A KNIGHT OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY by Edward Payson Roe (red seas under red skies .TXT) 📕

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Effort To Do This; Then The Property Of His Wife And Laura, Which He

Held In trust. Then Came The Great Temptation Of His Life. He Was Joint

Trustee Of Another Very Large Property, And The Co-Executor Was In

Europe, And Would Be Absent For Years. In order To Use Some Of The Funds

Of This Property It Was Necessary To Have The Signature Of This

Gentleman. With The Infatuation Of Those Who Dally With This Kind Of

Temptation, Mr. Arnot Felt Sure That He Could Soon Make Good All That He

Should Use In his Present Emergency, And, Therefore, Forged the Name Of

The Co-Trustee. The Gentleman Returned from Europe Unexpectedly, And The

Crime Was Discovered and Speedily Proved.

 

 

 

It Was Now That Mrs. Arnot Proved what A Noble And Womanly Nature She

Possessed. Without Palliating His Fault, She Ignored the Whole Scoffing,

Chattering World, And Stood By Her Husband With As Wifely Devotion As If

His Crime Had Been Misfortune, And He Himself Had Been The Affectionate

Considerate Friend That She Had Believed he Would Be, When As A Blushing

Maiden She Had Accepted the Hand That Had Grown So Hard, And Cold, And

Heavy.

 

 

 

Mr. Beaumont Was Stunned and Bewildered. At First He Scarcely Knew What

To Do, Although His Sagacious Father And Mother Told Him Very Plainly To

Break The Engagement At Once. But The Trouble With Mr. Beaumont Upon

This Occasion Was That He Was A Man Of Honor, And For Once He Almost

Regretted the Fact. But Since He Was, He Believed that There Was But One

Course Open For Him. Although Laura Was Now Penniless, And The Same

Almost As The Daughter Of A Man Who Would Soon Be In state Prison, He

Had Promised to Marry Her. She Must Become The Mistress Of The Ancient

And Aristocratic Beaumont Mansion.

 

 

 

He Braced himself, As Had Been His Custom When A Battle Was In prospect,

And Went Down To The Beautiful Villa Which Would Be Laura'S Home But A

Few Days Longer.

 

 

 

As He Entered, She Saw That He Was About To Perform The One Heroic Act

Of His Life, But She Was Cruel Enough To Prevent Even That One, And So

Reduced his Whole Career To One Consistently Elegant And Polished

Surface.

 

 

 

He Had Taken Her Hand, And Was About To Address Her In the Most

Appropriate Language, And With All The Dignity Of Self-Sacrifice, When

She Interrupted him By Saying Briefly:

 

 

 

"Mr. Beaumont, Please Listen To Me First. Before The Most Unexpected

Event Occurred which Has Made So Great A Change In my Fortunes, And I

May Add, In so Many Of My Friends, I Had Decided to Say To You In all

Sincerity And, Kindness That I Could Not Marry You. I Could Not Give You

That Love Which A Wife Ought To Give To A Husband. I Now Repeat My

Decision Still More Emphatically."

 

 

 

Mr. Beaumont Was Again Stunned and Bewildered. A Woman Declining To

Marry Him!

 

 

 

"Can Nothing Change Your Decision?" He Faltered, Fearing That Something

Might.

 

 

 

"Nothing," She Coldly Replied, And With An Involuntary Expression Of

Contempt Hovering around Her Flexible Mouth.

 

 

 

"But What Will You Do?" He Asked, Prompted by Not A Little Curiosity.

 

 

 

"Support Myself By Honest Work," Was Her Quiet But Very Decisive Answer.

 

 

 

Mr. Beaumont Now Felt That There Was Nothing More To Be Done But To Make

A Little Elegant Farewell Address, And Depart, And He Would Make It In

Spite Of All That She Could Do.

 

 

 

The Next Thing She Heard Of Him Was That He Had Started on A Tour Of

Europe, And, No Doubt, In his Old Character Of A Connoisseur, Whose

Judgment Few Dared to Dispute.

 

Chapter LIV (Another Knight Appears)

The Processes Of Law Were At Length Complete, And Mr. Arnot Found

Himself In a Prison Cell, With The Prospect That Years Must Elapse

Before He Would Receive A Freedom That Now Was Dreaded almost More Than

His Forced seclusion. After His Conviction He Had Been Taken From

Hillaton To A Large Prison Of The State, In a Distant City.

