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diff --git a/6087.txt b/6087.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e6720e5 --- /dev/null +++ b/6087.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1644 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Vampyre; A Tale, by John William Polidori + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Vampyre; A Tale + +Author: John William Polidori + +Posting Date: October 21, 2009 [EBook #6087] +Release Date: July, 2004 +First Posted: November 3, 2002 +[Last updated: May 26, 2012] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VAMPYRE; A TALE *** + + + + +Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer. + + + + + + + + + + THE + + VAMPYRE; + + A Tale. + + By John William Polidori + + + + LONDON + + PRINTED FOR SHERWOOD, NEELY, AND JONES + + PATERNOSTER ROW + + + 1819 + + [Entered at Stationers' Hall, March 27, 1819] + + Gillet, Printer, Crown Court, Fleet Street, London. + + + + + + + + EXTRACT OF A LETTER + + FROM GENEVA. + ______________ + +"I breathe freely in the neighbourhood of this lake; the ground upon +which I tread has been subdued from the earliest ages; the principal +objects which immediately strike my eye, bring to my recollection +scenes, in which man acted the hero and was the chief object of +interest. Not to look back to earlier times of battles and sieges, +here is the bust of Rousseau--here is a house with an inscription +denoting that the Genevan philosopher first drew breath under its +roof. A little out of the town is Ferney, the residence of Voltaire; +where that wonderful, though certainly in many respects contemptible, +character, received, like the hermits of old, the visits of pilgrims, +not only from his own nation, but from the farthest boundaries of +Europe. Here too is Bonnet's abode, and, a few steps beyond, the house +of that astonishing woman Madame de Stael: perhaps the first of her +sex, who has really proved its often claimed equality with, the nobler +man. We have before had women who have written interesting novels and +poems, in which their tact at observing drawing-room characters has +availed them; but never since the days of Heloise have those faculties +which are peculiar to man, been developed as the possible inheritance +of woman. Though even here, as in the case of Heloise, our sex have +not been backward in alledging the existence of an Abeilard in the +person of M. Schlegel as the inspirer of her works. But to proceed: +upon the same side of the lake, Gibbon, Bonnivard, Bradshaw, and +others mark, as it were, the stages for our progress; whilst upon the +other side there is one house, built by Diodati, the friend of Milton, +which has contained within its walls, for several months, that poet +whom we have so often read together, and who--if human passions remain +the same, and human feelings, like chords, on being swept by nature's +impulses shall vibrate as before--will be placed by posterity in the +first rank of our English Poets. You must have heard, or the Third +Canto of Childe Harold will have informed you, that Lord Byron resided +many months in this neighbourhood. I went with some friends a few days +ago, after having seen Ferney, to view this mansion. I trod the floors +with the same feelings of awe and respect as we did, together, those +of Shakespeare's dwelling at Stratford. I sat down in a chair of the +saloon, and satisfied myself that I was resting on what he had made +his constant seat. I found a servant there who had lived with him; +she, however, gave me but little information. She pointed out his +bed-chamber upon the same level as the saloon and dining-room, and +informed me that he retired to rest at three, got up at two, and +employed himself a long time over his toilette; that he never went to +sleep without a pair of pistols and a dagger by his side, and that he +never ate animal food. He apparently spent some part of every day upon +the lake in an English boat. There is a balcony from the saloon which +looks upon the lake and the mountain Jura; and I imagine, that it must +have been hence, he contemplated the storm so magnificently described +in the Third Canto; for you have from here a most extensive view of +all the points he has therein depicted. I can fancy him like the +scathed pine, whilst all around was sunk to repose, still waking to +observe, what gave but a weak image of the storms which had desolated +his own breast. + + The sky is changed!--and such a change; Oh, night! + And storm and darkness, ye are wond'rous strong, + Yet lovely in your strength, as is the light + Of a dark eye in woman! Far along + From peak to peak, the rattling crags among, + Leaps the lire thunder! Not from one lone cloud, + But every mountain now hath found a tongue, + And Jura answers thro' her misty shroud, + Back to the joyous Alps who call to her aloud! + + And this is in the night:--Most glorious night! + Thou wer't not sent for slumber! let me be + A sharer in thy far and fierce delight,-- + A portion of the tempest and of me! + How the lit lake shines a phosphoric sea, + And the big rain comet dancing to the earth! + And now again 'tis black,--and now the glee + Of the loud hills shakes with its mountain mirth, + As if they did rejoice o'er a young; earthquake's birth, + + Now where the swift Rhine cleaves his way between + Heights which appear, as lovers who have parted + In haste, whose mining depths so intervene, + That they can meet no more, tho' broken hearted; + Tho' in their souls which thus each other thwarted, + Love was the very root of the fond rage + Which blighted their life's bloom, and then departed-- + Itself expired, but leaving; them an age + Of years all winter--war within themselves to wage. + +I went down to the little port, if I may use the expression, wherein +his vessel used to lay, and conversed with the cottager, who had the +care of it. You may smile, but I have my pleasure in thus helping my +personification of the individual I admire, by attaining to the +knowledge of those circumstances which were daily around him. I have +made numerous enquiries in the town concerning him, but can learn +nothing. He only went into society there once, when M. Pictet took him +to the house of a lady to spend the evening. They say he is a very +singular man, and seem to think him very uncivil. Amongst other things +they relate, that having invited M. Pictet and Bonstetten to dinner, +he went on the lake to Chillon, leaving a gentleman who travelled with +him to receive them and make his apologies. Another evening, being +invited to the house of Lady D---- H----, he promised to attend, +but upon approaching the windows of her ladyship's villa, and +perceiving the room to be full of company, he set down his friend, +desiring him to plead his excuse, and immediately returned home. This +will serve as a contradiction to the report which you tell me is +current in England, of his having been avoided by his countrymen on +the continent. The case happens to be directly the reverse, as he has +been generally sought by them, though on most occasions, apparently +without success. It is said, indeed, that upon paying his first visit +at Coppet, following the servant who had announced his name, he was +surprised to meet a lady carried out fainting; but before he had been +seated many minutes, the same lady, who had been so affected at the +sound of his name, returned and conversed with him a considerable +time--such is female curiosity and affectation! He visited Coppet +frequently, and of course associated there with several of his +countrymen, who evinced no reluctance to meet him whom his enemies +alone would represent as an outcast. + +Though I have been so unsuccessful in this town, I have been more +fortunate in my enquiries elsewhere. There is a society three or four +miles from Geneva, the centre of which is the Countess of Breuss, a +Russian lady, well acquainted with the agremens de la Societe, and who +has collected them round herself at her mansion. It was chiefly here, +I find, that the gentleman who travelled with Lord Byron, as +physician, sought for society. He used almost every day to cross the +lake by himself, in one of their flat-bottomed boats, and return after +passing the evening with his friends, about eleven or twelve at night, +often whilst the storms were raging in the circling summits of the +mountains around. As he became intimate, from long acquaintance, with +several of the families in this neighbourhood, I have gathered from +their accounts some excellent traits of his lordship's character, +which I will relate to you at some future opportunity. I must, +however, free him from one imputation attached to him--of having in +his house two sisters as the partakers of his revels. This is, like +many other charges which have been brought against his lordship, +entirely destitute of truth. His only companion was the physician I +have already mentioned. The report originated from the following +circumstance: Mr. Percy Bysshe Shelly, a gentleman well known for +extravagance of doctrine, and for his daring, in their profession, +even to sign himself with the title of ATHeos in the Album at +Chamouny, having taken a house below, in which he resided with Miss M. +W. Godwin and Miss Clermont, (the daughters of the celebrated Mr. +Godwin) they were frequently visitors at Diodati, and were often seen +upon the lake with his Lordship, which gave rise to the report, the +truth of which is here positively denied. + +Among other things which the lady, from whom I procured these +anecdotes, related to me, she mentioned the outline of a ghost story +by Lord Byron. It appears that one evening Lord B., Mr. P. B. Shelly, +the two ladies and the gentleman before alluded to, after having +perused a German work, which was entitled Phantasmagoriana, began +relating ghost stories; when his lordship having recited the beginning +of Christabel, then unpublished, the whole took so strong a hold of +Mr. Shelly's mind, that he suddenly started up and ran out of the +room. The physician and Lord Byron followed, and discovered him +leaning against a mantle-piece, with cold drops of perspiration +trickling down his face. After having given him something to refresh +him, upon enquiring into the cause of his alarm, they found that his +wild imagination having pictured to him the bosom of one of the ladies +with eyes (which was reported of a lady in the neighbourhood where he +lived) he was obliged to leave the room in order to destroy the +impression. It was afterwards proposed, in the course of conversation, +that each of the company present should write a tale depending upon +some supernatural agency, which was undertaken by Lord B., the +physician, and Miss M. W. Godwin.