VARNEY, THE VAMPYRE; OR, THE FEAST OF BLOOD. CHAPTER CLXXVI. [sic] [Chapter 194] AN ECLAIRCISSEMENT. -- THE INNOCENT TRIUMPHANT. It is eleven o'clock, Mr. and Mrs. Lake are standing by one of the windows at the hotel conversing in whispers, while the hopeful son is brushing his hat. "It is time, you think?" said Mrs. Lake. "Yes," was the reply. "and I will be off now at once, and depend upon you following with Annetta to Mr. Miller's." "That you may be sure of. She has had a refreshing night's rest, and this morning she eagerly enough caught at the proposal to take a drive round the principal thoroughfares in the carriage we have hired so that that [sic] is no longer a difficulty." "What is to be done if she rejects?" Mr. Lake gave a jerk with his head in the direction of his son, to signify that it was of him he talked. "It can't be helped if she does. Then I should say all we have to do, is to persevere in making her out no child of Lord Lakes [sic], and wait for his decease. We must be careful what we are about, though, or he may take it into his head to make some ample provision for her, to the decrease of his personal means, which I hope to see all ours." The only way to stop that will be getting Miller and the pretended father to make it as a complete part of the plan that Annetta herself should seem latterly to have been a party to palming herself off upon him as his daughter when she knew the contrary quite well." "Ah, if that could be done." "It must and shall; Miller's ingenuity in such matters is immense. He will accomplish anything in the world-- aye seeming impossibilities-- for money." "He is just the man for us, so now be off with you at once, and expect me in good time." In a few moments afterwards, Mr. Lake set off with this booby son to the lawyers,' [sic] enjoining him all the way as they went, to be especially careful how he maintained the character of a disinterested suitor, which had been marked out for him in the programme of the family proceedings. "Oh, never fear me, father." "Well, I hope that you will do and say the right things, and what is as important, I hope you will do and say them at the right time, otherwise you will spoil all." Thus armed at all points, as they thought, for conquest, old Lake and young Lake, than whom all London could not have produced two more unprincipled persons, arrived at Gray's Inn, and were received in the outer room of Mr. Miller's chambers with every demonstration of respect. "Walk in, gentlemen, walk in to the clients' private-room if you please," said the clerk. "Mr. Miller left directions with me that when you came, you should be shown in at once." All this was very gratifying indeed, and the solicitor was there, seated in his easy chair, looking as full of serenity as possible, and as if the least affair in the world was on _tapis_. Scarcely had the usual salutations passed, when the clerk announced Mrs. Lake and a young lady. "My wife with Annetta!" exclaimed Lake; and in a moment his words were verified by the appearance of the parties he had named. "Tell me at once," said Annetta, "why I am brought here?" "My dear young lady," said Mr. Miller, "if you will condescend to take a seat, I will explain." "Be brief, sir." The party was seated, and then Mr. Miller, clearing his throat said, -- "Ahem! You are of course aware, miss, that great doubt arose in the mind of Lord Lake with regard to your proper identity, and he sent you over to this country from Italy with his brother and family, to have those doubts resolved-- ahem! They are resolved, and you are found to be the daughter of a gentleman now in London." "The proofs, sir," said Annetta, with a dignity and a calmness that surprised the whole party. "Ah, ah-- the proofs. Let me see, oh yes; there are the papers. No. 1, copy of a confession made by---" "Stop, sir," said young Lake, "stop. This is-- it must be painful to the feelings of this young lady, and very, very painful is it to my feelings, for I have been long fervently attached to her, and let her be whose daughter she may, she is to me all perfection. I love her and would gladly make her my wife, let her be named whatever she may." "But she is destitute, -- quite destitute," said Miller. "It don't matter to me," cried young Lake -- he was playing his part famously -- "it don't matter to me; I love her, and will work for her-- she shall never want while I have life-blood in my veins." "If this now were sincere," said Annetta, "I should begin for the first time to respect you. But you will excuse me for doubting it very much. I likewise doubt much the pretended evidence that you bring forward regarding my birth." A tremendous knock at the outer door of the chambers now disturbed the party. An altercation was heard with the clerk -- then a shout for police, and a heavy fall as if somebody had been knocked down, and in another moment the door of Mr. Miller's private room was dashed open, and Lieutenant Rankin, in his undress military uniform, stood upon the threshold. "Annetta!" he cried. "Rankin-- oh, George, George!" shrieked Annetta, and in another moment she was in his arms. "Here's a go," cried young Lake; "I say, young fellow, this won't do." "Oh, George, George!" said Annetta, "they will have it that I am not my own father's child, that I am some nameless, houseless thing." "They lie, Annetta who say so," replied the young soldier; "you shall be mine, and the proudest that ever stepped shall treat you with becoming respect, or shall rue the consequences." "Well, I think it's time!" cried Mr. Miller in a marked manner, and throwing open the door of an inner room, he added, "my Lord Lake, come forth; no doubt you have heard all." Lord Lake himself-- the Mr. Blue of the London Hotel, the sham confidential clerk of Miller-- made his appearance, to the utter confusion of the Lakes. "My father," said Annetta, "my dear father!" "Hold," said Lord Lake, gravely, "I suspected, Annetta, from the first that your birth was impugned by my brother from the most interested motives, and I followed you from Italy-- Mr. Miller disclosed all to me, and the infamous plot is discovered." "Then I am your child?" "Confusion," muttered Lake, "death and the devil, what a _contre temps_." "Stop," added Lord Lake, "the strangest thing of all has yet to be told. This plot to make out that you are not my child is but a plot, but it is not baseless as to the fact. You are not my daughter. I have by