Part 5

"I pray that he may never get over them," said Sydney. "If he should, my work has failed. His name is William Jackson, and he is the only son of the late Sir John Jackson. You may have heard of the father, as he was fifteen years ago one of the most notorious and wealthy rakes in London; in other words, having made a god of self, he had become a fiend to others. Thus, as we carry our circumference with us, he raged at the hell he created, whilst increasing its torments. It is only when we fully realize the damnation of such lives that our hatred turns to pity. Some whom I have known had good cause to hate his memory, as you will hear in the story of my life. Too often have I in his case forgotten that vengeance is not man's business, and that the law of retribution never faileth. It is easy to forgive one who wrongs you, but how hard when the injury is to one we love; when we see some weak loved spirit driven further into the darkness, deeper into the thicket of pain, for though we know that in the end, as Tennyson so finely expresses it, 'There shall be greater good because of evil, larger mercy through the fall,' yet is the suffering present and it is hard to see those we love in pain. William, however, takes far more after his mother than his father. She is a good and noble woman, purified by suffering of which she had in the latter days of her husband's life considerable experience. It would be cruel not to try and save her from like misery through her son, to whom she is devoted. He is a youth of good ability, possessing even half-fledged genius; his nature is at present very susceptible to kindness, and in many ways lovable, but he is cursed with his father's passions, and should this get the upper hand, the finer qualities of his disposition will drag him the more quickly down. If he once came under the influence of a heartless animal nature, there would practically be little hope of saving him."

"And one with that nature was there to-night?"

"Yes," he replied, "Miss Halcome is of all girls the least suited to be his wife, yet he loved or fancied he loved her, and she has set her mind on marrying him, though I believe she cares only for his wealth. But I do not know that I should have interfered were it not that I possess knowledge which makes the whole case most terrible. It is not fit that any child should be born into the world cursed by a double descent from such a man as Sir John Jackson."

"And are you certain that Miss Halcome is really his child?" I asked.

"Unfortunately I have too good reason to know," he replied; "but this is where we part, and I have told you enough to throw some light upon this evening; the rest of the explanation can be left till I reach that part of my story where it would naturally come in."

*CHAPTER IV*

On the following evening, as soon as we had finished dinner, Sydney led me, as on the previous occasion, through his study and into the library; but we did not wait here, for going up to a curtain at one corner, he pushed it aside, and opening a door led me into a room beyond. This room did not seem to be lighted in any way from the outside, but an electric light, the first I ever saw in a private house, cast a strong glare over the apartment.

As soon as we entered, my companion touched a handle and a shade passed over the light; the effect was pleasant and restful. Except in one recess which was curtained off from the rest of the room, there were few signs of comfort. I could not help fancying that I had suddenly entered a scientific laboratory; the walls of the room were covered with mechanical apparatus of various kinds, and with shelves that contained rows of bottles, tubes, and other chemical appliances.

"This," said Sydney, "is my workshop, where for years I have been busy trying experiments on nature by the assistance of knowledge gained through the development of our sixth sense. There is no doubt whatever that when men once begin to understand the uses of this latent power, existence will be revolutionized entirely. The world as it is now will cease to exist, and there will be a new heaven and a new earth. But," he continued after a pause, "I fear the time is not yet come; for so awfully will man's power be increased, that unless our natures are at the same time purified and perfected, existence here under such a reversal of conditions would be in truth hell itself.

"Fortunately, however, the power of using this sense is greatly dependent on the lives of the persons employing it. If a man has not learned to curb his passions and keep his body under control, he will make little progress, for the subjugation of the body is essential to success. The weakness of my own nature has, alas! too often caused me to break down at the very moment of seeming victory. If only a man were perfectly unselfish, pure, and free from pride, he could without the aid of science and without seeming effort control the forces of nature. Such a One has been on earth, and we know the result. Such power may be given when man has learnt to follow His example. But as man becomes conscious of his new powers we may expect a terrible time of transition, for with the possession of free will each added gift means added force to evil as well as to good, even as I was saying last night with regard to the gift of alcohol.

"People will soon find this out, if they have not already done so, with regard to hypnotism. In the time that is coming no creed shall save a man, for the wonders that shall be done on the earth shall deceive all those who have not experienced the realization of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen; all those in fact who are not able to distinguish truth from falsehood by the instinct of their own hearts. It is doubtless for this reason that scientists have so long had their eyes blinded. When the time shall come, and the people are ready, these men shall lead, as they have ever led, the march of progress; yet they must abandon pride if they hope to succeed.

"I perceive, however, that like many others, you are more anxious to hear of the marvellous, or to see it, than to listen to the future possible condition of things which probably will not take place in your lifetime. If, therefore, you will lie down on the couch in that recess, I will continue my story, though on a somewhat different plan from that to which you are accustomed."