[1] My friend, the lady above +referred to, had in her possession the outline of each of these +stories; I obtained them as a great favour, and herewith forward them +to you, as I was assured you would feel as much curiosity as myself, +to peruse the ebauches of so great a genius, and those immediately +under his influence." + + + +[1] Since published under the title of "Frankenstein; or, The Modern +Prometheus." + + + + + THE VAMPYRE. + ________________________________________________________________ + + INTRODUCTION. + __________ + +THE superstition upon which this tale is founded is very general in +the East. Among the Arabians it appears to be common: it did not, +however, extend itself to the Greeks until after the establishment of +Christianity; and it has only assumed its present form since the +division of the Latin and Greek churches; at which time, the idea +becoming prevalent, that a Latin body could not corrupt if buried in +their territory, it gradually increased, and formed the subject of +many wonderful stories, still extant, of the dead rising from their +graves, and feeding upon the blood of the young and beautiful. In the +West it spread, with some slight variation, all over Hungary, Poland, +Austria, and Lorraine, where the belief existed, that vampyres nightly +imbibed a certain portion of the blood of their victims, who became +emaciated, lost their strength, and speedily died of consumptions; +whilst these human blood-suckers fattened--and their veins became +distended to such a state of repletion, as to cause the blood to flow +from all the passages of their bodies, and even from the very pores of +their skins. + +In the London Journal, of March, 1732, is a curious, and, of course, +credible account of a particular case of vampyrism, which is stated to +have occurred at Madreyga, in Hungary. It appears, that upon an +examination of the commander-in-chief and magistrates of the place, +they positively and unanimously affirmed, that, about five years +before, a certain Heyduke, named Arnold Paul, had been heard to say, +that, at Cassovia, on the frontiers of the Turkish Servia, he had been +tormented by a vampyre, but had found a way to rid himself of the +evil, by eating some of the earth out of the vampyre's grave, and +rubbing himself with his blood. This precaution, however, did not +prevent him from becoming a vampyre[2] himself; for, about twenty or +thirty days after his death and burial, many persons complained of +having been tormented by him, and a deposition was made, that four +persons had been deprived of life by his attacks. To prevent further +mischief, the inhabitants having consulted their Hadagni,[3] took up +the body, and found it (as is supposed to be usual in cases of +vampyrism) fresh, and entirely free from corruption, and emitting at +the mouth, nose, and ears, pure and florid blood. Proof having been +thus obtained, they resorted to the accustomed remedy. A stake was +driven entirely through the heart and body of Arnold Paul, at which he +is reported to have cried out as dreadfully as if he had been alive. +This done, they cut off his head, burned his body, and threw the ashes +into his grave. The same measures were adopted with the corses of +those persons who had previously died from vampyrism, lest they +should, in their turn, become agents upon others who survived them. + + + +[2] The universal belief is, that a person sucked by a vampyre becomes a +vampyre himself, and sucks in his turn. + +[3] Chief bailiff. + + + +This monstrous rodomontade is here related, because it seems better +adapted to illustrate the subject of the present observations than any +other instance which could be adduced. In many parts of Greece it is +considered as a sort of punishment after death, for some heinous crime +committed whilst in existence, that the deceased is not only doomed to +vampyrise, but compelled to confine his infernal visitations solely to +those beings he loved most while upon earth--those to whom he was bound +by ties of kindred and affection.--A supposition alluded to in the +"Giaour." + + But first on earth, as Vampyre sent, + Thy corse shall from its tomb be rent; + Then ghastly haunt the native place, + And suck the blood of all thy race; + There from thy daughter, sister, wife, + At midnight drain the stream of life; + Yet loathe the banquet which perforce + Must feed thy livid living corse, + Thy victims, ere they yet expire, + Shall know the demon for their sire; + As cursing thee, thou cursing them, + Thy flowers are withered on the stem. + But one that for thy crime must fall, + The youngest, best beloved of all, + Shall bless thee with a father's name-- + That word shall wrap thy heart in flame! + Yet thou must end thy task and mark + Her cheek's last tinge--her eye's last spark, + And the last glassy glance must view + Which freezes o'er its lifeless blue; + Then with unhallowed hand shall tear + The tresses of her yellow hair, + Of which, in life a lock when shorn + Affection's fondest pledge was worn-- + But now is borne away by thee + Memorial of thine agony! + Yet with thine own best blood shall drip; + Thy gnashing tooth, and haggard lip; + Then stalking to thy sullen grave, + Go--and with Gouls and Afrits rave, + Till these in horror shrink away + From spectre more accursed than they. + +Mr. Southey has also introduced in his wild but beautiful poem of +"Thalaba," the vampyre corse of the Arabian maid Oneiza, who is +represented as having returned from the grave for the purpose of +tormenting him she best loved whilst in existence. But this cannot be +supposed to have resulted from the sinfulness of her life, she being +pourtrayed throughout the whole of the tale as a complete type of +purity and innocence. The veracious Tournefort gives a long account in +his travels of several astonishing cases of vampyrism, to which he +pretends to have been an eyewitness; and Calmet, in his great work +upon this subject, besides a variety of anecdotes, and traditionary +narratives illustrative of its effects, has put forth some learned +dissertations, tending to prove it to be a classical, as well as +barbarian error. + +Many curious and interesting notices on this singularly horrible +superstition might be added; though the present may suffice for the +limits of a note, necessarily devoted to explanation, and which may +now be concluded by merely remarking, that though the term Vampyre is +the one in most general acceptation, there are several others +synonymous with it, made use of in various parts of the world: as +Vroucolocha, Vardoulacha, Goul, Broucoloka, &c. + + + ________________________________________________________________ + + THE VAMPYRE. + __________ + +IT happened that in the midst of the dissipations attendant upon a +London winter, there appeared at the various parties of the leaders of +the ton a nobleman, more remarkable for his singularities, than his +rank. He gazed upon the mirth around him, as if he could not +participate therein. Apparently, the light laughter of the fair only +attracted his attention, that he might by a look quell it, and throw +fear into those breasts where thoughtlessness reigned. Those who felt +this sensation of awe, could not explain whence it arose: some +attributed it to the dead grey eye, which, fixing upon the object's +face, did not seem to penetrate, and at one glance to pierce through +to the inward workings of the heart; but fell upon the cheek with a +leaden ray that weighed upon the skin it could not pass. His +peculiarities caused him to be invited to every house; all wished to +see him, and those who had been accustomed to violent excitement, and +now felt the weight of ennui, were pleased at having something in +their presence capable of engaging their attention. In spite of the +deadly hue of his face, which never gained a warmer tint, either from +the blush of modesty, or from the strong emotion of passion, though +its form and outline were beautiful, many of the female