Anonymous - The loves of a musical student

I was, at first, under the impression that I had found my way into the garden of some wealthy and refined nobleman; but the tone and expression of the man's voice convinced me at once that he was some low, vulgar tradesman, whose money alone had placed him in possession of the splendid property upon which I had obtruded.

"I tell you, madam, you are a faithless strumpet, and you must die. I'll drag you to the lake and throw you in. What? I'll be arrested for murder-will I? No such thing, madam. It will be thought that you committed suicide and I will depose to expressions of yours that shall strengthen theidea. Come on-Come on."

"Mercy!"

"No-no. I am a desperate man and will have no mercy. Horns are on my head, and no wonder they drive me half mad. I saw you wink at Sir Barnaby Grubbs too, and I am quite sure that you trod upon the toe of Lord Lovemall. Oh, I have eyes in my head and something else on the top of it. I'm a desperate man! I'm a desperate man!"

"In mercy, spare me!"

"I will not. It is quite music to me to hear you say that. I only wish all your lovers heard you, madam. If the devil himself were to come and ask me to save you, I would not."

There was now a scuffling noise and the jealous husband was evidently dragging his wife towards the door. I had made up my mind to interfere with the affair from the very first. It was not exactly the thing for me to stand by and let a jealous husband have his own way.

"I will see the end of this adventure," said I to myself. "By the sound of the lady's voice she should be young and fair, and if she be I will take her part from pure love of the young and fair; but if she be not, why, I will yet see justice done to her, for then I should say she is decidedly innocent."

Suddenly the door was thrown open and two persons came out. The one was a female and she was evidently being pushed forward by the other, who was the husband.

"You dare not-you cannot kill me," said the lady. "All this is merely done to terrify me. You could not for your life and soul's sake commit so unmanly an action as to kill me, sir."

"Dare I not? We shall soon see that. In such cases as mine there can be but one course to pursue, and that must consist of the death of the object; I will kill you, and then I will leave England."

"Help! Help!"

"Nay, madam, it is of no use your calling help here. You know as well as I do that your cries cannot be heard."

"But I am innocent-indeed I am!"

"The Major! — the Major!"

"Well, I repulsed him."

"Wretch! Then you own that he solicited you?"

"I do. But surely this is no fault of mine? If I repulsed him, what more could the most virtuous woman the world ever saw do, I would ask?"

"It is quite sufficient. I am a desperate and dishonoured husband, and as I said before the devil himself should not save you."

Upon this I thought there was a capital opportunity of saying something; and assuming suddenly a deep, low, and sepulchral voice I stepped forward, saying, "Who calls on me?"

"Gracious Heaven," cried the lady, "what is that?"

"I was called and I have come!" said I, advancing so that in the dim light I was but faintly seen.

The husband staggered back until he reached the wall close to the door, and then in a voice of great trepidation he said, "Who-who are you?"

"When such deeds as that which you contemplated are being done," said I, still speaking in a strange and monstrous voice, "I am always there; but I do not appear-I dare not appear-unless I am called upon. You mentioned my name and I am here. What would you with me?"

"You-you don't mean to say that you are the-the devil himself?"

"Exactly."

The husband turned round and fled with the greatest precipitation towards the house. Fear had taken possession, the most complete possession, of him, and from the sound of his footsteps it was quite clear that he was taking the nearest route that he could, quite heedless of flower beds or other obstacles, to his home.

The lady likewise turned and fled, for whatever might be the slight nature of her objections to a murder-lover, she certainly did not seem to think one from the infernal regions at all desirable.

"Stop!" I cried.

She only fled the quicker, but owing to the intense darkness in the garden, for it was in consequence of the numerous trees within it darker than the heath itself, she caught her foot in some flowering shrub and fell to the ground. In a moment I was up to her.

"Do not be at all alarmed," I said in my natural voice. "I am a gentleman, and thought it would be a good thing to punish your jealous husband by giving him a good fright."

"Are you, indeed, a gentleman?"

"I assure you I am."

"But the-the certain party is called the Old Gentleman, I have heard?"

"Yes. But if there were light sufficient you would soon see that I am certainly not the Old Gentleman."

"Should I?"

"You would indeed. What do you think of me now?"

I raised her up and kissed her cheek.

"Well, I don't know what to think; but be you whom you may, you have certainly done me a service; but do you know that my arms are bound round by a cord that my husband put on me unawares?"

"That I will soon release you from if you will stand still for a few moments. I have a sharp knife in my pocket and I can feel the cords, I dare say, and so cut them without doing you any harm. Will you trust me?" Yes. Oh, yes."

I found no great difficulty in cutting the cords that held the lady in bondage, and then said, "It is a monstrous thing that your husband should let his jealousy of you go to such a length."

"Alas! sir, it is; but what can I do?"

"Be revenged upon him in the only way that is in your power and in the way that all wrongfully jealous husbands should be served. Give him real cause."

"Ah, now I am afraid that you are really the devil or you would not so advise me. No-no! No more kissing, if you please. One Satanic salute is quite enough."

"Well, I ought to have a kiss as payment for cutting the rope that bound you."

"You paid yourself beforehand. But as my husband really seems to think that you are the evil one himself, you will do me a signal service if you frighten him out of his jealousy."

"I will do so with pleasure, but how would you have me proceed? Shall I follow him now into the house-or in what way shall I accomplish the object?"

The lady seemed to reflect for a moment or two, and then said, "It is worth trying. I only wish I knew that you were a man of honour, sir, whom I might trust."

"I have no means of convincing you. Of course, mere assertion is no proof. If you will trust me, well and good; if you will not-good night."

It is very questionable, indeed, if I would have gone had the lady echoed my "good night": but she did not put me to that trial, for she said, "I will trust you-follow me. I will lead you into the house by a way that will enable you to reach my bed-room. Once there, I must leave it to your own ingenuity to frighten my husband; who, I think, will now abandon his attempt upon my life for tonight, but who, if he be not well terrified, may renew it on another occasion."

"Take me where you will," said I; "I will obey your orders and you will find your confidence not at all misplaced."

The lady took me by the hand and led me into the house and through several rooms until she came to one in which she left me for a moment or two, saying, "Be not impatient; I will soon return to you."

The room was profoundly dark; but in the course of a few moments I saw a dim light coming through a crevice of a door leading into some other apartment; but before I could make up my mind whether to go towards it or to stay where I was, it opened and the lady made her appearance.

"This way," she said, "this way."