Carmilla | Page 6

up. "Here am I, on a journey of life and death,
in prosecuting which to lose an hour is possibly to lose all. My child
will not have recovered sufficiently to resume her route for who can
say how long. I must leave her: I cannot, dare not, delay. How far on,
sir, can you tell, is the nearest village? I must leave her there; and shall
not see my darling, or even hear of her till my return, three months
hence."
I plucked my father by the coat, and whispered earnestly in his ear: "Oh!
papa, pray ask her to let her stay with us--it would be so delightful. Do,
pray."
"If Madame will entrust her child to the care of my daughter, and of her
good gouvernante, Madame Perrodon, and permit her to remain as our
guest, under my charge, until her return, it will confer a distinction and
an obligation upon us, and we shall treat her with all the care and
devotion which so sacred a trust deserves."
"I cannot do that, sir, it would be to task your kindness and chivalry too
cruelly," said the lady, distractedly.
"It would, on the contrary, be to confer on us a very great kindness at
the moment when we most need it. My daughter has just been
disappointed by a cruel misfortune, in a visit from which she had long
anticipated a great deal of happiness. If you confide this young lady to
our care it will be her best consolation. The nearest village on your
route is distant, and affords no such inn as you could think of placing
your daughter at; you cannot allow her to continue her journey for any
considerable distance without danger. If, as you say, you cannot
suspend your journey, you must part with her tonight, and nowhere
could you do so with more honest assurances of care and tenderness
than here."
There was something in this lady's air and appearance so distinguished

and even imposing, and in her manner so engaging, as to impress one,
quite apart from the dignity of her equipage, with a conviction that she
was a person of consequence.
By this time the carriage was replaced in its upright position, and the
horses, quite tractable, in the traces again.
The lady threw on her daughter a glance which I fancied was not quite
so affectionate as one might have anticipated from the beginning of the
scene; then she beckoned slightly to my father, and withdrew two or
three steps with him out of hearing; and talked to him with a fixed and
stern countenance, not at all like that with which she had hitherto
spoken.
I was filled with wonder that my father did not seem to perceive the
change, and also unspeakably curious to learn what it could be that she
was speaking, almost in his ear, with so much earnestness and rapidity.
Two or three minutes at most I think she remained thus employed, then
she turned, and a few steps brought her to where her daughter lay,
supported by Madame Perrodon. She kneeled beside her for a moment
and whispered, as Madame supposed, a little benediction in her ear;
then hastily kissing her she stepped into her carriage, the door was
closed, the footmen in stately liveries jumped up behind, the outriders
spurred on, the postilions cracked their whips, the horses plunged and
broke suddenly into a furious canter that threatened soon again to
become a gallop, and the carriage whirled away, followed at the same
rapid pace by the two horsemen in the rear.

III
We Compare Notes
We followed the cortege with our eyes until it was swiftly lost to sight
in the misty wood; and the very sound of the hoofs and the wheels died
away in the silent night air.

Nothing remained to assure us that the adventure had not been an
illusion of a moment but the young lady, who just at that moment
opened her eyes. I could not see, for her face was turned from me, but
she raised her head, evidently looking about her, and I heard a very
sweet voice ask complainingly, "Where is mamma?"
Our good Madame Perrodon answered tenderly, and added some
comfortable assurances.
I then heard her ask:
"Where am I? What is this place?" and after that she said, "I don't see
the carriage; and Matska, where is she?"
Madame answered all her questions in so far as she understood them;
and gradually the young lady remembered how the misadventure came
about, and was glad to hear that no one in, or in attendance on, the
carriage was hurt; and on learning that her mamma had left her here, till
her return in about three months, she wept.
I was going to