1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: The Return by Robert Murray Gilchrist five minutes ago. I 2 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:11,279 drew the window curtain aside, and let the mellow sunset 3 00:00:11,480 --> 00:00:16,280 light contend with the glare from the girandols. Below lay 4 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:20,879 the orchard of Vernon Garth, rich and heavily flowered fruit trees. 5 00:00:21,719 --> 00:00:27,280 Yonder a meddler, here a pair, next a quince. As 6 00:00:27,359 --> 00:00:33,359 my eyes, unaccustomed to the day, blinked rapidly, the recollection 7 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:37,799 came of a scene forty five years past, And once more, 8 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:42,520 beneath the oldest tree stood the girl I loved, mischievously 9 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:48,159 plucking yarrow, and, despite its evil omen twining the snowy 10 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:53,920 clusters in her black hair. Again, her coquettish words rang 11 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:58,359 in my ears. Make me thy lady, make me the 12 00:00:58,479 --> 00:01:03,000 richest woman in England, And I promise thee Brian we 13 00:01:03,159 --> 00:01:08,359 shall be the happiest of God's creatures. And I remembered 14 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:12,000 how the mad thirst for gold filled me, how I 15 00:01:12,079 --> 00:01:16,280 trusted in her fidelity, and without reasoning or even telling 16 00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:19,719 her that I would conquer fortune for her sake, I 17 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:25,159 kissed her sadly and passed into the world. Then followed 18 00:01:25,159 --> 00:01:29,159 a complete silence until the star of Europe the greatest 19 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:34,319 diamond discovered in modern times lay in my hand, a rough, 20 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:38,400 unpolished stone, not unlike the lumps of spar I had 21 00:01:38,439 --> 00:01:42,439 often seen lying on the sandy lanes of my native county. 22 00:01:43,719 --> 00:01:47,400 This should be Rose's own, and all the others that 23 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:51,519 clanked so melodiously in their leather bulse should go towards 24 00:01:51,519 --> 00:01:55,959 fulfilling her ambition. Rich and happy, I should be soon, 25 00:01:56,519 --> 00:02:00,239 and should I not marry an untitled gentlewoman sweet in 26 00:02:00,319 --> 00:02:04,480 her prime. The twenty years interval of work and sleep 27 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:08,039 was like a fading dream, for I was going home. 28 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:12,280 The knowledge thrilled me so that my nerves were strung 29 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:16,159 tight as iron ropes, and I laughed like a young boy. 30 00:02:17,319 --> 00:02:20,319 And it was all because my home was to be 31 00:02:20,479 --> 00:02:25,960 in Rose Pascal's arms. I crossed the sea and posted 32 00:02:26,039 --> 00:02:32,400 straight for Halkton Village. The old hostelry was crowded. Jane Hopgarth, 33 00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:36,120 whom I remembered a ruddy faced child, stood on the 34 00:02:36,159 --> 00:02:40,879 box edged terrace courtesying in matronly fashion to the departing 35 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:45,960 mail coach. A change in the sign board drew my eye. 36 00:02:46,159 --> 00:02:48,599 The white lilies had been painted over with a miter, 37 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:52,400 and the name changed from the Pascal arms to the 38 00:02:52,479 --> 00:02:58,800 Lord Bishop. Angrily, aghast at this disloyalty, I cross questioned 39 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:03,400 the ostlers, who hurried to and fro, but failing to 40 00:03:03,439 --> 00:03:07,759 obtain any coherent reply, I was fain to content myself 41 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:13,039 with a mental denunciation of the times. At last I 42 00:03:13,080 --> 00:03:17,800 saw bow legged Jeffreys, now bent double with age, sunning 43 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:21,479 himself at his favorite place, the side of the horse trough. 44 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:26,680 As of old, he was chewing a straw. No sign 45 00:03:26,719 --> 00:03:29,759 of recognition came over his face as he gazed at me, 46 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:33,120 and I was shocked. Because I wished to impart some 47 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:38,360 of my gladness to a fellow creature. I went to him, and, 48 00:03:38,479 --> 00:03:41,960 after trying in vain to make him speak, held forth 49 00:03:41,960 --> 00:03:47,680 a gold coin. He rose instantly, grasped it with palsied fingers, 50 00:03:47,919 --> 00:03:52,479 and muttering that the hounds were starting. Hurried from my presence. 