A Nine Men's Morrice: stories collected and recollected by W. H. Pollock

Front matter

A NINE MEN'S MORRICE FRINTIfD nv SPOlTtSWOOOli AXD CO.. NEW-S TKEET SQUARE LOXDOX A Nine Men's Morrice STORIES COLLECTED AND EE-COLLECTED BY WALTER HEEEIES POLLOCK LONDON LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. AND NEW YORK : 15 EAST 16'" STREET 1889 AU rights reserved TO HIS EXCELLENCY THE EARL OF LYTTON THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED WITH AFFECTION AND ADMIRATION BT THE AUTHOR CONTENTS. PAQB LlLITH 1 Knurr and Spell 159 Me. Morton's Butler 195 Lady Volant 217 The Green Lady ..,,.... 235 Edged Tools (written in collaboration u-itli Brander Matthews) 2C9 The ' Thodght-reader '.,.,.,. 313 One of Charles Mainwaeing's Lies ..... 331 Dreams 347 a LILITH LILITH.

Chapter I

Cecil, thirteenth Earl Falcon, was a man of some what peculiar character. Those who knew him little set him down as reserved and cold : those who knew him well said that he had deep passions seldom revealed. If the storms of passion did in truth ever attack him, their force was spent in un seen caverns of his mind : no visible wave rolled on the surface of his nature, no convulsion troubled its calmness ; but that was no proof that convulsions did not exist in the depths below. Some of his friends attributed this seldom varied evenness of demeanour to the strength of his will ; others said that his devotion to music exhausted all his power of feeling. Certainly he had an extraordinary talent and a surprising love for this art, and was never so happy as when he could be left for hours together to follow out the play of his fancy and give E LILITH 2 momentary life to his reveries in the notes struck by his master hand.

For society he cared little, although he must always have been distinguished in it, as well for his personal qualities as for his in herited name and wealth. People who met him for the first time seldom took any strong liking to him, but his manner had a dignity and grace which com manded their attention. He on his side was vexed whenever he was obliged to go into society ; and he was no better pleased than usual when one night he felt it necessary to appear at a ball given by his old friend Mrs. Norman. Here, just as he was be ginning to congratulate himself on the prospect of soon slipping away, his attention was caught by a girl dancing on the opposite side of the room. The musicians were playing a languid, dreamy German waltz, and the singular grace with which her move ments seemed to respond to the spirit of the music first attracted his eye.

Then as she and her partner swung round the room towards him, he observed her more closely, and noticed a kind of childish appeal ing look in her face, a look as of one who sought some strong support to lean on, being too weak to face the turmoil of the world alone. There was also a fascination not only in the look, but also in the small pliant figure, which was undefined, and therefore to LILITH 3 a man of Lord Falcon's fastidious temperament the more attractive, perhaps, because it presented no salient point for the critical faculty to lay hold of and find fault with. In the claims made by estab lished beauties to admiration Lord Falcon generally found some defect ; either the face was somewhere out of drawing, or, if faultless in that respect, was spoilt by a want of meaning. The attraction of this girl, if indefinable, was far from being insignificant : as she passed the spot where Falcon stood her eyes sent forth a glance in his direction, and their look filled him with a feeling of perplexed admiration : they seemed to remind him of something beautiful, of what he could not tell ; they had also a hidden fire, he thought, an untamed aspect which was at variance with his first impression.

He looked. wondered, and looked again ; and at the end of the next dance he went up to his cousin, Arthur Vane. • Who is that girl you were dancing with just before this, Arthur ? ' he asked. ' What ? ' said the other ; ' is Saul among the prophets ? Are you asking a woman's name ? Can it be that your devotion has wandered from Beethoven and Mozart to the things of tins earth ? ' B LILITH 4 Falcon smiled with a certain gravity of de meanour which belonged even to his smiles. ' Cannot one ask a name without being suspected of a particular interest in its owner 9 ' he said. ' One can, no doubt ; but scarcely you, Falcon, who have never done such a thing before. But I am glad you are curious about her, for I think you would like her.' ' Do you ? Why ? ' ' I can scarcely tell you why. But you have a way of taking to anything that is peculiar, and I think she is that.

There is something curious and unlike ordinary life in her look and manner. I do not know what to call it — barbaric, perhaps.' ' Barbaric ! ' repeated Falcon, musingly. ' No ! I do not think it is quite that.' ' You seem to have observed her closely,' said Vane, with a laugh ; ' but shall I introduce you to her '? That will make it easier for j'ou to discover what she is.' ' I shall be very happy,' said Falcon ; < but you have not yet told me her name.' ' There is one good reason for that, which is, that I don't know it myself. You know how difficult it is to catch names ; but I can easily find it out. Come, we will go and look for her.' LILITH 5 They began to make their way through the rooms with this object, but during their passage Falcon came face to face with Miss Norman, the daughter of the house.

