Chapter XXV: The Last Battle

by Bram Stoker

　　Lady Arabella had instructed her solicitors to hurry on with theconveyance of Diana's Grove, so no time was lost in letting AdamSalton have formal possession of the estate. After his interviewwith Sir Nathaniel, he had taken steps to begin putting his planinto action. In order to accumulate the necessary amount of finesea-sand, he ordered the steward to prepare for an elaborate systemof top-dressing all the grounds. A great heap of the sand, broughtfrom bays on the Welsh coast, began to grow at the back of theGrove. No one seemed to suspect that it was there for any purposeother than what had been given out.Lady Arabella, who alone could have guessed, was now so absorbed inher matrimonial pursuit of Edgar Caswall, that she had neither timenor inclination for thought extraneous to this. She had not yetmoved from the house, though she had formally handed over theestate.Adam put up a rough corrugated-iron shed behind the Grove, in whichhe stored his explosives. All being ready for his great attemptwhenever the time should come, he was now content to wait, and, inorder to pass the time, interested himself in other things--even inCaswall's great kite, which still flew from the high tower of CastraRegis.The mound of fine sand grew to proportions so vast as to puzzle thebailiffs and farmers round the Brow. The hour of the intendedcataclysm was approaching apace. Adam wished--but in vain--for anopportunity, which would appear to be natural, of visiting Caswallin the turret of Castra Regis. At last, one morning, he met LadyArabella moving towards the Castle, so he took his courage e deuxmains and asked to be allowed to accompany her. She was glad, forher own purposes, to comply with his wishes. So together theyentered, and found their way to the turret-room. Caswall was muchsurprised to see Adam come to his house, but lent himself to thetask of seeming to be pleased. He played the host so well as todeceive even Adam. They all went out on the turret roof, where heexplained to his guests the mechanism for raising and lowering thekite, taking also the opportunity of testing the movements of themultitudes of birds, how they answered almost instantaneously to thelowering or raising of the kite.As Lady Arabella walked home with Adam from Castra Regis, she askedhim if she might make a request. Permission having been accorded,she explained that before she finally left Diana's Grove, where shehad lived so long, she had a desire to know the depth of the well-hole. Adam was really happy to meet her wishes, not from anysentiment, but because he wished to give some valid and ostensiblereason for examining the passage of the Worm, which would obviateany suspicion resulting from his being on the premises. He broughtfrom London a Kelvin sounding apparatus, with a sufficient length ofpiano-wire for testing any probable depth. The wire passed easilyover the running wheel, and when this was once fixed over the hole,he was satisfied to wait till the most advantageous time for hisfinal experiment.In the meantime, affairs had been going quietly at Mercy Farm.Lilla, of course, felt lonely in the absence of her cousin, but theeven tenor of life went on for her as for others. After the firstshock of parting was over, things went back to their accustomedroutine. In one respect, however, there was a marked difference.So long as home conditions had remained unchanged, Lilla was contentto put ambition far from her, and to settle down to the life whichhad been hers as long as she could remember. But Mimi's marriageset her thinking; naturally, she came to the conclusion that she toomight have a mate. There was not for her much choice--there waslittle movement in the matrimonial direction at the farmhouse. Shedid not approve of the personality of Edgar Caswall, and hisstruggle with Mimi had frightened her; but he was unmistakably anexcellent parti, much better than she could have any right toexpect. This weighs much with a woman, and more particularly one ofher class. So, on the whole, she was content to let things taketheir course, and to abide by the issue.As time went on, she had reason to believe that things did not pointto happiness. She could not shut her eyes to certain disturbingfacts, amongst which were the existence of Lady Arabella and hergrowing intimacy with Edgar Caswall; as well as his own cold andhaughty nature, so little in accord with the ardour which is thefoundation of a young maid's dreams of happiness. How things would,of necessity, alter if she were to marry, she was afraid to think.All told, the prospect was not happy for her, and she had a secretlonging that something might occur to upset the order of things asat present arranged.When Lilla received a note from Edgar Caswall asking if he mightcome to tea on the following afternoon, her heart sank within her.If it was only for her father's sake, she must not refuse him orshow any disinclination which he might construe into incivility.She missed Mimi more than she could say or even dared to think.Hitherto, she had always looked to her cousin for sympathy, forunderstanding, for loyal support. Now she and all these things, anda thousand others--gentle, assuring, supporting--were gone. Andinstead there was a horrible aching void.For the whole afternoon and evening, and for the following forenoon,poor Lilla's loneliness grew to be a positive agony. For the firsttime she began to realise the sense of her loss, as though all theprevious suffering had been merely a preparation. Everything shelooked at, everything she remembered or thought of, became ladenwith poignant memory. Then on the top of all was a new sense ofdread. The reaction from the sense of security, which hadsurrounded her all her life, to a never-quieted apprehension, was attimes almost more than she could bear. It so filled her with fearthat she had a haunting feeling that she would as soon die as live.However, whatever might be her own feelings, duty had to be done,and as she had been brought up to consider duty first, she bracedherself to go through, to the very best of her ability, what wasbefore her.Still, the severe and prolonged struggle for self-control told uponLilla. She looked, as she felt, ill and weak. She