51 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:58,840 Feeling half sad, I crossed to the churchyard and gazed 52 00:03:58,879 --> 00:04:02,479 through the grated window of the Pascal burial chapel at 53 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:07,560 the recumbent and undisturbed effigies of Geoffrey Pascal, gentlemen of 54 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:13,199 Breton Hall, and Margot Maltravero, his wife, with their quaint 55 00:04:13,199 --> 00:04:19,759 epitaph about a perfect marriage enduring forever. Then, after noting 56 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:23,079 the rankness of the docks and nettles, I crossed the 57 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:28,240 worn stile, and with footsteps surprising fleet, passed towards the 58 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:32,000 stretch of moorland, at whose further end stands Breton Hall. 59 00:04:33,920 --> 00:04:36,800 Twilight had fallen. Ere I reached the cottage at the 60 00:04:36,959 --> 00:04:40,680 entrance of the park. This was in a ruinous condition. 61 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:44,560 Here and there sheaves in the thatched roof had parted 62 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:49,720 and formed crevices through which smoke filtered. Some of the 63 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:53,040 tiny windows had been walled up, and even where the 64 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:57,399 glass remained, snake like ivy hindered any light from falling 65 00:04:57,439 --> 00:05:02,879 into their thick recesses. The door stood open, although the 66 00:05:02,959 --> 00:05:08,439 evening was chill. As I approached, the heavy autumnal dew 67 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:11,920 shook down from the furs and fell upon my shoulders. 68 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:17,600 A bat, swooping in an undulation, struck between my eyes 69 00:05:17,639 --> 00:05:24,879 and fell to the grass, moaning querulously. I entered. A 70 00:05:24,920 --> 00:05:29,240 withered woman sat beside the peat fire. She held a 71 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:33,040 pair of steel knitting needles, which she moved without cessation. 72 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:37,160 There was no thread upon them, and when they clicked 73 00:05:37,439 --> 00:05:42,319 her lips twitched as if she had counted. Some time 74 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:48,360 passed before I recognized Rose's foster mother, Elizabeth Carloss. The 75 00:05:48,439 --> 00:05:51,279 russet color of her cheeks had faded and left a 76 00:05:51,399 --> 00:05:56,720 sickly gray. Those sunken, dimmed eyes were utterly unlike the 77 00:05:56,759 --> 00:06:01,680 bright black orbs that had danced so mirthfully. Her stature 78 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:07,759 too had shrunk. I was struck with wonder. Elizabeth could 79 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:11,079 not be more than fifty six years old. I had 80 00:06:11,079 --> 00:06:15,319 been away twenty years. Rose was fifteen when I left her, 81 00:06:16,199 --> 00:06:18,560 and I had heard Elizabeth say that she was only 82 00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:22,639 twenty one at the time of her darling's weening. But 83 00:06:22,759 --> 00:06:26,120 what a change. She had, such an air of weary 84 00:06:26,199 --> 00:06:31,600 grief that my heart grew sick. Advancing to her side, 85 00:06:31,639 --> 00:06:36,160 I touched her arm. She turned, but neither spoke nor 86 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:42,279 seemed aware of my presence. Soon, however, she rose, and, 87 00:06:42,399 --> 00:06:46,959 helping herself along by grasping the scanty furniture, tottered to 88 00:06:47,079 --> 00:06:51,759 a window and peered out. Her right hand crept to 89 00:06:51,879 --> 00:06:55,680 her throat. She untied the string of her gown and 90 00:06:55,839 --> 00:06:59,279 took from her bosom a pamanda set in a battered 91 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:04,439 silver care I cried out. Rose had loved that toy 92 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:08,120 in her childhood. Thousands of times had we played ball 93 00:07:08,199 --> 00:07:13,399 with it. Elizabeth held it to her mouth and mumbled 94 00:07:13,439 --> 00:07:18,079 it as if it were a baby's hand. Maddened with impatience, 95 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:20,680 I caught her shoulder and roughly bade her say where 96 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:24,959 