The Midnight Queen [72]
royalty was begun, and I
was made mistress and sovereign head, even over the dwarf
himself. It was a queer whim; but that crooked slug was always
taking such odd notions into his head, which nobody there dared
laugh at. The band were bound together by a terrible oath, women
and all; but they had to take another oath then, that of
allegiance to me.
"It quite turned my brain at first; and my eyes were so dazzled
by the pitiful glistening of the pageant, the sham splendor of
the sham court, and the half-mocking, half-serious homage paid
me, that I could see nothing beyond the shining surface, and the
blackness, and corruption, and horror within, were altogether
lost upon me. This feeling increased when, as months and months
went by, they were added to the mock peers of the Midnight Court,
real nobles from that of St. Charles. I did not know then that
they were ruined gamesters, vicious profligates, and desperate
broken-down roues, who would have gone to pandemonium itself,
nightly, for the mad license and lawless excesses they could
indulge in here to their heart's content. But I got tired of it
all, after a time: my eyes began slowly to open, and my heart -
at least, what little of that article I ever had - turned sick
with horror within me at what I had done. The awful things I
saw, the fearful deeds that were perpetrated, would curdle your
very blood with horror, were I to relate them. You have seen a
specimen yourself, in the cold-blooded murder of that wretch half
an hour ago; and his is not the only life crying for vengeance on
these men. The slightest violation of their oath was punished,
and the doom of traitors and informers was instant death, whether
male or female. The sham trials and executions always took place
in presence of the whole court, to strike a salutary terror into
them, and never occurred but once a week, when the whole band
regularly met. My power continued undiminished; for they knew
either the dwarf or I must be supreme; and though the queen was
bad, the prince was worse. The said prince would willingly have
pulled me down from my eminence, and have mounted it himself; but
that he was probably restrained by a feeling that law-makers
should not be law-breakers, and that, if he set the example,
there would be no end to the insubordination and rebellion that
would follow."
"Were you living here or in London then?" inquired Sir Norman,
taking an advantage of a pause, employed by Miranda in shaking
off the crawling beetles.
"Oh, in London! We did not come here until the outbreak of the
plague - that frightened them, especially the female portion, and
they held a scared meeting, and resolved that we should take up
our quarters somewhere else. This place being old and ruined,
and deserted and with all sorts of evil rumors hanging about it,
was hit upon; and secretly, by night, these mouldering old vaults
were fitted up, and the goods and chattels of the royal court
removed. And here I, too, was brought by night under the dwarf's
own eye; for he well knew I would have risked a thousand plagues
to escape from him. And here I have been ever since, and here
the weekly revels are still held, and may for years to come,
unless something is done to-night to prevent it.
"The night before these weekly anniversaries they all gather; but
during the rest of the time I am alone with Margery and the
dwarf, and have learned more secrets about this place than they
dream of. For the rest, there is little need of explanation -
the dwarf and his crew have industriously circulated the rumor
that it is haunted; and some of those white figures you saw with
me, and who, by the way, are the daughters of these robbers, have
been shown on the broken battlements, as if to put the fact
beyond doubt.
"Now, Sir Norman, that is all - you have heard my whole history
as far as I know it; and nothing remains but to
was made mistress and sovereign head, even over the dwarf
himself. It was a queer whim; but that crooked slug was always
taking such odd notions into his head, which nobody there dared
laugh at. The band were bound together by a terrible oath, women
and all; but they had to take another oath then, that of
allegiance to me.
"It quite turned my brain at first; and my eyes were so dazzled
by the pitiful glistening of the pageant, the sham splendor of
the sham court, and the half-mocking, half-serious homage paid
me, that I could see nothing beyond the shining surface, and the
blackness, and corruption, and horror within, were altogether
lost upon me. This feeling increased when, as months and months
went by, they were added to the mock peers of the Midnight Court,
real nobles from that of St. Charles. I did not know then that
they were ruined gamesters, vicious profligates, and desperate
broken-down roues, who would have gone to pandemonium itself,
nightly, for the mad license and lawless excesses they could
indulge in here to their heart's content. But I got tired of it
all, after a time: my eyes began slowly to open, and my heart -
at least, what little of that article I ever had - turned sick
with horror within me at what I had done. The awful things I
saw, the fearful deeds that were perpetrated, would curdle your
very blood with horror, were I to relate them. You have seen a
specimen yourself, in the cold-blooded murder of that wretch half
an hour ago; and his is not the only life crying for vengeance on
these men. The slightest violation of their oath was punished,
and the doom of traitors and informers was instant death, whether
male or female. The sham trials and executions always took place
in presence of the whole court, to strike a salutary terror into
them, and never occurred but once a week, when the whole band
regularly met. My power continued undiminished; for they knew
either the dwarf or I must be supreme; and though the queen was
bad, the prince was worse. The said prince would willingly have
pulled me down from my eminence, and have mounted it himself; but
that he was probably restrained by a feeling that law-makers
should not be law-breakers, and that, if he set the example,
there would be no end to the insubordination and rebellion that
would follow."
"Were you living here or in London then?" inquired Sir Norman,
taking an advantage of a pause, employed by Miranda in shaking
off the crawling beetles.
"Oh, in London! We did not come here until the outbreak of the
plague - that frightened them, especially the female portion, and
they held a scared meeting, and resolved that we should take up
our quarters somewhere else. This place being old and ruined,
and deserted and with all sorts of evil rumors hanging about it,
was hit upon; and secretly, by night, these mouldering old vaults
were fitted up, and the goods and chattels of the royal court
removed. And here I, too, was brought by night under the dwarf's
own eye; for he well knew I would have risked a thousand plagues
to escape from him. And here I have been ever since, and here
the weekly revels are still held, and may for years to come,
unless something is done to-night to prevent it.
"The night before these weekly anniversaries they all gather; but
during the rest of the time I am alone with Margery and the
dwarf, and have learned more secrets about this place than they
dream of. For the rest, there is little need of explanation -
the dwarf and his crew have industriously circulated the rumor
that it is haunted; and some of those white figures you saw with
me, and who, by the way, are the daughters of these robbers, have
been shown on the broken battlements, as if to put the fact
beyond doubt.
"Now, Sir Norman, that is all - you have heard my whole history
as far as I know it; and nothing remains but to