was really in anerveless and prostrate condition, with black circles round hereyes, pale even to her lips, and with an instinctive trembling whichshe was quite unable to repress. It was for her a sad mischancethat Mimi was away, for her love would have seen through allobscuring causes, and have brought to light the girl's unhappycondition of health. Lilla was utterly unable to do anything toescape from the ordeal before her; but her cousin, with theexperience of her former struggles with Mr. Caswall and of thecondition in which these left her, would have taken steps--evenperemptory ones, if necessary--to prevent a repetition.Edgar arrived punctually to the time appointed by herself. WhenLilla, through the great window, saw him approaching the house, hercondition of nervous upset was pitiable. She braced herself up,however, and managed to get through the interview in its preliminarystages without any perceptible change in her normal appearance andbearing. It had been to her an added terror that the black shadowof Oolanga, whom she dreaded, would follow hard on his master. Aload was lifted from her mind when he did not make his usualstealthy approach. She had also feared, though in lesser degree,lest Lady Arabella should be present to make trouble for her asbefore.With a woman's natural forethought in a difficult position, she hadprovided the furnishing of the tea-table as a subtle indication ofthe social difference between her and her guest. She had chosen theimplements of service, as well as all the provender set forth, ofthe humblest kind. Instead of arranging the silver teapot and chinacups, she had set out an earthen tea-pot, such as was in common usein the farm kitchen. The same idea was carried out in the cups andsaucers of thick homely delft, and in the cream-jug of similar kind.The bread was of simple whole-meal, home-baked. The butter wasgood, since she had made it herself, while the preserves and honeycame from her own garden. Her face beamed with satisfaction whenthe guest eyed the appointments with a supercilious glance. It wasa shock to the poor girl herself, for she enjoyed offering to aguest the little hospitalities possible to her; but that had to besacrificed with other pleasures.Caswall's face was more set and iron-clad than ever--his piercingeyes seemed from the very beginning to look her through and through.Her heart quailed when she thought of what would follow--of whatwould be the end, when this was only the beginning. As someprotection, though it could be only of a sentimental kind, shebrought from her own room the photographs of Mimi, of hergrandfather, and of Adam Salton, whom by now she had grown to lookon with reliance, as a brother whom she could trust. She kept thepictures near her heart, to which her hand naturally strayed whenher feelings of constraint, distrust, or fear became so poignant asto interfere with the calm which she felt was necessary to help herthrough her ordeal.At first Edgar Caswall was courteous and polite, even thoughtful;but after a little while, when he found her resistance to hisdomination grow, he abandoned all forms of self-control and appearedin the same dominance as he had previously shown. She was prepared,however, for this, both by her former experience and the naturalfighting instinct within her. By this means, as the minutes wenton, both developed the power and preserved the equality in whichthey had begun.Without warning, the psychic battle between the two individualitiesbegan afresh. This time both the positive and negative causes wereall in favour of the man. The woman was alone and in bad spirits,unsupported; nothing at all was in her favour except the memory ofthe two victorious contests; whereas the man, though unaided, asbefore, by either Lady Arabella or Oolanga, was in full strength,well rested, and in flourishing circumstances. It was not,therefore, to be wondered at that his native dominance of characterhad full opportunity of asserting itself. He began his preliminarystare with a conscious sense of power, and, as it appeared to haveimmediate effect on the girl, he felt an ever-growing conviction ofultimate victory.After a little Lilla's resolution began to flag. She felt that thecontest was unequal--that she was unable to put forth her bestefforts. As she was an unselfish person, she could not fight sowell in her own battle as in that of someone whom she loved and towhom she was devoted. Edgar saw the relaxing of the muscles of faceand brow, and the almost collapse of the heavy eyelids which seemedtumbling downward in sleep. Lilla made gallant efforts to brace herdwindling powers, but for a time unsuccessfully. At length therecame an interruption, which seemed like a powerful stimulant.Through the wide window she saw Lady Arabella enter the plaingateway of the farm, and advance towards the hall door. She wasclad as usual in tight-fitting white, which accentuated her thin,sinuous figure.The sight did for Lilla what no voluntary effort could have done.Her eyes flashed, and in an instant she felt as though a new lifehad suddenly developed within her. Lady Arabella's entry, in herusual unconcerned, haughty, supercilious way, heightened the effect,so that when the two stood close to each other battle was joined.Mr. Caswall, too, took new courage from her coming, and all hismasterfulness and power came back to him. His looks, intensified,had more obvious effect than had been noticeable that day. Lillaseemed at last overcome by his dominance. Her face became red andpale--violently red and ghastly pale--by rapid turns. Her strengthseemed gone. Her knees collapsed, and she was actually sinking onthe floor, when to her surprise and joy Mimi came into the room,running hurriedly and breathing heavily.Lilla rushed to her, and the two clasped hands. With that, a newsense of power, greater than Lilla had ever seen in her, seemed toquicken her cousin. Her hand swept the air in front of EdgarCaswall, seeming to drive him backward more and more by eachmovement, till at last he seemed to be actually hurled through thedoor which Mimi's entrance had left open, and fell at full length onthe gravel path without.Then came the final and complete collapse of Lilla, who, without asound, sank down on the floor.