I should find rose. But something awoke in her eyes, 97 00:07:25,439 --> 00:07:27,839 and she shrank away to the other side of the 98 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:32,959 house place I followed. She cowered on the floor, looking 99 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:37,839 at me with a strange horror. Her lips began to move, 100 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:42,600 but they made no sound. Only when I crossed to 101 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:45,920 the threshold did she rise, And then her head moved 102 00:07:45,959 --> 00:07:49,879 wildly from side to side, and her hands pressed close 103 00:07:49,920 --> 00:07:52,800 to her breast, as if the pain there were too 104 00:07:52,879 --> 00:07:57,759 great to endure. I ran from the place, not daring 105 00:07:57,839 --> 00:08:01,720 to look back. In a few minutes I reached the 106 00:08:01,759 --> 00:08:06,279 balustraded wall of the whole garden. The vegetation there was 107 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:11,399 wonderfully luxuriant as of old. The great blue and white 108 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:16,480 Canterbury bells grew thickly, and those curious flowers to which 109 00:08:16,519 --> 00:08:20,680 tradition has given the name of Marie's Heart still spread 110 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:24,920 their creamy tendrils and blood colored bloom on every hand. 111 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:30,639 But Pascal's dribble. The tiny spring, whose water pulsed so 112 00:08:30,879 --> 00:08:35,000 fiercely as it emerged from the earth, had long since 113 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:39,360 burst its bounds and converted the winter garden into a swamp, 114 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:42,879 where a miniature forest of Queen of the Meadow filled 115 00:08:42,919 --> 00:08:48,120 the air with melancholy sweetness. The house looked as if 116 00:08:48,159 --> 00:08:52,159 no careful hand had touched it for years. The elements 117 00:08:52,159 --> 00:08:55,200 had played havoc with its orioles, and many of the 118 00:08:55,279 --> 00:08:59,679 latticed frames hung on single hinges. The curtain of the 119 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:04,320 blue blue parlor hung outside, draggled and faded, and half 120 00:09:04,399 --> 00:09:09,600 hidden by a thick growth of bindweed. With an almost 121 00:09:09,759 --> 00:09:13,159 savage force, I raised my arm high above my head 122 00:09:13,480 --> 00:09:16,639 and brought my fist down upon the central panel of 123 00:09:16,679 --> 00:09:21,159 the door. There was no need for such violence, for 124 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:25,080 the decayed fastenings made no resistance, and some of the 125 00:09:25,159 --> 00:09:29,399 rotten boards fell to the ground. As I entered the 126 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:33,799 hall and saw the ancient furniture, once so fondly kept, 127 00:09:34,320 --> 00:09:38,720 now mildewed and crumbling to dust, quick sobs burst from 128 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:43,000 my throat. Rose's spinnet stood beside the door of the 129 00:09:43,039 --> 00:09:47,799 withdrawing room. How many carols had we sung to its music. 130 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:52,159 As I passed, my foot struck one of the legs, 131 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:55,240 and the rickety structure groaned as if it were coming 132 00:09:55,279 --> 00:09:59,080 to pieces. I thrust out my hand to steady it, 133 00:09:59,759 --> 00:10:03,000 but at my touch the velvet covering of the lid 134 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:08,919 came off, and the tiny gilt ornaments rattled downwards. The 135 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:12,279 moon was just rising, and only half her disc was 136 00:10:12,399 --> 00:10:16,879 visible over the distant edge of the hell garden. The 137 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:20,559 light in the room was very uncertain, yet I could 138 00:10:20,639 --> 00:10:23,480 see that the keys of the instrument were stained brown 139 00:10:24,159 --> 00:10:30,080 and bound together with thick cobwebs. While I stood beside it, 140 00:10:30,159 --> 00:10:33,559 I felt an overpowering desire to play a country ballad 141 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:38,919 with an overword of willow brow bound. The woods, in 142 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:43,000 strict accordance with the melody, are merry and sad by turns, 143 00:10:43,919 --> 00:10:48,480 at one time filled with light happiness, at another bitter, 144 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:53,759 as the voice of one bereaved forever of joy. So 145 