Chương Chương 2 · THE CASWALLS OF CASTRA REGIS

. THE CASWALLS OF CASTRA REGIS

Mr. Salton had all his life been an early riser, and necessarily an early

waker. But early as he woke on the next morning--and although there was

an excuse for not prolonging sleep in the constant whirr and rattle of

the "donkey" engine winches of the great ship--he met the eyes of Adam

fixed on him from his berth. His grand-nephew had given him the sofa,

occupying the lower berth himself. The old man, despite his great

strength and normal activity, was somewhat tired by his long journey of

the day before, and the prolonged and exciting interview which followed

it. So he was glad to lie still and rest his body, whilst his mind was

actively exercised in taking in all he could of his strange surroundings.

Adam, too, after the pastoral habit to which he had been bred, woke with

the dawn, and was ready to enter on the experiences of the new day

whenever it might suit his elder companion. It was little wonder, then,

that, so soon as each realised the other's readiness, they simultaneously

jumped up and began to dress. The steward had by previous instructions

early breakfast prepared, and it was not long before they went down the

gangway on shore in search of the carriage.

They found Mr. Salton's bailiff looking out for them on the dock, and he

brought them at once to where the carriage was waiting in the street.

Richard Salton pointed out with pride to his young companion the

suitability of the vehicle for every need of travel. To it were

harnessed four useful horses, with a postillion to each pair.

"See," said the old man proudly, "how it has all the luxuries of useful

travel--silence and isolation as well as speed. There is nothing to

obstruct the view of those travelling and no one to overhear what they

may say. I have used that trap for a quarter of a century, and I never

saw one more suitable for travel. You shall test it shortly. We are

going to drive through the heart of England; and as we go I'll tell you

what I was speaking of last night. Our route is to be by Salisbury,

Bath, Bristol, Cheltenham, Worcester, Stafford; and so home."

Adam remained silent a few minutes, during which he seemed all eyes, for

he perpetually ranged the whole circle of the horizon.

"Has our journey to-day, sir," he asked, "any special relation to what

you said last night that you wanted to tell me?"

"Not directly; but indirectly, everything."

"Won't you tell me now--I see we cannot be overheard--and if anything

strikes you as we go along, just run it in. I shall understand."

So old Salton spoke:

"To begin at the beginning, Adam. That lecture of yours on 'The Romans

in Britain,' a report of which you posted to me, set me thinking--in

addition to telling me your tastes. I wrote to you at once and asked you

to come home, for it struck me that if you were fond of historical

research--as seemed a fact--this was exactly the place for you, in

addition to its being the home of your own forbears. If you could learn

so much of the British Romans so far away in New South Wales, where there

cannot be even a tradition of them, what might you not make of the same

amount of study on the very spot. Where we are going is in the real

heart of the old kingdom of Mercia, where there are traces of all the

various nationalities which made up the conglomerate which became

Britain."

"I rather gathered that you had some more definite--more personal reason

for my hurrying. After all, history can keep--except in the making!"

"Quite right, my boy. I had a reason such as you very wisely guessed. I

was anxious for you to be here when a rather important phase of our local

history occurred."

"What is that, if I may ask, sir?"

"Certainly. The principal landowner of our part of the county is on his

way home, and there will be a great home-coming, which you may care to

see. The fact is, for more than a century the various owners in the

succession here, with the exception of a short time, have lived abroad."

"How is that, sir, if I may ask?"

"The great house and estate in our part of the world is Castra Regis, the

family seat of the Caswall family. The last owner who lived here was

Edgar Caswall, grandfather of the man who is coming here--and he was the

only one who stayed even a short time. This man's grandfather, also

named Edgar--they keep the tradition of the family Christian

name--quarrelled with his family and went to live abroad, not keeping up

any intercourse, good or bad, with his relatives, although this

particular Edgar, as I told you, did visit his family estate, yet his son

was born and lived and died abroad, while his grandson, the latest

inheritor, was also born and lived abroad till he was over thirty--his

present age. This was the second line of absentees. The great estate of

Castra Regis has had no knowledge of its owner for five

generations--covering more than a hundred and twenty years. It has been

well administered, however, and no tenant or other connected with it has

had anything of which to complain. All the same, there has been much

natural anxiety to see the new owner, and we are all excited about the

event of his coming. Even I am, though I own my own estate, which,

though adjacent, is quite apart from Castra Regis.--Here we are now in

new ground for you. That is the spire of Salisbury Cathedral, and when

we leave that we shall be getting close to the old Roman county, and you

will naturally want your eyes. So we shall shortly have to keep our

minds on old Mercia. However, you need not be disappointed. My old

friend, Sir Nathaniel de Salis, who, like myself, is a free-holder near

Castra Regis--his estate, Doom Tower, is over the border of Derbyshire,

on the Peak--is coming to stay with me for the festivities to welcome

Edgar Caswall. He is just the sort of man you will like. He is devoted

to history, and is President of the Mercian Archaeological Society. He

knows more of our own part of the country, with its history and its

people, than anyone else. I expect he will have arrived before us, and

we three can have a long chat after dinner. He is also our local

geologist and natural historian. So you and he will have many interests

in common. Amongst other things he has a special knowledge of the Peak

and its caverns, and knows all the old legends of prehistoric times."

They spent the night at Cheltenham, and on the following morning resumed

their journey to Stafford. Adam's eyes were in constant employment, and

it was not till Salton declared that they had now entered on the last

stage of their journey, that he referred to Sir Nathaniel's coming.

As the dusk was closing down, they drove on to Lesser Hill, Mr. Salton's

house. It was now too dark to see any details of their surroundings.

