The Lady of the Shroud by Bram Stoker (knowledgeable books to read .txt) đź“–
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privilege of a lifelong friendship with the testator as I have had.
And as Rupert Sent Leger had to learn intimate details regarding his
uncle, I could best make my confidences alone. To-morrow we shall
have plenty of formality. I was delighted with Rupert. He is just
what I could have wished his mother’s boy to be—or a son of my own
to be, had I had the good-fortune to have been a father. But this is
not for me. I remember long, long ago reading a passage in Lamb’s
Essays which hangs in my mind: “The children of Alice call Bartrum
father.” Some of my old friends would laugh to see ME write this,
but these memoranda are for my eyes alone, and no one shall see them
till after my death, unless by my own permission. The boy takes some
qualities after his father; he has a daring that is disturbing to an
old dryasdust lawyer like me. But somehow I like him more than I
ever liked anyone—any man—in my life—more even than his uncle, my
old friend, Roger Melton; and Lord knows I had much cause to like
him. I have more than ever now. It was quite delightful to see the
way the young adventurer was touched by his uncle’s thought of him.
He is a truly gallant fellow, but venturesome exploits have not
affected the goodness of heart. It is a pleasure to me to think that
Roger and Colin came together apropos of the boy’s thoughtful
generosity towards Miss MacKelpie. The old soldier will be a good
friend to him, or I am much mistaken. With an old lawyer like me,
and an old soldier like him, and a real old gentlewoman like Miss
MacKelpie, who loves the very ground he walks on, to look after him,
together with all his own fine qualities and his marvellous
experience of the world, and the gigantic wealth that will surely be
his, that young man will go far.
Letter from Rupert Sent Leger to Miss Janet MacKelpie, Croom.
January 5, 1907.
MY DEAREST AUNT JANET,
It is all over—the first stage of it; and that is as far as I can
get at present. I shall have to wait for a few days—or it may be
weeks—in London for the doing of certain things now necessitated by
my acceptance of Uncle Roger’s bequest. But as soon as I can, dear,
I shall come down to Croom and spend with you as many days as
possible. I shall then tell you all I am at liberty to tell, and I
shall thank you personally for your consent to come with me to
Vissarion. Oh, how I wish my dear mother had lived to be with us!
It would have made her happy, I know, to have come; and then we three
who shared together the old dear, hard days would have shared in the
same way the new splendour. I would try to show all my love and
gratitude to you both … You must take the whole burden of it now,
dear, for you and I are alone. No, not alone, as we used to be, for
I have now two old friends who are already dear to me. One is so to
you already. Sir Colin is simply splendid, and so, in his own way,
is Mr. Trent. I am lucky, Aunt Janet, to have two such men to think
of affairs for me. Am I not? I shall send you a wire as soon as
ever I can see my way to get through my work; and I want you to think
over all the things you ever wished for in your life, so that I may—
if there is any mortal way of doing so—get them for you. You will
not stand in the way of my having this great pleasure, will you,
dear? Good-bye.
Your loving
RUPERT.
E. B. Trent’s Memoranda.
January 6, 1907.
The formal meeting of Sir Colin and myself with Rupert Sent Leger
went off quite satisfactorily. From what he had said yesterday, and
again last night, I had almost come to expect an unreserved
acceptance of everything stated or implied in Roger Melton’s Will;
but when we had sat round the table—this appeared, by the way, to be
a formality for which we were all prepared, for we sat down as if by
instinct—the very first words he said were:
“As I suppose I must go through this formality, I may as well say at
once that I accept every possible condition which was in the mind of
Uncle Roger; and to this end I am prepared to sign, seal, and
deliver—or whatever is the ritual—whatever document you, sir”—
turning to me—“may think necessary or advisable, and of which you
both approve.” He stood up and walked about the room for a few
moments, Sir Colin and I sitting quite still, silent. He came back
to his seat, and after a few seconds of nervousness—a rare thing
with him, I fancy—said: “I hope you both understand—of course, I
know you do; I only speak because this is an occasion for formality—
that I am willing to accept, and at once! I do so, believe me, not
to get possession of this vast fortune, but because of him who has
given it. The man who was fond of me, and who trusted me, and yet
had strength to keep his own feelings in check—who followed me in
spirit to far lands and desperate adventures, and who, though he
might be across the world from me, was ready to put out a hand to
save or help me, was no common man; and his care of my mother’s son
meant no common love for my dear mother. And so she and I together
accept his trust, come of it what may. I have been thinking it over
all night, and all the time I could not get out of the idea that
mother was somewhere near me. The only thought that could debar me
from doing as I wished to do—and intend to do—would be that she
would not approve. Now that I am satisfied she would approve, I
accept. Whatever may result or happen, I shall go on following the
course that he has set for me. So help me, God!” Sir Colin stood
up, and I must say a more martial figure I never saw. He was in full
uniform, for he was going on to the King’s levee after our business.
