II

As Wyant emerged from the house he paused once more to glance up at its scarred brick facade. The marble hand drooped tragically above the entrance: in the waning light it seemed to have relaxed into the passiveness of despair, and Wyant stood musing on its hidden meaning. But the Dead Hand was not the only mysterious thing about Doctor Lombards house. What were the relations between Miss Lombard and her father? Above all, between Miss Lombard and her picture? She did not look like a person capable of a disinterested passion for the arts; and there had been moments when it struck Wyant that she hated the picture.

The sky at the end of the street was flooded with turbulent yellow light, and the young man turned his steps toward the church of San Domenico, in the hope of catching the lingering brightness on Sodomas St. Catherine.

The great bare aisles were almost dark when he entered, and he had to grope his way to the chapel steps. Under the momentary evocation of the sunset, the saints figure emerged pale and swooning from the dusk, and the warm light gave a sensual tinge to her ecstasy. The flesh seemed to glow and heave, the eyelids to tremble; Wyant stood fascinated by the accidental collaboration of light and color.

Suddenly he noticed that something white had fluttered to the ground at his feet. He stooped and picked up a small thin sheet of note-paper, folded and sealed like an old-fashioned letter, and bearing the superscription:—

To the Count Ottaviano Celsi.

Wyant stared at this mysterious document. Where had it come from? He was distinctly conscious of having seen it fall through the air, close to his feet. He glanced up at the dark ceiling of the chapel; then he turned and looked about the church. There was only one figure in it, that of a man who knelt near the high altar.

Suddenly Wyant recalled the question of Doctor Lombards maid-servant. Was this the letter she had asked for? Had he been unconsciously carrying it about with him all the afternoon? Who was Count Ottaviano Celsi, and how came Wyant to have been chosen to act as that noblemans ambulant letter-box?

Wyant laid his hat and stick on the chapel steps and began to explore his pockets, in the irrational hope of finding there some clue to the mystery; but they held nothing which he had not himself put there, and he was reduced to wondering how the letter, supposing some unknown hand to have bestowed it on him, had happened to fall out while he stood motionless before the picture.

At this point he was disturbed by a step on the floor of the aisle, and turning, he saw his lustrous-eyed neighbor of the table dhote.

The young man bowed and waved an apologetic hand.

I do not intrude? he inquired suavely.

Without waiting for a reply, he mounted the steps of the chapel, glancing about him with the affable air of an afternoon caller.

I see, he remarked with a smile, that you know the hour at which our saint should be visited.

Wyant agreed that the hour was indeed felicitous.

The stranger stood beamingly before the picture.

What grace! What poetry! he murmured, apostrophizing the St. Catherine, but letting his glance slip rapidly about the chapel as he spoke.

Wyant, detecting the manoeuvre, murmured a brief assent.

But it is cold here—mortally cold; you do not find it so? The intruder put on his hat. It is permitted at this hour—when the church is empty. And you, my dear sir—do you not feel the dampness? You are an artist, are you not? And to artists it is permitted to cover the head when they are engaged in the study of the paintings.

He darted suddenly toward the steps and bent over Wyants hat.

Permit me—cover yourself! he said a moment later, holding out the hat with an ingratiating gesture.

A light flashed on Wyant.

Perhaps, he said, looking straight at the young man, you will tell me your name. My own is Wyant.

The stranger, surprised, but not disconcerted, drew forth a coroneted card, which he offered with a low bow. On the card was engraved:—

I am much obliged to you, said Wyant; and I may as well tell you that the letter which you apparently expected to find in the lining of my hat is not there, but in my pocket.

He drew it out and handed it to its owner, who had grown very pale.

And now, Wyant continued, you will perhaps be good enough to tell me what all this means.

There was no mistaking the effect produced on Count Ottaviano by this request. His lips moved, but he achieved only an ineffectual smile.

I suppose you know, Wyant went on, his anger rising at the sight of the others discomfiture, that you have taken an unwarrantable liberty. I dont yet understand what part I have been made to play, but its evident that you have made use of me to serve some purpose of your own, and I propose to know the reason why.

Count Ottaviano advanced with an imploring gesture.

Sir, he pleaded, you permit me to speak?

