----------"
And then there was a long scrawl of the pencil, which seemed to havebeen occasioned by his sudden decease.
Of course nothing could be made of these words, except in the way of acontradiction as the family lawyer said, rather more facetiously than aman of law usually speaks, for if he had written "The money is not," hewould have been somewhere remarkably near the truth.
However, with all his vices he was regretted by his children, who choserather to remember him in his best aspect than to dwell upon his faults.
For the first time then, within the memory of man, the head of thefamily of the Bannerworths was a gentleman, in every sense of the word.Brave, generous, highly educated, and full of many excellent and noblequalities--for such was Henry, whom we have introduced to our readersunder such distressing circumstances.
And now, people said, that the family property having been alldissipated and lost, there would take place a change, and that theBannerworths would have to take to some course of honourable industryfor a livelihood, and that then they would be as much respected as theyhad before been detested and disliked.
Indeed, the position which Henry held was now a most precarious one--forone of the amazingly clever acts of his father had been to encumber theproperty with overwhelming claims, so that when Henry administered tothe estate, it was doubted almost by his attorney if it were at alldesirable to do so.
An attachment, however, to the old house of his family, had induced theyoung man to hold possession of it as long as he could, despite anyadverse circumstance which might eventually be connected with it.
Some weeks, however, only after the decease of his father, and when hefairly held possession, a sudden and a most unexpected offer came to himfrom a solicitor in London, of whom he knew nothing, to purchase thehouse and grounds, for a client of his, who had instructed him so to do,but whom he did not mention.
The offer made was a liberal one, and beyond the value of the place.The lawyer who had conducted Henry's affairs for him since his father'sdecease, advised him by all means to take it; but after a consultationwith his mother and sister, and George, they all resolved to hold bytheir own house as long as they could, and, consequently, he refused theoffer.
He was then asked to let the place, and to name his own price for theoccupation of it; but that he would not do: so the negotiation went offaltogether, leaving only, in the minds of the family, much surprise atthe exceeding eagerness of some one, whom they knew not, to getpossession of the place on any terms.
There was another circumstance perhaps which materially aided inproducing a strong feeling on the minds of the Bannerworths, with regardto remaining where they were.
That circumstance occurred thus: a relation of the family, who was nowdead, and with whom had died all his means, had been in the habit, forthe last half dozen years of his life, of sending a hundred pounds toHenry, for the express purpose of enabling him and his brother Georgeand his sifter Flora to take a little continental or home tour, in theautumn of the year.
A more acceptable present, or for a more delightful purpose, to youngpeople, could not be found; and, with the quiet, prudent habits of allthree of them, they contrived to go far and to see much for the sumwhich was thus handsomely placed at their disposal.
In one of those excursions, when among the mountains of Italy, anadventure occurred which placed the life of Flora in imminent hazard.
They were riding along a narrow mountain path, and, her horse slipping,she fell over the ledge of a precipice.
In an instant, a young man, a stranger to the whole party, who wastravelling in the vicinity, rushed to the spot, and by his knowledge andexertions, they felt convinced her preservation was effected.
He told her to lie quiet; he encouraged her to hope for immediatesuccour; and then, with much personal exertion, and at immense risk tohimself, he reached the ledge of rock on which she lay, and then hesupported her until the brothers had gone to a neighbouring house,which, bye-the-bye, was two good English miles off, and got assistance.
There came on, while they were gone, a terrific storm, and Flora feltthat but for him who was with her she must have been hurled from therock, and perished in an abyss below, which was almost too deep forobservation.
Suffice it to say that she was rescued; and he who had, by hisintrepidity, do
ne so much towards saving her, was loaded with the mostsincere and heartfelt acknowledgments by the brothers as well as byherself.
He frankly told them that his name was Holland; that he was travellingfor amusement and instruction, and was by profession an artist.
He travelled with them for some time; and it was not at all to bewondered at, under the circumstances, that an attachment of thetenderest nature should spring up between him and the beautiful girl,who felt that she owed to him her life.
Mutual glances of affection were exchanged between them, and it wasarranged that when he returned to England, he should come at once as anhonoured guest to the house of the family of the Bannerworths.
All this was settled satisfactorily with the full knowledge andacquiescence of the two brothers, who had taken a strange attachment tothe young Charles Holland, who was indeed in every way likely topropitiate the good opinion of all who knew him.
Henry explained to him exactly how they were situated, and told him thatwhen he came he would find a welcome from all, except possibly hisfather, whose wayward temper he could not answer for.