Greeting developed into conversation, which presently turned to Falcon's pet subject, music ; and finding an empty seat next to Miss Norman, he occupied it, leaving Vane to continue his search alone. Miss Norman was a fine musician, and Falcon was always glad to meet her, if only for that reason ; but, apart from that, he had a liking for her, which her mother sometimes hoped might develop into a stronger feeling. Of this, however, there was no chance ; Vane was quite right when he implied that his cousin had never cared much for any woman. The fact was that he had little sympathy with the everyday life of the world ; he preferred his own existence of dreamy imaginations which it was his chief delight to interpret in music. But in Miss Norman's society he generally found some plea sure : she was unaffected and clever, did not vex him with trivialities, and could criticise his com positions with interest and taste.

Thus it hap pened that, relinquishing for a time the purpose with which he had begun to walk through the rooms, he remained talking to Miss Norman, and LILITH 6 ended by dancing with her, more for the purpose of carrying on thenconversation than anything else. Vane, meanwhile, had found the object of his search, and was dancing with her again. His curiosity was aroused concerning her, partly on his own account, partly because of the interest which Falcon seemed to take in her ; and he looked at her carefully more than once to discover wherein lay her attraction. Her features had no remarkable beauty or peculiarity : they were rather small and irregular; her dress and demeanour, when analysed, could not be said to differ specially from those of others ; yet there was something unusual and striking about her.

Perhaps it might be in her eyes that the charm, if charm it was, should be found ; they had a strange look, he thought, as of one who saw more than was visible to other mortal eyes. Even as he thought so she looked up and met his glance with a gaze so keen and piercing that his own dropped before it, and he felt confused, as if detected in a guilty action. He recovered himself quickly, and said to her — ' When I came to look for you just now I was impelled by purely unselfish motives, and you see virtue has brought its reward for once.' LILITH 7 ' Has it ? ' she said, ' and what was your un selfish motive ? ' ' My cousin Falcon was anxious to be introduced to you.' ' Lord Falcon ! I have heard of him. Is not he very musical ? Is he here now ? ' ' Yes,' said Vane, ' there he is, just opposite to us.' She looked across the room to where Falcon was standing, deep in conversation with Miss Nor man.

He was bending down towards her, and his face, usually marked by a grave stillness, was lighted up with an eager interest. Any one look ing at them might have thought that they were deep in a flirtation, or in something yet more serious ; whereas, in fact, they were discussing a great master's rendering of a certain violin solo. Falcon's grand manner gave a picturesque aspect to a group ordinary in itself; and it may have been the sense of this which caused Vane's partner to look steadily at the pah. Vane, observing this, said, in a somewhat mischievous tone — ' They seem to get on very well together.' She, without varying the direction of her eyes, replied quickly — ' Yes, is not she Miss Norman ? I know her very slightly.' LILITH 8 'She is,' replied Vane; 'they are old friends, and may be more some day, people say.

But I believe people are wrong, as they usually are.' ' Do you ? ' she asked, with a rapid look of inquiry, and before he could answer, said with a little soft laugh, ' Shall we go on again ? ' The next pause in the dance brought them close to Miss Norman and Falcon ; and he, looking up for a moment from his conversation, encountered once again the eyes which had so strangely im pressed him. Again he wondered at the curious mixture of expressions which he thought he de tected in them, but failed to define. As he wondered and his thoughts strayed into a vague reverie, Vane and his partner swept past him, and he was re called to himself by hearing close to him a slight laugh, low in tone, but of a penetrating quality, and seeing the graceful turn of a head disappearing in the crowd. This was the last dance of the even ing, and Falcon, having seen his partner safely into her mother's custody, went in search of the girl who had been dancing with his cousin, but found that she had disappeared.

In the hall he fell in with his brother-in-law, Sir Harry Grey, and they walked away together. 'Can you tell me,' said Falcon, presently, lilith 9 ' who was the girl with whom Arthur was danc ing?' ' A little girl in white, with rather an odd look? ' asked the other. Falcon nodded. ' Oh, yes ! I thought Arthur seemed rather hit by her.' Falcon paused a moment, and then replied, with an asperity unusual to him — ' Arthur is never hit by anybody ; he flirts a little with every one, and never goes much deeper. He danced with her twice, it is true ; but he has probably forgotten all about her by this time. He does not even know her name, I believe. What is her name, and who is she ? There is something rather interesting about her, I think.' 'Yes,' said Sir Harry, who, in the quiet content of his cigar, had not noticed Falcon's unusual excitement. ' She is an odd girl, I fancy.

