And as the stranger proceeded in his
narrative, every pause, which emotion or weariness might cause, was
meetly filled by the deep rushing of the rain that fell in
torrents,--the sighs of the wind,--and now and then a faint, distant,
but long-continued peal of thunder. “It sounds,” said the stranger,
raising his eyes from the manuscript, “like the chidings of the spirits,
that their secrets are disclosed!”




CHAPTER XXVI. * * * * * *
    ----And the twain were playing dice. * * * * * *

    The game is done, I’ve won, I’ve won,
      Quoth she, and whistled thrice. COLERIDGE--_Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner_. The Tale of Guzman’s Family. “Of what I am about to read to you,” said the stranger, “I have
witnessed part myself, and the remainder is established on a basis as
strong as human evidence can make it. “In the city of Seville, where I lived many years, I knew a wealthy
merchant, far advanced in years, who was known by the name of Guzman the
rich. He was of obscure birth,--and those who honoured his wealth
sufficiently to borrow from him frequently, never honoured his name so
far as to prefix Don to it, or to add his surname, of which, indeed,
most were ignorant, and among the number, it is said, the wealthy
merchant himself. He was well respected, however; and when Guzman was
seen, as regularly as the bell tolled for vespers, to issue from the
narrow door of his house,--lock it carefully,--view it twice or thrice
with a wistful eye,--then deposit the key in his bosom, and move slowly
to church, feeling for the key in his vest the whole way,--the proudest
heads in Seville were uncovered as he passed,--and the children who were
playing in the streets, desisted from their sports till he had halted by
them. “Guzman had neither wife or child,--relative or friend. An old female
domestic constituted his whole household, and his personal expences were
calculated on a scale of the most pinching frugality; it was therefore
matter of anxious conjecture to many, how his enormous wealth would be
bestowed after his death. This anxiety gave rise to inquiries about the
possibility of Guzman having relatives, though in remoteness and
obscurity; and the diligence of inquiry, when stimulated at once by
avarice and curiosity, is indefatigable. Thus it was at length
discovered that Guzman had formerly a sister, many years younger than
himself, who, at a very early age, had married a German musician, a
Protestant, and had shortly after quitted Spain. It was remembered, or
reported, that she had made many efforts to soften the heart and open
the hand of her brother, who was even then very wealthy, and to induce
him to be reconciled to their union, and to enable her and her husband
to remain in Spain. Guzman was inflexible. Wealthy, and proud of his
wealth as he was, he might have digested the unpalatable morsel of her
union with a poor man, whom he could have made rich; but he could not
even swallow the intelligence that she had married a Protestant. Ines,
for that was her name, and her husband, went to Germany, partly in
dependence on his musical talents, which were highly appreciated in that
country,--partly in the vague hope of emigrants, that change of place
will be attended with change of circumstances,--and partly, also, from
the feeling, that misfortune is better tolerated any where than in the
presence of those who inflict it. Such was the tale told by the old, who
affected to remember the facts,--and believed by the young, whose
imagination supplied all the defects of memory, and pictured to them an
interesting beauty, with her children hanging about her, embarking, with
a heretic husband, for a distant country, and sadly bidding farewell to
the land and the religion of her fathers. “Now, while these things were talked of at Seville, Guzman fell sick,
and was given over by the physicians, whom with considerable reluctance
he had suffered to be called in. “In the progress of his illness, whether nature revisited a heart she
long appeared to have deserted,--or whether he conceived that the hand
of a relative might be a more grateful support to his dying head than
that of a rapacious and mercenary menial,--or whether his resentful
feelings burnt faintly at the expected approach of death, as artificial
fires wax dim at the appearance of morning;--so it was, that Guzman in
his illness bethought himself of his sister and her family,--sent off,
at a considerable expence, an express to that part of Germany where she
resided, to invite her to return and be reconciled to him,--and prayed
devoutly that he might be permitted to survive till he could breathe his
last amid the arms of her and her children. Moreover, there was a report
at this time, in which the hearers probably took more interest than in
any thing that related merely to the life or death of Guzman,--and this
was, that he had rescinded his former will, and sent for a notary, with
whom, in spite of his apparent debility, he remained locked up for some
hours, dictating in a tone which, however clear to the notary, did not
leave one distinct impression of sound on the ears that were strained,
even to an agony of listening, at the double-locked door of his chamber. “All Guzman’s friends had endeavoured to dissuade him from making this
exertion, which, they assured him, would only hasten his dissolution. But to their surprise, and doubtless their delight, from the moment his
will was made, Guzman’s health began to amend,--and in less than a week
he began to walk about his chamber, and calculate what time it might
take an express to reach Germany, and how soon he might expect
intelligence from his family. “Some months had passed away, and the priests took advantage of the
interval to get about Guzman. But after exhausting every effort of
ingenuity,--after plying him powerfully but unavailingly on the side of
conscience, of duty, of fear, and of religion,--they began to understand
their interest, and change their battery. And finding that the settled
purpose of Guzman’s soul was not to be changed, and that he was
determined on recalling his sister and her family to Spain, they
contented themselves with requiring that he should have no communication
with the heretic family, except through them,--and never see his sister
or her children unless they were witnesses to the interview. “This condition was easily complied with, for Guzman felt no decided
inclination for seeing his sister, whose presence might have reminded
him of feelings alienated, and duties forgot. Besides, he was a man of
fixed habits; and the presence of the most interesting being on earth,
that threatened the slightest interruption or suspension of those
habits, would have been to him insupportable. “Thus we are all indurated by age and habit,--and feel ultimately, that
the dearest connexions of nature or passion may be sacrificed to those
petty indulgences which the presence or influence of a stranger may
disturb.