Adam could just see that it was on the top of a hill, not quite so high

as that which was covered by the Castle, on whose tower flew the flag,

and which was all ablaze with moving lights, manifestly used in the

preparations for the festivities on the morrow. So Adam deferred his

curiosity till daylight. His grand-uncle was met at the door by a fine

old man, who greeted him warmly.

"I came over early as you wished. I suppose this is your grand-nephew--I

am glad to meet you, Mr. Adam Salton. I am Nathaniel de Salis, and your

uncle is one of my oldest friends."

Adam, from the moment of their eyes meeting, felt as if they were already

friends. The meeting was a new note of welcome to those that had already

sounded in his ears.

The cordiality with which Sir Nathaniel and Adam met, made the imparting

of information easy. Sir Nathaniel was a clever man of the world, who

had travelled much, and within a certain area studied deeply. He was a

brilliant conversationalist, as was to be expected from a successful

diplomatist, even under unstimulating conditions. But he had been

touched and to a certain extent fired by the younger man's evident

admiration and willingness to learn from him. Accordingly the

conversation, which began on the most friendly basis, soon warmed to an

interest above proof, as the old man spoke of it next day to Richard

Salton. He knew already that his old friend wanted his grand-nephew to

learn all he could of the subject in hand, and so had during his journey

from the Peak put his thoughts in sequence for narration and explanation.

Accordingly, Adam had only to listen and he must learn much that he

wanted to know. When dinner was over and the servants had withdrawn,

leaving the three men at their wine, Sir Nathaniel began.

"I gather from your uncle--by the way, I suppose we had better speak of

you as uncle and nephew, instead of going into exact relationship? In

fact, your uncle is so old and dear a friend, that, with your permission,

I shall drop formality with you altogether and speak of you and to you as

Adam, as though you were his son."

"I should like," answered the young man, "nothing better!"

The answer warmed the hearts of both the old men, but, with the usual

avoidance of Englishmen of emotional subjects personal to themselves,

they instinctively returned to the previous question. Sir Nathaniel took

the lead.

"I understand, Adam, that your uncle has posted you regarding the

relationships of the Caswall family?"

"Partly, sir; but I understood that I was to hear minuter details from

you--if you would be so good."

"I shall be delighted to tell you anything so far as my knowledge goes.

Well, the first Caswall in our immediate record is an Edgar, head of the

family and owner of the estate, who came into his kingdom just about the

time that George III. did. He had one son of about twenty-four. There

was a violent quarrel between the two. No one of this generation has any

idea of the cause; but, considering the family characteristics, we may

take it for granted that though it was deep and violent, it was on the

surface trivial.

"The result of the quarrel was that the son left the house without a

reconciliation or without even telling his father where he was going. He

never came back again. A few years after, he died, without having in the

meantime exchanged a word or a letter with his father. He married abroad

and left one son, who seems to have been brought up in ignorance of all

belonging to him. The gulf between them appears to have been

unbridgable; for in time this son married and in turn had a son, but

neither joy nor sorrow brought the sundered together. Under such

conditions no _rapprochement_ was to be looked for, and an utter

indifference, founded at best on ignorance, took the place of family

affection--even on community of interests. It was only due to the

watchfulness of the lawyers that the birth of this new heir was ever made

known. He actually spent a few months in the ancestral home.

"After this the family interest merely rested on heirship of the estate.

As no other children have been born to any of the newer generations in

the intervening years, all hopes of heritage are now centred in the

grandson of this man.

"Now, it will be well for you to bear in mind the prevailing

characteristics of this race. These were well preserved and unchanging;

one and all they are the same: cold, selfish, dominant, reckless of

consequences in pursuit of their own will. It was not that they did not

keep faith, though that was a matter which gave them little concern, but

that they took care to think beforehand of what they should do in order

to gain their own ends. If they should make a mistake, someone else

should bear the burthen of it. This was so perpetually recurrent that it

seemed to be a part of a fixed policy. It was no wonder that, whatever

changes took place, they were always ensured in their own possessions.

They were absolutely cold and hard by nature. Not one of them--so far as

we have any knowledge--was ever known to be touched by the softer

sentiments, to swerve from his purpose, or hold his hand in obedience to

the dictates of his heart. The pictures and effigies of them all show

their adherence to the early Roman type. Their eyes were full; their

hair, of raven blackness, grew thick and close and curly. Their figures

were massive and typical of strength.

"The thick black hair, growing low down on the neck, told of vast

physical strength and endurance. But the most remarkable characteristic

is the eyes. Black, piercing, almost unendurable, they seem to contain

in themselves a remarkable will power which there is no gainsaying. It

is a power that is partly racial and partly individual: a power

impregnated with some mysterious quality, partly hypnotic, partly

mesmeric, which seems to take away from eyes that meet them all power of

resistance--nay, all power of wishing to resist. With eyes like those,

set in that all-commanding face, one would need to be strong indeed to

think of resisting the inflexible will that lay behind.

"You may think, Adam, that all this is imagination on my part, especially

as I have never seen any of them. So it is, but imagination based on

deep study. I have made use of all I know or can surmise logically

regarding this strange race. With such strange compelling qualities, is

it any wonder that there is abroad an idea that in the race there is some

demoniac possession, which tends to a more definite belief that certain

individuals have in the past sold themselves to the Devil?

"But I think we had better go to bed now. We have a lot to get through

to-morrow, and I want you to have your brain clear, and all your

susceptibilities fresh. Moreover, I want you to come with me for an

early walk, during which we may notice, whilst the matter is fresh in our

minds, the peculiar disposition of this place--not merely your

grand-uncle's estate, but the lie of the country around it. There are

many things on which we may seek--and perhaps find--enlightenment. The

more we know at the start, the more things which may come into our view

will develop themselves."