The Secret Power by Marie Corelli (dark academia books to read .TXT) đ
- Author: Marie Corelli
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All these questions Rivardi discussed with Don Aloysius, who listened to him patiently without committing himself to any reply. Whatever Morgana had confided to himâ(and she had confided much)â he kept his own counsel.
Within forty-eight hours of Morganaâs summons the famous specialist from Rome, Professor Marco Ardini, noted all over the world for his miraculous cures of those whom other physicians had given up as past curing, arrived. He heard the story of the rescue of a man and woman from drowning with emotionless gravity, more taken for the moment by Morgana herself, whom he had never seen before, but with whom he had corresponded on current questions of scientific importance. From the extremely learned and incisive tone of her letters he had judged her to be an elderly woman of profound scholarship who had spent the greater part of her life in study, and his astonishment at the sight of the small, dainty creature who received him in the library of the Palazzo dâOro was beyond all verbal expression,âin fact, he took some minutes to recover from the magnetic âshockâ of her blue eyes and wistful smile.
âI must be quite frank with you,ââshe said, after a preliminary conversation with the great man in his own Italian tongueââThese two people have suffered their injuries by drowningâbut not altogether. They are the victims of an earthquake,âand were thrown by the earthâs upheaval into a deep chasm flooded by waterââ
The Professor interrupted her.
âPardon, Signora! There has been no recent earthquake in Europe.â
She gave a little gesture of assent.
âNot in Europeâno! But in Americaâin California there has been a terrible one!â
âIn California!â he echoed amazedly-âGranâ Dio! You do not mean to say that you brought these people from California, across that vast extent of ocean?â
She smiled.
âBy air-shipâyes! Really nothing so very remarkable! You will not ask for further details just now, Professor!â and she laid her pretty hand coaxingly on his armââYou and I both know how advisable it is to say as little as possible of our own work or adventures, while any subject is awaiting treatment and every moment counts! I will answer any question you may ask when you have seen my patients. The girl is a beautiful creatureâshe is beginning to regain consciousnessâbut the man I fear is past even YOUR skill. Come!â
She led the way and Professor Ardini followed, marvelling at her ethereal grace and beauty, and more than interested in the âcaseâ on which his opinion was sought. Entering a beautiful room glowing with light and warmth and colour, he saw, lying on a bed and slightly propped up by pillows, a lovely girl, pale as ivory, with dark hair loosely braided on either side of her head. Her eyes were closed, and the long black lashes swept the cheeks in a curved fringe,âthe lips were faintly red, and the breath parted them slowly and reluctantly. The Professor bent over her and listened,âher heart beat slowly but regularly,âhe felt her pulse.
âShe will live!ââhe saidââThere are no injuries?â
âNoneââMorgana replied, as he put his questionsââSome few bruises- but no bones broken-nothing serious.â
âYou have examined her?â
âYes.â
âYou have no nurses?â
âNo. I and my house people are sufficient.â Her tone became slightly peremptory. âThere is no need for outside interference. Whatever your orders are, they shall be carried out.â
He looked at her. His face was a somewhat severe one, furrowed with thought and care,âbut when he smiled, a wonderful benevolence gave it an almost handsome effect. And he smiled now.
âYou shall not be interfered with,ââhe saidââYou have done very well! Complete rest, nourishment and your care are all that this patient needs. She will be quite herself in a very short time. She is extraordinarily beautiful!â
âI wish you could see her eyes!â said Morgana.
Almost as if the uttered wish had touched some recess of her stunned brain, Manellaâs eyelids quivered and lifted,âthe great dark glory of the stars of her soul shone forth for an instant, giving sudden radiance to the pallor of her featuresâthen they closed again as in utter weariness.
âMagnificent!â said Ardini, under his breathââAnd full of the vital light,âshe will live!â
âAnd she will love!â added Morgana, softly.
The Professor looked at her enquiringly.