Miss von Waldheim her name is.' ' A German name,' said Falcon ' Yes ; but the family have been in England for some time, and are practically English now. Her father is a painter ; you must have seen his pictures.' ' I have,' said Falcon ; ' he paints very imagin ative pictures, if I remember right.' LILITH 10 ' Imaginative, just so,' said Sir Harry; 'that's what people call it; they seem to me poor stuff, but I daresay I'm wrong. I must say when I go to look at pictures I like to see something that I've really seen or might see some day ; and who ever expects to see such things as von Waldheim paints ? Goblins and ghosts, and a lot of stuff of that sort ; very well painted, I've no doubt, but it doesn't interest me. He's a good fellow, though, von Waldheim, as far as I've seen him.' ' And his daughter ? ' asked Falcon. ' I can't make her out.

Sometimes when I talk to her I think she's a perfect baby; and sometimes I think she's laughing at me all the time. Bu she's a nice girl, too ; she has pretty ways with her ; kitten-like kind of ways.' ' Ah,' said Falcon, ' that is how it strikes you, is it ? ' ' Yes, that is how it strikes me,' continue Harry ; ' they say she leads her father rather a life at times ; but he is devoted to his Lilith. Odd name Lilith, isn't it ? ' 'Very odd,' said Falcon; 'it is in the legend the name of Adam's first wife. The word really means, I think, " before the morning dawn." ' ' Just so,' said Sir Harry. ' They say he LILITH 11 father was painting one of his queer pictures when she was born, and would call her Lilith after some body or something in the picture. The mother didn't like it ; said it was a name fit only for a heathen, and was sure to bring the child ill-luck and ruin ; but Lilith she was called all the same.' ' And Lilith she is called still.

A strange name, certainly — and a strange girl probably,' said Falcon. ' Yes, a strange girl. I daresay you would get on with her. If you like I can take you any day to von Waldheim's studio.' 'Thank you,' said Falcon, 'I daresay I will come. Here I turn off. Good night.' Falcon went home, opened his piano, and, sitting down, let his fingers wander over the keys at the bidding of the vague thoughts which hovered in his brain. He played Beethoven's ' Moonlight Sonata,' and the soft ripple of the melody reminded him of Lilith von Waldheim's graceful movement in the dance; he struck into a wild mazurka of Chopin, and recalled the strange look which she had darted at him ; he changed to Mendelssohn's ' Midsummer Night's Dream,' and still her image rose before him. As the airy delicate notes sounded he seemed to see troops of fairies, — Peasblossom, Mustardseed, Cobweb, and their attendant rout — LILITH 12 flitting hither and thither in the chequered moon light, and in their midst stood Titania in the like ness of Lilith.

Perhaps it was, in truth, the thought of her latent in his mind which led him to play everything wild and fantastic which he could remember rather than that the eerie melodies re called her to him ; but in the mood which then possessed him he was little inclined to make nice distinctions between cause and effect, and the most marked impression on his mind when he left the piano and went to bed was that this girl had produced a singular effect upon his imagination. Lilith meanwhile had gone home with her father to his house in Kensington. Mr. von Waldheim was a man of a dignified presence, tall and upright, with keen dark eyes, which looked out from under heavy brows, whose blackness contrasted with his white hair and beard. It was this contrast as much as anything else which gave a wildness to his ap pearance, and favoured the report that he was afflicted with a most violent temper, which his daughter's presence alone had power to subdue.

For her he was all kindness : he humoured her every fancy ; when they were seen together it was very easy to understand how the father, from whose LILITH 13 hand one might naturally expect pictures of a dashing or ferocious character, came to paint those bright, poetical works of fancy by which he was chiefly known. It was possible in the hints of subtle mockery, which he sometimes introduced into his pictures, to discover a trace of the bitter temper with which he was credited, but the general effect of his paintings was light and ethereal. When the father and daughter arrived at home that night — ' Well, fairy,' said Mr. von Waldheim, ' did you have a nice ball? With whom did you dance? Any new partners ? ' ' Yes,' said Lilith, ' there was a Mr. Vane, who was rather nice, I thought. And there ought to have been another : his cousin, Lord Falcon ; but he was stopped on the way when he was coming to be introduced to me.