I expect you to, cried Wyant. But not here, he added, hearing the clank of the vergers keys. It is growing dark, and we shall be turned out in a few minutes.

He walked across the church, and Count Ottaviano followed him out into the deserted square.

Now, said Wyant, pausing on the steps.

The Count, who had regained some measure of self-possession, began to speak in a high key, with an accompaniment of conciliatory gesture.

My dear sir—my dear Mr. Wyant—you find me in an abominable position—that, as a man of honor, I immediately confess. I have taken advantage of you—yes! I have counted on your amiability, your chivalry—too far, perhaps? I confess it! But what could I do? It was to oblige a lady—he laid a hand on his heart—a lady whom I would die to serve! He went on with increasing volubility, his deliberate English swept away by a torrent of Italian, through which Wyant, with some difficulty, struggled to a comprehension of the case.

Count Ottaviano, according to his own statement, had come to Siena some months previously, on business connected with his mothers property; the paternal estate being near Orvieto, of which ancient city his father was syndic. Soon after his arrival in Siena the young Count had met the incomparable daughter of Doctor Lombard, and falling deeply in love with her, had prevailed on his parents to ask her hand in marriage. Doctor Lombard had not opposed his suit, but when the question of settlements arose it became known that Miss Lombard, who was possessed of a small property in her own right, had a short time before invested the whole amount in the purchase of the Bergamo Leonardo. Thereupon Count Ottavianos parents had politely suggested that she should sell the picture and thus recover her independence; and this proposal being met by a curt refusal from Doctor Lombard, they had withdrawn their consent to their sons marriage. The young ladys attitude had hitherto been one of passive submission; she was horribly afraid of her father, and would never venture openly to oppose him; but she had made known to Ottaviano her intention of not giving him up, of waiting patiently till events should take a more favorable turn. She seemed hardly aware, the Count said with a sigh, that the means of escape lay in her own hands; that she was of age, and had a right to sell the picture, and to marry without asking her fathers consent. Meanwhile her suitor spared no pains to keep himself before her, to remind her that he, too, was waiting and would never give her up.

Doctor Lombard, who suspected the young man of trying to persuade Sybilla to sell the picture, had forbidden the lovers to meet or to correspond; they were thus driven to clandestine communication, and had several times, the Count ingenuously avowed, made use of the doctors visitors as a means of exchanging letters.

And you told the visitors to ring twice? Wyant interposed.

The young man extended his hands in a deprecating gesture. Could Mr. Wyant blame him? He was young, he was ardent, he was enamored! The young lady had done him the supreme honor of avowing her attachment, of pledging her unalterable fidelity; should he suffer his devotion to be outdone? But his purpose in writing to her, he admitted, was not merely to reiterate his fidelity; he was trying by every means in his power to induce her to sell the picture. He had organized a plan of action; every detail was complete; if she would but have the courage to carry out his instructions he would answer for the result. His idea was that she should secretly retire to a convent of which his aunt was the Mother Superior, and from that stronghold should transact the sale of the Leonardo. He had a purchaser ready, who was willing to pay a large sum; a sum, Count Ottaviano whispered, considerably in excess of the young ladys original inheritance; once the picture sold, it could, if necessary, be removed by force from Doctor Lombards house, and his daughter, being safely in the convent, would be spared the painful scenes incidental to the removal. Finally, if Doctor Lombard were vindictive enough to refuse his consent to her marriage, she had only to make a sommation respectueuse, and at the end of the prescribed delay no power on earth could prevent her becoming the wife of Count Ottaviano.

Wyants anger had fallen at the recital of this simple romance. It was absurd to be angry with a young man who confided his secrets to the first stranger he met in the streets, and placed his hand on his heart whenever he mentioned the name of his betrothed. The easiest way out of the business was to take it as a joke. Wyant had played the wall to this new Pyramus and Thisbe, and was philosophic enough to laugh at the part he had unwittingly performed.

He held out his hand with a smile to Count Ottaviano.

I wont deprive you any longer, he said, of the pleasure of reading your letter.

Oh, sir, a thousand thanks! And when you return to the casa Lombard, you will take a message from me—the letter she expected this afternoon?

The letter she expected? Wyant paused. No, thank you. I thought you understood that where I come from we dont do that kind of thing—knowingly.