00:10:54,039 --> 00:10:56,759 I cleared off the spiders and began to strike the 146 00:10:56,840 --> 00:11:01,360 keys with my forefinger. Many were dumb, and when I 147 00:11:01,440 --> 00:11:05,240 struck them, gave forth no sound save a peculiar sigh. 148 00:11:06,399 --> 00:11:10,200 But still the melody rhythmed as distinctly as if a 149 00:11:10,279 --> 00:11:15,440 low voice crooned it out of the darkness. Wearied with 150 00:11:15,559 --> 00:11:21,120 the bitterness, I turned away. By now the full moonlight 151 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:24,799 pierced the window and quivered on the floor. As I 152 00:11:24,879 --> 00:11:28,799 gazed on the tremulous pattern, it changed into quaint devices 153 00:11:28,840 --> 00:11:34,919 of hearts, daggers, rings, and a thousand tokens more all 154 00:11:35,039 --> 00:11:39,480 Suddenly another object glided amongst them, so quickly that I 155 00:11:39,519 --> 00:11:42,879 wondered whether my eyes had been at fault. A tiny 156 00:11:42,919 --> 00:11:48,759 satin shoe stained crimson across the lappets. A revulsion of 157 00:11:48,799 --> 00:11:52,279 feeling came to my soul and drove away all my fear. 158 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:57,320 I had seen that self same shoe, white and unsoiled, 159 00:11:57,759 --> 00:12:03,799 twenty years before, when rain Rose danced amongst her reapers 160 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:09,559 at the harvest home, and my voice cried out in ecstasy. Rose, 161 00:12:09,919 --> 00:12:15,720 Heart of mine, delight of all the world's delights. She 162 00:12:15,759 --> 00:12:23,320 stood before me, wondering, amazed, alas so changed. The red 163 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:27,919 and yellow silk shawl still covered her shoulders, her hair 164 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:32,759 still hung in those eldritch curls, but the beautiful face 165 00:12:32,840 --> 00:12:37,399 had grown wan and tired, and across the forehead lines 166 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:41,960 were drawn like silver threads. She threw her arms around 167 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:46,480 my neck and pressing her bosom heavily on mine, sobbed 168 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:50,360 so piteously that I grew afraid for her, and drew 169 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:53,480 back the long masses of hair which had fallen forward, 170 00:12:53,919 --> 00:12:57,320 and kissed again and again those lips that were too 171 00:12:57,480 --> 00:13:04,399 lovely for simile. Never came a word of chiding from them, love, 172 00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:09,559 she said, when she had regained her breath. The past 173 00:13:09,679 --> 00:13:13,720 struggle was sharp and torturing. The future struggle will be 174 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:18,600 crueler still, What a great love yours was to wait 175 00:13:18,679 --> 00:13:22,519 and trust for so long? Would that mine had been 176 00:13:22,559 --> 00:13:28,639 as powerful, poor weak heart that could not endure the 177 00:13:28,759 --> 00:13:33,399 tones of a wild fear. Throbbed through all her speech, strongly, 178 00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:37,799 yet with insufficient power to prevent her feeling the tenderness 179 00:13:37,799 --> 00:13:43,960 of those moments. Often timorously raising her head from my shoulder, 180 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:47,759 she looked about, and then turned with a soft, inarticulate 181 00:13:48,159 --> 00:13:51,399 and glad murmur, to hide her face on my bosom. 182 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:56,279 I spoke fervently, told of the years spent away from her, 183 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:01,039 How when working in the diamond fields she had ever 184 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:04,919 been present in my fancy, How at night her name 185 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:09,120 had fallen from my lips in my only prayer, how 186 00:14:09,159 --> 00:14:13,000 I had dreamed of her amongst the greatest in the land, 187 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:18,720 the richest, and I dareswear the loveliest woman in the world. 