I lay down, and he drew the curtain that divided us from the rest of the room, and sitting beside me, said,

"If I remember rightly, I left off last time when, having just recovered from my first trance, I found Vera and Vancome standing over me. I felt very little the worse for my experience, and seeing that I did not appear likely to faint again, my companions went on their way to Heather Lodge, leaving me to walk back home. During the evening I began to feel nervous and distressed; a weight of anxiety seemed to be hanging over me, none the less real because it was undefined. I went to bed early, but instead of feeling better, the nervousness increased. On whatever subject my thoughts turned, the unpleasant impression followed them, haunting me and driving sleep far away. At last in despair I determined on an experiment. I would try to think of nothing, and keep my eyes steadily fixed on some imaginary spot just over my head. The room was dark, but (as any one who has tried the experiment will know) if you concentrate the eyes on one dark place for any length of time, that spot will appear light. As I watched the light it revolved at first slowly, and then with increasing rapidity. Though unknown to me at the time, the method I had adopted is the simplest and easiest way of hypnotizing oneself, and with a little patience most people could do it, for if the light does not soon revolve it is easy to start it by moving the eye, as it always follows; the great difficulty is to keep the mind from wandering.

"When these revolutions had continued for some few moments, I became about every alternate second, as it were, blind, seeing nothing, and my mind also during the same period became a blank; then pictures alternately flashed across the darkness, so rapidly that I could not perfectly grasp them. But after a time I was able to see quite clearly, and this is the picture which I saw."

Sydney stopped speaking, touched something, and the light was extinguished; then as he placed his hand on mine, I found that I was looking into a room which was lighted by a number of shaded candles. A man of about thirty was standing with his back to a log fire, and a girl was lying on a sofa near him. The girl was the same I had previously recognized as Vera; the man I had little doubt was Lord Vancome. He was speaking in a low tone, but every word was distinct.

"How cruel you are to me, Miss Soudin! The very softness of your voice but adds to the bitterness of your words!" Then coming a little nearer and speaking still lower; "Vera!--I must call you Vera, just to hear the word--if you could but know for one moment what it is to be a man and to see such loveliness, and yet not to be able to approach it; to have to stand off and to be told that it belongs to another. If you could only know, you would have pity before you send me from you for ever! How can you be so cruel?"

"Oh, Lord Vancome!" said Vera, "I wish you would not talk like that; you know I do not wish to be unkind, but you must remember I am engaged, and it would be very wrong to let any one kiss me."

"Wrong! You dear innocent thing!" he answered; "how small is your knowledge of the world! Do you think girls never let any but one man kiss them? And what harm would it do? Do you fancy a kiss leaves any mark behind that would betray us? No, the only mark will be upon my life, a mark of brightness in the gloom!"

"Oh! but I really could not!" she replied; but even as she said the words, her up-turned face, her eyes, her lips, denied them, and she knew it; and the spirits of evil and of good knew it; and the man who stood trembling with passion over her, knew and took advantage of it. As he did so the scene vanished.

Sydney turned on the light, and then said--"That is what I saw; but what I felt it is impossible to describe. The girl lying there listening to the stage-learned sentimental drivel of a half-drunken blackguard--that she could not see through it--that she was unable to distinguish the laugh behind the scenes, or know that at some future date the details exaggerated would be retailed to a club audience--that she should let him even kiss her!

"I came-to from that trance little better than a madman, with one only hope, that it might not be true; one determination to find out for certain, and if so to be revenged--revenged on the man. My love for the girl was unchanged, and I realized with something akin to horror that nothing could alter it; that from the moment when I made my vow, her fate and mine were woven together; and in this first vision of her damnation I felt driven from the face of God, a thing accursed. I had taken her sin upon me, as we must ever take the sins of those we truly love; and I had then perhaps for the first time some faint idea of the meaning of the word substitution, and could understand how one perfect in love, and therefore perfect in holiness, must in a world like this bear the sin and carry the sorrows of humanity.

"As every man born into the world becomes a unit, influenced by all that preceded him and influencing all future life, so must each be a saviour or destroyer through self-renunciation or through egotism. To One alone can we give the title, the noblest and the grandest for us to conceive, of the Saviour. He, who possessing fully the spirit of God's order and of God's love, was ordained to reflect them once perfectly upon earth so that He might show to the wanderers of all time the possibility of man's nature, and the only path by which we may return to peace. Men waste time in disputing if this Saviour was God. What know we of God but by his attributes? Which of these attributes can we conceive bound down in human form which was not manifest in the Christ? Could love exceed His love, or meekness His humility, whose unselfishness asked no reward of gratitude, and the exercise of whose power was ever restrained by the hand of a far-seeing compassion? Is all we read true? Perhaps not; the hand of imperfect devotion often, through want of insight, may have touched and marred the picture, but the portrait remains, if somewhat soiled through the fingers of adoration. On the other hand, if the painter of our picture had no living model, a thing well nigh impossible, then must he have been the Christ, for no soul can rise to a sustained ideal beyond the possibility of his own nature.