Young Holland stated that he was compelled to be away for a term of twoyears, from certain family arrangements he had entered into, and thatthen he would return and hope to meet Flora unchanged as he should be.
It happened that this was the last of the continental excursions of theBannerworths, for, before another year rolled round, the generousrelative who had supplied them with the means of making such delightfultrips was no more; and, likewise, the death of the father had occurredin the manner we have related, so that there was no chance as had beenanticipated and hoped for by Flora, of meeting Charles Holland on thecontinent again, before his two years of absence from England should beexpired.
Such, however, being the state of things, Flora felt reluctant to giveup the house, where he would be sure to come to look for her, and herhappiness was too dear to Henry to induce him to make any sacrifice ofit to expediency.
Therefore was it that Bannerworth Hall, as it was sometimes called, wasretained, and fully intended to be retained at all events until afterCharles Holland had made his appearance, and his advice (for he was, bythe young people, considered as one of the family) taken, with regard towhat was advisable to be done.
With one exception this was the state of affairs at the hall, and thatexception relates to Mr. Marchdale.
He was a distant relation of Mrs. Bannerworth, and, in early life, hadbeen sincerely and tenderly attached to her. She, however, with the wantof steady reflection of a young girl, as she then was, had, as isgenerally the case among several admirers, chosen the very worst: thatis, the man who treated her with the most indifference, and who paid herthe least attention, was of course, thought the most of, and she gaveher hand to him.
That man was Mr. Bannerworth. But future experience had made herthoroughly awake to her former error; and, but for the love she bore herchildren, who were certainly all that a mother's heart could wish, shewould often have deeply regretted the infatuation which had induced herto bestow her hand in the quarter she had done so.
About a month after the decease of Mr. Bannerworth, there came one tothe hall, who desired to see the widow. That one was Mr. Marchdale.
It might have been some slight tenderness towards him which had neverleft her, or it might be the pleasure merely of seeing one whom she hadknown intimately in early life, but, be that as it may, she certainlygave him a kindly welcome; and he, after consenting to remain for sometime as a visitor at the hall, won the esteem of the whole family by hisfrank demeanour and cultivated intellect.
He had travelled much and seen much, and he had turned to good accountall he had seen, so that not only was Mr. Marchdale a man of sterlingsound sense, but he was a most entertaining companion.
His intimate knowledge of many things concerning which they knew littleor nothing; his accurate modes of thought, and a quiet, gentlemanlydemeanour, such as is rarely to be met with, combined to make himesteemed by the Bannerworths. He had a small independence of his own,and being completely alone in the world, for he had neither wife norchild, Marchdale owned that he felt a pleasure in residing with theBannerworths.
Of course he could not, in decent terms, so far offend them as to offerto pay for his subsistence, but he took good care that they shouldreally be no losers by having him as an inmate, a matter which he couldeasily arrange by little presents of one kind and another, all of whichhe managed should be such as were not only ornamental, but actuallyspared his kind entertainers some positive expense which otherwise theymust have gone to.
Whether or not this amiable piece of manoeuvring was seen through by theBannerworths it is not our purpose to inquire. If it was seen through,it could not lower him in their esteem, for it was probably just whatthey themselves would have felt a pleasure in doing under similarcircumstances, and if they did not observe it, Mr. Marchdale would,probably, be all the better pleased.
Such then may be considered by our readers as a brief outline of thestate of affairs among the Bannerworths--a state which was pregnant withchanges, and which changes were now likely to be rapid and conclusive.
How far the feelings of the family towards the ancient house of theirrace would be altered by the appearance at it of so fearful a visitor asa vampyre, we will not stop to inquire, inasmuch as such feelings willdevelop themselves as we proceed.
That the visitation had produced a serious effect upon all the householdwas sufficiently evident, as well among the educated as among theignorant. On the second morning, Henry received notice to quit hisservice from the three servants he with difficulty had contrived to keepat the hall. The reason why he received such notice he knew well enough,and therefore he did not trouble himself to argue about a superstitionto which he felt now himself almost, compelled to give way; for howcould he say there was no such thing as a vampyre, when he had, with hisown eyes, had the most abundant evidence of the terrible fact?
He calmly paid the servants, and allowed them to leave him at oncewithout at all entering into the matter, and, for the time being, somemen were procured, who, however, came evidently with fear and trembling,and probably only took the place, on account of not being able, toprocure any other. The comfort of the household was likely to becompletely put an end to, and reasons now for leaving the hall appearedto be most rapidly accumulating.