But, sir, to serve a young lady!

Im sorry for the young lady, if what you tell me is true—the Counts expressive hands resented the doubt—but remember that if I am under obligations to any one in this matter, it is to her father, who has admitted me to his house and has allowed me to see his picture.

His picture? Hers!

Well, the house is his, at all events.

Unhappily—since to her it is a dungeon!

Why doesnt she leave it, then? exclaimed Wyant impatiently.

The Count clasped his hands. Ah, how you say that—with what force, with what virility! If you would but say it to her in that tone—you, her countryman! She has no one to advise her; the mother is an idiot; the father is terrible; she is in his power; it is my belief that he would kill her if she resisted him. Mr. Wyant, I tremble for her life while she remains in that house!

Oh, come, said Wyant lightly, they seem to understand each other well enough. But in any case, you must see that I cant interfere—at least you would if you were an Englishman, he added with an escape of contempt.

III

Wyants affiliations in Siena being restricted to an acquaintance with his land-lady, he was forced to apply to her for the verification of Count Ottavianos story.

The young nobleman had, it appeared, given a perfectly correct account of his situation. His father, Count Celsi-Mongirone, was a man of distinguished family and some wealth. He was syndic of Orvieto, and lived either in that town or on his neighboring estate of Mongirone. His wife owned a large property near Siena, and Count Ottaviano, who was the second son, came there from time to time to look into its management. The eldest son was in the army, the youngest in the Church; and an aunt of Count Ottavianos was Mother Superior of the Visitandine convent in Siena. At one time it had been said that Count Ottaviano, who was a most amiable and accomplished young man, was to marry the daughter of the strange Englishman, Doctor Lombard, but difficulties having arisen as to the adjustment of the young ladys dower, Count Celsi-Mongirone had very properly broken off the match. It was sad for the young man, however, who was said to be deeply in love, and to find frequent excuses for coming to Siena to inspect his mothers estate.

Viewed in the light of Count Ottavianos personality the story had a tinge of opera bouffe; but the next morning, as Wyant mounted the stairs of the House of the Dead Hand, the situation insensibly assumed another aspect. It was impossible to take Doctor Lombard lightly; and there was a suggestion of fatality in the appearance of his gaunt dwelling. Who could tell amid what tragic records of domestic tyranny and fluttering broken purposes the little drama of Miss Lombards fate was being played out? Might not the accumulated influences of such a house modify the lives within it in a manner unguessed by the inmates of a suburban villa with sanitary plumbing and a telephone?

One person, at least, remained unperturbed by such fanciful problems; and that was Mrs. Lombard, who, at Wyants entrance, raised a placidly wrinkled brow from her knitting. The morning was mild, and her chair had been wheeled into a bar of sunshine near the window, so that she made a cheerful spot of prose in the poetic gloom of her surroundings.

What a nice morning! she said; it must be delightful weather at Bonchurch.

Her dull blue glance wandered across the narrow street with its threatening house fronts, and fluttered back baffled, like a bird with clipped wings. It was evident, poor lady, that she had never seen beyond the opposite houses.

Wyant was not sorry to find her alone. Seeing that she was surprised at his reappearance he said at once: I have come back to study Miss Lombards picture.

Oh, the picture— Mrs. Lombards face expressed a gentle disappointment, which might have been boredom in a person of acuter sensibilities. Its an original Leonardo, you know, she said mechanically.

And Miss Lombard is very proud of it, I suppose? She seems to have inherited her fathers love for art.

Mrs. Lombard counted her stitches, and he went on: Its unusual in so young a girl. Such tastes generally develop later.

Mrs. Lombard looked up eagerly. Thats what I say! I was quite different at her age, you know. I liked dancing, and doing a pretty bit of fancy-work. Not that I couldnt sketch, too; I had a master down from London. My aunts have some of my crayons hung up in their drawing-room now—I did a view of Kenilworth which was thought pleasing. But I liked a picnic, too, or a pretty walk through the woods with young people of my own age. I say its more natural, Mr. Wyant; one may have a feeling for art, and do crayons that are worth framing, and yet not give up everything else. I was taught that there were other things.

Wyant, half-ashamed of provoking these innocent confidences, could not resist another question. And Miss Lombard cares for nothing else?