He drew his sword from the scabbard and laid it naked on the table
before Rupert, and said:
“You are going, sir, into a strange and danger country—I have been
reading about it since we met—and you will be largely alone amongst
fierce mountaineers who resent the very presence of a stranger, and
to whom you are, and must be, one. If you should ever be in any
trouble and want a man to stand back to back with you, I hope you
will give me the honour!” As he said this pointed to his sword.
Rupert and I were also standing now—one cannot sit down in the
presence of such an act as that. “You are, I am proud to say, allied
with my family: and I only wish to God it was closer to myself.”
Rupert took him by the hand and bent his head before him as answered:
“The honour is mine, Sir Colin; and no greater can come to any man
than that which you have just done me. The best way I can show how I
value it will be to call on you if I am ever in such a tight place.
By Jove, sir, this is history repeating itself. Aunt Janet used to
tell me when I was a youngster how MacKelpie of Croom laid his sword
before Prince Charlie. I hope I may tell her of this; it would make
her so proud and happy. Don’t imagine, sir, that I am thinking
myself a Charles Edward. It is only that Aunt Janet is so good to me
that I might well think I was.”
Sir Colin bowed grandly:
“Rupert Sent Leger, my dear niece is a woman of great discretion and
discernment. And, moreover, I am thinking she has in her some of the
gift of Second Sight that has been a heritage of our blood. And I am
one with my niece—in everything!” The whole thing was quite regal
in manner; it seemed to take me back to the days of the Pretender.
It was not, however, a time for sentiment, but for action—we had met
regarding the future, not the past; so I produced the short document
I had already prepared. On the strength of his steadfast declaration
that he would accept the terms of the Will and the secret letters, I
had got ready a formal acceptance. When I had once again formally
asked Mr. Sent Leger’s wishes, and he had declared his wish to
accept, I got in a couple of my clerks as witnesses.
Then, having again asked him in their presence if it was his wish to
declare acceptance of the conditions, the document was signed and
witnessed, Sir Colin and I both appending our signatures to the
Attestation.
And so the first stage of Rupert Sent Leger’s inheritance is
completed. The next step will not have to be undertaken on my part
until the expiration of six months from his entry on his estate at
Vissarion. As he announces his intention of going within a
fortnight, this will mean practically a little over six months from
now.
Letter from Rupert Sent Leger, Castle of Vissarion, the Spear of
Ivan, Land of the Blue Mountains, to Miss Janet MacKelpie, Croom
Castle, Ross-shire, N.B.
January 23, 1907.
MY DEAREST AUNT JANET,
As you see, I am here at last. Having got my formal duty done, as
you made me promise—my letters reporting arrival to Sir Colin and
Mr. Trent are lying sealed in front of me ready to post (for nothing
shall go before yours)—I am free to speak to you.
This is a most lovely place, and I hope you will like it. I am quite
sure you will. We passed it in the steamer coming from Trieste to
Durazzo. I knew the locality from the chart, and it was pointed out
to me by one of the officers with whom I had become quite friendly,
and who kindly showed me interesting places whenever we got within
sight of shore. The Spear of Ivan, on which the Castle stands, is a
headland running well out into the sea. It is quite a peculiar
place—a sort of headland on a headland, jutting out into a deep,
wide bay, so that, though it is a promontory, it is as far away from
the traffic of coast life as anything you can conceive. The main
promontory is the end of a range of mountains, and looms up vast,
towering over everything, a mass of sapphire blue. I can well
understand how the country came to be called the “Land of the Blue
Mountains,” for it is all mountains, and they are all blue! The
coast-line is magnificent—what is called “iron-bound”—being all
rocky; sometimes great frowning precipices; sometimes jutting spurs
of rock; again little rocky islets, now and again clad with trees and
verdure, at other places stark and bare. Elsewhere are little rocky
bays and indentations—always rock, and often with long, interesting
caves. Some of the shores of the bays are sandy, or else ridges of
beautiful pebbles, where the waves make endless murmur.
But of all the places I have seen—in this land or any other—the
most absolutely beautiful is
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