Do you know Lord Falcon, dear papa ? ' ' No ; I know about him ; a man of considerable power, I hear, especially in the line of music : he has composed several songs of a rather sombre nature, which I believe corresponds with his own. At least he is said to be very reserved.' ' I wonder why people are ever reserved,' said Lilith, reflectively ; ' it seems to me that it would LILITH be much better if every one were to tell out what was in them.' ' If every one were like you, fairy, that plan might possibly answer. But while there is so much that had better not be told in people's minds, it might lead to confusion and evil conse quences.' ' Is there much that ought not to be told ? ' asked Lilith, with an air of simplicity. ' I suppose there is, but it seems a great pity. Why should it be so ? ' ' Don't trouble your little head about such things, my pet. Gcod night.' LILITH 15

Chapter II

Next day Vane came to see Falcon, and found him studying and correcting a manuscript score of a composition. ' Still devoted to the old idol ? ' he cried. ' I thought you seemed likely to go after strange goddesses last night.' ' What do you mean ? ' asked Falcon, looking up for a moment, and then returning to his score. ' I fancy you might have found a counter-at traction in Miss von Waldheim.' ' Oh ! you have found out her name ? ' said Falcon. ' So have you, it seems,' replied Vane, laughing, ' or else some occult sympathy led you to guess whom I meant. Such things exist, I believe ; you do not think so, of course; you are too strong minded, and attribute all such ideas to a weak intellect or a feeble constitution. Whether she is a goddess or not, as I daresay she may be, I think LILITH 16 there is something strange about her.

What do you think ? ' ' I ? ' said Falcon ; ' why should I trouble myself to think on such a subject ? ' ' I do not know why you should do so,' replied Vane, ' but I am tolerably certain that you have thought about her. You displayed an interest in her last night which I have seldom observed in you before ; I saw you looking at her with, to say the least of it, attention, more than once.' Falcon rose and put away his music sheet. Every form of deceit, however slight, was distaste ful to him, and he now spoke out exactly that which was in him. ' Well,' he said, ' I did watch her with attention ; she did interest me ; this I confess ; is my confession very terrible ? ' ' Coming from you it is perhaps a little alarm ing,' said Vane, laughingly, and then catching, with quick sympathy, a touch of dislike to this jesting tone in Falcon's face, he went on — ' If you really are at all interested about her I am glad ; it seems to me that you care too little for anything in the outer world, and the von Waldheims are thoroughly artistic people, and would please you, I think.

The father asked me last night to come LILITH 17 and look at his pictures any day I liked, and I do not suppose there would be much difficulty about your coming with me.' ' Thank you,' said Falcon, with some delibera tion. ' Grey, with whom I walked back last night, has already offered to take me to Mr. von Wald heim's studio.' ' Oh ! ' replied Vane, in a tone which implied that if he had said more it would have been, ' Has it gone so far as that ? ' He walked about the room a little in a restless way, and then said — ' Have you anything to do this afternoon, Falcon ? ' ' That means,' said Falcon, with his grave smile, ' will you come to the von Waldheims with me ? I have no objection to gratifying you so far.' ' Ah ! you are always laughing at me for what you call my impressionable temperament ; but for once you are mistaken.

In the case of Miss von Waldheim, I am influenced by the merest curiosity — as no doubt you are yourself.' To this shaft Falcon made no reply, and ap peared to be busy in arranging his music for a few moments, at the end of which he said — c LILITH ' We may as well go now as at any other time.' ' Yes,' said Vane, ' it is a good light for looking at pictures, is it not? Let us go and call for Grey.' Upon this the two set out. Vane certainly deserved the character for being impressionable, of which in his excuses to Falcon he had accused himself; but it was equally true that Lilith von Waldheim had not produced upon his susceptible nature that effect which women of various kinds of fascination were apt to produce. He felt no inclination to flirt with her ; no nascent tenderness ; he experienced only, as he had said, a curiosity about her.

He wondered himself at this, knowing to some extent his own weakness for falling a little in love with every new face which possessed any attraction ; and he wondered the more because he saw a man so difficult to please as Falcon betraying a certain amount of excitement about a girl in whom his fastidious judgment might easily find defects. Thus his curiosity was awakened, as well to discover why Falcon took so great an interest in her, as to inquire on his own account into her character and belongings. Falcon, on his part, LILITH 19 could not define the feelings which led him to agree so quickly to Vane's plan of going to Mr. von Waldheim's studio ; he was conscious that his usual equanimity was a little ruffled, but could not probably, had he been so inclined, have traced and analysed the disturbing influences which were at work.