hunters after +notoriety attempted to win his attentions, and gain, at least, some +marks of what they might term affection: Lady Mercer, who had been the +mockery of every monster shewn in drawing-rooms since her marriage, +threw herself in his way, and did all but put on the dress of a +mountebank, to attract his notice:--though in vain:--when she +stood before him, though his eyes were apparently fixed upon her's, +still it seemed as if they were unperceived;--even her unappalled +impudence was baffled, and she left the field. But though the common +adultress could not influence even the guidance of his eyes, it was +not that the female sex was indifferent to him: yet such was the +apparent caution with which he spoke to the virtuous wife and innocent +daughter, that few knew he ever addressed himself to females. He had, +however, the reputation of a winning tongue; and whether it was that +it even overcame the dread of his singular character, or that they +were moved by his apparent hatred of vice, he was as often among those +females who form the boast of their sex from their domestic virtues, +as among those who sully it by their vices. + +About the same time, there came to London a young gentleman of the +name of Aubrey: he was an orphan left with an only sister in the +possession of great wealth, by parents who died while he was yet in +childhood. Left also to himself by guardians, who thought it their +duty merely to take care of his fortune, while they relinquished the +more important charge of his mind to the care of mercenary subalterns, +he cultivated more his imagination than his judgment. He had, hence, +that high romantic feeling of honour and candour, which daily ruins so +many milliners' apprentices. He believed all to sympathise with +virtue, and thought that vice was thrown in by Providence merely for +the picturesque effect of the scene, as we see in romances: he thought +that the misery of a cottage merely consisted in the vesting of +clothes, which were as warm, but which were better adapted to the +painter's eye by their irregular folds and various coloured patches. +He thought, in fine, that the dreams of poets were the realities of +life. He was handsome, frank, and rich: for these reasons, upon his +entering into the gay circles, many mothers surrounded him, striving +which should describe with least truth their languishing or romping +favourites: the daughters at the same time, by their brightening +countenances when he approached, and by their sparkling eyes, when he +opened his lips, soon led him into false notions of his talents and +his merit. Attached as he was to the romance of his solitary hours, +he was startled at finding, that, except in the tallow and wax candles +that flickered, not from the presence of a ghost, but from want of +snuffing, there was no foundation in real life for any of that +congeries of pleasing pictures and descriptions contained in those +volumes, from which he had formed his study. Finding, however, some +compensation in his gratified vanity, he was about to relinquish his +dreams, when the extraordinary being we have above described, crossed +him in his career. + +He watched him; and the very impossibility of forming an idea of the +character of a man entirely absorbed in himself, who gave few other +signs of his observation of external objects, than the tacit assent to +their existence, implied by the avoidance of their contact: allowing +his imagination to picture every thing that flattered its propensity +to extravagant ideas, he soon formed this object into the hero of a +romance, and determined to observe the offspring of his fancy, rather +than the person before him. He became acquainted with him, paid him +attentions, and so far advanced upon his notice, that his presence was +always recognised. He gradually learnt that Lord Ruthven's affairs +were embarrassed, and soon found, from the notes of preparation in +---- Street, that he was about to travel. Desirous of gaining some +information respecting this singular character, who, till now, had +only whetted his curiosity, he hinted to his guardians, that it was +time for him to perform the tour, which for many generations has been +thought necessary to enable the young to take some rapid steps in the +career of vice towards putting themselves upon an equality with the +aged, and not allowing them to appear as if fallen from the skies, +whenever scandalous intrigues are mentioned as the subjects of +pleasantry or of praise, according to the degree of skill shewn in +carrying them on. They consented: and Aubrey immediately mentioning +his intentions to Lord Ruthven, was surprised to receive from him a +proposal to join him. Flattered by such a mark of esteem from him, +who, apparently, had nothing in common with other men, he gladly +accepted it, and in a few days they had passed the circling waters. + +Hitherto, Aubrey had had no opportunity of studying Lord Ruthven's +character, and now he found, that, though many more of his actions +were exposed to his view, the results offered different conclusions +from the apparent motives to his conduct. His companion was profuse +in his liberality;--the idle, the vagabond, and the beggar, received +from his hand more than enough to relieve their immediate wants. But +Aubrey could not avoid remarking, that it was not upon the virtuous, +reduced to indigence by the misfortunes attendant even upon virtue, +that he bestowed his alms;--these were sent from the door with +hardly suppressed sneers; but when the profligate came to ask +something, not to relieve his wants, but to allow him to wallow in his +lust, or to sink him still deeper in his iniquity, he was sent away +with rich charity. This was, however, attributed by him to the greater +importunity of the vicious, which generally prevails over the retiring +bashfulness of the virtuous indigent. There was one circumstance about +the charity of his Lordship, which was still more impressed upon his +mind: all those upon whom it was bestowed, inevitably found that there +was a curse upon it, for they were all either led to the scaffold, or +sunk to the lowest and the most abject misery. At Brussels and other +towns through which they passed, Aubrey was surprized at the apparent +eagerness with which his companion sought for the centres of all +fashionable vice; there he entered into all the spirit of the faro +table: he betted, and always gambled with success, except where the +known sharper was his antagonist, and then he lost even more than he +gained; but it was always with the same unchanging face, with which he +generally watched the society around: it was not, however, so when he +encountered the rash youthful novice, or the luckless father of a +numerous family; then his very wish seemed fortune's law--this +apparent abstractedness of mind was laid aside, and his eyes sparkled +with more fire than that of the cat whilst dallying with the +half-dead mouse. In every town, he left the formerly affluent youth, +torn from the circle he adorned, cursing, in the solitude of a +dungeon, the fate that had drawn him within the reach of this fiend; +whilst many a father sat frantic, amidst the speaking looks of mute +hungry children, without a single farthing of his late immense wealth, +wherewith to buy even sufficient to satisfy their present craving. Yet +he took no money from the gambling table; but immediately lost, to the +ruiner of many, the last gilder he had just snatched from the +convulsive grasp of the innocent: this might but be the result of a +certain degree of knowledge, which was not, however, capable of +combating the cunning of the more experienced. Aubrey often wished to +represent this to his friend, and beg him to resign that charity and +pleasure which proved the ruin of all, and did not tend to his own +profit;--but he delayed it--for each day he hoped his friend would +give him some opportunity of speaking frankly and openly to him; +however, this never occurred. Lord Ruthven in his carriage, and amidst +the various wild and rich scenes of nature, was always the same: his +eye spoke less than his lip; and though Aubrey was near the object of +his curiosity, he obtained no greater gratification from it than the +constant excitement of vainly wishing to break that mystery, which to +his exalted imagination began to assume the appearance of something +supernatural. + +They soon arrived at Rome, and Aubrey for a time lost sight of his +companion; he left him in daily attendance upon the morning circle of +an Italian countess, whilst he went in search of the memorials of +another almost deserted city. Whilst he was thus engaged, letters +arrived from England, which he opened with eager impatience; the first +was from his sister, breathing nothing but affection; the others were +from his guardians, the latter astonished him; if it had before +entered into his imagination that there was an evil power resident in +his companion, these seemed to give him sufficient reason for the +belief. His guardians insisted upon his immediately leaving his +friend, and urged, that his character was dreadfully vicious, for that +the possession of irresistible powers of seduction, rendered his +licentious habits more dangerous to society. It had been discovered, +that his contempt for the adultress had not originated in hatred of +her character; but