Her mother looked troubled.

Sybilla is so clever—she says I dont understand. You know how self-confident young people are! My husband never said that of me, now—he knows I had an excellent education. My aunts were very particular; I was brought up to have opinions, and my husband has always respected them. He says himself that he wouldnt for the world miss hearing my opinion on any subject; you may have noticed that he often refers to my tastes. He has always respected my preference for living in England; he likes to hear me give my reasons for it. He is so much interested in my ideas that he often says he knows just what I am going to say before I speak. But Sybilla does not care for what I think—

At this point Doctor Lombard entered. He glanced sharply at Wyant. The servant is a fool; she didnt tell me you were here. His eye turned to his wife. Well, my dear, what have you been telling Mr. Wyant? About the aunts at Bonchurch, Ill be bound!

Mrs. Lombard looked triumphantly at Wyant, and her husband rubbed his hooked fingers, with a smile.

Mrs. Lombards aunts are very superior women. They subscribe to the circulating library, and borrow Good Words and the Monthly Packet from the curates wife across the way. They have the rector to tea twice a year, and keep a page-boy, and are visited by two baronets wives. They devoted themselves to the education of their orphan niece, and I think I may say without boasting that Mrs. Lombards conversation shows marked traces of the advantages she enjoyed.

Mrs. Lombard colored with pleasure.

I was telling Mr. Wyant that my aunts were very particular.

Quite so, my dear; and did you mention that they never sleep in anything but linen, and that Miss Sophia puts away the furs and blankets every spring with her own hands? Both those facts are interesting to the student of human nature. Doctor Lombard glanced at his watch. But we are missing an incomparable moment; the light is perfect at this hour.

Wyant rose, and the doctor led him through the tapestried door and down the passageway.

The light was, in fact, perfect, and the picture shone with an inner radiancy, as though a lamp burned behind the soft screen of the ladys flesh. Every detail of the foreground detached itself with jewel-like precision. Wyant noticed a dozen accessories which had escaped him on the previous day.

He drew out his note-book, and the doctor, who had dropped his sardonic grin for a look of devout contemplation, pushed a chair forward, and seated himself on a carved settle against the wall.

Now, then, he said, tell Clyde what you can; but the letter killeth.

He sank down, his hands hanging on the arm of the settle like the claws of a dead bird, his eyes fixed on Wyants notebook with the obvious intention of detecting any attempt at a surreptitious sketch.

Wyant, nettled at this surveillance, and disturbed by the speculations which Doctor Lombards strange household excited, sat motionless for a few minutes, staring first at the picture and then at the blank pages of the note-book. The thought that Doctor Lombard was enjoying his discomfiture at length roused him, and he began to write.

He was interrupted by a knock on the iron door. Doctor Lombard rose to unlock it, and his daughter entered.

She bowed hurriedly to Wyant, without looking at him.

Father, had you forgotten that the man from Monte Amiato was to come back this morning with an answer about the bas-relief? He is here now; he says he cant wait.

The devil! cried her father impatiently. Didnt you tell him—

Yes; but he says he cant come back. If you want to see him you must come now.

Then you think theres a chance?—

She nodded.

He turned and looked at Wyant, who was writing assiduously.

You will stay here, Sybilla; I shall be back in a moment.

He hurried out, locking the door behind him.

Wyant had looked up, wondering if Miss Lombard would show any surprise at being locked in with him; but it was his turn to be surprised, for hardly had they heard the key withdrawn when she moved close to him, her small face pale and tumultuous.

I arranged it—I must speak to you, she gasped. Hell be back in five minutes.

Her courage seemed to fail, and she looked at him helplessly.

Wyant had a sense of stepping among explosives. He glanced about him at the dusky vaulted room, at the haunting smile of the strange picture overhead, and at the pink-and-white girl whispering of conspiracies in a voice meant to exchange platitudes with a curate.

How can I help you? he said with a rush of compassion.

Oh, if you would! I never have a chance to speak to any one; its so difficult—he watches me—hell be back immediately.

Try to tell me what I can do.

I dont dare; I feel as if he were behind me. She turned away, fixing her eyes on the picture. A sound startled her. There he comes, and I havent spoken! It was my only chance; but it bewilders me so to be hurried.