mere chance found out that lately, and I cannot provide for you, as the resources I have must go to him who will inherit my title. What say you, Master Lake, this girl with all her beauty is destitute, her name is Smith-- will you have her?" "Not I in faith, thank you for nothing." "Will you, young soldier, knowing what she is?" "Ay, will I with all my heart! she is the highest, brightest treasure this world can offer me. Any name or no name-- poor or rich-- noble or commoner-- she is still my own dear girl, and her resting place shall be my heart, the whole world shall not tear her from it." "God's blessings on you," cried Lord Lake, grasping his hands; "I did but this to give yon shrinking coward a chance of creeping into favour with me, because he boasted so of his disinterested affection a while ago. She is my child, the Lady Annetta Lake-- I never doubted it, and she is yours-- George Rankin, and you shall be the dear son of my adoption." "I say, father," said young Lake, "I-- I think we had better go." "Curse you all," cried Lake, "and doubly curse you, lawyer Miller, you have betrayed me; but I'll be revenged." "Through the bars of a prison," said the lawyer. "An officer is down stairs to arrest you for two thousand pounds. Ha, ha, ha!" * * * * Thus then was it that this episode in the life of Varney the Vampyre terminated. But still he lived, and still there existed all the strange and fearful mixture of good and evil that was in his disposition. There he was yet upon the earth's surface, looking like one of the great world, and yet possessing so few feelings in common with its inhabitants. Surely to him there must have been periods of acute suffering, of intense misery, such as would have sufficed to drive any ordinary mind to distraction, and yet he lived, although one cannot, upon reviewing his career, and considering what he was, consider that death would have been other than a grateful release to him from intense suffering. Perhaps, of all the suffering that, in consequence of his most awful and singular existence, was inflicted upon human nature, he suffered the most, for that he was a man of good intellect no one who has followed us thus far can doubt, and one cannot help giving in almost at times to as strange and fanciful theory of his own, namely that this world was to him the place of perdition for crimes done in some other sphere. "It must be so!" he would say, "but as the Almighty Master of all things is all merciful, as he is all powerful, the period of my redemption will surely come at last." This was the most consolat thought that Varney could have, and it showed that even yet there was a something akin to humanity lingering at his hears. [bears? heart?] This showed that despite the dreadful power he had -- a power, as well as an awful propensity -- he had some yearnings after a better state. What had he been? How did he become a vampyre? Did the voice of fond affection ever thrill in his ears? Had little children ever climbed the knee of that wretched man? Fearful questions, if he could have answered them the affirmative -- if he bore about with him, deep in his memory, a remembrance of such joys gone by. -+- Next Time: The Vampyre Has Serious Thoughts. -- The Dream. -- The Resolution. +=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+ | This Varney the Vampyre e-text was entered by members of the | | Science Fiction Round Table #1 (SFRT1) on the Genie online | | service. | | The Varney Project, a reincarnation of this "penny dreadful" bit | | of fiction, was begun in November of 1993 by James Macdonald and | | should take about four years for re-serialization. | | These chapters are being posted once a week to the Round Table | | Bulletin Board and are also being placed in the Round Table File | | Library. | | For further information concerning Varney e-texts, please send | | email to: | | h.liu@juno.com | +=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+ ============================================================================== The Varney Project Chapter 194 Ver 1.00 09/14/1997 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ General notes on this chapter Source: H.Liu entry from the Arno edition, 1970, text is reprint of 1847 edition Drop capital: No Figures in source: 1 Page numbers in source: 768-770 Sections: 2 Approximate number of characters: Number of paragraphs: Comments: Chapter appears mis-numbered as CLXXVI. The plot of the Lakes upon poor Annetta is to be sprung, and the two male Lakes go ahead to the office of the lawyer, Mr. Miller, to await the arrival of Mrs. Lake with Annetta. The determined treachery of the Lakes is most evident. In the office of the lawyer, the Lakes and Annetta meet the Mr. Miller. He begins by telling her that she is not the daughter of Lord Lake, and that her true father is a man in London. Rather than becoming hysterical, Annetta show dignity and calmness, asking for proof of this assertion. As Mr. Miller begins to present his evidence, a commotion ensues in the outer chamber, and then young George Rankin, the lieutenant visited by Varney, bursts through the door. He comes to Annetta's defense and professes his devotion. At this point, Mr. Miller decides to spring his own trap, and brings in Lord Lake himself, who had followed the party from Italy to London, and who had been staying at the hotel as Mr. Blue. Lord Lake has his own bit of a trap, and at first he says that Annetta really isn't her daughter, and asks young Lake if he still will have her. The booby Lake, now thinking that Annetta is destitute, rejects the offer, but George Rankin gladly proclaims his desire for Annetta, regardless of her status. At this point Lord Lake says Annetta really is his daughter, and this last ploy was just to expose his relatives for what they are. The evil Lakes now retreat. The remainder of this chapter turns towards musings as to Varney, the cursed nature of his existence and his background. We end with questions as to how Varney became a vampyre, and did he ever have a normal life filled with joy. The answers to questions such as these may be forthcoming. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Modification History Version Date Who What changes made -------- -------- ------------- ---------------------------------- 1.00 09/14/1997 H.Liu Initial gold version, rough proof read. ==================================End of File=================================