that he had required, to enhance his gratification, +that his victim, the partner of his guilt, should be hurled from the +pinnacle of unsullied virtue, down to the lowest abyss of infamy and +degradation: in fine, that all those females whom he had sought, +apparently on account of their virtue, had, since his departure, +thrown even the mask aside, and had not scrupled to expose the whole +deformity of their vices to the public gaze. + +Aubrey determined upon leaving one, whose character had not yet shown +a single bright point on which to rest the eye. He resolved to invent +some plausible pretext for abandoning him altogether, purposing, in +the mean while, to watch him more closely, and to let no slight +circumstances pass by unnoticed. He entered into the same circle, and +soon perceived, that his Lordship was endeavouring to work upon the +inexperience of the daughter of the lady whose house he chiefly +frequented. In Italy, it is seldom that an unmarried female is met +with in society; he was therefore obliged to carry on his plans in +secret; but Aubrey's eye followed him in all his windings, and soon +discovered that an assignation had been appointed, which would most +likely end in the ruin of an innocent, though thoughtless girl. Losing +no time, he entered the apartment of Lord Ruthven, and abruptly asked +him his intentions with respect to the lady, informing him at the same +time that he was aware of his being about to meet her that very night. +Lord Ruthven answered, that his intentions were such as he supposed +all would have upon such an occasion; and upon being pressed whether +he intended to marry her, merely laughed. Aubrey retired; and, +immediately writing a note, to say, that from that moment he must +decline accompanying his Lordship in the remainder of their proposed +tour, he ordered his servant to seek other apartments, and calling +upon the mother of the lady, informed her of all he knew, not only +with regard to her daughter, but also concerning the character of his +Lordship. The assignation was prevented. Lord Ruthven next day merely +sent his servant to notify his complete assent to a separation; but +did not hint any suspicion of his plans having been foiled by Aubrey's +interposition. + +Having left Rome, Aubrey directed his steps towards Greece, and +crossing the Peninsula, soon found himself at Athens. He then fixed +his residence in the house of a Greek; and soon occupied himself in +tracing the faded records of ancient glory upon monuments that +apparently, ashamed of chronicling the deeds of freemen only before +slaves, had hidden themselves beneath the sheltering soil or many +coloured lichen. Under the same roof as himself, existed a being, so +beautiful and delicate, that she might have formed the model for a +painter wishing to pourtray on canvass the promised hope of the +faithful in Mahomet's paradise, save that her eyes spoke too much mind +for any one to think she could belong to those who had no souls. As +she danced upon the plain, or tripped along the mountain's side, one +would have thought the gazelle a poor type of her beauties; for who +would have exchanged her eye, apparently the eye of animated nature, +for that sleepy luxurious look of the animal suited but to the taste +of an epicure. The light step of Ianthe often accompanied Aubrey in +his search after antiquities, and often would the unconscious girl, +engaged in the pursuit of a Kashmere butterfly, show the whole beauty +of her form, floating as it were upon the wind, to the eager gaze of +him, who forgot the letters he had just decyphered upon an almost +effaced tablet, in the contemplation of her sylph-like figure. Often +would her tresses falling, as she flitted around, exhibit in the sun's +ray such delicately brilliant and swiftly fading hues, it might well +excuse the forgetfulness of the antiquary, who let escape from his +mind the very object he had before thought of vital importance to the +proper interpretation of a passage in Pausanias. But why attempt to +describe charms which all feel, but none can appreciate?--It was +innocence, youth, and beauty, unaffected by crowded drawing-rooms and +stifling balls. Whilst he drew those remains of which he wished to +preserve a memorial for his future hours, she would stand by, and +watch the magic effects of his pencil, in tracing the scenes of her +native place; she would then describe to him the circling dance upon +the open plain, would paint, to him in all the glowing colours of +youthful memory, the marriage pomp she remembered viewing in her +infancy; and then, turning to subjects that had evidently made a +greater impression upon her mind, would tell him all the supernatural +tales of her nurse. Her earnestness and apparent belief of what she +narrated, excited the interest even of Aubrey; and often as she told +him the tale of the living vampyre, who had passed years amidst his +friends, and dearest ties, forced every year, by feeding upon the life +of a lovely female to prolong his existence for the ensuing months, +his blood would run cold, whilst he attempted to laugh her out of such +idle and horrible fantasies; but Ianthe cited to him the names of old +men, who had at last detected one living among themselves, after +several of their near relatives and children had been found marked +with the stamp of the fiend's appetite; and when she found him so +incredulous, she begged of him to believe her, for it had been, +remarked, that those who had dared to question their existence, always +had some proof given, which obliged them, with grief and +heartbreaking, to confess it was true. She detailed to him the +traditional appearance of these monsters, and his horror was +increased, by hearing a pretty accurate description of Lord Ruthven; +he, however, still persisted in persuading her, that there could be no +truth in her fears, though at the same time he wondered at the many +coincidences which had all tended to excite a belief in the +supernatural power of Lord Ruthven. + +Aubrey began to attach himself more and more to Ianthe; her innocence, +so contrasted with all the affected virtues of the women among whom he +had sought for his vision of romance, won his heart; and while he +ridiculed the idea of a young man of English habits, marrying an +uneducated Greek girl, still he found himself more and more attached +to the almost fairy form before him. He would tear himself at times +from her, and, forming a plan for some antiquarian research, he would +depart, determined not to return until his object was attained; but he +always found it impossible to fix his attention upon the ruins around +him, whilst in his mind he retained an image that seemed alone the +rightful possessor of his thoughts. Ianthe was unconscious of his +love, and was ever the same frank infantile being he had first known. +She always seemed to part from him with reluctance; but it was because +she had no longer any one with whom she could visit her favourite +haunts, whilst her guardian was occupied in sketching or uncovering +some fragment which had yet escaped the destructive hand of time. She +had appealed to her parents on the subject of Vampyres, and they both, +with several present, affirmed their existence, pale with horror at +the very name. Soon after, Aubrey determined to proceed upon one of +his excursions, which was to detain him for a few hours; when they +heard the name of the place, they all at once begged of him not to +return at night, as he must necessarily pass through a wood, where no +Greek would ever remain, after the day had closed, upon any +consideration. They described it as the resort of the vampyres in +their nocturnal orgies, and denounced the most heavy evils as +impending upon him who dared to cross their path. Aubrey made light of +their representations, and tried to laugh them out of the idea; but +when he saw them shudder at his daring thus to mock a superior, +infernal power, the very name of which apparently made their blood +freeze, he was silent. + +Next morning Aubrey set off upon his excursion unattended; he was +surprised to observe the melancholy face of his host, and was +concerned to find that his words, mocking the belief of those horrible +fiends, had inspired them with such terror. When he was about to +depart, Ianthe came to the side of his horse, and earnestly begged of +him to return, ere night allowed the power of these beings to be put +in action;--he promised. He was, however, so occupied in his +research, that he did not perceive that day-light would soon end, and +that in the horizon there was one of those specks which, in the warmer +climates, so rapidly gather into a tremendous mass, and pour all their +rage upon the devoted country.