I dont hear any one, said Wyant, listening. Try to tell me.

How can I make you understand? It would take so long to explain. She drew a deep breath, and then with a plunge—Will you come here again this afternoon—at about five? she whispered.

Come here again?

Yes—you can ask to see the picture,—make some excuse. He will come with you, of course; I will open the door for you—and—and lock you both in—she gasped.

Lock us in?

You see? You understand? Its the only way for me to leave the house—if I am ever to do it—She drew another difficult breath. The key will be returned—by a safe person—in half an hour,—perhaps sooner—

She trembled so much that she was obliged to lean against the settle for support.

Wyant looked at her steadily; he was very sorry for her.

I cant, Miss Lombard, he said at length.

You cant?

Im sorry; I must seem cruel; but consider—

He was stopped by the futility of the word: as well ask a hunted rabbit to pause in its dash for a hole!

Wyant took her hand; it was cold and nerveless.

I will serve you in any way I can; but you must see that this way is impossible. Cant I talk to you again? Perhaps—

Oh, she cried, starting up, there he comes!

Doctor Lombards step sounded in the passage.

Wyant held her fast. Tell me one thing: he wont let you sell the picture?

No—hush!

Make no pledges for the future, then; promise me that.

The future?

In case he should die: your father is an old man. You havent promised?

She shook her head.

Dont, then; remember that.

She made no answer, and the key turned in the lock.

As he passed out of the house, its scowling cornice and facade of ravaged brick looked down on him with the startlingness of a strange face, seen momentarily in a crowd, and impressing itself on the brain as part of an inevitable future. Above the doorway, the marble hand reached out like the cry of an imprisoned anguish.

Wyant turned away impatiently.

Rubbish! he said to himself. She isnt walled in; she can get out if she wants to.

IV

Wyant had any number of plans for coming to Miss Lombards aid: he was elaborating the twentieth when, on the same afternoon, he stepped into the express train for Florence. By the time the train reached Certaldo he was convinced that, in thus hastening his departure, he had followed the only reasonable course; at Empoli, he began to reflect that the priest and the Levite had probably justified themselves in much the same manner.

A month later, after his return to England, he was unexpectedly relieved from these alternatives of extenuation and approval. A paragraph in the morning paper announced the sudden death of Doctor Lombard, the distinguished English dilettante who had long resided in Siena. Wyants justification was complete. Our blindest impulses become evidence of perspicacity when they fall in with the course of events.

Wyant could now comfortably speculate on the particular complications from which his foresight had probably saved him. The climax was unexpectedly dramatic. Miss Lombard, on the brink of a step which, whatever its issue, would have burdened her with retrospective compunction, had been set free before her suitors ardor could have had time to cool, and was now doubtless planning a life of domestic felicity on the proceeds of the Leonardo. One thing, however, struck Wyant as odd—he saw no mention of the sale of the picture. He had scanned the papers for an immediate announcement of its transfer to one of the great museums; but presently concluding that Miss Lombard, out of filial piety, had wished to avoid an appearance of unseemly haste in the disposal of her treasure, he dismissed the matter from his mind. Other affairs happened to engage him; the months slipped by, and gradually the lady and the picture dwelt less vividly in his mind.

It was not till five or six years later, when chance took him again to Siena, that the recollection started from some inner fold of memory. He found himself, as it happened, at the head of Doctor Lombards street, and glancing down that grim thoroughfare, caught an oblique glimpse of the doctors house front, with the Dead Hand projecting above its threshold. The sight revived his interest, and that evening, over an admirable frittata, he questioned his landlady about Miss Lombards marriage.

The daughter of the English doctor? But she has never married, signore.

Never married? What, then, became of Count Ottaviano?

For a long time he waited; but last year he married a noble lady of the Maremma.

But what happened—why was the marriage broken?

The landlady enacted a pantomime of baffled interrogation.

And Miss Lombard still lives in her fathers house?

Yes, signore; she is still there.

And the Leonardo—

The Leonardo, also, is still there.