"How wretched and partial a thing my love was, may be seen at once by the bitter feeling of revenge that took possession of me. I fully believe that at that moment I could have murdered my enemy in cold blood. It is a humiliating reflection that there is virtually no crime of which the best of us could not be guilty if the temptation were only strong enough and the circumstances propitious.

"The next morning I walked to Heather Lodge, and asking to see Mr. Soudin, was shown into his library. The old gentleman was sitting there dressed for shooting, and did not seem very pleased to see me.

"'I must apologize,' I began, 'for coming up before the week is expired, but I have good reason to believe that Lord Vancome is making love to your daughter, and feel that it is impossible to let things go on as they are. I must therefore ask you to release me from my promise and allow me to have an interview with her at once.'

"I knew that to all appearance I was making a fool of myself, but being desperate and unable to think of any better plan, I adopted the simplest one of speaking the truth.

"'You must be mad, Mr. Sydney,' he replied. 'You insult, without any possible grounds, both my daughter and my guest, and show yourself unworthy of the position in my family which you wish to occupy.' Then without speaking his thoughts continued--'_I hope he may be correct; if so, that settles the business once for all, and I can get rid of him._'

"I felt so angry with the man before me that I lost all self-control. 'If you think that you can play fast and loose with me,' I answered, 'you are mistaken. I know your views perfectly well, and that you are anxious that your daughter should, if possible, become Lady Vancome. If you were told such a marriage would end miserably; that Lord Vancome is thoroughly bad, it would not influence you. I will, therefore, keep strictly to business, and for your daughter's sake give you information which may possibly have some weight. Lord Vancome, never wealthy, is a gambler, and, if report speaks truly, has nearly reached the end of his resources. On the other hand, though it is not generally known, I have an income of over twelve thousand pounds a year, derived from safe investments. You can verify my statements without difficulty!'

"I saw my companion, when I came to the last part of my sentence, metaphorically speaking, prick up his ears. He, however, sat a few minutes silent, and I had to content myself with his thoughts, which after all were far more important. And this is what I made of them--

"'_Twelve thousand pounds a year--safe securities--four per cent. at most--three hundred thousand pounds capital--other fellow broke--wonder if it's true--soon find out--getting tight myself---cannot live on a broken Lord for son-in-law--good job, if it is true, I found it out--must write at once to ... and make inquiries--wish this fellow was broke and the other had his money--getting to hate Sydney--damned prig! talking to me like that--what in the name of the devil am I to do?--the beggar seems regularly to see into one!_'

"At this point I thought it well to keep up my advantage, so I said, 'That facts are as I stated, you can find out as soon as you please, but one thing I wish you to understand; if I leave this house without an opportunity of speaking to your daughter, when you have dismissed Lord Vancome as unsuitable, you may find you have lost me also!'

"'Really, Mr. Sydney,' he replied, trying to force a smile, 'I am afraid being in love does not agree with you; your nerves seem thoroughly upset this morning. But I suppose we old people must put up with this kind of thing, we were all young and foolish once. Many years ago I believe that even I was jealous. There is, after all, no particular reason why you should not see my daughter if you wish; but it is the tone you have adopted which I object to. Money, my dear sir, money is a thing that, where my child's happiness is at stake, would never cross my mind; it must rest with her to decide, when she is a little older and knows her own mind, what husband she will take. So long as he is a good man and of gentle birth, I shall not interfere!'

"'Have I your permission, then,' I asked, 'to go and see her?'

"I saw he was about to consent when the thought crossed his mind that very likely she was at the moment with Vancome, and he replied, getting up, 'I will send her to you.'

"Soon after his departure Vera came into the room looking very pale and nervous, and I saw that she was wondering what could have brought me up. As I looked at her, my love, pity, and anger grew uncontrollable, and entirely upset my mental balance.

"My animal nature got the upper hand, and I became, for the time being, cruel. My very passion, as is often the case under such conditions, was an incentive rather than a check, to that which, in the language of hypocrisy, is termed 'religious anger,' but which is often little better than the counter thrust of a wounded heart. I will, I thought, use my power against this girl, and make her see herself even as she is.

"'Vera,' I began, 'I have got your father's permission to see you again before the week is over. I find it impossible to keep away from you, dearest, any longer. I want to hear from your lips once more that you love me, and that you will be my wife.'