188 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:24,159 I grew warmer still. All the gladness which had been 189 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:28,519 constrained for so long now burst wildly from my lips. 190 00:14:29,399 --> 00:14:34,720 A myriad of rich ideas resolved into words, which, being spoken, 191 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:40,120 wove one long and delicious fit of passion. As we 192 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:44,639 stood together, the moon brightened and filled the chamber with 193 00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:48,840 a light like the days. The ridges of the surrounding 194 00:14:48,919 --> 00:14:53,639 moorland stood out in sharp relief. Rose drank in my 195 00:14:53,759 --> 00:14:58,840 declarations thirstily, but soon interrupted me with a heavy sigh. 196 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:05,159 Come away, she said softly, I no longer live in 197 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:10,039 this house. You must stay with me to night. This 198 00:15:10,279 --> 00:15:14,240 place is so wretched now, for time that in you 199 00:15:14,399 --> 00:15:18,360 and me has only strength and love has wrought much 200 00:15:18,519 --> 00:15:24,240 ruin here. Half leaning on me, she led me from 201 00:15:24,279 --> 00:15:28,480 the precincts of Breton Hall. We walked in silence over 202 00:15:28,519 --> 00:15:31,720 the waste that crowns the valley of the Whitelands, and, 203 00:15:32,399 --> 00:15:35,840 being near the verge of the rocks, saw the great 204 00:15:35,919 --> 00:15:40,000 pine wood sloping downwards, lighted near us by the moon, 205 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:45,759 but soon lost in density along the mysterious line where 206 00:15:45,759 --> 00:15:49,840 the light changed into gloom. Intricate shadows of withered summer 207 00:15:49,879 --> 00:15:55,360 bracken struck and receded in a mimic battle. Before us 208 00:15:55,519 --> 00:15:59,679 lay the priest's cliff, the moon was veiled by a 209 00:15:59,679 --> 00:16:04,639 grove of elms, whose ever swaying branches alternately increased and 210 00:16:04,799 --> 00:16:10,840 lessened her brightness. This was a place of notoriety, a 211 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:16,720 veritable golgatha, a haunt fit only for demons. Murder and 212 00:16:16,879 --> 00:16:20,759 theft had been punished here, and to this day, fireside 213 00:16:20,799 --> 00:16:25,600 stories are told of evil women dancing round that druid circle, 214 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:33,639 carrying hearts plucked from gibbeted bodies. Rose, I whispered, why 215 00:16:33,679 --> 00:16:39,159 have you brought me here? She made no reply, but 216 00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:43,759 pressed her head more closely to my shoulder. Scarce had 217 00:16:43,799 --> 00:16:47,039 my lips closed. Ere A sound like the hiss of 218 00:16:47,080 --> 00:16:52,600 a half strangled snake vibrated amongst the trees. It grew 219 00:16:52,840 --> 00:17:00,000 louder and louder. A monstrous shadow hovered above. Rose from 220 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:05,279 my bosom, murmured, Love is strong as death, Love is 221 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:09,960 strong as death. I locked her in my arms so 222 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:15,920 tightly that she grew breathless. Hold me, she panted, you 223 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:22,200 are strong. A cold hand touched our foreheads, so that benumbed, 224 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:26,559 we sank together to the ground, to fall instantly into 225 00:17:26,599 --> 00:17:32,880 a dreamless slumber. When I awoke, the clear gray light 226 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:37,599 of the early morning had spread over the country beyond 227 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:41,079 the hell Garden. The sun was just bursting through the clouds, 228 00:17:41,519 --> 00:17:45,799 and had already spread a long golden haze along the horizon. 229 00:17:47,039 --> 00:17:50,000 The babbling of the streamlet that runs down to Holkton 230 00:17:50,359 --> 00:17:54,519 was so distinct that it seemed almost at my side. 231 00:17:54,920 --> 00:18:00,960 How sweetly the wild thyme smelt phil with the tender 232 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:05,920 recollections of the night. Without turning, I called Rose Pascal 233 00:18:06,079 --> 00:18:13,200 from her sleep. Sweetheart, sweetheart, waken, Waken, Waken, See how 234 00:18:13,279 --> 00:18:17,680 glad the world looks, see the omens of a happy future. 235 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:24,319 No answer came. I sat up, and looking round me, 236 00:18:24,519 --> 00:18:29,000 saw that I was alone. A square stone lay near. 237 00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:33,160 When the sun was high, I crept to read the 238 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:40,119 inscription carved thereon. Here at four cross paths lieth with 239 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:44,759 a stake through the bosom, the body of Rose Pascal, who, 240 00:18:44,799 --> 00:18:48,880 in her sixteenth year wilfully cast away the life God gave. 241 00:18:52,079 --> 00:18:56,200 End of the Return by Robert Murray Gilchrist