 

 

 

"I Shall Follow You, Thomas, As Soon As I Can Complete Such Arrangements

As Are Essential," Mrs. Arnot Had Said, "And Will Remain As Near To You

As I Can. Indeed, It Will Be Easier For Laura And Me To Commence Our New

Life There Than Here."

 

 

 

The Man Had At Last Begun To Realize The Whole Truth. True To His

Nature, He Thought Of Himself First, And Saw That His Crime, Like A

Great Black Hand, Had Dragged him Down From His Proud Eminence Of Power

And Universal Respect, Away From His Beloved business, And Had Shut Him

Up In this Narrow, Stony Sepulchre, For What Better Was His Prison Cell

Than A Tomb To A Man With His Tireless Mind? The Same Mind Which Like A

Giant Had Carried its Huge Burden Every Day, Was Still His; But Now

There Was Nothing For It To Do. And Yet It Would Act, For Constant

Mental Action Had Become A Necessity From A Lifetime Of Habit.

Heretofore His Vast Business Taxed every Faculty To The Utmost. He Had

To Keep His Eye On All The Great Markets Of The World; He Had To Follow

Politicians, Diplomats, And Monarchs Into Their Secret Councils, And

Guess At Their Policy In order To Shape His Own Business Policy. His

Interests Were So Large And Far-Reaching That It Had Been Necessary For

Him To Take A Glance Over The World Before He Could Properly Direct His

Affairs From His Private Office. For Years He Had Been Commanding a

Small Army Of Men, And With Consummate Skill And Constant Thought He Had

Arrayed the Industry Of His Army Against The Labors Of Like Armies Under

The Leadership Of Other Men In competition With Himself. His Mind Had

Learned to Flash With Increasing Speed and Accuracy To One And Another

Of All These Varied interests. But Now The Great Fabric Of Business And

Wealth, Which He Had Built By A Lifetime Of Labor, Had Vanished like A

Dream, And Nothing Remained but The Mind That Had Constructed it.

 

 

 

"Ah!" He Groaned again And Again, "Why Could Not Mind And Memory Perish

Also?"

 

 

 

But They Remained, And Were The Only Possessions Left Of His Great

Wealth.

 

 

 

Then He Began To Think Of His Wife And Laura. He Had Beggared them, And,

What Was Far Worse, He Had Darkened their Lives With The Shadow Of His

Own Disgrace. Wholly Innocent As They Were, They Must Suffer Untold

Wretchedness Through His Act. In his View He Was The Cause Of The Broken

Engagement Between His Niece And The Wealthy Mr. Beaumont, And Now He

Saw That There Was Nothing Before The Girl But A Dreary Effort To Gain A

Livelihood By Her Own Labor, And This Effort Rendered almost Hopeless By

The Reflected shame Of His Crime.

 

 

 

His Wife Also Was Growing Old And Feeble. At Last He Realized he Had A

Wife Such As Is Given To But Few Men--A Woman Who Was Great Enough To Be

Tender And Sympathetic Through All The Awful Weeks That Had Elapsed

Since The Discovery Of His Crime--A Woman Who Could Face What She Saw

Before Her And Utter No Words Of Repining Or Reproach.

 

 

 

He Now Saw How Cold And Hard And Unappreciative He Had Been Toward Her

In The Days Of His Prosperity, And He Cursed himself And His Unutterable

Folly.

 

 

 

Thus His Great Powerful Mind Turned in vindictive Rage Against Itself.

Memory Began To Show Him With Mocking Finger And Bitter Jibes Where He

Might Have Acted more Wisely In his Business, More Wisely In his Social

Relations, And Especially More Wisely And Humanely, To Say The Least, In

His Own Home. It Seemed to Take A Fiendish Delight In telling Him How

Everything Might Have Been Different, And How He, Instead Of Brooding In

A Prison Cell, Might Have Been The Most Honored, Useful, Wealthy, And

Happy Man In hillaton.