âThe man she loves is in the next roomââshe continuedââWe rescued him with herâif it can be called a rescue. He is the worst case. Only you may be able to bring him back to consciousness,âI have done my best in vain. If YOU fail then we must give up hope.â
She preceded him into the adjoining chamber; as he entered it after her he pausedâalmost intimidated, despite his long medical and surgical experience, by the stone-like figure of man that lay before him. It was as if one should have unearthed a statue, grey with timeâa statue nobly formed, with a powerful head and severe features sternly set,âthe growth of beard revealing, rather than concealing, the somewhat cruel contour of mouth and chin. The Professor walked slowly up to the bed and looked at this strange effigy of a human being for many minutes in silence,âMorgana watching him with strained but quiet suspense. Presently he touched the foreheadâit was stone-coldâthen the throat, stone-cold and rigidâhe bent down and listened for the heartâs pulsations,ânot a flutterânot a beat! Drawing back from this examination he looked at Morgana,âshe met his eyes with the query in her own which she emphasised by the spoken wordâ
âDead?â
âNo!ââhe answeredââI think not. It is very difficult for a man of this type to die at all. Granted favourable conditionsâand barring accidents caused by the carelessness of othersâhe ought to be one of those destined to live for ever. Butââhere he hesitatedââif I am right in my surmise,âof course it is only a first opinionâdeath would be the very best thing for him.â
âOh, why do you say that?â she asked, pitifully.
âBecause the brain is damagedâhopelessly! This manâwhoever he isâ has been tampering with some chemical force he does not entirely understand,âhis whole body is charged with its influence, and this it is that gives his form its unnatural appearance which, though death-like, is not death. If I leave him alone and untouched he will probably expire unconsciously in a few days,âbut ifâafter what I have just told youâyou wish me to set the life atoms going again,â even as a clock is wound up,âI can relax the tension which now paralyses the cells, muscles and nerves, and he will liveâyes!â like most people without brains he will live a long timeâprobably too long!â
Morgana moved to the bedside and gazed with a solemn earnestness at the immobile, helpless form stretched out before her as though ready for burial. Her heart swelled with suppressed emotion,âshe thought with anguish of the brilliant brain, the strong, self-sufficient nature brought to such ruin through too great an estimate of human capability. Tears rushed to her eyesâ
âOh, give him life!â she whisperedââGive him life for the sake of the woman who loves him more than life!â
The Professor gave her a quick, keen glance.
âYou?â
She shivered at the question as though struck by a cold wind,âthen conquering the momentary weakness, answeredâ
âNo. The girl you have just seen. He is her world!â
Ardiniâs brows met in a saturnine frown.
âHer world will be an empty one!â he said, with an expressive gestureââA world without fruit or flower,âwithout light or song! A dreary world! But such as it is,âsuch as it is bound to be,âit can live on,âa life-in-death.â
âAre you quite sure of this?â Morgana askedââCan any of us, however wise, be quite sure of anything?â
His frown relaxed and his whole features softened. He took her hand and patted it kindly.
âSignora, you know as well as I do, that the universe and all within it represents law and order. A man is a little universe in himselfâ and if the guiding law of his system is destroyed, there is chaos and darkness. We scientists can say âLet there be light,â but the fulfilled result âand there was lightâ comes from God alone!â
âWhy should not God help in this case?â she suggested.
âAh, why!â and Ardini shrugged his shouldersââHow can I tell? My long experience has taught me that wherever the law has been broken God does NOT help! Who knows whether this frozen wreck of man has obeyed or disobeyed the law? I can do all that science allowsââ
âAnd you will do it!â interrupted Morgana eagerly, âYou will use your best skill and knowledgeâeverything you wish shall be at your serviceâname whatever fee your merit claimsââ
He raised his hand with a deprecatory gesture.
âMoney does not count with me, Signora!â he saidââNor with you. The point with both of us in all our work isâsuccess! Is it not so? Yes! And it is because I do not see a true success in this case that I hesitate; true success would mean the complete restoration of this man to life and intelligence,âbut life without intelligence is no triumph for science. I can do all that science will allowââ
âAnd you WILL do this âallâââsaid Morgana, eagerlyââYou will forego triumph for simple pity!âpity for the girl who would surely die if he were dead!âand perhaps after all, God may help the recovery!â
âIt shall be as you wish, Signora! I must stay here two or three daysââ
âAs long as you find it necessaryââsaid MorganaââAll your orders shall be obeyed.â
âGood! Send me a trustworthy man-servant who can help to move and support the patient, and we can get to work. I left a few necessary appliances in your hallâI should like them brought into this roomâ and thenââ here he took her hand and pressed it kindlyââyou can leave us to our task, and take some rest. You must be very tired.â
âI am never tiredââshe answered, gentlyââI thank you in advance for all you are going to do!â
She left the room then, with one backward glance at the inert stiff figure on the bed,âand went to arrange matters with her household that the Professorâs instructions should be strictly carried out. Lady Kingswood, deeply interested, heard her giving certain orders and askedâ
âThere is hope then? These two poor creatures will
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