He told her to lie quiet; he encouraged her to hope for immediate
succour; and then, with much personal exertion, and at immense risk to
himself, he reached the ledge of rock on which she lay, and then he
supported her until the brothers had gone to a neighbouring house,
which, bye-the-bye, was two good English miles off, and got assistance. There came on, while they were gone, a terrific storm, and Flora felt
that but for him who was with her she must have been hurled from the
rock, and perished in an abyss below, which was almost too deep for
observation. Suffice it to say that she was rescued; and he who had, by his
intrepidity, done so much towards saving her, was loaded with the most
sincere and heartfelt acknowledgments by the brothers as well as by
herself. He frankly told them that his name was Holland; that he was travelling
for amusement and instruction, and was by profession an artist. He travelled with them for some time; and it was not at all to be
wondered at, under the circumstances, that an attachment of the
tenderest nature should spring up between him and the beautiful girl,
who felt that she owed to him her life. Mutual glances of affection were exchanged between them, and it was
arranged that when he returned to England, he should come at once as an
honoured guest to the house of the family of the Bannerworths. All this was settled satisfactorily with the full knowledge and
acquiescence of the two brothers, who had taken a strange attachment to
the young Charles Holland, who was indeed in every way likely to
propitiate the good opinion of all who knew him. Henry explained to him exactly how they were situated, and told him that
when he came he would find a welcome from all, except possibly his
father, whose wayward temper he could not answer for. Young Holland stated that he was compelled to be away for a term of two
years, from certain family arrangements he had entered into, and that
then he would return and hope to meet Flora unchanged as he should be. It happened that this was the last of the continental excursions of the
Bannerworths, for, before another year rolled round, the generous
relative who had supplied them with the means of making such delightful
trips was no more; and, likewise, the death of the father had occurred
in the manner we have related, so that there was no chance as had been
anticipated and hoped for by Flora, of meeting Charles Holland on the
continent again, before his two years of absence from England should be
expired. Such, however, being the state of things, Flora felt reluctant to give
up the house, where he would be sure to come to look for her, and her
happiness was too dear to Henry to induce him to make any sacrifice of
it to expediency. Therefore was it that Bannerworth Hall, as it was sometimes called, was
retained, and fully intended to be retained at all events until after
Charles Holland had made his appearance, and his advice (for he was, by
the young people, considered as one of the family) taken, with regard to
what was advisable to be done. With one exception this was the state of affairs at the hall, and that
exception relates to Mr. Marchdale. He was a distant relation of Mrs. Bannerworth, and, in early life, had
been sincerely and tenderly attached to her. She, however, with the want
of steady reflection of a young girl, as she then was, had, as is
generally the case among several admirers, chosen the very worst: that
is, the man who treated her with the most indifference, and who paid her
the least attention, was of course, thought the most of, and she gave
her hand to him. That man was Mr. Bannerworth. But future experience had made her
thoroughly awake to her former error; and, but for the love she bore her
children, who were certainly all that a mother's heart could wish, she
would often have deeply regretted the infatuation which had induced her
to bestow her hand in the quarter she had done so. About a month after the decease of Mr. Bannerworth, there came one to
the hall, who desired to see the widow. That one was Mr. Marchdale. It might have been some slight tenderness towards him which had never
left her, or it might be the pleasure merely of seeing one whom she had
known intimately in early life, but, be that as it may, she certainly
gave him a kindly welcome; and he, after consenting to remain for some
time as a visitor at the hall, won the esteem of the whole family by his
frank demeanour and cultivated intellect. He had travelled much and seen much, and he had turned to good account
all he had seen, so that not only was Mr. Marchdale a man of sterling
sound sense, but he was a most entertaining companion. His intimate knowledge of many things concerning which they knew little
or nothing; his accurate modes of thought, and a quiet, gentlemanly
demeanour, such as is rarely to be met with, combined to make him
esteemed by the Bannerworths. He had a small independence of his own,
and being completely alone in the world, for he had neither wife nor
child, Marchdale owned that he felt a pleasure in residing with the
Bannerworths. Of course he could not, in decent terms, so far offend them as to offer
to pay for his subsistence, but he took good care that they should
really be no losers by having him as an inmate, a matter which he could
easily arrange by little presents of one kind and another, all of which
he managed should be such as were not only ornamental, but actually
spared his kind entertainers some positive expense which otherwise they
must have gone to. Whether or not this amiable piece of manoeuvring was seen through by the
Bannerworths it is not our purpose to inquire. If it was seen through,
it could not lower him in their esteem, for it was probably just what
they themselves would have felt a pleasure in doing under similar
circumstances, and if they did not observe it, Mr. Marchdale would,
probably, be all the better pleased. Such then may be considered by our readers as a brief outline of the
state of affairs among the Bannerworths--a state which was pregnant with
changes, and which changes were now likely to be rapid and conclusive. How far the feelings of the family towards the ancient house of their
race would be altered by the appearance at it of so fearful a visitor as
a vampyre, we will not stop to inquire, inasmuch as such feelings will
develop themselves as we proceed. That the visitation had produced a serious effect upon all the household
was sufficiently evident, as well among the educated as among the
ignorant. On the second morning, Henry received notice to quit his
service from the three servants he with difficulty had contrived to keep
at the hall.