--He at last, however, mounted his +horse, determined to make up by speed for his delay: but it was too +late. Twilight, in these southern climates, is almost unknown; +immediately the sun sets, night begins: and ere he had advanced far, +the power of the storm was above--its echoing thunders had scarcely +an interval of rest--its thick heavy rain forced its way through the +canopying foliage, whilst the blue forked lightning seemed to fall and +radiate at his very feet. Suddenly his horse took fright, and he was +carried with dreadful rapidity through the entangled forest. The +animal at last, through fatigue, stopped, and he found, by the glare +of lightning, that he was in the neighbourhood of a hovel that hardly +lifted itself up from the masses of dead leaves and brushwood which +surrounded it. Dismounting, he approached, hoping to find some one to +guide him to the town, or at least trusting to obtain shelter from the +pelting of the storm. As he approached, the thunders, for a moment +silent, allowed him to hear the dreadful shrieks of a woman mingling +with the stifled, exultant mockery of a laugh, continued in one almost +unbroken sound;--he was startled: but, roused by the thunder which +again rolled over his head, he, with a sudden effort, forced open the +door of the hut. He found himself in utter darkness: the sound, +however, guided him. He was apparently unperceived; for, though he +called, still the sounds continued, and no notice was taken of him. He +found himself in contact with some one, whom he immediately seized; +when a voice cried, "Again baffled!" to which a loud laugh succeeded; +and he felt himself grappled by one whose strength seemed superhuman: +determined to sell his life as dearly as he could, he struggled; but +it was in vain: he was lifted from his feet and hurled with enormous +force against the ground:--his enemy threw himself upon him, and +kneeling upon his breast, had placed his hands upon his throat--when +the glare of many torches penetrating through the hole that gave +light in the day, disturbed him;--he instantly rose, and, leaving his +prey, rushed through the door, and in a moment the crashing of the +branches, as he broke through the wood, was no longer heard. The storm +was now still; and Aubrey, incapable of moving, was soon heard by +those without. They entered; the light of their torches fell upon the +mud walls, and the thatch loaded on every individual straw with heavy +flakes of soot. At the desire of Aubrey they searched for her who had +attracted him by her cries; he was again left in darkness; but what +was his horror, when the light of the torches once more burst upon +him, to perceive the airy form of his fair conductress brought in a +lifeless corse. He shut his eyes, hoping that it was but a vision +arising from his disturbed imagination; but he again saw the same +form, when he unclosed them, stretched by his side. There was no +colour upon her cheek, not even upon her lip; yet there was a +stillness about her face that seemed almost as attaching as the life +that once dwelt there:--upon her neck and breast was blood, and upon +her throat were the marks of teeth having opened the vein:--to this +the men pointed, crying, simultaneously struck with horror, "A +Vampyre! a Vampyre!" A litter was quickly formed, and Aubrey was laid +by the side of her who had lately been to him the object of so many +bright and fairy visions, now fallen with the flower of life that had +died within her. He knew not what his thoughts were--his mind was +benumbed and seemed to shun reflection, and take refuge in +vacancy--he held almost unconsciously in his hand a naked dagger of a +particular construction, which had been found in the hut. They were +soon met by different parties who had been engaged in the search of +her whom a mother had missed. Their lamentable cries, as they +approached the city, forewarned the parents of some dreadful +catastrophe. --To describe their grief would be impossible; but when +they ascertained the cause of their child's death, they looked at +Aubrey, and pointed to the corse. They were inconsolable; both died +broken-hearted. + +Aubrey being put to bed was seized with a most violent fever, and was +often delirious; in these intervals he would call upon Lord Ruthven +and upon Ianthe--by some unaccountable combination he seemed to beg +of his former companion to spare the being he loved. At other times he +would imprecate maledictions upon his head, and curse him as her +destroyer. Lord Ruthven, chanced at this time to arrive at Athens, +and, from whatever motive, upon hearing of the state of Aubrey, +immediately placed himself in the same house, and became his constant +attendant. When the latter recovered from his delirium, he was +horrified and startled at the sight of him whose image he had now +combined with that of a Vampyre; but Lord Ruthven, by his kind words, +implying almost repentance for the fault that had caused their +separation, and still more by the attention, anxiety, and care which +he showed, soon reconciled him to his presence. His lordship seemed +quite changed; he no longer appeared that apathetic being who had so +astonished Aubrey; but as soon as his convalescence began to be rapid, +he again gradually retired into the same state of mind, and Aubrey +perceived no difference from the former man, except that at times he +was surprised to meet his gaze fixed intently upon him, with a smile +of malicious exultation playing upon his lips: he knew not why, but +this smile haunted him. During the last stage of the invalid's +recovery, Lord Ruthven was apparently engaged in watching the tideless +waves raised by the cooling breeze, or in marking the progress of +those orbs, circling, like our world, the moveless sun;--indeed, he +appeared to wish to avoid the eyes of all. + +Aubrey's mind, by this shock, was much weakened, and that elasticity +of spirit which had once so distinguished him now seemed to have fled +for ever. He was now as much a lover of solitude and silence as Lord +Ruthven; but much as he wished for solitude, his mind could not find +it in the neighbourhood of Athens; if he sought it amidst the ruins he +had formerly frequented, Ianthe's form stood by his side--if he +sought it in the woods, her light step would appear wandering amidst +the underwood, in quest of the modest violet; then suddenly turning +round, would show, to his wild imagination, her pale face and wounded +throat, with a meek smile upon her lips. He determined to fly scenes, +every feature of which created such bitter associations in his mind. +He proposed to Lord Ruthven, to whom he held himself bound by the +tender care he had taken of him during his illness, that they should +visit those parts of Greece neither had yet seen. They travelled in +every direction, and sought every spot to which a recollection could +be attached: but though they thus hastened from place to place, yet +they seemed not to heed what they gazed upon. They heard much of +robbers, but they gradually began to slight these reports, which they +imagined were only the invention of individuals, whose interest it was +to excite the generosity of those whom they defended from pretended +dangers. In consequence of thus neglecting the advice of the +inhabitants, on one occasion they travelled with only a few guards, +more to serve as guides than as a defence. Upon entering, however, a +narrow defile, at the bottom of which was the bed of a torrent, with +large masses of rock brought down from the neighbouring precipices, +they had reason to repent their negligence; for scarcely were the +whole of the party engaged in the narrow pass, when they were startled +by the whistling of bullets close to their heads, and by the echoed +report of several guns. In an instant their guards had left them, and, +placing themselves behind rocks, had begun to fire in the direction +whence the report came. Lord Ruthven and Aubrey, imitating their +example, retired for a moment behind the sheltering turn of the +defile: but ashamed of being thus detained by a foe, who with +insulting shouts bade them advance, and being exposed to unresisting +slaughter, if any of the robbers should climb above and take them in +the rear, they determined at once to rush forward in search of the +enemy. Hardly had they lost the shelter of the rock, when Lord Ruthven +received a shot in the shoulder, which brought him to the ground. +Aubrey hastened to his assistance; and, no longer heeding the contest +or his own peril, was soon surprised by seeing the robbers' faces +around him--his guards having, upon Lord Ruthven's being wounded, +immediately thrown up their arms and surrendered. + +By promises of great reward, Aubrey soon induced them to convey his +wounded friend to a neighbouring cabin; and having agreed upon a +ransom, he was no more disturbed by their presence--they being +content merely to guard the entrance till their comrade should return +with the promised sum, for which he had an order. Lord Ruthven's +strength rapidly decreased; in two days mortification ensued, and +death seemed advancing with hasty steps. His conduct and appearance +had not changed; he seemed as unconscious of pain as he had been of +the objects about him: but towards the close of the last evening, his +mind became apparently uneasy, and his eye often fixed upon Aubrey, +who was induced to offer his assistance with more than usual +earnestness--"Assist me! you may save me--you may do more than +that--I mean not my life, I heed the death of my existence as little +as that of the passing day; but you may save my honour, your friend's +honour."--"How? tell me how? I would do any thing," replied Aubrey.--"I +need but little--my life ebbs apace--I cannot explain the +whole--but if you would conceal all you know of me, my honour were +free from stain in the world's mouth--and if my death were unknown +for some time in England--I--I--but life."--"It shall not be +known."