"'Why, of course I love you, dear,' she said, a look of relief coming into her face as she came forward, evidently expecting that I should take her in my arms and kiss her.

"I took both her hands in mine, and looked into the sweet face before me. Was it possible that I might have been mistaken? That I was a victim of delusion? As I stooped and kissed her forehead, I said--

"'Have you missed me much, dear? And did you find the hours hang heavily?'

"'Oh, yes,' she replied, 'it has seemed such a long, long time. But after all, you see, we have met once already. Have you quite got over your fainting fit? Do you know that you don't look at all well. When I came in I was quite afraid something had happened, you seemed so queer.'

"'What did you fancy could have happened?' I asked. 'Did you suppose that in this short time I had fallen in love with some one else, and had come to break the news to you? Now, tell me, are you jealous? Let us hope not, because you know it would be unpleasant to have a jealous wife. Should you be very angry if you knew that I had sometimes kissed other girls?'

"'How can you be so horrid!' she answered, looking troubled and perplexed. 'But you are only joking. Why, if you ever did such a thing, I would never! never! never! speak to you again.'

"'Why?' I questioned. 'Do you think there is much harm in a simple kiss? Do you fancy that men only kiss one woman in their lives?' I stopped abruptly.

"She stood staring at me with a frightened look in her eyes, but whilst I was watching she turned away; then her thoughts came quickly. '_Just what he said about women--after all I did not kiss him. And how could I help his kissing me? I wonder whether Alan knows any thing--Can he have guessed? No, it is absurd! But somehow he frightens me, especially when he looks in that queer way._'

"'Vera,' I said, 'sit down. I want to talk to you, to explain something so that in future we may understand each other. You see you are going to be my wife, and those who love should have as few secrets as possible. Now I feel sure that you have something on your mind, and I want you to tell it to me. Don't be afraid that I shall be angry.'

"'I don't know what you mean,' she answered. Her manner was half defiant, half frightened.

"'Should you have wished me to be present, though unseen, in the drawing-room last night, between ten and eleven?' I asked.

"She lost her presence of mind in a moment. A bright flush passed over her face and left it deadly white.

"'How mean!' she cried. 'You were outside looking through the window. I don't know what you think you saw. It is disgusting of you to have done such a thing.'

"'I was in bed,' I replied.

"'Then what on earth do you mean?'

"'I mean this, that last night a gross insult was offered to one I love, and that she accepted it, and what is more, accepted it willingly.'

"'Oh! I know you were looking. But I don't care if you did see, it was not my fault. I tried to prevent him, but he would do it, and I hate you now! Yes, I do! You are mean, and you tell lies!' Then she burst into a flood of tears.

"'Vera,' I said, placing my arm round her, 'I have told you no lie. If I tried to explain how I know all, yes, all that happened, far more than could have been seen through any window, you would simply not understand me. You say I spied upon you. How was it then that the shutters were not closed, and the blinds and curtains drawn as usual?'

"'They were,' she replied. And then in the pause her thought continued. '_I looked to see afterwards, and that is just what I can't understand. Besides, he could not have been in the room either, for I examined carefully after Vancome left, as I had an uncomfortable feeling at the time that some one had been watching us._'

"'Cannot you understand,' I asked, 'that if we love a person very much we may be conscious of what is happening to such a one, even though we are not present?'

"'No,' she replied, 'I don't believe anything of the kind. You may imagine things, or you may see them, or be told about them; but I won't listen to another word. I hate you! and would not marry you now if you were the only man on earth. I would rather marry Lord Vancome, so there! And I will kiss him too, just to spite you, if for no other reason. Whatever else he is, he is a man, and you are not! You are a devil!'

"She got up, and before I could stop her, rushed out of the room. I went to the window and looked out. In the distance I could see Soudin, and Lord Vancome, with keepers and dogs starting for their day's shooting. There was no fear of my being disturbed for some time, so I sat down and reviewed the situation. Vera had defied me, and there seemed little doubt that if left to herself, she would throw me over and accept Vancome. That is to say, if he had any intention of going beyond flirtation, which seemed doubtful. On the other hand, I felt satisfied that when her father had verified my statements, I might fully rely on having the paternal influence. The retreating figures of the two men seemed to show conclusively that he already believed me; otherwise there is little doubt that he would have seen me safely out of the house before starting off for the day with my rival. I had therefore to decide an important question. How far was I justified in influencing this girl's will? Could I, in fact, excite a love which was not spontaneously given? Should I not, in doing so, destroy the one thing that gives to life an interest and meaning, namely, freedom of action, without which man would be little better than an automaton?