 

 

 

Thus He Was Tortured until Physical Exhaustion Brought Him A Brief

Respite Of Sleep. But The Next Day It Was The Same Wretched round Of

Bitter Memories And Vain But Torturing activity Of Mind. Day After Day

Passed and He Grew Haggard Under His Increasing Mental Distress. His

Mind Was Like A Great Driving Wheel, Upon Which All The Tremendous

Motive Power Is Turned without Cessation, But For Which There Is Nothing

To Drive Save The Man Himself, And Seemingly It Would Drive Him Mad.

 

 

 

At Last He Said To Himself, "I Cannot Endure This. For My Own Sake, For

The Sake Of My Wife And Laura, It Were Better That An Utter Blank Should

Take The Place Of Thomas Arnot. I Am, And Ever Shall Be, Only A Burden

To Them. I Am Coming To Be An Intolerable Burden To Myself."

 

 

 

The Thought Of Suicide, Once Entertained, Grew Rapidly In favor, And At

Last It Became Only A Question How He Could Carry Out His Dark Purpose.

With This Definite Plan Before Him He Grew Calmer. At Last He Had

Something To Do In the Future, And Terrible Memory Must Suspend For A

Time Its Scorpion Lash While He Thought How Best To Carry Out His Plan.

 

 

 

The Suicide About To Take The Risk Of Endless Suffering Is Usually

Desirous That The Intervening Moments Of His "Taking Off" Should Be As

Painless As Possible, And Mr. Arnot Began To Think How He Could Make His

Exit Momentary. But His More Tranquil Mood, The Result Of Having Some

Definite Action Before Him, Led to Sleep, And The Long Night Passed in

Unconsciousness, The Weary Body Clogging The Wheels Of Conscious

Thought.

 

 

 

The Sun Was Shining When He Awoke; But With Returning Consciousness Came

Memory And Pain, And The Old Cowardly Desire To Escape All The

Consequences Of His Sin By Death. He Vowed he Would Not Live To See

Another Day, And Once More He Commenced brooding Over The One Question,

How He Would Die. As He Took Up This Question Where He Had Dropped it

The Previous Night, The Thought Occurred to Him What A Long Respite He

Had Had From Pain. Then Like A Flash Of Lightning Came Another Thought:

 

 

 

"Suppose By My Self-Destroying act I Pass Into A Condition Of Life In

Which There Is No Sleep, And Memory Can Torture Without Cessation,

Without Respite? True, I Have Tried to Believe There Is No Future Life,

But Am I Sure Of It? Here I Can Obtain A Little Rest. For Hours I Have

Been Unconscious, Through The Weight Of The Body Upon My Spirit. How Can

I Be Sure That The Spirit Cannot Exist Separately And Suffer Just The

Same? I Am Not Suffering Now Through My Body, And Have Not Been Through

All These Terrible Days. My Body Is Here In this Cell, Inert And

Motionless, Painless, While In my Mind I Am Enduring The Torments Of The

Damned. The Respite From Suffering That I Have Had Has Come Through The

Weariness Of My Body, And Here I Am Planning To Cast Down The One

Barrier That Perhaps Saves Me From An Eternity Of Torturing Thought And

Memory."

 

 

 

He Was Appalled at The Bare Possibility Of Such A Future; Reason Told

Him That Such A Future Was Probable, And Conscience Told Him That It Was

Before Him In veritable Truth. He Felt That Wherever He Carried memory

And His Present Character He Would Be Most Miserable, Whether It Were In

Dante'S Inferno, Milton'S Paradise, Or The Heaven Or Hell Of The Bible.

 

 

 

There Was No More Thought Of Suicide. Indeed, He Shrank From Death With

Inexpressible Dread.

 

 

 

Slowly His Thoughts Turned to His Wife, The Woman Who Had Been So True

To Him, The One Human Being Of All The World Who Now Stood By Him. She

Might Help Him In his Desperate Strait. She Seemed to Have A Principle

Within Her Soul Which Sustained her, And Which Might Sustain Him. At Any

Rate, He Longed to See Her Once More, And Ask Her Forgiveness In deep

Contrition For His Base And Lifelong Failure To "Love, Honor, And

Cherish Her," As He Had Promised at God'S Altar And Before Many

Witnesses.

 

 

 

The Devoted wife Came And Patiently Entered on Her Ministry Of