The reflections of both men, however, were sufficiently absorbing to keep them nearly silent until they arrived at Sir Harry Grey's house, where they were received by Lady Emmeline Grey, commonly known as Lady Emmy, Falcon's sister. For her her brother entertained a deep affection ; for her and in her service he would undertake any thing, even when it involved leaving his piano and his music in the very heat of successful composition ; and an expression of singular softness and sweetness came into his face as he greeted her, and said — ' We missed you much last night, Emmy.' As she began to answer, Sir Harry came into the room. ' How are you, Falcon ? How do, Arthur ? ' he said. ' I suppose you two mean to go to von Waldheim's studio. Well, I'm always glad to go there — not that I care about his pictures, but he's a c LILITH 20 deuced pleasant fellow, von Waldheim, and that little girl of his amuses me.

You'll be fighting over her, I expect, you two.' He chuckled contentedly as he concluded his speech ; but Falcon looked grave as usual ; Vane made a quick gesture of dissent, and Lady Emmy said — 'You should not put such ideas into young men's heads, Harry. Falcon, of course, is going to look at Mr. von Waldheim's studies ; and as for Arthur, I doubt if he can care for any one up to the point of quarrelling.' ' Well,' said Sir Harry, ' I was right in my guess as to your intentions, at any rate ; so let us be going.' They started accordingly for Kensington. Be fore they went, Lady Emmy looked hard at her brother, and said — ' Take care of yourself, Cecil,' to which he only replied — ' Dear little Emmy ! always thinking for others.' It was a bright spring day, such as comes once in a while to enliven the spirits of those who are condemned to dwell in a region for the most part dark and smoke-weighted.

Birds were singing LILITH 21 cheerily among the early leaves; and the sun shone with a brilliance which is so rare in London that it seems misplaced and garish when it firs appears. Thus, while their walk was pleasaiu and inspiriting, the change from the prevailing brightness without to the carefully arranged light and shade within the studio which they entered came just at the right time to produce an agreeable effect. It has often been said that rooms bear the impress of their owner's individuality, if he has any ; and the aspect of Mr. von Waldheim's studio argued that whoever had planned it possessed an original taste. The floor was polished and uncarpeted, save for a large soft rug in front of the fireplace, whereon a Persian cat was stretched lazily at full length, blinking its large eyes in sleepy contentment.

In one corner was a tall Japanese screen covered with quaint devices, which Vane, on close inspection, discovered with a little disgust to be elaborate representations of the Ja panese idea of hell; in another, behind a velvet covered table, littered with all kinds of bric-a-brac, Dresden china, miniatures by Cosway, and Louis Quatorze snuff-boxes, stood a lay figure, the white drapery of which somehow suggested the LILITH 22 idea of a shroud to Vane's imagination. On an easel was an unfinished picture, which represented 'Queen Mab and her Court.' The central figure was evidently drawn from Lilith ; she sat in an attitude of fantastic grace on an airy throne, receiving the homage of her courtiers. Falcon looked long at the picture. ' That is wonderfully like your daughter, Mr. von Waldheim,' he said, presently, ' and allow me to say an exquisite picture.' The artist gave a quick look at him from under his heavy brows, and said — ' Here is another picture which I think will interest you.' He led the way to the fireplace, over which hung a large picture, of which Falcon did not at once comprehend the meaning.

It represented a mountain landscape seen by moonlight, all of which, save the foreground, was obscured by driving mist and clouds ; in the foreground were two men leaning against a projecting rock, and looking in tently into the mass of wreathing vapour. Fixing his gaze upon these two figures, about neither of whom there was at first sight anything striking or peculiar, Falcon observed that the face of the one bore an expression of deep unrest and hardly LJLITH 23 mastered sorrow, while the careless amusement visible in the bearing and countenance of the other had something painful and mocking in the force of its contrast. Following with his eye the direction of their glance, the spectator perceived that the eddying clouds which crept and rolled across the mountain, in the dim light of the background, were full of grotesque shapes, so near akin in colour and con sistency to the drift itself as to seem part of the sphere which they inhabited.

Here might be seen a long-nosed fiend, bowing low, with gestures of extravagant admiration, to an old witch ; there, a couple of graceful sprites dancing swiftly together through the light vapour ; farther on again was a group of strange phantoms, which might be either living beings moving in the world of elves, or mere images, formed out of the whirling mist, according to the spectator's fancy; over all the skill of the jiainter had cast a wonderful air of life and motion. In the very centre of the picture was a rift in the clouds, through which a ray of moonlight streamed on to a woman's figure draped in long gauzy robes, from whom the surrounding goblins and witches seemed to have shrunk in terror or subjection, so that she walked entirely alone. Her face could LILITH 24 not be distinguished ; but the artist had infused a spirit of disdain into her attitude, which would by itself account for her solitude.