--"Swear!" cried the dying man, raising himself with exultant +violence, "Swear by all your soul reveres, by all your nature fears, +swear that, for a year and a day you will not impart your knowledge of +my crimes or death to any living being in any way, whatever may +happen, or whatever you may see. "--His eyes seemed bursting from +their sockets: "I swear!" said Aubrey; he sunk laughing upon his +pillow, and breathed no more. + +Aubrey retired to rest, but did not sleep; the many circumstances +attending his acquaintance with this man rose upon his mind, and he +knew not why; when he remembered his oath a cold shivering came over +him, as if from the presentiment of something horrible awaiting him. +Rising early in the morning, he was about to enter the hovel in which +he had left the corpse, when a robber met him, and informed him that +it was no longer there, having been conveyed by himself and comrades, +upon his retiring, to the pinnacle of a neighbouring mount, according +to a promise they had given his lordship, that it should be exposed to +the first cold ray of the moon that rose after his death. Aubrey +astonished, and taking several of the men, determined to go and bury +it upon the spot where it lay. But, when he had mounted to the summit +he found no trace of either the corpse or the clothes, though the +robbers swore they pointed out the identical rock on which they had +laid the body. For a time his mind was bewildered in conjectures, but +he at last returned, convinced that they had buried the corpse for the +sake of the clothes. + +Weary of a country in which he had met with such terrible misfortunes, +and in which all apparently conspired to heighten that superstitious +melancholy that had seized upon his mind, he resolved to leave it, and +soon arrived at Smyrna. While waiting for a vessel to convey him to +Otranto, or to Naples, he occupied himself in arranging those effects +he had with him belonging to Lord Ruthven. Amongst other things there +was a case containing several weapons of offence, more or less adapted +to ensure the death of the victim. There were several daggers and +ataghans. Whilst turning them over, and examining their curious forms, +what was his surprise at finding a sheath apparently ornamented in the +same style as the dagger discovered in the fatal hut--he +shuddered--hastening to gain further proof, he found the weapon, and +his horror may be imagined when he discovered that it fitted, though +peculiarly shaped, the sheath he held in his hand. His eyes seemed to +need no further certainty--they seemed gazing to be bound to the +dagger; yet still he wished to disbelieve; but the particular form, +the same varying tints upon the haft and sheath were alike in +splendour on both, and left no room for doubt; there were also drops +of blood on each. + +He left Smyrna, and on his way home, at Rome, his first inquiries were +concerning the lady he had attempted to snatch from Lord Ruthven's +seductive arts. Her parents were in distress, their fortune ruined, +and she had not been heard of since the departure of his lordship. +Aubrey's mind became almost broken under so many repeated horrors; he +was afraid that this lady had fallen a victim to the destroyer of +Ianthe. He became morose and silent; and his only occupation consisted +in urging the speed of the postilions, as if he were going to save the +life of some one he held dear. He arrived at Calais; a breeze, which +seemed obedient to his will, soon wafted him to the English shores; +and he hastened to the mansion of his fathers, and there, for a +moment, appeared to lose, in the embraces and caresses of his sister, +all memory of the past. If she before, by her infantine caresses, had +gained his affection, now that the woman began to appear, she was +still more attaching as a companion. + +Miss Aubrey had not that winning grace which gains the gaze and +applause of the drawing-room assemblies. There was none of that light +brilliancy which only exists in the heated atmosphere of a crowded +apartment. Her blue eye was never lit up by the levity of the mind +beneath. There was a melancholy charm about it which did not seem to +arise from misfortune, but from some feeling within, that appeared to +indicate a soul conscious of a brighter realm. Her step was not that +light footing, which strays where'er a butterfly or a colour may +attract--it was sedate and pensive. When alone, her face was never +brightened by the smile of joy; but when her brother breathed to her +his affection, and would in her presence forget those griefs she knew +destroyed his rest, who would have exchanged her smile for that of the +voluptuary? It seemed as if those eyes,--that face were then playing +in the light of their own native sphere. She was yet only eighteen, +and had not been presented to the world, it having been thought by her +guardians more fit that her presentation should be delayed until her +brother's return from the continent, when he might be her protector. +It was now, therefore, resolved that the next drawing-room, which was +fast approaching, should be the epoch of her entry into the "busy +scene." Aubrey would rather have remained in the mansion of his +fathers, and fed upon the melancholy which overpowered him. He could +not feel interest about the frivolities of fashionable strangers, when +his mind had been so torn by the events he had witnessed; but he +determined to sacrifice his own comfort to the protection of his +sister. They soon arrived in town, and prepared for the next day, +which had been announced as a drawing-room. + +The crowd was excessive--a drawing-room had not been held for a long +time, and all who were anxious to bask in the smile of royalty, +hastened thither. Aubrey was there with his sister. While he was +standing in a corner by himself, heedless of all around him, engaged +in the remembrance that the first time he had seen Lord Ruthven was in +that very place--he felt himself suddenly seized by the arm, and a +voice he recognized too well, sounded in his ear--"Remember your +oath." He had hardly courage to turn, fearful of seeing a spectre +that would blast him, when he perceived, at a little distance, the +same figure which had attracted his notice on this spot upon his first +entry into society. He gazed till his limbs almost refusing to bear +their weight, he was obliged to take the arm of a friend, and forcing +a passage through the crowd, he threw himself into his carriage, and +was driven home. He paced the room with hurried steps, and fixed his +hands upon his head, as if he were afraid his thoughts were bursting +from his brain. Lord Ruthven again before him--circumstances started +up in dreadful array--the dagger--his oath.--He roused himself, he +could not believe it possible--the dead rise again!--He thought his +imagination had conjured up the image his mind was resting upon. It +was impossible that it could be real--he determined, therefore, to +go again into society; for though he attempted to ask concerning Lord +Ruthven, the name hung upon his lips, and he could not succeed in +gaining information. He went a few nights after with his sister to the +assembly of a near relation. Leaving her under the protection of a +matron, he retired into a recess, and there gave himself up to his own +devouring thoughts. Perceiving, at last, that many were leaving, he +roused himself, and entering another room, found his sister surrounded +by several, apparently in earnest conversation; he attempted to pass +and get near her, when one, whom he requested to move, turned round, +and revealed to him those features he most abhorred. He sprang +forward, seized his sister's arm, and, with hurried step, forced her +towards the street: at the door he found himself impeded by the crowd +of servants who were waiting for their lords; and while he was engaged +in passing them, he again heard that voice whisper close to +him--"Remember your oath!"--He did not dare to turn, but, hurrying his +sister, soon reached home. + +Aubrey became almost distracted. If before his mind had been absorbed +by one subject, how much more completely was it engrossed, now that +the certainty of the monster's living again pressed upon his thoughts. +His sister's attentions were now unheeded, and it was in vain that she +intreated him to explain to her what had caused his abrupt conduct. He +only uttered a few words, and those terrified her. The more he +thought, the more he was bewildered. His oath startled him;--was he +then to allow this monster to roam, bearing ruin upon his breath, +amidst all he held dear, and not avert its progress? His very sister +might have been touched by him. But even if he were to break his oath, +and disclose his suspicions, who would believe him? He thought of +employing his own hand to free the world from such a wretch; but +death, he remembered, had been already mocked. For days he remained in +this state; shut up in his room, he saw no one, and ate only when his +sister came, who, with eyes streaming with tears, besought him, for +her sake, to support nature. At last, no longer capable of bearing +stillness and solitude, he left his house, roamed from street to +street, anxious to fly that image which haunted him. His dress became +neglected, and he wandered, as often exposed to the noon-day sun as to +the midnight damps. He was no longer to be recognized; at