The next day, as Wyant entered the House of the Dead Hand, he remembered Count Ottavianos injunction to ring twice, and smiled mournfully to think that so much subtlety had been vain. But what could have prevented the marriage? If Doctor Lombards death had been long delayed, time might have acted as a dissolvent, or the young ladys resolve have failed; but it seemed impossible that the white heat of ardor in which Wyant had left the lovers should have cooled in a few short weeks.

As he ascended the vaulted stairway the atmosphere of the place seemed a reply to his conjectures. The same numbing air fell on him, like an emanation from some persistent will-power, a something fierce and imminent which might reduce to impotence every impulse within its range. Wyant could almost fancy a hand on his shoulder, guiding him upward with the ironical intent of confronting him with the evidence of its work.

A strange servant opened the door, and he was presently introduced to the tapestried room, where, from their usual seats in the window, Mrs. Lombard and her daughter advanced to welcome him with faint ejaculations of surprise.

Both had grown oddly old, but in a dry, smooth way, as fruits might shrivel on a shelf instead of ripening on the tree. Mrs. Lombard was still knitting, and pausing now and then to warm her swollen hands above the brazier; and Miss Lombard, in rising, had laid aside a strip of needle-work which might have been the same on which Wyant had first seen her engaged.

Their visitor inquired discreetly how they had fared in the interval, and learned that they had thought of returning to England, but had somehow never done so.

I am sorry not to see my aunts again, Mrs. Lombard said resignedly; but Sybilla thinks it best that we should not go this year.

Next year, perhaps, murmured Miss Lombard, in a voice which seemed to suggest that they had a great waste of time to fill.

She had returned to her seat, and sat bending over her work. Her hair enveloped her head in the same thick braids, but the rose color of her cheeks had turned to blotches of dull red, like some pigment which has darkened in drying.

And Professor Clyde—is he well? Mrs. Lombard asked affably; continuing, as her daughter raised a startled eye: Surely, Sybilla, Mr. Wyant was the gentleman who was sent by Professor Clyde to see the Leonardo?

Miss Lombard was silent, but Wyant hastened to assure the elder lady of his friends well-being.

Ah—perhaps, then, he will come back some day to Siena, she said, sighing. Wyant declared that it was more than likely; and there ensued a pause, which he presently broke by saying to Miss Lombard: And you still have the picture?

She raised her eyes and looked at him. Should you like to see it? she asked.

On his assenting, she rose, and extracting the same key from the same secret drawer, unlocked the door beneath the tapestry. They walked down the passage in silence, and she stood aside with a grave gesture, making Wyant pass before her into the room. Then she crossed over and drew the curtain back from the picture.

The light of the early afternoon poured full on it: its surface appeared to ripple and heave with a fluid splendor. The colors had lost none of their warmth, the outlines none of their pure precision; it seemed to Wyant like some magical flower which had burst suddenly from the mould of darkness and oblivion.

He turned to Miss Lombard with a movement of comprehension.

Ah, I understand—you couldnt part with it, after all! he cried.

No—I couldnt part with it, she answered.

Its too beautiful,—too beautiful,—he assented.

Too beautiful? She turned on him with a curious stare. I have never thought it beautiful, you know.

He gave back the stare. You have never—

She shook her head. Its not that. I hate it; Ive always hated it. But he wouldnt let me—he will never let me now.

Wyant was startled by her use of the present tense. Her look surprised him, too: there was a strange fixity of resentment in her innocuous eye. Was it possible that she was laboring under some delusion? Or did the pronoun not refer to her father?

You mean that Doctor Lombard did not wish you to part with the picture?

No—he prevented me; he will always prevent me.

There was another pause. You promised him, then, before his death—

No; I promised nothing. He died too suddenly to make me. Her voice sank to a whisper. I was free—perfectly free—or I thought I was till I tried.

Till you tried?

To disobey him—to sell the picture. Then I found it was impossible. I tried again and again; but he was always in the room with me.

She glanced over her shoulder as though she had heard a step; and to Wyant, too, for a moment, the room seemed full of a third presence.

And you cant—he faltered, unconsciously dropping his voice to the pitch of hers.

She shook her head, gazing at him mystically. I cant lock him out; I can never lock him out now. I told you I should never have another chance.

Wyant felt the chill of her words like a cold breath in his hair.

Oh—he groaned; but she cut him off with a grave gesture.

It is too late, she said; but you ought to have helped me that day.