first he +returned with the evening to the house; but at last he laid him down +to rest wherever fatigue overtook him. His sister, anxious for his +safety, employed people to follow him; but they were soon distanced by +him who fled from a pursuer swifter than any--from thought. His +conduct, however, suddenly changed. Struck with the idea that he left +by his absence the whole of his friends, with a fiend amongst them, of +whose presence they were unconscious, he determined to enter again +into society, and watch him closely, anxious to forewarn, in spite of +his oath, all whom Lord Ruthven approached with intimacy. But when he +entered into a room, his haggard and suspicious looks were so +striking, his inward shudderings so visible, that his sister was at +last obliged to beg of him to abstain from seeking, for her sake, a +society which affected him so strongly. When, however, remonstrance +proved unavailing, the guardians thought proper to interpose, and, +fearing that his mind was becoming alienated, they thought it high +time to resume again that trust which had been before imposed upon +them by Aubrey's parents. + +Desirous of saving him from the injuries and sufferings he had daily +encountered in his wanderings, and of preventing him from exposing to +the general eye those marks of what they considered folly, they +engaged a physician to reside in the house, and take constant care of +him. He hardly appeared to notice it, so completely was his mind +absorbed by one terrible subject. His incoherence became at last so +great, that he was confined to his chamber. There he would often lie +for days, incapable of being roused. He had become emaciated, his eyes +had attained a glassy lustre;--the only sign of affection and +recollection remaining displayed itself upon the entry of his sister; +then he would sometimes start, and, seizing her hands, with looks that +severely afflicted her, he would desire her not to touch him. "Oh, do +not touch him--if your love for me is aught, do not go near him!" +When, however, she inquired to whom he referred, his only answer was, +"True! true!" and again he sank into a state, whence not even she could +rouse him. This lasted many months: gradually, however, as the year +was passing, his incoherences became less frequent, and his mind threw +off a portion of its gloom, whilst his guardians observed, that +several times in the day he would count upon his fingers a definite +number, and then smile. + +The time had nearly elapsed, when, upon the last day of the year, one +of his guardians entering his room, began to converse with his +physician upon the melancholy circumstance of Aubrey's being in so +awful a situation, when his sister was going next day to be married. +Instantly Aubrey's attention was attracted; he asked anxiously to +whom. Glad of this mark of returning intellect, of which they feared +he had been deprived, they mentioned the name of the Earl of Marsden. +Thinking this was a young Earl whom he had met with in society, Aubrey +seemed pleased, and astonished them still more by his expressing his +intention to be present at the nuptials, and desiring to see his +sister. They answered not, but in a few minutes his sister was with +him. He was apparently again capable of being affected by the +influence of her lovely smile; for he pressed her to his breast, and +kissed her cheek, wet with tears, flowing at the thought of her +brother's being once more alive to the feelings of affection. He began +to speak with all his wonted warmth, and to congratulate her upon her +marriage with a person so distinguished for rank and every +accomplishment; when he suddenly perceived a locket upon her breast; +opening it, what was his surprise at beholding the features of the +monster who had so long influenced his life. He seized the portrait in +a paroxysm of rage, and trampled it under foot. Upon her asking him +why he thus destroyed the resemblance of her future husband, he looked +as if he did not understand her--then seizing her hands, and gazing +on her with a frantic expression of countenance, he bade her swear +that she would never wed this monster, for he---- But he could not +advance--it seemed as if that voice again bade him remember his +oath--he turned suddenly round, thinking Lord Ruthven was near him +but saw no one. In the meantime the guardians and physician, who had +heard the whole, and thought this was but a return of his disorder, +entered, and forcing him from Miss Aubrey, desired her to leave him. +He fell upon his knees to them, he implored, he begged of them to +delay but for one day. They, attributing this to the insanity they +imagined had taken possession of his mind, endeavoured to pacify him, +and retired. + +Lord Ruthven had called the morning after the drawing-room, and had +been refused with every one else. When he heard of Aubrey's ill +health, he readily understood himself to be the cause of it; but when +he learned that he was deemed insane, his exultation and pleasure +could hardly be concealed from those among whom he had gained this +information. He hastened to the house of his former companion, and, by +constant attendance, and the pretence of great affection for the +brother and interest in his fate, he gradually won the ear of Miss +Aubrey. Who could resist his power? His tongue had dangers and toils +to recount--could speak of himself as of an individual having no +sympathy with any being on the crowded earth, save with her to whom he +addressed himself;--could tell how, since he knew her, his existence, +had begun to seem worthy of preservation, if it were merely that he +might listen to her soothing accents;--in fine, he knew so well how to +use the serpent's art, or such was the will of fate, that he gained +her affections. The title of the elder branch falling at length to +him, he obtained an important embassy, which served as an excuse for +hastening the marriage, (in spite of her brother's deranged state,) +which was to take place the very day before his departure for the +continent. + +Aubrey, when he was left by the physician and his guardians, attempted +to bribe the servants, but in vain. He asked for pen and paper; it was +given him; he wrote a letter to his sister, conjuring her, as she +valued her own happiness, her own honour, and the honour of those now +in the grave, who once held her in their arms as their hope and the +hope of their house, to delay but for a few hours that marriage, on +which he denounced the most heavy curses. The servants promised they +would deliver it; but giving it to the physician, he thought it better +not to harass any more the mind of Miss Aubrey by, what he considered, +the ravings of a maniac. Night passed on without rest to the busy +inmates of the house; and Aubrey heard, with a horror that may more +easily be conceived than described, the notes of busy preparation. +Morning came, and the sound of carriages broke upon his ear. Aubrey +grew almost frantic. The curiosity of the servants at last overcame +their vigilance, they gradually stole away, leaving him in the custody +of an helpless old woman. He seized the opportunity, with one bound +was out of the room, and in a moment found himself in the apartment +where all were nearly assembled. Lord Ruthven was the first to +perceive him: he immediately approached, and, taking his arm by +force, hurried him from the room, speechless with rage. When on the +staircase, Lord Ruthven whispered in his ear--"Remember your oath, +and know, if not my bride to day, your sister is dishonoured. Women +are frail!" So saying, he pushed him towards his attendants, who, +roused by the old woman, had come in search of him. Aubrey could no +longer support himself; his rage not finding vent, had broken a +blood-vessel, and he was conveyed to bed. This was not mentioned to +his sister, who was not present when he entered, as the physician was +afraid of agitating her. The marriage was solemnized, and the bride +and bridegroom left London. + +Aubrey's weakness increased; the effusion of blood produced symptoms +of the near approach of death. He desired his sister's guardians might +be called, and when the midnight hour had struck, he related +composedly what the reader has perused--he died immediately after. + +The guardians hastened to protect Miss Aubrey; but when they arrived, +it was too late. Lord Ruthven had disappeared, and Aubrey's sister had +glutted the thirst of a VAMPYRE! + + + ________________________________________________________________ + + EXTRACT OF A LETTER, + + CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT + + OF + + LORD BYRON'S RESIDENCE + + IN THE + + ISLAND OF MITYLENE. + ________________________________________________________________ + + ACCOUNT + + OF + + LORD BYRON'S RESIDENCE, &c. + ______________ + +"The world was all before him, where to choose his place of rest, and + Providence his guide." + +IN Sailing through the Grecian Archipelago, on board one of his +Majesty's vessels, in the year 1812, we put into the harbour of +Mitylene, in the island of that name. The beauty of this place, and +the certain supply of cattle and vegetables always to be had there, +induce many British vessels to visit it--both men of war and +merchantmen; and though it lies rather out of the track for ships +bound to Smyrna, its bounties amply repay for the deviation of a +voyage. We landed; as usual, at the bottom of the bay, and whilst the +men were employed in watering, and the purser bargaining for cattle +with the natives, the clergyman and myself took a ramble to the cave +called Homer's School, and other places, where we had been before. On +the brow of Mount Ida (a small monticule so named) we met with and +engaged a young Greek as our guide, who told us he had come from Scio +with an English lord, who left the island four days previous to our +arrival in his felucca. "He engaged me as a pilot," said the Greek, +"and would have taken me with him; but I did not choose to quit +Mitylene, where I am likely to get married. He was an odd, but a very +good man. The cottage over the hill, facing the river, belongs to him, +and he has left an old man in charge of it: he gave Dominick, the +wine-trader, six hundred zechines for it, (about L250 English +currency,) and has resided there about fourteen months, though not +constantly; for he sails in his felucca very often to the different +islands." + +This account excited our curiosity very much, and we lost no time in +hastening to the house where our countryman had resided. We were +kindly received by an old man, who conducted us over the mansion. It +consisted of four apartments on the ground-floor--an entrance hall, a +drawing-room, a sitting parlour, and a bed-room, with a spacious +closet annexed. They were all simply decorated: plain green-stained +walls, marble tables on either side, a large myrtle in the centre, and +a small fountain beneath, which could be made to play through the +branches by moving a spring fixed in the side of a small bronze Venus +in a leaning posture; a large couch or sofa completed the furniture. +In the hall stood half a dozen English cane chairs, and an empty +book-case: there were no mirrors, nor a single painting. The +bedchamber had merely a large mattress spread on the floor, with two +stuffed cotton quilts and a pillow--the common bed throughout Greece. +In the sitting-room we observed a marble recess, formerly, the old man +told us, filled with books and papers, which were then in a large +seaman's chest in the closet: it was open, but we did not think +ourselves justified in examining the contents. On the tablet of the +recess lay Voltaire's, Shakspeare's, Boileau's, and Rousseau's works +complete; Volney's Ruins of Empires; Zimmerman, in the German +language; Klopstock's Messiah; Kotzebue's novels; Schiller's play of +the Robbers; Milton's Paradise Lost, an Italian edition, printed at +Parma in 1810; several small pamphlets from the Greek press at +Constantinople, much torn, but no English book of any description. +Most of these books were filled with marginal notes, written with a +pencil, in Italian and Latin. The Messiah was literally scribbled all +over, and marked with slips of paper, on which also were remarks. + +The old man said: "The lord had been reading these books the evening +before he sailed, and forgot to place them with the others; but," +said he, "there they must lie until his return; for he is so +particular, that were I to move one thing without orders, he would +frown upon me for a week together; he is otherways very good. I once +did him a service; and I have the produce of this farm for the trouble +of taking care of it, except twenty zechines which I pay to an aged +Armenian who resides in a small cottage in the wood, and whom the lord +brought here from Adrianople; I don't know for what reason." + +The appearance of the house externally was pleasing. The portico in +front was fifty paces long and fourteen broad, and the fluted marble +pillars with black plinths and fret-work cornices, (as it is now +customary in Grecian architecture,) were considerably higher than the +roof. The roof, surrounded by a light stone balustrade, was covered by +a fine Turkey carpet, beneath an awning of strong coarse linen. Most +of the house-tops are thus furnished, as upon them the Greeks pass +their evenings in smoking, drinking light wines, such as "lachryma +christi," eating fruit, and enjoying the evening breeze. + +On the left hand as we entered the house, a small streamlet glided +away, grapes, oranges and limes were clustering together on its +borders, and under the shade of two large myrtle bushes, a marble seat +with an ornamental wooden back was placed, on which we were told, the +lord passed many of his evenings and nights till twelve o'clock, +reading, writing, and talking to himself. "I suppose," said the old +man, "praying" for he was very devout, "and always attended our church +twice a week, besides Sundays." + +The view from this seat was what may be termed "a bird's-eye view." +A line of rich vineyards led the eye to Mount Calcla, covered with +olive and myrtle trees in bloom, and on the summit of which an ancient +Greek temple appeared in majestic decay. A small stream issuing from +the ruins descended in broken cascades, until it was lost in the woods +near the mountain's base. The sea smooth as glass, and an horizon +unshadowed by a single cloud, terminates the view in front; and a +little on the left, through a vista of lofty chesnut and palm-trees, +several small islands were distinctly observed, studding the light +blue wave with spots of emerald green. I seldom enjoyed a view more +than I did this; but our enquiries were fruitless as to the name of +the person who had resided in this romantic solitude: none knew his +name but Dominick, his banker, who had gone to Candia. "The Armenian," +said our conductor, "could tell, but I am sure he will not,"--"And +cannot you tell, old friend?" said I--"If I can," said he, "I dare +not." We had not time to visit the Armenian, but on our return to the +town we learnt several particulars of the isolated lord. He had +portioned eight young girls when he was last upon the island, and even +danced with them at the nuptial feast. He gave a cow to one man, +horses to others, and cotton and silk to the girls who live by weaving +these articles. He also bought a new boat for a fisherman who had lost +his own in a gale, and he often gave Greek Testaments to the poor +children. In short, he appeared to us, from all we collected, to have +been a very eccentric and benevolent character. One circumstance we +learnt, which our old friend at the cottage thought proper not to +disclose. He had a most beautiful daughter, with whom the lord was +often seen walking on the sea-shore, and he had bought her a +piano-forte, and taught her himself the use of it. + +Such was the information with which we departed from the peaceful isle +of Mitylene; our imaginations all on the rack, guessing who this +rambler in Greece could be. He had money it was evident: he had +philanthropy of disposition, and all those eccentricities which mark +peculiar genius. Arrived at Palermo, all our doubts were dispelled. +Falling in company with Mr. FOSTER, the architect, a pupil of WYATT'S, +who had been travelling in Egypt and Greece, "The individual," said +he, "about whom you are so anxious, is Lord Byron; I met him in my +travels on the island of Tenedos, and I also visited him at Mitylene." +We had never then heard of his lordship's fame, as we had been some +years from home; but "Childe Harolde" being put into our hands we +recognized the recluse of Calcla in every page. Deeply did we regret +not having been more curious in our researches at the cottage, but we +consoled ourselves with the idea of returning to Mitylene on some +future day; but to me that day will never return. I make this +statement, believing it not quite uninteresting, and in justice to his +lordship's good name, which has been grossly slandered. He has been +described as of an unfeeling disposition, averse to associating with +human nature, or contributing in any way to sooth its sorrows, or add +to its pleasures. The fact is directly the reverse, as may be plainly +gathered from these little anecdotes. All the finer feelings of the +heart, so elegantly depicted in his lordship's poems, seem to have +their seat in his bosom. Tenderness, sympathy, and charity appear to +guide all his actions: and his courting the repose of solitude is an +additional reason for marking him as a being on whose heart Religion +hath set her seal, and over whose head Benevolence hath thrown her +mantle. No man can read the preceding pleasing "traits" without +feeling proud of him as a countryman. With respect to his loves or +pleasures, I do not assume a right to give an opinion. Reports are +ever to be received with caution, particularly when directed against +man's moral integrity; and he who dares justify himself before that +awful tribunal where all must appear, alone may censure the errors of +a fellow-mortal. Lord Byron's character is worthy of his genius. To do +good in secret, and shun the world's applause, is the surest testimony +of a virtuous heart and self-approving conscience. + + + THE END + ____________________ + + Gillet, Printer, Crown-court, Fleet-street. + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Vampyre; A Tale, by John William Polidori + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VAMPYRE; A TALE *** + +***** This file should be named 6087.txt or 6087.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/8/6087/ + +Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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